Our group had been looking forward to this cruise since booking in early April. Between booking and embarkation there was quite a few price drops. After a little persistence RCI came to the party. We arrived early on Dec 18Th at around 8:30am and reached Syd OPT about 9:30am. We were able to drop our luggage off soon after which made it a lot easier to get around. We started boarding around 11am but were told the staterooms would not be ready until 1pm. This gave us a little time for lunch and to explore some of the ship.

The ship was very clean and well decorated for Christmas. After a quick look around we made our way to the helipad to meet up with friends and a few beers as we sailed away from Sydney Harbour. We had the best view, kind of like Kate Winslet had in Titanic.

We were travelling with my parents "first time cruisers" and after the 3rd day they had already booked our next cruise. Booking on-board for a stateroom only was $100 per person plus we received a very handy tote bag. If you were booking a suite then the deposit is considerably more. Read more