F1guynz

I still wonder what they will offer at Lelepa that you can’t get at other Islands. I have already read that is won’t be a Cococay of the South Pacific but certainly Mystery Island seems to be more set up to offer an experience than Lelepa over the next few years.

I am slightly biased as we we really enjoyed Mystery Island on our last visit.

I use the link below to see what offers I can submit to RU. I don’t always get the email so once we are 30 days out I use this to submit bids.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade

I asked on our last cruise as we knew the headline act but they wouldn’t budge on this. They said it would need to go to the Hotel Director for approval.

The silly thing is even though there are only two of us they normally put us on a table for four.

Possibly if I was Tom Cruise they would have been more accomodating.

I have a friend booked on a Princess cruise and he has received an email with their updated mask policy.

”In response to the increasing Covid cases in Australia caused by the spread of new sub variants we have updated the mark wearing policy for your voyage”

”guests are required to wear masks on board while indoors and we recommend guests wear face masks while outdoors on board where larger numbers of people are congregating”

it sounds like P&O Australia (also a Carnival brand) are also implementing this policy.

I wonder if Royal will follow suit or whether they will maintain their existing policies. I hope the status quo prevails.

Having caught Covid on our last cruise I am still happy to not wear a mask indoors and take my chances. The weird thing is on land you can have Covid and not need to isolate at all but when it comes to cruise ships it is all doom and gloom by the media if there are higher number of cases.

Times have moved on from the Diamond and Ruby Princess and for most people Covid is now no worse than a cold outbreak on a ship.

My SIL and MIL are on Quantum at the moment. They are stuck in isolation with Covid but at least they got to enjoy all the port visits first. As they are isolating they are getting free room service, Voom and FCC for each day they have to isolate.

The seas are a bit rough but at least they have a balcony for fresh air.

They have to wait and disembark separately after all the standard disembark procedures have completed.

9 hours ago, June May said:

Never thought that would happen so quickly, but very grateful that it will

Congratulations, it is great for moving through the levels so quickly.

We just got our points for for our Ovation and Royal applied the double points correctly so that is pleasing. We got 44 for this cruise and will get 32 for the next one.

1 hour ago, CruisingOz said:

Concierge Lounge

We used this on the last cruise and it was very good as it was busy but still just enough seats for everyone.

the only thing I don’t like about is in the afternoon the sun quite often comes in through the back windows and makes the big chairs uncomfortable to sit in with the sun directly on you.

12 hours ago, EmersonNZ said:

Diamond threshold. 

Awesome, we didn’t go to the diamond lounge but enjoyed the 4 “free” drinks each day. We didn’t use them all and because of the double points promotion next time we will get 5.

now that they charge for ifly and North Star maybe they should offer discounts based on status level.

52 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

I'm curious to know how many of the 800 was vaxxed

With Princess 95% of passengers over 12 must be vaccinated so I would suggest I pretty high percentage.

We just completed a cruise on Ovation and Anita ended up with mild Covid on the last night so it just happens sometimes regardless of vax status.

Now that cruising has restarted don’t forget that Australian sailings booked last year are eligible for double crown and anchor points.

Our cruise on Ovation has ended so I thought I would give my final thoughts.

It was great to be back on Royal after two years of shut down. Apart from the initial confusion during the boarding process they rest of the cruise has been very smooth and felt like any pre-pandemic cruise. The ship had around 3000 guests so was not full. This was great as there was always seats available in the Windjammer and other venues and at no time did the ship fell crowded. The crew is a couple of hundred short of normal so wait times could be a little longer than usual but not as issue for us.

The main disappointment I have is that Royal now charge for the North Star and iFly during non port days when previously this was complementary, bumper cars are still included.

The crew have worked very hard and some of them will be returning home in the coming months as their contracts end. Due to staff shortages the time between contracts is very short and the ones returning will be back after around 6 to 8 weeks. This is quite hard for some of them as the family time is very short.

The cruise following ours is a country and western/rock charter and the ship will be near capacity so that will be more of a challenge for the lovely crew.

While one cruise has ended we can now look forward to our next holiday on Quantum early next year knowing what a great experience that will be.

I wear jeans and a collared shirt when ding at Chefs table. Not many people do formal on Australia/NZ cruises.

I generally wear the same regardless of what kind of night it is. Used to do formal but don’t bother anymore.

We are doing a cruise to those Australian ports in November next year on Brilliance of the Seas. I did do a blog for one of our 3 night Australian cruises a few years ago.

Excited for you getting to tick off another continent, travel is so good for the soul.

We are planning our Antarctic adventure some time in 2025/26 which will be our 5th continent. We need to plan a trip to South America or Africa for number 6.

Cruising for passengers feels largely the same as pre-pandemic to me. It has been a fun cruise so far. I think the crew is a little light as some things take a little longer than normal and some of the crew have been asked to take shorter breaks between contracts (6 weeks).

Apart from bumper cars at the start of the session there always seem to be tables available in venues and windjammer so I don’t think the ship is sold out even though that is what the website indicated pre-sailing. 

8 hours ago, Yoshi said:

How's the Covid situation on Ovation?

I’ve heard nothing either and I noticed a few of the crew have stopped wearing masks now, most still do though.

3 hours ago, Chili said:

I wonder if the dodgem cars have a charge.

They are still “free”

Son Del Mar is playing Boleros

Switched on Band at the music hall

havent noticed any band by the pool.

one of my favourites, magician Phil Cass, is the headliner show tonight

There are now charges to use North Star and IFly since last time we cruised Ovation.

still complementary on port days when operating.

North Star offers to experiences now, basic and extended. Basic on port days just goes up and down. Extended on sea days goes left, right, up and down.

25 minutes ago, mattymay said:

What was the earliest boarding time? 1pm?

Yes 1pm but they were running late today as Customs wanted to do a full inspection of everyone’s passport and immigration documents. People were still getting off at 12:30. On the plus side our cabin was ready as soon as we got on.

About 40 minutes from terminal to cabin.

Had to show passport, vaccine certificate and RAT. Mask not being used by most people

Found the suite queue. On our way through to boarding

Appently they are turning people away who have arrived early 

Long line to start boarding at 1pm.