OVATION May 13-24 *LIVE* in ALASKA w/lots of photos

[Biker19]

16 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

Edit... look what I found when I looked into the porthole. “Escape to the Future”

When the sessions are in session, they sometimes put that sign outside the door (in the hallway) to make it a bit more obvious.

[Hoopster95]

26 minutes ago, loverofthebeach said:

I really want to go to the Escape room with my family and friends. I want to make sure I understand you correctly Hoopster95, we go directly to the Seaplex to sign up and not Guest services, correct?  Also, I assume that would be deck 15. 

Is there is a cost for this? If so, how much? 

Thanks so much, loving this review. We will be sailing June 28th. 

 

Yes, deck 15 Seaplex. Take a

look at an Ovation Deck plan on line.

 

Regarding where to go to book... I don’t know. Biker? I suspect it’s Seaplex, however you should do it immediately on the Royal IQ app as soon as you can imho...  remember this sold out on an 11 day sailing, I can just imagine the 7 day sailings to come... plus the room

being reserved for Star Class/Genie bookings as well.

[buymeanapple]

Are there any other Key benefits on this sailing like front of the line on the bumper cars?

[Hoopster95]

9 minutes ago, buymeanapple said:

Are there any other Key benefits on this sailing like front of the line on the bumper cars?

 

Bumper cars, yes... doesn’t say “Key” on it, however I asked the attendants and they confirmed Star Class And Key can skip the line.

 

as far as everything else... remember it’s a 7 day cruise you’re now dealing with so many things may change. I truly doubt Key will have priority Endicott viewing for example. During “open times” that did not require a reservation on this sailing, there was a Star Class line. I suspect non-reservations on 7 day sailings might be close to non-existent.

 

the regular Boogie Board line yesterday on Florider had only 3 people, no “Key” needed. 

 

No Key signage in IFly, however follow what Biker and Drusierdmd said in. Previous posts... you get to go at a specified time that you do not get to choose (so might be 8am or 7pm, whatever the decide to be able to fit you in) and you’ll also have a reservation via Royal IQ app

Edited May 23, 2019 by Hoopster95

[drusierdmd]

Are there any other Key benefits on this sailing like front of the line on the bumper cars?

No pretty worthless on this cruise imo. I had customer service refund and apply to a future cruise.

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[Hoopster95]

7 minutes ago, drusierdmd said:

No pretty worthless on this cruise imo. 
 

 

Thanks for confirming Drusierdmd.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Hoopster95

[drusierdmd]

 

 

 

 

 

No Key signage in IFly, however follow what Biker and Drusierdmd said in. Previous posts... you get to go at a specified time that you do not get to choose (so might be 8am or 7pm, whatever the decide to be able to fit you in) and you’ll also have a reservation via Royal IQ app

 

Not exactly. You get to make 2 reservation for ifly. One 60s flight each. Pisses me off to see groups of 2 or 3 doing ifly or the staff playing around in the tunnel by themselves..not a demo.

 

Flowrider and rockwall had 1hr key only reserved slots...during port hours. I just got done with the flowrider..pick you time to go based on the cam footage on your cabin tv....it was me and one other guy, until we got tired and left it vacant.

 

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[Hoopster95]

2 minutes ago, drusierdmd said:

 

 

Not exactly. You get to make 2 reservation for ifly. One 60s flight each..... 

Flowrider and rockwall had 1hr key only reserved slots...during port hours.
 

 

 

Ah... ok re IFly.

Hilarious re the port hours for Key... lol! 

[Hoopster95]

Speaking of IFly, I stopped by “Focus” (the Photo Gallery, located next to the Schooner Bar Deck 5) to pick up my professional IFly Photos. At IFly they offer you a special that is not available at the gallery... buy 2 photos $30 each, get a 3rd Free. Since I had no one on board videoing or taking photos of me, I opted for this deal.

 

Focus is well done, plenty of iPads for

cruisers to use, and a decent selection of camera and binoculars.

 

For those of you interested in packages, I took photo of the offerings below 

 

 

 

 

 

Not as cute as drusierdmd’s kids but oh well 😁. I wasn’t too shabby either since it’s been over 4 years on Quantum. He let me ”fall in” on own and then had me turning left and right with my hands. Great fun!

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by Hoopster95

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Hoopster95 said:

Regarding where to go to book... I don’t know. Biker? I suspect it’s Seaplex, however you should do it immediately on the Royal IQ app as soon as you can imho...  

Not sure how they'll handle 7 day sailings, but try app, then Seaplex, then GS.

[miko1]

Thank you Hoopster95 for your great photos and lots of information about this cruise. I have found it very informative. 😊I am Miko1 and my husband and myself will be on the September 13th Alaska 7 day cruise. You know my sister and brother in law Rose and Larry. They are on your cruise too. Enjoy your final days and I look forward to ours soon. 😃

[er345]

Thank you so much for looking into the Escape Room and getting us info on this! I will make sure that is the first thing I try to reserve.  I’m also glad to hear that I will get to see the fabulous cast on our 8/23 sailing. Looking forward to the shows.

