mattymay

All eyes on 8-Aug.. first ship attempting a South Pacific. If this fails Ovation will be doing circles off the coast of NSW.

Yeah, just got the email

8 hours ago, Chili said:

I emailed our friend at RC in Sydney, I won’t name him but I hope you know who I’m talking about.

I asked about Spectrum coming to Sydney instead of Shanghai from July to October.

He said   noumea , vanuatu and NZ are closed to cruise ships. Until these ports are open Australia is not a viable market for our ships.
The size of our ships and the ports that can be accessed without these ports in operation would make it unworkable.

So I understand why they pulled Radiance out and it sounds like the coming season is in jeopardy if NZ and the islands aren’t open.

I see P&O have now changed their first South Pacific itinerary to a Great Barrier Reef sailing. 

NZ should be fine by October, not sure about the islands.

4 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

What is demand like right now in Australia?  

It isn' just Royal that has pulled a ship out of Australia, for the October 2022 - April 20023 season, Carnival has done the same they are only sending the Splendor back to Australia for the time frame mentioned, while the second ship that was home-ported in Sydney will go to Jacksonville Florida.  And they still haven't announced what if any ship will replace Carnival Spirit in Australia. At least Royal has announced Enchantment will go to Australia in 2023.  Granted Enchantment is not Radiance but I'm thinking the reason they pulled Radiance for the 2022/2023 season is because they are not yet seeing the vigorous return of demand that they've seen here in the U.S. and/or even in Europe.

For the European summer season late April 2022 - October 2022 Royal will have 10 ships sailing from various homeports all throughout Europe. If the demand is there Royal finds a way to put the ships there if they are pulling a ship out it has to be a sign that perhaps the Australian/New Zealand market needs more time and less ships while demand slowly returns.

Carnival pulled the ships when there was still no clear path to a restart. I am guessing Royal made the same plans but didn't announce it at the time. They've waited until after the restart was announced which has some people confused as to why pull out when a restart is near, but I am guessing these plans were already well underway behind the scenes.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Do we know if foreigners will be allowed to sail from Australia in 2022 yet?  

I'm guessing it's a yes if you can arrive by boat

if you can arrive by boat

21 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

Just watched a Q&A YouTube video from the Singapore Cruise Society who are on-board the Spectrum for a shakedown cruise. Interesting 

Yeah, saw that as well.

@ChiliIs there an official answer on if Australians are now allowed on Singapore based cruises? I think at one stage they said yes, but then stopped it when Omicron came about.

11 hours ago, Chili said:

I’ve been thinking of a cruise on spectrum out of Singapore around July .?

 

Same, now the entry requirements into Singapore and returning have been relaxed it's possibly worthwhile now.

Although be careful on itinerary.. Royal are being pretty dodgy and selling cruises that aren't even possible. Thailand have not approved ships to enter their country as of yet.

Sorry, I'm dark on them at the moment. Royal customer service is terrible. Trying to get a deposit back from October. Keep telling me to wait 45 days, call back after 45 days, nothing done about it, they escalate to supervisor which then takes another 45 days, wait 45 days, repeat all over again. Useless! Will take your money in an instant but when it comes to giving it back.. no one at that company knows what TF they are doing.

53 minutes ago, Chili said:

I’m sure it’s a cover for something else.

It will be in Alaska though, that's a 99.99% chance it's coming here. Unless they change that as well.

1 hour ago, CruisingOz said:

Lifou and Isle of Pines would never be able to handle an Ovation with 6000+ passengers, they do not have the infrastructure. In Lifou, Jinek Bay Marine Reserve limits the daily numbers and Isle of Pines coral has been destroyed by tourist and again, the island elders wanted to limit daily numbers. Not to mention they are both tender ports and and so even the Voyager struggled with queues, both on and off the ship.        

It even seemed crowded when we went there on Pacific Dawn in 2010. 

43 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

I'm not sure. Are other lines visiting? Is it a covid thing? i.e. the locals don't want to risk it?

Enchantment stops there. Just wondering why Q class are confined to Noumea, Vila and Mystery Island.

2 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

[Hey Matty, I'm not sure that helps.]

so no trip to the States then? I'm considering it. 23/24 release wasn't overly inspiring.

Anyone know why Quantum and Ovation can't tender at Isle of Pines and Lifou?

Here's what you are missing out for..

To be fair most of the blame should go to the Australian government for being the worlds slowest at return to cruising.

1 hour ago, Chili said:

The October Hawaii port booking is still there this morning , still no ovation or Quantum.

 There’s a few reports that we can expect emails on Monday. I don’t know how true they are but they are supposed to be advice from agents on Saturday.
 

I still recon Voyager is a possibility.

 

The word on the street is Radiance being redeployed to New Orleans??

Emails to affected guests to be sent Monday 21 March. 

So it's either being replaced or they don't think there is enough demand for 2 ships in Sydney. Which is it?

Hawaii to Vancouver still exists.. from which you could assume its still going to be in Australia. Maybe a reshuffle of the Australia itineraries?

14 minutes ago, F1guynz said:

Did you receive this as an email? We are diamond plus and I haven’t seen anything yet. I was hoping to get a preview before we booked next week.

Yes, via email.

Quantum transpacific leaving Brisbane in April 2023 is also missing.

Yep, she's gone!

Must be vaxxed. Masks only required on embarkation and disembarkation.

30 minutes ago, Chili said:

Voyager???

Voyager I believe was supposed to pick up crew in Cyprus and start soon in the Balkans.

 It’s now anchored off cypress with crew and most other lines have canned the Balkans.

The fact they have put out media saying Australia October 2022, I don't think it will happen.

8 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

Unfortunately for 2022 Royal has already committed the ships to Alaska for their cruise season so it's not possible to get any ship to Australia any sooner without first canceling cruises from Alaska which they are not going to do. 

Understand.. was more referring to stealing Spectrum from China.

35 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

That would be a dream. I think the Australian market could support three brands 12 months of the year. I would love the option to sail Royal and not have to wait or bite the bullet and cruise P&O or Carnival during April to October. With the world as it is today, thinking about China and Hong Kong, Serenade or Radiance offering a home port in Sydney would be awesome. We know there is demand but Australia would need to prove itself to be offered larger ships. Having recently cruised an Oasis class, I would love the opportunity to take the family to experience the most amazing ships. Taking the family to the US is not an option but a Sydney cruise, vert doable.   

Took the kids on Harmony of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale in 2017. They still talk about it..

32 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

Royal Caribbean's Ovation is not due until October 29th into Sydney, which is an 11 night New Zealand. It is scheduled to start the transpacific Oct 9th. So looking forward to both and now more confident to book accomodation in Hawaii  

Yeah I understand that.. some of us were just hoping they'd send a spare ship early!  Wishful thinking..

I've got Quantum in Nov but my last cruise was Ovation in Nov 2019. 3 years between drinks with Royal. Not waiting that long so looking at a quickie on P&O to fill the gap.