Radiance of the Seas Down Under (2/14/14-3/3/14) Sydney to Perth - Review with Photos

[blackshirt]

Very interested in your review as we are considering the same one in 2016 as our retirement cruise.

[kccrzr]

Hotel in Sydney:

 

As I mentioned, we stayed at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sydmc-sydney-harbour-marriott-hotel-at-circular-quay/). We could not have been happier with the hotel. And we were able to use reward points to book it, which made it all the sweeter. If you have been saving up your Marriott points, use them here - you will not be disappointed!

 

The location on Pitt Street was only 1-1/2 blocks from the Circular Quay train station/bus stops/ferries and only 2 blocks from the Overseas Passenger Terminal. We didn't need a taxi at all.

 

Once we made it through the long flight, DH and I both thought Sydney was the most convenient cruise port we have sailed from. We were able to walk absolutely everywhere we wanted to go or to public transportation which was overall very well maintained, had convenient schedules and was reasonably priced.

 

Even after waiting for luggage at the airport, going through customs, taking the Airport Link train and walking to the hotel pulling our luggage behind, we still made it there by about 9:50 am. We were very pleasantly surprised to find out that the hotel had a room available for us as we expected to check our bags with the valet. I wish I had taken a photo of our room; it was roomy, sleek and modern but not cold or sterile.

 

FREE WALKING TOUR:

 

We had just enough time to hustle up to the room and change clothes (it was a gray, chilly day in Sydney with a chance of rain) before trying to make a FREE walking tour I had read about on the internet, which was scheduled to start at 10:30 am. We made it back down to the concierge desk around 10:15, expecting to have to take a cab, and were told we could walk to the tour meeting place at Town Hall in 10 or 15 minutes. So, I set aside my immediate desire for caffeine and we hoofed it up the street. As it turned out, the tour started about 15 minutes late so I could have had that much needed coffee after all.

 

The walking tour was a good way for us to start our first day in Sydney. It kept us moving when we otherwise might have been tempted to crash for a few hours, gave us a good overview of the city and, of course, the price could not be beat.

 

We have been on several free walking tours in various European cities and they were all excellent. I would not say that this was as great as the others, but it was still very good.

 

We also met some interesting people, including some on our cruise and one couple who was taking several segments of a Princess world cruise lasting for 3-1/2 months.

 

The tour lasted for about 3 hours and we got a nice map of the CBD and Manly (where we planned to go the next day). Part way through the tour we stopped at an office complex/train station with shops/restaurants/restrooms and I was finally able to get that caffeine I was craving.

 

Following are some of the photos from our tour:

 

 

An alley café with overhead artwork:

 

 

 

Il Porcellino statue:

 

 

 

St Mary's Cathedral:

 

 

Shopping Arcade:

 

 

 

 

Next up...Circular Quay/The Rocks

[jennyau]

I'm really enjoying your review.

 

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[kccrzr]

For Asian cruises focusing on Japan, try looking at Princess cruises.. they have great 10 day Japan cruises this year originating and ending in Yokohama in Tokyo.

 

One IT goes to north Russia and Hokkaido, others explore south like Kyushu and onsens, and some goes to Taiwan and Japan.

 

This is for this year, not sure if they have the same IT for next year.

 

 

Thank you for the recommendation - I am going to look into that tomorrow. I had been hoping to take RCI since we are D+ now and like the perks, but I have been really underwhelmed by the itineraries so far and it has now been nearly 2 years since I have been waiting for one I liked.

[jennyau]

I'm really enjoying your review.

 

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I tried to edit but it was too late......I just realised we got off the Radiance the day you boarded her.

 

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[kccrzr]

FREE WALKING TOUR, Cont.:

 

We spent a few minutes walking through The Rocks section and ended up just past the OPT at Circular Quay. Any tour with views of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, just has to be a good tour:

 

 

It was really amazing how vibrant and busy Circular Quay was with foot traffic and public transportation, including ferries.

 

 

 

The Solstice was in port (the next day Navigator took her place):

 

 

This was a great place to end our tour because The Rocks area had several restaurants to choose from for lunch.

