tangogulf

Marvellous. Thx for taking the time to post these pics. Ship is looking wonderful. Only 96 more days before our NZ cruise on her. :D

20 years or so ago formal nights were really full on. Usually the Captains cocktail reception was on the first formal night followed by a special dinner in the MDR (these were days when there was no such thing as specialty restaurants). Used to be a Bombe Alaska parade by the waiters, lights off and sparklers on top of the deserts followed by table side crepe Suzette. Those were the days. Now the menu on formal nights isn't special and no special activities except lots of photographers around to take expensive portraits.

DW and I did this tour in Mar this year. Many cruise passengers wanted to visit and ride on Elephants. I think there ended up being 10 or 12 bus loads of passengers visit across the day. Everyone I spoke to had a wonderful day. Also given the park is up on much higher ground than the usual touristy spots it quite a bit cooler and less humid so quite comfortable.

Yep you can sit out there on the tiered section where there is no shade and roast and toast until you are all nice and crispy:):):)

Last time we boarded at the OPT (last Feb when renovations were still not quite complete) we chose to arrive at the terminal between 2 and 3pm even though we were able to basically check in any time due to our cruise line loyalty status. We were on the ship in less than 15mins, no lines. The longest part of the boarding process was the time it took to do the body scan and carry on bag scan - they only had one machine working by that time so there were 3 or 4 people in the queue ahead of us. We found this a good time to board as our cabin was ready and the buffet wasn't crowded so we could have a late lunch with no worries about finding a table. Our checked bags also arrived at our cabin just before muster drill. All in all a very stress free start to the cruise.

We plan on doing the same thing for future cruises.

It's all about the $$. We like wine and the prices of bottles on board as we all know are exorbitantly high. Where we start and end our cruise in our home city it's no hassle and we don't go overboard in trying to get around the cruise lines policy. Yes we probably could take more on board but I guess the more you take the more you risk being found out and having the excess confiscated.

Really you can get 4 bottles on board. Pack 2 in your suitcases and take 2 in your carry on. They can't correlate the two at all. (Though now I've said it they'll probably figure out a way:()

Don't forget:

- kids playing in elevators

- can't find a seat in Windjammer ('usually from people who want to eat at peak times or don't wish to share a table with others)

- The constant pushing of dinning, drink and photo packages

- slow service in MDR on first night of cruise

Cafe Promenade or Windjammer only. There is Johnny Rockets if you want something close to the pools. Though there is a fee to go there.

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In the old days (Fairstar times) P&O used to make going through the passage one of the highlights of the trip.. Not so much these days.. Perhaps it's lost its lustre or perhaps sailing schedules preclude the time to go through.. I know ships had to pick up a pilot to go through at whatever cost that ended up being. Perhaps a cost cutting measure!

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If the weather co-operates I'm always up before sunrise on the first morning of our cruise. (And since its always mid to late summer when we cruise that's around 4:45 to 5am) Love to see the sunrise and wander the ship before everyone else gets up. The staff are usually out in force cleaning, re-arranging furniture on the decks getting ready for the days onslaught.

Usually also run in to one or two officers, who at that time of day, like to chat quite a bit!

DW sleeps in usually and never sees this stuff.

Rest of the cruise I like to be up if I can as the ship enters port. Sea days I'll just sleep in 'til around 7am.

We usually get to bed in the evening around 11.

Looking at a Solstice QLD/Barrier Reef Cruise in Mar 2017 (yes I know a while off but I'm always one to plan ahead!).

The itinerary shows an overnight port stop over in Cairns. Last time we were there it was a tender port into Yorkey's Knob. Does anyone know if there are plans to upgrade the Cairns port to be able to take large ships such as Celebrity Solstice? Else would they just run a continuous tender service throughout the stop over?

I think the other reason the ratings are lower is that there are much fewer reviews currently for Quantum class ships because they are newer. If you look through the Radiance and Voyager reviews for example you'll probably find quite a number of negative reviews but tempered by the larger numbers of positive reviews. Don't place too much value on the % satisfaction rating in its raw form. It is misleading. Opinion does depend on expectation, whether its a family cruise review as opposed to a couple or even a solo traveller.

Aaah scenic Port Kembla. [emoji51]How on earth did this choice of port make the shortlist.

My DW always has soy milk. THe last two times on Raidiance she just asked the guy behind the cereal/milk counter in the WJ and was given a pot of soy milk. Same on Celebrity and P&O.

Also if you get room service breakfast just note it on the order form or ask for it by phone if doing it that way. MDR will also have it. Lots of people these days drink soy milk so ships usually have a good supply on board.

So RCI have created premium and standard class ships.. Those of us in Oz will be tantalized in Dec16 with a short season from Ovation of the seas.. Then back to voyager and vision class ships.. Will be interesting to see what they do because it's a complete disregard for one of the fastest growing cruise markets in the world..

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Did Chefs Table twice on Radiance on two separate cruises two years apart.. On the second cruise our booking was moved twice because they couldn't get enough people to attend. When we did have the event we found the quality of the food and particularly the wine quality had dropped significantly. First time we received an autographed cook book and apron at the end of dinner. Not so the second time. Having said that the price originally $95 but has dropped to $70.

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Great info and great video though I think what you have called Grand Suite is in fact an Owners suite - how do I know? Grand Suites don't have the separate dinning table and chairs nor the separate shower in the bathroom.

Gosh. Glad I booked our 30th Dec NYE Cruise earlier in the week. Checked today and GS's have gone up more than $3,000 on both RCI and online TA sites and looks like there's only 1 GS left anyway. Demand must be there to justify the increases.

Got a GS on the 30th Dec sailing. With our C&A discount our usual TA couldn't compete. Yes the deposit is a little higher $400) with RCI but final payment isn't til Oct16.

A Christmas and a new years eve cruise. I'm happy.

 

Decisions, decisions!

Which also means premium pricing for the cruises covering Xmas and New Years. Well another reason for them justify higher pricing.

Radiance Class - love the light provided by the vast areas of glass allowing natural light inside most areas of the ship. Fantastic placement of CL and DL. Love the outdoor WJ area. Whilst I'm going on a voyager class ship next season I'm looking forward more to the itinerary rather than the ship. But I remain to be surprised.

Yeah agree with what others have posted here. Given its a NZ cruise I doubt there will be a large number of kids on board.

I hurt my ankle (on Bourbon Street:rolleyes:) the night before our Serenade cruise in March, and I struggled getting in and out of the tub/shower in our GS. I ended up having to sit on the edge and swing my legs around to get out.:o

 

 

 

I'm not sure why the tubs are so tall.:confused: Anybody know?

All the plumbing is under the floor area so the height has to cater for that. You probably already are aware of the step up from the cabin floor to the bathroom floor. Same deal for the bath itself. Drainage pipes and feeder pipes to the taps have to go somewhere.

As I have been saying to friends for a while now - RCI have to find some way to support the massive expenditure they have on all their new ships not to mention all the refurbs. Ultimately this has to flow down to us punters who consume their product. Other cruise lines have no where near the same magnitude of new ship orders.