Thank you to all the volunteers in the Oz ports

[Floridiana]

Thanks heaps to all the volunteers in the Oz ports on our recent circumnavigation on the Dawn Princess. Your advice, friendliness, maps and brochures were greatly appreciated. It made our visit so much more pleasurable. I would also like to add that all the tour guides and bus drivers were a pleasure to work with, had a sense of humor and and lots of interesting information.

 

Cheers from Florida

[t60]

Thanks heaps to all the volunteers in the Oz ports on our recent circumnavigation on the Dawn Princess. Your advice, friendliness, maps and brochures were greatly appreciated. It made our visit so much more pleasurable. I would also like to add that all the tour guides and bus drivers were a pleasure to work with, had a sense of humor and and lots of interesting information.

 

Cheers from Florida

 

Hi, We´re going round Australia, next April/May on Dawn Princess.

Any tips, info, suggestions for tours either with Princess or Private would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Sandy in Spain

[Floridiana]

Check out the ports of call section! Lots of good advice there.

[Sparky74]

I've found the volunteers at Airlie Beach to be fantastic. We've been there twice in the last twelve months. Both times they've been friendly & helpful as well as professional in their demeanour. Great ambassadors for this port & for Australia. :)

 

Also, last time we visited Cairns (February 2012) when we returned to the ship volunteers were handing out free samples of local tropical fruit. :)

[t60]

Check out the ports of call section! Lots of good advice there.

 

Yes I did that just after we booked, but I thought you would have some useful information as well as being up to date

Sandy in Spain

[t60]

I've found the volunteers at Airlie Beach to be fantastic. We've been there twice in the last twelve months. Both times they've been friendly & helpful as well as professional in their demeanour. Great ambassadors for this port & for Australia. :)

 

Also, last time we visited Cairns (February 2012) when we returned to the ship volunteers were handing out free samples of local tropical fruit. :)

 

When we last visited Sydney we didn´t encounter ´Volunteers´ What is their role exactly? Are they in every Port?

 

Sandy in Spain

[sparky-elpaso]

When we last visited Sydney we didn´t encounter ´Volunteers´ What is their role exactly? Are they in every Port?

 

Sandy in Spain

 

I'm not the Sparky you asked but we just got back from Australia. The volunteers were usually in the smaller ports - Port Hedland, Geraldton, Esperance, Akaroa, NZ, etc. They would be doing things like handing out maps to the town when you got to shore. In Port Hedland there were people around the downtown area handing out bottled water and ready to give directions.

 

All of the folks we met were wonderful - from the locals to the guides on the excursions we took.

[Floridiana]

Brisbane: Volunteers handed out maps, told us where to pickup the city cat (river ferry) and where to find the downtown tourist information center where we bought tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus.

 

Airlie Beach (tender port): It rained cats and dogs, a (not free) shuttle bus was waiting to take us to the nearby town. We walked.

 

Port Douglas (tender port): Don't remember any volunteers but dock is easy to navigate and town is nearby. We booked a local tour to Mossmann Gorge right on the pier. The ship's tours to the Daintree Ntl Forest were cancelled due to a landslide on the road to Cairns the night before.

 

The Reef Pilot on the ship did an excellent narration for the trip around the top end.

 

Darwin: I don't remember volunteers, there were shuttle busses but we walked to the CBD, was easy enough. We must have picked up a city map in the pier buidling. We booked an afternoon crocodile feeding tour on the ship. Too many passengers on the river boat but otherwise the tour was ok.

 

Benoa, Bali: We booked a tour. Only people who were familiar with the island headed out on their own.

 

Fremantle/Perth: We were picked up by a friend.

 

Bunbury: Ship couldn't dock due to high seas and shallow harbor.

 

Albany: Free shuttle bus to downtown. We picked up a tour next to the townhall. There was a small craft market set up in the park. Later we walked back to the ship.

 

Adelaide: Free shuttle bus to Glenelg, gift bag, took the tram to downtown Adelaide and back to Glenelg where we took the free shuttle bus back to the ship.

 

Melbourne: $ 3.50 shuttle bus to downtown, ticket valid all day on all city transportation. Volunteers in pier building and at shuttle bus stop downtown.

 

Burnie (Tasmania): Free shuttle busses to an information center a bit outside of town where guided tours were offered. Really cool craft market inside, bought kangaroo poo paper. We walked into town and picked up the shuttle bus back to the ship from the CBD.

 

Hobart: Volunteers in pier building, free shuttle bus into town but it was an easy walk. We booked a ship's tour for the evening: Bonorong Wildlfe Sanctuary, was great! And a ship's tour to Port Arthur the next day, was very long but excellent.

 

When I say 'an easy walk', I mean for people without mobility issues. Passengers with walkers or a recent leg/hip operation must have been glad to have a (free) shuttle bus available. All volunteers, bus drivers, and tour guides in Australia were excellent! After three cruises with Princess, I am still not a fan of this particular line, but the Australians and the Kiwis make traveling in their countries a pleasure.

[t60]

Thanks Floridian, We seem to be going to all the same ports next April on Dawn.

Do you have any particular tour operators or tours that you thought were great?

You mention free shuttles, were these supplied by the Port or Princess, our experience of Princess on our Med Tour a couple of weeks ago was that you paid for their shuttles. I can´t remember what we did in NZ.

I´m really looking forward to planning for our trip next year

Sandy in Spain

[kiwipete]

Thanks Floridian, We seem to be going to all the same ports next April on Dawn.

Do you have any particular tour operators or tours that you thought were great?

You mention free shuttles, were these supplied by the Port or Princess, our experience of Princess on our Med Tour a couple of weeks ago was that you paid for their shuttles. I can´t remember what we did in NZ.

I´m really looking forward to planning for our trip next year

Sandy in Spain

 

We really enjoyed the Princess "Elephant Park" excursion in Benoa. There were cheaper versions offered privately but we felt the security of getting back on the ship was worth the extra money. The traffic in Bali is unbeleivable and you could well get caught and not be back at the ship on time.

Back to the Elephant Park, it was just a fantastic day. An interesting drive through the country and the Park was truly amazing. Lunch in the Park restaurant was to die for.

 

If you call in to Bunbury then consider checking out a private tour with "Bush Tucker" Great Winery Tours and ask the driver to take you to Gnomesville!!! A must see in Bunbury.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did.

[Floridiana]

The park restaurant in Benoa is really excellent, take a tour that includes lunch there. We took a general tour that was very good up to the point where it dropped us off at a crowded market. Traffic was so bad that it took forever for the busses to get out of there again. It's probably better to take the tour to the artists.

 

I would book the ship's tour to the Daintree Forest again. The road cannot be blocked again when you are there .... We are not snorkelers and weak swimmers, but if you are, you should snorkel at the Barrier Reef either from Airlie Beach or Port Douglas. Can only be done with a ship's tour unless you take a land extension on your own before or after your cruise.

 

There is no private tour company that pops out as special. I am sure there are several, but I don't know them. I just went with the flow in town or on the pier.

 

Some places in Australia are so far from the port that I would not risk being late back to the ship. We only booked short tours ahore.

[t60]

snip..If you call in to Bunbury then consider checking out a private tour with "Bush Tucker" Great Winery Tours and ask the driver to take you to Gnomesville!!! A must see in Bunbury..snip

 

OMG. Gnomesville has its own Facebook page!

 

Sandy in Spain