Was looking at cheap cruises and Royal Caribbean currently have up to $850 off cruises for the next 10 hrs. The one I found leaves from Brisbane on the 17th of Jan.
Note: Discount coupon code added (Thanks John stone. The code may not work for certain cruises)
Quantum of the Seas
Roundtrip from: Brisbane, Australia
Visiting:
Brisbane, Australia
Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Brisbane, Australia
Those were the days, i haven't seen a $100pp cruise in a while, even P&O
I was on the Pacific Adventure in Dec 2024. We booked a 4 person interior for $1400 for a 4 night Moreton Island cruise. That works out to be $87.50 per person per night.
That’s a solid deal. I’d take that deal.
Very unlikely in summer school holidays peak season.
Do you have proper Internet on board? If so, good option for WFH.
haha try ~$30 a day or more usually…
~$30 will be tax dedutable :)
WFS
W(F)C = working from cruise :)
Starlink
Anyone else think this isn't cheap. $3200 for two people for a room with a balcony for 7 nights. Doesn't include drinks package.
Port Vila is a hole.
Very unlikely they'll be visiting Port Vila this cruise season due to the earthquakes…
Correct, they'll just cruise out at sea and then return to Oz. You won't see anything but ocean the entire cruise.
Last year balcony 1100 around…
Use code VILLAGE10.
Brings the interior to $1948 and the balcony to $2331.
That's amazing thanks!
i tried this on some other cruises, didnt work - what are T&Cs for this code ?
This really doesn't seem to be a deal.
It's not a bargain, it's actually pretty expensive for what it is.
similar cruise 7 nights, P&O, $711 inside, $740 Outside, 1049 Balcony pp
https://www.cruise1st.com.au/cruise/south-pacific-from-brisb…
Not a similar cruise at all!! There is no comparison between P&O and Royal
Sorry i wouldnt know the difference in experience between the Cruises. similar was mainly referring to Nights, dates, general travel location, Port departing. maybe 'alternative' would have been a better choice of word.
Which one is better?
…and "why" ?
P&O tends to be old ships on the way out and a budget cruise line with very limited inclusions compared to others royal is a higher star rated cruise line more to do more inclusions and better quality dining. The ships tend to be bigger better and not falling apart - my room flooded on p&o on the Christmas cruise year before last and there were leaks everywhere.
The price is listed per person based on a double-occupancy cabin. I’d love to go on a cruise with my wife and boyfriend, but upgrading to a cabin for four doesn’t seem justifiable—unless she finds a second boyfriend who can chip in.
Your wife and boyfriend?????????
You could find a boyfriend instead?
Mystery Island, Vanuatu is gorgeous. Really nice people over on the neighbouring larger island too if you do a tour over there. As a shy single-ton I spoke with them more than anyone on the ship haha.
No offense to OP, but not sure why this is even being posted as a deal. This is fairnly normal everyday pricing for Royal. For reference, I paid $1200 for an interior 9 night South Pacific cruise on Ovation of the Seas.
Just to note. At the moment vila is being skipped and they are doing a second night at mystery island due to the earthquake taking out their port and city. My cruise is set to sail feb 14th, from all information we have been given ( which is almost nothing) is they should be getting back to their normal scheduales some time in feb.
IMO this a great cruise and good ship ( starting to show its age) but the staff make it worth the extra over carnival etc. Bring some snorkelling gear and enjoy Mystery island.
"Age"? It's only about 8 or so years old. They do regularly maintain them so not sure what you mean.
I'ts a little over 10 years old and one of the older in the class range so the newer ships have a more refined layout. Not saying its bad or any thing but you will notice some things if you have been onboard that will get fixed up when it has its first refirbishment ( which i think is either start of this season or end of it). That said it was designed for the chinese market and all the layout, styling and signage is still the same from that time in its life. Also the north star has been broken for about 2 years so thats also on the list.
Just came out of dry dock at the start of this season, pretty sure the North Star is fixed (it was working when I was on in December, not sure if that was for passengers or they were still testing)
and they are doing a second night at mystery island
I doubt this 17th of Jan Quantum Of The Seas cruise will do 2 days at Mystery Island because Ovation Of The Seas is scheduled there on the 20th, the day this cruise is scheduled to go to Port Vila:
https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/mystery-island-port-4729
So they will most likely just have another sea-day on the Port Vila day…
Math it
1079/7 = 154pn
1300/7 = 185pn
No deal. I mean, its ok average, but no 'omerg bargain!'
I mean does everything have to be the best most lowest price ever? there is nothing cheaper than this right now.
Its not about the cheapest for cruises, its about the pn rate for the class of cruise that you're getting.
RCI are massive ships (5000) filled with kids, low ports stops and high cost extras.
Compare that to HAL, as an example, where in Asia during the 120-100 day out sweet spots they routinely dip below $200 for interior - ships are 1200, low numbers of kids, increased ports.
