SpainAlien

It was good yesterday but today is dark clouds and a bit windy. Tonight's show has been postponed due to the movement of the ship. The forecast isn't too bad for this week in NZ though so fingers crossed

Excellent, thank you I know to look for it now

I boarded Ovation of the Seas a couple of days ago in Sydney and thought I would give a little review of my experiences. Starlink: I was getting 20mb download in Sydney but now we are now halfway between Sydney and New Zealand so we are getting up to 3mb MDR food: generally tasty and a good choice MDR service: friendly and helpful Solarium Bistro: food was nice but service was slow with empty plates being left on the tables for a good half hour even though it was less than half full Two70: nice venue for quizzes but limited view from a lot of seats for shows like Spectra's Cabaret. Get her at least 20 minutes early to get a seat Music Hall: this venue is too small for trivia on cruises out of Sydney. Loads of people want to do the triv but can't get a seat. Pool terrace: loads of chairs by the pool, no towels reserving seats. The Aussies don't seem to want to sunbathe North Star: if you want to take pictures make sure you put your camera right up to the glass because otherwise you get a lot of reflection IFly: great fun. I'm 60, overweight and not fit but if you just relax and do what you are told you'll have a good time. We still onboard for another 10 days so if you have a question let me know

Last time I was on a Royal Caribbean ship was before covid and in Windjammer they used to have a lovely sweet bread with crystallised sugar on the top, I'm now on Ovation of the Seas and I can't find it, do they still do it?

Look up the NZeta You can get an app for your phone to apply which makes it easy

Is it particularly windy?

Thanks guys, I'll try to get hold of her again this afternoon when they open. Although I live in Spain this booking was done through Casinos At Sea in the US so US terms apply

Final payment is due tomorrow and I can't get hold of my Norwegian cruise consultant. I sent her an email yesterday but she hasn't replied yet. My question is if I just don't make final payment will it automatically cancel and reimburse my deposit?

Sorry, another question: is Fish n Ships complimentary (except for lobster)? There is conflicting info online.

Also there is a shuttle bus at Livorno from the port to the town so check when that is running if you intend to use it.

Do you know if all classes of cabins have kettles? We are in a lowly inside cabin so I doubt it but I can hope. We board on 9th Feb, will you still be onboard then?

Quick question, is it the same price onboard as it is in the cruise planner?

Oh thank you, sorry I thought you were already onboard. We board on 9th Feb.

Hi @little britain, I hope you are enjoying your time on Ovation of the Seas. Could you tell us what the entertainment onboard is? We only have Spectra's Cabaret showing up in the planner and I wondered if there were any production shows in the main theatre. Many thanks Gail

So if you don't actually get coupons do you get a letter in your cabin telling you what each person's card is loaded with?

Thank you all, I'm looking forward to it already. I doubt we will do it again and again but just for 2024 I think it will be a welcome change.

Thank you for your input. We both work so the Christmas week is easier to take time off and if we are here we will end up hosting Christmas (again). The elders of the family are still capable of taking themselves off to a restaurant for Christmas day, the younger ones now have a baby of their own who will be 1 year old next year so they will enjoy a Christmas at home instead of having to come to us. We just thought it might be nice to be in the sun with a drinks package, no cooking and no washing up for once I am curious to know if there are any events, carol singing, grinch appearances, etc

Having just completed another lovely Christmas at home for the whole family my husband and I feel it's time to plan a trip away for next Christmas, just the two of us. We have never done a holiday sailing before and we are just curious what we could expect on Carnival Magic out of Miami, will it be heaving with rowdy kids or just full of happy families celebrating together? Will the food be worthy of the celebration? Will there be any special events onboard? Your input would be very much appreciated

Sorry but we didn't get the wifi package. Being from Spain we just used our sim cards in the ports all of which were covered on our plans

The MDR is only open for lunch on sea days from 12-1.30

No you can't open it but the cover closes if required

Yes, we had a porthole cabin, we were 4606

No, not in a standard balcony cabin I'm afraid.

Final note, the films on the TV are pretty good and you can see the programming on the Onboard Info channel, just wait for the screens to cycle through and it will be there.

Summary The best onboard entertainment was provided by Excell The best food onboard was served in the main dining room The best room steward onboard was ours Of course all these observations are subjective and other people may have different opinions. FYI: Because the port stops in Morocco were cancelled each cabin received $50 obc for guests 1 & 2. When we lost Funchal too some people went to guest services and complained, they received $10 obc, those who didn't go to guest services did not get the $10 obc. We have now been advised that due to the harbour pilots' strike we are due in to Lisbon late so the queue at guest services is quite long because folks with early flights are worried.