Australian Perfect Day at Lelepa

[darthvadrouw]

What will happen to the villages on the island ? (Natapao/Lelo), will parts of the island be fenced off like in Labadee ?

 

Edit: They will develop the northern part of the island and leave the villages alone.

Edited October 15, 2019 by darthvadrouw

[LXA350]

7 hours ago, MichellePerth said:

A smarty pants acquaintance pointed out to me today that it will be also utilised by celebrity and azamara.  Excellent.  Hopefully we will see more of these sisters in the future, 

 

If this is the case the island will for sure not be a american theme park like Coco Cay. It would be a new concept to have a ship year round in Australia, hence I guess RCL will start to have one based out of Brisbane, also more favorable due to the climate. Eithere we will see them begin with a Oasis Class or at the begining Voyager, if they want to base a ship year round from Sydney, due to the weather in winter there it would need to be a Radiance of Quantum Class which is made for colder climates,

[Chiliburn]

24 minutes ago, LXA350 said:

 

If this is the case the island will for sure not be a american theme park like Coco Cay. It would be a new concept to have a ship year round in Australia, hence I guess RCL will start to have one based out of Brisbane, also more favorable due to the climate. Eithere we will see them begin with a Oasis Class or at the begining Voyager, if they want to base a ship year round from Sydney, due to the weather in winter there it would need to be a Radiance of Quantum Class which is made for colder climates,

P&O and carnival have ships in Sydney during winter,they’re filled up.

 

With the climate getting warmer and direct flights from Texas,There’s people escaping the heat of the Midwest to a mild Australian winter.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Chiliburn

[teasa31]

2 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

P&O and carnival have ships in Sydney during winter,they’re filled up.

 

With the climate getting warmer and direct flights from Texas,There’s people escaping the heat of the Midwest to a mild Australian winter.

 

Also people escaping the cold from Melbourne. I would think Brisbane would be most suitable - and I don't really mind Brisbane or Sydney - but Brisbane would be able to take Oasis6, Sydney not so much. Location of Lelepa lends it to to a stop in Noumea as well - anyone know if Noumea can handle an Oasis?

 

It appears Quantum is angling towards replacing Voyager in S.E. Asia following its upcoming dry dock, leaving Voyager free for year round Australian deployment. Saturday to Saturday 7 night cruises from Brisbane with two stops (possibly three if Voyager or Ovation) would be the most logical - and probably the most popular.

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, teasa31 said:

 

Also people escaping the cold from Melbourne. I would think Brisbane would be most suitable - and I don't really mind Brisbane or Sydney - but Brisbane would be able to take Oasis6, Sydney not so much. Location of Lelepa lends it to to a stop in Noumea as well - anyone know if Noumea can handle an Oasis?

 

It appears Quantum is angling towards replacing Voyager in S.E. Asia following its upcoming dry dock, leaving Voyager free for year round Australian deployment. Saturday to Saturday 7 night cruises from Brisbane with two stops (possibly three if Voyager or Ovation) would be the most logical - and probably the most popular.

Noumea would easily take a Oasis class at the container terminal where all the larger cruise ships dock.

Noumea is one of the largest natural harbours in the world.

 In the 2nd world war there was supposed to have had the main US pacific fleet there.

[NumnuT]

like the idea of year round cruise options for Brisbane & Sydney with RCI.

 

Radiance, Voyager or Ovation are cool..😎

 

middle of Aussie winter cruise to the South Pacific sounds great to me.🚢

Edited October 16, 2019 by NumnuT

[Tatka]

18 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Yes it's  comming hot dogs , burgers and cabanas for $$$ 

Probably a cheese cake factory with donuts and artificial maple syrup all over , fat free of cause and slides zip line . Please tell me it is not so 😯😕😑

I wonder based on what you made these assumptions? Have you visited RCI or other Bahamian private islands and saw this served? 🙂

[Tatka]

16 hours ago, PrincessBelle39 said:

I love the idea of a private island close to home.  It's one of my favourite parts of the cruise and has been one of the draws of cruising in the Caribbean rather than close to home.  I do hope though that follows a Labadee format rather than Cococay.

