Royal's ships 2023/24

[Chiliburn]

50 minutes ago, arxcards said:

No, I think they have found another market where they can make more money, presuming Asia will be 100% open. No place markers in Melbourne for 24/25.

 

Quantum's Brisbane season for 24/25 is a month shorter as well. Any thoughts of a full time ship here is even further away. I am surprised they haven't gone the way of Coral Princess - cruise locally for 7 months, then load up for Hawaiian & world cruises in the colder months.

I think they will pull quantum out of Brisbane. It’s a real fizzer.

[Chiliburn]

29 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Nothing for Melbourne!

Let’s wait and see ???

 

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I think they will pull quantum out of Brisbane. It’s a real fizzer.

Give them time.

The only legacy for Royal in Brisbane was a season of Legend. They have a choice between three Carnival brand ships, all with more than competitive pricing. Similar issue with Luminosa too, as Carnival cruises isn't established there either.

[springaussie]

Someone needs to go to Lelepa to see all the construction that is going on or isn’t happening.

One of the South Pacific ports apparently you can take a trip or taxi over to Lelepa.

Lelepa is the key to see what is happening in the 24/25 season.

 

 

[Chiliburn]

19 minutes ago, springaussie said:

Someone needs to go to Lelepa to see all the construction that is going on or isn’t happening.

One of the South Pacific ports apparently you can take a trip or taxi over to Lelepa.

Lelepa is the key to see what is happening in the 24/25 season.

 

 

 

@springaussie I am constantly trawling  Vanuatu’s news papers and public tenders for some evidence of construction.
I can’t find any advertisement for jobs or contracts.

You would think they would be looking for carpenters, plumbers or concretes  and labour’s . Nothing.

 

You are right,a lot hinges on Lelepa 

[springaussie]

23 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

 

@springaussie I am constantly trawling  Vanuatu’s news papers and public tenders for some evidence of construction.
I can’t find any advertisement for jobs or contracts.

You would think they would be looking for carpenters, plumbers or concretes  and labour’s . Nothing.

 

You are right,a lot hinges on Lelepa 

Wouldn’t all the workers be coming from Oz or NZ etc. 

Chilli you have had a few great finds on your South Pacific patrols.

If Brilliance or Radiance is not coming from Alaska I can’t see Royal sending Jewel  from Europe here to work Melbourne. I don’t think Navigator is an option ATM from LAX. 

 

 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, springaussie said:

Someone needs to go to Lelepa to see all the construction that is going on or isn’t happening.

One of the South Pacific ports apparently you can take a trip or taxi over to Lelepa.

Lelepa is the key to see what is happening in the 24/25 season.

 

 

Or the lack of Lelepa is the key for Brilliance being pulled.

[Chiliburn]

For those wanting to cash out their no refundable onboard credit out in the casino ,

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are cracking down on it .

 I just got off Ovation and was blocked. A friend on Celebrity was just  also blocked.

The cashier told me ,you are allowed to transfer up to $100 once and you must gamble 50% of  it otherwise you will be blocked from transferring money from your account.

 

My experience.

I cashed out $100 early in the cruise through a slot machine and was then blocked.
I tried getting chips from a table but was told my account had been blocked from transferring money to the casino.

I asked Guests service if I could get a cash advance to tip staff but was told that they don’t do it anymore. They said I had to do a thing called a modified gratuity or tip bar staff when I bought a drink.

So ,with only a couple of days and $400 left all I could do is buy stuff and give it away in tips. 

I had a very happy cabin attendant and some very good drinks.

 

[mr walker]

@Chiliburn thanks for the update on cashing out. I figured it was a matter of time before they put the kybosh on it. Never had the situation before, so nothing lost.

With 12 days to spend our OBC should be able to do it easily 🙂 Our travel partners are non-D so we'll likely buy them a few drinks with the OBC, or maybe invest it in bingo!!!

 

Hope you had a good cruise - 5 weeks wait now for ours!  One question - we have done online check-in and got 2pm boarding time - they still have separate D line so we can go earlier, right? 

 

Cheers

[Chiliburn]

21 minutes ago, mr walker said:

@Chiliburn thanks for the update on cashing out. I figured it was a matter of time before they put the kybosh on it. Never had the situation before, so nothing lost.

With 12 days to spend our OBC should be able to do it easily 🙂 Our travel partners are non-D so we'll likely buy them a few drinks with the OBC, or maybe invest it in bingo!!!

 

Hope you had a good cruise - 5 weeks wait now for ours!  One question - we have done online check-in and got 2pm boarding time - they still have separate D line so we can go earlier, right? 

