Missmiaow

On 6/29/2019 at 4:58 PM, Tigerlily75 said:

I emailed the NZ High Commission about their very confusing wording. They responded that if you are an Australian Citizen travelling on an Australian passport (meeting character requirements of course) you do not need a NZeTA when travelling by cruise ship. The webpage I had included in the email was then updated, however other pages still have the confusing wording. 

 

To to clarify the confusing wording, it originally said

 

Under “Who does NOT need an ETA” - Australian citizens travelling on an Australian passport 

 

Then under “Who DOES need an ETA” - passengers travelling by cruise ship REGARDLESS of nationality 

 

So which is it, I asked them. They need to be more concise with something so important.

 

Thanks. That was exactly the issue and you’ve cleared it up perfectly.

We’re in a Grand Suite on the Ovation in November for a short cruise. We usually sail in a Royal Suite on Celebrity and have been given equivalent Diamond status on Royal. As it’s our first suite experience on Royal, we’re trying to figure out whether the suite perks are comparable. Different reviews and the RC website have differences listed so we’re wondering if someone can give us first hand information.

• Is internet included? (We purchased one online and weren’t stopped from checking out)
• Are drinks packages included? (because we purchased them online)
• We bought dining packages because we’re sure specialty restaurants aren’t included like we’re used to, but we can’t book online without paying separately. Will we still be able to get in (specifically to Wonderland) if we wait til we’re onboard, or do we need to somehow contact a Concierge prior to embarking?

Are there any perks to this suite category not listed (such as on Celebrity in a Royal Suite we can organise in-room parties for our new onboard friends)?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Thanks @bigkev I hope you’re right. (That was a really quick reply too. Appreciated!) I’m sure we’ll hear otherwise if that’s the case, because it begins in October. There’s a lot of other Aussies sailing through before we’re due to depart. We’re not sailing until December, but I like to have everything planned far enough ahead of time to not have any worries before we sail.

It’s hard to sail any of the other lines you mention from Australia due to lack of availability, so we’ve been on Celebrity Solstice in the Royal Suite a few times. Last year we added the Celebrity Silhouette Royal Suite to our experience (transatlantic from Southampton to Florida) and found it to be very easily comparable. We’re looking forward to the refurbishments to the Solstice and to the addition of the Celebrity Eclipse to Australian waters. We’ve also sailed Royal Caribbean suites but have not found the value there that Celebrity offers (Celebrity’s inclusion of specialty restaurants, internet, laundry... and $1000 room credit on our next sail to NZ, which paid for all of our shore excursions).

Thanks for your review. It is hard to discuss top end cruising on the Celebrity board (or Facebook pages for that matter) because there are many people who don’t appreciate suite cruising and are dominant in comments. This has been a refreshing read.

This is really confusing! I sent my travel agent the information below because we’re cruising in December. She replied quoting the same information but not answering my question. It says “All cruise travelers” need to buy it, but it also says “Australian citizens are exempt”. We don’t want to arrive and not be able to board, or arrive in NZ and be told we can’t leave the ship. Does anyone know the answer??

New Zealand will implement an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) as a new security and facilitation measure that will help speed things up at the border.

From July 2019, travellers will be able to request an ETA and it will become mandatory for travel from 1 October 2019 onwards. 

Who needs an ETA

From 1 October 2019, all air travellers from 60 visa waiver countries, and all cruise travellers, will need to hold an ETA before travelling to New Zealand. An ETA will last up to 2 years and cost NZD $9.00 for mobile application requests and NZD $12.00 for web browser requests.
 

• Australian citizens will be exempt, however Australian permanent residents will need to hold an ETA but will not be required to pay for an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).   
• New Zealand citizens (provided they travel on their New Zealand passports) and holders of valid New Zealand visas (both resident visas and temporary visas) will continue to be able to enter New Zealand without an ETA.
• Passengers from a visa waiver country or a transit visa waiver country, who are transiting through New Zealand, are also required to hold an ETA from 1 October 2019, even if New Zealand is not their final destination.

We found this by Googling Bermuda Triangle tours. It wasn’t advertised by the ship but weirdly enough there was a sign there saying it’s sponsored by Royal Caribbean Cruises (We were on the Celebrity Silhouette). We were almost alone on our visit and it was the best stop of our cruise. We loved the virtual ride through the Bermuda Triangle and looking at all the different theories for the disappearances. There are other sections too and my husband loved the 3D glasses virtual ride on the Americas Cup boat. I liked the Titanic information and a few other areas too. Definitely worth a visit.

Yours seems to appear if its Celebrity Silhouette 11-3-2018

Yes. The old one appears just fine (I created it about a year ago), but no new ones will work.

I have my next one that I created ages ago, but can’t get any new ones either. I tried the .com and the .com.au sites, and all I get is a copy of the url where the code originated or a little square box. I can see that html is set to off, but can’t seem to change it. I’m on my iPad.

Hi,

My husband and I are just deciding whether to treat ourselves to an Owners Suite or a Penthouse Suite on the Sun Princess, and would like to know if anyone has experienced both, and can comment on value for money, which one is better.

Thanks for your help.

Hi everyone. My husband and I are up to our 5th cruise this year. 3 with P&O, and this will be our second with Celebrity (which is by FAR our favorite, despite the huge price difference). Looking forward to our first transatlantic journey this year. Flying over to Rome, then on the Silhouette from Rome to USA. After 2 years of payments (4 remaining), we're getting excited now.