karoolabiddy

:DThe production shows were at 9pm, the pixels (?) in Two70 were at 7.30. I think. The Showtmes in the Royal Theatre, some were excellent, were at 6.45pm and finished about 7.30pm and were also on at 8.45pm. Hope this helps.:D:D

Be careful. Was on "Ovation" recently and a male (aged from 20's to 60's!) had to be winched off and medevaced to Noumea with fracture of the spine, caused by an accident on the Flow Rider.

Really wanted to turn off the phone and tablet at sea but I have very elderly parents and need to stay in touch with family and nursing home. I am with Telstra, both phone and ipad (ipad with 4G sim card).

I read where with Royal IQ you can send texts and make calls at a reasonable price. Is this correct or did I misread the information? Or, is there another method of staying in touch, preferably by phone, that doesn't cost the earth? Any advice appreciated.

That is good news. Thanks.

Back for more advice. We will be embarking, I believe, around 2.00pm-2.30pm on the "Ovation". Is there anywhere we can leave our luggage (lockers etc) earlier in the day or is it possible to actually book it in at the Royal Caribbean desk or whatever? Any ideas appreciated.

Thank you for all the information. We are staying two nights before the cruise close to Circular Quay and have now booked near Central for the trip home. Will take the large luggage and place in lockers the day before so will only have to carry our carry-on-luggage. Works well. I love a plan.

We love train travel and the nearest airport is close to 2 hours from our home so it is more convenient to travel by train for us.

Appreciate all the help as we don't know Sydney too well.

Our cruise on "Ovation" disembarks about 6.30 am on 9th February. I don't know how long this will take - any clues? We are not leaving Sydney until the next day. Any ideas about what to do with our luggage, do we try and get an early entry hotel room? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, what is the closest hotel to Central Station as we are travelling by train?

Onboard now no smoking anywhere inside.

Great news, thanks.

Contacted RCI to find out if the casino was smoke-free from Australia. This is part of the reply:

"Thank you for contacting the Royal Caribbean Cruises.

In regards to your email, in the ship we have designated areas for smokers

also the casino is a smokers area so is not smoke-free area."

I know it is not smoke-free on the cruises from China, but would have thought that on cruises leaving from Australia, the casino would be. (Yes, I like a small flutter and I hate cigarette smoke).

Does anyone have any other advice as I know that RCI's advice in the past has been somewhat suspect?

Ovation is also doing South Pacific and New Zealand cruises from Sydney. We are sailing on January 28th, 2017. Things seem so topsy turvy with RCI at the moment, I have my fingers crossed that it will be ok.

Apparently, it is quite a change for Australia and New Zealand to have new cruise ships sailing here - we seem to end up with recycled ships from the Northern Hemisphere as our populations are so very small

Prices on Ovation are fairly expensive and I believe quite a few things on board are geared for the Chinese market.

You can get US cash onboard from the ATM, but it comes at a cost so if you can get it advance that's probably better.

 

Whatever denomination suits you or is available is fine though; there's no charge to exchange cash, and you can put down whatever denomination, whether $1 or $100. Same with machines accepting different notes, or changing at the cashier if you prefer.

 

Notes are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 (though you probably won't see $2).

Thank you. Don't suppose the Aussie dollar will rise!

From what I have researched on the forum, the US dollar is the currency of RCI ships. I want to use cash in the casino (don't mind a fling on the pokies & hubby likes blackjack), so should I buy some US cash before we board? If so, does anyone know what denominations we should get? Also we have prepaid our gratuities but may want to pay some more for good service. Do they only have $1, $10, $20, $50 notes?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions but am a bit anal about planning.

I have quite a severe reaction to most highly-scented products. Can anyone tell me if RCI or any other line (for future travel) ;) uses cleaners etc with a strong scent?

The best practice is to use a fee free card (28 Degrees) and avoid a lot of these charges.:D

Thank you for the advice. I applied for and have received my 28 degrees card. Now just waiting on hubby's - we had to do the post office ID thing.

You can pay RCI in Aus dollars to their Chase bank acc in Sydney without the fees charged when paying in to the Miami Office.We just do a POL pay

Yes, I was charged a $24 transaction fee when I bought a drinks package recently. Very annoying.

Um, you posted exactly the same question 4 hours ago. You might like to check the responses on that thread.

Sorry about that. My internet satellite provider is very slow and unreliable at the moment. Sometimes hard to see if something has been posted. Good just now, though.:)

Thanks for all the advice. Leaning towards the 28 degree card for credit and internet transactions.

Thanks for all the advice. Very enlightening.

The 28 degree card was recommended on the forum. Can you load it with cash and use as a debit card or withdraw cash from a foreign atm? Any tips and advice appreciated.

Thank you.

This card was recommended on the forum. Can you preload it and use at atm's on the ships like a debit card to get cash as well as use it as a credit card for purchases on tour and over the internet? Tips would be appreciated.

Starting to get excited about our cruise on "Ovation of the Seas" on 28th January, 2017. We leave from Sydney, which is on daylight savings time, headed for Noumea. Sounds silly, but does the time change off Qld? Does anyone know how many time changes we will have on the way to NZ? Just curious as we have booked traditional late dining thinking of daylight saving but it will be very late if on Qld time.

Some of these banks are worried their profits will only be in the millions instead of the billions.:(

I agree. $24 won't make or break us but it's another way of squeezing more out of the customer. I will be more careful in future and look into using the credit card recommended on the forum.

I bought a Royal Caribbean drinks package when the 20% discount was on. Paid in what I thought was AUD. Got my credit card statement this arvo and have been charged $803.11 (AUD - that's ok) but then there is also an international transfer fee of $24.09, that has been charged by NAB. Is this the norm? Perhaps there was some tiny print somewhere but I believed I was purchasing a product in Australia as it was through RCI au. :confused::confused::confused:

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Did I miss something?? What are "ALL THE HASSLES" RCI are having?

Thanks to all for their advice.

The "hassles" are really just "minor upsets" just things changing - the drinks packages changing (no cheaper ones available), dining changing, (both just very recently), and the question of how the double boarding will go on the 28th. I certainly hope there will be no more "minor upsets".

We booked our cruise (Ovation from Sydney 28/1/17) and paid the gratuities in advance. I understand the drinks, and I assume any other products we actually purchase on the ship, are subject to an 18% gratuity.

18% seems a bit steep to me. I can remember, I think, paying 10% whilst travelling in the USA. So is tipping different to gratuities? And, where is the magic figure of 18% plucked from?:mad:

The mark-up on some of the wines that I recognise is huge. Did we pull the wrong rein by going with RCI? With all the hassles they are having, I'm starting to have real doubts. :confused: