Ovation - thoughts?

I'm looking at booking a cruise on Ovation but my TA is telling me not to do it. She says there are too many bad reviews about the ship, the food, the service etc.

You would expect a TA to hear a lot more than what we read on CC. Just wondering if anyone has any first hand experience of the ship?

I've done Anthem and absolutely loved it.....very unsure about Ovation though when my TA is trying to talk me out of it.

Thanks in advance for your help :)

Recent review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2515846

Thanks Bob. To clarify, the cruise I am looking at booking is a New Zealand Cruise out of Sydney in December. So not an Asian based cruise which I have done before on Mariner.

I haven't cruised on Ovation but am booked on her for a January 2018 cruise from Sydney. I think your experience will greatly differ whether you go on one of her Asia sailings or an Australian one.

There seems to be a large difference in feedback from sailings in Australia and the season she spends in Asia. For the latter, Royal adapts the menus, entertainment options, even some venues (e.g. the Diamond lounge is turned into a high-rollers casino on those sailings). I'm not sure if they also put different crew and staff on the ship for Asia departures.

At first the reviews for Ovation's Australia sailings were not very good either, but they seemed to get better later in the season. Possibly Royal was still working at optimising the specifics for this kind of split personality for a ship partly based in two distinct locations. I hope they get it right as of the start of the new Australia season!

Thanks Bob. To clarify, the cruise I am looking at booking is a New Zealand Cruise out of Sydney in December. So not an Asian based cruise which I have done before on Mariner.

Here is another: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2459340

Thanks Bob. To clarify, the cruise I am looking at booking is a New Zealand Cruise out of Sydney in December. So not an Asian based cruise which I have done before on Mariner.

I was wondering about that, but not having been on this ship or class of ship I didn't want to ask, if you do end up going, please come back and tell us what you thought.

She says there are too many bad reviews about the ship, the food, the service etc.

If you read enough, you can find those on just about ship. The bad food/service reviews could be leftovers from the days of Dynamic Dining. Don't put too much weight on some generic "bad review" statement.

Will be cruising on Ovation to New Zealand on January. Cruise on Anthem before and liked it a lot. The experience will be different (better) on Australian season compared to Asia. At least I am not worried about it. :)

We went on an 8 night Hobart and Adelaide cruise earlier this year, after reading all these bad review we wondered what to expect. All I have to say is don't always trust what you read we had a fantastic time on a beautiful new ship!!! We went outside of school holidays and to stops more older people would like so there were not as many kids as normal and there was an older crowd on board.

What I loved the most was the beautiful front solarium area up the front where you could relax watching the front ship view ahead whilst protected with glass covering. The indoor pool and outdoor pool and spas were also very nice. Two70 at the back of the ship was also spectacular with views outside the back of the ship with nice ambience and a place to relax.

We mainly ate at the buffet and thought the food was very nice. I mean I really don't know what people expect other than to whinge for the sake of it.

Most of the bad reviews have been from Asian ports with the bad behaviour of certain Asian groups. Simple answer, do an Aussie Ovation cruise.

Just do it you will love it, forget the whiners !

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The Ovation is amazing in every way. A lot of the negativity is due to the dining options and people boarding it and expecting it to be the same as the older RCI ships.

You may find my review of the Ovation of Seas here useful:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2484221&highlight=ovation (read from Post #50 onwards cos I had to repost all my photos due to Photobucket's image hosting policy change in Jun 2017.)

It's for a Singapore-based cruise in March 2017, but many of the observations about the facilities and activities are valid for an Australian-based cruise too.

You may find my review of the Ovation of Seas here useful:

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2484221&highlight=ovation (read from Post #50 onwards cos I had to repost all my photos due to Photobucket's image hosting policy change in Jun 2017.)

 

 

 

It's for a Singapore-based cruise in March 2017, but many of the observations about the facilities and activities are valid for an Australian-based cruise too.

The first review was virtually take up about how fast they replied to emails, I mean really!!!

