Latestarter Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Hi all, my wife and I are considering a 24 night cruise from Seattle to Sydney and would love to hear from anyone who has done this cruise before. We are concerned that due to the length of the cruise, fresh fruit and food may run out, entertainment by be not up to usual standards and staff numbers may be down therefore service and attention to guests might be less than what we are used to. TIA. rekkie, Zobertlab, MylesDots and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 I have done a few longer cruises in the past. And while I have not done this one I do not believe the issues you raised to be a problem. 1) fresh fruit and food may run out: Since the ship makes several port shops this will not be a issue. They will restock the ship during the cruise. Some items are flown in to meet the ships (like fresh Maine Lobster) and others are in holding areas waiting for the ships port call. On this cruise some of your port calls are places that export many fresh fruits to Royal so these items will be much fresher than if on a East Coast Cruise. 2) entertainment by be not up to usual standards: I believe you will see better entertainment than on a standard cruise as many new shows will be presented or (tested) on these cruises. 3) staff numbers may be down therefore service and attention to guests might be less: The ship is going to have a full crew or very close to it. Royal runs at almost 100% staff levels on every cruise. And since the same guest for 24 days and much fewer port calls I believe the crew will in fact be better and more comfortable with the passengers. This is a great cruise and you should have a wonderful trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latestarter Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Thank you Todd, much appreciated. Bring on October 2017! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 It is a trip many here would love to take. Myself I really like sea days and this cruise has many of them back to back. You are visiting the best of Hawaii with not hotels or other things needed, two great Islands. With the option to take tours through the ship or just walk around and tour on your on. And then you move on to the Pacific Ocean and Fiji. Just going to Fiji or Hawaii on its own is a great vacation and you can do this without 24 hour plus airplane rides, no jet lag no hassle. I hope you are able to add some extra time in Australia before flying home as it is a very big place with many different areas and a full vacation in itself. Just about 16 months to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latestarter Posted May 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Cheers Todd, I live in Australia mate so will be flying to Seattle (via LA) to cruise home. Really appreciate the tips though, never having been to Hawaii or Fiji before. We did Noumea, Lifou and Mystery Island on Rhapsody last year but would welcome a second visit to those places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Good Morning Latestarter, Sorry I should have looked at your location. I did not need to tell you about Australia, you already know you could spend 6 moths in AU and still have many things left to see and do. Since you are flying to Seattle, then you should consider spending some extra trip in Seattle and a quick side trip maybe to Canada. Vancouver is well worth a visit, very friendly city, and great people and attractions, about 150 miles (240 KM) by car. but also bus, train, air and ferries. The high speed ferry is about 3 hours and a nice inside passage. Maybe you could plan up to a week in the Seattle area. I know I spend a week in Darwin last year with friends from Darwin and even a smaller place like that after a week I wanted more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latestarter Posted May 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Hey Todd, great info mate, we have actually talked about trying to squeeze in a short visit to Vancouver as we have heard it is beautiful. Having said that, my wife will divorce me if we fly all the way to the US and don't see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at universal so ultimately time will be the deciding factor. Being such a long cruise work commitments will mean our options before embarking will be limited. Glad to hear you have had the pleasure of a visit to our great land down under. As with the US, you could easily spend a year here and still not see all the amazing sights and experiences available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonNZ Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 I must admit I'm pretty tempted to do this cruise as well.... We have a new years (Dec 30th 2017) cruise booked out of Sydney but tempting to book this one (Or why not both). Todd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 I must admit I'm pretty tempted to do this cruise as well.... We have a new years (Dec 30th 2017) cruise booked out of Sydney but tempting to book this one (Or why not both). YOLO Book it! packercruising and EmersonNZ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekkie Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 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 The Singapore / Hong Kong to Australia repositioning cruises, or the return cruises always seem to be great deals with Royal. While harder for US Clients becasue of flying times, for SE Asia and Australia New Zealand residents they are great. Anyone looking for a very interesting longer cruise these are wonderful choices. Also very safe part of the ocean for travel both from a security and weather standpoint. EmersonNZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonNZ Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 The Singapore / Hong Kong to Australia repositioning cruises, or the return cruises always seem to be great deals with Royal. While harder for US Clients becasue of flying times, for SE Asia and Australia New Zealand residents they are great. Anyone looking for a very interesting longer cruise these are wonderful choices. Also very safe part of the ocean for travel both from a security and weather standpoint. I was looking at maybe doing one of the Ovation repositioning cruises. I'm thinking maybe doing Singapore to Sydney trip as it might be nice ending with the shorter trip home (Then again who cares, it's only a extra few hours in a plane and when you live in New Zealand you are used to long haul flights :-) ). Todd is right in the price.... they seem to be really good value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonNZ Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 YOLO Book it! I am so glad you aren't running a blog on illegal drugs... :D rekkie and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samander Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Just paid the balance for the inaugural Ovation of the Seas Singapore to Sydney cruise (a