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On 4/3/2022 at 7:50 PM, mattymay said:

Yeah, saw that as well.

@ChiliIs there an official answer on if Australians are now allowed on Singapore based cruises? I think at one stage they said yes, but then stopped it when Omicron came about.

Just released,as of 11th April and spectrum is deployed from July to October.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/sgp/en/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates?country=SGP

 

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15 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

Yes, I believe so. Royal will provide the required test. Review the Q&A YouTube video from the Singapore Cruise Society as I believe they mentioned it. In the US they did it for all the B2B and S2S cruises

Thanks I will look it up.

I asked Gavin Smith about some packages for Australians.

Fly,stay a cruise.He said it’s a possibility,Singapore tourism was looking at it.  I will chase it up.

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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. 

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3 hours ago, Chili said:

I asked Gavin Smith about some packages for Australians.

Gavin will deploy a ship soon just so he doesn't have to respond to your emails any longer! 😄

I've priced out a September Ocean Getaway for 3 in a balcony stateroom and I'm not sure the price (flights, pre and post-cruise hotel, pre-cruise RAT, cruise) is worth the cost for 3 nighter to nowhere. 

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14 minutes ago, mattymay said:

Well that was short lived. Americans! 
 

But I’ve done the math.. 

Australia is one of the biggest exporters of LNG.. 

And.. if you watch the video.. Utopia.. it’s got to be Lelepa.

It’s ours for sure!!

Haha, not American. 😆 

I'm an ex-pat Scot living in Portugal but the e-mail came fro Royal's UK office. 

But you can have her as long as I can come and sail on her there. I have a circumnavigation pencilled in for when I retire a few years from now. 😁

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On 4/6/2022 at 5:46 PM, mattymay said:

All eyes on 8-Aug.. first ship attempting a South Pacific. If this fails Ovation will be doing circles off the coast of NSW.

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That’s very likely because the islands vaccination rates aren’t  moving.

I wish I knew for sure  ,would try to find some reasonable air fares to the US.

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10 hours ago, mattymay said:

Well that was short lived. Americans! 
 

But I’ve done the math.. 

Australia is one of the biggest exporters of LNG.. 

And.. if you watch the video.. Utopia.. it’s got to be Lelepa.

It’s ours for sure!!

There’s speculation that icon class will be a all weather ship because it’s debuting in the UK and then NYC just before Christmas.

If so It would be more suitable for the South Island of NZ.

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10 hours ago, Chili said:

There’s speculation that icon class will be a all weather ship because it’s debuting in the UK and then NYC just before Christmas.

If so It would be more suitable for the South Island of NZ.

The UK "debut" will be measured in days as opposed to months.  That's just Michael Bayley trying to throw the UK a bone and make it sound like it's a massive honor for the UK to see the ship first.   Similarly the suggested or possible stops in NYC and Boston will also probably be one day if they happen at all.

MB has said it will home port in Miami.  We all know Royal and how they like to get ships into service at their new home ports as soon as possible.  We also all know how many things that Michael Bayley says never happen.  

I would not all be surprised to learn it doesn't go down as Bayley has suggested and Royal will develop another case of "getthereitis" and get the ship to its initial homeport as quickly as possible so it starts generating real revenue as quickly as possible.  

I wouldn't read anything into comments Bayley says in an interview.  Voom would be free if you believe everything he says.  How did that one work out?

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3 hours ago, twangster said:

The UK "debut" will be measured in days as opposed to months.  That's just Michael Bayley trying to throw the UK a bone and make it sound like it's a massive honor for the UK to see the ship first.   Similarly the suggested or possible stops in NYC and Boston will also probably be one day if they happen at all.

MB has said it will home port in Miami.  We all know Royal and how they like to get ships into service at their new home ports as soon as possible.  We also all know how many things that Michael Bayley says never happen.  

I would not all be surprised to learn it doesn't go down as Bayley has suggested and Royal will develop another case of "getthereitis" and get the ship to its initial homeport as quickly as possible so it starts generating real revenue as quickly as possible.  

I wouldn't read anything into comments Bayley says in an interview.  Voom would be free if you believe everything he says.  How did that one work out?

How did that one work out?

You aren’t in politics are you twangster? LOL

We will have to see what ICON looks like,something cross between Quantam and Oasis would be interesting.

Oassis would be nice in ANZ but down in the southern ocean the weather can get cold. One year in Milford sound we got sleet on Christmas Day (the hight of summer) .Tasmania isn’t much better.
 

