Live from Ovation of the Seas (Sept 17-24)

[TX-Cruiser]

I know many have been interested in COVID protocols, etc in recent sailings and we are currently on Ovation of the Seas (Seattle >>>Alaska). I have been extremely impressed with the cleanliness of the ship. Masks are worn while inside except in “vaccinated only” areas (there are very few kids on this sailing…in fact the ship is at 38% occupancy with about 1500 passengers)

 

Masks can be removed in 270, The Royal Theatre level 4, all restaurants while eating, the Casino, Music Hall level 3, Solarium. They have to be worn in the hall ways, moving from venue to venue and when walking around the Windjammer.

 

Other tidbits of interest…the ship seems so empty..I have no idea what everyone is doing but we certainly haven’t seen many people. Tomorrow is our first port day so maybe I will feel differently. The food has been exceptional. We had dinner last night in Coastal Kitchen…amazing. (We are in a JS and didn’t have to knock on the door 🤪) Service has been exemplary across all venues. Windjammer food quality on this ship seems superior to any RCCL ship or sailing pre-Covid. Special shout out to the cinnamon rolls at breakfast this morning. 😬I can confirm that the diamond drink vouchers are loaded on our cards and are good everywhere except the Bionic Bar. You can tell the crew is truly joyful to be sailing again. The JS in this class of ship is a game changer for us with the 1.5 baths. 

Tip of the day: Make sure you watch your safety briefing video on the app the day before you cruise. It will be available and you won’t have to deal with it on board. You do have to report to your muster station at your leisure when you board but just get it done ASAP and save the crew the headache of tracking you down, because they will track you down. 

 

I am happy to answer

questions while on board!

[grimaldi]

Thanks for reporting. I hope you're enjoying every minute. It sounds like you are. 1,500 is sad for the industry but awesome for us. Anyway, a few random questions, if you don't mind...

 

What time did you board, how lenient were they with arrival times, and when was your cabin ready?

 

Were you able to access the ship's wifi from the terminal or only after you boarded?

 

Have you done/planned any specialty restaurants besides CK? If so, was it tough getting reservations for what you wanted once onboard? Doesn't sound like it would be with the reduced capacity.

 

 

[crzndeb]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. I board on Oct. 1, for the last 2 sailings to Alaska. I’m local, so it will be nice not having to fly. Good to know about doing the safety briefing the day before on the app.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

[twinmommy08]

I’m excited about the 1.5 bath JS too! Do you have a 5+ room or a quad? If you’re in a 5+ room, would you mind posting a photo how the  pull out bed looks over the sofa? 
 

Are you traveling with under 18 kids? I hear diamond kids may have drink vouchers too and curious if it’s true. Thank you! 

[Jasukkie]

I just got off on Friday, really wished I could have stayed on back to back. I believe we had 1900 people, which felt like the right amount for the ship. Never a ghost ship, never crowded, just right. Have a wonderful cruise, the glacier morning on Wednesday is amazing.

[TX-Cruiser]

7 hours ago, grimaldi said:

Thanks for reporting. I hope you're enjoying every minute. It sounds like you are. 1,500 is sad for the industry but awesome for us. Anyway, a few random questions, if you don't mind...

 

What time did you board, how lenient were they with arrival times, and when was your cabin ready?

 

Were you able to access the ship's wifi from the terminal or only after you boarded?

 

Have you done/planned any specialty restaurants besides CK? If so, was it tough getting reservations for what you wanted once onboard? Doesn't sound like it would be with the reduced capacity.

 

 

Our boarding time was 12:00-12:30 and we arrived at 11:20. We were placed in the 12:00-12:30 que, had our documents checked, CDC card, passport, test results. This was the only time we were asked for our test results. We entered the terminal within 20 minutes, went through security and were on board about 11:50. We checked into our muster station, had lunch and rooms were ready at 1:00PM. 
 

We did not try to access the ships WiFi prior to boarding so I don’t have an answer for that question. We have speciality restaurants and entertainment reserved all week and have had no issues with obtaining those. 

[TX-Cruiser]

1 hour ago, twinmommy08 said:

I’m excited about the 1.5 bath JS too! Do you have a 5+ room or a quad? If you’re in a 5+ room, would you mind posting a photo how the  pull out bed looks over the sofa? 
 

Are you traveling with under 18 kids? I hear diamond kids may have drink vouchers too and curious if it’s true. Thank you! 

After parenting for 30 years and sending our last of 8 off to college this year, I am happy to report we are kid free. 🤪Our cabin must be a 4 person because there is not a pull down over the sofa. I will say this: this is a great cabin for a family. Plenty of storage, the 1.5 baths, etc, make it ideal. There is an empty mini fridge if you want to bring snacks (let’s face it no matter how much food is on board, we would have gotten a protest that the apple juice ‘wasn’t the same’)

 

Enjoy your cruise! 

[twinmommy08]

56 minutes ago, TX-Cruiser said:

After parenting for 30 years and sending our last of 8 off to college this year, I am happy to report we are kid free. 🤪Our cabin must be a 4 person because there is not a pull down over the sofa. I will say this: this is a great cabin for a family. Plenty of storage, the 1.5 baths, etc, make it ideal. There is an empty mini fridge if you want to bring snacks (let’s face it no matter how much food is on board, we would have gotten a protest that the apple juice ‘wasn’t the same’)

 

Enjoy your cruise! 

