Need Help! Cruising in Australia March 2019.

[Dawn T.]

We live in Central Florida and have always cruised the Caribbean from Florida ports.  Next March (2019), we are branching out and flying to Sydney, Australia for a 9-night South Pacific cruise on the Ovation of the Seas.  I have a few questions.  I'm sure I will think of more questions as the trip gets closer!  For now, here are my questions:

1)   When is the best time to book the flight for the best price?  

2)  Hotel recommendation in Sydney to stay pre-cruise.  We plan to arrive several days before we cruise.  We would like to stay somewhere near the cruise port, which is near the Sydney Opera House (based on our research).  We want a hotel that is reasonably priced, not the Ritz, but not a roach motel either.  

3)  Restaurant recommendations in Sydney.

4)  Transportation recommendations in Sydney.  Rent a car?  Uber, etc.?  Public transportation availability?

5)  Are U.S. dollars accepted or should we exchange for local currency?

6)  What is South Pacific weather like in March?   

Any tips or hints are welcome for both Sydney and the Ovation.  This will our first cruise on a Quantum class ship.  Thanks!

[F1guynz]

Hi,

Normally we stay out by the airport (which is about a 30 minute trip to the port by train) as Circular Quay stop is a 5 minute walk from the cruise terminal.

If you wanted to stay in central Sydney maybe you could look at somewhere like the Novotel. There are also the usual global brands like the Hilton, Four Seasons, Hyatt. These hotels will all be close to an underground station which will get you to Circular Quay. There are also plenty of taxis available. Public transport is pretty good in Sydney.

We always arrive at the port early to make sure we are one of the first to board.

U.S dollars wont be accepted by retailers in Sydney but when you are on the ship everything will be in U.S dollars. It is not necessary to tip in Australia but some people do tip on the ship even though this is normally included in the fare when purchasing the cruise from RCI Australia. Drinks will have 18% added automatically. Spa services do not have tips included.

We have a cruise going to the South Pacific in March next year on Explorer. March is the 1st day of autumn here but the weather should still be okay. There is a chance of cyclones at this time of year and occasionally ships will have to skip port stops but for the most part the weather should be good and reasonably warm.

We have been on Ovation and I would recommend that you book early for anything you want to do. E.g. the iFly and Northstar. They don't have a Broadway show on Ovation so you wont need to pre-book for shows apart from Pixels in the 270 lounge. If you want to ride the bumper cars I would suggest doing that on the first day before most people have boarded. The queue during the cruise can be quite long at the start but we found if you came in about halfway through a session the crowd had diminished a lot. Another good time to go is close to dinner.

There are plenty of restaurants around the Sydney Opera house but there are a lot of people and it is very noisy, especially near to the weekend. As we normally fly in either the night before or on the day of the cruise we don't normally eat out much. I do really enjoy Doyles at Watson Bay which is a fish restaurant which is accessible by a water taxi or a ferry.

There are some photos in my blog which should show you where the cruise terminal is in relation to the opera house.

 

[Dawn T.]

33 minutes ago, F1guynz said:

Hi,

Normally we stay out by the airport (which is about a 30 minute trip to the port by train) as Circular Quay stop is a 5 minute walk from the cruise terminal.

If you wanted to stay in central Sydney maybe you could look at somewhere like the Novotel. There are also the usual global brands like the Hilton, Four Seasons, Hyatt. These hotels will all be close to an underground station which will get you to Circular Quay. There are also plenty of taxis available. Public transport is pretty good in Sydney.

We always arrive at the port early to make sure we are one of the first to board.

U.S dollars wont be accepted by retailers in Sydney but when you are on the ship everything will be in U.S dollars. It is not necessary to tip in Australia but some people do tip on the ship even though this is normally included in the fare when purchasing the cruise from RCI Australia. Drinks will have 18% added automatically. Spa services do not have tips included.

We have a cruise going to the South Pacific in March next year on Explorer. March is the 1st day of autumn here but the weather should still be okay. There is a chance of cyclones at this time of year and occasionally ships will have to skip port stops but for the most part the weather should be good and reasonably warm.

