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I know everyone is keen to get back to Vanuatu but I think their government needs to be conservative in their decision making. It is important to remember they don't have the health infrastructure of NZ, Aust, US or for that matter New Caledonia. The number of hospital beds and ventilators per head of populations is well under the countries most of us call home.

Also unfortunately adding to this as a population they are also over represented in conditions that increase the risk of serious COVID outcomes (such as Diabetes etc). 

On the other hand a great deal of the countries income is from tourism so opening up is important.

Yes, can’t wait to get back there…. But I absolutely wouldn’t want to do so if I knew I was putting the people of Vanuatu at undue risk. I am happy to let Vanuatu make their own decision on when they want to open up and respect the fact they are being cautious. When they do I hope Australia and New Zealand continue to support them as far as ensuring they have access to any medical facilities they may require as they open up and that the cruise lines act responsibility and take into consideration the nature of the countries infrastructure itself when deciding to dock in a given day our not (Which I think they will be especially RCL which has long term agreements in place with Vanuatu). I actually wouldn’t be upset if you had do a rapid test before being allowed off the ship in port. Given most itineraries see a 2 or 3 day sail before you land it gives time for your viral load to be high enough to test positive. It might be a nice compromise between having the ships return and keeping the population as safe as possible (Never will 100% but anything we can do to reduce pressure on their health system the better).

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Vanuata COVID update 15th May. It may still take time as they have harsh lockdowns with transmission levels. 

Latest update:The Government of Vanuatu has confirmed that community transmission of COVID-19 has been detected in Port Vila and on the island of Espiritu Santo. All provinces of Vanuatu have moved to Outbreak Alert Level 3 and are subject to daytime movement restrictions and a 6pm – 6am curfew. All non-essential businesses are closed, and there are restrictions on public gatherings. All inbound international passenger flights and all domestic travel to and from the island of Efate is suspended. International outbound travel currently remains unaffected.

https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/pacific/vanuatu

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23 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

Vanuata COVID update 15th May. It may still take time as they have harsh lockdowns with transmission levels. 

Latest update:The Government of Vanuatu has confirmed that community transmission of COVID-19 has been detected in Port Vila and on the island of Espiritu Santo. All provinces of Vanuatu have moved to Outbreak Alert Level 3 and are subject to daytime movement restrictions and a 6pm – 6am curfew. All non-essential businesses are closed, and there are restrictions on public gatherings. All inbound international passenger flights and all domestic travel to and from the island of Efate is suspended. International outbound travel currently remains unaffected.

https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/pacific/vanuatu

I think Vanuatu main problem is it’s low vaccination rate.

But with NZ open Ovation and Quantum should be able to make the coming season work . Also I think noumea should be OK as the French have a fairly high vaccination rate there.

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On 5/15/2022 at 12:44 PM, Chili said:

I think Vanuatu main problem is it’s low vaccination rate.

But with NZ open Ovation and Quantum should be able to make the coming season work . Also I think noumea should be OK as the French have a fairly high vaccination rate there.

Seems to line up with what is showing in cruise planner at the moment, South Pacific itinerary only has shore tours for Noumea available.

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2 hours ago, CruisingOz said:

Tempted to cruise P&O but saving my money for upcoming Royal cruises. Will need it to afford the drinks with the current prices crazy   

My sister booked a P&O in a bit over a week and wanted me to go ,I’ll tell you.
These crazy RC onboard prices are a worry . I don’t know what’s going on ,finance problems ?
Have they sold the Ozzie season to cheap? 

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14 hours ago, CruisingOz said:

Tempted to cruise P&O but saving my money for upcoming Royal cruises. Will need it to afford the drinks with the current prices crazy   

Works out to 15/16 drinks per day at the moment. I could do that on a few days but not for 9 days straight. 

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On 5/26/2022 at 12:14 PM, mattymay said:

Works out to 15/16 drinks per day at the moment. I could do that on a few days but not for 9 days straight. 

Yeah, I know Kiwis and Aussies are known for their drinking... but even in my scarfie days I would have found that difficult... for 11 days in a row (From Thursday to Saturday no issue.... 🙂 )

 

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24 minutes ago, Chili said:

It looks like Ovation is doing some turnarounds in Honolulu October ,November

I should read the whole sentence. I was nearly in the foetal position thinking my Transpacific for October 9th this year was cancelled. Trying to bring the heart rate down. Is it too early for Kraken? 

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45 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

I should read the whole sentence. I was nearly in the foetal position thinking my Transpacific for October 9th this year was cancelled. Trying to bring the heart rate down. Is it too early for Kraken? 

No next season but I can’t see ovation or Quantum there for this season.

https://hawaii.portcall.com/#!?tab=2

Heres ovations schedule for next season.Could they get around the PVSA if they did some Hawaiian cruises?

055992C1-4704-4008-B10A-D7B391CF438E.thumb.png.568d71dacd0f17d68a9623327ce291c6.png

 

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41 minutes ago, Chili said:

I can’t see ovation or Quantum there for this season.

