love to cruise 2017

18 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

The crew IS paid a living wage, this is mandated and governed by international convention.  

sorry to disargee but we have two family crew members on Brillance at present and no there not for a min 63 hr work week and what there required to do...no not a living wage. 

unbelivable this CEO does it again, they make a billion dollars and yet there crews have to beg off tips for making that billion dollars...its time they stepped up and paid them a living wage ...but no this ceo and the company will nickel and dime us to death and continue to pay the crews pennies per hour worked until we say enough is enough,,,,

well spoke RCI head office today....there giving zip of course so we are cancelling. as D+ we are done with Royal...really am 

11 hours ago, son3cruisers said:

There were quite a few staterooms available on our March 9th sailing, as we checked quite often. I’m curious to see how many will continue with this new sailing, or if it will be changed again ( which sounds like others on here are quite confident it will!) 

changed to what lol they alreasy ruined bucket list trip...we are now talking to airline they been pretty unserstanding unlike royal with the take it or leave it deal 

hi ya 

no we be on royal, they have same sort of transfer looking at doing that have to book tickets for Arizona separate  

HI all, 

we be there in oct off the cruise, we are looking for a tour with airport drop off....have you seen any ?? we pick up at cruise port..

love any info 

On 2/6/2023 at 6:52 PM, v3cruiser said:

 

oh boy. looks like when we board on the 22nd it ought to be fun. LOL. Still no documents or email from NCL where the meeting point is to be bussed to board the ship. If its the panama convention center that is not bad as it is right up the Amador causeway that leads to port. hopefully this is it. We are staying at the radisson not too far north of there. Thanks for update!

how was the hotel?? we are looking at that one for new year 

6 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

If you are happy on RCI, then that is probably the way to go, although I think Princess tends to be the more popular cruise line locally.

 

From Sydney there are four main cruise regions.

 

The Queensland coast and Great Barrier Reef.

The islands of the South Pacific, including New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji.

New Zealand.

Southern Australia, including Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.

 

As well, there are the very popular cruises that circumnavigate Australia. This takes about four weeks and is mostly done by Princess. This would be my personal choice, but you need to have the time for it.

 

The best two week cruise would be New Zealand. Culturally NZ is very familiar to Australians, but scenically it's a whole different ball game. Milford Sound is definitely worth a look.

 

If you want to do some warm weather cruising while here, I would favour the South Pacific islands over the Great Barrier Reef. The coral is more accessible and the ports are more exotic.

thank you so much, great info and starting point......

21 minutes ago, JJK2008 said:

Welcome. My DW and I are booked this coming November for a New Zealand cruise that leaves from Sydney. Like many we had this plan pre-covid, but the virus stopped all our plans. So, we're back at it again. Neither of us has been to New Zealand and travelling that far seemed like a waste not to do just Australia and not visit New Zealand. We considered trying to do a land tour of New Zealand but couldn't find anything that did both the north & south islands in a way that satisfied us. Trying to do it on our own also seemed impractical. So, our two-week cruise is on Princess (never done Princess before) and covers both islands. Not exactly what we would choose but gives us an overall of the country with a number of port stops. We will spend time in Oz both before and after our New Zealand cruise with plans to travel extensively. This thread of Australia & New Zealand Cruisers has hundreds of pages of outstanding information if you're willing to take the time to sift through them. Plus, lots of Aussies and Kiwis on here posting and offering tips, info, answering questions and willing to help. We have found it invaluable so far. Check it out. Stay Safe & Healthy. Good Luck.

 

thank you so much for your note, yes its a bucket list trip us...we want to see as much as we can 

Hi all, 

we are looking to cruise next year out of Sydney....we like some input on the best cruises, best places to visit so when we look at cruises we have some idea on the locations. we are diamond on RCI but would consider any line if the trip could give us an amazing exp.....not a booze cruise lol ...not us  

any input would be welcome....

so true hate to say it,,,,,

HI all, 

we all sit here and chat about this Issue and offer ideas, but the only way we going to get RCI to understand that most are not happy paying more for less is to tell them.....the customer voice needs to be heard. they are over working there people and providing less...look at the new menu...once a day cleaning. the food getting cheaper and cheaper...but the prices keep going up. 

more and more people will change or remove gratuities and the people that suffer are the workers so this company can make huge profits...reach out and tell them we don't like the changes...at some point they might even listen 

just my two cents.....

we are staying at the Hilton at needle point next month april 7th price was pretty good on trivigo 

thanks ...will take a look. do they still make suit cases with hangers?? 

1 minute ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I have found suitcases in the wrong numbers and had to search for them.

 

We have 2 Samsonite rolling garment bags.  These are my favorite for cruising.  Everything for evenings stay on hangers.  It also has room for more stuff toward the bottom for packing cubes and a big outside pocket we sometimes use for dirty clothes on the way home.  Love those bags!  

looking for suiycases with garment brackets to replace our old ones.....cant find anywhere ...any thoughts ?? 

melon margarita made with melon juice  

13 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

We’ll be on the Radiance for a northbound Alaska cruise next Friday.  How’s their dining room?  Is it worth getting a seat by the table for 5:30 dinner?  It should definitely still be light outside.  

yup we are on the same cruise should be saylight heading north 

morning 

we just came off grandiosa, just head to the dining room when you board. give them the room numbers and they should be able to sit you all together. they did for us.....

have a great trip..we were really surprised how good the crew and food was. 

hi....

yes i loyal to rci, but we sailed Europe on MSC. a few months ago....and we were very surprised!!! after reading all the bad things and having a few issues. the cruise it self was amazing!!

the service and crew  was outstanding and the food was great!..yes the shows were different but still fun to watch. a totally different experience to all our other cruises . 

would we cruise on msc again...hell yes, worth the money as long you understand your on a European ship...and want to exp something different. 

Hi 

we just came off MSC Grandsioa in Europe, like most it was our first time on them, we heard the goood,  the bad, the OMG why are you sailing with them comment. 

we have done over 25 cruises and we were pretty amazed by the standard of service, the food was even good and the shows were ok....but he ship was clean, didn't penny pinch u like some.....only ***** was customer service staff and officers they think they are better than the crew and some passengers.

the crew them self....were great!!! 

would be go again....Yes we would.... 

hi we have done it twice and been upgraded once. we have just bid again on our Alaska cruise in aug. we shall see. they will not tell you until 30days before...they want to sell as many as they can at normal price.  check your booking to see if cabin number has changed...

watch out we had friends who were in a great location but upgraded and got a room full of noise and bad views...not good. i always bid on couple of upgrades not too much in regards to money...you never know...what will happen. 

I am sorry MSC maybe great once on board, but there customer service when u have issues prior to really does suck, they just cant seem to get it together ...we just cancelled two booking we had in Europe in march due to no help. 

we have still not heard a word nor our TA ..this becoming a joke with MSC. 

sure have and your not in it, 

he cant help him self ...he opens mouth inserts foot before brain is in gear.......helping the cruise industry my foot...