Was looking at this last minute deal hoping I could go.
Really good price on their biggest ship to sail around Australia.
Sails 2nd Feb so don't really have time to pack, but for the lucky ones who can fit it in their schedule it would be a really good deal.
Price is pp twin share as per usual, inside cabin with virtual screen.
Even better!
I've cruised on the Ovation before on a similar NZ itinerary. Absolutely amazing ship, highly recommend it.
Me too. Not sure where to go after Ovation?
I may give Voyager of the Seas a try? Or Carnival?
I have done Explorer of the Seas before, which is the Voyager's sister ship, so they are just about identical. I will be cruising on the Voyager next year actually.
Its a nice ship, obviously not as big or advanced as the Ovation, but we definitely still enjoyed it. The ice rink is a really fun addition which the Ovation does not have.
I think we were smart by not cruising on something like the Ovation first. We worked our way through Royal Caribbeans smaller ships first. That way the "mega-ship" didnt ruin our perspective of the smaller/older ships.
The only difference between Explorer and Voyager is that they have more of the Dreamworks characters on Voyager. They also do a couple of parades with them that were entertaining. We enjoyed the English Pub better on Voyager, although they've changed the name now for some reason, it was the Pig & Whistle when we went on or maybe they're using the same images for all the ships. It helped that they had a brilliant singer/guitarist every night that had the whole pub singing along. Actually I'm not sure if they still have Dreamworks onboard, I can't see it on Royal's website. The ice show on Voyager/Explorer is amazing. What they do on such a small rink whilst the ship is moving is amazing. Johnny Rockets on Voyager is a plus as well, entertaining, kids love it.
@Tyrannosaurus Rex: There are other differences between Voyager and Explorer, but as Furyz said they are very similar.
@odysseus: Yes but very slight. They're basically the same ship. We've been on Voyager 3 times and Explorer once. we've also been on Radiance but Ovation is definitely my favourite.
@Tyrannosaurus Rex: We have been on the Legend (since retired), Radiance, Explorer, and Ovation. An Oasis class ship is on the bucket list, but will require flying over to the States.
We have a cruise booked later this year on the Spectrum of the Seas. One of their brand new Quantum Ultra ships, its maiden voyage will be in April.
Never cruised with Carnival. My partner has, and she says they are both extremely similar. The high end mega-ships with Royal Caribbean are the best in the world, but its difficult to distinguish the two brands when comparing their smaller ships. Depends on what sort of cruising your prefer.
We are sticking with RCI from now on, purely because of our status credits now.
Carnival have two ships in australia ,legend which finish's its cruising here in april and the spirit…in november the splendor comes to australia…
I’ve been on both voyager and carnival spirit and I have to say I found voyager to be much better. There was just more to do on the voyager, especially the ice rink, rock climbing and the flow rider. Food was also better on the voyager through I did love the 24 hour pizza on Carnival.
I'd love to do a cruise at some point in the next year or so, but I wouldn't have a clue of do's/don'ts.
Are there any sites with good info for a relative newb on cruises?
Anyone got any tips in relation to Royal Caribbean drinks packages?
I'm going on one in a few months and I've been told that if 1 person in a cabin gets a drinks package the other person in the cabin will be required to get the same package.
Also the drinks package in general just looks expensive as hell looking at like $78 aud per day. (actually looks to be on special for $68 a day at the moment)
Yeah I never get drinks packages. I did the math and to get your money's worth you need to drink ALOT. And yes they did change the rules to stop people sharing a drink's package. Before, people would get one package and then buy drinks for everyone else in their cabin, they cracked down on that unfortunately. You can still get the non-alcoholic drinks package for a single person in a cabin if you are a heavy coffee/soda drinker. It also gives you access to free mocktails.
I have heard that some people have gotten away with getting one alcohol package and one refreshment package (non alch).
Just call them up when purchasing- seems to be hit and miss, depending on who answers.
Hopefully there will be another cruise planner sale before you leave :)
you can buy the drinks package for a discount online before getting on the cruise. there will often be discounts for this, also you'll pay in AUD vs paying in USD once you get on the ship.
regarding the drinks package for everyone in the room, there are ways to get around it. such as saying one of the cruisers is a recovering alcoholic or has some other medical reason they can't drink.
it may seem expensive up front, but it includes soft drinks, and beers can be 8-10 bucks US onboard, and cocktails about 12-15 US, the drinks add up fairly quickly otherwise.
If I’m looking at 8-10 usd for a beer then it works out to be 4.8 beers a day if I get the drinks package,.. and that’s more than doable for me. Just need to get out of the others needing it.
