Ovation of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I loved the boat it was a cruise from heaven. The rooms are very spacious. I've been on 2 carnival ships but I like the this boat the best.OVATION OF THE SEAS ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL

Went on 4 day cruise really disappointed the service behind bar is terrible as they sell drinks packages so the best way to limit is to have only 2 people working behind bar most times The ship is brand new but I think I could have been better designed yes I have been on several cruise ships and I am going on a 22 day one soon with same company ( explorer) I hope its better service and design ( it has got great reviews) this ship however seems badly organised and the staff really seem like they just don't care the seating at the food areas is limited and there was SO many people stacked on one boat as I said it's new so the company thinks more people on boats More profits as the other cruise ships have a Hugh amount of staff and fewer passengers I guess each to their own but I really believe there is Better cruise ships than this one I hope the company's don't head down this path NOT GOOD Good luck to you guys if you choose this ship you are really going to need it

Room 7680 was a D8 cabin with balcony . It was a large room with 2 wardrobes and spacious compared to other ships . The only draw back to all cabins in the middle of the ship is you see the life boats when you look down . I loved the ship , there is a lot to do , even got a deck chair which I have never been able to do in 8 cruises . It helped that there were only 100 children on the ship , that made life very different . No tenders either , as we had port docks . On and off the ship quickly . Would love to have another cruise on this ship , the ifly is fantastic !!!

Everyone onboard is awesome the staff are amazing and the ship is incredible . The beds aren't firm they are perfect the cabins are a perfect size and the public areas are awesome. Great exercise walking from one side of the ship to the other ... overall highly recommended and will be coming back some time!!

This was our first Royal Caribbean Cruise and it did not disappoint.  The Ovation of the Seas is one of the largest cruise ships with over 4000 passenger capacity. We were worried about waiting in lines but did not need to - we booked at Silk for 6pm everynight and walked straight in.  I guess it depends when you travel - there could be queues in peak holiday times - reading other reviews, I see this was an issue.

The Fine Dining Restaurants were elegant in décor and service was impeccable - we went to Jamie's Italian for a long table lunch it was amazing!

We loved spending time in two70 watching the ocean and relaxing. 

I took some instant coffee for the cabin - there are teabags supplied but no coffee.

Overall the trip was amazing - we are hoping to go again late December.

Whilst cruising my family called alerting me my mother had been taken to hospital & was in a critical condition. I alerted the 24hr office of my circumstances and my need to disembark. They showed little interest and seemed to have no idea of the procedure to follow. Instead they said they would email their supervisor, but she was not available till the morning and would be very busy with other matters. They also emphasised that I must pay my Paypass before disembarking. Next morning I eventually tracked down the supervisor who ensured I had paid my Paypass, then walked me off the ship and made it clear I could not return. Other crew members could be heard commenting as to why I was taking my luggage with me, which I ignored. The only occasion the staff showed any care, help or interest into how I was going to get home was to let me know there would be taxis on the dock. In comparison- when I informed the flight booking agency of my circumstances they were efficient and empathetic. Upon boarding my flight home the staff had already been alerted, they were attentive & sensitive to my needs. They ensured I was taken off the plane expediently and asked if they could be of any further assistance in getting me to the hospital. My mum passed away only hours after I made it to the hospital- I was with her. Not wanting anyone else to go through the same experience I did, I sent an email to customer service for Royal Carribean Cruiseline . I received a phone call from the company a short while after offering condolences and asking me if I had insurance, then the promise of a follow up email. The poorly worded follow up email just gave information for me to make an insurance claim only (which I didn't ask for, or need). Next came a generic email asking me to complete a survey to help them meet "a key component of our commitment to continuous improvement'. My attempt to help them improve their service for others in the first place had just resulted in a focus on making an insurance claim followed by generic emails. Where is the acknowledgement of poor service and steps they are undertaking for improvement??. I am still waiting ..... in the meantime I hope that others do not have to suffer the unnecessary hardships that I faced as a result of having to exit the cruise whilst at the same time coping with a personal emergency. Unfortunately as my cruise ended not long after it started, this is the only review I am able to give.

