Dawn T.

7 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

As best I can tell from reviewing United's baggage FAQs and Carry-On pages, garment bags just aren't allowed any more. You have to bring a regulation size carry-on, and your "plus one item" has to be something the size of a small backpack that can be stowed under the seat in front of you, not in the overhead bin with your carry-on.

 

Hi Joe!  We have always taken Rob's suit in a garment bag to cruise since we don't have to fly.  With my first "cruise" flight next March, I want to ask you if you know why garment bags are not allowed on flights any more.  Do you know why?  One suggestion that I can make on the packing is to put the suit in a dry cleaner bag.  Rob swears it helps.

1 minute ago, tiny260 said:

I would at least check the Air2Sea part of Royal Caribbean, they got my tickets to Europe cheaper than i could get them.

I will do that.  Thanks for the tip!

38 minutes ago, DocLC said:

We're sailing out of Sydney in December and the flights are the biggest problem. Not only is it more expensive to fly to Sydney than to Europe, but you have the international date line to contend with, so you lose a day going. We leave on the 27th and arrive on the 29th, but fortunately it's a direct flight. My son is still weirded out by the fact that we arrive back to LAX earlier and on the same day that we leave Sydney. :) We leave Sydney at 11:30 am and return to Los Angeles on the "same day" at 6:20 a.m.

I think this means you already have your airline tickets for this December cruise.  When did you actually purchase your tickets?  Do you think you got a good price, at least as good as you would get?  (I have to say, this flight thing is a pain!  I like living in Florida and driving to my cruise ports.  )

28 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

D'oh! I didn't see the OP's last sentence that they are on Anthem!

What I said earlier still applies, of course, but man do I feel sheepish asking "What ship are you on"! And I totally agree with @KLAconQueso and @Sabrinaklai that if you can get that JS or $500 or less, it's a great upgrade.

I had better agree -- it's exactly what I did when I caught a price drop and upgraded my own balcony to a JS for that price! (one of the ones @Sabrinaklai mentioned, with 1 1/2 baths).

OP changed his post to include the $500 on Anthem.  I quoted his original post in my reply above.  To @Cory G, for a $500 increase on Anthem, I say absolutely do it, even though I haven't sailed on Anthem yet.    To me, the extra space, double points and dinner access to Coastal Kitchen would be totally worth the bump in price.

14 minutes ago, Cory G said:

I just got a email from royal to if we would like to upgrade rooms.  I trying to figure out if the upgrade is really worth the money. 

For me this depends on many things.  How much is the upgrade? Which ship?  Do I get to select the JS or is Royal selecting for me?  I book really early and always select my cabins.  With that said, the extra space in a JS is always nice, so are the double points.

28 minutes ago, twangster said:

I'm booked in January 2019 on Ovation to NZ and may even live blog during the cruise. 

For people in the region who book a cruise the tips are in the base fare.  For North American customers booking a cruise from Sydney the standard gratuity charges are added daily just like when cruising from the US.  When I booked I expected them to be in the base fare but they were not.  My travel agent confirmed this and asked me if I wanted to prepay them.

Thanks for the clarification @twangster.  I actually expected to prepay my tips when paying off the trip.  I figured they weren't included since we booked in the U.S.  Regarding the possibility of a live blog from you for your Ovation cruise in January 2019, I can only say PLEASE DO THIS!  I know I am not alone in the hope that you will live blog!  

10 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

Are there stopovers or can you get a direct flight to Sydney?

I know from experience how arduous long haul flights can be, so if you have to stop over somewhere inbetween, I'd actually recommend booking into a hotel for a night or two, just to break the journey up.

Also, it's good that you are arriving in Sydney several days before the cruise. You will need that time to recover from the flight and re-adjust your body clock.

Sorry, nothing I can say to make you feel better about the prospect of the flight. Just remember that it will all be worthwhile when you're cruising the Coral Sea :)

The flight is from Orlando to LA, then from LA to Sydney.  I completely agree with the extra time pre-cruise in Sydney to re-adjust.  We are now thinking of leaving a day sooner too, because of the lost day thing.  I couldn't agree more with your last comment!  I am counting the days, and it doesn't hurt that we have 3 cruises before that one!  

4 hours ago, tiny260 said:

I do have to say though, those wide body jets make a big difference, because of where we live I don't get to fly on them very often, but when I have they were a lot nicer. Make sure when you start looking at selecting seats that you use something like "Seat Guru" to help you make seat choices on the plane, a 15 hour flight would really suck if you got a bad seat on top of the flight time.

Love this advice!  Great idea and something I probably wouldn't have thought to do.  I still can't believe that our first time flying to cruise and we picked Australia!  I guess it is that one time thing you mentioned for the anniversary.    Thanks again for all your help!

