Waitlisted for Hotel in Sydney

We are currently waitlisted for a Princess Hotel in Sydney. Has anyone had this experience before and do rooms "open up" typically?

if its before final payment, people will cancel and rooms may become available. how far down are you on the waitlist?

at least they're still waitlisted and not sold out. princess must think there will be some movement.

perhaps make a reservation at your own hotel (with free cancellation) just in case princess doesn't come through.

i booked on my own as the hotel was also waitlisted for my cruise and super expensive!

We have upcoming cruise out of Sydney in March of 2019. The Princess hotels were limited to one very expensive choice. We booked great hotel, at fair price on our own...

Is there any advantage of booking hotels via Princess? Keep hearing about limited choices and very high pricing.

I have no thoughts on whether or not you'll clear the waitlist, but if I were you, I'd sure want an alternate plan B just in case.

If you decide to book your own, we loved staying at the Holiday Inn, Old Sydney. Reasonably priced and walking distance to everything, including the ship when you're ready to board.

When is the cruise and what's the hotel? Personally, we always book out own hotels - just take a look on Trip Advisor, home in on a neighbourhood (when in Sydney we aim for the CBD within walking distance of a station - given how extensive and cheap public transport is) and book direct. Be aware that hotels will pass on credit card fees (typ. 1.5% visa / mastercard, 3% Amex).

Is there any advantage of booking hotels via Princess? Keep hearing about limited choices and very high pricing.

Sure - you get to pay the rack rate for each person on the booking. Typically more than double what booking direct will cost. But they do a good job of handling transfers between airport/hotel/ship, even if the flight comes in 7 hours late.

If you want to stay at that particular hotel, have you considered booking it directly?

If available, you'll probably save more than enough money to pay for taxis from the airport and to the ship.

So I have a question for the OP. Why are you even using Princess for your hotel? Do it on your own and you will likely save a substantial amount of money. In our experience (forty + years) cruise line pre and post cruise packages can cost as much as twice the price of doing it on your own. Just go on a decent hotel search engine like Kayak and find out what that same hotel (or another that might even be better) will cost. As to transfers, using a taxi should cost you no more than $40 Aus which is probably less expensive then a cruise line transfer. And unlike cruise line transfers you do not have to wait while they fill their bus or mini bus. When you use a taxi you just walk outside, get into your taxi, and go to your hotel.

Hank

Turk1 - you can call Princess and see where you are on the waitlist. If you are #1 or #5, you probably have a good chance depending on when the cruise is. You may want to state where you are on the waitlist and when your cruise is.

If you booked through a TA, have them call Princess.

So I have a question for the OP. Why are you even using Princess for your hotel? Do it on your own and you will likely save a substantial amount of money. In our experience (forty + years) cruise line pre and post cruise packages can cost as much as twice the price of doing it on your own. Just go on a decent hotel search engine like Kayak and find out what that same hotel (or another that might even be better) will cost. As to transfers, using a taxi should cost you no more than $40 Aus which is probably less expensive then a cruise line transfer. And unlike cruise line transfers you do not have to wait while they fill their bus or mini bus. When you use a taxi you just walk outside, get into your taxi, and go to your hotel.

 

Hank

That is what I thought. thank you

I also highly recommend booking the Holiday Inn Old Sydney on your own. We booked directly with IHG.com after joining their loyalty club online for the best rate.

It’s VERY close to the pier (assuming you’ll be at the Overseas Passenger Terminal). If your ship is in Darling Harbour, it’s a quick taxi ride away. Which ship are you on? Grand Class ships and larger must dock at the OPT.

View from our room.

View from our room after the ship arrived.

I also highly recommend booking the Holiday Inn Old Sydney on your own. We booked directly with IHG.com after joining their loyalty club online for the best rate.

 

It’s VERY close to the pier (assuming you’ll be at the Overseas Passenger Terminal). If your ship is in Darling Harbour, it’s a quick taxi ride away. Which ship are you on? Grand Class ships and larger must dock at the OPT.

 

View from our room.

 

View from our room after the ship arrived.

Thanks to all for the info. We are booked on the Sun Princess for January 2019. Does anyone know what pier the Sun will be docked at? My booking info does not say other than the two piers mentioned but not which one. I think I will book the Holiday Inn Old Sydney. I'm new to foreign travel like this. So much to learn, any help is much appreciated!

Turk1 - you can call Princess and see where you are on the waitlist. If you are #1 or #5, you probably have a good chance depending on when the cruise is. You may want to state where you are on the waitlist and when your cruise is.

 

If you booked through a TA, have them call Princess.

wrong quote..HI Theresa... helpful reply

Thanks to all for the info. We are booked on the Sun Princess for January 2019. Does anyone know what pier the Sun will be docked at? My booking info does not say other than the two piers mentioned but not which one. I think I will book the Holiday Inn Old Sydney. I'm new to foreign travel like this. So much to learn, any help is much appreciated!

