mattymay

Hong Kong sailings have been removed. Shouldn't be long now..

Just got this email.. I was looking at Alaska 2022 sailings a few days ago. But not Harmony obviously?

Also saw someone of FB mention Harmony and Alaska. 

 
This has to be the work of Royal IT right?
 

There is a good 'sale' on at the moment on the Aus website, just saved $800 on one cabin and $1400 on another by re-pricing a 22/23 Ovation booking I made in September. Check it out, you might save some cash. 
EDIT: Also $2200 on Quantum booking for Alaska 2023 which I booked last week.

Mid April now..  I doubt we’ll see a Royal ship until October.

Mid April now..  I doubt we’ll see a Royal ship until October.

Mid April now..  I doubt we’ll see a Royal ship until October.

Brisbane is kind of a new market I guess. If you think cruising in Australia you generally think of Sydney. Might take a few years to catch on.
I've booked short itinerary just to see what the experience is like from Brisbane. 

Bookable for me.. provided I want to pay $10k for a balcony. 😉
 

Brisbane is kind of a new market I guess. If you think cruising in Australia you generally think of Sydney. Might take a few years to catch on.
I've booked short itinerary just to see what the experience is like from Brisbane. 

Bookable for me.. provided I want to pay $10k for a balcony. 😉
 

Looks like Symphony, Odyssey, Anthem, Explorer, Voyager, Brilliance, Jewel, Rhapsody and Serenade will be doing Europe 
 

Might stay in the US by the looks of it. 
 

Might stay in the US by the looks of it. 
 

Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) - these guys have no clue! We're 90+% vaccinated for god's sake.
Starting to feel like even 22/23 won't happen at this stage.
 

Yeh ,weren’t we supposed to start living with this virus.
The pore old agents are working for nothing ,you have to feel for them.

Might stay in the US by the looks of it. 
 

WOW.. sounds fun! 😉
 

Here we go.. 
 

WOW.. sounds fun! 😉
 

Looks like there is some movement on Caribbean. Test itineraries not showing yet, but filters have just started working.
Wonder and Mariner to sail from Orlando.
Harmony from Miami.
Allure from Galveston.
 

 

Something new. My TA received an "urgent" email from Royal where we needed to fill out an APIS (Advance Passenger Information S?) form for Royal confirming all the details are correct as per the passport,but also required all the details of where we are staying in the US pre and post cruise. Also, no surprise, the Royal web link provided is not currently working, so we had to email and call Royal Sydney office. 
Details from the form:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REQUIRING YOUR URGENT ATTENION
IF YOU ARE FLYING TO DESTINATIONS OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA
AND NEW ZEALAND
Legislation is now in force in the United States, certain countries within the EU including the United Kingdom and
elsewhere which now creates as a mandatory prerequisite for travel the submission of certain details of every passenger
seeking to enter those countries via sea and/or air.
Be advised that based on your travel destination, we are now required to provide certain information relating to you and
your party either directly to those authorities where you are on a cruise only holiday and, if there is an air element, via
the airline we have arranged your travel with.
Attached is a form which records the information we have already obtained from you at the time of booking and also
specifies the additional information we now are required to disclose. Please therefore review the accuracy of the details
we already hold about you and/or your party and further provide the additional information we require within 7 days.
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CHECK THE ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION WE ALREADY HOLD ABOUT
YOU AND YOUR PARTY AND PROVIDE THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WE REQUIRE WITHIN 7 DAYS OF
THE DATE OF THIS CORRESPONDENCE OTHERWISE YOU RISK BEING REFUSED TRAVEL.
Also nobody from Royal can answer us whether we need the APIS form for the other sailing in the US? Work in progress 
Other issues I have had to deal with.
We used Royal Air2Sea for our flight from Barbados to Miami and despite being paid in full, we have not been issued an E-ticket, but finally managed to get the American Airlines reference number. So we logged onto AA and noticed our 2.35pm flight is now 4.15pm, my wife name was spelt wrong, we had no seat allocated and only a handful of seats left which we need to pay extra for. Had my TA call Royal, they fixed the name, but seats too bad, so sad and they told my TA she is wrong, we are on the 2.35pm flight. I called AA in the US, 30min wait, which is four hours less than the average Qantas wait times, and there is no 2.35pm flight. So TA back onto Royal, and upon checking we were correct and AA did not tell Air2Sea of any changes. Red flags waving and re-checked my Travel Insurance.
We also had transfer via Royal but now the flight is pushed back, we opted to do a shore excursion and airport drop off which was only about $20 more PP. I am a little concerned as shore excursion is from 11am, for 3 hours, so airport at roughly 2.30 for an 4.15pm flight. This is at Barbados airport. It is an Air2Sea and Royal shore excursion but should we be be worried and just leave the ship via cab on own own? I do not fancy sitting around a little airport.
Next trick is if you book American Airline flights through Qantas, either using points or pay, even though AA is part of the OneWorld alliance, AA do not recognise Qantas reference numbers. The other OneWorld airlines like Lantan, Cathy Pacific, Japan, etc all do as I have used them. It took be four phones calls to Qantas with an average waiting time of four hours to finally find an operator who could locate the AA reference number and now I can book seats, add all of our information, contact, frequent flyer numbers and where we are staying the first night.     
Now that the US COVID tests are required within 24 hours of travelling, we have been trying to locate a place to get the right tests and documentation and until the other day, all the placed were charging between $130 -$150 with a next day results. Well my wife and two of our children need tests weekly and go to a local drive through and results come back in 30min at the moment. They asked and they do the travel test, RT-PCR for only $79 pp and results are quick, in fact they have one at the airport where you can go before your flight. Done research and they are exactly what we need. The link is mainly for Sydney and Melbourne travellers. Asp my ;local one, 10 min drive is open 365 days and 5.00am - 8.00pm, perfect. I think that the others I have been recommend charge more as they require a travel agency ID number, so there might be a commission to the TA, whereas this company does not. 
Link: https://www.histopath.com.au/
ESTA and third booster shots done, now survive Christmas and New Year

There is a good 'sale' on at the moment on the Aus website, just saved $800 on one cabin and $1400 on another by re-pricing a 22/23 Ovation booking I made in September. Check it out, you might save some cash. 
EDIT: Also $2200 on Quantum booking for Alaska 2023 which I booked last week.

No, only NSW (Sydney) who initially said the 1st of Feb. There has been no news since, other than P&O and Carnival cancelling out further into March  still claiming lack of information from the government regarding a restart.

My sister got attacked by a Kangaroo on Kangaroo island when we were young. It stole her sandwich! 😆

WOW.. sounds fun! 😉