Royal Caribbean 2018/19 Deployment

[cheznandy]

So looks like the Explorer is doing the islands and Radiance NZ?

And they both will come and go via the Pacific as they usually do the Alaska season.

I liked the option to do Voyager to and from Singapore, at least the Ovation will still come that way.

 

Mmm....lot's of changes re Princess and Royal, but not any new exciting itineraries:(

[The_Big_M]

So looks like the Explorer is doing the islands and Radiance NZ?

And they both will come and go via the Pacific as they usually do the Alaska season.

I liked the option to do Voyager to and from Singapore, at least the Ovation will still come that way.

 

Mmm....lot's of changes re Princess and Royal, but not any new exciting itineraries:(

 

Radiance has to primarily do NZ as it's now out of Melbourne. It takes min 3 days each way to islands from MEL, so 6 days travelling before any ports get added.

[Ondine]

Radiance has to primarily do NZ as it's now out of Melbourne. It takes min 3 days each way to islands from MEL, so 6 days travelling before any ports get added.

I would hardly class it as out of Melbourne looking at the link posted by Fairywren. It gives one call in Melbourne for the Radiance: 13/2 2019 dep Auck to Melb (north and south islands) (10 nights) and then 23/2 2019 dep Mel for Sydney (10 nights) via NZ. That's not even a turnaround they are only one way trips.

[chesterbear]

Damn that.

 

I've been waiting to see the 2019 itineraries as I'm still undecided if I'll do solstice again yet. I don't want 3 South Pacific cruises in a row without doing more research. I prefer flying to Sydney over Melbourne (I prefer bigger planes) and it's nice to add on a couple of pre cruise days. I can't do that in Auckland as it seems silly [emoji51]

 

 

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[Opua Kiwi]

I prefer flying to Sydney over Melbourne (I prefer bigger planes) ...........

B787, B777, A380 are all operated on the AKL-MEL sector.

But if you are from the mainland then I could see that may not be practical for you.

[chesterbear]

B787, B777, A380 are all operated on the AKL-MEL sector.

But if you are from the mainland then I could see that may not be practical for you.

 

 

That's good to know. [emoji3] would be less likely to get panicked on one of those planes. Am always relieved when I check flights to Sydney on the air nz app and they show the plane as a b777.

 

I'm no mainlander and I fly out of Auckland anyway. 'Tis the closest airport to the Tron!

 

 

 

 

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[Hunter69]

Ok most people are talking about upgrading the OPT. RCCL want this; a couple of times this summer they had 2 boats here on the harbour. it would have pissedd them off having to put one boat out at Athol Bouy & tender. 2 things if RCCL want this upgrade they need to show commitment to NSW Gov, they are only here for 7/8 months a year & some of there boats only 2 months. Some year round commitment to Aussie cruisers & Sydney harbour.

The other point is does CCL complain.... NO Carnival are happy with what they get with Carnival & P&OShips...

 

The other thing with there release is why did they use there Christened date instead of launch date. these can be anywhere from 5 months to 2 years later. do they want to make there boats sound younger. If you google. it will show they have an older fleet in OZ then Carnival, Celebrity & Princess on average. Younger then P&O..

I live in NSW been on 12 cruises in last 2.5 years. It doesn't need another...

[yatchet]

The other point is does CCL complain.... NO Carnival are happy with what they get with Carnival & P&OShips...

 

.

Carnival has complained sometime ago.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/lack-of-port-facilities-may-impact-carnival-cruise-company/6974208

[reedy8]

Well looks like the rumours are partly true, just got the email, very disappointing for those of us in Perth.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com.au/media/pdf/reports/RCI_201819_ProgrammeRelease_FA_Final.pdf

 

No top end cruises or starting/finishing in Fremantle. :(

 

No more Voyager.

 

I agree, we are left with Astor,who won't let me sail with them, even on a 2 night cruise because of a pre-existing medical condition, (not like they go very far out) I don't fancy P & O Aust at all, too 'party' for my tastes, and the Princess itineraries aren't very inspiring. Drat

Edited April 27, 2017 by reedy8
spelling error

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Surprise ,surprise ....look who's crying poor mouth in the NZ Herald this morning . Looks like RCCL are waging a Trans Tasman campaign.:confused:

 

Megaship boss: Hurry up and build facilities in NZ or risk losing visits

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11846158

[jn2003]

Still moving ahead slowly is the Brisbane International cruise terminal. Hoping to be operational for the 2019-2020 season.

http://www.urbanalyst.com/in-the-news/queensland/4376-proposed-brisbane-international-cruise-terminal-moves-ahead-following-agreement-between-stakeholders.html

[Opua Kiwi]

NZ and Auckland has far higher priorities for infrastructure dollars than bigger cruise ship facilities.

All for what; a few visits from a mega ship which is not ideally suited for this part of the world anyway ?

 

Plenty of 2,000 - 3,500 pax ships far more suited to this region.

