tomatosauce

Pullmantur cruises started by selling cruises run by other companies. They also have a history of leasing or laying up their ships during winter so a lack of ships may not be the problem it first appears to be.

Ovation is sailing from Sydney to Singapore then going into dry dock for a few weeks before heading to Alaska via Japan. The Singapore to Tokyo section has been blocked from sale at least once due to port clashes which caused a shorter cruise and fewer port calls. Those who were booked on the ship were offered the choice to transfer their booking to a similar Quantum sailing which likely freed up some cabins.

RCI should have released the Australian 2021/2022 cruise season schedule which would include the Ovation a month or 2 back but they seem to be waiting until they have some clarity about cruising conditions.

They were originally meant to be announced about a month ago but why bother releasing a season when you could well have to change everything anyway due to fallout from the current situation.

As Adelaide is only 1/2 an hour behind Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart sometimes ships have their time out of sync with local time to make the time changes on board easier for everyone. From memory I have had it both ways.

Yes, the blue cabins are the remaining solo cabins on that deck by doing a mock booking for December out of Hong Kong and specifically selecting a solo cabin. As I said the deck plans don't show them when you just look at the plans without a booking.

The plans within the booking tool use the same visuals but the room definitions in the system that they use for the actual bookings themselves define those rooms to be solo balconies. I think that the rooms may have been converted based on bookings after it was launched.

They don't appear on the deck plans for the Spectrum but when you go to book and you select a solo balcony you can select rooms like this at the back of several desks. I think that it is because the suites are clustered around their special dining area.

For the record Spectrum also has solo cabins and in fact has more than the other Quantum class ships as a number of the aft cabins have been turned into solo balconies.

There is normally 1 circumnavigation of Australia each year which has been on the Radiance for a number of years. It goes via Indonesia (Bali) and New Zealand so that each of the 2 separate cruises an international cruise and they can sell duty free alcohol and other items.

If you are denied boarding due to illness they provide you with a 100% FCC.

The Ovation on Saturday only had 4,500 passengers board which is a few hundred down on normal.

If the sailing stays in Australian waters then they have to charge and pay tax for things like the alcohol from the store so they don't sell it.

Australia is also refusing entry to non residents and citizens coming from mainland China. 

It is hard to use the Vision class as an example because they are really three sets of 2 where one of the pairs has an extra bit added to the middle of the ship.

You could also call the Freedom class the stretched Voyager class. Which leaves you with 3 first generation Voyager class ships (internal balconies), 2 second generation Voyager class ships (with glass balconies) and 3 third generation Voyager class ships (i.e. the Freedom class) which is 90 feet longer and adds the flowrider. As time goes on the Voyager and Freedom class ships are getting the same changes with the amplification process.

On my recent Voyager cruise I was very disappointed to discover that My Time Dining didn't start until 6:45. Because I didn't realise this I went to the MDR at 6 and (probably because I was D+) they let me in to one of the unused early dining tables.

JR is definitely missing from the Voyager. The C&A offers printout now says "BOGO JR Milkshake (except Voyager)". There is no milkshake on the menu at the Promenade Cafe where the Ben and Jerry's ice cream is sold although you may be able to order off menu...

Plus a bunch of USB charging outlets.

It is also a 5 minute walk to the train station and a quick train trip at about $13USD each.

For a cheap alternative to the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb you can can go climb one of the pylons for only $19. See http://www.pylonlookout.com.au/. It also avoids the several hours that the bridge climb takes. The Manly Ferry is great and you can then walk to Manly Beach before catching it back again.

The train to the airport is right next to where you catch the ferry and the Overseas Passenger Terminal where the Ovation docks.

MTD used to be on deck 5 but they switched it a few years back to increase the MTD capacity.

By way of background information in the same general area Mystery Island started out the same way with a cruise line deciding to take advantage of beaches, etc. and slowly develop more activities.

I would go the Ovation and New Zealand. The ship is amazing and designed for cold weather and the scenery is amazing especially Milford Sound (photo one) but you can get some amazing photos just seeing the ship coming in to dock.

Here is a photo of the Ovation at dock taken from the platform at the station where you wait to catch the train to the airport. Also a photo of the Opera House taken from the top deck on arrival morning after docking (as an encouragement to consider a longer stay in Sydney).

I walk off with my luggage and I am almost always home by 8am which would be about the time that I would be able to get to the airport. If something happened though a later train is less of a hassle than missing a flight. The train to the airport is about 500 metres from the terminal.

Having said that, you arrive opposite the Opera House and right near the Harbour Bridge so I would use the flight as an excuse to stay the day.

With things like iFly, shows and NorthStar booking as early is possible is definitely the way to go. On the other hand I have never made bookings for My Time Dining ahead of time. I am a big fan of turning up when I am ready to eat depending on how the day has gone.

There are cruise planner sales when wifi, shore excursions, etc. are cheaper but you may be too late as they have largely moved on from offering sales on the trips this year and have been offering them on the ones next year (Jan-April) instead.

You can bring 2 bottles of wine per stateroom. You may also find it cheaper to but a bottle of wine onboard rather than by the glass especially as it can follow you throughout the ship over multiple nights.

Having been in several of the sudio balconies the best of them are the rooms XY50. You get extra space without the cave like balcony of a room like 7648. It isn't that bad actually but it does feel that little bit darker.