Chiliburn

There’s speculation on the RC forum of a oasis class coming to the pacific in 2020 ,it is possible.the oasis and allure both have retractable funnels and can travel through the Suez Canal.oasis is planned for a refit about then.

But

RC long term deployment shows all the oasis class as being deployed in the Atlantic but that could change.

Also I don’t think The Asia markets would like the open areas of the oasis . Apparently they don’t like being out in the sun.

With a closer look at loyal to you site ,oasis goes to the Mediterranean mid 2020 where I believe it’s up for a refit .

After that is unknown.it could possibly come though the Suez????

Ooh!!! I hope Sydney gets a newer ship, or Oasis class.

 

 

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There’s speculation on the RC forum of a oasis class coming to the pacific in 2020 ,it is possible.the oasis and allure both have retractable funnels and can travel through the Suez Canal.oasis is planned for a refit about then.

But

RC long term deployment shows all the oasis class as being deployed in the Atlantic but that could change.

Also I don’t think The Asia markets would like the open areas of the oasis . Apparently they don’t like being out in the sun.

I suppose Sydney has dropped the ball and Melbourne will be the winner.

Sydney can’t get it’s act together for more cruise births.

But there’s speculation a oasis class could come to the pacific and will bump the explorer.

You have to pay for a majority of your holiday with your credit card.

As others said check the ts& c

Cigarettes are also expensive in NZ. Another thing to consider is the amount you can take ashore with you free of duty. I stand to be corrected but I think that nowadays its only one packet of 20. Any you buy on board will have to be smoked on board to enjoy the duty freeedom or a duty paid on the rest of the Carton you take with you.

Yes it’s only 1 packet

I’m not a smoker but my sister didn’t think they were a bargain about half the price of Sydney she said.

I think if they were free it would be too expensive.

ShootsWithFilm

We were on the ovation around New Zealand last Christmas.

To be honest it wasn’t much different than out off the peak period.

The captain had a light the Christmas tree party,the specialty restaurants had Christmas meals for about $100 each,which we didn’t go to.

That’s about it ,the food was always good.

There was over 1500 kids onboard but I didn’t notice the difference.

Only because of my daughters school we had to go in that peak time where you pay extra.

This year we are doing a grand suite for less than a standard balcony because it’s not in the school holidays.

One holiday period where we really had a ball was Australia Day cruise.the crew really got involved.

I suppose the crew missed their families???

Come to think of it there was a ginger bread house.

In the promenade there was a display buy the crew.

A Christmas tree made from old light bulbs.

A whole presentation made from scraps and left overs.

It was quite impressive,made by the crew

March/April usually.sometimes around December they will add cruises as to fill in holes

That was quick ! RC has allocated a cabin to us already , 500 + days out. Since it was our first time booking a guarantee , so far so good. I suppose that may change many times before we sail but good to see anyway.

No it won’t change unless they try to sell you a upgrade.

500 days,nothing like planning in advance.

Hope you got a good deal.

ShootsWithFilm

We were on the ovation around New Zealand last Christmas.

To be honest it wasn’t much different than out off the peak period.

The captain had a light the Christmas tree party,the specialty restaurants had Christmas meals for about $100 each,which we didn’t go to.

That’s about it ,the food was always good.

There was over 1500 kids onboard but I didn’t notice the difference.

Only because of my daughters school we had to go in that peak time where you pay extra.

This year we are doing a grand suite for less than a standard balcony because it’s not in the school holidays.

One holiday period where we really had a ball was Australia Day cruise.the crew really got involved.

I suppose the crew missed their families???

I wouldn't fly to Sydney to get to Auckland. That's an extra 4 hours in the air. American Airlines seems to have very good prices around your dates for a multi-city itinerary into AKL and out of SYD.

I would agree with boulders ,united and air New Zealand fly to Texas from Auckland.

Sydney has a great public transport that goes to the airport.

What’s your budget on hotels.

Thank you , very helpful. Coffee tip is great , it starts our mornings ! It seems nearly everything is a better price when booked before we travel.

One question, when can I book shore excursions etc ?

With your booking you should have a 7 digit RC booking number.

First you have to set up a RC account then you go to your cruise planner .

From memory about 8 or 10 months not sure about that.

If you’re in a suite you get priority boarding and disembarking.

If you’re in a standard cabin,at a tender port it’s good to get a shore excursion through the ship so you don’t have to go through the hassle of lineups.

I find the the ship excursions are quite reasonable on price.not the cheapest but reasonable.

One more piece of advice Royal Caribbean is the master of false advertising.their specials have no savings.

