Sydney To Tahiti to Hawaii Ovation

[xpcdoojk]

I am hungry, and have another 20 minutes until Chic opens for lunch.

 

jc

[bigeck]

3 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Hello Scotland!

 

I will be definitely bringing my wetsuit with me to your side of the pond.

 

jc

Beautiful weather here. Played the Old Course today

 

[bigeck]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Allure TA March 1 🥶

Still good a good deal. Not many booked

Jc and Andrew can get a flowrider each

[xpcdoojk]

I doubt I could convince the DW to take two TAs the same year.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

So, yesterday we got 6 hours on the wave, including an announced advanced session at 8AM.  Regular 9-11, regular 2-4PM then the key at 4.  There were 10 in the key line 5 of which were boogie.  Father and son, and 3 single men.  We told them again, that there are no lines mid day and the temps are much warmer for boogie then.  That they should really try stand-up during this session because the line will never be this short any other time.  This time we convinced them to try.  They did ok.  

 

Yesterday was Groundhog Day.  We got our second Saturday.  Today there is an Easter Service somewhere on the ship.  Advanced stand-up at 9AM.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

Hmm.... got a notification Biker had posted but nothing new here.

 

jc

[Biker19]

Just now, xpcdoojk said:

Hmm.... got a notification Biker had posted but nothing new here.

The notification was for using the Thanks button. 

[PCWalton1]

20 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

I am hungry, and have another 20 minutes until Chic opens for lunch.

 

jc

aah, so there is something else to do beside flowrider, 😋

[xpcdoojk]

Ha!  Yes, eating, drinking and the flowrider.  Saw the production show something dream that we saw two years ago, We watched the piano player, a magician, and the comedian has been doing stand-up most days for a couple of hours.  He is definitely a work in progress as far as surfing goes.  We went to the Hush disco last night.  Got back to the room to watch the St Louis Blues beat the Winnipeg Jets as I was falling asleep.  

 

JC<————— avoids full on reviews these days, but is always happy to comment on just about any aspect.

[xpcdoojk]

O, and the cover band is an INX band.  Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to see them yet.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

I misspoke, there are 6 key flowrider sessions.   You have to look at the little chart more carefully than I did initially.

 

Advanced today 9-10, regular 10-2 (except the clocks moved forward an hour so four hours today total.

 

Tomorrow I have the key and following that a private session at 5:15, I hope it warms up!!!!  Today is the first day that we have mostly wispy clouds so it may be warming.  A shower hit the flowrider just before start up.  Then it started clearing.  Woke up to 72 F 22C this morning, it is the same now.  Which seems weird that it doesn’t get hotter.  They handed out chocolate Easter Eggs in the WJ (the only lunch spot opened after 2pm (along with 270 cafe).  I had roast turkey for lunch.

 

jc

[kandj05]

On 4/18/2019 at 7:42 PM, John&LaLa said:

 

Don't want to hijack the thread, but I was asked and have my last thoughts on the matter.  

 

Three examples, all random. It's best to run the numbers on cruises as far out as possible before they start changing. You will be most successful when there is a decent discrepancy between a JS and an inside. Using a balcony discount for the JS, and obviously you have over 340 C&A points

 

Rhapsody  7 day western Jan 9, 2021 -  JS for two $3,048, JS for 1 is $2,222 and Inside for 1 is $933 ($107 more)

Jewel 16 day Suez Canal March 27, 2021 - JS for two $6,627, JS for 1 is $4,492 and 1 inside is $2,013 ($122 less)

Radiance 17 day TP April 16, 2021 - JS for two $8,176, JS for 1 is $6,017 and 1 inside is $2,013 ($146 less)

 

So basically, it is cheaper on the two long cruises to book two rooms and not use them. You get a bonus cruise point, and all your ammenities for the second cabin. you can also bring two more wines aboard. 

 

cheers

Never would have even considered looking at it this way, John.  Thx for sharing the info.  Now, the race is on to get to 350 points

[twangster]

Beyond FlowRider, what does Key grant access to on Ovation?  

[Chiliburn]

7 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

O, and the cover band is an INX band.  Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to see them yet.

 

jc

INXS cover band is pretty good,the ladies love the Michael Hutchens look alike in leather pants.just watch the audience is entertainment.

[twangster]

If you run into a lounge concierge and have time to ask a question it would be appreciated.

 

For Ovation Alaska itineraries the North Star has never been available to book for anyone in the roll calls.  How do they plan to handle North Star reservations for Alaska and particularly while at a glacier?   Do they plan to charge?

[Flow Bro Ty]

Hello Great Blog So Far! Are The Flowrider Staff Letting You Do A Shove It On This Ship. Thanks

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Flow Bro Ty said:

Well I've Was On Freedom Oasis Mainer Last Year And They Let Me Do A Shove It And A Kick Flip. I Was Just Wondering If The Staff Is Very Strict On That Ship

If they let you do it on two ships then it's probably allowed on all. The staff mainly objects if your body touches the surface without the board (like barrel rolls).  

[Flow Bro Ty]

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

If they let you do it on two ships then it's probably allowed on all. The staff mainly objects if your body touches the surface without the board (like barrel rolls).  

Thanks. Once I Had A Super Weird Experience On The Flowrider. So I Was On The Bodyboard On Oasis And I Was Doing This Trick Where You Splash The Crowd. Which The Staff Do All The Time. But One Run One Of The Staff Got Mad At Me For Doing It. But When I Talked To The Other Staff And Manger He Said That That Trick Was Allowed And I Can Do It All I Want. Anyway That Was My Weird  Experience.

