Austrailia & New Zealand - back to back cruises 2019

[sunscreen]

So I have been looking at doing back to back cruises for New Zealand and then the northern coast of Australia. I am having a hard time finding something where there is not alot of turnaround time as we are on a holiday time constraint. I would like to go on Majestic Princess for New Zealand but am having a hard time finding a Northern Australian cruise from 7-10 days to connect. Definitely want to hit Brisbane, Cairns and Sydney. Am open to various cruise lines for that shorter portion. Not many options available for that Australian portion. Any suggestions appreciated..

[WeAllLove2Travel]

Australia/New Zealand is on our family trip calendar within the next few years but I haven't researched it yet as we have lots of travel before that time. I'm following your thread as I'd love to read the feedback you receive for future travel! I did a quick search after I read this because we also have limited vacation time and a b2b sounds fabulous. I never considered it as a non-retired person but was excited when you mentioned holiday time constraint. Holland has a 15 day Australia/New Zealand itinerary which looks incredible. It's not b2b but it does hit up both countries and encompasses a lot of places in both. Check it out. Hope it helps.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

I don't think any of the NZ cruises then go over the top, you may be ably to find a Perth to Sydney over the top that then does NZ.

[Mr&MrsCookie]

Not sure how easy it will be to work out a B2B and hard to know now when the itineraries aren't out yet. But if you do an Aus/NZ cruise starting and finishing from Sydney then you will have more choices on cruises up the east coast of Aus. Celebrity, Carnival, P&O, Princess and possibly NCL do the east coast cruises.

[Aus Traveller]

Princess has a 10 night cruise from Sydney that goes to Port Douglas, Cairns, Airlie Beach (Whitsunday Islands) and Brisbane. If the dates don't work, the other option to consider is to fly from Sydney to Brisbane and take the 7 or 8 night cruise to North Queensland.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I seriously suggest you look at the possibility of flying up to Cairns and staying there or at Port Douglas (my preference) for a few nights. That way you'd be able to arrange tours to suit yourself, and not limited to what the cruise line provides, especially if you want to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef and also see some of the other Far North Queensland sights.

[Aus Traveller]

Princess has a 10 night cruise from Sydney that goes to Port Douglas, Cairns, Airlie Beach (Whitsunday Islands) and Brisbane. If the dates don't work, the other option to consider is to fly from Sydney to Brisbane and take the 7 or 8 night cruise to North Queensland.

 

Another point to consider - The cruising season for NZ is summer (November-March), otherwise it is cold. Unfortunately, this isn't a good time to go to tropical North Queensland. Mid summer is hot and humid with a likelihood of rain, even if it is just a downpour in the afternoon. There is also the possibility of a cyclone, although there are usually only a couple each summer and you would be unlucky to have one impact on your cruise.

 

 

If you want to combine the two areas, a cruise that is early in the summer - say late October/early November for North Queensland, followed by NZ, would be OK weatherwise. But these dates may not be available. All the best.:)

[lyndarra]

I seriously suggest you look at the possibility of flying up to Cairns and staying there or at Port Douglas (my preference) for a few nights. That way you'd be able to arrange tours to suit yourself, and not limited to what the cruise line provides, especially if you want to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef and also see some of the other Far North Queensland sights.

Also to keep in mind Cairns may be a tender port depending on the ship. Bad weather can prevent you from getting ashore as we found out in February on Radiance OTS Sydney/Bali/Perth.

[By The Bay]

Majestic sails to New Zealand on Wednesday 6th February 2019 for 12 nights. There is a 5 day layover before the Sun Princess sails to Queensland, mentioned in post 5, on the 23rd February for 10 nights. Both departures are from Sydney.

[The_Big_M]

Another option is RCL have a Queensland sailing on 1 Feb 19 to QLD destinations (Rtn 9th Feb) on Explorer of the Seas, then 14th Feb Syd roundtrip on Ovation of the seas (if you want to take a new ship).

 

Of course, you can also mix with itins on other lines. There are more NZ options, though that's the only QLD option with them.

[Felixbrisbane]

Also to keep in mind Cairns may be a tender port depending on the ship. Bad weather can prevent you from getting ashore as we found out in February on Radiance OTS Sydney/Bali/Perth.

Hi, seems you've already done the Sydney->Fremantle cruise which we're booked on for Feb. Just a bit worried about the weather but have to go at that time. If it's not too much trouble would you be kind enough to suggest what the best (or worst) thing is about this cruise. Maybe you could comment on the ship itself. We've only ever been on frankly disappointing p&o cruises and hoping this'll be better.

 

2012 P&O Northern Qld

2014 P&O New Zealand

2017 P&O South Pacific Islands

2018 Royal Carribean Around Australia

[WeAllLove2Travel]

Hi, seems you've already done the Sydney->Fremantle cruise which we're booked on for Feb. Just a bit worried about the weather but have to go at that time. If it's not too much trouble would you be kind enough to suggest what the best (or worst) thing is about this cruise. Maybe you could comment on the ship itself. We've only ever been on frankly disappointing p&o cruises and hoping this'll be better.

 

2012 P&O Northern Qld

2014 P&O New Zealand

2017 P&O South Pacific Islands

2018 Royal Carribean Around Australia

 

 

Slightly off topic but what was disappointing about P&O? I've never sailed them before but I've read on this site that they are a wonderful cruise line and we were considering them for future cruises. Do you disagree?

 

 

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[WeAllLove2Travel]

Sorry. Hit send too quickly. Of course you disagree as you said they're disappointing. What specifically was disappointing about them? I know it's all subjective but I was just curious.

