Bazza

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for making my first cruise on Royal go well with all the tips and reviews on the board plus the blog post.  Just a quick story time.
The wife and I flew out of MSP on Friday, Dec 8th, 2017 to Fort lauderdale thru Atlanta.  The same day a massive unheard of soul crushing blizzard fell on Atlanta. Our flight to ATL landed 45 mins late but our flight to FLL was a nightmare.  We got on the plane at 3pm and then over the next 8 hours got on and off the plane twice, pushed back and then the flight got canceled because the crew timed out.  ATL only has 8 deicing trucks and they apparently breakdown easily.  MSP has 40 for a comparison.  All the flights the next day were past the set sail time so we had to improvise.  We stood in line for 2 hours trying to get our checked luggage back and Delta said no go at 1AM.  I started the search for a rental car and all the one way, one day rentals were gone and was told there is no way we can rent you a car.  Here is the trick:  If you reserve a one way car but for a weekly rate it will come up and you can get out of there.  It cost more but when in need its totally worth it.  Most programs have an early return policy so you will get a little money back.   In the end we got a car from Hertz for $360 and drove from 2AM-noon to fort lauderdale without bags.  Did a quick Walmart fashion stock up and got on the boat.   During the drive down talk to Delta and got our bags rerouted to Jamaica our 4th day stop and we picked them up there and enjoyed the rest of our cruise.  So we were the casual people on formal night :)
 

I just want to say my prayers for those who were on the bus in Mexico with the Equinox and Serenade passengers. My heart is going out to everyone who may have lost a loved one or injured. Many prayers going out to those families.

Ah, in that case there is no logical explanation 

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

Not having been yet I am relying on the Voom to give me Whatsapp/Messenger/email etc but not my phone calls and SMS texts....

Our first cruise was on Royal for our honeymoon.  It was a brand new ship, but the crew was constantly cleaning & sprucing things up.  The ship was so nice, the staff so friendly, etc.  We loved everything about it.  We were docked next to a Carnival ship, and from our deck it looked so old & run down.  So, when my Mom & I decided to do a girls' trip, I didn't think twice.  I've never used another line and can't see any reason to.  Royal has never disappointed - even their older ships are so clean & well maintained.
(Also - is it bad when I see friends post cruise pics on FB and I'm zooming in to figure out what line they're on?  My sister-in-law was on Carnival and I was pretty snobby in my thoughts about their pool deck! )

That's applicable to anyone who deserves it, whether on a cruise ship or not.
But now that you've learned that, you need to join the debate over which is worse -- the asshat, or the assclown?

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

Well written @KristenM , and I have learnt a new word "asshat" (I can say that right?!)  Is that purely to describe bad cruise staff or can it be used in any walk of life?!! 

A few people have asked to hear about my thoughts so here it is.. although this isn’t really a live blog but we just got off the other day
 
