Great Barrier Reef Cruise

[KeepOnCruisingJG]

Has anyone done a similar itinerary (Great Barrier Reef)? Was looking at this Celebrity Solstice itinerary for December 14, 2020 since we would like to take our 15 yr old daughter with us (I understand that its very questionable if it will happen or not) but concerned with being typhoon season... Also read that it rains a lot up north and possibility of rough seas where it may impact certain ports of call like Cairns and Airlie Beach.  Apparently also not good for snorkeling since water are murky during this time?  Curious as if this is the case, why so many cruises during December?  What would be the best time for this itinerary (typhoon season runs until April I believe?)?

[Chiliburn]

I’ve done a similar cruise and used to live near cairns.

December isn’t quite into the cyclone season so weather wise it should be OK,The hight is around February.

Most of the cruise is inside the Great Barrier Reef and is protected from the ocean swell 
The ships will divert if there’s bad weather so I wouldn’t be concerned.

[christodan]

We cruised there last year at the end of November early December and the weather was perfect!

Only thing is that its jelly fish season, but you get special suits for them so it wasn't a problem. We snorkeled and it was perfectly clear. The tides have a big impact on how good the snorkeling will be. We were lucky that it was high tide. You can google the tides.

Edited May 19, 2020 by christodan

[Aus Traveller]

We have cruised to North Queensland many times and also travelled by road many times. December will be hot and humid and as it is the start of the Wet Season, you could get some rain. The far north doesn't have four seasons, it has two, the Wet and the Dry. BTW, this is a serious statement not a joke.

 

Comments on the ports on this cruise - You may know that passengers do not disembark at Willis Island. The ships include it as it is in international waters thereby allowing them to sell duty free goods.

 

If you want to see the Reef, I suggest taking a ship's tour from Airlie Beach - expensive but good. You cannot do this independently because of the time of arrival and return. It is a long day trip that leaves directly from the ship rather than you having to go ashore in a tender to the Airlie Beach marina and catching a bus to the neighbouring town of Shute Harbour where the day cruises leave from. You could not get there in time for an independent day trip.

 

From Cairns you can take a day trip to either Green Island or Fitzroy Island. Fitzroy is by far the better one. In my opinion, there are better trips from Port Douglas, but the itinerary you show doesn't go there. From Port Douglas, short trips go to the Low Isles and longer ones go to the Outer Reef.

[christodan]

 We did the Low Isles from Port Douglas.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

The reason there are so many cruises at that time of year is that that is our peak cruising season here, especially for cruises to NZ. Ships from all of the major cruise lines homeport in Australia for a few months and offer NZ cruises (which are the most popular) interspersed with Queensland Coast or South Pacific cruises - that way overseas visitors can do B2B cruises to see as much of this areas as possible. Unfortunately it isn't the best time of year for cyclones as they are called down under (typhoons are north of the equator in Asian waters) but luckily we don't get too many so cruising isn't affected too much. It will be hot and humid up in Far North Queensland but it's still worth visiting.

[KeepOnCruisingJG]

Thank you for your responses - because we are not into our retirement years yet, we are restricted with our travel dates and therefore with available itineraries.  Would love to be able to also do New Zealand, but if we have to be in a plane for over 15 hours to get to Australia, I would like to see more of the country rather than just Sydney.  

Read about the rainy season up in North Queensland (December) and just wasn't sure if we should still go if there's a good chance that it'll be raining and excursions cancelled...

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, KeepOnCruisingJG said:

Thank you for your responses - because we are not into our retirement years yet, we are restricted with our travel dates and therefore with available itineraries.  Would love to be able to also do New Zealand, but if we have to be in a plane for over 15 hours to get to Australia, I would like to see more of the country rather than just Sydney.  

Read about the rainy season up in North Queensland (December) and just wasn't sure if we should still go if there's a good chance that it'll be raining and excursions cancelled...

As someone else mentioned, the main part of the Wet season is January-February. In December there could be some rain, but it will be hot and humid. Excursions are not cancelled unless the weather is extremely bad and that is unlikely. If there is a cyclone in the area, the ship will change their itinerary and work around it, however a cyclone in December is extremely unlikely. They are more likely later in the summer - February and even into March and early April

[christodan]

I would like to add that we did a scenic flight over the GBR from Airlie beach. If you have limited time, it is well worth it to see it from the air. We booked the flights independently as booking through the cruise line was far more expensive. I highly recommend a scenic flight. And you can cancel 24 hours before if you need to. 