[jspqld]

Still moving ahead slowly is the Brisbane International cruise terminal. Hoping to be operational for the 2019-2020 season.

http://www.urbanalyst.com/in-the-news/queensland/4376-proposed-brisbane-international-cruise-terminal-moves-ahead-following-agreement-between-stakeholders.html

 

I think Brisbane is going to take the rest of Oz by surprise once this terminal starts getting built. I see it luring both a large RCI ship and possibly a new carnival ship to be based there most of the year. Brisbane is better geographically placed to the sth.pacific islands and northern qld. It can do 7 day turn around cruises easily, and will be conveniently placed right next to the airport. This will become a very busy cruise port.

Sydneysiders won't care for it, but for the rest of Oz that has to fly to embark a cruise it will make no difference whether they have to fly to syd or bne. Sure sailing out of Syd harbour is nice, but at the end of the day most passengers are on there to enjoy the cruise/ship. It's just a lucky bonus that the embarkation port is so pretty. The novelty soon wears off once you sail through the heads and hit cold, rough seas for the next two days as you make your way to the islands. Look at fort Lauderdale in America. It is only an hour up the road from the cruise capital of Miami, yet it hosts the largest ships in the world. There is an airport, oil refinery and shipping docks right next door to it. Not pretty, until you sail past the channel but it works and is very popular.

I see Brisbane having a similar impact on cruising in Australia, & I think RCI & Carnival both know this and are holding ships back until they get decent infrastructure in place.

[MMDown Under]

Surprise ,surprise ....look who's crying poor mouth in the NZ Herald this morning . Looks like RCCL are waging a Trans Tasman campaign.:confused:

 

Megaship boss: Hurry up and build facilities in NZ or risk losing visits

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11846158

 

Thanks for the laugh, David. Mr Armstong is the embarrassment trying to bully NZ to build wharves suitable for mega ships at Auckland within six months for the next cruising season!

 

NZ seems to be doing quite well without the mega cruise ships, which spoil the very places passengers cruise to see.

[Mr&MrsCookie]

I think Brisbane is going to take the rest of Oz by surprise once this terminal starts getting built. I see it luring both a large RCI ship and possibly a new carnival ship to be based there most of the year. Brisbane is better geographically placed to the sth.pacific islands and northern qld. It can do 7 day turn around cruises easily, and will be conveniently placed right next to the airport. This will become a very busy cruise port.

Sydneysiders won't care for it, but for the rest of Oz that has to fly to embark a cruise it will make no difference whether they have to fly to syd or bne. Sure sailing out of Syd harbour is nice, but at the end of the day most passengers are on there to enjoy the cruise/ship. It's just a lucky bonus that the embarkation port is so pretty. The novelty soon wears off once you sail through the heads and hit cold, rough seas for the next two days as you make your way to the islands. Look at fort Lauderdale in America. It is only an hour up the road from the cruise capital of Miami, yet it hosts the largest ships in the world. There is an airport, oil refinery and shipping docks right next door to it. Not pretty, until you sail past the channel but it works and is very popular.

I see Brisbane having a similar impact on cruising in Australia, & I think RCI & Carnival both know this and are holding ships back until they get decent infrastructure in place.

 

The premier has knocked a few big projects on the head, but hopefully she won't stop this one. Definately won't be as nice as Sydney to leave from (hopefully don't get to see the neighbouring sewerage treatment plant) but I won't be complaining. I did read that Radiance of the Seas might be based here if it happens.

[MMDown Under]

I think Brisbane is going to take the rest of Oz by surprise once this terminal starts getting built. I see it luring both a large RCI ship and possibly a new carnival ship to be based there most of the year. Brisbane is better geographically placed to the sth.pacific islands and northern qld. It can do 7 day turn around cruises easily, and will be conveniently placed right next to the airport. This will become a very busy cruise port.

Sydneysiders won't care for it, but for the rest of Oz that has to fly to embark a cruise it will make no difference whether they have to fly to syd or bne. Sure sailing out of Syd harbour is nice, but at the end of the day most passengers are on there to enjoy the cruise/ship. It's just a lucky bonus that the embarkation port is so pretty. The novelty soon wears off once you sail through the heads and hit cold, rough seas for the next two days as you make your way to the islands. Look at fort Lauderdale in America. It is only an hour up the road from the cruise capital of Miami, yet it hosts the largest ships in the world. There is an airport, oil refinery and shipping docks right next door to it. Not pretty, until you sail past the channel but it works and is very popular.

I see Brisbane having a similar impact on cruising in Australia, & I think RCI & Carnival both know this and are holding ships back until they get decent infrastructure in place.

 

I agree re Brisbane. However, I think Brisbane will be an additional facility not a replacement for Sydney. It will have a lot going for it, for Aussies, as well as Kiwis and Asians, who can fly direct in to Brisbane, being closer to South Pacific Islands, PNG and cruises to NQ. Maybe forward thinking cruise lines will do an occasional cruise to Darwin. However most overseas people will still want to cruise from Sydney.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I think Brisbane is going to take the rest of Oz by surprise once this terminal starts getting built. I see it luring both a large RCI ship and possibly a new carnival ship to be based there most of the year. Brisbane is better geographically placed to the sth.pacific islands and northern qld. It can do 7 day turn around cruises easily, and will be conveniently placed right next to the airport. This will become a very busy cruise port.