8?! Bless you! I just have twin teenagers that refuse to share a bed when we cruise so I need a 5+ cabin now. Never had to find a specific room when they were little 🙂 Thanks for replying! 

[chaswelf]

Thank TX for the update.  We are also currently on this cruise.  I agree with the assessment on the staff.  We heard the same number of 1500 passengers,  our experience e with the food has been it’s the same as pre-covid,  except chops,  I was disappointed in the food and I though it used to be white linen, but no longer.  
 

This is our first time on this class of ship and honestly not impressed,  everything seems so cramped and compartmentalized, but some venues are great like 270.  We must not be going to the same areas as TX since we have been seeing people everywhere,  in fact my wife and where commenting on how we wouldn’t want to be on this ship at full capacity based on how crowded it seems with this low capacity.  But we are still having a great time.  Back to oasis ships for us.   I get that’s why the have different ship types,  we each experience them differently and enjoy different things.

[sixbirches]

4 hours ago, chaswelf said:

Thank TX for the update.  We are also currently on this cruise.  I agree with the assessment on the staff.  We heard the same number of 1500 passengers,  our experience e with the food has been it’s the same as pre-covid,  except chops,  I was disappointed in the food and I though it used to be white linen, but no longer.  
 

This is our first time on this class of ship and honestly not impressed,  everything seems so cramped and compartmentalized, but some venues are great like 270.  We must not be going to the same areas as TX since we have been seeing people everywhere,  in fact my wife and where commenting on how we wouldn’t want to be on this ship at full capacity based on how crowded it seems with this low capacity.  But we are still having a great time.  Back to oasis ships for us.   I get that’s why the have different ship types,  we each experience them differently and enjoy different things.

Everyone is different, but we really loved Ovation. Also, we have sailed many times on Anthem fully booked and never felt like it was crowded. It’s a well laid out ship with gorgeous aft spaces like 270 and the beautiful Suite lounge.
There are lots of comfortable spaces on this ship to relax and many, many fun things to do, and it’s awesome for cooler/cold weather sailings, which happen all winter from NJ.  I would sail this class of ship anytime. For us, it’s easy since we don’t need to fly to get to the port. But, we are sailing Oasis for the first time in a few weeks. I’m sure we will love it, but I have a feeling I will be missing Anthem too.

[TX-Cruiser]

Tonight at dinner was the first time it felt crowded to us at all. I think everyone eating at the same time because everyone coming in a bit later than typical with a later in the day departure (8:30PM) 

[rim140]

On 9/19/2021 at 12:59 AM, TX-Cruiser said:

I know many have been interested in COVID protocols, etc in recent sailings and we are currently on Ovation of the Seas (Seattle >>>Alaska). I have been extremely impressed with the cleanliness of the ship. Masks are worn while inside except in “vaccinated only” areas (there are very few kids on this sailing…in fact the ship is at 38% occupancy with about 1500 passengers)

 

Masks can be removed in 270, The Royal Theatre level 4, all restaurants while eating, the Casino, Music Hall level 3, Solarium. They have to be worn in the hall ways, moving from venue to venue and when walking around the Windjammer.

 

Other tidbits of interest…the ship seems so empty..I have no idea what everyone is doing but we certainly haven’t seen many people. Tomorrow is our first port day so maybe I will feel differently. The food has been exceptional. We had dinner last night in Coastal Kitchen…amazing. (We are in a JS and didn’t have to knock on the door 🤪) Service has been exemplary across all venues. Windjammer food quality on this ship seems superior to any RCCL ship or sailing pre-Covid. Special shout out to the cinnamon rolls at breakfast this morning. 😬I can confirm that the diamond drink vouchers are loaded on our cards and are good everywhere except the Bionic Bar. You can tell the crew is truly joyful to be sailing again. The JS in this class of ship is a game changer for us with the 1.5 baths. 

Tip of the day: Make sure you watch your safety briefing video on the app the day before you cruise. It will be available and you won’t have to deal with it on board. You do have to report to your muster station at your leisure when you board but just get it done ASAP and save the crew the headache of tracking you down, because they will track you down. 

 

I am happy to answer

questions while on board!

 

We're getting aboard on 9/24, for b2b2b. Hopefully we get to experience northern lights! Please do post if you get to see one this week.

[genovesemylove]

Hi, and thanks for the reporting. We board next Friday. Do you know which nights are elegant nights? 

Happy sailing.

[Lorey2007]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:05 AM, twinmommy08 said:

I’m excited about the 1.5 bath JS too! Do you have a 5+ room or a quad? If you’re in a 5+ room, would you mind posting a photo how the  pull out bed looks over the sofa? 
 

Are you traveling with under 18 kids? I hear diamond kids may have drink vouchers too and curious if it’s true. Thank you! 

I have a 5+ JS booked for next August. I have seen a Youtube video of 9210 and 9610 and I do not see where there is a bed that is over the sofa. There is only 2 of us so  I was more interested in the 2 toilets some JS's there is only one toilet that is in the 1/2 bath. Try looking up some Youtube videos.  

 

You have to copy these links to view.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR0ERG9AceA 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkFEDeataZk

Edited September 21, 2021 by Lorey2007