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EmersonNZ

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Everything posted by EmersonNZ

  1. I must admit I really do love being in a country that doesn't normally tip and includes tax and all other costs on the price tag. It makes a heck of a lot easier. Ocassioanlly I'll tip for absolutly exceptional service but or if I seea a servier worker is having a tough day but it is certainly enver expected). It used to be a pain when I lived the US to try and work out the cost of a meal because you had to work out tax and tips on top of the menu price.
  2. I've also tipped in US, AUD and NZ depending on what I had on me (Normally AUD and NZ when sailing out of Aust... I don't normally carry USD going accross the ditch.... of course I don't carry cash much at all these days).
  3. Yep, we just booked a June 2025 8 night on Independance out of Southhampton. I really really with we'd get a Freedom down this way or even get a Voyager class back this way. I am so so over Quantum and Ovation.... I'm pretty close to trying Celebrity or Virgin just for a change of ship.
  4. That's a shame. From that explanation it sounds like they need to take the actual gondla off to replace the glass which will need heavy lifting cranes. If that wasn't the case surely fixing it in place would be possible. It does seem like a strange design to not be able to repalce a glass panel in service. If this was the week after a dry dock it could be 4 years before it is fixed again..... I wonder if they are offering some form of onboard credit as compensation. There will be many people that booked the cruise with the North Star being advertised as part of the entertainment. The North Star is on every advertisment they have for the Quantum so rather a major thing to not be operating. Its not too much of an issue for us as we've been on the North Star plenty of times but there is someone in our party who has never been on a Roayl ship and was looking forward to it.
  5. Does anyone know if it is fixed? I noticed on the ships profile page on the Royal site it says it is not operitonal but not sure if this is still accurate. If so I guess there is no chane it'll be up and running before our cruise in Jan.
  6. I agree. From a market department point of view it would also be a nightmare. All your advertising is around the whole family vacation... confusing that message with 'Whole family vacation apart from this ship' is just confusing to the market. If they wanted to compete in the adults only market you would be more likely to create a subsidiary, move this hip to the new company and market it under a different name. That way you get brand recognition for the subsidiary without confusing the brand and customers of Royal.
  7. I must agree... I'm over Ovation and Quantum. I found the 24/25 season offering pretty stale and a bit boring. It would ha been nice to see a few Melbourne/Hobart/Adelaide cruises. We ended up booking one of the Hobart/Adelaide Ovation cruises (November). I personally would prefer to see a Voyager or Freedom class ship down this way (Would love and Oasis… but will settle with… anything but Quantum at this stage). It just feels a bit the same same.
  8. Whoopsie.... someone had a bad day.... On a positive note... lifeboat floats.... tick
  9. I must admit I am surprised they let Quantum class in there as it is (I love cruising not not sure if Milford is the place for a ship that size.
  10. Bluff could take an Oasis class at the smelter warf but.... it's Bluff (Grew up in Invercargill which is about a 30 min bus from Bluff. After you've visted Qeenspark (IMO best park in the world and I've been toe Hyde Park, Central Central, and Victoria Gardens and still rate it) you haven't got too many locations to visit. Dunedin, Picton, Taruanga can. Auckland Ports (not actually privatly owned as mentioned above rather owned, mostly, Auckland Council) can if they are willing to give up docking space. I'm not sure about Wellington. I'm guessing it could but not sure on that one. Seems to be a few options for NZ, most of which are current ports of call.... the quesiton is... is their the demand and ability to generate revenue in Aust/NZ/Pacific for an Oasis class compared to what they generate in the US/Asia/European market?
  11. Looks like New Zealand is going to help with the rebuilding/developing the wharfs in Vanuatu. Most of the money is to support their interisland shipping which is critical to Vanuatu's economy and infrustracture. https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/130557203/new-zealand-supports-vanuatu-with-10m-to-build-climateresilient-wharfs Hopefully this will also give them the infrustructure to build on and look at upgrading their cruise ship infustrature.
