Which lines in summer

[Amy G]

We are thinking of doing an Australian cruise in the summer of 2009 (I like to plan ahead :) ). I know that Princess has ships there, but what about other cruise lines? Thanks in advance.

[NancyIL]

Most of the major cruiselines go to Australia. I know HAL and RCI have ships there. Go to a site like Travelocity and see what's available.

 

Most Australia-NZ cruises are Oct-April. Our summer is their winter.

[Amy G]

That is part of the problem that I am finding- not many cruises available because it is their winter... I cant seem to find a whole lot yet on the various travel websites, but I think that is because June 2009 is so far off! :)

[NancyIL]

That is part of the problem that I am finding- not many cruises available because it is their winter... I cant seem to find a whole lot yet on the various travel websites, but I think that is because June 2009 is so far off! :)

 

You'd have a hard time finding cruises there for THIS June - because that's not when most cruiselines go there.

[Flipper133]

Hi Amy

 

check out this site

 

http://www.ecruising.travel/list.aspx?d=0&cl=121&dm=0&gclid=CNe9lMHJ6pECFQsUiQodjijSkQ

 

cheers

[Amy G]

Flipper- thanks so much- that is exactly what I hoped to find!

[keela1eva2]

Celebrity are cruising in Australia and NZ for the first time our winter their summer.

I am booked for next November 23rd on the Millennium which is 14 nights from Auckland finishing in Sydney.

Extending my holiday down under by over 4 weeks in Perth to visit family so will be there u ntil the 5th January.

 

Sue

[mochuck]

There are hardly ever any cruise ships in Sydney in our winter. I'm sorry.

[Amy G]

I am finding that out! If we do a cruise we are probably going to do the Sydney to Fiji cruise on the Dawn Princess in June 09.

[mochuck]

I know its sacrilege to suggest this on a cruise site but you could do a land trip in Australia. Its still very warm in far north Queensland (where the Great Barrier Reef is)

[Amy G]

We are still considering that a well! In the summer I will go meet with a travel agent to see what will be best for us. It would be ideal if we could have a stopover in Fiji or the Cook Islands and then hit Australia before or after.

[Globaliser]

There are hardly ever any cruise ships in Sydney in our winter. I'm sorry.

:confused: The Sydney Ports website shows these calls for 2008 during the southern winter season:-

[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		05-Apr-2008 07:00 (Sat)
[i]Sun Princess[/i]		06-Apr-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		13-Apr-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Sapphire Princess[/i]	14-Apr-2008 05:30 (Mon)
[i]Topaz[/i]			15-Apr-2008 07:00 (Tue)
[i]Sun Princess[/i]		18-Apr-2008 07:00 (Fri)
[i]Pacific Sun[/i]		19-Apr-2008 07:00 (Sat)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		23-Apr-2008 07:00 (Wed)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		02-May-2008 08:00 (Fri)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		12-May-2008 07:00 (Mon)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		24-May-2008 07:00 (Sat)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		03-Jun-2008 07:00 (Tue)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		01-Jul-2008 07:00 (Tue)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		10-Jul-2008 07:00 (Thu)
[i]Sun Princess[/i]		14-Jul-2008 07:00 (Mon)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		20-Jul-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		02-Aug-2008 07:00 (Sat)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		10-Aug-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		19-Aug-2008 07:00 (Tue)
[i]Doulos[/i]			21-Aug-2008 07:00 (Thu)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		29-Aug-2008 07:00 (Fri)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		07-Sep-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		23-Sep-2008 07:00 (Tue)
[i]Sun Princess[/i]		27-Sep-2008 07:00 (Sat)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		03-Oct-2008 07:00 (Fri)
[i]Sun Princess[/i]		09-Oct-2008 07:00 (Thu)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		12-Oct-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Rhapsody of the Seas[/i]	18-Oct-2008 05:00 (Sat)
[i]Rhapsody of the Seas[/i]	19-Oct-2008 07:00 (Sun)
[i]Sun Princess[/i]		21-Oct-2008 07:00 (Tue)
[i]Pacific Dawn[/i]		23-Oct-2008 07:00 (Thu)
[i]Dawn Princess[/i]		26-Oct-2008 07:00 (Sun)[/codE]

[i]Pacific Dawn[/i] may not to be everyone's taste, but as Princess is keeping some of the mainline ships in Australia on a long-term basis, there must be some possibility that there will be similar cruises in 2009.

