An RCI-Royal Caribbean ship was forced to cancel scheduled calls to Noumea (Grande Terre Island, New Caledonia) and Aneityum (Mystery Island, Vanuatu) due to a propulsion issue resulting in a reduced cruising speed.
Ovation of the Seas departed from homeport Sydney (NSW Australia) on December 14th and was sailing a 9-day roundtrip South Pacific Islands itinerary when she began encountering a technical issue related to the propulsion system.
As a result, Ovation OTS canceled two scheduled call ports and is due to return to Sydney on December 23rd, at 6:30 am, as originally scheduled.
A letter delivered to all passengers’ staterooms read:
“As the Captain previously shared, Ovation of the Seas is experiencing a mechanical issue resulting in the ship being required to sail at a slower speed. Unfortunately, we're no longer able to make our scheduled calls to Noumea & Mystery Island as a result. Instead, we'll head directly to Sydney, Australia to arrive into port as planned on Friday. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused by this unexpected situation.
As a result, we'll be providing you with the following:
A 50% refund of your cruise fare paid issued as a credit to your Onboard Account. Plus, a full refund of all pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursions booked for Noumea &Mistery Island.
Additionally, we're also providing you with 25% Future Cruise Credit via email to book a new cruise by 31 December 2024.”
The boat's next voyage is a 12-day Holiday Cruise to New Zealand (roundtrip from Sydney). However, it remains unclear if the itinerary will be impacted by the technical issue.
For more Ovation of the Seas incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.