Royal's ships 2023/24

[arxcards]

44 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

They are fantastic prices but what is so good about Star class on a Quantum Geoff ?

I have never had star class but I have had Grand and owner’s suites .

The extra room is nice but personally I happy with just a balcony or a J4 junior suite.

The suites lounge sucks on Quantum class, the lofts are right at the back of the ship and

I can’t see the value for money personally.

I agree about concierge lounge on those ships. Concierge lounge becomes irrelevant for Star class with an included drink package. Hmmm, maybe that is a way they could ditch these lounges altogether. by including drinks packages in suite fares.

 

We have always seen Royal's suites as great value vs the opposition. We have done a few over the years on Radiance, Voyager, Explorer & Ovation. The suites are really just bigger cabins + concierge lounge, but star class is pretty much all inclusive plus a genie making priority bookings and reserving seats. A few years back, a promo combination of launch fares, Crown & Anchor discount & 2nd person 1/2 price had us in Royal Loft at a really good price. Way bigger than we would ever need, and we could have spent the whole cruise in there and Coastal Kitchen. No OBC, but a $0.00 bill. 

 

If Quantum has no star class, it just reverts to being a bigger cabin with concierge lounge.

[cruise_critical]

For a full suite, plain Grand Suite is best value in a Quantum class IMO. Owner and Sky Loft is just bigger rooms but with identical benefits. (though I did book Owners for my next cruise on Ovation just to splurge lol) Grand Loft and up are usually 2-3x the price of a Grand Suite for a bigger room + Star Class which seems a bit too much.

Mind you, those who like to get everything VVVIP level, can't go wrong with Star Class. Being able to get every food from every restaurant (even specialty) delivered to your cabin or to wherever you want on the ship, zero queues or waiting time and with best seats/spot for whatever you want to do, deluxe drink package inclusion, personalised & stacked mini bar, free laundry etc. 

I might try to go for a Grand Loft with Royal Up for my upcoming cruise since the minimum bid isn't much different to my current Owners + deluxe drink package. Low chance but nothing to lose.

[springaussie]

I noticed this morning Sydney Ports does a few  days at random vacant at Circular Quay for possibly another ship. (But not many)

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, springaussie said:

I noticed this morning Sydney Ports does a few  days at random vacant at Circular Quay for possibly another ship. (But not many)

That’s the Newcastle port bookings at OPT in blue , Anthem of the seas ??

 

I saw vision has a booking,I think it was January 25 . That would be another world cruise do you think?

Edited March 9, 2023 by Chiliburn

[springaussie]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

That’s the Newcastle port bookings at OPT in blue , Anthem of the seas ??

 

I saw vision has a booking,I think it was January 25 . That would be another world cruise do you think?

Chilli that could be Ovation.

Royal, Princess Crown Princess and Diamond Princess feature a few times in Sydney 24/25. 

[geoff2802]

3 hours ago, springaussie said:

Royal, Princess Crown Princess and Diamond Princess feature a few times in Sydney 24/25. 

Hey springaussie, 

Several of the Crown Princess bookings in Sydney are 2 days before or 2 days after Coral Princess bookings in Brisbane.  Perhaps a change of ship for Brisbane?  Don’t know why they woudn’t have just put the Sydney bookings in the name of Coral though.   

[cheznandy]

14 minutes ago, geoff2802 said:

Hey springaussie, 

Several of the Crown Princess bookings in Sydney are 2 days before or 2 days after Coral Princess bookings in Brisbane.  Perhaps a change of ship for Brisbane?  Don’t know why they woudn’t have just put the Sydney bookings in the name of Coral though.   

They like to tease us......Diamond, Crown, thought I saw Discovery Princess there too.

[woodscruise]

1 hour ago, cheznandy said:

Discovery Princess there too.

Yes Discovery was there until recently. 

[Suzcruz75]

Looks like Discovery Princess has been replaced by Crown Princess, kind of disappointing as was hoping for Discovery coming here 

[cheznandy]

10 minutes ago, Suzcruz75 said:

Looks like Discovery Princess has been replaced by Crown Princess, kind of disappointing as was hoping for Discovery coming here 

And I can also see some unknown vessel bookings for Carnival Cruise line and it's not Splendor.

