Why doesn't Australia have a Royal Caribbean ship all year?

Royal Caribbean has so many wonderful new ships for our American friends.

Why is there not a Royal Caribbean ship here all year round?

The ship could even cruise from Brisbane to Singapore (their winters are warmer than some countries summers!) and even go to the pacific islands or New Zealand.

The Radiance of the seas would be a great ship to have year round. Even if it's cold outside they have the facilities that cater for this.

I would also be happy if Princess or Celebrity decided to keep a ship here year round.

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There are too many other areas that they want to service as well. It may also be a strategy, if they are here all year round they may have trouble filling the ships as people will get bored of the same itineraries which will lower profits.

This way they treat us mean, and keep us keen and we flock to their ships when hey do arrive.

and when they return we get the same itineraries, think its the same all over. having said that apart from sth pacific and nz or around aussie there is not much to choose from.

Then why don't they look at new itineraries? Shake Shake it up.

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Whilst I agree that it would be great to have more cruise lines here over our winter (a Celebrity ship would be good as well) realistically the itineraries are limited at that time of year.

The South Pacific, and coastal cruises up to Darwin and back, are really the only feasible options. There are enough ports in New Caledonia / Vanuatu / Fiji to provide varied itineraries and adding in one or two PNG cruises, and one longer one across to Tahiti might be feasible. However they would need to use ships like Radiance or Rhapsody that aren't so big that they would swamp the smaller ports.

Most of New Zealand really isn't feasible in winter, particularly any itinerary that included the South Island. The sea conditions are just too rough around the bottom of the South Island, and lower Tasman Sea crossings wouldn't be advisable either. Any ships that do visit NZ in winter never go further south than Auckland and always cross the Tasman from the top of the North Island to Sydney.

Singapore is just too far away to be a feasible return itinerary from Brisbane on a regular basis. We did a repositioning cruise on Golden Princess last year which included Singapore and there were a lot of sea days:

Brisbane to Darwin - 4 sea days

Darwin to Bali - 2 sea days

Bali to Singapore - 2 sea days

So it took 11 nights, with only two port stops, between Brisbane and Singapore. Great for those of us who love sea days, but it's the port itineraries that sell cruises. But it might work once during the winter season - sold as one way cruises with different port stops on the coast of Australia and in Indonesia in each direction which would encourage some people to do the round trip.

I guess RCCL just isn't ready to make that commitment to our region like Carnival Corporation has done.

Then why don't they look at new itineraries? Shake Shake it up.

New itineraries to where? Remember ships rarely travel much over 20 knots. That's why it takes around 36 hours to get from Sydney to Brisbane.

It's just economics.

They believe - and I think it's true too - that they will get better returns by having the same ship in other regions, namely Alaska or Asia in their peak Summer periods.

Demand is also lower here when they are away, which is why even ships that do stay here longer... also wind up in Asia in our Winter period.

The world cruise which departs Sydney in winter is popular, so I think longer cruises north in winter would be popular also. A circular Indian Ocean from Perth, a circular PNG or Indonesia from Darwin, fly-cruise would add a bit of excitement.

I agree that they can probably make more from having the ships elsewhere during our winter. It is, after all, height season in the USA then.

Remember that RCI in an American company and in the USA vacation = Summer, even though it makes more sense to visit FNQ in our winter.

I'm not sure whether or not Australia has sufficient population (or sufficient cruisers) to support a RCI ship year round.

I'd love them to have a Radiance class ship here year round but I'm not sure it's going to happen anytime soon.

As you can seem from my signature below, we've been bitten by the cruising bug and the majority of our 4 weeks of annual leave is spent on a RCI ship. We're fairly loyal to Royal and would love the flexibility to cruise locally with them but so far we've been content to cruise when they have ships here or to fly overseas to cruise. (We're hoping to do a 22 Night Cruise from Seattle to Sydney on Explorer OTS in October this year and are just waiting for a last minute bargain.) I guess there are others like us. I'm thinking that if too many loyal cruisers start jumping ship to other lines in order to cruise in Australia year round, then and only then will RCI look at basing a ship here year round.

I think that variety is best and having to travel somewhere else in the world first to do one of these cruises is worth it. That said, I like the occasional cruise out of Australia as well.

When folk cruise , they want to enjoy the good summer weather. Winter cruising downunder , while it does throw up the occasional great days , can be pretty wild. We did a winter cruise out of Sydney to the Islands once. It was great once up there , but the trip back to Sydney was rough rough rough.

At the moment we have a glorious day here in Auckland, but moving up the NZ coast is a wild storm that has closed all sea traffic due to 7 metre swells. Not nice for cruising.

I think most people who cruise would prefer the sea/swells to be under 3 metres and the temps to be above 20.

I think that variety is best and having to travel somewhere else in the world first to do one of these cruises is worth it. That said, I like the occasional cruise out of Australia as well.

It would be interesting to know whether the number of Australians cruising from overseas destinations on RCI ships have increased or decreased?

It woudl also be interesting to know the average number of non-Aussies/Kiwis that cruise on RCI and Celebrity down here in our summer season. On both our Celebrity cruises there seemed to be a high percentage of Americans onboard.

When folk cruise , they want to enjoy the good summer weather. Winter cruising downunder , while it does throw up the occasional great days , can be pretty wild. We did a winter cruise out of Sydney to the Islands once. It was great once up there , but the trip back to Sydney was rough rough rough.

At the moment we have a glorious day here in Auckland, but moving up the NZ coast is a wild storm that has closed all sea traffic due to 7 metre swells. Not nice for cruising.

