timtam2

They're strictly enforcing times for Ovation today . no priority for Crown & Anchor today unless you are Diamond Plus I was told because there are "too many" C&A today. This would not have been a surprise to Royal Caribbean so an email to advise beforehand would have been thoughtful.

Thankyou for the info!

Is there still the option for Crown & Anchor members to embark at any time and/or is there a separate line or any priority based on level? Or is that unworkable with Ovation?

I sympathise with you re the noise. We cruised on this ship in 1997 when it was still the Regal Princess and had an almost identical problem with a hideous noise coming from the aircon vent. We also had to go through hoops to get anyone to pay attention - when we began sleeping in the theatre at night to get some peace, they finally did and we got a new cabin.

Perhaps this ship has some intrinsic issues that no matter how many cosmetic refits it has, those core issues remain.

Ive done 2 B2B on Mariner from Singapore and it's easy. The day before arrival, they have a B2B meeting and hand out your new seapass card for the next cruise. You can leave the ship at anytime but it needs to be during the published disembarktion time,so that you are officially clocked off and the cruise is cleared. You then use your new card when returning.

When you do the online check in, there is a box to tick that indicates you are B2B. Of course, it's best if you can book the same cabin both cruises, but if not, the stewards will help you move your stuff.

It's a great feeling on arrival morning when everyone else is bummed about getting off snd you're there ready for cruise number 2

Sydney ports is updated today.

Additional bookings for Ovation of the Seas as follows:

28th Jan, 9th Feb, 17th Feb and 20 Feb.

So a 5nighter,2 x12 nights and a 3 nighter. 2 short cruises means the ship becomes more affordable. A long term marketing benefit for RCI....go on the short one and then you want to go on a longer cruise next season.

I think i'll take the 5 nighter - I've already got the time off and it includes Australia Day

A 3 nighter perhaps? I was going to cancel the repo anyway and February is no good for me for a longer cruise- but I'll consider a 3 nighter.

hmmm- I haven't received that email yet. But - no biggie - I was going to cancel anyway because I'm off to Singapore next week on Voyager.

I'll wait and see what the new itineraries are - maybe they'll give some OBC too - but I doubt it.

Glad it went well

Fortunately, when I cruised with my teens, mobile phones did not have the broad functionality they do today. I know it would have been the cause of massive arguments if they did- I understood your problem!

I concur.Royal Caribbean aren't into passenger dress ups on their theme nights. I have seen a few people dress up for 70s night.....but if you're the only ones in a crowd of 3000....awkward!

I was working for P&O at that time. I'm not sure if I kept a brochure for that year (her last full year) or if I cruised in Nov 85 - I went on quite a few in 85/early 86 before she left :( I'll have a dig around at the weekend

Such beautiful birds ...thank you for the link. I will be watching them.

Breakaway is another agency or booking service for travel industry personnel (also employees of cargo companies) to access discounted rates....cruises, flights, hotels.

Hi there....I'm a bit late but have read right through your review/travelogue and LOVED it! So much in it was familiar to me. I have been on 3 Mariner SE Asia cruises - I love Mariner and Singapore is my favourite city. I go there every year and cruise from there whenever I can (doing a Princess one in March) I am also a solo female cruiser and one thing they dont do unfortunately on Mariner, is run Singles get togethers. So like you, I usually spend a lot of time alone but I love the freedom it brings.

You are way more adventurous than me though!!! Patong on your own was pretty brave!

Thanks so much for reminding me of how much I love Mariner...people need to read your review as an accurate account and give less heed to the negative ones.

Cheers!

Over the years, I've been on over 30 cruises and have never had noro/gastro.

My rules:-

1. I ALWAYS wipe down all surfaces in the cabin with anti-bacterial wipes (I always do this on planes as well)

2. I NEVER use public rest rooms

3. Avoid touching lift buttons as much as possible (if I must touch them, I use a pen to push the button)

4. Avoid touching stair rails

5. I don't use salt and pepper shakers and avoid self fill drink stations (I prefer to buy bottled water or coffees from the cafe)

6. and my biggest one, when eating at the buffet, I try to be there as soon as it opens (first go at the food before it has been coughed all over) and I ALWAYS use a serviette to handle the tongs - that may get me some funny looks...but who cares.

I think dress code is very fluid..they seem to adjust it to the 'feel' of the cruise. Just off the 3 nighter on Explorer and shorts and thongs were accepted in MDr...at least in My Time Dining. But this was a 3 nighter....:)

I enjoyed your review. I've done 3 Mariner Asian cruises and enjoyed them immensely. One of the key things is to go NOT expecting it to a 'typical' Royal Caribbean cruise- because it's not. Your description of the passengers is true for a big chunk of them but the Asian cruises do have a very broad range of passenger nationalities . But some are more 'noteworthy' than others.....;)

I love those ship models! I have a nice little fleet on my desk at work

Oh my! That Voyager price! I decided to try a different approach with my leave this time. I booked the time off - starting late this week,all next week and a few days the week after. I chose a couple of possible options...Solstice, Legend, Voyager, Spirit and the 2 P&O PNG cruises...and I decided to wait and see what comes up for late bookings. A bit of a gamble and if nothing came up, we would have just done a driving holiday instead.

Last week, I jumped on a great price for Spirit and we now have a Vista suite. We've never been on Carnival, so interested to experience this ( my last cruise was on Quantum so this will be different!:rolleyes:)

But.....that Voyager price! However, 2 days prior to sailing is cutting it fine - maybe next time I'll have to hold out a teeny bit longer!

I have been trying to book specialty dining and also book My Time dining times for the Explorer for weeks now. Sometimes you can book these things months ahead but for the Explorer 3 nighter, it doesnt look like they are going to open up the bookings online. :confused:

Lovely to see her again - now I know summer cruise season is really here! Unfortunately, I won't be cruising on her this season though :(

Sweet! I wonder if that means they'll continue with 6 ships in the fleet or whether they'll retire the Pearl (being the oldest ship).

The latter would be an accurate guess....

Im logged into the AU RCI site but its currently quoting in NZD???

Anyway, 2 unbelievably cheap Legend of the Seas Asian cruises...NZD 214 for 10 nights???

Melbourne Cup wasn't a 'deal'...it was a pricing error

I was on Celebrity Century last year for Melbourne Cup. They did run sweeps and showed the race in the theatre. Some people had brought their race day finery with them and got dressed up.