Ovation of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Embarcation was extremely efficient (we checked in on-line beforehand) and we were on board within 20 minutes. We are first timers with Royal Caribbean, but have cruised several times with P & O, and once with NCL.

Our balcony cabibn was disappointing, being very narrow and basic laminated surfaces (- a bit like you find in a caravan), only one tv screen, and a tiny shower/wc with a hand basin capable of holding an inch of water.

You don't get the bathrobes/clippers or body lotions with RCI, and neither do they believe in coffee sachets in your cabin, fruit, canapes or chocolates - all little touches you get with other cruise lines we've sailed with.

There is a price to pay when you cram 4k-5k guests onto a ship with main dining areas incapable in size of satisfying their dining needs, and hence you get lots of queues / lines. Service was poor on several occasions - we waited seated for 30 minutes for a starter to arrive in the Chic restaurant, and the wine waiter left us a wine list, but never returned to take an order - fair enough as this was the ships 3rd cuise and you expect some teething problems.

The food was however top class, including the buffets, and we haven't had better on any ship. Wines in dining areas are pricey - white wines average $55 plus 18% gratuity per bottle. Reds go from $31 - £310 plus the 18%.

We greatly enjoyed the live bands especially the Rewind Project with Mick Wilson. Sadly, the views in the music hall, top areas of the theatre and  Two70 venue appear to have been designed oblivious to the requirement of gusts to actually see the acts. If you didn't get there early, you wouldn't get a seat as they fill up rapidly.

You get the usual suspects reserving sunbeds on upper decks, then disappearing, and the entertainment is geared more for the younger crowd - we expected guest lecturers, but you don't get any. In fact the daily entertainment was mainly quizzes - cheap to run and held in bars for you to buy the drinks. No dance lessons and

there wasn't a daily cinema showing up to date films either, although you can pay $12 to watch an old film on your cabin interactive tv.

After two days we arrived in Gijon Spain - an industrial town with docks, and as it was a sunday, the town centre shops were closed - a merit award to the guy who thought that one up at Royal Caribbean.

You get photographers stopping you each time you walk to a restaurant, and the Spa is for those who don't mind paying $230 for gel insoles.

Lifts/elevators are all in the centre of the ship, so if your cabin is at the front or back, you have to walk the length of a football pitch to get to one.

Overall, we were disappointed and will in all likelihood, not go back to Royal Caribbean, but you've got to try things to find out if they suit you.

My friend treated me to this cruise and I enjoyed every moment. Loads of activities onboard... Lovely experience and excellent services on the grand suite.

Amazing ship! My first cruise was on this ship and it blew my mind!!! So much to do, ship is a beauty inside, staff are lovely, food is wonderful. Love love love! Best holiday ever ⭐️

Had my first cruise on this ship. Was very sceptical about cruising after hearing lots of stereotypical talk of 'cruisings only for older people.' I was completely wrong! Amazing ship with so many things on it to do. Food and entertainment was faultless. Never a dull moment

Wow Wow Wow! Ovation of the Seas has just become my all time favourite ship! This was its very first outing, and apart from a few minor teething problems, it was absolutely exceptional! The facilities are superb - indoor sky diving, flow rider, North Star Ride, Dodgems, Escape Room, Roller Disco, Circus Skills and so much more. The shows including Spectra, Dreamworks, The Tenors of Rock and Pete Matthews were amongst some of the best shows I have ever seen on a ship. It was also great to have the indoor pool solarium area, so you could still use the pool and sit out whatever the weather. There weren't really too many down sides, but if I had to pick some, the visibility in Two70 (270 degree stage) was very poor from seemingly every angle. The seating does not seem to have been thought out at all, with high seats in front of low seats?? and some huge lampshades that seem to do little except obscure people's view. Shame as the venue is great but the audience seating area definitely needs re-thinking. Also there was only tea making in the rooms, but no coffee! Coffee was complementary with room service, but sachets in the room would have been easier. Our cruise was only 3 days, so it meant that everyone was trying to book everything at the same time which made availability scarce, but with so much to do I don't think that would happen on a longer cruise. There was a great choice of places to eat, including lots of complementary restaurants. Rather than one big Dining room there was a choice of The Grande, Chic, American Idol and Silk (Indian), all of which were smaller complementary restaurants as well as cafe Two70, pizza and various other complementary eateries. The 4 main dining rooms also always offered the classic menu (salmon, steak etc), along side their daily menu, so there was always a safe "go to" option! The various menus could also be seen on any of the interactive "Wayfinder" screens throughout the ship. The introduction of the WOWBand was great, and effectively allows you to wear your keycard on your wrist - well worth $4.99. Also be sure to check out the interactive butterfly picture, if you touch the butterflies on the screen they will fly. It took us 3 days but my Husband and I eventually managed to get all the butterflies flying at once! The decor on the Ovation is pretty quirky and quite different to other RCI ships. I absolutely loved it but it may not be to everyone's taste. The Robotic Bar was interesting to watch for a short while, and quite quirky but a bit gimmicky. It was fun, but I wouldn't necessarily rush back there. The Seaplex was great and changed from a basket ball court, to Dodgems, to a Roller Disco and loads more. Indoor Sky-diving at Ripcord was great and a must-do experience as was the Flow-rider. The North Star Ride offered great views and was a slow interesting experience that I'm glad I did but wouldn't rush back to. Two70 was also host to "A Royal Mystery" which was like a multi-player Escape Room on a huge scale. It wasn't well advertised and we just happened upon it, but it was great, and well worth seeking out. As was "Escape from the Future" which was a smaller Classic type escape room game which is definitely worth booking early for. The service throughout the whole ship was very good, and apart from having no handles on all our cupboards and drawers (despite asking 3 times), and having to open them with a spoon (!), all the rest of the service was exceptional. The cabins are really spacious (we had a balcony and an outside cabin). The balcony was more than adequate to sit out on, and the window in the outside cabin was large and square with a window sill big enough to sit on! Certainly some of the biggest cabins I've known, and even included 2 separate wardrobes! Nice hot showers, extra comfy pillows, comfy beds, top marks all round. I have to say the Ovation of the Seas ticks all the boxes. Brilliant brilliant ship that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone!

