Port or Starboard?

[cookiersmom]

We are looking at booking both a NZ to Sydney and a  Great Barrier Reef roundtrip Sydney.   For NZ to Sydney, we are looking for Starboard, but how much of the coast of NZ will we even see from the ship?    

On the GBR cruise, does anyone know where the ships (Celebrity) navigate near the reef?  Is it between the reef and mainland or outside the reef?  Does it matter which side of the ship?

 

thanks!! 

[SinbadThePorter]

9 hours ago, cookiersmom said:

how much of the coast of NZ will we even see from the ship?

 

Apart from entering and leaving ports, not much and mostly from a distance.

 

9 hours ago, cookiersmom said:

On the GBR cruise, does anyone know where the ships (Celebrity) navigate near the reef?

 

They don't navigate near the reef. The main reef is some distance off shore, although there are patches closer in. To see the reef you need to get a tour from Airlie Beach, Cairns or Port Douglas. Due to timing issues these will need to be ship tours. You may want to check that Celebrity can dock at Cairns now that the port has been deepened. They used to tender at Yorkey's Knob, which was a pain.

 

If it was me, I'd take the reef tour from Airlie Beach, from Cairns do the Skyrail/train and from Port Douglas do a tour of the Daintree and Cape Tribulation. Or you can do the reef from all three ports.

 

9 hours ago, cookiersmom said:

Is it between the reef and mainland or outside the reef?

 

Going north cruise ships generally travel in the channel between the reef and the shore. After Cairns or Port Douglas they usually head out into the Coral Sea to Willis Island for a quick look and to satisfy customs regulations relating to duty free goods. From there they head south to Sydney outside the reef in the open ocean.

 

9 hours ago, cookiersmom said:

Does it matter which side of the ship?

 

Not in my opinion. Although when leaving Sydney Harbour, I like the starboard side views.

[Chiliburn]

On 3/4/2021 at 7:45 AM, cookiersmom said:

We are looking at booking both a NZ to Sydney and a  Great Barrier Reef roundtrip Sydney.   For NZ to Sydney, we are looking for Starboard, but how much of the coast of NZ will we even see from the ship?    

On the GBR cruise, does anyone know where the ships (Celebrity) navigate near the reef?  Is it between the reef and mainland or outside the reef?  Does it matter which side of the ship?

 

thanks!! 

The Great Barrier Reef it doesn’t make any difference.

Sydney harbour,port is good. It’s spectacular to see the opera house from your balcony.

 

As for NZ the ships go around the islands in both directions.It doesn’t make a lot of difference.But in  fiordlands ,the coast side can be better.

 

 Really it’s only a advantage in the ports as the ship sails out of sight of land.

[possum52]

I was looking at some photos this morning taken on our cruise from Sydney to Singapore a few years ago. We had a portside cabin and from the balcony you could easily see the coast. 

 

Leigh

[OzKiwiJJ]

You can usually see the coast at a distance when going around East Cape - starboard if going south, port if going north. However since most of the cruising between ports is done at night there isn't much in the way of coastal views the rest of the time.