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Australia, South Pacific & New Zealand 2021-22 out tommorow


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I just got a crown and anchor advance notice. The schedule will be out tommorow 11/06.

So far confirmed deployment is:

Ovation of the Seas & Quantum of the Seas (Out of Sydney)

Radiance of the Seas (Out of Brisbane)

Looks like Voyager is definitely leaving down under and also Serenade going by the above. 

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As predicted.. Quantum has been showing up on port schedules around the region for while now!

It's also staying longer than when the RC season usually finishes in April. My thoughts before COVID were that it would probably service Perfect Day at Lelepa year round, but who knows now?

image.thumb.png.fb81d326abe4359c2fc7eac7788a51d9.png

 

 

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So the itineraries are now out, here’s my observations: 

• No Top End or Bottom End Australia itineraries 

• New port: Eden, Australia 

• Expanded season in Brisbane for Radiance of the Seas 

• Departure of both Voyager & Serenade for 21-22. 

• Quantum & Ovation doing similar itineraries

• Otherwise a mixture of South Pacific, Australia & New Zealand itineraries. 

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7 minutes ago, Shanenz84 said:

So the itineraries are now out, here’s my observations: 

• No Top End or Bottom End Australia itineraries 

• New port: Eden, Australia 

• Expanded season in Brisbane for Radiance of the Seas 

• Departure of both Voyager & Serenade for 21-22. 

• Quantum & Ovation doing similar itineraries

• Otherwise a good mixture of South Pacific, Australia & New Zealand itineraries. 

Seems to be an excessive amount of NZ cruises to me when compared to South PAcific.

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4 hours ago, Shanenz84 said:

So the itineraries are now out, here’s my observations: 

• No Top End or Bottom End Australia itineraries 

• New port: Eden, Australia 

• Expanded season in Brisbane for Radiance of the Seas 

• Departure of both Voyager & Serenade for 21-22. 

• Quantum & Ovation doing similar itineraries

• Otherwise a mixture of South Pacific, Australia & New Zealand itineraries. 

There are some itineraries to Tasmania. 

This is my fav - South Pacific is a little misleading! ?

image.thumb.png.7087cee583a65ed2e8e60f761448e673.png

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

Interesting no Serenade.  I wonder where she is heading after Alaska in 2021.  Perhaps another Panama Canal opportunity.  

Yes only one season 20-21 down under it seems. Could it be headed for West Coast US? 

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17 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

Disappointing to have no Voyager/Freedom Class.

Also, two Q Class ships, both out of Sydney, is too much.  If we must have two, I would have preferred to see one of them swap with Radiance from Brisbane.

Based on the Sydney cruise ship schedule I saw a while back Quantum is staying until at least June.. possibly further however the schedule ends. Ovation leaves in April as it does every year.

This could potentially be Royal's attempt to port a full time ship in Australia as Carnival is now doing with Splendor. A Quantum class is perfect to leave here during the winter as it can also adapt to the warmer temps as it sails north. It will eventually sail Perfect Day at Lelepa all year round.

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9 minutes ago, mattymay said:

Based on the Sydney cruise ship schedule I saw a while back Quantum is staying until at least June.. possibly further however the schedule ends. Ovation leaves in April as it does every year.

This could potentially be Royal's attempt to port a full time ship in Australia as Carnival is now doing with Splendor. A Quantum class is perfect to leave here during the winter as it can also adapt to the warmer temps as it sails north. It will eventually sail Perfect Day at Lelepa all year round.

I love Radiance Class, but I am going to miss Voyager Class. Q Class I can take or leave.

It's a moot point anyway. In the current climate I'm not handing over my cash for a booking that may never eventuate. See: Twangster's experience in one of the other threads.

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2 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

I love Radiance Class, but I am going to miss Voyager Class. Q Class I can take or leave.

It's a moot point anyway. In the current climate I'm not handing over my cash for a booking that may never eventuate. See: Twangster's experience in one of the other threads.

I've got my cash ready, hoping to pounce on a last minute Voyager cruise before its gone for good, if they end up going ahead!!

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5 minutes ago, mattymay said:

I've got my cash ready, hoping to pounce on a last minute Voyager cruise before its gone for good, if they end up going ahead!!

There's too much uncertainty for my liking. You and I (along with our North American friends I'm sure), are lucky to have plenty of great holiday spots within our own country, and even within each individual state, so I'm going to stick to local travel for the foreseeable future. Foregoing cruising for a year or two is hardly a sacrifice in my view.

