BecAus

So glad you’ve made the best of a bad situation and still managed to have a great time Thanks for sharing about your trip and sharing all your lovely photos You’ll love Singapore (I’ve been lots of times as it’s a short flight from Perth) Gardens by the Bay is not to be missed! A river cruise is lovely too! So…we get off Ovation tomorrow Hubby tested positive last night He didn’t really have any symptoms - he slept a lot yesterday & was a bit achy but that’s it. No cough, runny nose or any other symptoms. We tested to be safe/sure not expecting it to be + (Him sleeping a lot is not unusual - we work really long hours at home, 7 days a week so recuperation / sleep a lot on holidays is usual) Rang Medical this AM & he went down It was a waste of time really - they don’t do any testing, won’t write any sort of medical certificate stating C19 positive so not sure what the point was I’m not saying we would have let him walk around positive, we absolutely wouldn’t do that, but we may as well have self managed / isolated ourselves All they did is offer free internet/room service but we get that in a suite anyway We did several ship tours & there were people who were obviously sick with a cough / runny nose. There was more than a couple near us on the last tour in Wellington Coughing in CK & theatre as well. I tested negative. I’m immunocompromised & have been wearing a mask most of the time He did not wear a mask except when told to on tour shuttles etc I’ve been told to disembark as regular with other guests Hubby will be collected later & escorted off - a guy just knocked on the door with (brown) tags for him - said they wanted to collect the bag in 1/2 hr - I told him you can’t do that with so little notice Hubby will walk his bag off You would really think they would have the process for this a bit more organised by now! So..then we have a problem/dilemma tomorrow We are boarding the Indian Pacific train from Sydney to Perth I checked their website & it said please call ASAP if unwell I rang this morning & was pretty stunned at the response There are no restrictions - they don’t care if you have C19 If we don’t board we lose the full amount (10K) - I said I can’t believe you are telling C19+ passengers to board and she said yes, Aus / NSW has no current restrictions so you board or lose it - no credit note offered or any other option. I actually have 2 travel insurance policies (incl. C19 cover) but neither will be any good Their PDS states that you must contact your travel provider ASAP to minimise the loss - given they are happy for us to board we wouldn’t be covered if we choose not to So…I guess we’re boarding He’s not really unwell at all He’ll wear a mask even though it’s not required & we’ll stay in our cabin as much as possible - what else are we supposed to do, I’m not throwing 10k down the drain Anyway..that’s how our trip ended up It was mostly ok for the first 9 - 10 days with minimal complaints - I guess that’s what travel is like ATM We’d managed to avoid C19 till now and we’ve been away several times but them’s the breaks I guess Safe travels back home x

I see you now just coming past the Opera House!

So, so sorry to come on here just now & read this. I’ve really enjoyed reading about your trip - I feel terrible for you!! We flew in yesterday from Perth & I’m lying in bed looking out the hotel window across to the Opera House & overlooking the cruise terminal waiting for the ship to arrive, been awake since just after 2am unfortunately An unbelievable shame for you having travelled all this way, glad at least a full refund is being offered I think you’ve made the right decision though, you should hopefully be a little more comfortable in an apartment than in the ships cabin & fingers crossed your husband might not come down with it I’m a little concerned but I knew the risks Unfortunately we are having our ? 4th wave here in Aus - we did sail on Spectrum out of Singapore in June with no issues. I’m immunocompromised although I didn’t know (or wasn’t) when I booked this 12 - 18mths ago I wore a mask on the plane & I will wear one today & in public indoors areas on ship & will probably ask my husband to as well and hope for the best We are in a suite so have meals in CK & room service option I believe so can avoid the WJ / MDR & perhaps lower the risks a little We live in a rural area & haven’t caught C19 to date, both our teens in the house caught it but it’s quite a big house & I was able to separate them at other end & just throw their meals down the hall! My husband has 3 jabs & Ive had 4 so we’ve really done all we can We’ll go, take some precautions & hope for the best So, again, I’m so very sorry for you for how this has turned out I am wishing you a super speedy recovery & hope you are able to get out soon & try & enjoy your last few days before heading home Safe travels xx

Sorry for your loss 😢

I was going to ask - when you caught the water taxi in Vila into town was there still a lot of wrecked boats along the shore lines on the way across. We did the water taxi into town in January 2018 from Voyager and there was so many wrecked / abandoned boats, apparently from a cyclone 2 or 3 years before?

"No production shows" - does this mean they didn't show Pixels Cabaret in Two70? Thanks 🙂

Yes, I received an email yesterday from RCI that our excursion was cancelled, I was kinda expecting it as I couldn't see it on Royal's website anymore for a while now. It was the Blue Baths, Tea & Rotorua Thermal Tour. There's not many options on RCI website for Tauranga. I don't think they plan on missing Tauranga (although anything can happen of course) From what I read on one of the private operators websites Tauranga in particular has been hit with a lot of changes / closures to tour stops / operators during covid. I've been looking at other options. I'm one who likes to have something locked in, I'm not a big 'just wing it' type of person. It causes me angst not to have it organised. My husband hates it! I'm looking at a 6.5hr Local Tasting Tour that includes lunch and afternoon dessert / cocktail that I'm leaning towards. There's also a 3hr Sundowner History Tour including a beer or wine at 2.30pm which would probably work okay with our 7.45pm expected departure but I'm leaning towards the lunch one. I read on another thread (the CC Aus/NZ board I think) that Tauranga in particular was a port that had lots of tour options available at the port on arrival. That info is probably pre-covid though.

