Ovation of The Seas Cruise (CruiseCo) 6 Nts Singapore-Fremantle WA, Balcony Upgrade $997/Person Twin Share @ Cruising

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ramcub on 13/09/2016 - 02:38 cruising.com.au (795 clicks)
Last edited 13/09/2016 - 08:02 by 1 other user

Very nearly booked ourselves onto a cruise over the weekend, before finally deciding against it. Cruiseco has chartered Royal Carribbean's brand new "Ovation of the Seas" for its first ever cruise to Australia (Singapore to Fremantle). Not even listed via Royal Carribbean's own website, Cruiseco is offering 6 nights on board, all meals etc, with a guaranteed balcony cabin upgrade, $997/person twin share, with 18 cabins still available when I checked just now.

Were it not for the "get on at Singapore, get off at Fremantle, no stops in between" thing, I think we would have booked it, though my longstanding ambition to sail into Fremantle Harbour nearly won through!

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  eatwell365 on 13/09/2016 - 03:25

  Tried to book last year - all from Syndey were marked "sold out". Now booked 2017 - costs $13000 for 3 to only NZ in little suite.$997 balcony is a bargain but from Singapore to Australia - one would think bloody hell - why we in Australia always pay premium.

  May consider flying to Singapore and then Mel to Syd. May someone look into possible dates and good flights?

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    carwashhair on 13/09/2016 - 08:37

    May consider flying to Singapore and then Mel to Syd. May someone look into possible dates and good flights?

    Yes. This person can help.

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      Lukian on 20/09/2016 - 14:00

      Are they a travel agent?

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        carwashhair on 20/09/2016 - 14:16

        If they can't search flights on the internet for themselves, I'm gonna say that's a pretty likely 'no' to your question…

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  voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 05:42

  +1

  I think this is a relative bargain and booked it weeks ago. It really is a game changer over the others hips, all of them, that come to oz. I prefer no stops. Damned if I want to stop in bkk, Bali or port Hedland. Sea days are fabulous. This has the North Star. A glass ball that cantilevers you across the ocean as you sail. A skydiving tube and a flying fix. Still has the rick climbing wall and the wave rider. The ice rink sometimes becomes bumper cars and there's a circus school. I'm sure it still has mini golf. All this and gratuities if $18 pp pd are included in this charter. This ship has no formal or theme nights. It dies have a formal mdr which is included and several for fee specialty restaurants. One is called wonderland and it is hestonesque. Not quite Heston but very special. I'm sailing and s diamond member which means I get a raft of freebies. Including 3.5 hours of cocktails per night. You can bring two bottles of wine to enjoy in your cabin. I always had my partner go through security just ahead of me and we would bring in two bottles of wine each. The two bottles is table wine 750 ml only and no spirits. I think there may be an opportunity in this case to get off the boat after you have checked in and go to the adjacent shopping centre, down to cold storage and then bring on a couple more bottles. I've sailed a bit with RCI to get to diamond status and I'm nearly peeing myself with excitement over this ship. There will be a repositioning back to Asia 14 days, grats not inc, 14 dats. I'm watching that one. There will be five day cruises out of Singapore in March , mostly rt. for a good price per day. I'm so excited about this cruise. Sailing into freo - meh. Try sailing into HK harbour. That was amazing.

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    eatwell365 on 13/09/2016 - 06:01

    are you flying to Singapore for this from Singapore? want to know how to make it work from Sydney.

