DT1304

4 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

This is a reminder to bring written confirmation of your invoice with all perks, bar tabs, sailor loot, etc. documented and bring it to the ship with you. If you used a TA, they can run it for you. Every now and then things fall off bookings for mysterious reasons. Having paper to show what you are entitled to, helps Sailor Serices resolve it.

Thanks. I got it sorted out. They just refunded it for no reason, so as soon as the refund hit my credit card, i repurchased it, and now it shows up in my add ons.

It was just a glitch

Follow up: I called Virgin Voyages about this.

Apparently my Bar tab was refunded for some weird reason. Apparently I should see the refund in my card in the next 5-7 days. 

No idea why it was refunded but I will rebuy it after I get the refund 

Hi all,

I recently purchased $100 bar tab for my upcoming voyage. It showed on the app in my add ons for about 3 minutes after I bout it, and then it vanished.

It has now come off my credit card, but I have no email confirmation or any confirmation on the app that I have purchased this bar tab? Any ideas?

I always select balcony and it made no difference.

Cruise leaving today from brisbane on Quantum, and I specifically asked when booking about the diamond discount but was told that the online offer is a greater discount than the discount for diamond members.

So Crown & Anchor keeps telling me about the cabin discounts I will get across each status level.

I have booked cruises on each status level up to diamond, and have yet to get any special pricing as a diamond member.

When I asked, I was told that the online offers are better than the discount I would receive as a diamond member, however this is when I book as a first time cruiser, or log into my account indicating diamond status.

So whats the point really? to get 4 free drinks a day. Big Deal.

Really looking forward to my next cruise next month ON A DIFFERENT CRUISE LINE, where hopefully loyalty will actually be rewarded.

17 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

11 nights, where is the rest of the cruise 

8/12 leave Sydney

9/12 cruising

10/12 Eden

11/12 Cruising

12/12 Adelaide

13/12 Cruising

14/12 Melbourne

15/12 Cruising

16/12 Hobart

17/12 Hobart

18/12 Cruising

19/12 Sydney

OK. CONFIRMED Itinerary changed.

First to Eden

Then to Adelaide

Then to Melbourne 😞

Overnight in Hobart

33 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Thanks, that's sad but understandable, it is a very beautiful, had a very long walk along the coast, it has some amazing flowers, crystal clear waters, one of the few places in our travels I have actually gone swimming.

It was a port that was swapped out due to Mystery Island being missed because of unsuitable seas.

Don't know what Mystery Island is like, but found Champagne an excellent alternative.

Mystery Island is a great stop, but nothing beats Champagne Bay imo.

3 hours ago, qbay46 said:

Is that in Australia? Exmouth, WA perhaps?

9 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I have no idea, but a wild guess.....perhaps Mexico?

Perfect. thanks mate. I looked at the first page and saw what was happening and then couldn't go through 500 pages of posts so just posted my pic without knowing the "rules" of the game.

I have no idea where Mic's photo is from, but I will keep up to date from now on and play along

Cheers

yep. Ketchikan that is.

Was my favourite cruise

I reckon this is probably one of the easier places to guess.

Hi all,

Just a fun topic to chat about. After my post in the other thread about Ovation I got thinking about what experiences people have had with itinerary changes that worked out even better for them.

My experience was on my first ever cruise to South Pacific out of Sydney over New Years. When we got to the ship we were told there was a cyclone and we could not sail. We were given the option of a full refund and go home, or a 25% refund in OBC and can board the ship to enjoy the facilities and we will sail when we can.

I took option 2 as am not from Sydney so couldn't just go home, and had a great time on the ship. We stayed in the middle of Sydney Harbour for the New Years Eve fireworks, and then set sail at 2am on January 1st.

And to top it all off, we were forced to miss one of the ports and change it to Champagne Bay. What an amazing beach!!!!

This was on Radiance of the Seas and was the start of my cruising addiction.

Did any of you have any forced itinerary changes that turened out better for you?

This cruise left Sydney on Thursday 23/11 headed for Milford Sound.

On Saturday 25/11 it arrived back in Sydney for 3 hours for a medical evacuation of a passanger.

They then headed back to New Zealand, and will be missing the Sounds and Dunedin, and heading straight to Wellington.

Arrived into Wellington this morning, and were told that due to the high winds and conditions they were unable to dock, and they are now skipping Wellington too and now heading to Napier.

I was thinking about that, but it doesnt really make sense for us.

Ship only gets in to Cairns 11:30am and the 2nd day we have booked the scenic railway and skytrain so that will take all day.

