Hobart Visit, Which Shore Excursion

Will be on Celebrity Solstice sailing from Sydney on January 27,2015. First stop is Hobart. Trying to decide between, Historic Hobart, Port Arthur & Wildlife which takes up 8 hours or Richmond & Tassie Devils which is 4 hours. Both excursions go to Bonorong Wildlife Park. Not sure if there is much to see and do in Hobart around the dock area. If there is much to do within walking distance the excursion that is 4 hours long may be more desirable. Interested in hearing from others who may have done these excursions previously.

Will be on Celebrity Solstice sailing from Sydney on January 27,2015. First stop is Hobart. Trying to decide between, Historic Hobart, Port Arthur & Wildlife which takes up 8 hours or Richmond & Tassie Devils which is 4 hours. Both excursions go to Bonorong Wildlife Park. Not sure if there is much to see and do in Hobart around the dock area. If there is much to do within walking distance the excursion that is 4 hours long may be more desirable. Interested in hearing from others who may have done these excursions previously.

For our northern NY neighbor, I can share a number of insights on Hobart. As noted in the live/blog below, we got off of the Solstice in February. Check out these postings for more info/background and many visuals on this nice ship, its entertainment, food options, our port visits, etc. If you need more detailed info, just post on the live/blog and I will be happy provide added suggestions, answer your questions, etc.

We did a private tour for our group of seven couples, including visiting Port Arthur, having an outdoor lunch in that nice part of Tasmania, doing a brief stop in Richmond and then seeing the baby Joeys, Devils and other interesting creatures at Bonorong Wildlife Park. It was a busy, full day. But, lots to experience and enjoy!!

Much depends on your personal interests, desires and travel styles. Tell us more on what you seek, your approach for such travel in these scenic places, etc. Hobart's downtown shopping area seems nice with many historic buildings there. Many good food options, etc., are there. You'll have a sea day to rest up before doing a long day in and around Hobart and then two sea days in crossing the sometimes rough Tasman Sea to rest up if you do a more intense full-day in Tasmania as we did. Below are just a few of my visual samples to building your excitement for visiting there. Many more on the full blog.

QUEENSTOWN OVERNIGHT EXCURSION??: Have you looked at and considered this option for getting off in Milford Sound, doing an overnight in spectacular Queenstown, seeing a great sampling of the NZ South Island? Need more info?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 63,165 views for this fun posting.

From Port Arthur, the historic Tasmanian penal colony seen during our stop in Hobart, here are a series of views for some of the sights there. First is an overview for a portion of this camp. Second, shows a view from some of the old building remains towards to the nearby water area and the location where the prisoners would arrive from England for this “visit”. It took six to nine months to make the journey from England to this distant part of the world. Third is an interior view as some members of our Central Ohio group tour and learn more about daily operations here.:

In the Tasmanian historic town of Richmond, here is one visual of interest. This is their historic stone bridge, built by convict labor, that goes back to 1823. We drove across it. Still works. Lots of interesting shops there in this town. But, we didn’t have time to do stops in the shops. Good news!! Saved money and kept my wife’s buying habits in check.:

How can you not love seeing the Koalas up close and personal? Unlike at Kangaroo Island, we did not see this one in the wild, but here we got closer. What a face? So, so super cute!!:

Here is a mother Kangaroo with the baby “Joey” in the pouch. We saw two different mothers carrying babies in their pouch.:

Terry,

Thank you again for your insight. Good thought regarding two sea days to rest up after Hobart. As I am a retired Kodak employee, photography is also my hobby. Mostly interested in wildlife and landscapes. Planning on spending three days in Melbourne and two days in Sydney before the cruise leaves Sydney.

Terry,

Thank you again for your insight. Good thought regarding two sea days to rest up after Hobart. As I am a retired Kodak employee, photography is also my hobby. Mostly interested in wildlife and landscapes. Planning on spending three days in Melbourne and two days in Sydney before the cruise leaves Sydney.[/quote

 

Come over and join our roll call for the Solstice Jan. 27, 2015 sailing here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1845857

 

There is alot of information on tours before, during and after the cruise.