Charter cruise through CRUISECO) departing November 30th. My wife & booked many Months ago only to find that the Charter company CRUISECO is offering the same cabins for about $3000 less!! To cancel at this stage we would lose 45% of the total cruise cost (another rip-off). Any others out there in the same boat as us? As it is a "charter cruise" there is no price match or guarantee by RCI! EmersonNZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flacruiser99 Posted July 30, 2016 Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 Hi all, my wife and I are considering a 24 night cruise from Seattle to Sydney and would love to hear from anyone who has done this cruise before. We are concerned that due to the length of the cruise, fresh fruit and food may run out, entertainment by be not up to usual standards and staff numbers may be down therefore service and attention to guests might be less than what we are used to. TIA. I did this in the other direction and loved it. I went Sydney to Honolulu to Vancouver to Seattle in April/May 2014. A B2B2B that was a total of 36 days. EmersonNZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmersonNZ Posted August 3, 2016 Report Share Posted August 3, 2016 My wife and I are considering the Sydney to Seattle cruise in the next few year (we have a 2017 and 2018 cruise booked so maybe a 2019). Living in New Zealand it's nice and easy to pop over to Sydney and the idea of a couple of weeks of a ship visiting some pacific islands, Hawaii and then ending up in Seattle sounds spectacular. Who knows... we might add an Alaska cruise on the end of the transpacific cruise (I KNOW we'll spend some time in Disneyland... I'm not going that far without hitting a Disney Park). WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packercruising Posted August 3, 2016 Report Share Posted August 3, 2016 Curious to know what port stops there are on a trans-Pacific cruise (for stocking up on fresh fruit and beer). We spent 3 days in Sydney on our Australian cruise (Go Adelaide Crows!) and loved it. What we did not like was the flight both ways. We chose Qantas and it was no where near as good as advertised. A one way flight might be tolerable, though. This looks like a great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samander Posted October 8, 2016 Report Share Posted October 8, 2016 CruiseCo are now offering 2nd passenger free for Ovation of the Seas Singapore to Sydney cruise. So much for booking early only to find later comers can save 50% on what wife and I paid. Also cannot book anything like shore excursions, drink packages and activities as CruiseCo have not issued reservation nos even though we were promised these at least 60 days out and booked over 6 Months ago. It seems CruiseCo don't care about passengers who did the right thing by booking and paying early, paid much more than passengers booking now and we don't even receive preference by been allowed to book activities. At the very least we should be offered some concessions for being out of pocket by so much. This is definitely the last cruise we book with CruiseCo and RCC. Sticky with Celebrity Cruises from now on who are very fair by offering best price guarantee. Very disappointed with CruiseCo and RCC for allowing them to do this on such a fabulous ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 8, 2016 Report Share Posted October 8, 2016 CruiseCo are now offering 2nd passenger free for Ovation of the Seas Singapore to Sydney cruise. So much for booking early only to find later comers can save 50% on what wife and I paid. Also cannot book anything like shore excursions, drink packages and activities as CruiseCo have not issued reservation nos even though we were promised these at least 60 days out and booked over 6 Months ago. It seems CruiseCo don't care about passengers who did the right thing by booking and paying early, paid much more than passengers booking now and we don't even receive preference by been allowed to book activities. At the very least we should be offered some concessions for being out of pocket by so much. This is definitely the last cruise we book with CruiseCo and RCC. Sticky with Celebrity Cruises from now on who are very fair by offering best price guarantee. Very disappointed with CruiseCo and RCC for allowing them to do this on such a fabulous ship. Not sure where you live (I am assuming Australia or somewhere in Asia based on the itinerary), but the cruise line nor the agency you booked through are not at fault. There are promotions all the time, BOGO 50% off, 60% off second guest, kids sail free, etc. Thing is, the base fare can change at any time and you did do the right thing by booking very far in advance. Here in the USA, if there is a new promotion, you can cancel and re-book under the new promotion but will be under the new base rate and booking promotions available. Nowhere in the world, does the cruise line allow you to take an existing booking and tack-on a new promotion on top of it. Not sure why CruiseCo did not issue you a reservation number. I have always used a travel agent and gotten my booking number immediately. My honest advice is give RC another chance, albeit try a different agency if you are not happy with the one you used. I would tell the agency exactly the issues you encountered here so they can assist you better with your next one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samander Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 Based in Australia cruise is with RCC chartered to CruiseCo who are getting a lot of complaints about this cruise. Unable to cancel and rebook as 90days out you forfeit 100% of the fare so no point. No reservation nos yet now they are saying they will not be issued until 2 weeks out. So unable to book shore excursions drink packages onboard activities etc... No doubt 2 weeks out when everyone attempts to go online their website will crash. Definitely last cruise with RCC and CruiseCo will stick with Celebrity Cruises in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 Based in Australia cruise is with RCC chartered to CruiseCo who are getting a lot of complaints about this cruise. Unable to cancel and rebook as 90days out you forfeit 100% of the fare so no point. No reservation nos yet now they are saying they will not be issued until 2 weeks out. So unable to book shore excursions drink packages onboard activities etc... No doubt 2 weeks out when everyone attempts to go online their website will crash. Definitely last cruise with RCC and CruiseCo will stick with Celebrity Cruises in future. It sounds to me as if you're unfairly blaming Royal for something that is the fault of CruiseCo. If they chartered the ship, then they are essentially the cruise line, not Royal. Had you booked directly with Royal, then I would agree that they should be held responsible, but that's not the case here. MylesDots 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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