Sydneysiders won't care for it, but for the rest of Oz that has to fly to embark a cruise it will make no difference whether they have to fly to syd or bne. Sure sailing out of Syd harbour is nice, but at the end of the day most passengers are on there to enjoy the cruise/ship. It's just a lucky bonus that the embarkation port is so pretty. The novelty soon wears off once you sail through the heads and hit cold, rough seas for the next two days as you make your way to the islands. Look at fort Lauderdale in America. It is only an hour up the road from the cruise capital of Miami, yet it hosts the largest ships in the world. There is an airport, oil refinery and shipping docks right next door to it. Not pretty, until you sail past the channel but it works and is very popular.

I see Brisbane having a similar impact on cruising in Australia, & I think RCI & Carnival both know this and are holding ships back until they get decent infrastructure in place.

 

It might impact the decisions of international cruisers, though, who all want to cruise out of Sydney or at least visit Sydney on their down-under cruise. I'm not sure what percentage of passengers RCI attracts from that demographic but we've done a couple of Celebrity NZ cruises and both of those had a high percentage of international travellers onboard, both from the US and the UK.

[jspqld]

I agree re Brisbane. However, I think Brisbane will be an additional facility not a replacement for Sydney. It will have a lot going for it, for Aussies, as well as Kiwis and Asians, who can fly direct in to Brisbane, being closer to South Pacific Islands, PNG and cruises to NQ. Maybe forward thinking cruise lines will do an occasional cruise to Darwin. However most overseas people will still want to cruise from Sydney.

 

Agree Sydney will always be the Miami of Oz and people are always going to want to cruise out of there, but yes Brisbane has the opportunity to be a huge additional facility. And yes there will always be international visitors who want to cruise from Syd, but I also think many international visitors just want to visit Sydney, before the idea of doing a cruise from there as well. A lot of Int. visitors to Sydney also visit places like the Gold Coast while in Australia and with the Sunshine Coast also building a new international airport with the hopes of luring more Asian tourists, cruising out of Brisbane will be an easy option for many overseas tourists visiting Australia. Definitely be a great idea to see more cruises going to Darwin. Maybe they could look at doing 7 day one way cruises to/from Bris and Dar stopping at a few alternate ports in between and even include overnighters in cairns.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'd certainly like to see more cruises around the Top End and Far North Queensland in our winter, but smaller ships are best for those sorts of itineraries. The behemoths that RCI sends our way in summer aren't really suitable for smaller ports.

[jspqld]

Yea for sure more top end cruises would be great and small to medium size ships are well suited to that. Interesting though, I had a conversation one day with one a senior officer from RCI about such cruises. He was telling me that they really want to do more cruises to the region and they hate dealing with eg yorkeys knob as they have had such bad passenger feedback with tendering, buses, etc. They have spent a lot of money and time the past couple of years doing all sorts of modelling for docking at cairns and with all the modern technology and capabilities of their ships, he was saying they are certain they can safely dock even their larger ships at cairns and without any harm being done to the enviroment. Yet the greenies opposed it, so they are just going to wait and see and negotiate again in the future.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Even if they did manage to dock the bigger ships at Cairns, there aren't many other places they could go around the Top End, other than Darwin.

 

I'd love to do a cruise that stopped at Cooktown, Thursday Island, maybe somewhere in the Gulf of Carpentaria if there was anywhere interesting. However that sort of itinerary means very small ships, and those are usually too expensive. :(

[jspqld]

I'm not a fan of tenders, but I suppose that is always an option at some of these NQ stops, as long as they are organised well and utilise local ferries wherever possible too. I'd love to see magnetic island be a cruise stop, so scenic and so close to Townsville.

[MMDown Under]

Even if they did manage to dock the bigger ships at Cairns, there aren't many other places they could go around the Top End, other than Darwin.

 

I'd love to do a cruise that stopped at Cooktown, Thursday Island, maybe somewhere in the Gulf of Carpentaria if there was anywhere interesting. However that sort of itinerary means very small ships, and those are usually too expensive. :(

 

I agree. A cruise on a small not too expensive ship is on my wish list. I have flown or driven to all those places, but would love to do a cruise in winter. The ultimate for me would be a one way cruise, with land content in Darwin, at the end.

 

I notice they are starting one way cruises to NZ, so maybe one day they could do one way cruises to Darwin, so you could spend a week there, then cruise home.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Celebrity has done one way cruises to/from NZ for a while, which is why we started cruising with them.

 

Princess is doing some one ways with Majestic in 2018/19.

 

It adds to the attraction for international travellers as they can spend some land time in each country. After all, if you're travelling that far then why not do it properly, assuming you can afford the time.

[The_Big_M]

Surprise ,surprise ....look who's crying poor mouth in the NZ Herald this morning . Looks like RCCL are waging a Trans Tasman campaign.:confused:

 

Megaship boss: Hurry up and build facilities in NZ or risk losing visits

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11846158

 

It's amusing, but it's a big turnaround from the approach previously taken. Previously, Carnival was most publically vocal. Wonder if US head office has demanded the stronger approach. It's so transparent to those familiar with the operations though that it's pure lobbying.