Vanessa77
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Everything posted by Vanessa77
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Australia/NZ Cruising News
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
I just spied this one this week and am seriously considering booking too! Only thing is, I’ll be cruising with a baby for the first time - he’ll be about 1.5 at this time. Has anyone done this before? Do you use a portacot or something different? -
I don't believe that is entirely correct. Spectrum, which currently sails in Asia and will this year complete a limited number of Japan Trips, does not have an itinerary past March 2024. So it is possible that there will be a few that aren't released yet, however it does seem that Japan is a very limited destination for Royal, so you are unlikely to have much choice. There are still many 2024 schedules that have not been released yet. You can see the release dates for these locations at this link: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/02/15/2024-2025-deployment-schedule-released
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Transferring cruise booking to parents
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
@Patchy No, this was meant to be part 2 of my honeymoon, so I'm not replacing my husband with my mum haha. He still has leave, but it ends on the 31st of December where this cruise finishes on the 4th of Jan so we'll just change what cruise we go on. Essential services leave is a bit tricky! -
Hi all, Unfortunately we found out yesterday that my husband is unable to get leave from work for part of the cruise we have booked and we won’t be able to go on this cruise. Now we booked refundable, so we’re good on that front, however rather than just cancel I would like to know if I can’t instead transfer the whole booking to other guests, namely my parents. They had previously considered booking the same cruise and coming with us, but since we booked early last year the price for a balcony cabin has gone up by $1000 per person (12 night Christmas cruise ex Aus) so if possible it would be better if they could just take the whole booking and save some money. I know you can change 1 name on the booking, but is it possible to change the whole thing and keep the good rate?
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Hi all, not sure what the current go is in cruises in the US: Is the main dining room back to normal where (for traditional dining) you are sitting with allocated table mates, same table, same servers for the whole cruise? if not, do you think that royal will go back to this at some point, or will sitting only with your party be the standard from now on? My next cruise is in December in Australia and while I’m sure we’ll have some as yet unknown restrictions/regulations on board, this is the one I am wondering about most. My partner and I are going just us on a 12 nighter. We choose traditional dining because we liked having the same wait staff and table last time, and we thought it would be nice to have some dinner conversation with others some of the time as we’ll also have specialty dining, so heaps of opportunities for dinner as just as. But I’m not sure whether this will even be a thing in places where cruising has returned for a while, let alone down under during our first season back. What do you think will happen?
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Regular people cruising - Anthem of the Seas Feb 20-27, 2022
Vanessa77 replied to Mrs. Regular's topic in Live Blogs
Looking forward to it! I agree, most blogging perspectives here seem to be suite class and above. From the first 10 blogs at the time of the comment, 7 are confirmed suites, 2 were not and one I couldn’t determine yet. A suite experience is nice to read every now and then, but I do like to read about experiences that will be similar to my own. -
Australia/NZ Cruising News
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
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hi! I can try to answer some of your questions, however I’ve not yet been on Ovation. I’ll be going for the first time in December! 1) this depends. If you are prone to seasickness then the best place to be is center ship in both length and height. In terms of port/star board I don’t think it matters. Obviously port you have the port view when docked, bus otherwise I can’t see why it would matter. 2) I haven’t tried the spacious ocean view but my last was an ocean view and my next is a balcony. I did visit a spacious ocean view on a voyager class and it was quite nice. Keep in mind the cabin you’re referring to being ‘forward’ will be the sort of place where you’ll feel the most movement. 3) I believe what you say is correct however I’ve never done it so not 100% sure. Recommend booking refundable fares just in case. 4) I was under this impression also for my first cruise, however this advice was specific to North American cruising and was never applicable in Australia. When I checked in they let me join the queue 30 minutes ahead of time, but wouldn’t let my sibling and family as their time was 1.5 hours away. Now that the pandemic has hit royal is being very strict with boarding times everywhere, so you need to stick to the boarding time you choose. Do not arrive early.
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Australia/NZ Cruising News
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
I suppose that it's possible they've all sold out, but the RC site is no longer showing 21/22 season dates. Nothing until the start of the 22/23 season. -
Looking Forward. Like waaaay forward.
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Thanks @Matt! Putting it in my Calendar ? -
Just wondering, do we know when the 2023-24 season will be released? Although we've had our upcoming cruise cancelled and our next wont be until Dec 2022, I'm pretty sure that I've solidly got my fiancé onboard with cruising being a pretty solid choice for our preferred holiday style. So to that affect I want to be on top of the next release of cruises! I'm keen to potentially try a suite for our next booking (potentially with family) and I know the best rates and room combinations will be available at release. Thanks!
