Gold Coast Cruisers
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Posts posted by Gold Coast Cruisers
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Jill that is correct.
Airfares have gone very expensive in the last few years. BNE to SYD and MEL are for sure. at short notice also.
Does any of your cruises clash with people from the Car Racing events or Schoolies?
No not particularly it seems whether we fly into Gold Coast airport or Brisbane, either don't offer any deals. Although flying into Gold Coast is always more expensive than into Brisbane.... tourist pricing I suppose.:rolleyes:
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I've been looking at flight pricing to connect with cruises for the next few months.
During this year the airfares for short domestic flights have increased considerably.
No longer do there seem to be any cheapies. For us it seems we have to add another $500.00 on to our cruise fare just to get us to and from the ship on a flight that is only 1hr and 20 minutes.
Yet we can fly at the same time to Perth for $448 for two people, a flight time of 4 hours.:confused:
I wonder if our domestic airlines are all in on the deal pushing these prices up?
Have you noticed increased airfares from your city to board your ship.
You Sydney people don't know how lucky you are... :)
Jill:)
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Hovering around the $0.9359 :D
So glad I have a bundle stashed that I purchased at $1.04 ready for future trips to the USA. :)
Jill:)
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No, we book most of our cruises a minimum of six months in advance, for instance all 3 legs of our Voyager cruise were guarantee cabins booked 9 months prior.
Jill:)
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Guarantee cabins are not available on most cruises, so it hasn't always been there for these cruises.
They are typically only released when sales have been lower than expected and more likely as the time nears sailing.
Well I have to say that just about every cruise we have been on we have been offered and chosen the "guarantee".
Jill:)
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The issue is nothing to do with gimmicks - that's the 50% off second person aspect.
The issue is that it's illegal to falsely advertise a discount. Here we have something that was priced at one price. Then there's a discount added - but the price was bumped off.
Of course, they get around it by introducing a new category "guarantee" so it's not exactly the same. But practice and commonsense doesn't have guarantees priced 30% more than the grade they are guaranteed against.
This gets the dodgy rating.
"Guarantee" is not a new category, it's always been there, and it has always been a little less to purchase a "Guarantee cabin" compared to purchasing a 'selected cabin' with RCCL.
Jill
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At best, it is deceitful.
Not happy, Royal Caribbean!
As Jill said, we are not silly. Why would a "ships guarantee" cost more than an actual cabin booking?
PS I got the same email offer, which got the treatment it deserved!
And at the end of the day it's only $60.00 more per person to select a cabin. Hardly a deal.
Imagine all those who have trotted into their trusty Travel Agent and think they've got the best deal ever! Actually because so many are booking Guarantee I notice the 09 November cruise has no Guarantee 50% deals left but I see there are still plenty of oceanview cabins available so my guess is those who have booked the 50% off deal will still only get an oceanview cabin not even an upgrade to a balcony or better.
Jill
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Yes, just did the exercise too on the phone speaking direct to RCCL.
It appears that the 'ships guarantee' for the first passenger is higher than the standard per person 'select your cabin' price.
The deal we looked at was 'select' an oceanview cabin $1532.38 per person inclusive taxes and Grats, a total of $3064.76.
To book the buy one 50% off for the second person, the fare was $1962.20 for the first person inclusive of taxes and grats, and 50% off that fare for the second person making a total of $2943.30.
Personally I think $1962.20 is way too expensive for a 10 day oceanview on RCCL in the first place.
However when the calculation is done the Guarantee fare in total is $121.46 cheaper because it has been loaded on to the first persons fare.
All in all, don't think it's worth that for what is only a 'ships guarantee' deal, which normally with RCCL is a much better deal than 'select' a cabin.
Agree with all of you, we're not silly and can do the sums.
Jill:(
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That's no good Merrilyn.Is there no way you can get compensation for having to find your own way from Vancouver to San Diego?
Jill
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I remember it was Millenium that hit underwater rocks whilst at anchor in Villefranche a few years ago, damaging the pods.
Jill
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Hi Gae,
Was that Rhapsody deal booking direct with RCL? The double points will get us closer to Diamond Plus. :)
Jill
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Talking about budget airlines, quite often by the time you add a meal (which you need on a long flight) and the cost for checked baggage, it's often cheaper to go with the airline where the airfare includes everything. We never book budget airlines for longhaul flights these days.