[Hoopster95]

2 hours ago, miko1 said:

Thank you Hoopster95 for your great photos and lots of information about this cruise. I have found it very informative. 😊I am Miko1 and my husband and myself will be on the September 13th Alaska 7 day cruise. You know my sister and brother in law Rose and Larry. They are on your cruise too. Enjoy your final days and I look forward to ours soon. 😃

 

Who? 😉

[SacCaliCruiser]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. I’ve read every word of it! A question, is there an “indoor” pool on Ovation’s Alaska cruise in the Solarium where kids can swim or is the entire Solarium adults-only? And if so is the outdoor pool the only one for kiddos? Many many thanks again. 

Edited May 23, 2019 by SacCaliCruiser

[perfect match]

Gosh, Hoopster, it’s a shame you haven’t been able to find anything to do on this cruise! 😂

 

Seriously, it sounds like an awesome cruise, one that I hope to be booking in the not too distant future. 😀

[drusierdmd]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. I’ve read every word of it! A question, is there an “indoor” pool on Ovation’s Alaska cruise in the Solarium where kids can swim or is the entire Solarium adults-only? And if so is the outdoor pool the only one for kiddos? Many many thanks again. 

There is the adults only solarium. Then there is an outdoor area (under Northstar) with 1 or 2 hot tubs, kids area(I think unheated) and large pool (soft serve ice cream). Then there is a equally large covered area with 5' pool, 1' kiddie pool and 2 hot tubs. Everything including the flow rider is heated. I could see steam coming off the water of the flowrider in today 58deg weather.

 

Kids were allowed everywhere but the solarium...including hot tubs.

 

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[ExpertNovice]

Hey there! We're sailing at the end of July as D+ and heard mixed reports of access to the concierge lounge and what coupons were being offered. Have you had a chance to go to the lounge? 

 

What other D+ exclusives are there other than the backstage tour you mentioned and were they documented anywhere? 

[miko1]

1 hour ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

Who? 😉

Great photo you guys. Where are you guys having dinner tonight. 😃

[Hoopster95]

1 hour ago, SacCaliCruiser said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. I’ve read every word of it! A question, is there an “indoor” pool on Ovation’s Alaska cruise in the Solarium where kids can swim or is the entire Solarium adults-only? And if so is the outdoor pool the only one for kiddos? Many many thanks again. 

 

16 years min age is the Solarium... pools and hot tubs off limits if under age.

 

Check the deck 14 Deck plans... Ovation has a large indoor pool, and outdoor pool, and kiddies section. The indoor pool has a very shallow kids section as well

 

edit: whoops... Drusierdmd already answered 👍

Edited May 23, 2019 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

9 minutes ago, miko1 said:

Great photo you guys. Where are you guys having dinner tonight. 😃

 

American Icon... My Time Dining.

I’ve run into L&R almost everyday. Had A fabulous dinner at Izumi last night with them as well 😁

[Hoopster95]

17 minutes ago, ExpertNovice said:

Hey there! We're sailing at the end of July as D+ and heard mixed reports of access to the concierge lounge and what coupons were being offered. Have you had a chance to go to the lounge? 

 

What other D+ exclusives are there other than the backstage tour you mentioned and were they documented anywhere? 

 

Zero access to the CL (I tried 😡)

but who knows .... I say this often:

RCI = Really Consistenly Inconsistent

maybe future 7 day cruises will have less C&A Members, and they’ll open up the CL to D+ again? I hope so.

 

All D+ get galley and bridge tour as well.

you should receive invitations in your room

to return to the LA asap on the 1st day.

 

All other D+ benefits are on line.

You will also have a full sheet on your desk when your enter your room with all of your benefits listed.

[Hoopster95]

40 minutes ago, perfect match said:

Gosh, Hoopster, it’s a shame you haven’t been able to find anything to do on this cruise!

 

 

Yep, this ship sure sucks 😉 lol!

 

This sailing solidified Quantum my memories of 4+ years ago... 100% my favourite class of ship.

[johnt83]

Wow... just caught up on the 20+ unbelievable pages of amazing content, pictures and videos. Kudos to hoopster, twangster, biker and others who have contributed to this most amazing thread. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it on CC, where there are multiple folks contributing to 1 thread with such great stuff...

 

I'll be on Ovation on 8/30 so I am sure I'll have all sorts of information and experiences from folks and what to do, when to do it, where to do it, and how to do it... definitely want to try the Escape room and Wonderland if it's vegetarian friendly... would be a fun experience.

 

Looking forward to reading about the last few days... as Ovation now heads into my hometown Seattle for the summer. We are excited to have this ship in our backyard!!

Edited May 23, 2019 by johnt83

[Hoopster95]

Ovation Rocks!

Packed house... great vibe!

Journey tribute to perform.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by Hoopster95

[twangster]

Here near the top of Vancouver Island Voom is becoming better, if you call greater than 1Mb up/down better.  Four cruises on RCCL ships in Alaska and this is by far the worst experience with possibly the best weather of the four.  

 

Finally was able to watch the final episode of GoT tonight with pauses every 3-5 minutes to buffer.   Compared to the 0.17Mb rates until tonight the "Surf and Stream if you Buffer" Voom plan has been disappointing.  Nearly 3 hours to watch the final episode means I don't have to live in fear of spoilers any more so there is that.

 

Don't buy Voom on Ovation in Alaska.  If you are sailing Radiance or Serenade in Alaska (or a Celebrity ship) Voom will be more consistent with expectations for Alaska Voom internet.   

Edited May 23, 2019 by twangster