Contemplating an Australia - New Zealand?

[Loritd]

We are contemplating an Australia - New Zealand cruisetour in January. Starting in Auckland and ending in Sydney. We know it will be hot especially at Ayers Rock. We would love to hear other peoples opinions and experiences. Lori

[GUT2407]

Best place on earth, but not sure I’d go to the Centre in January, by choice.

[icat2000]

Not a great idea to do the Uluru in January. Your going to get 40C plus weather. Unless your used to long hot sunny days a better time of the year is June. 

[skynight]

We did an 8 day Princess cruisetour in Australia. Great memories. Loved it. Princess provided an excellent tour. We had a great tour guide. It was hot in the outback, but never really felt uncomfortable. It will be summer and you will be in the tropics in Queensland and the Northern Territories. Be prepared for long flights, if I remember 4 hours or so, within Australia.  I would stay even longer if you can after the tour. Melbourne is really nice.

[Loritd]

Skynight, do you remember what type of planes you were on. Were they commercial (Qantas) or were they charters? I assume they don't want all your cruise luggage on the land portion, do they store bags for you? I would like to stay in Sydney after the cruisetour but my husband is still working so three weeks is really all the time we can take.

[SeaDog-46]

Direct flights from Sydney are usually jets these days.

Q.A.N.T.A.S. [Queensland & Northern Territory Aerial Service] use B737-800, Virgin Australia may use a smaller jet & JetStar a QANTAS economy carrier also use B737-800. Flight time is around 3 & half hours.

You can expect over 105F each day in summer with low humidity.

Your sweat will be consumed by Bush flies - they do not bite but will try to get in your eyes.

[marybrodo]

Absolutely was crazy about Australia, but highly recommend that you go in July, their so-called winter.  We were there in July of 2018 and I would hate to have you ruin the gorgeous, gorgeous tour of the Red Centre and Uluru by going when it will be overwhelmingly hot (in January).  It was plenty warm in July; try to plan for that.

 

 

[DDG 41]

4 hours ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Direct flights from Sydney are usually jets these days.

Q.A.N.T.A.S. [Queensland & Northern Territory Aerial Service] use B737-800, Virgin Australia may use a smaller jet & JetStar a QANTAS economy carrier also use B737-800. Flight time is around 3 & half hours.

You can expect over 105F each day in summer with low humidity.

Your sweat will be consumed by Bush flies - they do not bite but will try to get in your eyes.

Sorry to nitpick but The Jetstar plane in an Airbus A320-200. QANTAS Operates smaller jets there like the 717 and the Fokker 100 which are similarly sized to some virgin jets.

[cruise4mom]

My BFF and I are planning our trip to Australia and New Zealand. I have researched just about every cruise line to see who sees the most ports with the least Amount of Sea Days. We originally picked a Princess Cruise which was 20 days and went to just Australia and New Zealand. We always get a balcony so the price was around $6,500 and did not include airfare. Our travel agency has monthly travel panels so we began looking at other cruise lines. In 2021 Holland American has a 43 day Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Hawaii, Victoria BC and it ends in seattle. The price for this is around $7,000. We discussed it

and decided it was worth the extra $500 to see the other ports and the length. I have been on holland American before and honestly a boat is a boat. Some are bigger, nicer,

etc but they all get you there. The staff is what makes the boat! Good luck hunting! 

[Bazandgiz]

Where else does the cruise tour go? The red centre is extremely hot in January, you can expect it to be over 40 degrees most days at that time of year. It is generally more temperate on the coast, although it does spike into the 40's on some days. The north of the country (Darwin, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef etc) is in the wet season in January, mid-30s and very humid, not the best time of year for seeing that part of the country unfortunately.

[skynight]

14 hours ago, Loritd said:

Skynight, do you remember what type of planes you were on. Were they commercial (Qantas) or were they charters? I assume they don't want all your cruise luggage on the land portion, do they store bags for you? I would like to stay in Sydney after the cruisetour but my husband is still working so three weeks is really all the time we can take.

