All Things Ovation of the Seas!

[kkettle70]

Hi,

Does anyone know where the ovation will be sailing in August 2016? I tried looking it up on RCCL website but could not find any info.

 

Thanks,

Krista

[mikxoc]

Yes, but the temp of the unit is not as cold as a fridge - it cools, not chills.

 

Thank you Biker19!

[DOCPAUL]

Hi,

Does anyone know where the ovation will be sailing in August 2016? I tried looking it up on RCCL website but could not find any info.

 

Thanks,

Krista

 

August 2016.

 

Home port of Tianjin (a city larger than, New York or L.A, but only 70 miles from Beijing), China with visits to Japan and South Korea.

[hollykimalan]

Also we only get Royal/Celebrity for 6 months of the year, then during our cooler months when we would all love to cruise with them we have nothing. Sooner or later we hope they will leave at least one ship here year round but until then it's long flights overseas to get a RCCL cruise in Winter.

 

 

Totally agree. We live in the Torres Strait. It's warm all year round. Dryer and less prone to cyclone during the our Southern Hemisphere winter. What a lovely destination for a decent Cruise from Sydney. Straight up the east coast. Anything past the Mackay/Whitsunsday is nice-ish all year round. But not they send the ships down when it's too hot or wet or cyclonic.....

[mikxoc]

My husband and I are booked on Ovation of the Seas Barcelona to Dubai for May 10th, 2016. This will be our first cruise with Royal Caribbean and we are so looking forward to it. I do have a question about Royal Caribbean interior staterooms, in particular on the Quantum class ships. Are there mini fridges/mini bars in the rooms? I planned on taking my filter water bottle and wondered if there would be a fridge to chill the filtered water.

 

I'm sure that I will have more questions as we go along... so please bear with me.

 

 

Me again...

 

Where can I find details about our cruise?

Such as... what time will boarding start for our particular sailing? Will we get luggage tags mailed to us or do we print them ourselves?

 

Again, I apologize for the mundane questions...

[FreestyleNovice]

Any sight on the float out date of OotS?

[papcx]

Any sight on the float out date of OotS?

 

 

The Ems conveyance is due mid March, the float out is usually 4-6 weeks before.

[FreestyleNovice]

The Ems conveyance is due mid March, the float out is usually 4-6 weeks before.

 

Thanks!

 

I was thinking Meyer might get OotS out sooner than that to accommodate the Genting ship as she is going pretty fast at the moment.

 

Also expecting faster float outs and longer times at the yard's pier to do finishing work as Meyer's future orders are insanely close to each other?

[papcx]

Thanks!

 

 

 

I was thinking Meyer might get OotS out sooner than that to accommodate the Genting ship as she is going pretty fast at the moment.

 

 

 

Also expecting faster float outs and longer times at the yard's pier to do finishing work as Meyer's future orders are insanely close to each other?

 

 

You could be right. Another 4 months in the hanger is a long time.

 

Not sure how many completed ships and / or mega blocks they can keep in the basin so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Fenton1970]

So its 91 days till the first sailing and things seem to have gone quiet about the Ovation. No float out dates, no Ems conveyancing dates, no shows announced, no restaurant bookings available. Does anyone know whats going on as it almost seems as this ship has been forgotten about.

[steamboats]

Nick Weir announced on Twitter that there will be news soon about the entertainment on the Ovation. But they´ve just announced the entertainment of the Harmony. So give them a little "break" (although Ovation will be prior Harmony...).

 

steamboats

[FreestyleNovice]

Not sure how recent this photo is, could be a week according to the post date but hoping for you Royals she's in a more finished state currently!

[steamboats]

papcx,

 

In the past there were up to one ship and two mega blocks in the wharf basin in front of the building hall. But of course the mega blocks went back into the hall pretty soon.

 

They can built one ship and one mega block in that big hall at the same time. So they move out the first mega block to build the second. When ship 1 is finished they move out the second block of ship 2 whichs literally blocks the exit of the hall and then pull out ship 1 into the basin. After that the two mega blocks of ship 2 go back into the hall for the ship 2 to be

finished while another mega block for ship 3 is started right in front of ship 2. And so on...