Not a RCI ship - it's Majestic Princess (not that OP said it was a RCI ship) News reports say there are ~800 cases among the 3300 guests / 1300 crew. The ship had been on a 12day trip around NZ Naturally some of the news reports are a bit over sensationalised - this made me laugh: "Video posted to social media captured the moment it pulled into the harbour (Sydney) with passengers clinging to their balcony" - 'clinging to their balcony', really - bit over the top! Like OP, we have an upcoming sailing in a couple of weeks (11n NZ on Ovation) so are a bit nervous in case NZ in particular or Sydney put restrictions in place. I don't think Sydney/NSW will, I'm more concerned NZ might. According to reports those who tested positive were isolating in their cabins. Supposedly all unimpacted guests were wearing masks on board Infected guests are being disembarked separately to those who test negative Infected guests had to arrange private transport to home or accommodation and to continue to isolate and the company (Princess Cruises) was helping guests to organise this. According to the company - 'All passengers will have undertaken a rapid antigen test in the 24 hours before disembarking and all will be masked "regardless of COVID status".' Australia is currently in the midst of a covid wave which is expected to peak before Christmas. At this point it is mostly a carry on as normal approach leaving it up to the individual concerned to hopefully isolate at home if they are unwell, no different to if you've got the flu really. Hopefully most people have the common sense to stay at home if they are sick, whether it be covid, flu or something else and try to avoid spreading illness around to the general population. Like the OP I too am trying to currently work out what the current protocols for RCI are for pre and post cruise travel and what documents are needed in preparation for our upcoming trip.

I''d really appreciate anything you can find out. This is the tour I was most looking forward to. When we first booked this TP 2 or 3 years ago I had Patrick's tour booked, that was Bora Bora wasn't it? From all reports, including yours, it's very unfortunate we can no longer stop there : (

I'd be interested to know if you happen to hear from any other passengers if they had a better experience on any other tours. RCI offers a similar tour as this, not sure which company they use, it's pretty expensive now though. I sure don't want to pay even more and it's still crap!

Oh dear...that is who I have booked with & was really looking forward to this tour. It sounds pretty crap. I 'barely' snorkel & I sure don't want to be bitten by anything. Might have to go back to the drawing board for our day(s) here. I booked an ATV / Jetski tour for our second day there (through Moorea Activities Centre) Sorry you're day wasn't better, that's disappointing : (

Hey, what date is your sailing? We are 26 Nov - I noticed about a week ago that the check-in tab had changed to 'open'. I checked in and the earliest check-in available was 12.30 - 1.30pm (it's a 6.45pm sail away) Can't be sure but I think 12.30pm was the earliest check-in. My questions is: we are in a GS for the first time. I thought I'd read on here that suites can check-in an hour early but maybe I'm wrong about that? Also, if that is true it also might be a US thing and might not apply when sailing out of Sydney? I'd booked late checkout at our hotel till 2pm but I'm going to cancel that and we'll probably wander down around 11.30am and see how we go - won't be a problem to find somewhere to sit for a bit before check-in if it's an issue.

Thanks Renee - I'd appreciate it! : ) We have two seas days each side going across and 6 straight port days. Auckland - * Bay of Islands - Tauranga - * Napier - Wellington - Picton (* not done before) They've made some time changes to the port stops and still haven't updated their own website / cruise planner excursion tour pages weeks and months later which is annoying. The biggest change was arriving in Napier at 1pm instead of 9am. I've actually booked excursions solely through RCI this time - when I booked a year ago it was suggested excursions might only be available via ship's tour, which hasn't turned out to be the case. So, I'm not worried about the changes. It's only a slight adjustment to most tours so I'm sure that will be done without a hitch. The Napier stop I have a winery tour booked at 10.15am (the other option at the time was 12.15pm). That's the one I've been waiting to see what they are planning to do. I booked the excursions last Black Friday sales and they have literally doubled in price - I can't believe what they've got them priced at now. I basically got 2 for 1 buying a year ago. Knowing RCI, I wouldn't put it past them to cancel the excursion and tell people they'll have to rebook, at current prices of course!, so I've been waiting impatiently to see what they do. If that's the case we'll just do our own thing on that one. You will love the sounds, it's really beautiful but then the whole of the NZ cruise is really - enjoy!

