Amazing Alaska trip!
Ovation of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 8
7 Night Alaska Experience (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 02, 2024
Ship: Ovation of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 6598
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 1 month ago
Review summary
We loved this cruise and we loved Alaska! My husband was excited but not anything like me (this was part of my bucket list), and he’s ready to go back next year. There is so much more we want to see and do, but this was a great ship for our family and a great itinerary.Embarkation
Embarkation was smooth and easy for us. Plenty of staff directing foot traffic to the correct ship. Make sure to screenshot your sea pass or add it to your Apple wallet before going into the building. Service inside was terrible and lots of folks had trouble pulling it up in the app.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We only used included restaurants, and we ate at the Windjammer marketplace buffet, main dining, Sorrentos pizza restaurant and Two70 a few times for a quick breakfast or snack. The food was good. The buffet had a wide variety, plenty of new foods to sample and plenty of comfort options for all the meals we ate there. The omelette station had a beeper system so you could continue to browse the buffet while waiting which I thought was nice and helped with traffic in those areas. I was glad of the handwashing stations at the entrance to the buffet that all guests were directed into before dining. Biggest complaint here was seating- several times we had to walk in circles around the restaurant to find a table for 4. I’m not sure if it was just that busy or an abundance of guests sitting to enjoy the view a while after eating but it was frustrating. The main dining room was good as well. Our table was always ready for us on time. The food was great. My kids enjoyed the experience. Pizza was always hot and ready, easy to grab a few plates and take it to the pool or trivia. Each day there was a specialty slice and the ones we tried were all very good. Two70 was usually quick, ready made breakfast options and lunch sandwiches. Yogurt parfaits and desserts. Easy to grab a premium coffee here without the wait of the main coffee shop. My girls frequented the soft serve station! There was almost always a long line, but they didn’t mind the wait. I wish there had been multiple stations to spread the crowd.
Onboard Activities
We enjoyed the indoor and outdoor pools. My youngest enjoyed the children’s splash area with the whirlpool and slides. She was not tall enough to do the whirlpool alone, so I had to accompany her. There could be a wait at busier times. My oldest wished for larger slides, but was happy with rock climbing and body surfing. She also enjoyed iFly. Bumper cars were fun, but a long wait for a short ride. I’m not sure they would repeat.
Entertainment
We loved the piano music in the schooner bar. Karaoke was also a hit, but sometimes difficult to find a seat in the venues. Bingo was very crowded and we wound up sitting on the floor of the stage. There was a seminar on bears later in the week that I was looking forward to, but it was hard to see from our seats in the music hall and hard to hear over the bar noise. I liked the venues on the boat, comfortable seating and little nooks to sit and enjoy a drink, but not always the best choice for the given activity.
Children's Programs
Our youngest daughter only went once to the kids club, so I don’t think I can give an accurate assessment.
Service and Staff
Staff were great! Our room attendant, our servers at the main dining room, the servers and attendants around the ship- everyone was friendly, polite and attentive.
Ship Quality
Clean, comfortable, plenty of space- we never felt crowded except at the buffet and the first night around the main dining waiting area.
Cabin / Stateroom
Cabin was great. Clean, comfortable, lots of storage spaces for our luggage and items. My husband is an unpacker and I prefer to work out of my suitcase. We each had plenty of space. We opted to let them pick our cabin with a guaranteed balcony and were aware going in that we may have an obstruction to our view. We could see over the lifeboat, and it was really only an issue when sitting or trying to take a picture. The cabin itself was roomy. We liked the couch. Bed was comfortable. Bathroom set up was nice- I enjoyed having a door instead of a curtain. We traveled with our daughters so the staff pulled out our couch bed each evening. Space became very limited at that point. We had to squeeze past to reach the balcony and often bumped our legs as we went by. We had a bottle of water in the drink fridge and once the bed was open it was impossible to open the door. We expect small staterooms, so this was not anything that bothered us too badly but anyone with mobility issues, traveling with older/larger kids may struggle with space. Another note on the pullout, once it was made back into a couch each day, there was no place else for the linen, so they stacked it on the couch. This took a good bit of the sitting space.
Ports of call
Seattle, Washington Did not visit port
We flew in one day prior with just enough time to sleep, and left the ship on transport straight to the airport.
Thumbs Up
0
Gorgeous! We rented a car and got out of the immediate downtown area. We had plenty of time to explore the glacier area and do a hike, then we explored further around Juneau before heading downtown and shopping a bit. Stopped at a brewery for a snack and a beer. Lovely visit.
We loved Skagway! We also rented a car here and drove the Yukon highway, taking our time sightseeing on the way to Carcross and back. We stopped, climbed rocks, took pictures galore- none of them do justice to this landscape! Came back in time for shopping and another pit stop at a brewery. The downtown is adorable and so walkable, locals were so friendly. We for a late start so we missed some things we wanted to do… will just have to go back! We were told it was 15-20 minutes walk to the town from port, but we opted to walk it and it was less than 10 for us.
Every single port was better than the last! We took the complimentary bus into town and planned to walk around in Sitka, but opted for a wildlife boat tour once we go into town. Tour was great. Sitka and the sound were absolutely breathtaking. We had a foggy morning and it was beautiful, but once the fog wore off we were in awe. Saw plenty of ocean wildlife from shore. The only issue in Sitka was the bus back- it was a gorgeous, sunny day and everyone waited until late afternoon to return to the ship. The line for the bus was wrapped around the building and growing and the staff were struggling to get it under control and get folks back on time as there were 2 ships in port and ours was leaving 2 hours earlier. I don’t think that was normally an issue from the way they were scrambling but they made it work.
We aren’t big city people, but we got off and walked the loop toward downtown-it was more of a walk than our other ports. There were buses here and lots of folks offering pedicab tours. We did not have an excursion booked but I would like to do a seaplane if we return. Our girls wanted to do a carriage ride and loved seeing the horses. The city was very pretty, friendly people. We got some yummy coffee and ice cream and just enjoyed the stroll.
Disembarkation
Super easy. We opted for port valet and scheduled a round trip with the company that dropped us off for the start of the cruise. Got our bags ready and labeled the night before, walked off the ship after breakfast the following morning with no issue.