What Is Going On with Ovation?

[BHappy2Day]

The majority of reviews of this new and technology-packed ship are very negative, and the reviews are not on par with other ships.  Much of the criticism is focused on ineptitude of the staff.  We are booked for July 26 sailing to Alaska.  I have set my expectations accordingly low.  Does anyone know what is going on?  Is the leadership on the ship just plain bad?  Or is the ship disconnected from Royal Caribbean standards because its sailings have been in Asia/Australia/Alaska?  Anyone with tips on how to enjoy this ship that most reviewers have panned?

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, BHappy2Day said:

  Does anyone know what is going on? 

You are reading some very bitter people's reviews.

[Oceansaway17]

I did the 11 day first Alaskan cruise and everything about the ship was wonderful.

The crew, the ship, the shows, food was way better than my Serenade ship last year out of Copenhagen.

The Captain was easy to understand and crew was exceptional.

Because there were a lot of crown and anchor folks on board, I would say some folks might be hard to please in regards to voom or drinks

I also felt the mixture of nationalities on this trip made for some rather forward and aggressive behaviour in the buffet. For me I won't be bullied into sharing a table

 

In fact I found some folks who are well travelled to be stand offish as well as critical.

 

Ovation is perfect for Alaska and I got to meet Captain on the All Access tour. Very nice and answered many questions. The ship is a true all weather ship.

 

So do book Ovation as she is a clean and beautiful ship. Only wish she was doing Ketchikan port. Many windows to look out.

[snowdogsmm]

There is a 31 page review by Hoopster95 with several contributors from a recent trip on Ovation that you should check out.  Seemed like a wonderful cruise.

[Cruiser_1977]

@BHappy2Day Please remember that not everyone that cruises uses this forum or others. Most cruisers will not leave a review in either direction. Also, most people that have a positive experience don't bother to leave a review. I managed a small business for a time and it's difficult for businesses to get people to leave a positive comment. I typically disregard negative reviews that complain of subjective topics (price, food, drink selection). Some people expect the staff to be like royal footman (at their beck and call). Others expect them to keep them company and be their "friend". 

 

There are positive reviews out there! Enjoy your cruise 🙂

Edited May 29, 2019 by JennyB1977

[dacsmom]

Since this is only the second sailing of the Ovation in Alaska there are not a lot of reviews out there yet, but other than the Internet being slow, I have not read a bad review yet. I don't know what you are reading. You definitely cannot compare one part of the world with another. I am looking forward to my Ovation cruise in two weeks. If you go on board convinced you will have a bad time then you will. A cruise is what you make of it. 

[Beav1279]

I'm booked on Ovation in 2020, so I've been keeping up with the reviews. The majority of the negative nellies seem to be those who did the Hawaii --> Vancouver trip, as RCI changed their ports in Hawaii because of Coast Guard inspections. All of the blogs/reviews I've read from people on the Vancouver --> Seattle trip had nothing but great things to say (minus the issues with internet)!

Edited May 29, 2019 by Beav1279

[Trixie21]

Agree with the previous couple of posts. I have read several reviews from the 11 day and some from the current 7 day and they are overwhelmingly positive. We have booked for 14th June and I for one cannot wait!!

[taglovestocruise]

3 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

The majority of reviews of this new and technology-packed ship are very negative, and the reviews are not on par with other ships.  Much of the criticism is focused on ineptitude of the staff.  We are booked for July 26 sailing to Alaska.  I have set my expectations accordingly low.  Does anyone know what is going on?  Is the leadership on the ship just plain bad?  Or is the ship disconnected from Royal Caribbean standards because its sailings have been in Asia/Australia/Alaska?  Anyone with tips on how to enjoy this ship that most reviewers have panned?

Most of the reviews are from Westerners sailing Ovation in China.  Totally different demographics and cultural way of life. Look for sailings out of Sydney going to the South Pacific Islands or NZ and the reviews are excellent. 

[BHappy2Day]

I am glad that people are sticking up for the ship--that's a positive sign.  But I am not pulling bad reviews from thin air.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=985

 

The ships overall Cruise Critic reviewer rating is 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.  Last 15 review--ratings and headers--spanning from March to May 2019--were as follows:

Rating 1.  "Thumbs Down-No Ovation"

Rating 2.  "Excuse After Excuse"

Rating 2.  "Incompetent or Didn't Care.  Hard to Tell"

Rating 2.  "Ovation Hawaii Cruise--What a Nightmare"

Rating 2.  "Ship Is Beautiful But Terrible Itineraries and Food"

Rating 2.  "Disappointing"

Rating 2.  "Not the Best RCL Experience"

Rating 3.  "All Bells No Whistles"

Rating 2.  "Somewhat Disappointing"

Rating 2.  "Repositioning Cruise Sydney to Honolulu.  3 Days in Sydney and 2 Days in Honolulu"

Rating 5.  "Fabulous Cruise"

Rating 3.  "RC Good for Some, Not for Me"

Rating 2.  "Great Anniversary Cruise"

Rating 4.  "Bora Bora Was the Highlight"

Rating 2.  "She Ain't Pretty, She Just Looks That Way"

 

If Ovation is misrepresented, perhaps those who love her are not writing reviews on Cruise Critic.

 

Regardless, OF COURSE I will have a good time and appreciate the luxury and privilege of seeing beautiful Alaska from such an amazing platform.

 

 

 

[nelblu]

You should go back and read the terrible reviews of Quantum, sister ship, when she initially sailed from Bayonne.  One of the biggest gripes, outside of Dynamic Dining, was no Royal Promenade.  I enjoy this class of ships second to the Oasis class and have 3 upcoming Anthem cruises.

 

 

[Clarea]

56 minutes ago, nelblu said:

 ... One of the biggest gripes, outside of Dynamic Dining, was no Royal Promenade. ...

 

And no Viking Crown!

[nelblu]

11 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

And no Viking Crown!

Forgot about that, and now there's none on Oasis Classes or any other upcoming classes.

[AlanF65]

5 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

The majority of reviews of this new and technology-packed ship are very negative, and the reviews are not on par with other ships.  Much of the criticism is focused on ineptitude of the staff.  We are booked for July 26 sailing to Alaska.  I have set my expectations accordingly low.  Does anyone know what is going on?  Is the leadership on the ship just plain bad?  Or is the ship disconnected from Royal Caribbean standards because its sailings have been in Asia/Australia/Alaska?  Anyone with tips on how to enjoy this ship that most reviewers have panned?

 

Read this live review from last 5-13 through 5-24. There are some issues on the ship but I think overall everyone had a great time.

 

[Bradison]

We had the same worry before our Anthem cruise 2 years ago.  Reviews were absolutely horrible and we were worried that it was going to be bad.  Despite the crappy weather out of NJ in March (who decided to cruise out of NJ in March anyway?) the ship and crew were great.

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

I am glad that people are sticking up for the ship--that's a positive sign.  But I am not pulling bad reviews from thin air.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=985

 

The ships overall Cruise Critic reviewer rating is 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.  Last 15 review--ratings and headers--spanning from March to May 2019--were as follows:

Rating 1.  "Thumbs Down-No Ovation"

Rating 2.  "Excuse After Excuse"

Rating 2.  "Incompetent or Didn't Care.  Hard to Tell"

Rating 2.  "Ovation Hawaii Cruise--What a Nightmare"

Rating 2.  "Ship Is Beautiful But Terrible Itineraries and Food"

Rating 2.  "Disappointing"

Rating 2.  "Not the Best RCL Experience"

Rating 3.  "All Bells No Whistles"

Rating 2.  "Somewhat Disappointing"

Rating 2.  "Repositioning Cruise Sydney to Honolulu.  3 Days in Sydney and 2 Days in Honolulu"

Rating 5.  "Fabulous Cruise"

Rating 3.  "RC Good for Some, Not for Me"

Rating 2.  "Great Anniversary Cruise"

Rating 4.  "Bora Bora Was the Highlight"

Rating 2.  "She Ain't Pretty, She Just Looks That Way"

 

If Ovation is misrepresented, perhaps those who love her are not writing reviews on Cruise Critic.