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I will be honest! I was optimistic before I boarded Ovation of the Seas in Adelaide in February 2017. I have been cruising now for over 20 years – and I love the traditional style of cruising. So when I was invited onboard Ovation of the Seas, I had already made up my mind that: “Ovation of the Seas is way too big, and I won’t get the feeling I normally get when I cruise.” You know the feeling… Your worries are left ashore, your now fully relaxed and enjoying a week long cruise lounging in the Aussie sun, with a Long Island Ice Tea in hand, watching the wide blue ocean. [wds id=”36″] Boy was I wrong! Two words come to mind to describe Ovation of the Seas – Huge, and mind-blowing! “That’s what she said!”. Okay now get your mind back on cruising! I was only onboard for a few hours, but what I saw changed my view on cruising forever. She is like the perfect partner – She has it all! Style, Elegance, Fun Filled, Thrill Seeking! Bare in mind I am still talking about Ovation of the Seas. Okay you back with me? Good… She is Australia’s heavy weight champion of the seas weighing in at 168,666 GT, and she towered above Adelaide’s tiny cruise terminal with 18 decks – Welcome to Super Cruising. Ovation of the Seas is two and half times the size of Adelaide Oval! I kid you not! Adelaide Oval is 167m in length, and wait for it! Ovation of the Seas is 347m in length – and no before you ask, you can’t she her from space. Carrying an astounding 4,180 passengers (double occupancy) 4,905 passengers (maximum occupancy) and 1,500 crew, and is the fourth largest cruise ship cruising the ocean, and the largest cruise ship to be based in Australia, taking the title way from Explorer of the Seas. With my heart nearly beating out of my chest from sheer adulation I made my way onboard. The minute I wheeled onboard I was wowed by how spacious Ovation of the Seas is, and I was not overwhelmed with the feeling I was in a crowded arena. As I made my way up the gangway and inside the promenade, my jaw dropped. The promenade in the Royal Esplanade was beyond belief and I was speechless (which is a first for me). When I actually saw Sky Wave (the first kinetic sculpture at sea) with my own eyes I was mesmerised, as I am wondering how on earth does this masterpiece swivel mirroring the flow of wind and ocean. In prime position at the centre of the ship’s promenade, between the restaurants, wine bar and the shops which I can only describe as a department store with names like Cartier, Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Omega, is a splendid piece called Red Thread. The work of Chinese artist Bieli Liu, it denotes a tale about invisible threads holding children to their soul mates, well so they say (I am not big on fables). Ovation of the Seas is jampacked with ground-breaking features, that I never imagined would be onboard a cruise ship, and also come to quiet old Adelaide. I truly felt like a kid in a candy store. I never thought I would be star struck by the innovations onboard. The most mind blowing feature onboard for me was the Bionic Bar where you are served drinks by robots reminded me of the classic cartoon “The Jetsons”, which blew my mind; as you order onscreen and watch the robot mixologists mix, shake, and pour your drink right in front of you, The only downfall is you can’t flirt with them in the hope they make your Long Island Ice Tea more potent. (ahem remember responsible service of alcohol). I know what you’re thinking as I thought the same thing, “ How am I going to make my way around the ship, I can only use the lifts, and with such a huge amount of guests onboard I am going to have to wait hours for the lift.” Wrong! Ovation has 16 lifts, so there is no need to worry that you will miss the night time aerial show in Two 70 which during the day, I must say has the best view I have experienced onboard a cruise ship. The Royal Theatre is state-of-the-art featuring award-winning Broadway-style theatre productions, aerial performances and 3D movies, and has a capacity of 1,299 seated, and has the most seating for people who use wheelchairs and scooters I have ever seen. If you’re after a dining experience you won’t forget then the Chef’s Table is a must. This private experience treats 14 people to a five-course, upgraded steakhouse menu and wine tasting. Wonderland is gorgeous, the first thing I noticed you can’t see the menu! But don’t worry you won’t go hungry, just pick up the paint brush next to the blank menu, and as you paint it with water the menu magically appears, Revealing a menu with fantasy gourmet dishes, enchanted elixirs this is something I have never-before-seen before. What more can Ovation of the seas have? I am already in love! My excitement went into overdrive when I entered the Seaplex which I can only describe as an amusement park, where the inner kid in you can play basketball, go roller skating, and ride bumper cars. But wait th1ere is more, on the outside deck. As I made my way to the open deck, the first thing I saw was the Jewel-shaped capsule called North Star, that towered above us (I am petrified of heights so there was no way I was going to experience it), as it ascends over 300 feet above sea level. The North Star gives guests 360 degree views of the sea and our lovely city (Damn Acrophobia!). Never tried skydiving, but have always wanted to? Onboard you will find iFLY which is the first skydiving simulator at sea that allows you skydive in a safe and controlled environment, or if you’re after a bit of adventure, you can climb the 30-foot high Rock Climbing Wall, but the pièce de résistance was the FlowRider surf simulator, I had so much fun watching the guests “hang ten”. ‘ Ovation of the Seas has the coolest pool I have ever seen onboard a cruise ship. From the adults-only Solarium pool complete with bar and retractable roof, to the kids area with the H20 Zone kids’ waterpark, you have zero excuses not to bring out your swimsuit. I was not able to view the accessible staterooms, as you can probably guess, they were all occupied and not available to view. But there are 34 accessible stateroom on offer If you’re a baby boomer, and are thinking that all this hi-tech is intimidating. Cruise Compass, which summaries daily activities, comes as a hard copy paper format, but everything is on screen, including bookings for excursions, restaurants and shows. If you are looking for an experience at sea, onboard a gigantic cruise ship that accommodates people who use wheelchairs and scooters, or have limited mobility then Ovation of the Seas is a must to add to your bucket list.