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      voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 07:58

      +1

      Flying from Perth on scoot biz the night before. Get in there just after midnight. Booked a not too crappy hotel I have statues in before through the zen rooms 59% off sale. That morning I will skip their crappy breakfast at the hotel. My daughter might eat there. I'll find out when we can dump our checked bags. Then we will shop in the two adjacent shopping centres. With our carry on. I've seen people with their carry ons in shopping trolleys, great idea. We will go to daiso and buy all the heavy stuff we normally might not due to normally flying. Bring chocolate if you like it. They have it on the boat and it's about $13us fir a 200g Cadbury bar in duty free. There are lots of sweet things on the ship, but salty snacks seem to be on short supply, but this ship has a pizza restaurant and hit dog stand that are included. So we will uber to the airport in Perth. And back from the terminal from freo. I think most people can board from around 11 but access to rooms not until 1pm. Buffet and promenade will be open and busy. Pack your bathers and maybe your toiletries in case your checked bags don't make it to your room until late. Bathers too if you think you want to go that way. You might hop on scoot right now and see if they have a special from Syd to Singapore. Tuesday mornings are extraordinary. Then you could either fly back from Perth or you could take the full 15 night journey from Singapore to Sydney. If you buy duty free spirits on board(cheaper than Singapore even), they will deliver them to your room the last night. If you wait, you can usually buy around 3-4pm and take directly back to your room. Even if you are on a back to back cruise. For example if you are sailing from Syd per you can still get your duty free grog on the last day if the first journey. I do not know if the domestic sectors have duty free grog sakes. I suspect they will because you don't have to go too far off shore to be in international waters. If you sail sin -per, you'll have to get yourself back to Sydney obviously. It's a fabulous ship. Even though it is dynamic dining, be sure to book if you have an idea of who you want to eat with.

      The kids and teen programs are FABULOUS . For teens from 12, supervised activities from morning until around 1am.

      On this ship I think they have vroom, the fastest internet at sea. And I think it is only $8 per day (U.S.) for the first device.

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        beaniecrazed2 on 13/09/2016 - 21:13

        If you need to communicate with your other friends on the cruise, it is cheaper to use the royal iq app chat system. It is a flat fee of USD$8 and is for the duration of the cruise. Great for keeping in touch with your teens and family members.

        While the ship is docked in Singapore, the duty free shop is closed. Marina Bay Cruise Centre is great but we found that the queues can be quite horrendous so if online check in is available, then do the check in at home and print out your boarding pass. We got on in Dubai and just had to hand our luggage over to the luggage people and then skip the queue and walk on board. Our sea pass cards were waiting for us in the cabin door slots. Oh, the new sea pass cards can't be punched…so use a lanyard with a plastic pocket.

        Rooms now have kettles which is fantastic. Room service menu was disappointing compared to Oasis.

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  voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 05:46

  If you are a new booking on this cruise. Pm me for my crown and anchor number. I think I only get $25 on board credit, but I'll split it with you. As this is a charter, I'm not sure iof the Obc. It is also for first time RCI cruisers. And only on the same sailing. In this case sin- freo

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  voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 05:48

  Oh yes, they also have domestic sectors, you can go freo -Syd or split it up.

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    eatwell365 on 13/09/2016 - 05:57

    do you mean if we live in Syd, can book this trip then freo-Syd - still a bargain?

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      voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 10:41

      Bargain is relative to your needs and wants. You can book Sin-Syd or Sin-Freo + Freo-Syd. Separate or together. The website will give you the pricing. If you do multiple bookings, you may have to move between cabins. The cabin attendants will do this for you.

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  sal78 on 13/09/2016 - 06:19

  +1

  we are away those dates otherwise i would totally book. im disappointed this huge boat doesnt have rooms to fit a family of 5. they market cruise as being kids family yet never make rooms big enough to accommodate bigger famillies.. no we do not want to split up (hubby and i) and no our kids are too young to room in their own.

  these free upgrades do not work for us because you dont get to choose your cabins. so we cant choose interconnecting or even just next to each other.

  cruises are so not family friendly and the reason why we have never cruised with kids. having a third child makes it a lot more expensive too.