They will send you emails about 30%of your cruise planner but there’s no savings.

My advice is to book what you want and if the price goes down.all you have to do is cancel and rebook.easy no charge,no questions.they will refund your credit card and then recharge it.

BuzzBuzzen

Voyager is a fairly old ship but is well kept.a lot a RC fanatics are fond of her,she was the first mega ship. I like the theatre,La Scala.done up to resemble the Roman theatre with handmade Venican lamps.

You can take 2 bottles of wine with you,there’s a kettle in the cabin.for some reason there is no coffee,only tea bags.so take some coffee with you.

We usually take a coffee plunger and our favourite coffee.get your self a carton of free milk from windjammers.

We always take some of those rectangular fast food containers and get some midnight snacks from the buffet Ann’s put in the fridge.

Nothing like pavlova after a big night.

If you are going to get the drinks package or internet it cheaper to buy it before the cruise as you pay in $AU.on the ship it’s $US

Agents cannot just "roll" gratuities into the total, and even if we could we certainly never earn commission on grats. Amazing some of the misinformation about TAs that get spread around on CC.

Gerko

You sound like a good hard working agent,dedicated to service.

A lot of people,including me are looking for a bargain and are attracted to the cheap deals like $10 deposit and get burnt.

It’s like a month to the flame.

But it’s everywhere not just travel agents.

I am not sure it is click bait though.

I like that,click bait

I have had quite a few good experiences with agents but not resently.

20 years ago we did a road trip around America.the agent got us a great deal though United.those days they threw in car ,hotel,etc

When we got the car they changed us for insurance and mileage which was supposed to be included.

We saw the agent when we got back and he put in a claim for us.

We got a re fund from the airline,car company and insurance .

I bought him a good bottle of scotch and champagne for his wife.

But you don't get that service anymore.

One classic I got from a reputable large agency.

About 10 years ago we booked a holiday and a cruise and the agent booked the return flight a month before we should return.

She pressed 8th month instead of 9 month.

So our return flight was before we left.

At time of booking they get you to sign and accept it.

Sure it was part my fault but I didn’t pick it up.

My wife went and paid for it and got the itinerary.then at home we saw the mistake.

Went back to the agent and they said you will have to pay for another flight.

Nothing I could do.

Did you check the t&c to see what a change of name should cost? Sounds strange to me!

No I didn’t read the fine print.

I’ve haven’t had a problem doing that before.

I think it was the agent trying to gouge a bit more money out of me.

I only lost $20 deposit and there’s other agents and cruises.

You reserved a cruise, paid a deposit and isn't your price locked in? How can it increase any money ... never mind a $1,000? And how could your OBC go down? Just at the TAs whim?

It was booked as a double and the second person I wasn’t sure who it would be so just put a fictitious name.

When I wanted to change the second name it all turned to jelly.

Price went up and it would have to be rebooked under a different deal.

I maybe expected a $100 fee but not for a name change at worst.

Any idea who’s on the explorer in December,hope it’s Mitch Merucci looks like he’s available.

From a different angle you can do a Celebrity back to back that will start in Sydney to Cairns back to Sydney and one way to Auckland.

There’s one this November

How much cash do you want to spend?

The closer to circular quay and the rocks the more expensive.

The closer to central station the cheaper.

If you want a happy medium there’s darling harbour,a room with a water view for a couple $ hundred a night.

What’s your budget?

If you want to splurge,the Marriott at circular quay,mid range novatel darling harbour. In the cheaper range near Haymarket and central station which is good..

Do you have a preference of hotel chains?

So we have booked a cruise and paid.

 

The travel agent tells us a few weeks later that if we pay an extra $700 we will receive a further $1600 in onboard credit.

 

It's a reputable TA so we accepted and paid.

 

But I've been thinking about it since, and I'm a little confused as to why. It's not an incentive, as we've paid, so why on earth effectively give away $900?

 

Am I missing something?

I noticed one mistake in you post ,a reputable agent.

In my opinion there’s no agent you can trust.

I just canceled a cruise for next Christmas.it was a junior suite on the ovation for 2.

It seemed like a fair deal,12 nights,$7000.with $500 OBC.

After a few months the agent put the price up to almost $8000 with a $100 OBC.

After a lot of arguments with the agent I canceled.

You should have heard the lies.

So be on your Gard. Because there’s a lot of smoke & mirrors out there.

Do you mean STARBOARD?

 

Yes, the "bus stop" smoking area is on Deck 5 starboard.

Depends if your faceing the blunt end or the sharp end.

If someone is sensitive to cigarette smoke, I’ve heard some bad reports

The smoking area is on the right side of the ship?