 

 

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[lyndarra]

Hi, seems you've already done the Sydney->Fremantle cruise which we're booked on for Feb. Just a bit worried about the weather but have to go at that time. If it's not too much trouble would you be kind enough to suggest what the best (or worst) thing is about this cruise. Maybe you could comment on the ship itself. We've only ever been on frankly disappointing p&o cruises and hoping this'll be better.

 

2012 P&O Northern Qld

2014 P&O New Zealand

2017 P&O South Pacific Islands

2018 Royal Carribean Around Australia

February, for us, was a great time to go as we don't mind the heat. (Previous was in November, a good time too).There can be cyclones lurking at that time of the year and such was the case on our cruise but we missed them completely and had smooth cruising all the way. The only minus we could mention is the tendering for Cairns. When we were there the weather was good but it was quite windy causing a dangerous swell. The ship waited a little while the the captain, quite rightly, erred on the side of caution. For us it was not a big disappointment was we have been to Cairns a couple of times. There is tendering in Bali, if doing the northern route, but that was ok.We would have prefered a stop at Broome rather than Port Headland, more interesting.

 

It was our second time on Radiance and, although its getting on in age (the ship - as well as us), we were quite happy with everything. It was like putting on a pair of comfortable old shoes. No complaints at all about service, food, MDR or Windjammer buffet.

Entertainment was very good. There were a couple of acts we had seen before but they had varied the presentation so that it wasn't old hat. We spent a lot of time in the solarium where it is quite warm but without the noise and crowd of the outdoor pool.

We've never cruised with P&O and, from our perspective, its the Jet Star of the Oz cruise world. Yes, you can have a good cruise with P&O but there are better. Our favourites are Celebrity and HAL.

[Felixbrisbane]

Slightly off topic but what was disappointing about P&O? I've never sailed them before but I've read on this site that they are a wonderful cruise line and we were considering them for future cruises. Do you disagree?

 

 

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We're new at this so don't claim to be experts. However our first p&o ship was tiny, ancient and doing her final cruise before being turned into a floating casino in Macau or somewhere. There were Chinese guys in coveralls checking out the condition of the ship and muttering and shaking their heads sadly. A lot of visible rust and in one area near the buffet the ceiling had fallen down so that area had safety cones around it. The FOOD was out of this world which was the only reason we tried again (to nz) .

 

Second ship the food was mostly disgusting. Weirdest combination of stuff in the buffet. Service was surly in the restaurants, having my plate pulled out from under my fork while I was eating was quite disconcerting. Pipes to the afterdeck hot tub broke flooding a cabin beside us so they had to be moved and everything was musty after that. Nz was great!

 

My sister's cruised everywhere (twice at least) and said this was NOT what they experienced as a rule. If any other company had been available for June our of or into Brisbane we'd have taken it even for more money. Hence we're joining them on Radiance next February and hoping for a better experience.

 

2012 P&O Northern Qld

2014 P&O New Zealand

2017 P&O South Pacific Islands

2018 Royal Carribean Around Australia

[WeAllLove2Travel]

We're new at this so don't claim to be experts. However our first p&o ship was tiny, ancient and doing her final cruise before being turned into a floating casino in Macau or somewhere. There were Chinese guys in coveralls checking out the condition of the ship and muttering and shaking their heads sadly. A lot of visible rust and in one area near the buffet the ceiling had fallen down so that area had safety cones around it. The FOOD was out of this world which was the only reason we tried again (to nz) .

 

Second ship the food was mostly disgusting. Weirdest combination of stuff in the buffet. Service was surly in the restaurants, having my plate pulled out from under my fork while I was eating was quite disconcerting. Pipes to the afterdeck hot tub broke flooding a cabin beside us so they had to be moved and everything was musty after that. Nz was great!

 

My sister's cruised everywhere (twice at least) and said this was NOT what they experienced as a rule. If any other company had been available for June our of or into Brisbane we'd have taken it even for more money. Hence we're joining them on Radiance next February and hoping for a better experience.

 

2012 P&O Northern Qld

2014 P&O New Zealand

2017 P&O South Pacific Islands

2018 Royal Carribean Around Australia

 

 

Thank you for your response. That does sound disconcerting. Eek! [emoji51] Hope your upcoming Australia cruise with your sister is wonderful. [emoji4]

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

We're new at this so don't claim to be experts. However our first p&o ship was tiny, ancient and doing her final cruise before being turned into a floating casino in Macau or somewhere. There were Chinese guys in coveralls checking out the condition of the ship and muttering and shaking their heads sadly. A lot of visible rust and in one area near the buffet the ceiling had fallen down so that area had safety cones around it.

 

Sounds like Pacific Sun. My least favourite cruise ship, terrible design... and I wasn't a fan of the food on her either.

 

Fortunately I've had better experiences on other P&O ships... though the food isn't going to be their strong point.

[Felixbrisbane]

Well we paid extra on the second cruise for a balcony (the first cruise inside room was airless and claustrophobic) and I loved to sit outside on sea days watching the water go by. But it was such a tiny rusty place with uncomfortable furniture that my Mrs wouldn't go out there with me. She preferred the gym while I sat out there or in the aft hot tub (when it was working) with a glass of white wine. So we're keen on cruising but so far it hasn't been the luxury holiday we expected. Some of the evening floor shows were great, especially the hypnotist one and it forces you to leave housework and house maintenance behind. Unless this P&O cruise coming up is a huge improvement we'll stick to the lines with newer and bigger ships in future.

[Aus Traveller]

Fortunately I've had better experiences on other P&O ships... though the food isn't going to be their strong point.

We are going on the Pacific Dawn soon. Our last P&O cruise was 2012 and since then we have had many cruises on Princess ships. It will be interesting to try P&O again. I hope their food is OK. :)