Ovation of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Best vacation we’ve taken. I only wish our stay in the ports were longer.

We took a cruise to Alaska on the elevation of the sea. What a awesome ship we had about 4900 people on the ship. It did not feel crowded. It’s one of Royal Caribbean‘s biggest ships man that shit is so wide and long. Been on about eight cruises this happened to be the best one I’ve ever been on. The crew was so happy and was willing to do anything to make your experience better. They have people watching people watching people and everybody tries to do their best. We had a room with a balcony which I would recommend when you go to Alaska. The room was very large and had a couch and had queen size bed. I would highly recommend this Alaskan cruise on this ship. It’s so beautiful in Alaska.

This was our first RCCL cruise and we booked another. We won't abandon our usual line, but this is a nice change.

Lovely time on the cruise, great staff and food.

Wonderful experience. Will definitely recommend to our friends & family.

Beautiful scenery! Alaska cruise was the best we ever went on!

12th cruise on Royal. 1st as Diamond. 1st time to Alaska. Excellent but expensive compared to Caribbean cruises. Great service in Diamond Club.

It was a great vacation and the weather in Alaska was awesome.. It was so much fun to get away in a clean fresh environment... Must do again.....

Fabulous cruise from the start, in Seattle to the very end. Highlight for all of us was whale watching in Juneau. Breathtaking views and exciting seeing the whales!! The excursion, Evening whale watch was perfect in every way. Skagway was a charming town, and Victoria was beautiful. The ship is so modern and was fabulous. We all love a large ship and this one was perfect!! Lots to do for adults and kids!! Ifly and North Star were 🙌

We had a great week on Ovation of the Seas. Great scenery, great ship. Lots of fun activities, including bumper cars. Pools and water slides all had heated water which we did not realize before cruising. I don’t think a lot of other people realized this early in the week as the outdoor pool and water slides were pretty empty. MDR service was exceptional although the food was hit or miss. Room was amazing. I wasn’t aware a JS on Ovation had one and a half baths. Huge plus for 4 of us. Pizza at Sorrentos has noticeably improved in recent past. Windjammer was a bit undersized for a ship this size but never seemed too crazy. Solarium Bistro was underutilized and had good food. Cruise down Endicott Arm was beautiful but we did not get close enough to Dawes Glacier to really see it. Embarkation was pretty simple, dropped off by an Uber and walked a little ways then quick through security and check in. Disembarkation was smooth and pretty quick. We used the port of Seattle valet for our bags. Worked great since we weren’t flying out till that evening. Overall a great family friendly ship.

This is a high tech ship and is designed for Millennials and Generation Z'ers. Other than the failure to travel the Inside Passage the cruise was great. In our view, Alaska is about wild life and scenery not ship amenities. Solely because of this we will not sail Ovation or any other Quantum Class or larger ship to Alaska in the future.

We had a great time and highly recommend this ship. The recreational opportunities were the best we’ve had. The Ovation of the Seas was a wonderful choice for our trip with our older teens.