I did notice that, but I dare say the site is not 100% accurate or loaded with updated information. It has not got the Enchantment for 2023, and the Radiance is on a Panama Cancel crossing and Caribbean cruise in Oct. 

On the port site filtered by date, it shows the Ovation for the 9th October

https://hawaii.portcall.com/#!?date=2022-10-09

image.png.f2448472270721a5c123f8d90f2662dd.png

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I was having a look at the cruise timetable for the Overseas Passenger Terminal located in Circular Quay in Sydney and noticed a sailing for Radiance of the Seas... 🤔 but then when I had a look on Royal's website for cruises starting in October, the earliest one was October 29th.... what's the deal with this?

I'm guessing this was either a leftover cruise from before COVID and the cruising industry was shutdown in Australia and all Radiance sailings were cancelled or it's a mistake of some sort.image.thumb.png.9cd5b7fd7836f82fccbd2fe878600d02.png

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2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

'm guessing this was either a leftover cruise from before COVID and the cruising industry was shutdown in Australia and all Radiance sailings were cancelled or it's a mistake of some sort.

Royal pulled Radiance from Australia for the upcoming season, like many others we had cruises cancelled. The OPT have not updated their website. The first cruise back is Oct 29th with a 11 night NZ. We are on the sailing from Honolulu on the 9th October. So for this season out of Sydney, it will only be the one ship, Ovation

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17 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

 

Royal pulled Radiance from Australia for the upcoming season, like many others we had cruises cancelled. The OPT have not updated their website. The first cruise back is Oct 29th with a 11 night NZ. We are on the sailing from Honolulu on the 9th October. So for this season out of Sydney, it will only be the one ship, Ovation

I figured that was the case, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the info 👌

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/27/2022 at 6:07 PM, mattymay said:

Interesting Virgin are home porting Resilient Lady in Melbourne. Over to you Royal Caribbean.. 

Disney are now sending a ship to Australia in 2024-25. 

And a new Carnival ship by the end of this year to replace the old Carnival Spirit in Brisbane.

Royal are gonna have to lift their game in a few years. The competition is really heating up. 

 

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13 hours ago, mattymay said:

P&O have bailed on the South Pacific for early September cruise due to uncertainty in the region. Getting really close to Royal Caribbean season there.

NZ is open so I think Ovation will be coming but Quantum May be a bit unknown.

I don’t know how Quantum will go if the islands aren’t open for business.

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8 minutes ago, mattymay said:

Well Carnival have just announced this so they must be confident in the South Pacific

With everything I am reading from the various South Pacific news articles, I believe that most islands will be open and if some are still closed, then this opens up new opportunities to places like Samoa. By October, some three months away, many protocols will be in place and ready to receive tourists. I can also see more overnights in places like Vanuatu and new Caledonia to fill the time.    

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5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It's nice that Carnival is putting a brand new ship down under.  I don't know anything about Carnival ships so I  can't judge the quality but it's still nice to get a newbie !!

 She will be brand new to Carnival Cruise Lines but she has been sailing around Europe and the Mediterranean for 13 years, under Carnival's Costa Cruise line brand. Originally Carnival was going to take the Costa Magic (a larger ship) and repurpose it into a Carnival branded ship but changed their minds and will now take(the somewhat smaller) Luminosa instead.  I guess this is Carnivals answer to Royal sending Quantum to Brisbane.

 

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Wow, has the Australian Government really upset the cruise lines. This ex-Costa Carnival ship and the Royal's Enchantment are so small and old. I do not mind the Encroachment as have sailed Vision class before and we are booked on her, but there is no way I would even step onto the Luminosa, it is so old and a bad layout.     

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1 hour ago, CruisingOz said:

Wow, has the Australian Government really upset the cruise lines. This ex-Costa Carnival ship and the Royal's Enchantment are so small and old. I do not mind the Encroachment as have sailed Vision class before and we are booked on her, but there is no way I would even step onto the Luminosa, it is so old and a bad layout.     

Yes it looks like they have. I think they've gone a bit conservative for now but as long as bookings return and the ships full up then i'm sure we'll get more options in the future. Also remember Virgin is bringing the new "Resilient Lady" next year as well as "Celebrity Edge" coming down under so these are positive signs of confidence in the region. 

It would have been nice for Carnival to bring a newer ship down under like one of the Dream or Vista Class that would have been a good upgrade and a bit more competitive with other lines.

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1 hour ago, CruisingOz said:

Wow, has the Australian Government really upset the cruise lines. This ex-Costa Carnival ship and the Royal's Enchantment are so small and old. I do not mind the Encroachment as have sailed Vision class before and we are booked on her, but there is no way I would even step onto the Luminosa, it is so old and a bad layout.     

It was to replace Carnival Spirit, so if you take that into consideration it is not much different from original plans.

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3 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

Does that mean your booking your next cruise on Carnival Luminosa 😅🤣

NO , I just come of P&O pacific explorer just out of sheer desperation.

What a bad experience,bad food ,the same every day unless you want to pay $20 for a pizza,$8 for a hot dog,$14 for a burger,$50 for a steak,ice cream on the pool deck $2 a scoop and the list goes on.
 

 

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