One way from Seattle to Sydney for about $64 a night - ridiculously cheap. Previous cheapest twin price was +$480pp
Departs Seattle (Washington) 8 October, stopping Honolulu, Lahaina (Hawaii), Suva (Fiji), Vila (Vanuatu), Mystery Island, Noumea (New Caledonia) before stopping in Sydney.
You'll need to find your own way to Seattle to start with of course.
That is the current price, it fluctuates a lot and has been as cheap as $1100 pp for quad share.
It has been as cheap as sub $1100 pp twin share on the repo from Syd to per this last time. I suspect it will come down in price.
What does Interior Stateroom (Guaranteed) mean?
What is guaranteed?
It means you are guaranteed to get the category you paid for or better
All three times I did this I got either a virtual balcony or promenade stateroom. While at the time I was not yet diamond status, I was well on my way. RC interior staterooms are pleasant. Not a dream, but not bad.
The lowest class cabin is Interior Stateroom, (Guaranteed)
As in you are sharing the room with the cattles?
You're the cattle 🐄 from everyone else's perspective.
@edfoo: If you found this answer helpful, don't forget to vote for either one of me in the OzBargain MVP awards.
It means theres no window, because the room is not facing the outside of the ship . Thats why its a bit cheaper (compared to other rooms with windows, or with balconies) . (EDIT: Some rooms have "virtual" windows…I dont know if they cost more)
"Guaranteed" means you're guaranteed to get at least that category of room. It also means you can't choose your own room and they'll place you whereever there are rooms left. You can also select your own room but it might cost more $$ - I would think the only reason you want to select your own room is if you are prone to get sea sick (and therefore want a room as close as possible to the centre of the ship)
http://www.royalcaribbean.com.au/findacruise/cabinclass/cabi…
I believe thats what it means … happy to be corrected
(EDIT: Some rooms have "virtual" windows…I dont know if they cost more)
Means there's a giant TV screen that is connected to a camera outside in your room.
It has a fake overlay of a balcony as well to make it seem like the camera is behind a balcony, thus, it's supposed to give you the illusion of a "virtual" balcony.
It helps to tell the time I guess since there's no window.
if i was to go on this cruise, i would go for either Single $2,804 or double $1,521
Same here :)
Also with ocean view.
So is the quad room shared with strangers or do u need to book the whole cabin?
whole cabin
gastro included?
That's with Princess Cruises bud.
Number of nights in title please. BTW, it's 24. :)
A friend did this a couple of years ago. Flew one way (obviously) and cruised back. For the price…..
Is it worthwhile to mention:
IMO - Cat Y (Ocean View stateroom) is a nicer cabin, with better location with respect to ship and also sea-sickness! It's only $200 more.
Happy cruising! I would go if I had someone to go with!! Haha!!
EDIT:
On second thought the itinerary is quite average, 5 continuous days of sailing to HNL and then another 6 days straight to SUV … that's alot of days sea bound … hmmmm
Gratuities excluded? IMO most likely they are excluded, and the charge is approx 18%?? TBC.
Excluded for sure.
If it's the same as the Voyager of the Seas, it'll be 12.95 USD per night per passenger. You can request to remove this charge at the Services desk (and say you prefer to pay your servers in cash or something).
Whether you actually do, up to you.
Voyager was USD, this was Syd Depart and Arrival though.
It will be in usd. And about $12.95. Days at sea are the best in my opinion, esp if you are doing the South Pacific. I stay on the boat at mystery island and vanautu. Noumea is over priced except fir food st Le meridian. The drinks at LM noumea are outrageous but food is good value. I had the best steak tartare in my life there for about $35.
There is so much to do on a rccl boat, esp on sea days.
I am thinking of doing this trip but I think I will be single then. I hate it when there is a near double single supplement. On some November cruises they are charging three times for a single on a pp basis than on a twin pp basis.
I don't mind maybe 30% single supplement as you get double points in the crown and anchor society and that would be 48 points, putting me nearly at diamond plus status.
