Ovation in LA

Hi!

We are so excited that Ovation will be in LA over next summer.  Does anyone know when Royal will list those sailings on their website for booking? 

I thought they'd be out by now. Though yesterday's mess may have caused them to delay

They probably have to deal with all the cancellations in China and removing those cruises from the system before they can create the new ones.

Forgive me for being completely out of the loop with this situation.  Was Ovation supposed to sail out of China and then subsequently changed - resulting in a move to LA ?  Will Royal have ANY ships sailing out of China ?

Just the voices in my head, but it would make perfect sense that Star of the Seas is home ported in Asia. 

The move of Ovation reflects this. 

Spectrum remains in Asia permanently.

17 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Forgive me for being completely out of the loop with this situation.  Was Ovation supposed to sail out of China and then subsequently changed - resulting in a move to LA ?  Will Royal have ANY ships sailing out of China ?

Correct, For Northern Summer 2025, Ovation was supposed to be sailing from China rather than Alaska, joining Spectrum for 2 ships sailing from China. Ovation has now been redeployed to LA. Spectrum remains in China.

I’m thinking Oasis 7 will be in China with her launch in 2028.  Icon 3 will replace Icon 1 in Miami which will move to Galveston.

On 7/21/2024 at 10:43 AM, bobroo said:

Just the voices in my head, but it would make perfect sense that Star of the Seas is home ported in Asia. 

The move of Ovation reflects this. 

 

Spectrum remains in Asia permanently.

 

Star will be in Port Canaveral given they are already selling her itineraries.

12 hours ago, Southern Dan said:

I’m thinking Oasis 7 will be in China with her launch in 2028.  Icon 3 will replace Icon 1 in Miami which will move to Galveston.

China getting an Oasis... meanwhile Australia:

When will Royal (and I guess by extension, the Aussie government) realise Aussies something different!!! Don't get me wrong. I'm sure Anthem and Voyager are great ships... but we've literally had Ovation and Quantum of the Seas for the past 8 years and we've had a Voyager class before.. give us an Icon, Freedom or even an Oasis class...

I honestly feel for you Aussies.  It seems like the gov't in both Australia and NZ are making things very difficult for the major cruise companies to operate between port fees, environmental restrictions, etc.  The fact that Royal looks to have abandoned their plans for Perfect Day at Lelepa shows they aren't confident about planning itineraries for future seasons in the immediate future.  Apparently all things aren't great in China with regards to cruising as well if Ovation isn't going there anymore. 

There are only so many megaships that serve the same destinations out of the same homeports before things are oversaturated and although it doesn't look that way now with bookings "at an all time high" things might look very different come 2028 after Star of the Seas/Icon 3 and Oasis 7 are launched.

1 minute ago, Southern Dan said:

I honestly feed for you Aussies.  It seems like the gov't in both Australia and NZ are making things very difficult for the major cruise companies to operate between port fees, environmental restrictions, etc.  The fact that Royal looks to have abandoned their plans for Perfect Day at Lelepa shows they aren't confident about planning itineraries for future seasons in the immediate future.  Apparently all things aren't great in China with regards to cruising as well if Ovation isn't going there anymore. 

There are only so many megaships that serve the same destinations out of the same homeports before things are oversaturated and although it doesn't look that way now with bookings "at an all time high" things might look very different come 2028 after Star of the Seas/Icon 3 and Oasis 7 are launched.

The government is a major part of it... at least in Australia, not sure about New Zealand. It's just that Australia doesn't really have the infrastructure to have lots of ships stationed here. And the only port that can accommodate anything up to Oasis size and larger is Brisbane... but noone wants to sail out of Brisbane, because "it's not Sydney and the views aren't as great". Brisbane sailings almost never fill up afaik, that's why they're always so cheap. But also yes, port fees are through the roof. 

I don't think Royal is planning Asia that far out.  Maybe they have loosley earmarked a future build as possibly going to Asia but they have been burnt so frequently in China I think they are non-commital as this point.  

The crystal ball for China cruising is very cloudy over the next two years.  There is no way they are planning Asia further than that other than "Maybe this ship" and "We'll see how it goes over the next X years".  

Bookings are now open! Hopefully making many new friends aboard!

Oddly not that much more expensive than Navigator. Or, rephrased, Navigator is expensive.

Note we're in a promo offering OBC instead of dollars off, so fares will be a big higher than they would before factoring in the OBC

Not specifically related to these sailings, but I have been reading others’ accounts of the “sale” that includes fairly substantial OBC as a booking bonus.  In those comments many have noted that in order to get the best price, you must omit the C&A number b/c the C&A “discount” actually causes the OBC to be reduced to a point that the overall fare is higher with the C&A discount.  So be sure that you price your cruise both with and without your C&A number entered to see which one yields the best overall value.  

@WAAAYTOOO What you say is accurate. I spoke today with a RC customer service representative and they confirmed that for the current OBC offer you cannot also leverage the Balc/Suite NRD Crown and Anchor offer. From my experience, the total cruise pricing with the promotional credit is generally more ~$100 more pp but offers significantly more OBC than the amount the C&A benefit offers. Below I pictured an example of the difference in an upcoming sailing. 
Also, you seem to be a very seasoned cruiser. I hope to one day have cruised as much as you. 

I see the same. About $100 higher cruise fare, but $200 more OBC

What about the Singapore home port from October 25 - March 26? Is this unaffected?

We are booked on a New Years Cruise on Ovation, and have not heard any news, so hoping this only affects US summer sailings in 2025...