VanessaNJ

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

$US or $AU?

 Aud. 

Not sure if this is allowed, but I am looking for travel agent recommendations. 
 

I would like someone that has a good knowledge base in cruises as I’m planning to book more in the future, however I’m also in the process of planning a Europe trip and need help with flights and tours, so really after an all rounder. 
 

location: Melbourne, inner western suburbs preferable. 

Booked and paid for my dining on majestic for my December cruise and yes, it was $29pp. 

Hi all,

we’ve just paid our cruise in full and we now have access to booking dining! 
 

I have 2 question I’d like some info on before doing so however. 
 

1. Allegro or concerto - which should we choose? I know the menus are the same, but what about the ambiance? The seating arrangements? Anything else you can think of? Feedback appreciated. 
 

2. Private table or shared with others? Our preference is to have the ‘traditional’ experience of main dining. If we choose to book the same time every night, and select the shared with others option, will we have the same table with the same people and wait staff every night? 
 

thanks for any help you can give me. 

So I’m planning to take 2 shores excursions in one of the port days on my upcoming cruise to NZ. Both are via the cruise line - princess if that matters. 
 

My question is what’s the deal with the in between time? There is 2 hours between the first and second and we were hoping to stay ashore and have a bite before joining the second one, but I know more cruise ship excursions start with a meeting time somewhere on board. Is there a way to meet them as the disembark the ship instead or do I HAVE to get back on the ship? It’s a tender port so it’s not a super quick get on/off situation. 

Hey guys,

So I’m counting down the days until my NZ cruise in December and was just looking at some photos from cruisers.
 

I’m wondering, how hot or cold is it really going to be in December? In the Sounds I can see people wearing pants and coats. In other ports sometimes pants and coats and sometimes standard summer fair, so I’m not really sure! What about sea days!? 
 

hoping those who’ve cruise NZ at this time can share their experience. Thanks! 

Hey guys,

I’ve been trying to educate myself about princess by watching some YouTube videos. The latest on the Majestic princess are all Alaska sailing, and they keep saying that the Hollywood Pool Club is free ‘right now’ which makes it seem like their usually is a fee? But I was under the impression it was free. 
 

so for those who have been on Majestic sailing out of Aus, is it usually free or do you have to pay? 

Basically the question. I’ve never really used a TA for holidays. My first cruise was booked by a TA but my mum booked that for our whole family, a group of 5 cabins so it’s kinda made sense there. 
But is it otherwise worth it? I’ve heard many Americans say that they always books via one, however their culture is much more service based than the Australian culture so I don’t know if that holds true here. 
 

So, as Australians booking cruises in Australia do you find it valuable to use a TA and if so why? I’ve just booked directly with princess, but I think it’s still within the time frame that I can transfer it to a TA. 

Hi all,

I am a first time princess cruiser and I can see that they no longer do ‘traditional’ dining. The thing is, I’d still really prefer this option. On my last cruise (RC) while we technically didn’t have traditional dining we had a large group and as such they allocated us the same table and dining time for the duration of the cruise. I loved knowing where I was going and having the same staff each night. I was supposed to go on another RC cruise this Christmas and selected traditional dining this time because:

- we enjoyed the same wait staff & table experience

- it’s just my husband and I this time and as it’s a 13 night cruise we’d like to meet other people

So with set/traditional dining off the table, my question is; what’s the best way to book/arrange dining in the new princess dining world to be able to simulate the traditional dining experience? 
 

thanks! 

Hi all,

I’ll be sailing on princess for the first time this December and I’m trying to figure out which terminal we’ll be sailing out of so I can book accommodation etc. 

The only info I can find is that princess sails out of both the overseas passenger terminal and white bay terminal. And tips on how to find which my specific port my majestic princess itinerary is sailing from?

thanks! 

Hi all,

Will be a first time princess cruiser this year on Majestic Princess in December. 
 

When I booked they only had guarantee rooms left, so I have a few questions. 
- When will we receive our room allocation? I know this varies for different lines. 
- why would they only have guarantee rooms available? 
- for anyone that has chosen this option before, how likely it is that my category will change? 
 

thanks! And I look forward to trying princess 🙂 

Just now, Chiliburn said:

Someone posted on the ANZ forum of a test cruise .

 

That was me. Disclaimer that is is only speculation that it’s a test cruise. People that I know on this sailing are not currently able to log into the ‘make payment’ section for this cruise however have had zero communication from royal about this. 
 

And as I’ve said above, even if successful, I really don’t think it will be open to international passengers. 

Unfortunately I think things are not looking good for you. While I’m holding out hope for a limited cruise season from 2022, I don’t think our boarders will be freely open at this point, and suspect any cruising that does go on will be restricted to Australian and New Zealanders, similar to how many other countries began their cruise restart. 

Additionally, I’ve just checked and this sailing is no longer available on the site. The only ovation cruise available before this is a 12 nighter on 06/12/21. 

Hi all,

My next booked cruise is on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the seas on 08/01/2022 and one of the other travelers posted this to the sailings FB page. They had a 4 night sailing booked immediately before the 08/01 sailing and some changes have been made. It’s been shortened to 3 nights - it ends of the 7th but the next cruise doesn’t begin until the 8th. It’s also re-named to a shakedown and notes it as a ‘non-revenue’ sailing. This makes me wonder if this is in fact a ‘test cruise’ of sorts similar to what RC did in the US. 
 

