Live: Jan 2 2018 Solstice Great Barrier Reef

[Motorcycle Gma]

On 3/10/2019 at 6:17 PM, mahdnc said:

 

You are welcome.  The reef conditions were good at Cairns and Port Douglas.  The latter port did not have any snorkeling excursions offered by Celebrity.  However there are several dive/snorkel companies that operate out of Port Douglas that you can book independently although you have to pay attention to the tender times to determine if you can make it.

 

Jan 9 2018: Sea life at Agincourt Reef near Port Douglas

 

[Motorcycle Gma]

Just now, Motorcycle Gma said:

 

Let me try this again.  Hello,

 

I've been following your thread with great interest on the GBR experience you had on the Solstice last year.  Thank you so much for the informative information.  It is helping me greatly.

 

I'm wondering who you ultimately picked for your snorkel/dive experience in Port Douglas? 

 

We are divers and will be on a 10 day cruise with the Ruby Princess in October.  I've read great reviews on Wavelength and  not so great reviews on Quicksilver.  I really like a more personal experience (smaller boat) than the pontoon at Hardy or Agincourt reef.  Unfortunately, our ship offers NO snorkel or dive experiences at Korky's Knob (Cairns).  So, we are stuck with Arlie Beach, Port Douglas or Brisbane. 

 

They do offer some snorkeling at Green Island which I saw you said wasn't too great either. I'm thinking Port Douglas is our best bet to see the reef.  I'm also wondering if your poor experience at Arlie was because of recent cyclones or weather??  We don't have an overnight like you did, so I can't book a private dive.  Any suggestions??

 

I'm thinking of booking the Quicksilver privately to save some cash as we are in port 7 am to 7 pm that day. I also have emailed Wavelength to see if they will take us, but we arrive at 7:00 and their boats depart at 8:30 or 8:45.  With tendering, that cuts it close. 

 

I appreciate any advice from you or anyone else that might see this.  

Thank you.  

 

Happy Weekend! 

 

 

[mahdnc]

26 minutes ago, Motorcycle Gma said:

Let me try this again.  Hello,

 

I've been following your thread with great interest on the GBR experience you had on the Solstice last year.  Thank you so much for the informative information.  It is helping me greatly.

 

I'm wondering who you ultimately picked for your snorkel/dive experience in Port Douglas? 

 

We are divers and will be on a 10 day cruise with the Ruby Princess in October.  I've read great reviews on Wavelength and  not so great reviews on Quicksilver.  I really like a more personal experience (smaller boat) than the pontoon at Hardy or Agincourt reef.  Unfortunately, our ship offers NO snorkel or dive experiences at Korky's Knob (Cairns).  So, we are stuck with Arlie Beach, Port Douglas or Brisbane. 

 

They do offer some snorkeling at Green Island which I saw you said wasn't too great either. I'm thinking Port Douglas is our best bet to see the reef.  I'm also wondering if your poor experience at Arlie was because of recent cyclones or weather??  We don't have an overnight like you did, so I can't book a private dive.  Any suggestions??

 

I'm thinking of booking the Quicksilver privately to save some cash as we are in port 7 am to 7 pm that day. I also have emailed Wavelength to see if they will take us, but we arrive at 7:00 and their boats depart at 8:30 or 8:45.  With tendering, that cuts it close. 

 

I appreciate any advice from you or anyone else that might see this.  

Thank you.  

 

Happy Weekend! 

 

 

 

Motorcycle Gma,

 

Hi.  I will give you the short answer right now and something more comprehensive later.

 

I used Quicksilver at Port Douglas because their boat left the dock the latest.  I wanted to use Silversonic (smaller dive boat that did not go to a pontoon), but was afraid that we wouldn't get there on time.  Since they are owned by the same parent company, I figured that if we got to Port Douglas early enough I could switch from Quicksilver to Silversonic.  The good news was that we got there early enough to catch Silversonic.  The bad news was they were essentially sold out so we had to stay with Quicksilver.

 

I wrote about our experiences with Quicksilver in a photo review of our entire Solstice cruise: link

 

David

[mahdnc]

On 4/5/2019 at 1:38 PM, Motorcycle Gma said:

We are divers and will be on a 10 day cruise with the Ruby Princess in October.  I've read great reviews on Wavelength and  not so great reviews on Quicksilver.  I really like a more personal experience (smaller boat) than the pontoon at Hardy or Agincourt reef.  Unfortunately, our ship offers NO snorkel or dive experiences at Korky's Knob (Cairns).  So, we are stuck with Arlie Beach, Port Douglas or Brisbane. 

 

They do offer some snorkeling at Green Island which I saw you said wasn't too great either. I'm thinking Port Douglas is our best bet to see the reef.  I'm also wondering if your poor experience at Arlie was because of recent cyclones or weather??  We don't have an overnight like you did, so I can't book a private dive.  Any suggestions??