My best advice is to do from an Aussie port out of school holidays

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So, I have done the Ovation and the Anthem, in the last year (almost, Anthem last September). They are remarkably similar, because they are virtually identical. The crew on the Ovation was a bit more rule following ( I think this is because they are doing a lot of Chinese cruises and they need to be able to say no to the passengers.) because of this I would put the Anthem ever so slightly ahead.

That said, I think you have an uninformed travel agent. Unfortunately, that is most of them. Either that or they want to push you to an older clientele cruise line. If you are active there are no better ships to choose from. If you want to sit by the pool drink and read a book, then don't waste your money on the Ovation book a cheaper cruise. If you want to fly on the Ifly, surf on the flowrider, and have fun, then the Ovation is a perfect option.

Only you know how active you are.

JC

If your TA is advising you based on reviews then she is no more an expert as anyone reading cruise critic!

We have booked Ovation for a November cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore and I also have a few concerns based on the reviews. This is our first cruise out of European waters so it will be interesting to see what difference the guest demographic makes.

The biggest complaint seems to be food, but this is one of the most complained about points on cruise critic for most RCCL ship reviews. I'm not expecting Michelin star dining and I've been happy with the food on all my previous cruises.

I, like many people on here, read WAY too many reviews and fill my head with concerns before I've left my house. However, with the exception of one cruise I've loved them all.

Personally, I can't wait to get on Ovation !!!

If you loved Anthem, then Ovation is more of the same and you should be happy with her.

As xpcdoojk said, there are tiny differences between the two, but nothing that will dramatically alter the onboard experience. Go for it.

was on Ovation for NYE last year to NZ, just an awesome ship, just do it and enjoy 😁

My travel agent has sailed on Ovation and absolutely loved it and highly recommended it. We are sailing in February out of Sydney so I think it will be an totally different experience to those who have sailed our of Asia. We are very excited!!

We sailed on Ovation from Hong Kong to Singapore last November and had a fantastic time. We loved all the amenities the ship had to offer, were very pleased with the crew members we encountered and really enjoyed the ports in Asia.

We had also read some negative reviews prior to our sailing. While there were some different behaviors regarding line and elevator etiquette, we did not let it have a negative effect on our experience.

We would definitely sail on Ovation again, and would book another Asian itinerary.

Please feel free to reach out with questions.

Your travel agent is right . You asked them for a opinion and you got it , want a different opinion you ask :confused:

We did Ovation on 15 th DEC 2016 . the Christmas cruise (not a happy holiday cruise) ,, CHRISTMAS CRUISE . then on CC there was all the bad reviews ,dont know were they were .there was giant tree decorations all over the ship ,mid night Mass ,Christmas carols , 270 had santa and elves for presents for the kids etc etc . 4000 plus people not crowded :confused: ,been on smaller ships and noticed the crowds . did have a hot water soup with a cheese bread roll in it at chops that they called French onion soup :eek: Radiance of the seas has one of the best crew , now Legend OTS is gone ,IMO but have booked Ovation for Sydney to Singapore 26 march 2018 .

So book it and then you can go back and tell your travel agent they were right or they were wrong :D

Trouble (pete)

Update...I have gone ahead and booked to go on Ovation through RCL direct.

I didn't ask my travel agent for her opinion. I asked her to book me on a cruise and she practically refused. I have since come to realise that she wasn't the right TA for me.

I can't wait to go on Ovation but in the meantime, I am counting down to my next cruise which is on Voyager 100 days from now :)

Good on you. My TA who is supposedly an expert gave me incorrect information that was freely available on the website. I've been on Ovation for a short cruise and going again in a few months. You won't be disappointed. Been on Voyager twice. All wonderful cruises, just different.

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I am kinda jazzed that I booked my cruise on the Ovation. I'm going to spend the next 400+ days getting ready for what I'm sure will be a fantastic cruise. So much, for me, to explore on a great new ship....:):):)

Bob