reedy8

Now l have what they refer to as an 

Earworm.   The name for  a song that gets stuck in your head.  😁

Helllo

Princess don't offer cruise insurance to Australians they just refer us to a third party and l think it would also apply to cruisers from NZ.  I was just wondering if they offered it to cruisers from the UK or is it exclusive to US cruisers.

Yes, the behaviour of mostly mainland Chinese when cruising is an issue.  I used to host O/seas students studying in Perth WA for a number of years. One of my 'daughters' from HK wanted at first to work at Disneyland HK but once travelling to HK became so open to mainland she said she couldn't do it as they were so rude to her.  I noticed it myself on a river cruise in China, especially around dining experiences.  It was like 'we will take 3 plates of food even though we cant eat it as it makes us look prosperous'.  Its hard to accept the cultural excuse all the time.

On landbased tours the travel agent gives 'western culture when travelling talks' but not on cruises. I would be fibbing if I said it didn't put me off booking.  

My son is what used to be called Eurasian (ex husband Chinese/ Malay/Brittish from Singapore) and my gorgeous daughter in law is from Nothern China.  

Having to wait around for generational changes is a bit much to ask. 

Apart from that, it was a good reviews, some ships are looking a bit chatty aren't they,  I found Radiance needed a bit of work, our bathroom sink light was held together with masking tape and the couch filthy, but the lovely crew made up for it.

I just realised, I thought why a price for 2nd entree, why not the main meal?  Now I remember its different terminology down here in the southern side of the world.  For us, the entree is what you have before the main.  Silly me.  LOL 

Definately Australia trained baristas and yes to a good dim sum/yum cha at least once in the cruise. I like a full promenade deck too, and more over the top cruises in spring/autumn to take advantage of the better weather conditions and so we over here in the west get more options.

If I could get a Grand at a reasonable price I would do it, worth it for the extras and most are midship.  Very generous pouring of drinks in Concierge Lounge and can walk through to dining with a glass.  Breakfast at Chops, double points, lots of good stuff.

We were there mid March, seas were fine, but its just too hard to tell. Do take a few items of warm clothes, it was cool in NZ and friends I know who are posting FB pictures on a land based trip at the moment wearing warm clothing.

Of late to see what cruise ships are coming to Oz I look at the shipping movements from Port Authority websites. They have to book so far ahead to get a berth that a lot of the lines have booked at far ahead as 2022.  I can see Diamond Princess from 2022 (Fremantle) so it looks like she 

will be coming to Aust waters for a while from then. 

Agree, but I paid about 15% less for our Hawaii cruise than the list price, so if same applies here it would be about 2.4 times the price which narrows the gap somewhat.

 

But a balcony still comes to about $300 pp pn if that happens, in my opinion way too much.

Pricey I think because Princess is the only one that does Circle Pacific, and only one a year, no wonder it books out so quickly.

Are you listening other cruise lines???

Thanks again porky

 

I'm not the hugest sushi fan but may try some on the ship, I am sorry to admit but I don't understand the fuss with these folders.

The folders are particularly good if you travel on business and have trousers & shirts to pack. I use my for holidays and they just seem to reduce wrinkling quite a bit.

Thanks for the advice reedy

 

The Kathmandu brand do sound good, what are there shoe bags like?

Sorry, didn't log on for a few days. They are a nylon bag with a drawstring top, they are called stuff sacks on the Katmandu website. They only have one colour on their site at the moment, I have them in 3. No doubt you will be able to find a similar item easily enough online.

Hello all, we have just booked our first RC cruise on the Voyager Of The Seas for February 2020 14 nights to Fiji , for our 40th Wedding anniversary. As this is our first cruise with Royal Caribbean I am asking for any tips or suggestions from people who have sailed with them , especially as a first time cruiser without any loyalty benefits. Thanks for any help, cheers Buzz.

Can I also suggest you join their Crown & Anchor Loyalty Program. Its one of the best. For US citizens it happens automatically when they finish their first cruise but not for us. The details are on their website or just google it. There's no charge to join.

I’ve heard at times radiance doesn’t have a kettle,was it a reposition Cruise.

It seems kettles are unique to Australia and UK.

Ovation does has kettles for some reason there’s no coffee and no coffee available,only tea bags.we take a coffee plunger with our favourite coffee.

So take coffee.

It annoys me somewhat that Princess, Royal Caribbean and other ships when they are based in Asia have kettles in the cabins due to demand, eg drinking hot water and Chinese or Japanese tea. However, when they move to Australia, on most ships they remove them then try and cite 'safety concerns'.

They are still there, locked away in the hold of the ship. I'd be interested to know what medical condition you could claim to be allowed to have one.

American posters say just go upstairs/downstairs & get a coffee/tea. They don't 'get' the first thing in the morning before you are even showered/dressed need to have a hot beverage. Our only option is to ring room service, a waste of their time and ours.

I’ve be using them for years. They were purchased from Kathmandu when they have 2 for the price of 3 sale. I also use them for travel adapters and other small items to keep them organised

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ive had mine for years too starting at an Eagle Creek 'fold it' flat type packer and a cube that had zips on each side, one side for clean undies, one for dirty.

Since then Ive done the same as you, Katmandu sales. I also have one just for 'stuff' all those items like adaptors, charges, mini sewing & medical kit, anything small really you dont want floating around in your bag. I pack them on their side in my case not flat in the bottom of the case. I like Katmandu's shoe bags too.