When you reach diamond status a world of benefits open up to you, including free happy hour drinks for about 3.5 hours per night. A concierge who takes care of everything, no queues for tenders or shows. They can reverse charges on your account just for the hell of it. I tip the concierge first day $50. Tip stateroom attendant $50 first day with a list of all the crap I want. Ice in the morning and afternoon clean, extra hangers, etc. be sure to bring Yankee plugs fir your devices. They run out. If you get to diamond, wait a few days to ascertain which drink waiter is top dog. Then tip him. I love a RCCL, but their port excursions are a rip off. If you are addicted to chocolate or lollies or crisps, consider BYO as a a 200g Cadbury block is about $12 us in the shops. You can bring two 750 ml bottles of wine per stateroom. Go through the scanner several people apart and you can get two bottles per person through. This could be different as it is departing the us. If you decide to try to sneak spirits aboard do it in your checked luggage. Generally they will give you any confiscated items back at the end but thus will stuff up your duty free. I have found duty free spirits on cruise ships to be the cheapest in the world, including Singapore. Do not bring power boards they will be taken off you and returned at the end. If you are doing a back to back cruise, you will often be able to bring four bottles of wine, sometimes they might hold it, but I've never seen that happen. Then when you do your change day, just go ashore and buy two more bottles. In the last day you can buy and bring spirits duty free back to your room. If you r on a back to back, those spirits will be in your room. Do not let your stateroom attendant, under any circumstances see you with spirits in your room mid journey.
I stay on the boat at mystery island and vanautu.
I'll be staying on the boat in noumea if I do another South Pac cruise. Offers very little, and Horribly expensive, as a point of comparison, a Big Mac meal starts at aud$14.
As for the RCI price gouging on confectionary……I can report the following from Febuary this year….. 200g Cadbury US$13, Bag of Pods (biscuits) US$10, 400g Toblerone US$29, 200g Ferrero Rocher USD$29. Unnecessary I thought given the drinks prices are reasonable.
@ash2000:
I had what at the time was the wurst nachos ever on my first trip to noumea. We were on the one and only dreadful p&o cruise I have been on and I don't think they had daily packages for Internet. So we went to this hard rock wannabe and paid $45 Aus for nachos. They were the worst I had ever had up until that pint. I have since found number one and number two in the worst nacho division to be at Sydney domestic Virgin terminal.
But Le meridian has a magnificent cafe on the beach where you can watch all those people that do weird things on surf boards like windsurfing or kiteboaing. And the food prices were reasonable. There is a grocery store called casino down the road from the terminal but the prices there are high.
The things I miss on a cruise are salty snacks so I take nuts mostly. And if there are children around lots of lollies.
Most rccl boats including explorer and voyager have free soft serve ice cream nearly all the time and a cafe that serves pizza wraps, slices, sausage rolls etc. pretty much 24 hours a day. This is included in your fare. There is generally a specialty coffee outlet or two that you have to pay for coffee, but biscuits and muffins there are included. There is also a Ben and jerrys outlet that is additional.
Cruises can be exceptional value.
Typically cruise ship passengers go to McDonald's for the free wifi.
The Cadbury is what's sold on the ship.
I didn't consume either.
Cruises can be exceptional value .
Indeed…..I took some zip lock bags and bundled up food to take ashore (pastries, sandwiches, etc). Why pay on shore when you don't have to, and indeed on the snorkelling islands there's bugger all to buy anyway.
In NZ, they frequently xray what you take off the boat. Fair enough. IMO. Every port forbids you from taking anything but sealed bottle water off the bot. but te only ones who have every checked was NZ and that was nearly very time.
And you always get everything xrayed on the way bck on.They just don't want you to bring grog, but don't check water bottles which could be full of gin or vodka. Except on embarkation. You can bring any food you want as far as I can tell.
Pleae don't bring durian.
In NZ, they frequently xray what you take off the boat. Fair enough.
Yeah it's a good practice …. you certainly don't want fruit leaving the ship, so I can understand the why it's just easier to blanket ban the removal of food.
@ash2000: It is actual nz customs officers. Good on them for not allowing ship security to stuff it up. In Asia, either voyager or legend had people buying fruit in one country as well as baked goods and taking them off at the next port.
I don't know why this deal has been even posted, as it is very-very average, especially considering the itinerary, which includes ONLY 6 stops over 24 nights of cruising.
