RCCL is opening a private island down our way!!

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Everything is public land until someone buys it or leases it. 

We don't value what we have until we loose it. 

I was surprised to learn I couldn't let my daughter paddle in a lake in Bavaria, unless I paid an entry fee.

German visitors to the the Gold Coast think the Spit is the Gold Coast's secret gem.  They value public land.  

 

[The_Big_M]

[covered already]

Edited October 16, 2019 by The_Big_M

[MMDown Under]

That is why you need a vocal public.

 

People like myself have been fighting to save The Spit for years.

[SinbadThePorter]

28 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

I always assumed private islands were uninhabited. I guess they must not be leasing the whole island in this case. 

 

It's a big island. I believe about 500 people live there. Mostly on the southern end.

 

The northern end is a peninsula with the best beaches. I would imagine this will be where they set up their resort.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

It's a big island. I believe about 500 people live there. Mostly on the southern end.

 

The northern end is a peninsula with the best beaches. I would imagine this will be where they set up their resort.

Agreed, they wouldn't use the whole island

[Chiliburn]

4 hours ago, cme2c said:

Wish they had picked New Caledonia so I didn't have to go to Noumea!

What’s wrong with noumena, I love it.
All those saucy French ladies and  blokes (not that I’m gay). Pastries,beer,wine.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Chiliburn

[GUT2407]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

What’s wrong with noumena, I love it.
All those saucy French ladies and  blokes (not that I’m gay). Pastries,beer,wine.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that

[MicCanberra]

While Noumea is not my favourite port, it is still nice to go there.

[Chiliburn]

17 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

While Noumea is not my favourite port, it is still nice to go there.

People constantly tell me how bad noumea was when they were there (usually first time)

I say what did you do ? Oh we caught the hoho bus (didn’t get off) and walked around the cruise terminal.

No wonder they didn’t like it. No research, stupid tourists.

 

we were there on a overnight and the senior staff put on a bus For $20 to lemon bay for a night on the town. What a great time 

[MicCanberra]

La Barca would have been hopping.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

On 10/15/2019 at 11:49 AM, Chiliburn said:

Havannah Harbour looks well protected.

wonder if they will build a wharf? They have a 75 year lease.

 

It will be interesting to see if they do build a wharf.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

I wonder if Royal Caribbean would let other cruise line ships dock there?

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

I wonder if Royal Caribbean would let other cruise line ships dock there?

Probably not but under the RC company is celebrity,azamara  and silver seas .

 I wonder if they would send ships from Singapore,probably to far.I can’t really see them spending anything like the islands in the Caribbean.

 

Edited October 17, 2019 by Chiliburn

[RadioBoy]

26 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I wonder if they would send ships from Singapore,probably to far.I can’t really see them spending anything like the islands in the Caribbean.

 

I reckon it will be a staged approach.  Start with something good but not over the top and then continue to develop it as the needs arise.  Royal are banking on a massive expansion in their market share with this investment.

 

You would have to think they would have to be looking at having at least 2 ships running year round to support this in the long term.

 

It would be also interesting to see what their overall  itinerary strategy is with this.  Will they effectively push most cruises through Lelepa?  Will they effectively abandon full NZ itineraries and leave them to Celebrity?  Interesting times ahead I think.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

I wonder if Royal Caribbean would let other cruise line ships dock there?

Most likely any of the Azamara, Silverseas and X ships, maybe even Pullmantour, which are sister lines under the RCL brand.

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, RadioBoy said:

 

I reckon it will be a staged approach.  Start with something good but not over the top and then continue to develop it as the needs arise.  Royal are banking on a massive expansion in their market share with this investment.

 

You would have to think they would have to be looking at having at least 2 ships running year round to support this in the long term.

 

It would be also interesting to see what their overall  itinerary strategy is with this.  Will they effectively push most cruises through Lelepa?  Will they effectively abandon full NZ itineraries and leave them to Celebrity?  Interesting times ahead I think.

I am thinking they will drop one or more of Mystery Island, Lifou or Isle of Pines for Lelepa.

