KWofPerth

21 hours ago, Chili said:

Early 2027 I read somewhere. So....year round cruising??

Navigator from Singapore has been released. The 10 nighter on 2nd of January would've been my choice, but for a family of 4 it strecthes the budget just that little bit too far.

17 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

What makes Fiji special? (I'm in the very early stages of getting my ducks in a row for my retirement trip in 2027/28).

Fiona, if you were to take any of the South Pacific cruises on offer currently, you would have a fabulous time. The islands are beautiful, the weather is generally very pleasant, you can't go wrong.

But if you've done that several times over a number of years, you want a little variety, right? That's where we Aussies are coming from. The removal of Fiji from the itineraries removes some of that variety. 'Spice of life', that's all.

6 hours ago, twangster said:

What ports of call is everyone hoping for from Australia?

What is Royal missing that other lines do better from there?

Fiji is the main one for me. That used to be a great destination.

Also, there is only one sailing that goes for longer than 9 nights.  11-12 nights is the sweet spot for me.

I'd also prefer to have two different class of ships. A Radiance class would be great, or a Voyager class.

One further point. The NZ cruises now seem to have excluded visits to both Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.

So in short @twangster , we have seen an erosion in choice of ports, choice of ships, and length of cruises.  As a family of 4 that literally has to fly across a continent to get to the departure port, these factors have been deal breakers for me for a number of years now. Singapore is just as close to me as Sydney and tends to be slightly cheaper, so if I see something that interests me there, I jump at it.

Guurghhh, more of the same. I'll wait for Singapore next week.

9 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

Quantum and Anthem confirmed.

The pricing looks reasonable, noting it is in Aussie dollars, but are not school holiday sailings.

Another point to note, is that the NZ sailing only includes Dusky Sound. No Doubtful or Milford

Meaning of course, Navigator to Singapore. Could be a good option.

7 minutes ago, Chili said:

If it’s true , going to hurt their bookings . The only reason I would go to the South Island is to see the sounds . The rest are all ugly industrial ports .

I've said before and I'll say again, visiting NZ by cruise just doesn't do it justice. It's the perfect road trip holiday.

Saying that, a cruise is a cruise and will still be enjoyable. 

Just now, Chili said:

They were talking about banning ships in Milford 

Looks like it's either happened, or Royal has seen the writing on the wall and doesn't want to advertise what it can't deliver.

Quantum and Anthem confirmed.

The pricing looks reasonable, noting it is in Aussie dollars, but are not school holiday sailings.

Another point to note, is that the NZ sailing only includes Dusky Sound. No Doubtful or Milford

Test loads.

So what are we currently thinking? Navigator to Brisbane, or Singapore?

18 minutes ago, Chili said:

A update on Lelepa would have been better ,that one has been going for years.

Nobody would fall for it at this point.

12 hours ago, Chili said:

It’s just a rumour getting around but apparently that big deal where BlackRock is buying out Hutchison  ports interest in the Panama Canal . Also includes Hayes dock in Port Botany. Hayes dock was proposed as a cruise terminal for Sydney but Hutchison ports rejected it.

Blackrock is a major shareholder in Royal Caribbean.

This is the sort of content that the "News and Rumours" thread was made for!!

1 minute ago, Chili said:

Singapore and Australia is in limbo again 

 

Jinx!

More changes to the deployment schedule??

On 3/15/2025 at 8:56 AM, Chili said:

Celebrity does some pretty good cruises out of Singapore.

Im thinking about the one that goes to India and back on Millennium  .

Theres also Solstice to Hong Kong.

I've had a quick look at Celebrity out of Singapore and they look appealing. With two kids, however, I'd still prefer Royal. So I'll wait to see what itineraries are loaded during the week, and of course how much they cost. Watching with interest!

On 3/14/2025 at 11:50 AM, mattymay said:

I think they are wrong as the test website loads had Navigator in Singapore.

 

I find it hard to believe that Royal would not sail a Quantum Class out of Singapore. So would this mean that they will operate two vessels from Singapore, and only one Q class out of Australia??

I daresay I will try to book a Navigator sailing, whichever port it sails out of in 26/27.

2 hours ago, mattymay said:

I think they are wrong as the test website loads had Navigator in Singapore.

 

And also, what currency were those in, do you know?  Looks way cheap! (unless it's USD)

2 hours ago, mattymay said:

I think they are wrong as the test website loads had Navigator in Singapore.

 

Where did you get those from Matty?

Anthem out of Sydney and Navigator out of Brisbane in 2026/27, according to Cruisepassenger.com.au

At Last: Are These The Royal Caribbean Ships That Will Come To Australia For The 2026/27 Season - Cruise Passenger

50 minutes ago, Chili said:

Apparently the new administration is focusing on foreign owned and flagged ships.

Theres talk on excess port charges on foreign ships visiting U.S ports. It’s rumoured they are mainly looking at Chinese container ships but cruise ships are involved.

One of the figures getting around in $1 million and as high as 1.5 million will be placed on cosco container ships visiting U.S. ports.

Has anyone heard anything about cruise ships?

Sydney might start looking like an attractive proposition to send a few extra ships to. 

35 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I'd be shocked if cruise ships are ever affected.  I'd also be shocked if that kind of tariff was placed on a cargo ship since that's basically how much revenue a ship makes per trip anyway.

I wouldn't be much shocked by anything at this point.

1 hour ago, Chili said:

It’s looking like Brisbane will get Quantum for the 26-27 season.

Navigator is going to Singapore.

Cruising out of Singapore is pretty cool. I'd love to give Navigator a go.

10 hours ago, Chili said:

Apart from the fiords in N.Z the ports are mostly industrial ports.

 I’ll second the pacific islands and southern Australia is good.
The Queensland coast apart from docking in Cairns is pretty unremarkable.

Re: the Qld coast...