Australia/New Zealand Cruisetour Info

[Carol28]

I've many questions.  Has anyone done this? How was the Australia land tour? Was there an excellent guide?

There are two ships - Princess Royal and Princess Majestic.  I just read the Majestic was built for the "Chinese Market."  Does that mean to cruise in china or does that mean for Chinese people? (If that's a stupid question, I'm sorry.)

Which ship would you suggest?  Any info on this cruisetour would sure be helpful.

[Over from NZ]

Yeah, the majestic has lower ceilings for shorter Asian people. lol. Jokes aside.. it wouldn't make much difference which ship. What's important is what you're trying to achieve. What is it you want to do or see? Australian land tour.. with just one guide?! Aussie is a mighty big place (although most of it's just a big desert). Which part of Aussie by land are you looking at? 

[Cascade1]

Yes, Carol28. We need a lot more information about your plans for Australia before we can help you more. Many people do not understand just how big a country Australia is. It can take you 3 to 4 days just to drive across the country from Sydney to Perth. If you are just coming to Sydney, you could spend 3 or 4 days in and around Sydney without any trouble at all. If you want to go to other states, flying will be the best option, but once again we would need some idea of your length of stay etc. Just as a comment, flying in and around Australia can be quite expensive. 

I have not been on either ship but have booked to go on both in December and February next.

[KYBOB]

We too are taking an Australia cruise tour from Princess so can help out some with an itinerary of one of the tours. I too would love to hear from others who have taken one. Our ship will be the Royal, I picked this one because we have sailed on her before and liked the itinerary also it was leaving out of Sydney. Our cruise tour booked through Princess as the Ultimate Australia tour is as follows; 

 

Leave Lexington, KY Dec 25 arrive Sydney Dec 27; 6:55am overnight Sydney

Board Royal Princess Dec 28

Dec 29 - 30 at sea (figured this would help with jet lag)

Dec 31 Fiordland National Park

Jan 1 Dunedin 

Jan 2 Christchurch 

Jan 3 Wellington 

Jan 4 at sea

Jan 5 Tauranga

Jan 6 Auckland 

Jan 7 Bay of Islands

Jan 8 & 9 at sea ‘do laundry on one of them’ 

Jan 10 Sydney start ‘Cruisetour’ part fly to Uluru 

Jan 11 Darwin leave Uluru fly to Darwin 

Jan 12 Darwin 

Jan 13 Cairns leave Darwin fly to Cairns 

Jan 14 Cairns - Great Barrier Reef

Jan 15 Sydney leave Darwin fly to Sydney

Jan 16 Sydney 

Jan 17 Sydney end of tour 

Jan 17- 21 Sydney on our own

Jan 21 fly home 

For us we can find information about Alaska and Machu Picchu land tours by Princess and we know people who have taken Alaska land tours but nothing about any one taking an Australia ‘land tour’ through Princess. I guess for me my questions are how many were on the land tour part? I am assuming getting off the ship would be like a shore excursion and we would meet someplace ( On the ship or off?) from the sound of it we are flying commercial flights having to collect our luggage from baggage claim ourselves each time is how it reads then taken to a hotel. I am assuming the guide stays with us? Then at each stop there are tours in each place already scheduled. As to the luggage the info provided so far kind of reads like an Alaska land tour ie one bag for cruise, one for land and a carry on cannot be bigger than 17 x 14 x 4 so kind of curious about how the luggage works in that we normally fly with a roll on that is the ‘international’ size for a carry on 21 x 14 x 9 my wife will also have her back pack and I will have a camera bag and we will ‘ check 3 bags when on a cruise / trip this long one of the 3 checked bags will have all our ‘formal wear’. So the way it reads is for the land part we get one bag and one carry on that is 17 x 14 x 4 so that will be my wife’s back pack and my camera bag so do we eliminate the roll on bags and go with 4 checked bags - one for ‘the ship’ and one for land? 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by KYBOB

[Carol28]

I'm sorry I was not clear. Princess offers a cruisetour that includes land and cruise. We will not be doing any of this on our own!  

