Ovation Vancouver to Hawaii Sept, 20, 2019 - Recap

[twangster]

4 hours ago, ShazM said:

You should come down to Sydney and visit us here. I enjoy reading your reviews and the photographs are fantastic. Both Radiance and Ovation are on their way. Radiance is nearing New Zealand and they have had 10 metre waves today. Ovation has turned around and is on her way back to Honolulu for a serious medical emergency, think they had somewhere around 8 hours travel time to get back. Apparently they were going to go to the big island but the passenger is too ill and they will get to Honolulu at 1.00am their time. We are doing the transpacific from Sydney in April so can't wait as we haven't done one before.

 

Already booked in 2020 and 2021 :)

 

2 hours ago, JBSteelerfan said:

You should certainly try Radiance, or whatever ship is on the itinerary, between HNL and YVR.  Did Radiance this past May and it was a great cruise!  Certainly a different experience from Ovation size.

 

Both Radiance and Serenade have compelling itineraries next year.  If only they had O3b internet, I'd be booked all the way to Sydney already :)  

 

For a cruise that long I need to keep the business going and have some working sea days.  O3b makes that possible.

[twangster]

Cruise Compass from this sailing:

 

Ovation 10 Nt Hawaii 9-20-19.pdf

[mayleeman]

7 hours ago, twangster said:

 

The Silversword is an example of one unique and exclusive to Maui.

 

Our granddaughter's Montessori school in Maui (now closed, unfortunately) took a field trip to the crater. Among other things, they planted dozens od Silverswords. My field trips growing up in KC were to the Philharmonic. They also went snorkeling and SCUBA-ing basically every other week. Lucky kids!

[Mrs.Dukes]

Thank you for the awesome trip report. Your photos are absolutely stunning! 

[twangster]

Crown and Anchor on board offer letters in PDF format:

 

Gold.PDF

 

Platinum.PDF

 

Emerald.PDF

 

Diamond.PDF

 

Diamond Plus.PDF

 

 

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, twangster said:

The newer O3b internet platform worked great over the length of the cruise.  

Any issues with the RCI app?

[twangster]

Diamond Plus Welcome Letter

 

Diamond Plus Ovation Hawaii Letter .pdf

 

Note: Due to high C&A numbers on this sailing, access for D+ to the Concierge Lounge was denied.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

Diamond Plus Welcome Letter

The barista in 270 was very accommodating making a couple of other things than those listed.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

Any issues with the RCI app?

 

For cruise compass type items it proved to be unreliable.  It claimed the Captain's Corner was to be held that day at 10am while the paper compass and the actual event was a few days later.  Same with the enrichment talks.  The app said 11:15am but the paper compass said 1:15pm and that is when it was actually held.  

 

I didn't compare menus in app vs. the actual menus in the MDR.   On other ships there has been discrepancy. 

 

The chat feature is NOT present so that is a loss from RoyalIQ.  Couldn't book anything, dining or activities like North Star.  Excursion did appear but couldn't be booked.  Calendar items for items booked prior to sailing appeared and notifications for them worked, mostly.

 

RoyalIQ appeared to work normally on day one upon boarding but it soon became void of anything.

 

Basically everything in the new RCI app worked like it does on other ships in my recent experience - it's a work in progress, take a picture of the paper compass with your phone until it progresses further.

 

The ship time in the upper left corner remains one of the most valuable features of the new app.

[mayleeman]

Absolutely facinating review. I have questions about a couple things:

 

First, your pictures are beautiful, and so clear both underwater and night shots. What camera are you using? And what lenses (those wideview cabin shots are fun!)? Do you have a special waterproof housing? (I am tempted to use your photos of Molokini instead of my own from our trip in July.)

 

Secondly, what was you impression of the MDR on Ovation? We may decide to do a cruise to Hawaii as our next trip to see the kids, but I have heard mixed reviews of the split MDR on Quantum class. Any favorite?

