Post cruise - Overseas Terminal to Syd Airport

I'm hoping someone can give some advice on the following:

Ship docks at 6.30am

What time do passengers usually disembark? We will walk off with our luggage.

I'm wanting to book flights for the return trip home to Adelaide.

Qantas flights leave at 11.05am or 2.25pm

Is the airport train the best option to get back to the airport?

Which would be the best flight to book, the earlier or the later?

Will we make it to the airport in time for the 11.05am flight or should we go with the later and probably sit around the airport for a few hours?

Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated :):):)

11.05 would be fine. Generally the ship is empty by 10am and with 30-45 mins for travel & check-in, the early flight is fine. You'll most likely be off before 9am. Airport train is about 10min walk from ship, 20mins ride from circular quay, plus a few minutes walk up to bag drop (assuming you will check-in on your phones before hand).

However, the early flight doesn't allow for the ship being late to port due to weather, so- that's the choice you'll have to make.

When you alight from ship at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, look inland in the head of the cove and that is Circular Quay . You will see the ferry berths and behind that a two tiered elevated steel structure . the top level is a motorway, and the level above the ground is CIRCULAR QUAY station . You have maximum 10 minute walk from the OPT along the Quay to Circlaur Quay Railway station . From here you take the train to the Airport . Do not alight at Mascot, or Airport Domestic stations, alight at Airport International station .

When you alight from ship at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, look inland in the head of the cove and that is Circular Quay . You will see the ferry berths and behind that a two tiered elevated steel structure . the top level is a motorway, and the level above the ground is CIRCULAR QUAY station . You have maximum 10 minute walk from the OPT along the Quay to Circlaur Quay Railway station . From here you take the train to the Airport . Do not alight at Mascot, or Airport Domestic stations, alight at Airport International station .

This is correct, except the op is from Adelaide, so will alight at Domestic:) I have seen quite a few people get off with luggage in tow at Mascot, thinking it is the airport station. Trains to the airport leave approx every 10 mins.

Today I got this official word from Celebrity "for international flights is 12:30 p.m. to dismbark for Sydney, to allow a two hour advance check in."

Hope this helps.

THAT is the cruise line's stated preference (or advice).

If all the passengers are off by 10 am. and it takes 1/2 hour to get to the airport, then 12:30 for international would be a safe bet.

I wondered the same thing myself.

We have a 10:10 AM flight option for international flight.

That seems to be a bit tight. What do you think???

It would be nice for folks who KNOW to weigh in. Hate to wait around 24 hours if we dont have to.

Today I got this official word from Celebrity "for international flights is 12:30 p.m. to dismbark for Sydney, to allow a two hour advance check in."

 

Hope this helps.

 

THAT is the cruise line's stated preference (or advice).

 

 

If all the passengers are off by 10 am. and it takes 1/2 hour to get to the airport, then 12:30 for international would be a safe bet.

 

I wondered the same thing myself.

We have a 10:10 AM flight option for international flight.

That seems to be a bit tight. What do you think???

 

 

It would be nice for folks who KNOW to weigh in. Hate to wait around 24 hours if we dont have to.

You will need to walk off (unassisted) at 7am, manage rush hour traffic by taxi (7 miles) to be at airport by 7.30am and very latest 8am. Not possible sorry, even by train.

If you were flying domestic -then you would be ok provided the ship docks on time.

Your ship only needs to be 30 minutes late or you are delayed by customs at the cruise terminal and you WILL miss your flight.

International check-in opens 3 hours before flights and the minimum i would allow is 2.5 hours. Celebrity has already stated above that the earliest safe flight is 12.30pm.

I assume OP is flying back to Adelaide so a late morning domestic flight should be fine, assuming there are no unforeseen delays with ship's arrival, customs clearance, etc. At least get a flexible ticket so you can switch to a later flight without penalty.

Hi, our ship will dock at 6:30am, 2 at sea days before back to Sydney from NZ. We are 4 adults and will do express check out and walk off the ship ourselves, assuming the ship will dock at the Rock and we want to fly to Brisbane in that morning.

The question is: can we make the 10am flight? The next flight is 11am but we want to maximize our time in Brisbane for the day, then fly home the next day. We will take the taxi from the cruise terminal to the airport. Someone mention that we can walk off as early as 7am and just wondering how is RCCL.

Also, how does the RCCL clear the custom before going back to Sydney from NZ, do they do it the night before for passengers or the morning the day we disembark?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, our ship will dock at 6:30am, 2 at sea days before back to Sydney from NZ. We are 4 adults and will do express check out and walk off the ship ourselves, assuming the ship will dock at the Rock and we want to fly to Brisbane in that morning.

 

The question is: can we make the 10am flight? The next flight is 11am but we want to maximize our time in Brisbane for the day, then fly home the next day. We will take the taxi from the cruise terminal to the airport. Someone mention that we can walk off as early as 7am and just wondering how is RCCL.

 

Also, how does the RCCL clear the custom before going back to Sydney from NZ, do they do it the night before for passengers or the morning the day we disembark?

 

Thanks in advance.

Ship normally docks at 6-6:30am and they generally start disembarking passengers after 7am. Customs and immigration is all processed at the cruise terminal in Sydney, but that's a fairly straight forward process and you should be out of the terminal by 8am.

If I were you, I would catch the train from Circular Quay station (about a 5 to 10 minute walk from the cruise terminal). From there, it's only a few stops to the domestic airport station and you should be there in about 15 minutes. At that time of the morning, trains leave Circular Quay every 5 or so minutes. Sydney traffic is extremely bad so I would advise against taxis if you have a 10am flight.

Queensland is not on daylight saving so in summer they are an hour behind Sydney. So if you were to go for the 11am flight and avoid the worry of whether you will make the earlier one, you will still get there not long after 11am and have a full afternoon there.

Thank you both. Yes. We notice there is a one hour difference between Sydney and Brisbane. We do gain one hour.

We also take the train from Circular quay to the airport after a cruise at OPT. It's quick simple and reliable.

Our last cruise (2 weeks ago), we had a 11:30 flight. We vacated our cabin at 8:40 and where sitting in the Qantas lounge waiting for our flight by 10am.

Just make sure you get there in time to check in your luggage before check-in closes for your particular flight. We check-in the night before on the cruise ship (just to guarantee our seats.....just in case), and then all we have to do is check in our luggage on arrival.