Thoughts? Please feel free to speculate wildly. 

8 minutes ago, BecAus said:

 

Have they cancelled any of the 2022 AUS cruises, I don't think I've read anyone having theirs cancelled past 2021?  My Quantum was Dec 29th.

I agree that the announcement has been presented/worded in a very confusing way, mostly because they’ve advertised it as which ships are having extensions or redeployments as opposed to what parts of the season are cancelled in Aus. 
 

Quantum has been extended in Singapore through feb 22, so your December 2021 cruise is cancelled. However they have only cancelled some ovation and serenade cruises and haven’t said anything at all about radiance. 

32 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

Any chance Ovation homeports from SF?

Tbh I think there is a huge chance of Ovation remaining on the west cost of the US after it’s Alaska season. I reckon they just need to sort out the details before announcing cancellation of the the Aus season for Ovation. 

So this means Royal will cancel also. Only surprised by 2 things:

1. that they took so long to do it, and

2. that they are only cancelling up to December. 

I thought for sure lines would kick the whole season. I've got a Jan 08 2022 booked, so it's hanging on by a thread, but I fully expect it to be cancelled. 

I actually have Ovation for next Christmas booked! It’s a 12 night to NZ. I went on voyager South Pacific Christmas cruise 2019 too. The Christmas 2022 cruise I have booked is only a back up in case my Jan NZ cruise is cancelled. BUT if I do end up going on it there is one thing I’ve learned about Christmas cruises from my last cruise; being in port on public holidays is no fun. Everything is closed, and your excursion choices are limited to the ship sponsored tours only. My 22’ cruise has sea days for Christmas Eve through Boxing Day (technically scenic cruising for Boxing Day) which I think will be ideal. 

I believe this to be somewhat true. I received a survey from Royal for a cruise I have booked next year that had a bunch of questions in it, one of which was am I vaccinated yet (no, am not eligible in my country yet) and whether I planned to be by the time the cruise goes ahead (yes, expect to be eligible by October).

So I think it’s reasonable that 90% of respondents to the survey said that they were either vaccinated or would be by cruise time, however they will be using data from the survey that was not sent to everyone, and was not responded to by everyone That received it to generalize to the entire population. 

6 minutes ago, Kamloops50 said:

Lucky I don’t have to make a final decision until mid October. I suspect your right about not being able to do plan a.  Unless your government decides that people who are fully vaccinated can enter the country. That’s the way the UK and EU are going .

Lets hope! Unfortunately our government are hyper risk-averse. And due to the fact information on reduction in transmissibility from the vaccine is still being gathered, realistically it isn't even a good idea to let fully vaccinated people into the country freely without also having a decent portion of our population also vaccinated as vaccinated individuals can still carry and transmit the virus. Current projections are for having a decent portion vaccinated by end of year and I'm hoping very hard that we can have a phased re-opening from them. 

48 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I hope it goes well for you and it can come to NZ and Australia, I would be working on a contingency plan in case it does'nt.

 
As optimistic as I’m trying to be that my Jan 2022 RCI cruise will go ahead, a few weeks ago I researched back up plans and booked it last weekend. The back up cruise is for Christmas 2022, and I knew if I waited to see what happens with Jan to book, there would be less cabins available and a higher price. Plus is quells my impatience knowing that even if my Jan sailing gets cancelled, I have a cruise planned that I can look forward to. Highly recommend booking a backup with refundable fare! 

Oh I feel this! I haven’t actually had Jamie’s yet, but it will be on my next cruise. I went on voyager in 2019 and was so prepared to like chops the most because people rave about it so much but Giovanis was the absolute best meal I ate! I’m quite sad that giovanis isn't on my next ship, but I’m trying to stay positive and have high hopes for Jamie’s. 

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I know you don't want to hear this but I think the decision to close our borders to visitors from the majority of overseas countries is wise to limit the risk of outbreaks in Australia. There is a limit as to how many arrivals our quarantine system can handle and Australian residents should have priority.

 

However blocking Australians from leaving is a bit stupid. Anyone should be free to leave but then they must stay away until our border opens to whatever countries they've gone to. If they try to sneak back before that they should be sent to Christmas Island until the pandemic is over.

I agree that our boarders aren’t ready to be an open free for all. However this isn’t actually what people here are advocating for. We’re advocating for a similar arrangement to places like Israel.  Cruises locally and perhaps even to NZ for Aus and NZ citizens and residents only. No international passengers, no trans Atlantic cruises. Quarantined crew, perhaps even vaccinated crew and passengers. 

49 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

It's just too politically risky to allow a ship go to sea and come back full of covid until after the next election.

Yeah I get that fear, but I also don't logistically understand how that could happen in the context of Australia. Presumably Australian cruises will:

- be limited to Australian citizen's and residents. Maybe also NZ ppl. (This means that the only people that are cruising will have a ridiculously LOW chance of having covid in the first place) 

- be limited to Australian ports and maybe NZ ports as well (Neither of which have or are likely to have uncontrolled community outbreak issues)

- be staffed by people that have spent at least 14 days in quarantine

- include rapid covid testing prior to boarding for passengers

- include rapid covid test during the cruise for passengers

- include frequent covid testing of crew members

Given all of that, I just don't see how it would even be possible for a ship to become 'full of covid' given the extremely low local risk of covid, and the health and testing protocols that the lines would have in place ¯\_(ツ)_/¯