A little background on me...  I went on my first cruise in 2004 on Navigator of the Seas, and then in 2006 it was Mariner of the Seas.  I went on these in my early 20s.  Flash forward about 10 years, now in my early (almost mid) 30s and have an 8 year old son.  I was a single mother for some time and cruising wasn’t even something that crossed my mind.  I worked my a$$ off to provide a wonderful life for my son, and 4 years ago I met a great man who is also a great father to my son.  I was now finally in a much better financial situation and in early 2016 we were ready to book our first family vacation!!!  After doing some research I was debating between Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.  Considering I took a 10 year hiatus from cruising, I felt like everything was brand new again.  We ended up booking Harmony of the Seas for November 2016.  At the time, I didn’t even know Harmony was a brand new ship and that we were booked on her first 7 day Caribbean sailing!!  Talk about a steeler cruise to reintroduce myself to cruising!! I started googling and more googling until I stumbled upon Royal Caribbean Blog!
After I had booked our Harmony sailing, but prior to actually sailing, a friend mentioned wanting to book a cruise for 2017.  I was in!!  They were celebrating their 10 year anniversary and only request was they didn’t want to visit Jamaica (bad experience on honeymoon).  Since we were sailing an eastern itinerary in 2016, and all the western itineraries I could find for the time period we were looking at and leaving out of Florida, they all had a stop in Jamaica.  My friends found an interesting itinerary on the NCL Getaway.  It came with their “perks” of the unlimited beverage package and 3 nights specialty dinning.  In the meantime, more people joined the group and I was out numbered in the vote to go RCI.  I said, what the hell, let’s do it!  You don’t know if like something until you try it, right?  Well flash forward again to November 2017... and I tried it, and know if I like it or not!
I am going to do a comparison by category comparing my Harmony sailing to my Getaway sailing.  Now, I know this isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples since Harmony was brand new, and larger.  But Getaway is only a few years old, and still holds well over 4,000 passengers I feel they close enough to form my opinions.
Pre Boarding/Cruise Planner - Prior to sailing on Harmony, Royal’s cruise planner drove me nuts.  Several different glitches, and it that it never worked properly on my phone.  I hate having to get my laptop out!  But, I was able to browse and book Shore excursions right away, they ran several different sales and everything was easy to find. 
NCL - I couldn’t even view most excursions until about 120 days out.  I am a HUGE type A personality planner and this drove me nuts!  I don’t book most excursions through the ship so this wasn’t a huge deal except for the fact that I wanted to book a Beach Villa on their brand new private island in Belize called Harvest Caye (more on this later).  So, needless to say I was checking on a weekly basis and finally around the end of July (we were sailing in November) I was finally able to book the Villa.  
I found the website lacking and a little hard to navigate, and I was unable to link our dining between our different reservations.  Because of this, and the timing of them releasing their Shore excursions, Royal wins for pre cruise planning.  RCI 1 NCL 0
Embarkation - We were lucky to be one of the first sailings on Harmony, which you entered your credit card info, uploaded your picture etc all ahead of time.  It is my understanding not all RCI ships are this way, so I’m not going to take that into account, although I definitely liked that better.  Embarkation was fairly simple on both, fast and effecient.  On NCL we were traveling with my elderly grandmother who needed wheelchair assistance, we were one of the first people on the ship!  This also happened to me on my first two sailings with Royal (my grandfather was with us), moral of the story, if anyone in your party can justify a wheelchair, take advantage! Lol. Overall embarkation is a tie with very little issues on both  RCI 2 NCL 0
First impressions on board - Royal ships are just gorgeous!!  I have not sailed on one without a Promenade and I really missed it!  That giddy feeling when you first walk on board was missing.  We boarded NCL on deck 7, and got to see the stairwell.. talk about underwhelming.  Luckily my TA had given me a heads up so at least I was prepared  RCI 3 NCL 0
