Ovation has propulsion issues

[Biker19]

Due to a propulsion issue and a medical evacuation, Royal Caribbean International has dramatically altered the current sailing of Ovation of the Seas, dropping two ports of call and returning to Sydney at low speed. Guests onboard have been notified of the changes and the ship is expected to arrive back in Sydney on time on Friday.

 

Significant Changes to Ovation of the Seas Sailing

Ovation of the Seas is currently sailing a 9-night South Pacific cruise, having departed Sydney, Australia on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. The ship spent two days at sea before calling in Vanuatu as planned, but has now had significant itinerary changes.

 

According to guests onboard, the ship first diverted to Isle of Pines – a small island in the southeastern part of New Caledonia – for an unspecified medical evacuation, and will then return directly to Sydney rather than making its additional planned ports of call.

 

Isle of Pines is 345 miles (555 kilometers) south of the ship’s last – and now only – port visit in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and is relatively in line with the ship’s route between Vanuatu and Sydney, so the diversion has been minimal.
 

To protect the individual’s privacy, the nature of the medical evacuation has not been disclosed, and it is unknown whether the emergency involves a passenger or crew member.

 

The ship is now en route back to Sydney, with tracking data showing the vessel moving along at just 15 knots (17 miles per hour / 28 kilometers per hour). This is significantly below the ship’s top speed of 22 knots (25 mph / 41 kph), and has been explained as a propulsion issue, though further details have not been released.

 

The two additional ports of call on the itinerary – Noumea and Mystery Island – have been canceled, as the ship cannot maintain the appropriate speed to visit the ports and provide adequate onshore time for guests while still maintaining the overall itinerary schedule.

 

Instead, the ship will now remain at sea for four days, with a planned arrival back to Sydney by 6:30 a.m. on Friday, December 23.

 

Generous Compensation Offered

In a letter sent to guests onboard, Royal Caribbean International has offered generous compensation for the missed ports of call.

“We’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused by this unexpected situation,” the letter read. “Thank you for your patience and understanding. We hope you enjoy the remainder of your time onboard Ovation of the Seas.”

 

All guests will receive a 50% refund of their fare for the current, now dramatically altered cruise. Furthermore, all pre-paid Royal Caribbean shore tours for the canceled ports of call to Noumea and Mystery Island are being refunded.

 

Those refund amounts have already been credited to guests’ onboard accounts, and can be used throughout the remainder of the cruise. Any funds remaining at the end of the cruise will be returned to the card a guest has registered on file for shipboard expenses.

 

In addition, guests will also receive a 25% future cruise credit (FCC) based on the cruise fare paid for this sailing, not including taxes, fees, and gratuities. This FCC can be used for any sailing aboard any Royal Caribbean ship departing on or before December 31, 2024.

 

No Word on the Next Sailing

Ovation of the Seas‘ next cruise is scheduled to be a 12-night sailing circumnavigating New Zealand, with seven amazing ports of call. There is no word yet as to whether or not this next cruise – or others thereafter – may be impacted.

Any potential changes will depend on the nature of the propulsion issue the ship is experiencing, including whether or not repairs can be made while the ship is underway.

 

It is possible that one or more ports of call may be canceled to permit the ship to sail at a slower speed while still preserving other port visits, or times in port may be shortened to provide more cruising time. If the engine issue is more severe, the entire cruise may need to be canceled for more extensive repairs.

 

Guests booked onboard the next Ovation of the Seas sailing, as well as upcoming cruises in the near future, should stay in close contact with their travel advisor or directly with Royal Caribbean International for updates as needed.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-ship-suffers-mechanical-issue-ports-cancelled/90759

[ahill13]

16 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

refund amounts have already been credited to guests’ onboard accounts

I imagine the bars will be very busy 😁

[Engineroom Snipe]

As many other posts on CC have described how most of RCI ships are designed to run on 2/3 available power so that one engine can be taken offline for routine maintenance, this is not a good situation. One could infer that they are down to one good propulsion system. The next cruise could suffer another propulsion failure and create the need for a Sea-Tow. At that point, missing a port or two would be the least of RCI or passengers' concerns.

 

In my past, I was a certified Chief Engineer in the USNR. If my main propulsion system or main gear was compromised in any way, shape, or form, I would be relieved of command. I was expected to keep all systems above 99% availability and did so for over 8 years on a ship that was forty-years old.