 

Thanks!

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

RoyalIQ appeared to work normally on day one upon boarding but it soon became void of anything.

Did you try any texting or other internet features without VOOM? We had a report from Anthem that the hole that used to be there to allow some things to work without VOOM seems to have been eliminated. I kinda assumed that when RCI pulled the plug on Royal IQ they would do so fleetwide (the 4 ships that had it) but we are trying to confirm for each ship.

[Biker19]

21 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

Any favorite?

You don't really get to choose - you get the deck 3 venues if you have traditional and deck 4 venues if you have MTD.

 

Biker, who didn't like Chic due to the tasseled chairs.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Biker19

[Tree_skier]

Fantastic review Twangster.  I love following along on your journeys.  I have Radiance booked the other direction this May so this was a nice little primer.  

Edited October 3, 2019 by Tree_skier

[Hoopster95]

11 hours ago, twangster said:

 

 

 

Hey Twangster.... I just came across this thread.

Thank you for showing off my beautiful home city in a way only you can with your incredible photos... outstanding!

 

I included the photos above to say yet again (at least a 100 times over the last 5 years on various Quantum Class and Radiance Class threads) that Quantum Class ships are far superior for views than Radiance Class ships from inside the ship looking out, with more larger venues and more panoramic views from more public spaces than Radiance.

[twangster]

22 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Did you try any texting or other internet features without VOOM? We had a report from Anthem that the hole that used to be there to allow some things to work without VOOM seems to have been eliminated. I kinda assumed that when RCI pulled the plug on Royal IQ they would do so fleetwide (the 4 ships that had it) but we are trying to confirm for each ship.

 

I did.  I had two iPhones with me.  What I discovered is that when an iPhone that first touches the wifi without a paid Voom plans takes a couple of minutes to become active for iMessage. 

 

When I first tried it I logged out of Voom, immediately sent an iMessage and seeing it not work came to the inaccurate conclusion they plugged the hole.  However if I let my devices sit idle for a few minutes once they settled down or registered somehow iMessage worked instantly from that point forward.

 

I can see how someone might connect and immediately send a message, or log out of a paid Voom plan and try to send something, then seeing it not work come to the conclusion it's been plugged.  However time and again as I switched my one device paid Voom plan between devices the other devices would start getting notifications like before and start receiving queued iMessages like before.  It just took 3-5 minutes for the device to register with Apple or however that process works when it's not on a paid Voom plan.  

 

By the end of the cruise it was very predictable and repeatable.  iMessage still works once you go through that initial blackout period after first connecting.

 

My iPhones use separate Apple ID's and have no awareness of each other or have any association to a single user as far as Apple is concerned.

 

I've never been able to get WhatsApp to work on Apple without a paid Voom plan.  Maybe Android users have had success but for me, on Anthem or Harmony WhatsApp on Apple has never worked without a paid Voom plan.  That remains consistent on Ovation.  I didn't bring any old Androids with me to explore that further.  

Edited October 3, 2019 by twangster

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

When I first tried it I logged out of Voom, immediately sent an iMessage and seeing it not work came to the inaccurate conclusion they plugged the hole. 

Thanks for the feedback, so iMessage still works, if you are patient, but perhaps some of the other things that used get through got plugged - like Youtube used to work.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

Thanks for the feedback, so iMessage still works, if you are patient, but perhaps some of the other things that used get through got plugged - like Youtube used to work.

 

Never thought to try Youtube.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, mayleeman said:

Absolutely facinating review. I have questions about a couple things:

 

First, your pictures are beautiful, and so clear both underwater and night shots. What camera are you using? And what lenses (those wideview cabin shots are fun!)? Do you have a special waterproof housing? (I am tempted to use your photos of Molokini instead of my own from our trip in July.)

 

Secondly, what was you impression of the MDR on Ovation? We may decide to do a cruise to Hawaii as our next trip to see the kids, but I have heard mixed reviews of the split MDR on Quantum class. Any favorite?