This cruise is a once in a life time cruise the beauty of the sites was amazing. The ports didn’t have much in stores or shopping but excursions were awesome. A little pricey but worth it.

Our Alaskan cruise was awesome and we were so glad we went on this cruise. Every cruise is very different. Some very cold, wet, and windy and some like ours, just wonderful.

over all cruise was excellent choice of excursions food service was excellent every where we went .The entertainment was beautiful with many choices .

I would not recommend the Royal Caribbean ovation of the sea to anyone. I thought the food was terrible and it made you upgrade to specialty dining if you wanted to enjoy any meal.

My cruise on Ovation of the Seas (Aug 30-Sept 6, 2024) was awesome! The ship was beautiful and clean. The staff was also the most professional, attentive, and friendliest of any staff on any cruise ship I've ever been on. I will definitely cruise with Royal Caribbean again very soon!

The entire cruise overall was amazing, alaska was beautiful and the ship itself was great I had lots of fun and the crew were fantastic. I had very few downsides and most of those were expected.

It was an amazing experience from start to finish. The ship was immaculate and the service everywhere was beyond excellent. We were traveling with friends and had been assigned to a different dining room. We approached one of the dining room staff who within minutes was abl

Great cruise, the ship is nice crew is awesome. The people (passengers) on the cruise are rude aggressive and plainly not very nice. The ones in the Buffett act like they’ve never been fed, or never eaten in public before. The buffet food is really good though, get their at opening or risk getting no table. Despite what the cruise line states people hold tables and chairs in the buffet and at all event. They will literally knock over your 80 yr old grand mom. To reserve a seat for their 12 yr old. It’s virtually impossible to use the sunna unless you want to share with the same 8-10 people who stay in the same pool all day. Despite the 15 min rule. Again most of these people feel it’s their Sunna or there pool and they’re entitled. If you get in they will give you dirty looks or say the pool is full. Activities? Forget the good ones unless you arrive an hour early and hog seats or save seats for people showing up right when the activity starts. I saw a 70 yr old told she couldn’t sit on one of 3 empty seat because someone was saving them. Activities should scheduled through the app to ensure that everyone can get a seat. I saw parents dragging board kids to activities while interested adults were turned away as well. If you’re a parent teach your child how to be nice to people. It will make the world a better place.

This was an incredible cruise. Everyone told me it was beautiful in Alaska, but I had to see it for myself to know how true that is. You definitely need to take advantage of the excursions so you can get on land and look around.

We took all our children and grandchildren, which was a great time for all of us to be together. Made some great memories.

the only real negative things were the customer service desk people were often not helpful at all and were often rude. One of the seminars that my daughter was looking forward to got randomly cancelled out of the blue and the staff could not give us any reason as to why. The excursion desk customer service was not helpful at all either when we went in the morning on a port day there was no one available to answer any questions even though we were there at the correct time.

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.

Perfect weather for us on this cruise! Sunny in the upper 79’s to low 80’s. Had a wonderful time.

Fantastic! Looking forward to my next cruise vacation on a Royal Caribbean ship.

Great time. Did not like layout of ship. Voyager better