Plant

I've checked several sites and most say that the temps in New Zealand in April are between 60 and 70 F, 20 C. Do you think this is accurate? Jeans or shorts??

Thanks,

Fern

That's why I'd agree with others on this thread who have recommended a serviced apartment. We've stayed at several Meriton serviced apartments in Sydney and all have been excellent.

 

Not only is there more room to spread out but the kitchenette is great for keeping costs down a little and for a pre-cruise stay it was ideal to be able to do our laundry before we boarded.

Thanks! Being able to start our cruise with clean clothes would be great; also a microwave would be nice. I'm going to check out the Meriton's. I'm thinking that "serviced apartments" are the same as hotel suites here in the US? The most important thing to us is cleanliness.

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We've stayed at Napoleon on Kent. Not a fancy place but the rooms were great with a kitchenette. Access to Wynyard station via a subway across the road.

Thanks, I'll check the Napoleon out. Since we'll be staying a week a kitchenette would be nice!

We stayed there a few times when BOS put the wife up there.

 

My advice..

 

Nope.

Thanks, GUT! I appreciate your local opinion. I'm leaning toward the Rendevous now. It's still a long time until we sail, so I'll be watching for other recommendations.

Thanks,

Now, someone in my TA's office is recommending the Menzies Hotel, on Carrington Street. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Say your room is on the third floor.

 

The lift goes to a landing and then, from memory, three steps up to the hallway. Might have been four. It means lifting your bag up the few steps which is an issue for some. Best advice book an accessible room, they have no steps, but will need a call rather than booking online.

Thank you for the information! I think that, between us, we can handle a couple or three steps. It's very good to know in advance, though!

You won't go wrong with either of those in my opinion.

 

One issue with the Holiday Inn.

 

Steps, you get the lift to your floor but still have some steps up and down to get to your room.

 

Not a big issue but one to be aware of if mobility is an issue.

 

But I love watching my ship arrive in port before I board.

Could you tell me approximately how many, and how steep the steps are? I DO have some mobility issues, but if it's just one or two steps I'm okay. A whole flight of steps-YIKES!

Thanks!

Thank you to everyone! I'm still looking, but your recommendation's have been very helpful! Right now I'm considering the Rendevous Hotel or the Holiday Inn, in The Rocks area. I'm very happy that I have so much time to make a decision! Thanks!

Not that we'd EVER do this, but if we did I think we'd tip $25.00 for the two of us.

I've been looking at Sydney hotel's for a while now and would like to know what you think of these two: Macleay Hotel and Holiday Inn Old Sydney. Both of these are in the Rocks area. We stayed at the Ibis Sydney Darling Harbor last time we were there, and it was fine. We're just looking at staying in another area. Thanks for your thoughts :)!

We're planning to come into Sydney about a week before our cruise. I've seen that we can buy an Opal Card to navigate on ferries, busses, trains, etc. I've looked at the website, and still don't quite understand :(.

Can we get a senior discount even though we live in the US? If we buy two $60.00 card's can we ride any public transportation during our stay without paying more?

Do y'all (Sydney traveler's) use this card and think it's a good value?

Thanks!

We send in a copy of our Proxy vote info. That's worked for year's!

Of course you know what Nino Culotta translates as don't you? With the bit of the poetic licence that J.O'G used.

:D

 

I fell in love with his books when I was just a lad.

 

Still pull them out and read them from time to time.

Okay, you've got me curious. As an avid reader, which author and what book(s) are you talking about?

Fern

Thanks to everyone who replied. You're all so nice :)!

I think we'll go with the taxi to the hotel option.

(We were supposed to cruise to New Zealand two years ago after a LA to Sydney cruise, but the Princess ship we were booked on "broke" so we had to fly home from Sydney :(. Hopefully, this time we'll make it to New Zealand!)

G'day Plant, if you don't mind me jumping in, no not a fixed rate but by he kilometer, and yep never seen the airport taxi rank without cabs waiting.

Will just add to the above. We had a taxi 2 months ago from International Airport to the Wynyard area in as you call it downtown Sydney. It not that far from The Quay area and it cost us AUD$50 at 7pm. Hope that helps.

Thanks so much to both of you! The information you posted will be put in my cruise "folder".

The last time we were in Sydney and in Brisbane we were very impressed with the people's friendliness. Just walking through the shop's we found that if we asked a question it was not only answered, but the person we asked would actually TAKE us to the place we were asking about :)!

Love Australia!

I would have to say PLANT, transport options are influenced by your age, the number of people and bags in your party. We are both in our 70's I'm fine but he has limited mobility. Over the years we have used every type of transport to & from Sydney Airport and a taxi is now always our 1st choice...for the following reasons:- Comfort, availability, direct from A to B at a comparative price.

Thanks, hs, for a direct answer to my question! Having limited mobility can be a big issue. We use a shuttle service here (in the US) and are very happy with it. Do you know if the taxi's have a set rate from the airport to a downtown hotel? Are they always available outside of the airport?

Thanks again,

I'm looking for a shuttle from the airport to a (not yet booked) hotel in the downtown Sydney area. I found "Sydney Hotel Shuttle". It sounds like what we need, but I'd like to know if they're dependable. If you've used them and been happy with their service please post!

Thanks,

Even if our TA can't give us OBC or anything else, we're happy to have her to run "interference" if we need it.

Sometimes new is not better :(. As you can see we've cruised Carnival a lot, but I'm looking at other lines that have no "bells and whistles" websites!

Today I tried to find a Carnival cruise out of San Juan and the only thing that came up was a cruise out of Baltimore! NOT helpful!

You used to be able to print out the itinerary for your cruise. Now it's shown in a photo with no way to print.

We are trying to find a cruise to Australia. There's not one listed for Carnival, though I've found that there IS one from Hawaii to Sydney, on the Carnival AU site.

Frankly, even though we have a TA, Carnival has made it too much trouble to try to find a cruise to even ask about.

Yes, the stockholder credit is applied no matter what you paid for the cruise or what other OBC's you have.

Wow it sounds like everyone had a different experience. I guess it all depends on how your ship decides they want to handle it. I was hoping there would be some normal standard procedure that all ships go by. I know it will all work out, I just like to know ahead of time so that I can plan accordingly. We are doing excursions with local tour guides. So there's a little worry about us maybe being on a different time zone than them and there being some confusion as to what time to meet up.

You are right! It's up to the Captain of the ship to decide what time it is. If you book tour's with the ship you won't have a problem. If you book with local guide's they should know the time on the ship.

IMO, people who have never cruised or used a website designed Carnival's new site.

There's no "save" a cruise space, nor is there any way to print out an itinerary.

These "designer's" are very happy to use graphic's that none of us want to see.

I've quit using the Carnival site :(. I'm just going with my TA.

You can't get a cold water wash because there's no such thing! The "normal" temperature of the water (in the laundry, the passenger laundry, and in your cabin) I'd describe as "lukewarm". If you have clothes that MUST be washed in cold water, try to do them yourself in the cabin. Even better, don't bring fancy, expensive clothes that have to be laundered in cold water :)!

If movement is a problem for you, the lowest deck, mid ship is a very good spot! There's less movement mid ship, and on lower decks.

I think you'll be happy with the location.

Have a wonderful cruise!

We've never prepaid gratuities, but we might next cruise. We haven't in the past because our money was making interest in our accounts. Now that the interest rate is negligible, it sadly doesn't make much difference :( .