Will be on Celebrity Solstice sailing from Sydney on January 27,2015. First stop is Hobart. Trying to decide between, Historic Hobart, Port Arthur & Wildlife which takes up 8 hours or Richmond & Tassie Devils which is 4 hours. Both excursions go to Bonorong Wildlife Park. Not sure if there is much to see and do in Hobart around the dock area. If there is much to do within walking distance the excursion that is 4 hours long may be more desirable. Interested in hearing from others who may have done these excursions previously.

Being the only Aussie to reply so far and having been to all those places, I would recommend the Historic Hobart, Port Arthur and Wildlife tour. Richmond is nice, but the other locations are far more interesting. You could spend the whole day at Port Arthur alone, but a half day is doable.....rushed but doable.

We hired a car last time and also did the look out at Mount Wellington, which was breathtaking.

Terry,

Thank you again for your insight. Good thought regarding two sea days to rest up after Hobart. As I am a retired Kodak employee, photography is also my hobby. Mostly interested in wildlife and landscapes. Planning on spending three days in Melbourne and two days in Sydney before the cruise leaves Sydney.

This may help you for ideas in Melbourne if you don't have any already.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1943252

We did a private tour that took us to a park where we hiked up (easy) to see waterfalls and a fair number of local animals in their natural habitat. Lovely pictures as well driving through the countryside. We also went to the animal sanctuary and really enjoyed that. You can feed the kangaroos and for us that was something else. Watching the joeys go in and out of the pouch was quite fascinating. The port town has some really interesting buildings and was worth walking through on our own. The convict town is very pretty and quite picturesque. Whatever you do you will enjoy Hobart.

Will be on Celebrity Solstice sailing from Sydney on January 27,2015. First stop is Hobart. Trying to decide between, Historic Hobart, Port Arthur & Wildlife which takes up 8 hours or Richmond & Tassie Devils which is 4 hours. Both excursions go to Bonorong Wildlife Park. Not sure if there is much to see and do in Hobart around the dock area. If there is much to do within walking distance the excursion that is 4 hours long may be more desirable. Interested in hearing from others who may have done these excursions previously.

Hello Sabrefan - My name is Christine and we are on the same sailing. I have a private tour arranged that has room for up to 19 more persons. There are six of us so far (4 from AZ and 2 from Michigan) - you are welcome to join us. We only need to get a total of 20 persons and the cost will only be $125 per person. If you would like more information - you can email me cmlv150@gmail.com

Have a great day :)

If photography is your interest then you might want to consider possibly hiring your own car.

We spent over 7 hours yesterday at port arthur just taking images based on light play. There is a great spot down the peninsula 5 mins from port arthur (remarkable cave) not to mention the tasman arch etc in the national park. You can do the devils at taranna as well. The earlier you get there the better your images

It takes about 1.5 hours each way from the dock so my suggestion would be grab a car, head out to port arthur then return the car. If you had time you can then do salamanca and battery point… also good opportunities for images if the cray boats are in.

the other option if you want history is to do TMAG or head into St Davids for some interesting cemetery shots.

For lanscapes I would also consider Mt wellington

Oh and give richmond a miss….. it's usually way to crowded to get good images esp on the weekend you will be there..we have our 4 July on Jan 26th :)

G'day from Aus

Depending on the day Salamanca Markets in Hobart are interesting on a Saturday, but Port Arthur is hard to beat it was a penal settlement and very interesting but really needs a day.

If you want wildlife and photography Sydney and Melbourne both have world class Zoos.

Has anybody been to Mount Wellington from Hobart and can coment?

Thanks.

Has anybody been to Mount Wellington from Hobart and can coment?

Thanks.

Mt Wellington is spectacular, probably better in Winter but I don't thimk ang cruises go there in Winter there are usually shuttl busses going up, great views and scenery.

thanks

I was on the same cruise as Terry in Ohio (Hi, Terry!). Are you interested only in ship excursions? There are a number of highly recommended tour companies in Hobart, and we did the Top 4 Tour with Great Expeditions, arranged by someone on our CC roll call: http://www.greatexpeditions.com.au/tasmania/hobart-cruise-ship-tour. I later returned to Tasmania for 9 days, and went on day tours to Port Arthur (http://www.adventureislandtours.com/port-arthur-mega-day-tour/) and Bruny Island (http://www.brunyislandsafaris.com/index.php) - although both probably require more time than you'll have during a port stop.

I was on the same cruise as Terry in Ohio (Hi, Terry!). Are you interested only in ship excursions? There are a number of highly recommended tour companies in Hobart.

