woodscruise

How much alteration do they do to a ship for the Asian market? Does it cost big dollars. If this is the case then it may make sense in sending Harmony directly to Asia.

When we were on Voyager of the Seas after the refit in Singapore last year, we noticed that the ship was modify greatly to the Asian market. There were numerous high end shops placed onboard, and one shop assistant even commented that the ship was catering for the Asian market. They advised that all they do is change the shops products for the Australian market. The signage around the ship is in both languages, and the menus cater for all languages. The casino on board was enlarged and they open up the various areas as required. Therefore it would be easy to send any ship from the Asian market.

When we did Voyager of the Seas cruise from Singapore to Sydney last year, I registered my AMEX card at check in and then on the last day of the cruise went to the front desk and asked for it to be swapped over to my Qantas Cash card. No problems at all.

Is there any speculation where the Emerald Princess will go to after her Australian deployment?

When we were on Voyager of the Seas in 2003, it was asked at the time if the Voyager class would ever leave the Carribean. The reply at the time was no. Now look where they are, China, Australia, Europe as well. So never say never, as we do not know what the future holds.

Voyager had some traditional life boats installed during the Singapore drydock, and I would expect Explorer will have the same, my question is does Navigator and Quantum have the lifeboats come tenders.

Geoff and Springaussie,

 

It will be interesting at the end of February when Adam Goldstein are here in Australia for the cruise3sixty if he makes any announcements for future ship placements in Australia.

Very interesting reason, however why did Silver Whisper manage to depart around 7pm to head towards Melbourne. If it was high seas at the heads, would not they also delay the Silver Whisper also?

In yesterdays (Friday 29 January) travel daily, it was reported that Adam M Goldstein will be present in Australia and will be giving a key note address at this industry function. It is held at the end of February. It will be interesting what he has to say and whether if there will be any indication of RCCL ship movements for this area.

Does anyone know why the Oosterdam is now showing on Sydney ports daily shipping movement as departing Sydney at 4am tomorrow morning? The first port of call is Dunedin

According to he schedule, she arrives from Alaska into Sydney on 8th October 2016 and goes to Singapore. She leaves there on the 31st October for her Sydney Season. Both cruises are sold as 14 nights.

Springaussie/Geoff

 

Sydney ports is showing Voyager of the Seas departing at 23:59 usually in late 2017-2018, whilst Explorer and Radiance is showing 18:30. Any thoughts on what might be happening?

Another interesting note is that Voyager of the Seas for the majority of 2017/2018 season the departure time is 2359. For Explorer and Radiance it is showing the departure time as usually 1830. Maybe RCCL is planning changes to its fleet also?

Emerald is already listed in Sydney Ports. These are another date. Just a thought didn't Princess say the the new build may debut in Australia. This is schedule for the American Fall of 2017 (our Spring)

I have just check Sydney Ports and noticed an unusual entry. There is 10 dates where it is showing as the ship name is Carnival Corp.

The dates are 20 August, 5,19,27 September, 5 October, 3,8,12,28 November and 16 December. All are at the OPT.

Does anyone have any idea what this entry maybe, or do we have to wait.

Geoff and Springaussie,

 

Have you checked out Sydney ports from 18th October where Celebrity Solstice is showing, yet according to Celebrity website the ship is doing a Singapore Cruise.There is quite a few cruises listed that do not match with what Celebrity has published recently, until at least December 2016.

if you are going to the Blue Mountains, then I think the multi pass 3 would be the better option as I think multi pass 2 only goes as far west as Emu Plains. Also consider the new opal card. For this the maximum fare for any given day is AUD 15. Weekly maximum is AUD60. and after 8 trips the rest are free for that week. Also Sunday if you have not reached the 8 trips then the fare is AUD 2.50 all day. There are some conditions if you transfer from train and bus and also within the hour, however it is possible to get all eight trips up within the day and then the rest of the week is free,

Reading this thread, I would firstly like to point out that it is not the airlines / cruise companies that determine the 6 months validity, but this ruling is determined by the various governments. I actually work for an international airline. If you do need to renew the passport, I would actually check with the various embassies to check their requirements and the 6 month ruling. One thing to consider that by doing b2b2b cruises from Fort Lauderdale, each time you come back to US that would possibly be considered as a new entry into the US.

The Radiance of the Seas is doing a charter cruise from 22nd November to the 29th November. it is one of the music charters and is called Bravo Cruise.

The interesting thing about this listing was up until the 22July, only the Statedam (and it was listed under the HAL name no P&O's) listed and that was at OPT. So I think there will be some itinerary changes coming from P&O by the end of next month.

Just checking Sydney Ports and found this scheduled for the 25th November 2015. If it is true would be a very good shipping day.

 

Pacific Pearl 25-Nov-2015 06:00 (Wed) 25-Nov-2015 20:00 (Wed) Point Piper Buoy

Pacific Dawn 25-Nov-2015 06:00 (Wed) 25-Nov-2015 09:30 (Wed) Neutral Bay Anchorage

Pacific Dawn 25-Nov-2015 09:30 (Wed) 25-Nov-2015 20:00 (Wed) Overseas Passenger Terminal

Pacific Jewel 25-Nov-2015 06:00 (Wed) 25-Nov-2015 20:00 (Wed) Athol Buoy ATH4

Pacific Eden 25-Nov-2015 06:00 (Wed) 25-Nov-2015 20:00 (Wed) White Bay Cruise Terminal

Pacific Aria 25-Nov-2015 06:00 (Wed) 25-Nov-2015 20:00 (Wed) White Bay 4

 

And interestingly the Veendam is showing as arriving on the 26th November 2015.

