geoff2802

4 hours ago, springaussie said:

Probably part of the November Alaska release for 2025. 

Yep, thanks mate. 

When would we expect the 2025 repos from Brisbane and Sydney to Honolulu (or elsewhere) to go on sale?  Not until next year?  
 

7 hours ago, Ethanol95 said:

Are they on the loyal to you always website?

Not sure.  I was looking at them on Royalcaribbean.com .  

1 hour ago, springaussie said:

Oz 24/25 now opened for booking! 

 

Thanks; Sydney prices seem to be a bit higher than Brisbane. 

I see the repo from Singapore is not released yet.  

 

1 minute ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

It has always confused me as to why they have chosen to base Anthem in Singapore, since Quantum has already had a partial conversion to suit the Asian market (e.g. Signage and Restaurants - Noodle Bar). To me it would make more sense for Royal to have Anthem do Alaska/Australia and Quantum back in Singapore. 

Yes.  And why are they home porting a ship in Singapore that was specifically designed for cool weather?  You really wonder how these decisions are made.  

Hi all,

Would any of you folks know when the 2025 Mediterranean cruises may go on sale?

We’re thinking of a cruise from Venice.  

Cheers, Geoff. 

32 minutes ago, springaussie said:

Geoff do you know if the new pier being built  is Oasis Class standard or that is in another project? 
I am happy Brisbane has got some short cruises and a 14 night NZ cruise. The original port bookings was virtually just Friday bookings with a rare 6 or 8 night cruise. The only 3 nighter was the last day one of the season.

I would love to do a PC one day. 

 

This page describes the Eden port projects: https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/edenharbour

Doesn’t seem to refer to any upgrades for very large ships. Others may have better info. 
 

Pity that NZ cruise is in the second half of March.  Bit too cool and inclement for me!  At least it’s an alternative to the frequent 7-odd day cruises.  
 

We’ve been enjoying Austin for a few days and now we are looking forward to embarking.  One last feed of TexMex and Margaritas tonight!  Gotta love that!

18 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I don’t think the big ships suit our smaller ports nor the South Pacific islands. 
Please send us your old well maintained small ships to explore our region.’

Absolutely agree.  A Radiance class would make more sense for Brisbane and the island ports.  They can probably sell every cabin on Quantum though, given that the season is short.    

10 hours ago, springaussie said:

I can’t see Eden listed as a port stop  24/25. 
It will be interesting to see Ovation does stop at Eden 23/24 season. 
No Kangaroo Island also. It appeared as a stop  for the 21/22 season just using Oz ports with Ovation that didn’t eventuate. 

The way NSW government works (or fails to work), the infrastructure at Eden may take another 5 years.  I hope they get it together though.  
 

A pretty boring (but predictable) set of itineraries for Brisbane.  
Tossing up whether to do the Singapore repo or go to Egypt instead.  We’re on Radiance for the PC departing tomorrow, so could probably book on board late in the cruise.     

5 hours ago, springaussie said:

Next Saturday 15 April Royal Caribbean are hosting a Beach Party at South Bank Brisbane.

It is a Facebook event open for everyone.

I assume it has something to do with the 24/25 season. 
Maybe a Lelepa launch.

They are building the largest cruise ship sandcastle also.

This is is the photo used. 

Are you going? 

8 hours ago, arxcards said:

For December/January and the relocations, yes there is enough demand for 2 ships.  As for the other months, they struggle to fill one. Tough to send another ship down for an 8 week season.

That may be the case now, with many people being cautious about cruising.  

But the first cruises in this deployment are 18 months away.  I think Royal is under-estimating  demand (unless there is another catastrophe).  

20 hours ago, springaussie said:

The Eastbound to Alaska  booking April 2025  for Ovation of the Seas has disappeared in Papeete. 
Quantum still booked in.

Ovation is still showing westbound  19 October 2024 in Papeete to Oz.  Quantum never had a booking in Papeete after Alaska 2024. 
 

Thx for sharing this update.
No entry in Darwin’s calendar (yet) that would indicate a northbound exit.  Perhaps a TP calling at Lelepa is the plan.  
Surely they would do the same with Quantum (or her replacement).  Gavin’s sandcastle ship might provide a hint.

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

The worlds' largest sand ship could also mean they are bringing Oasis. I try not to read too much into these, as they are just a good way to attract media attention for a season launch. Any extra news will be great news.

Yeah, probably their marketing team just trying to create interest.  
The Brisbane port calendar looks set up for Lelepa, with mostly 7 and 8 night itineraries. 

3 hours ago, springaussie said:

Staff on Anthem claim she is going into dry dock when she leaves Southampton then goes to Asia. Anthem could easily make 24 November booking in Darwin without a dry dock. 
Quantum running non revenue from Hawaii then going into Singapore dry dock sounds the most likely.

