F1guynz

Thanks for the heads up. Purchased surf and stream for our two cruises next year on the Australian website for NZD$18.22 (USD$11.99).

Best price I have seen for quite some time, just wished it extended to our 2020 cruise.

Hi,  you can also click on "see if you qualify for exclusive rates" when booking. You will have the option of entering the crown and anchor number at this point.

On the Australia/New Zealand website I have generally found that booking with the 30% off with OBC is better value then using Crown and Anchor rates. This is because if you book using C&A RCI when they have a $400 OBC sale you will get a discount off the cabin but not the OBC.

I’m pretty sure Windjammer has hamburgers and hotdogs on Explorer and Ovation. 

When Ovation is up in the northern hemishere they may change the noodle bar back to a Johnny Rockets for the season.

I have successfully connected my ipad to the TV by unplugging the PS3 that was in the cabin and using that HDMI connection. The HDMI was already enabled on the TV so I could select using the standard remote. I think PS3s are only in suites on the older ships though.

We have done Mystery Dinner Theatre twice (Voyager and Radiance), and I am pretty both times we have participated it was at Chops. We are in the Southern hemisphere so RCI may use different restaurants here. 

They also used a special menu as I recall. I remember one couple being upset that they couldn't order the meal they wanted from the Chops menu.

Sorry I don't recall seeing that on any cruises we have done.

@Baked Alaska I think this was under entertainment and activities. I can't remember when it showed up on the cruise planner but I think it was somewhere between 3-6 months out. 

@MattWhen I tried to use the UDP at Johnny Rockets on Explorer earlier this year. They said it was not included in the package. I spoke to his manager who said the same thing. Do you think it depends on the class of ship or region it is sailing in. This was out of Australia.

i couldn’t find anything on the RCI website that actually states which restaurants it is valid for to get them to alter their position. I was quite annoyed at the time but there was nothing I could do apart from accept it and move on.

We cruised the Mediterranean back in 2013 and had a fantastic time. The cruises are very port intensive (on our 12 night cruise there were 10 port days) so the cruise line is less important as you are away from the ship a lot. I would look for the best itinerary and go from there. We actually cruised on Ruby Princess for that cruise. It left from Civitavecchia (Rome) and had a stops in Italy, Greece, Croatia, and finished with an overnight in Venice.

It was a great cruise and all the ports were easy to get to. Prior to the cruise we rented an apartment at the Cinque Terra and caught the local train to the port on the day of the cruise. A couple of people we met didn’t speak English but it never caused us an issue. Nowadays you can always use google translate if you get stuck.

We are cruising out of Southampton next year on Independence. We are going to catch the train down from London and spend the night before embarking on our cruise.

Once you do it once you will see how easy it is. Europe is a great place to cruise around as a taster but there is so much to see and do that you just to go back and spend more time. Croatia was like that for us.

I have been on Explorer a few times, the last time was February this year an she was a great ship. You have nothing to worry about, she is clean and tidy with an amazing crew, you will have a great cruise.

Here is my review if you are interested.

We are on her again next in March next year.

Hi, depending on the ports you are visiting while in New Zealand I would suggest taking a look at the following attractions to see if they are of interest to you. We have been to these ports via a ship but we didn't do any of the ship tours as we had been previously as part of a land based tour.

Bay Of Islands - Russell is a nice place to visit as one of the original settlements in New Zealand. The Duke of Russell tavern is the oldest tavern is the oldest pub in NZ and is always popular for a drink and spot of lunch. particularly nice in the sun. There are plenty of historic sites to visit and well as souvenir shops.                                                                                                    Waitangi treaty grounds are also worth a visit if you are interested in NZ history. This is where the "Treaty of Waitangi", one of NZ important founding documents was signed.

There is also a boat trip to the "hole in the rock" if you feel like getting off the ship and hopping onto another boat.

Auckland: The largest city in New Zealand so plenty of choice on things to do here. For a birds eye view you can visit the sky tower for a 360 view of Auckland. If you are feeling adventurous you can also walk around the top or bungy jump off it if you prefer. You can also do a bridge climb on the harbour bridge.

Waiheke Island is a fantastic place to visit if you have time. This is where some of our famous wineries are located.

Napier: Some beautiful art deco buildings here. The town had to rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake which is why art deco is so prominent here.

Wellington: The capital city. Te Papa museum is well worth a visit. Some parts of the museum are free but there usually special exhibits that require an entry fee. Weka workshops are also in Wellington and may be worth a visit if you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings movies.

Wellington can be very windy but on a nice day the harbour front is a lovely place for lunch. After lunch you can take a ride on the cable cars to the cable car museum.

Picton: A trip to Blenheim and the wineries is always popular. Some fantastic wineries here. We really enjoyed Wither Hills

Dunedin: This city is very Scottish due to the original inhabitants. The Speights brewery tour was fun. There is also the Early Settlers museum which is worth a visit. If you want to see some wildlife there are some world acclaimed tours you can take in Dunedin.

I hope you find some of this helpful.

Apparently this will be one of the last cases of this kind for the cruise industry.

a quote from Us Martitime lawyer states “currently crew members are prohibited from filing lawsuits before a judge and jury because cruise lines like Royal Caribbean have inserted one sided arbitration provisions in ship contracts”

Because this happened in 2008 it was before this type of provision was inserted.

