Our First Royal Caribbean Cruise - Ovation of the Seas (Alaska)

[djbrew67]

Hi everyone,

 

We just came back from our very first Royal Caribbean Cruise on the Ovation of the Seas. We sailed May 27th - June 3rd from Seattle with stops in Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, and Victoria. We won our RoyalUp bid for a Grand Suite, so we were able to travel first-class for our first Royal Caribbean outing. We had amazing weather for the entire trip and an overall great time. I will be writing up a more detailed Cruise Report over the weekend.

 

We are putting out travel vlogs from the cruise if you are interested in seeing more:

 

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, djbrew67 said:

I will be writing up a more detailed Cruise Report over the weekend.

Welcome to CC.

[DonnaK]

Very informative and entertaining.  We are going on Ovation in August.

 

Do you recommend Hyatt Place Downtown?

[djbrew67]

Absolutely. It is in a great location and was only $197 a night. They have a shuttle that will take you to the cruise terminal leaving every 30 minutes (it is $10 a passenger). Approximately a 10 minute ride in traffic.

[Tlbecker1]

We cruised on Ovation B4B last year and loved every minute of it!  Glad that you enjoyed yours also.

[djbrew67]

2 hours ago, Tlbecker1 said:

We cruised on Ovation B4B last year and loved every minute of it!  Glad that you enjoyed yours also.

 

There were definitely some service issues due to staffing shortages, but on the whole it was a great cruise. Having access to the concierge lounge and Coastal Kitchen helped a lot. 

[Surfguyxxx]

16 hours ago, djbrew67 said:

 

My husband and I did a 16 TP on the Ovation and absolutely loved it too.  We were in a CLS  and almost cried when we had to disembark!!  Such a great ship with so much to do.  Loved following along with you on your vlogs.  BTW, huge Disney fans too; let's chat!!! 😅😉😎  

[dman1]

We're heading out next June!  Any suggestions on best deck for balcony?  Also, how about which side of ship to stay on?

[Tlbecker1]

16 minutes ago, dman1 said:

We're heading out next June!  Any suggestions on best deck for balcony?  Also, how about which side of ship to stay on?

We cruised on Ovation 4 times last fall.  Each side was able to see the glacier each week.  The captain did a good job making sure each side had a nice view.  Do not book deck 13, it has an overhang which blocks some of your views.we did deck 13, 12 & 10 and liked them all except for 13.

[djbrew67]

6 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

My husband and I did a 16 TP on the Ovation and absolutely loved it too.  We were in a CLS  and almost cried when we had to disembark!!  Such a great ship with so much to do.  Loved following along with you on your vlogs.  BTW, huge Disney fans too; let's chat!!! 😅😉😎  

I'm curious if Carlington was your conceirge as well? He was great. As for Disney, we may or may not be there right now 😁.

 

One of the benefits of living an hour away.

[Surfguyxxx]

50 minutes ago, djbrew67 said:

I'm curious if Carlington was your conceirge as well? He was great. As for Disney, we may or may not be there right now 😁.

 

One of the benefits of living an hour away.

That name sounds very familiar but couldn't swear by it.  Maybe I'll pop on over to Disney tomorrow and meet you boys  😂😎

[djbrew67]

1 hour ago, Surfguyxxx said:

That name sounds very familiar but couldn't swear by it.  Maybe I'll pop on over to Disney tomorrow and meet you boys  😂😎

We are just at DAK for the day. But we are here all the time so let's plan on meeting soon. We'll even buy the first round. 😁

[djbrew67]

6 hours ago, dman1 said:

We're heading out next June!  Any suggestions on best deck for balcony?  Also, how about which side of ship to stay on?

We were on deck 10 which was great. However, if we hadn't have had perfect weather I don't know that we would have used the balcony at all. The ship has great views from 270 and the Solarium which are inside and publicly accessible. 

 

That being said, Port side is the way to go. 4 out of 5 ports we had a great (non gangway) view of the harbor.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I love Alaska cruises but this will be my first time on the Ovation so it's helpful to hear about other's impressions and experiences. Glad you enjoyed. 🙂 

[Surfguyxxx]

270 was amazing and so my fun.  The shows were fantastic but get there early as it fills up quickly.  

[deliver42]

We were on the Ovation in Alaska last September, and loved it.

[djbrew67]

8 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

270 was amazing and so my fun.  The shows were fantastic but get there early as it fills up quickly.  

We saw "Pixel's Cabaret" in 270 on our ship. It was super energetic and definitely made use of all of the cool features of the venue. I was exhausted just watching the dancers - they were doing a full-on PX90 workout on stage for 40 minutes. 

[Shelbyb6]

On 6/25/2022 at 12:33 PM, dman1 said:

We're heading out next June!  Any suggestions on best deck for balcony?  Also, how about which side of ship to stay on?

We just booked our Alaska cruise this weekend for Next June!

 

[Surfguyxxx]

On 6/26/2022 at 2:51 PM, djbrew67 said:

We saw "Pixel's Cabaret" in 270 on our ship. It was super energetic and definitely made use of all of the cool features of the venue. I was exhausted just watching the dancers - they were doing a full-on PX90 workout on stage for 40 minutes. 

Thinking back, that was the show we had seen too.  I remember one night they had to cancel the show because the 4 huge TV screens that move around were giving them trouble.  Well worth the wait though and yes, watching them perform gave me a workout too 🥵😅

[djbrew67]

Day 2 Vlog is now posted