Cruise or Land tour?

[Pearl64]

We are currently booked on b2b cruises that circumnavigate Australia and also includes North and South Island of New Zealand. Friends of ours just came back from a 3 week trip to Australia on a land tour and said that is the only way to go as on a cruise you would not get inland. Comments? We thought with the cruise we get to the western and northern ports plus Bali. We are thinking of adding Ayers Rock at the end. I did look at Celebrity's cruisetour but thought that was really rushed and spent a lot of time traveling plus the fact that it was pricey. We really do not think being cooped up in a bus with 40 others for three weeks is the way to go. At least on the ship there are the sea days to get caught up on rest and with a ship this size one should be able to be with people or not! Also being gone all of February gets us away from SNOW!

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

Pearl

[GradUT]

We lived in Australia for a number of years and I think that some of the best things to see and do in Australia and New Zealand are located inland. So you'd miss them by doing a cruise unless, as you intend to do with Uluru, you add them before or after the cruise.

 

But, having said that, most of the cities in both of these countries are located on their coasts, so you can see and do a LOT on a circumnavigational cruise.

 

Unless you choose to do a driving tour (which doesn't sound like your intention), I would choose a cruise. You are correct--being cooped up on a bus with 40 other people is NOT the way to go.

[jmlh]

GradUT - I would appreciate comments on places to visit that are inland. We are also on the above cruise that pearl has outlined but willl be spending some time at the end to visit places missed by cruising. Thanks.

[Northern Aurora]

While we throughly enjoy cruising, we also prefer to combine a land trip with a cruise. For example, we were on the Celebrity Century in November 2011 on an eighteen night cruise from Honolulu to Sydney. We spent a week in Sydney following the cruise before starting the flights to home. We would have spent more time in Australia but I have a parent with some health problems so were gone as long as possible under the circumstances. We have been combining cruises with land trips for some time, and find this works well for us.

[Floridiana]

We also do the cruise (Sea Princess, Feb 20) around NZ. Then we have 11 days for Australia, followed by the circumnavigation of Aus on the Dawn Princess.

 

I was NOT going to do a bus tour. After weighing many options: drive, take a train, fly, explore the northern East Coast, go south to Melbourne, drive the Great Ocean Road etc., we decided to fly from Sydney to Uluru, rent a 4x4, visit Ayers Rock, drive the loop through the ranges/canyons/National Parks to Alice Springs and return to Uluru. We made reservations for 6 nights in hotels (megaexpensive). We will spend the rest of the 11 days in Sydney.

[Pearl64]

Floridiana,

 

Please report when you get back how this all worked out. We will be on the Solstice next January through the beginning of March. We are planning on going to Auckland about 3-4 days prior to our cruise. After the second leg of the cruise we will spend one day in Sydney and then hopefully fly to Ayers Rock for 2-3 days, fly to either Brisbane or Sydney and spend the day there before catching our flight back to the states. By that time we will have been gone over 40 days. And, yes, I have heard that it is super expensive at Ayers Rock.

 

Have a good trip!

 

Pearl

[GradUT]

JMLH, I just took a look at the itinerary for the Celebrity Solstice cruises you are doing. Unfortunately, a lot of the great inland places to visit are incredibly hot and/or humid in January and February. For example, the average high temperature at Uluru in January is 99 degrees F. and a "balmy" 96 degrees F. in February. Another one of my favorite spots is the area around Katherine, Northern Territory. In January, the average high is around 93 degrees F. with 11 inches of rain for the month and in February the temperature remains the same with 7 inches of rain. (It's the middle of the Wet.)

 

So, here are a few suggestions for places with more temperate weather combined with interesting history and/or amazing scenery.

 

The first suggestion is the island of Tasmania. I know that you spend one day in Hobart, but that's not enough time to do the island justice. There is Port Arthur (which can take a whole day to visit and should not be missed) the historic towns of Richmond and Ross, caves near Devonport, Cataract Gorge in Launceston, forests in the Huon Valley and amazing Cradle Mountain National Park. There is certainly enough to see and do in Tasmania for a week or more. The average high temperatures in Hobart in January and February are only around 70 degrees and they get less than 2 inches of rain in those months.

