Jamesszy94

On 10/23/2021 at 10:53 AM, Chili said:

I think it’s more than it seems.

China is threatening to block some ships in retaliation for coming sanctions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Australia allows cruises they might swap spectrum for Quantum in Singapore and send Quantam down under.

They actually did send Quantum down under 

Admittedly I don't cruise as much as I'd like to, but I love all the info that Matt gives us here, in his videos and the podcast. I'm still trying to follow his advice and look for a TA... but none here in Australia.

3 hours ago, Bazza said:

Weirdly I was thinking exactly same when I did my first Miami cruise this month and saw so many ships - also happened to be in St Maarten when it was the busiest day ever so saw 5 ships as well as Grandeur that day!

I really like the RCI ships that have the blue hull, and even more so when the large letters are printed. Back of Anthem looked gorgeous. I also liked the name on the side of the top deck on Freedom. 

I was looking at the other cruise lines too and thinking what I liked and didn't like in terms of livery/appearance etc.

I think from the back MSC Seaside & Seascape looked lovely. 

Virgin Voyages livery and design looks really cool. 

Really do not like any of the Carnival ones I have seen to date!

The brand new P&O Arvia looked good.

Celebrity Edge did not 'float my boat' despite the external restaurant - I think maybe the dark blue is not as sexy as the RCI light blue?!

NCL - just cannot bring myself to like the kindergarten wallpaper effects!

Not seen any Princess to comment on but from photos they are 'ok'.

Disney looks like Cunard with a ribbon and some ears!

So subjective like most things!

 

What even is this livery.... I like Royal's cause it's simple. I think Royal has the best livery of any design. Most of Celebrity's ships are too blue for my liking even though Blue is my favorite colour.

25 minutes ago, Chili said:

They put in a new duel gangway about 5 years ago that is supposed to Oasis ready.

Do you mean these ones? Because apparently according to Wikipedia those were removed in 2018....

Unless you mean this article: https://www.nsw.gov.au/news/sydneys-cruise-terminal-receives-major-upgrade

"In July 2019, two additional, custom-built walkways, carrying 5000 passengers each arrived at the OPT to support visits from future larger cruise ships. The NSW Government has placed these gangways in time for the 2019-2020 summer cruising season, and are projected to deliver around 1200 passengers every 30 minutes" 

I mean this is nice and all but the terminal itself is still tiny

25 minutes ago, Chili said:

We won’t see a oasis for a while ,we just don’t have the market for one.

There’s a few ports that have been upgraded to take one ,including Sydney OPT.

OPT has had 50t bollards installed,the birth box has been enlarged and the new gangway put in is designed for a oasis style of ship.

But as @twangstersaid OPT terminal just isn’t in the race to check passengers in.

Brisbane,they can’t fill Quantum so it won’t be going there.

We will just have to wait for a new Port Botany terminal .

Really? I didn't know they upgraded the OPT, I guess they'd have to with ships getting bigger and bigger, I think the biggest ship that's been moored at OPT is still Ovation?

Are there actually plans to build a newer and bigger terminal in Sydney? Or is it all just hearsay or broken promises by NSW

I could be wrong, I feel like most of the cruise lines that operate out of Australia only sail around Australia (Queensland, Cairns etc), South Pacific cruises and the occasional New Zealand route.... and then you have the repositioning ones that sail outside of those areas, which happens once or twice a year.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

NSW has been flirting with the idea of a new cruise terminal nearby Sydney but one report makes it look like it's progressing then another report makes it look like it dead.  Until something concrete is announced it's Brisbane.  

That's unfortunate, I feel like if the NSW government ever did build a new cruise terminal that could accommodate bigger ships, it would generate so much more tourism for the cruise industry in Sydney (not that Sydney needs anymore tourism We already get plenty, but you know what I mean). We could get the Excellence-class Carnival ships or even (finally...) an Oasis ship  the only question is... where in Sydney would they build a new cruise terminal... (either build a new one, or upgrade the existing one)

So I know Wonder and Odyssey have the larger livery of their names on the side of the ship, do we know if Icon or future Royal ships for that matter will also have the larger livery or will they go with the smaller one on most of their other ships?

I actually quite like the larger livery! Considering a big name for a big ship!

4 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Yes, Utopia is the 6th and final Oasis class. Closest in design to Wonder, but LNG powered like Icon class. Kind of a hybrid of Oasis and Icon class... somewhat of a bridge to Icon class. What Wikipedia refers to as "Third Generation Oasis Plus (2022-24)"...

 

EDIT: This is likely Wonder, but every search leads to this image. I would imagine she would be mostly identical to Wonder in the public spaces. I just hope her decor will be more tropical or "Western" like Odyssey and Oasis (post-amplification).

 

Just a cool updated pic... latest pic posted by Michael Bayley (or likely his staff!)... https://www.facebook.com/MichaelBayleyRoyalCaribbean

That's so sad seeing Allure as the only one that's still 225,000 GT! 

