Australia/NZ Cruising News

[CruisingOz]

I think it is time to start a campaign. "The Wonder for Downunder"

How awesome would it be to have this class of ship homeport in Sydney? Could you imagine, although I doubt it would actually fit the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay Sydney?

[mattymay]

39 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

I think it is time to start a campaign. "The Wonder for Downunder"

How awesome would it be to have this class of ship homeport in Sydney? Could you imagine, although I doubt it would actually fit the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay Sydney?

If not Wonder, then Oasis #6. 

I believe it can fit, but may get in the way of some of the ferries that use that side of the harbour to dock.

It can 100% fit a the new Brisbane terminal. I feel if ever it did happen it would go there.

At this point though a campaign for ANY ship will do! Let's see what this ban being lifted means for cruise ships, hopefully they mention something as the ship ban is tied to the international border ban, previously set to expire Dec-17.

[GKMCruising]

1 hour ago, mattymay said:

If not Wonder, then Oasis #6. 

I believe it can fit, but may get in the way of some of the ferries that use that side of the harbour to dock.

It can 100% fit a the new Brisbane terminal. I feel if ever it did happen it would go there.

At this point though a campaign for ANY ship will do! Let's see what this ban being lifted means for cruise ships, hopefully they mention something as the ship ban is tied to the international border ban, previously set to expire Dec-17.

I know the current plan is to have Ovation come down once the Alaska season is over, but they still haven't gotten confirmation yet that they'll be allowed.

[Chili]

Oasis class can fit in circular quay .

The birth box has be enlarged to take oasis in the last year.

The  new gangway will take the 2.5 meter overhang from the water line.

The width won’t affect sydney ferries as sydney ferries have been given a exemption to operate within the 30 meter exclusion zone of the birth box.
 

If the terminal can handle 6,000 passengers checking in is the problem.
Spliting embarkation with Brisbane as they do in the Mediterranean would work.

[CruisingOz]

Sydney can handle the Ovation, been on it from Sydney, but is is 348m long & 41m wide and sticks out past the wharf. Wonder is 362m long & 64m wide, so may not have anywhere to tie up to; maybe to the balcony of the Park Hyatt suite, LOL. 

Could you Imagine the sight though, wow. I recall when I first saw Ovation having been on the Explorer previously and I was in oar.   

[mattymay]

54 minutes ago, CruisingOz said:

Sydney can handle the Ovation, been on it from Sydney, but is is 348m long & 41m wide and sticks out past the wharf. Wonder is 362m long & 64m wide, so may not have anywhere to tie up to; maybe to the balcony of the Park Hyatt suite, LOL. 

Could you Imagine the sight though, wow. I recall when I first saw Ovation having been on the Explorer previously and I was in oar.   

From certain angles when you see Ovation between the city buildings from street level she looks gigantic. Not as much out in the open near the Opera House. Couldn't imagine an Oasis class.

Let's hope well all see this sight soon:

[Chili]

23 minutes ago, mattymay said:

From certain angles when you see Ovation between the city buildings from street level she looks gigantic. Not as much out in the open near the Opera House. Couldn't imagine an Oasis class.

Let's hope well all see this sight soon:

The issue is the width and passenger movements with oasis class but oasis class can dock at circular quay.
I will post sydney ports specs soon.

[Chili]

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/news-and-publications/news/circular-quay-underwater-project-maintains-safe-berth-for-ships/

[mattymay]

1 hour ago, Chili said:

The issue is the width and passenger movements with oasis class but oasis class can dock at circular quay.
I will post sydney ports specs soon.

I believe you.. just saying it would look massive in port.

[Chili]

Here’s the details of OPT birth box.

Oasis  is 360m long overall and 47m at the water ,the the birth box Is 375 by 50.

 

 

 

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/media/5065/berths-and-channels-final-v730-8-september-2021.pdf

[Chili]

Cairns and Townsville Queensland ports are being upgraded.

Cairns can now dock a cruise ship 300m long,which is radiance class.

Its expected to be able to dock Quantum class by 2030.

Townsville will only be able to dock Radiance at 300 meters.

 

 

[Chili]

Hobart has just upgraded Macquarie wharf and have a look what cruise ship it prepared it for.

Hobart port is one of the largest natural ports in the world.

 

https://www.tasports.com.au/projects/macquarie-wharf-redevelopment

[Chili]

Talk of banning cruise ships in Milford Sound.

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/milford-plan-liners-banned

 

 

[Chili]

Brisbane has it’s scheduled up for 2023-2024 .

It looks like Quantum is home ported there and port calls for Rhapsody as well of Serenade.

 Ovation usually has a call there during the season and it’s strange to have the 2 smaller ships.

I wonder if there’s a place holder there?

[Chili]

A report by someone currently on Ovation.

 

 

I am currently on the Ovation on the last Alaska cruise.  The crew has been told that they will be sent home later this month and will return to Ovation in January for sailings out of Australia.  They just received this INFO two days ago.  
 