 

I'm thinking of booking the Quicksilver privately to save some cash as we are in port 7 am to 7 pm that day. I also have emailed Wavelength to see if they will take us, but we arrive at 7:00 and their boats depart at 8:30 or 8:45.  With tendering, that cuts it close. 

 

I appreciate any advice from you or anyone else that might see this.  

Thank you.  

 

Happy Weekend! 

 

 

 

Hi.  I looked up your particular sailing and the excursions that the ship offers--and so I understand your diving dilemma.  Here are my other thoughts after re-reading your post.

 

Since your GBR diving choices on your sailing are so slim, I would recommend taking the Great Barrier Reef Experience (WSY-100) that the ship offers at Airlie Beach.  You really have no other choice.  This tour is undoubtedly operated by Cruise Whitsundays, the same tour that we took last year thru Celebrity. 

 

I presume that like on our Celebrity cruise, you will be picked up at your cruise ship at the beginning of the tour and dropped off there at the end.  That is a big plus and I would not consider trying to book this tour independently since you will have to endure the tendering to shore and then your ride to the pontoon will be 2.5 hrs each way (and that is assuming that you can get there on time on your own).   Perhaps when you go there, the strong current that we encountered at the Heart Pontoon will not be present or is more manageable.  

 

It is a huge shame that there is no outer reef diving offered during your stop at Yorkey's Knob as Cairns is the central hub for all the GBR diving tours.  Ruby Princess simply arrives too late for you to have a chance at independently booking your own tour.  I would probably resign myself to signing up for the Green Island Discovery tour (YK1-115) thru the ship as long as they offer a scuba diving option.

 

The good news is that your outer reef diving at your stop at Port Douglas should be great.  So I agree with you, it is your best bet to see the reef.  When I looked at the Wavelength website, they seemed to be 100% snorkeling with no diving offered.  Is that right?  My advice is to do what we did: Book with Quicksilver and see if you make it to the check-in office early enough on the day of the tour to see if you can switch to the smaller Silversonic boat owned by the same company.   The check in for both boats is done at the same office.  Maybe your luck will be better than ours.  Or you could go for broke and sign up for Silversonic and hope you make it there on time and use Quicksilver as your back up in case you don't.

 

David

 

Reef shark, Jan 7 2018, Saxon Reef

Edited April 7, 2019 by mahdnc

[Motorcycle Gma]

Thank you, David for your thorough response.  And, I'm glad I have your name now -- in my notes I've been calling you Sun Guy, LOL because of your picture on CC of the eclipse (great pic, BTW).   I appreciate all your advice and the great pics you posted of the reef.  I can tell from your "live report" that you did a ton of research before your trip.  I tend to do that as well.  You are right, Wavelength only offers snorkeling but on their FAQ page they state that the best part of the reef is the first 4 meters and the reviews are so awesome, I thought we'd just snorkel that port.  Do you agree or disagree -- how deep did you guys dive and was there much to see?  I remember you mentioning the big clams were in the shallower water.

 

So, dive at Arlie and hope for the best and possibly snorkel with Wavelength.  I have not heard from Wavelength since I emailed them on Friday, so I'm thinking they don't want us (like you said, they act like we're leopers).  So, likely I will choose the option you suggested from our ship and then Quicksilver or Silversonic.  I read that one of them is located right at the place we tender which would be so convenient.  The reviews on TA were hit and miss for Silversonic also.  I'm assuming you saw better reviews for them.  Some divers stated that they felt rushed and that it was for "beginner divers" mainly.  I've since found an article that mentions two other operators, Tusa and Silverswift which I will check out.  One supposedly caters to serious divers only.  https://www.cairnstourinfo.com.au/silverswift-vs-silversonic-vs-poseidon-vs-tusa-dive/  

 

Again, thanks for your help.  I have learned a hard lesson.  I chose this cruise because of the ports and didn't research enough before booking (it was "wave season" and I booked last minute).  I usually have insurance to "cancel for any reason", but this time I didn't pick that option.  I now wish I would have picked the Solstice.  I'm sure we will manage to have a great time regardless.  Thanks again.

 

Happy cruising -- I guess you will be in New Zealand about the same time we do our cruise.  I hope to get there some day.