Just now, tiny260 said:

I understand, I don't have limitations, other than I'm a big guy, I'm old and all my joints hurt, I've done a mock booking of airfare flying Business/First the whole way from Oklahoma and it will be $7k per person, which is pricey, but my Wife flat refuses to fly that far in Premium economy, she's spoiled, right now this is a one time thing for us, I want to make it special, it will be our 40th anniversary.

I think it was about $7k per person for us too for business/first when I did a mock booking.  Congrats on your upcoming 40th!  We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary for our trip next March.  And, yes, it is a LONG flight. I don't like flying from Florida to the west coast.  I will admit, I am apprehensive for the flying part.

17 hours ago, F1guynz said:

 

 

@F1guynz Thanks for providing the link to your live blog on Explorer from Sydney.  I loved it!  I didn't see this when it was originally posted.  GREAT photos!

15 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

I think Hopper and SkyScanner are for people that are not as OCD as most of us are, I use it mostly for a reminder to myself to check prices, on top of that I usually fly Business/First and Hopper and SkyScanner do not track Business/First, does not fit their algorithm because of the limitation of seat availability.

Thanks for this information @tiny260.  We are looking at premium economy for the international portion of this flight rather than coach.  Rob is retired military, and has physical issues with flying coach.  Would love to do business / first, but I know that isn't in the budget.  

33 minutes ago, F1guynz said:

Hi,

Normally we stay out by the airport (which is about a 30 minute trip to the port by train) as Circular Quay stop is a 5 minute walk from the cruise terminal.

If you wanted to stay in central Sydney maybe you could look at somewhere like the Novotel. There are also the usual global brands like the Hilton, Four Seasons, Hyatt. These hotels will all be close to an underground station which will get you to Circular Quay. There are also plenty of taxis available. Public transport is pretty good in Sydney.

We always arrive at the port early to make sure we are one of the first to board.

U.S dollars wont be accepted by retailers in Sydney but when you are on the ship everything will be in U.S dollars. It is not necessary to tip in Australia but some people do tip on the ship even though this is normally included in the fare when purchasing the cruise from RCI Australia. Drinks will have 18% added automatically. Spa services do not have tips included.

We have a cruise going to the South Pacific in March next year on Explorer. March is the 1st day of autumn here but the weather should still be okay. There is a chance of cyclones at this time of year and occasionally ships will have to skip port stops but for the most part the weather should be good and reasonably warm.

We have been on Ovation and I would recommend that you book early for anything you want to do. E.g. the iFly and Northstar. They don't have a Broadway show on Ovation so you wont need to pre-book for shows apart from Pixels in the 270 lounge. If you want to ride the bumper cars I would suggest doing that on the first day before most people have boarded. The queue during the cruise can be quite long at the start but we found if you came in about halfway through a session the crowd had diminished a lot. Another good time to go is close to dinner.

There are plenty of restaurants around the Sydney Opera house but there are a lot of people and it is very noisy, especially near to the weekend. As we normally fly in either the night before or on the day of the cruise we don't normally eat out much. I do really enjoy Doyles at Watson Bay which is a fish restaurant which is accessible by a water taxi or a ferry.

There are some photos in my blog which should show you where the cruise terminal is in relation to the opera house.

 

Thank you SO much!  You have provided so much great information!  You are awesome!

We live in Central Florida and have always cruised the Caribbean from Florida ports.  Next March (2019), we are branching out and flying to Sydney, Australia for a 9-night South Pacific cruise on the Ovation of the Seas.  I have a few questions.  I'm sure I will think of more questions as the trip gets closer!  For now, here are my questions:

1)   When is the best time to book the flight for the best price?  

2)  Hotel recommendation in Sydney to stay pre-cruise.  We plan to arrive several days before we cruise.  We would like to stay somewhere near the cruise port, which is near the Sydney Opera House (based on our research).  We want a hotel that is reasonably priced, not the Ritz, but not a roach motel either.  

3)  Restaurant recommendations in Sydney.

4)  Transportation recommendations in Sydney.  Rent a car?  Uber, etc.?  Public transportation availability?

5)  Are U.S. dollars accepted or should we exchange for local currency?

6)  What is South Pacific weather like in March?   

Any tips or hints are welcome for both Sydney and the Ovation.  This will our first cruise on a Quantum class ship.  Thanks!

Really enjoying your blog!  We cruise on Anthem for the first time in October 2019, but planning is essential!  Enjoy your day at KSC tomorrow.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Hmmm.  Labor laws at sea.  Interesting concept.   18 hr work days as it is so more hours equates to more human capital equates to more cost.   Labor laws or financial laws?

The only part that I remembered from that galley tour was the labor issue.  Rob reminded me that the chef also said that the demand for the midnight buffet just wasn't high enough, and that resulted in high food waste.  He did give us good information on the hours worked and why the midnight buffet became a labor issue, but I don't remember specifically what he said.  It made sense at the time though.  I didn't realize other lines still do this, so maybe Royal really did cut it for cost issues.

2 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

They used to do a chocolate buffet for one night of the midnight buffet. Clearly dating myself since I remember the midnight buffet.

