Aus ATC

We Aussies can't take advantage of "price drops" like the US can - but we can cancel and rebook under the new conditions if outside 150 days. A big difference in conditions between AUS and US - especially once inside the cancellation fee period.

No "price drops" on Australian condition bookings (in my experience). You can cancel and rebook with the newer/better promotion. Existing deposit will be refunded outside 150 days before sailing, but it will be a whole new reservation.

We have just done exactly that for a January Legend OTS cruise. Paid an extra AUD60 and gained USD200 OBC. A bit of mucking around but got there in the end - now just have to wait for my refunds to come through....

Just google "Legend of the Seas Images". You will see that Deck 3 is just below the Promenade Deck, and Decks 2 (cabins) and Deck 1 (crew areas only) are all above the waterline.

Or have a look here: http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=75

I would suggest the seas will need to be quite unpleasant before your porthole gets wet.

We have always been able to get a bottle of water at the same time as a drink. Never encountered the 15 min restriction, but then again never really tried that on.

Credit where it is due. Rang up today to change our April Voyager cruise to a January Legend cruise (ex BNE which suits us much better). The RCL agent was very helpful - all very easy to cancel the old booking and make the new one. Had to pay a new deposit, and the existing deposit will be refunded (fingers crossed!)

After our earlier experiences (my previous post refers), it was a welcome change. Maybe the booking flexibility originally promised has made it's way into normal business.

Very happy with the reduced cost too (a slightly shorter cruise but the $/day down nicely). Voyager Class will just have to wait for another time......

As an aside the on board booking manager on our last cruise told me that the booking engine for RCL in Australia had been changed recently and much of the flexibility in booking that they have in the USA would be now also available to us.

 

Like many things RCL tell you I will this with a grain of salt until it is verified by myself or others.

We were told the same thing earlier in the year - also that we were protected against price drops. So booked a cruise on board (got the OBC), and a couple of weeks later decided to book a different one. After much too-ing and fro-ing, we were rebooked - with a new reservation number - they had to cancel the old and make a new booking. So far so good....

Then there was a price drop (which we were told on board we had protection for). No dice - apparently they did us a "favour" with the re-booking, and we had exhausted our ability to change. The admin email address have studiously ignored my emails since on the topic - 3 emails and not 1 reply.

Appalling customer service by RCCL in this case.

Depending on your budget, you could arrange a water taxi from the airport to St Marks, have the taxi hold there while you explored, and then take you to the cruise terminal. I have no idea what that might cost - perhaps EUR250-300, but a lot less hassle. Even then you might only have an hour or so before needing to leave to check in.

We have used http://www.shareashoreexcursion.com with some success. You either set up the tour (specifying the minimum number of people - and therefore maximum cost), or join an existing tour. Each individual/couple is responsible to the company (not you) for their payment.

We did a full day from Naples in 2014 with them - the booking was for 6, but 1 person was unable to participate - our fare was as agreed, and the partner of the no show had to pay for the missing person (as per terms and conditions). We used our roll call to fill the bus.

Of course, with the alternative (which might be cheaper) if the organiser books a bus and guide, with a view to filling it, then they are going to be up for the total cost, and have to recover it from people who either turn up or don't.

We booked a "Next Cruise" with promised flexibility to change bookings, as well as "price drop protection" - a new feature in Australia (or so we were told on board). Needed to change the booking (to a different date) and RCCL made it seem like they were doing me a favour (but the change went through).

The booking was a BOGOHO, and now we have a 30% off promotion here, which saves us AUD$770 (but we lose $300 OBC - I can live with that). The call centre would not process the price drop, so I have sent an email to the cruise admin.au area explaining the above. We shall see what happens.....

Price drop "protection" was promoted to us, on our recent Radiance OTS cruise, as a new benefit available to the Australian market. Having all sorts of trouble so far, in taking advantage of what was offered.......

On our recent Radiance OTS cruise, the "Next Cruise Ambassador" proudly told us how the "price drop" protection was new to the Australian market - replicating that in the US.

Went to try it out today. We had booked on the BOGOHO promotion while on-board, and the latest 30% promo would save us about $700 on our cruise next year (we would lose $300 in OBC, but a fair trade I thought). The phone consultant would not process it for me. Told me to send an email to the cruise admin area (which I have done). Now to wait and see if they honour what we were told on board.

It seems the promised flexibility of booking a next cruise, and price drop protection, may not be quite as advertised on board ship.......

I will report back.

An update of sorts. Following yuvraj's suggestion I wrote to Royal Carribean. Including a copy of the flyer provided on board. After 1 week, no response so I sent a "prompt". After 3 more days - nothing.

