Seabourn Ovation Inaugural Cruise -- OUTSTANDING

My wife and I just disembarked Ovation after 35 days, Venice to Amsterdam. And although we aren't prolific message board posters, we thought that this experience deserved a writeup since it is a brand new ship with what appears to be significant interest.

OVERALL --- This cruise could not have been better! We don't have nearly the number of days sailed on Seabourn as many others (about 130 days on Seabourn (Pride, Quest, Sojourn, and now Ovation), 42 on Regent, 21 on HAL, 7 on Celebrity, 7 on Carnival). But we have enough experience to know that Ovation is an absolutely gorgeous ship, was prepared beautifully, served by an outstanding crew in every department, and provided us an experience that far surpassed our expectation and which we shall never forget. BRAVO, BRAVO, to Ovation and her Crew!!!!!

Physical Ship --- Since this was her maiden voyage, we were slightly apprehensive that there would be many "punchlist" items that would be annoyances. Were there some "punchlist" items - yes. Were they nearly invisible to passengers - yes. The decoration and appointment of public areas is elegantly understated, and beautifully rendered. Especially the Keller restaurant and Grill are done in a lovely art deco themed motif that evokes the best of a nearly bygone era of sophistication. The restaurant is slightly larger, but at the same time much quieter (enabling pleasant conversation at dinner) than we recall from the Quest. Seabourn Square is enlarged and provides ample public space even on rainy sea days. The coffee bar is much enlarged and extremely well appointed. The Colonnade is larger and reconfigured to provide more room between tables that makes it very comfortable, and added windows make it very bright and a feeling of airiness. The outside deck areas of Seabourn Square (deck 7), the Club (deck 5), the Observation Bar (deck 11) and the Colonnade are significantly larger than the Odyssey class ships. And the outside area of Deck 8 is now connected by staircase to the Colonnade from inside, is large and comfortable, and provides a fresh salad bar for lunch at which you can also order the lunch specials of standard order items (e.g. hamburger, hot dog, etc) from the Colonnade, a smoothie bar for breakfast and was always uncrowded and quiet. And Ovation is BY FAR the quietest, smoothest sailing vessel we have ever been on. Our suite was deck 6 mid-ships, and with the exception of 8 hours one day in 40 knot winds we hard a difficult time knowing that we were moving at all, let alone at sea.

Food - The best we have ever experienced. Period. Bar none. Not even close...... the best variety, quality, taste, presentation, timeliness of service ever. In all venues. Keller restaurant has the same menu each night, with a daily addition of a daily special starter and main. So while there is not much day to day variety there, the menu does include a couple of seafood, a couple of steaks, veal, pork, chicken, and vegetarian. We didn't find the food quality there to be any better or worse than in the main restaurant. (so it is not The French Laundry at sea) But it was excellent everywhere.

Service - As with physical readiness for the inaugural cruise, we were slightly concerned that this 20% increase in Seabourn capacity would diminish the service levels. It did not diminish it whatsoever. In fact, the service levels were the highest we have ever experienced. This may be due to the fact that the "A" team of officers in all department was clearly present. We were also concerned that the service would diminish after the Seabourn corporate executives (ALL senior corporate brass were onboard from Venice) left the ship after Malta. Again, we perceived absolutely no change from of the highest level of service throughout the entire 35 days we were aboard. We were consistently called by our name from staff from the first time we ever set eyes on them (or they on us). How do they do that with more than 500 passengers on board???

Inaugural festivities - We had heard the horror stories of the event for Encore. Seabourne obviously did, too -- and the festivities were well done, memorable, and appropriate to make every guest come away with a very special memory. Elaine Paige sang beautifully, the speeches were short and targeted to appreciating the guests, Tim Rice was engaging and very approachable , Adam Tihany and Dr, Andrew Weill were available and interesting, and all members of the Seabourn executive team spent time mingling with and appreciating guests while getting feedback. It felt like a real family event over 11 days pulled of with class and style.

Lastly, I can't close without appreciating and honoring Handre. He is a most gentle man and a gentlemen, and this was the second time we have had the pleasure to benefit from his talents as CD. His contribution to making this inaugural cruise so smooth and enjoyable was evident. His thumbprint was on many special moments.

We wouldn't hesitate for a single second to book again on Ovation. And yes, we miss being on her already!

Thanks for the review. How refreshing to read something completely positive!

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. It may encourage those of us who are still wary about taking the plunge and giving the new ships a try.