One step up again, Azamara (also an RCI brand) had cruises in ANZ for as low as $3200 from Sydney to Singapore in the last 3 months. Those ships are sub 1000 I believe and whilst still have the low end user pays add on model, does include most fundamentals in that fare.
And hey, there's still repositioning cruises going with cheap deals from Yokohama to Seattle or Sydney to Seattle/Vancouver generally running at $80-120pn
I mean i get what you're saying but you're comparing cruises on different dates in different countries for different lengths of time. Most don't want to spend 30 days on a boat to get the per night cost down or have to fly to another country. I could fly to vietnam and get an amazing suit does that invalidate a sale on one here? If you can find me something similar for right now please post it. In fact you talk about all these great deals yet i see nothing in your post history? Be super keen for you to share any cruise deals you see(serious)
@metrosilver: I frequently post re cruises in the forums but I dont post 'deals' for the reasons above. They are so subjective. Unless I see something sub $100pn. Then I might type.
Did your math it inc the dollar drop. Profits and running costs would be affected for overseas run ship
How so? Ships are internationally flagged, run on USD always and virtually never pay or exchange anything in AUD.
How so? You said it yourself. They pay their costs in USD. While Aussie customers pay them in AUD which aint worth as much so they need to pay more AUD to give them the same USD they got before. Its just the dollar exchange effect thats impacts the price.
@RockyRaccoon: You dont pay in AUD. Whilst the ticket price may appear in AUD via platforms, thats purchased already in USD via those companies. The rare exception are people buying cabins direct but Ive found they adjust the prices accordingly.
Onboard, everything is USD. The person who is penalised is you, the consumer, not them.
For example, a coffee will be $5USD + gratuity of 18%. When that goes to my account, its in USD. When it bills me, it bills in USD from a foreign account and Im slugged the conversion and fees.
After being hospitalised on a ship, Ive seen my fair share of foreign cruise invoices. Usually out of Netherlands or Bahamas, always USD
Why no melbourne 😭
Got too greedy: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Royal-Caribbean-G…
"Ports Victoria is the latest port to introduce a fee increase. The port oversees operations in Melbourne, Australia, and officials said late last month its per-passenger fee would increase to $32, up from $28.50, on Jan. 1. The decision led Princess Cruises and Cunard to announce plans to boycott the port in 2025."
Yet in the same timeframe RCL increased its own gratuities by USD3.50 / person /day, equalling AU5.60 so by even more. And obviously fares increased by more than $3.50 over that period, so was relatively not significant.
The Melbourne port amount is charged to passengers, not the cruise line, so is more an excuse for them than the reason.
Did you mean the cruise companies got too greedy? It's hilarious how customers take it up the proverbial from these multi-million/billion dollar companies but still defend them…
Just a warning about booking a cruise on a large ship like this in School Holidays. We did a 7 night RC cruise on Ovation out of Brisbane around the same time 2 years ago. We were told by a crew member that our cruse had broken the record for the most number of passengers under 18. The kids (mostly teens) were running around in packs unsupervised devouring things like locusts. The lines to experience many of the ships attractions were always long, sometimes taking over an hour for one turn. The ship was too large to physically dock at the two ports we visited at Vila and Mystery Island so they organised tenders to visit these locations. It wasn't too bad waiting to get off, but I recall the lines to get on a tender back to the ship at both ports were extremely painful. At Mystery Island the line to get back to the ship must have stretched at least 500m down the Island.
While the kids can be a pain the worst i've ever experienced was them mucking about with the lifts or simply making a mess with some food. The lines for like the slides and stuff can be long especially early in the cruise but later when the novelty has worn off i find it's super quick to get in. I mainly just hang in the adults only area and the seated dining, doing the adult activities avoiding most kids all together.
The tender stuff is for all cruise ships just need to time it so you aren't going peak when everyone else is. Get there early when everyone is still waking up and leave back to the boat earlier too.
If you want to class it up on a fairly kid-free cruise, Cunard have discounted the remaining standard internal rooms to $2199pp for the 15 night South Pacific cruise departing Sydney on the 22nd of Jan, Queen Elizabeth…
https://www.cunard.com/en-au/find-a-cruise/Q504/Q504
Not super cheap but relatively cheap for Cunard..
On a cruise, which is a "better" room — inside or balcony?
Which is better for avoiding sea-sickness (or is that not a thing on cruise ships?)
It depends… A lot of people only use their cabin to shower and sleep, so they tend to prefer the cheaper internal cabins…
I'm a bit of an introvert so I tend to spend a bit of time in the cabin to relax away from people, so a balcony suits me, I like to be able to sit back and have a coffee while watching the sea go by, or watch the docking from my own balcony not surrounded by people, and such…
Balcony if you don't mind paying the extra dollars.
Have done both previously, I find the Interior gets a bit claustrophobic after a while.
If you're only going to shower and sleep in your room Interior should be fine, otherwise go Balcony.
Best tip for avoiding sea sickness: book a room in the middle of the ship.
Thanks for the replies (@FLICKIT) and tips (@The J man)
Not a deal IMO. A good deal is when it's under $100 per person per night