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My wife and I have just finished our cruise on RCCL  “Ovation of the Seas “.

We boarded the ship in Barcelona and disembarked in Dubai , we wish we would have got off in Rome (which was the first port of call ) .

The ship is brand new ,this cruise is part of its Maiden voyage .

The ship is built to a price not a recipe , how cheap can you build a big ship.

The cabins are modern and basically comfortable .

We had a Balcony Suite.

Insulation between the cabins (if there is any) is almost nonexistent. When the people in the next cabin decide to stop talking or go to sleep we can to ,when the get up ,everybody up!

If during the night you can’t sleep ,instead of counting sheep you can listen to the toilets flushing , it can be 1 deck up ,1 deck down or 10 cabins away and you can hear them .

We had an issue with the noise from the adjoining cabins and went to Guest services who took the time to listen and do absolutely nothing . After 5 nights we changed cabins due to the noise .

Getting them to change our cabin was an ordeal ,apparently other people were also changing cabins due to noise . It must be like musical cabins .

Guest services is where you go if you have a question or problem .,staffed by a Chinese team  (as are many of the restaurants and shops on the ship ) who listen and say yes to everything but have no idea of what to do .

It is very clear that many of the Chinese staff on board got their jobs by connections and who they know not on an understanding of service.

If RCCL continue in this direction they can leave all their ships in China .

If I want to do a cruise with a crew like this ,I would book a cruise up the Yangtze. Lucky the ship is going to be based in China  ,as a European Ovation of the Seas is not for us .

My wife is Asian so we understand what they are saying , we both said they  have no idea of how to treat the passenger and it is obvious this is a learning cruise .

Lest try to relax and swim in the single outdoor pool on a 167,000 Ton Ship , if you want to swim outdoor between 2 and 4.30 forget it ,this is volley ball time , if you came on board to play Volley ball great but many people like to be able to enjoy the outdoor  pool.

The indoor pool is lovely if you like to sit inside with a fresh smell of Chlorine .

If you wish to sit on the top deck in the shade  and there is very little shade ,good luck . The ship has a great system , the guys that look after the towels take money on the side and no matter what time you get up in the morning the chairs in the shade are reserved .Try 6.30 AM and these chairs are taken ,the rest are all empty.

Wonder where this scheme came from ??

Dinning on board is an experience , there are a number of restaurants , Windjammer is a buffet for Breakfast ,Lunch and Dinner with a wide variety of food , staff are rude .

The rest of the restaurants , Icon Grill ,Chic , The Grand and Silk are ok ,1 time in each on a 16 night cruise they become monotonous , the food is ok but boring and the menus do not change.

We much prefer eating in a dining room with a varying menu that has variety and interesting food .

Many of the restaurants on board that you pay extra for are a hard sell by the crew. We arrived back on board from our day in Athens and had not even got to the elevator and the staff are trying to sell Jamie’s Kitchen amongst other restaurants .When you get on board after a day ashore the first thing most people want to do is go to their cabin and freshen up .

RCCL tours are a real take , they push the tours telling you how experienced RCCL is .

Really ! we took the tour to Petra in Jordan ,we booked this 4 weeks before we went on the cruise , pre leaving for the tour RCCL wanted to sell everybody a bottle of water , the tour only cost USD475 for 2 , understandable that a bottle of water is extra ,how could they include a bottle of water for this cost?

Got on the bus and the windows were filthy and could not see out ,asked the tour guide why ,he said that it was a rush to get the number of buses ,obviously cleaning the windows was a rush job as well . Thanks RCCL for the arranging the tour 4 weeks before we got on the bus .Top job.

You would think on a Maiden Voyage RCCL would want the guest to have a really great time and go out of their way and give them the WOW factor so when they get of a new ship the comments would be great .

We kept discussing what does RCCL stand for we now know.

 “Really Crummy Cruise Line”

RCCL you really have lost the plot and if this is the future of the ships you are putting into service and the staff you are manning them with ,then we better book our cruises with other lines very early as you are going to lose your loyal customers .

We have cruised many times on different cruise lines ,we normally cruise with Princess  and look forward to our next cruise on Princess .