 

Thanks!

 

I shoot with a Sony A7III and a Sony RX100M6. Most of the wide angle shots are with a Sony 12-24mm ultra wide angle, hence the mild (and sometimes wild) distortion at 12mm.   

 

Underwater I have an old GoPro 4 that's getting long in the tooth but it still works.  For snorkeling it's fine since I don't go very deep.  For scuba diving it's disappointing to use compared to newer models with better sensors for the lower light conditions at depth.  

 

I'm not a huge fan of the ambience of the Quantum class MDR.  The ceiling feels low and the rooms seems boxed in.  Ultra class versions like Spectrum and hopefully Odyssey fix that.  When I cruise solo I tend not to use the MDR on any ship and prefer the grab and go options elsewhere including the Windjammer for dinner.  I just don't need a full service dinner experience by myself.   I've done MDR in the past on Anthem.  I did it every night for a 19 night B2B once.  I survived.  It's not that bad, just not as nice as some other ships with a more spacious MDR such as Empress :).  

[ILCTCRUISER]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

Diamond Plus Welcome Letter

 

Diamond Plus Ovation Hawaii Letter .pdf 583.36 kB · 4 downloads

 

Note: Due to high C&A numbers on this sailing, access for D+ to the Concierge Lounge was denied.

If no D+ in CL, then one would have to assume DL would have been very crowded.  Which space did they use for overflow?

 

[lovescats5]

What beautiful photos.  We have been thinking of this cruise in 2021 and after your review it goes to the top of the list.

[maggieq]

Terrific review and beautiful pictures.  Thank you, thank you, thank you...

 

on our cruise bucket list list for sure 

[The Sunset Glow]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

 

For cruise compass type items it proved to be unreliable.  It claimed the Captain's Corner was to be held that day at 10am while the paper compass and the actual event was a few days later.  Same with the enrichment talks.  The app said 11:15am but the paper compass said 1:15pm and that is when it was actually held.  

 

I didn't compare menus in app vs. the actual menus in the MDR.   On other ships there has been discrepancy. 

 

The chat feature is NOT present so that is a loss from RoyalIQ.  Couldn't book anything, dining or activities like North Star.  Excursion did appear but couldn't be booked.  Calendar items for items booked prior to sailing appeared and notifications for them worked, mostly.

 

RoyalIQ appeared to work normally on day one upon boarding but it soon became void of anything.

 

Basically everything in the new RCI app worked like it does on other ships in my recent experience - it's a work in progress, take a picture of the paper compass with your phone until it progresses further.

 

The ship time in the upper left corner remains one of the most valuable features of the new app.

 

I was on this cruise with you and can confirm that the menus on the app were not correct. Most things seemed to be missing or incorrect so we relied on the paper compass.

 

Thanks for your review - your pictures are gorgeous!

[The Sunset Glow]

4 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Did you try any texting or other internet features without VOOM? We had a report from Anthem that the hole that used to be there to allow some things to work without VOOM seems to have been eliminated. I kinda assumed that when RCI pulled the plug on Royal IQ they would do so fleetwide (the 4 ships that had it) but we are trying to confirm for each ship.

 

Biker, we were on this cruise as well and could not get anything to work other than the Royal app features (and even those were inaccurate for the most part) unless we were on the "paid for" wifi. 

 

Edit: I see Twangster may have gotten it to work - we were not successful 😞

Edited October 3, 2019 by The Sunset Glow

[The Sunset Glow]

37 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

If no D+ in CL, then one would have to assume DL would have been very crowded.  Which space did they use for overflow?

 

 

They used the Music Hall as overflow.

[twangster]

45 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

If no D+ in CL, then one would have to assume DL would have been very crowded.  Which space did they use for overflow?

 

 

There were over 1,100 D & D+ combined so the entire Music Hall was dedicated to the happy hour event.  Worked okay, always found a seat.