Anyone taken a land/cruise tour in Australia/NZ?

[luvtravel]

Has anyone been on the land/cruise tour to Australia/NZ offered by an online ta in conjunction with Celebrity? We are familiar with Celebrity and very much liked the cruise we had with them previously, but looks like its not really Celebrity offering the land part...wondered if anyone had past experience with this combined offering? Only other land/cruise we did was Alaska with Princess - was wonderful and just assumed it was Princess sponsored since we stayed in Princess lodges. Thanks for any help or advice!

[AntjeG]

I did land/cruise trip to AUS/NZ last year but I put the land portion together myself. I loved it! You can find the review in my signature. The English translation of the blog mentioned in the review is on page 3 and there are lots of photos, too.

[WestLakeGirl]

There may be more than one company offering combination land & sea tours, but remember that CruiseCritic does not allow discussion of specific travel agencies and their offerings

[TLCOhio]

Has anyone been on the land/cruise tour to Australia/NZ offered by an online ta in conjunction with Celebrity? We are familiar with Celebrity and very much liked the cruise we had with them previously, but looks like its not really Celebrity offering the land part...wondered if anyone had past experience with this combined offering? Only other land/cruise we did was Alaska with Princess - was wonderful and just assumed it was Princess sponsored since we stayed in Princess lodges. Thanks for any help or advice!

 

For our Celebrity Australia to New Zealand cruise, there were some ship pre- and post- options offered. BUT, they were fairly high in price. We did two pre-cruise options before Sydney that both worked out super well. One was what we set-up independently with two other couples for Cairns, doing the Great Barrier Reef, Rainforest, etc., over four days there. Then, through our TA, we had a couple of great days on Kangaroo Island. KI is more "specialized" and those set-up take higher level of expertise.

 

There are lots of "online TA" potentials, but be careful what you getting and the experience levels of the staff. To be blunt, there are TA's and/or online folks who are good at just "taking your order", assuming that you know what you need, seek and desire. But many travel people have never "been there" and are very limited in being able to answer certain specific questions, make sure which options best fit you exact personal interests/travel style, etc.

 

Below are a few visual samples, plus on my full live/blog connected at the bottom, you can see many more details. Added questions and info needs? Happy to share more and answer any question if you will do a posting on my live/blog.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 152,499 views for this posting.

 

 

From the Daintree Rainforest and National Park near Cairns, Australia, here is one sample of our exploring there. We did a somewhat challenging 1.43 miles circular hike in the deep, deep of this dramatic rainforest. Lots of rocks, up and down paths, twists and turns, hard work, etc., as this picture illustrates. But we survived!! Even at our ages. Our group crossed the Mossman Gorge on a fairly long swinging bridge. Not Indiana Jones, but for us it was super spectacular.:

 

 

 

For the Great Barrier Reef, we chartered a plane and flew out from Cairns to Lizard Island, one of the most isolated locations in Australia. Chief Pilot Greg has done about 2200 trips to this location and really knows it well. Here we are on the beach getting his briefing for snorkeling in these reef areas right off of this location/beach. Yes, we saw real lizards here when we walked from the landing strip to our beach location. Captain Cook named this island because when he landed, he saw so many lizards!! Had a wonderful lunch on the beach. On the way to Lizard Island, we flew our over the edge of the reef to better understand this amazing 1500-mile long natural wonder, how it works, etc.:

 

 

 

For our snorkeling, I got to try out my new Nikon AW110 underwater camera. Shot about 260 underwater pictures. Here is one quick sample below. More visuals and details on the full live/blog.:

 

 

 

From amazing Kangaroo Island, 70 miles south of Adelaide in South Australia, here is a picture of two kangaroos doing what they do best on the open plains of this island while we observed at a distance.:

 

 

 

At Flinders Chase National Park, first is a longer view as we approached the Remarkable Rocks that dramatically overlook this coast region of Kangaroo Island. These are naturally-sculptured formations sit atop a base of granite. This rock formation appears like sculptures of the UK's Henry Moore.:

 

 

 

Here is an overall coastal/beach view within Flinders National Park.: