Honest Alaska Cruise

Ovation of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 41

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Ovation of the Seas

7 Night Alaska Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 02, 2023

Ship: Ovation of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 13212

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

After we got through our initial issues with booking, which ended up being an absolute nightmare. We had booked for 5 in 2 rooms knowing that one might cancel, we paid extra for refundable tickets. When we went to cancel the one, our agent had booked the 3 in to a room that REQUIRED a minimum of 3 people in it, so they had to cancel the entire trip and re-book. Because of that, instead of saving us $1000+ like expected, it was only going to save us $63. So we left the 5th person on as it would save us more as we would get taxes and port fees back for our 5th and they just no-showed. VERY disappointed in that aspect of the trip. After that booking excursions at first was horrible. The one thing we wanted to do was go fishing in Sitka. I watched the excursions daily and there was no fishing, no fishing, no fishing. The next day, there was fishing, but it was sold out. Tried to go through the ship to have a personal one and was told they didn't have any. We ended up going with an outside company and they were FABULOUS. I think the biggest issue on the cruise was the Amway group. They were catered to by the cruise taking up an entire dining hall every night. They booked out the Solarium a couple of times which was also annoying to be kicked out. We could never get in to the Bumper Cars as that was always booked up by them. They were rude, pushed people out of the way, and seemed to b video blogging the entire time which basically used up all the wifi so communication and such on the ship was horrible. The staff was great in general. Got to know our bartenders and they knew our drinks after a few days which was nice. In general, if it hadn't been for the Amway group and the booking issues, the cruise would have been a lot more enjoyable.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Literally got right on the boat, did our security and was able to explore the ship. No waiting.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Specialty Restaurants food was amazing. Main dining rooms. Food was eh. Losing an entire dining room to Amway group made waits, even with reservations insane. Staff did their best, but it was annoying. Buffets - Food was ok. Bread/bagels were stale. Lines were long in general just to get in.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
I-Fly was amazing. FlowRida was fun, but cold due to being Alaska Solarium was nice, but crowded. Hard to find a seat.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Comedian and Aaron Bonk were amazing. Spectra was confusing.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Room steward, bartenders and overall staff was excellent. No issues with anyone

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Loved the room. Though when booking, would have liked to know that there was an overhang which made viewing mountains and glacier difficult. Would have booked one level down had I known

Ship tip

Get to know your bartenders.

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5
Loved Seattle. Flew in 2 days early to explore the city

Sitka, Alaska

5 out of 5
Loved Sitka. Went fishing with a charter outside the ship because Royal Carribean didn't have a fishing excursion available.

Skagway, Alaska

3 out of 5
Our main excursion (Helicopter and Dog sled) were cancelled. By the time we found out, everything else was pretty much booked so we did the train, which was nice.

CRUISE ENDICOTT ARM & DAWES GLACIER

4 out of 5
Didn't get to close to the glacier. Expected to be closer.

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5
Did the canoe and hike to Mendenhall Glacier. Was a lot of fun and amazing views.

Victoria, British Columbia

2 out of 5
Way too short of time here and it was all late so everything was shutting down

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Pretty quick to get off, but would have liked shuttles to the airport instead of $100 for a larger cab,
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