F1guynz

This is definitely something to take care of ASAP.  I have read many accounts of people getting “balance due” emails; some of them are told not to worry about it - IT glitch, we’ll take care of it and then wham !  Cruise cancelled for non-payment.  While those tales generally end with the cruise being re-instated at the original cruise fare, any Cruise Planner purchases which automatically get cancelled when the cruise gets cancelled, do NOT get re-instated and are not price protected.  You have to rebook those at prevailing rates which, of course, are considerably higher than what you originally paid.
 
I would advise that when you call, do not hang up the phone until you get a new confirmation showing a -0- balance due. It’s rather sad that this same issue keeps coming up again and again and the cruise line keeps cancelling these cruises over and over again.  You’d think that with this being such a common “glitch”, that they would hold off cancelling the cruise until they could confirm that it truly is a non-payment situation.  

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.
 

I have a TP-Link AC750 TL-WR902AC which I use when I am on a ship. It basically takes the Royal-wifi hotspot and and creates a wireless network with your cabin. 
It is easy to setup, you set a switch on the side of the device to hotspot mode and then connect to router, usually by address entered into a browser. There is a quick setup where you search for the available wifi connections and connect to one. You can also setup the wifi network name you want your devices to connect to.
you enter your voom password and your almost set to go.
the first time you use the web browser it will ask for your voom password and will connect. Your other devices should then seamlessly connect when they are connected to your own network.

New Zealand is open for business at the end of July.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/466864/new-zealand-border-reopening-fully-from-end-of-july

I sailed on Independence of the Seas back in 2019 and loved it so I would be happy to see a Freedom class ship down this way.

I sailed on Independence of the Seas back in 2019 and loved it so I would be happy to see a Freedom class ship down this way.

I sailed on Independence of the Seas back in 2019 and loved it so I would be happy to see a Freedom class ship down this way.

I don't think this will be a requirement as it is not part of the Australian protocols as 95% of passengers will need to be vaccinated. It would be a bit odd that while leaving Australia you wouldn't wear a mask and then at some point you would need to put one on to satisfy NZ requirements.
I think in practice if this was the case then a lot of Australian's would not come to NZ on a cruise. Also once they were here doing shore tours there are a lot of places were a mask is not required (bars, cafes, outdoors etc.) so it just wouldn't make sense (not that that stops politicians passing unworkable laws).
  

I don't think this will be a requirement as it is not part of the Australian protocols as 95% of passengers will need to be vaccinated. It would be a bit odd that while leaving Australia you wouldn't wear a mask and then at some point you would need to put one on to satisfy NZ requirements.
I think in practice if this was the case then a lot of Australian's would not come to NZ on a cruise. Also once they were here doing shore tours there are a lot of places were a mask is not required (bars, cafes, outdoors etc.) so it just wouldn't make sense (not that that stops politicians passing unworkable laws).
  

There was also some positive news from Chris Hipkins (our Covid minister) who has said he expects cruise ships to be welcomed back by October. Apparently they will be defining the protocols within the next few weeks.
Maybe I can get excited for our Ovation cruise to NZ in October now.
 
 

There was also some positive news from Chris Hipkins (our Covid minister) who has said he expects cruise ships to be welcomed back by October. Apparently they will be defining the protocols within the next few weeks.
Maybe I can get excited for our Ovation cruise to NZ in October now.
 
 

There was also some positive news from Chris Hipkins (our Covid minister) who has said he expects cruise ships to be welcomed back by October. Apparently they will be defining the protocols within the next few weeks.
Maybe I can get excited for our Ovation cruise to NZ in October now.
 
 

There was also some positive news from Chris Hipkins (our Covid minister) who has said he expects cruise ships to be welcomed back by October. Apparently they will be defining the protocols within the next few weeks.
Maybe I can get excited for our Ovation cruise to NZ in October now.
 
 

I am concerned our Government is so slow and cautious that by the time they make the decision to allow cruises to resume it will be too late for Royal to commit to coming here.
Our Government has extended its “red light” settings for another two weeks at which time it will review again.
The expectation is we will move in “orange settings” towards the end of April and maintain that setting until possibly our summer. It is possible they will relax the need to wear masks in orange but currently under orange rules they are mandatory when indoors. 

I am concerned our Government is so slow and cautious that by the time they make the decision to allow cruises to resume it will be too late for Royal to commit to coming here.
Our Government has extended its “red light” settings for another two weeks at which time it will review again.
The expectation is we will move in “orange settings” towards the end of April and maintain that setting until possibly our summer. It is possible they will relax the need to wear masks in orange but currently under orange rules they are mandatory when indoors. 

I have had this in the past and eventually the cruises were cancelled and then they refunded the cruise planner.
At the time when the cruises disappeared I contacted Royal and they said they were doing some changes in the background which ended up being code for cancelling. 

Must be vaxxed. Masks only required on embarkation and disembarkation.

And another

Two cruises are up already for 2023-24
 

We are booked on this cruise. Originally it was a nine night but with lift and shift it became eleven for the same price. 
‘NZ will be opening to Australians from April 12th and the rest of the world soon after so things are looking positive.

Yeah, I saw that, I wonder if they will do Fiji and maybe the Cook Islands as they are both open. Also now there is a restart date the unvaxxed in the Islands might be incentivised to get the jab so they can start welcoming tourists. It would appear that cruise passengers will be 95% vaxxed.

From P&O Facebook page.

Looks like finally some good news