Taking the cruise from Sydney to Hawaii, is it Good?

[bichonfan2]

We are debating on which cruise to take.

We are thinking of the NZ cruise 11 nights and staying on in australia for a week or so. Flying from the west coast of USA the flight is very long, so when I saw the cruise to Hawaii I thought great we will only have to deal with the long flight on one end:) I know we wont see as much of NZ as the other cruise :(

the ship is smaller and 10 cruising days is a long time on a small ship with not as much to do?

Any one out there who has done this cruise sydney to hawaii 18 days or have been on the Radiance ship, did you like the ship.

We have been on the Explorer, Brilliance, Freedom plus a few more :)

[Lyneham1]

I can't comment on the trip itself but I have been on both the Radiance and the Brilliance. They are both the same class of ship and very similar so if you liked the Brilliance then it is a pretty safe bet that you will like the Radiance.

[bichonfan2]

Its been almost 10 years since I have been on the Brilliance and we may have had one day at sea so we were mainly in port {Europe} I really cant remember that much about the ship its self :)

[goodycruising]

We love Radiance, but 10 days at sea for the cost and time of flying over here doesn't make sense to me. I would look for a port intensive cruise personally. You might as well catch a cruise closer to home if you are going to end up with so many seas days.

 

The cruises on Radiance to Hawaii can be very expensive compared to other itineraries over here also. Actually as much as I love Radiance it is one of the more expensive of the RCI fleet over here from the times we have researched, which isn't every trip on every ship of course.

 

I would agree about the shorter flying, but at what sacrifice? It is up to you in the end, budget and priorities of course. We often do a pros and cons table, and put weighting numbers next to the points to see what jumps out as more important. It depends if you have a particular thing you want to see, or if you think you would be back again to cover other ports anyhow?

 

I love New Zealand or Southern Australian cruises, but many people are very set on Northern Australia/Queensland or the South Pacific.

[bichonfan2]

Thanks Goody, I think thats what we will be doing, when we look at the cost of Radiance vs Explorer and the ports. There is a large difference in the price even taking in what we would save in flights which isnt that much.

We probably would not be back to Australia area so I want to explore as much as we are able to :)

Now to find good flights !

[GUT2407]

You won't see much of Down Under, but 10 days at sea sounds almost perfect to me.

[goodycruising]

But Gut, the sea is beautiful everywhere. We have friends post photos over near Russia, and around Asia, and it kinda looks like the seas here near Australia! I am all for some sea days, but not if you spend a fair bit to fly there!

 

I think Radiance has been very popular, and sometimes there is a bit of hesitation about the size of Voyager, as it has been the largest based here for the season (Some other large ones from other companies come through but are not based here). Solstice might be worth a look also, depending on the itinerary you are looking at. It does some nice trips that go Sydney to Auckland (or reverse) and flying from NZ would not be much different in cost/time back to US maybe?

[cruisine21]

You won't see much of Down Under, but 10 days at sea sounds almost perfect to me.

 

There is someone on my Alaskan cruise doing 3 B to B cruises to Sydney. That's a lot of sea days.

[GUT2407]

But Gut, the sea is beautiful everywhere. We have friends post photos over near Russia, and around Asia, and it kinda looks like the seas here near Australia! I am all for some sea days, but not if you spend a fair bit to fly there!

 

I think Radiance has been very popular, and sometimes there is a bit of hesitation about the size of Voyager, as it has been the largest based here for the season (Some other large ones from other companies come through but are not based here). Solstice might be worth a look also, depending on the itinerary you are looking at. It does some nice trips that go Sydney to Auckland (or reverse) and flying from NZ would not be much different in cost/time back to US maybe?

 

 

That's why I started with "Won't see much of Downunder"

[GUT2407]

There is someone on my Alaskan cruise doing 3 B to B cruises to Sydney. That's a lot of sea days.

 

 

It actually doesn't have to be a lot of transpacific cruises don't have that many sea days.

[hematocrit]

We sailed from Sydney to Hawaii via the Tahitian islands on the Dawn Princess and consider it one of the best cruises from Australia that we have done. To us, it was a perfect mix of sea and port days - but then we love sea days as a perfect way to relax and de-stress after busy months.

