CruisingOz

We just want to cruise, whatever it takes. At the end of the day, it is a cruise with all the usual activities, food and drink.

Some perspective, I live in Australia and can't legally leave the country; at least you guys in the US can fly out of the country. You can go to the Carribean, Europe and beyond. I have had several cruises cancelled, one was cancelled 22 days from departure date out of Japan. Royal didn't create Covid and I believe they are doing their best. I have a TA friend, and it is not just RCG, all lines have been cancelling close to sailing dates; poor lady spends her day organising credits and refunds for no income I can understand the frustration with the uncertainty as I have several cruises booked and it is impossible to plan your work, life, flights, etc with all the uncertainty. however it looks like positive change is rapidly happening and each day I read about more positive information

Awesome choice, you will love it.

Kids Menu; my wife always asks for it and the reaction from the waiter is funny; but them she does sometimes oder from it, LOL

We don't really read reviews, as with everything, it is very subjective; and so you need to be mindful of what you read. We are from Australia so normally our cruise season is Sept to April; unlike the US which is all year, so perhapss our comments are limited? We look at the destinations first; somewhere new, somewhere we love to re-visit like a favourite island or excursion; then the ship. Normally it is only my wife and I, so we don't have to cater for kids; however we are big kids and love slides and activities. As suggested in the thread, do some research into the various classes of ships and what they offer as there may be a feature which really resonates with you. As an example, for us we want to do an Oasis class ship and Caribbean from Miami, so Symphony was out choice as it offers us many firsts; but then we want a cruise to relax, sit by the pool and chill, so we picked the Radiance class, Radiance (our favourite ship). On another cruise we want to get back to the iFly and dodgem cars, so a Quantum class would be our pick. Also destination and number of seas days may factor in which ship. An example would be Alaska, we would spend as much time on-shore so by the time we board, we just want a nice dinner, a drink or three and sleep to get ready for the next day; in this case we would not really have the time to enjoy all the activities, so we would gp Radiance class over Quantum class. Do some research but whichever you choose, it is a Royal Caribbean ship and you can't really go wrong.

Jill, do the Wildlife Express, Talkeetna Lodge is lovely and only a short walk down the hill into town. There is a shuttle bus to and from. Great little town on a river, we were lucky enough to be there on the 4th July and it was a blast. Dome train was an experience, with access outside on the back of the carriage. Denali was beautiful, but please be aware that animal sightings are not a guarantee. We were very lucky and saw a mummy brown bear and her two cubs, moose, elk, mountain goats and even Mt Denali, which I was told was rare. The bus with another group did not see the bears but saw a fox; so it is the nature of animals. Go for it, you won't regret it

We had done the land portion through Royal as this was out first time to Alasks so wanted to make sure things go smoothly. It was an excellent experience, and yes on the double points, we too did a JS on the Radiance. We flew in a few days earlier to make sure we weren't jet lagged coming from Australia. There are things to do in Fairbanks; the Drege 8 gold mine experience was an excellent day out, just took a local cab out there. When you meet with your Royal guide they can organise local tours; we did a flight into an indigenous village way north of the Arctic Circle; getting back to the hotel around 2am, but sun was still out as it was June, so that in itself is something new. You are doing it in the right direction, Southbound as we were so tired as you want to pack in as much as you can in a day and at night, you meet so many great people you end up chatting and with no setting sun, you realise after a few drinks; oh it is 1ish, better get to bed for the 6am start. Luggage taken care of, picked up outside your door and is waiting for you upon your return. For us, these types of tours allow us to sample many things and gives us a guide for when we wish to return and do it ourselves; where we might spend two or three days in one place before moving on. As we were going to be traveling for nearly three months, we had two suitcases each; don't judge, packed too much but also left a lot of room for souviners and gift ; however on these tours you tend to live out of a suitcase, so as a suggestion, have a suitcase with everything for the two of you for the week and do laundry when onboard. All the hotels had laundry, we had some done at Denali lodge as there two days but in reality who wants to do laundry when on an adventure. It is an experience of a lifetime which you have to do; no amount of photos and videos can truely convey the magnificence of Alaska and RCL did a great job; expense but we felt it was worth the money. Enjoy

We done a few B2B and you will get an offer to fill a bag with as much as you can stuff into it for a price. We are mindful of what we put in the bag as the washing machine is really hot so some fabrics will shrink; trust me. So we would use the dry cleaning option for anything good; like my wife dress or my suit, which we may have spilt something on and the balance stuff that bag until it nearly bursts. No to last day and back next cruise. Also for B2B you normally have a meeting of the B2B people to advise on what to od, pre-book dinner and alike, so ask them about laundry and they may offer you a special rate for a bag of washing for the next leg.

