It looks as if Royal Caribbean’s relatively new Ovation of the Seas has been temporarily sidelined in order to deal with a problem before it can become a serious issue. According to Cruise Industry News, the ship headed this week for an unscheduled drydock in China.
What’s the Problem?
The site reported that the drydock was for “maintenance on components of the ship’s propulsion system. Royal made sure to point out that at no time did this problem put any passengers in a precarious situation, as the ship was fully operational and had no maneuverability issues. “Since the issue is necessary but not urgent,” the company said, “we explored numerous options, including waiting longer to conduct the work. However, based on much analysis, we determined the timing is right for the work to happen from April 26 to May 3.”
Of course, that’s not particularly convenient for people who were set to sail during those dates! Both the April 26 and April 30 sailings were canceled. At this time, it is expected that the ship — currently sailing 4, 5 and 6 night cruises out of Tianjin, China — will return to service later this month.
The third in Royal’s Quantum class, the ship — which sails out of China and Sydney — had her maiden voyage on April 14, 2016. She is the sister ship of Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.