4 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Actually, Icon is a brand new class at almost 251K gross tons compared to Oasis (225K-237K tons)... Utopia is the last of the Oasis class.

I wonder if there will be another Quantum Plus vessel in the future (maybe an LNG version) and/or similarly-sized new LNG class. I know, Wikipedia is not the bible, but at least it provides some interesting info...

Wasn't Odyssey supposed to be the final Quantum ship?

8 hours ago, twangster said:

I'm not sure "slightly" larger properly captures the difference between Oasis and Quantum class. 

Nearly 2,000 more guests. 

They don't use small terminals in Florida for Oasis class because they don't work when boarding 6,500+ people.  OPT is smaller than even the smallest cruise terminals in Florida. 

When Oasis was being built they built a mega terminal in Port Everglades just for her and subsequently for her sister Allure.   Part of the business plan for Oasis class was a mega terminal in order to make it possible to turn around so many mega ship guests in the same amount of time.  Miami didn't see an Oasis class ship until they built terminal one, a.k.a the Crown of Miami specifically for Oasis class.  They knew better than to try to use the other terminals in Miami which are two to three times the size of OPT.  OPT from a cruise terminal perspective is pretty small.  It has zero space for waiting areas.  They don't let the people into OPT until the ship is boarding because there is no space inside the OPT to hold people.

In Barcelona they use two cruise terminals to handle Oasis class.  One wouldn't cut it so they split the traffic between two cruise terminals.  

They didn't bring Oasis class to Texas until they built a mega terminal in Galveston.  When they had to delay terminal construction in Galveston for one year they redeployed Allure and cancelled a year's worth of cruises from Texas because they knew better than to try to make Allure work from the other cruise terminals in Galveston which are much larger than OPT.  

MSC has the same challenge with World Europa.  They can't bring her to the US right now because there is no terminal big enough for her and Royal isn't sharing their Oasis capable terminals.   So while MSC builds a terminal in Miami, which is under construction, World Europa and her future sister ships can't come to the US until it's complete.

The other issue is the extensive ferry traffic near OPT.  With Oasis class being much wider it would severely impact ferry operations.  The extra 20m beam at the waterline means there is that much less space for the constant coming and going ferry traffic to share the rest of the space.  It's the width of Oasis class that sets her apart from any other class of ship.

But mostly it's about OPT being a very small cruise terminal.  It can't handle the passengers or provisioning of a mega ship.  

Yes! Haha, I used slightly cause I couldn't think of any other word.

You'd think Sydney... being so big... we'd have a bigger cruise terminal, but nope, I guess that's one of the downsides of having the Harbour Bridge Not everything can fit under. I guess that's why OPT is the main cruise terminal and then only the smaller P&O ships use WB Terminal

Hmm, you're absolutely right, I haven't cruised since.... 2017... so I don't really remember the size of the OPT, but now that I think about it, it was pretty small compared to some of the other terminals I've been in, I guess when and if  Royal ever send an Oasis class ship down, it'd have to home port in Brisbane.

On 1/18/2023 at 10:45 AM, twangster said:

In most other places there is no leed for a cruise line to invest money into port development and to ensure exclusivity.  In most ports outside of the US there isn't enough cruise volume to justify or requiring terminals dedicated to one company.

Australia has an Oasis capable terminal in Brisbane.  It's brand new.  The problem is it's Brisbane, not Sydney.   Tokyo built an Oasis capable terminal.  None of these required Royal to build them.  

Royal can't fill Navigator in LA.  It will be a very long time before an Oasis class goes to LA, if ever.  

I mean, I know Oasis class is slightly larger than the Quantum class ships, we do indeed have an Oasis capable terminal in Brisbane, but I also think our port here in Sydney should be capable of docking an Oasis-class, Quantum and Ovation cruise from the Overseas Passenger Terminal during the Summer months here... I guess it depends on the cruise market down here and if Royal can justify sending an Oasis class down here.

I'm still hoping that once things go back to normal here in Australia re: cruising, Royal will send one of the Oasis class down here - although, from what I've heard, we've got pretty strict biosecurity laws so all the plants down the promenade will either have to be removed and replaced with something else or Royal will need to think of something!

I really just want to experience one of the Oasis class ships..

Heck.... we'll even take Allure or Oasis!

I know Allure, Adventure, Explorer and Liberty are all supposed to get upgrades but those have been postponed indefinitely, any ideas if any of the Quantum class ships will be upgraded eventually? I'm aware they're very different in terms of having not having water slides, royal promenade etc  was just thinking if there were any features they could add etc. I'm also aware that the Quantum class ships are still relatively new compared to all the ships that have received upgrades so it could be a while

If you need an extension cord or a power outlet of some kind, I'm pretty sure you can just ask your room steward for one, they're happy to give you one (Unless that's changed, haven't been on a Royal Cruise in a couple of years), I asked for one on my last Royal Cruise and the room steward one had one ready for me when I got back to my room, unless you need your own for whatever reason.

