Cruise Ban extended a further 2 months till April 17th

[Blackduck59]

26 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

I have sent emails to Fed and state ministers, also was taking to A Friend about Carnival Spirit. Sitting in warm lockdown to full crew takes weeks and that's the reason they move her to the US to be fully operational .Spirit can be relocated in about a week when there's a green light .

 

It's not that simple. There are way more logistics involved than just driving the ship across the ocean. Supply lines need to be re-established, fuel needs to be secured, land operations need to be brought back after a 2 year shut down. Think more like 7 weeks not 7 days (and 7 weeks is a long shot).

Also I think you will find that the transit from the East coast of the US to any port in Australia is going to take more than 7 days.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Hogbay said:

I have sent emails to Fed and state ministers, also was taking to A Friend about Carnival Spirit. Sitting in warm lockdown to full crew takes weeks and that's the reason they move her to the US to be fully operational .Spirit can be relocated in about a week when there's a green light .

It takes a bit longer than a week to get from the US to Australia by ship.

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Spirit can be relocated in about a week when there's a green light

 

Spirit is sailing in the Caribbean starting March 7th. It's not coming back any time soon. 😢

[sewgood]

On 2/19/2022 at 6:19 AM, Hogbay said:

No better precaution than another jab ,had my third dose yesterday. Then found a P&O 12th June 2022 Great Barrier Reef 10 day and booked it . Have not been on a P&O in over a decade 🤔

I booked this cruise some time ago during a $1 sale and have been checking on the prices every two weeks. I noticed that in the last two weeks a lot of rooms are no longer available for sale. Maybe they might be limiting the ship's passenger capacity or some poeple think that this maybe one of the first cruises out of Sydney and are willing to book it just like you did.

Well if it goes ahead I will find out onboard.

Best of luck to both of us for this cruise sailing.🤞

[NSWP]

14 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It takes a bit longer than a week to get from the US to Australia by ship.

4 weeks with a few stops, that's what it took us on ye olde Regal Princess, LA to Sydney in 2007.  A long way.

[Russell21]

The group I book for has just cancelled our 35day Hawaii round trip due to the uncertainty/price/lack of Insurance, and the uncertainty of the cruise actually happening. Bora Bora has already been removed from the cruise, and from the way NZ is being run who knows when they will open up so there may be the last two ports taken off as well.

Looking at the available, or restricted amount of, cruises with Princess up to the end of April 2023 it would appear that they are very unsure of what's going to happen themselves.

 

[Chiliburn]

12 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

The group I book for has just cancelled our 35day Hawaii round trip due to the uncertainty/price/lack of Insurance, and the uncertainty of the cruise actually happening. Bora Bora has already been removed from the cruise, and from the way NZ is being run who knows when they will open up so there may be the last two ports taken off as well.

Looking at the available, or restricted amount of, cruises with Princess up to the end of April 2023 it would appear that they are very unsure of what's going to happen themselves.

 

We where thinking about a trans pacific but as you said with the uncertainty  French Polynesia and NZ  it would be a lot of sea days.

 

[Rassa]

42 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

The group I book for has just cancelled our 35day Hawaii round trip due to the uncertainty/price/lack of Insurance, and the uncertainty of the cruise actually happening. Bora Bora has already been removed from the cruise, and from the way NZ is being run who knows when they will open up so there may be the last two ports taken off as well.

Looking at the available, or restricted amount of, cruises with Princess up to the end of April 2023 it would appear that they are very unsure of what's going to happen themselves.

 

I cancelled mine also because 5 weeks is a long time to be on a cruise and I would hate to catch covid and be isolated during a long and expensive cruise.   I have booked a number of shorter cruises for this year and next in Australian waters.   

 

I have a NZ cruise early next year and have concerns with that if we have to do the ship tours.   I will cancel that also if that is the case and just do another Australian cruise.   We were fortunate enough to organise cruises that were overseas in the past thinking that as we age it would be better to cruise locally, so at the moment, we don't really care how many Australian cruises we may end up doing.

