The_Big_M

A newly promoted CD (ex-Activities staff) is on Ovation now - Fernanda.

...

They don't mean they will automatically charge gratuities just because you book a move up bid. It's just saying the rate of gratuities is based on the cabin you are sailing in, so will be applied on the upgraded category when it is charged.

One issue you'll have is there isn't a lot of residences in the central part of the city you''re in. It's primarily offices. So little demand for laundries, also because many people have washing machines. There are dry cleaners, but they tend to be more expensive since they do the work instead of you, and are also in a different part of the city. The closest residential area to you is Ultimo and Pyrmont (and which has more students as well), where you'll find laundries, but it's not really walking distance (with a stack of laundry anyway). Closest suggestions there are: Anna Wash Laundry – household service in New South Wales, reviews, prices – Nicelocal Harbourside Laundry | Harwood Street, Pyrmont, NSW | White Pages®

If you're purely wanting seats with the least walking, and fewest steps, stalls with lower rows - not at the back (e.g. A-H) will deliver that. They're also in the pricing midrange, and given the limited seats remaining now, I'd suggest that's the best option for a first time visitor's experience with your preferences now.

For public transport, that would be the best option. However, as above, people would typically take the bus from the station to the beach. Bus services are frequent due to the usage there. Of course, you certainly can walk that part if you wish.

Not the same, and not true. When port charges increase, firstly it's only to a specific port, not all ports, so doesn't affect all cruises, nor all cruisers. And secondly the increase is typically $5-10, which is much less than here, which would typically be $10-$30 - or in this case $35-$70 for a 1-2 week cruise. And I haven't seen any tax increases, so no comparison there. Also not true as the closest comparable example was when there were fuel charges added, which is similar in that the cost impact was higher and also it affected all cruises, not limited. And that produced many threads and discussion/dissatisfaction. So when the impact is broader and greater like these gratuity increases, there will be threads.

The contra is that those discussing it here would have bought the cruise anyway. So it's not an extra cost that has arisen, or needed, just because they bought the shares. They don't pay extra just to get the OBC. But if they hadn't bought the shares they wouldn't get the credit. So, yes, the OBC is a bonus from having the shares, just as a dividend would be.

While I know what you mean about crowding, Quantum class is my favourite class. This isn't due to space, but due to the variety of options and spaces onboard, plus the quality of the technology, cabins and shows compared to other ships. I found the crowding on Rhapsody (also Vision class like Grandeur) far worse, after all her refurbishments. While originally crowding wasn't an issue on Rhapsody, much public space e.g. Games room, library, other spaces has been removed and replaced by cabins, to the extent they also removed the central sculpture, to make it an additional entertainment area. We watched one 'show' there, where everyone crowded every deck from top to bottom yet most still could not see the presenter/show due to being behind people. Equally the theatre was filled half an hour before multiple shows due to excessive numbers of people. The difference between the two: while both are crowded, Quantum is built for those numbers so there is still adequate space to see, to queue or whatever. Rhapsody on the hand wasn't and is just overcrowded, meaning you missed out and/or had poor experiences due to the numbers. Similar issues arise on Voyager class after their multiple refurbishments - less public space/s and more passengers also damage their experience, although not as much as on Vision class.

Except in 2019 they weren't coming out of a pandemic that shut cruising for 2 years, and still had ongoing costs.

I don't believe you can. Most assignments are done just before sailing and the main intent of the model was to redistribute unsold cabins, so wait until just before departure (when there would be no point to allow multiples). While they can and occasionally do allocate earlier, the model isn't built around multiple upgrades per passenger and it isn't straightforward to do so so don't believe it is possible.

Not sure why Celebrity would even intervene for that. Sure it's voluntary, but why does party 2 even need a suite since they booked later? Sure they want a suite, but it's not as though if you ring up celebrity because you want a suite on a sold out cruise and they'll call everyone asking to downgrade.

Aquaclass is often about 60% of the cost of the suite so that's hardly much of a move over incentive anyway! It's more like only if you really wanted AQ but had to get a suite initially because sold out, which is unlikely to be very many people.

I wouldn't say there is a "best" junior suite category on Quantum class. Just some people prefer one over another as they have different preferences, or different numbers of people occupying, and the differences aren't really better, just different. Unfortunately the naming standard RCL applied with the J1-4 business does make it harder to sort out the differences.

Both are alternative visas. The 601 is 'inferior' to the 651 in that if you have both the 651 has priority and the 601 only is in effect when the 651 expires/cancelled/anything else. If the 651 covers the times and activities of your visit there is no need to get the 601.

Yes, taxi or uber would be the recommended options for that trip. The distance and hence cost isn't so great, and public transport is not so well connected there.

Weird. I've been in a number of shows which are standing room only and you can't see much if not on time. It's quite common.

Yes, while you can get them in all those cities, Melbourne and Sydney particularly, and Brisbane as well, will be your best options. For example, here is one shop that specialises in them in Sydney (and Melbourne), that has been there for years: The National Opal Collection | Opal Sales Showroom There are other options too, that may be more convenient to where you'll be.

Any Australian port will have good availability of jewellery shops with opals. There aren't any 'chain stores' for that, so it depends what city you're going to and what you're looking for. Also, the duty free shops at any major AU airports will have them. Price wise there's no significant difference duty free or non, as the best price will come down to the saving and potentially the distinctiveness of what you're selecting rather than saving on GST (plus you can get GST back in any case for larger purchases) so base your purchase on when you find what you're looking for.

I don't see how the above shows that you must have sailed at least once to get the benefits. I haven't seen that as a requirement anywhere, and it would actually increase complexity to the change so not sure why they would do that. Sailing once on Azamara doesn't make you incredibly more loyal than never sailing at all, so doesn't make sense to add as a condition.

Cruises operating in Australia do so under the common Australian guidelines, which are based on two doses (generally) being fully vaccinated. RCL do state this effectively in their wording when they state "To be considered fully vaccinated guests should be vaccinated with a recognized vaccine and dosage as specified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). " If you refer to the TGA assessments, you'll see that fully vaccinated refers to two vaccinations (not boosters) for the commonly used Australian vaccines. They do this so that if the Australian guidelines change, they refer to the current advice rather than needing to update their site as well. Regarding masks, as the sailings are still a while off and restrictions have still been changing frequently, they would be waiting until much closer to finalise what the requirements are. Hence the optional wording as they would prefer things to go that way rather than lock things as they are right now, which does require masks onboard indoors.

I can't advise you what you should use, but the instructions for applying through the government are here. Subclass 601 Electronic Travel Authority (homeaffairs.gov.au) You can then assess whether you applied directly or through a third party and how you want to proceed.

Actually Australian ETAs are visas. Just because other countries may or may not be visas doesn't mean that Australian ones are not.

You only get the inclusions with your original booking, not the drinks, wifi or tips that come specifically with suites. Congrats on the upgrades though, very nice!

It was added recently. It doesn't really make much difference; what it would typically do is if two cruisers made the same bid for the same cabin and were otherwise equal, it would bump the higher status club member to get the bid first. But it's not going to be a significant difference aside from that. E.g. if you made a $1000 bid and were Elite, it would only make your bid $1030 value. And many people bid less than that, so the increment would be even less then. So basically still bid what you planned to; it's just a tiny adjustment, not a massive bonus.