Hi Everyone, saw a cruise advertised today from Fremantle to UK. Included flight from Sydney to Freo, cruise to UK, 4 nights in London plus flight back to Freo all included in price of approx $6,000pp. Wheres it gone? Don't know if it was facebook, email from CMV or in a dream.:D:D Any ideas? Thanks Anjo.

Nope, you weren't dreaming, here is it on the CMV home page. Freo to London Sunday 10th Mar 2019.

I'm eagerly awaiting the Astors replacement the Vasco de Gama, that's out on sale as well on its first London to Sydney cruise at buy on get one free. I wish they would hurry up & release its 2019/2020 Aust summer season.

Its quite a bargain

https://cmvaustralia.com/cruise/a921/fremantle-to-uk-voyage

What is the etiquette for using 'branded' tote bags etc on another cruise-line? ;p

Sort of like the recently reported issue where someone used a Coles bag at Woolworths and say they were told they couldn't do that!

 

Does anyone wear say an RCI logo shirt on say a Princess or Carnival cruise? Now I have a bit of a collection of different ones, I don't want to cause any upset :evilsmile:

I would do it on purpose, and make sure I stood in front of the main desk with it. Then say innocently that its the only tote bag you had to bring with you. Sure way to get a freebie!

Thank you My daughter will just have to take her own

They didn't have any on Sea Princess but luckily I had taken my own. The herbals they have aren't that nice so if your daughter drinks them she may like to BYO. They are quite quick delivering a flask/jug of boiling water to the room in the morning if you like a wake up drink.

PS If you drink coffee, BYO, theirs is barely drinkable.

Bother. I was afraid of that. :confused: Looks like I’ll need to pack my own solution.

 

Makes the purchase of a beverage package less attractive if I have to pack my own beans.

If packing your own solution means bringing something electrical that plugs in there is the strong possibility that they may take it off you before boarding & return it to you at the end.

The reason they give is related to electrical safety but that doesn't gel with me as they provide drip coffee machines in suites and for a while RC was providing kettles in Australian waters. They still do so in Asia, due to passenger demand for chinese tea.

Princess did however deliver a flask/jug of boiling water to the cabin very promptly when asked.

Sad isn't it that even our instant is better than that foul American stuff. Uggg

Saw something interesting today... Looked up the deck plans on Radiance for our trip in June (on the official RCI site), and see Rita's Cantina back on there. Also, it shows up on the list of restaurants. I wonder if it's really coming back? Wish it was still Rita's Crabshack :(

 

I checked my planner, and it doesn't appear that Rita's is available to book, so maybe it's not really there?

Just got off Radiance 1 March - 18 March Perth to Sydney via the south island of NZ. Rita's Cantina is just a bar, not mexican food unfortunately. Food quality much lower than Explorer, especially Chops, what happened to the lovely desserts? Radiance seems to be currently held together with masking tape and waterproof sealant. She is a lovely sized little ship, but really needs a major drydock. Staff fabulous as usual and I was disappointed that by the time I had arrived home a few days after docking the questionnaire relating to service had expired as I would certainly given various staff very good reviews.

Does anyone have a list or website that shows what you can and can't take back onboard from Nassau, CocoCay, Key West? Such as alcohol, rum cakes, conch shells, sand, etc....

I know this will get me into trouble.

Why would you bring conch shells onboard? Sorry to be the 'environmental police' but buying them only

encourages islanders to take more from the sea.

Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints.

Have not heard anything about a Radiance class ship being sold. However, it is normal for ships to be owned by different holding companies and still operated by the same cruise line.

Thank you Bob, hopefully that's all it is. It would be a pity to loose another medium sized ship.

Hi all, there's a rumour on a RC fan's facebook page that Radiance of the Seas has been sold to a UK company.

Has anyone heard anything about this? It would be a pity to loose yet another of the medium sized ships.

Hi, can someone please tell me the average cost of mocktails on Royal Caribbean? I'm on Ovation in about 3 weeks and they have the Refreshment Package reduced by 30% at the moment. I don't drink soft drink at all but I'm wondering if it's still worthwhile for me as I can get fresh orange juice and coffee too ....

I saw that too, tried to book it for our Radiance cruise, but when I buy it, it comes up at full price??

I'm trying to work out if the discount price is $27.41 or if its $27.41 - 30% being $8.22 = $19.09 per day.

Using prices from posts/replies from the ever helpful Bob as at Aug 2017 (which I converted into $AUD) as per below it would be worthwhile.

A 12oz can of soda is around $5.05c. Premium coffees in the $3.75 to $6.30 range, Fresh squeezed OJ around $5. Something like a virgin pina colada would be around $6.30 AU

Bottled water is about $2.50 -$3au

I was thinking it would worth it on sea days, but not quite so much on port days although a morning latte, a bottle of water to take off ship, an OJ or 2 at breakfast & a couple of mocktails (he calls them virgin cocktails) would add up quite quickly.

Guess I'll have to call them tomorrow morning to see if my 1st March on Radiance is one of gthe cruises included in the offer.

.

Dim Sum

If we're going to have dim sum, can we have chinese BBQ with it, Roast duck, Roast Pork BBQ pork, steamed chicken, with plum sauce and that brown sauce. I love a good BBQ combo.

The ship chooses the restaurant, and you can change it pending available space.

I was able to pick the restaurant (Giovanni's) we wanted for FNDR on our Radiance cruise sailing from Fremantle Western Australia on 1 March. I would have been happy with any of them if the ship chose the restaurant except my travel companion doesn't like Japanese so Izumi is out. Might have to get sushi on a shore day.