 

The Anthem left the building hall on Feb 21st, Ems conveyance was March 10th/11th. Pre inaugural out of Southampton Apr 20th, first cruise with paying passengers Apr 22nd. First cruise with paying passengers of the Ovation is Apr 17th. So Meyer Werft still has some time. I don´t think that the float out will be prior to mid February.

 

steamboats

aka Carmen

[Kmcspoon]

Here is a tiny bit of news. I started hunting around a bit for an update. I am hopeful everything is on or ahead of schedule!

 

Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas gets ready for debut

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/florida-cruise-guide/os-ovation-of-the-seas-update-20160119-story.html

Edited January 20, 2016 by Kmcspoon
Trying to get link to work!

[hollon]

I really haven't been keeping up with this class of ship. Where will the ship be home based, does anyone know her schedule yet?

[swoopy2110]

Having sailed on 2 new big ships i can say that the excitement is quickly dulled by things braking down, poor service, bad food and other teething issues.

 

No longer will i be a paying beta tester :)

 

Don't worry, your precious 'Indy' is back this year!

[tomatosauce]

I am a bit surprised by the comments about things breaking down and poor service for a ship that hasn't been launched yet. I guess that there is no pleasing some people.

 

To answer the itinerary question it will be sailing a few times out of the UK then heading to China where it will alternate between China and Australia for the next few years. It is proving very popular in Australia so I expect the 2017-2018 Ovation season in Australia to be a bit longer than the 2016-2017 one.

[jv_nyc]

Hi Everyone - I posted this list on another thread, but thought those here might also be interested.

 

I'm booked on the Ovation in April, and below is what I've found so far:

 

1. Speciality dining is open and the options are the same as Anthem and Quantum.

2. Complimentary appear to be the same based on Royal's website (link)

3. Video overview of the construction (link)

4. As far as shows, Spectra's Cabaret is confirmed, and Nick Weir said that Ovation's main show announcement is coming soon when he tweeted about Harmony's show on January 12.

5. Decor of the ship will be provided by the Chinese Imperial Palace (link). I'm curious if the artifacts are onboard for our April 22 sailing out of Southampton.

6. Meyer Werft is doing a good job with their webcam (link)

7. Float out is Feb 20 and the Ems River Conveyance on March 13. Ship's delivery will be April 12 (link)

8. Looking at the Deck Plans, and the lack of mention on the Ovation detail page, it appears that there will not be a Music Hall and the space will be used for more casino space.

9. Conducting a search for the Twitter hashtag #ovationoftheseas usually gets me the most information.

 

As someone who followed Quantum news compulsively, I agree that for Ovation, it's been very quiet.

 

Hope this helps!

[avalon007]

Thanks for the updated links etc jv-nyc.

 

My Ovation cruise isn't until Jan 2017 from Sydney so seems a lot further away than yours does I'm sure. :)

 

I watched the float out video - interestingly they tell us here in Australia that she is also based in Australia & I hope they don't forget that when they bring her here after her Chinese season. Seems they are catering for the Chinese market & no mention of the Australian season in the video. :confused:

 

When Voyager came here for the first time after half the year in Asia there were quite a few teething problems, especially with new Chinese staff unable to speak English.

 

If whilst on board you happen to find out about any changes they will make to cater for the Australian season I would appreciate you posting the info in the Australian & NZ forum here on CC. :)

 

Have a great cruise!

[The_Big_M]

Thanks for the updated links etc jv-nyc.

 

My Ovation cruise isn't until Jan 2017 from Sydney so seems a lot further away than yours does I'm sure. :)

 

I watched the float out video - interestingly they tell us here in Australia that she is also based in Australia & I hope they don't forget that when they bring her here after her Chinese season. Seems they are catering for the Chinese market & no mention of the Australian season in the video. :confused:

 

That's the marketing for us. However, at a corporate level her purpose was for the Chinese market.

 

Given the competitiveness in our market, and the Winter down time in Asia, it made sense to send her to Australia in the Chinese off-season although her real base is China; hence why she's only here for 4 cruises in a couple of months the first season.

