Jamesszy94

Fortune of the Seas

Magic of the Seas

Serene of the Seas

Pacific of the Seas

Fascination of the Seas

Luminous of the Seas

Breakaway of the Seas

Getaway of the Seas

Escape of the Seas

Encore of the Seas

Miracle of the Seas

Conquest of the Seas

Glory of the Seas

Valor of the Seas

Liberty of-oh wait this one exists already

Freedom of-oh wait this one also exists

Dream of the Seas

Breeze of the Seas

Vista of the Seas

Horizon of the Seas

Panorama of the Seas

Mardi Gras of the Seas

13 hours ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

I love the sound of this, but the definition of a nova doesn't seem desirable in the context of a cruise ship. 

"a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to its original state over a few months."

I mean.... Royal did trademark this one recently.... so

13 hours ago, twangster said:

They were plans for Oasis class down under but the pandemic has paused that.  

I'm still trying to figure out how they plan to deal with the very strict agricultural laws down under.  Central Park has thousands of live plants and many different species.  It's still not clear to me how they plan to deal with that in Australia.  Maybe Utopia won't have live plants in Central Park.  Time will tell.   

Wait?! Was this actually confirmed like RCI were going to send an Oasis-class ship down here?! If so - do we know when and which? (I'm guessing it'd probably have been Oasis or Allure, since we're probably not good enough for Harmony, Symphony or Wonder, by that, I mean our cruising industry isn't as big as the US (obviously) and there's only so many destinations that Royal ships go to sailing out of Sydney ) Maybe they'll go into drydock to remove all the live plants and rehome them to another Oasis class ship and use fake ones? Or maybe like you said, Utopia won't have live plants and it'll be designed specifically for the Aussie market! Would love that.... then I'd be able to sail on her every week....

As long as we also get one of the Icon class ships..... I'll be a happy camper.

Nova of the Seas

Beauty of the Seas

Beast of the Seas

Wonder of the Seas 2

Spectacle of the Seas

Honestly, y'all American peeps are so lucky, you get almost every Oasis-class ship.... meanwhile all we get are Quantum-class and Voyager-class ships (which I mean don't get me wrong, they're great but it's like)... come on RCI! Send us Oasis... or even Allure (tbh, I don't even care if she doesn't get her Amplification, I just want to experience an Oasis class ship and I think her not having her amplification is what stands her out apart from the other Oasis-class ships)...or you know... I'll even take Harmony, I doubt they'd ever send us Symphony or Wonder though... but who knows, maybe when Utopia is out they will send an Oasis-class down our way.

I've only been on Ovation... so I guess Ovation?  When we sailed on her back in 2017.. she was still pretty new.... I think her, Quantum and Anthem were the =4th largest ships in the world? Only behind Oasis, Allure and Harmony and I remember discussing with the people I was cruising with that Symphony would be out soon...

(We don't get many non-Quantum/Voyager class ships down here in Australia!)

We have Quantum of the Seas in Brisbane and Ovation of the Seas in Sydney for the 2022-2023 sailing season...

We're scheduled to get Enchantment for the 2023-2024 season though...

I mean in the grand scheme of things, it's probably more worth it to travel as a solo in a double occupancy room for the double C&A points, but I got curious and did a number of mock bookings to see if I could snag a studio cabin. 

I was right

I'm like 98% sure a studio cabin is supposed to be much cheaper for solo travelling... but look what I found

The studio cabin was $3012 when I looked at it 3 days ago...

5 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I don't think there is a list of refurbished cabins. I believe they do this during drydock and amplification. I don't know if Oasis will have been drydocked or amplified by next spring.

If you mean Oasis receiving another amplification - maybe not likely anytime soon - especially seeing as how Allure still hasn't gotten her FIRST , a drydock for refurbishments? Maybe 

When people wear shorts and thongs into the MDR on formal night, like I get Royal doesn't enforce the dress code and you can wear what you like...but you could at least give it a go....and put on a nice shirt and jeans or something

To be fair though, Enchantment is like what? 25 years old  there's bound to be wear and tear from all the cruising she's done in her life time and the thousands of passengers that have sailed on her! Of course she's not going to look as pristine and new as something like Odyssey.

I might just go with Ovation, since I've already sailed on her before and know what to expect, plus I won't have to spend $ on flights and can use that money for other stuff

3 hours ago, Koepper said:

Was on Oasis in January and the ship looked great.