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Australia/NZ Cruising News
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
Nothing of interest to me unfortunately. They’re mostly short cruises and I really prefer the longer sailings. It’s not really valuable for me to spend $300-500 on return flights and accommodation to Sydney when the cruise is only 5 nights long and only visits one port. Happy to see the cruise industry getting a restart though! I wondered if some announcements might be made following the release of the road map, so I hope it all goes smoothly! Fortunately I already had a back up cruise for December 2022! Unfortunately said cruise is still 506 days away ? -
So someone that is a part of the FB group for my next sailing on Ovation on 08-Jan-22 just posted this to the group. The originally had a 4 day booked immediately before the 12 night NZ cruise. That 4 nighter has been shortened and re-named. GUYS! WHAT DOEA THIS MEAN!?!??
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What's one thing you will never do on a cruise?
Vanessa77 replied to Matt's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
This is not technically and on the ship thing, but I will never do a ‘resort for a day’ excursion. You leave the ship where you have a pool, free flow drinks (if you’re like me), all inclusive food and great service to pay to go to another place that has……a pool, free flow alcohol, all inclusive food, and great service. I just don’t get it! It seems like you are paying for something the ship already provides. Sure, sometimes there is a beach involved, but surely you can go to beaches without this pay charge. And if you don’t like beaches then why not just stay on the ship? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -
Australia/NZ Cruising News
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
Anyone else super surprised that they haven’t just thrown the towel in for the whole season? Like, that’s exactly what I was expecting. Not sure if I should be taking this as a hopeful sing that my Jan cruise has a chance of going ahead, or just that the cruise lines are dreaming and trying to keep our money for as long as possible ?? -
Hi all, Next time I cruise I’m wanting to try the Windjammer for dinner, which I never did on my last cruise. I hear there are different themes each night, and the offering changes each night along with the standard crowd pleasers. My question is, how do you find out what the theme is for the night? I don't recall seeing this highlighted in the CC, and therefore didn’t know until later in the cruise when all my dining was already planned. On my next cruise we have the 5 night package, plus I want to try Solarium Bistro, and I’m a big fan of the MDR. So hoping I can find the info to plan everything around what we don’t want to miss in the MDR/what we want to try at the buffet. I feel like planning food is the biggest planning burden for this cruise ?
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Agreed. I think it will certainly make the return to cruising faster and easier however let’s not forget that even before covid the media and those who didn’t know better vilified cruising as a dirty ‘petri dish’. Cruiselines have always done as much as they can to protect passengers from sickness and avoid that stereotype and they will continue to do so for covid.
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Australian Cruises Final Payment Suspended
Vanessa77 replied to F1guynz's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
When is your cruise? I haven’t gotten that one yet. -
Australia/NZ Cruising News
Vanessa77 replied to Vanessa77's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
Will you also risk the inability to return home for months with associated costs, and the cost of paying for 2 weeks in quarantine? ?? As keen as I am to go on a cruise, leaving the country (for the foreseeable future) to go on one is nowhere near as easy as you make it sound. -
I’ve personally been seated at a family group of 11 - could easily have seated 14. Any more than that I wouldn’t see why it’s feasible or even necessary. If you have a table of 20, 2 thing will happen: - one end can’t talk to the other end anyway - because of above, everyone will change seats each night anyway Because of that I can’t feasibly see why one table would be preferable over 2 tables next to each other. Easier for the waiters, probably easier to actually position in the dining room, and if more than ~28 sign up then get a third table and continue with the above.
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I second this, with one caveat; it depends on how long your cruise is. if your cruise is 7nights or less, for your first time I don’t recommend getting an unlimited package. If you are on a quantum or oasis ship you’ve already got a few dinner options including (at minimum) the main dining room, buffet, and solarium bistro*. Try each of them twice and you’ve got heaps of variety and perhaps choose one of the specialty that appeals to you for the the spare night. *this is not to mention the large variety of other casual eateries such as the dog house, cafe 270, park cafe, el loco fresh etc. I say this as a person that did buy a dining package on my first cruise. However, it was a 9 night cruise on voyager of the seas which literally had a grand total of 3 included places to eat for all meals: main dining room, buffet, and cafe promenade. my next cruise is on a quantum class ship for 12 nights and I’ve bought a 5 night package. With 7 nights and all breakfast/lunches still to spend at the included venues I’m worried I’ll miss out on all the tasty included food! Go with a package if you really want to, but don’t get the unlimited one. There is good food on the ship at the included venues which is well worth trying.