mattymay

10 hours ago, Chili said:

Sydney cruise schedule has removed Anthem and has now got    Unknown vessel— Royal Caribbean.

Did it ever say Anthem? I've only ever seen it say unnamed vessel for 25/26 so far.

Well there are OPT port bookings for 25/26, so hypothetically even if the captain of Independence was correct, he's talking at least 26/27 season. I'm sure lots can change in 3 years.

3 hours ago, Chili said:

Maybe he was trying to sell the harbour bridge to you,no royal ships have ever been able to fit under the bridge.

Theres talk of another cruise port being developed a hour to the south called Port Kembla .Maybe that’s what he was referring to ?

The only way there would be no RCL Quantum class sailing out of Sydney harbour is if something bigger were coming that couldn't fit there. 

3 Icon and 6 Oasis in the next few years, it's getting a bit top heavy in the northern hemisphere lol. You never know I guess!

18 hours ago, Chili said:

It looks like Virgin is going to greener pastures , wouldn’t it be good if we got another ship in Sydney coming season.

That's the new itinerary just released to bypass the Suez. Maybe they are thinking it's not worth bringing it back around Africa in 6 months?

They were switching it over for Valiant Lady the year after, so will be interesting to see what happens with that ship rather than Resilient Lady as it was leaving anyways.

Slight re-arrangement for Quantum after the Ovation cancellation by the looks of it..

A one way to Sydney, then 21 day Transpacific available to book.

April 8th.. mark it in your calendars! 

2 hours ago, Chili said:

There’s a pretty strong rumour Virgin is pulling out of Australia.

Reports,the sales desk onboard saying they are assessing next season and apparently there’s port bookings in the Caribbean.

Thats a bit less competition for Royal Caribbean and we might get our two ships back in Sydney.

This does not surprise me! Their itineraries are worse than Royal Caribbean. I mean who really wants to cruise to Burnie in Tasmania.

I did it to test out the ship, and it was great, but a chilly 17 degrees in the middle of summer is not what people want. 

30 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Yikes.. Unnamed Vessel, okay then. I guess Australia will forever be stuck with Quantum ships... until a bigger terminal is built for an Oasis-class. Hopefully they're not all just South Pacific cruises...

I wonder if Royal ever sent us an Oasis class ship if there'd be more bookings from Brisbane...

Probably just more of the same South Pacific and New Zealand.

Not sure if it's a size thing or covid, but hopefully Voyager can get into some of the other ports - Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, Santo, Suva, Port Denarau, Dravuni Island. That would definitely interest me.

8 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

So Quantum/Anthem for Sydney? 

Radiance for Brisbane and Sydney

Voyager for Brisbane only? 

 

No idea to be honest.

But based on the number of dates for Sydney I am guessing only one ship.

Same for Brisbane, might not be Voyager like it states but is still only enough bookings for one ship.

2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Maybe Ovation is finally heading back to Asia? And they'll finally send us a new ship? (Spectrum? Allure?... one can hope) 

Or....

Ovation of the Seas World Cruise 

Based off the information so far there are currently 4 ships in the mix:

Preceding Alaska season with Quantum, Anthem and Radiance.

Brisbane port bookings for Voyager.

Anyone have any theories about the Quantum transpacific cancellation? 

8 hours ago, steverk said:

So Australians pay a foreign transaction fee when sailing on Royal out of Australia?  That stinks!  I did not expect that.

I was just on Virgin last week out of Melbourne and it's a similar thing. The local P&O line doesn't, but not sure about the other Carnival brands.

On 12/29/2023 at 11:34 PM, steverk said:

I've got an odd question.  I'm going on my first Australia cruise in February.  I want to avoid foreign transaction fees on my credit card. Will the on board charges go through an Australian or American credit card processor?

I use an Australian credit card with no international transaction fees, however it does tell me how much I have 'saved' every time Royal process a international transaction. It's the same for both Australian and US sailings I've done. If you add your US credit card at check-in you should be fine, as we are the ones who have to pay the fees. 

