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I took this photo in La Rochelle when I was waiting for the shuttle to return to the ship. I was near the front at this point and this is only a part of the line behind me as I couldn't even see the end of it.

 

"No such thing as a free bus"

 

 

I've never been to Barcelona so I can't help with your questions. Good that the others could provide answers.

There was no shuttle bus offered in La Coruna because we were docked right next to the town. Views from my balcony, deck 8 port side:

 

 

Looking towards the forward of the ship:

 

Towards the aft, there's a walkable street directly connecting the pier to the town:

 

By the way, this is a great port for taking photos of the ship because of how near it is to town:

 

 

I was on the 7 nights France and Spain itinerary on Anthem last September. I was tidying my home office last weekend and found this in my cruise documents:

I think I received this in my stateroom on day 1. I remember my 1st thought was: "Why wasn't this sent out before embarkation when I was making plans for what to do in the ports?". Shortly after that, my 2nd thought was: "I need to post this on CC for anyone doing these ports next year". 

I didn't have an internet package so it had to wait until I was back on land. Of course when I got home, all my cruise papers got stashed away in a desk drawer for the next 7 months. Anyway, end of my story... I hope this is helpful for those on this year's Anthem cruises. 

 

Here is a photo

 

Here it is again

 

This is an edit

Test 2

 

 

Test 1

The queue for the Bumper Cars was slow moving as there were only 10 - 11 cars active in play, despite the huge arena. The SeapleX could have easily squeezed in 5 more cars. Indeed, at least 3 – 5 were parked stationary INSIDE the arena, around its rim. Another 3 more were parked OUTSIDE the arena, possibly as spares. (SUGGESTION: Increase the number of bumper cars in play to 15 at least to process the queue more quickly.)

I noticed this too. When I asked the staff about it, they said the cars parked outside are being charged at the moment. The cars parked stationary inside the arena had already run out of power and needed to be charged again. The cars have very short battery life, and have to be charged between sessions. Therefore limiting the number of bumper car sessions offered.

I was on the cruise after this. And I can confirm the Windjammer Freestyle machine is still not repaired. They had 2 officers looking at it on my cruise. Then they put up a sign saying that its under maintenance. If you are going on the Ovation once it return to Australia, you can check it out. who knows maybe its still not fixed yet.

 

Coming back to read this review again (I just skimmed through the first time). Did I read correctly that both machines in Sorrento's are also out of service? So only one machine in Seaplex is working now?

Thank you for your very detailed review! It brought back a lot of memories of my Ovation cruise this past January sailing out of Sydney. It seems like there are only minor differences between the Singapore and Sydney cruises, so your review will be a great resource for all future Ovation cruisers. I can't believe the freestyle coke machine in Windjammer is still not fixed since January!

A few threads:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2411674

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2384972

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2398401

There are more photos on Instagram. Including some of Dami Im performing in 270!

http://www.instagram.com/tags/ovationoftheseas

http://www.instagram.com/tags/ovationoftheseas

Try asking on the Australia & NZ Cruisers forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=712

Does anyone know if we will be able to prebook activities on Ovation? I wondering about those of us on the charter and whether we'll miss out due to the lateness of getting our booking numbers.

 

I've heard that some reservations are only available to be booked on the ship. Here's a tip that I read on the RCI board to avoid missing out: Download the Royal IQ app on your phone before leaving home. Plan to arrive at the OPT very early. While you're waiting in the queues to check in, you can actually connect to the ship's WiFi and get onto the Royal IQ app. Make all your reservations before everyone else!

I enjoyed reading the following photo review. It's from the inaugural sailing out of Southampton in April.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2347149

I disembarked in Melbourne from a Golden cruise in February this year. I kept a copy of the disembarkation times schedule. I posted it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49233134&postcount=8

 

Looking at it, you can see that on our cruise there were 4 disembarkation times available for transfers to the airport. Note that the times listed are the onboard lounge meeting times, not when the coach actually departs the terminal.

Hi,

For the following ports, just wondering if there is any need to pre book, or will there be info and stalls set up for day trips. Weather might be an issue if pre paid.

# Tauranga

# Auckland

# Akaroa

# Dunedin

 

Thankyou.

 

 

I did a NZ cruise in February this year on Golden Princess. I didn't have anything pre-booked. All the ports had info stalls set up on the pier, right next to the ship.

 

Tauranga: joined a tour to Rotorua for NZ$140. Included stops at Kiwi 360 and a waterfall (forgot its name).

 

Auckland: our ship docked next to the ferry terminal, in the heart of the city. Many DIY options available here. Public ferry to surrounding islands, hop-on-hop-off bus, public buses, or just walk around the city.