 

We had a very good lunch at the Baroque café (http://baroquepantry.com/lunch-menu/) in The Rocks. The rain held off so we ate outdoors, of course:

 

 

 

 

 

I wish I had some photos of our lunch, it was quite good. As you can see, we were so enjoying our time in Sydney we were more focused on drinks! The wine could have been a bit of a budget buster, but as it turned out we ended up not spending nearly as much in Sydney as we expected we would. The interior of the restaurant was also quite interesting and charming.

 

There were some outdoor sofas on the patio as well. It felt great just to sit outside and rest our feet for awhile before hitting the bricks again.

[NancyB84]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading more.

[rednancy1]

Subscribing! Enjoying your review so far. :)

[kccrzr]

Souvenir Shopping in Sydney & Free Bus:

 

DH likes to dabble with watercolors in his spare time, so after lunch we decided to check out an art supply store several blocks away which had been recommended to him by our tour guide. It was called Parker's (http://parkersartsupplies.com/stores/parkers-sydney-fine-art-supplies-since-1918/) and was a cute shop with informative, helpful clerks. Although one of the clerks told us she was jealous of the supplies we can get in the U.S., DH was able to find a packet of deckle-edged watercolor postcard paper he had not seen before. During long, chilly days at sea he painted postcards for our daughters and his parents, which we mailed off in Picton. This is a small, very quick sample painting he did for himself of the Opera House:

 

 

 

I had read about Paddy's Markets (http://www.paddysmarkets.com.au/locations.html) on Cruise Critic and decided I wanted to head there next to look for some souvenirs. So, we went over to the bus stops across the street from the Circular Quay train station and waited for the free bus - Number 555 - which runs up George Street to Central Station, with a stop near Paddy's Market on the way (http://www.sydneybuses.info/free-shuttles). I think we got on one of the last, if not the very last, free buses running the loop as it was already close to 3:30pm. After 4 or 5 stops, the bus was quite full so I was glad we got on at Circular Quay. This is really a great service and seemed to be utilized by locals even more than tourists.

 

Paddy's had quite a few stalls but after a while we started to see the same merchandise at the same price at multiple stalls. As others before have mentioned, the prices are quite good here and we were able to pick up 3 beach towels for $20, a small souvenir boomerang for our youngest daughter for $10 and a tea towel for $2:

 

 

 

Paddy's also had great prices on bottle openers - if you need one for your 2 bottles of wine, this is the place to get it; key chains for $1 and t-shirts for $7-8. Although there were a few places where we later saw some comparable prices, most shops were much higher priced or they had good prices on a few things but not all. In hindsight, we should have picked up some more things here.

 

We decided to walk from the market back to the hotel and were glad we did. We walked through Chinatown:

 

 

 

And past some interesting buildings we had not seen on our walking tour, including the 3 Wise Monkeys pub on the corner of George St and Liverpool (http://www.3wisemonkeys.com.au/):

 

 

 

 

That evening we went to the Executive Lounge at the Marriott and enjoyed a very nice selection of hors d'oeuvres and adult beverages. In addition to wine, there were several types of hard liquor and mixers. We eventually toddled back to our room, read some newspapers we had picked up in the Lounge and called it a night, with plans to get up early the next day to go to Manly.

 

Free Wifi:

 

There are probably many places in Sydney which offer free wifi. However, one place we came across on our walking tour was the Customs House (http://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au/index.html) close by the Circular Quay train station and bus stops.

[kccrzr]

Fast Ferry to Manly:

 

We literally ran for the ferry which was taking off as we got to the wharf at Circular Quay. Prior to our trip I had copied the ferry timetable (https://www.manlyfastferry.com.au/) but we lingered a few minutes more over breakfast than we should have and then spent a few minutes looking for the ticket counter - which ended up being a temporary table set up on the wharf itself. When we finally found it, the lady "manning" the table told us to RUN! as the ferry was leaving. They let us on the ferry without previously having purchased a ticket and we paid at the end of the trip. ($18 each/RT). Really nice, helpful people. The guy on the ferry who we paid at the end kept thanking us for telling them we didn't have a ticket and wished us good karma.