 

Best,

Cindi 

 

 

I

[mahdnc]

On 4/8/2019 at 9:38 AM, Motorcycle Gma said:

Thank you, David for your thorough response.  And, I'm glad I have your name now -- in my notes I've been calling you Sun Guy, LOL because of your picture on CC of the eclipse (great pic, BTW).   I appreciate all your advice and the great pics you posted of the reef.  I can tell from your "live report" that you did a ton of research before your trip.  I tend to do that as well.  You are right, Wavelength only offers snorkeling but on their FAQ page they state that the best part of the reef is the first 4 meters and the reviews are so awesome, I thought we'd just snorkel that port.  Do you agree or disagree -- how deep did you guys dive and was there much to see?  I remember you mentioning the big clams were in the shallower water.

 

So, dive at Arlie and hope for the best and possibly snorkel with Wavelength.  I have not heard from Wavelength since I emailed them on Friday, so I'm thinking they don't want us (like you said, they act like we're leopers).  So, likely I will choose the option you suggested from our ship and then Quicksilver or Silversonic.  I read that one of them is located right at the place we tender which would be so convenient.  The reviews on TA were hit and miss for Silversonic also.  I'm assuming you saw better reviews for them.  Some divers stated that they felt rushed and that it was for "beginner divers" mainly.  I've since found an article that mentions two other operators, Tusa and Silverswift which I will check out.  One supposedly caters to serious divers only.  https://www.cairnstourinfo.com.au/silverswift-vs-silversonic-vs-poseidon-vs-tusa-dive/  

 

Again, thanks for your help.  I have learned a hard lesson.  I chose this cruise because of the ports and didn't research enough before booking (it was "wave season" and I booked last minute).  I usually have insurance to "cancel for any reason", but this time I didn't pick that option.  I now wish I would have picked the Solstice.  I'm sure we will manage to have a great time regardless.  Thanks again.

 

Happy cruising -- I guess you will be in New Zealand about the same time we do our cruise.  I hope to get there some day.

 

Best,

Cindi 

 

 

I

 

Cindi,

 

Sorry, I did not see your post until now.  

 

First let me disclose that I had a medical condition at the time that prevented me from diving at the GBR.  That problem was temporary and unexpected but it kind of sucked.  My wife and our two adult kids were able to do the diving and most of the underwater shots were taken by our daughter.  I ended up snorkeling on all 4 GBR days.

 

All of our dive sites were shallow reef dives.  My wife tells me that they routinely went down as low as 30-50 feet.

 

When I was snorkeling, there were plenty of times I wish that I had scuba gear on so that I could go deeper and loiter around to just gaze upon something without having to worry about coming up for air.  For example, I saw a few clownfish as a snorkeler while my diving family so lots of clownfish. 

 

Same thing with those magnificent giant clams.  I saw a few of them while my family so a lot more.  They also may have seen more because they had a guide with them where I only had a guide for one of the 4 snorkeling days.

 

As far as Tusa and Silverswift are concerned, they both operate out of Cairns which is not going to work for you because of the ship's itinerary.  Incidentally, we booked with Tusa for our 2nd Day at Cairns for our diving and snorkeling.  I chose Tusa because they appeared to be a little more dive oriented than Silverswift.  Of course, the irony was that by the time we got to Cairns, I was unable to dive and had to settle for snorkeling.

 

As far as Poseidon is concerned, they discouraged me from booking with them when they found out I was going to be on a cruise ship (see picture).  However our tender at Port Douglas did get to the marina in time that we would have been able to make Poseidon or Silversonic for that matter.  By the way, Silversonic, Poseidon, and Quicksilver all leave from the same marina that your tender will be dropping you off (and picking you up).  I am sure Wavelength operates out of the same marina.

 

It is a shame that Ruby Princess doesn't overnight at Cairns, but you are absolutely right--it is going to be a magnificent cruise.  Let me know if you have any questions.

 

David 

 

 

[Motorcycle Gma]

On 4/17/2019 at 8:52 AM, mahdnc said:

 

Cindi,

 

Sorry, I did not see your post until now.  

 

First let me disclose that I had a medical condition at the time that prevented me from diving at the GBR.  That problem was temporary and unexpected but it kind of sucked.  My wife and our two adult kids were able to do the diving and most of the underwater shots were taken by our daughter.  I ended up snorkeling on all 4 GBR days.

 

All of our dive sites were shallow reef dives.  My wife tells me that they routinely went down as low as 30-50 feet.

 

When I was snorkeling, there were plenty of times I wish that I had scuba gear on so that I could go deeper and loiter around to just gaze upon something without having to worry about coming up for air.  For example, I saw a few clownfish as a snorkeler while my diving family so lots of clownfish. 

 

Same thing with those magnificent giant clams.  I saw a few of them while my family so a lot more.  They also may have seen more because they had a guide with them where I only had a guide for one of the 4 snorkeling days.

 

As far as Tusa and Silverswift are concerned, they both operate out of Cairns which is not going to work for you because of the ship's itinerary.  Incidentally, we booked with Tusa for our 2nd Day at Cairns for our diving and snorkeling.  I chose Tusa because they appeared to be a little more dive oriented than Silverswift.  Of course, the irony was that by the time we got to Cairns, I was unable to dive and had to settle for snorkeling.