[mr walker]

OK, with our almost $3000 FCC from our cancelled Sth Pac Mar '20 cruise to expire Apr '23, and things generally looking optimistic for a return to cruising next season (??) we pulled the trigger and booked Ovation for 11-March 2023 [12N NZ cruise]. Came out at around $180pn pp for a balcony (with C&A discount) plus US$350 OBC, so not too bad - it can be my retirement gift to myself 🙂 

 

So a booked cruise to look forward to once again 🙂 We'll have forgotten how to cruise after so long!

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Russell21 said:

The group I book for has just cancelled our 35day Hawaii round trip due to the uncertainty/price/lack of Insurance, and the uncertainty of the cruise actually happening. Bora Bora has already been removed from the cruise, and from the way NZ is being run who knows when they will open up so there may be the last two ports taken off as well.

Looking at the available, or restricted amount of, cruises with Princess up to the end of April 2023 it would appear that they are very unsure of what's going to happen themselves.

 

That's sensible. The longer international itineraries are still a bit risky, I think, in that you don't know what ports will be viable. It's too good a cruise to have too many missed ports, especially as there are already a high percentage of sea days on that itinerary.

 

We cancelled our 2023 booking a while back, replacing it with a short South Australia cruise followed by Round Australia later in the year. We've booked the world cruise for 2024 but there is plenty of time to decide whether that will be viable.

 

Our current concern is the Cunard Xmas/New Year cruise we have booked for this December. It goes to NZ and, again, there is a risk of NZ either not opening its ports  or only allowing people ashore on excursions which would be useless for us as we usually catch up with family and friends on NZ cruises. We'll have to make a decision on that by end April /early May to avoid cancellation penalties.

Edited February 21, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[Chiliburn]

56 minutes ago, mr walker said:

OK, with our almost $3000 FCC from our cancelled Sth Pac Mar '20 cruise to expire Apr '23, and things generally looking optimistic for a return to cruising next season (??) we pulled the trigger and booked Ovation for 11-March 2023 [12N NZ cruise]. Came out at around $180pn pp for a balcony (with C&A discount) plus US$350 OBC, so not too bad - it can be my retirement gift to myself 🙂 

 

So a booked cruise to look forward to once again 🙂 We'll have forgotten how to cruise after so long!

That’s a cheap holiday mr walker, as my mum used to say you have to have something to look forward to.

Im expecting Oasis of the seas  to come through the Suez Canal at the end of next year , if not celebrity edge .
Maybe then I will venture away from Australia.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Chiliburn

[mr walker]

49 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Our current concern is the Cunard Xmas/New Year cruise we have booked for this December. It goes to NZ and, again, there is a risk of NZ either not opening its ports  or only allowing people ashore on excursions which would be useless for us as we usually catch up with family and friends on NZ cruises. We'll have to make a decision on that by end April /early May to avoid cancellation penalties.

Hopefully by Dec, NZ will be open again, including being able to disembark at ports 'on your own', and that they will announce that in time your your cancellation timeframe.

We have factored in the possibility of restrictions, even as far as a year away, as we have our niece & her family in Tauranga that we would like to visit on our cruise, but that would not be a gamechanger for us - we hope to see them here later this year?? 

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Hopefully by Dec, NZ will be open again, including being able to disembark at ports 'on your own', and that they will announce that in time your your cancellation timeframe.

We have factored in the possibility of restrictions, even as far as a year away, as we have our niece & her family in Tauranga that we would like to visit on our cruise, but that would not be a gamechanger for us - we hope to see them here later this year?? 

I'm not sure they will announce it in time, unfortunately, and that Cunard cruise is too expensive to waste the money just sitting on the ship. We certainly don't need to sightsee in NZ as I grew up there, and we've been back a number of time. So if there is no clarity on the situation we will cancel and perhaps just do a short Australian cruise instead to try the Cunard experience.

