Just got Off the Ovation of the Seas yesterday and I got so Much info from here I want to share my experience
Boarding was quick and easy and we arrived at port and were in the ship in less than 30 minutes.
We grabbed lunch at the Windjammer and Fish & Ships and ventured into the Solarium which quickly became one of our favorite places. We had packed our bathing suits in our carryons so changed and hit the hot tubs! What an amazing view! We managed to book 2 iFly spots for our daughters by reserving as soon as we got on the ship.
Rooms were ready by 2pm (maybe even earlier but we were enjoying the hot tubs) and all our luggage was at our room. We changed onto dry clothes and headed up to the sail away party and then to iFly. Make sure you have your phone ready to video tape them!
MDR: Dinner was great every night…some entrees and apps were better than others but overall we enjoyed it. Service was great the first night but slowed down as the cruise went on. We had my time dining but requested Alvin and Bryan two more times bc they were so personable and attentive! The lobster on Royal night was surprisingly cooked perfectly! The steaks were a little fatty. The worst meal was on American night, the brisket was literally inedible.
Windjammer: food was better than expected! Sometimes it was difficult to find a table for our family but w always eventually did. My favorite thing at breakfast was the avocado toast and Belgian waffles. My kids ate their body weight in chocolate croissants every day!
Stateroom: Our room was 6150, booked as a potential obstructed view but no obstruction at all! Bed was next to the sliding glass door, plenty of room for 2 of us! Our daughters were in an interior w a virtual balcony, room was basic but perfect for them. They said the virtual balcony glitched a lot.
Staff: EVERYONE was amazing! They work so hard! Every bartender knew my husbands order by day 2! Every staff member goes out of their way to say hello, help you, etc…
Shows: The Beautiful Dream was ok, a bit depressing and strange though. The juggler/comedian was a lot of fun. The comedian Lester Bibbs was funny, we missed the first show but caught his shows on the last night…the family friendly show really just seemed to be an advertisement for his adult only show later that evening.
Silent Disco was the most fun! Strangely amusing and even my teens liked it!
Some of the game shows were fun but many time the language barrier definitely made the games difficult to understand for the audience and the staff.
We enjoyed the Schooner Bar piano player and hanging at the Music Hall
Don’t get your hopes up for the Bionic Bar, it only worked once the entire time we were there and it was packed!
Solarium: our favorite place to be! We spent all day there on sea days! Loved the hot tubs and the view! Drink service was excellent! Really never had any problems getting seats although sometimes our family had to sit separately
IFly: we did the free version as a family and our daughters also did the paid version…so much fun but only for a short time. Free version is 1 minute and paid version is 2 minutes
North Star: underwhelming…the glare inside makes it hard to see outside, we preferred our views from outside
Ports:
Sitka: we booked a last minute wildlife cruise…we saw some whale tails and seals and a few eagles but not too much else. I know they have no control over this but we definitely questioned whether is was worth the $194 pp for a family of 4. After the cruise we walked around the port which is essentially a giant tourist trap.
Skagway: our best day! Our excursion wasn’t u til 3:15pm so we walked into town…another giant tourist trap. Went back to the ship for lunch and then left again to hike the Dewey Lake Trail, it was pretty rugged at times but definitely doable even for people out of shape. There were some beautiful views and we went up in elevation
Our excursion: Van ride to top of White Pass and then bicycled down for 15 miles. My husband and I have done this in Maui and at Pikes Peak in Denver and while this wasn’t as challenging as those it was a lot of fun with beautiful views and our teenage daughters loved the adventure! The tour was through Sockeye Cycles and our tour guides Mike and I believe her name was Anya were absolutely awesome and shared some great stories about their adventures and lives as tour guides!
Glacier Bay: my biggest regret is I didn’t wake up in time…set my alarm for 5:30 and hit snooze and slept until almost 7🤦♀️ epic mistake bc we apparently missed many whale and seal sightings. But it was still absolutely stunning to see once we were awake. We ordered the free continental room service for that morning and had brought a bottle of champagne to make mimosas. Binoculars are a must as well.