[xpcdoojk]

The North Star is handled on the Ovation exactly like the Bumper Cars.  IE show up when it is open and stand in line.  I haven’t done either, but looked at both lines and did something else.  That would be when Star class would be nice.  I am dissappointed that neither is offered with the key.  It does look like gettin off in Tahiti with the Key will be nice if you need off early.  Will let you know when we get to Bora Bora.

 

Biker is probably 100% accurate on the flowrider rules.  I got into a discussion with one of the managers, a couple of days ago, when he got onto somebody at the front of the line for not holding the stupid plastic flowboard shaped signs that points out the dangers and rules of the flowrider.  He showed up again the next day, and I again whined.  I told him it is the dumbest thing I have ever seen, and I have never seen it on other ships.  Jasper (who sails more in a year than I do in a lifetime corrected me and said they had the dumb things on other ships.). Anyway there were none in the line today. 

 

They cancelled the 9AM advanced due to weather it is windy and rough, but it has been exactly same windy and rough everyday. So, we were told we could book Ifly again after day 7 or 8.  Ifly was closed all day.  We went back to book it and they said not until we leave Tahiti which tomorrow is the first of 3 days.  Today was day 8.  Stupid.  Anyway, I hear rock music blasting from the flowrider sound system to walk up at about 10:30AM and see a line of 25 people.  GRRR.....  so off to the cabin to gear up.  Got back about 15 minutes later and was able to do 2 runs in the remaining 2+ hours.  It was 79 today.  This is the future.  Tomorrow Papeete.  Advanced session from 9-11.  I will do that session, then we will wander around the port of Papeete.

 

Yesterday the key session had 7 people 3 of which had never appeared before.  I truly don’t get it.  

 

Yesterday, was the day Bob (aka CruisinBob in this forum) and the two ladies finally agreed upon for our hour.  It didn’t start until 20 minutes after the key and after 6 hours and the falling temps I bailed after about the 4th run with about 15 minutes left.  I was exhausted after 6 hours standing in line.  Not to mention we had Chops at 6:30PM and I needed drinks in the DL prior....🏄‍♂️

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

Yesterday was a spectacular day with the excursion with Patrick’s Tour (Maohi Nui).  The port guide for Moorea said it was a 10 minute walk to the village, it turned out to be over 4 miles.  Having been there before, I knew there is not a lot on the island, but we had a car last time so, I had no idea it was a 4 mile walk.  Needless to say we got a hard workout.  

 

Bora Bora with Patrick’s was as good a tour as I have taken.  We did 3 snorkeling spots, one with lots of sharks outside the reef, another in shallow water with tons of rays and sharks, and another over a coral garden.  Very nice, after, we swam on a soft sand bar. Then lunch when all the boats arrived, which was excellent with beer wine and sparkling wine.  Suckling pig, fresh wahoo and tuna, chicken and spinach, and all sorts of fruits and root veggies.  Lovely.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

The flowrider today had the regularly scheduled key time at 10-11AM.  Since we whined that there was not enough stand-up surf time, we got an advanced time from 9-10AM.  Then regular from 11-2PM.  That was a bit odd with most of the advanced people leaving the four regulars with the key alone until a non-regular showed up with 15 minutes left.  So, during advanced and Key session I got more than enough rides that I skipped the 3 hour session that probably had at the peak this afternoon with the temps in the upper 80s at over 30 based on other warm sea days.

 

The Diamond lounge (and Music Hall) have been busy in the evenings, but not bad.  We are usually showing up due to late flowrider sessions after 5:30PM and most nights we can get a seat at the bar in the music hall.  There are always empty seats somewhere in the two lounges every time we have visited the lounge in the evening.  The line in the morning for coffee has been minimal.  Longest I have encountered was 4 people in line.  Most days there is one person or nobody in front of me.  The snacks have been very heavy.  I would prefer to have more carrot sticks and celery type things, but you could easily eat enough stuff, that you could skip dinner.  

 

They will let you order diamond drinks in both specialty and MDR venues.  Haven’t eaten dinner in the Solarium or WJ, but I assume the same would be true.  

 

Wifi is fast enough that I have watched 1 F1 race 2 F1 qualifying sessions, 1 Indy car race, and a couple of episodes of Survivor, the Amazing Race, and the Big Bang theory.  I have watched most of this using my Slingbox at home to stream my own TV programming.  Due to the multiple crashes in qualifying at Baku for the F1 qualifying I watched the last half on ESPN app.  Very little buffering.  I haven’t watched Netflix but I would assume it would work well too.

 

We have a bridge tour tomorrow at noon.  Sometime around then we will have the equator ceremony and we have a 1:20PM IFly session.

 

Let me know if there are specific questions or things to address.

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

  The line in the morning for coffee has been minimal.  Longest I have encountered was 4 people in line.  Most days there is one person or nobody in front of me.  

Did your sailing get the one specialty coffee loaded on the Seapass card?

[xpcdoojk]

Yes, we did.  One morning early in the cruise the DL machine was not working, and I went up to the Patisserie to get one coffee, I didn’t have the wife’s card, but the line was long, so I decided to go back into the DL and fortunately they had arrived and were fixing the machine.  When I walked by La Patisserie with two in my hands a few minutes later, I would not yet have been at the front of the line.  

 

I believe you can use your one coffee a day at any of the restaurants, as well.

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

Biker, I expect it will continue on your sailing.  Do you know the status of the CL on your sailing yet?  Met a lady yesterday on our tour who was still mad that RCI made it a Suite Lounge for our sailing.... signage is still CL.

 

jc

[Surfguyxxx]

The most amazing thing I learned though was from Tom, Tom is a General Contractor in Ontario, a really nice guy and good rider who doesn’t like to get wet.  That is was not amazing.  Staying in friends Jr Suite as a third and his wife in another JS getting triple points in order to reach Pinnacle.  

 

How does one get triple points anymore?  Thanks.