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8 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

There's too much uncertainty for my liking. You and I (along with our North American friends I'm sure), are lucky to have plenty of great holiday spots within our own country, and even within each individual state, so I'm going to stick to local travel for the foreseeable future. Foregoing cruising for a year or two is hardly a sacrifice in my view.

When I say last minute I literally mean a week or so before hand, will have something else local as back up plan in case it falls through. If these Sep-April sailings do go ahead I think they will be offering some good deals. Given the bashing cruising has copped here I don't see any full ships sailing out of Sydney next season.

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20 minutes ago, mattymay said:

When I say last minute I literally mean a week or so before hand, will have something else local as back up plan in case it falls through. If these Sep-April sailings do go ahead I think they will be offering some good deals. Given the bashing cruising has copped here I don't see any full ships sailing out of Sydney next season.

Coming from Perth the biggest hurdle to going for a last minute deal would be getting last minute flights at a reasonable price. The planets would need to align in once-in-a-century-fashion.

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3 hours ago, mattymay said:

Given the bashing cruising has copped here I don't see any full ships sailing out of Sydney next season.

I've been curious what the sentiment is on the street or among the people versus what we read in hyped up media and other internet sources.  It did seem like Oz was giving a cold shoulder to the cruise industry as if they all had mad scientists brewing up virus concoctions on board.  

When I was there in February there were many activities celebrating the Lunar New Year.  It occurred to me that there is a strong, vibrant Asian community and presence in Sydney.  In hindsight that most likely means some air travel between Asia and Australia as people visit family and perform commerce between continents.  I have to believe while I was there in Sydney walking the streets the virus was already taking root and beginning to spread and it arrived on an airplane, not on a cruise ship. 

A few weeks after I left the region the guests who would subsequently bring it onto a ship sailing from Sydney became infected before boarding the ship, walking the same streets that I did.  They brought it onto the ship yet there seems to be this suggestion that Australia was perfectly clean until those same ships returned from the South Pacific or New Zealand and therefore the cruise industry is solely at fault for infecting Australia.  That's poppycock in my opinion. 

While it was being carried onto ships leaving from Sydney it was also spreading on transit systems, churches, grocery stores, schools, etc. yet somehow it's all the cruise industry fault because they are uniquely setup to detect and record an infection while the rest of Australia was initially seemingly oblivious to it.

So my question is...  how do the people of Australia feel about the cruise industry?  Is it just a few noisy anti-cruise rating-seeking media poisoning the masses or do people actually think the cruise industry is to blame? 

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

I've been curious what the sentiment is on the street or among the people versus what we read in hyped up media and other internet sources.  It did seem like Oz was giving a cold shoulder to the cruise industry as if they all had mad scientists brewing up virus concoctions on board.  

When I was there in February there were many activities celebrating the Lunar New Year.  It occurred to me that there is a strong, vibrant Asian community and presence in Sydney.  In hindsight that most likely means some air travel between Asia and Australia as people visit family and perform commerce between continents.  I have to believe while I was there in Sydney walking the streets the virus was already taking root and beginning to spread and it arrived on an airplane, not on a cruise ship. 

A few weeks after I left the region the guests who would subsequently bring it onto a ship sailing from Sydney became infected before boarding the ship, walking the same streets that I did.  They brought it onto the ship yet there seems to be this suggestion that Australia was perfectly clean until those same ships returned from the South Pacific or New Zealand and therefore the cruise industry is solely at fault for infecting Australia.  That's poppycock in my opinion. 

While it was being carried onto ships leaving from Sydney it was also spreading on transit systems, churches, grocery stores, schools, etc. yet somehow it's all the cruise industry fault because they are uniquely setup to detect and record an infection while the rest of Australia was initially seemingly oblivious to it.

So my question is...  how do the people of Australia feel about the cruise industry?  Is it just a few noisy anti-cruise rating-seeking media poisoning the masses or do people actually think the cruise industry is to blame? 

The general vibe amongst Joe Public is that cruise ships are a source of Covid spread and are viewed very negatively at present. A massive chunk of cases in NSW came as a direct result of infected passengers being allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess. However I don't know of anyone that thinks cruise ships are solely to blame. Far from it.

We've had non-essential international travel banned since March and several of our states have shut their borders. We are now down to less than 150 active cases of CV19 so these measures have worked and worked beyond expectation. Our geographical isolation for once has been beneficial.  As has New Zealand's.

