RCI - Ovation of the Seas - 10th May - Barcelona - Dubai

[saffikins]

Myself and my partner will be on this cruise. Anyone else joining us?

[jmallmann]

Hi saffikins, my partner and me will also be on the Ovation for the Suez Canal cruise. We are really looking forward to the new ship. Can not wait :)

[saffikins]

Hi there

 

Well at least there will be 4 of us on board! Lol

 

Just 63 days to go........ But who's counting?

 

We are also excited to try this itinerary and can't wait to get onboard again

[Pauliepaul]

Hey guys

 

My partner Jack and I will also be onboard for this one. We are really lucky and doing the leg before so get to sail all the way from Southampton right through to Dubai. Very excited for this one I cannot tell you! We did the maiden voyage of Quantum and then its transatlantic crossing as it went to China and we love Quantum class. We are intrigued to see what Ovation is like in comparison, especially as this one has been designed specifically for the Chinese market!

As long as the Concierge lounge is still there we will be happy ;)!

We also have some friends joining us on the Barcelona to Dubai leg.

Have you all got much planned for the ports?

[saffikins]

Hey guys

 

 

 

My partner Jack and I will also be onboard for this one. We are really lucky and doing the leg before so get to sail all the way from Southampton right through to Dubai. Very excited for this one I cannot tell you! We did the maiden voyage of Quantum and then its transatlantic crossing as it went to China and we love Quantum class. We are intrigued to see what Ovation is like in comparison, especially as this one has been designed specifically for the Chinese market!

 

As long as the Concierge lounge is still there we will be happy ;)!

 

We also have some friends joining us on the Barcelona to Dubai leg.

 

Have you all got much planned for the ports?

 

 

Hi there

 

Just a little bit envious of the fact that you are on board for the Southampton to Barcelona leg too, we did talk about it, but opted for staying in Dubai for 4 days at the end instead.

 

Didn't make it onto Quantum, but did do 6 days on Anthem when she was in the UK last year.... Loved the ship, it's beautiful, so hoping for more of the same with Ovation. It's disappointing that there is so little information about it, and all the focus is on Harmony, but I guess it will make the final reveal more exciting.

 

Diamond lounge for us, as I don't think you can gain access to concierge lounge with a junior suite [emoji17]

 

Nothing planned for the ports, as we have been to most before with the exceptions of Athens and Aqaba, so may do ship trips for those (my partner has some mobility issues following a botched hip replacement 2 years (at a young age [emoji6]) so distance can be a bit of a challenge sometimes), so we tend to play it by ear now and see how she feels on any particular day.....it's more restful that trying to cram everything in though with 6 sea days there will be plenty of time for relaxation.

 

 

I just saw on the main roll call that the drinks packages are now being offered at a 20% discount, which certainly makes them more appealing, as I was having a mental block with paying over £1000 for drinks ! [emoji6] (even if it is worth it)

 

Do you remember if there was an organised LGBT get together on Quantum, as I don't recall seeing anything advertised whilst we were on Anthem, though it does tend to vary from ship to ship?

[Pauliepaul]

Hi there

 

Just a little bit envious of the fact that you are on board for the Southampton to Barcelona leg too, we did talk about it, but opted for staying in Dubai for 4 days at the end instead.

 

Do you remember if there was an organised LGBT get together on Quantum, as I don't recall seeing anything advertised whilst we were on Anthem, though it does tend to vary from ship to ship?

 

Hey

 

Yeah, feeling very lucky being able to do both legs. Joys of Bank Holidays falling perfectly for this! We were in Dubai in December on Splendour so did the opposite and sacrificed a few days there this time.

 

Sadly no access to concierge with Junior Suite. This is our first Diamond Plus cruise so be interesting to see how busy the Concierge lounge gets. Diamond lounge is so much more accessible on the Quantum class ships anyway. Love it being able to spill over into the Music Hall. Am sure you will see us there!

 

We spotted the 20% discount too this morning and have succumbed already! We know with 23 days on board that we will want a fair few drinks and we love our cocktails (no stereotypes here ;)!) so drink three of the expensive ones a day on Quantum prices and the reduced price has paid for itself. Plus, we love making the Bionic Bar go wrong so it means we can play around with that again! We used to grab food from the Cafe and take it up there to establish the Bionic Bar Buffet! We will take full advantage of the free drinks on the 7 nighter and then use the package on the longer leg.

 

I don't remember there being an organised LGBT get together on the two times we were on Quantum, but then we were with others both times so kinda created our own and by end of the cruise the Diamond Lounge was effectively the FoD gathering :cool:!

 

I want it to be May already!!

[jmallmann]

counting the days until May 10th :)

quite busy organizing shore excursions and a trip to Oman after the cruise. We will do a trip to Petra and Delphi which were advertised on cruise critics. Naples and Rome on our own.

Hope there is a LGBT meeting , we often visited them on other celebrity and roy. carr. cruises.

The Ovation entered the dock at Hamburg today to get last things done, just watched it on webcam.