In fact, there are cruises where you get to visit 5 or 6 islands in just 11-13 days.
Currency on board is USD.
There are lots of cruising specials but only small number of them are real deals.
If one starts posting all cruising so-called specials, Ozbargain will sink.
I don't know why this deal has been even posted, as it is very-very average, especially considering the itinerary, which includes ONLY 6 stops over 24 nights of cruising.
From my experience with talking onboard with other people on the ship, some people don't even go on the islands, they're there to relax on the ship.
In fact, there are cruises where you get to visit 5 or 6 islands in just 11-13 days.
Do they leave Seattle and arrive in Australia, visit 5 or 6 islands in just 11-13 days?
If one starts posting all cruising so-called specials, Ozbargain will sink.
Nice pun
cwongtech: "From my experience with talking onboard with other people on the ship, some people don't even go on the islands, they're there to relax on the ship."
I don't need talking to other people as I have been on about 15 cruises. You are right that some people are only after having fun on the ship and may not care much about the itinerary. But there are only a few of them. Furthermore, this kind of people will never go on a lengthy cruise, as they will get bored after about 10-12 days, as each day will be the same as the previous one.
cwongtech: "Do they leave Seattle and arrive in Australia, visit 5 or 6 islands in just 11-13 days?"
Obviously, the cruise ship can't cover the distance from Canada to AU in 11-13 days.
I see this route as disadvantage, as first you have to fly to Seattle, which will cost quite a bit.
There are many round trips from Sydney available where you get to visit many beautiful islands within 2 weeks.
The posted cruise is called REPOSITIONING cruise. These cruises are commonly heavily discounted.
I don't need talking to other people as I have been on about 15 cruises.
Nice! I've only been on one (Voyager of the Seas), and I got burnt to a crisp on two of three islands, so I can definitely see where some of the older folks are coming from. What are your thoughts and rankings on the Cruise operators that you have been on in terms of price, value and service?
Which islands do you recommend?
@cwongtech:
It's hard to give rankings, as everything depends on the value for money. And value for money depends on the particular deal (price) you managed to get.
As for the cruise companies, it also depends on the particular ship. Some ships are better, some worse.
Say, RC Radiance of the Seas I found quite average. The interior and food were nothing to be excited about. I haven't been on RC Explorer and it is supposed to be better.
I liked Carnival Spirit. The interior is really beautiful and the service was great. Lots of entertainment. However, someone told me that the service has degraded marginally over the last couple of years.
P&O have smaller ships and less classy but if you get a good deal, then it's great for a holiday.
I sailed on P&O Jewel in May 2016. 11 nights for Quad cabin cost me only $580 p/p. Visited 5 islands. I really liked that they changed their buffet to The Pantry (which is the same concept as on Carnival Spirit).
Currently you can get Quad cabin on P&O Eden for 15 nights to New Guinea for about $940 p/p and also get $300 on-board credit. Includes visit of 7 islands.
Princess are quite good but a bit conservative and rarely have good deals.
I liked Costa (Mediterranea and another ship) but they don't sail to/from AU.
Are they visiting Canada? Did Canada do a land grab and take over Washington state? I'm confused.
I would not get bored on a RCCL cruise of 24 dats with no stops. Sea days are the best. All the restaurants are serving lunch. There is a massive selection of free activities to do from 6 am until quite late. Ice rink, ice shows, live music all over the boat, many trivia things, competitions, wine tastings, cocktail classes, rick climbing wall, FREE flow rider. Kids and teen clubs all free from about 9 am until 1 am for the teens. The only things with a charge were wine tastings, cocktail classes, and some craft things.
A cruise is what you make it. On P&O the highlight was bingo. It was such a rip off they nickelled and dined you for everything. On rccl, there are lots of outlets with free food. Room service is free, except a per order surcharge between midnight and five am.
I hate buffets, but voyager had on all my cruises on her an amazing cheese buffet in the windjammer. You could load up, stick it in your mini bar fridge and enjoy it later..
I do not like explorer nearly as much as voyager.
P&O have smaller ships and less classy but if you get a good deal, then it's great for a holiday.
