cdwh1902

Hi, we are Aussies ( Wayne and Chris from Toowoomba,  Queensland  - about 2 hours west of Brisbane). We are flying up to Copenhagen to stay a week with a girlfriend before joining the ship in Tromso. We have noted the gathering at the Clarion Hotel at the Edge at 6.30pm  and will try to make it. Cheers, Wayne  and Chris. Looking forward to meeting new friends 😊 

On several cruises I have cancelled drink packages when there has been a price drop and rebook at the lower price. Have saved several hundred dollars in doing so. It pays to monitor their prices and it is easy to do.

Totally agree with Bob!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:hearteyes::* DH is now making the lemon drops for me at home while enjoying the lake from our deck, pretending we're on a ship!!:cool: It's all well and good until we need to get up to go cook our own food and clean the house!!:mad:

Being an insulin-dependent diabetic the mixologist on the Legends of the Seas introduced me to Lemon Drops minus any sugar and it is unbelievable! To the point my husband makes it at home for me...and my BSLs are stable!

Really wanted to turn off the phone and tablet at sea but I have very elderly parents and need to stay in touch with family and nursing home. I am with Telstra, both phone and ipad (ipad with 4G sim card).

I read where with Royal IQ you can send texts and make calls at a reasonable price. Is this correct or did I misread the information? Or, is there another method of staying in touch, preferably by phone, that doesn't cost the earth? Any advice appreciated.

Apart from what the others have said, also look on Telstra's website for their travel plans. It's worth it when travelling OS as International Roaming can be very expensive. The Travel plans kick in when you are on land.

Recently we cruised on the Ovation for 15nights. Luggage tags said Platinum (we are Emerald). All other documents stated Emerald. When I arrived in the stateroom, my C&A discount sheet also had us listed as Platinum. I saw the C&A Loyalty Officer on board and she changed everything without a problem.

I would be confirming the cost of the "Saigon on your own". As we had been to Vietnam before, we took this excursion which essentially took us into the city (takes about an hour or so from where we docked) and then picked us up at an allocated spot before returning us to the ship. It took 8 hours. It suited us and it is very easy to get around Saigon. The Vietnamese Visa we got whilst on board the Mariner OTS..

Hello: May I please ask if the ship was notified of this? And what the response was? I got extremely ill the night before we debarked but with vomiting and diarrhea. Others in my party had upper respiratory issues. This is concerning. Please advise. Thank you

I was advised that the official protocols were to be put into place with notification to RCI etc. The issue is that with all the public holidays and reporting systems being slowed I have no idea when they were being notified. No one has contacted me directly either.

Having just returned from the Christmas cruise, I have to say the issue around formal wear was communication. Prior to leaving, our documents said that there would be 3 formal nights. As it turned out, in both the daily compass and morning TV show with Joff the word 'Formal' was never used - only 'Royal Celebration'. Guest services said that there were no formal nights.

In fact many people did wear their tuxedos - for Captain's Celebration and Christmas Night, but you had to have your wits about you to interpret what was being suggested. Using terminology such 'dress to impress' and 'your best' led some people to wearing their best T-Shirt, Shorts and (Rubber) Thongs. My husband wore his tuxedo on both stated occasions and we had many people make the comment that they didn't realise that it was formal night - they were angry and disappointed that it was downplayed so much. In fact I heard someone mention that they thought 'it was being dumbed down for the Australians', because we are such a more laid back society.

As I said communication was the biggest problem.

Thanks for your post we too are still sick , i thought was bird flu from where ship had been , rather not be a piece of the puzzle . Have Dr appointment tomorrow (booked 5 days ago ) :eek:

Thanks again , Glad you are Feeling better :)

Hi Peter

We can compare stories on the Legend in February!

Chris

We just enjoyed the inaugural cruise to Hobart and New Zealand on the Ovation of the Seas. It was a beautiful ship and full praise to the crew who were fastidious and diligent in sanitizing the ship continually -handrails, chairs, tables were constantly being wiped down. The innovative hand washing stations were flat out and no one was allowed to even walk through the Windjammer unless you 'washy,washy,happy,happy' - sung by the allocated crew member who monitored every passenger. Luckily we were never affected by the gastro outbreak.

Between Auckland and Sydney a number of passengers I noticed developed coughs and colds, usually associated with air conditioned environs. I developed Asthma which was triggered off by an cold section of the hallway near our stateroom. I managed it by using my asthmatic medications and spent the last day or so in our stateroom as I was feeling pretty tired as I wasn't sleeping particularly well. At the same time, my husband developed a blocked salivary gland, which was to be diagnosed later as being infected. He had developed a temperature and a dry cough and felt lousy. He also stayed in our stateroom and we both had room service. We were a great pair.

We flew home on the Friday afternoon and as soon as we arrived home I made an appointment and went and saw the GP. She immediately referred me up to the hospital because of my low oxygen saturation levels and breathlessness. I ended up being admitted and had every conceivable test done, including a Floc swab (not nice). I was diagnosed with an exacerbated Asthma event and was treated accordingly. You can imagine my (and the medical team's) surprise when my Floc pathology results came back the next day saying that I had Influenza A or Swine Flu. I am a retired nurse and am cognizant of what is going on and in taking preventive health measures and had been diligent in doing so. We both had our Fluvax in April , which is suppose to protect against H1N1 strain - but somehow it didn't.