Hopefully todays news that minister for Tourism Dan Tehan will review the cruise ban this month and provide a pathway to restart

I am ever the optimist, but I dare say you are right. However things are finally starting to move with even minister for Tourism Dan Tehan saying they will review the cruise ban this month, so we may have a plan to resumtion? Fingers crossed. Noticed you are from Melbourne, so wishing you all the best; but the outbreaks down south are not helping the county?

Jump in the pool so people can't see me crying with joy. Float on back and soak up the rays, and be so thankful I can finally cruise again. Oh, and follow this up quickly with a Kraken Lava Flow; then I know I am truly on board.

Hello RCB Community, Happy Memorial Day and thank you to the US service men and women who helped keep Australia safe. I am reaching out the see of any TA's have heard any updates with the sailings for Ovation of the Seas in September. I am booked on a Transpacific September 28th from Hawaii to Sydeny Australia. The sailing is not listed but believe it was sold out just prior to being removed from the website? I can see the Ovations sailing the last Alaskan leg ending in Seattle 10th September, with nothing in-between until October 16th from Sydney Australia (New Zealand round trip) As it stands right now, I can't fly out of Australia, however I have found a loop hole and could fly to New Zealand and then onto Japan and then to Hawaii. Expensive but desperate, so hopefully it won't come to that? With only 119 days to go, I need to put some plan in place as airfare prices are going north. I have accommodation booking in Hawaii and we are both fully vaccinated, so ready to go. Appreciate any "insider" hearsay Thanks and stay safe all

We like to be close to the beach and restaurants so we have stayed at the Sheraton, Hilton and Outrigger. Of the three we prefer the Outrigger as Dukes restaurant is a great place within the hotel, nice pool and walking distance to many shops, Cheesecake Factory, etc; as well the buses stop just outside so easy to get around. Sheraton is more expensive but disliked the adults pool as it was only knee high; we swam in the kids pool which had a slides, which are fun.

For my wife, it was Dog Sledding Adventure on the Norris Glacier by Helicopter. The sled ride by the husky's on a glacier was an amazing adventure with incredible sights and sounds. Cuddles with the husky's was priceless. For me it was the Helmut dive in Bora Bora Tahiti. You spend quite a good amount of time under the water, and armed with a bag of fish food; the large variety of colourful fish and even a sting ray, all come out to play and you are engulfed by the most beautiful looking fish of various sizes.

It is quite a subjective issue and I think you should try it and see. For us we have done a Carnival cruise and it will be very unlikely we will cruise Carnival again. We have only done one from Australia to South Pacific, so not tried one in the US, so might be different? We cruised Royal prior and the quality of the food and service was not the same but it was cheaper as well. Our biggest issue was the lack of security with children running a muck and through corridors at the very early mornings, 2am. We find Royal more appealing and the type of people nicer and not as out of control.

We are both in our early 50's and have had our first jab of Astra, so obviously happy with being vaccinated, if that what it takes to get onto a cruise ship we are all for it. We decided to get it so we can escape fortress Austraslia. Two cases yesterday and restriction back in force, yes just two cases; stop laughing at us, LOL

Royal is doing such a great job in Singapore, and considering our COVID levels and the current bubble with NZ, I still see cruising going ahead in October. I am booked on a transpacific to Sydney late September and a NZ cruise for October so I feel very confident about the NZ cruise. There is talk of a bubble with Singapore and should that be the case we could cruise Royal from Singapore. Vaccine rollout is slow but ramping up; we have had our first one. Even if a long NZ cruise is off the cards, there is no reason why short three and four days cruises to nowhere couldn't take place. Unlike P&O, Royal has lead the pack with protocols, technology and real life results; so daily there is less and less reasons that cruising won't happen in Australia come our summer season.