The last few cruises I've been on, we've tipped every single staff member we interacted with except one - maybe that person was having a bad day or something had happened, but he just wasn't very friendly or polite to anyone, and he had gotten our order mixed up a few times! Gratuities going up isn't surprising to me, especially in this day and age where COVID19 is still very much a problem and not just the cruising industry, but every industry is having trouble attracting workers. 

Does anyone know if MEI caters to people who live in Australia?.... I wanted to use Harr Travel but they don't cater to people in Australia....yet. 

5 hours ago, luv2sail said:

Just off Ovation and we were able to do North Star free in Seattle. I know you had to pay when cruising Endicott Arm.  You are only able to schedule one free ride per person.

It must have changed sometime after 2017 then, because my mum was able to get two free rides during the sailing, albeit, one of them was because there was noone queueing - so not sure if that counts tbh

Is the North Star on Quantum Class ships still complimentary? Or do we have to pay now? When I sailed Ovation, it was free on port and sea days, so just wondering if that's changed now.

On 6/23/2022 at 10:40 AM, Suite Snob said:

Why would you want to buy a knife anywhere else?  Australia has some of the best knives in the world!  Just ask this guy:

LOL

Because It would have been a souvenir

When I was in Alaksa, I wanted to buy a couple of these, but we were flying home to Australia from LA, so we didn't want to risk having them in our luggage.

11 minutes ago, Suite Snob said:

I mean, Brand X's Sunrise sucks.  It is the Sunrise that turned me against Brand X. 

That's unfortunate, while I've only been on one of that Cruise Line's ships, I didn't really like the atmosphere, it was very party atmosphere....

Titan(ic) of the Seas

Medusa of the Seas

Aphrodite of the Seas

Defender of the Seas

Illustrous of the Seas

Athena of the Seas

Keeper of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas 2

Poseidon of the Seas

Zeus of the Seas

Of the seas of the seas

Royal of the Seas

Caribbean of the Seas

Hype of the Seas

Jester of the Seas

Majesty of the Seas (2.0)

Kraken of the Seas!

Excellent write up and pretty much almost how I remember Ovation when I sailed on her back in 2017....(there was one incident during one of the shows though that completely ruined the cruise for me though)

Back then you had to book for the NorthStar, not sure if that's still the case now....also, it was free back then

I'm not really much of a pool person (something about being self conscious about my body) so the pools being filled with teenagers didn't really bother me.

But also...Ovation is only 6 years old, Ruby Princess is almost 14 years old, so she's bound to show some wear and tear at some point... 

9 hours ago, twangster said:

You missed Triumph of the Seas, aka Sunrise of the Seas.  

I knew I was forgetting one....

10 hours ago, twangster said:

It was never announced officially but in the days of Lelepa which also suffered a pandemic induced delay and with more ports moving towards Oasis capable the writing was on the wall that Oasis would be coming down under.  No date or ship was officially announced.   

I have spoken to Lazslo, Royal's head botanist who installs all the Central Parks about Australia.  First of all they can't re-home plants between ships or to land.  Once a plant comes on board the only way it leaves is through the incinerator.  That applies in all regions.  He lives in Florida now and guests from Florida ask him all the time if they can take any of the plants home when they replace items in Central Park.  No plant comes off the ship.  Ever.   

While the US and Europe are not as strict as Australia there are agricultural laws in all regions. Millions of dollars go into Central Park plants.  Ripping it bare is literally burning up millions.  A few years ago Lazslo once stated Australia will never see Oasis class because of Central Park.  Since he made that statement in 2018 I've kept it in the back of my head knowing that there is a concept of Oasis class down under brewing in Miami.

When Wonder debuted in March I was eager to investigate Central Park.  I was curious to see if they had any issues with the plant selections for China now that the ship was actually in America.  I also wanted to see if Central Park used live plants or fake ones on the premise of a concept or wish that Wonder may have been built with a goal of eventually splitting time in Australia.  Lazslo was of course there in Wonder's Central Park in March.  The Central Park I saw was the Central Park installed for China he told me.  All of the plants were acceptable to the USDA (our federal agricultural regulator) but not all of the plants would survive in the North American climate.  He was working on the plan to replace plants as they died off in the Florida heat, replacing them with species that are known to handle the Med and Florida better. 

So for now the issues related to Central Park down under remain unsettled.  It's not just when the ship initially arrives down under, it's an issue every time the ship re-enters Australia week after week, cruise after cruise.   Cruise ships don't get a free pass from Australia's very strict agricultural regulations.  On every cruise there is the potential that Central Park has picked up a pest on that cruise at some other port and could be introducing that pest to Australia.  Oasis class may be the only ships in the world that have such a large volume of live plants and outdoors so it is a unique situation.  Time will tell how they handle this.  

He also told me that every time an Oasis class ship does a turn around at a US home port a USDA inspector comes on board.  Every time.  So while not as strict as Australia, it's taken very seriously here as well.  

Hmm interesting, thanks for the insight.

How likely is it that RCI deviate yet again with Utopia and don't install Central Park (or at least the plants)? So that she's suitable for cruising in Australia? I'm guessing probably like a 1% chance