Immediate biohazard precautions were instigated, staff wore gowns, gloves and masks etc and I had to wear a special mask. At no time did I experience high fevers, moist cough (I did have a dry hacking cough which I put down to my Asthma) or feel lousy - only tired - again attributed to my low oxygen levels.

I was concerned about the ship and mentioned to the medical staff that Royal Caribbean and Virgin Australia would need to be notified ASAP. They assured me that as it is a regulatory Notifiable Disease that the Commonwealth Public Health Communicable Diseases Department is automatically notified and it is their role to coordinate that process.The main problem with this holiday period everyone is closed, and processes have been delayed.

I am now home - past my infectious period and still have a cough, but feeling much better. My husband's results don't come through until tomorrow, although it is expected they will also come back positive, but he is now on antibiotics. We have notified our friends from the ship - some who were sick before we were and have encouraged them to follow through.

I have posted this for others to be aware of even the slightest symptoms - although no one could have predicted this. I don't know how many others have been infected - I imagine most people have probably got off the ship and then developed a flu and have not worried about seeking medical assistance. If so, please follow it up. You need a Floc test for confirmation. I'm sure we are only a small piece of the puzzle.

Sounds like the Deluxe package on RCI

We were reimbursed by the onboard manager at Samba Grill on the Allure, as we found the food disgusting. Everything was soaked in the same oily marinade disguising the natural flavours and was very disappointing - we left after the first course.

Like others we have used Viator all over the world - Sweden, Italy, Spain, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, NZ and UK. I love the convenience of being able to book and pay in our own currency before departure. Highly recommend - and have never had any issues!

For Australian and New Zealand cruisers - gratuities are included in the drinks packages. Also check your drink package prices - we are on the Ovation over to NZ for Christmas and the packages have come down in pricing three times in the last 6 months. I just kept cancelling - obtaining a refund, and repurchasing until they stopped. Ended up saving $$. Enjoy the Radiance!

Yes I have to agree with ozscot01 in saying that I disagree with brisbane41 - shorts and t Shirt are not an option for formal wear, and is not the normal. A tie isn't too much to pack in and can come in handy.

In saying that, you can wear T Shirt and Shorts if you want to eat in the Windjammer as opposed to the MDR on formal nights.

We are also on a Christmas Cruise (Ovation of the Seas) over to NZ - but are packing in some formalwear, as it's great opportunity to dress up and have some fun with new friends.

Our thoughts are with all in New Zealand. We are due in Wellington on 23 December and Picton the following day, on the Ovation of the Seas - the largest ship to ever visit Australia and New Zealand. If all goes well, hopefully the passengers and crew will inject some money into the local economy.

Thanks everyone - confirmed my thoughts. We are on RCI using USD so I would rather use NZD. I know where Customs House is, so will have a look there. :)

We also have CC with International Travel Insurance attached to it - worth it!

Does anyone have a suggestion as to where is the best place to buy Duty Free Alcohol in Auckland? Will keep an eye on the ship's prices, but Auckland is our last port before Sydney.

Thank you for that. I will keep eye on it.

The real issue was the shore excursions, with the agent saying RC made a mistake with the promotional email and was only offering the discount for US market. Do those cruise excursions keep changing prices too?

The girls sail on December 13.

I can't comment on the shore excursions as I find them too expensive - we always use Viator.com and find the same excursions, only cheaper. You can buy them in your own currency before you go.

Drink packages vary depending on the ship, the itinerary and the length of the cruise. Early this year I purchased 2 (premium) beverage packages for our 15n Christmas Cruise on the Ovation from Sydney to NZ and paid AU $1148 per person (inc 20% disc and included gratuities); in September the price dropped, so I cancelled and repurchased for AU$1035 per person (again inc 20% disc and inc grats) and in October there was a further price drop, so again I cancelled and repurchased for AU$ 996 per person (inc 20% disc and inc grats). So it pays to keep an eye on their prices. Whilst ever they keep price dropping, I shall keep on cancelling and repurchasing.

In addition if you sailed the Quantum class ship, you would need to pay for the Ifly and Northstar when homeport in China.

Fortunately, we don't have to pay for either in Australia - is free.

We will be on the Ovation OTS sailing off New Zealand on Christmas Day - the last time we did a Christmas Cruise was on HAL Volendam. The ship was beautifully decorated and Christmas Eve was the main celebration night. Any idea if Christmas Eve could be a formal night because of this? In Australia, we celebrate on Christmas Day, so this was a bit different for us.

Hi all , booked E ots 29 December 2016 cause on my birthday was stopping at Lifou on 2 nd December, gess whot they have cut it out

 

Trouble

Oh well Hogbay, we'll just have to celebrate on the Ovation OTS. My birthday's on the 14th! :)

Agree, we need an Ovation one as well! She was launched in April this year!