Opua Kiwi Posted January 19, 2017 #201 Share Posted January 19, 2017 - we have to go to Milford to pick up anyone whom went to Queenstown..... Did that excursion actually go ahead ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 19, 2017 #202 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Thats the question mark over Fiordland. What happens to the ships tour people if the ship cant pick them up again ?They will have to wear the cost of flying them out and back to Sydney. A similar thing happened one year but they managed to call them back to the ship after they got half way. That would be a costly exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shireboi Posted January 19, 2017 #203 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) Not to self to add to upcoming review.... The so called MINI BAR CRAP - and the bottles of Evian Checking account and noted 11.90 - what the hell was that ??? And it appeared twice. Room attendant..... who barely comes into our room (our choice !) has noted somehow that 2 bottles were used...NOT. WHO THE ***** WHO WANT TO PAY $6 FOR A LITRE OF WATER ??????? :eek: Still here @ 8.30 We are organising permanent residence visas for us :) Edit - we may be going @ 9 Edited January 19, 2017 by shireboi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare erewhon Posted January 19, 2017 #204 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Not to self to add to upcoming review.... The so called MINI BAR CRAP - and the bottles of Evian Checking account and noted 11.90 - what the hell was that ??? And it appeared twice. Room attendant..... who barely comes into our room (our choice !) has noted somehow that 2 bottles were used...NOT. WHO THE ***** WHO WANT TO PAY $6 FOR A LITRE OF WATER ??????? :eek: Still here @ 8.30 We are organising permanent residence visas for us :) Edit - we may be going @ 9 It's a good idea to regularly check the account. Hope you get it sorted quickly. Solstice in the channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 19, 2017 #205 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Not to self to add to upcoming review.... The so called MINI BAR CRAP - and the bottles of Evian Checking account and noted 11.90 - what the hell was that ??? And it appeared twice. Room attendant..... who barely comes into our room (our choice !) has noted somehow that 2 bottles were used...NOT. WHO THE ***** WHO WANT TO PAY $6 FOR A LITRE OF WATER ??????? :eek: Still here @ 8.30 We are organising permanent residence visas for us :) Edit - we may be going @ 9 Go to guest services and get it taken off. Our room had two bottles in the cooler but we left them alone. Hope you get out at 9pm.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homerclese Posted January 19, 2017 #206 Share Posted January 19, 2017 We departed at about 8.45pm. The captain advised it would be rough in about an hour from now and there are bags of sick bags hanging on the ends of the stairwells. Fortunately the Simpson clan has their sea legs. For now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shireboi Posted January 19, 2017 #207 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Solstice was seen at the heads.... we are drifting very very slowly out.... Note sunset is about 9.45mdown this end of the earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homerclese Posted January 19, 2017 #208 Share Posted January 19, 2017 We were in 270 seeing Pixels for the second time (we met the cast on the bus in Picton and our Genie arranged for us to see the show again and meet them which was a treat for our kids) and Cruise Director Joff was joking after the show that "Celebrity is itching to depart before us, you can see her revving her engines to try to be first". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare erewhon Posted January 19, 2017 #209 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Hope the seas calm down for the rest of your cruise. Will watch the ship leaving on the albatross webcam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted January 19, 2017 #210 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Thats the question mark over Fiordland. What happens to the ships tour people if the ship cant pick them up again ?They will have to wear the cost of flying them out and back to Sydney. A similar thing happened one year but they managed to call them back to the ship after they got half way. We had that one year with Millennium. Too stormy for the tender at Milford, so they flew them on to Melbourne. They loved the excursion and were treated well, but still lost 3 days of the cruise (though it was a rough crossing as well, so maybe some didn't mind missing!) :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 19, 2017 #211 Share Posted January 19, 2017 We departed at about 8.45pm. The captain advised it would be rough in about an hour from now and there are bags of sick bags hanging on the ends of the stairwells. Fortunately the Simpson clan has their sea legs. For now... Solstice was seen at the heads.... we are drifting very very slowly out.... Note sunset is about 9.45mdown this end of the earth Good to hear you have gotten away, hope it isn't too rough for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwil111 Posted January 19, 2017 #212 Share Posted January 19, 2017 The link may have been changed. Try again, http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=562141Go to the reviews for Ovation and it is the last one posted.:D Thanks. Nice to read you had a good time. Seems to be a lot of negative reviews but good to see a positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwil111 Posted January 19, 2017 #213 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Is NZ really that popular for cruisers or is it partly there is less and less choice ?Not sure if I am imagining things but there used to many more options to do Queensland cruisers with RCI and Celebrity. Rhapsody would do 4 or 5 11 day cruises each season Radiance