First Australian cruise questions

[cruisinqt]

We’ve always done Caribbean cruises but want to do something different this time. And going to Australia is at the top of our list. We are looking at doing a Great Barrier Reef cruise out of Sydney. It would go to Tangalooma, Arlie Beach, Cairns, Willis Island, & Port Douglas.
1) Are these good ports? 

2) When is the best time of year to go?

3) What things do we absolutely need to see and do in Australia?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Since the cruise is stopping at both Cairns and Port Douglas then from Cairns I recommend doing the skyrail to Kuranda returning on the vintage train (or vice versa).The skyrail has a couple of stops so you can get off and have a closer look at the rain forest. From Port Douglas you could do a snorkelling trip or a day trip to the Daintree. 

 

Willis Island isn't actually a port, it's a small island that ships pause at so they are allowed to sell duty free goods on board. Essentially it's a sea day.

 

Airlie Beach is another GBR snorkelling port.

 

I've never been to Tangalooma but I've heard it's quite nice.

[Chiliburn]

16 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

 

Do you have a preferred cruise line?

Most do the Queensland coast from Sydney.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Chiliburn

[Aus Traveller]

Your other question was about the best time of the year to go. May to September would be the best time but definitely avoid December to March. The southern hemisphere summer is the wet season in northern Australia. It would be hot and humid with rain and the possibility of cyclones (more likely in January-February).

[cruisinqt]

55 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Since the cruise is stopping at both Cairns and Port Douglas then from Cairns I recommend doing the skyrail to Kuranda returning on the vintage train (or vice versa).The skyrail has a couple of stops so you can get off and have a closer look at the rain forest. From Port Douglas you could do a snorkelling trip or a day trip to the Daintree. 

 

Willis Island isn't actually a port, it's a small island that ships pause at so they are allowed to sell duty free goods on board. Essentially it's a sea day.

 

Airlie Beach is another GBR snorkelling port.

 

I've never been to Tangalooma but I've heard it's quite nice.

Thanks for the info that helps a lot. 

[cruisinqt]

52 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

 

Do you have a preferred cruise line?

Most do the Queensland coast from Sydney.

We are Platinum with Carnival and Diamond with Royal Caribbean. We would prefer one of these two cruise lines since we get so many perks and price discounts with them. We’ve done other lines but not enough to get much of a discount. 

[cruisinqt]

45 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Your other question was about the best time of the year to go. May to September would be the best time but definitely avoid December to March. The southern hemisphere summer is the wet season in northern Australia. It would be hot and humid with rain and the possibility of cyclones (more likely in January-February).

Great, we were thinking about going around August or September. What season would it be at that time? What type of weather should we expect?

[eddieg07410]

47 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Your other question was about the best time of the year to go. May to September would be the best time but definitely avoid December to March. The southern hemisphere summer is the wet season in northern Australia. It would be hot and humid with rain and the possibility of cyclones (more likely in January-February).

Just booked a viking cruise that begins in New Zealand mid February and slowly finds its way up to northern Australia and finally to Bali and other stops in Indonesia. I thought March would be more Spring like. Our other option would be to do the same cruise beginning mid  November. We are a couple in our seventies who do not do well in the heat, so what would be the better option, thanks in advance.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, cruisinqt said:

Great, we were thinking about going around August or September. What season would it be at that time? What type of weather should we expect?

At that time of year your only choice of cruise lines will probably be Carnival or P&O Australia. Royal Caribbean ships usually don't arrive until a month or two later, in time for our main cruise season.

 

It will be spring, variable weather in Sydney but not too cool. Queensland will be lovely then.

[Chiliburn]

9 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

We are Platinum with Carnival and Diamond with Royal Caribbean. We would prefer one of these two cruise lines since we get so many perks and price discounts with them. We’ve done other lines but not enough to get much of a discount. 

I believe Carnival is a little different here to the US.

 

As for Royal Caribbean,I would be looking at a smaller ship like Radiance as it can dock in Cairns.

Cairns and port Douglas are the best ports.
Willis Island is a sail by and doesn’t stop as it’s a weather station.

Airlie beach is not bad.

 

Heres a typical Royal Caribbean cruise on Radiance. It has a overnight in Cairns and as I said it docks almost in the Main Street.

 

[LittleFish1976]

4 minutes ago, eddieg07410 said:

Just booked a viking cruise that begins in New Zealand mid February and slowly finds its way up to northern Australia and finally to Bali and other stops in Indonesia. I thought March would be more Spring like. Our other option would be to do the same cruise beginning mid  November. We are a couple in our seventies who do not do well in the heat, so what would be the better option, thanks in advance.

 

March is autumn in the southern hemisphere; February is still summer.

