Flying out of Sydney after cruise

[njkruzer]

We are sailing on the Radiance circumnavigation next year.  Started to look at flights back to the states the day the ship returns to Sydney. The United flight leaves at 11:50 am! American even earlier.  Concerned that might be too early.  Not sure how long debarkation should take and far from the airport the terminal is.   While we would like to fly home that day being a nervous wreck worrying about missing the flight isn't worth and would rather stay over an extra day if necessary.  Any thoughts? 

[Chiliburn]

Most flights leave around noon.

Ask the Australia & New Zealand forum someone may have a answer.

But I would stay a night in Sydney,no stress,no rush leaving the ship 

[njkruzer]

Thanks.

[The_Big_M]

If everything goes normally, which it usually does, the 1150 a.m. flight is achievable.

 

You'd want to check in at the airport around 9, allow half an hour to get from the terminal, and half hour to get through luggage and immigration at the terminal, so as long as you're off by 8 that should be fine. As departures are from around 7 a.m. it is achievable.

 

That said, it doesn't leave you much contingency, or in case there is the very rare circumstance of some delay. So it's much more preferable to have a day up your sleeve if there aren't any later flights.

[tomatosauce]

The train station (Circular Quay) is right next to where the ship docks and you can get a train directly to the airport (with other stops in between). If you choose to walk off with your own bags and you may well be at the airport by 7:30. It takes me about the same time to get home as it does to get to the airport and I have never gotten home after 9am.

[GottaRequalify]

Have you thought about flying through San Francisco? There is a Qantas flight that leaves in the afternoon, which would give you more time to get to the airport.

 

There is also an early evening flight out of Melbourne to Los Angeles. You could catch a flight up to 6pm down to Melbourne and connect there. If flight on same ticket, then bags would be checked through. Melbourne is a very easy terminal to connect through as its all one building, but you would have to recheck through security.

 

There is also a 12:35pm flight to Dallas - Closer to Tennessee, and gives you an extra 45 minutes to check in vs the American Airlines Flight.

 

Qantas and American Airlines are both in One World, so you would get American frequent flyer points if that is important. While not capable of doing it at the moment, the Qantas flights may even have American Code Share flight numbers on them in the future, to allow you to book American one way and Qantas metal the other.

 

 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

4 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Most flights leave around noon.

Ask the Australia & New Zealand forum someone may have a answer.

But I would stay a night in Sydney,no stress,no rush leaving the ship 

Yup. Our Delta flight connecting through Los Angeles left Sydney at 12:30pm.

 

Since you "gain time" coming home towards the U.S. (we landed 7:40am local time in L.A. for the connection, and then 4:25p.m. local time in Atlanta) - the same calendar day as departure - it's all about getting some sleep on the long flights. Staying an extra day won't help avoid the 20+ hour return trip to Tennessee.

Edited March 15, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[UKWLDCruise]

I found that after my transpacific it was one of the easier times I have had leaving a ship.  Australian immigration had come on the ship at the last stop and really I just walked off with no holdups. 

 

[Chiliburn]

Last time of the ovation I had to go to work and at about 8:00 the line was twice the length of the ship .

Australian authorities wasn’t the problem it was the ships side of it.

[bonsai3s]

Agree with tomatosauce.

From the OPT, (Overseas Passenger Terminal) cruise terminal, it's a short, easy 5-minute walk to the Circular Quay train station. It takes approximately 30 minutes to the airport. (Make sure you get off the International stop, not the Domestic. Triains to the airport are every 10 minutes. Twice we had 11:45 flights...arrived at the airport before 8:30 both times. We had so much time, DW had time to shop at the Duty Free shops.  Happy Sailing!

[CRUISEFAN0001]

5 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

If everything goes normally, which it usually does, the 1150 a.m. flight is achievable.

We booked a private airport shuttle (reasonable cost) after the cruise and got to the airport by 9:00am...easily made the 12:30pm return flight.

[paradise4me]

we had the united 11:50 flight and because of the comments on this board we bought the one way transfer to the airport through royal  We had plenty of time for our flight though it was expensive. Its worth the peace of mind. We also used Royal air2sea which was way cheaper for the flights. That was this past December.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by paradise4me

[Jandex]

It is doable, but everything would have to go according to plan. Personally, I would worry too much that something would go wrong with such a tight time frame. 😉

[dani negreanu]

We choose to take our luggage with us, and took the train to the airport from Circular Quay. It was very easy and doable. We had also a 11.30 flight, the only one connecting through to Tel-Aviv via Hong Kong.

