Australia a big bust

[The_Big_M]

Considering what the problem really was, that Heading was a bit over the top. It's a bit like landing in Death Valley and saying the USA is a waste of time for a holiday.

 

...After being diverted there due to engine failure!

 

That said, there are brilliant excursions out of Bay of Islands in particular, but also Airley Beach. Just they're not big cities where you walk right out and it's right in front of you.

[GUT2407]

You came to Australia stopping at Airlie Beach and Cairns and you didn't consider a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef, I'd say you missed a great opportunity.

Weird ain't it.

[clairebearinaus]

What a shame. I can see how last minute port changes and extra tenders would be really stressful when you had planned to have certain 'experiences of a lifetime' on your cruise. I hope you do decide to come back one day and see our country properly :)

[joandian]

You could have easily seen Koalas at the Airlie Beach stop by booking a quick trip to Hamilton Island where they have a Wildlife park with Kangaroos, Crocs and the Koalas which you can actually handle. As others have said, a little planning goes a long way, especially when spending as much as you did.

[Suzbluz]

I am sorry you didn't get to see what you wanted to see, it is a long way to go to miss on things and missing Brisbane is a shame as perhaps that one port would have you feeling less let down by the experience. I think cruising is not the best way to see Australia as you cant do a city like Sydney in a day. I have been to the US a couple of times for weeks at a time so that I was able to actually see everything I wanted to but if cruising is your preferred method then that is the trade off I think. I felt like I should spend more time there to make it worth the long trip to get there but again I wasn't constrained by being on a cruise. I, like the other posters, would hate to think you were judging Australia on an experience that wasn't our fault. After all Australia and New Zealand are awesome!!

[Vader1111]

I honestly think Australia may be better seen by land and not by cruise ship.it seems going to a beach town only to read danger no swimming due to salt water crocs and jelly fish makes it kind of a waste to go to a beech town

Definitely true for northern Australia.

 

It also doesn't help that Australia has so few large ports (capable of handling cruise ships) on the East Coast. Cairns can handle smaller cruise ships, but other than that it's really just Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane. Everywhere else you need to tender.

[ozdevil]

Tie me kangaroo down, sport

Tie me kangaroo down

Tie me kangaroo down, sport

Tie me kangaroo down

'n' take me koala back, Jack

Take me koala back

He lives somewhere out on the track, Mac

 

So take me koala back

Tie me kangaroo down, sport

Tie me kangaroo down

Tie me kangaroo down, sport

Tie me kangaroo down

Sorry cobber you didnt get to see what you wanted in this beaut country of ours its not like Kangaroos or koalas are tame pets in our great country..... but strike me array next time you come down under cobber make sure ya pack a six pack and a vegemite sandwhich and head out into the boondocks and we maysee some of Australias great wildlife in the wild

 

 

Seriously though to not have done your research ad i suppose its not entirely your own fault if you had ports changed on you, but surely before the start of your cruise ya would have done your research on our great country...

 

 

anyway sorry about ya cruise but please dont blame Australia becuase you had to tender and you couldnt ffind anything to do to relate to your likes

[possum52]

'Darwin we went to an animal park and no kangaroos or koala bears .'

 

 

I believe the animal park in Darwin has animals and birds native to the area. It is too humid for koalas (not bears) and which are not native to Darwin and the Top End. Kangaroos are the same and also need more open plains than the Top End has which is typically tropical forested than further south.

 

 

I agree that if you want to see the Australian and New Zealand and all they have to offer, a land based holiday is best. On a cruise you are only having a taste of what a country has to offer.

 

 

I hope you are able to come back to our beautiful countries and see more of what they have to offer.

 

 

Leigh

[GUT2407]

I suspect the OP might have to more sympathy if s/he had blamed NCL rather than the Country.

[banzaii]

Cruising is not the best way to see the land down under. Unless you specifically wanted to see Yorkey's Knob.

 

Perhaps a repositioning cruise followed by a few months of touring the country would have seen better value for your $50k.

 

By the way, I think 20,000 people is still the threshold for qualifying as a city in Oz.

 

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Edited March 20, 2017 by banzaii

[MicCanberra]

Our ship had a failure to the propulsion system and things were changed just days before. We did most of the ports we signed up for other then Brisbane. The challenge was we were on the wrong days so docks were booked by other cruise ships. We signed up for 4 tenders and got 8.

I think most of the issues is down to the ship being broken and affecting the itinerary adversely, by missing ports and only utilising the ones that were tendered. I hope they compensated you adequately.

[MicCanberra]

Cruising is not the best way to see the land down under. Unless you specifically wanted to see Yorkey's Knob.

