We selected RCL because we’ve sailed with them in the past & liked the Sydney roundtrip to NZ itinerary. We felt the cruising would be relaxing & a good change from our earlier busy Australian driving adventure.
In retrospect we feel we should have chosen to fly to NZ, hired a car or done a bus tour in order to see more of this lovely country.
The voyage to & fro consumed a total of 4 days ...
We booked this cruise over a year ago and wanted to see the natural scenery of New Zealand. Our cruise took us to Milford, Doubtful and Dusky Sound, Dunedin, Akaroa, Auckland and The Bay of Islands. Embarkation and disembarkation was brilliant and each time we did not spend more than 10 mins. We had a grand suite and an excellent suite attendant. Having a Grand suite did have its advantages and ...
This cruise was about experiencing a wide range of ports in Australia and New Zealand. The itinerary achieved this goal beautifully. The concierge club provided lots of fun while chatting with fellow cruisers. This carried over as we saw these same people at activities throughout the ship. The fellow cruisers were very friendly resulting in a very pleasant experience. Overall, the staff were ...
We wanted to see Australia as a continent. I would have prefered to start and stop at Sydney.
Embarkation was dreadful as there was only machine for 2200 people to walk thru for security. We waited on line for an hour and a half. Never before has that happened in all our years of cruising.
At Port Headland, they did not have enough buses and at a cost of A$25 extra. The wait to get of ...
The circumnavigation of Australia and South New Zealand was awesome. Each port was different and offered a lot of variety.
So itinerary awesome
Dining: Main dining room ok but not great. Some nights I had trouble choosing from the menu. The steak was thin and not very tender. Service good and sometimes great!
Windjammer good but inconsistent with offerings particularly for ...
It was part of a package deal with Indian Pacific Rail trip, time in Sydney and able to cruise to home port (Darwin).
We have mostly cruised with Princess line and therefore found RC to be lacking in the little things that you miss, like moisturizer, having to ask for soaps, bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
Cannot fault cabin steward nor dining room staff in their attendance to their ...
I only have a few complains One I have is with the room service. When did RCL start charging for room service? Eight dollars a pop for ice tea to be delivered is way out of bounds! I understand how that can be abused, however there needs to be a happy median.
The shows mostly started at 6:30, that was too early for us, as we had the dinner seating at 8:00. The next shows time was 8:30.
A ...
We chose this cruise for the itinerary. Wanting to see more ports in Australia. We were not disappointed. The Great Barrier Reef was the highlight. So was holding a Joey. The cruise staff was entertaining and friendly. Shout out to Bradley of the cruise staff and shout out to Kevin Philips who entertained us in the pub every night. The cruise director ( Gordon) sang on the last night of the ...
My husband and I have cruised about 175 nights with RCL and have also cruised with Celebrity, NCL, Oceania, and Olympia. We chose this cruise because Australia was on our 'bucket list' and we love the RCL Radiance class ships, including the Brilliance and Jewel. We had been to Sydney 2 years ago so we arrived only 1 day before the cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly. ...
Set sail on 31Jan18 and according to Captain seas were at 6 metres (20 foot) - a lot of peoples sick and for first time I can remember the theatre was half empty - not a lot of people in dining rooms either so more for me treat. Rough seas stayed for 2 days.
I was on balcony on deck 7 - I do not recommend it as balcony overlooks canvas awnings covering life boats - decks 8 and 9 seemed better ...