[RadioBoy]

Just now, MicCanberra said:

I am thinking they will drop one or more of Mystery Island, Lifou or Isle of Pines for Lelepa.

 

Agreed. Mystery Island is probably the big loser. 

 

From an overall itinerary perspective, I think they will also have less of the 3 day "cruises to nowhere".

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, RadioBoy said:

 

Agreed. Mystery Island is probably the big loser. 

 

From an overall itinerary perspective, I think they will also have less of the 3 day "cruises to nowhere".

They are big money spinners for onboard sales though.

[Chiliburn]

1 minute ago, RadioBoy said:

 

I reckon it will be a staged approach.  Start with something good but not over the top and then continue to develop it as the needs arise.  Royal are banking on a massive expansion in their market share with this investment.

 

You would have to think they would have to be looking at having at least 2 ships running year round to support this in the long term.

 

It would be also interesting to see what their overall  itinerary strategy is with this.  Will they effectively push most cruises through Lelepa?  Will they effectively abandon full NZ itineraries and leave them to Celebrity?  Interesting times ahead I think.

They won’t abandon NZ it’s the big drawcard for Americans ,asians Europeans.

Last season around NZ there were a lot of Russians onboard.Not to mention Americans.

 

 I don’t think most international visitors care about the islands and this is something to grab their attention and curiosity.

[Chiliburn]

3 minutes ago, RadioBoy said:

 

Agreed. Mystery Island is probably the big loser. 

 

From an overall itinerary perspective, I think they will also have less of the 3 day "cruises to nowhere".

It going to be hard to better mystery island 

[RadioBoy]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

They are big money spinners for onboard sales though.

 

True. But then again, so are cruises to a private island that will have 2 sea days each way (from sydney)

 

2 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

They won’t abandon NZ it’s the big drawcard for Americans ,asians Europeans.

Last season around NZ there were a lot of Russians onboard.Not to mention Americans.

 

 I don’t think most international visitors care about the islands and this is something to grab their attention and curiosity.

I wouldnt think they will abandon it either.  That said, I do notice on the current itineraries they have a pacific island cruise with the bay of islands thrown in.  They will probably do both together.

[Chiliburn]

20 minutes ago, RadioBoy said:

 

True. But then again, so are cruises to a private island that will have 2 sea days each way (from sydney)

 

I wouldnt think they will abandon it either.  That said, I do notice on the current itineraries they have a pacific island cruise with the bay of islands thrown in.  They will probably do both together.

I’ve noticed they have more NZ north island and noumea itineraries.

 I have been thinking it may be a third venture for another ship.

 Voyager doing the islands,ovation just doing NZ and another doing the north island and The pacific islands.

 Everyone is speculating quantum coming here as well in 2021 since wonder is going to Asia.

 

Edited October 17, 2019 by Chiliburn

[MicCanberra]

They need to keep changing the itineraries around or people will get bored and custom will drop off.

[cme2c]

On 10/16/2019 at 5:42 PM, Chiliburn said:

What’s wrong with noumena, I love it.
All those saucy French ladies and  blokes (not that I’m gay). Pastries,beer,wine.

Noumea is a French mining town that happens to be in the South Pacific. First time I was there, did the city tour and went down to Anse Vata. That was fine, and the tour quite interesting.

 

I can understand that the locals get heartily sick of cruise ships, as so many turn up there. I saw more "French" attitude in Noumea than Paris! (Mind you, there were 2 ships in at the time) I also quite liked the aquarium at Anse Vata . I have stayed on the ship in Noumea rather than disembark.

 

Last time I was there, it was Sunday. Have you seen "The Day After" ? The centre of town was deserted. We did have a lovely lunch at Lemon Bay, but that was about it. 

 

Part of the problem with being in Australia is that we are a long way from anywhere. There are a limited number of destinations within a reasonable sailing time of Sydney. Given the choice, I'd rather swap Noumea for a private island than Vila.

[cme2c]

8 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

 

It will be interesting to see if they do build a wharf.

 

Maybe they will get the Chinese to build one for them?😁🛳️