Christmas cruise from Aust.

[scorpioblue]

Hi all

Totally new to cruising and i am so glad i finally found this site! Have been looking into cruises for a few weeks, and the information is overwhelming. Hoping to get some feedback from people who have been there, done that!

 

I wish to do a Christmas cruise from Aus to south pacific in dec 2016. Port of dep is flexible ( have to fly from Adelaide anyway).

Am cruising as a family group. Myself (50), my adult children (33, 30. 23 all of whom are very interested in drinks packages/nightlife !! ), and my teenagers (14,16...."it better not be boring!").

Will be travelling interior.

I am looking at value for $$, as i am by no means wealthy.......do not want to be constantly forking out on extras for the 2 teenage boys.

Am VERY confused re exchange rates/tipping when price comparing.

Any helpful advice is much appreciated.

:)

[spookwife]

value + Holiday sailing do not go together.

 

the last 2 weeks of december will generally have the MOST expensive rates going. it will also be overrun with large family groups including way too many small kids.

 

you would need 3 cabins .. which means it may actually cheaper to look at a cabin that holds all 6 of you such as the Family suites. in the US these MAY NOT be booked online you must go through Travel agent or call directly.

 

not sure what the conversion is now, last time I was in Oz it was 2:1. I also think your pricing structure is different; IIRC gratuities/tips/ daily service charges are built in both price as opposed to being listed separately above the Equator.

 

i suggest you invest in a well respected Travel agent. ( we are not allowed to name names on the boards however)

[Suzi66]

We have been looking at a similar thing but with extended family.

 

This is what we got to before the dollar fell.

 

Do you want a drink package? Then cross out Carnival as they don't have one in Australia.

Do you want to travel over New Year as well? That either gets you to 5 or 6 cruises or cuts out that many.

Do you want to start and finish in the same port? We do and scrubbed out Fremantle and Brisbane as starting points but you could probably keep Freo.

 

P&0 vs some of the other more 'expensive' lines. - While we have only travelled on RCI and Celebrity, my sister and various friends have travelled on P&0 and we have worked out that what they had to pay for on P&O (activities etc) ended up costing the same or more than what we paid for our cruises which had those activities included.

 

My suggestion is look for a cruise which has a deal going which includes your drink packages and some other perks if you can. Also as suggested above if you can find a good TA that really helps.

[snooze alarm]

If you end up choosing Princess then the currency on board will be Aussie dollars.

There will be no daily auto gratuities added, nor any auto gratuity added to alcohol.

[Suzi66]

If you end up choosing Princess then the currency on board will be Aussie dollars.

There will be no daily auto gratuities added, nor any auto gratuity added to alcohol.

 

And Princess has the cheapest drink package per day too at $59 AUD if you don't get it thrown in.

[scorpioblue]

Thanks for your responses so far. I guess with inflated holiday prices i have more reason to make sure i choose the right cruise!

I hadnt thought much about Princess cruises because i wasnt sure if it would be geared as much towards teenagers and young people.

The boats cruising within the dates we need, to the places we want are:

P&O......Pearl, Dawn and Aria

Carnival........Legend and Spirit

RCI.......Vogager and Legend

Princess.......Sea Princess

Thats about as far as i have progressed so far :eek:

[BlueRiband]

The only thing that I can offer scorpioblue, is that you will need to book early for whatever you eventually choose. Late deals are really only for people traveling in pairs. Once you need several cabins close together, or a cabin that will accommodate more than two people, your choices diminish as the sailing date approaches.

[ozscot01]

I will add what I discovered from My research and my, so far, limited personal experience.

Princess is unlikely to be a good fit for your mix of ages.

RCI and Carnival would both work well for all ages.

P &O will work out more expensive in the long run trying to keep the teens entertained.

My personal experience is of Voyager of the seas from Sydney with two 16's. The variety of onboard activities kept them thoroughly entertained for 13 nights. All the activities, other than the arcade, are included in the cruise fare. They were not interested in the arcade but went rock-climbing, ice-skating, on the Flowrider. Add pools, table tennis, gym, deck games and a teen chill zone. Both had OBC on their sea pass cards. One managed to spend it on Ben and Jerry's, the other had to be told to go buy something at the end of the cruise as it was non-refundable.