Thanks Twangster for sharing, and letting us know about these videos

Frustrated that the Royal's booking systems don't allow USA agents to see International bookings, in my case done in Australia and visa versa. If we book via the US and daughter books via International, you can't link a family booking for dining, shore excursions, entertainment, etc. You can't call locally if there is an issue. Also you can only book Club Royale offers via the US and not through International

Hello Community, I thought I would share my recent "fun times" with Royal Caribbean and a possible glitch with their new look cruise planner. Sorry this is long winded. For the recent cruise planner sale I decided to use some of my on board credit to pre-purchase the usual items for an upcoming Symphony sailing. As a side note, I do like the new cruise planner layout, cleaner and easier to navigate. Anyway, all done went to check out, used the on board credit box, putting in the amount of on board credit which has a small balance owing and my credit card details are already set up on the system, and completed the transaction. I went to my next sailing, to repeat process but before doing so I went back to check something and saw my full on board credit was still there and to my horror, upon checking my credit card; it charged me the full amount, not once but twice. So my CC has two charges of $3777 AUD each, filling up my CC right at the end of the month when bills come out; so a little upset. Also unusually never emailed any invoice as normal with Royal transactions. I live in Sydney Australia but booked the cruises through Casino Royale US, so on the phone I go; luckily my mobile plan includes the US. With the time differance, took me a couple calls to find the right number which is open, spoke to the gentleman who did the cancellations, used on board credit and had to charge my credit card a balance again. Frustrating but okay, or so I thought. No emails sent this time either, so flags raised. Later that night checked cruise planner, all good, order history, items reserved; happyish as credit card will sort it self out. Called a few hours later to sort out CC charges as wanted a letter to my bank and was told no purchases and on board credit still there; started story, got disconnected; I think the rooster in the background chewed the telephone wire? Call back, start story, to and fro with lady and supervisor; 40 mins later got disconnected. Called back, tried to talk to same supervisor, no luck and start story again, 36 min and disconnected. No more, I was a broken man. Hours later at work, we had a local power outage so to kill time I called Royal again and started again. With the time diferance it was around 10ish Miami time so was hoping not to be routed to a South American call centre; great staff, but bad phone lines. Finally, this time the whole process to resolve the issue took me over three hours on the phone, and another small CC charge but I have it sorted. Royal IT explinaed that as I booked online and I am from down under, it was Monday at home and Sunday in the US, so that is why I was charged twice, one for Sunday and once for Monday and also as I was from the futore, the booking system online could not work with the date timing and so cancelled all that I did online and what the agent did in the call centre. I order product from the US sites regularly and this is a first? I have booked online for US cruise planner bookings before with no issues; so they blamed the new cruise planner. Despite all the trouble they tell me that the multiple refunds could take up to 45 days and now my CC has nearly $10K tied up until refunds come and the currency exchange fees will be lost money and Royal can't make it process refunds any faster. My wife has sent me to the dog house, thanks Royal. The other issue is Royal systems for US and International are seperate / different, so International (Australia) staff can't view US booking's and vice versa; not even staff in the Miami head office can see International booking details. So I am forced to deal with time differences and can not call local or my TA to resolve any of my US bookings. I question the "international" in RCI? I know my issue is possibly an outlier but having less staff and using off shore call centres during this down time; Royal should make sure the staff at home in the various countries have a phone system which doesn't crackle, and drop out. This is not just a US issue as I have had the same calling the Australian number which also uses off shore call centres with staff at home. I agree with Matt that using a TA is the way to go but in this case when booking using casino promotions, my TA gets nothing for it so I do it myself as times are tough enough for travel agents and I believe they don't need to work for nothing.

Officially our five Key West cruise is now just one stop Labadee, with four sea days. Nice and relaxing cruise by the pool; better get the drink package?

Thank you twangster for taking the time and effort. My wife and I really appreciate all the details and photos, you are amazing.

With Labadee, I am trying to work out if you know the differances with the cabanas you pre-purchase; not Barefoot suite cabanas? At Nellies Beach they are offering Beach Cabana - Waterfront and for slightly more they have just the Beach Cabana? Both are at Nellies Beach. The only description difference is "water access" and "direct water access". These are seperate to the over water cabanas. So do you know the difference as I can't seem to find anything online or through Matt's blogs?

Thank you, as it is only the of us I think we could spend our money better; pr should I say , my wife can spend the money better, LOL. With Labadee, for one sailing we are in a GS Symphony) and another a JS (Radiance). Can I pre-book at Bare Foot beach or need to wait until I board? Also am I correct in saying that the JS won't have access to the suite area, so should I look at an alternative locvation and pre-book?

No, not on the Voyager. We take our food from the Windjammer and go outside. As you exit left (port), there is seating undercover and also be the poolside. Right (stern) is normally the smoking area which we avoid especially with food.