10 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Does that mean that after March 2025, Ovation will no longer come back to Sydney?

Ovation is a strange one. It does the usual Transpacific (Sydney-Honolulu-Vancouver) in Apr 2025, but then it doesn't make it to Alaska. That means there are 3 (Anthem, Quantum, Ovation) on the US west coast. So there is a chance that any of them could come back I guess, but Ovation has to go 'somewhere' for that 6 months? We might know more in Feb if they show up on the next round of releases.

8 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Shame. Hopefully by the time Voyager comes to Australia, all of the problems will have been fixed. 

It just never got the Amp that Mariner and Navigator got which disappointed a lot of people here. 

"Maybe if we paint the hull RCI blue they won't notice" - someone at RCI

I have a Resilient Lady cruise next week out of Melbourne. Feel like I'm cheating on someone , but this is what happens when you don't change things up, people want to try new things. I am hopeful of the Voyager return.

7 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

I thought Ovation was here until 2025? At least according to Royal's website... but then again, they've changed ships before last minute. I mean... I guess Anthem is a change? It is still a Quantum-class though, but I guess the entertainment might be slightly different and the decor... Is Anthem going to be based in Brisbane or Sydney?

I think he meant 25/26 season. Anthem is in Singapore until Mar 2025, then heads to Alaska to replace Ovation until Sep 2025.

The question is where does Anthem go after that? If you base the answer off previous years, then Alaska ships come to Australia, which would be Anthem and Quantum. But...throw in the poor Quantum sales, the carbon reduction @Chili has info on, and the Voyager returning rumor.. it's really hard to say!

Do we get 2 Quantum's and 1 Voyager? or will they reduce capacity and go with 1 Quantum and 1 Voyager?.. and if so which Quantum?

My uneducated guess is... that they have been reading this blog and see our constant whinging about the same old ships. So... it's Anthem in Sydney and Voyager in Brisbane. It's a long wait until April to find out.. although there might be some hints along the based on other releases.

40 minutes ago, Chili said:

You will find some more money for voyager

This is true!

27 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Let's hope Qantas doesn't lose all your luggage again

Haha.. will be doing my best to avoid Qantas. Our luggage showed up 10 days later, after we got off Wonder we had to drive to MCO airport and collect them from American Airlines baggage services. 

I've solved the lack of variety issue by booking Star of the Seas for 2026. Used up the entire years cruise budget in one go! 

2 hours ago, mattymay said:

It's now up on the website to book..slightly cheaper than current Icon prices on the Australian site. 

Australian prices usually have gratuities included in the price but for Star bookings it is asking to add.. not sure if this is a website error or the sign of things to come! Icon it is already included.

It's now up on the website to book..slightly cheaper than current Icon prices on the Australian site. 

Stolen from same post... 

19 minutes ago, ScottishRobbie said:

The Brisbane ports website was definitely showing Quantum but as you say she's disappeared. Interesting that Sydney ports still showing Ovation, hoping we get Anthem for a change but would still be happy with Ovation

Voyager showing on Darwin schedule as well apparently, so looking even more likely. 

I guess it could be Anthem or Quantum in Sydney now if Brisbane is no longer getting Quantum.

Less than $4K AUD, this is a win given recent Icon pricing! Does anyone know what month the inaugural is supposed to be? Kids will be finished schooling, I'm down for it! 

On 11/15/2023 at 1:45 PM, ScottishRobbie said:

Great news for those of us wanting variety down under - the Brisbane ports schedule shows Voyager home porting there from 13/12/25 through 6/4/26.

Even more interestingly is that no other ship is listed. It's well known that Quantum hasn't sold well. So maybe just Anthem in Sydney and Voyager in Brisbane for that season?

Based on Alaska it's a pick from Anthem, Quantum, Radiance and Serenade.

My money is on Anthem and Quantum. 2 ships the same as 24/25.