 

Something is amiss with RCI's ship maintenance. This is not good.

 

While I commend RCI for proactively providing compensation for the failure, let's think about it: they do not jump to provide refunds unless this makes them look very bad and they are avoiding publicity about the root cause of the failure. This is the stuff of third rate cruise lines.

 

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

 

Something is amiss with RCI's ship maintenance. This is not good.

 

 

You have hit the nail on the head there’s something amiss with the whole Australian season.

I was on then last cruise on Ovation to Vila, Mystery Island and Noumea.

Mystery Island is the highlight and just as we go on the ship we where given a flying,Mystery Island canceled.

We spent 3 nights and 2 days in Vila at anchor and most of the time we couldn’t leave the ship.

Everyone was asking for a overnight in Noumea to make up for it but the ship dropped a medical emergency of in Noumea about lunch time and we went back out to sea a did circles for 18 hours then we got a short day in Noumea. 
 

 

Somethings wrong, constant canceled shore tours, missed ports ,very short on crew , very poor entertainment .

no compensation just lame excuses .
 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Chiliburn

[ARandomTraveler]

They're calling that "Generous Compensation?" 

[kernow]

5 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

You have hit the nail on the head there’s something amiss with the whole Australian season.

I was on then last cruise on Ovation to Vila, Mystery Island and Noumea.

Mystery Island is the highlight and just as we go on the ship we where given a flying,Mystery Island canceled.

We spent 3 nights and 2 days in Vila at anchor and most of the time we couldn’t leave the ship.

Everyone was asking for a overnight in Noumea to make up for it but the ship dropped a medical emergency of in Noumea about lunch time and we went back out to sea a did circles for 18 hours then we got a short day in Noumea. 
 

 

Somethings wrong, constant canceled shore tours, missed ports ,very short on crew , very poor entertainment .

no compensation just lame excuses .
 

 

Totally agree, we were on the same sailing and it was very poor by RCL standards. DH and I said at the time that if this was happening on a ship sailing from the US it would have been completely different, we got no explanations and no compensation. I've never before given such low marks on the after cruise survey.

 

We got the impression that because Australia is so far away from their main markets they really don't care that much.

 

 

 

[Chiliburn]

57 minutes ago, kernow said:

Totally agree, we were on the same sailing and it was very poor by RCL standards. DH and I said at the time that if this was happening on a ship sailing from the US it would have been completely different, we got no explanations and no compensation. I've never before given such low marks on the after cruise survey.

 

We got the impression that because Australia is so far away from their main markets they really don't care that much.

 

 

 

I said hello in the diamond lounge,hope everything went OK for you and hubby.

You probably didn’t get down to music hall but it got pretty rough and security didn’t care.

One night there where drunks with kids on there shoulders dancing. 
Midnight,Loud music,fights, really disgusting. I fronted security and they just shrugged there shoulders,just didn’t care .

I took these photos and was standing on a seat ,security cautioned me about standing on a seat.Not a place for children.ldren 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Chiliburn

[kernow]

6 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I said hello in the diamond lounge,hope everything went OK for you and hubby.

You probably didn’t get down to music hall but it got pretty rough and security didn’t care.

One night there where drunks with kids on there shoulders dancing. 
Midnight,Loud music,fights, really disgusting. I fronted security and they just shrugged there shoulders,just didn’t care .

I took these photos and was standing on a seat ,security cautioned me about standing on a seat.Not a place for children.ldren 

 

 

I don't think we went into Music Hall all cruise, not really a fan of the venue on the Quantum class ships.

 

The impression we got on the whole cruise were that the senior staff were uninterested and largely absent. The cabin stewards, bar tenders, dining room staff were trying really hard in difficult (massively understaffed) circumstances without any back up from the officers.

 

You probably saw that I tested positive for covid on the last full day and so had to miss the next cruise. They initially told me on the ship that I would only get a FCC but thanks to advice on CC I argued and they agreed to a full refund for the next cruise. The refund was paid into our bank account yesterday so pleased with that. No sign of any FCC for the day in isolation that was promised but I can't be bothered to battle with them anymore for that.

 

 

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

I don't think we went into Music Hall all cruise, not really a fan of the venue on the Quantum class ships.

