Ovation of the Seas Location Question

[Prost Seattle]

Last week I noticed that the Ovation of the Seas was anchored off the northern tip of Blake Island near Seattle.  I know the Alaska cruise season has now ended, so I assumed that all of the ships would head to warmer waters for their winter cruising.  But since the ship left (during the weekend I believe) she is just seems to be circling in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the Olympic peninsula and Vancouver Island.

 

I can’t think of a reason a cruise line would want to keep a ship in the North Pacific if it isn’t on a cruise, can anybody else figure out why the ship is hanging out up here?

[STEVE-O]

7 minutes ago, Prost Seattle said:

Last week I noticed that the Ovation of the Seas was anchored off the northern tip of Blake Island near Seattle.  I know the Alaska cruise season has now ended, so I assumed that all of the ships would head to warmer waters for their winter cruising.  But since the ship left (during the weekend I believe) she is just seems to be circling in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the Olympic peninsula and Vancouver Island.

 

I can’t think of a reason a cruise line would want to keep a ship in the North Pacific if it isn’t on a cruise, can anybody else figure out why the ship is hanging out up here?

It was supposed to head to Australia via Hawaii last month but Australia is still closed to cruise ships.

I read that the majority of the crew were sent home.

I guess RCCL didn't have a plan B for Ovation

[Prost Seattle]

Interesting, circling in the strait seems like an odd way to spend the winter.

[Biker19]

56 minutes ago, Prost Seattle said:

I can’t think of a reason a cruise line would want to keep a ship in the North Pacific if it isn’t on a cruise, can anybody else figure out why the ship is hanging out up here?

It’s usually cost, likely less than other locations on the west coast for warm layup. 

[grayshark]

My guess is training of crews for Ovation and possibly other RCCL ships since there is probably a lot of crew turnover during COVID

 

other things they may be doing might be grinding and other noisy maintenance they can’t do while anchored around pager sound

 

due back in puget sound November 8

amd at pier 66 November 12 according to the port of seattle

 

i posted a recent statement from POS on one of the other Ovation topics

 

 

[Proseknitic]

I was on that last cruise. The crew said that most would be headed home over the last week. Ship is now at pretty much minimal staffing. Plan was to hang out till it was decided "what was next" since the Jan/Feb cruises out of Australia now have been cancelled. 

 

I had really been hoping they would consider a few cruises out of San Francisco. No offense to Princess, but the options here are pretty limited.

 

-Holly

[grayshark]

 Biker19 has pointed out that the ship is in “warm lay-up”

 

that is an important distinction since RCCL would not want it to go into cold lay-up because of possible coast guard recertifications etc before its next scheduled itinerary 

 

you can search for “what does it mean when a cruise ship goes into cold lay-up”. In the royal Caribbean blog for more info

[grayshark]

It looks like she left the anchorage at port angeles overnight and is headed to seattle this morning.

scheduled for pier 66 today I think

 

you can probably see her soon on the saltys at Alki webcam or possibly the panavision cam on the space needle if that has a line of sight to pier 66

[Biker19]

Not sure where she's headed, but it looks like Ovation is leaving the Seattle area.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I saw the Ovation OTS as she sailed north past my house Friday evening (I live just north of Seattle).  I think it was in Seattle picking up supplies.  Just before that it had been sitting just off of Port Angeles, WA. According to the Marine Traffic app on my phone, the Ovation is currently off the coast of Washington (just between WA and British Columbia).

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 According to the Marine Traffic app on my phone, the Ovation is currently off the coast of Washington (just between WA and British Columbia).

Not sure when you looked but she seems to be in a hurry (17 kn) and off Oregon heading south. While AIS doesn't show a destination, it does show an ETA almost two weeks away. Let the speculation begin.

 

[Hogbay]

Ovation is goin to the loo and desalinating 🤣

[Chiliburn]

10 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Ovation is goin to the loo and desalinating 🤣

It’s coming to Sydney ,it’s coming home.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Chiliburn

[Cruisegroover]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure when you looked but she seems to be in a hurry (17 kn) and off Oregon heading south. While AIS doesn't show a destination, it does show an ETA almost two weeks away. Let the speculation begin.

 

According vessel finder destination is Seattle.

 

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, Cruisegroover said:

According vessel finder destination is Seattle.

It might be a real long round trip. She has not been that far away at that speed since the end of the Alaska season. 

[twangster]

Currently 2-3m seas increasing by Monday night in that area.  Maybe seeking better conditions for a few days?

 

 

 

[crzndeb]

On 11/4/2021 at 12:03 PM, STEVE-O said:

I read that the majority of the crew were sent home

Many were relocated to other ships. I was on the last 2 sailings. My cabin stewardess originally thought she was going home, but before I left, she was relocated to Quantum.

[Auntiemomo]

On 11/4/2021 at 3:03 PM, STEVE-O said:

It was supposed to head to Australia via Hawaii last month but Australia is still closed to cruise ships.

I read that the majority of the crew were sent home.

I guess RCCL didn't have a plan B for Ovation

We got a lot of the Ovation crew were sent to Harmony just prior to the TA from Barcelona.

[Biker19]

On 11/14/2021 at 8:11 PM, twangster said:

Maybe seeking better conditions for a few days?

It's likely to be more than just a few days. Looks like she's out of the weather for now, has slowed but kept heading south.

[grayshark]

I was watching her movements recently to see if she would make the scheduled provisioning stop at pier 66 in Seattle Friday 

 

then saw she went back to the anchorage in port angeles Saturday and thought she would be there several days.

but surprised she left there less than 24 hours later to get out of Dodge before the weather.

 

I did see in the local weather here in Seattle that they were now predicting gusty winds in the straight of Juan de Fuca Monday from the west.  Winds can (and did) howl up there when coming directly from the west off the Pacific

The winds blew an 18 wheeler truck onto its side on the Deception Pass bridge.

 
RCCL was smart to react so quickly but I think the Coast Guard in Port Angeles was probably in close contact with them also. I have a lot of respect for those guys and they have helped out with rescues during the storm.

 

She is due back in Seattle pier 66 December 13 so she can probably remain off the coast of California for quite a while to avoid the atmospheric river.

 

when she was “race tracking” in the straight of Juan de Fuca earlier this month I noticed she was sailing at less than half speed to conserve fuel.  With a burn rate of over 1000 gallons per hour at full speed that will save some money and fuel while she is down in California.

or maybe she can find a temporary anchorage down there.

 

 

 

[Biker19]

Looks like she's sailing back into Seattle this morning.

[grayshark]

Yes

after watching my Washington State Cougars soundly defeat the University of Washington Huskies last night I was up early this morning and went down to the waterfront to see her pass by.

She is back at the anchorage at Manchester today across from Seattle.

[Ashland]

And no hope she's coming down to San Pedro Ca. to do some sailings...too bad.

[Biker19]

19 hours ago, Ashland said:

And no hope she's coming down to San Pedro Ca. to do some sailings...too bad.

Maybe, but not with passengers. She's headed out to seas again for 2+ weeks.

[Chiliburn]

What is going on with this ship?