Sydney as tender port

We are travelling with Celebrity Solstice next February which incredibly has Sydney as a tender port. We would like to take the Blue Mountains excursion with an independent tour company but due to Sydney being a tender port we do not know when we will be able to get off the boat and hence cannot see how we will be able to join an independent tour which leaves at a fixed time. I am sure that must be solution but cannot think what it is!! The boat does not leave Sydney until 2200 hours (10pm) so time should not be a problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Is that the one arriving on the 24th?

If yes, then yep, you'll be docking at Athol Buoy which is in the middle of the Harbour. There are a few ships in that day with RCI docking at the OPT & Princess at White Bay.

There should be shuttles / tenders from your ship to one of the landings at Circular Quay (either the east of the Opera House or west of the ferry wharves).

In reality if you are on one of the first tenders it will only be a few minutes more than if you were docked at the OPT. You'll need to check what time they are planning to start the tenders though to see if there are timing problems meeting the tour.

Also really make sure that your back-on-board time is doable (even though it's leaving at 2200 they might want everyone back on board earlier and make sure the tour gets you back in plenty of time.

At that time of the year bushfires are a real hazard, and often the highway down from the mountains can be closed in sections, which will make the return journey a problem.

You could go to the Blue Mountains on your own via the train and travel on your own schedule. Once you arrive in Katoomba, there is a HO/HO bus you can take to the various sights.

Most, if not all tours to the Blue Mtns leave very early, ie before 8.30am and are a minimum of 8 hrs in duration, some are 10 hours.

there is no flexibility in departure times unless you take a completely private group tour such as through your roll call - have you tried this?

I see no problem being back on time for a 2200 departure. Also check to see if Solstice is not docking at the OPT around 7pm once the other ship departs. This does happen.

Hi

Thanks for your comments. The ship's shore excursions leave between 0800 and 1000 on 24th and from experience they wont let independent travellers on the shuttle boats until the official tours have gone. Am I wrong or is there still hope??

I would also look at the option of taking the train. The traffic up to the mountains, especially during morning peak hour, is a living nightmare. Coming back at night would be ok but the train would be more relaxing.

We live in Sydney and just gave up the idea of having a couple of days up there because of the traffic (and how my DH behaves in it. I am so fortunate (!) that he is the only good driver out of the two million or so drivers in Sydney!!!)

You could go to the Blue Mountains on your own via the train and travel on your own schedule. Once you arrive in Katoomba, there is a HO/HO bus you can take to the various sights.

I agree with post #3. this way, you do not need to stress out about joining your independent tour.

take the train from circular quay. you might need to change trains at central.

the journey up to Katoomba takes about 2 hours. get the hop on hop off bus and wander around.

most popular spot there would be scenic world for the scenic railway.

take the train back to circular quay.

points to remember.....it can be cooler up in the mountains so bring a light jacket.

be aware of when you need to be onboard. will Solstice be anchored (so tendering needed) or will it be at OPT (so much easier for you).

This was several years ago, so my experience may not be similar to what happens now, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

We were on a Celebrity ship that spent a day anchored to a buoy near Sydney Zoo.

The ship used Captain Cook commercial harbour cruises as tenders, instead of using the ship's boats.

These commercial boats held many more passengers than the ship's tenders would have done, so tendering worked fast.

We were tendered to a quay near The Rocks, not to the Overseas Passenger Terminal.