AntjeG: Mount Wellington. Has anybody been to Mount Wellington from Hobart and can coment? Thanks.

Appreciate the "HI!" and shout-out from Nancy. On Mount Wellington' date=' our tour guide told us that this peak can, at times, be a little weather challenged. Hard to plan and know for certain that going up there will be productive and provide excellent views. Those pesky clouds??!! Nice idea, but weather can be a factor forcing you to prepare and consider your Plan "B", if and if. Good luck!!

For the Hobart, Tasmania, tour with our group of seven couples, including visits to Port Arthur, Richmond and the wildlife center, we worked with [b']Judy Livingston of Eye See Personalize Tours[/b]. She gets well-deserved, high ratings from such services such as TripAdvisor. You can reach Judy at

E-mail: eyesee@netspace.net.au

Website: http://www.eyeseetasmania.com.au

Tell her that Terry said HI!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 67,162 views for this fun posting.

From Hobart it is very easy to decide on the day if the trip is worth it. If you can see the top and the day looks pretty OK then you are fine. It's not like it is a huge detour from Hobart itself as it is pretty much at the back of the city. you can't miss it from the ship.. Having been to Hobart several times at different times of year I've only had 2 clouded out days. The biggest issue tends to be the wind so take warm gear, even in summer you will need a jacket even though it is not that high, it is coastal so sea breezes can get you.

It takes about 30 minutes to drive to the top from the port.

With only 1 day in Hobart you won't be short of things to do… you might be short of time

My daughter and I are on the Solstice departing Jan 27 - we are booked on the Port Arthur/Bonorong excursion - but was concerned about the distances between the two places and how much time we'd have at each location. I think a smaller and more flexible tour would be preferable -

Sabrefan, maybe team up for a smaller group tour?

My daughter and I are on the Solstice departing Jan 27 - we are booked on the Port Arthur/Bonorong excursion - but was concerned about the distances between the two places and how much time we'd have at each location. I think a smaller and more flexible tour would be preferable -

 

Sabrefan, maybe team up for a smaller group tour?

I agree that it's too much. Either deserves a full day. We've been to Port Arthur a few times a full day each times and still things I want to go back to have a look at.

Pity Celebrity don't actually stop there like Princess do.

We rented a car, drove ourselves to Port Arthur and back. It was an easy drive but overall it was a bit rushed as the ship wasn't in port for that many hours.

Also, there was a 15 minute walk to the car rental and there was a long line of passengers from the cruise ship picking up their cars! That delayed things somewhat.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2014/01/hobart-tasmania-voyager-of-seas-cruise.html

My daughter and I are on the Solstice departing Jan 27 - we are booked on the Port Arthur/Bonorong excursion - but was concerned about the distances between the two places and how much time we'd have at each location. I think a smaller and more flexible tour would be preferable -

For our next-door "neighbor" in Indiana, yes, there is some distance and travel involved for doing the Port Arthur/Bonorong excursion. Ideally, a smaller-group would be nice. BUT, depending on the details of your Solstice cruise, you will either have two sea days after this stop or only one sea day. Time to rest up for a long day in Tasmania. If you like history, learning something first-hand about the Australia "prison experience" can be good and interesting. The Bonorong location is not massive and you can see/do lots in a fairly short period of time. As noted earlier and below, my live/blog details much on our fun Solstice trip down under a year ago.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 93,249 views for this posting.

We were in Hobart on New Years Eve 2013. We did a DIY version and rented our own car (from Texas USA and first time driving on the other side of the road and the other side of the car). We walked to the rental car office easily and headed out towards Richmond. We got there with no problems and enjoyed our time and reading the history of the bridge and taking photographs. We also walked down to St. Johns Catholic Church built in 1836 and checked out the cemetery there as well. From there we visited Bonorong Wildlife park and had a great time with the Kangaroos, Koalas and Devils. From there we headed back toward Hobart and made the drive up Mt. Wellington. Wonderful views and observation decks. So glad we made the trek. After returning the car, we walked around the dock area and check out local entertainment and The Drunken Admiral. The Sydney to Hobart race was just ending so it was neat to see the boats as well. Here are a few pics from our day.

Enjoy your day there. My complete review is in my signature if interested.

Connie

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