1 hour ago, KYBOB said:

As to the luggage the info provided

  KYBOB - We've done the cruisetour of the East coast that includes D.C. all the way up to NYC where we got the ship to Canada/New England.  This year in September we will be doing the Canadian cruisetour from Toronto to Quebec on land and then the ship to NYC (we love this itinerary. 6th time doing  the cruise part!)  I have to go back to the information.  We've never had to fly from place to place, so I'm wondering about collecting our luggage.  It actually makes sense that the individual would have to get the luggage off of the plane.  On our journeys, Princess took care of the luggage.I''m looking at the measurements that you have given for our carry-ons.  You're right!.Much smaller.  That is a major concern. What date are you going?  We would prefer going in February, but have never been on the Majestic.  We have been on the Regal which is the same as the Royal.  This year our cruisetour will be on the Caribbean.

[flying boat]

We did a cruisetour in Australia in 2019, it was wonderful, flew from Sydney(1 night) to Cairns(2 nights), flew to Uluru(2 nights) and back to Sydney(1 night) then 14 night New Zealand cruise.  Our tour guide was great! He was very knowledgeable and kept everyone informed the schedule. We loved every minute of it.

[Princess Cruises Fann]

We did the Ultimate Australia land tour in January 2023 before getting on the Majestic Princess for an Australia and New Zealand cruise. It was fantastic. 

[KYBOB]

9 minutes ago, Princess Cruises Fann said:

We did the Ultimate Australia land tour in January 2023 before getting on the Majestic Princess for an Australia and New Zealand cruise. It was fantastic. 

How was the weather? I have read that January is the start of rainy season?

[SiliconCruiser]

20 hours ago, Carol28 said:

There are two ships - Princess Royal and Princess Majestic.  I just read the Majestic was built for the "Chinese Market."  Does that mean to cruise in china or does that mean for Chinese people? (If that's a stupid question, I'm sorry.)

Which ship would you suggest?  Any info on this cruisetour would sure be helpful.

The Royal and Majestic are both Royal class ships with the same capacity. The Majestic was originally intended to be home-ported in Shanghai with restaurants that would be more attractive to the growing influential Chinese market, but then Covid happened and China shut down, so the Majestic was moved to other markets.  At some point it will probably return to China.

[Princess Cruises Fann]

1 hour ago, KYBOB said:

How was the weather? I have read that January is the start of rainy season?

The weather was great. We missed the rain by about a week. We were told there was several days of rain in Australia the week before. We only had rain briefly in Cairns on the way to the Great Barrier Reef, but it was sunny and nice by the time we got there. 
 

Our cruise was from Sydney to Auckland. Auckland had horrible flooding and record rainfall a few days before we arrived. International flights had just resumed the morning that we arrived. 

[Carol28]

1 hour ago, Princess Cruises Fann said:

We did the Ultimate Australia land tour in January 2023 before getting on the Majestic Princess for an Australia and New Zealand cruise. It was fantastic. 

A text above was concerned with the luggage. My carry-on is the size that is allowed on most American flights. Will that be allowed on these interior Australian flights? As we arrive at each airport, do we have to find  our checked luggage individually or does Princess take care of it? How many people were on this journey with you? I’m so glad that you went on this. I may have many questions. I hope that you will be kind enough to respond.

[Princess Cruises Fann]

Our U.S. carryon luggage was permitted on all flights. Unlike the U.S. they weighed the carryon luggage and it had to weigh less than 7KG(?). 
 

All of our interior flights were on Qantas except for Cairns to Sydney we flew on WestJet. 
 

You did have to check and retrieve your checked bag, but then you just gave it to the porters that they had arranged and they made sure it got on the bus. 
 

The total group size was about 50-60 people, but they broke it up into two groups that each had their individual tour guide and bus. 

[cnd crsr]

1 hour ago, Princess Cruises Fann said:

Our U.S. carryon luggage was permitted on all flights. Unlike the U.S. they weighed the carryon luggage and it had to weigh less than 7KG(?). 
 

