Rare Sparky74 Posted July 16 #1 Share Posted July 16 Next year we’re cruising from Singapore to Brisbane on the Crown Princess. I've just been looking at the itinerary and apart from KL, the ports all seem a bit "ho hum". I don’t mean to offend anyone or dis their hometown or favourite place and I’m sure we’ll find something interesting to do but the ports are all places we’ve visited before. KL, Beno, and then capital cities: Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Newcastle (not a capital), and Brisbane. If you were in charge of Princess deployment, what additional ports would you add to this itinerary, even if it extended the length of the cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbeh Posted July 16 #2 Share Posted July 16 Singapore to Perth for 18 days and then onto Brisbane. In truth, it sounds like a lovely cruise to me. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muffinz Posted July 16 #3 Share Posted July 16 That sounds like a great cruise to me I just did a dummy booking and it's $12,230 NZ with the plus fare for me and my wife does anyone have a spare $12k (NZ) we can borrow 😄 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbeh Posted July 16 #4 Share Posted July 16 15 minutes ago, Muffinz said: That sounds like a great cruise to me I just did a dummy booking and it's $12,230 NZ with the plus fare for me and my wife does anyone have a spare $12k (NZ) we can borrow 😄 Yep, the days of cruising being a cheap holiday option are well and truly over. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mycruiseobsession Posted July 16 #5 Share Posted July 16 49 minutes ago, Sparky74 said: Next year we’re cruising from Singapore to Brisbane on the Crown Princess. I've just been looking at the itinerary and apart from KL, the ports all seem a bit "ho hum". I don’t mean to offend anyone or dis their hometown or favourite place and I’m sure we’ll find something interesting to do but the ports are all places we’ve visited before. KL, Beno, and then capital cities: Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Newcastle (not a capital), and Brisbane. If you were in charge of Princess deployment, what additional ports would you add to this itinerary, even if it extended the length of the cruise? Since your going West Coast I would have like some northern WA like Broome, Exmouth etc or South to Bunbury and Margaret River. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare arxcards Posted July 16 #6 Share Posted July 16 (edited) I would make Newcastle an overnighter 😉 I gather this is an out of drydock return to Sydney and is scheduled to attract generic (international) passengers. Sure, you could add at least two WA ports, Kangaroo Island and a good time of year for the Fairy Penguins at Philip Island. Adding 4 days to the cruise increases the price and makes it less attractive to more people, so i can see why they have made it a basic itinerary. I gather disembark will be possible in Freo, Adelaide, Melbourne & Sydney as well. PS: Newcastle is often used as a port to align available terminal dates in Brisbane & Sydney. Edited July 16 by arxcards 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sparky74 Posted July 16 Author #7 Share Posted July 16 30 minutes ago, Muffinz said: That sounds like a great cruise to me I just did a dummy booking and it's $12,230 NZ with the plus fare for me and my wife does anyone have a spare $12k (NZ) we can borrow 😄 Good grief! We’re paying about half that! And I thought that was pricey enough. 😱 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sparky74 Posted July 16 Author #8 Share Posted July 16 17 minutes ago, Bubbeh said: Yep, the days of cruising being a cheap holiday option are well and truly over. Until you start pricing other holiday options. Then you realise that cruises still are a relatively cheap holiday. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbeh Posted July 16 #9 Share Posted July 16 18 minutes ago, arxcards said: PS: Newcastle is often used as a port to align available terminal dates in Brisbane & Sydney. Speaking of Newcastle, has anyone been watching Travel Guides? Sunday night was in Newcastle and it looked like a really interesting destination. Went onto my bucket list for the next time we're that side of the country. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted July 16 #10 Share Posted July 16 This is why we have been going further abroad to cruise, new destination cruises beats domestic cruises even if they have some favourite ports every time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muffinz Posted July 17 #11 Share Posted July 17 23 minutes ago, Sparky74 said: Good grief! We’re paying about half that! And I thought that was pricey enough. 