NEWS UDPATE | Royal Caribbean Changes, New Queen to Visit, Sun Princess Milestone & Group Cruise

Learn more, book, or register your interest for the Virgin Voyages 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 Carnival Australia has announced that guests booked onto its cruises of 7 nights or longer duration can now purchase their Cheers Beverage Package for $111 per day, per person, via their online Cruise Manager tool. That’s a discount of $8 per day compared to the standard cost. Among other benefits, the package includes soft drinks, bottled water and 15 alcoholic beverages that cost up to $20 per drink within every 24 hour period counted from 6am daily. Royal Caribbean has announced that a sale on pre-cruise purchases made within their Cruise Planner tool begins on March 11th, which will see discounts off up to 35% available online. The Cruise Planner can be accessed by anyone with an active Royal Caribbean reservation, with most items like drinks packages, shore excursions and internet available to buy within 6-9 months of your cruise’s departure date. Even if you’ve already purchased something, it’s worth checking if the cost comes down during this weekend’s sale and rebooking if it’s now more affordable. Recently, passengers onboard Quantum of the Seas received notice that their staterooms would be serviced once daily. The elimination of the second turn down service has apparently been introduced as part of the cruise line’s efforts to be more sustainable. This once daily service has now been extended across some of the line’s other ships including Ovation, Spectrum, Independence and Harmony of the Seas. It’s not yet known if the change will be made across Royal Caribbean’s entire fleet, but it would seem likely. The shift would see the cruise line join NCL and Carnival, with both major cruise lines previously announcing once-daily housekeeping services across their respective fleets. Junior Suite category staterooms and above will still be serviced twice daily. Royal Caribbean has also announced some changes to their Crown and Anchor program. Previously, its Emerald tier and above members received a welcome amenity or snack on boarding day, and this could be customised within the member’s online profile. As of March 10th, this will no longer be the case. Instead, Emerald and Diamond members will receive 2 bottles of water per person in their stateroom on the first day of the cruise while Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members will receive 3. Additionally, as of March 3rd, guests are allowed to bring one 750ml bottle of wine or champagne per adult onboard on the day of embarkation. Previously, guests were allowed to bring two bottles onboard per stateroom. Two adults sharing a cabin will therefore see no changes, however adults travelling alone or with children will now be limited to just the one bottle. Conversely, where more than 2 adults share a cabin, they will no longer be limited to 2 bottles. As always, you should pack wine or champagne in your carry on luggage. In a ceremony held this week in Monfalcone at the Fincantieri shipyard, a major milestone in the construction of Princess’ first Sphere Class ship was celebrated. The 175K tonne Sun Princess was floated out, marking the beginning stages of her fit out and eventual completion. She is scheduled to launch in early 2024 and will mark a significant shift for Princess in both their ship design, propulsion and onboard offering. I’ll be making a video going into more detail about this revolutionary vessel very soon. Finally this week, Cunard’s 249th ship, the yet-to-launch Queen Anne, is coming down under! The ship will visit Australia on its debut 107 night world cruise in early 2025. If 107 nights is a bit too long, you can join Queen Anne in San Francisco for a 23 night voyage to Sydney, or in Auckland for a 5 night cruise instead. If you’re interested in pricing or booking onto bucket list voyage, you can visit my website and submit an enquiry form. Thanks for watching!