Royal's ships 2023/24

[cheznandy]

2 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Sorry Chili, you are dreaming! Royal are having enough problems with the two ships in Australia now. Believe me, no way Melbourne. People want to cruise from Sydney. (/You can shoot me down🤣🤣🤣🤣)

Hey Cheryle, what problems are they having? I haven't really been following Royal but have Quantum booked for Xmas.......not ready to let it go as I booked it for $600 cheaper p/p than it is now. It's that or a caravan trip🤣

[resordanis]

Just now, cheznandy said:

Hey Cheryle, what problems are they having? I haven't really been following Royal but have Quantum booked for Xmas.......not ready to let it go as I booked it for $600 cheaper p/p than it is now. It's that or a caravan trip🤣

Hi Chez, no problems but  they can’t actually fill the ships! They wouldn’t be selling at the prices, if they could fill the ships. (Chez.. my opinion only). I could get a cruise out of Brisbane so much cheaper than Sydney, but most still prefer Sydney, hence most Ovation prices, generally are higher. I have one last cruise on Ovation shortly and then we are done until they give us better itineraries and smaller ships. About to try Celebrity again in a few weeks. I hope you both are ok.

PS I think I might be having a bad day🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

 

[cheznandy]

1 minute ago, resordanis said:

Hi Chez, no problems but  they can’t actually fill the ships! They wouldn’t be selling at the prices, if they could fill the ships. (Chez.. my opinion only). I could get a cruise out of Brisbane so much cheaper than Sydney, but most still prefer Sydney, hence most Ovation prices, generally are higher. I have one last cruise on Ovation shortly and then we are done until they give us better itineraries and smaller ships. About to try Celebrity again in a few weeks. I hope you both are ok.

PS I think I might be having a bad day🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

 

Yes, I noticed Ovation is higher priced, but as we can now fly Port to Brisbane, we don't mind doing either.

Really sad that the Brilliance is only here for a season as we loved Radiance class.

We are just doing some short cruises for now, although I did book the Carnival Splendor Singapore to Sydney next year, we did it in 2019 and loved that cruise and itinerary, good price too, $107p/p per night for one of the big outside cabins, 16 nights yay! This one stops in Jakarta, Benoa, Lombok, Darwin, Airlie and Moreton, no Brisbane which I can do without as a port stop.

Hope your day gets better!!

[resordanis]

1 minute ago, cheznandy said:

Yes, I noticed Ovation is higher priced, but as we can now fly Port to Brisbane, we don't mind doing either.

Really sad that the Brilliance is only here for a season as we loved Radiance class.

We are just doing some short cruises for now, although I did book the Carnival Splendor Singapore to Sydney next year, we did it in 2019 and loved that cruise and itinerary, good price too, $107p/p per night for one of the big outside cabins, 16 nights yay! This one stops in Jakarta, Benoa, Lombok, Darwin, Airlie and Moreton, no Brisbane which I can do without as a port stop.

Hope your day gets better!!

Yes, flying to Brisbane from Port is great, but I still think flying to Sydney (for us) is easier. Your Carnival cruise sounds great, but we are going to cruise where are loyalty is for the moment, but it won’t be on Ovation (after April). We are doing a short Celebrity cruise soon, but I still prefer longer cruises as long as I don’t get Covid.😷

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, resordanis said:

Sorry Chili, you are dreaming! Royal are having enough problems with the two ships in Australia now. Believe me, no way Melbourne. People want to cruise from Sydney. (/You can shoot me down🤣🤣🤣🤣)
PS To Royal, please give us a smaller ship too. One that can actually get into some Ports.😁

Cheryl, I only shoot one blogger down on this site  - and - he -loves - it  ,  LOL

 

But I think Royal has shot it’s self in the foot with Quantum in Brisbane,they can’t fill it.

Lower population, ugly port ,bad transport,pore accommodation and I was talking to a agent the other day and apparently there is healh concerns with the new terminal. She said there’s been a lot of complaints about flies and smells from the sewage plant.

How good is that for a sail away.

 

Melbourne has a bigger population to draw from and has a lot going for it than Brisbane 

More direct international flights,a cosmopolitan city and is good to cruise NZ .

Those last 3 things Americans love , easy transport,cultural and  a NZ cruise.

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Chiliburn

[Cruisers47]

7 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Cheryl, I only shoot one blogger down on this site  - and - he -loves - it  ,  LOL

 

But I think Royal has shot it’s self in the foot with Quantum in Brisbane,they can’t fill it.

Lower population, ugly port ,bad transport,pore accommodation and I was talking to a agent the other day and apparently there is healh concerns with the new terminal. She said there’s been a lot of complaints about flies and smells from the sewage plant.

How good is that for a sail away.

 

Melbourne has a bigger population to draw from and has a lot going for it than Brisbane 

More direct international flights,a cosmopolitan city and is good to cruise NZ .

Those last 3 things Americans love , easy transport,cultural and  a NZ cruise.