We have been on Ovation and I would recommend that you book early for anything you want to do. E.g. the iFly and Northstar. They don't have a Broadway show on Ovation so you wont need to pre-book for shows apart from Pixels in the 270 lounge. If you want to ride the bumper cars I would suggest doing that on the first day before most people have boarded. The queue during the cruise can be quite long at the start but we found if you came in about halfway through a session the crowd had diminished a lot. Another good time to go is close to dinner.

There are plenty of restaurants around the Sydney Opera house but there are a lot of people and it is very noisy, especially near to the weekend. As we normally fly in either the night before or on the day of the cruise we don't normally eat out much. I do really enjoy Doyles at Watson Bay which is a fish restaurant which is accessible by a water taxi or a ferry.

There are some photos in my blog which should show you where the cruise terminal is in relation to the opera house.

 

Thank you SO much!  You have provided so much great information!  You are awesome!

[melski94]

As for flights, look at RC air2sea program.  While not competitive within the U.S, I’ve read about people getting very good deals for overseas flights.

Another option is to check out the Hopper app.  It tells you if the price quoted is expected to go down and when is a good time to buy. 

[KWofPerth]

4 hours ago, Dawn T. said:

We live in Central Florida and have always cruised the Caribbean from Florida ports.  Next March (2019), we are branching out and flying to Sydney, Australia for a 9-night South Pacific cruise on the Ovation of the Seas.  I have a few questions.  I'm sure I will think of more questions as the trip gets closer!  For now, here are my questions:

1)   When is the best time to book the flight for the best price?  

2)  Hotel recommendation in Sydney to stay pre-cruise.  We plan to arrive several days before we cruise.  We would like to stay somewhere near the cruise port, which is near the Sydney Opera House (based on our research).  We want a hotel that is reasonably priced, not the Ritz, but not a roach motel either.  

3)  Restaurant recommendations in Sydney.

4)  Transportation recommendations in Sydney.  Rent a car?  Uber, etc.?  Public transportation availability?

5)  Are U.S. dollars accepted or should we exchange for local currency?

6)  What is South Pacific weather like in March?   

Any tips or hints are welcome for both Sydney and the Ovation.  This will our first cruise on a Quantum class ship.  Thanks!

I have previously stayed at the Holiday Inn in an area called The Rocks. It's literally walking distance to the terminal and the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is mid-range pricing too. I highly recommend this location.

This October I'm staying at the Amora Hotel which is only 800metres from Circular Quay. Also reasonably priced.

If staying at The Rocks, there is a pancake house that is great for breakfast or dinner, though I can't recall what it is called. Google will probably assist.

US dollars no good in Australia I'm afraid, but in the SP there will be places that accept them.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Pinging @tiny260 because he has mentioned some good time frames for booking international flights before. I can't remember them....

[tiny260]

16 hours ago, Dawn T. said:

1)   When is the best time to book the flight for the best price? 

This is an article I found several years ago now, so it might be out dated, but you could do a google search for the title and see if anything new comes up, at the bottom of the article there is a world map with time frames on it, South Pacific is 244 days, Asia is 318 days. I have not experienced flying to Australia yet, I'm planning a cruise to the South Pacific in 2020, so keep us up to date on your finding. I do know this article was spot on for Europe.

https://www.cheapair.com/blog/how-far-in-advance-should-you-book-an-international-flight/

[JLMoran]

14 hours ago, melski94 said:

Another option is to check out the Hopper app.  It tells you if the price quoted is expected to go down and when is a good time to buy. 

I'd be cautious relying on this app or any other. I set up Hopper alerts and also SkyScanner for my domestic flight from EWR to FLL as a test starting about 4 months (120 days) out, but made a point of manually tracking the prices on United and JetBlue's web sites daily. My manual tracking pegged a big price drop right around 90 days out, in line with the time pointed out in a separate discussion here on domestic flight purchase timing; I chose to book then, even though Hopper was saying to wait until closer to the 60 or 45 day mark. Since that time, the prices for my flight only ever went up; if I had followed the recommendations of Hopper, I'd have been paying a heck of a lot more than I did (around $1,000+).

[tiny260]

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

I'd be cautious relying on this app or any other. I set up Hopper alerts and also SkyScanner for my domestic flight from EWR to FLL as a test starting about 4 months (120 days) out, but made a point of manually tracking the prices on United and JetBlue's web sites daily. My manual tracking pegged a big price drop right around 90 days out, in line with the time pointed out in a separate discussion here on domestic flight purchase timing; I chose to book then, even though Hopper was saying to wait until closer to the 60 or 45 day mark. Since that time, the prices for my flight only ever went up; if I had followed the recommendations of Hopper, I'd have been paying a heck of a lot more than I did (around $1,000+).

