First cruise to Australia

[SinbadThePorter]

In my opinion the best mass market cruise line in Australia is Princess.

 

If you are looking for something a bit  exotic, I would suggest a Papua New Guinea cruise from Brisbane. For scenery, PNG is like a tropical NZ, except that the best and easiest way to see it is by ship.

 

You can easily follow that up with a North Queensland cruise to see the Great Barrier Reef.

 

A bit left field, but you might not have thought of a visit to Lord Howe Island and/or Norfolk Island. Wonderful places that you can fly to from Sydney.

Edited February 9, 2023 by SinbadThePorter

[Port Power]

As the OP has cruised with NCL a lot, they could stay eith NCL in Australia, or Royal Caribbean.  I don’t agree that Princess has a similar feel to NCL. 
 

Several posts have mentioned, unfavourably, too many sea days.  Sea days are great to relax and recuperate.  
 

There are so many options to choose from with cruises that without an idea of the time the OP has for trip, much less the budget, it is hard to choose.  I like the idea of the Ghan or Indian Pacific plus cruising though.

[N6595L]

This is great - so much information. I like the idea of the Ghan or Indian Pacific as well. So much to see in that region and since it will be a one and done, I’m probably going to carve out quite a bit of time. 

[GUT2407]

Be aware that the Ghan and IP are expensive, when we did our circumnavigation of Aus and NZ cruis8ng Syd to Perth and train back was about 20 days but cost a few thousand more than the 33 day cruise.

[arxcards]

Norwegian Spirit will be back here for our next 2 summers. They cruise a slightly shorter season than the other visiting ships December to March, but you choose NCL for a reason.

 

For us locals, it is convenient to cruise Princess or Carnival here, but that is because they are $AU onboard, and gratuities are part of the fare. As you are from the US, if the NCL itineraries don't fit, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are a decent fit and it is $US onboard with daily gratuities added.

 

NCL has mostly open-ended itineraries, and there are no cruises that are Sydney to Sydney on their schedule. I guess it depends if you want to cruise the Aussie Coast, or cruise to New Zealand from Sydney. NCL does do Sydney to Auckland, so you are able to fly into Sydney, do Aussie things then cruise to Auckland to do some NZ things before flying home.

 

There are a limited number of cruises that do a 4 week lap around Australia, but are popular enough to close to sold-out and not discounted. A Queensland coastal cruise from Sydney of Brisbane would be my pick for cruising into Australian ports.

[cruiser3775]

You should really do a combination of a cruise plus something that goes to the interior of our huge country.  My suggestion would be a rail trip on The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, then a cruise along the Kimberley coast from Darwin to Broome.  You can then fly from Broome to Sydney, Melbourne or Perth and visit around that city before flying home.

This will give you a look at our remote interior and amazing scenery, a short cruise in a very scenic area which is also very remote, plus a visit to one of our major cities and around it.

[bazzaw]

I never know what to say in answer to these kind of questions about Australia and cruising. I always am tempted to ask a question myself in reply - "I am going to North America (Canada, Alaska, Continental USA, Mexico , Caribbean ) for the very first time on a 10 day cruise - which cruiseline and which itinerary do you recommend.?

 

My general answer to the first question is that I don't recommend cruising in Australian waters at all for overseas travellers. A cruise around NZ  can be very nice and manageable - but Australia ? Nah!!! Forget it!!  EXCEPT - that many/most foreign cruisers that I do meet on Aussie ships seem to enjoy most the company of the Australian passengers that they meet on these ships. It is this experience that they take home with them - plus maybe Sydney Harbour. Great Barrier Reef is a waste of time unless you dive - or at least confidently snorkel. The Outback and Aboriginal culture is not serviced by cruiseship - even the World famous (Only God knows why) Australia Zoo is largely inaccessible from a cruiseship. So a cruise to NZ , starting and ending in Sydney is the way to go. Cruiseline doesn't matter much - they are all going to be full of Aussies. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by bazzaw

[Over from NZ]

51 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

I never know what to say in answer to these kind of questions about Australia and cruising. I always am tempted to ask a question myself in reply - "I am going to North America (Canada, Alaska, Continental USA, Mexico , Caribbean ) for the very first time on a 10 day cruise - which cruiseline and which itinerary do you recommend.?

 

My general answer to the first question is that I don't recommend cruising in Australian waters at all for overseas travellers. A cruise around NZ  can be very nice and manageable - but Australia ? Nah!!! Forget it!!  EXCEPT - that many/most foreign cruisers that I do meet on Aussie ships seem to enjoy most the company of the Australian passengers that they meet on these ships. It is this experience that they take home with them - plus maybe Sydney Harbour. Great Barrier Reef is a waste of time unless you dive - or at least confidently snorkel. The Outback and Aboriginal culture is not serviced by cruiseship - even the World famous (Only God knows why) Australia Zoo is largely inaccessible from a cruiseship. So a cruise to NZ , starting and ending in Sydney is the way to go. Cruiseline doesn't matter much - they are all going to be full of Aussies. 

