Fabulous Cruise

Item: Ovation of the Seas
Rating: 4
Author: johnsoj2

Ovation of the Seas Cruise Review

johnsoj2

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 5

Helpful Votes: 62

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Glacier Explorer (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 22, 2022

Ship: Ovation of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11184

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Loved this cruise. Best crew ever, on fab ship. 😊😊

Embarkation

1 out of 5

The Port of Seattle is a hot mess. Completely overloaded and disorganized, from passenger drop off to check in areas. The managers of that port need to visit the ports in Florida and learn a few things about managing a port well.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

We did the unlimited dining package, so we never ate in MDR except for breakfast (which was lovely). Our favorite was Jamie’s Italian - great food and Lorna was FANTASTIC. Second favorite was Izumi - again, delicious food and excellent service. We ate at Wonderland - near experience but menu was lacking for our party of four vegetarians (no idea how it is for non-veg); still, worth one visit for the experience. We did Chops for a light lunch of apps & sides - manager there was VERY unwelcoming to us once we said we were veg. Solarium Bistro was a disappointment in terms of main course for veg. Windjammer was terrific

Windjammer Marketplace

4 out of 5

Always good, very busy. They had fresh blue cheese for salad but strangely had to search for it - it’s at the burger bar

Jamie's Italian

5 out of 5

DELICIOUS FOOD FROM START TO FINISH, WITH STELLAR SERVICE.Eat here. Have all the appetizers. Have the truffle tagliatelle. Have all the desserts. Ask for Lorna as your server. You won’t regret a bit of it.

The Café @ Two70

5 out of 5

Great place for quick bites.

Sorrentos

5 out of 5

That pizza is great. And they made a white pizza on request for my niece who hates red sauce.

Schooner Bar

5 out of 5

The servers here are fantastic. Have a sidecar!

Izumi

5 out of 5

Delicious food (not only what was on the menu, but also little tweaks they did for vegetarians) and fabulous service

Chops Grille

1 out of 5

We’re vegetarian… but some of the best sides and pastas we’ve ever eaten have been at steakhouses. NOT HERE. They had little for us, and even worse, their attitude was dismissive and discouraging. The ONLY sour note in terms of service on the ENTIRE sailing

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

My niece & brother in law loved the pools and hot tubs. We all did ifly and LOVED it (and that’s coming from me- someone who was TERRIFIED before doing it) - Tedd was awesome and helpful.

RipCord by iFLY

5 out of 5

This was SO FUN!!!! We all loved this, even though two of us (including me) were VEEY nervous beforehand. Do it! I’ll do it again on my next cruise!

FlowRider

5 out of 5

Didn’t do this myself but my niece and brother in law LOVED this. Get there early- we did 9am on a port day before our excursion, and there was no wait

Casino Royale

5 out of 5

I won a few hundred in the slots and had fun at three card poker. Get a drink from Gilbert in the bar - he’s sailed with RC for 21 years!

Entertainment

4 out of 5

GO WATCH SWITCHED ON BAND - we saw them in both the music hall and 270. Best band I’ve ever heard on a cruise. Pixels cabaret was dazzling in terms of the technology and visuals. Performers were a mixed bag. Hush party was SO FUN - do it! - but the DJ was bad and very disengaged

Two70 Lounge

5 out of 5

This is an amazing venue. Great to watch from the windows as you sail, and as a performance venue it’s stunning - most advanced technology I’ve seen on any cruise ship

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

My niece is a shy 12 year old. She went to the teen club at its opening event, walked out and never went back. I walked in behind her to see why- it was just a mass of kids, no structured activity to get to know each other. Terrible for shy kids. Maybe they need a separate space for 12 to 14 year olds? Too old for adventure club but intimidated by 16 up’s

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Best crew on any ship I’ve been on - from cabin steward to guest services to servers to the activities team. Truly exceptional

Ship tip

Do as many of the shipboard activities as you can - from the thermal suite to game shows to trivia to ifly to bush party to music hall to 270 and more. An outstanding cruise on a terrific ship with a fabulous crew.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Skagway, Alaska

4 out of 5

We’d booked helicopter to dogsledding on glacier - had waited for that for 2 years - but canceled due to weather. 😢 We shifted to the white pass rail trip which was beautiful and informative. Still, disappointed by the missed opportunity

Thumbs Up 0

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

4 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5

Had high tea at The Empress. Wouldn’t need to do it again but a fun experience to have once!

Thumbs Up 0

Juneau, Alaska

3 out of 5

We’d booked bear watching but it was canceled without explanation. Shifted to a whale watching excursion which was good but not exceptional

Thumbs Up 0

CRUISE ENDICOTT ARM & DAWES GLACIER