F1guynz

Unfortunately not, but we have a crown loft suite so a new class again for us.

Our first Oasis class cruise

So do I. I tried to get them to fix it once but a forlorn hope I think. Congratulations to @Matt for the published recognition as well as becoming a pinnacle. All the hard work and dedication has paid off.

We looked at Utopia as it coincided nicely with our Harmony cruise, but the price was just to steep for us. It costs the same price for 4 nights on Utopia as it cost for 8 nights on Harmony, that coupled with the fact it is the same cruise itinerary as our Harmony cruise. I also compared to Allure which is doing the same cruise and the prices are way out of wack. We would have liked to try a brand-new ship but $2000NZDpn for a Sky Junior Suite is just too much to justify. We will probably head off to New York and spend a week there as it has been 10 years since we were last there.

Also knowing Royal, they will probably have a pre-inaugural cruise for you to purchase

If you are Crown and Anchor member do you just sign on to the website to book early on Thursday or is there more to it than that? Thinking of booking Utopia after our Harmony sailing.

Hi, welcome to the boards. Don't worry it is still too soon. You will shortly receive a generic questionnaire from Royal asking if you had the chance name any 3 people from history, alive or dead, who you would like to have dinner with. Our genie contacted us directly about 2-3 weeks before sailing.

I've never seen a captains table dinner except on the Love Boat

We had an owners suite on Indy and loved it. Yes they have a suite lounge with pre-dinner drinks. It had a lovely view during sail aways. You get breakfast in Chops which is a nice place away from the chaos of the Windjammer. The food was nice but similar/the same as the breakfast you would get in the main dining room I think. we loved Indy and would say it is our favourite ship, I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

That seems misleading to me. I wouldn’t pay it but if I did I always take screenshots of each screen in the booking process. I had an experience in the past where I needed a screenshot to prove I was entitled to a partial refund. The Call Centre wouldn’t believe me but once I sent the screenshot to guest engagement I got my refund.

I was looking at a sailing using the new deposit rates and I saw you now have the option to book any suite with a refundable deposit. For an extra $9700 NZD on top of the original $14,500 NZD (Gulp!)

The escape room was much better on Independence as well. This is just one of the kids spaces repurposed with some puzzles in it, not really immersive as there is no link to the room and the puzzles, you could basically do this in your cabin.

We did this on Quantum earlier this year. Here is a picture of the puzzle pieces so you should be able to work out from this whether you have done it.

We saw it recently and there is nothing to offend children but it is a little different so they may not enjoy it. The first few minutes are based around Madonna’s Vogue song. if you Google Starwater YouTube you can see some videos of the show to give you an idea of content.

We had Hailey as a genie on Quantum, she contacted us 1-2 weeks before the cruise from memory. She was absolutely amazing and we have booked with her again next year.

I did and would have jumped at the chance but I have a work colleague going to Antartica at that time and we can’t be away at the same time. My wife’s family are doing repo cruise. as it maybe sometime before we see an Oasis ship down our way decided we will have to go to them. ‘Cruise planner prices are way more expensive than we pay around here.

Due to the lack luster itineraries and new ships down under we have booked to go on Harmony next September instead. Excited to try an Oasis class ship.

We have had Ovation since at least 2017 and it will still be here in 2025. There is only so many times you can watch the same shows before boredom sets in.

I always enjoy the onboard experience down under as some of the complaints I see in the US market do not apply down here. 1) The casino is non-smoking in Australia/NZ 2) Gratuities are included Most of my gripes relate to the land and Internet experience. For example, you used to be able to change your cabin number or upgrade your room on the website, I would like to be able to search on cabin type by price. However, the main change I would make is to change star class bookings to earn 3 C&A points per cruise as they are next level suites.

I think the hardest requirement to meet would be having a nautical themed last name. Anyone named Hull, Ocean or Keel should be a shoe in for the job.

Haha, remember when they were the biggest and now they are just toddlers. How times change. Happy for Royal to send them our way.

I would class us as somewhat Loyal. When looking for cruises we tend to look at the Roya cruises first as we are diamond+ and the perks definitely have value to us, however if another line offered an opportunity that was too great to pass-up we would take it. Royal has our business at the moment but if their ships went too far into the icon concept we would look elsewhere. While the ship looks interesting too many kids/people with longer wait times would diminish the experience for us. Not having kids means we prefer more of an adult experience. I think Freedom class is our sweet pot.

You will only get one chance to bid (although you can still change the amount offered). Usually within a few days of the cruise they will tell you whether you have won or not. Even though you can bid on the cabins it does not mean they are available. But if somebody cancels or is also upgraded you may win. The most likely upgrade would be from an interior to an ocean view or balcony as these are the most plentiful. good luck.

When we sailed on Quantum recently in a suite they had about 6 blue towels rolled up in our cabin for us to use.

As @twangster said it depends on where you live, for us in New Zealand and Australia the gratuity is always part of the base fare regardless of where the cruise takes place. For comparison I have included the all-inclusive price (room and taxes) we would pay for a cruise out of Orlando in 2024. With the exchange rate $2500AUD equates to about $1694USD. Meaning the total cost would be around $3826USD for us to do this cruise.