Royal Caribbean confusion

[DT1304]

 I posted this in Royal Caribbean forum but thought I should post here too.

 

I am going on Ovation on 14 December to South Pacific.

The itinerary shows that we arrive in Vila at 5pm on Day 4 and leave Vila at 3pm on day 5. That is what is on my cruise planner too. The ship is offering excursions early in the morning on the day we are only supposed to get there at 5pm.

 

What's also confusing me, is that if I go and try do a new dummy booking for my exact sailing, the itinerary is totally different, arriving at the ports in a different order and at different times.

 

Am I missing something here?

[arxcards]

Maybe.

They have 2 cruises paired under the same itinerary on their site, one for 14th December, the other for 4th January. The 4th January one is in reverse order.

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, DT1304 said:

 I posted this in Royal Caribbean forum but thought I should post here too.

 

I am going on Ovation on 14 December to South Pacific.

The itinerary shows that we arrive in Vila at 5pm on Day 4 and leave Vila at 3pm on day 5. That is what is on my cruise planner too. The ship is offering excursions early in the morning on the day we are only supposed to get there at 5pm.

 

What's also confusing me, is that if I go and try do a new dummy booking for my exact sailing, the itinerary is totally different, arriving at the ports in a different order and at different times.

 

Am I missing something here?

Royal Caribbean really lacks in the IT department.

They have quite a few overnights in Vila this season. They all get there in the late afternoon on the first day and leave the afternoon /evening on the second day.

I don’t think they do any shore excursions on the first day. They are all in the morning of the second day.

 

Im hoping the tender goes into town and not the cruise wharf. Which would be very good.

 

[bretts173]

28 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Royal Caribbean really lacks in the IT department.

They have quite a few overnights in Vila this season. They all get there in the late afternoon on the first day and leave the afternoon /evening on the second day.

I don’t think they do any shore excursions on the first day. They are all in the morning of the second day.

 

Im hoping the tender goes into town and not the cruise wharf. Which would be very good.

 

This is not quite correct. The time of arrival into Vila is different depending on which order the ports are. Those that go to Vila first will arrive early in the morning day 1 and leave after lunch day 2 as the next day they need to be in Noumea which is about 14 hours away. Those that go to Noumea first arrive in Vila at lunchtime and leave late on day 2. I am on the Jan 04 doing the late arrival but have friends on the Dec 14 doing early arrival 

[Chiliburn]

4 minutes ago, bretts173 said:

This is not quite correct. The time of arrival into Vila is different depending on which order the ports are. Those that go to Vila first will arrive early in the morning day 1 and leave after lunch day 2 as the next day they need to be in Noumea which is about 14 hours away. Those that go to Noumea first arrive in Vila at lunchtime and leave late on day 2. I am on the Jan 04 doing the late arrival but have friends on the Dec 14 doing early arrival 

Ok , I thought most arrived in the afternoon.

I’m on one in a couple of days and it arrives in the afternoon. I presume a late departure from Sydney and that little extra distance puts the ship there late.

 

[bretts173]

Your right who knows? All a mystery until it actually happens. Though the itinerary for the 16th has them going day 4 and 5 Vila, day 6 Noumea, day 7 mystery island. So need to get from Vila to Noumea overnight unlike yours.

Edited November 14, 2022 by bretts173
.

[bretts173]

8 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Ok , I thought most arrived in the afternoon.

I’m on one in a couple of days and it arrives in the afternoon. I presume a late departure from Sydney and that little extra distance puts the ship there late.

 

It may be because Pacific adventure is in Vila on the 19th from 8am to 3pm

[Chiliburn]

Yep who knows.

I did a overnight in noumea once on voyager and the ship put on a night out to lemon bay . It was pretty good even the captain and some of his officers where there.

 

[DT1304]

Yep. All very confusing.

 

We arrive at 5pm into Vila and leave at 3pm the next day. But I can reserve excursions through the ship for 9am on the day we arrive. Weird!!!

 

Either way, I think I am just going to DIY my port days anyway like I have done on all other South pacific cruises because the costs of ship excursions is stupid!

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I am confused ad to why they are tendering for Port Vila, is the ship too big for the new enlarged dock?

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

I am confused ad to why they are tendering for Port Vila, is the ship too big for the new enlarged dock?

I don’t know if Ovation ever did dock there ,maybe someone knows.

If it did maybe there was some damage to the dock or maybe it’s a better option to tender into town.

