jldev

Sorry we ended up booking a Junior Suite on that cruise 

13 hours ago, Teeara said:

 

I've broken down a world cruise into 7 segments.  I'm NOT taking them consecutively.  They will be taken over a span of many, many years. 

 

Last year was segment 1 - TA from Barcelona to FL (where I met Pat and Bucky in the SL every night).  This year I skipped segment 2 and went straight to segment 3 since my mom wanted to do CA to HI.  Next year is segment 2 - (Panama Canal) FL to CA.  So segment 4 is a partial TP - HI to Australia.  Segment 5 is Australia to Indonesia.  Segment 6 is Indonesia to Dubai and Segment 7 is Dubai to Barcelona.  They won't be all on RCI (last year's segment 3 was on the Royal Princess). 

I find this totally fascinating to read.  It's made me realize that we have unwittingly cruised on some of the traditional routes of world cruises.  We have cruised 19 nights from Honolulu, via stops on Tahiti and NZ to Sydney.  A few years before that we cruised 14 nights from Sydney, up via stops on the Eastern coast of Australia to Singapore and, in April/May 24, we'll be cruising 15 nights from Singapore via stops in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and Abu Dhabi, to Dubai.   So they all link together which amazes me to realize. Of course, being in New Zealand, it's the rest of the world cruising routes that are left and which are way more expensive for us to fly to... 

I never thought about doing a round the world cruise until RC brought out this one. And, as time got closer to the cruise and I started following some people who are doing it, I've become fascinated so it's now on my travel dream bucketlist. We'd only be able to afford it if we sold our family home and downsized but, as our youngest daughter will still be coming home during her university holidays for a few more years, we are not ready to do that yet. But it's been a lovely idea to dream about for now 💕

However I recently heard and read opinions that RC will not do another world cruise so, if true, thats disappointing. Does any one know why they wouldn't be doing another one? Given this cruise hsd only just started, what has gone wrong to make them not want to repeat it?  Is it not profitable for them? 

Yes, I'm a travel agent in New Zealand and the Quantum Singapore to Brisbane is indeed for sale now

We just booked on the Singapore to Dubai cruise because, even though not having a balcony will be hard (we have become very accustomed to having one), the itinerary is fantastic as it ticks off several new places for us.  It will be strange boarding a ship where all the passengers already know each other! 

8 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Mariner did a repo from Singapore to Barcelona in spring 2018. Mid point was Dubai.  I did a Live thread

 

Ill look for the link

Oh yes please, that would be great thanks 🙂

On 1/26/2023 at 7:13 AM, Crism said:

I'm absolutely IN for the Singapore to Dubai trip.  I was SO envious of that 2018 report!

r!

I'm also interested in the Singapore to Dubai cruise and would love to read a trip report from someone who has done this type of itinerary before. So what 2018 report are you referring to please?

17 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I think they are just trying to hype up next season’s Brisbane bookings.

Oh so big news, that's a shame 

Does anyone know if the RC Beach Party today had any huge news?

My husband and I were also on the same Trans-Pacific cruise and we were in Junior Suite 11638 which was wonderful. We had 10 nights in Waikiki and then the fantastic Ovation cruise back to Sydney. One night in Sydney and then flew back home to Wellington.  Since we've been home, I've been extremely busy catching up with work and so I've only just seen your TR.  I don't have time to read it now but will look forward to reading later. However, in the meantime, here are a couple of photos I took of that incredible super yacht that was tied up next to us in Papeete.        

Oh wow yes what a difference! Lots of Suites are back available for sale plus heaps of availability in most categories. There might be availability left to sell the sectors fares, in other categories than just inside, after all!   

2 hours ago, spintowin said:

Does the non refundable 16k bother anybody?

I guess, for those that could afford to lose it, it wouldn't bother them.

Personally I could never afford to lose it and so who knows what could happen in peoples lives within the next two years that could prevent them going on the cruise!  While I presume this is a desperately needed revenue grab for them, I find it quite greedy that RCCL have made the whole deposit amount non-refundable.    

Yes all the Suites, including all the Junior Suites, are now sold out for the whole world cruise!  Some people clearly have A LOT of money and time!