Staterooms - We had a standard balcony room on Harmony.  It was my first time on a balcony and I was officially hooked!  We are a family of 3, so 2 adults and a child.  We had more than enough storage and closet space, including room for my 15 pairs of shoes (don’t judge).  NCL, because my grandmother was traveling with us, we had connecting staterooms.  One a Family Mini Suite and the other an Angled Balcony Room.  The balcony room was their standard balcony room, but our balcony was where the ship “jutted” out, giving more room.  We had planned on opening the divider for one large balcony.  Well, “they don’t allow it for safety reasons” a quote from our room steward.  My question, why was the ship built with opening dividers if it’s a safety issue and they aren’t allowed to open them?  Major disappointment number 1.  We were warned the balconies were going to be tiny, but were not cocnerned as we thought we would have one long one.  I am an average height woman at about 5’6”.  When I sat in ththere chair that was all the way back, my knees touched the glass on the standard balcony of the mini suite.  Slightly more room on the angled balcony, but because of th angle we could only look forward not aft.. without hanging over the edge with someone hanging onto you so you don’t fall.  No thank you!  Bathrooms in both balcony rooms were fairly similar in size.  The Family Mini Suite is a glorified balcony with a larger bathroom.  It is NOT similar to a Junior Suite on RCI.  It did come with a full bathtub with a double sink which was nice.  The only closet in the room is very close to the couch and you had to shimmy in sideways to get in.  I definitely did not have room for 12 pairs of shoes (I tried to pack lighter this year).  Decor was only meh.. Royal wins for staterooms hands down RCI 4 NCL 0
Food (the best part!) - I was actually disappointed with the overall food on Harmony.  I was used to the old style cruising of one specialty restaurant and set dining time with the same waiter each night.  Traditional dining was booked so we had to go with My Time Dinning.  We ate in the dining room 3 times and 4 Specialty (Chops, 150 CP, Jamie’s and Wonderland). All our specialty dining was amazing, main dining room not so much, including service.  One night the food was just disgusting.  And another night our server left much to be desired.  NCL has 3 main dining rooms, they have named theirselves “Freestyle cruising”.  At first I thought I wouldn’t like this.  I like traditional cruise dining, I enjoyed getting to know your waiter and your table mates, I enjoyed formal nights.  When else as an adult do you have an excuse to get all fancy?? We decided well in advance we would be doing our own formal night.  To our surprise, many people did the same!  You would see eveverything from evening gowns to shirts and tanks and no one judged.  I even wore shorts and sandals one night and I loved it!  The food, I didn’t have one bad meal, including complimentary.  There is a pub type place called O’Sheehans that is complimentary, we are not big buffet people so this is where we ate most lunches.  Everything was at minimum average and at best, delicious!  There is also a Margaritaville onboard (for a charge) because of the fact they had so many choices for complimentary dining and literally didn’t have one bad meal, topped with the relaxed dress code, NCL wins this one.  I’m even going to give them 1.5 points since I am combining dinning and dress code.. it really was nice being able to go casual without any glaring eyes RCI 4 NCL 1.5
Kids Club - I should start with saying, my son has slight special needs being diagnosed ADHD with ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) basically, he does whatever he wants and doesn’t care about consequences.  He was borderline on the spectrum with Aspergers, but was just under the line.  I didn’t know at the time, but RCI is endorsed by the Austism Research Institute and even has sailings Autism of the Seas.  I was so nervous about dropping him off and having behavioral issues.  He had so much fun there!!  Everything was structured and organized, what he thrives from.  He wanted to be at the kids club any moment he could.  He was just as excited to try the NCL kids club.  NCL was much smaller, but I had expected that knowing Harmonys was the newest and best with a science, art and theater room.  2 out of the first 3 days we had behavioral issues.  Now, I know more than anyone that my son can be a handful, and he defiantly did wrong, I felt the staff on RCI was just better trained to accommodate “non mainstream” children like himself, and were able to see certain behavior be triggered and able to redirect prior to meltdowns.  We took 2 days off from the club then went back for short time periods and with a track phone.  He still had fun!  RCI 5 NCL 1.5
