I feel cheated by cruising opportunities in Australia

[MMDown Under]

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

No, it will be our first time on Regent. A friend of ours is an expert at sniffing out really good deals then tempting us with them. It should be fun. We booked that cruise first, then I found the Princess cruise which dovetails nicely and has no duplicate port stops. We needed something to soak up some FCCs from Princess and that was the perfect solution.

Sounds wonderful.  What are the ports?

[OzKiwiJJ]

54 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Sounds wonderful.  What are the ports?

The Diamond Princess ports are:

Aomori

Sakata

Kanazawa - the only place we've been to before.

Sakaiminato

Busan

Nagasaki

 

The RSS Explorer Ports are:

Shimizu

Kobe

Kochi

Okinawa

Taipei

Nha Trang

Ho Chi Minh City overnight stop

Laem Chabang overnight on ship before transferring to Bangkok. 

We've been to a few of these ports before but since RSS has included excursions we'll get to see stuff we haven't been to before.

[MMDown Under]

9 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The Diamond Princess ports are:

Aomori

Sakata

Kanazawa - the only place we've been to before.

Sakaiminato

Busan

Nagasaki

 

The RSS Explorer Ports are:

Shimizu

Kobe

Kochi

Okinawa

Taipei

Nha Trang

Ho Chi Minh City overnight stop

Laem Chabang overnight on ship before transferring to Bangkok. 

We've been to a few of these ports before but since RSS has included excursions we'll get to see stuff we haven't been to before.

Lots of interesting new ports to enjoy. How exciting!  Overnight stop allows you to attend a cooking class if one isn’t already included.  From Laem Chabang we got a private transfer to the zoo.  Having excursions included is a big bonus. Bon Voyage!

 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Lots of interesting new ports to enjoy. How exciting!  Overnight stop allows you to attend a cooking class if one isn’t already included.  From Laem Chabang we got a private transfer to the zoo.  Having excursions included is a big bonus. Bon Voyage!

 

 

 

RSS has lots of cooking classes onboard so we'll probably do a some of those. I have to be a bit careful with Vietnamese and Thai cooking classes as I react badly to fresh coriander. We'll certainly be making the most of the excursions though - I think I'll need a holiday after that trip to recover!  

[MMDown Under]

39 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

RSS has lots of cooking classes onboard so we'll probably do a some of those. I have to be a bit careful with Vietnamese and Thai cooking classes as I react badly to fresh coriander. We'll certainly be making the most of the excursions though - I think I'll need a holiday after that trip to recover!  

What a lovely reason for an afters holiday.  Is ship same design as Azamara?

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

What a lovely reason for an afters holiday.  Is ship same design as Azamara?

I wouldn't have a clue about Azamara ships. Although didn't Pacific Princess become an Azamara ship? 

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I wouldn't have a clue about Azamara ships. Although didn't Pacific Princess become an Azamara ship? 

Yes Azamara Onward, very nicely refurbed. 

[aussielil]

What happened to visiting ports such as Newcastle, Gladstone and Townsville in winter.  Even Batemans Bay (for Canberra) used to be on itineraries,  although you need to use tenders.  Pacific Explorer could visit those ports as I have been on similar size ships to those ports. 

 

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, aussielil said:

What happened to visiting ports such as Newcastle, Gladstone and Townsville in winter.  Even Batemans Bay (for Canberra) used to be on itineraries,  although you need to use tenders.  Pacific Explorer could visit those ports as I have been on similar size ships to those ports. 

 

Also Mackay for small ships.

[reeves35]

2 hours ago, aussielil said:

What happened to visiting ports such as Newcastle, Gladstone and Townsville in winter.  Even Batemans Bay (for Canberra) used to be on itineraries,  although you need to use tenders.  Pacific Explorer could visit those ports as I have been on similar size ships to those ports. 

 

It was announced at P&O's recent celebrations that the channel at Townsville is being dredged so cruise ships can enter the port.  It would add another potential port on North Qld itineraries though a cruise around Willis Island would still be required to allow the duty free shops to open up.

[Aus Traveller]

9 hours ago, reeves35 said:

It was announced at P&O's recent celebrations that the channel at Townsville is being dredged so cruise ships can enter the port.  It would add another potential port on North Qld itineraries though a cruise around Willis Island would still be required to allow the duty free shops to open up.

Quite a few years ago we went into Townsville on a P&O cruise, but the ship was anchored out beyond Magnetic Island. It was a very long tender ride.

[NSWP]

In short, if you want to cruise other parts of the world you need to take a plane to board the ship. Unless you win the lotto and do the annual world cruise on Princess from/to Sydney.

Edited April 17, 2023 by NSWP

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

Quite a few years ago we went into Townsville on a P&O cruise, but the ship was anchored out beyond Magnetic Island. It was a very long tender ride.

Magnetic Island is beautiful. I saw my last koala in the wild there. Small ships could anchor off there and tender into the island. Those who prefer Townsville could take the regular ferry from MI.

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's all very well for us to say we want more ports to stop at but the local communities at those possible ports have to come to the party. Some small towns might not want thousands of cruisers decending upon them like locusts!

[Aus Traveller]

22 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's all very well for us to say we want more ports to stop at but the local communities at those possible ports have to come to the party. Some small towns might not want thousands of cruisers decending upon them like locusts!

With some small towns, there mightn't be much to interest tourists within a reasonable distance.

[NSWP]

Just now, Aus Traveller said:

With some small towns, there mightn't be much to interest tourists within a reasonable distance.

Like Eden, mystifies me why ships call in there. Very limited shorex attractions.

Nice area though.

[aussielozzie18]

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

Like Eden, mystifies me why ships call in there. Very limited shorex attractions.

Nice area though.

I like Eden.  Gladstone though - I am staying on the ship next time.

[MelbTone]

10 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Like Eden, mystifies me why ships call in there. Very limited shorex attractions.

Nice area though.

I enjoyed Eden, walking around, lunch in town, Killer Whale and Mary McKillop museums. Beautiful weather helped.

[Aus Traveller]

13 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I like Eden.  Gladstone though - I am staying on the ship next time.

That's exactly my point. There isn't much in Gladstone for a tourist.

[aussielozzie18]

9 minutes ago, MelbTone said:

I enjoyed Eden, walking around, lunch in town, Killer Whale and Mary McKillop museums. Beautiful weather helped.

Yes, it’s a nice spot to explore on foot if you have a lovely sunny day and have no issues with hills.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Sometimes you can have too many ports. I refuse to get on any ship that stops at Phillip Island 

[MMDown Under]

30 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

That's exactly my point. There isn't much in Gladstone for a tourist.

I seem to recall going to an island from Gladstone.

[MMDown Under]

50 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

With some small towns, there mightn't be much to interest tourists within a reasonable distance.

I find the people are nice in small towns. If you give them the time of day you will learn a lot (for free)

[MMDown Under]

50 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Like Eden, mystifies me why ships call in there. Very limited shorex attractions.

Nice area though.

I saw a mother and baby whale close to the shore at Eden. Was the highlight of our travels south!!  When do they come last?  August at Hervey Bay but you have to do boat tour.

[MMDown Under]

12 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

Sometimes you can have too many ports. I refuse to get on any ship that stops at Phillip Island 

Why from a Queenslander?