Easier to just get a bus/transfer to Palm Cove for the arvo.

Hi all,

Thanks to all of you for your advice about things to do in my other thread.

I have a couple of other questions....

When we get to Cairns I want to go to palm Cove for the afternoon. How easy is it to get an Uber or some sort of transfer to Palm Cove, and back to the ship later that arvo (not time sensitive as we are overnight in Cairns) There are 5 of us together. Ship transfer to palm Cove and back is about $80 per person which seems a bit ludicrous.

On day 2 in Cairns we want to take the scenic railway up to Kuranda and the Skyrail back. I wanted to book the Gold Class train service but they do not have availability. Can anyone advise if they would consider standard class carriages vs Gold Class service a deal breaker or is there not much difference apart from the food and drinks service. I can get Gold Class if we book through the ship but it is also so expensive. Booking directly rather than through the ship for standard service is HALF the price.

Hi all

There are 5 of us so booking anything through the ship is ludicrously expensive.

I have looked on other travel sites and as we are tendered in these ports it is difficult to find suitable things to do that fit in with timing, unless we go with the ship excursions.

Have you all got any advise for what to do in Port Douglas and Airlie beach.

Family of five

I'd love to get to Whitehaven beach. Is there a way to get there that is not a full day tour like a ferry or boat taxi?

I am going on scenic railway and skyrail from Cairns so dont want to do that from Port Douglas.

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

The points show of the person with the highest points. If you have the highest points in your household they show but are not the actual points. They share your status until they turn 18 then are on their own. So just because your points show doesnt mean everyone's pts are the same. As you say you know they didnt cruise once when you did. 

 

Its confusing how royal shows the points but each person has their real points if you call in and ask, not yours. 

 

 

I did not know that. That is a bit confusing. How can the rest of my family find out their points without calling in?

I assume they would have to each create their own account??

Hi all

On a recent cruise in April, my daughter started the cruise on the same C&A points as I did, even though she missed a cruise that I sailed in December. My other kids had missed previous cruises, but when they came on the December cruise they also started with the same C&A points as I did.

Is this because they are dependent kids so they just get the same C7A points as me?

Another question,

I booked a cruise for my son and a friend of his. His friend will be the primary passenger as he is over 21, but my son is only 20. The primary passenger has not cruised before, but my son is Emerald status. Will my son receive all the perks as an Emerald status even though he is not the primary passenger and will his mate who is not a crown and anchor member receive any benefits being in the same cabin on the same booking?

Lastly, this upcoming cruise for my son will push him to Diamond status, while the rest of us will remain Emerald. We are doing another family cruise in December, that I will book as the primary cruiser with the whole family. Will we all be emerald and only my son Diamond?

Ok, thats what I thought.

I have seen there is a cheap 3 day cruise in November (and the 9 night cruise is in December) so I may just book it.

Thanks all.

I am 1 point shy of diamond status. I have a 9 night cruise booked so will in theory become Diamond status after the first night. Would my status be upgraded at that time or only after the cruise?

On 5/6/2023 at 10:58 AM, lyndarra said:

Some cruise lines do things differently.

I have done a few RCI cruises and enjoyed them very much. One was on Ovation which was fine but it felt a bit like cruising in a floating shopping mall. The others were on Radiance, a much smaller ship, which felt very comfortable and more to my liking. On Radiance we did two half circumnavigations of Oz.

 

 

Yeah I totally agree. I have done a few of cruises on radiance, a couple of Voyager and explorer, and also on Ovation and Quantum. I agree that the smaller ships are more to my liking. I love Radiance. Possibly I am a bit biased as my first cruise ever was on radiance, and my favourite cruise that I have done (Alaska) was also on radiance.

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

Loyalty is a strange thing. I would think that brand loyalty should come from loving their product, but now with commercialised loyalty schemes it seems loyalty can be bought with the ambition of achieving a few free drinks at the bar, or getting free mini-spirit bottles & free laundry.

 

Try them all until you know what you love and what you don't. I have found there is no perfect cruise line for us, but cruising is cruising and most lines have things we like enjoy more on their ships than we do on others.

I agree with you, and I am not loyal to RCCL for the few free drinks.

I tried Carnival and did not enjoy it as much as RCCL. I have also looked at other lines and RCCL was the best fit in terms of price, itineraries at my desired times etc.

I think celebrity is the next one I will try based on comments here as well as referrals from many family and friends that have cruised Celebrity.

I have considered Celebrity. My sister just cruised with celebrity and other family members have done a few celebrity cruises, and they all gave it great reviews.

I will definitely check out those 23-24 season itineraries.