 

The second suggestion would be Melbourne and the environs. I see that your cruise does not stop in Melbourne, so you might want to go there. The average high temperature there in Jan and Feb is around 77 degrees F. with about 2 inches or less of rainfall. After exploring Melbourne, you could drive along the Great Ocean Road and explore some of the coastal towns of Victoria. (Take your time on this trip--it shouldn't be a day trip out of Melbourne.) Continuing on to Adelaide, you can make stops in the wine areas of Coonawarra and the Barrossa Valley. There are some interesting towns, such as the old German town of Hahndorf, outside of Adelaide that are well worth a visit.

Or, if your time is more limited, you could drive from Melbourne to the historic towns of Ballarat, Bendigo and Beechworth.

 

The third suggestion is to go to Canberra (which is where I lived) and continue to the Snowy Mountains for some cooler temps. Canberra is full of excellent museums and the unique Parliament House, built into a hill, is not to be missed. In Canberra, you can get "up close and personal" with wildlife at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve or Namadgi National Park. I will guarantee that you will encounter hundreds of kangaroos in the wild by doing the easy 6km RT walk called the Yankee Hat Hike in Namadgi. As a bonus, there is a rock at the turnaround point with Aboriginal drawings which you likely won't find anywhere during your cruise.

From Canberra, drive to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains for some gorgeous scenery, great views and cooler temps.. You can take a chairlift up to a walk that leads to the summit of Mt. Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia. Most of the walk is on a raised platform so that the plant life does not get trampled. The last bit is a little steep, but well worth the effort. (I did this walk twice in my mid to late 40's and I'm no athlete!) Even if you don't do the walk to the summit, the views from where the chairlift ends are great!

 

I hope you get some inspiration from some of these ideas.

[GCHAN]

I think the advice is very good.

 

I would stay down South during the summer here. The North has a very wet season from late November through to April. We live in Perth and don't travel to the North at this time of the year.

 

If you have a chance the South of Western Australia is beautiful. We have just been to Busselton for a short stay and it is very good. It has the Margaret River wine region close by and driving would be easy once you get used to driving on the opposite side of the road.

 

Victoria(Melbourne) is beautiful as well and the Great Ocean Road is an excellent drive.

 

We haven't been to Tasmania but have heard it is beautiful and the climate should be great at that time of the year..

[doktor]

GradUT - I would appreciate comments on places to visit that are inland. We are also on the above cruise that pearl has outlined but willl be spending some time at the end to visit places missed by cruising. Thanks.

We just have returned from 23 days in Australia and New Zealand. We did 18 nights land and cruise package with Princess. I have not looked at Celebrity package recently, however last Feb it was a good deal higher than Princess. I wondered if it was becasue Celebrity had left the area and this was their first year back.

 

I also looked at doing inland on my own in Australia prior to booking with Princess. It was extremly pricey, and everything is about 3 hour via air away. There was also the hassel of getting to and from the airports, luggage, and hotel arrangements.

 

Princess did a great job. They got all of our boarding passes, handled all of the luggage, stored luggage that was going on the cruise, and resolved any issues.

 

If your going to Ayers Rock and Alice Spring, yes it is hot, but no hotter than Florida in the middle of summer. Be aware it is extremly remote, if your not young and advanterous, I would not recommend attempting this on your own. The accommendation are the best, and you will have bugs!

 

Our itinerary was as follows, 4 nights in Sydney(3 on our own), 1 night in Ayers Rock, 1 night in Alice Springs, 2 nights in Cairns, 12 nights on the Diamond, and 2 nights in Auckland. We did the overland in New Zealand; getting off the hip in Milford Sound and getting back on in Duedin. This trip was awesome.

 

The climate varies vastly some hot to chilly!

[jmlh]

Many thanks to GradUT & doktor for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. Now we have to spend some time researching & deciding just how many days we will be able to spend post cruise in Australia. If anyone else has more suggestions, please pass them on!