    I’m yet to visit updated Coco Cay in November, but I am actually glad majority of pax will be in the park or cabanas. We will be happy to have ocean for ourselves 🙂 , and now loungers will have free umbrellas! 

[Joebucks]

20 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

In all honesty, the whole "private island" bit doesn't interest me. I'm obviously not reflective of the overall customer base, but why would I want to go to an island? I could go to a theme park at home for a lot less. If I did happen to be on a cruise that went there, I'd probably stay on the ship and have a relaxing time while everyone else is on the island.

 

For a lot of people, they just want a nice beach. At many islands, to do that is time and money, finding transportation and the beach itself, which adds stress and less relaxation.

[banzaii]

1 hour ago, NumnuT said:

like the idea of year round cruise options for Brisbane & Sydney with RCI.

 

Radiance, Voyager or Ovation are cool..😎

 

middle of Aussie winter cruise to the South Pacific sounds great to me.🚢

New Caledonia and Vanuatu's climate is perfect for southern hemisphere winter cruising.  Ocean temps are good and air temp is perfect and lower humidity.

 

I have cruised South Pacific with other lines and also holiday regularly in Vanuatu during July.  It is perfect.

[banzaii]

59 minutes ago, Tatka said:

I wonder based on what you made these assumptions? Have you visited RCI or other Bahamian private islands and saw this served? 🙂

It is a reference to a different thread title that was merged into this topic.  @Hogbay was referring to current perfect day islands.

[Tatka]

1 minute ago, banzaii said:

It is a reference to a different thread title that was merged into this topic.  @Hogbay was referring to current perfect day islands.

But it’s not like that on current island either. We’ve been many times on Coco Cay and Labadee, as well as islands of other cruiselines. Cheesecake Factory? Calorie free maple syrup? Pretty much everything listed looks strange. Some kind of gross generalization even though food on the islands isn’t gourmet.

[NumnuT]

24 minutes ago, banzaii said:

New Caledonia and Vanuatu's climate is perfect for southern hemisphere winter cruising.  Ocean temps are good and air temp is perfect and lower humidity.

 

I have cruised South Pacific with other lines and also holiday regularly in Vanuatu during July.  It is perfect.

Agree 100%

we usually rotate between a South Pacific cruise one year, then 10 days on a Fiji island the next.

😎

[Baron Barracuda]

If the build-out cost for Vanuatu is anywhere near what they invested in Coco Cay they're going to need more than two or three ship visits per week to justify the project.  Is the market large enough to support several ships per week year round?

[time4u2go]

I wonder what an itinerary that included this island would look like.  It's over 1,000 miles from Australia.  By contrast, Coco Cay is about 140 miles from Miami.

Edited October 16, 2019 by time4u2go

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, time4u2go said:

It's over 1,000 miles from Australia.

 

Everywhere is a long way from anywhere here.

 

The local market has pretty much adapted to at least two sea days before getting anywhere.

 

The ships would almost certainly stop at Noumea either on the way there or the way back. That's a two day cruise from Sydney or Brisbane.

 

So the itineraries would probably look pretty much as they do now, except replacing Port Vila with Lelepa.

 

Seven day cruise = Noumea, Lelepa (Havannah Harbour), then one of either Mystery Island, Lifou, Mare, or Isle of Pines, then home.

 

Eight or nine day cruises = add extra island each day or else overnight at Lelepa.

 

I expect (and hope) that the plans for Lelepa are much more modest than Coco Cay.

[banzaii]

3 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

So the itineraries would probably look pretty much as they do now, except replacing Port Vila with Lelepa.

Funny, I was actually thinking more, not less Port Vila visits with itinetaries that include Lelepa.

[The_Big_M]

12 hours ago, time4u2go said:

I wonder what an itinerary that included this island would look like.  It's over 1,000 miles from Australia.  By contrast, Coco Cay is about 140 miles from Miami.

