We had a great time on Ovation - it was a great ship. Lots of people, but it l did not seem crowded. Lots to do if you choose and lots of places to relax if that's your desire.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
The traffic congestion was pretty bad at pier 91
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The MDR food was better than our January cruise on Grandeur but was still lacking in overall quality and selection compared to earlier cruises. Fish and Ships was very good, Sorrento's not so much. I wasn't able to get Coke out of any of the Freestyle machines until day 3 - they were constantly out (even 1st thing in the morning in the WJ).
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
The production show A Beautiful Dream was awesome - the props and singers and dancers were amazing. Randy Cabral (comic juggler) was great. Spectra's Caberet, the production show Live.Love. Legs., and the comic were OK. The Royal Theater seats are not tall-people friendly. The space under the seats on the main floor is a ventilation ductwork, so there is no room under the seat in front of you to tuck your feet.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
A Beautiful Dream and the juggler Randy Cabral were great, Spectra's Caberet's theme was a little hokie, but the singers and dancers were awesome. The comic was so, so and the production show Live.Love.Legs was OK.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Gave a 5 star rating for the service we received from our Room Steward Nyoman, Waiter Kathleen, Assistant Waiter Jed, Head Waiter Randy and WJ Waiter La Toya - they did an awesome job. The only real blemish to the onboard service was the Excursion check-in in the Music Hall for some Juneau excursions - it was a total cluster! I person checking-in hundreds of passengers for about twenty different excursions - she was definitely set up to fail.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was extremely clean. On multiple occasions, I witnessed crew members walking around and doing spot touch-ups with rags on the floors. As for the ship design, the Royal Espanade is not as open as the Royal Promenades on other ships. This leads to congestion when trying to get to the Royal Theater or Two70 due to narrower passageways.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The cabin was comfortable however the view of the ocean was slightly obstructed by the tops of the lifeboats. Not ideal or what we were expecting, but OK
Ship tip
For entertainment, reservations were only required for Spectra's Caberet in the Two70 venue. Also, the free Wash and Fold day for D+ was day 3 - we received our bag on day 2, it was picked up day 3, and returned day 4.
We did the Jeep self guided tour. Eagle Beach and St. Teresa shrine were OK however the Mendenhall Glacier stop was FANTASTIC! We also saw spawning salmon at the glacier stop and bald eagles sitting on top of steet lights in Juneau. Another highlight was the 3# King Crab feast at Tracy's Crab Shack. It was a little pricey at $70/# but WOW, what a memory!!!
No issues. We did the complimentary luggage service, and it worked flawlessly. We walked off with just our carry-ons and picked up our luggage at our final destination. On a side note, a big shout out to Air2Sea. On the way to the cruise, we experienced delays that caused us to miss 1 of our 2 connecting flights. After 1.25 hours on the phone with Air2Sea while Air2Sea worked with the airline, we were able to fly direct to SEA. We arrived 5 hours late but still the night before. On the way home, more delays forced us to spend the night in Chicago. Air2Sea hooked us up with a complementary hotel and transportation and booked us on a flight the following morning.
I'm not sure what happened, but the posted 'star' ratings are not all the same as when I saved and submitted the review. Seattle and Victoria should be 3 stars, and all the rest should be 5 stars.
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