 

As far as Poseidon is concerned, they discouraged me from booking with them when they found out I was going to be on a cruise ship (see picture).  However our tender at Port Douglas did get to the marina in time that we would have been able to make Poseidon or Silversonic for that matter.  By the way, Silversonic, Poseidon, and Quicksilver all leave from the same marina that your tender will be dropping you off (and picking you up).  I am sure Wavelength operates out of the same marina.

 

It is a shame that Ruby Princess doesn't overnight at Cairns, but you are absolutely right--it is going to be a magnificent cruise.  Let me know if you have any questions.

 

David 

 

 

Hi David, happy weekend!  Thank you for your continued answers to all my questions.  I appreciate it very much.

 

Sorry, I'm so slow getting back to you.  Yeah, I know the private companies don't want us cruisers.  When I went to book on one of the websites, it didn't ask where we are staying, so I'm thinking of just booking Poseidon or Silverswift and taking our chances (little white lie).  I read reviews on Poseidon that they were pretty good about refunding if you miss the boat due to flights. And, they even refunded some people when a traveler got sick and the diving afternoon had to be cut short.  Full refunds, that's amazing customer service.  I just don't want that huge platform experience with 300 or 400 people, glass bottom boats, etc.

 

I heard Australia is strict about their diving regulations.  We are use to signing waivers and I have my log book.  My worry is that we will have just had our last dive in September 2018 when we arrive at the GBR in October 2019.  So, 13 mos. since our last dive.  I know most have the one year rule.  I guess worse case scenario, we do a refresh dive at Arlie Beach and then we'll be good for the the Port Douglas dive.  Can I be so bold as to ask the nature of your sickness during the trip?  I understand if it's too personal.  I'm just wondering if we get a cold, does that preclude us from diving?  Surely, not.

 

Are the tenders at Port Douglas a long ride?  I've asked around on CC boards, and most think we can make it by 8:15 or 8:30 if we get one of the first tenders, but I don't know how far from where the boat anchors to the tender area.  I know you posted some great diagrams of that stuff, but finding it is hard for me.

 

Thanks again for any advice.  

 

PS, did you go to Brisbane -- what to do there??

[mahdnc]

@Motorcycle Gma: As far as Port Douglas goes, we used our Elite Priority Tendering privileges at Port Douglas.  It got us on a tender at 7:08am and we got off the tender at the Port Douglas marina at 7:54am.  All the dive boats leave from the same marina where the tender drops you off (and picks you up), so that is very convenient.  The check in for the dive boats are in the shopping center at the marina (see photo below).  The Quicksilver Group has a large office for checking in for Quicksilver, Poseidon, and Silversonic.      

 

As far as when your last dive having occurred 13 months prior to your GBR dives, that should not be a problem.  Most of the GBR diving websites don't even mention a requirement.  My wife had gone 2 years without diving when we went to the GBR and it was not an issue.  And as another piece of data, my email from Poseidon had 24 months as their guideline after which they recommended a refresher, discovery dive.  

 

I will get to your other questions shortly (it's dinner time!).

 

The above photo was taken from the www.crystalbrookmarina.com

 

Jan 9, 2018: Solstice in silhouette on the horizon.  Taken from the tender on the way to Port Douglas marina.

 

Edited April 28, 2019 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

On 4/26/2019 at 6:11 PM, Motorcycle Gma said:

I heard Australia is strict about their diving regulations.  We are use to signing waivers and I have my log book.  My worry is that we will have just had our last dive in September 2018 when we arrive at the GBR in October 2019.  So, 13 mos. since our last dive.  I know most have the one year rule.  I guess worse case scenario, we do a refresh dive at Arlie Beach and then we'll be good for the the Port Douglas dive.  Can I be so bold as to ask the nature of your sickness during the trip?  I understand if it's too personal.  I'm just wondering if we get a cold, does that preclude us from diving?  Surely, not.

 

 

Just to clarify, it seems that Australia is less strict about the amount of time that can occur since your last dive.  But with other matters, they are very strict--they will check your diver's certification card and yes, you will fill out a questionnaire and sign waivers.  They are also very strict about performing a headcount to verify that they have everyone back on board before they leave a dive site.  

 

What was my medical condition that prevented me diving the GBR?  Well 3 months before our cruise, I suffered a heart attack and had quadruple bypass surgery.  Fortunately the damage to my heart was small but I have had to change my lifestyle habits (diet and exercise).  That was an unpleasant and unexpected surprise although I was very lucky.  So, I don't think a cold would disqualify you from diving.  I had a medical statement signed by my doctor stating that I was ok to snorkel and when I disclosed it on the questionnaire on the GBR dive boats, it naturally raised some eyebrows but they permitted me to snorkel.  I think the dive boat lookouts kept an extra watchful eye on me when I was snorkeling!  A year later, I was cleared to dive in time for our Reflection cruise to the Caribbean last month.