Loved this ship! Would happily go on again. The only downside and this is clutching, is there’s no night club, I like to dance and have fun on the ship. But I’d still go on again.

An amazingly modern ship with incredible technology. 

We had to queue for mdr even though we paid for "my time dining"?

The solarium is wonderful with great views and a number of pools and spas to enjoy. Also breakfast and lunch in the solarium restaurant is great. 

The diamond club (for loyalty rewards??) is a very ugly room with ugly furniture, and a lack of choice for food. Breakfast lacked fruit or yoghurt and minimal choice of cereals. The evening "drinks" session had only one  revolting cheese and NO crackers to go with it, even though I mentioned this on numerous occasions. I walked to windjammer in the evening to find many many cheeses etc and crackers etc there for everyone,but none for their return "diamond" loyal passengers? 

Cleanliness is good in the buffet restaurant BUT IN NO OTHER AREAS OF THE SHIP?? It is only a matter of time till norovirus is found!! In Celebrity Cruises ships (owned by Royal Caribbean) every food area and reception area has hand cleansers, and NO ONE gets past them without using them...... AND no norovirus!! Nice to try, but no where as good as Celebrity Solstice and Silhouette. 😎

I'm kind of excited for this next cruise, but, seeing all these okay reiviews, I'm not as excited.😕😒😔😟😃I'll try to stay positive though. My cruise is going to ports I've never been in. I've mostly sailed in the carrabian. I can't wait to go on the North Star.

It was Amazing! Food was good, room was awesome and all the staff were incredibly friendly and polite. Couldn't ask or hope for a better experience!!

Ovation of Seas was amassing ship with lots of activities. A couple things we noticed where the pools shut early? Not due weather just seem to be staffing issue? Windjammers was a little crowded but depended on the timing we went. But the restaurants were excellent. Overall I would recommend Ovation of Seas

A lot of the reviews on this ship have been quite negative but however this was one on the best cruises that I have been on! I was treated with fantastic service and because I pre-booked I was able to do everything the ship had to offer. Food was great and also the entertainment! I would recommend at least a week long cruise for this ship to ensure that you get to do everything the ship has to offer. I would definitely sail on this ship again!