 

On any re-positioning or ocean cruise, it's best to pay more and enjoy those sea days relaxing on your balcony. On the other hand, apart from the 2 day trans Tasman leg, the 'round New Zealand' cruise has all but one day in port. You only cruise in the evening and night (usually in the dark) so an inside cabin is really all you need.

 

If you want to see more of Down Under, then take the NZ cruise and fly home with a 2 day break in Hawaii. We have done that both ways with Hawaiian Airlines and only paid the standard Sydney - Seattle return fare.

[shrekaus]

I just want to post in here so I can follow this thread as this is our dream cruise, we are waiting for a discount fly/cruise, we have seen them the past 2 years and haven't been able to go because of work commitments, hoping this is our year :) I have seen one for next month around $3000 Hawaii to Perth includes 3 nights in Hawaii, I night in Perth plus airfares to/from Brisbane, but we can't go then.

[bichonfan2]

Thanks for all the responses :)

The cruise from Sydney to Hawaii is off the list. We are now looking for flights to Sydney and maybe splurging a bit more for extra leg room! But first class/business is outrageous 12k pp average and we were not looking at first class lol but still thats ridiculous.

[3littlepigs]

Qantas and Virgin have Premium Economy class which is between business and economy. Extra legroom , more comfortable seats and a smaller cabin. May be the compromise you are looking for. If you go that way try to get the front row of the cabin then you won't have anyone reclining into you.

[windsor26]

We are doing that itinerary on Carnival Legend in April and think that the stops are a good split between port and sea days

Then we will stay in Hawaii for a few days before the flight back to Sydney

Your flight back to USA would be a dream compared!!

[rickays]

Have been on cruise Hawaii to Sydney 2 times, 18 days on Dawn Princess and then 28 days on Ocean Princess. Loved both, especially calling in at the pacific islands. Would make sure that Bora Bora and Tahiti are included in the itinerary. Did have a booking for Sydney to Hawaii this year but had to cancel. Will difinitely do the trip again soon. But it is up to personal preferences - some love having sea days and some prefer mostly port days.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

If anyone is interested in doing a Hawaii/Sydney cruise and is looking for a bargain...keep your eye out for a last minute segment on one of the World Cruises that come through this way. They could be either to or from HNL. We have done a couple over the years , but you have to be able to go when they come through and its usually the rainy season in the tropics.

The sea days are very well organised and its your choice to run around and join in everything or just lay back and laze all day.:D

 

 

 

[Sparky74]

We sailed from Hawaii to Sydney on Radiance of the Seas in 2013 and loved it. DW was the guest arts and crafts instructor on that cruise so that helped fill in a couple of hours each sea day. Having said that I was surprised that there were a number of people who had chosen this cruise as the first ever :eek: - not something I would recommend.

 

On the topic of price, DW's parents also came on this cruise as paying passengers. I was monitoring the price and notice that it dropped significantly before final payment so my mother-in-law cancelled and rebooked. Even though she lost her deposit she still ended up $1,500 ahead. :D

 

If the OP is flying from the USA they may be better considering breaking their journey in Hawaii for a couple of days in each direction. Even staying in a fancy hotel for a few days would be more cheaper than flying business class. DW & I are going to the UK later this year and whilst we are doing the flight over in one hit (26.5 hours including a 2.5 hour break in the middle) on the way back we're stopping in Hong Komg for a week.

[paluni]

For me, that is something to consider. You lose time if you go east, i.e., Sydney to Honolulu - always getting less sleep! If you go east to west, i.e., Honolulu to Sydney, you get more sleeping time. This made a big difference to me when we sailed Beijing to Anchorage - in the northern latitudes. Because the longitudes narrow at the poles, we were losing sleeping hours like mad and constantly changing the clocks. It was kind of exhausting for me so I really care about going east to west now.

[Dizziedi]

About to do it again for the fifth time (third time on Radiance) and then back again on the Legend (saves that flight). We love the Ports and the sea days on this cruise and the other bonus being the Radiance.

 

Cheers

Di