I find it hard to go back to P&O after being with RCI. The food, service and entertainment is of a much lower standard than RCI. Of course RCI is a 4 star line, P&O is 3.5.
On the plus side, P&O usually have bigger cabins.
P&O's advertising is quite deceptive though, all their advertised prices are based on per person Quad share. All other lines advertise the industry standard PP Twin share (which is how the vast majority of passengers travel).
@ash2000:
I don't book directly with P&O as I can always get better prices from cruise agents. And all of them always show prices for twin cabins as well as for quad cabins, so there is no confusion at all.
Indeed, if you book through an agent that's true….. But every piece of promotional material that P&O distributes, either on the web, email, TV, or radio they use the deceptive quad share price.
@ash2000: P&o Australia are a floating caravan park. I even the chefs table was average. We HAD to eat at salt grill at least once a day to get decent food and that was a $50aud pp surcharge.
@voteoften: I can't agree with you. It might be the case with Pacific Dawn, as I didn't sail on it for about 12 years. But Pearl and Jewel serve very decent food in the Waterfront restaurant. In addition, The Pantry on Jewel made huge difference compared to very poor buffet on Pearl.
In fact, quality of food on RC Radiance was no better (I sailed in December 2015).
Please also keep in mind that you are paying only $60 (p/p quad) or $80 - $90 (p/p twin) per night for your accommodation, travel, dining, entertainment, etc. and for this sort of money you shouldn't expect 5 Chef Hats dining.
Yes I agree…. "The Pantry" was very disappointing……. So few choices, and you have to stand in line to be scooped the stuff from the bain Marie by surly workers. Compare that the RCI's buffet, light years apart.
Same again in the formal dining room. Very poor choice and mediocre at best quality for P&O. RCI's service was 5 star….food choice extensive, and presentation amazing.
I hear this a lot about P&O but I have to say that this really is a matter of tastebuds. Don't let this put you off booking with them if you were considering it. (Unless you are a food critic and used to a high standard?? ^^")
I enjoyed the food on my two P&O cruises, and I last sailed on P&O (Aria) just a month or so ago. I do agree Pantry isn't the best buffet out there, but I ate at the restaurants most of the time anyway.
So the ship was smaller (no ice rink or fancy water slides); we still had live music shows, trivia, many raffles, craft sessions, all for free. Free cocktail with a really enjoyables ladies' casino session. Relaxing. Great staff who worked hard with the entertainment. Got to sing karaoke with a live band..
Wine tasting, cocktail classes, EDGE (climbing/flying fox) were for a fee.
@bob19: This was on pacific pearl
18 months ago. The staff were surly with the exception of the staff in salt who would bring wine in without being asked as they began to know our preferences. We were in the closest thing they had to a suite and every few days we would get "canapés" or "petit fours" dumped off in our cabin. They were inedible. I HATE p&o. The food description never matched what hit the table. Roasted cherry tomatoes became slices of raw orange green under ripe tomatoes.
I have a friend going on her first cruise on seaborne in the Med. I'm dying to hear how that is. Another going on spirit in a few weeks.
@voteoften: we did a 7 night Mediterranean cruise with MSC for $329pp. The P&O pacific cruises weve done for double $ or more were pale in comparison.
I had the opposite experience on P&O Jewel. Never had to queue for food in The Pantry. Perhaps, it depends on the time when you go there…
Food in the Pantry was good and staff was very welcoming and polite. Whenever we needed anything for ourselves or our small children, they went out of their way to look after us. Waterfront wasn't perfect but very reasonable.
But then again, people have different tastes as well as different expectations.
Obviously, if you pay $150 per night you would (and entitled to) expect much better quality service than if you pay $60-$80 p/night.
At the end of the day it's all about value for money…
And in my view I didn't get this value for money when I traveled on more expensive RC Radiance.
@bob19:
We paid $400 pp on on pacific peRl in a very large balcony room. It was crdp. All crap. Except salt grill at $50 pp ours was a NYE cruise of over ten dreadful dats. But you would think they could get the canapés right for suite guests. Filth.
We paid &75 pp pm twin in a medium balcony room on rccl. Guess what. Glorious. Even though it was the explorer cnd not the voyager.