 

 

Oh wouldn’t that be lovely…loverly….please RC come to Melbourne.

 

i don’t like Princess.   My first cruise was on Norwegian with a lovely cabin, then I did a Princess cruise to NZ on Diamond Princess..I could not believe that there was no settee, on a balcony cabin!   Have done a short cruise prior to Covid on  Princess.  The food in the buffet was cold and it was really like an old cafeteria!   Now Diamond on RC so free drinks lowers the cost.   
 

sorry Princess lovers!🥶

 

Eileen

[resordanis]

9 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Cheryl, I only shoot one blogger down on this site  - and - he -loves - it  ,  LOL

 

But I think Royal has shot it’s self in the foot with Quantum in Brisbane,they can’t fill it.

Lower population, ugly port ,bad transport,pore accommodation and I was talking to a agent the other day and apparently there is healh concerns with the new terminal. She said there’s been a lot of complaints about flies and smells from the sewage plant.

How good is that for a sail away.

 

Melbourne has a bigger population to draw from and has a lot going for it than Brisbane 

More direct international flights,a cosmopolitan city and is good to cruise NZ .

Those last 3 things Americans love , easy transport,cultural and  a NZ cruise.

 

 

Chili, We agree!  When we were on Majestic, we could use the balcony in Brisbane because of the smell. Except it won’t to Melbourne. I won’t cruise from Melbourne and the ships based there are struggling too.  I love Cunard and could have got a very cheap cruise, but it was Melbourne departure, definitely would not have happened if it was in Sydney. With Royal I want a smaller ship, no bigger than Voyager PLEASE or I am looking elsewhere.

[cheznandy]

1 minute ago, resordanis said:

Chili, We agree!  When we were on Majestic, we could use the balcony in Brisbane because of the smell. Except it won’t to Melbourne. I won’t cruise from Melbourne and the ships based there are struggling too.  I love Cunard and could have got a very cheap cruise, but it was Melbourne departure, definitely would not have happened if it was in Sydney. With Royal I want a smaller ship, no bigger than Voyager PLEASE or I am looking elsewhere.

Where are you going to look? If you want to cruise from Sydney......Princess, P&O and Carnival.

 

[resordanis]

16 minutes ago, cheznandy said:

Where are you going to look? If you want to cruise from Sydney......Princess, P&O and Carnival.

 

Good question Chez. Definitely not Carnival. Going to try P&O again from Cairns as our son lives there, Princess, Celebrity, NCL are all good and probably some Cunard segments might do us from Sydney. I do think Royal will give us a smaller ship soon, and I will go on Brilliance to use FCC. The only good thing about Ovation for the next cruise is hopefully I can use Coastal Kitchen and the 5 drinks per day! Something always comes up.😁

Edited February 16, 2023 by resordanis

[Rassa]

Would love to see more ships leaving Melbourne but weather conditions makes Sydney a good  alternative.  New Brisbane cruise terminal not well organised yet to get cruisers onto shuttles and away from the new terminal.  Don't really want to fly to Brisbane.  Hoping Voyager and Radiance class ships return to Australia.   I prefer Princess and RCCL cruise lines.

 

[Chiliburn]

31 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Good question Chez. Definitely not Carnival. Going to try P&O again from Cairns as our son lives there, Princess, Celebrity, NCL are all good and probably some Cunard segments might do us from Sydney. I do think Royal will give us a smaller ship soon, and I will go on Brilliance to use FCC. The only good thing about Ovation for the next cruise is hopefully I can use Coastal Kitchen and the 5 drinks per day! Something always comes up.😁

I have done 6 cruises on Quantum class  this season and I need something different.

[resordanis]

5 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I have done 6 cruises on Quantum class  this season and I need something different.

Same here about to do No. 4 this season. 8 in total for Ovation and over it (Chili we seem to be agreeing today). 🤣

[lyndarra]

I was wondering if the inability to fill ships in Melbourne and Brisbane is not helped due to cost of interstate flights. I can recall, pre COVID, getting a one way flight Newcastle to Melbourne for $69.

[cheznandy]

8 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

I was wondering if the inability to fill ships in Melbourne and Brisbane is not helped due to cost of interstate flights. I can recall, pre COVID, getting a one way flight Newcastle to Melbourne for $69.

I think that may be a big factor, I have read of some posters on here saying they would book  but the flight costs negate the cheap fares.

[icat2000]

When was the last time RCL ported in Melbourne. I don't recall it being here in recent times.

 

Airfare prices are shocking. Thanks Alan.

[cheznandy]

15 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

When was the last time RCL ported in Melbourne. I don't recall it being here in recent times.

 

Airfare prices are shocking. Thanks Alan.

Yeah, we are using our Qantas FF points for fares to and from Brisbane and Sydney, costing us about $45 in taxes each way but still better than driving and parking. Cheapest flights Port Macquarie to Sydney is about $170, so that's $680 for two of us return......for that we would drive!