Nah, I would totally disagree. NZ there's so much more to see inland.. and a cruise doesn't do it justice. Whereas Australia.. you can see most of what you should near the coast. 

[yarramar]

2 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Whereas Australia.. you can see most of what you should near the coast. 

....So a 28 day cruise circumnavigating the continent of which the start & finish is Sydney gives 14 port days. That seems like a good way to see a country the size of continental USA.

Cruises are a holiday not an expedition for serious sightseeing.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Nah, I would totally disagree. NZ there's so much more to see inland.. and a cruise doesn't do it justice. Whereas Australia.. you can see most of what you should near the coast. 

And I mostly disagree with you. Having lived in NZ for over 40 years, lived in Australia for over 25 years, and cruised both countries as extensively as I could, I think cruising NZ is far more effective as far as seeing as much of the country as is possible in a short time. Sure, there are some wonderful places you can't get to on a cruise ship excursion but, in the main, you can cover quite a bit of the country on a cruise. Of course it's even better if you can add in some land travel before the cruise but you'll see more for your money cruising in NZ than cruising Australia.

 

Why? Australia has very few viable ports for its size so there are wonderful parts of Australia that you just can't get to from a cruise, and that are expensive to do as land travel. Unless you can afford the time and money to do a Round Australia, which has as many sea days as ports, then you'll only see a small part of Australia on a cruise. You have to choose: A Queensland cruise? A Tasmania cruise? A South Australia cruise? In my opinion some places in Australia are better visited on a land trip than on a one day port visit even if you can get there by ship. Australia is just too vast for cruises to be an effective way to see the highlights. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[capriccio]

OP - I may have missed this but are you coming from the US?  If so I can share my experience with the popularity of the Princess Round Australia 28 day cruise (which we will be boarding on April 2).  Since the cruise is only offered a couple of times a year, it is very popular.  We (a group of 8 ) booked 4 mini-suites on the morning reservations opened for elite passengers (106 weeks before the cruise).  By the time my TA finished adding the 4th cabin, only guarantees were available in the area we wanted.  By the next day when bookings were open to all most of the ship (all cabin levels) was sold out and remained so (at least to US passengers) until final payment when a very limited number of cabins became available.  Planning way ahead is necessary at least for that cruise.

[N6595L]

Yes, we will be coming from the US. Since we are just beginning our research and trying to narrow down options, I would love to here more about the Princess round Australia 28 day cruise. 
 

thanks to everyone who has responded so far!

[capriccio]

Here's the itinerary (we are going in the opposite direction (Sydney, Hobart...)

 

 

Realizing that this may be the only time we get to that part of the world, we (originally 4 siblings and spouses, now 3 siblings and spouses for the cruise portion of our vacation) are flying into Sydney, spending 4 days sightseeing, flying to Christchurch, New Zealand to meet the couple who had to cancel the cruise portion, taking a private guided tour for 7 days of the South Island, flying back (3 couples; the other is returning to the US) and spending 2 more days in Sydney and then taking the 28 day cruise.  We're all so excited.

 

There is at least one thread (by @OzKiwiJJ if I remember correctly) about the October 2022 Round Australia cruise that I found very interesting.

 

Happy planning!

[OzKiwiJJ]

9 hours ago, capriccio said:

Here's the itinerary (we are going in the opposite direction (Sydney, Hobart...)

 

 

Realizing that this may be the only time we get to that part of the world, we (originally 4 siblings and spouses, now 3 siblings and spouses for the cruise portion of our vacation) are flying into Sydney, spending 4 days sightseeing, flying to Christchurch, New Zealand to meet the couple who had to cancel the cruise portion, taking a private guided tour for 7 days of the South Island, flying back (3 couples; the other is returning to the US) and spending 2 more days in Sydney and then taking the 28 day cruise.  We're all so excited.

 

There is at least one thread (by @OzKiwiJJ if I remember correctly) about the October 2022 Round Australia cruise that I found very interesting.

 

Happy planning!

Thanks. We were very lucky to score a last minute (six days before it embarked from Sydney) mini-suite - which was a blessing as I caught Covid on that cruise. We still enjoyed the cruise despite that.

 

It's certainly a wonderful cruise if you have the time to do it but booking on the day it is released is essential. If you use a Princess Planner you might have a better chance of getting the cabin you want.