Really looking forward to the brand new ship and some niche and warm sunshine...:)

[Helsy Lucy]

Hi fellow cruisers,

We are retired Aussies looking forward to a wonderful cruise, doing the back to back trip from Barcelona to Singapore.

I'm hoping we can join a small group in a private tour from Aqaba to Petra including lunch at a hotel or restaurant before rejoining the ship.

I've made a couple of enquiries with local tour operators (as we find the ship excursions rather expensive) and am awaiting replies.

If anyone else is looking for someone to make up a group, we would be interested. Many thanks, Helen and Tony from Perth.

[DenvCruiser]

Hi all,

 

Four of us on the cruise. One Brit, one Canadian, and two Americans. Two of us are taking the Royal Princess TA from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona, spending three days in that great city, then boarding the Ovation. Two of us are D+, one D and one Royal virgin. Should be fun. Greg

[saffikins]

Hi fellow cruisers,

 

We are retired Aussies looking forward to a wonderful cruise, doing the back to back trip from Barcelona to Singapore.

 

I'm hoping we can join a small group in a private tour from Aqaba to Petra including lunch at a hotel or restaurant before rejoining the ship.

 

I've made a couple of enquiries with local tour operators (as we find the ship excursions rather expensive) and am awaiting replies.

 

If anyone else is looking for someone to make up a group, we would be interested. Many thanks, Helen and Tony from Perth.

 

 

Hi Helen & Tony

 

I just wanted to mention that you might also get a response to trip sharing on the main roll call for your sailings as there are a limited number of us on this particular roll call and for the most part (I Think) we are organised re trips at the various ports.

[saffikins]

Hi all,

 

 

 

Four of us on the cruise. One Brit, one Canadian, and two Americans. Two of us are taking the Royal Princess TA from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona, spending three days in that great city, then boarding the Ovation. Two of us are D+, one D and one Royal virgin. Should be fun. Greg

 

 

Hi there, welcome to the roll call

 

Are you a group of 4 guys? We have already resigned ourselves to being the only 'ladies' on board. Oh well it's more fun hanging out with 'guys' anyway [emoji6]

 

Starting to look like the diamond lounge is going to be the place to be!

 

Can't believe it's just about 7 weeks away now.... We booked in April last year whilst onboard Anthem, time has just flown in.

[DenvCruiser]

Hi there, welcome to the roll call

 

Are you a group of 4 guys? We have already resigned ourselves to being the only 'ladies' on board. Oh well it's more fun hanging out with 'guys' anyway [emoji6]

 

Starting to look like the diamond lounge is going to be the place to be!

 

Can't believe it's just about 7 weeks away now.... We booked in April last year whilst onboard Anthem, time has just flown in

 

Yep, four guys here.

[Pauliepaul]

Hey guys--welcome!

 

Saffikins, even if you are the only girls am sure we will all get on. That Diamond lounge will make sure of that :D! So nice when a group gathers and grows throughout a cruise. After 16 nights we could be a very big group.

I keep looking at the online reservation and willing the days to go down quicker...it still seems so far away, although 7 weeks today Barcelona beckons...hoorah.

 

How's everyone getting on with tour bookings? We have done all ports bar Aqaba so trying to do something a little different in each of them but struggling with Piraeus. Although we did find escape rooms which look amazing there.

 

Did anyone else take advantage of the drinks package offer in the end?

[saffikins]

We don't mind being the only girls, I just find it interesting that on 10 cruises (all with RCI) that we have never met any others, we have always been the only females in any LGTB get togethers and don't ever really recall seeing any other females, or it could just be that my gaydar is broken. Lol

 

No, it doesn't seem to matter how many times you check, it's still 7 weeks away!

 

Re tour bookings, we are hoping to do something in Athens, maybe just a ship excursion as neither of us has been there before and would like at least to see the main tourist attractions (Acropolis etc) , hopefully that way the amount of walking involved for Antoinette (my partner) will be limited.

 

We would also love to see Petra, but think it might be a challenge, I'm still at the planning stage with that and haven't discounted it yet, but am not sure that the ship trip is the way to do this as it could be quite busy.

 

Have got the drinks package in the trolley.....just need to click on checkout, I'm still trying to convince myself that those daily fruity cocktails by the pool count towards my 5 a day ( and I don't mean drinks to hit the quota) lol

 

Karen

Edited March 22, 2016 by saffikins

[tomjohnsonjr]

[Pauliepaul]

 

Thanks for sharing the video...very cool! Always strange to see empty insides of a ship...even from a distance. Nice to see her a little closer than other photos have shown.

 

...and Saffikins...those fruity cocktails totally add to the 5 a day count. Just think of how much fruit you could consume over 16 nights ;)!

 

Did everyone see that iFly and North Star are also open for bookings now?

[jmallmann]

Hi, does anyone know if there are still formal nights on the ovation ? Is a formal wear just necessary at specific restaurants on the ship? Do not really understand this as we are used to the formal nights at Celebrity or Holland America....