 

Keep in mind longer itineraries are more viable - and preferred - here as holidays are longer than the average one in the Miami market. Hence, adding a few days extra isn't an issue here.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

9 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Everywhere is a long way from anywhere here.

 

The local market has pretty much adapted to at least two sea days before getting anywhere.

Good points.

 

It took us 1 1/2 days to get to New Zealand back in December, and a full sea day on the return.

[CapeGal]

Lelepa has a length of about five kilometers in north-south direction and an area of 160 hectares. The highest point is Mt. Tifit (202 m). The population of Lelepa is about 500 people. The largest town on the island Natapao (pop. 350), is located on the southern edge of the island. At the northern end of the island lies the village Lelo.

Found this on line.

[brad_p]

I saw this in an industry article (Cruise Weekly):

Speaking to CW yesterday in Sydney, Royal Caribbean Cruises Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fain said Perfect Day at Lelepa, Vanuatu would be tailored to Australians’ preferences and provide naturebased experiences.

 

and

 

Perfect Day at Lelepa is the second of Royal’s “Perfect Day” private island experiences and follows the Perfect Day at

CocoCay offering in the Bahamas, which boasts a waterpark with the tallest waterslide in North America, a helium balloon ride
and the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean.

“This is a very different one, that one is really appealing to Americans, this one is appealing more to Aussies,” Fain added.

 

It sounds like there won't be much development of the island and they will leave it for what it is: natural beauty. Might be a few bars/restaurant areas but I doubt there will be many of the adventure activities you'd find on Labadee and obviously it won't be the theme park that is Coco Cay.

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, brad_p said:

Might be a few bars/restaurant areas but I doubt there will be many of the adventure activities you'd find on Labadee and obviously it won't be the theme park that is Coco Cay.

RCI needs to make money on the development so there's bound to be a number of upcharge venues/things.

Edited October 18, 2019 by Biker19

[brad_p]

6 hours ago, Biker19 said:

RCI needs to make money on the development so there's bound to be a number of upcharge venues/things.

 

Depends how much development they do. I personally don't think there will be too much

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, brad_p said:

 

Depends how much development they do. I personally don't think there will be too much

I agree we have about 30 million people in the neighbourhood.Just not enough market.

 

There could be some foreign aid promised for development.

A couple of years ago a company that was a front for the Chinese communist party was going to buy a Island in Havannah Harbour for a military base.

After a lot of lobbying from the  US and Australian government it was blocked.

Now another company is trying to buy a Island in the Solomon Islands.

[Hogbay]

On 10/16/2019 at 12:27 PM, Tatka said:

I wonder based on what you made these assumptions? Have you visited RCI or other Bahamian private islands and saw this served? 🙂

So they do not have burgers and fry's and hot dogs ??? You enjoy your Perfect Day IN YOUR Paradise .

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNTmMFhi1wCVrleb8xI9ygr3z9Fhhw:1571439676661&q=cococay+food+menu&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq7tn99KblAhW363MBHQD8ARYQ7Al6BAgEECQ&biw=1366&bih=657

My Perfect day would be in Hogbay Eating Fresh Lobster on the beach , first time was in 1983 on a real ship TSS Fairstar 

https://www.google.com/search?q=hog+bay+vanuatu+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi49Y6Y8ablAhVa6XMBHbPkAOIQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=hog+bay+vanuatu+&gs_l=img.12..35i39.48738.50513..54394...0.0..0.225.1286.0j7j1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.TjBQ6hb1APU&ei=QkCqXbjMEtrSz7sPs8mDkA4&bih=657&biw=1366

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=vanuatu+lobster+Champagne+bay&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjP0KO676blAhUbwDgGHc6VBVgQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=vanuatu+lobster+Champagne+bay&gs_l=img.12...29003.30962..33209...0.0..0.156.312.0j2......0....1..gws-wiz-img.1PnHEeoRmto&ei=cT6qXY_UBJuA4-EPzquWwAU&bih=657&biw=1366