[mochuck]

Sun Princess is P&O too now. So not much choice. P&O tend to do the Pacific Islands which seems to appeal to some locals but not the Australia / New Zealand crusies that the Americans like.

[bobsydney]

Sun Princess is P&O too now. So not much choice. P&O tend to do the Pacific Islands which seems to appeal to some locals but not the Australia / New Zealand crusies that the Americans like.

 

Sun Princess (as well as the soon to arrive Dawn Princess) operates under the Princess brand (not P&O) - almost everthing is Princess but onboard currency is $AUD. P&O Australia operates the Pacific Dawn (the former Regal Princess) out of Sydney and the Pacific Sun (an old Carnival ship I think) out of Brisbane. The 2 brands are quite distinct although both Princess Australia and P&O Australia are run out of the same office in Sydney.

 

Amy, as mentioned by other posters, there are limited options for a cruise out of Australia in your summer (our winter) of 2009.

 

Sun Princess will be operating from Fremantle (Perth) in Western Australia from Jun to August 2009 doing Asian itineraries. It does an 18 night cruise back to Sydney in late August then goes on a 35 day round trip to Tahiti and Hawaii in September.

 

Dawn Princess is doing a couple of South Pacific cruises from Sydney and a North Queensland cruise from Brisbane (which I think is a charter) during May and June, before embarking on a world cruise in early July.

 

P&O Australia have yet to release the full Australian/South Pacific program for 2009 yet, which is a little strange ... there is speculation that this might be because there will be changes to ships and homeports in 2009 ... time will tell.

 

We do know that Pacific Dawn will be doing a 28 day cruise from Sydney to Tahiti return during June 2009. I note that it has wharf bookings in Sydney every 10 days or so for the rest of the May-Sept period so assuming no changes, it will presumably be doing South Pacific itineraries, (ie to New Caledonia and Vanuatu and sometimes Fiji).

 

If we use previous years as a guide (which is probably not a good idea given all the changes in the Australian cruising scene over the past year or two), the Pacific Sun will likely relocate from its Brisbane base (where it mostly does alternate 7-day itineraries to the South Pacific and to Northern Queensland) to Auckland, New Zealand for a 2 month season sailing South Pacific itineraries.

 

Another Australian option is the 5-star adventure cruising Orion - see www.orioncruises.com.au. It is scheduled to be doing cruises out of Darwin (capital of Australia's Northern Territory) along our spectacular and remote north west coastline during the middle of 2009. There are also a few other smaller cruise companies that do similar itineraries in this region.

 

At the end of the day, I have to say that Australia is a great place to spend some time, and you won't be sorry whatever you choose to do.

 

Cheers

Bob

[MMDown Under]

Our winter, your summer, is the best time to visit northern Australia.

 

If you like small ships, you might want to consider Captain Cook Cruises, which tour the Great Barrier Reef, out of Cairns and Townsville, Queensland-

 

http://www.captaincook.com.au

 

If you like adventure and can handle a working cargo vessel, out of Cairns and Thursday Island, Queensland -

 

http://www.seaswift.com.au/about-the-trip.html

 

You could take the cargo ship to Thursday Island, take a local ferry to Punsand Bay, on the tip of Northern Queensland, then take an overland journey through Cape York back to Cairns (or fly from Horn Island, via Thursday Island).

 

As others have mentioned the current cruise ship season is our summer season (your winter), but I can see this changing in the future, so it may pay to wait if you prefer a big cruise ship.

 

If you travel via the Cook Islands en route, try to get to Aitutaki (like Bora Bora, but not as developed).

 

Happy planning!

[SelectSys]

We are thinking of doing an Australian cruise in the summer of 2009 (I like to plan ahead :) ). I know that Princess has ships there, but what about other cruise lines? Thanks in advance.

 

If you can wait for August 2009 and have plenty of time, Princess has a great cruise from Fremantle(Perth) to Sydney visiting the north of the country.