Royalty X

P&O have always gone to great efforts to update public areas, but in terms of soft furnishings in cabins, these tend to be updated as a very last resort.

They have operated a fleet of similar ships previously, which Pearl, Dawn and Jewel all being very similar, so I don’t doubt they could/would put Grand with Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter (ex- Golden and Star Princesses).

I know pax on the 3 day comedy cruise (following my parent’s cruise) were emailed 48 hours prior to departure and told that the ship wouldn’t be sailing for a lot of their time “at sea”. She was set to anchor so that work could be done on the hull. I’m uncertain what sort of work would be done, but perhaps she’s really not in good shape, and not just cosmetically. Mind you, if it were in really terrible shape, they should be cancelling cruises and putting her in to dry dock.

At any rate, as I said, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this news was more than a rumour.

My parents came off Pacific Explorer last Friday and they noted how poor the standard of guest accommodations are (they sailed on her as Dawn Princess and claimed the carpets were the same, looking very worn, stained, uncomfortable bedding, etc). According to their stateroom attendant, Explorer will leave the P&O fleet next year and be replaced by Grand Princess.

It’s hardly an official statement, but usually when these rumours are doing the rounds, they’re normally true.

Royal Caribbean Blog isn’t an official website, it’s a fan site.

This decor is all leftover from her time with P&O Australia (as Pacific Dawn). The other P&O Australia ships have the same feature.

If directly, Royal and Celebrity refunds come back in a few days.

 

 

BUT if through an agent, I waited 2 months for a return of the deposit - when the cruiseline cancelled. Because agents get commission, it seemed to be tied up in that and the agent didn't want to return til they had all funds from the cruiseline - and then sent it out by cheque, taking even more time.

Until recently, Royal and Celebrity would refund via a cheque in USD. They have a system set up now where they can issue refunds electronically. As mentioned though, they can still take their time. It's nothing to do with commission. They send back the nett amount to the agent.

Carnival Corp still issue refunds via cheque. It's ridiculous!

But hey, why let anything get in the way of agent sledging? This place is the worst for it. No wonder I stopped coming here.

Royal are a lot better than they used to be for refunds, but they still take their sweet time (I'm an agent). Royal normally take around two months or so and I've been waiting since the beginning of April for P&O to refund money to me for a client. :(

Haha - love this reply. So true though, some cruise lines honour price drops, some don't.

Which cruise lines do you mean Porky55? P&O will honour price drops. It's just they won't include the perks that the original fare included (in sweetp12's case) as they are no longer available. It's exactly the same for Princess, Carnival Aus, and all the other Carnival brands in Australia (they all use the same reservation system and repricing the fares for all of these are done in exactly the same way). Royal and Celebrity don't honour price drops in Australia, only in the U.S.

It's being likened to Celebrity Cruises. There is gonna be a push for English speaking travellers, not just Asian travellers. There's been a hold up with brochure printing but they should be out soon.

I was talking about switching in your plans from a quad to twins i.e. before booking.

 

 

 

However, if you already have a booking you may be able to do it before final payment, if you booked direct. If through a TA, they often have extra cancellation restrictions that would prevent it or at least make it more difficult.

Unlikely many TA's would charge cancellation outside of the cruise line's cancellation charge (if any), especially when it's essentially changing from one booking to two.

OK, so I saw this post and went to RCI site, entered cruise planner for my cruise. Tried to select a bev package and the site said "we cannot reserve this right now" and I should try when onboard. We are new to RCI, but is this really true? They don't want my money 9 months early?

 

Is it just me or is this really the way it is? I would love to book a drink package at a discount!

 

Thanks for any advice/experience

ML

We had this is issue with our Mariner cruise. It took a few emails back and forth to C&A for them to get it sorted.

I LOVE Margaret River! You could do wine tours (visit Berry Farm), visit the cheese factory, the chocolate factory, there's a couple of breweries. Go have lunch at Woody Nook (their tasting plate is to die for). [emoji4]

They don't have either of those restaurants on the Jewel yet. There is a surcharge for Luna (which is the Asian fusion restaurant on Jewel), and it's well worth it. Currently both Dragon Lady and Angelo's are free of charge on Aria and Eden.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

On a side note, why on earth would a government provide such regulatory power to a private business/industry.:(

I know! It's completely ridiculous! But as kobecat said, it all took place in the late 80's during the whole WA Inc saga.

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it. Even the cruise line recommends not booking any flights before midday. You'd want to be the first ones off the ship and hope there's no delays with arrival. You'll need to clear customs at the cruise terminal, get from the terminal to the airport in Sydney peak hour traffic (if it's a weekday of course), and then check-in, and clear immigration and security at the airport as well. Theoretically, it can be done, but you'll be cutting it fine. [emoji15]

Crown/Burswood own the gambling rights in WA so the onboard casino won't operate. This is also why there are no pokies in pubs/clubs in WA.

Does anybody buy it? My last 7 night P&O cruise cost me less than the beverage package per day :eek:.

Why would they? Especially when P&O has had quite a few promotions that have included the premium drink package in the last 6 - 9 months or so.

Winkscruises did a snapchat of RCL swag in the Empress gift shop last week. I saw small ship models in packages on the wall. They seemed really small though, like slightly bigger than a matchbox car? Not sure if you mean bigger ones.

 

 

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Those sound like the Christmas tree ornaments. Definitely after the larger models (about 10 - 12" long). [emoji4]

Did they have the ship models onboard in the gift shop yet? Apparently they are coming, but I'm not sure when.

Great pics! But what's happened to Oasis' C&A funnel logo...?

This is sad! I know she had her issues and wasn't the fanciest ship (and I know one person in particular on here who will be happy about it, despite having never sailed on the ship), but a lot of good times were had on that ship. [emoji22]

we will be on her in August and I am from Aus so I can check for you then if you like

 

:)

Oh my goodness, that would be fantastic! Thank you Lucy!

Oh no! [emoji22] They seem to be very hard to get. Thank you for checking anyway. [emoji4]

I'm an agent and it makes sense to me. Depends if they're getting the obc as part of a group. Some groups don't have the same reduced deposit amounts that may be part of a current RCI promotion, therefore in order to get you into the group, they would need a higher deposit. If they can't put you in the group, they won't be able to give you the extra obc.

I have moved a client in a guarantee booking before with no trouble or extra charges, so you should be okay to do so. It would only re-price if the category changed. I think it also depends who you talk to.

Hi

 

 

 

Happy to help but my tapatalk won't work whilst I'm roaming for some reason. Can you post on here

Of course, no problem. Gotta love technology, when it works. I collect the ship models that are sold onboard and, with the exception of the recent fleet additions, Navigator is the only model I don't have. I'm in Australia so it's unlikely I'll be able to go on her anytime soon and all the ones that have come up on eBay, are the old version. I'm wondering if you'd please be able to pick up one of the ship models from the gift shop, and I could transfer the money for the model and postage to Australia? [emoji4]