 

I'd hope they will do some changes for the Australian market onboard... in particular I expect Windjammer will be resupplied. There'll be some culture shock if not! :-)

[avalon007]

Hi Big M,

 

Yes, they market it to us like it's Australian based just as much as Asian - which in the future if it's the same as Voyager season wise it will be. I think it was a short season & NZ only for her maiden Australian season because they haven't yet arranged the infrastructure in many of the South Pacific ports.

 

One of the issues I heard on Voyagers first visit down under coming out of Asia was also the food in the Windjammer as you mentioned - hoping they have learnt from that season that we may be in the Asia/Pacific region but we are not at all like the Asians regards customs & food especially.

 

Always wise not to book the first cruise on any ship after arriving here from Asia as I think the staff especially need time for readjustment - Australians for example will usually queue politely, where Asians are notorious for not doing so. Staff need a cruise or two to get their heads into Australian mode & out of dealing with Chinese passengers.

 

We booked the last possible cruise we could on Ovation before she returns to Asia - so she has 3 cruises prior to us to get things sorted out. :D

 

Actually I saw an interesting show on CNN last year how the Chinese tourist industry is conducting classes to teach Chinese people how to act civilly when overseas according to western norms, because the biggest issue they have is with complaints about Chinese tourists being rude by our standards.

 

I have experienced this in China myself - due to such crowded cities & so many people they just push & shove past you, no excuse me etc like you would expect here in Australia, it's every man/woman for themselves. Also no care at all about just jumping the queue, whereas here people generally respect that you join the end of the queue. :D They are not bad people or being rude in their minds - just doing what they do at home.

 

The Chinese are also big smokers - I recall someone on the first Voyager repo from Asia to Sydney said the ship smelt strongly of smoke compared to Australian cruises as they allowed more smoking areas indoors in China. Not sure if that is still the case?

 

Hope Ovation has time to air out a little before we board! :)

[The_Big_M]

The strategies for Voyager and Ovation/Quantum are different though there is some overlap in operation.

 

Voyager was based in a shared arrangement, with 5 months in Asia, followed by 5 in Australia. Ovation and Quantum were and are intended to be based in China, although an extra capacity was found in the Chinese off-season to send her to Australia. This makes sense as it is a quieter period there, whereas a peak period here, even though this isn't the primary market.

 

Although I'd expect given the market demand they'd position her in Australia slightly longer in subsequent seasons, itineraries will remain an issue as Quantum class aren't built for tendering. It will be like the first season of Voyager where she didn't have tenders, so could only visit very limited locations.

 

The customs of the passengers are quite different. However, in my experience they were still polite individually and when asked to e.g. not shout they often apologised. As you say, it's just not the custom where they are, but unlike some local passengers they're not intentionally rude.

 

Smoking throughout the ship isn't an issue, but it is permitted throughout the casino unlike here. I wouldn't be surprised if there's still a smoky smell lingering there on her visits here.

[Patybear]

We were looking at this ship for the Nov 18th 2016 sailing and when I called to put the deposit down was told it was Red Coded. On the RCCL website it was showing up as Sold Out. RCCL said it typically means that they are doing inventory on the cabins and to keep an eye on the sailing date. Should open back up in a few days or week at the most. It has been 2 weeks and now it does not even show up on the website. Has anyone experienced this for a sailing you were interested in? We like to sail over Thanksgiving and were looking forward to a new ship that was somewhere other than the Caribbean. Feeling kinda bummed that we missed it.....

[avalon007]

I couldn't find anything in Nov 2016 for Ovation either. She is in Asia at that stage & it's just before she repositions to Australia where she does 4 cruises to NZ before returning to Asia late Jan 2017.

 

Maybe she is booked on private sailings to showcase her to the Chinese tourism industry etc during that time?

 

Last cruise before Nov I can see is 16 Oct 2016 which is a 7 day cruise to Japan then nothing until she appears in Australia for her first cruise here on 15 Dec 2016.

Edited January 29, 2016 by avalon007

[Some1]

I just saw this on Twitter:

 

 

Head's up! Just found out that Royal Caribbean is redeploying the Ovation of the Seas and many itineraries have been changed. They haven't made a formal announcement yet but stumbled upon the situation when I went to make a payment on an existing booking early this morning. And my clients already booked airfare! I hope Royal Caribbean does the right thing!

 

 

Has anyone else heard about this? We're supposed to go in May! :eek: