F1guynz

When we were on Voyager in Dec 2015 in a GS they offered us the bridge tour. The only problem was they didn't leave the slip of paper with the details in our room until the day of the bridge tour. By the time we got back to our room that day we had missed it.

I don’t understand why they don’t sell something like a 10 drink card that can be used by either person in a cabin. That way if you want a glass of wine each night with dinner you can just “clip the card” each night until there are none left. You buy 2 cards if you want 20 drinks between you. By card i mean a virtual card assigned to your Sea Pass account. i don’t drink but from the pricing I see for the deluxe drinks package that is some serious dollars even for just one person let alone two. maybe they should also consider a cabin drinks cabin that is a bit cheaper than 2 single drinks packages (a bit like voom for more than 1 device)

Same in this Australia and NZ as well. I notice if you want the Deluxe drinks package + voom for 1 device you both have to purchase this as well. I imagine that would be a bit annoying if you only need it for 1 device as you would essentially have to pay for 2. Either that or buy the drinks package and voom separately which negates the point of having the package at all.

Hi, In that case then I think the 40% off sale that is on now is the best I have seen over the last few years. I find 30% off with onboard credit is usually the next best offer. Usually the 50% off one traveller is the most expensive relative to the other prices. I can't help you with when the best month to book is as I just check the price whenever a new sale starts to see if it is cheaper than what I have currently paid. That is why I have rebooked our South Pacific cruise 2 times already. It was originally booked under the South Pacific Sale, then the 30% off sale and now the 40% off sale. I don't think it will get any cheaper than it is now but I will continue to keep an eye out. There is a chance if the cruise is unpopular then the pricing may come down more to move stock. We only book ever for 2 so I am not sure how the pricing changes for more people than that.

Yes I booked our 2019 South Pacific cruise on the day it came out and with the current promotion it is $1100 cheaper than the launch price. If they were a NZ company their pricing model would be illegal as you can't state a permanent price and then never sell it for that. If something is always on sale then that becomes the standard retail price and the discount should be off the "actual retail cost". The other differences I notice between here and the US is that the pre-paid gratuities are included in the base fare cost so there is nothing extra to pay apart from extra services like the spa. I have also never seen the $100 non-refundable deposit0 for suites but I guess it will come at some point in the future.

I have always found that RCI is always on sale in Australia and New Zealand. I have never seen a cruise at full price. The sales seem to alternate between BOGHO, 30% off, South Pacific and the odd flash sale. I suggest that you book your cruise when you see a price you are happy with. Then If you have your email preferences set they will send you an email each time a new sale starts. If one of the sales has your cruise cheaper and it is before your final payment date you can cancel and rebook at the cheaper price for no penalty. (assuming you have booked through RCI direct, some travel agents will charge $200 to cancel). I normally cancel on the website and rebook the same cabin again as it will go back into the pool of available cabins straight away.

Definitely I find the further out the better as once the cruise starts to sell out the rack rate goes up substantially which negates the discount. That said there was one Superior Grand Suite on our Ovation cruise in November that was originally $2000 more than our standard Grand Suite that is now $200 cheaper than ours. It is past the final payment date so it wasn't possible to change without penalty. It is also on deck 6 and we are on deck 12 and I also think the life boats may have interfered with our view.

It is about 55 days to go. I did contact RCI and they said they had to plans to offer it at this time. The person who responded to my email was “truely apologetic for any inconvenience and discomfort this might cause” “At this time” might mean that it may show up soon but I won’t be holding my breath.

On our Ovation cruise in November they are only offering the Ultimate Dining Package. Annoying as we only want the 5 night dining package. Booking that would be $900 NZD (about $650 USD) for both of us. 5 nights is plenty with all the complementary restaurants as CK. this is the first time I haven’t seen any other dining packages offered.

The Royal Caribbean Australian website currently has a 40% off birthday sale on at the moment. Some pretty good deals to be had. I cancelled our booking and rebooked the same cabin for $600 less. This is on top of the $500 I saved by rebooking a couple off weeks ago. When the cruise launched a GS was $5600 NZD and now it can be purchased for $4500 NZD. I think this is the best price we will see. The website has also been updated to a new design but I am not sure whether I prefer it or not. It probably is better (it couldn’t have got much worse) but it will just take a little while to get used to.

Hi, when we stayed in Fairbanks in 2012 we stayed at a place called Rivers Edge Resort. We stayed in a little Garden Cottage roomand enjoyed our stay. If you don't have a car it maybe a little bit far out but it was a nice place to stay.