 

Sorry about dropping that on you.  I will conclude this post with something a bit happier.  After spending 11 days in the Intensive Care Unit, I was discharged from the hospital.  When I came home this double rainbow appeared right over our house (this is absolutely true):

 

Oct 7, 2017: Double rainbow over my house greets me after I arrive home from the hospital!

Edited April 29, 2019 by mahdnc

[the mice]

David, 

Wow, just wow!   I've been following your posts and get notified on updates.    

I am so happy that you are doing OK and hope that continues for a very long time for you.   Love the photo - a great sign!

 

You've provided so much useful information as I plan for our upcoming GBR cruise.  I mentioned to you earlier that we are doing the B2B with the NZ cruise.   I also confessed that I'm not much of a swimmer so plan to one day on a pontoon. We are currently booked for Celebrity's CN01 in Cairns but I emailed Reef Magic and they said they aren't booked for the Celebrity excursion (maybe the person answering didn't know?).   Might do another excursion in Port Douglas, but not sure yet.   Plan to fly over the reef either via helicopter or fixed wing when we are in Airlie Beach.

I do have a question that maybe you can help me with.   I'm sure I read it somewhere in your review, but maybe you remember.    Is the tendering in Yorkey's Knob (Cairns) on Day 2 an issue?    Reason I ask is that we want to do the Kuranda Skyrail & Train on our own (way cheaper than Celebrity) and they will do a pickup from the boat club where the tender docks, but we need to indicate a time when we book.   If you can give me some sense of how the tendering works and how long it takes to get in to shore.   

They told me the Skyrail transfers start at 8:45 to meet the 9:15 Skyrail, but looking online, I see the first tickets available on the Skyrail are 10:15.    So I need to understand the timing in order to book our tickets.

 

TIA and best wishes,

Marilyn 

 

[Suzi66]

Hi Marilyn,

Perhaps I can help you with this (or not).  We have done the Skyrail both as a Celebrity tour and by ourselves.  On the trip that David and myself went on our tendering was not the best.  We didn't have a very good trip at all.  As you would know those on Ship's tours get on first.  The tenders that are used come from Cairns and take I think 250+ passengers at a time, but they don't leave until they are full so even if you get on first you are left waiting for a while.
I am trying to remember how long a trip it was, I think around 15 minutes, but we were waiting both days for far longer on the tenders to leave.  The drive to Skyrail is also a little distance.

Are you booked in a concierge or above cabin or are you Elite or above so you get priority boarding for the tender?  That may speed things up a bit.

Also when do you leave on day 2.  On day 1 on this trip, which is when we went, we didn't get to the Skyrail station until about 12.45 because of the weather and tendering situation.  Our Celebrity booked tour was meet at 10.30 in the theatre.  We got there at 10.15 and left the ship at midday.  The train left at 3 so we only had about half an hour at Karunda and with 2 of us on walking sticks it meant that we didn't see Karunda at all.  The train was the highlight of our trip though.  I purposely booked the most expensive trip which was Gold Class, lounge chairs rather than wooden benches and afternoon tea included.  My in-laws loved it.

First visit which was several years before on Celebrity Century we were able to dock right in Cairns, we caught the courtesy bus to the Skyrail station spent the day at Karunda and had a lovely time.  It is wonderful what a difference not tendering makes.

Susanne

[the mice]

Hi Susanne,

 

Thank you for replying.   I remember your posts about doing this as a Celebrity excursion because of 2 in your party using walking sticks.

 

The good news - we are Elite.   So hopefully that helps.   It looks like the first Skyrail tickets are 10:15.   The ship is scheduled to depart at 7 pm.    According to the Skyrail website, they say the Skyrail takes about 1.5 hours.   There are trains at 2 and 3:30pm, but I haven't gone through the booking process to see if 3:30 is available.   I had a long chat with Skyrail last night.   It's past midnight there now, so I sent off a message asking about tender delays and am awaiting their reply once they are back in the office.   10:15 Skyrail and 3:30 train would be ideal.