[icat2000]

8 minutes ago, cheznandy said:

Yeah, we are using our Qantas FF points for fares to and from Brisbane and Sydney, costing us about $45 in taxes each way but still better than driving and parking. Cheapest flights Port Macquarie to Sydney is about $170, so that's $680 for two of us return......for that we would drive!

It cost Pete and I $1500 for the two of us return over Christmas/NYE Melbourne to Brisbane return in Cattle. I had to book B2B cruises to make it viable. 

 

These cruiselines should be negotiating cheaper flights and package it up. I believe PO UK does for some of its itineraries for UK citizens.

Edited February 16, 2023 by icat2000

[cheznandy]

32 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

It cost Pete and I $1500 for the two of us return over Christmas/NYE Melbourne to Brisbane return in Cattle. I had to book B2B cruises to make it viable. 

 

These cruiselines should be negotiating cheaper flights and package it up. I believe PO UK does for some of its itineraries for UK citizens.

$1500 is a lot to be squished in, I hate the 3/3 seats. Our little regional planes have heaps more leg room and are 2/2.

I have just put in for a points upgrade to Business for a Sydney/Cairns flight in April, I know we wont get it but worth a try, only 5 left and we are not that high on the Loyalty scale with Qantas.

 

[resordanis]

6 minutes ago, cheznandy said:

$1500 is a lot to be squished in, I hate the 3/3 seats. Our little regional planes have heaps more leg room and are 2/2.

I have just put in for a points upgrade to Business for a Sydney/Cairns flight in April, I know we wont get it but worth a try, only 5 left and we are not that high on the Loyalty scale with Qantas.

 

Hey Chez, We have flown Port to Cairns via Brisbane. About $600 each return. Considering what a flight to Sydney costs, I didn’t think it too bad. About to do it again.

Just a thought.

PS Agree about our little planes, so much room.

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by resordanis

[joejoe 59]

On 2/16/2023 at 2:02 PM, Chiliburn said:

Cheryl, I only shoot one blogger down on this site  - and - he -loves - it  ,  LOL

 

But I think Royal has shot it’s self in the foot with Quantum in Brisbane,they can’t fill it.

Lower population, ugly port ,bad transport,pore accommodation and I was talking to a agent the other day and apparently there is healh concerns with the new terminal. She said there’s been a lot of complaints about flies and smells from the sewage plant.

How good is that for a sail away.

 

Melbourne has a bigger population to draw from and has a lot going for it than Brisbane 

More direct international flights,a cosmopolitan city and is good to cruise NZ .

Those last 3 things Americans love , easy transport,cultural and  a NZ cruise.

 

 

We are about to do our 3rd cruise out of the new Port in Brisbane, haven't noticed the  smell on embarkation maybe to excited but have crossing the car park on return.

Yes Rcl are having trouble filling the ship but there are 3 other ships all doing similar itinerarys to compete with,  And a  lot of people just aren't willing to cruise yet because of covid fears.

Princess in Melbourne has had trouble filling their ship, their cruises have been a bargain over summer so doubt they could fill Quantum. What they should do is multi port embarkation especially for southern itinerarys.

[arxcards]

22 hours ago, cheznandy said:

I think that may be a big factor, I have read of some posters on here saying they would book  but the flight costs negate the cheap fares.

Us included.

An hour in a tin can either way is more expensive than a week on Luminosa. 

[springaussie]

23 hours ago, resordanis said:

Hey Chez, We have flown Port to Cairns via Brisbane. About $600 each return. Considering what a flight to Sydney costs, I didn’t think it too bad. About to do it again.

Just a thought.

PS Agree about our little planes, so much room.

 

I bought Virgin last night Brisbane to Cairns $125 each way including luggage. Flying a day before and a day after the cruise.

The arrival day back into Cairns was more expensive. 

[Chiliburn]

@geoff2802

Do you think Celebrity Edge will be able to dock in Cairns?

It’s 306 meters long .

I believe RCG said they will only take a ship into Trinity inlet upto 300 meters.

I believe Ports north said it’s suitable for ships up to 320 meters.

What do you think? I’m thinking about booking it.

[Cruisers47]

On Quantum on a 5 day cruise.

 

Medvac this morning..Helicopter flying in.

 

I have been on many cruises and have never heard of so many Medivacs.

 

Chilli…when does the next lot of RC cruises come out?

 

thanks

 

Eileen

[Chiliburn]

35 minutes ago, Cruisers47 said:

On Quantum on a 5 day cruise.

 

Medvac this morning..Helicopter flying in.

 

I have been on many cruises and have never heard of so many Medivacs.

 

Chilli…when does the next lot of RC cruises come out?

 

thanks

 

Eileen

There does seem to be a lot of evacuations especially to the islands.

Quantum and Ovation supposed to have some really good medical teams onboard .

Ovation ,I was told has a professor of medicine,a doctor and 3 nurses,you would think they could handle it.

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Chiliburn