Loved this ship. The food the service,everything about it was amazing. We had a bit of rough weather but the captain kept us well informed. Loved NZ..

We are so excited about Ovation, our first big ship. I was impressed at first but slowly realised the ship doesn't flow well. Main promenade is tiny compare to what I was expecting. Voyager had a better promenade lay out. I did still enjoy my cruise but realise that I like smaller ship, with a better flow. Maybe when I do Oasis I will Change my opinion with bigger ship.

Our cruise from Perth to Sydney 6-15 December 2016 was plagued with technical glitches.

To start we endured 3 hour standing queues to embark as the card printer was not working properly.

Tried to use the phone app and Ipads on board to book things.  Mostly they did not work. The earliest booking for Ifly was 7 days later (but I enjoyed it when I finally got there).

Had to stand in line for 2.5 hours for a standby ride on the North Star Pod as no bookings were available. Bookings on port days were given to travel agents and media in preference to paying passengers.

Was unable to get a restaurant reservation for 'My Time Dining' for the whole cruise, had to eat in the cafeteria or dine standby at 6:30 or 8:30.

All four included restaurants were serving the same menu, not different menus as shown on the internet site when booking.

Food standard was average.

Cruise compass document has little new information.

The virtual balcony tv screen only showed a rear view, not choice of views as shown on the website.

Finally the feedback survey did not work, as the bar code on the feedback form was for the earlier cruises in China and was in chinese! So I am giving my feedback here instead.

On the positive side we enjoyed the Wonderland restaurant.  (Beware that if you let them choose dishes for you then you will get several deep fried dishes.) Our waiter was very nice in bringing another dish to make up for the deep fried stuff that I did not want to eat.

The shows were good, although very loud.

Our stateroom attendant was very good.

The solarium spa pool section was very good and nice to have somewhere to go out of the wind.

Overall facilities were very good, nice walking track and gym, excellent indoor court used for sports, bumper cars and roller skating.

The drinks were very expensive, but on our cruise we were allowed to bring our own wine to the restaurants with no extra charge.

30 nights Barcelona-Dubai-Singapore MayJune 16....JS 13238 right under the 'i' in Ovation. Magnificent ship, everything sparkling and new and crew extremely eager to please. Stateroom (Junior Spa Suite) comfortable but not sure why the toilet was in a separate room with vanity...seems like a waste of space...moving the door would have enabled a larger bathroom. Anyway, we had Dynamic Classic dining (rumour has it that the dining options have changed since we cruised). We had no issues moving from one restaurant to another every night and kept the same waiters and table companions. Restaurants were half full and there were queues of 'Dynamic' (my time diners) waiting to get in. It became obvious night after night that some 'Classic' diners were never going to show! Food was not unlike RCCL's usual fare with a few extras thrown in.....try the specialty dining package...Wonderland, Jamie's Italian very enjoyable. Activities were numerous...bumper cars, iFly & North Star included despite some comments. Need to book iFly, North Star and shows prior to boarding though and this can be done via the app or website. Get there early for the bumper cars and queue for North Star in case of no-shows. Overall, we had a great cruise dampened a little by the ship's 'gearing-up' for China...Boutiques high-end, make-up shelves empty awaiting stock in China but they were Ovation's 2nd & 3rd cruises heading to China. Let's see what our cruise March 2018 brings!

My wife and I have just finished our cruise on RCCL  “Ovation of the Seas “.

We boarded the ship in Barcelona and disembarked in Dubai , we wish we would have got off in Rome (which was the first port of call ) .

The ship is brand new ,this cruise is part of its Maiden voyage .

The ship is built to a price not a recipe , how cheap can you build a big ship.

The cabins are modern and basically comfortable .

We had a Balcony Suite.

