White Bay to airport

[Senior Citizen]

We are disembarking a cruise ship on a Wednesday in May. I thought we were berthing at Circular Quay but have a sinking feeling we will actually be berthing at White Bay since we are on a small Oceania ship. Our flight to NZ is at 11:35 am on Quantas. Originally, our flight was supposed to leave after 1 pm but Quantas cancelled that flight and put us on the 11:35 am flight. That was going to be a tight connection going from Circular Quay BUT now that we will be leaving from White Bay, I’m at a loss for how much time it will take to get to the airport. Is that flight even doable?

 

If we are the first to disembark the ship with our luggage in tow, do you think we can get to the airport in time for our 11:35 am flight?

[tillydog]

Which ship are you going on?

This is the Cruise ship schedule for Sydney:

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/cruise/cruise-schedule/

[Iainmac]

The cruise schedule says that the Insignia will dock at the OPT at 7am.

We frequently catch the 11.20 AirNZ flight to NZ and have no bother getting a taxi at the OPT. There is usually plenty.

Ask to be off the ship by about 8am. and allow a half hour for the Taxi ride.

This should allow you plenty of time to make the final check-in time two hours before the flight.

Should you be diverted to White Bay the taxi ride will not take much longer.

[Senior Citizen]

Thank you so much for your responses. I was reading in a few places that smaller ships like those that Oceania, Azamara, etc. use are sent to the White Bay terminal. And then I read a blog that said the Regatta berthed at White Bay in December. So, at that point, I thought catching our flight would be problematic. But, berthing at the OPT means that we could even take the train and avoid early morning traffic.

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

[OzKiwiJJ]

May is outside the peak cruising season here so I doubt that your berth will be changed. Most of the bigger ships that can't fit under the Sydney harbour bridge will have headed off to other regions by then.

[Senior Citizen]

Are the waters along the west coast of Australia rough in May? We will be cruising down from Indonesia into 5 ports before we disembark in Sydney. Rain?

[Zac#1]

Hello SENIOR CITIZEN,

‘Tillydog’ is correct regarding the scheduled berthing of the INSIGNIA at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Do refer to the web site ( http://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au )

Cheers Zac

[SeaDog-46]

Re the weather off Western Australia in May -

As with any part of the world's oceans at any time of the year - the weather can be good or bad.

After passing Cape Leeuwin at the SW corner of Australia you could be effected by the SW swell from the Southern Ocean while going across the Great Australian Bight. Then again it could be a flat calm.

The name of Australia's airline QANTAS - stands for - Queensland & Northern Territory Aerial Services - so there is never a U in QANTAS.

[Senior Citizen]

Thanks for the QANTAS explanation!

 

I understand that sea conditions can’t be predicted with any certainty. A number of years ago, we switched our Australia cruise from a small ship to Royal Caribbean to be on a larger ship crossing the infamous Tasman Sea. We crossed it 4 times on our B2B cruise. Each time, the sea was very calm.

[SeaDog-46]

Looked at the ports of call for Insignia arriving into Sydney 9th May 2018.

 

Ports are Darwin 30th Apr., Cooktown 4th May, Townsville 5th May, Brisbane 7th May.

All are either North or on the East coast - so you will not be effected by weather from Southern Ocean.

 

Is this correct?

[Senior Citizen]

Thanks for looking at weather on the eastern coast. Not sure why I said western coast. We’ve been on three of your coasts before on our cruise from Perth to Sydney via NZ and Queensland. Terrific cruise on Royal Caribbean with Australian entertainers and a vegemite type product to smear on our breakfast toasts (a real experience...).