F1guynz

Also this article in SMH which is a reputable news source with quotes from RCI and details of the amended itinerary. https://www.smh.com.au/national/vanuatu-denies-entry-to-cruise-ship-following-influenza-diagnoses-20200229-p545kv.html

I haven’t seen anything official from Royal but I did read this article regarding the denial of entry. https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2020/02/articles/disease/royal-caribbeans-voyager-of-the-seas-denied-permission-to-call-on-ports-during-australian-cruise/ i know the Islands have been strict on this. I have a friend travelling on Celebrity in April and currently at least two of the ports are not allowing access to cruise ships. He is worried it will turn into a cruise of just sea days.

Not sure about the US but we just completed a cruise on Voyager OTS in Australia and it was a completely normal cruise with no masks to be seen apart from boarding day with some of the embarkation staff. On the ship the only thing we noticed was increased cleaning and sanitising by the crew otherwise the cruise was completely normal.

We are currently sailing on Voyager of the Seas to Tasmania. In our diamond welcome package it says one specialty coffee will be loaded onto our sea pass card each day. I haven’t seen this as an offer previously. The Diamond lounge on the ship is on deck 5 and is pretty small now so maybe there isn’t room for a coffee machine. Scan 20-02-2020.pdf

You will be charged 120x2 even though there are four of you.

I know what you mean with it feeling enclosed, we felt that way about Ovation. I think it is having the wall instead of the open space that the older ships have. Happy to see you are now on board any ready to party. Have a great cruise.

Also known as a Waka. Glad you had a Great day at the Bay of Islands. It is a beautiful place. When we were there on Radiance we had a pod of dolphins swimming around the ship while she was anchored.

It depends what region you booked as the compensation varies. We had one booked through the Australia/NZ and got a $200 obc for rebooking on a cruise not on their original list. We also booked one cruise on the RCI Hong Kong website and we got the choice of $200obc if rebooking or 30% of the original cruise price as a FCC. We took the 30% FCC on that one.. Also the sailings we could rebook at the original rate were different from the ones offered to us from Aus/NZ. You can see by the PDF I attached to my original post the compensation offer our our market.

It’s the emotive language the media use that gets me. Our headline here is “cruise ship ravaged by virus”. It is 10 people, get a grip. When we were on Ovation over 300 people had Norovirus.

Welcome to New Zealand! Enjoy your time in the Bay of Islands. It looks like you should have some nice weather today. Trip to Russell and the Duke of Marlborough for lunch today? Mick Jagger goes has been there when the Rolling Stones were on tour.

I see the media is reporting one of the passengers on Ovation died of natural causes on the way to NZ. Royal made sure it was reported that it was not related to Coronavirus. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12305965

Yes tomorrow is the 5th here while you are in the Bay of Islands. The commemorations go on all week and there are speeches today but the official holiday is the 6th. Everywhere should still be open in Tauranga on the 6th but It will also likely be busy as everyone will have the day off. Some food places will add a public holiday surcharge but with the nzd To usd exchange rate everything should still seem cheap to you?

These things are always changing based on political correctness but most people say it as Y-TANG-EE

I see you are in the Bay of Islands tomorrow. Thursday 6th Feb is Waitangi day here and a public holiday, each year the commemorations are held in Waitangi / Bay of Islands so you may find it a lot busier than normal on the day before as the Prime Minster and all the various dignitaries will be arriving in town

I have received an email from Royal Caribbean stating that guests and crew regardless of Nationality who have traveled through Hong Kong or China will be denied boarding for our upcoming cruise out of Australia. I assume this policy will be rolled out world wide in due course if it hasn't been already.

If Kristiz’s advice does not work I recommend taking your laptop down to the Voom team. They will sort it out for you promptly. I have always found them to be very helpful.

Apparently in the event of an Abandon Ship call it is Pinnacles then women and children first. This is why you should wear your pinnacle badge everywhere for easy identification in case the unthinkable happens.

I have done that itinerary on Radiance. You will love it. i can recommend the Early Settlers museum in Dunedin for a look at the history of the region. If you have time Speights Brewery is also worth a visit. Enjoy your time down under. The weather has been great for the last two weeks in NZ. Around 28 degrees celsius most days .

If you get really taken by one of their blue pool towels just keep it. Conveniently, they will automatically charge you $25 for each one you keep if not returned. ???

You can normally add it as part of the online check in process closer to your cruise. It does not make a difference to when you do it.

No, it was just a tragic accident.

Based on the height of the railing I would say one of the reasons it is there is prevent adults from leaning out the windows and falling out. Reason enough not to put a child up there. Also when the window is open you can see all the window runners so I suspect if you asked 10,000 adults 9,999 would be able to tell it was open.

This is a photo I found of the railing in relation to the window.

We got a free picture on Independence as part of the diamond package. After the www.ourcruisephotos.com sent a link with all the photos taken onboard for purchase. They were more expensive than ship prices. We had 30 days to purchase the ones we wanted. Looks like the secret is to get one photo while onboard.

If you do the bridge tour you can see they have a good view of all the balconies from the wings down each side of the ship. They even have binoculars if something catches their eye ? They may even send a naked naked naked call on the Internal PA