maybe 1 or 2 and Solstice usually 2. Now it is lucky if Radiance and Solstice do 1 each and Ovation, Voyager and Explorer now 0. I know you can get bad weather in the North but I believe there is a much higher chance of perfect weather on a Qld cruise than what seems an almost certainty of rocking and rolling to and from NZ. Realise P&O do some Qld cruises but not a fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 19, 2017 #214 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Is NZ really that popular for cruisers or is it partly there is less and less choice ?Not sure if I am imagining things but there used to many more options to do Queensland cruisers with RCI and Celebrity. Rhapsody would do 4 or 5 11 day cruises each season Radiance maybe 1 or 2 and Solstice usually 2. Now it is lucky if Radiance and Solstice do 1 each and Ovation, Voyager and Explorer now 0. I know you can get bad weather in the North but I believe there is a much higher chance of perfect weather on a Qld cruise than what seems an almost certainty of rocking and rolling to and from NZ. Realise P&O do some Qld cruises but not a fan. The Ovation cannot dock anywhere in QLD but Brisbane so that is one issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted January 19, 2017 #215 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Same situation with Voyager and Explorer. Rhapsody was about the largest size that could visit those ports - and even then had to tender sometimes. Plus QLD's not as popular with international market. Ovation is not here as long so has limited itineraries as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MMDown Under Posted January 19, 2017 #216 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Same situation with Voyager and Explorer. Rhapsody was about the largest size that could visit those ports - and even then had to tender sometimes. Plus QLD's not as popular with international market. Ovation is not here as long so has limited itineraries as well. I feel Ovation is better suited to its home port in Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 19, 2017 #217 Share Posted January 19, 2017 I feel Ovation is better suited to its home port in Asia. They have ports to suit her, we need to improve the ports if we want to have the newer (larger) ships but it would be good if we could improve port facilities for all ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opua Kiwi Posted January 19, 2017 #218 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) As far as I am concerned NZ port facilities are fine as is. Infrastructure in NZ is under stress due to huge numbers of land based tourists. Far more important priorities for the dollars than to cater for a few visits of random mega ships. I agree with MMDown under, better suited to remain in Asia. Edited January 19, 2017 by Opua Kiwi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 19, 2017 #219 Share Posted January 19, 2017 People complain about always getting the older crappy hand me down ships to our region and now we have a new beaut ship and people are complaining it is too large. We cannot have it both ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opua Kiwi Posted January 19, 2017 #220 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) I am not complaining it is too large. I simply disagree with people who say we should spend money improving our port facilities because of it. Asia already has such facilities in place. If it comes here fine, but our tourist infrastructure dollar has priorities elsewhere I feel. NZ is very well catered for in the 2500 - 3500 pax size ship. I've only sailed on 4 of them, but certainly don't consider them old crappy hand me downs. Edited January 19, 2017 by Opua Kiwi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted January 20, 2017 #221 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I feel Ovation is better suited to its home port in Asia. I think most of the itineraries they have here are reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted January 20, 2017 #222 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I am not complaining it is too large.I simply disagree with people who say we should spend money improving our port facilities because of it. Are there many saying that? I don't recall hearing many. Though there are a number who - generally - complain about improved facilities for more ships. As mentioned, Explorer and Voyager have similar limitations, and there are other issues both with ports and for more ships. Where there is an infrastructure limitation like in Akaroa/Christchurch, I think that should be remediated and addressed, and that applies to benefit most ships, and also benefit the local economy through tourism. Where there is a solution, but the cruise industry just wants better e.g. increased access, that's where a cost/benefit analysis is of more value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megsie Posted January 20, 2017 #223 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Looking forward to cruising on Ovation in February. Has anyone used the Royal iQ? I've downloaded the app in readiness, thinking it would be handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted January 20, 2017 #224 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Looking forward to cruising on Ovation in February.Has anyone used the Royal iQ? I've downloaded the app in readiness, thinking it would be handy. The royal IQ was very easy to use and very handy for booking in things or just checking out the (Cruise compass for the activity schedule.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megsie Posted January 20, 2017 #225 Share Posted January 20, 2017 The royal IQ was very easy to use and very handy for booking in things or just checking out the (Cruise compass for the activity schedule.:D Thanks for that info - will let the rollcall know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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