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The cruise is sold out again so enough people must have booked last minute as the cabins became available due to cancellations. Seems we will still be sailing at close to full capacity despite the inferior itinerary. There are obviously lots of people out there like my hubby and I who just enjoy the whole cruise experience. Only 5 sleeps to go!

That's a fair point. I'll keep an eye online to see if this cruise comes back up for sale as it has been sold out for weeks.

If that's the case then at least we won't have many long queues in the bistro. I'll post after the cruise on how full, or empty, the ship seemed.

I agree it is a pretty poor itinerary change from Carnival. I was surprised when I read the email from our travel agent this morning, I wonder what P&O are doing for their revised itinerary to the islands? A bit better than Carnival hopefully. As I said, doesn't really bother me as we have cruised to the islands many times and are doing this cruise just for the fun of the cruising experience as we cruise about every 2 or 3 months. This won't be the case for lots of passengers though who will be disappointed. I guess it is relatively easy for people who live In Sydney to cancel but harder for people who live interstate and have paid for return flights.

I have just received an email from our travel agent which we knew would be coming, Original itinerary was 3 sea days, Noumea, Lifou, Mystery Island, Noumea, 2 sea days. Obviously that can't happen due to the unrest in Noumea. New itinerary is only 2 ports, 1 day Santos and 1 day Vila. Unsure why they have dropped Mystery Island or couldn't have stayed overnight at the other 2 ports as a whopping 7 days at sea is a lot. In fairness to Carnival they have offered to cancel but no refund, only a full future cruise credit. My husband and I will still go as we have cruised to the islands many times and are going more just for the pleasure of cruising. I wonder how many people will cancel? It will be interesting on board to see if the ship is still at full capacity or half empty.

There are a group of cabins on deck 8 which do not seem to have any lifeboat in front of them, These are cabins 8402 to 8412 and the same with cabins 8401 to 8411 on the other side. Have you any idea what the obstruction is in front of these cabins? Thanks to anyone who can advise me.

I've always stayed in a balcony cabin on Ovation but as I am shouting my family a free cruise for 10 of them, they have told me they would be happy with cheaper oceanview staterooms. I know these are located on deck 3 where the casino and Music Hall are also located and am worried that there may be a lot of noise heard in the cabins late at night from those venues. If anyone has ever stayed on deck 3 and could share their experience, I would be very grateful.

Hi everyone Looking to book a 7 night cruise for our family group of 10 for November on Ovation. It is expensive at the moment but I'm keen to book now to get cabins close together. If I book direct through RCI, will they give me the cheaper price if they drop the price of the cruise later? My understanding is they will match the cheaper price as long as it is before final payment. Would they also price match if I booked through an online cruise site and not directly through them? I understand that the price I will pay will most likely be what I commit to now and I'm okay with that but would just like to know if thrre is a chance I may get a price match later on if they reduce the price of the cruise.

My husband and I usually book Anytime Dining but looking at taking our family with us next time. We will be a party of 10 so will do first seating as will be best for the grandchildren. I think it is at 6.15pm. Is this correct? Thanks for any info you can give us.

I will be Diamond after my last cruise. Status now shows Diamond .

Just curious. I always order a double scotch and dry. Now that I will be Diamond on my next cruise, will that count as one or two of my free drinks?

We will be in Lyttleton on our Ovation cruise. Hoping to meet up with our friend who will also be in Lyttleton on holiday. It would be good to know exactly where the shuttle bus will be dropping us off so we can arrange for her to meet us there. Thanks for any info.

Forgot to mention tat our friend is not a Diamond member

Have a friend coming on a NZ cruise with us soon on Ovation We won't have a drinks bill as we get 4 free daily drinks being Diamond members. Our friend is trying to work out whether or not to buy the drinks package. I know cocktails are around $15 each USD. Do you pay an additional 18% on every drink you order or is that only applied if sailing from America? Thanks to anyone who can clarify.

No, the current cruise is just the usual island cruise to Noumea etc,

Friends just received an email from Royal asking them to turn up an hour later than their current check-in time on Friday because there will be extended immigration process from the previous cruise, it's no big deal but she is just curious to know what extended immigration process actually means. She asked me but I also have no clue. Any ideas anyone?

Thank you so much for this info. I will visit my friend in Lyttleton in January and in March we can do the shuttle into Christchurch.

We are sailing to NZ on Ovation 29th January and again in March on Adventure. Both times docking at Lyttleton. I read that cruise ship passengers cannot get a shuttle bus into Lyttleton but instead have to go into Christchurch. I would love to spend one of the days in Lyttleton as a friend has bought a home there and I was hoping to spend the day at her home and sight see around the town.

We are Diamond members, fast approaching D+. I have seen people mentioning discounts and I assume they mean we may sometimes get some type of discount when booking, Is this correct and if so how do you find out about it? Any advice greatly appreciated.

I totally agree. Thank you and everyone else for taking the time to reply to my post. Only 29 days to go until we are once again on the beautiful Ovation of the Seas .

I agree with you. We were on Brilliance 2 weeks ago, it was our first cruise on Royal post covid. The food was just as good as we remembered it to be. In fact, the food was one of the highlights of the cruise. We are sailing on Ovation on 29th January and I am excited to reorder quite a few dishes in the MDR that I particularly enjoyed on Brilliance. Either the quality of the produce is better here in Australia or perhaps we Aussies are more easily pleased. Either way, we are lucky as we are coming off our cruises happy chappies.

Thanks, but content now with our cabin allocation. By the way, your response to my topic made me laugh and helped me get over my "woe is me" complex.

Thank you everyone for helping me pull my head in! I guess I was just initially shocked when I saw we had been allocated an obstructed view balcony cabin as I had no idea this was even a possibility. I see now my problem is that we have always been lucky in the past. This upcoming cruise on Ovation is cruise number 48 for us, with about 75% of these being booked as guaranteed cabins. This is the first time we have ever gone guaranteed either oceanview or balcony and been given an obstructed view cabin so when I saw this my reaction was one of "shock horror ". LOL. We have only been on Ovation once before in 2018. That tme we booked a guaranteed balcony and were given a junior suite. How lucky were we? Apologies for sounding like a spoilt brat in my original post. I now am feeling happy with our cabin assignment. As you have pointed out it is in a good location and the lifeboat certainly does not come up past the balcony rail and we got it at a very reasonable price. Thanks again for helping me get things in perspective.

I know this is my own fault, but for the first time I booked a guaranteed balcony cabin for the price of a guaranteed ocean view when RCI were doing this free upgrade promotion, I see today we have been assigned an obstructed view cabin 6624. I never thought we would be assigned an obstructed view balcony cabin as there are no obstructed ocean view cabins on this ship. Does anyone know just how obstructed the view is from this cabin? I guess this is a lesson learnt on my part and I'm sure we will have a wonderful cruise regardless.

We were on the cruise 8th - 19th December and LOVED it. We hadn't been on RCI post covid so very excited. Like everything in life, some people were very happy with the new itinerary and some were disappointed. Most were just happy to be on the beautiful Brilliance of the Seas. I spoke to so many people on the cruise and didn't meet anyone who in any way blamed RCI for the change of itinerary or felt we should be compensated in any form. We love RCI and found the food quality and variety to be just as good as we remembered and loved the new Diamond format of 4 free drinks in any 24 hour period. The broken coffee machine in the lounge had a sign on it saying just go to any onboard venus that sells coffee, show your sail pass and enjoy complimentary coffees. We found all staff to be amazing, so professional, efficient and very friendly. Going to NZ for 11 nights on Ovation on 29th January and can't wait, as I now know all my favourite MDR meals and looking forward to enjoying them again.