Australia/New Zealand cruise end of January. Yes or No?

We are looking at Sydney to Auckland the end of January and would really appreciate feedback on what you thought of your cruise itinerary. This one has 4 Australia and 6 NZ ports. Thanks very much!

That would be the middle of summer there. Not sure there is any reason not to take that cruise. Any cruise is better than no cruise at all.

As usual CruiserBruce has it right.

I agree. It's a fine time to take the cruise.

Keith

NZ is definitely a good idea!

The best time to cruise New Zealand is early February through mid March. During the rest of the year, the seas can be a real mixed bag where they might be so rough your ship cannot make port. My BIL and SIL did this cruise on Princess and their ship had to skip 3 of 6 ports in NZ. In Australia the school holidays start in mid-December and run through late January, so prices will be higher during these peak travel weeks. February through March, the kids are back in school and locals are back at work. Also, it is important to know that it can be a wild ride between Australia and New Zealand - so do bring anti seasickness medication just in case.

What I hope is that you don't plan to just fly to Australia and get on a cruise ship as you will miss most of Australia and you will not be able to see what makes Australia such a great country from the ship. The vast majority of really great things to see and do in Australia are too far inland to do on a ship's excursion. So do give that some thought and consider doing a driving land trip as well as your cruise - after all, it takes quite a while to fly down there from Canada, the US or UK (or wherever).

 

What I hope is that you don't plan to just fly to Australia and get on a cruise ship as you will miss most of Australia and you will not be able to see what makes Australia such a great country from the ship. The vast majority of really great things to see and do in Australia are too far inland to do on a ship's excursion. So do give that some thought and consider doing a driving land trip as well as your cruise - after all, it takes quite a while to fly down there from Canada, the US or UK (or wherever).

Ditto for New Zealand. Do a land trip.

I would love to go there...either by ship or plane...but the flights from the E. Coast....so freaking loooooong! I don't think I could stand being on a plane for 18-24 hours!

Do what we usually do when flying from NZ to anywhere in Europe or North America - have a stopover en route in either direction. Can you not fly via Europe instead of West Coast USA?

The end of January will be fine for an NZ cruise, it will be warm then and you'll have a reasonable chance of settled weather. However remember that NZ weather is variable and each year is different. We did Auckland to Sydney in mid-February and, apart from a couple of rainy days, we had lovely weather and a calm Tasman crossing.

I would love to go there...either by ship or plane...but the flights from the E. Coast....so freaking loooooong! I don't think I could stand being on a plane for 18-24 hours!

cb, what you do is fly to Honolulu or Papeete and spend a few days, then fly on to break up the flights or take a repositioning cruise (if you have a lot of time or a freighter to Australia from San Francisco).

Australia Day is at end of January (Fri. Jan 26, 2018 is next) and usually represents the end of the Summer (like Labor Day in USA) and return to school so when it is a holiday weekend any port stops those three days could be impacted by closures, parades and crowds. Just something to factor in in case it might have impacts on a particular itinerary. Not necessarily bad (it's a great party!) just that business as usual is suspended. Museums and such may be closed.

Wiki - Australia Day

I would love to go there...either by ship or plane...but the flights from the E. Coast....so freaking loooooong! I don't think I could stand being on a plane for 18-24 hours!

That's my problem going anywhere.

Australia Day is at end of January (Fri. Jan 26, 2018 is next) and usually represents the end of the Summer (like Labor Day in USA) and return to school so when it is a holiday weekend any port stops those three days could be impacted by closures, parades and crowds. Just something to factor in in case it might have impacts on a particular itinerary. Not necessarily bad (it's a great party!) just that business as usual is suspended. Museums and such may be closed.

 

Wiki - Australia Day

As norm Wiki is wrong.

Most shops open Australia Day.

No parades, ANZAC day that might be an issue but not Australia Day.

School holidays usually end around 26 January, so I'd suggest waiting till after then.

Australia Day is at end of January (Fri. Jan 26, 2018 is next) and usually represents the end of the Summer (like Labor Day in USA) and return to school so when it is a holiday weekend any port stops those three days could be impacted by closures, parades and crowds. Just something to factor in in case it might have impacts on a particular itinerary. Not necessarily bad (it's a great party!) just that business as usual is suspended. Museums and such may be closed.

 

Wiki - Australia Day

I think Wiki is a bit confused with ANZAC day (25 April).

The best time to cruise New Zealand is early February through mid March. During the rest of the year, the seas can be a real mixed bag where they might be so rough your ship cannot make port. My BIL and SIL did this cruise on Princess and their ship had to skip 3 of 6 ports in NZ. In Australia the school holidays start in mid-December and run through late January, so prices will be higher during these peak travel weeks. February through March, the kids are back in school and locals are back at work. Also, it is important to know that it can be a wild ride between Australia and New Zealand - so do bring anti seasickness medication just in case.

 

What I hope is that you don't plan to just fly to Australia and get on a cruise ship as you will miss most of Australia and you will not be able to see what makes Australia such a great country from the ship. The vast majority of really great things to see and do in Australia are too far inland to do on a ship's excursion. So do give that some thought and consider doing a driving land trip as well as your cruise - after all, it takes quite a while to fly down there from Canada, the US or UK (or wherever).

Seas can be rough at any time of the year, but January has nicer temperatures in NZ. You may only need a light jacket at night.

We did a HAL SYD to AUK last year at the end of January...

PERFECT weather, perfect seas.

As an aside, we flew over a week earlier and flew direct from the east coast to Carins so we could do a 4 day live aboard on the great barrier reef.... (Snorkeling)

Best decision we ever made.

We did a HAL SYD to AUK last year at the end of January...

 

PERFECT weather, perfect seas.

 

As an aside, we flew over a week earlier and flew direct from the east coast to Carins so we could do a 4 day live aboard on the great barrier reef.... (Snorkeling)

 

Best decision we ever made.

It was a great plan. Glad the seas were smooth for you.

We did a HAL SYD to AUK last year at the end of January...

 

PERFECT weather, perfect seas.

 

As an aside, we flew over a week earlier and flew direct from the east coast to Carins so we could do a 4 day live aboard on the great barrier reef.... (Snorkeling)

 

Best decision we ever made.

Would love to hear more about your reef live aboard. We also plan to go straight to Cairns before our cruise. Thanks!

As a kiwi I say anytime is a great time to visit... But end of Jan the weather should be lovely (summer doesn't really kick off till Jan). One word of warning is school doesn't tend to go back till Feb so depending on the line you choose there might be lots of children on the ship.

The public holidays in January are local holidays and things are still open so you won't have any issues with that.

Thanks, all. We are booked!

Most shops open Australia Day.

 

No parades, ANZAC day that might be an issue but not Australia Day.

Interesting. When I was in Melbourne in 1995, back when I worked for an American division of BHP Steel, everything was closed and all the BHP HQ people were at the beach. I spent the day in my hotel room ironing my clothes to pack for flight back to Sydney the next day and watching a big parade out the window (and also watching the Superbowl on TV from back in U.S.).