Regular commercial flights. Our tickets and seat selections were provided by the tour guide. We were on a pre-cruise land tour and our luggage primary luggage was in our cabin when we boarded. We each took one of the standard 22 inch type carry ons plus a day pack on the land tour. Imagine that your large luggage will be stored and returned to you at the end of the tour, but don't exactly how that works. 

[skynight]

5 hours ago, Bazandgiz said:

Where else does the cruise tour go? The red centre is extremely hot in January, you can expect it to be over 40 degrees most days at that time of year. It is generally more temperate on the coast, although it does spike into the 40's on some days. The north of the country (Darwin, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef etc) is in the wet season in January, mid-30s and very humid, not the best time of year for seeing that part of the country unfortunately.

There are different tours that can be selected. You can find them on the Princess web site by selecting cruisetours. Basically the tours may include Uluru (Ayres Rock) and the Olgas, Cairns, Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef, Darwin with a river side trip and of course Sydney. Except for Sydney, you spend most of the trip in the tropics at high end hotels.

[SeaDog-46]

CRUISE4MON

A Cruise SHIP  is  NEVER  a Boat.

 

Note what the Celebrity lady Master says

[heddyjan]

You won’t be able to climb Ayers Rock anymore. The “traditional owners” are putting a stop to it (roll eyes). 

As I have advised visitors to Australia many times (especially in the summer or at all times in the tropics) the golden rule is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

 

[Loritd]

I read that climbing would no longer be allowed. I really don’t mind. To me it’s no different than being roped off from Stonehenge. Look but don’t touch. We also decided to go in mid February.  Hopefully won’t be as hot. 

[leck57]

4 minutes ago, Loritd said:

I read that climbing would no longer be allowed. I really don’t mind. To me it’s no different than being roped off from Stonehenge. Look but don’t touch. We also decided to go in mid February.  Hopefully won’t be as hot. 

 

It will be just as hot in mid-February but at least it is a dry heat in the Centre, and not humid to go with it. Plenty of water and you'll be fine.

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, heddyjan said:

You won’t be able to climb Ayers Rock anymore. The “traditional owners” are putting a stop to it (roll eyes). 

As I have advised visitors to Australia many times (especially in the summer or at all times in the tropics) the golden rule is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

 

 

There's no need to put "traditional owners" in quotes. They are the owners of Uluru as much as anyone else owns their own home.

 

As for the roll eyes, complain to the owners about not being allowed to climb Uluru after you've started allowing strangers climb onto the roof of your house because they feel like it.

Edited July 28, 2019 by SinbadThePorter

[heddyjan]

I do not intend to turn this discussion into a political statement however the words “traditional owners” is put in quotes for the benefit of our overseas visitors.

There are two issues to consider. Firstly visitors have been climbing Uluru for over a century and is NOT the roof of their house so that’s not really a good analogy.

Imposing a ban now is causing some confusion.

Secondly, I imagine that millions of tourist dollars will be lost.

 

[TrixieBel]

A better description for non-Australians about climbing Uluru might be:

 

In recent years there has been political recognition in Australia that the European settlers who came to the country in the 1700-1800’s did much harm to the original inhabitants of the land - the Aboriginal people. While the Aboriginal people are still very marginalised and many are disadvantaged, autonomy over the  traditional lands that hold deep meaning for them is being recognised. Because of this, the climbing of Uluru will no longer be permitted as “the rock” is very sacred to them. 

 

Tourists are still welcome to travel to see Uluru, just not to climb it. 

 

Personally, I think that if you have a chance to go see it, the time of year is moot. Yes it might be hotter in January, but you’ll be in air conditioned vehicles and able to keep hydrated. And in places like Sydney (where I live) it’ll be gorgeous summer weather for enjoying the harbour and beaches at their best. ❤️

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, heddyjan said:

I do not intend to turn this discussion into a political statement however the words “traditional owners” is put in quotes for the benefit of our overseas visitors.