All of our interior flights were on Qantas except for Cairns to Sydney we flew on WestJet. 
 

You did have to check and retrieve your checked bag, but then you just gave it to the porters that they had arranged and they made sure it got on the bus. 
 

The total group size was about 50-60 people, but they broke it up into two groups that each had their individual tour guide and bus. 

We did the cruise/land tour several years ago. Cruised NZ to Sydney and then land was Cairns/Alice Springs/Sydney.

I don't remember the airline,but they were small planes & luggage weigh allowance was small. The luggage check in, retrieval & delivery to porters was as Princess Cruises Fann described as was the group size. The guide we had was excellent.

Our large luggage from the ship was stored at the hotel where we stayed on our return  to Sydney.

[KYBOB]

Thanks for all the info!  Here is what I found on the Qantas/WestJet website for Australia Domestic luggage carry on sizes. Looks like you are limited to one carry on that is 22" x 14" x 9" including wheels and handels, and must weigh 10kgs. (22 lbs). Or (2) that are 18" x 13" x 9". total weight is then 14kgs. 

[KYBOB]

There is another airline called Jetstar that has the same roll on bag size limit of 22 x 14 x 9 and allows a ’small item’; such as a hand bag or thin laptop bag that must fit under the seat the total combined weigh for both bags is the 7kg (15 lbs) weight limit. But you can of course buy more weight up to 14kg (30 lbs). 

Edited March 31, 2023 by KYBOB

[Carol28]

16 hours ago, KYBOB said:

There is another airline called Jetstar that has the same roll on bag size limit of 22 x 14 x 9 and allows a ’small item’; such as a hand bag or thin laptop bag that must fit under the seat the total combined weigh for both bags is the 7kg (15 lbs) weight limit. But you can of course buy more weight up to 14kg (30 lbs). 

LYBOB we’ve decided not to do this until 2025. I want a full report on your trip.

[KYBOB]

Will do, I am going to try to write a detailed description of all that happens. As to our current planning we have already booked our airfare, good thing too for several reasons. The flights I wanted were not to bounce around the US before we head to Sydney. So we only have one stop Lexington to Dallas, then Dallas (Qantas) to Sydney (15 hours 45 min) also there were only 4 seats left and only 2 together, that was 330 days out! I want the Dallas - Sydney Qantas flight in that currently they are using a Boeing 787-9, never been on one of those so it too would be exciting. But before COVID Qantas was using a A380 the big double decker plane, which was moth balled in Arizona during the COVID shut down. It is rumored Qantas is working on bringing those planes back in service and the Dallas to Sydney route will be one of the first routes to get one back. I also like planes as well as cruise ships. 

[Aus Traveller]

On 3/31/2023 at 3:21 AM, KYBOB said:

How was the weather? I have read that January is the start of rainy season?

January and February are the wet season in northern Australia. Very hot, very humid and most likely rain with the possibility of a cyclone.

[Carol28]

18 hours ago, KYBOB said:

Will do, I am going to try to write a detailed description of all that happens. As to our current planning we have already booked our airfare, good thing too for several reasons. The flights I wanted were not to bounce around the US before we head to Sydney. So we only have one stop Lexington to Dallas, then Dallas (Qantas) to Sydney (15 hours 45 min) also there were only 4 seats left and only 2 together, that was 330 days out! I want the Dallas - Sydney Qantas flight in that currently they are using a Boeing 787-9, never been on one of those so it too would be exciting. But before COVID Qantas was using a A380 the big double decker plane, which was moth balled in Arizona during the COVID shut down. It is rumored Qantas is working on bringing those planes back in service and the Dallas to Sydney route will be one of the first routes to get one back. I also like planes as well as cruise ships. 

You and my husband.  He likes planes, public transportation and firetrucks and is a hobby photographer of all. We were in Lexington on a Tauck tour a few years ago.  I LOVED the horse museum.  We're in South Florida so we often cruise the Caribbean as we don't need a plane ride.