It will be interesting to see if the whole ship sells out for the world cruise and hence there is no space to sell the separate four segments.  However personally I think that having a balcony would be a minimum requirement if doing a world cruise as how awful to cruise that long without being able to have fresh air in your cabin. So I suspect there will still be the Inside Cabins and probably the Oceanview cabins for sale for the separate four sectors. 

If I won Lotto, I'd love to do that world itinerary as it looks amazing. However, in reality, even if I could afford it, it's probably too long to be away from normal life and so, I'd need to hope they did this cruise every year and I could do one segment each year. A girl can dream... 

Ovation is too big to dock in Auckland and so, when there, it sits in the harbour and tenders go back and forward. 

Here in NZ, we had the ridiculous situation earlier this year when our government denied the Ponant ship in to NZ on the basis that the Ministry of Immigration would not give visas to the non-essential crew (those not essential to operate the ship) and, if Ponant wanted to cruise here, the non-essential roles needed to be filled with New Zealanders.  Back then I argued that the Ministry of Immigration are ignorant about what is required of crew on a cruise ship.  I explained that all crew are responsible for dual roles – their main role AND their role in a ship emergency.  Each crew member, including bartenders, waiters, beauty spa workers, cabin attendants etc (i.e. those deemed to be “non-essential” by the Ministry of Immigration) has a very important duty to fulfill in emergencies such as fire or ship evacuation. Complex training goes into preparing these crew for these emergency roles.  Therefore, there is no way that those crew members are non-essential to the operation of a safe passenger cruise and it is totally illogical why they would be denied visas.

So, from the sound of this, the Australian government might be going down the same path.... 

On the Deck Plan, cabin 9248 looks like the normal cabin size plus a huge deck so could you move to that?

19 hours ago, d9704011 said:

On the Hawaii to Tahiti leg the sun will be on the port side in the morning and starboard in the afternoon.  For the run from Tahiti to Sydney the sun will be mostly on the starboard side.

Thanks so much! If I have to choose, I prefer afternoon sun so I'll choose a cabin on the starboard side 🙂  

11 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

12650

Yes it looks slightly larger.

 

Oh wow, what a great photo thanks!  That's very helpful to bring up the deck plan on one screen and have this photo on my adjacent screen  - I can work out which is each cabin number 🙂  

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I’ve always found that the representation on the deck plans, at least for Royal has been accurate and those are indeed slightly larger.  Many people book those or similar cabins because they are slightly larger and I have not read if anyone coming back saying it was just a standard balcony. 

Thanks that's good to know that the deck plans are fairly accurate and, if those cabins are indeed at the very start of the curving out of the humps, it does make sense that the balcony is not normal shape/size.

Sorry to butt in but, for the opposite - sailing from Honolulu to Sydney in October 2022, cabins on which side of the ship will have the most sunlight?

40 minutes ago, long4acruise said:

We were in 12252 and our friends had 12250 on Ovation and I don't recall any difference in our cabins or balconies.  They are both right off the hump as I recall.

 

YouTube or cruise deck plans dot com (subscription) are great sources for photos and videos of cabins also.

Thanks so much, that's very interesting and helpful to know. Yes, I've searched You Tube for these cabin numbers (and the similar ones on the other decks) for each Quantum class ship, until my eyes were nearly cross-eyed! 🤣 But I could not find any videos.  I don't have a subscription to cruise deck plans dot com.

Does anyone have any photos of (or have stayed in) the Ocean View Balcony cabin 12250 or 12650 on Quantum class ships? I've currently got 12250 held for a cruise on Ovation because, on the deck plans, it looks like the balcony is slightly larger than regular balconies. However I know deck plans are not always accurate. Or does anyone have a photo of these cabins on decks 13, 11, 10, 9, 8 or 7? e.g. 11250 or 11650.

Any info about these cabins  will be much appreciated.  Thanks 🙂 

Oh dear that is so sad to hear 😞

Latest official update on Diamond Princess:

Diamond Princess update: The well-being of our guests and crew remains our top priority, and we are working diligently to improve their experience during this challenging time. Food and beverages are being brought to their rooms via a daily menu. Guests in inside and non-balcony staterooms are now permitted to get fresh air on a rotating basis, as directed by Public Health authorities. We are also providing many in-room activities and additional entertainment options. This includes new TV channels, movies, audiobooks, exercise videos, arts and crafts, board and card games delivered to each stateroom, and more.

Just happened upon this review, and I'm really enjoying reading so thanks heaps for posting 🙂