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drummerdavebmth

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    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by drummerdavebmth

    Ok...let's get back to the review.

     

    After trying not to look too smug during breakfast (knowing we were staying on the ship), I decided I was going to make the most of the Solarium area whilst it was pretty much empty!!

     

    On the way the Solarium Bistro, I realised I hadn't yet taken a photo of the indoor swimming pool...so, here it is..

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

     

    Whilst I was chilling out in one of my favourite places on Ovation....Jen was taking advantage of a nearly empty ship, now that disembarkation had completed. She had taken her GoPro camera on a tour (yes, she'll be editing all the footage to put up on YouTube...I'll keep you posted on that) and had filmed all the staff getting ready for the next guests.

     

    As the next cruise was to be the official Inaugural cruise (Joff Eaton repeatedly referred to the 3-nighter as the pre-inaugural), the staff were putting balloons up again and Champagne was being poured.

     

    Jen kindly brought me up a glass......I didn't even have to leave my sun bed!!

     

     

    This is the life!

     

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1607/26315686760_fbd99c5a5f_b.jpg' alt='26315686760_fbd99c5a5f_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by drummerdavebmth

    Nice review Dave.

     

    I will be interested to hear your final thoughts especially as you hint that it was different to other RCI cruises.

     

    Have to say that it was our first RCI cruise and frankly has put us off the brand completely. We have previously sailed with P&O, Celebrity, Carnival and Princess. Our companions were seasoned RCI cruisers and felt it hugely different from their previous experiences.

     

    I believe myself that the ship is SO focussed on the Chinese market that it is almost a sub division of RCI.

     

    Your food looks great. Ours was appalling in two restaurants and OK only in others.

     

     

    Hi there......I'm sorry to hear you've been put off RCI. We have only sailed on RCI ships (so far), but we wouldn't rush to sail on a Quantum class ship again - if the itinerary was right we'd certainly consider it though.

     

    Personally, I think it would be unfair to judge RCI as a brand/company on your experience on 'Ovation of the Seas'. She is one of the Quantum class ships that were always presented as something different from RCI (with new concepts such as Dynamic Dinning etc...which is always going to divide opinion). Also, you have to consider Ovation being a brand new ship with new staff etc, so there is bound to be some teething issues to get ironed out.

     

    Obviously, without having a proper conversation with you with regards to what you find enjoyable and important to you on a cruise - but I'd certainly recommend RCI Radiance class ships. We honeymooned on 'Serenade of the Seas' for 12 nights (photo review in my signature) and found it very relaxing with excellent food and service and great public areas.

     

    I wouldn't judge RCI as a brand on your experience on a brand new to the market Quantum class ship.

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    The next morning, we woke up back in Southampton with glorious April weather...

     

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

     

    I'd like to take this time to give my thoughts to the cruise so far (i.e. the 3-nighter). Jen and I had never done a 3 night cruise before, and most probably wouldn't do it again (we added the 3 nights on to our original booking of the 5 night cruise).

     

    I'm sure the majority of guests on the 3 nighter were either:

     

    a) Seasoned cruisers of RCI, checking out this class of ship.

    b) Seasoned cruisers loyal to other lines, checking out this ship and RCI in general.

    c) Seasoned Cruisers, looking for a relaxing short-break on a luxurious ship.

    d) First time cruisers, checking out if cruising would be for them.

     

    Unfortunately, there also seemed to be quite a bit of...

     

    e) People, who had never cruised before and only booked this because they got a cheap last minute deal, treating this 3-nighter as a chance to get drunk and yobbish every night (being rude to bar staff etc). A booze cruise, essentially. They were in the minority, but it was still very noticeable to us.

     

    The feel on the ship was definitely more relaxed (feeling more like a normal cruise) on the 5-nighter part of our holiday, compared to the first 3 nights.

     

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

    p><p>Because we had completed every thing online for the second cruise (including taking photo

     

    This became one of our favourite places to have breakfast (along with 270).

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1632/26303289060_88ba067d64_b.jpg' alt='26303289060_88ba067d64_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by drummerdavebmth

    Dave

    What a brilliant review, easily the best I've read on here and I've read hundreds over the years. The ship looks incredible.

    My family are booked on Voyager of the Seas from Sydney to Singapore in April 2017 but after reading your review we are very tempted to cancel the Voyager and book the Ovation Sydney to Singapore in February 2017.

    I would be interested to know your opinion. After cruising on the Ovation do you think it is worth paying double the cost to that of a cruise on the Voyager for the same itinerary and number of nights?

     

    Glad you're enjoying the review...

     

    Hard to say whether you should change from Voyager to Ovation. Jen and I really liked our holiday on Ovation, but (and I'll go into this further in my summing up at the end), it didn't have quite the same feel as other RCI ships we've sailed on - although we knew this would be the case ahead of the cruise.

     

    You'd have a fantastic time on either ship......although I wouldn't say Ovation is worth double the price, in all honesty. This is just my opinion though.

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by drummerdavebmth

    Thanks for all your comments guys......

     

    @NikkiandMom - I wasn't sure about whether the ship was near capacity, however 'jammer1000' says there was 4,200 passengers on the 3-nighter out of a possible 4,900 (source of info: Guest Services). I'm not sure about the 5-nighter.

