NEWS UPDATE: Carnival Culinary Cutbacks, Tasmania Cruise Restrictions and RCI Diamond Drink Updates

Learn more or register your interest for the Group Cruise: https://www.thecruiseandtravelguy.com.au/eoi-group-cruise Join my private Facebook group for cruise deals, tips and advice - the more members we have, the better we’ll get! www.facebook.com/groups/CTGdeals Follow me on Facebook and Instagram: www.facebook.com/thecruiseandtravelguy www.instragram.com/thecruiseandtravelguy Support the channel with a slogan tee: https://thecruiseandtravelguy.myshopify.com Head to my website for great cruise and travel deals: www.thecruiseandtravelguy.com.au Azamara have announced a follow up to their sell-out 2024 world cruise, with a 155 night world voyage set to depart San Diego on January 6th, 2025. The 30K tonne Azamara Onward will carry its 688 passengers in intimate, casual luxury as they travel West from California, visiting 37 countries along their way to Southhampton, where the cruise will conclude. The world voyage is also being offered in 10 shorter segments for those that are strapped for time or cash, or those who want to focus on a particular region. The cruise is already on sale for loyalty members, but opens to the public on November 10th. In a communication sent to guests dated November 2nd, Carnival President Christine Duffy detailed some upcoming changes to its culinary offerings. Though Australian sailings will be spared an increase in the cost of speciality dining, we won’t escape all of the changes. On cruises of 6 nights duration or longer, lobster will still be served for dinner, but only on the second elegant night, instead of the first. Additionally, whilst ordering a second main course in the dining room will remain complimentary, ordering a third will now attract a $7 Australian dollar surcharge. Guests are however, invited to order half size main courses at no cost. Those 2am ice cream cravings will have to wait, with complimentary ice cream now only available between 11am and midnight instead of the usual 24x7 offering. The cruise line will continue to review its food offerings, particularly those that are not popular with guests, with a view to reducing cost and waste into the future. The Tasmanian health department has developed cruise specific protocols affecting all arriving cruise ships. All passengers disembarking from a cruise ship must wear a mask at all times whilst ashore. Local bus drivers and volunteers working with cruise passengers or crew must likewise wear a mask while in their presence. If there are any cases of COVID onboard, all disembarking passengers must return a negative rapid antigen test before they’ll be allowed off. And finally this little nugget which I enjoy most of all, everyone is reminded to maintain good hygiene practices. Groundbreaking. The Tasmanian government imposes no such rules on air arrivals, so the hypocrisy is a bit hard to digest and as beautiful as Tassie is, I’d probably avoid a cruise there in the meantime. The Celebrity Eclipse was late arriving into its home-port of Sydney yesterday - due to winds in the vicinity of 50 knots and rolling seas, the ship and its passengers enjoyed a rare and spectacular midday arrival into Sydney harbour. The delays caused some check in and boarding havoc for passengers joining the next cruise, which eventually set sail several hours late, at around 9pm. Royal Caribbean’s Crown and Anchor loyalty program has made an adjustment to its drink voucher program for its diamond level members and above. These passengers receive vouchers daily to use for drink purchases onboard, and effective from today, a receipt will be issued whenever one of the vouchers is used to ensure that passengers can keep track of their vouchers and make sure they’re properly applied to the drinks of their choice. Finally this week, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum Class sisters have both arrived in Australia and officially kicked off the cruise line’s first Australian summer season since 2019. I’m excited to be boarding Ovation of the Seas next week, and I’ll be bringing you a full ship tour as well as a vlog and more, so make sure you subscribe and hit the notification bell to stay up to date! Thanks for watching!