I think Hopper and SkyScanner are for people that are not as OCD as most of us are, I use it mostly for a reminder to myself to check prices, on top of that I usually fly Business/First and Hopper and SkyScanner do not track Business/First, does not fit their algorithm because of the limitation of seat availability.

[Dawn T.]

15 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

I think Hopper and SkyScanner are for people that are not as OCD as most of us are, I use it mostly for a reminder to myself to check prices, on top of that I usually fly Business/First and Hopper and SkyScanner do not track Business/First, does not fit their algorithm because of the limitation of seat availability.

Thanks for this information @tiny260.  We are looking at premium economy for the international portion of this flight rather than coach.  Rob is retired military, and has physical issues with flying coach.  Would love to do business / first, but I know that isn't in the budget.  

[Dawn T.]

17 hours ago, F1guynz said:

 

 

@F1guynz Thanks for providing the link to your live blog on Explorer from Sydney.  I loved it!  I didn't see this when it was originally posted.  GREAT photos!

[tiny260]

1 minute ago, Dawn T. said:

Thanks for this information @tiny260.  We are looking at premium economy for the international portion of this flight rather than coach.  Rob is retired military, and has physical issues with flying coach.  Would love to do business / first, but I know that isn't in the budget.  

I understand, I don't have limitations, other than I'm a big guy, I'm old and all my joints hurt, I've done a mock booking of airfare flying Business/First the whole way from Oklahoma and it will be $7k per person, which is pricey, but my Wife flat refuses to fly that far in Premium economy, she's spoiled, right now this is a one time thing for us, I want to make it special, it will be our 40th anniversary.

[Dawn T.]

Just now, tiny260 said:

I understand, I don't have limitations, other than I'm a big guy, I'm old and all my joints hurt, I've done a mock booking of airfare flying Business/First the whole way from Oklahoma and it will be $7k per person, which is pricey, but my Wife flat refuses to fly that far in Premium economy, she's spoiled, right now this is a one time thing for us, I want to make it special, it will be our 40th anniversary.

I think it was about $7k per person for us too for business/first when I did a mock booking.  Congrats on your upcoming 40th!  We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary for our trip next March.  And, yes, it is a LONG flight. I don't like flying from Florida to the west coast.  I will admit, I am apprehensive for the flying part.

[tiny260]

I always equate the flight as part of the overall adventure of the trip, I thought an 8 hour trip to Barcelona was bad, this will be almost double that I think.

[tiny260]

I do have to say though, those wide body jets make a big difference, because of where we live I don't get to fly on them very often, but when I have they were a lot nicer. Make sure when you start looking at selecting seats that you use something like "Seat Guru" to help you make seat choices on the plane, a 15 hour flight would really suck if you got a bad seat on top of the flight time.

[tiny260]

Also forgot to add when you are traveling to Sydney, you will pass over the International Date line which adds a +1 day to your total travel time, coming back you loose a whole day.

[Dawn T.]

4 hours ago, tiny260 said:

I do have to say though, those wide body jets make a big difference, because of where we live I don't get to fly on them very often, but when I have they were a lot nicer. Make sure when you start looking at selecting seats that you use something like "Seat Guru" to help you make seat choices on the plane, a 15 hour flight would really suck if you got a bad seat on top of the flight time.

Love this advice!  Great idea and something I probably wouldn't have thought to do.  I still can't believe that our first time flying to cruise and we picked Australia!  I guess it is that one time thing you mentioned for the anniversary.    Thanks again for all your help!

[KWofPerth]

7 hours ago, Dawn T. said:

I think it was about $7k per person for us too for business/first when I did a mock booking.  Congrats on your upcoming 40th!  We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary for our trip next March.  And, yes, it is a LONG flight. I don't like flying from Florida to the west coast.  I will admit, I am apprehensive for the flying part.

Are there stopovers or can you get a direct flight to Sydney?

I know from experience how arduous long haul flights can be, so if you have to stop over somewhere inbetween, I'd actually recommend booking into a hotel for a night or two, just to break the journey up.