 

[CruisingOz]

36 minutes ago, Chili said:

I am currently on the Ovation

Thank you for this information. Are you able to find out if the Ovation willl be in Australia prior to the end of December. I believe the first sail date scheduled was the 13th. We were about to book the first cruise. Anything you could find out would be great, thanks and enjoy Alaska, it is an amazing destination. 

[GKMCruising]

59 minutes ago, Chili said:

A report by someone currently on Ovation.

 

 

I am currently on the Ovation on the last Alaska cruise.  The crew has been told that they will be sent home later this month and will return to Ovation in January for sailings out of Australia.  They just received this INFO two days ago.  
 
 

Yeah, that's what I heard from my waiter from last month, we've stayed in touch since I got back. She said they're going home until after the new year - I asked if they're all coming back to Ovation or going to different ships, but haven't heard back from her yet on that point.

[Chili]

1 hour ago, CruisingOz said:

Thank you for this information. Are you able to find out if the Ovation willl be in Australia prior to the end of December. I believe the first sail date scheduled was the 13th. We were about to book the first cruise. Anything you could find out would be great, thanks and enjoy Alaska, it is an amazing destination. 

I’m just relaying a post on CC.It’s not me.
 

The evidence I have if ovation comes to sydney this season.

I have a February 5 booking and my agent said RC wants final payment in about 3.5 weeks and it’s not refundable.
The agent said it’s very possible.
 

Apparently the repo cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver is still on the go.

[mattymay]

On 10/11/2021 at 3:26 PM, Chili said:

I’m just relaying a post on CC.It’s not me.
 

The evidence I have if ovation comes to sydney this season.

I have a February 5 booking and my agent said RC wants final payment in about 3.5 weeks and it’s not refundable.
The agent said it’s very possible.
 

Apparently the repo cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver is still on the go.

Will book as soon as I hear word form the Government that cruising is happening. Anything before then is speculation.

[CruisingOz]

NSW will open their International boarders in November, so all being well they should mention cruising. Carnival Corporation have scheduled their ship various brands to mid-January, and now with the information earlier from Chili in this blog, Royal will also be mid Jan. I assume we will hear about their round of cancellations soon. 

I hope they can sort out my FCC before that, they have completely stuffed it up despite me providing all the evidence to show exactly what is owed to me. Anyway, fingers crossed, and if Royal is in town, then I plan to jump onto a sailing in late March after I return from the US. Nothing booked locally just in case, Royal has more than enough of my money. 

[twangster]

Hope it works out for you folks down under.

Up here there seems to be communication with the government that isn't made public.  Since before our restart there has been communication behind the scenes that is kept quiet but that the cruise lines have used to make their plans.  I suspect the same may be occuring in other regions.  The cruises line keep quiet about it but they seem to be interacting with governments more than we all know about.

[GKMCruising]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Hope it works out for you folks down under.

Up here there seems to be communication with the government that isn't made public.  Since before our restart there has been communication behind the scenes that is kept quiet but that the cruise lines have used to make their plans.  I suspect the same may be occuring in other regions.  The cruises line keep quiet about it but they seem to be interacting with governments more than we all know about.

I think you're right - my guess is that no one wants to get people's hopes up prematurely or cause any confusion if things change, so they wait until 99% of the kinks have been ironed out to make any sort of official announcement.

[Chili]

3 hours ago, CruisingOz said:

NSW will open their International boarders in November, so all being well they should mention cruising. Carnival Corporation have scheduled their ship various brands to mid-January, and now with the information earlier from Chili in this blog, Royal will also be mid Jan. I assume we will hear about their round of cancellations soon. 

I hope they can sort out my FCC before that, they have completely stuffed it up despite me providing all the evidence to show exactly what is owed to me. Anyway, fingers crossed, and if Royal is in town, then I plan to jump onto a sailing in late March after I return from the US. Nothing booked locally just in case, Royal has more than enough of my money. 

My head was spinning with all the different FCC’s . Some refundable some not.

‘The thing I hate is if I paid a deposit for a group, I don’t get the credit.Even though my credit card paid it.
The credit is in their name and is not transferable.
 

I would hate to be a agent working for love.

[Chili]

5 hours ago, mattymay said:

Will book as soon as I hear word form the Government that cruising is happening. Anything before then is speculation.

I think the prices will go through the roof when there’s a announcement.

Prices have already jumped,a balcony is $300 a night each or more .

You need to sell your house for a grand suite.

[CruisingOz]

8 hours ago, Chili said:

You need to sell your house for a grand suite.

The Australian cruise prices are relative to the US, so much higher, and going up as there is so much pent up demand and so few cabins across the various lines.

With the possible new cancellations from Royal, this will be maf=de worse the sailing remaining the for the three months of the season. Considering they are only going locally, prices are high. If I go in March, I will jump on with an inside cabin and enjoy the ship offers 

[twangster]

US prices were high in July and August.  The restart up here happened to coincide with the normal summer peak season.  It was like a perfect storm of cruise prices.  I booked a solo cabin on Odyssey in July well above rates for a regular balcony on her that had been cancelled months earlier that was off peak.  

