CruisingOz

Hello All. Came across an interesting video on YouTube about Super Mario. Meet the Happiest Guy in the World

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcBzOesw7sc

1 hour ago, mattymay said:

Interesting Virgin

I am curious to try the ship. Read so much positive and negative reports about the ship and its offerings. It is a good sign of confidence in the Australian cruising market and may attract new cruisers. I hope that with the added competition, it may drive prices down and possibly change Royals offering, offering more inclusions such as wifi and maybe even drinks.   

G'day guys. you will love Australia, and there are so many things to see and do in Sydney and Melbourne. 

Sydney suggestions: Harbour Bridge climb (pre-book well ahead of time), Sydney Opera House and Botanical Gardens, ferry to Taronga Zoo, ferry to Manly and Manly beach, bus to Bondi beach and the Bondi to Coogee beach coastal walk, day tour to the Blue Mountains and Three Sisters, Australian Museum, historical walk through the Rocks, wine day tour to the Hunter Valley, Sydney Hop-On Hop-Off bus. Also new is Sydney Zoo where you can get up close with a Koala - https://sydneyzoo.com/experiences/koala-trail/?gclid=CjwKCAjwsJ6TBhAIEiwAfl4TWKEOWRe--pzzpyELVJY3xoBDiHKCMg2dizL8RJ6yCKWjzwYL1SnlYBoCqJ0QAvD_BwE

Where the Ovation will be docked at is the Overseas Passenger Terminal and it is located where the trains, ferries and buses are. Also walking to many tourist sites. So even on embarkation day, you could drop off your luggage and spend the day sightseeing around the port area.

Link: https://www.australia.com/en/places/sydney-and-surrounds/guide-to-sydney.html

Melbourne suggestions: Royal Botanic Gardena, National Gallery of Victoria, Eureka Sky deck, day tour to Dandenong Ranges, day tour to the 12 Apostles via the Great Ocean Road, Old Melbourne Goal, day tour to Phillip Island and visit with penguins. Lots of cafes and restaurants, and so easy to get around via trams and walking. 

Link: https://www.visitvictoria.com/

Flight to and from via Qantas and Virgin are hourly. You will want at least 2-3 days per city. 

Have an awesome time

1 hour ago, twangster said:

they don't have Odyssey blocks yet

That explains why we have not received our Odyssey blocks. November sounds like a long time away?  

Fantasic suite lounge with both an indoor and outdoor area. Nice place for sunset drinks and socialising 

We hate the canned water and gave feedback to Royal about this. Useless to take on shore excursions, water is not great and contain too much salt which is not good for my wife's blood pressure

Mine is loaded on the website but not my wife. I called them and they said my wife's is active, so maybe just an IT glitch

We did not see the rack at the beach club, but there were quite a few lying on the beach, so we grabbed a couple. 

Hey Chris, we are waiting for an invitation for next week too, haha. Will have to wait 172 days to board

Try emailing Royal Diving - royaldiver@rccl.com

Vanuatu to open its boarders in July. Things are looking positive. 

https://www.dailypost.vu/coronavirus_updates/border-to-reopen-in-july/article_88e3166b-eba0-5570-ace0-d66ef6d2cf3a.html?utm_source=SPTO&utm_campaign=f33d5e9fd7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_04_13_01_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a52e4ef901-f33d5e9fd7-1401157377

7 minutes ago, mattymay said:

If you are not 100% loyal to Royal

It is great to see so many offerings but we are focused on that Pinnacle badge for 2024 

Both are excellent tours and give you different perspective and views. We did the train in the AM and the bus in the PM. Best of both worlds. If i could only do one, I would do the train and if affordable do the higher option as you can stand outside on the carriage which I found better for photos.   

We sailed Symphony in February and Nadja did all our booking pre cruise via email. It was much lower capacity then, with only around 2900 on the first leg and 3200 on the second leg. As the capacity may now be higher perhaps protocols are different, but I would not have thought so as the concierge and pre-booking everything is the reason why I would choose a suite.     

Royal would be well aware of how passionate Australians are to cruising but the uncertainty of the region having ports open would be of great concern. Unlike sailing in the Caribbean, where should a port or two close, there are several options for a cruise line to easily be redirected to and still give the customers a similar experience,  cruising locally does not have the same opportunity. If the South Pacific islands are off limit, apart from a cruise to nowhere, there are no similar alternatives.

As a business, Royal needs to make money quickly as loan debts will be upon them soon, and so need to fill ships back to capacity and have the offering in the markets which gives them the greatest opportunity to make money, and that is the US market. 

If we look at cruising numbers pre-covid for 2019, according to CLIA, Australia was the fourth biggest source market. North America 15.4m,  Western Europe 7.2m, Asia 3.7m, and Australia/Pacific 1.3m  

By passenger volume, Australia was fifth. US 14.2m, Germany 2.6m, UK & Ireland 2m, Mainland China 1.9m, and Australia 1.2m 

So as the numbers show, why would Royal send more ships to Australia for the next couple of years, the maths does not add up. the US is roughly 12 times the size of the Australian market. The best we could hope for is one day having an older Oasis class in lieu of a Quantum class, but until Royal's accounts is n the black, their focus will be on the US. 

Source: https://cruising.org/-/media/research-updates/research/2019-year-end/updated/2019-global-market-report.ashx

On 4/6/2022 at 10:48 PM, Matt said:

Email me a link

Thanks Matt, I have emailed you directly

We looked the pricing for a GS but could not justify it for the offerings Navigator has. We decided on a ocean view balcony and used the money to book the four night preceding, so the two cruises worked out cheaper than the GS, and so for us better value.  

Hey @AshleyDillo, sorry to bother you. Are you able to advise what monthly level to take part in the top tier insiders? I am diamond and it notes it as top tier but I do not know how to participate in the additional broadcasts or whether I qualify? Appreciate your feedback.   

Just read an article, Pacific Pulse announcing easing of entry requirements to the islands of Tahiti. Still some hoops but getting better and so this may flow to other French territories, such as New Caledonia. All working towardfs reopening.   

Yes, I believe so. Royal will provide the required test. Review the Q&A YouTube video from the Singapore Cruise Society as I believe they mentioned it. In the US they did it for all the B2B and S2S cruises

Log on to the following site: https://www.clubroyaleoffers.com/

Put in your surname and C&A number and it will show you your casino offers. The status reset 1st April and to date they have not loaded the annual Prime Tier Benefit inside cabin. Should be later this month. It is worth logging on monthly to see other offers they may give you. 

20 minutes ago, Chili said:

Noumea is closed to cruise ships.

Yes, for now. Five months is a long time, so let's see. Noumea was the last port to close down just prior to the cruise shutdwn and so maybe the first to open up?

New Caledonia (Noumea and surrounding islands) are open to tourist who are double vaccinated and who had a PCR prior to boarding the plane. So cruising from Sydney will most likely be only for the fully vaccinated and covid test prior to boarding the ship. This should mean that we can cruise there. Vanuatu may be a possible issue. Still five months and a lot can change. 

Sherpa New Caledonia 

https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions/NCL?originCountry=AUS&nationality=USA&departureDate=2022-04-06&returnDate=2022-04-13&tripType=roundTrip&transitType=noTransit&fullyVaccinated=true&language=en-US  

9 hours ago, AndrewPunch said:

Nadja and Jennie

They are great ladies in the Symphony Suite Lounge, getting reservations we wanted and helped with any changes or needs.  

150 Central Park, the whole menu, especially the fried cheesecake