 

Hopefully we will have OK weather.   We are going in mid-October, which is their spring (like our April) so not really sure what to expect from the seas.   I booked this because it is about the only time that the GBR cruise links up with the NZ cruise, and cruising was about the only way I was going to convince my husband to go this far and this long.  We will be gone 5 weeks with time in Melbourne and Sydney pre-cruise.     I really wasn't focusing on the sea days and tendering when I booked.   And I had already locked in award business class ticket flights (no easy feat) by the time I figured this out.   Part of me wishes I had planned a land tour and then just did the NZ cruise, but too late for that now.   I just feel like we could have possibly seen more of Australia that way.   But I had to consider my husband's likes in planning this, even though it's my birthday trip.  Sea days will give him some downtime/personal time which should help him get past the 5 weeks away.   Hopefully I won't get totally frustrated by the tendering and sea days.    ( I seem to be saying "hopefully" a lot....)

 

Thank you and David both for all your very helpful information.   Very much appreciated.

   Marilyn

[the mice]

Yikes, just looked at the ticket booking page, and the only train option is 2 pm!!    So only 2 hrs in Kuranda IF we make the 10:15 Skyrail.

[the mice]

And there is no option to upgrade the train!   Not happy.   - M

[mahdnc]

17 hours ago, the mice said:

David, 

Wow, just wow!   I've been following your posts and get notified on updates.    

I am so happy that you are doing OK and hope that continues for a very long time for you.   Love the photo - a great sign!

 

You've provided so much useful information as I plan for our upcoming GBR cruise.  I mentioned to you earlier that we are doing the B2B with the NZ cruise.   I also confessed that I'm not much of a swimmer so plan to one day on a pontoon. We are currently booked for Celebrity's CN01 in Cairns but I emailed Reef Magic and they said they aren't booked for the Celebrity excursion (maybe the person answering didn't know?).   Might do another excursion in Port Douglas, but not sure yet.   Plan to fly over the reef either via helicopter or fixed wing when we are in Airlie Beach.

I do have a question that maybe you can help me with.   I'm sure I read it somewhere in your review, but maybe you remember.    Is the tendering in Yorkey's Knob (Cairns) on Day 2 an issue?    Reason I ask is that we want to do the Kuranda Skyrail & Train on our own (way cheaper than Celebrity) and they will do a pickup from the boat club where the tender docks, but we need to indicate a time when we book.   If you can give me some sense of how the tendering works and how long it takes to get in to shore.   

They told me the Skyrail transfers start at 8:45 to meet the 9:15 Skyrail, but looking online, I see the first tickets available on the Skyrail are 10:15.    So I need to understand the timing in order to book our tickets.

 

TIA and best wishes,

Marilyn 

 

 

Thank you, Marilyn for your nice words.  I think Susanne has really answered most of your questions which is good because we spent our time at Cairns diving and did not do any land excursions.  Here are my comments:

 

CN01 is the GBR snorkeling that involves a pontoon.  It is possible that Reef Magic is not doing that shore excursion although they have a large pontoon (aka Marine World).  We took CN30 which was snorkeling/diving from a dive boat and that was run by Reef Magic.  For Cairns Day 1, you pretty much stuck with using Celebrity's snorkeling excursions, and whoever it ends up being will probably be fine.  If you are not a strong or confident swimmer, the pontoon snorkeling option is a very good choice.

 

The flightseeing plans for Airlie Beach sound great.  As I mentioned in my GBR review, we had a heck of time diving at the Heart Pontoon located at Hardy Reef (Celebrity dive/snorkel excursion) because of the strong current.  My snorkeling there was just ok.  In retrospect, I wished that I had booked a flightseeing tour like you are.  If you are booking it yourself, the trick (as you know) will be to ensure that you get ashore on time.

 

The Quicksilver snorkel trip that you can book independently at Port Douglas is also a good option (which is what we used) and I highly recommend it.

 

The actual time it took for our tender to sail from Solstice to Yorkey's Knob was 28 minutes.  This was using the ship's tender and not the large commercial catamarans that Celebrity contracted for tendering (those catamarans are probably faster).

 

As far as what time to tell your vendor to meet you at Yorkey's Knob, well that is a good question.  Here are my thoughts:

 

First let's go over your options.  On Cairns Day 2, there were 3 types of passengers going ashore who did NOT buy a Celebrity shore excursion:

 

1. passengers who signed up for the special early tender that was mentioned in the "Important Information" bulletin that was placed in our stateroom on the 1st day of the cruise.  That tender (I think we were on the very first early tender) got us to Yorkey's Knob by 6:30am which is a bit too early for you.  You had to go to Guest Relations to get your name on the list for the early tender.  They would ask you how many in your party and when do you have to be ashore when taking your information.  The night before Day 2, we received a special early tender ticket with instructions on where to be and when (here is the page on my review that has photos of the instructions).
2. Captains Club members with priority tendering privileges.  We did not use this at Cairns, so I cannot tell you what the time performance was for this route.  Here is the tendering information that was distributed to Elite and Elite Plus members.  Note the amount of time that the bulletin tells you to budget (which is the question you were asking).  I will say that the bulletin says that the first tender ashore on Cairns Day 2 is 6:30am which surprises me because I don't think that really happened unless they were referring to the special early tender that you had to sign up for.
3. And then there was everyone else.

