sampler cruises - are they worth doing?

[MicCanberra]

We did a 2 nighter on Dawn Princess & would never again. There was nothing wrong with the ship, its just to crazy flying from Brisbane, taxi, sailaway at 6pm, nearly one day gone. Then the next day your getting disembarkation info depressing :mad: then off the ship by 7.30am the next day:mad: Give me a longer cruise any day:D

Wow, I never thought of those ramifications with the short cruise. Were you really Mad:mad: or just sad:(?

[joejoe 59]

Wow, I never thought of those ramifications with the short cruise. Were you really Mad:mad: or just sad:(?

Haha yes just sad, should have been purple not red hehe

[MicCanberra]

Haha yes just sad, should have been purple not red hehe

 

lol:D

Edited January 10, 2014 by MicCanberra

[yeah-its-us]

I really don't think they are value for money when compared to the longer cruises, however they still have value for having a cruise without having to block out a lot of holidays. They generally go over a weekend which makes them more attractive as well.:D

I have to agree, we've looked at a few but the cost is such that I'd rather pay the extra and make it a real holiday instead of a weekend away....

[gaechann]

I have to agree, we've looked at a few but the cost is such that I'd rather pay the extra and make it a real holiday instead of a weekend away....

 

I did go on a 1-nighter on the Voyager in November 2012 with a girlfriend that I hoped might want to be a future cruise buddy (didn't work out, she missed her hubby too much :confused:) which was the day/night before our 14-night cruise to NZ - the first cruise on the Voyager from Sydney.

 

I booked an inside cabin as I figured we wouldn't be spending much time at all in bed and had an absolute blast with all the young people on board! They were calling us "Aunt & Grandma" and were including us in their activities! The next morning as we were embarking (before re-embarking for the NZ cruise) we met up with some of the young girls we'd spent some time with and they introduced us to their parents saying "These are the ladies that were looking out for us last night!"

 

The ONLY problem with the B2B cruise was that there were NO porters to take our luggage on board the first night so we had to lug it around ourselves until our room was ready! :( The next leg for 14 nights was in a balcony cabin so we had to change rooms but that was done quite easily with both the room attendants being aware of the change of cabins!

 

I'd go on more short cruises if I lived close by but once you factor in the price of a plane trip down and back to Sydney, it makes much more sense financially to book for at least 10 days!

 

Gae

[suey]

I really don't think they are value for money when compared to the longer cruises, however they still have value for having a cruise without having to block out a lot of holidays. They generally go over a weekend which makes them more attractive as well.:D

 

You can get some good bargains though, we did a Brisbane-Sydney one for $97 twin share. As for being 'boozing' cruises, I think you only really see that part of it if you are also partying/drinking into the wee small hours.:)

[MicCanberra]

You can get some good bargains though, we did a Brisbane-Sydney one for $97 twin share. As for being 'boozing' cruises, I think you only really see that part of it if you are also partying/drinking into the wee small hours.:)

 

I am strictly in bed by 1 am, no drinking all night for me.;)

[goodycruising]

A bit of the luck of the draw. Our 5 day Radiance cruise to Brisbane and back was not rough at all.

 

Yes, we were lucky with the weather, it was nice all around. It was just way too short. We are still saying to each other 'we didn't do xxxx, we didn't have time!" We enjoyed it but it then made us think about our next trip we had booked for 7 nights, and we worried that we would find that too short too, so we made it B2B and added 8 days. That should be closer to the right length :D

[gaechann]

I'm interested in seeing the updates after the refit on the Voyager of the Seas but I don't want to spend too much time on that size ship again so I went looking for a sampler cruise and found the following:

• 19 Feb 2015 - just 2 days after we return from our Rhapsody cruise to Tasmania so we'll already be in Sydney
  
• 3-day cruise to nowhere
  
• Interior cabin (great for sampler cruises in my opinion) on Deck 9 near the elevators
  
• $567 each
  
• $500 deposit now
  
• $634 balance due 1/1/14
  

I'm happy with that so have gone ahead and booked it. :)

 

Gae

[MicCanberra]

I'm interested in seeing the updates after the refit on the Voyager of the Seas but I don't want to spend too much time on that size ship again so I went looking for a sampler cruise and found the following:

• 19 Feb 2015 - just 2 days after we return from our Rhapsody cruise to Tasmania so we'll already be in Sydney
  
• 3-day cruise to nowhere
  
• Interior cabin (great for sampler cruises in my opinion) on Deck 9 near the elevators
  
• $567 each
  
• $500 deposit now
  
• $634 balance due 1/1/14
  

I'm happy with that so have gone ahead and booked it. :)

 

Gae

That sounds like a fairly decent price, I am interested now as well.:D

[gaechann]

That sounds like a fairly decent price, I am interested now as well.:D

 

Yes, I found it on an online Travel site so went to the RCI website to book it but the cabins I were interested in weren't on offer there so went back to the online site and put it on hold with them.