Ship Activities/Overall layout - Harmony was so easy to navigate, it didn’t matter it is the largest cruise ship in the world.  I never got lost once, things made sense.  The neighborhood concept is amazing and makes you feel comfortable and at home.  I enjoy having the promenade and almost a “central main location” the hub of the ship sort of speak.  I never had that feeling on NCL, it always felt like something was missing.  The Atrium was just not the same, I am not sure if I would feel the same on a RCI ship with an atrium instead of a promenade.  I may need to stick to Voyager Class or above!  The casino was in the middle of the main deck and we had to walk through with children to get to the main dining room and if it wasn’t for all the smoke I probably wouldn’t care.  There is no mid bank of elevators, only forward and aft.  You have to walk outside to get to ththe buffet... did I mention it was downporuing in Honduras??  I was warned ahead of time the pool was tiny, and it was.  There is only one main pool, and it’s adults only.  There is a glorified hot tub squeezed between the slides and the splash area that they called the “kids pool”.  Because it’s in th middle, there is no wherno for chairs.  Since I am one of the parents that watches their child, unless I wanted to go in I had to sit on the side.  They should have planned better and thought of parents.  The splash area looked good for small children, but did not interest my 8 year old.  We was luckily tall enough to do some sides this year which was a plus, although we only did them once.  Mini was gold was average for a ship, but the sports complex area was impressive overall.  The ropes course and plank over th edge was pretty sick, in addition to the bungee trampoline for anyone under 90lbs.  The sports complex is really the good thing I have to say about the ship RCI 6 NCL 1.5
Private Islands - I have only been to CocoCay, not Labadee but I need to make it happen.  I loved CocoCay, water was beautiful and it was so relaxing.  Loved everything was included like the ship.  Tendering is a downside although that is now changing!  I was so excited for Harvest Caye in Belize.  They just built it and it looked amazing.  As time went on I found out it wasn’t your typical private island and everything was run by locals not the ship, so nothing was included.  After some time I became ok with the idea that it wasn’t truly a private island, instead just another port stop.  There were some people on board who hadn’t done their research and were not pleased which is understandable.  It is also why you do a little research first.  The island landscaping and water was beyond beautiful.  I felt like we were on a pacific island.  We had the last villa on the beach so it was nice and private and service was amazing.  I defiantly enjoyed my day there more than CocaCay but I think the villa had something to do with that.. I will totally be looking into one for the 2019 GC.  Since to me it’s not truly a “Private Island” I’m giving NCL .5 points, making the total RCI 6 NCL 2
As you can see by the scores, it wasn’t all bad.  I found the ship not as family friendly as Royal Caribbean, and if you are traveling without children you may have a very different experience, and until the last day I was thinking I would maybe sail them again, just as an adults only cruise, until...
I was looking over my bill the last sea day and noticed a $300 charge from the Tempanyaki night.  My sons birthday was one night on board and 9 of us went to dinner there.  6 of us had the specialty dinning package and I was paying for the other 3.. I promise you it’s not $100 per person.  I went to guest services to correct and she insisted we used all the nights and that’s why we were charged.  After arguing for 20 mins and a few phone calls, she finally figured out that they not only charged me for all 9 but thwas dining was applied that night.  Now, to issue the refund she had to get the manager of that restaurant to do it, she couldn’t.  We waited abou 15 mins and he argued with us and didn’t even understand the receipt from HIS restaurant.  It clearly said “9 @ $29.95” then the service charge the and the total (around $310).  He was an asshat (can I say that on here?) and said I was “wrong” and he needed a calculator.  Needless to say I got my refund.  Did I mention I am an accountant?
The last night of the cruise we went to get our pictures.  My mother and I split a 30 print package for $250 prior to sailing.  There was a special onboard for that price plus a USB of all the images.  We asked a girl if ours had that and she said yes.  We went to order our prints and another asshat (I can say that, right?) said it was $20 extra.  He called the girl over and proceeded to argue with her, she was insisting it did and he did not.  She ended up apologizing saying she was mistaken and it doesn’t come with ours since we bought ahead of time.  So basically they penalize you for buying ahead even though the falsely advertised you were saving money booking ahead.  More importantly the horrible customer service from Jovan in the photo studio who not only argued with me but also very rudely with a coworker right in front of us.  Over a $20 USB after spending $250 on pictures!!!  I walked out of there with my free USB and someone who will only be sailing RCI from now on!!  Did I mention my son and grandmother who shared a room both left with rashes?  They decided to check for any infestation on disembarkation day
I feel like I may have rambled there at points and also probably forgot to touch on something so if you have any questions please feel free to ask! 