So my suggestion is to tell your vendor a pickup time and then plan backwards to meet it:

1. select a proposed time for the vendor to meet you at Yorkey's Knob.  Give the vendor your cell phone number for live communication when the day arrives.  Obviously you are going to select a time that is as late as possible but still gives you enough time to get to your land destination.  I am sure your vendor will have a lot to say about that.
2. target an earlier time to actually arrive at Yorkey's Knob.  You will have to figure out how much earlier you will target to arrive--like an hour?  It depends on your risk tolerance.
3. Talk to Guest Relations as early as possible in the cruise to see if they plan on running an early tender on Cairns Day 2 and to find out what your options are for making it to Yorkey's Knob for the time you determined in #2.  If they are running the early tenders, you know that you that the worst case is that you will be ashore much earlier than you intended.  But hopefully they would put you on a more convenient tender 
4. Talk to the Captains Club Host as early as possible to find out if your priority tendering privileges will work for your time table.  This person is probably the best person to talk to because I believe that if you lay out your plans and concerns he or she can best advise you on what to do.  I am sure that if the CC Host advises you to use your Priority Tendering privileges, they will be watching for you on that day.  

I was re-reading my answer and I hope it was not overly prescriptive because you really did not ask me how to do it (a common failing that my wife likes to point out from time to time--but now I resort to putting my hand over my quadruple bypassed heart to get her to ease up if I don't want to hear it).  In all seriousness, if you I didn't really answer your question, let me know.

 

David

 

ps: I like your CC nickname and avatar.  What is the story behind it?

Edited April 29, 2019 by mahdnc

[the mice]

David,

 

You are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!   (OK, I won't run the exclamation points across the entire screen  )

This is beyond helpful - but I knew you would be from all your previous posts.    I am about to chat with Skyrail again and see what they have to tell me.    

BTW, I was a librarian/researcher in my previous life, so no detail is too much detail as far as I am concerned.   

THANK YOU again, and all best wishes for good health and happy travels.   

 

Will let you know how we make out. 

   ALL the best,

     Marilyn

[the mice]

Oh, in my enthusiasm I forgot to answer your question about my avatar and screen name.

 

Early on I gave my DH the affectionate nickname Mouse.   Because I am short, he started calling me Mouslet ('cause that how he spelled it - but he doesn't call me that anymore).   Eventually he decided that he was The Mouse for fun.   And then he started referring to us, in private only, as The Mice.   I thought it was funny.   And it became one of our email addresses.   When I started posting online, I found out how to add an avatar (don't remember how I did it) and I found this image of a mouse with a cell phone.   

 

And now that this is public knowledge, all I can say is it's a good thing my DH doesn't read CC!!!  

[mahdnc]

On 4/26/2019 at 6:11 PM, Motorcycle Gma said:

PS, did you go to Brisbane -- what to do there??

 

We ended up going to the Australia Zoo which is a 1.25 hr ride from the ship by bus.  Here is the section of the cruise review that discusses it in more detail: link.  We ended up booking this excursion thru the ship.

 

There were 3 decisions that were made in booking this excursion:

 

1. Australia Zoo or Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary?

When I read all the TripAdvisor reviews and other internet research, it seemed like I found varying opinions on which one was better.  Based on that I was leaning towards the Koala Sanctuary because it was closer and cheaper and we would do that on our own.   But I decided to buy the Australia Zoo shore excursion ahead of time because I figured I could cancel while on board if I decided in the end that the Koala Sanctuary was better.  My wife and I had lunch during the middle of the cruise with a retired couple who lived in Brisbane.  I told them that I was still trying to decide which one to go to and they were emphatic that the Australia Zoo was much much much better.  So that conversation sealed it for me and we ended up going to the Australia Zoo.

 

2. Do the Australia Zoo on our own or book thru the ship?

An adult admission ticket to the Zoo thru their website cost around $41 USD per person.  Depending on the excursion you choose, it costs $140 USD to buy it thru Celebrity.  When I was originally pricing this out, I was looking at our whole family of 4 going to the zoo which mean that I could save $400 USD if I could figure out ground transportation.  In the end, I couldn't figure out a cost effective way to get up to the zoo and back (and I didn't want to rent a car and drive on the "other" side of the road).  So I decided to buy the excursion thru the ship.

 

3. Which Australia Zoo shore excursion to buy thru Celebrity?

Amazingly, there are about 4-5 different choices in the shore excursion book and a couple of them are real expensive.  Many read very similar to one another.  I ended up choosing one of the cheaper options--one that spent a couple of hours longer at the zoo than the cheapest option.

