B2B Carnival in June

[Awoodwaring]

Thinking about doing the South Pacific and Great Barrier Reef cruises on Carnival out if Sydney in June. Since we are coming from California, all of it is very new to us. Anything we should know? Is the GBR cruise worth it, or should that be a land tour?

 

Day 1:

Sydney depart 4:00 PM

Day 2:

Fun Day At Sea

Day3:

Tangalooma - Moreton Island arrive 8:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM

Day 4:

Fun Day At Sea

Day 5:

Airlie Beach arrive 7:00 AM - depart 3:00 PM

Day 6:

Cairns arrive 9:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM

Day7:

Willis Island (Scenic Cruising) arrive 10:30 AM - depart 11:30 AM

Day 8-9:

Fun Day At Sea

Day 10:

Sydney arrive 6:30 AM

 

followed by Mare, Isle of Pines, lifou, Noumea
 

 

[possum52]

9 hours ago, Awoodwaring said:

Thinking about doing the South Pacific and Great Barrier Reef cruises on Carnival out if Sydney in June. Since we are coming from California, all of it is very new to us. Anything we should know? Is the GBR cruise worth it, or should that be a land tour?

 

Day 1:

Sydney depart 4:00 PM

Day 2:

Fun Day At Sea

Day3:

Tangalooma - Moreton Island arrive 8:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM

Day 4:

Fun Day At Sea

Day 5:

Airlie Beach arrive 7:00 AM - depart 3:00 PM

Day 6:

Cairns arrive 9:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM

Day7:

Willis Island (Scenic Cruising) arrive 10:30 AM - depart 11:30 AM

Day 8-9:

Fun Day At Sea

Day 10:

Sydney arrive 6:30 AM

 

followed by Mare, Isle of Pines, lifou, Noumea
 

 

I assume you are talking about 2023 or 2024 and not this coming June? Carnival ships are not coming to Australia until a transpacific in September 2022 and then regular cruising starts in October. 

 

As for whether doing a cruise or land tour, it will depend on what you want to do. It is best to do a GBR excursion directly from the ship if on a cruise, which you can do from Airlie Beach or Cairns. If you want to spend more time on the reef and see more of QLD, probably a land holiday is the best choice.

[Awoodwaring]

On 4/1/2022 at 6:27 PM, possum52 said:

I assume you are talking about 2023 or 2024 and not this coming June? Carnival ships are not coming to Australia until a transpacific in September 2022 and then regular cruising starts in October. 

 

As for whether doing a cruise or land tour, it will depend on what you want to do. It is best to do a GBR excursion directly from the ship if on a cruise, which you can do from Airlie Beach or Cairns. If you want to spend more time on the reef and see more of QLD, probably a land holiday is the best choice.

Yes, 2023.  We were looking at the cruise, as I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to fly from Sydney to Cairns, shuttle to Port Douglas and then rely on either public transport or private trips.

Also, are any of the reefs close? My husband gets sea sick so, he would be good for 1 or 2 trips, but not a bunch if they were back to back and 1.5 hrs out each time. 
 

 

[possum52]

10 hours ago, Awoodwaring said:

Yes, 2023.  We were looking at the cruise, as I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to fly from Sydney to Cairns, shuttle to Port Douglas and then rely on either public transport or private trips.

Also, are any of the reefs close? My husband gets sea sick so, he would be good for 1 or 2 trips, but not a bunch if they were back to back and 1.5 hrs out each time. 
 

 

There are many other things to do in the Cairns/Port Douglas area other than going out to the reef. For flights from Sydney, there are at the moment seven direct flights to Cairns from Sydney, duration of around three hours. The shuttle drive from Cairns airport to Port Douglas is around an hour. 

 

I would suggest you do quite a bit of research and check out all the options for visiting the reef and see what suits you best. Check the cruise tours from all three ports - Airlie Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas and see if any interest you. From Airlie Beach, it takes 2.5 hours to get to the reef.