Thanks for the tips everyone 👍
Just remember that if you go ashore you might be gone for 4-6 hours from your day. We don't get the package we pay as we go and find that it's always cheaper and you're not trying to get your money's worth each day. On saying that you can get bottles of water and keep them in your cabin for whenever you need one.
every1 in the room over 18 needs drinks package, i got it and smashed it.
the drinks on board are in US$ + 15-20% i think. Beers $8 us, wine, $12us, spirits around $10us, cocktails $14us.
can add up fast, a few bottles water, a juice, few beers, spirits, cocktails you easy get to $70 AUD drinks package price.
best thing is if the beer gets warm chuck it and get another, if you dont like the drink, give it back and get another!!!
$68 AUD is a bargain
I did a cruise a few years back. I do like a drink (beers, wine cocktails) but couldn't see me drinking $60/day EVERY DAY.
Day 1 & 2 everyone seemed to hit it fairly hard. By Day 5 there seemed to be a lot of half drunk cans left as they are large and warm up easily.
I think I drank zero beers and only a couple of wines (I'm more a binge drinker than a permanently mutted drinker). I mainly drank mixed drinks. I got to know a few bar staff and gave a decent tip and got some really good pours.
I think the drinks package was $55/day at the time and I was spending about $40.
A fellow diner had the basic package and thought it poor value as it only applied to the cheaper wines. He took a bottle of sparkling back to his room every night just to get some value.
just wondering will you feel dizzy on the boat for 12 days? I've never been on cruise.
Not really, for me personally I got used to it pretty quickly, they do offer free sea-sickness medication from the ship infirmary. Its actually quite funny when you get off the ship, you kind of keeping swaying from side to side as you walk around.
If you normally get motion sickness then yes. Otherwise no, you’re in port for 5 of the days as well.
The Ovation is very large and has stabilisers for rough weather.
Sydney again..
shh mexican
I’m on this cruise! Paid $1800pp for a balcony so am fine seeing the inside at this price :)
I'd have been willing to pay 1800 for a balcony room.
Still thinking of cruising, now hoping to get one later in the year when my partner can actually take time off
The deal has now sold out. No insides left :(
Wasn't many rooms to start with anyway.
Ship is too large to dock at many of the regular ports. Will be docking at the cargo ports for most of them. Hopefully theyve learnt from experience and provide more buses to transport people into town. Had a 2 hr wait when it did the first few NZ cruises.
That's something to think about. Didn't think about it.
That certainly is a downside. When we were on you also had to pay for the shuttle bus in to the Town's, unless you were on one of Royal's excursions.
Royal don't pay for shuttles.
Some ports they do I.e Picton and Bay of Islands.
Have been on a Ovation to NZ and they had the shuttle system well organised.
Yes they do, if you dock at a cargo port location, you get free shuttles. If they dock at the regular port, then there is no need for shuttles.
December 2017 you had to pay for the shuttles at each of the ports we stopped at. Hopefully it's a good sign that they've stopped charging, I certainly hope so.
Also when we were on they put signs up suggesting they were going to charge future cruises for the bumper cars, I hope they've re-thought that one as well.
Its not that significant an inconvenience. I have found that you need to be proactive on shore days, there are close to 5000 people leaving the ship, so the earlier you get in line to leave the ship, the better.
We usually waited in line around an hour before the disembarkation time, we were always amongst the first off the ship which made getting onto buses very easy. Coordinate with a friend and you can take turns standing in line and bring each other food/coffee.
I have been to Dunedin, Picton, Napier, Auckland, and Wellington on the Ovation. The Napier docking is easily the most exciting and it requires some tight maneuvering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjagLa-If3E
I paid for a 9 night cruise for 4 on the ovation sail November balcony cabin was $4600 total
I dont think that price is that good, if you can get near $100 per night PP with balcony you are doing well.
Was that for 1 stateroom or 2? 4 adults?
1 stateroom level 12 i think. I had a better deal booked a few months before for this cruise but i didnt pay the deposit in time and missed it. It was 2 twin cabins joined, balcony rooms for $4000…..
Yeah, 4 people in 1 stateroom is cheaper than usual quotes, which are for 2 people in 1 stateroom.
If I ever see a deal for $150 thereabouts a day for a balcony room I'll be all over it.
best specials you on RCL you can get near 100pp per night on balcony even a twin. Its a good marker to go off
using this site sort by price
https://www.dccruising.com.au/fare_finder.php?cabin=quad®…
who did you book with? thst is very cheap for 4pp!
It’s because the cruise dropped from 3 ports to 2 and wasn’t selling very well. Very rare for deals like this with Royal.
Sails 2nd Feb so don't really have time to pack
What are you packing that it takes more than a couple of hours tops? :S
Scuba gear :P
Gotta clean it, get the barnacles off, etc etc takes a month.
:P
Well there ya go, TIL :)
I saw it for $1455pp on www.cruiseoffers.com.au