So I rang the customer service line again and was advised that the cancellation charge on the invoice was a "fault" of the accounting system and that no charge was payable. To confirm that I sent a 3rd email including that information, and including the name of the consultant and the time of the call - hopefully that will be the end of it.

Pretty poor form on 2 counts:

1 - sending dodgy invoices that only cause concern.

2 - not responding to emails in any way.

Voyager OTS Balcony Guarantee - 13 - 25 March - 12 nights South Pacific $2400 for 2 including gratuities!!

I wish I was retired.....

Thanks for the video. I'd be happy with the (private) ship moored on the left hand side of the channel!!

Thank you!

I'm also curious if I can do something like book a 4 night package, which has a higher discount than the 3 night package, and use it for two people of two nights rather than 1 person over 4 nights.

I believe that for 2 guests you need 2 packages (no sharing - just like the drinks packages :) )

Guessing the Bahamas Maritime Authority will be doing a bit of work for their "nominal" registration charges after this one.......

Sounds like our experiences were similar. You reference the USA conditions - an interesting point, as the Next Cruise Ambassador (or whatever she called herself) also told us that the "price drop guarantees" that the USA enjoy were also coming "down under". I hope to be able to test that out later (though happy with the current deal).

It seems that having different conditions of sale in different markets is causing some issues. I did keep my flyer! and the idea of emailing is a good one. I might even send a scanned copy....

It seemed a good idea to us. If you can get the extra OBC via an "undated Next Cruise voucher" or similar, that might be less complicated if you need flexibility in your forward booking. We booked a cruise and then changed it once back on land - a few hassles as my recent post http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2315778 explains.

On our recent cruise the only place we were "upcharged" for wine was in Giovanni's. No hint of an upcharge in the MDR even though we were consistently ordering $15 wines. I think the limit on our cruise was $14 (grats included) as it was an AU based cruise.

Hello - seeking the collective wisdom of Cruise Critic here.

On a recent cruise we made a "Next Cruise Booking" - 14 nights JS on Voyager in April 2017 (SYD - SIN). In doing that we paid a reduced deposit and received $200 OBC for the cruise we were on - so far so good.

On return home, we had a further think about the cruise we booked, and decided a different cruise would be better - 13 nights South Pacific SYD-SYD. Similar price. Today I rang to change the booking.

1. Firstly I was told by the agent I could not change the booking and get the current offers (same offers we booked with - BOGOHO and $500 OBC). I insisted we were told by the agent on the ship that the bookings could be changed without penalty. The agent took it to the "team leader" and came back and all was (apparently) good. So the change (in fact processed as a cancellation and new booking) was progressed and the deposit transferred.

2. I arrived home tonight to the relevant emails to find a AUD$538 cancellation charge against the original booking. There was no mention of this when speaking with the agent when I changed the booking.

When booking on-board I was clear in my enquiries of the agent regarding changing the booking etc (that we could). Indeed I was given an information sheet which states - in part: "Remember your additional benefits include: Flexibility - Change your reservation prior to final payment"

My question is - has anyone had similar experiences, and is the AUD$538.00 an accounting trick in the system that can be ignored, or something that will "disappear" from my Credit Card if I do nothing? Should I be proactive in sorting it out.

Thanks,

Aus ATC

On our June 15 Legend cruise it was being offered on board for USD$70. I think we had paid AUD$95ish before boarding. The AUD was worth a bit more back then too!

Thanks - some handy info there!

Does anyone have any information about what sort of theme nights to expect on our upcoming Radiance Cruise. It would be good to pack for 1 or 2 nights, if they are reasonably "predictable" in themes on the shorter (8 night) cruises. We are expecting 1 or 2 formal nights.

Guessing things like "white", 70's/80's etc.

Thanks for any information, or experiences from recent RCI cruises ex SYD.

If I arrive in Melbourne at 7:25 a.m. (this year's arrival time), I'll probably not book the flight out to Adelaide until at least noon to allow for possible delays, immigration, picking up my bag, making my way to the domestic terminal and checking in at Qantas/Virgin/other for the short flight.

It's not guaranteed, but an accommodating check-in agent on your connecting flight might offer you an earlier flight (space available). It never hurts to ask the question if you are a few hours early for your scheduled flight.

Also, if you have lounge access to either Qantas or Virgin (or both) it might be handy to know that, in Melbourne, the Virgin Lounge is before security (so you can take in your hold luggage if too early to check in for your flight), but Qantas is after security.