Eventually rates did come down.  Adventure from Nassau had some great rates in her final weeks that were much higher when she was first offered.

Once we got through August and into September we finally saw some less expensive rates but even those have gone up at times and down at times.  

For the first two months of the US restart cruising was not inexpensive.  

[Chili]

so this is all speculation.

 

This fellow is the head of security for RCG in Sydney and he is genuine
 

 

 

I am not saying this isn’t true but after a “conversation” with the “ office” they are not aware that anything is happening. Dec 17th is the date everybody is waiting for. Unless  of course Royal has been given the heads up beforehand, (which seems unlikely given  way the Govt has been acting).Turnarounds need months of planning and organising so if Royal did know you would assume we would have been told. It does seem a little  unusual that the crew (reading the comment, it would appear  most of them) were being sent home after Alaska, they normally sign six or eight month contracts although current circumstances may have affected this . It seems to be looking more promising for early next year but nothing confirmed as yet…we are, to a large extent, still in the dark…..but hopeful.
 
 

[CruisingOz]

I know someone and reached out to InterCruise who are is the company  Royal uses for the port staff, such as check-in, baggage, crowd control, and they are now not hiring and training until the end of the year, so many indicators now that December is a no go for Royal. I hope we are all wrong and Royal sail in Dec, I will be there in a heart beat

[Vanessa77]

I suppose that it's possible they've all sold out, but the RC site is no longer showing 21/22 season dates. Nothing until the start of the 22/23 season. 

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Vanessa77 said:

I suppose that it's possible they've all sold out, but the RC site is no longer showing 21/22 season dates. Nothing until the start of the 22/23 season. 

In the Royal Caribbean Blog Insider FB group a member from down under posted that it was announced Ovation is not going down under this year.  They just offered this link:

 

[mattymay]

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

In the Royal Caribbean Blog Insider FB group a member from down under posted that it was announced Ovation is not going down under this year.

Yep, thought that would be the case! By the time Royal returns in October hopefully the local year round lines (P & O) have sorted out the mess and taken the heat from the media.

[CruisingOz]

Now that is so disappointing. Locally none of the TA's I know anything about this. I am so glad I decided to roll the dice and book US sailings for the early 2022. 

A bit upset, as I would have loved to take my mum on a sailing in March 2022. She can not travel to the US and the family believes she will not be here for later 2022. so was holing for one last memory. 

[Chili]

I suppose they got sick of trying to deal with our government.
 

I wonder what will happen with Ovation?

San Francisco?

[mattymay]

The problem is that while Australian's can travel overseas and return from next month, we are still not allowing any foreigners in. There is currently no timeline for when this will be allowed. I assume only once this has been announced will they let the ships and foreign crew in.

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Chili said:

I suppose they got sick of trying to deal with our government.
 

I wonder what will happen with Ovation?

San Francisco?

If they are sending a lot of crew home they may just go floating like before.  Navigator sales are slow, I doubt they want to do anything to cannibalize those efforts on the west coast.  Plus they've got nothing established or any relationships anywhere but San Pedro.  it's a big effort to negotiate contracts and California requires shore power.  

[Chili]

10 minutes ago, twangster said:

If they are sending a lot of crew home they may just go floating like before.  Navigator sales are slow, I doubt they want to do anything to cannibalize those efforts on the west coast.  Plus they've got nothing established or any relationships anywhere but San Pedro.  it's a big effort to negotiate contracts and California requires shore power.  

I suppose It’s all to quick.

We are all very disappointed here ,especially with our leaders.

They couldn’t run a booze up in a brewery.

[Chili]

1 hour ago, CruisingOz said:

Now that is so disappointing. Locally none of the TA's I know anything about this. I am so glad I decided to roll the dice and book US sailings for the early 2022. 

A bit upset, as I would have loved to take my mum on a sailing in March 2022. She can not travel to the US and the family believes she will not be here for later 2022. so was holing for one last memory. 

Could your mum travel to Singapore?

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Chili said:

I suppose It’s all to quick.

We are all very disappointed here ,especially with our leaders.

They couldn’t run a booze up in a brewery.

I'm sure.  Feel for you folks in that region.  

[Chili]

20 minutes ago, mattymay said:

The problem is that while Australian's can travel overseas and return from next month, we are still not allowing any foreigners in. There is currently no timeline for when this will be allowed. I assume only once this has been announced will they let the ships and foreign crew in.

Scottie said mid next year is when we can travel.

Next month they are going to lift the cap on returning citizens that’s my understanding.

[CruisingOz]

3 minutes ago, Chili said:

Could your mum travel to Singapore?

Probably not, but at the moment, only locals can cruise, so Singapore is currently not an option. Lets see how the next few months pan out.

So very disappointed with the Federal government. If there was a plan in place, then Royal would come and the sailings would have been booked out. Australia is a cruising nation.