Jamesszy94 Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 1 hour ago, Chili said: It looks like Ovation is going North,it has a booking in Darwin. https://portinfo.darwinport.com.au/webx/# Maybe Ovation is finally heading back to Asia? And they'll finally send us a new ship? (Spectrum? Allure?... one can hope) Or.... Ovation of the Seas World Cruise KristiZ and steverk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattymay Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: Maybe Ovation is finally heading back to Asia? And they'll finally send us a new ship? (Spectrum? Allure?... one can hope) Or.... Ovation of the Seas World Cruise Based off the information so far there are currently 4 ships in the mix: Preceding Alaska season with Quantum, Anthem and Radiance. Brisbane port bookings for Voyager. Jamesszy94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 I recon Ovation might go to the Mediterranean. Royal would have finished the new terminal in Ravenna,which they paid for !!. They will have to boost revenue with more capacity and that would mean a Quantum class . I don’t know what Odyssey is up to but Ovation would be a all new ship for the region. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 12 hours ago, mattymay said: Based off the information so far there are currently 4 ships in the mix: Preceding Alaska season with Quantum, Anthem and Radiance. Brisbane port bookings for Voyager. So Quantum/Anthem for Sydney? Radiance for Brisbane and Sydney Voyager for Brisbane only? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 With only Odyssey in the Atlantic basin it stands to reason they could bring another Q class over from the Pacific. Odyssey doesn't make sense from Bayonne in the winter, the indoor family pool found on the earlier Q class is very popular on those two sea days in and two sea days out of Bayonne. I'm booked on OV for a B3B, April 3, April 12 and April 29. The first two show "closed" but as we are learning from other passengers the middle TP has been cancelled. No word on the other two, yet. There are so many possibilities so I'm just going to sit back and wait. I'm tempted to do a train across Australia instead. Maybe The Ghan or Indian Pacific or both. Might have to change to another season and think about a TP another time. I'm growing increasingly frustrated with their silence. They know what they are going to do but for some reason they won't tell us. I need to firm up my 2025 plans so it may not include Royal Caribbean at this point, at least down under. WAAAYTOOO and Jamesszy94 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 5 hours ago, twangster said: I'm growing increasingly frustrated with their silence. This seems to be common across the cruise lines at the moment, but you will get a nice email full of platitudes about how important your cruise holiday is to them. We have to wait until April to see the Australia 2025/26 itineraries and even longer if we want to cruise Asia. Some cruise lines already have these available so why do we have to wait so long as they must already be planned with the ports booked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 52 minutes ago, F1guynz said: This seems to be common across the cruise lines at the moment, but you will get a nice email full of platitudes about how important your cruise holiday is to them. We have to wait until April to see the Australia 2025/26 itineraries and even longer if we want to cruise Asia. Some cruise lines already have these available so why do we have to wait so long as they must already be planned with the ports booked. Maybe they want people talking about Icon and they want all the focus to be on Icon right now. At least that's my guess Chili 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattymay Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 8 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: So Quantum/Anthem for Sydney? Radiance for Brisbane and Sydney Voyager for Brisbane only? No idea to be honest. But based on the number of dates for Sydney I am guessing only one ship. Same for Brisbane, might not be Voyager like it states but is still only enough bookings for one ship. Jamesszy94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 1 hour ago, mattymay said: No idea to be honest. But based on the number of dates for Sydney I am guessing only one ship. Same for Brisbane, might not be Voyager like it states but is still only enough bookings for one ship. Yikes.. Unnamed Vessel, okay then. I guess Australia will forever be stuck with Quantum ships... until a bigger terminal is built for an Oasis-class. Hopefully they're not all just South Pacific cruises... I wonder if Royal ever sent us an Oasis class ship if there'd be more bookings from Brisbane... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattymay Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 30 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said: Yikes.. Unnamed Vessel, okay then. I guess Australia will forever be stuck with Quantum ships... until a bigger terminal is built for an Oasis-class. Hopefully they're not all just South Pacific cruises... I wonder if Royal ever sent us an Oasis class ship if there'd be more bookings from Brisbane... Probably just more of the same South Pacific and New Zealand. Not sure if it's a size thing or covid, but hopefully Voyager can get into some of the other ports - Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, Santo, Suva, Port Denarau, Dravuni Island. That would definitely interest me. Jamesszy94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: until a bigger terminal is built for an Oasis-class I don't think this will be anytime soon as most of the islands are tendered and I don't believe Oasis class is designed for tendering sue to their size so itineraries would be extremely limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 If Quantum goes to California we might get Navigator for the season. That would be a good transpacific . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 Figures we have to wait until the end of the schedule release window to know what's going to San Pedro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 34 minutes ago, smokeybandit said: Figures we have to wait until the end of the schedule release window to know what's going to San Pedro. Isn’t L.A short cruise going to be released this month? They can’t fill a Quantum in Brisbane and it’s to big to get into some of the islands . A Voyager would be more practical for Brisbane. It can dock in Vila also Melbourne plus there’s rumours Cairns may allow a Voyager to dock soon. Hey ,it could even tender to the mysterious Lelepa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 This month, yes, but not until the week of the 19th. Chili 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 10 hours ago, mattymay said: Probably just more of the same South Pacific and New Zealand. Not sure if it's a size thing or covid, but hopefully Voyager can get into some of the other ports - Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, Santo, Suva, Port Denarau, Dravuni Island. That would definitely interest me. Probably just a COVID thing but maybe also a size thing? The P&O ships are significantly smaller than Ovation and Quantum and I know they sail to Dravuni Island and Lautoka. Likewise. It would be a nice change of itineraries. I remember on my last cruise asking the NC person why all the itineraries are the same - Tasmania/Adelaide - New Zealand - South Pacific And she said it's just whatever Royal decides which make sense, but she also said she agreed with me and wishes Royal would change up the itineraries. I really do hope Royal does go to more exotic ports. Maybe over to Perth, up to PNG, Solomon Islands, Norfolk Island. I guess it's hard for the bigger ships though Maybe we'll finally get more exotic ports when Voyager comes?returns? to Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 We've had Voyager in Sydney before right? I remember looking at cruises many years ago and Voyager of the Seas was one of the options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 7 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said: We've had Voyager in Sydney before right Yes, we have sailed on Voyager from Sydney in 2015 and 2020. Explorer has also been here before as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 I know Enchantment was supposed to come to Sydney during the 2023-2024 cruise season but she was replaced with Brilliance, did Royal ever say what the reason for that was? 8 hours ago, Chili said: Isn’t L.A short cruise going to be released this month? They can’t fill a Quantum in Brisbane and it’s to big to get into some of the islands . A Voyager would be more practical for Brisbane. It can dock in Vila also Melbourne plus there’s rumours Cairns may allow a Voyager to dock soon. Hey ,it could even tender to the mysterious Lelepa But let's say *hypothetically* Voyager goes to Brisbane instead, what would Sydney get?! Utopia? Star? Wonder? Allure?! (I wish! But let me cope) How likely are they to send us Anthem (since they seem dead-set on only giving us QN class and they'd never give us Spectrum or Odyssey!) or a Freedom-class Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 2 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said: I know Enchantment was supposed to come to Sydney during the 2022-2023 cruise season but she was replaced with Brilliance, did Royal ever say what the reason for that was? Pretty sure Vision class was too dirty for Alaska so they replaced her with Serenade the year she was supposed to do Alaska leaving EN in the Atlantic. The following year Brilliance became the 2nd RD class Vancouver based ship for Alaska. She (EN) probably would have failed to qualify for the NZ sounds as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 10 minutes ago, twangster said: Pretty sure Vision class was too dirty for Alaska so they replaced her with Serenade the year she was supposed to do Alaska leaving EN in the Atlantic. The following year Brilliance became the 2nd RD class Vancouver based ship for Alaska. She (EN) probably would have failed to qualify for the NZ sounds as well. IIRC (I could be wrong)- Most of the Enchantment sailings were Sydney > Adelaide > Hobart > Sydney (or some combination of this) or to the South Pacific. I guess it makes sense that she was bad for Alaska and had to be replaced. I feel so bad for the Vision class ships... it's like when a parent plays favourites. Royal is focusing all their attention on Oasis and Icon and basically feels like they're abandoning the others. (Vision and to some extent Radiance and Voyager class) Imagine if Royal ever sent Grandeur or Rhapsody to Australia and were like "take it or leave