kernow

Thinking about it I don't think we even had to show anything other than our passports when we arrived at Sydney airport although I did have the print out of the visa details with me. I assume nowadays when they scan your passports they can see the visa details automatically. Sydney airport was the quickest international airport we have ever arrived at. Don't know if we were just lucky but we were less than 30 minutes from getting off the plane to getting into a taxi. Very impressed.

Not sure why this has been moved since you are asking about RCL requirements but I have found this for you on the RCL UK site (you were quoting the US one). https://www.royalcaribbean.com/gbr/en/faq/questions/what-travel-documents-i-need-for-boarding-day It states ' For cruises departing Australia calling into only Australian ports, Australian citizens require either a valid passport or government issued pictured and laminated ID card to be used as identification. Children aged 17 years and under will require a passport or Birth Certificate to travel or government issued photo ID. Children under 16 years of age, who do not have a passport or Photo ID, must have a copy of their birth certificate or their parents Medicare Card. For all other nationalities, a passport (plus visa if needed in Australia) is required.' No mention of a specific type of visa.

We sailed on Ovation from Sydney in Nov 2022, we used the Evisa you are talking about to enter Australia, I can't remember showing anything but our passports when we boarded the ship. We are also from UK.

Nick Weir was a CD, we had him on a Celebrity Eclipse Baltic cruise in 2010, his brother was Hotel Director on that cruise. Previous to that he was a gameshow host on UK tv (Catchphrase).

They still have to get to Dubai for 7th Nov as that cruise is still going ahead. As they can't go through the canal they need longer to go around Africa so the last Southampton cruise has already been cut short by a few days.

They have cancelled the Southampton to Rome and Rome to Dubai legs already. It does look like they are sailing empty around Africa and will resume with passengers in Dubai.

Sorry to hear you have to leave, I hope everything works out for you. You've done a great job with all your pics and info keeping us updated about the cruise, I'm another one who has really appreciated it.

Following along too. I've enjoyed your reviews in the past so looking forward to this one. Have a fab trip.

I did too, I was laughing my head off at some of it. I think the whole thing was meant to be very tounge in cheek.

We are also booked on Rome to Dubai and Dubai to Singapore. The Dubai to Singapore leg is still showing on the website but the cruises before it are not. We're just waiting to see what happens, if the Dubai to Singapore leg still happens we'll just do that and probably add a few days in Dubai before. Hope they tell us all soon as realistically we all know Rome to Dubai won't happen but we can't make any plans until they cancel.

Do you mean when do you become D? If so it's the cruise after you reach 80 points in C&A. Have you already downloaded the RCL app? You can see individual drink prices on there, just click on dining, then bars and lounges and then the individual bar and it's menu. (might be a dollar per drink more out of the UK because there will be no added gratuity).

Thank you for all of your lovely photos and your time to keep this thread alive. I've really enjoyed checking in every day and seeing where you all are and what you are up to so hoping someone else onboard will keep posting. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

He's much braver than me, my knees were wobbly just walking over the bridge on the pavement😀

Should not be too bad, all the schools in Europe are back then.

I would think 6pm is correct for a Med cruise, it's normal to have later times than US cruises. I remember one cruise years ago when RCL had a ship based in Malaga that late dining was 9.30, even we who like late sitting changed to early which was 7pm.

Sadly it does sound like what they told you is correct though, you will not be able to book the Dubai/Africa leg (unless you have any friends onboard).

@ringers0815Thank you for all your beautiful pics and for keeping the 'live' part of the thread going. Just wondering if life onboard is continuing normally or has it been taken over somewhat by the changes for the 3rd segment and all the talk of that?

We're on that one, here's the roll call

It wouldn't bother me either.

Are you saying that you know that notifications get sent to the UK agents and the UK office at the same time as those in North America? I have spoken to the owner of the agency I often use and he has had no idea of cruises that have been cancelled. The last time this happened to me was in 2022 when Radiance was pulled from Australia. He actually said to me he didn't think it was correct until I sent him a copy of the cancellation letter that others had posted on here. It took him about 3 days to get confirmation.

Sadly it is how RCL operate in the UK. Over the years I've had major changes/cancellations of cruises which I've read about on here which UK TA or even RCL UK office have no idea about. All have turned out to be correct and the news seems to reach those in the UK offices a week or so later I've complained even sending emails to Miami but nothing changes so I've learned to live with it. I sometimes think the Miami office sees us in the UK as second class customers.

I think you've done the best thing, I would probably have done the same. Even if it gets you nowhere you've lost nothing. Hope you get the resolution you want (especially as something similar could happen to all of us due to be on Anthem in October).

I think at this point the Straits of Hormuz are considered safe. I know MSC (and maybe others) are still doing their 7 night Dubai cruises until April when they too have changed their repositioning route. We've also been on Dubai cruises in the past when we've seen Iranian ships and planes nearby, may make me feel a bit nervous at the moment but I don't think they'd go if they thought there was any real danger.

For me option one is actually a much better itinerary than the original one. We are booked on the Anthem repositioning to Singapore in Oct/Nov and I really hope they change it to something similar to this.

I'd love to see everything carry on in this thread. I'm really enjoying following along, big thanks to all those onboard who have contributed so far. Hope those who are staying on and any others who board will continue to keep posting here. I'm also following a couple of others on FB but I still love CC best😁.