Was on Enchantment in May and the exterior was sad looking. Rust all over the ship. Rust also interior in the dining room along the up stairs windows. Exterior handrails also desperately needed varnish. Still had a great trip but the poor ship was in need of TLC.

Unfortunately I think Royal will probably continue to let her deteriorate and then sell it off as they focus on their Oasis, Quantum and Freedom class ships. And also their Voyager class ships

7 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We sailed on Oasis in Dec. 2019 right after the amplification.  While I think it's true that they didn't do a lot of cabin renovations, generally, they actually did quite a bit of work on the Grand Panoramic Suite.  We had new curtains, new bed and while we were onboard, they replaced the carpeting in the bedroom. I suspect that the shutdown pretty much ended any further large scale renovations and they will probably be slow to start those back again.

I've got a feeling Allure won't be getting her amplification until at least the end of next year/early 2024....by then, Utopia and Icon will be out though so who knows.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Fort Lauderdale isn't too bad but that extra hour to Miami feels like an extra 3 hours.  We are fortunate to have so many ships to choose from sailing from Port Canaveral and different ships coming on the horizon.

Spectrum is sailing from Singapore now so it's entered the realm of possibility if my goal is sailing different ships.  So far Singapore is still too far for me to make the effort worth it.

Who would have thought Mariner would come back from Asia?  Who would have thought Voyager would also be in the Atlantic sailing the Caribbean?  I had all but resigned myself to never sailing Wonder.  

Wait long enough and your ship might sail into a port closer to home.

I also thought about sailing on Spectrum, but it seems like she only does 3 and 4 night cruises...

3 hours ago, twangster said:

I've sailed Ovation three times including New Zealand and I've recently sailed Quantum.  While I understand the concept or desire to sail different ships in this case Ovation and Quantum are so very similar I would be hesitant to spend any additional money and/or add flights into the trip just to say I sailed on a different ship.  

In most places around the ship if I magically teleported you back and forth between Quantum and Ovation you'd have a hard time guessing which ship you were on.  Are "bragging rights" worth the additional cost and hassle of flights just to say you sailed on XYZ ship?  

If the Brisbane itinerary was different in a significant manner that's one thing but how much are the flights and how far would that additional money go towards booking a whole different cruise?

If it was a different class of ship that's one thing but these two sister ships are so very similar.  

Flights to/from Brisbane are relatively cheap all year round. I live in Sydney, and a return trip can be anywhere between 150-250 depending on if they have a sale.

Enchantment is coming down here next year and for the 2023-2024 season, so I guess I could try sailing on her too.

Thanks for the input guys. I guess I want to try Quantum since it's a "new" ship, but I also wouldn't mind sailing on Ovation again, I had a wonderful time on there, bar one night where a passenger was being very rude during the shows.

So Royal Caribbean has two ships down under for the 2022-2023 cruising season - Ovation and Quantum and three for the 2023-2024 the aformentioned two and Enchantment. I sailed on Ovation back in 2017 and am looking at a New Zealand cruise for early 2024 - Ovation has an itinerary I want to go to, but I've already sailed on her before....I'm wondering if I should fly to Brisbane instead and sail on Quantum that does a very similar itinerary, since it'd be a new ship for me. 

Or should I fly to Hawaii and do the 18 day transpacific....

8 hours ago, twangster said:

Booking with a US agency can also mean that Australia specific differences are lost.  Gratuity for example will be charged per US rules plus any Australian consumer protection laws won't be available.  That may be fine with you just calculate that into the pricing and overall comparison.  You will be booking as an American so American rules will apply.  

When I sailed from Sydney I had to pay the daily gratuity charges per US policy but I booked using a US travel agency so I knew that.   

Yeah, I thought about this, this is also why I am hesitant to book with US TA's.

I really want to support Danny and the guys/girls at Harr Travel, but the problem is, prices are all in USD... I might decide to just bite the bullet and book with them...

7 hours ago, Sharla said:

Any US agents can book it for you but you'd have to book in US$ which may or may not be good for you. I don't know of any Australia agents but maybe someone here can help.

Yeah I'd rather not use USD to book. The exchange rate from USD to AUD is INSANE.

Trying to book Royal Caribbean cruises...but MEI and Harr Travel are both based in the United States...

My fellow Aussies - which travel agents do you use to book your RCI cruises.

Discover(er) of the Seas?

Renown of the Seas

Tribute of the Seas

Honor of the Seas

Glory of the Seas

Wisdom of the Seas