 

It was cooler than we would have liked but it wasn't raining so we opted to sit out on the top deck during the ride over, which took about 20 minutes. We really enjoyed the great scenery:

 

 

 

Notice the Voyager in the background:

 

 

 

Fort Denison (http://fortdenison.com.au/the-fort/history-of-fort-denison/):

 

 

 

And the very nice docking area in Manly. In addition to restaurants and stores, the dock has an outdoor patio where you can enjoy an adult beverage while waiting for your ferry back to Sydney:

 

 

When I first looked at the ferry schedules I was surprised to see so many more trips scheduled for the weekdays than the weekends. When there, we realized it was because so many people use the ferry to get back and forth to work. What a great way that would be to get to work (unfortunately, that is not an option here in landlocked Missouri).

 

Manly Information/Maps:

 

Prior to the trip I also printed out a map of Manly from this informative website: http://www.manlyaustralia.com.au/info/

 

More on the rest of our day, to come...

[kccrzr]

Manly:

 

There is a small beach just to the right of the ferry dock but we decided we wanted to go to the main beach so we walked the few blocks across the narrow strip of land from the dock to the beach. Since we were there early in the day we decided to take a walk to the other end (North) of the beach and figure out the best place to land for the day.

 

The Australian Open of Surfing was taking place on Manly Beach - I have never seen so many beautiful, fit people. There was a tent set up for merchandise, a stage for bands/presentations, etc. It was very interesting. However, after spending some time there we decided to head back to where we started because we had seen some loungers/umbrellas for sale there. On the way we stopped in a convenience store to pick up some diet cokes and bottled water.

 

Loungers were $15 for all day or $10 for 3 hours

Chairs were $10 for all day

Umbrellas were $15 for all day

 

The South end of the beach definitely had calmer water the day we were there. In fact, after we had been there a few hours, several notices were broadcast over a loudspeaker telling everyone on the North end to go to the South end due to dangerous conditions.

 

We did a little wading but the water was surprisingly COLD. We enjoyed lazing around (even though it was chillier than hoped), reading and people watching. A school group was there taking surf lessons and doing swim exercises.

 

In mid-afternoon we decided we were ready for lunch so we packed up our things and headed to a restaurant I had read about online - Fishmongers in Rialto Square (http://manly.mongers.com.au/). There was a large public restroom directly across the square. The food at Fishmongers was good but the restaurant is very, very small - really more of a takeout place or a sit outside place. We sat outside but afterwards thought we might have been better off heading to the 4 Pines pub across from the ferry dock and eating inside (http://www.4pinesbeer.com.au/sip-n-chew).

 

After lunch we walked the half block to the Corso pedestrian street and went in a few shops. I found a cute tee-shirt on sale for $10.

 

When we went back to the ferry terminal, we stopped at Gelatissimo Gelato (http://www.gelatissimo.com.au/products/artisan-gelato/) and tried the coconut ice cream. It was quite good - just a notch or two below Leopold's in Savannah. ;)

 

We just had time before the ferry arrived to have a quick drink at the patio on the pier. They had a few different types of beer to choose from and mixed drinks as well.

 

A Microsoft update was automatically added to my computer when I logged out last and now I'm having issues with posting photos from Flickr. :( I'm going to log off now and see if I can figure out what is going on.

[kccrzr]

Flickr has actually changed its system but I think I MAY have it figured out.

 

Manly Beach looking towards surf competition set-up:

 

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Tee Shirt from Souvenir Shop on Corso Pedestrian Mall:

 

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[jennyau]

Sorry the pictures didn't work for me.

 

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[kccrzr]

Sorry the pictures didn't work for me.

 

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks for letting me know! I can see the photos but that might just be because I'm on my computer and have access rights to all my photos. I just started using Flickr a few weeks ago and now the user site has been siginificantly changed. I'll obviously have to do some more testing and then checking on a separate computer.

Edited March 26, 2014 by kccrzr

[jennyau]

Thanks for letting me know! I can see the photos but that might just be because I'm on my computer and have access rights to all my photos. I just started using Flickr a few weeks ago and now the user site has been siginificantly changed. I'll obviously have to do some more testing and then checking on a separate computer.

