Prost Seattle Posted November 4, 2021 #1 Share Posted November 4, 2021 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted November 4, 2021 #2 Share Posted November 4, 2021 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prost Seattle Posted November 4, 2021 Author #3 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Interesting, circling in the strait seems like an odd way to spend the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 4, 2021 #4 Share Posted November 4, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayshark Posted November 4, 2021 #5 Share Posted November 4, 2021 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proseknitic Posted November 4, 2021 #6 Share Posted November 4, 2021 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayshark Posted November 4, 2021 #7 Share Posted November 4, 2021 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayshark Posted November 12, 2021 #8 Share Posted November 12, 2021 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 14, 2021 #9 Share Posted November 14, 2021 Not sure where she's headed, but it looks like Ovation is leaving the Seattle area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ferry_Watcher Posted November 14, 2021 #10 Share Posted November 14, 2021 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). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 14, 2021 #11 Share Posted November 14, 2021 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogbay Posted November 14, 2021 #12 Share Posted November 14, 2021 Ovation is goin to the loo and desalinating 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliburn Posted November 14, 2021 #13 Share Posted November 14, 2021 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisegroover Posted November 15, 2021 #14 Share Posted November 15, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 15, 2021 #15 Share Posted November 15, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted November 15, 2021 #16 Share Posted November 15, 2021 Currently 2-3m seas increasing by Monday night in that area. Maybe seeking better conditions for a few days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzndeb Posted November 15, 2021 #17 Share Posted November 15, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auntiemomo Posted November 15, 2021 #18 Share Posted November 15, 2021 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 16, 2021 #19 Share Posted November 16, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayshark Posted November 16, 2021 #20 Share Posted November 16, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 27, 2021 #21 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Looks like she's sailing back into Seattle this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayshark Posted November 27, 2021 #22 Share Posted November 27, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashland Posted November 27, 2021 #23 Share Posted November 27, 2021 And no hope she's coming down to San Pedro Ca. to do some sailings...too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted November 28, 2021 #24 Share Posted November 28, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliburn Posted November 29, 2021 #25 Share Posted November 29, 2021 What is going on with this ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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