As a result of this success we have begun easing restrictions. Larger gatherings are now permitted, restaurants have just opened, sport is starting again. No one is in a rush to open our international borders - to aeroplanes or ships - anytime soon, because all that does is allow in cases from countries who have not been as successful in eliminating the virus as we have.

I love cruising, but I disagree with many others on this site. Cruise ships are a source of spread and best avoided at this juncture. Just because there are other sources of spread, it does not mean that cruise ships should just be allowed to freely go about their business.

Like I referenced in a prior post, there are other ways to vacation that are every bit as enjoyable and I will support the local tourism industry for the foreseeable future. All the while I will be following RC's progress as it navigates its way through this mess and look forward to one day cruising again.

I hope you can appreciate my honesty.

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10 hours ago, twangster said:

I have to believe while I was there in Sydney walking the streets the virus was already taking root and beginning to spread and it arrived on an airplane, not on a cruise ship. 

There is no overwhelming feeling that the cruise ships brought it in. However there is a negatavive perception of the cruise lines, particularly in the final weeks before cruising was suspended when the world was fully aware of the risks. Cruises were going ahead against public health advice and cruisers were not allowed to cancel without losing everything and they were being told that all ports were available even when it was clear they were not. 

The attitude to the virus on a whole is a lot different to the USA. Yes we have a smaller population however Sydney has a population of 5.5 million and a higher urban density than most USA cities (figures show a smaller density however 85% of the area is virtually uninhabited) 

NYC is the best example. High population and density and yes they suffered as expected. But they have managed to not only flatten the curve but are seeing it head down. What is the excuse for the rest of the country 3 months on? They said the warm weather would kill it off. Not happening.

I cant see there being any cruising until there is some sort of improvement.

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17 hours ago, twangster said:

I've been curious what the sentiment is on the street or among the people versus what we read in hyped up media and other internet sources.  It did seem like Oz was giving a cold shoulder to the cruise industry as if they all had mad scientists brewing up virus concoctions on board.  

When I was there in February there were many activities celebrating the Lunar New Year.  It occurred to me that there is a strong, vibrant Asian community and presence in Sydney.  In hindsight that most likely means some air travel between Asia and Australia as people visit family and perform commerce between continents.  I have to believe while I was there in Sydney walking the streets the virus was already taking root and beginning to spread and it arrived on an airplane, not on a cruise ship. 

A few weeks after I left the region the guests who would subsequently bring it onto a ship sailing from Sydney became infected before boarding the ship, walking the same streets that I did.  They brought it onto the ship yet there seems to be this suggestion that Australia was perfectly clean until those same ships returned from the South Pacific or New Zealand and therefore the cruise industry is solely at fault for infecting Australia.  That's poppycock in my opinion. 

While it was being carried onto ships leaving from Sydney it was also spreading on transit systems, churches, grocery stores, schools, etc. yet somehow it's all the cruise industry fault because they are uniquely setup to detect and record an infection while the rest of Australia was initially seemingly oblivious to it.

So my question is...  how do the people of Australia feel about the cruise industry?  Is it just a few noisy anti-cruise rating-seeking media poisoning the masses or do people actually think the cruise industry is to blame? 

Avid cruisers may return, but I just don't see there being a strong demand from the general public/first time cruises. Anyone I have mentioned cruising to, be that friends, family, work colleagues, etc.. the standard response is "You're booking a cruise? You're crazy! I would never go on a cruise. Not even if you paid me to go!" 

As you say cruise ships were not the source, these passengers were already infected before they boarded. But even so The Ruby Princess saga was not just a few noisy anti-cruise rating-seeking media, it was front page news for weeks on every major news outlet in the country. It has definitely poisoned the masses and damaged the cruise industries reputation. I don't think people really care who is to blame, just that if you get on a ship you're going to catch a disease.

The Australian government has already stated that the first international travel to reopen will be between Australia and New Zealand once the two countries reach an agreement. Followed by the South Pacific as they are keen to get travel resumed to support these small island economies. That's good news for RCI as that pretty much covers all of their itineraries.

Let's say by October when the season starts there are very few cases of COVID remaining (if any) and international travel between Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands is open. With proper screening procedures in place I don't see why cruising couldn't resume.

Now all there is to worry about is who actually wants to go cruising? And how are they are going to fill these ships? Don't forget there is also Carnival, Princess, P&O, and Celebrity offerings to contend with as well.

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I think the issue would be the crew on the ship. It is likely they would have to quarantine on arrival to Australia and NZ as they are not residents. Then how do you manage any replacement crew members. I think from a management point of view it will far easier for the government to just extend the ban.

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