12th,16th,23rd,30th Oct and 7th Nov 2024. Could be Luminosa before she goes to Brisbane, first cruise there is 10th Nov 2024.

Sorry this is not royal related🙃

[aussielozzie18]

4 hours ago, cheznandy said:

And I can also see some unknown vessel bookings for Carnival Cruise line and it's not Splendor.

12th,16th,23rd,30th Oct and 7th Nov 2024. Could be Luminosa before she goes to Brisbane, first cruise there is 10th Nov 2024.

Sorry this is not royal related🙃

Ooh love the idea of the Luminosa doing a couple of Sydney departures.

[arxcards]

On 3/9/2023 at 6:08 PM, geoff2802 said:

Hey springaussie, 

Several of the Crown Princess bookings in Sydney are 2 days before or 2 days after Coral Princess bookings in Brisbane.  Perhaps a change of ship for Brisbane?  Don’t know why they woudn’t have just put the Sydney bookings in the name of Coral though.   

Next season is Majestic & Royal out of Sydney.

The following season is Royal & Crown. As it is now showing as Crown & Royal (drink up), Crown would be replacing Majestic. I am not disappointed about Discovery if she doesn't come down for that season, as it is really just another Majestic or Royal. If they want to send the new Sun Princess down, well that would be different. Happy for a bit of choice in having a Royal class and a Grand class out of Sydney but it would be more awesome if we could steal Coral from Brisbane.

 

The 2 or 3 days apart thing has happened a bit this season, with some cruises available from both Sydney or Brisbane, with both ports on the itinerary.

Edited March 10, 2023 by arxcards

[arxcards]

On 3/9/2023 at 6:08 PM, geoff2802 said:

Hey springaussie, 

Several of the Crown Princess bookings in Sydney are 2 days before or 2 days after Coral Princess bookings in Brisbane.  Perhaps a change of ship for Brisbane?  Don’t know why they woudn’t have just put the Sydney bookings in the name of Coral though.   

Coral's forward bookings for 2024/25 have now disappeared from the Brisbane schedule. Diamond Princess has multiple bookings in Brisbane, so it looks as though she will be based in Brisbane for the summer of 2024/25

 

Coral has cruises out of Fremantle in Sept/Oct 2024 which also includes a Singapore drydock, then apart from a few stray bookings in Melbourne, she is no longer visible on the schedules - unless the Sydney page isn't accurate.

[cheznandy]

50 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Coral's forward bookings for 2024/25 have now disappeared from the Brisbane schedule. Diamond Princess has multiple bookings in Brisbane, so it looks as though she will be based in Brisbane for the summer of 2024/25

 

Coral has cruises out of Fremantle in Sept/Oct 2024 which also includes a Singapore drydock, then apart from a few stray bookings in Melbourne, she is no longer visible on the schedules - unless the Sydney page isn't accurate.

Geoff perhaps we need a Princess thread for 2024/2025 speculation, although I am interested in what Royal brings too.

Don't care which Grand class they bring, Diamond/Crown both? will have to jump on a 2/3 nighter and grab a couple of FCD me thinks😅

Edited March 11, 2023 by cheznandy

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, cheznandy said:

Geoff perhaps we need a Princess thread for 2024/2025 speculation, although I am interested in what Royal brings too.

Don't care which Grand class they bring, Diamond/Crown both? will have to jump on a 2/3 nighter and grab a couple of FCD me thinks😅

Chili will understand us going OT, and we are in speculation season. I like the grand ships, but if you get a chance to try a short one on Coral, it is a really comfy ship.

 

I wonder if Royal has finally decided what ships will be where beyond 23/24?

See, back on topic 😂

[joejoe 59]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Chili will understand us going OT, and we are in speculation season. I like the grand ships, but if you get a chance to try a short one on Coral, it is a really comfy ship.

 

I wonder if Royal has finally decided what ships will be where beyond 23/24?

See, back on topic 😂

Geoff when would we know what rcl ships will be here.

Also do you know if rcl fcd are worth it?

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

Geoff when would we know what rcl ships will be here.

Also do you know if rcl fcd are worth it?

I think the release is a month or so away. 

