Chiliburn

The dedicated suite area where the solarium is a great idea.

On the ovation we have worked out it's the best place to book a cabin right under the solarium bistro ,which is part of the specialty restaurants.

It's not so busy and you have a bar,restaurant and pool one flight of stairs up.

On the Anthem, the smoking area on deck 5 Royal Esplanade is enclosed with plexi-glass.

It’s open on the ovation.

On the anthem,must be like those old smoking rooms in airports .you don’t have to light up a cigarette LOL

Smoking areas are up on the pool deck,mid ship on the left side near the pool.

On the promenade deck on the right side toward the back that affects some off the cabins.

There’s a YouTube thing,the worst cabins

It would be good if they bring back the Viking crown bar and lounge.

On the ovation you rarely see anyone on the suite sundeck .

A waste of space to me.

That (the openness) completely changes the ambiance in the MDR compared to the rest of the class.

That would be a improvement

Some people I know swear by them even for Australian cruising.

But one thing I have noticed is that they have hidden charges such as taxes and fees.

So if you get a quote ask for a all inclusive price in A$.

And you will be up for international transaction fees.

Princess do it.

I have never noticed,I'll have a look .

From which port?

Train is usually the best but as gut said it depends?

Id love to do New Guinea but not with P&O .

If a bit better line did it like the radiance would be good.

We are also looking for a hotel in Sydney at the end of October. We are looking in the area of CBD/Haymarket. Around $150-$200 a night. Does anyone know of any hotels with airport shuttle as well?

I don’t think there’s any hotels with shuttles from the airport.

The airport shuttle have a bad reputation.the best choice is train,Uber or taxi.

As for hotels ,if you don’t want anything fancy try the Novotel darling harbour.

You can catch the train to central then the light rail straight to the hotel.

That’s the advantage of booking directly with RC.

But I always find a agent is cheaper

I find their sales have no savings at all .

It’s best just to keep checking and keep in contact with your roll call about the price.

If you see a cheaper price all you have to do is cancel and repurchase it.

BUT you may be up for international transaction fees.

Wow..talking about manners and social graces....Ethnicity has nothing to do with it...both your posts are good indicators of that :eek::eek:

 

Do either of you have first hand experience :confused::confused::confused:

A friend of mine down the pub told me but he had been drinking.

I have heard that the Mainland Chinese have no manners, compared with those of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It appears they haven’t the social graces of other countries

I don’t think you folks should be concerned about the Australian or the Alaska cruises.

A friend of mine was on quantum out of China and he felt like a minority.

The only place he felt special was from the bar staff.

Apparently Chinese are not really big drinkers and the bars were empty.

I don’t know what you’re budget is but Sydney is a pretty expensive place,especially if you want to stay on the harbour.

Sydney has a fantastic public transport system,so if you’re budget is limited all you need is a train station near your hotel and your minutes away from all the attractions.

Your cabin be ready about 1:30

I’ve been on the ovation 4 times sailing from Sydney.

Two in the last season and two the season before.

I’m of mixed feelings .once the hype wears off you quickly get sick of rude and pushy people.

I think the ship has problems handling the rush of people at peak times and the crew don’t really care anymore.you hardly see the cruise director or captain.

The upside is the entertainment,that’s something they have picked up their game with as they fly different entertainers in during the cruise to supplement their resident staff.

The food is pretty hit and miss,very repetitive.

The MDR and windjammers serves identical food and windjammers can be very unpleasant,because of the crowds. I don’t think it’s big enough.

I read somewhere the new generation of quantum has two .

But that said,we are booked for Christmas 2019.we have learned a few tricks about the ship and booked a suite.that way we can eat in coastal Kitchen and hopefully get some better service.

There are 2 cruise terminals ,circular quay is the main one.smaller ships sometimes us white bay cruise terminal.

Don't use airport shuttles they have a bad reputation in every way.

Train,taxi and uber are the best.

I’ve been in bigger seas on the manly ferry.

Interesting. That’s the first time I’ve seen this posted in the 3 1/2 years since quantum was first launched.

 

Could it be possible that you are thinking of a different ship. Ships before Quantum and Oasis class did have the beds positioned in the same spot..

The ovation of the seas.

See will be in the America’s next season,

One secret,the solarium in the the evening for dinner serve a lot of specialty restaurant dishes for free and a up change,but you have to book.

That does not change the fact that the cabin on either side of you had the bed set up opposite to yours which is completely contrary to your original post where you stated “to my understanding all sofas are near the balcony”. Only half the rooms have sofas near the balcony.

We did have cabins next to one another and my friend asked someone on Theon the staff ( can’t remember who) if all the cabins were like this configuration.they said you can’t tell one cabin from the other.

Like I said to my understanding.

All the balcony cabins alternate in a standard A,B,A,B,A,B pattern with the bed being by the balcony and the sofa being by the balcony.

I know that’s the general pattern but the cabins that we had and my friends had,all together I have been in about 10 cabins and they all had the sofas near the balcony.

If it’s the ovation I’ve been on it 4 times and to my understanding all sofas are near the balcony.

We find we do our own thing and usually meet up in the cabin.