To put it mildly.....We really need a vacation after this Cruise!
Ovation of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 45
7 Night Alaska Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 31, 2019
Ship: Ovation of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
To put it mildly.....We really need a vacation after this Cruise! We ~hesitantly booked this cruise with 7 other family members from around the US. There were 3 Seniors with our party..one of them a "Diamond" member. We aren't typically cruise people, but we wanted to participate with this one for the aging members of the family. Yes, the Ovation is a sparkly new ship. The balcony stateroom was adequate, the staff were quite nice. That's all the positive energy I can put into this review. The biggest disappointment..BY FAR...was that THIS Alaskan Cruise did not get to see the glacier we had on the itinerary...This ship is TOO BIG to get to the glacier!! So I'll bet no one will ever see the glacier if you take this ship! The 3 other ships that sailed with us all went to the glacier. Also, the same cruise the week ahead of us didn't go to the glacier either. Safety aside..this was THE hallmark of the trip. If they couldn't do it, they should've told us ahead of time. Right off the bat, they want your individual picture! Not because it's " A time to Remember" ...it's all about facial recognition. Don't believe it's true? Think again! For beginners, the embarkation was total chaos, stress and disorganization from Seattle. The seniors were exhausted and so were we. The dining experience.... Some of our family were staying in Junior Suites...They ate at a separate dining room every night. We were not allowed to attend that dining room. So unless we wanted to pay upcharge for specialty dining venue we never ate dinner together....NOT ONCE! So we did lunch together instead. Here is where we ate meals and our thoughts.... Where are the fantastic Buffets? The ice sculptures? The shrimp towers? The chocolate fountains? Not on this ship! None of it.... We ordered coffee/Juice & danish from room service each morning..free with a tip. OK Windjammer is like a hospital cafeteria. Food was Eh... Cafe Two70 another hospital cafeteria. Food was Eh... Cafe Promenade 24hr coffee/ stale pastry & Sandwich shop is the size of a kiosk at the mall. Nothing special here. Chic MDR dining where we ate dinner was ok, staff was very attentive. Average food, nothing special, didn't leave hungry. Solarium Bistro Breakfast to order was a hidden gem in the mornings and decent. Solarium Bistro Dinner...not that great. Eh... Lunch in the The Grand was ok, good place to gather if you are with a group. The smoking/vaping sections of the ship. If you are a smoker, vaper or enjoy a cigar...Beware! There are only 3 places on ship to indulge in your stress-reducing cigarette. #1 The 5th Floor patio near Vintages Wine bar- the quietest place and most difficult place to find (but closed many times for cleaning?, without any cleaning going on?) #2 The 14th Floor open air hallway between the Solarium and Splashaway Bay. This is quite a hike from most staterooms. Not a favorite place to go. #3 The back left section of Casino Royale if you want to be out of the weather & wind. Another not-so-favorite place to go, but nice at 6:30 am if you'd like a little peace & quiet. Night time activities were mediocre at best. We usually ended up in the Music Hall for a silly game or two and some music...not as good as my local bar. Schooners had some nice piano music. We never did see any of the shows. They were booked up from day #1. We did the Skagway train excursion, which was nice. We booked that several months in advance. The " Refreshment package" was expensive, but covered all of our bottled water & Virgin Mary drinks & Mocktails. We also used it for other mixers because we purchased a few "Royal Gift" packages of Absolute Vodka for our room so we could mix our own drinks. We also brought on 2 bottles of wine from port on embarkation day. The others with us hardly got their money's worth from the alcohol packages they spent almost $1,000 on. Most of the bars were closed during days in port. FYI... The PUSH to SPEND MORE ! OMG!!! The constant push to spend more money blew my mind! As if you haven't spent ENOUGH already!!!! Every activity is put in place to help you spend more money. From the "Smokey-Eye" Demo (to purchase Urban Decay Makeup Pallets) to the Seminars. They want you spending..spending...spending! Even the TV stations...non-existent so you are out spending instead of watching tv. VOOM Experience..=...DOOM Experience...need I say more...totally NOT worth it. Even in an emergency. Formal nights....FWIW what is the point? Nothing special...No fancy dinners here or reduced drink prices...Just more opportunity for pictures to sell you later. The Captains Reception....Hahahaha....reception? I though most receptions came with a drink and a small bite? My mistake. Ports..Interesting tourist traps...bought a few things, saw a few things, drank a beer, ate a lunch....maybe did an excursion....got back on ship Perspective...If you're a cruiser, you'll always be a cruiser...it's your thing. No offense, but I just don't see how this is a relaxing or pampering way to vacation. I would not classify this as a Luxury Cruise. When the bills roll in and begin to hover near the $8,000 mark and we have nothing special to say about this vacation, that's just sad. I can put a much better vacation together with 1/4 of the money we spent and say.."I have had a vacation"...Ahhhhh.Embarkation
Disorganized and stressful
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
MDR was mediocre, Windjammer & CafeTwo70 were like hospital cafeterias. Chic & Grand were nice for a lunch. Room service or Solarium Bistro for breakfast was ok. Food was just OK..