Hi Bazza,
I agree, The ultimate dining package would be to much for this ship when there are lots of great included restaurants for lunch and dinner. We enjoyed Café Two70 for lunch because of the salads and light meals they served. (they also had meat pies were also great for something different). The Solarium had two menus for dinner. One for the 1st seven days then a new menu for the next seven.
Now you are making me wish I was back on board.

When you have never cruised with anybody and your first cruise is with RCI in a little over 90 days but you feel part of the family already - and you are looking to book a short 3 day one in August just to jump up the C&A ladder to Platinum!

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

When you have never cruised with anybody and your first cruise is with RCI in a little over 90 days but you feel part of the family already - and you are looking to book a short 3 day one in August just to jump up the C&A ladder to Platinum!

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

When you have never cruised with anybody and your first cruise is with RCI in a little over 90 days but you feel part of the family already - and you are looking to book a short 3 day one in August just to jump up the C&A ladder to Platinum!

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

As you are walking back to your ship expect this...

That's how I ended up with my Indy booking lol!  Told hubby it was for the family to get away a bit during March break but really I needed 5 more cruise points to get to Diamond!  He was surprised when I said we did not have to be in a suite this time (it's a 5 day cruise so works out exactly) so he agreed. ?  All jokes aside though, he loves cruising too.

Hi Bazza,
The boarding on your cruise should be much better. We have never had any trouble with the Australian system.
The five night dining package was $115 USD PP but I think that now the Australian season has started you should be able to pre-book on the cruise planner. You can only visit Wonderland once as part of the dining package. If you want to go again there is an extra charge of $10 USD PP which is still pretty reasonable.
I am sure you will enjoy your cruise as we did, Ovation is a great ship with plenty to keep you occupied for 27 days.