Great trip. Weather was beautiful don't make the mistake we did and pack a bunch of winter clothes! Temperature was in the 50's or above the entire trip. A hoodie is all you need for a jacket trust me. You will wear shorts and t-shirts on the boat, hoodie and long pants when you get off. A lightweight rain jacket just in case is also a good idea. We only used this once because it rained about 30 minutes in Skagway but that was the only time it was needed. Good walking shoes or hiking boots is also a good idea. We arrived in Seattle early and stayed two nights at the Maxwell Hotel. Highly recommend this hotel it was excellent and a great location. The shuttle service they provide will take you to most places free of charge. You should buy the Seattle City Pass because it has all the main attractions in it. We saw the Space Needle and it was awesome! Your ticket allows you to see it both during the day and at night. Arrive early to beat the crowds. We also went to the Science Museum and it was very good. The Argosy harbor tour was nice and we really enjoyed the Aquarium. Walk thru the Pike Place Market it's really neat. We didn't do any RC excursions because we like to pick our own from reviews. In Juneau we did a Whale Watching Tour with Alaska Galore. They were super nice and they only allow about 10-14 people so everyone can see and you aren't packed in like other boats we saw. They pick you up at the pier so it was very easy. We then went to Mendenhall Glacier and it was nice. Transportation there is easy to get so we didn't book a tour for that. At Skagway we rented a jeep for the day thru Alaska Green Jeep (DIY). This was awesome. They had such great reviews and they lived up to everyone of them! It was so easy. You get your jeep, follow the Klondike Hwy and stop whenever you want to hike for awhile or just to take pictures. They have a book that tells you the main attractions on the way and which mile marker to look for. You definitely want to stop and see the William Moore Suspension Bridge. This was a super nice area and walking that bridge was something you will never forget! Also stop and pet the puppies at the Tutshi Sled Dog Tours operated by Michelle Phillips. For only $5 you can pet a bunch of puppies and adult sled dogs. This was so cool. My granddaughter had so much fun she wanted to bring a puppy home with her. You can also go on a sled ride if you want. Don't miss what has to be the most beautiful place in the world Emerald Lake. Pictures do not do it justice it is absolutely gorgeous. This is usually were you turn around and go back down the Hwy. After you return your jeep (6:00) go eat at the Red Onion Saloon. We had a blast there and the food is excellent! At Victoria we went on a walking tour on our own that we found on a google search. We went to Beacon Hill Park and saw the tallest totem pole in the world. We then saw the Royal BC Museum and the Parliament building. We finished at Fisherman's Wharf and had a wonderful dinner there at Barb's Fish and Chips. Our room was a large balcony #10562 and it was very nice. The art work on board the ship is beautiful! We did the I-Fly and also went up in the North Star. Get reservations for I-fly when they are offered on your cruise planner. The only time they offered North Star before we left was on port days. We went "stand by" while sailing in the Endicott arm and it was really cool. Stand by was less then a 10 minute wait. The ship was unable to go to the Dawes Glacier but we kinda expected this from reading other reviews. To us it was not that big of a deal because everything else was fantastic. The main dining room was okay but I agree with some other reviews that stated other RC ships were a little better menu wise. Thanks RC for the beautiful table by the window we truly enjoyed the view while eating. We had excellent service from Ramon and Kudmal, they took very good care of us! We enjoyed the Windjammer and thought the buffet was better then the other RC ships we have sailed on. Entertainment-we really enjoyed Live, love, legs and The Dream. Pixels was okay but rather disappointing. Pixels is the only show you can pre-register for. We loved our time on Ovation and the service was superb. Highly recommend this cruise!

The Ovation of the Seas was the best ship I have sailed on. The cruise ship was filled and did seemed to have over 4000 people on the ship. It’s nice and roomy.

It was our first cruise. Went with my wife and 6 other family members. The cruise was fun, however, I do have to say that about 95% of the daily activities aboard the ship were not ones I had any desire to attend. Thank God the bars open early, otherwise I would have been completely bored on that ship. I know that comes off negative, but besides the nightly entertainment, I didn't have any interest in those other activities throughout the day. This is the reason why I'm unsure if I will ever do a cruise again. I don't believe the cost matches the benefits. Just my opinion. Oh, and I'm not a fan at all of every little thing costing so much money. It's ridiculous to spend that much money for a week and then feel like you're constantly being told to buy more (really expensive) stuff. I mean, cut back on some of those really mundane activities that you use to fill the cruise compass so you can cut back on the costs of everything else a little. I really don't think the amount of money spent on this cruise was worth the experience. EVERY little thing costs more and more money and that's just not cool. Plus, I don't understand what people get out of spending 8 hours in a port that is just designed as a cash cow for cruise ship passengers to spend money. Well that came our more negative than I originally planned, but I guess that's what happens when I really start thinking about the experience.

The amazing... beautiful ship, the grande Suite was perfect for family of 4 with two teenager girls, STORAGE And space. Juneau excursion to mendenhall, Skagway whitepass train, Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier (perfect sunny skies and the closest they had gotten as of date), amazing scenery all they way around in Alaska. Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant. The good.... friendly and helpful staff, concierge lounge for cocktails was really nice, coastal kitchen had good service and food, The not so good.... the food outside of coastal kitchen and cafe 270 and specialty restaurants was not good. I love to review things and most of the time it’s because I loved it, but I have to be honest here and say the food was sub par in the general eating areas. I am so glad we took this cruise as the memories are amazing. RC really needs to step it up in the general food department. I understand they want you to buy the specialty dining package, but you shouldn’t HAVE to buy it to get decent food. If we had purchased the dining package for all nights it considerably adds a substantial amount for a family of 4 to your cruise bill.

Two nights so far on the beautiful ship. Must say, the food quality so far has been a huge disappointment in the mail dining room. Hoping it gets better

This was the most amazing trip . Extremely laid back.. Lots of jeans... But out of all our cruises, this was the friendliest. Everyone we came across in the elevator, dinner, etc. Would strike up conversations.

Our cruise to Alaska was an amazing experience. The only thing I would change is I might try to pick an itinerary with more Alaska time. I just loved it!

2nd day of cruise. While the ship is nice, I'm surprised at lack of automation. Muster drill they had to manually check off from list and the "coffee select" is a physical card that has to be punched. Unlike Princess a large Expresso or Venta costs 2 punches. Also checkin was slower because they didn't automate like Princess. This is our 1st cruise on RCL.