What seems odd to me is no NZ cruises according to Sydney Ports until December for Ovation. 17 November 2024 lshe is Cairns and 24 November in Adelaide. 

if Anthem or Spectrum did home port  in Sydney I assume they will enter from Fremantle and Adelaide. 

 

Yeah I saw the crew comment on Anthem.  I don’t think Anthem has to dry dock until mid 2025.  Why would they bring it forward by more than 6 months? 

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

There’s been a bit of speculation about water slides,new bars and the likes but Royal won’t be spending any unnecessary money I think.

They just started Icon 2 ,so I think Quantum will just be getting a technical dry dock to keep it operational.

I agree they must be conserving cash, so why the big gap?  
Any chance it’s actually Anthem coming to Brisbane instead of Quantum?  Last crruise ends in S’hampton on Oct 14.  

Does anyone have insight knowledge of the work to be done during Quantum’s dry dock?  
Her last cruise ends in Honolulu on 14 Oct ‘24. She appears in Darwin’s calendar on Nov 24.  That’s about 41 days.  Allowing 10 for a non-revenue run to Singapore and a further 7 from Sing to Darwin leaves 24 days for the dry dock.  Seems too long unless major work is planned.  

22 hours ago, Suzcruz75 said:

Some news coming up in a few weeks, anybody got any ideas? Wondering why 24/25 is being released so late this year 

An update on Lelepa I guess.  

While we’re whingeing about Princess’ deployment…  why would they base Diamond in Melbourne in the Spring when it’s still cold around the south of the country and Brisbane in summer when it’s hot?  Perhaps they still can’t work out our seasons.  
And no cruises to the islands from Brisbane - leaving it to the sister brands presumably.  
I reckon Royal is laughing.  

I think the cohort sailing on Princess is quite different to those sailing on Carnival & P&O.  Why would you reduce capacity for your higher margin product?  Only if you couldn’t sell it.  
The exchange rate might be a factor in the capacity reductions we’re seeing, although by the time final payments are made it may have completely reversed.    

In the case of Brisbane, the shorter Princess season will benefit Royal Caribbean.  Seems like an own goal to me.  
… and in the case of Melbourne, I guess Virgin is the beneficiary.  

I concur with others here regarding recovery time from the flight.  We regularly fly between Australia and the US - it’s long and tiring, but worth it.  There is plenty to see and do in both Melbourne and Sydney.  Sydney is a fantastic port to sail from with great views from the ship.  
We’ve done cruises to NZ (from Sydney) and also over top between Sydney and Perth.  They are very different and both are great. You can expect hot humid weather if you do the cruise over the top in Jan/Feb.  Weather in NZ will be mild.  

1 hour ago, MelbTone said:

 

A few random thoughts from someone whose preference is relatively short round trips from Melbourne

 

• As I write this (1710) the YT video is showing just 156 views - I would have expected a much larger number
• Good to see lots of choice from Melbourne - at this rate Princess may become my preferred line over Cunard
• A bit mystified as to the emphasis given to Crown's +230% interior and obstructed staterooms - are they targetting cost conscious cruisers?
• Crown is being sold as something so much better than what we've had before yet my Berlitz shows passenger space ratios of Crown: 37.2, Royal: 39.9, Diamond 42.8 and, for comparison, Grand: 41.8, Celebrity Eclipse: 42.7, Queen Elizabeth: 43.2

 

Your thoughts?

Thanks for sharing the passenger space ratios.  We have cruised on Sapphire which I think has about the same ratio as Diamond.  Nice ship and not crowded.  I will happily cruise on Diamond.  Crown would have to be lower cost to tempt me.   

3 hours ago, springaussie said:

To buy Princess from a USA agent living in Oz isn’t opened to everyone.

I am under the impression you had to be an existing Princess customer before the rules got changed about 10 years ago.

Is this still the case?

Or have misinterpreted the rules?

We first cruised on Princess about 20 years ago, so that may be relevant too.  

We have been using the same US TA for at least several years now and they regularly book us Royal Caribbean and Princess.  We have a second residence in the US which may matter.  We hold funds in USD for other reasons, so we're never exchanging to USD when the South Pacific Peso is low.  

The TA used to charge a USD 100 p.p. booking fee for Princess cruises which made it less appealing, however this was recently removed.  Perhaps Princess previously wouldn't pay commission if the traveller's primary residency was outside the US - I don't know.  

Sometimes I also see lower prices from Princess Australia and we recently booked there too, on Coral.  

1 hour ago, Aussie Gal said:

I don't think we have been given the U.S. pricing, only the Aussie and N.Z. prices seem to be the only ones released.

We might have to wait a week or two.  I’ll ask my US TA if they have pricing yet.  
Cheers.  

Could someone please provide a link to the USD pricing for the whole release?  
TIA