it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 26 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said: IIRC (I could be wrong)- Most of the Enchantment sailings were Sydney > Adelaide > Hobart > Sydney (or some combination of this) or to the South Pacific. I guess it makes sense that she was bad for Alaska and had to be replaced. I feel so bad for the Vision class ships... it's like when a parent plays favourites. Royal is focusing all their attention on Oasis and Icon and basically feels like they're abandoning the others. (Vision and to some extent Radiance and Voyager class) Imagine if Royal ever sent Grandeur or Rhapsody to Australia and were like "take it or leave it" Let's face it, Royal doesn't want the Vision class ships but they have no place to dump them with Pullmantur gone. So they run them into the ground. People book them, then complain, but there are enough new to cruise and loyalist booking them so why accelerate the last ride to a beach in Turkey we all know is overdue? WAAAYTOOO and dr martini 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 There’s a pretty strong rumour Virgin is pulling out of Australia. Reports,the sales desk onboard saying they are assessing next season and apparently there’s port bookings in the Caribbean. Thats a bit less competition for Royal Caribbean and we might get our two ships back in Sydney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Chili said: There’s a pretty strong rumour Virgin is pulling out of Australia. Reports,the sales desk onboard saying they are assessing next season and apparently there’s port bookings in the Caribbean. Thats a bit less competition for Royal Caribbean and we might get our two ships back in Sydney. Where are you hearing this rumor? I mean... it doesn't help that most of their sailings leave from Melbourne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 44 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said: Where are you hearing this rumor? I mean... it doesn't help that most of their sailings leave from Melbourne. There’s a couple of threads on Cruise critic. One on the ANZ forum and on the Virgin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 11 hours ago, twangster said: Let's face it, Royal doesn't want the Vision class ships but they have no place to dump them with Pullmantur gone. So they run them into the ground. People book them, then complain, but there are enough new to cruise and loyalist booking them so why accelerate the last ride to a beach in Turkey we all know is overdue? Seems to me that Royal is deploying Vision class to niche markets. It can't be all that profitable, but only vision and radiance classes can transit the Panama Canal or dock in Baltimore an Tampa. For those reasons. I believe visiin in particular will continue to sail in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. So no worries about them visiting Australia any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattymay Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 2 hours ago, Chili said: There’s a pretty strong rumour Virgin is pulling out of Australia. Reports,the sales desk onboard saying they are assessing next season and apparently there’s port bookings in the Caribbean. Thats a bit less competition for Royal Caribbean and we might get our two ships back in Sydney. This does not surprise me! Their itineraries are worse than Royal Caribbean. I mean who really wants to cruise to Burnie in Tasmania. I did it to test out the ship, and it was great, but a chilly 17 degrees in the middle of summer is not what people want. Chili and Jamesszy94 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 I would have tried Virigin, if she sailed from Sydney and if they did weekend cruises - Friday - Monday and went to more exotic locations. But their locations are just like every other cruise line that operates in Australia - New Zealand - Some combination of Adelaide/Tasmania/Melbourne/Brisbane/Eden But alas, 95% of their cruises left from Melbourne, but it also doesn't help that most of their cruises were one way and not a round trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 When will cruise lines realise that there's a market for cruising in Australia (at least in Sydney, probably Brisbane too, if they changed up the itineraries or went to more exotic ports from Brisbane) and have better destinations/send better ships/send more ships/dock here year round. It's just P&O and Carnival that we're stuck with year round... P&O is a bit yikes to say the least and don't even get me started on Carnival, but then if we want to sail on any of the other cruise lines (Royal, Princess, Celebrity, Disney etc) we have to spend even more money to fly!! (During the southern autumn/winter season) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 26 minutes ago, mattymay said: This does not surprise me! Their itineraries are worse than Royal Caribbean. I mean who really wants to cruise to Burnie in Tasmania. I did it to test out the ship, and it was great, but a chilly 17 degrees in the middle of summer is not what people want. Virgin and Disney are competing with Royal. Virgin has a new product and Also Disney. Carnival group just has old flee bag ships with bad food,worst that Royal. Hopefully we get our 3 ships back Jamesszy94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 6 minutes ago, Jamesszy94 said: When will cruise lines realise that