 

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1 hour ago, Chili said:

How did that one work out?

You aren’t in politics are you twangster? LOL

We will have to see what ICON looks like,something cross between Quantam and Oasis would be interesting.

Oassis would be nice in ANZ but down in the southern ocean the weather can get cold. One year in Milford sound we got sleet on Christmas Day (the hight of summer) .Tasmania isn’t much better.
 

 

We know Icon has an Aqua Theater, or we think we know that.  That implies an outdoor theater unlike Two70° which is decidedly indoor.  Possibly attached to a boardwalk like area.  Her width as we know it suggests the same split design from Oasis class with cabins on both sides of open space in the middle.   

Voyager is a warm weather ship yet Voyager spent has enjoyed many seasons down under.  

Are the competitor's ships down under warm or cold?  

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I don't believe they would send a brand new ship to our backwaters.

I think the most we can hope for is that in a few years the addition of Icon and Utopia pushes some other Oasis class out our way. I guess it also depends on the state of China, and will they send Wonder and Spectrum back there.

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The Caribbean is literally the middle name of the company.  That isn't a pleasantry, the Caribbean IS the lion share of the business.  That never means other regions don't make money or don't warrant different ships.  Heck, Wonder was bound for China until the last minute.  Then throw in the alternate universe of our world in a pandemic.  All bets are off.    Anything could happen.

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

The Caribbean is literally the middle name of the company.  That isn't a pleasantry, the Caribbean IS the lion share of the business.  That never means other regions don't make money or don't warrant different ships.  Heck, Wonder was bound for China until the last minute.  Then throw in the alternate universe of our world in a pandemic.  All bets are off.    Anything could happen.

Anything has happened over the last couple of years.

Next time there’s a pandemic,I’m not going so don’t invite me.

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Royal would be well aware of how passionate Australians are to cruising but the uncertainty of the region having ports open would be of great concern. Unlike sailing in the Caribbean, where should a port or two close, there are several options for a cruise line to easily be redirected to and still give the customers a similar experience,  cruising locally does not have the same opportunity. If the South Pacific islands are off limit, apart from a cruise to nowhere, there are no similar alternatives.

As a business, Royal needs to make money quickly as loan debts will be upon them soon, and so need to fill ships back to capacity and have the offering in the markets which gives them the greatest opportunity to make money, and that is the US market. 

If we look at cruising numbers pre-covid for 2019, according to CLIA, Australia was the fourth biggest source market. North America 15.4m,  Western Europe 7.2m, Asia 3.7m, and Australia/Pacific 1.3m  

By passenger volume, Australia was fifth. US 14.2m, Germany 2.6m, UK & Ireland 2m, Mainland China 1.9m, and Australia 1.2m 

So as the numbers show, why would Royal send more ships to Australia for the next couple of years, the maths does not add up. the US is roughly 12 times the size of the Australian market. The best we could hope for is one day having an older Oasis class in lieu of a Quantum class, but until Royal's accounts is n the black, their focus will be on the US. 

Source: https://cruising.org/-/media/research-updates/research/2019-year-end/updated/2019-global-market-report.ashx

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12 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

Royal would be well aware of how passionate Australians are to cruising but the uncertainty of the region having ports open would be of great concern. Unlike sailing in the Caribbean, where should a port or two close, there are several options for a cruise line to easily be redirected to and still give the customers a similar experience,  cruising locally does not have the same opportunity. If the South Pacific islands are off limit, apart from a cruise to nowhere, there are no similar alternatives.

As a business, Royal needs to make money quickly as loan debts will be upon them soon, and so need to fill ships back to capacity and have the offering in the markets which gives them the greatest opportunity to make money, and that is the US market. 

If we look at cruising numbers pre-covid for 2019, according to CLIA, Australia was the fourth biggest source market. North America 15.4m,  Western Europe 7.2m, Asia 3.7m, and Australia/Pacific 1.3m  

By passenger volume, Australia was fifth. US 14.2m, Germany 2.6m, UK & Ireland 2m, Mainland China 1.9m, and Australia 1.2m 

So as the numbers show, why would Royal send more ships to Australia for the next couple of years, the maths does not add up. the US is roughly 12 times the size of the Australian market. The best we could hope for is one day having an older Oasis class in lieu of a Quantum class, but until Royal's accounts is n the black, their focus will be on the US. 