Edited May 20, 2020 by christodan

[aussielozzie18]

Had the pleasure of cruising to Cairns 2 years ago just before Christmas.  There was a cyclone in the vicinity a couple of days before but it disappated and we were blessed with two days of calm seas and beautiful sunny weather.  Had to wear the suits to snorkel.  Bonus of cruising those dates is that the ship is likely to be decorated for Christmas.

Edited May 21, 2020 by aussielozzie18

[Porky55]

Our Premier isn’t going to open our Queensland State border before September, so I don’t hold out much hope for International tourists into Australia by December this year - let alone cruises ships, sorry KeepOnCruisingJG 🤔

Edited May 21, 2020 by Porky55

[Aus Traveller]

33 minutes ago, Porky55 said:

Our Premier isn’t going to open our Queensland State border before September, so I don’t hold out much hope for International tourists into Australia by December this year - let alone cruises ships, sorry KeepOnCruisingJG 🤔

I agree with that assessment.

[KeepOnCruisingJG]

On 5/20/2020 at 3:24 PM, christodan said:

I would like to add that we did a scenic flight over the GBR from Airlie beach. If you have limited time, it is well worth it to see it from the air. We booked the flights independently as booking through the cruise line was far more expensive. I highly recommend a scenic flight. And you can cancel 24 hours before if you need to. 

 

That sounds fabulous!  I'm not a sknorkeler (is that such a word? 🤔) and would much rather see it from above anyways! No shark, jelly fish, eels or sea snakes up there! 😆

[KeepOnCruisingJG]

22 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Had the pleasure of cruising to Cairns 2 years ago just before Christmas.  There was a cyclone in the vicinity a couple of days before but it disappated and we were blessed with two days of calm seas and beautiful sunny weather.  Had to wear the suits to snorkel.  Bonus of cruising those dates is that the ship is likely to be decorated for Christmas.

 We did our first holidays cruise last year - 17 night Panama Canal - and it was nice to see it decorated for Christmas and have Christmas sing along in the atrium

[KeepOnCruisingJG]

19 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Our Premier isn’t going to open our Queensland State border before September, so I don’t hold out much hope for International tourists into Australia by December this year - let alone cruises ships, sorry KeepOnCruisingJG 🤔

I understand it's a long shot with everything that is happening and we have not booked anything yet - received promotion email from Celebrity and was thinking of taking advantage of it since the deposit is refundable up to September 15th.  Guess worst case scenario we'll just have all the information for when we are able to cruise again... thank you though!

[adelaidemay1]

1 hour ago, KeepOnCruisingJG said:

I understand it's a long shot with everything that is happening and we have not booked anything yet - received promotion email from Celebrity and was thinking of taking advantage of it since the deposit is refundable up to September 15th.  Guess worst case scenario we'll just have all the information for when we are able to cruise again... thank you though!

 

We did this exact itinerary in 2013 from Sydney and just loved it.   Not sure why in the pic you provided they have Willis Island half way down the QLD coast, even the blue dot is way off!   though, like someone else mentioned this is not an actual stop, more like a sail by with a weather forecast as Willis Island is basically an island weather station with lots of birdlife!

 

I have lived in Cairns for 27 years and honestly we haven't had a 'true' wet season for many years so I wouldn't make any decisions based on the wet season or possibility of a cyclone forming otherwise you may never actually get here!   I would count on it being hot and humid as others have said though.   I think the borders being open is the bigger issue and I'm not sure that is going to happen.   I have Radiance booked out of Brisbane for November (intrastate) and I don't even think that is assured! 

 

Good luck though and I hope you can visit us in the not too distant future.

[SuitesRbest]

Done this cruise 4 times around those dates, LOVE the north Queensland cruise's and never had  problems. Great weather around that time of year, pretty hot/humid but excellent getting back to an air conditioned cruise ship and get a  beer at the bar after a fantastic day on the great barrier reef or in around Cairns/Port Douglas.

 

Mother Nature can rear her ugly head anytime but I would take that chance any day against risk and reward .

[MicCanberra]

19 hours ago, KeepOnCruisingJG said:

I understand it's a long shot with everything that is happening and we have not booked anything yet - received promotion email from Celebrity and was thinking of taking advantage of it since the deposit is refundable up to September 15th.  Guess worst case scenario we'll just have all the information for when we are able to cruise again... thank you though!

I would make plans for the same cruise in late 2021 instead.