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Australia Zoo - Sun Princess excursion


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Have not found many reviews for the above shore excursion to the Australia Zoo and was wanting some feedback from anyone that has done it thru Sun Princess. I understand the drive from port is approx 1 hr to 2 hrs round trip. Somebody said that you are not given much time at the zoo and I was wanting some feedback from somebody that has done this excursion on the Sun. Appreciate any info...

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My upcoming trip (with a stop in Sydney on January 17) is only showing debark excursions for Sydney. (and we are not debarking there). We are planning on taking a ferry over to the zoo.

If you go on the website for the zoo, they have packages that include the ferry ride and zoo entrance. The timetable for the zoo is also there. It may involve a short walk to the ferry but I don't think it is far.

Can someone from Australia chime in? Does this sound doable?

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My upcoming trip (with a stop in Sydney on January 17) is only showing debark excursions for Sydney. (and we are not debarking there). We are planning on taking a ferry over to the zoo.

If you go on the website for the zoo, they have packages that include the ferry ride and zoo entrance. The timetable for the zoo is also there. It may involve a short walk to the ferry but I don't think it is far.

Can someone from Australia chime in? Does this sound doable?

About a 5 minute walk IF you are docking at OPT The Rocks, to the ferry.

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Have not found many reviews for the above shore excursion to the Australia Zoo and was wanting some feedback from anyone that has done it thru Sun Princess. I understand the drive from port is approx 1 hr to 2 hrs round trip. Somebody said that you are not given much time at the zoo and I was wanting some feedback from somebody that has done this excursion on the Sun. Appreciate any info...

 

Do you know how long you are scheduled to be in port? Note Mooloolaba is a tender port.

 

BTW The beaches and hinterland of the Sunshine Coast are beautiful, if you decide a trip to Australia Zoo is not feasible.

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Just to avoid any confusion regarding posts #1 and #2. Australia Zoo is on the Sunshine Coast about an hour north of Brisbane and the zoo in Sydney - Taronga Zoo is just a ferry ride across the harbour from the city so they are two separate zoos in different states.

 

To the OP, I can't help you with the amount of time you will spend at the zoo on the ship's excursion. I assume that the ship will be docking in Brisbane and it's about an hour to an hour and a half to travel there depending on the traffic.

You can check the layout of the zoo on the Australia Zoo site so you can pick out the must sees and head there to make the most of the visit if your time is limited.

I spent a couple of hours there with my young grandson and that was enough :D but that's just me.

 

I think one of the reasons that the ship limits the time to perhaps 3 hours is due to the traffic and the potential for delays on the trip there or back. The Bruce Highway is very congested a lot of the time and any incident can result in traffic jams or in the worst case scenario substantial delays.

For this reason I would advise against any private trips to the Sunshine Coast from the port in Brisbane as there is a real potential to miss the ship. Of course, it's possible you could get to the zoo and back without a hitch but personally I wouldn't risk it.

I doubt if the ship would be anchoring off Mooloolaba as not many do, and of the ones that have done so very few have managed to get tenders ashore.

 

So the end result of this long winded reply is if you decide to do the ship's tour, check out the zoo website map and plan your day! For example, the giraffes are located at one of the further ends of the zoo so if seeing giraffes isn't a priority, head to a closer exhibit that has more interest.

If you decide it's not worth it then check out the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary which is much closer and I've seen good reports about it.

Edited by bronte2
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Thanks for the help and yes it was in Brisbane. The advice I had was to book thru the ship as traffic can be a problem and don't want to miss the ship. I just wasn't sure I would have enough time there. But checking the zoo map ahead of time to plan my exhibit viewing is probably best.

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Thanks for the help and yes it was in Brisbane. The advice I had was to book thru the ship as traffic can be a problem and don't want to miss the ship. I just wasn't sure I would have enough time there. But checking the zoo map ahead of time to plan my exhibit viewing is probably best.

 

I did a bit of research and I found one Princess tour (but it didn't say which ship) that spent 2 hours at the zoo and then went on to visit Montville which is a picturesque little town up in the ranges. You can get wonderful views down over the coast from here if that is of interest.

Of course, I don't know whether or not this is included on your tour.

 

Have you checked the full description of the tour for your particular cruise? This should inform you how much time you will spend at the zoo and whether other sights are included.

 

You are very wise to only consider the ship's tour in this instance due to the traffic. We travel regularly from the Sunshine Coast to just near Portside and return and to add to the traffic issues there are massive roadworks on the Gateway Motorway which links to the Bruce Highway :eek:.

 

I hope you enjoy your time at the zoo!

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We live about 30 minutes drive from Australia Zoo. Even with 2 hours at the zoo you should see lots. There is a train type thing that takes you round free and I think you can book private tours. The show in the Crocoseum is not to be missed.

Montville is a lovely place with beautiful scenery on the way. I would definitely take a ship tour as the Bruce Highway down to Brisbane is very busy and at least if there is a hold up the ship will wait.

Anne

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Forums mobile app

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