Jill
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Hello David, could you please add me with the Sea Princess Fijian Jewels October 2013.
Thanks again,
Jill :)
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That's an exceptional deal and Rhapsody is a lovely ship.
Jill
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Woop woop.... only one more sleep to go.... can you tell I'm excited.
Jilly:D
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Hi David,
I am excited... this is a first for us on Cunard.
Can you please add Queen Elizabeth departing 20 February 2013 Auckland to Los Angeles for us.. :D :D
Hope someone can 'webcam' us as we leave, I'd love to add that to my collection. :)
Jilly:)
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Hi Robin,
If you don't book early you have to be prepared to miss out I suppose. If there was a definite cruise I wanted to do I don't think I could wait until the last minute.
I read a post somewhere where the poster mentioned they purchased early at full price and complained when they saw the same cabins heavily discounted. I don't know if it's true but they said they ended up getting refunded the difference by their TA.
We keep an eye out for bargains and had no plans to do this cruise until we got the sale advice.
From what I read the bargains generally start 90 days out, then the last minute fares are offered to fill the boat.
Your daughter picked up a bargain. Usually single supplements are around 1.5 times the normal fare or higher. RCI is doing the outside cabins at about 1.1x for these cabins. The $200 OBC is the icing on the cake.
For this trip, the outside cabins are cheaper than the inside at the moment which indicates they aren't filling as quickly. My worry is that I will be upgraded from my inside guarantee to an outside if they don't fill them.
See you all on board!:)
You could get a Promenade cabin on Voyager that overlooks the Royal Promenade. I've not stayed in one but people we got to know when we were on Voyager had one and loved it. They have a bay window seat. :)
Jilly:)
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Eileen contact someone like Burrell Stockbroking they can get them for you.
Jilly:)
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That was probably "Delhi Belly " Barry :D:D
We did a WC segment once where some folk had done an overland in India, and once back on board , were credited with passing a tummy bug around the ship.That lasted a few days and went. We were advised to sip thin soups, eat lots of well cooked rice and and eat fresh...ie peel a banana.:)
Funny you should mention rice. My Doctor was telling me that rice is one of the most 'dodgy' things you can eat. I found that quite strange as I thought it was safe as houses, as they say. She was saying that once rice is cooked you can store it in the refrigerator for no more than 48 hours and even within that time bacteria will begin to grow. She went to Hong Kong on her honeymoon. They went for dinner the first evening and she had only rice as she was tired. Within a couple of hours she was extremely ill and it lasted for 6 days and on the 7th day it was time to go home.... so that was her honeymoon...she didn't get to see a thing of Hong Kong except the bathroom of the hotel.
Jilly
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And all because the 'silly' few passengers neglect to wash their hands after using the bathroom and refuse to use the sanitizer before eating.
It only takes a few.......
Jilly:mad:
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Wow David this list of who's cruising when is getting bigger and bigger. Thank you so much for putting in the effort continuing this.
I'm so happy to see that after all these months we've finally arrived at MY month......yay :D:D
Jilly:D
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We're very happy with the deal we got on Arcadia for 50 nights from Southampton to Brisbane in January next year, and a great itinerary. Per person, per day it is a better price than Princess offer for half a world cruise.
Jill:)
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We recently did a 3nighter on Rhapsody of the Seas at $150 per night (down on deck 2).......our most expensive (nighlty rate) cruise to date.
Those little cruises always calculate more per day than longer cruises. You'd think it would be the other way around..:confused:
Jill:)
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:)Here's some hot off the press deals I just found.
VOYAGER OF THE SEAS 14 night Singapore to Perth 22 October 2012:
Inside $1286, Ocean view $1799, Balcony $2309, Suite $2989
RADIANCE OF THE SEAS 17 night Honolulu to Sydney 24 September 2012. Inside $1709 (didn't check on the other categories)
CELEBRITY MILLENIUM 19 night Honolulu to Sydney 2 November2012 . Inside $2299 (didn't check for other categories)
CELEBRITY SOLSTICE 12 night CHRISTMAS CRUISE 23 December 2012. Inside $1999.
Jill
Are the airlines in Australia pricing us out of the market.
in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Posted · Edited by Gold Coast Cruisers
And once again if you were booking a flight within the USA you wouldn't have a credit card charge fee:) However we have to pay fees for every travel booking we make in Australia.:mad:
Jill