There are two issues to consider. Firstly visitors have been climbing Uluru for over a century and is NOT the roof of their house so that’s not really a good analogy.

Imposing a ban now is causing some confusion.

Secondly, I imagine that millions of tourist dollars will be lost.

 

 

Quite right, it's a poor analogy.

 

It's more like the roof of a cathedral.

 

The only confusion is among those people who feel that they have the right to other people's property.

 

I take it your roll eyes was also for the benefit of our overseas visitors and also completely non-political.

Edited July 28, 2019 by SinbadThePorter

[heddyjan]

As a West Australian this might be a good time to promote what is actually the largest rock in the world: Mount Augustus.

“The rock itself is about eight kilometres long and covers an area of 4,795 hectares within Mount Augustus National Park. The granite rock that lies beneath Mount Augustus is 1,650 million years old. This makes it twice the size of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and considerably older. It is also the biggest 'rock' in the world”.

 

[crawford]

On 7/3/2019 at 8:47 PM, marybrodo said:

Absolutely was crazy about Australia, but highly recommend that you go in July, their so-called winter.  We were there in July of 2018 and I would hate to have you ruin the gorgeous, gorgeous tour of the Red Centre and Uluru by going when it will be overwhelmingly hot (in January).  It was plenty warm in July; try to plan for that.

 

 

 

Just checked out the 2020 Australia/New Zealand cruises and May, June and July. It appears that Princess does not go there during those months or am I missing something?

[SinbadThePorter]

39 minutes ago, crawford said:

 

Just checked out the 2020 Australia/New Zealand cruises and May, June and July. It appears that Princess does not go there during those months or am I missing something?

 

Those months are the Southern Hemisphere winter (plus August). Most Princess ships leave here for either East Asia or Alaska in April and come back in October.

 

The Sea Princess and Sun Princess are special cases in that they do extended cruises, either World or Circle Pacific, during the winter months.

 

There are some Carnival and P&O Australia (not to be confused with P&O UK) cruises over winter, but they are both budget cruise lines.

Edited July 28, 2019 by SinbadThePorter

[Cruisencatlady]

Last October, I saved up all my vacation(and a big chunk of $$$) and flew Air NZ into Sydney from Texas, then the next day took a Virgin flight to Uluru, for a 2 night stay at the Desert Garden with hikes and tours of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, which was wonderful.  It never occured to me to climb Uluru, just hike the base, since it would be similar to climbing St Peter's.  The next day I took the bus to Kings Canyon for a vigorous, 7 mile day hike up and through the canyon, with a bus trip finishing up in Alice Springs to wrap up the Red Center of my trip. The central desert in Australia is vast and bus travel made it very easy and economical to get from site to site.  From Alice Springs, I flew back on Qantas(not my favorite since they charged me for a carry-on that was 16lbs) to Sydney.  Experiencing the desert and hiking the Red Center at different types of natural sites, really makes me want to visit again to see the opal mines and do more desert hiking.

 

My second week of vacation was in and around Sydney.  Did the normal touristy things, Blue Mountains, climb the Bridge, visit the zoo and hug an echidna.  Finally, was able to board the Majestic Princess for a 10 day cruise up the east coast of NZ for a Hobbit, vineyard, hiking, animal sanctuary filled portion of my work break.  Scenery was awesome and the locals were very friendly and welcoming.  Best 4 week vacation ever!

Edited July 28, 2019 by Cruisencatlady
spelling errors

[voljeep]

5 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

There's no need to put "traditional owners" in quotes. They are the owners of Uluru as much as anyone else owns their own home.

 

As for the roll eyes, complain to the owners about not being allowed to climb Uluru after you've started allowing strangers climb onto the roof of your house because they feel like it.

as long as they will clean out the gutters ... go for it ... and I'll also provide the paint if they will touch up the chimney