Insulation between the cabins (if there is any) is almost nonexistent. When the people in the next cabin decide to stop talking or go to sleep we can to ,when the get up ,everybody up!

If during the night you can’t sleep ,instead of counting sheep you can listen to the toilets flushing , it can be 1 deck up ,1 deck down or 10 cabins away and you can hear them .

We had an issue with the noise from the adjoining cabins and went to Guest services who took the time to listen and do absolutely nothing . After 5 nights we changed cabins due to the noise .

Getting them to change our cabin was an ordeal ,apparently other people were also changing cabins due to noise . It must be like musical cabins .

Guest services is where you go if you have a question or problem .,staffed by a Chinese team  (as are many of the restaurants and shops on the ship ) who listen and say yes to everything but have no idea of what to do .

It is very clear that many of the Chinese staff on board got their jobs by connections and who they know not on an understanding of service.

If RCCL continue in this direction they can leave all their ships in China .

If I want to do a cruise with a crew like this ,I would book a cruise up the Yangtze. Lucky the ship is going to be based in China  ,as a European Ovation of the Seas is not for us .

My wife is Asian so we understand what they are saying , we both said they  have no idea of how to treat the passenger and it is obvious this is a learning cruise .

Lest try to relax and swim in the single outdoor pool on a 167,000 Ton Ship , if you want to swim outdoor between 2 and 4.30 forget it ,this is volley ball time , if you came on board to play Volley ball great but many people like to be able to enjoy the outdoor  pool.

The indoor pool is lovely if you like to sit inside with a fresh smell of Chlorine .

If you wish to sit on the top deck in the shade  and there is very little shade ,good luck . The ship has a great system , the guys that look after the towels take money on the side and no matter what time you get up in the morning the chairs in the shade are reserved .Try 6.30 AM and these chairs are taken ,the rest are all empty.

Wonder where this scheme came from ??

Dinning on board is an experience , there are a number of restaurants , Windjammer is a buffet for Breakfast ,Lunch and Dinner with a wide variety of food , staff are rude .

The rest of the restaurants , Icon Grill ,Chic , The Grand and Silk are ok ,1 time in each on a 16 night cruise they become monotonous , the food is ok but boring and the menus do not change.

We much prefer eating in a dining room with a varying menu that has variety and interesting food .

Many of the restaurants on board that you pay extra for are a hard sell by the crew. We arrived back on board from our day in Athens and had not even got to the elevator and the staff are trying to sell Jamie’s Kitchen amongst other restaurants .When you get on board after a day ashore the first thing most people want to do is go to their cabin and freshen up .

RCCL tours are a real take , they push the tours telling you how experienced RCCL is .

Really ! we took the tour to Petra in Jordan ,we booked this 4 weeks before we went on the cruise , pre leaving for the tour RCCL wanted to sell everybody a bottle of water , the tour only cost USD475 for 2 , understandable that a bottle of water is extra ,how could they include a bottle of water for this cost?

Got on the bus and the windows were filthy and could not see out ,asked the tour guide why ,he said that it was a rush to get the number of buses ,obviously cleaning the windows was a rush job as well . Thanks RCCL for the arranging the tour 4 weeks before we got on the bus .Top job.

You would think on a Maiden Voyage RCCL would want the guest to have a really great time and go out of their way and give them the WOW factor so when they get of a new ship the comments would be great .

We kept discussing what does RCCL stand for we now know.

 “Really Crummy Cruise Line”

RCCL you really have lost the plot and if this is the future of the ships you are putting into service and the staff you are manning them with ,then we better book our cruises with other lines very early as you are going to lose your loyal customers .

We have cruised many times on different cruise lines ,we normally cruise with Princess  and look forward to our next cruise on Princess .

Everything was ok .

Shows are bad. 

The quality of the food terrible.( 5 people around us the were trying 

to chew the lambchops but the pulled out of their mouth to  their plates 

I try chicken it was very rough too) Real bad