Disembarkation in SYDNEY and transfer to SYD

[ExCruiseDirector]

Planning ahead for cruise.  Would like feedback from those that have sailed into Sydney and transferred to SYD airport after sailing for international flight.  Typically, and under generic advice from the line, earliest flight should depart 5 hours after scheduled arrival (6am), however, EZair is showing many international flights departing at 10:25am out of SYD.

 

I'm curious for those having experience out of SYDNEY, NSW disembarking and transferring to SYD, what time did you get off the ship, and what time did your transfer get you to the airport?  We have a suite, which we know includes priority disembarkation, but curious if the transfer will leave early too.

 

Appreciate your feedback in advance.  Stay well!

[Potstech]

We just debarked in Sydney from another cruise line. It is very doubtful to make a 10:45 flight on that day.  We took the transport to the airport then a shuttle to a hotel for the night.  Then caught a morning flight the next day.  Not worth the worry at the end of a cruise.

[DHP1]

If your uncertain, your better off taking the train. https://transportnsw.info
It’s only a 5 minute walk from the cruise ship to Circular Quay Train Station and the train takes you right to the airport in 19 minutes. It runs every 10 minutes (approximately). The cost is $19 per person. 

Edited April 18, 2023 by DHP1

[azbirdmom]

14 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

If your uncertain, your better off taking the train. https://transportnsw.info
It’s only a 5 minute walk from the cruise ship to Circular Quay Train Station and the train takes you right to the airport in 19 minutes. It runs every 10 minutes (approximately). The cost is $19 per person. 

 

This is exactly what we plan to do next time.  We did a tour / transfer after our first cruise into Sydney and had booked their transfer the next time.  Just before that latest cruise we were walking around Circular Quay and just saw how close the train was to the ship.  As long as you can roll your luggage a city block this is the way to go.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I had to look back to see what time our flight left Sydney. It was 11:15am. We took a Princess transfer and had no issue at all.  I do not like staying in a hotel after I disembark a ship, and had already spent plenty of time in Sydney, so it was worth it to me. Since I don’t like a lot of time in airports either (this was at the start of COVID) I was happy that we had time to check our bags, get a coffee and then started to board at 10:25am. We were in the second group off the ship. 

[ExCruiseDirector]

PescadoAmarillo, can you remember what time you arrived at SYD, and did you have plenty of time to check in for your international flight and get to your gate?  We will be in Sydney for a week prior to the cruise, so I'm prefering not to do another day post-cruise.  Thanks for your feedback.

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 hours ago, ExCruiseDirector said:

PescadoAmarillo, can you remember what time you arrived at SYD, and did you have plenty of time to check in for your international flight and get to your gate?  We will be in Sydney for a week prior to the cruise, so I'm prefering not to do another day post-cruise.  Thanks for your feedback.

 

I recall that we weren’t rushed at all, and had plenty of time to handle all the immigration checks. It may make a difference that our last cruise had been to Tasmania, so we didn’t have to re-enter the country at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, but, even if we had, we had done that often enough to know that, as long as we were at the front of the line, that process goes quickly (it’s basically handing in a form that was distributed on the ship). 
 

Here is my blog post from that day.  You can tell that it was a very simple and stress-free process.

 

 http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2020/02/day-141-and-three-quarters-home.html

[Nelsj099]

I would also take the train.  The train basically stops at the cruise ship, and gets to the airport in about 20 minutes so you miss all of the traffic. I have made morning flights from the cruise ship in Sydney because of public transport. 

[stki]

Hi

 

I am from Sydney, and there is no way I would risk a 10.25am International flight.

 

The recommendation in OZ  is  to be at the airport 2 hours for domestic and 3 hours for International flights, which means you would need to be there at 7.25am.

 

It also depends when you are travelling. If a weekday , it will be peak hour, so busier on the trains or road. If school holidays the airport will be very busy.

 

Travelling via airports pre and post covid is very different.

 

Cheers

 

 

Tanya

[DHP1]

If your flight leave at 10:25 the chances are you will miss your flight.  Your stress level will be high that morning.