 

Perhaps a repositioning cruise followed by a few months of touring the country would have seen better value for your $50k.

 

By the way, I think 20,000 people is still the threshold for qualifying as a city in Oz.

 

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Cities need 100,000 people, Australia has 41 cities.

[MicCanberra]

I once went to LA and thought, if this is typical of the US they can have it. I then saw some films that showed the US also had a big hole, a big apple, some deserts and a swamp down south.:p

 

I have actually seen 36 of the American states and really enjoy visiting although I am giving it a break for a few years. I love cruising but that is not the best way to see a country.:D

[banzaii]

Cities need 100,000 people, Australia has 41 cities.

Quick thread side track.

 

Mic - being from Canberra did you ever notice the sign near Goulburn that says "Australia's first inland city"? Population is even now about 25,000. Must have stretched the "city limits" a bit to qualify for that tag.

[chesterbear]

Cruising is not the best way to see the land down under. Unless you specifically wanted to see Yorkey's Knob.

 

Perhaps a repositioning cruise followed by a few months of touring the country would have seen better value for your $50k.

 

By the way, I think 20,000 people is still the threshold for qualifying as a city in Oz.

 

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I agree with this. If you want to see the best parts of New Zealand you're best to drive around for a few weeks. That's easy to combine with a cruise.

 

The bay of islands is a tender port and its small. However it does have a significant place in New Zealand history and ports are what you make of them. [emoji3]

 

 

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[banzaii]

I agree with this. If you want to see the best parts of New Zealand you're best to drive around for a few weeks. That's easy to combine with a cruise.

 

The bay of islands is a tender port and its small. However it does have a significant place in New Zealand history and ports are what you make of them. [emoji3]

 

 

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Bay of Islands and Bay of Plenty are my 2 favourite ports and both are tender access.

 

Maybe it was the dolphins surfing the bow waves of the tenders. Maybe it the fact that our ship made it under her own steam.[emoji15]

[whimsy7]

I'm sorry to read that your cruise was not up to your expectations.

The Asia portion was incredible but New Zealand and Austtralia was a huge disappointment

I'm curious about the ports that you visited in Asia.

many of the ports seem to be at least an hour away from the main cities (this fact has made us hesitant to book an Asian cruise)....Laem Chabang for Bangkok, Phu My for Ho Chi Minh City, Port Klang for Kuala Lumpur, Benoa for Bali

at least here in Australia, the ports were only a tender away!

[wishfulone]

Airley beach was a waste. Bay of islands there was nothing there. The Sydney port was awesome and Indonesia.malaysia and Singapore were spectacular.

My biggest frustration was 8 of 10 of the ports were tenders.

In 30 plus cruises I have never seen 80 percent tenders !!!!

The Asia portion was incredible but New Zealand and Austtralia was a huge disappointment

Next time I will just go to Asia and save the long travel

Airlie and Sydney. Yes that's Australia. Singapore, Benoa, Port Kelang. Not Australia. You've called your thread ''Australia a big bust'' so were the other 5 ports in Australia?

[4flushing]

We even tendered in Sydney.they only have room for one ship to dock. tendering every day just left you with so little time and very frustrated.that combined with the almost two days of travel to get there I will not be back.i know it's my loss.i am just so disappointed in the experience

[wishfulone]

As far as I can tell the only Australian ports you visited were Sydney, Airlie and Darwin and because you didn't see a kangaroo or a koala Australia was a big bust. Maybe you just didn't do your research well enough? It's a big thing to call your thread Australia a big bust. BTW where are you from flushing one?

[MicCanberra]

Quick thread side track.

 

Mic - being from Canberra did you ever notice the sign near Goulburn that says "Australia's first inland city"? Population is even now about 25,000. Must have stretched the "city limits" a bit to qualify for that tag.

I think the standard back then was considerably less. ABS has had it as 100,000 since the early eighties (1980s that is).

[MicCanberra]

We even tendered in Sydney.they only have room for one ship to dock. tendering every day just left you with so little time and very frustrated.that combined with the almost two days of travel to get there I will not be back.i know it's my loss.i am just so disappointed in the experience

It is such a shame it was a lot of money to spend and NCL really should have called it off and repaired her much earlier (in Singapore in my opinion) as it just prolonged the agony and disappointment for all concerned.

[wishfulone]

Oh I didn't realise it was the NCL Star. How did everyone else know that?

[banzaii]

Pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.😉

[OzKiwiJJ]

Sadly, and no matter what anyone says, the OP seems determined to blame Australia for what was a colossal stuff-up by the cruise-line the OP chose to book on.

 

Whilst I can understand the OP's disappointment there really wasn't anything Australia could do to improve that situation.