Also, it's good that you are arriving in Sydney several days before the cruise. You will need that time to recover from the flight and re-adjust your body clock.

Sorry, nothing I can say to make you feel better about the prospect of the flight. Just remember that it will all be worthwhile when you're cruising the Coral Sea :)

[Dawn T.]

10 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

Are there stopovers or can you get a direct flight to Sydney?

I know from experience how arduous long haul flights can be, so if you have to stop over somewhere inbetween, I'd actually recommend booking into a hotel for a night or two, just to break the journey up.

Also, it's good that you are arriving in Sydney several days before the cruise. You will need that time to recover from the flight and re-adjust your body clock.

Sorry, nothing I can say to make you feel better about the prospect of the flight. Just remember that it will all be worthwhile when you're cruising the Coral Sea :)

The flight is from Orlando to LA, then from LA to Sydney.  I completely agree with the extra time pre-cruise in Sydney to re-adjust.  We are now thinking of leaving a day sooner too, because of the lost day thing.  I couldn't agree more with your last comment!  I am counting the days, and it doesn't hurt that we have 3 cruises before that one!  

[twangster]

I'm booked in January 2019 on Ovation to NZ and may even live blog during the cruise. 

One note:

On 3/18/2018 at 6:15 PM, F1guynz said:

U.S dollars wont be accepted by retailers in Sydney but when you are on the ship everything will be in U.S dollars. It is not necessary to tip in Australia but some people do tip on the ship even though this is normally included in the fare when purchasing the cruise from RCI Australia. Drinks will have 18% added automatically. Spa services do not have tips included.

For people in the region who book a cruise the tips are in the base fare.  For North American customers booking a cruise from Sydney the standard gratuity charges are added daily just like when cruising from the US.  When I booked I expected them to be in the base fare but they were not.  My travel agent confirmed this and asked me if I wanted to prepay them.

[Dawn T.]

28 minutes ago, twangster said:

I'm booked in January 2019 on Ovation to NZ and may even live blog during the cruise. 

For people in the region who book a cruise the tips are in the base fare.  For North American customers booking a cruise from Sydney the standard gratuity charges are added daily just like when cruising from the US.  When I booked I expected them to be in the base fare but they were not.  My travel agent confirmed this and asked me if I wanted to prepay them.

Thanks for the clarification @twangster.  I actually expected to prepay my tips when paying off the trip.  I figured they weren't included since we booked in the U.S.  Regarding the possibility of a live blog from you for your Ovation cruise in January 2019, I can only say PLEASE DO THIS!  I know I am not alone in the hope that you will live blog!  

[JLMoran]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

I'm booked in January 2019 on Ovation to NZ and may even live blog during the cruise.

What do you mean, may do this?  

[twangster]

18 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

What do you mean, may do this?  

Haven't you heard?  I was made obsolete by a better, human blogger.

[tiny260]

17 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

Are there stopovers or can you get a direct flight to Sydney?

I know from experience how arduous long haul flights can be, so if you have to stop over somewhere inbetween, I'd actually recommend booking into a hotel for a night or two, just to break the journey up.

Also, it's good that you are arriving in Sydney several days before the cruise. You will need that time to recover from the flight and re-adjust your body clock.

Sorry, nothing I can say to make you feel better about the prospect of the flight. Just remember that it will all be worthwhile when you're cruising the Coral Sea :)

Mine go from Oklahoma to Dallas to LA to Sydney.

[KWofPerth]

5 hours ago, tiny260 said:

Mine go from Oklahoma to Dallas to LA to Sydney.

In the past when travelling to the UK I've had to travel Perth to Singapore (5 hours plus stopover) then Singapore to London (approx 14 hours). Brutal !!

If I was in your shoes I'd probably spend a night or two in LA. Although the flights from Oklahoma to Dallas and then Dallas to LA are probably not that long (??) all that time stopping over and getting on and off different planes adds up pretty quick. (I can directly attest to this as I just got home from an 8 night trip to Phuket, Thailand, which required a stopover in Singapore as no direct flights from Perth.)

One true downside in living in my part of the world is the extensive travel required to visit foreign lands. I envy all you folks living so close to RCI's departure ports in the States. My nearest port is in Sydney, 4.5 hours away!!  First world problems I guess

Sorry, I don't mean to scare anyone from travelling to Australia. It's wonderful once you get here, I promise!!

