CruisingOz

One strategy is to book one of Serenade's 10 night round trip cruises from Tampa that stop in Colon.  There you can book an excursion boat that goes into the canal.  Cheaper cruise fare and you get a closer look at the canal in a smaller tour boat.  Best of both worlds.
Jan. 18, 2023
Feb. 22, 2023
10 night cruise means less days of PTO consumed.  

Hello Community,
Sailing through the locks of the Panama Canal is high on our bucket list. Looking through various sites we see that Royal has sailing which sail close on the Alantic side but only saw one actual transit cruise through to the Pacific which was cancelled; was supposed to sail in February. I see other lines like Princess and Holland have some but we would like to stay loyal to Royal.
Does anyone know when they might be scheduled to release a transit sailing? Perhaps I am searching incorrectly, so is there certain destination or departure ports I should be searching by? 
Also if anyone has done a transit sailing, would love any hints or tips.     

You are so knowledgeable and always extremely helpful with great details. Thank you for your help throughout all our posts. 
I would love to have you go up against Matt in a Royal quiz, I suspect you may put Matt to shame, LOL

You are so knowledgeable and always extremely helpful with great details. Thank you for your help throughout all our posts. 
I would love to have you go up against Matt in a Royal quiz, I suspect you may put Matt to shame, LOL

Serenade has a full transit that is bookable now for Oct 2, 2022.  It's eastbound Los Angeles to Tampa.
Radiance will need one as well westbound from Miami to California in 2022 before the Alaska season starts but it hasn't been posted yet.
The easy way to see when they appear is to search for cruises on Royal's website with the destination set to Panama Canal.   When there aren't any it doesn't appear as a destination. 

Keep in mind you will only sail through locks into Gutan Lake and do an about face. A transit is so worth it. Can't wait to do it again. 

We have had great success with Casino Royale, they have been very accommodating. We have successfully moved our comp cruises and also had a few cruises where we had applied the dollars off certificates. The cruises have been cancelled twice round and each time they have moved the dollars off certificate value to the next / new sailings. Third round of bookings I hope is lucky and we finally sail.
I know that Casino Royale will honour our status, but reading they may offer a comp cruise with consideration we could not sail would be unreal, so fingers crossed on that. Being from Australia we don't get any offers due to some local legislation on international gambling so for us it is just a matter of calling once a month and have a chat to them.
    

The attached link gives the details
 
https://www.rclinvestor.com/contact-us/faqs/shareholder-benefit/

Possibly there is that fear, but for majority of the country our winters are quite mild. The vaccine rollout is powering along. 
On a positive note CLIA reports that talks with the government about a plan to restart cruising is progressing and even a news channel who has run several negative stories on cruising had a recent positive story. With all that is happening in Australia, I honestly believe we should see a resumption in cruising by September and Royal is well placed to fill the pent up needs to cruise. 

Possibly there is that fear, but for majority of the country our winters are quite mild. The vaccine rollout is powering along. 
On a positive note CLIA reports that talks with the government about a plan to restart cruising is progressing and even a news channel who has run several negative stories on cruising had a recent positive story. With all that is happening in Australia, I honestly believe we should see a resumption in cruising by September and Royal is well placed to fill the pent up needs to cruise. 

Bridgetown itself isn't much, nor is it all that enjoyable. It's a good way to see the real Barbados away from the resorts, but as far as a vacation goes, I would recommend only spending part of a day in Bridgetown itself, and getting a hotel/resort instead as a way to get in to the vacation mode. Definitely don't view it as a city...more of a town that happens to be the largest in the country. 

Thank you.
I have reached out to Royal locally and they do have access to Air2Sea and in AUD. They don't seem to offer it on the website but the call centre can quote. I need to make the payment in full. Looking at the US site for pricing, it seems slightly more locally as Royal International must take a slice of the exchange rate. They do offer refundable fares and also can book hotels for any pre or post stays. Also they are happy to bool only the Miami to Bridgetown sector (via AA) as I will use my Qantas points to fly to the USA. Also as an FYI, if you book International the US Air2Sea doesnt recognise the booking reference, but this is the same as follow ups with Casino Royale.
This is probably for a different discussion but one of my issues with Royal is when I book through Royal US or a TA in the US, the booking can't be seen locally by International (Australia/0 and vice versa. Not really a big deal but when we book via the casino Royale and my adult kids book locally in Australia, we can't link reservations for dinners, activities and alike, which becomes a little frustring. One day we ho[e Royal's systems will align to be more seamless?       