😱 that price was for a balcony cabin with the plus package 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare arxcards Posted July 17 #12 Share Posted July 17 22 minutes ago, Bubbeh said: Speaking of Newcastle, has anyone been watching Travel Guides? Sunday night was in Newcastle and it looked like a really interesting destination. Went onto my bucket list for the next time we're that side of the country. Anyone here is free to touch base with me if they want to lay out some plans in Newcastle. As a cruise port, it is possible to have a full day while spending next to nothing. The only thing against Newcastle becoming a world class cruise port, is that it is only 2hrs north of one of the best cruise ports in the world. That weird travel guides Fren family, sad to admit, are somewhere from around here. I have only caught highlights of Sunday's show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sparky74 Posted July 17 Author #13 Share Posted July 17 1 hour ago, Muffinz said: that price was for a balcony cabin with the plus package Well that explains it. No balcony or plus package for us! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsor26 Posted July 17 #14 Share Posted July 17 1 hour ago, arxcards said: That weird travel guides Fren family, sad to admit, are somewhere from around here. I have only caught highlights of Sunday's show. Yes after 7 years they are past their sell by date The couple of gentlemen are also from Newcastle and they are lovely to listen to and appreciate everything 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare lyndarra Posted July 17 #15 Share Posted July 17 1 hour ago, arxcards said: That weird travel guides Fren family, sad to admit, are somewhere from around here. I have only caught highlights of Sunday's show. I watched it and enjoyed it but didn't learn anything new but I've lived in the area most of my life. Yes, the Fren family are from Newcastle and so are Matt and Brett. I don't mind the Frens, they're good for a laugh. Matt and Brett discovered stuff they didn't know about. Of course the locals gave Newcastle 5 stars. Port Stephens and Hunter Valley were included but not Lake Macquarie (which could be a blessing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiser3775 Posted July 17 #16 Share Posted July 17 I agree, it's a boring itinerary. I'd add in at least one other Indonesian island port (not Jakarta), and more on the Aus west coast - Broome, for example. Must be others, too, but I don't know what ports are suitable for cruise ships. Exmouth? Carnarvon? Instead of Adelaide, or as well as, you could have Kangaroo Island. And why don't cruise ships visit King Island or Flinders Island, both great places, and Flinders has spectacular scenery. And isn't there a port on the Tasmanian East coast that cruise ships could visit, too? I gave up watching Travel Guides, mainly because they seem to think the main thing travellers want is adrenaline producing adventures most suited to adolescents, not an appreciation of scenery or history or culture. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare arxcards Posted July 17 #17 Share Posted July 17 20 minutes ago, lyndarra said: Port Stephens and Hunter Valley were included but not Lake Macquarie (which could be a blessing). Not by accident. The tourism bodies and/or local providers stump-up a fair amount of cash to get the advertorial filmed in their location. Like Getaway and others, the program is produced to generate tourism income, so the reviews err on the positive side and that means they won't be filming at King St Maccas at 2am. I am not sure why, guessing it is to do with Lake Mac tourism, but they don't feature with cruise trip tours like Newcastle, Port Stephens, Maitland & Cessnock areas do. A free shopping shuttle to Charlestown Square would make this cruise itinerary much more exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare reeves35 Posted July 17 #18 Share Posted July 17 It is fundamentally a repositioning cruise so the per diems etc that Princess is earning will typically be less than a normal cruise so, in many respects, they want it over as soon as possible and have no interest in extending its duration any further. You should probably be grateful that they have chosen to do a cruise than tracks much of the Australian coast when the quicker option would've been Singapore-Bali-Darwin-Airlie Beach-Brisbane. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinbadThePorter Posted July 17 #19 Share Posted July 17 (edited) 1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said: why don't cruise ships visit King Island or Flinders Island, both great places Both are probably more difficult to tender to than Norfolk Island and you know how hit and miss that is. 