 

The impression we got on the whole cruise were that the senior staff were uninterested and largely absent. The cabin stewards, bar tenders, dining room staff were trying really hard in difficult (massively understaffed) circumstances without any back up from the officers.

 

You probably saw that I tested positive for covid on the last full day and so had to miss the next cruise. They initially told me on the ship that I would only get a FCC but thanks to advice on CC I argued and they agreed to a full refund for the next cruise. The refund was paid into our bank account yesterday so pleased with that. No sign of any FCC for the day in isolation that was promised but I can't be bothered to battle with them anymore for that.

 

 

All in all   , I hope you enjoyed Sydney,the best you could.

I thought we may have got something for missing mystery island.

Sorry to say you missed one of the best places on earth, mystery island.

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Chiliburn

[chengkp75]

10 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

In my past, I was a certified Chief Engineer in the USNR. If my main propulsion system or main gear was compromised in any way, shape, or form, I would be relieved of command. I was expected to keep all systems above 99% availability and did so for over 8 years on a ship that was forty-years old.

 

Something is amiss with RCI's ship maintenance. This is not good.

With all due respect Chief, and thanks for your service, which I truly appreciate, I did a short stint with the "gray funnel line", and know the difference between naval vessels and commercial vessels.  In maintaining those propulsion systems to 99% availability, how often was the ship dockside for extended maintenance intervals?  How often were they in dry dock or shipyard for many months at a time?  Cruise ships are lucky to get 2 weeks every 5 years out of service.  This is why there is more redundancy built into the ships, and I can guarantee that there are at least a dozen cruise ships worldwide currently sailing with an engine taken down for major overhaul (scheduled every 12,000 running hours) that no one onboard is aware of.  And, if this is an azipod issue, I don't know what the failure type is, but the azipods are new technology, as it relates to maritime propulsion (200 years and tens of thousands of ships as data points, versus 20 years and a couple of hundred ships), so whether this is a maintenance issue or a manufacturer issue is up for question.  I seem to recall the Navy having lots of issues when they were developing the gas turbines for ships.

Edited December 21, 2022 by chengkp75

[Engineroom Snipe]

48 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

With all due respect Chief, and thanks for your service, which I truly appreciate, I did a short stint with the "gray funnel line", and know the difference between naval vessels and commercial vessels.  In maintaining those propulsion systems to 99% availability, how often was the ship dockside for extended maintenance intervals?  How often were they in dry dock or shipyard for many months at a time?  Cruise ships are lucky to get 2 weeks every 5 years out of service.  This is why there is more redundancy built into the ships, and I can guarantee that there are at least a dozen cruise ships worldwide currently sailing with an engine taken down for major overhaul (scheduled every 12,000 running hours) that no one onboard is aware of.  And, if this is an azipod issue, I don't know what the failure type is, but the azipods are new technology, as it relates to maritime propulsion (200 years and tens of thousands of ships as data points, versus 20 years and a couple of hundred ships), so whether this is a maintenance issue or a manufacturer issue is up for question.  I seem to recall the Navy having lots of issues when they were developing the gas turbines for ships.

 

Whenever you hear a phrase like "With all due respect...", or "Honestly, let me tell you...", or "To tell the truth...", it never quite makes sense. If I was due respect, there is no reason to tell me about that unless their next words might "disrespect my decision or opinion". When someone says "Honestly, let me tell you,.." , does that mean they are normally dishonest but are making an exception this time. Same goes for the last phrase, someone is telling you that they normally do not tell the truth but, in this case,......

 

I gave due respect to the cruise line as I specifically mentioned that many cruise ships are designed for one propulsion system to be down for maintenance. This does not affect the itinerary.

 

I am one of the few mechanical engineers with electronic, electrical, and information degrees. All at night while I worked full time. I understand all of the technology aboard much more than being a Chief Engineer in the Navy. I am not here to pontificate about my 45 years of full-time working experiences in those fields. I am still working.

 

Yes, in the Navy we had ships being serviced in dockyards on a regular basis, but the ships were designed for that maintenance. The Navy never intentionally designed a ship that was expected to have any system go down that was deemed critical to the mission. The ships performed as planned or they were pulled from service.

 

My opinion is just that, my opinion and you are entitled to have yours.