My husband and I had a galley tour a few years ago and the chef told us they had to eliminate the midnight buffet because of labor laws.  He said it caused the crew to work too many hours.

Very excited for your live blog on Anthem!  Rob and I are on Anthem for the first time October 2019.  It is NEVER too early to start planning!    Safe travels and have a wonderful cruise!

3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Thanks for posting the MDR menus, too! Good to know that the "all in one" menus are on Freedom now as well as Liberty. 

 

I would like to add my thanks for posting this as well @LetsTryThisTech.  My husband and I are on the Freedom for the 3rd time in April.  We had these menus on Oasis last September.  Very happy to see that they are on Freedom!  Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

I am really enjoying following along here.  @twangster you take AMAZING photos!

3 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Next step: monitor for 45-60 day price drops and up it to a GS or better ?

Great news though on the upgrade!

Fabulous idea!

On 11/14/2017 at 2:09 PM, Sabrinaklai said:

Like I said in that other post...I have noticed that Harmony just keeps going up, not down.  

My cruise on Harmony (2 people, JS)  in August 2017 I got for $3865US.  We later upgraded to a GS but that's another story.  Same cruise, same cabin for this coming July 2018 on Harmony we booked for $4550US.  I might cancel this one depending on how reviews go for the new MSC Seaside coming up.  Anyway, this sailing in July 2018 I booked in March 2017.  Right now, when I check online, a JS for July 2018 is going for $7043US!

So, I generally try to book as soon as sailings open up for cruises that I know for sure I want to go on.  I have been monitoring this for a while and prices just rise as the date goes on.  Great rates don't happen until about 45-60 days prior to sailing.  It is then that I usually upgrade if the price is right.  The BOGO or other sales come and go but I still think the overall price rises.  And that "New ship so more expensive, it will go down later" theory does not always hold true.  At least not in this case for Harmony.

Just noticed this thread yesterday.  My husband and I are sailing on the Harmony in September of this year for the first time.  We were booked in a 2C balcony.  We love junior suites, but I usually can't justify the higher price.  My original price for the 2C (booked on 3/26/17) was $2,313.  Last December there was a sale and price came down to $2,075.  I almost never see price drops now, so I was shocked.  (I saved over $250 on a 2019 cruise that same day too.  It was a good day!)  Anyway,  when I read this post, I decided to check the price of junior suites for our September 2018 Harmony trip.  I typically believe if the difference between the balcony and JS is in the $500 - $700 range, it is worth the increase.  Price for the JS was $3,067, BUT it came with $100 OBC and free gratuities.  Further justification for the upgrade, it is a much bigger cabin and we can eat in the Coastal Kitchen for dinner!  The balcony cabins on the Oasis ships seem so tight.  (We have had 3 on Oasis and 1 on Allure.)  So, we decided the $1,000 upgrade was worth it.  We got a cabin on the bump out, so the balcony will be bigger too.  VERY EXCITED for our first Harmony trip in a junior suite!  So, @Sabrinaklai thanks for starting the thought process to my Harmony junior suite.  

2 hours ago, melski94 said:

I am a payment girl too but I make payments to myself and not RC.  I don't like the idea of RC holding on to my money for any longer than necessary.  I have a separate savings account that I've labeled vacation fund where $X amount goes in every payday.  When it is time to make final payment, I put the balance on my credit card. When I get the bill for my credit card, I transfer the money from the vacation fund to the credit card.  No huge hit and no worries about getting money back from RC if I need to cancel the cruise prior to final payment.  The vacation fund also covers things like airplane tickets, shore excursions, etc.  Just another idea if you are thinking about payment plans and it is my easy way to save small amounts every month to cover a large expense.

This is exactly what we do.  I just put money into a separate vacation savings account.  I used to make payments to Royal like @WAAAYTOOO does, but it got too confusing.  I book early and have 6 booked now through the end of next year.  My brain couldn't handle making payments on multiple trips.  So much easier for me to just put the money into savings for later.  

rcldining@rccl.com

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I love Curacao.  It's my favorite Caribbean island.  It has so much charm !  I like it better than Aruba

I second this!  Curacao is my favorite Caribbean island also, and I have only been there once.  I plan to return at some point.  I have cruised on Navigator 3 times and it is a great ship!  We have cruised the Southern Caribbean several times, and it was always from South Florida ports.  You can't go wrong with the Navigator to the Southern Caribbean from Miami!

We got a military discount on our first Royal Caribbean cruise back in July of 2010.  I think it was $250.00.  I haven't seen one since.  I always check the box for military though when I make my reservations.  Our discount in 2010 was even after final payment and Royal applied it as an onboard credit.  I don't think that would happen now.  After final payment, they will not give you reductions to your price.  It doesn't hurt to keeping checking your reservation to see if another sale or the military discount should pop up.   Oasis is an amazing ship and you will love it! Have a great cruise!