 

Akaroa: joined a dolphin watching tour for NZ$75. Besides dolphins, we also saw some seals and native birds.

 

Dunedin: did the Taieri Gorge train on my own. Took the NZ$15 shuttle bus from the pier to Dunedin. The bus stops at the Octagon. From there, it's a short walk to the railway station. I bought the Taieri Gorge tickets from the counter at the station for approx NZ$90. Please note that doing this on my own without a tour required a bit of careful time planning. I was one of the first people off the ship in the morning when we docked, and took the first shuttle bus leaving from port. I made sure I was able to arrive at the railway station with plenty of time to spare before the train departed.

8pm & 10pm.

 

I had early dinner seating, and was able to catch the 8pm show. Seats in the theater fill up fast. My advice is to plan to arrive at the theater by 7:40pm.

Our stateroom, E728, needed some maintenance, carpet was badly stained, some mildew in the bathroom, couch had holes and what looked like cigarette burns, balcony door would not lock and balcony was badly rusted and corroded.

 

The public areas of the ship were in good condition except doors into the spa pool area were dirty, the bathroom on deck 14 between the pools tiles were loose and most of the Spas (Jacuzzi's) only a few jets worked it any at all. Spas could have used a good cleaning.

 

I was on the Golden 3 months ago in February. I agree that the stateroom had a lot of obvious wear & tear, and needed to be refurbished.

 

As for the jets in the spas, I noticed that they were only working at certain times. Perhaps the pool staff were turning them off when they thought nobody was using them?

 

 

Odd that you didn't have pool towels. There were two in our cabin, near the lifejackets above the hanging space in the wardrobe area. Anyway there was always plenty available around the pools.

 

We had 3 people in our stateroom, but we were only provided 2 pool towels in our wardrobe. As you mentioned, there were plenty available on the pool deck so it's not a major issue.

I was on the Golden 2 months ago in February. Upon boarding the ship, I found out that the drink packages were cheaper to purchase on board than pre-ordering on the cruise personalizer! I don't know if this is always the case, or was it just a special for our sailing?

 

I didn't go to any specialty restaurants, and I enjoyed all my dinners in the MDR. I took photos of some the menus, as well as patters (Princess's daily newsletter/guide), and I've posted them here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2321946

Hi ZXC. My hubby thought the same as you about the production shows. He found them boring. Me! I loved it all. I just wish they would do more of a musical with a story and it went longer. I loved the meals in the dining room, but we only went every second night because hubby loved the buffet. Go figure that out. I couldn't understand him wanting to eat there all the time.

 

Did you enjoy cruising with Princess? And we were so lucky with our weather and the seas weren't we.

 

Thank you for your kind remarks re my cruise review. It sure takes a long time to do one. I didn't realize how long it would take me.

 

Where is your next cruise to? I am also planing my next cruise to.

 

 

I agree that I might've enjoyed the production shows more if they had a story to go with it. I didn't know any of the 60s songs so I just had a hard time relating to them.

 

I ate in the MDR every night and loved it too. Breakfast was always at the buffet because holidays are for sleeping in and the MDR doors were shut by 9:30am. I am a foodie (I live to eat), so I could go on and on about fabulous food on the Golden. Mostly praise... but no one is perfect, right. :rolleyes:

 

We were very lucky with the weather in all the ports. Apart from light showers in Tauranga and windy Wellington. It was warmer than I was expecting and packed for. I had a few outfits for cooler weather that stayed in the back of my stateroom's wardrobe for the entire cruise.

 

In no specific order, on my wish list of future cruises are Alaska, Japan and Baltics! Now I just need to work out a yearly cruise budget and find some good deals that won't break the bank. :)

It's been nearly 2 months since my cruise and I am back on CC to do research for the next one! Since arriving home, I've been super busy readjusting to reality and battling those nasty post-cruise blues. Now that I've settled back into my regular routine, I'm ready and excited to return to the cruise world of CC again!

 

As I mentioned in my last post, a fellow cruiser who was on the same sailing as me has posted an awesome completed review. Please check it out if you haven't yet. I can only dream of writing a review half as a good as that.

 

Well, I am off to do more research for my next cruise. If there are more questions about cruising the Golden Princess and NZ, I'll stick around to answer them.

Thank you so much and well done on your amazing review!

 

I was on the same cruise, and reading this was like going back in a time machine to our wonderful trip 2 months ago. It is interesting seeing it through another person's (your) perspective!

 

For those who have asked, I have also uploaded some MDR dinner menus and patters: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2321946

It drops off in two places, first near the i-Site Visitor Centre in Wakefield St, and then in Brandon St at the corner of Lambton Quay.

 

I was there last month on the Golden Princess. The shuttle bus only dropped off at one place in the city, the corner of Brandon St and Lambton Quay.