The young adults will find bars and nightclubs to occupy them as well as some of the main shows, comedians etc.

My view is that you would be best suited looking for a cruise with as much included in the price as possible, and not necessarily the cheapest fare.

And make sure you are catered for as well, it's your trip too!

[scorpioblue]

Thanks so much to everyone for their replies.

Glad to read yours Ozscot , as i had narrowed my options to Carnival and RCI.

Down to 4!!

Carnival seem to have slightly better reviews, although no drinks (alcohol) packages.

RCI onboard prices American $, while Carnival is Aus $.

 

Ozscot, did your teenages find there was lots of queing up for things??

And how did you find the whole $usa and tipping thing? Was it an issue?

 

Thanks heaps

Chris

[ozscot01]

Hi again Chris,

Glad you found my comments helpful.

In terms of the $US we just accepted it as part of the cruise cost. We did get a very good deal at the time which made it less painful. We also bought onboard credit in advance through RCI as they had a better exchange rate, and this covered all of our onboard expenses. It was just a matter of budgeting and buying when the rate was good. We also prepaid our tips as another expense out of the way. However you will have a few more travellers than us so you may want to just tip on board as you see fit. When you pre-pay it is charged at a set rate per person per day and that could add up pretty quickly. I may be shot down for this as its a fairly contentious issue.

As regards activities, the girls really never complained about queueing. They went Rockclimbing with almost no wait, only once missed out on the ice-skating session they wanted and Flowrider was commonly around the 20-30 minute mark. Mini- golf had no wait at all, table tennis was turn up and grab a paddle.

Do bear in mind that only the Voyager and Explorer of the Seas have the Flowrider and Ice-skating. legend does not, it is a much smaller ship.

I have no personal experience of Carnival, but have heard from others on our cruise that they catered well for the teenage group.

Any other questions, ask away but bear in mind I'm a newbie compared to others in this group [emoji4]

Linda

[scorpioblue]

Thanks again Linda!

What time of year did you travel?

 

I have narrowed it down to 3:

 

Carnival Spirit, Carnival Legend and RCI Voyager.

Any comparisons from people who have traveled on these much appreciated. I know i sound a little fussy, but it will be the first time we are all together as a family for a long time, and probably the only cruise I'll ever take, so i want to get it right!!

 

Chris

[ozscot01]

We have only cruised on Voyager. Loved every minute! We travelled early December and the ship was at near capacity. Around 3500 passengers and about 800+ of them were children.

You are right to be fussy, you want to get this right and bored kids will not make for a good time for anyone. I don't think that will happen though[emoji4]

Hopefully someone will come back and make a comparison against Carnival for you.

If you do decide on Voyager, set some strict limits on the Arcade time. I have heard some shockers about how much money kids can spend there!

[griffy116]

We've been Voyager and Explorer with teens. They found MORE than enough activities to keep them busy and enjoying themselves. We love the ships and the service we've always received. We've always wanted to go at Christmas on a cruise, but the cost and the dates have never worked out. We will be on a cruise that leaves the day after Christmas Day 2016.The ship will still be decorated for Christmas. We don't have any little children and we will be traveling on Christmas Eve, getting to the port city a day early, so we are just, in our minds going to be on the ship at Christmas. I think your family will have a wonderful time. It might even become a family tradition. Enjoy.

[spookwife]

Thanks again Linda!

What time of year did you travel?

 

I have narrowed it down to 3:

 

Carnival Spirit, Carnival Legend and RCI Voyager.

Any comparisons from people who have traveled on these much appreciated. I know i sound a little fussy, but it will be the first time we are all together as a family for a long time, and probably the only cruise I'll ever take, so i want to get it right!!

 

Chris

 

I have sailed both lines. I vastly prefer Royal. that being said the two are more alike than different WRT basics: food, amenities, entertainment on board, etc. Kids programming is comparable. I just get a better vibe form Royal and i greatly prefer their ambience/decor.