 

Sydney Ports is was last updated on 22 July 2014

Sea Princess slows passengers aboard Sea Princess have taken to social

media and cruise forums to voice their discontent about ongoing

schedule changes related to “technical difficulties”, which have caused the ship to operate at reduced speed for two months.

 

Currently operating its series of Asian cruises from Fremantle, Princess Cruises has acknowledged the problem in messages to guests and in many

cases offered onboard credits of $100-$200pp as compensation for the inconvenience.

 

A spokesperson for the company told TD Cruise Update:

“There is a minor technical problem that has resulted in the ship operating at reduced speed. “Our experts assessed the problem and devised a program

of work that meant we could keep faith with our guests by keeping any disruption to Sea Princess’ itineraries to a minimum.”

The repairs are expected to be completed “in coming weeks”,

the spokesperson commented.

 

Source: Cruise Weekly 24 July 2014

By Tom Stieghorst

Queen Mary 2 in SydneyAustralia is the fastest-growing cruise market in the world, according to a 2013 CLIA Australasia report, and U.S. cruise lines are responding by adding capacity both this year and next.

 

The number of Australian cruise passengers shot up 20% in 2013, after having advanced 11% the year before.

 

In fact, a greater percentage of Australians cruised last year (3.6%) than North Americans (3.3%), marking the first time an overseas source market has exceeded North America in cruise penetration.

 

“We thought that might make the Americans sit up and pay attention,” said Brett Jardine, general manager of CLIA Australasia.

 

Out of Australia’s population of about 23 million, some 883,348 took a cruise last year, the group said.

 

Australia’s growth has implications for the U.S. cruise market because big cruise lines have taken notice and are repositioning bigger, more advanced ships from other itineraries to sail from Down Under.

 

Carnival Spirit, which has been sailing year-round in Australia since 2012, is the only Carnival Cruise Lines ship based full-time outside North America.

 

In October, the Carnival Legend will join the Spirit for the six-month Aussie summer season.

 

“That’s a significant amount of capacity for a market of this size,” Jardine said.

 

During the same time frame, Royal Caribbean International will sail its Voyager, Radiance and Rhapsody of the Seas from Australia.

 

Celebrity Cruises’ original Solstice-class ship will sail from Australia this winter, joined by its oldest vessel, the Celebrity Century.

 

And the country’s indigenous line P&O Australia will grow its fleet from three ships to five when the current Holland America Line’s Statendam and Ryndam are transferred to P&O Australia in 2015.

 

Jardine said that the arrival of new hardware has been one catalyst for the market’s ascent.

 

“That has raised the awareness of the media here, which has meant more coverage of cruise,” he said. “We found with more coverage of cruise and more ships being physically seen in our ports, consumer awareness continues to grow. As consumer awareness grows, the inquiry level to travel agents grows. As the agent education grows and consumer awareness grows and then when the capacity is available, when you put [it all] together that leads to strong growth.”

 

Another factor in the Aussie boom has been a robust economy. Jardine said a strong Australian dollar, especially relative to European currencies, has helped drive growth. Last year, the number of Australians cruising in Europe grew 34%, leading all other destinations in growth.

 

About 70% of Australian cruisers booked an itinerary from a port in Australia in 2013, while the rest cruised abroad.

 

The key question is whether all this growth is sustainable. Capacity in the Caribbean has grown by double digits this year, and the result has been weak pricing and the need for heavy promotions to fill ships. It is not an experience anyone wants to see repeated in the Australia market.

 

Les Farrar, managing director for Cruise Holidays in Australia, said overcapacity is a talking point within the trade.

 

“We are seeing more and more price discounting by online agents, for example,” Farrar said. “There is no doubt we are seeing some signs of potential overcapacity now, and the summer season of 2015-16 will be when it reaches a critical point.”

 

Still, Farrar added, “Having said that, the ships are still sailing full and the consumer is benefiting from the capacity increase through lower fares, which in turn creates more Australians converted to cruising.”

 

Cruise Holidays, for example, has grown its footprint from four locations to 31 since it launched under that brand at the start of 2013. Farrar said there were fewer than 20 cruise specialists in Australia five years ago; he estimated that number has grown fivefold since then.

 

The most popular itineraries from Australia are to the South Pacific, with port calls in islands such as Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Last year, 330,670 Australians sailed in the South Pacific, according to CLIA Australasia, a 30.9% increase over the year before.

 

Next in popularity are coastal and short-break cruises around Australia, which attracted 148,527 guests last year.

 

Another popular option is sailing to New Zealand, which drew 98,914 Australians in 2013.

 

Overall, the Australian market is five times larger today than in 2003, when 153,781 Australians took a cruise.

 

While short cruises of one to four days were the fastest-growing market segment by duration in 2012, last year the eight- to 14-day segment grew by 57%, topping five- to seven-day cruises, which grew 20%, and the one- to four-day market, which cooled to a more modest 9% growth rate in 2013.

 

Source: Travel weekly 14 July 2014

It looks like the ships will undergo refurbishment in Singapore. Check the HAL website, and you will find Statendam going their from Seattle after her AK season in September, and Ryndam going from Europe in October.

Personally I do not like the names myself. Eden I could understand as besides Eden Park in New Zealand P&O have a new destination on the NSW south coast called Eden. Aria to me is the music awards held each year, and that is was I associate it with. The other thing is the ship going to be based in Asia, by dropping the r and adding an s = Asia.

 

One thing I hope is P&O will be lifting there game. Besides been expensive (by this I mean not just looking at the cruise fare but the all inclusive package that is what you have to buy on board) and the service levels are a complete let down. I recently went on a weekend trip on Pacific Jewel, and did notice the hugh amount of cost cutting that is currently going on. Maybe these ex HAL ships is going to be marketed to a different segment of the market.