there's a market for cruising in Australia (at least in Sydney, probably Brisbane too, if they changed up the itineraries or went to more exotic ports from Brisbane) and have better destinations/send better ships/send more ships/dock here year round. It's just P&O and Carnival that we're stuck with year round... P&O is a bit yikes to say the least and don't even get me started on Carnival, but then if we want to sail on any of the other cruise lines (Royal, Princess, Celebrity etc) we have to spend even more money to fly!! (During the southern autum/winter season) Another thing to consider,we are a safe destination in a troubled world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 -deleted- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 2 hours ago, Chili said: Carnival group just has old flee bag ships with bad food,worst that Royal. But! Carnival has Mardi Gras, Celebration and Jubilee! Also the 2 hours ago, Chili said: Another thing to consider,we are a safe destination in a troubled world. Are we really that safe though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWofPerth Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: As someone who sailed on Disney a few weeks ago, I honestly think that Disney's product is FAR SUPERIOR than Royal's. We always meme on Disney for their prices, but honestly, Royal's prices are just as bad, if not worse sometimes. I sailed on the Disney Wonder and it was ~$8,500AUD for 5 adults and 2 infants for two interior rooms for a 3 night sailing on the Disney Wonder leaving from Sydney. I tried to find an equivalent on Royal; the closest I could find was a 4 Night Western Caribbean Cruise leaving from Galveston, Texas on Voyager. 5 adults and 2 infants in 2 interior rooms is $9,109.73. (Keep in mind we'd stl have to fly to Texas) OR A 4 night Western Caribbean Cruise leaving from Tampa, Florida on Enchantment of the Seas is ~$4,666.53 for 5 adults and 2 infants in 2 connecting interior rooms. (But then we'd have to fly to Florida, which is even more money because a return flight in economy to the US is ~1.9k PER PERSON, so basically it's pretty much the same price if you factor in flights) And not to mention Royal skimps on most things. Disney at least includes unlimited soda and ice cream + complimentary food venues in their cruise fare, something that Royal does not do. Plus the shows on Disney are WAY better. Honestly, if Disney ever gave us the Fantasy or the Wish, I would sail with Disney again in a heartbeart. All those fares sound very expensive to me. I recently sailed Spectrum out of Singapore. 9 nights at $1,250 per head in obstructed balcony cabins. 2 x interconnecting cabins and one other adjacent cabin. That was value! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: I tried to find an equivalent on Royal; the closest I could find was a 4 Night Western Caribbean Cruise leaving from Galveston, Texas on Voyager. 5 adults and 2 infants in 2 interior rooms is $9,109.73. (Keep in mind we'd stl have to fly to Texas) I'm nit sure what's going on, but that price doesn't make sense to me. I live in Houston and sail Galveston a lot. I've never paid that much. For example, I've got a 6 night on Voyager at the end of April. Jr. Suite 3 people. I paid $2165usd plus port and gratuities. In Oct 2025 I have an A2 2br aqua suite 4 people on Harnony for $9156 plus port. Since it's star class it includes gratuities, dining, drink and internet packages. I don't have to fly, but the prices I see aren't anywhere near $4500 per interior room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 2 minutes ago, steverk said: I'm nit sure what's going on, but that price doesn't make sense to me. I live in Houston and sail Galveston a lot. I've never paid that much. For example, I've got a 6 night on Voyager at the end of April. Jr. Suite 3 people. I paid $2165usd plus port and gratuities. In Oct 2025 I have an A2 2br aqua suite 4 people on Harnony for $9156 plus port. Since it's star class it includes gratuities, dining, drink and internet packages. I don't have to fly, but the prices I see aren't anywhere near $4500 per interior room. Those prices I listed are in Australian Dollar, but also it's for a sailing that's in 2 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 13 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: Those prices I listed are in Australian Dollar, but also it's for a sailing that's in 2 months. Gotcha. Since it's in AUD, the price would be roughly $3000USD and include tips. That's high, but last minute cruising can be a crapshoot. March is spring break in the US so I bet that has something to do with it. To me, a bigger issue is flying for Australia for a 4 day cruise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindphlux Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 Does anybody know when we can usually expect 2025/2026 Australia/NZ itineraries to be announced ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 2 hours ago, mindphlux said: Does anybody know when we can usually expect 2025/2026 Australia/NZ itineraries to be announced ? Should be around Easter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattymay Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 April 8th.. mark it in your calendars! ScottishRobbie, steverk, Jamesszy94 and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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