BecAus

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!

Ha, ha - that's fine : ) Yes, that is what I was most concerned about. I thought it would be a deal breaker for my husband. We live in small country town and our mask wearing has been very limited. It really wasn't that bad. We had a few days in Singapore beforehand and whilst you don't love doing it of course, it really was ok, my husband didn't complain once about it. I'm supposedly severely immuno-compromised so I tend to wear one if I'm going to the supermarket etc.. even though we've stopped that here now but on the whole we've had VERY limited mask use. Singaporeans generally wear them inside and outside, rare to see someone without one. A few did that a lot before the pandemic anyway but most/all do now.

No problem, happy to help with any info I can. I posted the Compass and other info - hope you can see them enough to read - I had a stupid amount of trouble posting them - I'm not very 'techy'. A few more things as I think of them. As on other ships, the cruise compass paper form is not automatically given out but I asked my room attendant and he was happy to provide. I found having to use the app constantly really drained my phone and I just prefer looking at a paper copy. I am 99% certain that you will have no problem entering the lounge as a Diamond with your card. They are very aware that Diamonds are allowed to use it. I'm certain my son and I did that in 2019 with no issue and we were in an inside room. He had quite a few pages of his list that he referred to so I'm sure it contained all suites + any D's & up. There was very rarely anyone in the lounge at all. Quite a few using the dining area though. They are still under a few restrictions in Singapore although most have lifted now. Masks indoors was the main thing - all over Singapore and the ship. I was a bit concerned about this as we've had very little mask wearing where we live but it really wasn't that much of a hassle. Once you sit down or you are outside it's not required. We did have to do a pre-cruise RAT test (they call it ART) but this was very easy. We stayed at the Carlton and there was a testing centre across the road at Raffles City. Made an appt online (email) before arriving. 10.30am appt (they gave me that time) for a noon boarding. I had them shove the stick in as we are not very familiar with the tests here ($25) or you can shove it up there yourself for $15 whilst they observe. Emailed result within 1/2hr and it was also on the TraceTogether app that I downloaded which you are currently required to have when in Singapore - quite likely be done with that and testing by the time you go. They will serve you a drink in the lounge, using your vouchers of course, but he did say no eating - maybe that is a regular thing the no eating? I can't really remember from 2019. They have some appetiser type things on the buffet so we just made a plate of our own and ate at a table. The buffet is REALLY good in there, smallish but a really good selection. There is a small alacarte menu, sorry can't remember what was on it really. There was Salmon which I had one night but we really just preferred the buffet selections. I was told the alacarte menu didn't change each day so I never looked at it again. We did try the dining room one night as I thought we should try it at least once. It was fine but wasn't interested in going back. Service was very slow. We went to Chops for lunch on the 2nd day and that was very nice. Lunch was ~ $40 (Sing/Aus) compared to over $80 for dinner, no way was I paying that. I don't drink much do I had the Refreshment pkg and my husband made do with the D drinks. We only booked this ~ 3 wks out and I'd paid $40/day for it but then about a week out it dropped to $27/day which I saw by chance (Memorial day sale) so I cancelled and rebooked. I definitely got good value at the lower price but might have struggled to cover the $40/day price. It was school break when we were there too. It really wasn't that bad but I guess, as I mentioned, the ship wasn't full. It was mostly families on board but they really weren't in the areas we were in. They used the outdoor and indoor pool so they were busy but they aren't allowed in the Solarium. There was not many people using the "Silver' side of the Solarium so there were lots of places you could sit in peace there. I did notice they really don't discipline their kids much at all from what I could see. When we were watching the Two70 show these kids were hanging over the edge and looking down into one of the parts of the stage that opens up and brings performers up from the deck below - the parents were right there letting them do this - so dangerous. It took a ridiculous amount of time for one of the show staff to come and put a stop to it. Mostly it was ok. Of course there were occasions where kids were a bit loud, overtired by the sound of it, or running around but not enough to ruin your experience. All in all, it was a very nice cruise. ALL staff onboard were super friendly and welcoming and happy to be cruising! The ship had been up in HK but they literally shut down if they have one case so it was a bit difficult for them and probably why they brought the ship down to Singapore 6mth early. The ship is looking great and sailing out of Singapore is always easy and lovely to look out at sailing. Currently they aren't stopping at any ports, we wouldn't have got off anyway, but I believe they are going back to port stops around October. Hope that's not too long and helps, cheers : )