 

These ships are not performing as intended or designed. The failures are affecting paying customers. Money is not always the primary concern as scheduling vacations days and coordinating them among multiple people for once-in-a-lifetime events are not easily gained back.

 

As a paying passenger, I do not care if it is a design fault, maintenance fault, manufacturing fault, or new technology. RCI touts these ships as technological marvels to paying passengers. When failures start affecting an itinerary, it starts making the cruise line look like "the stuff of third-rate cruise lines."

 

If RCI needs more money to maintain their ships, RCI needs to find that money. Cabin rates should go up if necessary. Reflect the true cost of the cruise, not the "if we break down or severely change your itinerary here is some money" or future cruise credit to take another cruise that might severely change their itinerary.

 

I have already made my mind up about the Ovation. The ship has had problems from the start of its creation, and they continue as we post. I would not trust it for a one-in-a-lifetime cruise.

 

I have three cruises next year on RCI ships. I enjoy cruising. Ovation will not be one of those ships.

[sowhat]

12 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

These ships are not performing as intended or designed. The failures are affecting paying customers.

 

As a paying passenger, I do not care if it is a design fault, maintenance fault, manufacturing fault, or new technology. RCI touts these ships as technological marvels to paying passengers. When failures start affecting an itinerary, it starts making the cruise line look like "the stuff of third-rate cruise lines."

 

Totally agree

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

They're calling that "Generous Compensation?" 

For missing a couple of ports, yes, a 50% refund AND a 25% FCC, is generous. 

[ARandomTraveler]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

For missing a couple of ports, yes, a 50% refund AND a 25% FCC, is generous. 

Oh I missed the 50% refund. I thought they only got a 25% FCC, which isn't really a good offer for people who don't cruise much (it basically becomes a coupon with no value to them). A 50% refund is okay though. The value of 50% is really based on how much time and money one invested in the vacation to begin with. 50% back on a "local" Caribbean vacation is worth more than 50% of an international one.

 

It's a much bigger bummer to pay the money for international flights, extra hotel days in those international ports, etc, and then have a very expensive cruise basically sit in the middle of the ocean for 4 days. I'd want more money back than 50%, but it's better than nothing. 
 

I usually spend about $6,000 "all-in" on a Caribbean cruise for 2 people. A 50% refund on a cruise that I would easily take again the next year would be sufficient for me.
 

But next year I'm spending about $30,000 for an international cruise (most of that is airfare and hotels in 2 different countries). The cruise itself is supposed to stop at 6 ports that I would likely never visit on a land vacation, and would probably not book again anytime in the near future, so if it only made it to one or two ports and then sat in the middle of the ocean for 8 days and they only gave me back half my money, I wouldn't be very happy. All that other money I'm spending to take this trip is money I wouldn't be spending if not for the cruise. And if I knew the cruise was just gonna be a bunch of days at sea, no way would I spend all that money, and a $3000 refund (50% of the cruise fare) would not make up for that. 
 

But it's the risk we take I guess. It's also why I buy very comprehensive insurance that pays me if there's itinerary changes. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by ARandomTraveler

[notscb]

17 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

This is the stuff of third rate cruise lines.

 

I mean, these ships are used nearly 24/7 as many days of the year that they possibly can with very little actual downtime. It's not out of the question that these systems would fail once in a while with how heavily they are used and with how big they are building these ships.

 

I often wonder if it's not that there's something amiss with their maintenance routine, but rather something amiss with the way they are building or outfitting these systems on their newer ships. The corporate lowest bidder system doesn't generally work out long term.

[jk04]

3 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

6 hours ago, Biker19 said:

For missing a couple of ports, yes, a 50% refund AND a 25% FCC, is generous. 

Oh I missed the 50% refund. I thought they only got a 25% FCC, which isn't really a good offer for people who don't cruise much (it basically becomes a coupon with no value to them). A 50% refund is okay though. The value of 50% is really based on how much time and money one invested in the vacation to begin with. 50% back on a "local" Caribbean vacation is worth more than 50% of an international one.

I think that offer is fantastic.  We got $200 non-refundable OBC for missing most of Alaska on the Crown Princess in June due to propulsion issues.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by jk04

[ONECRUISER]

17 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

They're calling that "Generous Compensation?" 

