Blue Mountain Excursion - Sydney

[amurray88]

Hi all,

We're doing a B2B on Eclipse. Trying to get a Blue Mountain Excursion that leaves from the cruise terminal and returns to the cruise terminal for the day of our change over. 

 

Celebrity only do a disembarking one (drop off is Airport) and private ones seem to only pick up from hotels in Sydney.

 

Can anyone shed any light?

 

Thank you all!

[Northern Aurora]

We used Blu Diamond Tours out of Sydney several years ago. And they were excellent.  I wonder if they could be of assistance.

[jelayne]

You might want to post your question on the Ports ofCall board for Australia and New Zealand.

[Mr. Click]

Unless things have changed the ships dock right across the street from the Holiday Inn in The Rocks.  I can see why non-Celebrity tours would want to stay out of the pier traffic and only pick up at a hotel but we walked, with all of our luggage from the  Holiday Inn to the ship. It was just a block and a half. 

[MamaFej]

You might consider Tours By Locals, as well. 

We are doing several cruises on the Eclipse out of Sydney next year. You might want to check on the Roll Calls, they are pretty active. 

[FeebeeH]

If your ship docks at Circular Quay rather than White Bay Terminal you can easily catch a train to the famous "Three Sisters" site at Echo Point in the Blue Mountains with views over Jamison Valley.  It does involve some walking though.   From Circular Quay station you can catch the train to Central station, change at Central to the country platforms where you can get the Blue Mountains train to Katoomba.  From Katoomba station it's an approximately 30 minute walk to the Echo Point lookout where you have views over to the Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley.  The one-way train trip takes approx 2 hours & 17 minutes.  Train fare (one way is approx AUD$6.15. with a round trip approx AUD$12.30). see link for Sydney train trip planner - https://transportnsw.info/.

 

At Echo Point you can also get the Scenic Railway into the valley:  https://www.scenicworld.com.au/experience/scenic-railway.  If you'd like a less strenous walk instead of catching the train to Katoomba you can catch it instead to Medlow Bath station (a few stops after Katoomba - this train journey takes 2 hours 24 minutes one way) - train fare approximately the same as the Katoomba trip.  At Medlow Bath station it's a short walk to the Hydro Majestic hotel where you can have a lovely high tea sitting at the hotel's large windows overlooking the Jamison Valley (though you won't be able to see the Three Sisters from here).  It's best to book this in advance as it's highly popular (in fact my husband & I are going for high tea on Monday there). 

 

If you prefer a tour, as well as the excellent suggestions already mentioned you could try the NSW Government's tourism website for more ideas of the Blue Mountains:  https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/blue-mountains

 

Also, there are a number of bus companies that run tours from Sydney to the Blue Mountains from $84-$95 and upwards.  The various tour operators have large buses but I think there are some other tour operators with smaller size buses.

 

, Fiona

[PurpleTraveller]

Another option would be to get the train from Circular Quay to Katoomba as FeeBeeH described and get the Blue Mountains Hop On Hop Off Explorer Bus at Katoomba train station. They also have a one hour bus tour option.

https://www.explorerbus.com.au/

 

[mahdnc]

On 9/24/2022 at 3:08 PM, amurray88 said:

Hi all,

We're doing a B2B on Eclipse. Trying to get a Blue Mountain Excursion that leaves from the cruise terminal and returns to the cruise terminal for the day of our change over. 

 

Celebrity only do a disembarking one (drop off is Airport) and private ones seem to only pick up from hotels in Sydney.

 

Can anyone shed any light?

 

Thank you all!

 

If you are willing to buy a private tour of the Blue Mountains, it should give you the flexibility in defining the start/end time and the pickup location.  Have you asked any of the private tour companies whether they would be willing to pick you up at the pier or are you simply going by what they say on their website?  

 

Eclipse will most certainly be docking at Circular Quay because of its size.  Fortunately the pier area is very compact.  In fact if you are "stuck" having to specify a hotel for a private tour pick up and drop off, there are 2 hotels that are very very close to the pier.  The first one was previously mentioned--Rydges Sydney Harbour (formerly a Holiday Inn).  The approximate location of the hotel is marked with an "A" in the bottom photo (click on the photo if you want to make it bigger).  The second one is Park Hyatt Sydney (a very nice place for afternoon tea).  The Park Hyatt is marked with a "B" in the same photo.  Both hotels are extremely close to the pier and may be a more preferable pick up location than at the pier itself.

 

Solstice docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (Circular Quay) on Dec 23 2019.

 

A = Rydges Sydney Harbour Hotel.  B = Park Hyatt Sydney.

Edited October 2, 2022 by mahdnc

[BSinPNS]

Another vote for Blue Diamond.  Great tour.