rekkie

Okay so recently made a couple of bookings way in advance

April 20 2019 - Symphony

April 28 2019 - Harmony

Yep our crazy bunch are officially travelling to the USA, look out!

Okay so on our recent Ovation cruise a whole heap of us (20) booked a cruise on Harmony for Feb 2018.. However we are going to alter that to Symphony 2019 once the bookings come open..

 

This is gonna be a massive trip including a road trip from LA-Miami before the actual cruise.. So be prepared for questions. We would also love to catch up with as many people as possible while in the US (assuming we will be allowed entry in 2019). So if you wanna meet some Aussies, stay tuned :)

 

Muz

 I cruise in April 2017 and it won't let me book internet yet. Is that normal or is it because I have on board credit and one message in red says you cruise or cruise tour reservations can only be made by calling a certain number? Or does that just refer to changes made on the original reservation? If offers some excursions I can purchase now but no dining or internet options can be made at this time.

I think you're too far out from the cruise yet to be able to book. I cant buy things like this yet for my April cruise either

Royals marketing model lately is to always have a sale running. Right now free nights, but WOW will be back soon. But why wait? As long as the cruise is more than 90 days away just book now and if another sale offers a lower price cancel and re-book.

Always a sale running but no actual discounts

Yeah I booked this deal... Looking forward to live streaming much of our January Ovation cruise to Facebook :)

Day Four - Most dining and beverage venues are closed this day until 6:30 AM, but the Cruise Compass says that coffee is available in the Windjammer, starboard side, 24 hours. When I arrived at 6:00 AM, I and others were being turned away and told that the Windjammer did not open until 7:00 AM and we must wait for the Park Cafe to open at 6:30. Guest services has been notified and they are supposed to let the bar and beverage manager for the ship know of this issue.

 

Correct the Windjammer isn't open. But there is always coffee available from the same little section as the Doghouse. Had you gone in there you could have gotten your coffee.. Its on the starboard side right before the Windjammer main entrance.

As someone who prefers longer cruises I cant say I've ever encountered issues with food, staffing or entertainment. Even on our Singapore to Perth cruise with 7 sea days there weren't any issues.

 

Book it and enjoy

I definitely hope they move Rita's and add an additional coffee shop there. Latte-tudes is so small and with all the grannies getting in there early to sit forever and read a book ya just cant enjoy a nice coffee

Bring on January :)

Booked another

 

April 10 2017 - Radiance of the Seas :)

I don't think a few tips results in a month of free drinking for you and your friends.....

 

Really? Come on now....

It sure did (26 night cruise, too early for brain sorry)..  we also tipped them well at the very end of the cruise. Very unexpected as its never happened before.

 

On other cruises we have had one or two drinks for free here and there. On our 33 night cruise our barman was also our room barman (mini bar re-stocker on rotation) for one leg and we had "extras" appearing in our cabin that we weren't charged for.

 

We always strike up a friendly relationship with just one or two barman and it works out well for us.

Same here.

A few generous tips to one or two barman and get free drinks for you and your friends the entire 28 day cruise, priceless!

I've never pre tipped and have always received excellent service.

I'm with you.. Tipping is not normally done in this part of the world but when we do tip we are generous and only after great service is received. Unfortunately when the ships are in Australian waters tips are rare, especially on longer cruises with older passengers. Tipping the bar staff especially can be extremely rewarding ;)

So I read someone's comment that perhaps Oasis 4 will be going to China. You really think so ? I'm betting on Europe.

 

What do you think ?

 

On our last cruise it was mentioned an Oasis Class will head to Australia. Unless RCI build a terminal at Port Botany I cant see this eventuating. Ports will also be limited in and around the South Pacific.. Definitely a nice pipe dream though

The Connoisseur Club on Explorer of the seas went no-smoking when it hit Australian waters. We have strict laws here on smoking and I guess that applies to ships sailing from our ports too. The Casino also went no-smoking at the same time.

I just came back from a 5 night on Independence that stopped in jamaica and haiti. Now i need only 3 points to become a Diamond member. With the changes at Royal, should i be optimistic, excited, or indifferent for the coming year?

 

Id get in and do a shorty to get your points up.. Gossip was rife about changes to the point structure in January/February amongst crew and passengers on our recent cruise and Id be keen to get to Diamond prior to that happening.

I guess you need a token Aussie.. Im in ;)

The friends of Dorothy things advertised on the community boards are usually crappy. We usually see if there are Facebook groups for the particular sailing and make friends with other LGBT couples prior to boarding.

 

Cruise Criric is rubbish. Whoever had the idea of having an Internet forum where people can't actually send each other a private message obviously still has a rotary dial phone at home.

 

The pool is also a good place to make friends, unsure why, but we've met many people in and around the pool area that we end up socialising with.

We use FB extensively. We have both pages and groups. Pages for stories and information and groups for discussion. The discussion side gets lost on pages so we have both. One of our pages has over 26,000 likes but it's hard to actually get the involvement there with our people hence having both run in unison. Forums are old school and unfortunately going the way of the dodo. Matt there is no reason you can't have both despite what FB likes they aren't going to shut it down.

Yep.. We were on Explorer. Also took a lot of video of the event and photos. Marvellous day. We actually anchored in the harbor from about 1pm due to a medical emergency but it was just a lovely day, no better place to be.

The same thing as a photo copy does, its just a copy.. Basically the USB is for emergency use.. If I get run over by a car they can access the USB and get contact, health, passport information if I am unable to give it myself.

I always have a copy of my passport on a micro USB that slips easily into my wallet and other necessary documents for emergencies. I never take my passport off the ship. New Zealand is strict with photo ID but they accept drivers licence.. All passports were collected by the ship prior to entering Bali (Indonesia) so you cant take it off the ship in port anyways.

 

TuffnTiny USB

We used the magnetic whiteboard on our last cruise... worked a treat..

Might do that Rekkie thanks! Do you have anyone specific you deal with?

 

Nope I booked directly with RCI (I had several Next Cruise Letters)... friends and family used ozcruising.. its relatively simple to book via their website but otherwise just give them a call they seem quite friendly

Australian travel agents really suck.. Do your homework and you will be right. The Aussies will charge you for every little detail you need changed and if you cancel will probably not get the entire refund and itll take 5-6 weeks to be returned to you. Unfortunately that's what we have to live with down here and why many of us use the US agents in the past