[Pearl64]

Yes, GradUT and Doktor, thank you for all of your suggestions. I am thinking it may be down to deciding between Ayers Rock and seeing southeast Australia. I was thinking that the temps at Ayers Rock in March would be similar to Florida in the summer. Can one get to Canberra easily without flying from Sydney? I know one would need to fly to Melbourne if that was our choice.

 

Also, you mentioned some towns near Adelaide. How far are they from Adelaide as the ship does go to Adelaide. That may be a possibility as well.

 

Keep the suggestions coming.

Again, thanks.

 

Pearl

[GradUT]

Pearl,

 

Canberra can easily be reached by car from Sydney. It's a 3 hour drive along the Hume Highway--easy driving. There is also train service between Sydney and Canberra on CountryLink.

 

Hahndorf is a 30 minute drive from Adelaide and Tanunda (Barossa Valley) is about an hour's drive from Adelaide.

[Floridiana]

Our decision to visit the interior was made because it has the landscape that makes Australia different from other places in the world. Ayers Rock, the West Macs and Alice Springs will be hot and it would be better to travel there in winter, but our travel time is dictated by the two cruises. We have been to the American Southwest in summer and survived.

 

As to the weather in NZ and in Tasmania, they have lower temps right now in their summer than we have in our Florida winter.

 

I will let you know how it went at the end of April.

[brewster007]

I could use some help here as well. We are planning on flying to Sydney arriving Nov 19/12 with a departure of December 7, 2012. We are currently booked on a HAL New Zealand Discovery cruise departing Nov.21/12 for 14 days. Problem is it only gives us a total of 4 days for Australia which realistically would need to be spent in the Sydney area. So we are trying to decide on whether we just do a land holiday in Australia spend a week in the Sydney / Canberra area and then drive up the coast to Brisbane taking a week to do so, flying to Cairns for the last 3 or 4 days and then flying back to Sydney to come home. The variable of course is the cost as we do not know how expensive food, gas is in Australia. It is one of those things that are tough to research.

 

Any and all opinions are appreciated.

 

Brewster

[cjm66]

I will not buy into the "Which is a better way to see Oz" - it is so much a matter of personal preference. We have done a lot of self drive touring in various parts of the world and are now relaxing into cruising. To answer your cost of touring question. Petrol (gas) has averaged $AUD1.40 to $1.45 per litre over the last two months. So allow $1.50 US per litre or $6.00 US per gallon for comparison. The cost can also vary across the week and it may be higher in some country areas. It is 1000 kilometres - 620 miles from Sydney to Brisbane without side trips. Food prices are generally higher in Australia for economical to mid range eating out. BUT no auto tipping so that's 10% shaved off unless you get good service and decide to tip for this as I do. All prices are in AUD. A low - mid priced restaurant will be $50 - $70 for two and the sky is the limit for higher up the scale. Cafe and budget food can be less than $10 pp for snack or fast food - below $5 for Macdonals and similar but add on coffee and that is usually $2.50 minimum. When we toured with a car overseas we usually ate picnics when the weather permitted and that is also a good option here with a budget cooler and some ice. A lot depends on what you like and whether you like Asian food as that does tend to be a good and not so expensive option. Food along our motoways is not impressive and is usually limited to Macdonalds and similar outlets - so we picnic here too. If you take a coastal route fish and chips by the beach is a fair option.

 

Hope this helps on the financial front.

 

Colleen

[GCHAN]

I could use some help here as well. We are planning on flying to Sydney arriving Nov 19/12 with a departure of December 7, 2012. We are currently booked on a HAL New Zealand Discovery cruise departing Nov.21/12 for 14 days. Problem is it only gives us a total of 4 days for Australia which realistically would need to be spent in the Sydney area. So we are trying to decide on whether we just do a land holiday in Australia spend a week in the Sydney / Canberra area and then drive up the coast to Brisbane taking a week to do so, flying to Cairns for the last 3 or 4 days and then flying back to Sydney to come home. The variable of course is the cost as we do not know how expensive food, gas is in Australia. It is one of those things that are tough to research.