But one of the big downsides of Vila is the lack of services and order on the dock.
Being dropped off right in town would be nice but it might just move the football scrum into town.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

I don’t know if Ovation ever did dock there ,maybe someone knows.

If it did maybe there was some damage to the dock or maybe it’s a better option to tender into town.

But one of the big downsides of Vila is the lack of services and order on the dock.
Being dropped off right in town would be nice but it might just move the football scrum into town.

When we docked in Port Vila last Thursday, there was no lack of order on the dock. There was the usual queue of taxis and vans lined up in an orderly fashion immediately outside the gates. It wasn't a scrum as we have been in the past. The market stalls were outside the gates this time and they had a covered walkway leading most of the way to the ship.

[MicCanberra]

8 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

When we docked in Port Vila last Thursday, there was no lack of order on the dock. There was the usual queue of taxis and vans lined up in an orderly fashion immediately outside the gates. It wasn't a scrum as we have been in the past. The market stalls were outside the gates this time and they had a covered walkway leading most of the way to the ship.

That was my last experience as well, however that was pre covid and a smaller ship than the Ovation. We were told that the newer dock could cater for the larger ships though, although how large that is, I do not know.

[bretts173]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

That was my last experience as well, however that was pre covid and a smaller ship than the Ovation. We were told that the newer dock could cater for the larger ships though, although how large that is, I do not know.

Have been to Vila 3 times, 2 ovation 1 Voyager and Voyager was the only one that docked. Has the dock been upgraded since 2019.

[Aus Traveller]

38 minutes ago, bretts173 said:

Have been to Vila 3 times, 2 ovation 1 Voyager and Voyager was the only one that docked. Has the dock been upgraded since 2019.

I don't think the Vila dock has been up-graded since 2019. It was built a few years earlier than that and I don't think there have been any changes.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, bretts173 said:

Have been to Vila 3 times, 2 ovation 1 Voyager and Voyager was the only one that docked. Has the dock been upgraded since 2019.

I cannot find anything that says it has, I think the Ovation and Quantum will be tendering.

[MicCanberra]

Found this from 2019 -

The ship (Ovation) will anchor in the harbour as she is too big to dock at the wharf. From there, tender boats will bring passengers to the main Star wharf, 250 people per trip, and there will be taxis and buses lined up for transportation to town where all events and activities will take place.

[Chiliburn]

The star wharf is the usual wharf.

What a hassle,you would think they would tender to the ferry wharf near the casino.

There must be some kind of agreement to do so many calls into vanuatu that was made when they signed the Lelepa lease.

Thats only reason I can think they would do so many overnight tenders.

[bretts173]

8 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

The star wharf is the usual wharf.

What a hassle,you would think they would tender to the ferry wharf near the casino.

There must be some kind of agreement to do so many calls into vanuatu that was made when they signed the Lelepa lease.

Thats only reason I can think they would do so many overnight tenders.

I think just easier to go there than the city one due to all the local tour organisers and the like.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, bretts173 said:

I think just easier to go there than the city one due to all the local tour organisers and the like.

Local tour organisers? I haven't seen any on our many visits to Port Vila. Outside the wharf area there are many market stalls and a line-up of vehicles for hire.

[bretts173]

3 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Local tour organisers? I haven't seen any on our many visits to Port Vila. Outside the wharf area there are many market stalls and a line-up of vehicles for hire.

Pretty sure that's what I said. I consider those private vehicles to be the local tour guides.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, bretts173 said:

Pretty sure that's what I said. I consider those private vehicles to be the local tour guides.

The drivers outside the port at Port Vila aren't tour guides and they certain aren't tour operators. 🙂 

[MicCanberra]

Maybe not in the usual format of having a tent and such but they do organise tours and take you around on them. 

We have used them ourselves. Once pre booked, the other at the gates.

[Chiliburn]

Just got this about tendering in Vila.

I remember the last time I was on a tender with Ovation in the bay of islands. There was a line from 270 to the theatre down the stairs then halfway back along the ship.
That’s about 400 meters.

There was a couple of punch ups if I remember rightly.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Chiliburn

[Chiliburn]

So if anyone is wondering how the tendering will work in Vila this is what we have.

Ovation is anchored out in the bay and the tenders go to the usual wharf.

I was hoping the tenders would go to the ferry wharf near the casino,which would be closer .

But apparently they have to have a security area for customs and quarantine and it can’t be done in town.