F1guynz

So are we. Excited to board this afternoon.

Just the standard quarantine for 7 days if you have Covid, otherwise pretty relaxed rules. Only places masks required is in hospital and aged care facilities. ‘Covid is on the rise here again at the moment with over 16,000 cases last week but no expected changes to any settings.

It didn't take the media long to report on Covid cases on Ovation. Hardly any cases but still worthy or reporting in the media's eyes. They don't report on cases on inbound aircraft because they can't, they aren't tracked and certainly not in a convenient way that cruise lines are obliged to do. Covid cases on first cruise ship to Napier and Wellington - NZ Herald

I am pleased we will be diamond+ after the next cruise which will give us 5 drinks vouchers per day, more than enough to see us through the cruise. I always bring some coke on board when we cruise as well as grabbing some extras from the suite lounge.

Wow, We paid $142 nzd pp when we did it on Ovation in 2017. Doubled in 5 years.

Also they are putting up the base price of cocktails in the US to $14. For somebody in NZ with the exchange rate that is around $25 per drink. Luckily I don’t drink.

I was considering a Royal Up offer on our October cruise as there are 4 suites available but the minimum bids are more than I am willing to pay.

Looks like you are.

I have recently received the latest healthy sale guidelines for our October cruise. Requirements for entry into New Zealand seem a bit confusing to me: The NZ Government website states: When Royal says "all guests as required by the NZ Government" I interpret that to mean Australians and Kiwis do not need one as the NZ Government does not require it. I will contact Royal Caribbean directly to be sure but wondered what is your read of the statement is.

Masks will no longer be required in cruise terminals when Royal cruises recommence. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/20220919_00.aspx

I have noticed our 29th October cruise on Ovation has disappeared from the Royal website. Hopefully it has just sold out and there is nothing to be concerned about. I always get an uneasy feeling when a cruise disappears as in my experience that is usually followed by a cancellation.

I had to upload the vaccine certificate listing all the doses we had and what dates. Royal must check them and a few hours later I got an email saying we were officially ready to board

All checked in with vaccine certificates approved. our check in time is 1pm which was the earliest available. We received an email from Royal and Ovation is now not leaving Sydney until 8pm. The latest arrival time for check in is 6pm for the wellness check. I guess the Kate check in times are so the ship can be thoroughly cleaned of TP bugs before we board for the first sailing.

Woohoo finally able to check in for our October cruise. It's been a long two years waiting to be able to cruise again. Also as a bonus New Zealand has dropped all Covid restrictions completely. (apart from aged and healthcare facilities). I'm finally getting excited.

I think the prices on an Oasis ship ship would be eye watering compared to a Voyager ship. I am sure it would still sell out though.

New Caledonia and Vanuatu opening to cruise ships this month. https://cruisepassenger.com.au/news/new-calendonia-vanuatu-cruises-return/

IT will be interesting once Perfect Day is up and operational. Surely you would want more than one or two visits per week all year round to make it viable.

We are booked on Quantum next April in the RLS. Can't wait for that cruise, hopefully the Islands will be fully open by then. My parents are on Quantum in November. On our next cruise we are sailing on Ovation cruising to NZ (ironic after being locked up here in NZ for so long), it will just be nice to be back on the water.

My sweet sport would be 1 Quantum class, 1 Freedom class and 1 Radiance class. Disclaimer: I really enjoyed Independence of the Seas in Europe.

It is hard to find much information but I guess the underlying reasons for changes relate to these rules in some. Still doesn’t make immediate sense as to why two identical ships need to be swapped. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-07/cruise-liners-try-to-rewrite-climate-rules-despite-vows This is a quote from a document I found on the IMO website: What about speed as a measure? The initial GHG strategy adopted by IMO includes a range of candidate short-term measures – including: “consider and analyse the use of speed optimization and speed reduction as a measure, taking into account safety issues, distance travelled, distortion of the market or to trade and that such measure does not impact on shipping's capability to serve remote geographic areas”. So this is certainly something that Member States are discussing. The guidelines for the mandatory Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) already refer to "speed optimization" as a potential approach to improve the energy efficiency of the ship, recognizing that speed optimization can produce significant savings. The 2016 Guidelines for the development of a ship energy efficiency management plan (SEEMP) can be downloaded here. reducing emissions by 2030 seems to be the goal.

I have had my official notification plus a bonus that our cruise is now an extra day so very pleased.

Thanks Twangster, I am happy to move to Brilliance as I enjoy Radiance Class dining options.

We booked the Royal Suite on Enchantment for November 2023 so if it is Brilliance hopefully they will just transfer us to the same suite doing the same itinerary as this is one of the few we haven't done.

I was watching Harr Travel cruise news yesterday and somebody asked if they could book for an Australian. Danny said they were working on some partnerships which they hope to have sorted in the next 12 months. He did say if you have a US address to use that they could book on your behalf. Unless it is significantly cheaper even including gratuities I would stick with booking through Australia. Remember all your cruise planner purchases and shore tours will also be in American dollars. We booked through HK once and when they cancelled the cruise we ended up with a FCC in HK$ and and you don't have the option of changing currency.

The other thing to consider if comparing with US pricing is that gratuities are not included in the price as they are here in Australia/NZ so these will be on top of the quoted fare. Generally I found the Australian/NZ prices to be cheaper over all with the exchange rate factored in. I usually book with Royal directly on their website although there are other websites like www.thecruisecentre.com.au, they are a member of the helloworld.