 

If you don't like heat, don't even think about commencing  your voyage in mid-November. It will most likely be hot, humid and possibly rainy in Northern Australia and Indonesia by the time you reach them.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, eddieg07410 said:

Just booked a viking cruise that begins in New Zealand mid February and slowly finds its way up to northern Australia and finally to Bali and other stops in Indonesia. I thought March would be more Spring like. Our other option would be to do the same cruise beginning mid  November. We are a couple in our seventies who do not do well in the heat, so what would be the better option, thanks in advance.

March is autumn here. Usually warm to hot. It will be very humid in the northern part of Australia and Indonesia. Very few cruise lines operate here during our winter which, of course, is the best time to do the northern region. The luxury cruise lines such as Viking tend to move through our region in the peak of summer so that they can include NZ in their itineraries before heading north again. 

 

Princess operates Round Australia cruises in spring and autumn which is the best time to strike the balance between not too humid up north and less likelihood of nasty weather/seas in the south. However these cruises book out very quickly.

[Aus Traveller]

38 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

Great, we were thinking about going around August or September. What season would it be at that time? What type of weather should we expect?

August/September is the southern spring, but most of Aust doesn't really have four distinct seasons. Aug/Sept would be ideal for Queensland. Usually the weather in the north is fine for long stretches of time in Aug/Sept. If you want to start in Sydney, September would be a bit better than August, but you will be limited by the cruises that are available.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[cruisinqt]

50 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

At that time of year your only choice of cruise lines will probably be Carnival or P&O Australia. Royal Caribbean ships usually don't arrive until a month or two later, in time for our main cruise season.

 

It will be spring, variable weather in Sydney but not too cool. Queensland will be lovely then.

Spring weather sounds nice. Thanks for the help. 

[cruisinqt]

47 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I believe Carnival is a little different here to the US.

 

As for Royal Caribbean,I would be looking at a smaller ship like Radiance as it can dock in Cairns.

Cairns and port Douglas are the best ports.
Willis Island is a sail by and doesn’t stop as it’s a weather station.

Airlie beach is not bad.

 

Heres a typical Royal Caribbean cruise on Radiance. It has a overnight in Cairns and as I said it docks almost in the Main Street.

 

That’s very helpful. Thanks 

[cruisinqt]

21 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

August/September is the southern spring, but most of Aust doesn't really have four distinct seasons. Aug/Sept would be ideal for Queensland. Usually the weather in the north is fine for long stretches of time in Aug/Sept. If you want to start in Sydney, September would be a bit better than August, but you will be limited by the cruises that are available.

Great that narrows it down for us a great deal. 

[mr walker]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

I believe Carnival is a little different here to the US.

 

As for Royal Caribbean,I would be looking at a smaller ship like Radiance as it can dock in Cairns.

Cairns and port Douglas are the best ports.
Willis Island is a sail by and doesn’t stop as it’s a weather station.

Airlie beach is not bad.

 

Heres a typical Royal Caribbean cruise on Radiance. It has a overnight in Cairns and as I said it docks almost in the Main Street.

 

Chilli, this brought back memories of our first ever cruise March 2011 (on Rhapsody), although we overnighted in Cairns (rather than calling at Port Douglas)  & also had Newcastle & Brisbane. Got us started on cruising 🙂 especially RC (not too far from D+ now). 

[SinbadThePorter]

3 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

It would go to Tangalooma, Arlie Beach, Cairns, Willis Island, & Port Douglas.

 

Tangalooma is a resort on the west side of Moreton Island, about 20 miles east of Brisbane across Moreton Bay. It is a tender port to the resort jetty. The resort has basic facilities, like pools, shops and excursions, but is a little run down. The island itself is about 25 miles north/south and 8 miles at its widest and is almost entirely made of sand, except for a small rocky cape with a historic lighthouse, and as such is surrounded on all sides by excellent beaches.

 

Arlie Beach is a small tropical tourist town on the mainland adjacent the Whitsunday Islands. It is a tender port. The town itself is not of great interest, but it is a good jumping off point to the islands and to the Great Barrier Reef. However, due to time constraints on a cruise it is far better to take any excursion directly from the ship. The main points of interest are the reef and Whitehaven beach. I recommend Whitehaven beach.

 

Cairns is a major tropical city of about 150,000 people. The port is centrally located and was upgraded in 2019 to take larger vessels. The Queen Elizabeth 2 visited there shortly before the shutdown, she is probably near the maximum size for the port. Bigger ships anchor off Yorkey's Knob about 8 miles north of Cairns and tender to a jetty there. I would strongly suggest taking a ship that can dock in Cairns.

 

Port Douglas is a small tropical town about 40 miles north of Cairns. It's a tender port. It's a good jumping off point for Great Barrier Reef excursions and also trips to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation rainforest areas.