     

     

    @jdshomer - Yes, that was Belle and she'll be staying on the ship all the way to Australia & Asia after Joff leaves to join Indy.

     

     

     

     

    So, we had booked 'Spectra's Cabaret' online prior to the cruise for the last night of the 3-nighter. We eagerly made our way to 270 at the aft of the ship for the performance. All those who had pre-booked were recommended arriving 15 minutes early, as they would be opening up the rest of the seating for those who hadn't booked 10 minutes before the performance...

     

    The show was amazing.....A real treat for your eyes!

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

    As well as 'Spectra's Cabaret' in 270 they also decided to go ahead with two performances of Dream' in the main theatre. They originally weren't going to put on this show for the 3-nighter (we'd already made reservations for it on the last night of the 5-nighter), but they obviously felt they were ready. It was made clear, however, that it was being treated as dress/technical rehearsal open to the passengers to watch - a bit of an added bonus for those passengers on the 3-nighter who otherwise wouldn't have seen it at all....

     

    After the 'Spectra's Cabaret', Jen was feeling tired and went to our room to read her book and chill. I decided to stay up for a while longer to check out one of the bands 'Wild Boys' in the Music Hall. They were really good and I saw them a couple of times over our 8 nights onboard.

     

    comedian (who

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1669/25973278703_4c2b85c56e_b.jpg' alt='25973278703_4c2b85c56e_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

    Now it was my turn to retire to our stateroom. I was looking forward to tomorrow as it would be our first B2B turnaround day experience......the day turned out to be really great, seamless and enjoyable!!

     

     

    Stay tuned.... :)

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Good Morning day 3!!!

     

    Today was a sea day....

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

    p><p><img src= by , on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

    We then explored some more before getting some hot-tub action in....

     

    <!--url{12}--><a href=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1505/26483872612_a6d8e8af0f_b.jpg' alt='26483872612_a6d8e8af0f_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Thanks everyone....glad you're enjoying the review. For all those booked on this ship, you're info a treat. There is lots to love!

     

     

    So, we took our B52's from the Schooner bar with us for a bit of a stroll (via the Bionic Bar and Music Hall) and eventually ended the evening chilling out and people watching and chatting. They have some really nice "chill-out seats" opposite Vintages.

     

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1596/25973312963_e33dc829f4_b.jpg' alt='25973312963_e33dc829f4_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Thanks everyone for your kinds words.....I'm glad you are enjoying the review so far.

     

    @Pipo The ship did have a nice new smell, all the carpets smelt new (not that I was going around sniffing all the carpets - I'm weird, but not that weird!!)

     

     

    Anyway, where were we?

     

     

    After our little explore of the gym, followed by some quality swimming and hot tub action (the front hot tubs of the Solarium + over looking the suspension bridge and Rotterdam skyline = Amazing!), we got ready for dinner. Whilst we got ready, Ovation was bidding farewell to Rotterdam as we started to sail away....

     

    We went via Vintages for some Prosecco to take with us to dinner...

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

     

    Tonight we were in American Icon (one of my personal favourites of the DD options). I was very pleased as we were shown to our table for two by the window......Result!!!

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

    It was starting to get dark now, which enabled me to take some photo's of outside as well as a reflection of the dinning room....

     

    p><p>All along the river route, people were lining up taking photo

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1451/26303344590_a8486587f4_b.jpg' alt='26303344590_a8486587f4_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Great photos Dave, I'm still trying to come to terms with being back home, your review is helping me to cope too :D

     

    Apparently the bears have a working title at the moment of just Mamma & baby as stated in The Art Collection book.

     

    Thanks.....Yeah, Jen just pointed it out to me too (regarding the Panda name's).

     

    We're sad to be home too......I'm writing this review as therapy! :p

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Eventually, we decided to make our way back to the ship as I heard the Windjammer, very closely followed by the hot tubs, calling me....

     

     

     

    There she is waiting for us.....doesn't she look great? So many of the locals were stopping and taking photo's of her along the bridge.

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

     

    Back on board, we decided to have a bit of a wander before hitting the pools/hot tubs......taking in some of the interesting artwork.

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by drummerdavebmth

    Finally we found what we were looking for.....the 'Markthal' building. It has apartments on the outside.......with their windows also looking inwards (similar, I guess, to the Royal Promenade on RCI ships).

     

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

    p><p>We walked around to the other side......I

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1457/26550098136_ef2fe04318_b.jpg' alt='26550098136_ef2fe04318_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

    Ovation of the Seas - Inaugural B2B cruise review (with lot's of photo's!!)

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Back in our stateroom got ourselves ready for the day ahead. We planned on visiting Rotterdam's famous 'Markthal' http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/oct/02/-sp-rotterdam-markthal-superdutch-market-mvrdv which got very good reviews on Trip Advisor.

     

     

     

    Jen took the time to admire the Rotterdam skyline from our balcony...

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

     

     

    We were greeted off the ship by this rather finely dress gentleman......oh, and more balloons!

     

    p><p><img src=Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

     

    p><p>Making our way across Rotterdam

     

    <a href=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1452/26510468601_6f1439398b_b.jpg' alt='26510468601_6f1439398b_b.jpg'>Untitled by drummerdave72, on Flickr[/img]

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