Thanks Biker Couldn’t remember it offhand & didn’t have time to look it up : )

Hi there I have to get ready for work so don't have alot of time but will try and quickly answer your questions. We just got back from our 4n sailing out of Singapore on SOTS on June 6th. We had a great time on board. Ship is still beautiful and still looking brand spanking new! We were in a Silver Jnr suite. Access was exactly the same as when we briefly sailed her on the inaugural sailings out of Singapore. Silver's had full access to the Silver Lounge / Dining (bit like a CK set-up) No 'snacks' being served in there during Happy Hour but one night we went there during that time (eating elsewhere that night) and made our own pre-dinner snacks from the buffet (no eating in the actual lounge) and they were happy for us to do that at a table - never a problem with tables. You definitely have access to the Solarium, in fact whole ship does. You can enter through the Silver Lounge into that area. Half is roped off f, supposedly only for Silver guests but I saw quite a few people read the sign, look around and walk through into that area who I suspect weren't but it was NOWHERE near full anyway Loved the SIlver Lounge! Tried the jammer for B/F and my husband hated it, it was chaos. The Silver Lounge was lovely. We never made it there for B/F unfortunately as we were up too late. I haven't got time to post welcome letters but YES as a Diamond I would have had full access to the same as Junior suite so if I'd booked balcony instead of suite I would have had the same experience but the extra room in the junior was nice even though it was only 4n. I don't think Diamond's get priority boarding. By pure chance we got called over to the 'suite' boarding lane and I did note that it said Sea Class (which is Silver Jnr) and the Classes above - Sky and ??. But it was not super crowded when we boarded and wouldn't have been an issue either way. Asked Silver concierge and they were sailing with 3018 guests which is a little over half capacity. Only time I noticed C & A priority was at the Two70 show where D+ and above and the two higher classes of suites (not Silver Jnr - Sea class) were allowed in 5mins before others. On that note - the Two70 show 'Silk Road' was showing. I didn't think it was as it wasn't in the app the week before but it was. Made a reservation for it in the app just after we boarded. Show seems different to when I first saw it in 2019. Reservations needed for bumper cars. They charge for Ifly and Northstar - we've done before so weren't worried about going on but I think it's pretty rude to charge people for these - I guess it keeps the numbers down for it though. I know when I was on in 2019 they didn't have enough space to accommodate everyone on a 3n cruise and it was a real problem for guests who didn't know they had to book early or miss out so maybe that's why they did it but I still think it's disappointing they charge. It was $20 Northstar, $40 'extended' Northstar and $40 Ifly. Re: Gold suite - they definitely have their own areas up on decks 15 / 16. They can go to Silver dining room but have their own up there. They wouldn't have exclusive access to Solarium, their deck is above it. They might have a balcony up there overlooking it but that would be it. My husband wanted to look at the area and reckoned he would get in, I told him he couldn't and he was back a minute later - yep, no access! You swipe your room card to open door to Silver and Gold areas. On boarding day we went to Silver lounge before we had our cards (they are waiting at your stateroom) and there was a staff member at the Silver door letting people in and checking names off a list. After that we used our card to swipe for access. In conclusion, I would have got the same access to everything as a Diamond in a regular inside or balcony suite as I did in a junior suite. Gotta go now. If you have any more questions I'll try and answer for you later. I can try and post our welcome letter although posting photos ain't my specialty! Hope that helps