Solid cruise---Awesome destinations, some challenges with food on the ship

Ovation of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

marbryson

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 22

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Alaska Glacier Explorer (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 18, 2023

Ship: Ovation of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6138

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Great ship, excellent staff. Something for everyone on the ship. I'm not a fan of the a) wifi for Android users (our iPhone folks seemed to have better connectivity--Androids had to "forget" the network multiple times per day to login to the Royal app) b) the meats are not impressive at all After the negative is out of the way, there's a LOT of positive to chat about. Solarium was great. Quiet enough and semi-easy to find a space to hang out. Seemed to be a very popular place. Cabins were well maintained and well attended. Staff was exceptional and friendly. It was interesting to chat with staffers when they had a minute about where they were from and such. Ship is HUGE. I had over 9k steps per day just getting around the ship. Not a bad thing but still a little much. Elevators were almost always a wait.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Prompt service and through the lines easily. Maybe spent 30ish minutes from when we got off the transfer bus to getting on the ship. I'm not sure how much more streamlined the process could get?

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Service in the Main Dining Room and in the Windjammer buffet was almost exceptional. I couldn't ask for more from the staff. Food quality was somewhere on the 2.5 out of 5 star area. Baked things were very good, meats were not especially good. Hamburgers, steaks, chicken breast, prime rib, sole (fish) were below expectations. Bacon and sausage were ok. We dined at Chops one night. I had a filet mignon and my wife had salmon. Both of those were very good. Drink: I KNEW I'd have issue with the Coke Freestyle machines so we didn't get the drink package (I'm non-alcohol). The Freestyle machines tend to mix ALL flavors into just your one expected flavor. An absolute waste of time/resources for all involved in my opinion. We selected to just buy a number of $4.13 Cokes. Those were insanely priced but still better than dealing with the nastiness of the Coke Freestyle.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

I spent most of my time in the Solarium. Two of my family did the iFly event and loved it.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Phoenix was excellent. Legs variety show was not my favorite at all. Someone at the Kareoke show in the bar late in the week was exceptional (they had an acoustic guitar so I assume that was not a passenger?).

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Met every expectation I could ask for

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cleanliness was very good. Design was also good but we'll likely be going back to smaller ships with less people on them?

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Plenty of room for a cruise ship. Balcony was smaller than expected but was big enough for each of us to sit in the provided chairs. I can't imagine needing more room and being that space is at a premium on a ship, it was totally fine. We'll likely just return to an interior state room on any other cruises.