Onboard Activities
Lame..lame...lame....
Entertainment
Eh...The Police experience was ok
Service and Staff
Staff seemed overworked and underwhelming, but always nice.
Ship Quality
New
Cabin / Stateroom
Adequate, clean, ok
Ship tip
Get the "Royal Gift" of Absolute Vodka & Sprite sent to your room to mix your own drinks. Opt for just the "Refreshment Package" for unlimited bottled water & Mocktails to mix with. Bring 2 Bottles of wine aboard to use for your dining room beverage.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Tourist port to shop and spend money. Did the White Pass Railroad excursion. It was relaxing and pretty.
CRUISE ENDICOTT ARM & DAWES GLACIER
Never got to the glacier. The ship is too big to go in. Aside from safety, it was the Ultimate in disappointment.
Disembarkation
Best part of the trip
10 Comments
LEOCRUISER 5 years ago
I agree with the others seriously cruising isn't for you and maybe land travel is probably the best for you. I Have been on many cruises most with Royal Caribbean I have always been pleased with the service and if there was a problem going to the Pursers desk always took care of the issure.Did you research the ship and the ports ?It's a lot more to it than just booking the tours.If I paid almost $8000.00 for a vacation and wasn't happy with anything maybe it's not the ship or the ports could be travel companions. Land is best for you, oh Im a senior that loves cruising
cpenn001 5 years ago
I was on the same cruise. The views were spectacular in Alaska. I also had a junior suite and could have eat at the coastal kitchen but chose not to. We did my time dinning and Buffett options. So you could eat regular Venues. While food was bland, it wasn’t bad. Also the entertainment was not sold out. We did need reservations for pixels but we made it to other shows without reservations and it was good entertainment. I also enjoyed bumper cars and the silent hush party was cool. I guess some people are just hard to please
Simplelife101 5 years ago
Our family, 2 parents and five older children, did a cruise over New Years on Anthem of the seas, which I believe is a sister ship to Ovation. We had an amazing time. Cruising is a luxury and therefore you have to spend to enjoy plain and simple. Almost all of you complaints could have been avoided with simple pre planning. I have now scheduled this Alaskan cruise with my mom and sisters and so excited. But really at the end of the day some people are just never satisfied, glass half full sort of mentality and will always find the bad in every situation. You can book the shows before you step foot on the boat, upgraded dinning packages are available for purchase before boarding as well (and totally worth it) Jamie Oliver’s was our favorite. Every port everywhere is a tourist trap of shops and trinkets, again research the port and plan your attack. Sorry you had such a horrible time, perhaps a little pre planning would help your frame of mind.
JuanitaBH 5 years ago
You can't really blame the ship for the face part of your family decided to spend extra money for a better room therefore had priority seating for meals. If eating as a group was important maybe they could have chosen to eat with the rest of the family instead. As for limited smoking area's, maybe it would have been an idea if it was an important part of your life you could have booked a room closer to a designated area. We live in a time where if you smoke you have limited places to go, something you have to live with if you choose to smoke. It's a shame you had such a bad time. Sounds like you should stay away from cruising.