The Best Royal Caribbean Ships Are Smaller
December 30, 2023How Do I Check My Royal Caribbean Points? Your Guide to Crown and Anchor Society
January 3, 2024Can you believe it’s already the end of the year? I can’t – but nonetheless, the Australia cruise season is well underway. But let’s take a hot minute to look back on the best of 2023.
Quantum Of The Seas Northstar & Bionic Bar Broken
In September it was found that the Northstar had suffered damage to one of its glass panels – this put it out of service, until its next dry dock in 2024 in Singapore. This had a ripple effect throughout the Quantum community with many voicing their hope it’ll be fixed once she arrived down under and to top it off the bionic bar broke.
Bionic Bar Down
The Bionic Bar, some love it and some think it’s a cash grab – I love it. It’s slightly cheaper if you’re not rocking the drinks package, plus it’s just fun making random drinks and trying other people. The right-hand arm whilst I was on quantum was out of service, with the main left arm left to do all the work – even breaking. Staff was on hand to fix it fairly fast, however, it often meant your 10-minute drink wait, would go up to 45 minutes. Later on, it was reported on Facebook but a fellow cruiser, that it was completely out of service. We weren’t able to find out what was wrong or causing it – however, the system and arm would just simply freeze and stop, until staff reset it. It’s expected to be fixed during dry dock – but may be working before then.
Solarium 18+
Those who have sailed with Royal before this year will know the Solarium wasn’t always a true adults-only zone. The age limit to enter was only 16 years old – meaning anyone from 16+ could enter the solarium. This was thankfully changed in 2023 when Royal announced that it had been raised to 18+ now making it more adult-friendly. I think this was a great move on Royal Caribbean’s half.
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Star Of The Seas & Utopia Of The Seas
We finally got to see the next line of “icon class” ships, we’ve seen Icon of the Seas for some time now being made – but like with Oasis and Quantum class, we knew there was more to come. We all woke up to an exciting video from Royal Caribbean showing a render of Utopia Of the Seas and Star Of The Seas to come in 2025
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Overbooked On Royal Caribbean
A fellow Aussie first-time cruiser, traveling on Quantum of the Seas was unfortunately refused from boarding due to being “overbooked” The exact reason wasn’t given. Some cruisers on Facebook speculated it was due to COVID and the crew needing to use the passenger cabin to isolate. While I’m less inclined to believe that was the case personally. Royal Caribbean reached out to the passenger – offering them a full refund, plus an inclusive cruise as an apology. See my full story here
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South Pacific Cancelled
This was a first for me, it’s the first time I’ve personally experienced an itinerary get canceled. Not only that but canceled during boarding – those who know the South Pacific is known for its horrible storms, earthquakes, and cyclones. It can seem like a rare chance sometimes that cruise lines will make it safely. This isn’t normally an issue, however leaving on Quantum from Brisbane, I and many other people found ourselves slightly disappointed with the fact that we were only visiting Airlie Beach Queensland. Not to any fault of anyone, it was bad timing with other cruise lines being at other ports, which only limited us to one single location for 2 nights. Not only this but I’ll be totally honest, out of all the cruises I’ve ever done – this was my worst. It wasn’t that bad, but the entertainment was really lacking luster, there weren’t any bands to be picked up, and the DJ was below average – along with sadly a couple of issues with some staff. Overall it was;t horrible but it was my worst cruise with Royal thus far. See my full coverage Here
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A big thank you
I cannot thank you all enough for such an amazing year – it’s just me a single person who runs this whole thing, without the support of everyone it wouldn’t be possible. This is truly a dream come true, I never would have thought in a million years I’d be running a website serving so many people. I want to help, inform, and showcase as much as I can for everyone. Without you this is possible, without all the love, sharing, and feedback I wouldn’t be able to do it. As we’re moving into 2024 – I’m over the moon with everything in the cruise industry, the cruise season for 2024/2025 is going to be amazing. I can’t wait to share more soon. Again thank you – to you for reading this and spending your time with me.