Tendering the GBR

[tucho]

Going on the CCL Splendor in Oct, 23

Airlie beach, Cairns and Port Douglas, are they all tender ports? Do any dock at a pier?

Just wondering is this time of year, good, bad or doesn’t matter for the GBR?

Thanks ahead for any info.

Enjoy Life!!

[possum52]

1 hour ago, tucho said:

Going on the CCL Splendor in Oct, 23

Airlie beach, Cairns and Port Douglas, are they all tender ports? Do any dock at a pier?

Just wondering is this time of year, good, bad or doesn’t matter for the GBR?

Thanks ahead for any info.

Enjoy Life!!

You will tender at Airlie Beach and Port Douglas and dock at Cairns. October is before the wet /cyclone season starts so weather should be good.

[cruiser3775]

There is a problem with visiting the GBR while on a cruise ship.  The reef is not close to the shore, so you have to travel on a catamaran out to it.  The tour companies maintain platforms at the reef to use as a base for snorkelling.   Because the distances involved are great, most excursions start at 8am or 8.30 am and don't get back until 4pm or later. This does not fit with the ship's times in port.  So you can forget taking a private GBR excursion.  You will have to pay the much greater cost of a ship's excursion.  These have been shortened to fit the cruise ship timetable, so you get much less time on the reef.

[triplem67]

@GoTravelLife This would be a good post to follow information on GBR trips.  

 

[arxcards]

If being used as general advice, most of our ships are small enough to dock in Cairns. There are exceptions which are too large and have to tender to Yorkeys Knob. For upcoming schedules, Majestic & Royal Princess', Ovation & Quantum of the Seas, Celebrity Edge & QM2 all require tendering.

[MMDown Under]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

If being used as general advice, most of our ships are small enough to dock in Cairns. There are exceptions which are too large and have to tender to Yorkeys Knob. For upcoming schedules, Majestic & Royal Princess', Ovation & Quantum of the Seas, Celebrity Edge & QM2 all require tendering.

If you have a choice between docking in Cairns or tendering to Yorkeys Knob, suggest choosing docking in Cairns.  It is so convenient.  There is even a brewery on the wharf, plus my favourite seafood restaurant is on the wharf, Dundees on the Waterfront.  You can walk along the waterfront, past the cairns esplanade lagoon, and past muddy playground.  If the tide is out, you will see lots of different birds on the mud flats. You can walk to the local council bus ($4 cash a day for Seniors).  Palm Cove, northern beaches, is a popular day trip (beware of the stingers in season).

[MMDown Under]

When I first went overseas for a year it was by ship.  Both ships were old and passengers mainly from the UK were on a world cruise.  No mention of Ship  but all about the itinerary. 

 

[ceeceeDee]

I lived in Cairns for about 15 years. October is before the wet season, but the weather starts to heat up around then so it can be quite humid. I would definitely prefer to dock in Cairns as the terminal is ideally situated to explore the CBD on foot. You can also get local buses to Palm Cove or walk to Cairns rail station and hop on the Kuranda train, very scenic.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, ceeceeDee said:

I lived in Cairns for about 15 years. October is before the wet season, but the weather starts to heat up around then so it can be quite humid. I would definitely prefer to dock in Cairns as the terminal is ideally situated to explore the CBD on foot. You can also get local buses to Palm Cove or walk to Cairns rail station and hop on the Kuranda train, very scenic.

Excellent suggestions from a local.  Pace yourself when it is humid and you’ll love Cairns like a local.  

[Vader1111]

I'm cruising to Cairns next month, on the Pacific Adventure.  Does anyone know if this will ship will be able to dock, or is it too large - and thus a Yorkeys Knob tender operation?

 

I tried asking P&O, through their "Contact Us" on their website.  All they did was send me a link to the cruise itinerary.  It's almost as if they went out of their way to avoid answering the question.  Lazy so & sos.

[OzKiwiJJ]

38 minutes ago, Vader1111 said:

I'm cruising to Cairns next month, on the Pacific Adventure.  Does anyone know if this will ship will be able to dock, or is it too large - and thus a Yorkeys Knob tender operation?

 

I tried asking P&O, through their "Contact Us" on their website.  All they did was send me a link to the cruise itinerary.  It's almost as if they went out of their way to avoid answering the question.  Lazy so & sos.

If your itinerary says Cairns it will be docked. It would say Yorkeys Knob and indicate it's a tender port if that was the case.

[SinbadThePorter]

5 hours ago, Vader1111 said:

Does anyone know if this will ship will be able to dock

 

This schedule from Ports North may be useful:

 

https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/os-data-2/portsnorth-com-au/listingforms/page615/230508_cruise_schedule_-_2023.pdf

 

If your Pacific Adventure (290 meter length) cruise is arriving in Cairns on the 16th June, the answer is yes it will dock.

 

The following ships are the ones that will be anchoring off Yorkey's Knob later in 2023 (they are all over 300 meters in length):

Quantum of the Seas

Celebrity Solstice

Royal Princess

Celebrity Edge

[ceeceeDee]

Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter are both nearly identical grand class ships. Encounter docks in Cairns so Adventure would definitely 'fit'. So I think it's safe to say that Adventure will dock in Cairns unless the Port Authority sends it to Yorkeys for some reason. I'd assume that's not very likely.

[Vader1111]

Thanks for all of your answers to my question.  Much happier knowing for certain that we'll be docking, not tendering.  Opens up a whole bunch of options for shore tours.

[Hogbay]

Myers across road and k or big w for the ladies.

[tucho]

Hey all,

 Late back, thanks for all  the info.

Have question, Airlie beach and Moreton Island. Where they tender off, is there a beach you can walk to. Just to hang out for the day?

Enjoy life!!

[Jean C]

Airlie beach has a lovely safe "lagoon" you can walk to from the tender dock. Two very attractive landscaped pools. There is a small tidal beach, however at the destinations talk on board they said that on an opening day ceremony when the beach had been upgraded, crocs were sunning themselves on the sand! 🐊 

[Jean C]

Airlie Beach lagoon - as good as it looks 🙂

 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, tucho said:

Hey all,

 Late back, thanks for all  the info.

Have question, Airlie beach and Moreton Island. Where they tender off, is there a beach you can walk to. Just to hang out for the day?

Enjoy life!!

As mentioned, the lagoon is a great hang out area at Airlie Beach. Lots of beach front at Tangalooma/Moreton Island.

[SinbadThePorter]

On 7/3/2023 at 6:52 AM, tucho said:

Have question, Airlie beach and Moreton Island. Where they tender off, is there a beach you can walk to. Just to hang out for the day?

 

Moreton Island is one of the largest sand islands in the world. It is a beach for miles and miles. Next to the tender jetty is where they do the dolphin feedings.

 

They will tender you to the Tangalooma resort which is a bit run down, but has all the mod cons a tourist could want. Sipping drinks on the beachfront is very nice.

 

If you walk up the hill at the back of the resort you come to what looks like a small suburban area. The views from on top are stunning.

 

If you are more adventurous, a couple of kilometers north along the beach are the Tangalooma wrecks.

Edited July 4, 2023 by SinbadThePorter

[wceprincess43]

The tender trip to Airlie Beach can be between 30 minutes to 45 minutes. I got on an early tender and it was 30 minutes. The locals usually put on a cruise ship day market near the dock and you can easily walk around town. It's also perfect to stock up on snacks at the supermarket to bring back on the ship. Cairns has a great shopping centre and is so easy to get around.