Ocean Village Review August 2005

[gottagetaway]

I am posting the following review as we looked everywhere for reviews when booking this trip at the last minute. Very difficult to find a TA in Canada and booked online and phone with a UK TA. No hidden costs and were very happy with overall trip.:)

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We returned from Europe yesterday. Spent a week before and after cruise in England. Had a fantastic time and would recommend the ship to others (with a only a few caveats).

 

The ship is nice and always kept clean. The entertainment and front line staff is predominantly British and very friendly and cheerful. The passengers are probably 95% British which made for an interesting and fun time as we found most passengers friendly and welcoming to others as compared to other ships we've been on. Most passengers do the 2 week cruise where it returns to Palma after one and then does a similar country but different port itinerary. We would suggest doing that as the prices were incredible.

 

For most passengers it was their first cruise as Ocean Village caters to "people who don't do cruises" so most raved and raved about the food. Both of us have been on a combined 10 cruises so we were not as impressed. The food was plentiful and fairly good but tended to repeat often (like an all-inclusive resort) and was not very adventurous. We had identical breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack menus for 7 days. We missed having an omlete bar in the morning. The dinners had an international theme each night but our only complaint would be that they were buffet. You could eat in 2 choices of other restaurants but there was a surcharge. We ate in both but felt that the 5 pound one was mediocore and the 15 pound each was good but not worth the price. We would not travel on Ocean Village again due to missing being served a dinner but still see the overall ship as being recommendable. The dress is very casual but not over the top. We did not pack any formal clothes and were happy as we rarely saw anyone in anything even resort chic.

 

Being Canadian the exchange rate really put a damper on the holiday as all ship purchases on British sterling. It was hard to swallow and we thought many North Americans would have a hard time with the final bill. We bought art, went on 4 excursions, drank, and our bill after the exchange hurt a bit (more than we spent on Norwegian in March). This would prevent us from travelling on her when she reaches the Caribbean in the winter.

 

The embarkation and disembarkation was the BEST we have experienced in all our cruises. All flights are arranged by Ocean Village to arrive at staggered times in Palma. Ours was quite early and we dreaded the thought of sitting around a warehouse for a couple of hours like we do in Miami. We arrived at 11:00 ish and boarded within 15 minutes and were poolside with drink and a BBQ starting at 12:30. Our cruise cards were activated. The only thing we couldn't do was go to our cabins til 3:00 - who cares! We're on the ship beginning our vacation. A week later our flight wasn't until 6:50 p.m. and we wondered how long we would be sitting in an airport. We were disembarked by flight at 3:45 p.m. and could use all ship facilities including a shower area in the Spa as we suntanned all the last day. I wish all cruise companies were as accommodating as this on the first and last day as we felt we got the most bang out of the holiday.

 

For the itinerary.... we were not impressed with Tunisia but that could be that it was 42 in the shade and the tour was fairly unimpressive. We loved Rome and I did the very expensive Rome by Chariot and would reconsider doing that one due to high cost. Cannes has beautiful beaches but they are packed in the summer. Nice walking along promenade. Barcelona is wonderful but would consider doing it on your own as it was pretty straightforward and the ship docks very close to the city. Ibiza was so so. You have to be young to really enjoy it. Would have liked to explore Palma but spent most of time of ship so can't comment on that city.

 

On the whole I would recommend the ship due to low price (no hidden costs) from a UK travel agent, the passengers and crew, and the good itinerary for a Med. cruise. Keep in mind my food comments and the exchange issue if booking this. But you will have a good time.:)

 

2005 August Ocean Village

2005 March Norwegian Spirit

2004 March Dawn Princess

2003 March RCL Navigator

2002 March Norwegian Sun

[robsvacation]

Thanks for the review! I'm a Canadian living in the States and I've been interested in OV. Of course they are totally geared to the UK market, you can't even purchase the cruise without airfare so it kinda rules out the Caribbean cruise.

 

Anyways, how was the entertainment? I have to admit I HATE those "gotta sing, gotta dance, gotta wear a feather head-dress" shows on most cruise lines. I can only laugh when they call them "Vegas style shows" Have these people been to Vegas? The Acrobatic and tribute shows on OV look like they would be more entertaining.

[miss mental]

The acrobats on Ocean village were absolutely brilliant. The shows were well choreographed and we all loved them. We sat through the shows a few times as they were so enjoyable. We had read a few negative comments prior to the cruise, however, we were very impressed with the standard of entertainment on board. We would definitely cruise on OV again!:p