Royalty X

Rumours, rumours, rumours...... Latest I have heard is that a cruise on the ship that replaces the Rhapsody will be a real " adventure". So that is about five or six different ships coming here........someone must be correct:confused:

There are a few cruise specialist TA's at these expos who know a hell of a lot about cruising! Don't just assume that a TA knows squat! And the cruise lines and wholesalers will know which agents know their stuff.

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I was told today that the Legend enters dry dock in two days time. Once Carnival Australia have full notice of what's actually being added to the ship, there will apparently be a big marketing push for the ship. If you're able to get good prices now, I would snap up a cabin now (especially with that time of year being so popular). :)

Always have purchased travel insurance, and always will!

I've been to Lifou three times in the last few years and although it's nice, I've always enjoyed the other islands more. Lifou has always left me a little underwhelmed.

As a fellow Aussie who loves cruising, I would totally do a back-to-back on Oasis or Allure. That way you get to cover Eastern and Western Caribbean, and you'll get your money's worth having travelled that far. I'd go a couple of days early to visit Disneyland before boarding the ship, and then fly home straight after the cruise. :)

I just got contact lenses so I can see when I snorkel, swim, flowride, etc.

If it's the Travel Expo I think you're thinking of, there are cruise specialists who will be there who can do everything for you. Plus, there are a lot of deals/discounts (flights, cruises, insurances) which you won't be able to get elsewhere, outside of the expo.

Its not that I disagree with being part of British background. I personally have backgrounds of Scotland, Ireland and England.

 

I just cant picture or visualise how the union jack represents P&O the company.

 

Below is an extract of P&O heritage website about the flag:

 

 

 

 

The company basically started off as a mail service delivering to Iberia and further expanded to the Orient. Many of the historic ship names represent places reached on the globe by the company.

 

From what I know of P&O all of its symbols and names have been diverse and multicultural not unilateral.

I didn't like it at first, but it's actually grown on me. I do think it'll age pretty quickly though. At least it gives P&O it's own identity, which I feel the ships lacked previously (at least from a livery point of view). Now P&O Australia just needs to get it's own identity (even just a logo on the funnels for example).

The entire P&O fleet in the not too distant past (and former sister line Orient Line) were all registered in London. The original Princess Cruises fleet as well, after they were bought by P&O. Canberra, Oriana, Oronsay, Orcades, Arcadia, Pacific Princess, Island Princess... Shall I go on?

 

QE2 was registered in Southampton and remained so until she was retired from the fleet. Cunard ships prior to that were registered in Liverpool. QM2 until recently was also registered in Southampton. Now most of the Princess, P&O, and Cunard fleets (maybe all?) are now registered in Hamilton, Bermuda, which does permit them to continue flying the Red Duster.

We will be arriving at the Perth Airport around 6pm for our flights home after the cruise. Does anyone know if there is food available at the airport later in the evening? We are on an 11 pm flight home. I read somewhere (but now I can't find it) that the airport is kind of deserted after a certain time of the night?? I hope someone knows about this and can answer my question. Thanks for any advice you have.

Pat

I've never eaten in the buffet, for lunch or dinner, on any of my cruises (they're normally fine for a quick breakfast). However, the Windjammer on the Rhapsody recently was brilliant! Not everything was great, but then neither is all the food in the MDR. For the first time ever on one of our cruises, we were really happy to eat lunch and/or dinner in the Windjammer due to such a great variety and, more often than not, very tasty food! :)

Such a personal thing. But my thoughts only.

I love the Sth pacific but if you have cruised Caribbean etc I would say give this part of your trip away and do the tassie cruise.

 

I would probably also leave the Perth part out too... Lots of extra flying for a couple of ports. Maybe think about spending longer in sydney ( fly there first) then catch a flight to Melbourne and area for a few days.

There is quite a bit to see in Melbourne maybe hire a car and do the seven apostles drive.

 

Definitely do the nz cruise.

 

Maybe plan 732......

I am sure others will give you their thoughts but that is mine.

I'm keen to know more about the ship, too. I'll be interested to see if RCL dumps Steiner for the spa, like their sister brand just did.

At first I thought it was junk mail since the subject line says "New concepts in Dinning" Hard to believe they would send out a mass email with an obvious spelling error.

I would take a drive up to Kings Park and have a walk through there, just for the spectacular views. Then maybe head to Northbridge for some dinner in Chinatown, before heading to the airport. :)

They'll leave the Rhapsody bookings in the port schedule as a place holder for her replacement (much like Carnival had TBA in there before the Legend was announced).

I sincerely hope this is true! :)

I just saw springaussie posted this in the RCI forum! I hope it's true!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1964639

Another reason to use a TA! :)

I normally look at ships first (I will now only sail RCI or Celebrity), then destinations, then dates, ands finally cabins. :)

Coca Cola Freestyle machines aren't on any of the Australian based RCI ships. I only drink diet drinks due to being a diabetic and recently on the Rhapsody, I bought the unlimited soda package (I don't drink alcohol either). They had Diet Coke, and Sprite Zero (some bars didn't have the Sprite Zero, but if they did it would come from a can). You can also get sugar-free drinks from the dispensers in the Windjammer and the Solarium. Regarding using your package in the MDR, just show them your card like you would ordering a drink at any of the bars and it will be covered under your package. There's no need to take your cups with you (in fact, I found it easier not to take it with me at all). If you don't have your cup, they will just give you a regular glass. :)

I was talking to one of the girls I work with today and she mentioned how frustrated she gets when someone asks to remove prepaid gratuities for a booking. She then went on to tell me that when she worked on a few of a major cruiseline's ships (I probably shouldn't name the cruise line but she worked in the day spa area), she used to make 7% commission from any treatments she did, and that was it. So if she did a facial worth $100, she made $7! There was no base salary, so she relied on tips to get by.

If it was suicide, the media won't report it. I worked in media for 13 years and it's actually a duty-of-care to not report details for suicide. We know someone went overboard and that's likely all we'll ever know if it was suicide.