Source: https://cruising.org/-/media/research-updates/research/2019-year-end/updated/2019-global-market-report.ashx

Interesting, I think before the pandemic Ovation and radiance where some of the best revenue ships. Australia and Alaska.


 Apparently vanuatu is going to open it’s boarders but not for cruise ships just yet.

Vanauatu health has vila vaccination rate at 90% of adults ,some hope!

The rest of the country isn’t so promising.

 

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Australia, pre-pandemic, was a great cruise market.

I feel like Australia will eventually return to being a great cruise market.  

Beyond the politicians, among the people there was a lot of vitriol against the cruise industry in Australia.  Only time will tell how quickly the average Australian will be to embrace the cruise industry.   Same for the Kiwi's.  How quickly will they embrace cruise guests walking ashore. 

Then there is the South Pacific.

For good reasons they should remain careful.  Indigenous people have a history of being significantly impacted by disease brought to their islands.  If you go back a handful of generations the native Hawaiian population was decimated when foreign ships introduced virus and disease their immune system had never seen before.   

6 hours ago, Chili said:

 

 

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Looks like Vanuatu is almost the same as the US.  They are actually running a little higher vax rate.  We only have 66.2% fully vaxxed vs. Vanuatu's 68.6%.  While the US vax rate has plateaued hopefully more South Pacific islands will continue to embrace the vax.

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If you are not 100% loyal to Royal then there is plenty to keep busy with in this region over the next few seasons if Royal don't send anything new.. Celebrity Edge, Virgin Resilient Lady, the 'new' (refurbed) P&O's - Adventure and Encounter, Carnival Splendor, Majestic Princess, etc...

Add Ovation, Quantum, Enchantment, Celebrity Eclipse.. It starts to add up.

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I did Majestic Princess to Alaska in 2021 during the restart.  It was their last Alaska cruise of last year's shortened Alaska season.  

Interesting experience.  I feel like the ship was dated like I had stepped back in time to when the first in this class sailed or even before that.

Contrasting Ovation and Majestic, Ovation feels like a new ship with it's decor and all.  Majestic feels like I stepped back in time and boarded a ship built in 2005 even though the first in this class sailed around the time when Quantum did.  Very strange.  

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38 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

Would the government have been consulting with Royal about this? No point building such a facility unless the cruiselines intended to utilise it for their biggest ships, right?

It’s really a crazy idea because Eden is a tiny,tiny little town .

At the moment they won’t dock Quantum class there ,technically it can dock Quantum but RC will tender anything bigger than voyager or solstice.

 

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Gavin Smith said in 2019 before Covid there was a 10 year plan (probably more like 20 years now) to bring an Oasis to Australia. Back then he said they were interested in the new port in Brisbane, but needed other ports to get on board. Once Lelepa is running and more ports like Eden are capable of hosting large ships who knows what that might bring!

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1 hour ago, mattymay said:

Gavin Smith said in 2019 before Covid there was a 10 year plan (probably more like 20 years now) to bring an Oasis to Australia. Back then he said they were interested in the new port in Brisbane, but needed other ports to get on board. Once Lelepa is running and more ports like Eden are capable of hosting large ships who knows what that might bring!

I think I will go on a different tangent.

BIG GAV said they can’t access some NSW ports in the coming season

 and if the islands aren’t open Australia isn’t viable.
 

I think the problem is that Eden has a cap on cruise ships at 60 a year. 
‘From what I can see the cap has already been reached and if the islands aren’t open there is not enough ports for Quantam and ovation to operate .

I think the pressure is on N.S.W. to lift the cap so the big ships have a extra port to operate, to make the coming season viable.

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/plans-oasis-class-ships-visit-eden-australias-sapphire-coast

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15 minutes ago, Chili said:

I think I will go on a different tangent.

BIG GAV said they can’t access some NSW ports in the coming season

 and if the islands aren’t open Australia isn’t viable.
 

I think the problem is that Eden has a cap on cruise ships at 60 a year. 
‘From what I can see the cap has already been reached and if the islands aren’t open there is not enough ports for Quantam and ovation to operate .

I think the pressure is on N.S.W. to lift the cap so the big ships have a extra port to operate, to make the coming season viable.

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/plans-oasis-class-ships-visit-eden-australias-sapphire-coast

I do wonder where my 9 night South Pacific will be going if it can't go to the South Pacific.

Port changes or cancelled and split into short cruises to nowhere / Eden / etc.. ?

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