[tiny260]

12 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

In the past when travelling to the UK I've had to travel Perth to Singapore (5 hours plus stopover) then Singapore to London (approx 14 hours). Brutal !!

If I was in your shoes I'd probably spend a night or two in LA. Although the flights from Oklahoma to Dallas and then Dallas to LA are probably not that long (??) all that time stopping over and getting on and off different planes adds up pretty quick. (I can directly attest to this as I just got home from an 8 night trip to Phuket, Thailand, which required a stopover in Singapore as no direct flights from Perth.)

One true downside in living in my part of the world is the extensive travel required to visit foreign lands. I envy all you folks living so close to RCI's departure ports in the States. My nearest port is in Sydney, 4.5 hours away!!  First world problems I guess

Sorry, I don't mean to scare anyone from travelling to Australia. It's wonderful once you get here, I promise!!

I'm 5+ hours away from FLL or Mia, but I'm only 2 hours flying time and 8 hours driving to get to Galveston (Liberty OTS), so I'm not that much better than you.

Tulsa to Dallas is 1 hour

Dallas to LA is 5 hours

LA to Sydney is 15 hours

So without lay over times I'm already at 21 hours, it might be a mistake but I'm going to try and do it all at once and sleep on the plane, I plan on going Business/First so I should have lay flat seating, I will have a couple of days in Sydney before the cruise to recuperate and hopefully get over the lag.

Thanks for the feedback.

[KWofPerth]

10 hours ago, tiny260 said:

I'm 5+ hours away from FLL or Mia, but I'm only 2 hours flying time and 8 hours driving to get to Galveston (Liberty OTS), so I'm not that much better than you.

Tulsa to Dallas is 1 hour

Dallas to LA is 5 hours

LA to Sydney is 15 hours

So without lay over times I'm already at 21 hours, it might be a mistake but I'm going to try and do it all at once and sleep on the plane, I plan on going Business/First so I should have lay flat seating, I will have a couple of days in Sydney before the cruise to recuperate and hopefully get over the lag.

Thanks for the feedback.

The comfort of first/biz class will no doubt make all the difference. You lucky thing!!

[Suzanne]

We lucked out and got a somewhat direct flight to Sidney. We left Houston, did a quick stop in Brisbane to refuel, then on to Sidney.

Our trip was right after the big Quantas strike was settled so they were bending over backward to make sure we were happy.

We went directly to the ship but ended up staying an extra day after to visit with a friend there. Sorry, can't remember the name of the hotel but it was lovely. It was right by the Harbor. We walked all over...it was beautiful. All in all....it was by far my favorite cruise to date.

[tiny260]

15 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

The comfort of first/biz class will no doubt make all the difference. You lucky thing!!

Yea, right, the cost of the airfare is going to be double the cost of the cruise, oh well, as they say it's only money "Just make more"...

[tiny260]

2 hours ago, Suzanne said:

We lucked out and got a somewhat direct flight to Sidney. We left Houston, did a quick stop in Brisbane to refuel, then on to Sidney.

Our trip was right after the big Quantas strike was settled so they were bending over backward to make sure we were happy.

We went directly to the ship but ended up staying an extra day after to visit with a friend there. Sorry, can't remember the name of the hotel but it was lovely. It was right by the Harbor. We walked all over...it was beautiful. All in all....it was by far my favorite cruise to date.

Yes, it would be nice to be close to a large International airport like IAH, that part of my problem, I always have to get from Tulsa to some other airport, at least SW Airlines has 1 direct a day going to Vegas...

[DocLC]

We're sailing out of Sydney in December and the flights are the biggest problem. Not only is it more expensive to fly to Sydney than to Europe, but you have the international date line to contend with, so you lose a day going. We leave on the 27th and arrive on the 29th, but fortunately it's a direct flight. My son is still weirded out by the fact that we arrive back to LAX earlier and on the same day that we leave Sydney. :) We leave Sydney at 11:30 am and return to Los Angeles on the "same day" at 6:20 a.m.

