krisean

We are considering renting e-bikes.  Are you permitted to bring those on the ferries?

17 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

Are you not planning on spending some time in Sydney itself?  It's a beautiful city. I'd suggest two nights there, at least, when you first arrive. That will help you get over the jetlag before you board the ship.  We can offer some suggestions for places to stay and things to do.

The advice for flights out after the cruise is not to book anything before 12 noon. Sydney airport is about a 30 minute drive from the port, allowing for traffic delays.

 

Australia and New Zealand are separate countries. If your flight involves a stopover in Auckland en route to Sydney, and you leave the airport, you will certainly have to collect your luggage and clear customs and quarantine for New Zealand.  And again for Australia. And you will need a visa for both New Zealand and for Australia. If you stay in the airport in Auckland and just transit for the flight to Sydney, you won't need a visa, but when you disembark the cruise in Auckland, you will need a NZ visa then.  So, you should apply now for both NZ and Australian visas.

 

As far as money is concerned, you will need both Australian and New Zealand dollars. They are not interchangeable.  However, you can pay for most things ashore by using a credit card, in both countries, so you won't need a lot of actual cash.

We are planning to arrive Sunday morning to Sydney, with the cruise leaving on Tuesday so we will have 2 full days in Sydney pre-cruise.  Typically like to stay at a Hilton brand property so we can use points.  Any suggestions on places to stay and things to do greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

We are looking at using New Zealand Air (for their Skycouch option), which means a flight from LAX to AKL to SYD.  Will we be required to clear customs (and baggage retrieve) in AKL, or only in SYD?

What is the earliest flight time out of SYD that we should be looking to book, post cruise.  Ship arrives back into port at 6:30am on a Friday.

11 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

One very big difference is that any ship sailing from Australia will have no smoking in ANY indoor areas, including the casino. You may see this as a good thing or a bad thing....

This is a huge plus for us!

16 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

Be aware that your US dollar notes are not going to be welcomed in Australian and New Zealand ports. You can pay for almost everything ashore by credit card, but check before you go how much you are going to be charged in foreign exchange fees every time you use the card.  If it's a flat fee, like one of my credit cards, then it is expensive to use it for small transactions like a cup of coffee.  You could research a credit card with no foreign exchange transaction fees and get one before you leave home - it will be useful on your overseas travels everywhere. Same with a debit card to use for getting local cash at ATMs.

And, yes, please don't tip like you would at home.

Thanks for this!  We are very used to the US Dollar being accepted everywhere so will review best options on credit card usage or exchanging USD for local currency.

We are very close to finally booking a cruise out of Sydney to New Zealand in March 2024.  We are long time cruisers (US based) and have only sailed from USA or Caribbean ports and have not ventured so far away before.

For those who have cruised out of both Australia and the US, I would appreciate any insight into what differences we might find on an Australia cruise experience versus sailing from a US port.  If it matters, we are looking at the Ovation for 10 nights.

TIA!

What about Sun vs either Encore/Bliss?  We can get 9 days on Sun (vs 7 on the bigger ships) , but have never sailed on this class of NCL ship.  2 extra days would be awesome but will is the smaller ship be limiting in it's onboard activities/amenities?

Thanks for the info.  Jewel does not sail in October so not an option for us this time.  Had not heard of the Lower Inside Passage but I can see where that would be.  Thanks again.

Hi - we are considering an early October cruise to Alaska.  In reviewing the itinerary for Encore vs Bliss, I am confused.  NCL's page appears to show the exact itinerary for each, but some 3rd party sites show Encore sailing the Inside Passage on Day 2, while Bliss is shown At Sea.  Are both ships really on the same path, just 1 day apart?  We would sail Bliss (if the sailing path is the same) since she would be a new ship for us, but don't want to miss the Inside Passage. 

Any insight is appreciated.  We have never sailed Alaska before so maybe I am just missing something?

Thanks!

3 hours ago, Vlgg731 said:

We had 7 in our party so I got the cabana for 6 of us and then bought a ticket for the 7th.  If you ask them before they tell you that they don't allow it but it wasn't a problem for us.

Hi- we have this exact situation on our upcoming November cruise.  You were able to have all 7 people at the Thrill park cabana?  I know I would have to buy 1 Extra single Thrill park entrance but wasn’t sure how the Cabana area itself is managed.

Hi,

I am traveling with someone who's last name starts McP…. The booking by the TA for the cabin (HOTS in Nov 2020 if it matters) lists the name as Mcp.  So no capitalization on the P.  I requested that it be corrected to a capital P.   TA replied:  " and the P will not capitalized because the computer will not take like that".   Can anyone verify if this is correct?  Perhaps someone with an Mc name?  The person is a first time cruiser so they have no idea.  I always thought names had to match exactly but never gave capitialization any thought.

TIA!

 Would also love a copy of your map.  krisean1 at gmail.com .  TIA!

Hi,

I am sure I have seen this topic addressed but I cannot find it with a quick search.  We are sailing AOTS on October 26.  This will be our first sailing as diamond plus, which gives us the 30% discount off the Drink Package once onboard.  Since I do not know the onboard pricing, I went ahead today and booked the package at $48pp + tax which is the lowest I have seen it since I booked the cruise a week ago or so.

Once onboard, if the price after discount is less than $48pp + tax, will they let me cancel and rebook or refund the difference, etc?  And if they will, is timing an issue..... must I do it immediately before my first cocktail?

TIA,

K

Do they have anything diet besides Diet Pepsi? Diet Sierra Mist, Diet Mtn Dew, Diet Ginger Ale, etc. For whatever reason, Diet Pepsi tastes like soap to me.

We just booked the Breakaway departing Feb 16. The last time we sailed on NCL was a gazillion years ago on the Norway.

We have sailed a bunch on RCCL so we are not new to cruising. Would love any advice/info on NCL and the Breakaway about things that are not to be missed.

What specialty restaurants do you love?

What time can we get onboard? We are used to arriving at the pier around 10:30am and getting on the ship as soon as possible. Not sure if NCL works the same.

TIA

Thanks everyone for the input. The merged comparison is very helpful.

DH loves a balcony and spends time on it everyday. So I will see if a mini-suite with a large balcony is available.

Another question, do all cabins have the bed by the closet or are some reversed with the bed by the balcony? If so, is there a pattern to determine how a particular cabin is arranged?

Hi - we are thinking about taking the NCL 9 day cruise on Breakaway. We have not sailed on NCL in many years. Can anyone advise if we would be better off in a large balcony cabin or a mini suite. I don't think we care about the SPA choices.

TIA

Does anyone know if they have Fireball on the Oasis?

Hyatt Long Beach - $70.00 Feb 13 (after trying endlessly for the CP or Doubletree in San Pedro)

Anyone know what happened to the Galileo (Chandris cruise line). We sailed on her for our honeymoon many moons ago.