 

I probably should have added that I'm using my phone..... The other pictures all show up perfectly though.

 

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[kccrzr]

Thanks for your messages. I'm sure it is not your phone. I can see the newly added photos from my home computer on which I have my Flickr account set up but not from my work computer. So, it is due to the changes at Flickr which have caused a bit of an uproar on their site.

 

I'm going to try to set up a separate set for only photos marked public and see if that works. If not, I will just go on with the report and post photos when I have time to switch to a different photo sharing site and upload all the photos.

[kccrzr]

Giving it another go....

 

Manly Beach with Australia Open of Surfing venues in background:

 

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Tee-shirt from souvenir shop on Corso Pedestrian Mall, Manly, Australia:

 

 

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Have my fingers crossed, this method works.

[debshomespun]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We will be sailing on both Solstice and Rhapsody next Jan and Feb. 7

[kccrzr]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We will be sailing on both Solstice and Rhapsody next Jan and Feb. 7

 

 

You're in for a treat. I am keeping my eyes out for an Australia to Hawaii cruise.

[jennyau]

Yes this method worked! Yay :thumbup:

 

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[kccrzr]

Our Last Evening in Sydney:

 

When we returned to the Marriott we changed and headed up to the Executive Lounge for evening drinks and appetizers. When happy hour(s) were over we went down to the Lobby to get a recommendation for a liquor store where we could buy our 2 bottles of wine to take on board ship. We had seen a store on our walking tour but did not know if that would be the best place to go. The concierge was very helpful; she told us about two closer stores in the event we didn't want to go far but said for selection and price, she recommended the Liquorland store inside the Cole's at the corner of George & King Streets (https://www.liquorland.com.au/lle2e/Pages/storelocator.aspx). We easily found the Cole's but had to ask for directions once inside as the Liquorland was a small interior room within the Cole's. It was not a huge store but plenty to choose from for our purposes. We purchased two mid priced wines, including one from Penfolds - which, unfortunately, ended up succumbing to a rogue wave in the Tasman sea :( - then started heading down towards Circular Quay to look for a place for dinner.

 

We saw a few places with nice outdoor seating but the weather was threatening so we went on. We ended up back at The Rocks and decided to have dinner at an Italian restaurant, Caminetto (http://sydney.citysearch.com.au/E/V/SYDNE/0020/17/08/1.html) which we had seen the day before. It backed up to the high walls of The Rocks and had a large outdoor patio with huge covering umbrellas, so (of course) we ate outside.

 

Thank goodness for those umbrellas! 20 minutes into our dinner the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour. There was some minimal moving of chairs where the edges of the umbrellas were, but otherwise we were all snug under the covers listening to the pouring rain hitting the umbrellas and the walkway.

 

The portions at Caminetto were HUGE. I ordered a "small" sized lasagna which would have easily fed 3 people. It was quite good - and that is a good review coming from me because I can make a mean lasagna myself. DH ordered a Caminetto salad and an entrée and liked them both. We lingered over dinner, enjoying some good wine, the food and the sound of falling rain. We must have been living right because just as we were wondering whether we would have to make a run for it back to the hotel, the rain stopped leaving a clean, crisp evening. So we decided to stroll back via the cruise terminal on Circular Quay.

 

Here are a few photos taken from near the OPT back towards the ferry docks and train station. You can see how close the Marriott is from the location of the red sign:

 

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Another place to eat in The Rocks which looked fun was the German restaurant, Lowenbrau at the Corner of Playfair and Argyle Streets: (http://www.lowenbrau.com.au/menu). However, we didn't eat here so I can't comment on the food.

 

We also had a great view of the Opera house at night:

 

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What a great sight for our last evening in Sydney.

 

Tomorrow - embarkation day!

[jensue1]

Really enjoying this and looking forward to more.

[elvismeggi]

too bad - photos don't work for me :o

[tazza_0712]

Loving this review! Thank you! I can see photos just fine.

[kccrzr]

Really enjoying this and looking forward to more.

 

 

Many thanks. Hope you have time to post a review of your Sydney to Hawaii cruise, I'm hoping to do that one in a few years.