 

By the way, I agree with the retired couple that we had lunch with on board Solstice: the Australia Zoo is very well done.  I would go back again.    

[capsplace]

3 hours ago, the mice said:

Oh, in my enthusiasm I forgot to answer your question about my avatar and screen name.

 

Early on I gave my DH the affectionate nickname Mouse.   Because I am short, he started calling me Mouslet ('cause that how he spelled it - but he doesn't call me that anymore).   Eventually he decided that he was The Mouse for fun.   And then he started referring to us, in private only, as The Mice.   I thought it was funny.   And it became one of our email addresses.   When I started posting online, I found out how to add an avatar (don't remember how I did it) and I found this image of a mouse with a cell phone.   

 

And now that this is public knowledge, all I can say is it's a good thing my DH doesn't read CC!!!  

The mouse will be out of the bag at the M&M!

[the mice]

I hope I can trust you to be a little discreet.    It would be appreciated.      I manage to get myself in the soup often enough.….

[the mice]

34 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

We ended up going to the Australia Zoo which is a 1.25 hr ride from the ship by bus.  Here is the section of the cruise review that discusses it in more detail: link.  We ended up booking this excursion thru the ship.

 

Which Australia Zoo shore excursion to buy thru Celebrity?

Amazingly, there are about 4-5 different choices in the shore excursion book and a couple of them are real expensive.  Many read very similar to one another.  I ended up choosing one of the cheaper options--one that spent a couple of hours longer at the zoo than the cheapest option.

 

By the way, I agree with the retired couple that we had lunch with on board Solstice: the Australia Zoo is very well done.  I would go back again.    

David,

My DH asked only 1 thing when I said I wanted to go to Australia - can we go to the Irwin's zoo?   So, of course I was thrilled when I read your review.   And I booked the same excursion that you did.    He will be very happy.  

[mahdnc]

15 minutes ago, the mice said:

David,

My DH asked only 1 thing when I said I wanted to go to Australia - can we go to the Irwin's zoo?   So, of course I was thrilled when I read your review.   And I booked the same excursion that you did.    He will be very happy.  

 

Very nice.

 

There are a large number of "animal encounters" that you can purchase in addition to the general admission ticket.  If you are interested, you may want to look into it.  The good news is that you can buy an animal encounter ahead of time on line.  However I think you have to buy and admission ticket on line as well which of course you don't want to do if you are purchasing the shore excursion thru the ship. 

 

The alternative is to wait until you get there and see what is available.  For us, almost everything was sold out except for a couple of things including a photo with a cheetah which is what my son and I bought.  If I had to do it all over again, I would have called the zoo directly to see if they would let me purchase a ticket in advance without buying an admission ticket.  

 

David

[the mice]

David, once again, thanks.     Would you like to plan the rest of my trip for me?   

 

 

[the mice]

Hi David and Susanne,

 

Thanks to both of you for your help.   I was able to book us on the Skyrail-Kuranda-Train.    We will get picked up by the Skyrail transfer bus at 9:45 to take us to the 10:15 Skyrail, so we should have ample time to tender.   I could not see an option for the Gold Class train at 3:30, so the agent had me book the 2pm regular train and then he was able to go in and manually change it.   We will arrive at the train station at 5 pm and be back to the tender dock around 5:30.   Ship departure time is 7 pm  so this should work out.  Of course, I will arrange priority tendering with Celebrity and also advise them of our return time.   And have all appropriate contacts in my phone.   And the good news is that we don't have to pay for the Gold Class upgrade until the day of the tour.  So, again, many thanks for all the good info.  

Marilyn

[the mice]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

Very nice.

 

There are a large number of "animal encounters" that you can purchase in addition to the general admission ticket.  If you are interested, you may want to look into it.  The good news is that you can buy an animal encounter ahead of time on line.  However I think you have to buy and admission ticket on line as well which of course you don't want to do if you are purchasing the shore excursion thru the ship. 

 

The alternative is to wait until you get there and see what is available.  For us, almost everything was sold out except for a couple of things including a photo with a cheetah which is what my son and I bought.  If I had to do it all over again, I would have called the zoo directly to see if they would let me purchase a ticket in advance without buying an admission ticket.  

 

David

I see there are quite a few offered and it looks like they are all available on the day we are there.  Some time slots only have 2 spots.   It appears that we would both have to do it, because there is no "viewing" opportunity for those not participating.   Some are very pricey.   

 

Knowing that the Irwins are big into conservation, are these encounters really good for the animals, do you know?   so many of these things in other places are really exploitive (sp?).   Are they more than just a photo op?  Do they want you to understand more about the animal and the need to protect and conserve?