F1guynz

We did this on Independence in September. It was great fun! We booked it via the cruise planner 1 month before our sailing. It requires 12 people so is a great activity for family and friends. You don’t need to find 12 people though as you you be paired with other people who have booked for the same time. .

Grand Suites are part of golden suites and have access to the gold dining areas and amenities.

Spent a couple of hours trying to find replacement cruises for the 3 that cancelled due to the redeployment. The sailings offered as an alternative weren’t very enticing. One of the cruises we originally had booked was a 9 night bookended with 4 and 5 night. The selected sailings we could pick from were all 4 nights going to the same port in Japan and any other sailings not on their “approved” list were expensive or had limited cabin availability. We were really happy with our original cruises as they were cruising to Taiwan and Japan, somewhere we are yet to travel to. Rather than doing itineraries we weren’t really happy with we have booked a back to back on Ovation cruising around New Zealand and the South Pacific. We have done these 2 itineraries in the past and they are okay but still a let down after anticipation of going to Japan and Taiwan. Because the new bookings are outside their selected sailings we had to pay the prevailing rates which are higher than I would like as there is less than a year to the sailings. Normally we book 2 years out so I find it annoying they have got more money out of us by redeploying their ship. The b2b cruises mean we will be on Ovation for 21 days in total.which is good. While I like Ovation but it doesn’t really hit the sweet spot for me like Voyager or Freedom class ships but I do like the choice of restaurants. We did get to use our c&a discount on the suites and we also got $400 usd obc for each cruise + $100 obc transferred from our original booking. The cruises were more expensive but that was offset by not having to fly to Hong Kong. My SIL had her Dubai cruises cancelled recently and we also had some friends booked on Independence in the UK next year and this was also cancelled. This seems to be more common.

It looks like it has been redeployed to Shanghai as I can find cruises on her for September 2020

We had 3 cruises booked from Kong Kong to Taiwan and Japan next September. We received an email today advising all Voyager sailings from 12th July to 30th September have been cancelled due to redeployment. i wonder whether it is being redeployed to Australia or elsewhere in the same region. disapoointing our cruises have been cancelled but we will consider our options. VY 07.12.20 - 09.30.20 Redeployed.pdf

I hope your new job doesn't involve public relations.

Sadly two more people from Ovation lost their lives overnight. The latest update is: 8 people confirmed dead 8 people missing, presumed dead 28 people in 7 hospitals, with 23 critical 1.2 million centimetres of skin is being imported from the U.S and Australia to help victims At this point it is still considered too dangerous to return to the Island to recover the missing bodies Ovation has docked in Wellington today and has had a Maori blessing for the ship on her arrival to Wellington harbour

Due to the change itinerary RCI is giving passengers a refund of 1 day for their cruise fare.

There is no reduced price Internet when sailing on a Voyager Class ship. The main perks you will receive will be access to the Suite lounge. You will get free drinks and snacks during happy hour 5pm - 8:30pm. You will also get reserved seating at the ice shows and production shows in the theatre. you will also get to have breakfast in Chops so you can avoid the crowds at Windjammer. There are other perks but these are the main ones we have enjoyed.

The 6 confirmed dead include one of the tour guide but there maybe others who were not on Ovation at the the time as no details have been released until formal identification takes place. There were 47 people on the Island at the time of the eruption and of those, 38 were from Ovation. The 8 missing includes at least 1 local tour guide and possibly others not on Ovation. Of the 30 in hospital 25 are in critical condition and the other 5 are in serious condition.

The injured are currently in various hospitals around New Zealand. A number have severe burn injuries including inhalation burns requiring assisted breathing. It is expected that some of the people with the worst injuries will not survive. Authorities are also looking to move some of the victims back to Australia to be treated so they can be closer to their families. Last night New Zealand police took DNA samples from the cabins of the missing passengers to help identify the missing and injured. Included in the missing is a family of 4 from Sydney. 6 confirmed dead 8 missing, presumed dead 30 are in hospital - 24 are in four regional burns units and the other six will be transferred as soon as possible 3 have been discharged The police on going onto White Island today to attempt to retrieve the bodies for identification purposes. Due to the injuries suffered it has been very difficult to identify the bodies and injured.

I guess it is still better than the $29.90 pp they charge when in China. It's okay to do once but I don't think I would pay that much to try it.

Not sure in the U.S but in the U.K when we were on her there was also smoking down one side of the Promenade deck. They even had a special bar out there at night to keep the smokers happy.

Ovation is now heading to Wellington and will arrive tomorrow morning. It will then spend the following day in PIcton which was not on the original itinerary. From there is will head back to Sydney. Originally it was scheduled to stop in Dunedin and scenic cruise though Milford Sound but these have now been dropped from the sailing.

Hi John, hopefully this link will provide some of the answers you are looking for. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-golden-suite-program

The Australia / New Zealand website changed a couple of months ago. Every time I use it now it defaults to Australia. when I try and make it default to NZL it goes back to Australia again. i have manually changed the URL to NZL and saved as a favourite. i preferred the old version as well as this allowed me to get some of my non refundable deposit back as the terms and conditions were different for NZ. Now with this change they are all the same

Hi, I believe the Australia / Pacfic is [email protected]

@OzzyRookie if that doesn’t work try [email protected]. This is the escalations department.

Also I find private messaging them through Facebook gets quite a quick response and they can also point you in the right direction.

Hi, try emailing [email protected]. They answer emails in the order received so will respond within 24-48 hours (business days) Let me know how you get on.

Good news, she is now fixed and underway again.

Our newspapers are reporting that Ovation of the Seas has had a propulsion issue tonight and has stopped in Wellington harbour. There is no danger to the ship but the captain has contacted the Harbour Master for assistance. i have included the link to the article. https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/117517342/ovation-of-the-seas-cruise-ship-comes-to-a-stop-in-wellington-harbour

We were on Independence sailing from Southampton. There were more tuxedos than you would see in Australia and New Zealand but there were also still plenty of people dressed smart casual. I say just do what makes you feel comfortable. By the 3 formal night a lot less people were tuxed up.

Voyager of the Seas 6th September 2020 (Okinawa and Ishigaki) Voyager of the Seas 11th September 2020 (Best of Japan)

We were in a suite on Ovation and Bing our concierge booked me multiple times on the ifly when we sailed from Singapore.. it was never available for booking on the cruise planner prior to our departure.