 

Willis Island is a weather station where the ship theoretically drops anchor in order to qualify as having sailed out of Australian waters and therefore permitted to sell duty free goods.

 

The Australian cruise season runs from October to April for the major cruise lines, after which they send their ships away to Asia or Alaska. Carnival and P&O Australia are the exceptions who stay and sail all year. Both are locally regarded as budget cruise lines.

 

Don't be too put off from sailing during summer. It's not that bad. Most cruising in Australia and NZ happens in summer.

Edited March 2, 2022 by SinbadThePorter

[GUT2407]

Also do a Google search on temps for whatever months you are looking at, your Spring and ours may be greatly different here I’d be looking (taking into account your itinerary) between lows of about 15c and highs upto around 30c.

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

Chilli, this brought back memories of our first ever cruise March 2011 (on Rhapsody), although we overnighted in Cairns (rather than calling at Port Douglas)  & also had Newcastle & Brisbane. Got us started on cruising 🙂 especially RC (not too far from D+ now). 

Radiance is a nice ship a I believe it is vista class,about 300 meters.

300 meters can now dock at cairns.

We are booked and I believe this cruise could happen and it’s a overnighter mr Walker.

 

 

 

[phoenixxx]

20 hours ago, eddieg07410 said:

Just booked a viking cruise that begins in New Zealand mid February and slowly finds its way up to northern Australia and finally to Bali and other stops in Indonesia. I thought March would be more Spring like. Our other option would be to do the same cruise beginning mid  November. We are a couple in our seventies who do not do well in the heat, so what would be the better option, thanks in advance.

March down here is towards the end of summer.

[phoenixxx]

20 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

March is autumn here. Usually warm to hot. It will be very humid in the northern part of Australia and Indonesia. Very few cruise lines operate here during our winter which, of course, is the best time to do the northern region. The luxury cruise lines such as Viking tend to move through our region in the peak of summer so that they can include NZ in their itineraries before heading north again. 

 

Princess operates Round Australia cruises in spring and autumn which is the best time to strike the balance between not too humid up north and less likelihood of nasty weather/seas in the south. However these cruises book out very quickly.

Is spring or autumn better if you don't like the heat?

[OzKiwiJJ]

13 minutes ago, phoenixxx said:

Is spring or autumn better if you don't like the heat?

Marginally. It's always hot in Indonesia and around the top of Australia but it will be a little less humid in spring and autuum. Remember Indonesia straddles the equator so the climate is tropical.

 

February/March would be better as that is the best time for NZ and the humidity in the north of Australia will be easing.

Edited March 2, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[cruisinqt]

On 3/1/2022 at 10:58 PM, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Tangalooma is a resort on the west side of Moreton Island, about 20 miles east of Brisbane across Moreton Bay. It is a tender port to the resort jetty. The resort has basic facilities, like pools, shops and excursions, but is a little run down. The island itself is about 25 miles north/south and 8 miles at its widest and is almost entirely made of sand, except for a small rocky cape with a historic lighthouse, and as such is surrounded on all sides by excellent beaches.

 

Arlie Beach is a small tropical tourist town on the mainland adjacent the Whitsunday Islands. It is a tender port. The town itself is not of great interest, but it is a good jumping off point to the islands and to the Great Barrier Reef. However, due to time constraints on a cruise it is far better to take any excursion directly from the ship. The main points of interest are the reef and Whitehaven beach. I recommend Whitehaven beach.

 

Cairns is a major tropical city of about 150,000 people. The port is centrally located and was upgraded in 2019 to take larger vessels. The Queen Elizabeth 2 visited there shortly before the shutdown, she is probably near the maximum size for the port. Bigger ships anchor off Yorkey's Knob about 8 miles north of Cairns and tender to a jetty there. I would strongly suggest taking a ship that can dock in Cairns.

 

Port Douglas is a small tropical town about 40 miles north of Cairns. It's a tender port. It's a good jumping off point for Great Barrier Reef excursions and also trips to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation rainforest areas.

 

Willis Island is a weather station where the ship theoretically drops anchor in order to qualify as having sailed out of Australian waters and therefore permitted to sell duty free goods.

 

The Australian cruise season runs from October to April for the major cruise lines, after which they send their ships away to Asia or Alaska. Carnival and P&O Australia are the exceptions who stay and sail all year. Both are locally regarded as budget cruise lines.

 

Don't be too put off from sailing during summer. It's not that bad. Most cruising in Australia and NZ happens in summer.

Thanks for the info that helps a lot

[Chiliburn]

12 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

Thanks for the info that helps a lot

I don’t know how much time you have in Australia but have you thought about a B2B and maybe New Zealand. It’s very impressive.