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    PlasticSpaceman on 13/09/2016 - 07:40

    +1

    Definite +1 from me - family of five means two cabins which really is annoying. Costs more plus parents have to split to have one adult per cabin….. Some ships have a handful of interconnecting rooms, but most you have to book way ahead if you want to even get rooms next to each other….. :-(

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      voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 08:05

      +1

      Depending on the ages of the kids, in other words if you trust them, you can normally get extra keys to all rooms.
      Although this ship is supposed to have the bracelet technology.
      There is free soft serve ice cream usually on the pool deck, as well as the hot dog stand and pizza restaurant.

      Go to cruise critic for advice.

      If you do not select a guaranteed cabin, you select your cabin on this cruise. Even if you select guaranteed, they probably have an option to select rooms near each other.

      You don't actually pay cruiseco. There are a network of agents around oz who you have to go to in order to book. They may have an idea of what you can expect. Although, you can email cruiseco direct with any questions. I have have found then to be extremely responsive.

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    Ijuiceman on 13/09/2016 - 08:18

    +1

    We get the royal family suite that has 2 bedrooms as it was only a bit more than a 2br adjoining balcony rooms. This was the best way for our family of 5 to travel, as the rooms will take up to 6 in bedrooms and another 2 on the sofa beds.

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      voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 10:49

      +1

      On the cruiseco website, the royal website can only be booked for 4 ppl. It is waitlisted, but the price per person was over $2000 each for the 6-night cruise. That would be over $10,000 for 5 on the 6night cruise. You do, however, get access to the concierge lounge and special seating at shows etc. And I think they have a special restaurant on this class of ship for suite guests. Coastal Kitchen? It's supposed to be quite good.

      You get double points in suites. Cruiseco said you do get points on this cruise, but I am thinking RCI website C&A says no points on charters. I will dispute my entire cruise only invoice if I do not get points. I'm heading for diamond plus status.

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      Cristobel on 13/09/2016 - 15:32

      +1

      We stayed in the royal family suite with 5 of us on the Explorer earlier this year.
      Highly recommend it also, so many extra perks!
      We loved the extra space and the extra large balcony….room service breakfast on the balcony was amazing :)
      Not sure if Ovation offers this suite though.

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  izzypop08 on 13/09/2016 - 07:11

  We are booked on this. We have cruised heaps as a family and it was a dream of mine to go on this ship, Cannot wait.

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    voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 08:06

    How old are your kids? You can pm if if you prefer.

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      izzypop08 on 13/09/2016 - 14:23

      2 kids. 3 and 8 yrs

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        voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 18:21

        Ok. No where near mine. You might make inquiries nowabout the times the kids club is open and the availability of babysitting. I "think" babysitting is $19 US ph for up to three kids in same family. But I "think" the kids club is open until ten.

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  altomic on 13/09/2016 - 08:36

  +3

  Hands up if you were also initially confused by the title "Ovulation of the Seas"

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    seanbaussie on 13/09/2016 - 09:21

    Yeah, I was thinking "WHY?????"

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  Spizz on 13/09/2016 - 08:36

  I don't know how I would swing it but one day I wouldn't mind staying in a Sky Loft Suite on this ship after seeing the videos on YouTube. Maybe in a few more years.

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  seanbaussie on 13/09/2016 - 09:27

  Third person only $399 too, such a bargain!! Shame by the look of it there's only 2 beds though, not much use for a family bigger than 3.
  EDIT: That's 2 single beds, not sure why they'd even let more than 2 people book.

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    izzypop08 on 13/09/2016 - 13:07

    Different rooms have different configurations. If you book a twin cabin you will be asked and then allocated a room suitable. The cabin attendants can arrange rooms ie they make two singles a queen. With 3 or 4 people cabins usually the sofa can be turned into a sofa bed and then the attendants will turn back into a sofa during the day. I have been in cabins that has 2 sets of bunk beds but that has been on other cruise lines.

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    voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 18:25

    The quad cabins sometimes have beds that pull down from the ceiling. I'm sure if you google it you will find it.

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  Gaz1 on 13/09/2016 - 14:48

  This special wont appear on most other websites - it is a special charter relocation sector by CruiseCo so only available from them (and their agents).