[tiny260]

41 minutes ago, DocLC said:

We're sailing out of Sydney in December and the flights are the biggest problem. Not only is it more expensive to fly to Sydney than to Europe, but you have the international date line to contend with, so you lose a day going. We leave on the 27th and arrive on the 29th, but fortunately it's a direct flight. My son is still weirded out by the fact that we arrive back to LAX earlier and on the same day that we leave Sydney. :) We leave Sydney at 11:30 am and return to Los Angeles on the "same day" at 6:20 a.m.

Yea, I'm sure I will also, haven't really tried to wrap my head around it yet, I', still over a year out, I started using MEI for my cruises but my airfare I've still been booking myself, on this Sydney trip I'm going to let them handle everything, Cruise, Flight, pre-post hotel and transportation, I'm sure I will still be OCD and know 110% of what is going on, but I'm letting them plan it.

[Dawn T.]

38 minutes ago, DocLC said:

We're sailing out of Sydney in December and the flights are the biggest problem. Not only is it more expensive to fly to Sydney than to Europe, but you have the international date line to contend with, so you lose a day going. We leave on the 27th and arrive on the 29th, but fortunately it's a direct flight. My son is still weirded out by the fact that we arrive back to LAX earlier and on the same day that we leave Sydney. :) We leave Sydney at 11:30 am and return to Los Angeles on the "same day" at 6:20 a.m.

I think this means you already have your airline tickets for this December cruise.  When did you actually purchase your tickets?  Do you think you got a good price, at least as good as you would get?  (I have to say, this flight thing is a pain!  I like living in Florida and driving to my cruise ports.  )

[DocLC]

3 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

Yea, I'm sure I will also, haven't really tried to wrap my head around it yet, I', still over a year out, I started using MEI for my cruises but my airfare I've still been booking myself, on this Sydney trip I'm going to let them handle everything, Cruise, Flight, pre-post hotel and transportation, I'm sure I will still be OCD and know 110% of what is going on, but I'm letting them plan it.

I've been using Michelle at MEI, but have also been handling my own airfare. I've been quite lucky with Europe ($550 r/t to Paris in January and $608 r/t to London this summer), but the airfare is expensive to Sydney. Princess, however, has special fares where you can reserve "flexible" tickets that can be canceled without penalty and don't require payment until final payment for the cruise, so that's what we've done. Even with their discounted air, which is cheaper than what I can find on my own, we're still looking at spending more on airfare than the cruise and about double what we spend going to Europe.

[DocLC]

Just now, Dawn T. said:

I think this means you already have your airline tickets for this December cruise.  When did you actually purchase your tickets?  Do you think you got a good price, at least as good as you would get?  (I have to say, this flight thing is a pain!  I like living in Florida and driving to my cruise ports.  )

We booked them right when they became available, a little more than 300 days out. However, we were able to book "flexible" airfare through the cruise line we're on, so we can cancel up until final payment without any penalty; that's also when payment for the flights is do.

I wouldn't say we got a deal, but we did opt for nonstop flights as all of the connecting flights just made the trip too long. We're also traveling during the holidays, so that may have affected prices. For economy on Quantus, we're paying $1750 r/t per person.

[tiny260]

13 minutes ago, Dawn T. said:

I think this means you already have your airline tickets for this December cruise.  When did you actually purchase your tickets?  Do you think you got a good price, at least as good as you would get?  (I have to say, this flight thing is a pain!  I like living in Florida and driving to my cruise ports.  )

I would at least check the Air2Sea part of Royal Caribbean, they got my tickets to Europe cheaper than i could get them.

[Dawn T.]

1 minute ago, tiny260 said:

I would at least check the Air2Sea part of Royal Caribbean, they got my tickets to Europe cheaper than i could get them.

I will do that.  Thanks for the tip!

[Suzanne]

5 hours ago, tiny260 said:

Yea, right, the cost of the airfare is going to be double the cost of the cruise, oh well, as they say it's only money "Just make more"...

My husband said if we ever go back, we are splurging on business class.

[tiny260]

3 minutes ago, Suzanne said:

My husband said if we ever go back, we are splurging on business class.

Only way my wife said she would make the flight.

[DocLC]

We did business class to Paris in January and I was hoping to get some sleep. Unfortunately, it's just something I can't seem to do on planes. So while it was nice, especially having access to the lounge before the flight, I've decided that I'll save the money for now and cruise more often.