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/cruise/cruise-schedule/

Sun Princess5-Jan-2019 07:00 (Sat)5-Jan-2019 16:00 (Sat)White Bay Cruise Terminal

sun Princess 9-Jan-2019 07:00 (Wed) 9-Jan-2019 16:00 (Wed) Overseas Passenger Terminal

if other dates u can click on link

Thanks to all for the info. We are booked on the Sun Princess for January 2019. Does anyone know what pier the Sun will be docked at? My booking info does not say other than the two piers mentioned but not which one. I think I will book the Holiday Inn Old Sydney. I'm new to foreign travel like this. So much to learn, any help is much appreciated!

U are making me smile...I guess I never thought of Australia as foreign.....:D;)

I am on an Oct. sailing on Sea....our cruise terminal did change, so no guarantees on above post.

Although things can change, it sounds like you’ll be at Darling Harbour. If you are spending several days pre-cruise, I’d still stay at the Holiday Inn Old Sydney for its excellent location, close to the sites along the waterfront and to ferries, trains and buses.

If you’re just spending a night before the cruise, check Sydney’s Pyrmont neighborhood on a hotel search engine. There are several nice ones there on Darling Harbour and you’d basically have to take a taxi just a short way across the ANZAC bridge to the ship.

U are making me smile...I guess I never thought of Australia as foreign.....:D;)

 

 

I am on an Oct. sailing on Sea....our cruise terminal did change, so no guarantees on above post.

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Although things can change, it sounds like you’ll be at Darling Harbour. If you are spending several days pre-cruise, I’d still stay at the Holiday Inn Old Sydney for its excellent location, close to the sites along the waterfront and to ferries, trains and buses.

 

If you’re just spending a night before the cruise, check Sydney’s Pyrmont neighborhood on a hotel search engine. There are several nice ones there on Darling Harbour and you’d basically have to take a taxi just a short way across the ANZAC bridge to the ship.

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Is there any advantage of booking hotels via Princess? Keep hearing about limited choices and very high pricing.

Sure - you get to pay the rack rate for each person on the booking. Typically more than double what booking direct will cost. But they do a good job of handling transfers between airport/hotel/ship' date=' even if the flight comes in 7 hours late.[/quote']

 

To some extent the value depends on how easy it is for you to get around the embarkation city.

 

Although relatively high priced, we found it to be a good option when we cruised out of Shanghai the first time, a city we had never been to and with a language we did not speak (or read) at all. Having a Princess transfer from airport to hotel and again the next day from hotel to the cruise terminal meant we did not have to deal with this on our own after nearly 24 hours of travel getting to Shanghai.

 

(As a bonus, for an almost reasonable cost, we were able once at the hotel to purchase from Princess a tour of Shanghai as part of the transportation to the ship.)

Oh I hope I didn't offend you, we're next to Mexico and I call that a foreign country too. Even if I've been there before it's still lands unknown to me. I'm looking forward to this trip, trying not to make any mistakes. Our ship leaves on 1/22/2019. According to the link above the Sun leaves out of OTC. We booked EZAir, the price was reasonable. We're flying in on the 18th of Jan.

 

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I was just teasing, because I thought that post was so "cute":D...It certainly is a foreign port....

However, I consider a country foreign when I do not speak the language.

Simply because, I can easily call a hotel to a reservation, most signs on the streets I can read etc, so I would feel very comfortable traveling in Australia, the environment would not feel "foreign to me."

Enjoy your cruise....

To some extent the value depends on how easy it is for you to get around the embarkation city.

 

Although relatively high priced, we found it to be a good option when we cruised out of Shanghai the first time, a city we had never been to and with a language we did not speak (or read) at all. Having a Princess transfer from airport to hotel and again the next day from hotel to the cruise terminal meant we did not have to deal with this on our own after nearly 24 hours of travel getting to Shanghai.

 

(As a bonus, for an almost reasonable cost, we were able once at the hotel to purchase from Princess a tour of Shanghai as part of the transportation to the ship.)

thanks for the info can understand why you would do it

I just got off the phone with Princess, and the Sun Princess 1/22/2019, sailing will be from the OPT (Overseas Passenger Terminal). Any advice for hotels near there? We're coming in on the 18th leaving from SFO and connecting from LAX to Sydney. We booked through EZAir. Looked into nonstops but it was too $$$$. Thanks for any help or advice.

Thanks to all for the info. We are booked on the Sun Princess for January 2019. Does anyone know what pier the Sun will be docked at? My booking info does not say other than the two piers mentioned but not which one. I think I will book the Holiday Inn Old Sydney. I'm new to foreign travel like this. So much to learn, any help is much appreciated!

The Sun is scheduled to dock at Overseas Passenger Terminal on Jan 9 and Jan 22.

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/cruise/cruise-schedule/