Australia Circumnavigation

[Pagan]

Hi, we are hoping cruise round the coast of Australia - from Brisbane north and hopefully round to Perth, I have seen a couple of itineraries but they include PNG, which we do not particularly want to do. If anyone has done this route or has advise on the best ships/routes it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Gnomey]

Hi Pagan,

 

We did Brisbane to Freemantle in Nov. 2015 on Sun Princess via Lombok Indonesia and it was great. We had still, flat seas but it was very hot and humid. We had a week on the ground in Western Aust., which was great, then finished the round Australia bit on Pacific Eden. Princess usually schedule scenic cruising of the Kimberly Coast in West. Aust and that was amazing, as was the barrier reef cruising.

 

An overseas port is often included in Australian cruises so we can do some duty free shopping.

 

Steve.

[OzKiwiJJ]

This cruise is best done in August or September before it gets too hot up north. We did it on Dawn Princess in August 2015.

 

Most itineraries either stop at PNG or somewhere in Indonesia, our cruise went to Lombok. Personally I prefer PNG, more interesting and less pollution in the air.

 

It's a wonderful cruise.

[GUT2407]

We did the full circumnavigation Syd - Syd, anti clockwise plus South Island NZ Oct-Nov, Darwin and Bali were HOT. NZ was COLD. But everywhere else was nice.

 

Most do PNG, Bali or similar to qualify for duty free, if you dont want a port, stay on the ship.

[Vagabond Oldies]

Radiance of the Seas Feb 18 16 days leaving Sydney then Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Bali, Port Headland, Geraldon, Perth

 

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[Kiwi Kruzer]

If they only stuck to Australian ports it would be a local cruise and thus GST would be payable. By including PNG,Bali etc it becomes an overseas trip and they can sell Duty Free as well .

[mr walker]

We are 42 days from embarking on Sun Princess 'Round Australia' 29N cruise (clockwise) which includes a visit to Alotau in PNG (as international port visit) for reasons others have posted. I am quite looking forward to our first visit to PNG (albeit only for a day visit) & would much prefer that to one of the Indonesian ports.

[lyndarra]

Radiance of the Seas Feb 18 16 days leaving Sydney then Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Bali, Port Headland, Geraldon, Perth

 

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Correction. Radiance departs Feb 9, 2017. We'll be on it. We, and another couple booked about 3 months ago. Our friends snagged the last balcony cabin so we settled for an OV. It's a popular cruise so could well be booked out by now.

We did the opposite 1/2 on Radiance (16 day Syd, SINZ, Melbourne, Adelaide, Esperance, Perth) Nov 2015 and there was massive discounting in the final weeks leading up to embarkation.

[DianeandMark]

I think Vagabond Oldies might be referring to a 2018 cruise.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

If they only stuck to Australian ports it would be a local cruise and thus GST would be payable. By including PNG,Bali etc it becomes an overseas trip and they can sell Duty Free as well .

 

I'm not sure about the GST issue, but certainly Duty Free plays apart.

[erewhon]

We have done the Australian Circumnavigation Sydney to Sydney,twice with Holland America, both times calling at Komodo Island and Benoa.

 

A very enjoyable cruise.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I rate the Around Australia as a bucket list cruise.

Where else in the world does it take 32 days to cruise around an Island.:)

[GUT2407]

I rate the Around Australia as a bucket list cruise.

Where else in the world does it take 32 days to cruise around an Island.:)

 

It went on our bucket after our first cruise, took 10 years and while it's off our bucket list, came real close to booking another while we were on it.

[NSWP]

Did it on Sun Princess in 2009. Missed a few ports, Exmouth, Geraldton, Cooktown - seas to rough to tender. Worthwhile, but again you can only see limited country from a Port. Ours did not visit Komodo Island/Bali, just Aussie Ports. But been their before. I think it was 3 weeks.

 

The cruise line contracts most of the transport infrastructure in the ports visited, so Ship's shorex are best in IMO. Like at Broome, unless you did a shorex it was almost impossible to get into town, Princess had all the buses. Mad rush for the half dozen town taxis. We did a tour, not that is much to see, Cable Beach.

Edited January 25, 2017 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

Did it on Sun Princess in 2009. Missed a few ports, Exmouth, Geraldton, Cooktown - seas to rough to tender. Worthwhile, but again you can only see limited country from a Port. Ours did not visit Komodo Island/Bali, just Aussie Ports. But been their before. I think it was 3 weeks.

 

The cruise line contracts most of the transport infrastructure in the ports visited, so Ship's shorex are best in IMO. Like at Broome, unless you did a shorex it was almost impossible to get into town, Princess had all the buses. Mad rush for the half dozen town taxis. We did a tour, not that is much to see, Cable Beach.

We are 'done' the around Australia cruise a couple of times. It has always been 28 days, or longer if it includes NZ. We have also done the 17-night Northern Explorer that calls into Broome. In Broome, we have always taken the free shuttle bus into town. They drop you near the Information Centre. Sometimes we have taken a tour bus from there or otherwise just wandered around town.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Aus Traveller

[Grey Nomad]

We have done the Fremantle to Sydney Northern Explorer and in October/November did Sydney all the way around. After doing it one way, west to east, and then travelling anti clockwise on the circumnavigation, I would do the Northern Explorer again but definitely Fremantle to Sydney. Our Northern Explorer didn't go to Indonesia or PNG. It was before they had to do an international port, but going through the Torres Strait and down the East Coast it was in daylight and there was an excellent reef pilot who gave a commentary along the way about the different islands, eg. Thursday, Friday, Horn. We stopped in Cooktown which was wonderful. If you travel the other way it is at night time and you miss out on all this. Also no matter which way you go, choose a cabin on the port side of the ship and from time to time you will be able to see land. Saying this if you are doing Fremantle to Sydney it would therefore be best to stop at Indonesia instead of PNG as it would probably be in daytime.

[lyndarra]

Did it on Sun Princess in 2009. Missed a few ports, Exmouth, Geraldton, Cooktown - seas to rough to tender. Worthwhile, but again you can only see limited country from a Port. Ours did not visit Komodo Island/Bali, just Aussie Ports. But been their before. I think it was 3 weeks.

 

The cruise line contracts most of the transport infrastructure in the ports visited, so Ship's shorex are best in IMO. Like at Broome, unless you did a shorex it was almost impossible to get into town, Princess had all the buses. Mad rush for the half dozen town taxis. We did a tour, not that is much to see, Cable Beach.

Re Broome. We were there last month and can recommend a tour with Broome Hovercraft, at sunset if possible broomehovercraft.com.au. The hovercraft base is walking distance from the dock. There's also a bar/cafe there.

A sunset camel ride on cable beach if that's your thing. Also there is Matso's brewery and restaurant (in town) you can book a brewery tour. I'm a convert to Matso's Ginger Beer 3.5% and Matso's Mango Ginger beer 4.5%. Not cheap but a good drop.

Something to note with Broome is that quite a few tours don't operate during the wet.

[Pagan]

Thank you all for your input, now it's just a question of deciding which way round to go - plus the main decider - availability!

[GUT2407]

Cunard offered a 25 day one a couple of times, most tend to be around the 28 day mark, ours took in the South Island of NZ and was 34 days.

 

If we didn't have Bali and NZ it would have been about 25 I guess.

 

We went

 

Sydney

Port Douglas

Darwin

Bali

Geraldton

Freemantle

Busselton

Adelaide

Melbourne

The sounds

Akaroa (missed it actually)

Picton

Wellington

Sydney