I don't think there would be any takers for cruising in NZ in July, David.

However cruising across the top of Australia, where Darwin is 32c in winter, would be another story!

I don't think there would be any takers for cruising in NZ in July, David.

Definitely not! :eek:

However cruising across the top of Australia, where Darwin is 32c in winter, would be another story!

And Princess has no cruises going that way May-July next year. :(

It woudl also be interesting to know the average number of non-Aussies/Kiwis that cruise on RCI and Celebrity down here in our summer season. On both our Celebrity cruises there seemed to be a high percentage of Americans onboard.

I can't recall specific numbers, but on many RC cruises the CD will give a break-up of passengers during one of the shows. My memory is not what it was, but I recall on our Radiance NZ cruise (so approx. 2,000 pax) it was something like:

Australians 1400

Kiwis 300

US 220

There were a few Brits, Canucks etc.

Seeing your comment that there seemed to be a high percentage of Americans made me smile. On that Radiance cruise I recall my mate saying when the "US 220" was read out, "seems like a lot more than that". I have many American friends, but there is little doubt American tourists are more obvious than most :D

Definitely not! :eek:

 

 

 

And Princess has no cruises going that way May-July next year. :(

My friend cruising on Princess from Freemantle to Brisbane this month had to be waitlisted to get a berth. Sounds like a ready market for RCI. However I'd prefer to cruise just across the top in winter, with more ports of call, plus overnight stays.

I can't recall specific numbers, but on many RC cruises the CD will give a break-up of passengers during one of the shows. My memory is not what it was, but I recall on our Radiance NZ cruise (so approx. 2,000 pax) it was something like:

Australians 1400

Kiwis 300

US 220

There were a few Brits, Canucks etc.

 

Seeing your comment that there seemed to be a high percentage of Americans made me smile. On that Radiance cruise I recall my mate saying when the "US 220" was read out, "seems like a lot more than that". I have many American friends, but there is little doubt American tourists are more obvious than most :D

I always seem to miss those stats.

Well, it's hard to miss the accents in the public areas in the evenings. Actually on both Celebrity cruises we also noticed quite a few Brits as well, especially on the last cruise.

My friend cruising on Princess from Freemantle to Brisbane this month had to be waitlisted to get a berth. Sounds like a ready market for RCI. However I'd prefer to cruise just across the top in winter, with more ports of call, plus overnight stays.

It's a wonderful area to cruise in winter. We did Fremantle to Sydney a couple of years ago. One of the problems is that there aren't that many ports for the ships to call at between Geraldton and the Port Douglas/Cairns area. Especially ports that could dock a cruise ship. Plus the distances are huge. We had 17 nights between Fremantle and Sydney, with only six port stops along the way, including one in Indonesia. We loved it but those who prefer port intensive itineraries wouldn't enjoy it as much. Still there are enough people to keep the Princess ships full.

I can't recall specific numbers, but on many RC cruises the CD will give a break-up of passengers during one of the shows. My memory is not what it was, but I recall on our Radiance NZ cruise (so approx. 2,000 pax) it was something like:

Australians 1400

Kiwis 300

US 220

There were a few Brits, Canucks etc.

 

Seeing your comment that there seemed to be a high percentage of Americans made me smile. On that Radiance cruise I recall my mate saying when the "US 220" was read out, "seems like a lot more than that". I have many American friends, but there is little doubt American tourists are more obvious than most :D

LOL, I have similar recollections, they do seem to make themselves known. Mind you, I can often pick the Aussies when travelling abroad as well and sometimes not because of their exemplary behaviour.:o

It's a wonderful area to cruise in winter. We did Fremantle to Sydney a couple of years ago. One of the problems is that there aren't that many ports for the ships to call at between Geraldton and the Port Douglas/Cairns area. Especially ports that could dock a cruise ship. Plus the distances are huge. We had 17 nights between Fremantle and Sydney, with only six port stops along the way, including one in Indonesia. We loved it but those who prefer port intensive itineraries wouldn't enjoy it as much. Still there are enough people to keep the Princess ships full.

There are so many fabulous places en route to see between Perth and Sydney, it seems such a shame to only stop at five Australian ports. I don't know how feasible tenders are but favourite places include Broome, Darwin, Tiwi Islands, Coburg Peninsula, Thursday Island, Punsand Bay, Lizard Island, Cooktown, Port Douglas, Cairns (GBR), Townsville (Magnetic Island), Great Keppel Island, Fraser Island, Mooloolaba, and Moreton Island, etc. We are really blessed in the North.

There are so many fabulous places en route to see between Perth and Sydney, it seems such a shame to only stop at five Australian ports. I don't know how feasible tenders are but favourite places include Broome, Darwin, Tiwi Islands, Coburg Peninsula, Thursday Island, Punsand Bay, Lizard Island, Cooktown, Port Douglas, Cairns (GBR), Townsville (Magnetic Island), Great Keppel Island, Fraser Island, Mooloolaba, and Moreton Island, etc. We are really blessed in the North.

Some nice places listed there.

There are so many fabulous places en route to see between Perth and Sydney, it seems such a shame to only stop at five Australian ports. I don't know how feasible tenders are but favourite places include Broome, Darwin, Tiwi Islands, Coburg Peninsula, Thursday Island, Punsand Bay, Lizard Island, Cooktown, Port Douglas, Cairns (GBR), Townsville (Magnetic Island), Great Keppel Island, Fraser Island, Mooloolaba, and Moreton Island, etc. We are really blessed in the North.

I'd love to do an itinerary like that during Winter.