 

Any and all opinions are appreciated.

 

 

Brewster

 

I wouldn't go up to Cairns and Brisbane at that time of the year.

 

My reason is that it is the wet season and very hot and humid.

 

You would be better off doing the cruise or going to Melbourne / Tasmania as it is summer but not the wet season.

 

We are doing a cruise in January 2013 from Auckland to Perth but wouldn't do the following cruise around the top of Australia at that time of the year.

 

You never know your luck because you could get to the places up North in between the Cyclones and torrential rain but then again why risk it when there are a lot of other things to see and do.

 

New Zealand is beautiful as is Australia so why don't you just treat this trip as a sampler for future trips.

 

HAL are very good and I am pretty sure you would have a great time.

[brewster007]

I will not buy into the "Which is a better way to see Oz" - it is so much a matter of personal preference. We have done a lot of self drive touring in various parts of the world and are now relaxing into cruising. To answer your cost of touring question. Petrol (gas) has averaged $AUD1.40 to $1.45 per litre over the last two months. So allow $1.50 US per litre or $6.00 US per gallon for comparison. The cost can also vary across the week and it may be higher in some country areas. It is 1000 kilometres - 620 miles from Sydney to Brisbane without side trips. Food prices are generally higher in Australia for economical to mid range eating out. BUT no auto tipping so that's 10% shaved off unless you get good service and decide to tip for this as I do. All prices are in AUD. A low - mid priced restaurant will be $50 - $70 for two and the sky is the limit for higher up the scale. Cafe and budget food can be less than $10 pp for snack or fast food - below $5 for Macdonals and similar but add on coffee and that is usually $2.50 minimum. When we toured with a car overseas we usually ate picnics when the weather permitted and that is also a good option here with a budget cooler and some ice. A lot depends on what you like and whether you like Asian food as that does tend to be a good and not so expensive option. Food along our motoways is not impressive and is usually limited to Macdonalds and similar outlets - so we picnic here too. If you take a coastal route fish and chips by the beach is a fair option.

 

Hope this helps on the financial front.

 

Colleen

 

Thanks for the comments Colleen this will help us figure out our budget.

 

Brewster

[brewster007]

I wouldn't go up to Cairns and Brisbane at that time of the year.

 

My reason is that it is the wet season and very hot and humid.

 

You would be better off doing the cruise or going to Melbourne / Tasmania as it is summer but not the wet season.

 

We are doing a cruise in January 2013 from Auckland to Perth but wouldn't do the following cruise around the top of Australia at that time of the year.

 

You never know your luck because you could get to the places up North in between the Cyclones and torrential rain but then again why risk it when there are a lot of other things to see and do.

 

New Zealand is beautiful as is Australia so why don't you just treat this trip as a sampler for future trips.

 

HAL are very good and I am pretty sure you would have a great time.

 

Thanks for the comments and advice. Lots to think about but lots of time so no need to make a quick decision. Everybody on the boards are being very helpful which will certainly make our decision more informed.

 

Brewster

[Cush1964]

Hi there Pearl, A land tour of course allows you to see much more of any country as you are not restrained by the limitations of getting back to your ship. On a cruise, you will only see 'slices' of what the country has to offer. In Australia & NZ there is soooooo much more to see - inland! However, the task of carrying luggage around and reading maps etc inconveniences many as opposed to having everything 'served' up on a cruise ship. Hope this helps.

 

We are currently booked on b2b cruises that circumnavigate Australia and also includes North and South Island of New Zealand. Friends of ours just came back from a 3 week trip to Australia on a land tour and said that is the only way to go as on a cruise you would not get inland. Comments? We thought with the cruise we get to the western and northern ports plus Bali. We are thinking of adding Ayers Rock at the end. I did look at Celebrity's cruisetour but thought that was really rushed and spent a lot of time traveling plus the fact that it was pricey. We really do not think being cooped up in a bus with 40 others for three weeks is the way to go. At least on the ship there are the sea days to get caught up on rest and with a ship this size one should be able to be with people or not! Also being gone all of February gets us away from SNOW!

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

Pearl