Ovation of the Sea.

[karoolabiddy]

As this is the ship for our first cruise, the more I read about RCL and cruising in general, the more I need to know.

Anyone been on the Ovation, yet?

I believe that the main dining room is only open for dinner - no breakfast or lunch. Wonder why as it appears most of the other ships in the line utilize the mdr for all meals.

I am a little worried that with a ship this size, there will be huge crowds in the eating venues for lunch and breakfast. Is this so? Any advice regarding breakfast? We enjoy a sit-down meal.

[qbay46]

I have been on Ovation, it doesn't have a main dining room, it has four different themed dining rooms which you get to go to during your cruise.They open one of these for breakfast, can't remember which one as we never went to it.

[jspqld]

Wow, you have made a very bold choice in picking the new and expensive Ovation for your first cruise. I have been on Sister ship Quantum and Quantum class ships are purposely designed to be very different from most other ships afloat. Different in design, atmosphere on board, facilities, etc. Not a bad thing, personally I loved it, but many others do not, especially if they prefer more traditional types of cruising, such as the example you gave above regarding the main dining room. I suggest you do a search for dynamic dining for all the info. Essentially the MDR on Ovation will be divided up between 4 separate rooms each with their own theme. One of them may indeed be open for breakfast and lunch. The buffet is large, but will be crazy busy in these times. Other great options include the solarium bistro & café 270. Also some of the specialty eateries also open for lunch some days.

[karoolabiddy]

Thank you both for your input. I was unaware of the four dining rooms. I am a little anxious about the number of passengers compared to facilities, but this was the trip DH wanted to do as a "sampler". I life less frantic on a smaller ship?

[joandian]

We haven't cruised on Ovation yet, but have her booked and there is a very big possibility we will change to another cruise. We have been on Oasis and your comment about crowds is justified in my opinion. Just way too many people for the services provided. We queued everywhere.

 

We wanted to try a larger ship, we did try it and didn't enjoy it as much as usual. We enjoy the smaller ships much more.

 

Having said all that, you will be on a cruise which is much better than being at home :)

[888sydney]

Was on Ovation on the repo from Singapore to China. Yes there are queues but we always book our dinner time and had no issues. That may not suit everyone.

For breakfast or lunch, we are early riser and no queues.

Queues were at service desk or some popular activities like bumper cars.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[MicCanberra]

I am looking forward to our Ovation cruise,

BTW, depending on what and when you want to do something, there are queues on every ship.

[qbay46]

The queues at the eating places where not any busier than other ships I have been on, if you time it right you hardly wait at all, the worst line up was at the service desk always people there. It would be better if the people behind the desk are better trained by now. Hope you enjoy your cruise on this ship and they have iron out what a lot of people on my cruise where complaining about.

[MicCanberra]

The queues at the eating places where not any busier than other ships I have been on, if you time it right you hardly wait at all, the worst line up was at the service desk always people there. It would be better if the people behind the desk are better trained by now. Hope you enjoy your cruise on this ship and they have iron out what a lot of people on my cruise where complaining about.

 

I certainly hope so as well.:D

[The_Big_M]

The queues at the eating places where not any busier than other ships I have been on, if you time it right you hardly wait at all, the worst line up was at the service desk always people there. It would be better if the people behind the desk are better trained by now. Hope you enjoy your cruise on this ship and they have iron out what a lot of people on my cruise where complaining about.

 

Agreed, I didn't find the queues too bad; certainly better than say Voyager class after the refurb, or the packed venues on Rhapsody after the refurb.

 

More issues with tech, plus the extra activities and dining requiring booking added to questions at guest services so they were always busier. Not something I think will have changed this time around.

[MicCanberra]

Agreed, I didn't find the queues too bad; certainly better than say Voyager class after the refurb, or the packed venues on Rhapsody after the refurb.

 

More issues with tech, plus the extra activities and dining requiring booking added to questions at guest services so they were always busier. Not something I think will have changed this time around.

 

I would hope that they have resolved some of the issues at least.

[Willow45]

As it your first time you won't have many expectations so everything will be amazing, well that's what I found on our first cruise in January. We travelled on Explorer of the seas so a lot smaller. But do expect lines, so it's be patient or go away and come back later. But with some of the activities on the Ovation it sounds like patiently waiting and I believe you can book some things before you get on the ship. I had booked all our dinner times before getting on board ( we had our time dining) some early, some late depending on our plans for the day.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[MicCanberra]

As it your first time you won't have many expectations so everything will be amazing, well that's what I found on our first cruise in January. We travelled on Explorer of the seas so a lot smaller. But do expect lines, so it's be patient or go away and come back later. But with some of the activities on the Ovation it sounds like patiently waiting and I believe you can book some things before you get on the ship. I had booked all our dinner times before getting on board ( we had our time dining) some early, some late depending on our plans for the day.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thanks for the advice. Booking sounds like a good plan.

[karoolabiddy]

I'll do as much booking as I can. Have become a bit disillusioned RCI since booking but will go with a positive attitude. They are changing so many things.:(