I prefer to fly home after a cruise, and not to spend another night in the disembarkation city -- very difficult to find an early check-in in hotels around 9-9.30 in the morning, and for me -- it's a waste of time.

Edited March 15, 2019 by dani negreanu

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 hour ago, Jandex said:

It is doable, but everything would have to go according to plan. Personally, I would worry too much that something would go wrong with such a tight time frame. 😉

Ovation arrived in port about 6:30am, people were disembarking at 7:15am...flights at 11:30 or later gave people 4+ hours to (easily) get to the airport, check in, and get to their gate. Many folks would not consider that a tight schedule.

 

In our case...we had more than 5 hours to simply get to our gate. Never felt rushed or worried.

[Bee Guy]

There are later flights.  We are staying in Sydney a couple of days then taking a 9:30 PM Hawaiian Airlines flight.

[lakelorain]

We stayed a few days in Sydney and had a late flight home.  Took us 4 hours to get through immigration and security at the airport.  The line was the full length of the airport.  Our driver had checked with the airport and picked us up at the hotel early because of the backup. He said it wasn't unusual as the airport has limited hours and gets very crowded.  

 

[njkruzer]

Thanks everyone.   After reviewing everyone's comments we have decided to stay over and fly home the next day.  After 7 weeks of travel one extra day is nothing.  While most of our cruises arrive on time and we have no trouble disembarking we were on a cruise out of Tampa this past December that left 20 hrs late delaying the arrival of the incoming ships.   I think peace if mind is worth it and enjoying our last night without worrying is also worth it.

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Thanks everyone.   After reviewing everyone's comments we have decided to stay over and fly home the next day.  After 7 weeks of travel one extra day is nothing.  While most of our cruises arrive on time and we have no trouble disembarking we were on a cruise out of Tampa this past December that left 20 hrs late delaying the arrival of the incoming ships.   I think peace if mind is worth it and enjoying our last night without worrying is also worth it.

 

I think that's a good idea. We did a TP in 2017 & 2018. Between the 2 we were there for 12 days. Lots to see and do. If you have time take a ferry for a harbour tour, walk to the opera house or walk on the bridge. You can walk on the lower level where the cars are for free. We stayed at the Shangri La both times with a room on the upper levels. The view of the bridge and the opera house is amazing. Well worth it just for the view.

[ReneeFLL]

 

Our ship had come in 10-2018. Unfortunately we had to and would be leaving Sydney in 5 days. That was the downside in staying in the Rocks where you could see other ships come in and leave without you.

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by ReneeFLL

[ReneeFLL]

 

04-2017

Our ship had come in on my birthday 🍾 and we would be leaaving on her. It was really great to see your ship come in early in the morning and sit in the window sipping mimosas.

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by ReneeFLL

[Hogbay]

Hi hope you enjoy your  vacation around Australia ☺. There are taxi and hire cars available see your conserge at your hotel.  There is a taxi rank level 3 at Overseas Passager Terminal as you leave building after customs turn left and take elevator to level 3 . Taxi are waiting there . As train is not close at all with luggage in hand and  Au $18 per person not recommended at all . Quarter mile over rough pavers and many pedestrian  , take the taxi . 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

8 hours ago, lakelorain said:

We stayed a few days in Sydney and had a late flight home.  Took us 4 hours to get through immigration and security at the airport.  The line was the full length of the airport.  Our driver had checked with the airport and picked us up at the hotel early because of the backup. He said it wasn't unusual as the airport has limited hours and gets very crowded.  

 

Interesting...our driver said the opposite...it would be unusual for anyone to take more than 90 minutes to check in and get through security to their gate. IN our case...upon arrival...it took 45 minutes to get to our gate.

[The_Big_M]

If you have the time, that's the best option.

 

As for the comment about boarding times, haven't heard of check in queues like that before. 45 min would be pretty normal.

[lakelorain]

5 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Interesting...our driver said the opposite...it would be unusual for anyone to take more than 90 minutes to check in and get through security to their gate. IN our case...upon arrival...it took 45 minutes to get to our gate.

It may have been the time of the year.  We were trying to get back to the US just before Thanksgiving.  Seemed like most of the passengers were from the US or Asia.