The earliest you will be getting off the ship will be at 7:00 and then you have to collect your bags and goes through Customs.  Then you sit on the bus (assuming your on Princess bus) and wait for the other passengers. Then there traffic to the airport and as mention above for International travellers, you need to be at the airport 3 hours before departure. 
Our problem when we fly out of Sydney in November was going through security.  We waited in line for about 45 minutes. 
Note - if you booked through EZ Air then you’re covered if you miss your flight.  https://www.princess.com/plan/ezair/

The ship arrives at 6:00 however, that does not mean you get off at 6:00. The earliest will be at 7:00. Furthermore, the Custom Office does open until 7:00 (?). This was the case with us on another cruise. We had to wait in line for the Custom Officers to arrived. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by DHP1

[Jase0581]

My experience was Pre-Covid coming off the Diamond Princess.  My flight was departing SYD at 1:00 PM on a Thursday.  Looking back at my notes, we were supposed to disembark at 8:00 AM for the transfer.  The bus was stuck in traffic getting to the port so we disembarked about 30 minutes late.  Absolutely no wait for customs, and no waiting once we all got on the bus.  With traffic it took about 45 minutes to get to the airport.  Once at the airport there was no wait to check baggage and no wait for security.

I was amused by a couple of the travelers.  They complained loudly, first that we were delayed getting off the ship, then that traffic was bad getting to the airport and lastly that we arrived at the airport too early.

[Potstech]

1:00 pm is 2.5 hours difference from 10:30 a.m.  That could be the difference between making a flight and not.  The OP is asking about a 10:25 flight. We were advised by our TA not to attempt it and we did not. Had a flight the next day at 9:30 that we made comfortably.  This was on April 6 debarkation.

[dreaminofcruisin]

We had heard too many times of ships coming in late to Sydney when we went, so we decided to add another pleasant day in Sydney. We got a hotel near the pier and dropped our luggage.  We got on the bus from there to Bondi Beach and did the 3.7 mile cliff walk to Coogee, stopping for lunch near a beach part way there. When we got to Coogee, we caught the bus back to the pier. The next morning we had an easy train ride to the airport and an acceptable flight time that wasn't a rush.

[capriccio]

On 4/20/2023 at 5:38 AM, Potstech said:

1:00 pm is 2.5 hours difference from 10:30 a.m.  That could be the difference between making a flight and not.  The OP is asking about a 10:25 flight. We were advised by our TA not to attempt it and we did not. Had a flight the next day at 9:30 that we made comfortably.  This was on April 6 debarkation.

This is what we will be doing on April 30th.  We have a private company picking us (group of 4) up - scheduled for 8:30 - at the overseas passenger terminal and taking us on a day long Blue Mountains tour (for significantly less than the Princess disembarkation excursion).  Then they will drop us off at the Rydges Hotel directly across from the airport’s international terminal.  On May 1st we will walk across the street and check in at 6:30 am for our 9:30 am flight.  No hassles and we get one more day of vacation!

[AE_Collector]

On 4/18/2023 at 7:09 AM, DHP1 said:

If your uncertain, your better off taking the train. https://transportnsw.info
It’s only a 5 minute walk from the cruise ship to Circular Quay Train Station and the train takes you right to the airport in 19 minutes. It runs every 10 minutes (approximately). The cost is $19 per person. 

That’s what we did! Except…. We flew in, loaded a transit card at the airport and took the train to our hotel near Circular Quay. After 5 days of using the transit system which included train trips and boats/ferries to locations all around the very large harbour… we finally boarded Emerald Princess and headed home which took 32 days to disembarkation at Vancouver. Another great cruise!

[OzKiwiJJ]

One thing to be aware of:

 

There is a curfew on big ships docking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal between 7am and 9:30am so as not to impact peak hour ferry services from Circular Quay. Normally ships aim to enter the harbour around 5am to 5:30am so they are docked before the curfew starts. However if there are any delays the ship may not dock until after 9:30am and in that case disembarkation probably wouldn't start until well after 10am.