[Cruisers47]

Hi Chili,

 

a couple of weeks ago you said there were reductions on RCL cruises.   Had a look but our Holy Land cruise was not any cheaper but had a look today on the cruise I booked on Wonder of the seas in September, which is prior to the Holy Land one.   Called RCL and got $700 off the cruise.

 

then I had a look at a RCL cruise in Feb 2023 from Brisbane down to Eden and back.   Just a short holiday!   I had only put a $50 deposit on it with a TA so just cancelled that and rebooked with RCL direct $700 cheaper.   
 

thanks for the info.  
 

well worth checking every now and again.

 

not all TA will change the booking but if you book direct with RCL they will reduce the price!

 

thanks again.

 

Eileen

[Chiliburn]

42 minutes ago, Cruisers47 said:

Hi Chili,

 

a couple of weeks ago you said there were reductions on RCL cruises.   Had a look but our Holy Land cruise was not any cheaper but had a look today on the cruise I booked on Wonder of the seas in September, which is prior to the Holy Land one.   Called RCL and got $700 off the cruise.

 

then I had a look at a RCL cruise in Feb 2023 from Brisbane down to Eden and back.   Just a short holiday!   I had only put a $50 deposit on it with a TA so just cancelled that and rebooked with RCL direct $700 cheaper.   
 

thanks for the info.  
 

well worth checking every now and again.

 

not all TA will change the booking but if you book direct with RCL they will reduce the price!

 

thanks again.

 

Eileen

Thanks for the feedback,because everyone on this site and others  have been saying that they they got knocked back.

But people I know personally have been getting the price match.
Not all cruises are cheaper but you saved $1,400 by the sound of it.

US agents have been matching price drop for years and I think we should get it also.

 

Just curious are you a C&A member?

Im just trying to work out why some get it.
 

Edited February 21, 2022 by Chiliburn

[Cruisers47]

Yes I am a C&A member.

 

I just turned Diamond but because of all the cancellations have not been able to take advantage.

 

I think because Wonder of the Seas is a new very large ship perhaps that is the reason.   The RCL agent did say it has to be exactly the same level of booking to get the reduction.

 

The other cruise is just a small 5 day one from Brisbane which I booked ages ago.   I cancelled that one with the TA and rebooked online with RCL as it was so much cheaper.   Loosing $50 and gaining $700 always seems good to me.

 

Eileen

 

 

[Chiliburn]

15 hours ago, Cruisers47 said:

Yes I am a C&A member.

 

I just turned Diamond but because of all the cancellations have not been able to take advantage.

 

I think because Wonder of the Seas is a new very large ship perhaps that is the reason.   The RCL agent did say it has to be exactly the same level of booking to get the reduction.

 

The other cruise is just a small 5 day one from Brisbane which I booked ages ago.   I cancelled that one with the TA and rebooked online with RCL as it was so much cheaper.   Loosing $50 and gaining $700 always seems good to me.

 

Eileen

 

 

Quoting the exact cabin category is critical to getting a price match.

We did a dummy booking and took a screenshot.

Then emailed it with the original booking and no questions asked.

 

So you are booked on Wonder,So jealous I am    . LOL 
I was just looking at the video of it coming into Fort Lauderdale.

 

You will have to give us a live blog.

[Cruisers47]

Hi

 

i don’t know about a live blog but will put a few notes on CC.

 

we are only going on it as it fits in with our Holy Land cruise.

 

I had a look at the ship on line.  Really terrific for people with kids but apart from live entertainment I really prefer a quieter ship.    Although it looks lovely.

 

just have to be careful when booking that you get a balcony that is out to the sea and not one of these internal balconies.

 

we have done the Holy land cruise before and thought it was a terrific experience.  We are not religious but from a historical aspect it was really interesting.

 

Eileen