We are back from our cruise on Ovation of the Seas Singapore to Sydney cruise. Although we enjoyed our cruise I must confess to being slightly dissapointed with some aspects of it. We were in Grand Suite 12646 which was very near the centre of the ship. The cabin was very nice but felt smaller than the Grand Suites we usually have on Voyager and Radiance class although the balcony was the biggest we have had so far. The cabin possibly felt smaller due to the wall the traversed the cabin. The Voyager class cabins do not have this wall and feel much more open and spacious.
On this cruise there was an outbreak of Norovirus which happened on the second day. Eventually around 200 people contracted the virus although we never knew anyone who did. Because of the number of cases the food and drinks area access was restricted and the crew served all drinks and food.
With a few exceptions most people excepted it in good humour and it didn’t really make the news until we reached Hobart.
The Itinerary
Singapore, Perth (day 6), Adelaide (day 10), Hobart (day 12), Sydney (day 14)
Embarkation
This was one of the one of our disappointments. Prior to the cruise RCI had sent us numerous emails advising we would be using an expedited boarding process where queues would be a thing on the past and we would be onboard the ship in minutes if we showed up at our allotted time. The reality was someone different and the the embarkation time was the longest we have ever experienced. There were a few reason for this. There was a Suite queue so this got us to the initial checkin desk reasonably quickly but there were delays from this point on. My partner has an electronic visa for getting into Australia but the RCI team wanted a paper copy of this electronic visa. We had to spend 20 minutes trying to logon to their WiFi to log onto the Australian Immigration website to prove that she had an electronic visa. When they went to provide the seapass cards they had the wrong names printed on them so they spent some time sorting that out. This happened to quite a few people and slowed things a bit. 
Once this process was completed we then had to go through the customs processing which also took some time as there were no express lines for suites. Once customs processing was complete there was another area which was broken into colours but it wasn’t really clear what was meant to happen here so we asked for assistance and were told to sit in the pink area. After a little while nothing seemed to be happening so we got up and went over to another queue to see if we could board and they let us on. The whole process took about about 1 1/2 hours. We we scheduled to board at 11:30 but is was closer to 1pm.
The length of time was irritating but what is actually annoying is the fact that RCI sent at least 3 emails saying how great their expedited boarding process was raising our expectations of an improved experience when the reality was way below the expectation RCI had set
The Ship
The ship was great, modern and clean with many great features. Once we were aboard we headed upstairs for our first Coastal Kitchen experience and we were not disappointed. Anita had the sirloin steak and I had the roast chicken and both were delicious. The CK was to become one of our go to locations for breakfast and dinner. It was one of our favourite aspects of the ship.
After eating at CK we went to the Seaplex were the bumper cars were in action so we got in on that as there were not many people around at this stage. They were great fun and we would play in them a few times on the cruise as there were many sea days.
Walking from one end of the ship to the other made for plenty of exercise as it is only about 20 metres shorter than an Oasis ship. There were two sets of elevators, one at the front, the other in the centre. The main hassle with this (not for us) was for people such as the elderly couple in the Royal Loft Suite at the aft on the 10th floor. It meant when they wanted to use the suite lounge they had to walk to the middle of the ship to catch the elevators to deck 12 then walk all the way back to the rear of the ship again.
The main common areas on the ship were deck 3 (the casino) deck 4 (Cafe Promenade, Theatre, Pub, Sorentos) deck 5 (Restaurants, Two70 lounge, Bionic Bar) Deck 12 (Concierge Lounge) deck 14 (Windjammer, Coastal Kitchen, Pool deck, Solarium) deck 15 (Seaplex) deck 16 (iFly, Flow Rider)
The Cabin
As I said the cabin was a Grand Suite on deck 12. It was nice but quite noisy, not from the elevators, or the cabins on deck 13, but from whatever was happening on deck 14. The noise carried on through the night on most days so if you don’t like noise I would suggest taking a cabin on a lower deck. That is what we will do next time.
Our room steward was fine and always did an excellent job keeping the cabin clean.
The Passengers
As this was a repositioning cruise the age of the passengers was older than we were used to seeing on a Royal Caribbean ship. They came mainly from Australia with 3200 out of the 4000 coming from there. There seemed to be a lot of repeat cruisers as there were 561 diamonds and 261 Diamond plus. RCI had to use the Music Hall as well as the Diamond Lounge for the nightly drinks. Because there were a lot of Diamond plus the concierge lounge was always full. One of them even complaining that Suite guests got the same privileges as a D+. In future on long cruises like this I think RCI needs to consider limiting access as Suite guests could not find seating due to the number of D+ in the lounge (maybe until after 6pm)
There were a few kids on the cruise but not that many as the school year has not ended in this part of the world yet.
We met a lovely old couple who had been upgraded twice by RCI first from a balcony cabin to a Grand Loft Suite, then from the Grand Loft Suite to the Royal Loft Suite. Some of the other D+ were not happy about this and thought they should have been upgraded twice. There were 15 pinnacles on this cruise but none were upgraded. I think the reason this couple were upgraded was because of their age, as the other Loft Suite guests were also of a similar age and when they were all having dinner together it just works better.
Entertainment
Three production shows consisted of Pixels, Live Love Legs and Beautiful Dream.
The Pixels show was not too bad but the Two70 lounge had poor sight lines so quite often you could only see the tops of the heads of the dancers. There were some seating around the dance floor but the seating was quite uncomfortable on these seats. They only have really short backs and you can’t lean back meaning you have to sit bolt upright for the show or the seat digs into your lower back.
Live Love Legs and Beautiful Dream were competent enough shows but not particularly memorable apart from the sets for Beautiful Dream which were quite impressive. I still find it annoying that even though we pay a high premium to travel on this ship it’s does not have Broadway shows for the Australian season. Sorry this is one of my pet peeves about this ship.