 

We booked a tour to Delphi instead of staying in Athens, where we have been several times in the past and will be joining a private tour to Petra with ten other people from the ship. Really looking forward to this.

 

I am really counting the days and can not wait for the cruise....

 

greetings from Germany

Michael

[Pauliepaul]

Hi, does anyone know if there are still formal nights on the ovation ? Is a formal wear just necessary at specific restaurants on the ship? Do not really understand this as we are used to the formal nights at Celebrity or Holland America....

 

We booked a tour to Delphi instead of staying in Athens, where we have been several times in the past and will be joining a private tour to Petra with ten other people from the ship. Really looking forward to this.

 

I am really counting the days and can not wait for the cruise....

 

greetings from Germany

Michael

 

Hey Michael

 

Quantum class was designed to have no official formal nights! It has instead The Grande restaurant where every night is formal night. You must wear a jacket to get in (we have seen some funny moments of people not turning up with one and then they bring out a vile "house" jacket for men to wear en route to their table--you can remove the jacket once sat!!). So effectively it is up to you to decide when your formal night is.

We did notice on the last Quantum cruise we did that the second night of the cruise was designated as "dress to impress" throughout the whole ship. Partly because it was the Captain's welcome aboard party I suppose and people would traditionally be smarter for this. Who knows if they will do this for ours!

 

We are also joining one of the tours to Petra and Wadi Rum--so looking forward to that day in particular.

 

Those days are getting lower in number....exciting :D

[saffikins]

Hi everyone,

 

Michael, exactly what PauliePaul said re formal nights, so it just depends on whether you feel like bringing your sparkly numbers with you. Lol

 

I see booking is now open for the shows, just in case anyone wanted to get in early.

 

Also looking forward to the puzzle room, but I don't think this can be booked online?

 

Less than 6 weeks to go.......yaaaaaay

 

Karen

[jmallmann]

Thanks for the information concerning the formal nights....

They are having some problems with the Ovation and they are bringing it back to Hamburg for the dry dock this weekend. It is getting another propulsion as the newly designed one does not work as expected... hope the propulsion will work to take us all the way to Dubai :)

[saffikins]

Thanks for the information concerning the formal nights....

They are having some problems with the Ovation and they are bringing it back to Hamburg for the dry dock this weekend. It is getting another propulsion as the newly designed one does not work as expected... hope the propulsion will work to take us all the way to Dubai :)

 

 

Yes, I read about that on another thread. I' m sure it will all be fine by the time we get on [emoji2]

I want to know what's happening about the animal and if there is going to be one and if so what it's going to be [emoji881][emoji192][emoji199]

[mike2611]

I am a single retired gay male also on the Ovation to Dubai. I look forward to the LBGT meetings because its a chance to spend a little time with "family" especially when traveling alone.

 

I just booked the shows and some of the special entertainment venues as well as the 5 pack of speciality dinners.

 

Anyway I too am Diamond Plus so if there is no LBGT I am sure Ill see you guys/gals in the lounge.

[saffikins]

I am a single retired gay male also on the Ovation to Dubai. I look forward to the LBGT meetings because its a chance to spend a little time with "family" especially when traveling alone.

 

 

 

I just booked the shows and some of the special entertainment venues as well as the 5 pack of speciality dinners.

 

 

 

Anyway I too am Diamond Plus so if there is no LBGT I am sure Ill see you guys/gals in the lounge.

 

 

Welcome to the roll call

 

Yes it definitely seems that the diamond lounge will be the place to be

[DPA]

Hi to you all

 

My partner Matthew and I will be on this cruise. Only our second ever cruise after Oasis last year. very much looking forward to the new ship. We have booked in a couple of shore excursions - Rome, Athens and Petra.

 

We are Australians living in Ottawa Canada and flying in a couple of days before the 10th.

 

Haven't decided on the drinks package as yet - enjoyed it way too much on the last cruise.

 

David

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[saffikins]

Hi to you all

 

My partner Matthew and I will be on this cruise. Only our second ever cruise after Oasis last year. very much looking forward to the new ship. We have booked in a couple of shore excursions - Rome, Athens and Petra.

 

We are Australians living in Ottawa Canada and flying in a couple of days before the 10th.

 

Haven't decided on the drinks package as yet - enjoyed it way too much on the last cruise.

 

David

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Welcome David and Matthew

 

It's always a little difficult when you start your cruising life on one of the biggest ships in the world.....the only way is down....at least Ovation won't be too much of a step downwards...lol

 

We have decided to go for a drinks package...because we enjoyed it so much on previous cruises [emoji6]and apart from anything else, we calculated that even at a minimum number of drinks combined with bottled water, coffee and soft drinks that we would more than break even.

 

5 weeks today ...... Speaking of which, has anyone else had problems with online check in? I have checked in okay, but have received a letter from RCI advising that due to their upgraded check in process that I would have to do so again, however when I do so, nothing has changed....I noticed that we don't have an allocated time slot for arrival at the port.....guess I will have to keep checking!

 

Karen