For Cairns - TIme to Get to GBR
 

Outlined below are the answers of how long it actually does take to go from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef broken down to the actual reef destinations and their approximate travel times.

Outer Reefs [Norman, Moore, Thetford, MIln, & Flynn Reefs]

The average amount of time for a modern fully motorised catamaran to travel to the outer reef is approximately 90 min one way.

Mid Reefs [Arlington, Saxon, Hastings, Upolo, Pinnacle Reefs & Michaelmas Cay]

If travelling to the mid areas of the Great Barrier Reef [half way between the coast line and the Continental Shelf edge], the average time is approximately 70min.

However, if travelling by a sailing catamaran, open water travel to the reef can take approximately 2 hours.

 

From Port Douglas, the time depends on where the tour is going on the reef -

Port Douglas GBR Tours

 

We are in the midst of planning a trip to Cairns or Port Douglas at the moment for July and deciding which tour to do to the reef. 

 

[Awoodwaring]

20 hours ago, possum52 said:

There are many other things to do in the Cairns/Port Douglas area other than going out to the reef. For flights from Sydney, there are at the moment seven direct flights to Cairns from Sydney, duration of around three hours. The shuttle drive from Cairns airport to Port Douglas is around an hour. 

 

I would suggest you do quite a bit of research and check out all the options for visiting the reef and see what suits you best. Check the cruise tours from all three ports - Airlie Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas and see if any interest you. From Airlie Beach, it takes 2.5 hours to get to the reef.

For Cairns - TIme to Get to GBR
 

Outlined below are the answers of how long it actually does take to go from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef broken down to the actual reef destinations and their approximate travel times.

Outer Reefs [Norman, Moore, Thetford, MIln, & Flynn Reefs]

The average amount of time for a modern fully motorised catamaran to travel to the outer reef is approximately 90 min one way.

Mid Reefs [Arlington, Saxon, Hastings, Upolo, Pinnacle Reefs & Michaelmas Cay]

If travelling to the mid areas of the Great Barrier Reef [half way between the coast line and the Continental Shelf edge], the average time is approximately 70min.

However, if travelling by a sailing catamaran, open water travel to the reef can take approximately 2 hours.

 

From Port Douglas, the time depends on where the tour is going on the reef -

Port Douglas GBR Tours

 

We are in the midst of planning a trip to Cairns or Port Douglas at the moment for July and deciding which tour to do to the reef. 

 

That’s really helpful, thank you! Sometimes it is hard to know what questions to ask!

[possum52]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:20 AM, Awoodwaring said:

That’s really helpful, thank you! Sometimes it is hard to know what questions to ask!

Good luck and enjoy your time in Australia and the South Pacific. If you have any other questions please ask. We have booked a trip to Cairns for the end of July into August and now working out which excursions to do.

[OzKiwiJJ]

There are two companies that operate from Port Douglas that I'd recommend.

 

wavelength.com.au offers outer reef day trips with stops at three reefs. It's a two hour trip out to the reefs and can get a bit bouncy at times but it's really worth doing. They only take a maximum of 48 people on each trip.

 

sailawayportdouglas.com offers day trips to the Low Isles which are only about 30 minutes from Port Douglas so a better option for those who tend to get seasick. 

 

Although it's quite a few years since we did these trips they are both still getting great reviews on TripAdvisor. 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 4/3/2022 at 11:16 PM, Awoodwaring said:

Yes, 2023.  We were looking at the cruise, as I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to fly from Sydney to Cairns, shuttle to Port Douglas and then rely on either public transport or private trips.

Also, are any of the reefs close? My husband gets sea sick so, he would be good for 1 or 2 trips, but not a bunch if they were back to back and 1.5 hrs out each time. 
 

 

It's very easy to get to Port Douglas from Cairns. There are regular shuttles from Cairns airport to suit most flight times. We used to holiday up there regularly and always got our apartment hotel to arrange the shuttles. 

 

There is a lot of good accommodation within an easy walk of the main shopping/restaurant area, the marina, and the beach.