Horrible, there are many ships to choose from, choose a different one.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Embarkation was a little slow with long lines
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Main dining room food is horrible. We at the 4 specialty restaurants and they were good. But overall, we felt the food was rock bottom of any of the 30+ cruises we have ever taken! the buffets were horrible. You know the ice-cream you used to be able to get on the deck, you can't even get that yourself anymore (ok maybe still a covid thing) but the size ice-cream cone they give you is the size you would ask for your infant child (no exaggeration here, The chicken wings in the buffet were the smallest I've seen in my entire life I seriously didn't even think they killed chickens this tiny! I measured it to be the size of my thumb!!
We were so grateful for the excursions we booked that included food so we could have a decent meal.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
We hung out at the pool, visited the spa and those were both great experiences. For some reason the casino was closed A LOT during the cruise during times that you are at sea and expecting it to be open. I am not sure with the itinerary if maybe they cant get far enough out to international waters or something but we were surprised at how much the casino was closed. One day it didn't open at all! The lines to the bingo were ridiculously long as well, we took one look at that line running all the way down the hallway and were like....nope!
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The main stage show is ok (I think it was called the dream) but it was really hard to follow. If you have been on some of the other ships and seen the beautiful Broadway style shows you will be disappointed with it. The special effects and the hard work the performers put into it I could appreciate though. On another night they had a singer called Elton Jack who sings Elton John songs- 10 minutes into the show I couldn't stand it and we had to leave. I've never walked out of a show before but it was pretty bad in my opinion.
Children's Programs
we didn't travel with young children this time
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
I'll give this an OK because most of the staff were pretty good and attentive. However, they only clean your room once a day on this ship which was really surprising because they still charge the same daily tip. When you get there they ask do you want your room cleaned in the morning or at night. We said our preference was at night but still our room steward didn't even do our room at all on 3 occasions.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Yes other than the rooms the ship was very clean, well designed and they even decorated for Christmas and New Years Eve
Our favorite port 100% we did an excursion where we got off the ship and spent the night in a hotel, had a boat ride to a beautiful dinner and breakfast then joined the ship the next day. It was amazing!
We did a really great excursion to the Te Puia Geothermal and Maori cultural center it was on of the highlights getting to experience seeing guizers and being inside a real volcano
I was on Ovation in October and can confirm everything you're saying. The buffet was terrible!! The ship is lovely, so it was such a letdown to be getting lower quality meals than you find in a rundown RSL.
The food is low quality and catered to american tastes, bland cheese, flavourless Styrofoam bacon, stale bread, lukewarm sauces full of vinegar e.c.t...
P&O and Virgin have the best concept for the Buffet, individual shop fronts serving hot food cooked in small batches as needed.
Again, you can't fault the ship. It's beautiful, but it's like walking into a Michelin restaurant and being served spaghetti on toast.
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