Glad you had such a great cruise.

You are welcome. I fear I sounded a bit like the Seabourn marketing department, but they earned everything I said. If anyone wants details in any particular area of interest, I'd be happy to share further.

My thoughts exactly Isklaar. . My friends who have done the Encore class ships love to tease me because we are so wary of “big” ships. This reviews add more weight to their arguments that we would likely enjoy the experience (as we did when forced to make the plunge from the little sisters to the Odyssey class). Again Boiler Bill thank you for the review and I’m glad you had an enjoyable cruise.

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Thank you for taking the time to post the review.

I know all experiences are not the same but we had exactly the same sentiments before, on, and post our Encore cruise last year. We were hesitant before, had the best cruise ever and didn’t want to get off.

Glad you had a fabulous cruise and I hope we have the same experience when we board in October.

I totally agree with you comments on Handre, he is a special person (we have cruised with him twice) and hope he is still on in October.

Thank you for the wonderful review - I agree with everything you say (we reluctantly left in Lisbon).

One thing you didn’t mention was the vastly improved internet. The speed is as good as on land - we were able to stream a very important football game!

I hope Seabourn know and appreciate how good Handre is. He is such a hard worker and appears to genuinely enjoy what he does.

We loved Ovation so much we have booked another trip on her (in the same room) and although we have sailed on all of the ships, from now on, she maybe our go to ship.

So lovely to read the positive reports from Joc and Bill. I must admit we were on Encore's inauguration and were disappointed but friends have convinced us to try her again in July. We also have been persuaded to try Ovation with other friends. These positive comments certainly help relieve these concerns.

Julie

We are on the Ovation next February (Hong Kong to Hong Kong) and can't wait to see the new ship. We loved Handre when he was CD for the 2010 World Cruise on the Odyssey. We even bought 2 of his CD's. Wonder if he will still be on in February??

I wanted to add my two cents, as we were on the second sailing, from Barcelona to Lisbon. I agree with most of what has been said, with a couple of areas of disagreement. I also thought the ship was lovely, and other than around the pool, it did not really feel bigger to me.

There were a couple of shakeout issues, including the fact that our toiled leaked (inflow not outflow, luckily) and the televisions in our fire zone had problems and kept having to be rebooted, which was an annoyance especially since Seabourn Square did not get the message promptly to IT the first few times, because IT could reboot remotely and immediately once they were informed. Although we thought it was an annoyance, at least one gentleman thought it more than that, as I heard him complaining loudly in Seabourn Square and demanding a refund. We were delivered an apology letter at the end of the cruise and encouraged to contact corporate guest services, which I did. They promptly replied with an offer of a complimentary Silver wine package on our next cruise, which I thought was very generous, especially since anyone going on a second sailing should be prepared for shakeout issues, which I was.

As for staff, I agree most of them were terrific, even better than on many recent cruises, with several of them calling me by name, and knowing my morning tea order or evening cocktail by the second day. This was a pleasant surprise because I had prepared myself for inexperience staff. A couple of bar staff were very new, however, and did not know basic terms like "neat" or "twist." In once instance, the bartender came over and apologized for his bar waiter's lack of experience and to double check and make sure he got the order right. His service made up for the inexperience of the waiter. However, this is also the first cruise where I had a problem with our stewardess. It started when there was no hair dryer in the room, which I did not notice till I got out of the shower, with soaking wet hair, and it was not in the drawer of the vanity, as usual. I called guest services and told them it was missing (and that I was sitting there with wet hair). When a dryer did not arrive within 30 minutes, I put on a robe and looked in the hall and our stewardess with chatting with other guest, holding a brand new dryer. I had to go out and get it from her, and she said that the ship originally did not have enough driers and they had to go out and buy more. This sounded odd, and we confirmed later with Seabourn Square that his was not true, she was just covering for not having checked the room. After that we virtually never saw her, while other stewardesses were in the hall, she was nowhere to be seen. That being said, our room was serviced promptly most days, although on a couple of mornings, although we had our service sign out by 8:00, the room was still not serviced by 10:30 or 11:00, which is something we never experienced on other cruises.