  12. There are a few things to navigate. The newpark reservation system is a bit of a pain. Basically you need to book the park you want to go to each day (You can parkhop after noon to any other park). Also dinning you need to book well in advance for most resturants. If you are staying on site I believe it is now 60 days out (USed to be 180). I'd keep an eye out to make sure this doesn't change. The enw Genie+ is a big step back from FastPass (i.e you have to pay) but at least you don't have to book months out. Good thing about the trael agent for WDW is they will continue to look for a better price even after you are booked so if a special comes out they will rapply it for you (At least MEI does). @rachaelknitsandquilts If you have any dishey world questions from an NZ perspective feel free to let me know
  13. @rachaelknitsandquilts If you book through the Royal website you can reprice if you wish. It'll invovle giving them a ring but the are happy to work with you (Certianly my experaince 2019.... about a life time ago now). We did Harmony in 2020... (yep, 2 weeks before the lockdown) and Royal was happy to reprice for us earlier in the 2019.) The other option might be as @Matt suggests is use a US travel agent. The advantage is you have someone in the US dealing with things for you... and it is Free. If you haven't done a lot of traveling and/or cruising in the US I would certainly recommend this. I've personally used MEI Travel for cruise bookings and Disney World bookings in the past and they have been fantastic (If you are doing Disney World I highly recommend using a travel agent. Planning the D Day invasion was a little easier than planning a Disney trip these days). If you have any questions feel free to reach out
  14. I think you would find that if they thought they would get a bigger profit with an Oasis class ship in Aust/NZ compared to where it is now... the ports would suddenly be 'developed' enough. While Oasis class are massive there are a number of ports in NZ (ok, 5, ironically not Auckland, and 6 if you count Bluff but not sure it is a tourist hotbed) and I imagine a number in Aust that could accommodate an Osasis class technically... I guess the issue would be the cruise terminal capacity for onboarding and customs etc in Sydney and Brisbane which might be an issue but 5,400 pax v 4,200 pax isn't a huge difference there. There is also the competition factor. Royal needs it newest, biggest and flashiness in the Caribbean market as they are competing with every other cruise lines newest and best. In out market and Quantum class is a ‘wow’ ship and has little competition (At least competition that is so much better you’d choose that ship over them). If the market changed and the competition brought in new ships and/or the market was such that competition was so hot you needed every advantage you could get I am sure they would find a way to bring a Oasis class down this way (If they thought they could get more revenue than where it is currently that is) The reality is the Oasis class make more money in their current locations and the current demand can be fulfilled with the odd Quantum class and smaller vessels.
  15. Yep, looking forwrd to our 22 points for our 111 night cruise in Jan. This curise will put us over the Diamond threshold. One thing that kinda worries me is I can't find any reference of the double points offer on any of my documentation but I understand that is normal.
  16. Only if you have the internet package or insite of a cellphone power (Or at least that was as at March 2020..... oh so long ago).
  17. .... Port fees, I bet Port Vila port fees are a lot less than Noumea. I also wouldn't be surprised if there is also some deal in place regarding the private island that includes 'x' number of port visits over the next 'y' years in Vanuatu... I certainly would have included something like that in the negotiations if I was the Vanuatu government.
  18. I am pretty sure iFly was free last time we were on Ovation as well
  19. Chefs Table is a great idea for a honeymoon treat. as Michael mentioned it is a small group and fantastic experaince.
  20. First of all congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding. I would let your state room attendant and dining room staff know that it is you honeymoon. While I wouldn't expect anything I think you will find they will try and make you cruise as special as possible. I would also consider booking a speciality restaurant one night (maybe formal night) and dress up to the nines. Again make sure to let them know you are celebrating your honeymoon etc. There are a couple of gift packages you can add under the gifts section in the cruise planner. I brought the anniversary one for our anniversary cruise which was a nice surprise for my wife when we first arrived in our room Meeting people isn't too hard on a cruise. Everyone is sharing the same experience so it is rather easy to strike up a conversation at a bar, i lines waiting for things etc etc. If you are happy to be seated with others the main dining room is also a good way to meet people. Have an absolutely amazing cruise and again congratulations
  21. Voyager of the Seas in Europe currently allows staff to choose if they wear masks or not. Apparently they are the first ship in the fleet to relax the mask policy. It has been made clear that at high periods of COVID infection rates they will bring back masks for staff. This makes sense for both the safety of staff and also the ability of the cruise line to maintain staffing levels (Even a couple of % of staff members isolating with COVID on top of normal sickness/injury could really disrupt staffing rosters. It's not like you can just call a temp to work for a week while someone is isolating)
  22. After 880 days P&O Pacific Explorer became the first cruise ship to enter New Zealand waters since 2020. I believe Royal Caribbean first cruise ship to arrive back in new Zealand will be Ovation of the Seas which will arriving in Picton on 1st of November (At least I couldn't a RCCL sailing that arrives in NZ before then) 'Kia ora' mean 'hello' in te reo Maori
  23. Another vote for 2 cabins. It gives a space for someone to have some quiet time if they need it. If you have people going to bed or waking at different times it'll be easier and of course 2 bathrooms
  24. That's rather scary to tell the truth..... I would hope that if the Australian authorities require testing before a cruise they tighten up on that a little. If they drop that requirement... fine (at least you sail knowing that is the case which allows you to do your own risk assessment knowing that), but if you have it at least have a procedure in place that makes sure there is some validity in it (and yes, you can test negative today but still bring it on board... at least that is unknown though not potentially knowingly). Be interesting to see how it plays out.
  25. Did you have to self administer the RAT at the port? (I can't imagine that not being the case... how else could they prove it was you that took the test unless proctored? If it was a proctored test which service do use in Australia?
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