@voteoften:
Lucky you. I have never seen $75 p/p price on RC even for inside or window cabins, not to mention the balcony cabin, even though I constantly look out for specials. How and when did you get $75 p/p balcony cabin?
Share your experience.
@bob19: that's why I was comparing them! 🙄
Paid US$199 (AU$199 at the time) for a 4 night Bahamas cruise too! For a home that's girt by sea, we don't have much in the way of cruise competition.
It is nice to highlight the repositioning cruises but they are always cheap. If you factor in the cost of getting to Seattle it is not really a cheap holiday. This is why these cruises are cheap. Also from my experience on going on repositioning cruises the entertainers are often pretty average compared to normal. There is often a change of cruise staff between the US season and the Australian and so the staff are a bit edgy to get off the shop and go home when it arrives in Australia . Also as mentioned as there are so few ports there is less cost for the cruise line for Port charges. Another thing to consider is that if you fall unwell there us no way of getting off any time soon and no chance of an evacuation when you're half way across the pacific. Great cruise for someone who likes to just read books and eat. 7 days without land though is a big stretch.
I did a 21 night cruise for my honeymoon and it seemed the average age on board was about 90. There was us and about 3 other younger couples on board and everyone else was quite a bit older. Not quite the level of fun that shorter cruises are - not sure if this is a one off case or if it's typical for longer cruises. Either way we'll stick to 12 nights or less going forwards.
Not quite the level of fun that shorter cruises are - not sure if this is a one off case or if it's typical for longer cruises. Either way we'll stick to 12 nights or less going forwards.
Some apparently have enough money and want to die in comfort. There's been stories by our dining service server where older people will go on the ship to die of old age, there's been cases where the ship had to return to the departure port in 2 hours because an older gentleman just got on the ship and passed away.
So it's a case of oldies wanting to die in paradise (cruise ships are very very nice compared to a retirement home if you aren't confined by disabilities)
I predict this price will come down.
As predicted, this price is now $1330 pp ts. I suspect it will come down close to $1099
You'll need to find your own way to Seattle to start with of course.
No matter how great the standalone deal is, that sorta kills it doesn't it?
how is Holland America Line's ship Noordam? Just wondering for a 12-14 night cruise to pacific islands/fiji.
A lot smaller and also HA cater very much for the older age group. We went on the HA Massdam and there were lots of passengers with walking frames. They put rubber mats in all the lifts as some passengers are known to have 'accidents' in them after a few drinks and don't get back to the cabin toilet in time. HA were quite stringent on dress code in the dining room and even have spare ties and coats for men who turn up in a polo top on formal nights. Their shows are more low key. One area where the ships are great is that they have roomy cabins and a lot of the outside cabins even have a bath and not just a shower. Also I found their room service breakfast was A1 with piping hot tea and still hot bacon and eggs. The HA is more of a relaxation cruise line than an active cruise line I feel.
I'm doing a 15 night cruise from Spain to Panama in September. Cost just under AU$900 for a single birth cabin including port charges, taxes, gratuities AND drinks. Yes alcoholic drinks. Ship is Pullmantur Monarch. Only rated 3.5 stars - an ex Royal Caribbean ship. Not too facilities on board, but there's always drinking to be done. Oh and learning Spanish.
I did monarch in 1997. They were rccl and very good. The dining room service was better than any cruise ship I have been on since. Better than the majority of fine dining restaurants in Oz. I saw that cruise for $22 U.S. A day. Are they charging more for non U.S. residents?
I understand that it is very laid back and Spanish. People drink but don't get drunk like Aussies would. I think the early seating for dinner is 830 or 9pm. I would love to go on that ship again. It will be a culturally enriching experience that's for sure.
Would you please post a review in the travel section when you get back? It makes me feel so nostalgic.
Thanks for the info. I have found it quite hard getting any reviews on the ship so just took a chance. I booked it through vacations to go, an American cruise company. They used to have a lot of really good deals a few years back not so much now. Though still worth a look. I'll be back in OZ middle of October and I'll try to remember to put in a review.
Just need to find a learn Spanish app. :)
Where is the bargain?
Is this a special? What is it normally?