 

Lots of 'cruise offers' there as they show ALL available cabins in every category.

 

Gae

[rkmw]

I'm interested in seeing the updates after the refit on the Voyager of the Seas but I don't want to spend too much time on that size ship again so I went looking for a sampler cruise and found the following:

• 19 Feb 2015 - just 2 days after we return from our Rhapsody cruise to Tasmania so we'll already be in Sydney
  
• 3-day cruise to nowhere
  
• Interior cabin (great for sampler cruises in my opinion) on Deck 9 near the elevators
  
• $567 each
  
• $500 deposit now
  
• $634 balance due 1/1/14
  

I'm happy with that so have gone ahead and booked it. :)

 

Gae

 

is that $1134 for 3 days only, nearly $384 per day

[MicCanberra]

is that $1134 for 3 days only, nearly $384 per day

 

For two people though.:D

[rkmw]

For two people though.:D

 

i suppose for 2 people its fair, is that inside or balcony

[MicCanberra]

i suppose for 2 people its fair, is that inside or balcony

 

Only inside, not a great price for sampler cruises but it is a great price for samplers in Australia.:D

[MicCanberra]

That sounds like a fairly decent price, I am interested now as well.:D

 

Yes, I found it on an online Travel site so went to the RCI website to book it but the cabins I were interested in weren't on offer there so went back to the online site and put it on hold with them.

 

Lots of 'cruise offers' there as they show ALL available cabins in every category.

 

Gae

 

Gae, We have booked on to this cruise as well now, found a great deal through an overseas TA for an inside cabin. I look forward to meeting you next year.:D

[gaechann]

Gae, We have booked on to this cruise as well now, found a great deal through an overseas TA for an inside cabin. I look forward to meeting you next year.:D

 

Good news! Our inside cabin is on Deck 9 near the elevators - where are you?

 

Anyone else care to join us? We could make it a CC-Australia & NZ 'get-together' for regular posters here! :D

Edited January 12, 2014 by gaechann

[MicCanberra]

Good news! Our inside cabin is on Deck 9 near the elevators - where are you?

 

Anyone else care to join us? We could make it a CC-Australia & NZ 'get-together' for regular posters here! :D

 

Also deck 9, I am not familiar with the ship but it appears to be Starboard Aft near (but not in) an inside passageway.:D

I will need to see if there is a roll call, have never cruised RCI before but wanted to check out the ship and only need one day off work.:D

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

So many good points being raised.

 

I must be a pretty "how u going" cruiser (well I do own multiple pairs of crocs so my fashion attitude is clearly pretty "how u going", so it's plausible) as I would never think of doing a sampler cruise to check the boat / facilities out etc!! I think that is an awesome strategy :).

 

I think the getting on board, unpacking, unwinding and then having to turn around and repack & leave MY cabin to disembark from MY ship would be both :( & :mad:!!! Organising dog sitters, prepping the house / pool etc & cramming 5x days work into 4 days to facilitate the trip, let alone if we had to get our sorry disorganised selves to Sydney, just seems too much effort for me!

 

....but I live reading / hearing from those that do it, please do post reviews / thoughts of your experiences!

[gaechann]

Also deck 9, I am not familiar with the ship but it appears to be Starboard Aft near (but not in) an inside passageway.:D

I will need to see if there is a roll call, have never cruised RCI before but wanted to check out the ship and only need one day off work.:D

 

I've just started a ROLL CALL - here is the link!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41255217#post41255217

[gaechann]

:D LOL! We are hard work in the organising department Gae! I coordinate people & programs for a living so I struggle to keep it together on holidays!

 

With u n MicC on board, sounds like a lot of fun. I better check out that roll call too ;)

 

Yes, I too am in charge of a small department at work! Some might call be "pedantic" but I say "No, I just like to be organised"! :D

 

No-one on the ROLL CALL yet, I just started it!

 

Gae

[MicCanberra]

I've just started a ROLL CALL - here is the link!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41255217#post41255217

 

Cool, will check it out.:D

[MicCanberra]

:D LOL! We are hard work in the organising department Gae! I coordinate people & programs for a living so I struggle to keep it together on holidays!

 

With u n MicC on board, sounds like a lot of fun. I better check out that roll call too ;)

 

Come and join, tell your friends to come as well, I am certainly going to tell all my cruising friends, the more the merrier.:D

[The_Big_M]

is that $1134 for 3 days only, nearly $384 per day

 

Yeah, almost $200/person/day for an inside. They're not cheap!

 

The funny thing is you can spend a few hundred more and stay almost 4 times as long! :-)

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

$539 each, inside cabin N or Q category. For a bit more you get an inside cat with a window o'looking the promenade. Not sure how we would go on an inside room. Balconies are 740 each :eek: 9pm departure, 6am arrival :-(.