Thank you.
I have reached out to Royal locally and they do have access to Air2Sea and in AUD. They don't seem to offer it on the website but the call centre can quote. I need to make the payment in full. Looking at the US site for pricing, it seems slightly more locally as Royal International must take a slice of the exchange rate. They do offer refundable fares and also can book hotels for any pre or post stays. Also they are happy to bool only the Miami to Bridgetown sector (via AA) as I will use my Qantas points to fly to the USA. Also as an FYI, if you book International the US Air2Sea doesnt recognise the booking reference, but this is the same as follow ups with Casino Royale.
This is probably for a different discussion but one of my issues with Royal is when I book through Royal US or a TA in the US, the booking can't be seen locally by International (Australia/0 and vice versa. Not really a big deal but when we book via the casino Royale and my adult kids book locally in Australia, we can't link reservations for dinners, activities and alike, which becomes a little frustring. One day we ho[e Royal's systems will align to be more seamless?       

Throwing my 2 pennies in the mix;
 
I added a refundable flight thru A2S about a month ago. Cruise is for December '21 and agent did ask for my seat request for "United" even though no payment has been made. Airline's own site reflects my flight and seat choice. Maybe it depends on the airline?

You chose your seat with payment made or without payment made?

General info on Air2Sea
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/plan-a-cruise/transportation
There is a link to search for flights on that page.  
If booked direct with Royal you should be able to call Royal in your region to see if you can use the program being from Australia.  A2S is a program for US and Canada.  Given different consumer protection laws and practices you may not be eligible to use it down under.
 

I just did this yesterday !
We are not staying in a hotel (flying in on cruise day) so I can’t help you with hotel info....but we did book air through A2S.  It was very easy for us as we are just flying from Miami.  Obviously your air would be much more complicated but I feel confident that A2S is the way to go for you.
The airfare booked through A2S is completely refundable up until you make final payment at which time it becomes non refundable. You do not pay your airfare until you make final payment. 
Airfare comes 2 ways - either booking a regularly scheduled flight with the airline or a charter flight.  Prices will vary so you just have to call and see which works out best for you.  We went with a charter flight for the moment b/c the regular airline itineraries are not yet out for our sailing (we are more than 330 days from sailing) but once we are within the 330 window I will call back and see if the regular airline scheduled flights work out better.  If they do, I will change.  If they don’t I will keep what I have.
I have a phone number for A2S but I don’t think it will help you, in Oz.
Good luck.  

I chose seats for my A2S flights, or I should say the A2S agent did.  They asked my preferences and knowing the aircraft well I was able to choose my favorite seat on that particular plane. 
Logged into AA directly and confirmed those are my seats.  

I would add that the only issue with Air2Sea is that you cannot reserve  your seat till payment is made. You don't have the option either to see if the seat you want is available. But I do agree in reserving the charter flight. You have nothing to lose especially if the pricing drops.

My daughter was so upset when she lost her Diamond status. Lucky for her, Royal didn't update her status back to Emerald until her was 22 years old, so she managed to sneak in a cruise and enjoy the benefits of the Diamond lounge, (drinking age for down under cruises is 18)
It was funny on her last cruse where she wore her Diamond pin even though she was Emerald, and managed to talk her way into the lounge. She had the drink package but was salty about her status downgrade. It was lots of fun stirring her up about it. Poor baby, LOL 

Here is a link to a post of mine about our shore excursion from Cozumel to Tulum.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/11202-tulum-experience-question/&tab=comments#comment-106616
 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/10435-does-anyone-know-if-there-is-a-chefs-table-on-symphony-of-the-seas/
And it was also discussed in other forums too...

Coastal kitchen hands down lol.
However UDP's are good for the variety and $$$$.
I did UDP and Coastal kitchen on Ovation and found the food much better in Coastal.

Highly recommend Chef's table.  Which is an extra - but held in CK.  Its nice having selected wine pairings with each course of the meal.

Thanks for posting this topic. We’ve been happy with the Junior Suite cabins but are ready to try some Sky class suites starting with a GS. We are D+ now so we have some perks but the additional perks are enticing.