We have never had a Royal FCD, so can't help with that.

[Suzcruz75]

2 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

Geoff when would we know what rcl ships will be here.

Also do you know if rcl fcd are worth it?

Apparently week of 1st May the 24/25 season will be released.

 

seems a lot later than normal and looks like just Ovation and Quantum again

[geoff2802]

9 hours ago, arxcards said:

Coral's forward bookings for 2024/25 have now disappeared from the Brisbane schedule. Diamond Princess has multiple bookings in Brisbane, so it looks as though she will be based in Brisbane for the summer of 2024/25

 

Coral has cruises out of Fremantle in Sept/Oct 2024 which also includes a Singapore drydock, then apart from a few stray bookings in Melbourne, she is no longer visible on the schedules - unless the Sydney page isn't accurate.

Sure looks like Diamond will be home ported in Brisbane instead of Coral.  She and Sapphire are a bit different to the Grand class ships - a little larger by tonnage and less cabins.  There is a small pool area back aft whereas the Grand ships have cabins there IIRC.  
I woudn’t be surprised if those Coral cruises to/from Perth are cancelled.  
If Crown goes to Sydney I hope they’ve finally sorted out the propulsion problems.  

[Relaxing Robbies]

15 hours ago, geoff2802 said:

Sure looks like Diamond will be home ported in Brisbane instead of Coral.  She and Sapphire are a bit different to the Grand class ships - a little larger by tonnage and less cabins.  There is a small pool area back aft whereas the Grand ships have cabins there IIRC.  
I woudn’t be surprised if those Coral cruises to/from Perth are cancelled.  
If Crown goes to Sydney I hope they’ve finally sorted out the propulsion problems.  

Interesting that Diamond has turnarounds in Melbourne scheduled for September to December 2024, before the Grand reappears in January 2025.

[arxcards]

On 3/11/2023 at 9:04 PM, geoff2802 said:

Sure looks like Diamond will be home ported in Brisbane instead of Coral.  She and Sapphire are a bit different to the Grand class ships - a little larger by tonnage and less cabins.  There is a small pool area back aft whereas the Grand ships have cabins there IIRC.  
I woudn’t be surprised if those Coral cruises to/from Perth are cancelled.  
If Crown goes to Sydney I hope they’ve finally sorted out the propulsion problems.  

They are all Grand - but different sub classes. They all have an aft pool deck, with varying numbers of aft facing cabins retrofitted. These aft decks are a great spot for a sunny day.

 

Yes, Diamond is nice. It was modified to suit the Asian market, but being built in Japan, she shakes a whole lot less than the Tin-can-tieri builds.

[arxcards]

On 3/11/2023 at 9:04 PM, geoff2802 said:

I woudn’t be surprised if those Coral cruises to/from Perth are cancelled.  

If Coral is leaving us, I think the initial cruises would stay in place up till the drydock, then she will relocate to wherever from Singapore and drop the final cruise back to Freo.

[woodscruise]

5 hours ago, arxcards said:

If Coral is leaving us, I think the initial cruises would stay in place up till the drydock, then she will relocate to wherever from Singapore and drop the final cruise back to Freo.

Do you think that Princess will offer a 2025 world cruise ex Australia?

[cheznandy]

4 hours ago, woodscruise said:

Do you think that Princess will offer a 2025 world cruise ex Australia?

Not Geoff, but I noticed Crown has bookings in Sydney May and June 2025, and Perth and Melbourne in May. Perhaps a round OZ then World cruise in June? The last date for Sydney is June 10th 2025.

Have we ever had a grand class do a World cruise from here? I know there have been the Sun classes and Coral but can't recall a Grand.....not that I have ever done one🤣

[NSWP]

1 minute ago, cheznandy said:

Not Geoff, but I noticed Crown has bookings in Sydney May and June 2025, and Perth and Melbourne in May. Perhaps a round OZ then World cruise in June? The last date for Sydney is June 10th 2025.

Have we ever had a grand class do a World cruise from here? I know there have been the Sun classes and Coral but can't recall a Grand.....not that I have ever done one🤣

Chez the Grand Class Princess ships have never done a Worldie from OZ. Just as you say the Sun Class - Dawn etc and Coral.