Hi! I'm very much looking forward to your review! I had been hoping you were going to do one! I saw a post of yours awhile back and at first I thought you were on the same 11n NZ cruise we have booked but the dates didn't sound right and after looking at RCI website I saw there was an 11n NZ cruise end of October and then another one (ours) on the 26 November. Slightly different itineraries as yours is doing the 'Sounds' and ours is doing more of the North Island. I happened to look up your itinerary this morning and thought "I hope Renee does a review'! Have you done the NZ Sounds before? We've done them a couple of times on Radiance and Ovation and whilst I definitely wouldn't have minded doing them again, I'm also looking forward to our stops, a couple of which we haven't done before. Also interested in hearing how you're TP goes as we are doing the return trip on Quantum in April. We don't have the NZ stops on that one, same stops in the middle (was a bit upset about the Bora Bora change as I would have loved to go there but it is what it is!). We also stop in Kona day before we arrive in Honolulu. So...very much looking forward to reading any posts you do on your trip. My request for your second cruise is if you wouldn't mind posting the Entertainment schedule for that one. That's why I'd looked up your itinerary this morning : ) Whilst it might be a little different to ours it might help me a little with our planning. We will be in a GS for the first time (on both cruises actually) and I'm trying to work out what time I should request our dinner reservations for, I'll mostly reserve CK on the NZ cruise. Have a wonderful time. We are very much looking forward to the RCI ships gracing our shores again - it's been a long time between drinks! I'm curious to see what they will do if the ships arrive with C19 cases on board. Hopefully common sense will prevail but I think the non-cruising public still have a pretty bad view about what happened with the Princess ships at the start of the pandemic. I think both Australia and NZ have both decided that we just have to live with it now so I'm really hoping it all goes well with the ships arrivals and first few cruises here after nearly 3 years away. Sorry, this post got longer than I intended but I will be watching for your updates to your exciting trip - Enjoy!!

I definitely wouldn't convert to Aus coins - if you wish to tip just do it as you normally do with your $1 bills. Most or all of the staff come with the ship and aren't Aussie's so I think they would much prefer USD, it's pretty hard to exchange AUD coin. If they do want some AUD for shore leave etc.. it would be much easier for them to just exchange a few USD into AUD for what they need.

Hi Eileen It sounds like a wonderful trip(s) you are doing! I had a question that you might be able to answer? You might not be doing one but I 'Wondered' if you might have seen some info on their excursions on board. I was wanting to know how much Royal charged for a day trip excursion to Rome from Civitavecchia port? Just a tour that does the main highlights of Rome and Vatican City. Wish you a wonderful couple of cruises!

DaKahuna - thanks so much for your great review of your Alaska cruise and all the gorgeous photos, especially the food but the scenery / location photos are great too, brings back memories from our pre-covid trip to Alaska on Ovation. Sorry if I missed it - have you made reservations at all for the CK being in a GS - I assume you have, at least for dinner? We are in a GS for the first time in November / April (TP) on Ovation / Quantum Wishing you just as enjoyable cruise again next week

Hi AZDee, what are the two stops that are not open yet?

I recently sailed on Spectrum out of Singapore. We only booked it 2 - 3 weeks before sailing. I purchased the Refreshment Pkg for ~ $40AUD/day thinking that's the price I would have to pay booking so close to sailing. However, a week before sailing they had the Memorial Day sale and I was able to cancel and repurchase for $27/day which is the same price I got in the Black Friday sales last year for my upcoming cruises. I did have TP booked for this coming October that I cancelled and changed it to next year. I did make CP purchases for that cruise last November, I've had them refunded now obviously. The Refreshment was $27.64AUD/day and although I didn't buy it I noted down that the Deluxe Beverage Pkg was $85.40AUD/day - that included the gratuities. When booking on the AUS website the grat's are usually included although I've had them included and not included when looking at a TP booking. It pays to just go thru with a dummy booking of the pkg you're looking at right through to just before confirming and entering c/card details to check that there's no extra amount added on. Hard to know what the price will be this year for the DBP in Black Friday sale - it's generally accepted that prices have gone up across the board but I will wait till November to book for our cruise next April.

Generally it's: Cocktails $13 Mocktails $7 Wine ~ $9 - $12 Beers $7.50 Spirit $10 - $12 Coffee ~ $4 - $5 Coke/Soda $3.50 Btl Water $3 All priced in USD and will have 18% added on top There should be "some' sort of sale in the next few days for 4th July - it usually starts a couple of days before the 4th. I see from a previous post that you are sailing ~ mid December? I always see the best pricing in the black Friday sale at the end of November. Not sure if that is too close to your sailing to be on sale but would probably be ok. If there's a price you can live with in the 'likely' upcoming sale you can always purchase and if it is cheaper closer to your sail date you can cancel (with a refund back to your c/card) and repurchase at the cheaper rate. We have a NZ sailing at the end of November and I purchased our CP items last November for that in the Black Friday sales. Didn't purchase the DBP but did purchase a Refreshment Pkg for $27.64AUD/day. We have a TP next April and haven't purchased anything for that as the prices have been way too high the whole time. I will wait till Black Friday sale for that one and see what the prices are like then. Gook luck!