Food is subjective, and we thought the food was fine, about the same as on the other Seabourn ships. I guess I consider myself a foodie, and I don't expect gourmet food on any cruise ship. We enjoyed the sushi restaurant which, while a little hokey with the Japanese greetings and formalities, was a welcome addition. One thing I noticed is that the menus in the main dining room have gone back to listing first courses, second courses and entrees, instead of appetizers, soups and salad and entrees. I think this encourages people to order an appetizer, soup or salad and then an entree, whereas when the menu was only broken down into categories, I think people felt if they ordered more than one starter and an entree they were over ordering. With the portion sizes being relatively small, depending on what I ordered, sometimes I ordered three courses, sometimes only two. The waiters seemed to expect everyone to order three.

And last but not least, as mentioned, Handre. This was my third cruise sailing with him. Were were again greeted by hugs when we boarded, and he always makes the cruise more enjoyable. He knows his guests and how to interact with each of them accordingly. Plus, he really seems to like his job which makes any cruise with him a pleasure.

In sum, I would be happy to sail on the Ovation again if the itinerary were right. We already have two more cruised booked, but they are both on Odyssey class ships, based solely on the itinerary.

We enjoyed the sushi restaurant which, while a little hokey with the Japanese greetings and formalities, was a welcome addition.

In Japan, as well as many Japanese restaurants worldwide, it is customary for the staff to welcome customers, as soon as they step into the premise, with an enthusiastic greeting:

Irasshaimase(いらっしゃいませ)

Absolutely nothing "hokey" about that; au contraire, it would be considered rude without a friendly and hearty greeting, especially in small and intimate establishments.

Has anyone used the heated tile beds in the spa? What is the cost of the spa per day (not services; just use of the tile beds)? Thanks in advance

Has anyone used the heated tile beds in the spa? What is the cost of the spa per day (not services; just use of the tile beds)? Thanks in advance

I’ve used them on the Odyssey-class ships. They are nice for small periods but about 15-20 minutes is my limit - they aren’t comfortable for long periods.

You can purchase a day pass for the Serene Area (where these are located) or if you are a club member at Silver or above, you can pick a day as an amenity choice. Or you can purchase unlimited full cruise access for a set fee that varies from cruise to cruise.

I was a newbie on the first three segments on the Ovation and it definitely surpassed my expectations. Seabourn will be my favorite cruise line from now on.

Has anyone used the heated tile beds in the spa? What is the cost of the spa per day (not services; just use of the tile beds)? Thanks in advance

Updating to answer that the published price for Thermal Suite/Serenity Area access is $99/day for one or $150/day for a couple. I would encourage you to ask about the “full cruise” price which in my experience has been anywhere from $199-$399 per suite for the duration of the sailing.

In Japan, as well as many Japanese restaurants worldwide, it is customary for the staff to welcome customers, as soon as they step into the premise, with an enthusiastic greeting:

 

 

Irasshaimase(いらっしゃいませ)

 

Absolutely nothing "hokey" about that; au contraire, it would be considered rude without a friendly and hearty greeting, especially in small and intimate establishments.

I think by"hokey" the poster means it is "hokey" that the greeting is shouted by somebody that is (probably) not Japanese, just some person dressed up as such.

A bit like Japanese in Dirndl and Lederhosen in a beer pub in Tokyo

😉

Thanks to both for your answers. Wow, $99 per day seems steep. I paid $149 for 14 days on Celebrity to access their beds/steam and sauna. Then again, I’ve never been on a 6 star so maybe Chipindales will come and feed me peeled grapes while fanning me. haha. I’ll check into the full cruise price while onboard.

Are we all doing a meet and mingle?

Jan Gradowitz

Updating to answer that the published price for Thermal Suite/Serenity Area access is $99/day for one or $150/day for a couple. I would encourage you to ask about the “full cruise” price which in my experience has been anywhere from $199-$399 per suite for the duration of the sailing.

Well, I just went to add our names to Meet and Mingle and Seabourn isn’t one of the cruise line choices. Interesting.

Thanks to both for your answers. Wow, $99 per day seems steep. I paid $149 for 14 days on Celebrity to access their beds/steam and sauna. Then again, I’ve never been on a 6 star so maybe Chipindales will come and feed me peeled grapes while fanning me. haha. I’ll check into the full cruise price while onboard.

Are we all doing a meet and mingle?

Jan Gradowitz

Seabourn doesn’t host Meet & Mingles but it isn’t hard to meet people on board.

I’ve never heard of anyone paying the daily rate for Thermal Suite access. If people want it, they usually do the full cruise special price. I think Seabourn artificially inflates the daily price because it’s one of the “free” perk options that members can pick with Seabourn Club status.