Once we moved out of glacier bay we spent the rest of the morning in the Solarium.
Juneau: we rented a car through Turo, Bryen Sperl with a Subaru outback for $150. Bc of the 4th of July parade when we docked he had to park the car about a 1/2 mile from the dock but it was an easy walk. First we drove to the Gold Creek Salmon Bake that I had heard so much about. It was good but not worth the $70pp, especially considering my younger daughter wouldn’t even try the salmon. They also had bbq ribs, au gratin potatoes, beans, Cole slaw, salmon Caesar salad and corn bread and clam/salmon chowder.
After eating we drove to Mendenhall Glacier Park, about a 20 minute drive. Parked and walked out to nugget falls. It was absolutely beautiful. We were even able to fish a chunk of ice out of the water from the glacier which was pretty cool! We probably spent about an hour and a half there. Then we drove to the whale project on our way back to the ship. It’s a giant sculpture of a breaching whale, very cool.
Then we were able to return the car to the parking g car directly next to our ship and reboard.
Back on board we had booked the free iFly experience for the 4 of us and it was brief but fun and we are glad we did it!
Port Valet: 2 days prior to disembarkation we received the paperwork for Port Valet and if you filled it out through the ship, any overweight fees would be waved. I had already booked it ahead of time but canceled and rebooked on the ship. The night before we left we received the tags for our luggage and put them out at night. On disembarkation day we felt a little nervous knowing we wouldn’t see our luggage again until we landed back home but we had a full day ahead of us in seattle before our 11pm flight home so didn’t really have any other choice. Well I’m pleased to say it worked out great and our luggage was even the first to come out when we landed back home! 🎉
Seattle: we stayed 2 nights prior to the cruise. First night stayed at the Sea Tac Days Inn, it was nothing to write home about but since we didn’t get to the room until 11pm and were out by 8am it was perfect for $130. The next morning we Ubered to our next hotel in the city: Homewood Suites in the Queen Anne section of town. It was clean and spacious and had breakfast included. There was also a nice bar next door. The hotel provided a shuttle at $13pp but we decided to Uber for $23 since that was cheaper for 4 of us. I had read that u era can’t bring you close to the ship but he dropped us off right in front, we checked our bags and we’re not he ship in less than a half hour.
Prior to cruise we did a free walking tour that was excellent and informative, you tip what you think it was worth at the end. After that we headed to Pikes Market hoping to see them throw the fish but we just missed it. Then we walked to the Space Needle and visited the Museum of Pop Culture that was pretty cool. Everyone’s favorite part was the top floor where you can put lay all these different instruments…wish we hadn’t discovered it until it was close to closing.
Then we walked back to the pier for dinner at the Crab Pot that I had read was great crabs but honestly it was all over cooked and not a ton of food considering the cost. Afterwards when we spoke to other people they said it was just a tourist trap and we should have gone elsewhere. Oh well lesson learned.
After the cruise we did the Beneath the Streets walking tour. Richard our tour guide was excellent and entertaining. Then we walked to the pier and did the water taxi and scootered around West Seattle (kind of a waste though, we were limited on time and there wasn’t tons to see) Then we went back to Pikes Market in hopes of catching them throwing the fish but never got to see it. We had dinner at the Pink Door which was delicious and then took the train to the airport which a super simple - Westlake Station directly to Sea Tac
Packing:
We MAJORLY overpacked but glad we had everything just in case. We really weren’t sure what to expect weather wise so we brought rain gear (jackets, ponchos and rain pants), winter jackets and hats/gloves and then many clothes for layering. We only used the winter gear on our whale watch cruise and never needed it again. It didn’t rain once so we never used any of the rain gear…but if we hadn’t of brought it, I’m sure it would have poured all day every day lol
Around the ship we just wore leggings/sweatshirt/tshirts…it was warm in the Solarium but chilly in the open air spaces.
There were 2 dress up nights for dinner and the rest were casual, but we would have been fine dressing casual every night but we enjoy dressing up and getting nice pictures.