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  beaniecrazed2 on 13/09/2016 - 15:23

  This ship is absolutely gorgeous and this is a bargain.
  I love cruising days too.
  You will have to prebook Northstar and Ifly for as early as possible during your cruise….like day 1 or 2. With iFly, you might get to go again by booking at the ifly counter after your first flight. We had an awesome time on this ship.

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    voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 18:23

    As soon as you get your booking number and it appears in "mycruises" on RCI, yu have apparently book. They say best to do as early in cruise as possible, in case of bad weather. One ifly for free pp. my understanding.

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      voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 18:26

      And they are not expected to be issued until Oct.

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        beaniecrazed2 on 13/09/2016 - 20:58

        Yep, as soon as you possibly can, book everything - Northstar, iFly and restaurants. Being a fairly large group, we opted to do all our meal bookings as soon as online bookings opened up. We opted for one formal dinner at The Grande and with the rest of the nights, we booked at the other 3 restaurants - Silk, Chic and American Icon Grill. Once on board, we could change those booking times if they clashed with any shows. Prebook all your shows as well. There were lots of people on board who couldn't get restaurant bookings for days and times of their choice because they hadn't booked.

        While we were on board, Voom was not fast. It was very problematic but I'm sure by now they would have ironed out the kinks. Teen club was excellent and our 15 year old had an absolute blast. There are so many fun activities on board and the Seaplex is awesome and the bumper cars are the bomb. They're not dodge ems….they're the real 'chase them down and bump as hard as you can' kind of bumper cars.

        Have a great time!

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        voteoften on 13/09/2016 - 23:39

        @beaniecrazed2:

        How much was wonderland restaurant ? Also, on Most of the RCI ships, they had heaps of specials on the specialty restaurants? Did you find this to be the case?

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        beaniecrazed2 on 14/09/2016 - 00:19

        @voteoften: They had the dining package option USD$80 to eat at 3 specialty restaurants (Wonderland, Jamie's, Chops and Izumi). I can't quite remember the cost of just Wonderland. Maybe $40. It was definitely recommended to book the $80 dining package. You could only eat at Wonderland once….but if you wanted to eat there again, then there would be a $10 surcharge. Although we were on the 14 day cruise, we didn't get to eat at any of the specialty restaurants as we were a family group of 10 with 2 young children so family time was important. The 4 complimentary restaurants were fantastic and we got to know our servers and head waiters very well. We could be at Chic and order a dessert from Silk (the mochi ice creams were to die for) and a main from The American Icon Grill (the surf and turf was the best). We had a couple with food intolerances and everyone was looked after very well. The menus on all 4 restaurants changed every 4 days as well but on our 14 day voyage, we only got to see 2 variations on the menu as it was a maiden voyage and the Ovation generally does not do long cruises except for repositioning.

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        voteoften on 14/09/2016 - 10:06

        @beaniecrazed2: was this cruise out of France or in Asia? I think they are making their ships in France. I don't like paying for specialty restaurants but I've GOT to eat at wonderland.

        Thank you.

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        beaniecrazed2 on 15/09/2016 - 10:37

        @voteoften:
        It was part of her maiden repositioning cruise. We got on at Dubai and sailed to Singapore through Oman, Cochin and Penang. It was great to sail on her before they renovated her for the Chinese market. While she is sailing out of China, many changes were made to her interior. EG The casino was made bigger by converting the top tier crown n anchor loyalty lounge - Diamond club into a high roller suite.

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        voteoften on 15/09/2016 - 10:43

        @beaniecrazed2:
        Yes, I know they do that with the diamond lounge for the chinese market. I'll be livid if they haven't fixed it up for this 6 day cruise. They stick diamond members in some bar area and I'm not confident you can still hit the free grog in those areas. You might be limited to the three that they load on your card.

        This deal says expired, but if you are still interested, I am sure they will be having various deals all the way up to sailing.