Yes it is and more then I ever got for missed Ports. Usually only received free Drinks for 2hrs at most. Once did get $30 OBC:  "50% refund of their fare AND 25% FCC....

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 hours ago, notscb said:

 

I mean, these ships are used nearly 24/7 as many days of the year that they possibly can with very little actual downtime. It's not out of the question that these systems would fail once in a while with how heavily they are used and with how big they are building these ships.

 

 

Then the designers and companies are planning for them to fail if they do not have complete redundancy on all systems. I cannot design any mechanical, electronic, electrical, or information system to have 24/7 continuous duty without redundancy or scheduled down time and answer the absurd corporate executive question, "How can we ensure that this never happens again?"  I say, give me money and resources, lots of it. Failures do occur, how do they damage the business objectives?

 

I understand and respect your point that these ships are continuously being used without interruption. Is that a reasonable business model to base your corporate dividends on?

 

I am not disputing that systems will have failures.

 

Many cruisers pick a cruise on itinerary. When the failures affect the itineraries, this is going to damage the customer confidence in fulfilling customer expectations. As they say, "Shape up or ship out." RCI better get a handle on these problems or some of their cruisers will not trust them to ship out on complex voyages on ships that cannot complete the itineraries.

[Engineroom Snipe]

15 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Yes it is and more then I ever got for missed Ports. Usually only received free Drinks for 2hrs at most. Once did get $30 OBC:  "50% refund of their fare AND 25% FCC....

 

Well, I guess my bug hunting idea for $25 OBC is definitely off of the director's list. 🤣

[HicksRA]

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

For missing a couple of ports, yes, a 50% refund AND a 25% FCC, is generous. 

I would agree if it was Cozumel or Nassau, but if I’d just laid out $5k for airfare and big bucks for a possible once in a lifetime S Pacific cruise and just ended up floating around in the water, I’d be livid. 

[Chiliburn]

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

For missing a couple of ports, yes, a 50% refund AND a 25% FCC, is generous. 

Apparently the Asia Pacific management was a onboard.

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

I would agree if it was Cozumel or Nassau, but if I’d just laid out $5k for airfare and big bucks for a possible once in a lifetime S Pacific cruise and just ended up floating around in the water, I’d be livid. 

 

You give a great point about a complex itinerary that requires many coordinated events. Imagine if you wanted to take your adult children and treat them to a cruise you will pay for. You coordinate your schedule with theirs. They have to plan and request time-off from work approvals. Everything  falls into place and then the actual cruise falls apart. It is not about the money at that point. It is about time that you will never have again. You had a perfect vacation insurance policy. There was no money loss but that was not the intent of going on vacation.

[Engineroom Snipe]

Just now, Chiliburn said:

Apparently the Asia Pacific management was a onboard.

 

This might explain why a cruiser posted earlier that the officers seemed disengaged. They will be rated and evaluated on the performance of the ship. They could provide no defense and their careers have already been judged.

[Chiliburn]

1 minute ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

This might explain why a cruiser posted earlier that the officers seemed disengaged. They will be rated and evaluated on the performance of the ship. They could provide no defense and their careers have already been judged.

Every second cruise seems to be a comedy of errors on Ovation.

 I was on a similar cruise 6 weeks ago missed port ,at anchor and trapped onboard for 2 days,  doing circles in the middle of nowhere.

Not a cent ,just a `I hope you understand ‘

I would hate to have traveled from the other side of the world ,like some.

[Engineroom Snipe]

9 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Every second cruise seems to be a comedy of errors on Ovation.

 I was on a similar cruise 6 weeks ago missed port ,at anchor and trapped onboard for 2 days,  doing circles in the middle of nowhere.

Not a cent ,just a `I hope you understand ‘

I would hate to have traveled from the other side of the world ,like some.

 

You understand my intent that this is not about money for many cruisers. I am getting to the point that I would not want to jeopardize my vacation days on any cruise that does not start and return to a port that I can drive to. If I cruise in circles locally, I will enjoy the ship and cruise with no ill memories. If I spend four to five additional days flying and staying in hotels before and after the cruise (I would arrive days before to make sure my flights are not stressful), this will really burn itself into a bad memory.  This will severely constrain RCI's growth if more customers will not venture to itineraries outside of the continental Unites States.