 

Cheers

No express line for diamond or diamond plus but it’s moves pretty quickly.

 

[springaussie]

According to port bookings this is Ovation of the Seas  cruises for November 2024 from Sydney.

01 to 04 Cruise to Nowhere.3 nights

04 to 13   Probably South Pacific 9 nights.

13 to 21  Yorkeys Knob booked 17th.

21 to 28  Adelaide booked. 24th.

28 to 8 Dec 10 nights probably NZ. 
 

Quantum is booked Darwin 24 November and Cairns 27 November. Arriving Brisbane 1 December 2024. 

 

 

 

 

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, springaussie said:

According to port bookings this is Ovation of the Seas  cruises for November 2024 from Sydney.

01 to 04 Cruise to Nowhere.3 nights

04 to 13   Probably South Pacific 9 nights.

13 to 21  Yorkeys Knob booked 17th.

21 to 28  Adelaide booked. 24th.

28 to 8 Dec 10 nights probably NZ. 
 

Quantum is booked Darwin 24 November and Cairns 27 November. Arriving Brisbane 1 December 2024. 

 

 

 

 

What is Quantum doing in Darwin?

I don’t think it due for a dry dock in Singapore?

 

[springaussie]

42 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

What is Quantum doing in Darwin?

I don’t think it due for a dry dock in Singapore?

 

Dry dock Singapore.

it turns 10 late next years. 

[Chiliburn]

6 hours ago, springaussie said:

Dry dock Singapore.

it turns 10 late next years. 

You are spot on ,  last dry dock finished November 16  2019 .

 I hope they are taking passengers 

[springaussie]

3 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

You are spot on ,  last dry dock finished November 16  2019 .

 I hope they are taking passengers 

The passengers hoping to do the full Trans Pacific  who got thrown off Brilliance Vancouver to Hawaii September 2024 are not going to be impressed booking Quantum Vancouver to Hawaii hoping to go to Oz. They will get a few days in Hawaii before boarding Ovation. The fares on Ovation should be sky high with only one ship doing the Trans Pacific Spring 2024 arriving Oz. 
The big question is will Quantum take passengers Hawaii to Singapore? 
 

[fairywren]

When is Brilliance getting a makeover? Last one was 2018?

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, fairywren said:

When is Brilliance getting a makeover? Last one was 2018?

I believe it was 2018,  21 years old ! ! 
I have read some complaints about the ship but Royal does look after their ships pretty well.

[springaussie]

We had a look today at doing a Spectrum cruise from Singapore mid year and the prices are thru the roof. Penang and Phuket are.our preferred ports 

Also looking at Solomon Islands & PNG on P&O from  Cairns. 

[geoff2802]

17 hours ago, springaussie said:

We had a look today at doing a Spectrum cruise from Singapore mid year and the prices are thru the roof. Penang and Phuket are.our preferred ports 

Also looking at Solomon Islands & PNG on P&O from  Cairns. 

I had a quick look… Pricing on Royal’s US website for Spectrum is out of kilter with TA in the US.  The TA is around USD 100 pppd for gty balcony.  
About to announce a big discount (to an inflated price)?  I didn’t look at AUD pricing - it’s probably worse.   

[Chiliburn]

[springaussie]

48 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

It’s like Oz is waiting to see if China cruises will go ahead or not.

 

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, springaussie said:

It’s like Oz is waiting to see if China cruises will go ahead or not.

 

It is unusually late and you could probably expect a few more weeks on top of that.

They might be trying to organise port bookings for a third ship ,also.

Brilliance is definitely not coming back , I believe it’s going through the Panama and to Tampa.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Chiliburn

[Chiliburn]

4 hours ago, springaussie said:

It’s like Oz is waiting to see if China cruises will go ahead or not.

 

Another ship that seems to be unaccounted for after August 24 is Indie .

 I’m pretty sure it could operate out of Melbourne.

[geoff2802]

4 hours ago, springaussie said:

It’s like Oz is waiting to see if China cruises will go ahead or not.

 

As of a few weeks ago, Royal Australia were planning to release their 2024/25 deployment in March (reliable source), so there is a significant delay.   

[resordanis]

56 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Another ship that seems to be unaccounted for after August 24 is Indie .

 I’m pretty sure it could operate out of Melbourne.

Sorry Chili, you are dreaming! Royal are having enough problems with the two ships in Australia now. Believe me, no way Melbourne. People want to cruise from Sydney. (/You can shoot me down🤣🤣🤣🤣)
PS To Royal, please give us a smaller ship too. One that can actually get into some Ports.😁

Edited February 16, 2023 by resordanis