The Cruise Director Mike Hannerup was okay but not that great either. The Hotel Director was very funny and would have made a great cruise director. This is very subjective and I am sure you could find passengers who love Mike as well.
The other headline acts were also a bit hit or miss although we really enjoyed Phil Cass (comedic magician) and the U2 tribute band. They played at both the music hall and Two70. They were definitely better in the Music Hall as it is more intimate and people were really getting into it. Two70 the acoustics were not as good and this detracted from the vibe.
Food
Due to the Norovirus outbreak we did really go to the Windjammer to see what that was like. We purchased the 5 night dining package (another annoyance that you couldn’t purchase this on the cruise planner prior to the cruise) and went to Izumi, Wonderland, Jamie’s Italian and Chops Grill.
We went to Izumi on the second night but I didn’t really enjoy it as I am not a big fan of Sushi. At least I have tried it and know now to avoid it in future.
next up was Jamie’s Italian which we really enjoyed. We went there twice on this cruise and it was really popular every night. Some of the meals are quite large so I would recommend skipping lunch or having a very light lunch on the day you are booked. The same is true of Wonderland which we also really enjoyed. We followed the waiters recommendation and let them select the menu and we were not disappointed. If you go in with an open mind when it comes to the food I think you will come away happy (and full)
Chops Grille was its usual reliable self and the selection of menu options was greater than we have seen on the smaller ships. No complaints from us.
Johnny Rockets was replaced by Kung Fu Panda but this was not really popular and nobody really used it.
i think all the dining options on this ship is one of the highlights (including Izumi if you like Japanese) and is the best variety we have had on a ship.
Some people don’t like the upcharge but I don’t mind as it limits the number of people who will dine at these venues.
Onboard Activities
These were another plus for this ship. Anita didn’t enjoy the iFly but I went on it a few times and loved it. It was interesting to see the range of people who tried it. Most came away with wide smiles on their faces. The Flow Rider wasn’t very busy this cruise and 5-10 minutes seemed to be the average wait time although there were occasions when only 2-3 were using it during the open sessions.
North Star was always popular but it only went up and down. It was meant to side to side as well but apparently the wind was too strong.
Bumper cars were really popular and the queue went right around the whole Seaplex. This caused some issues as the wait time was around 1 hour and people just pushed into the queue. This queue needs to be managed better as one lady was pushed over and hit her head on the floor. Maybe it should be like the Ice Show on Explorer where you have some kind of ticketing system. It you turned up closer to the end of the session the queue was much shorter so I guess people just go when the session first starts.
There is an Escape Room on the ship was not up and running for this cruise. Another annoyance as I really wanted to try this.
We did the All Access tour and had a great time doing this. Luckily we did it early on in the cruise and they cancelled later bookings because of the Norovirus.
i admit I did miss the mini golf and the Shows in the Ice Rink but there is on,y so much space on the ship.
The Crew
The crew were fantastic as always, especially the team at Coastal Kitchen and in the Concierge Lounge. Due to the Norovirus outbreak there was heightened cleaning and hand sanitising going on at all times. Some passengers were very rude to people just doing their job, I heard one passenger in the lounge telling the crew member “don’t come anywhere near me” when he was told he would have to sanitise his hands prior to getting any food.
The captain was always around, in fact more than I seen on any other ship. He could be found in Two70 lounge, North Star, Concierge Lounge and other places just walking around.
The only issue I had was with the tailor. The shirt I had ordered with my tux was to big so Bing (our awesome Concierge) rang to see when he would be able to come and measure for a replacement. He was busy at that time so he said he would be free at 10:00am and would come to our cabin then. By 10:30am he still hadn’t shown up so I went to see Bing again and she gave him another call. He told her he was busy and didn’t have time to come now. Bing gave him a telling off and he eventually showed up at 1pm and everything was sorted.
The Ports - all docked
Perth - We got off in Fremantle which is about a 40 minute train ride from the city centre. We did this ourselves as it is much cheaper than a ship tour. We walked around the city for a while before heading back to Fremantle for lunch. Fremantle is a great little town with some awesome views of the ocean while you are eating your fish and chips.
Adelaide - we did a ship tour for this one out to Historic Handolf, a German settlement in the hills. It is quite a long coach trip (around hour and a half) each way so you only get to spend a couple of hours in Handolf itself. If you want to look in all the shops and have lunch then you will be pushed for time, otherwise it is a nice place to spend some time. It was busy as there were about 14 coaches from the ship in the village at the same time.
Hobart - We didn’t do much in Hobart other than get off the ship and have a wander. We have been here before and done most things on offer. I recommend going to Port Arthur to see the original penal colony or doing one of the wild life parks if you are ever in Hobart.
Disembarkation
Not much to say about this other than it was smooth and quick. We had to vacate our rooms by 7:30am as the entire ship was being deep cleaned before the next cruise due to the norovirus. We had a final breakfast at Coastal Kitchen and said goodbye to everybody there.
Medical
There were ambulances waiting in each port we stopped at to take off a few people to sick to continue after contracting Norovirus
There was one helicopter medical evacuation of a crew member who needed urgent medical attention. There is no helipad so he had to be winched to the helicopter. He made a full recovery.
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed our cruise but I still feel it was overpriced for the experience we received. We would still do it again but only if we got a better deal on the cabin pricing. I am better at doing that now that when we originally booked so I am confident we could get it for a better price. Next time we would also look at going from Sydney to Singapore as this goes up the other side of Australia and we would get so see some different ports and scenery.
Thanks for reading

keep in mind that most providers block regular (soccer) streams from an other country. due to lincences so that is worth checking out. you can bypass that but takes some technical /it knowledge.