😱 We just do not have enough safe deep water ports or anchorages in Australia to vary the itineraries. There is only one such port not currently in use for cruises that I can think of, which is Gove and that is way off your track. Slightly off topic, but I wonder what happened to Sherrard Island? Edited July 17 by SinbadThePorter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbeh Posted July 17 #20 Share Posted July 17 5 hours ago, arxcards said: Anyone here is free to touch base with me if they want to lay out some plans in Newcastle. As a cruise port, it is possible to have a full day while spending next to nothing. The only thing against Newcastle becoming a world class cruise port, is that it is only 2hrs north of one of the best cruise ports in the world. That weird travel guides Fren family, sad to admit, are somewhere from around here. I have only caught highlights of Sunday's show. Thank you for the invitation to contact you, you never know. I gotta be honest, the Frens do my head in, they're so over the top and loud. I can deal with Jonathon but the rest...bloody hell! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sparky74 Posted July 17 Author #21 Share Posted July 17 5 hours ago, arxcards said: …That weird travel guides Fren family, sad to admit, are somewhere from around here. I have only caught highlights of Sunday's show. 4 hours ago, lyndarra said: …Yes, the Fren family are from Newcastle and so are Matt and Brett. I don't mind the Frens, they're good for a laugh… 37 minutes ago, Bubbeh said: …I gotta be honest, the Frens do my head in, they're so over the top and loud. I can deal with Jonathon but the rest...bloody hell! DW rolls her eyes at Kevin & Janetta. They sometimes forget to pack their PMA. The other night the show featured Tasmania. Kevin & Janetta were NOT impressed when they discovered they were going caravanning. 🤣 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiser3775 Posted July 17 #22 Share Posted July 17 2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said: 4 hours ago, cruiser3775 said: why don't cruise ships visit King Island or Flinders Island, both great places Both are probably more difficult to tender to than Norfolk Island and you know how hit and miss that is. 😱 We just do not have enough safe deep water ports or anchorages in Australia to vary the itineraries. The Tasmania government has been upgrading the port facility at Lady Barron, a port on the southern end of Flinders Island, facing Cape Barron Island. It still wouldn't be big enough for cruise ships, but it could be helpful as a tender port destination. It is a very beautiful area, with the sheltered waters of Franklin Sound, and many small islands. The bigger problem is that the island has a very small population and few built facilities, and I'm not sure they would welcome cruise ships. https://www.flinders.tas.gov.au/tasports-safe-harbour 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted July 17 #23 Share Posted July 17 (edited) 8 hours ago, Sparky74 said: Next year we’re cruising from Singapore to Brisbane on the Crown Princess. I've just been looking at the itinerary and apart from KL, the ports all seem a bit "ho hum". I don’t mean to offend anyone or dis their hometown or favourite place and I’m sure we’ll find something interesting to do but the ports are all places we’ve visited before. KL, Beno, and then capital cities: Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Newcastle (not a capital), and Brisbane. If you were in charge of Princess deployment, what additional ports would you add to this itinerary, even if it extended the length of the cruise? I'm booked to get on her on 19th Nov in Melbourne (28 nts). Once she gets to Fremantle it also becomes a circumnavigation of Australia cruise so there will be much coming and going of passengers. It is one of two Princess cruises that summer which Melb passengers can board, albeit in limited numbers. The other is another circumnavigation in March 2026. Boring itinerary but hey it's a ship that I can do a round trip from Melb on. I'll take that. Edited July 17 by Ondine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbeh Posted July 17 #24 Share Posted July 17 15 hours ago, Sparky74 said: DW rolls her eyes at Kevin & Janetta. They sometimes forget to pack their PMA. The other night the show featured Tasmania. Kevin & Janetta were NOT impressed when they discovered they were going caravanning. 🤣 As it happens Kevin & Janetta together with the Matt & Brett are my favourites. I'm also becoming pretty fond of the girls (names escape me), BTW, Grumpy reckons that I'm partial to K & J because we always like ourselves in the mirror - I've no idea what he means. LOL! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sparky74 Posted July 17 Author #25 Share Posted July 17 23 minutes ago, Bubbeh said: As it happens Kevin & Janetta together with the Matt & Brett are my favourites. I'm also becoming pretty fond of the girls (names escape me), BTW, Grumpy reckons that I'm partial to K & J because we always like ourselves in the mirror - I've no idea what he means. LOL! Keeping in mind that the show is an infomercial, I find it fun and informative to watch. And it helps with ideas of where we might holiday in the future. I like that they have a diverse cross-section of Australian society represented. It’s easy to become invested in the "characters" even the one that rub you the wrong way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now