6 hours ago, twangster said:

RCI needs to throw the JS people a bone.   

@twangster Don't forget on non Oasis and Quantum ships they get that silver seapass card that nobody else on the ship is entitled to. That's what you are paying for

I find the suite and concierge lounge an interesting place to people watch. We were on Ovation for a trans pacific crossing. This type of cruise seems to attract all the Diamond + and Pinnacles and there did seem to be an atmosphere of entitlement that was not present on other cruises we have done, It was also quite cliquey.

In my opinion RCI created these lounges for people to have one or two drinks before dinner in a relaxing environment but as time has gone by some people see it as a chance to get as much "free" alcohol as they can consume. It was not uncommon for people to turn up at the lounge and stay until 8pm when the lounge closed. I think this is taking advantage and is not what was intended for the lounges.

Given RCI's penchant for finding savings maybe in the future they will try to curtail this by limiting the number of drinks in the lounges.

In terms of concierge lounge overcrowding it was definitely an issue on Ovation and Explorer if you arrived when it opened but if you went after 6pm it was not so bad for finding a seat.

5 hours ago, twangster said:

At 340 points the single supplement reduces from 200% to 150%.  Unfortunately this comes at the cost of double C&A points for solo travel as well, beyond 340 solo travelers don't get double C&A points unless in a suite solo, or if they don't use their C&A status during the booking process.  I'm hoping to hit 340 in 2019 so I can afford a Norwegian Fjords cruise, and a Hawaiian cruise, and...  Once i hit 340 I can look at more exotic destinations that would have been too expensive at 200% to justify it for just me. 

Plus lunch with an Officer. Surely worth forgoing those double crown and anchor points

9 minutes ago, SeaFarers said:

Glad to know that sailings from Hong Kong are excluded from the spitting practice...   I will be sailing on the Ovation from Hong Kong in 12 days. :-)

I think that is because there are a lot more Australian's cruising from Singapore and Hong Kong. I think Tijian would almost exclusively be Chinese as the crew members I spoke to said to avoid it.

Enjoy your cruise on Ovation.

Speaking to the crew on Ovation and also from other people who have sailed out of China (excluding Hong Kong) the splitting practice is quite common. Our concierge on Ovation said they had to tell people off for spitting on the carpet in the lounge. This is why the ship undergoes a deep clean before leaving from Singapore for Australia.

From what people have told me it is a truly different experience when it comes to dining as the Chinese families eat together and expect all the food to come out at once. On Ovation this provides some challenges in the coastal kitchen.

From what I understand Princess does not advertise their Chinese itineraries to westerners because the cultures are so different.

I think RCI has a disclaimer but that is about it.

We just took a couple of photos on our phone and uploaded them. As long as the photo mainly has you in the frame it is fine. It only took us a couple of minutes to do. The photos they take at the port aren’t great quality so it not hard to improve on them doing it at home.

On 12/04/2018 at 3:56 AM, Shazel2003 said:

How come these aren't avaliable on the uk site

If you go to www.royalcaribbean.com.au or www.cruisesalefinder.co.nz you should be able to view the sailings there. 

Independence of the Seas - 14 September 2019 Canaries Cruise

Voyager of the Seas - 19 February 2020  6 night Tasmanian cruise

I am interested in trying Voyager in 2020 as it will have undergone its Royal Amplified in 2019 before coming to Australia.

We booked a cruise on Explorer when they came out last year (April) and have rebooked it 3 times since then. The best price we got was in September when it was $1,500 cheaper than the April launch price. That sale was their 40% birthday sale.

I am not sure how the non-refundable deposit will impact our ability to rebook later if the price becomes cheaper.

RCI have announced their itineraries on the Australia / New Zealand website. It is the usual mix of Australia / NZ / Pacific Islands with a couple of new itineraries thrown in. There are quite few sampler cruises as well, more than ion previous years.

You need to call them to book and they have introduced the dreaded non refundable deposit.

Will Have a good look through tonight to see which one we will do. There are none leaving from New Zealand this time so it looks like another trip to Australia will be necessary.

7 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Why not cancel the next cruise out which would have been a 14 day window instead??!

I think because the next one is the Trans Pacific heading to Hawaii and then on to Vancouver. I think cancelling this one would have had a much greater knock on affect. I think more people would have flown in for TP and as TP is split into two cruises more people would be inconvenienced.

Also with an Azipod issue maybe the ship can’t travel as quickly. Newcastle may have been the only port with facilities to fix the issue before heading off to Vancouver and Alaska.

3 minutes ago, Aeroman380 said:

I can't wait until next week for the rest of 2019! I am kind of hoping Spectrum will be on the Aus/NZ cruise I want....but I would be happy with Ovation 

I am sure Spectrum will be released separately at some point in the future.

I am not actually which ships will end up in Australia now that Explorer has left. It would seem unlikely to have 2 Quantum ships (Ovation and Spectrum) in the same market.

I think Radiance is certain, maybe Voyager will make a return and Spectrum. It is too hard to work out which ships do not have 2019/2020 itineraries too see who the candidates might be. 

1 hour ago, Flacruiser99 said:

Does anyone know if the current cruise is going to end in Sydney or Newcastle.

It will end in Sydney as the passengers have been told there is no change to the current itinerary.