We are on Ovation in November and First Night Done Right is not an option on our cruise planner. It is an option on one of our other cruises on another ship booked later, so I assume it is not available on Ovation. As I understand it, when they scrapped the dynamic dining concept the four different complementary restraurants changed so they all served the same food. Two restaurants are assigned for traditional dining and two are for MTD. With the change it means the restaurants have a different look but the food will be the same no matter which one you get assigned to. On the cruise planner I found I could book the day and dining time but did not have the option to select the restaurant other than for it to say it was complementary.. i am still hoping the 3 and 5 night dining packages will show up soon as we don't want to purchase the ultimate dining package for our cruise. Normally they are available by now so I am a little concerned that they will not be available on this cruise.

They definitely seem to make changes to the ships during their Chinese cruises. There are no Royal Class suites and Johnny Rockets becomes a noodle bar. From what I understand they do not do the Broadway shows they have when they are elsewhere in the world. We are on Ovation in November but I imagine the changes would be similar for Quantum.

Hi, It seems to be one of those weird things RCI does. For our next cruise coming up in a couple of months I can't change it, but for our 2019 cruise there is a modify button to change it. It is found at the bottom of the overview tab on the Cruise Planner.

Hi, It has been 30 for as long as I have been sailing with them so not a recent change.

As Brilliance of the Seas is a smaller ship the shows will just be walk ups. You shouldn't have any trouble finding seats if you get there a little early. For your specialty dining I would make your reservations for the nights you want when you get on the ship, as you can always cancel and rebook if there is a show you want to see. For the other nights did you select My Time Dining or traditional for the Main Dining Room? If you selected MTD, you should make reservations when you get on the ship to make sure you get the time you want. You can always cancel and change if your plans change. Nobody will mind. If you are doing traditional dining you will have picked a time when you booked, either 5pm or 8pm from memory. You can always eat any time at the Windjammer if there is a show you want to see as this is much faster than a full dining experience. This is what we tend to do. We normally eat at one of the specialty restaurants or the Windjammer so I don't have much experience of the MDR. Carl.

Hello and welcome, What ship are you sailing on? I understand for Quantum and Oasis class ships you will need to book the Broadway shows but I don't think you have to for any others, we never have anyway. Depending on how far way your cruise is you may not be able to book any shows yet anyway but any you can book will eventually be on the cruise planner. Having a look at the cruise compass https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass on this website should give you a good idea of the show times on most ships. Enjoy your cruise.

We have sailed on Princess and Royal Carribean but prefer Royal for a couple of reasons. 1) we tend to sail on Voyager class ships and there is just more to see and do. We enjoy going to the ice skating and watching people on the flow rider. We don't mind paying extra for restaurants and the suites are good value. Princess feel mores traditional and seems to attract an older cruiser. 2) the Loyalty programme works better for us. You can get through the levels quickly and the perks offered are much more useful than what Princess offers. That said we would sail Princess again if we prefer the itinerary as the destinations are important to us as well. We did the Mediteranian on Ruby Princess and that was pretty port intensive (about 10 ports in 13 days) so we were busy most days. We would also like to try Celebrity at some point as our Loyaty status is transferable. Our next cruise is on Ovation in November so we will see how an even bigger ship than Voyager class compares. Looking forward to it.

Hi, See this link for more details on the pilot programme. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/08/04/royal-caribbean-tests-diamond-drink-redemption-change

Hi DocLC, I will be happy to report back on Ovation once we return. It should be a step up from the Voyager class ships we are used to. Just a couple of corrections on our next cruises. Ovation is 23 November 2017, Not December and March Explorer cruise is 2019, not 2018. Cheers Carl.

I think the whole C&A section of the site has been forgotten. Under the latest news section they are just introducing dynamic dining and Allure of the Seas is going to Europe for the 2015 season. Since then nothing has happened. They either need to revamp it or remove it. Ours is the Australian website so other countries might be different.

The ultimate dining package on our Ovation cruise has come down from $487 to $450. Must be the exchange rate improving. $900 is still pretty expensive for 2 people so we won't be taking advantage of it. Plus there are a number of complementary restaurants that look good so we probably wouldn't get full value from it anyway. At the moment there are no 3-5 night dining packages showing on the cruise planner. Hopefully they will show up soon and we will book a 5 night dining package.

Hi, there is a sale on the Australian and New Zealand website at the moment for the South Pacific. If you made a booking when the cruises initially came out it may pay to check the pricing of the current sale. I cancelled and rebooked yesterday and saved $300 NZD. This sale also has a reduced deposit.

Ovation of the Seas November 23rd 2017 (Singapore to Sydney 14 days) Explorer of the Seas February 9th 2018 (Sydney 3 Night sampler) Explorer of the Seas March 1st 2019 (South Pacific 9 nights)

I like the PIP in theory but this thread prompted me to check our 2019 Island cruise booking which I made on the day it became available and it is now $300 cheaper than when I originally booked. I will give RCI a call and get them to re-price the cruise. Hopefully it will get cheaper again when they next have a 30% off sale.