 

[nasa1974]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:33 AM, KYBOB said:

We too are taking an Australia cruise tour from Princess so can help out some with an itinerary of one of the tours. I too would love to hear from others who have taken one. Our ship will be the Royal, I picked this one because we have sailed on her before and liked the itinerary also it was leaving out of Sydney. Our cruise tour booked through Princess as the Ultimate Australia tour is as follows; 

 

Leave Lexington, KY Dec 25 arrive Sydney Dec 27; 6:55am overnight Sydney

Board Royal Princess Dec 28

Dec 29 - 30 at sea (figured this would help with jet lag)

Dec 31 Fiordland National Park

Jan 1 Dunedin 

Jan 2 Christchurch 

Jan 3 Wellington 

Jan 4 at sea

Jan 5 Tauranga

Jan 6 Auckland 

Jan 7 Bay of Islands

Jan 8 & 9 at sea ‘do laundry on one of them’ 

Jan 10 Sydney start ‘Cruisetour’ part fly to Uluru 

Jan 11 Darwin leave Uluru fly to Darwin 

Jan 12 Darwin 

Jan 13 Cairns leave Darwin fly to Cairns 

Jan 14 Cairns - Great Barrier Reef

Jan 15 Sydney leave Darwin fly to Sydney

Jan 16 Sydney 

Jan 17 Sydney end of tour 

Jan 17- 21 Sydney on our own

Jan 21 fly home 

 

We took a similar tour in late January 2016. But we started in Australia first then cruised New Zealand.

We flew between all the cities in Australia and had no problem with a normal carry-on bag for each flight. Not sure how things may have changed over the past 7 years. The whole process in Australia was well orchestrated and the hotels were very nice. When we landed in Alice Springs/Uluru we purchased head netting in a gift shop at the airport. The gnats were horrible. For the Great Barrier Reef if you wanted to go swimming you needed to rent a Lycra Suit/Stinger Suit. I was going scuba diving, so I had no choice. It wasn't very expensive but unexpected.

We didn't make it to Auckland because of rough seas and we had an onboard emergency that had us turn back towards Sydney so a helicopter could reach us. Because of the rough seas the captain couldn't make up the time.

We thought Australia and New Zealand were beautiful and the whole process was well done. It was truly a once in a lifetime adventure.

Good luck and enjoy. 

[KYBOB]

Thanks for the info! I have heard about the gnats we have head nets that we have used in Alaska for mosquitos and gnats there but have been warned that at Uluru it is a whole other level. Thanks for the info about the Lycra suit, wonder if they have one for a 300lb 6'-4" man? Otherwise what is there to do / see without getting in the water? 

[zukecruiser]

We are also on a Cruise tour in October on the Royal. Enjoyed the comments.  On the land tour in Australia in October, are shorts usually worn most of the time due to the warmer temps.  Will help in deciding what to pack in our one suitcase.

[zukecruiser]

Also looking for info on the types of flights on land tour portion in Australia.  PVP says they are all charter but comments here indicate they are all regular commercial flights.  any further comments?

[KYBOB]

I maybe asking a dumb question here but what or who is PVP? On the itinerary it says "scheduled jet service" which to me means a regularly scheduled commercial flight.  

 

 

AIR: SYDNEY TO AYERS ROCK

Flight: Sydney to Ayers Rock This flight is scheduled jet service. You will be required to claim your luggage upon arrival in Ayers Rock. Your tour director will give you further details of the flight.

 

5 hours ago, zukecruiser said:

Also looking for info on the types of flights on land tour portion in Australia.  PVP says they are all charter but comments here indicate they are all regular commercial flights.  any further comments?

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

9 hours ago, KYBOB said:

I maybe asking a dumb question here but what or who is PVP? On the itinerary it says "scheduled jet service" which to me means a regularly scheduled commercial flight.  

 

 

AIR: SYDNEY TO AYERS ROCK

Flight: Sydney to Ayers Rock This flight is scheduled jet service. You will be required to claim your luggage upon arrival in Ayers Rock. Your tour director will give you further details of the flight.

 

 

A PVP is a Princess Vacation Planner.