Nice cruise; Seattle is terrible port

Item: Ovation of the Seas
Rating: 4.7
Author: robles8582

Ovation of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

robles8582

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 29

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Alaska Glacier Expedition (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 17, 2022

Ship: Ovation of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 13698

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Nice cruise, beautiful scenery. Beautiful ship and great staff. The port of Seattle is terrible, both outbound and inbound. Why do we register for a designated health check time when they don’t police and allow everyone to enter upon arrival? Rude staff managing taxis, also incompetent. Will never sail from this port again - need to learn from Miami where all expectations are exceeded. Experience is smooth, pleasant and timely.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Staff overwhelmed and not prepared. No one policing the assigned check-in times, so crowds rushing and everyone trying to check in whenever they want. A complete cluster; friends waited 2.5 hours. Miami is smooth and efficient; well organized and managed. Seattle should get training from Miami!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Excellent food; ample choices. Specialty drinks were a little sugary and syrupy. Stick to call drinks.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Nice

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Average

Children's Programs

No children

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Staff appears to be new to each other and the ship, but all trying very hard and work tirelessly.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Beautiful ship; very clean

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Nice cabin

Ship tip

Don’t sail from Seattle!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5

Train was great!

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Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Beautiful city

Thumbs Up 1

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5

Beautiful city; bus excursion was OK

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Quick exit from ship; very good. Again, Seattle port was a complete cluster. We will never sail from this port again. Taxi stand attendants, in particular, had no control of the cab drivers, nor the crowd. They were extremely rude.

7 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

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stacy1231 2 years ago

We had an easy time at the port of Seattle. It maybe that the larger crowds are beginning to take its toll and have not ramped up their personnel.

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sj2110 2 years ago

Do you have any tips to make the experience at pier 91 smoother...we sail from there next Monday.

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natelorip 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing. We sail out of Seattle in August and hope it goes better.

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Appreciate your feedback.

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VAcruisenut 2 years ago

Glad you had a good overall cruise. I agree that the Seattle port can be a cluster as we missed our flight out due to a customs delay and their mismanagement of taxi service. No one seemed to be in charge. Thanks for sharing.

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javawoody 2 years ago

Thanks for the review

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Noisy, busy, lovely cruise!

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