 

Regardless, OF COURSE I will have a good time and appreciate the luxury and privilege of seeing beautiful Alaska from such an amazing platform.

 

 

 

Customer service for 30yrs. People are more likely to comment on negative, rare that someone shares a good/great experience

[FLACRUISER99]

5 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

The majority of reviews of this new and technology-packed ship are very negative, and the reviews are not on par with other ships.  Much of the criticism is focused on ineptitude of the staff.  We are booked for July 26 sailing to Alaska.  I have set my expectations accordingly low.  Does anyone know what is going on?  Is the leadership on the ship just plain bad?  Or is the ship disconnected from Royal Caribbean standards because its sailings have been in Asia/Australia/Alaska?  Anyone with tips on how to enjoy this ship that most reviewers have panned?

Wow, I just got off 5/24 and thought it was one of my best ones ever😁

[Hoopster95]

6 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

The majority of reviews of this new and technology-packed ship are very negative, 

 

The majority of the reviews on the Review section of CC are negative for every ship. People go on there predominantly to complain. I have refused to read anything on there for years.

 

You want to read a review from the actual Alaskan sailing with contributions from many cruisers just like you voicing their opinion? Read my review from last week (link already posted for you) of the very first Alaskan sailing. I did not meet or speak with anyone having a bad time... and I always meet a lot of people 😊

 

Pictures say 1000 words.

 

 

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

4 hours ago, BHappy2Day said:

I am glad that people are sticking up for the ship--that's a positive sign.  But I am not pulling bad reviews from thin air.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=985

 

The ships overall Cruise Critic reviewer rating is 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.  Last 15 review--ratings and headers--spanning from March to May 2019--were as follows:

Rating 1.  "Thumbs Down-No Ovation"

Rating 2.  "Excuse After Excuse"

Rating 2.  "Incompetent or Didn't Care.  Hard to Tell"

Rating 2.  "Ovation Hawaii Cruise--What a Nightmare"

Rating 2.  "Ship Is Beautiful But Terrible Itineraries and Food"

Rating 2.  "Disappointing"

Rating 2.  "Not the Best RCL Experience"

Rating 3.  "All Bells No Whistles"

Rating 2.  "Somewhat Disappointing"

Rating 2.  "Repositioning Cruise Sydney to Honolulu.  3 Days in Sydney and 2 Days in Honolulu"

Rating 5.  "Fabulous Cruise"

Rating 3.  "RC Good for Some, Not for Me"

Rating 2.  "Great Anniversary Cruise"

Rating 4.  "Bora Bora Was the Highlight"

Rating 2.  "She Ain't Pretty, She Just Looks That Way"

 

If Ovation is misrepresented, perhaps those who love her are not writing reviews on Cruise Critic.

 

Regardless, OF COURSE I will have a good time and appreciate the luxury and privilege of seeing beautiful Alaska from such an amazing platform.

 

 

 

 

Ok, I went and read all of those reviews.

 

I will start by saying that unless you have NEVER been on any cruise before, you would see them for what they are.  From the dates on your profile, clearly you are not a new cruiser.

 

Only two of these reviews talked negatively about the crew. One of those said that everyone was wonderful with the exception of a single person, and they were cancelling their three upcoming cruises because this person was so bad.  Now, THERE is a rational person.

 

The "great anniversary cruise" review, with 2 stars, was clearly a mistake.  They LOVED their cruise.  All of the individual ratings were 4 & 5.  Clearly this person made a mistake (or the website did) in having the overall rating be a 2.

 

Half of the negative reviews were, as noted by others on this thread, people who were very unhappy on the Hawaii cruise because of the changes that Royal Caribbean made.

 

A couple of people disliked things that they would have known had they done even the minimal amount of planning or researching before the cruise.

 

In summary, I can't believe that you would start to think that you shouldn't go on the Ovation because of the reviews that you cited.  

 

In other words, go on your cruise and judge for yourself.  And if you have a good time, POST A REVIEW in the review section.  Then you can balance out the negatives.  🙂

 

BTW, with one exception, the CC names of the reviewers are NOT known on this board.  They didn't take the time and effort to find out about RC cruises before, but found the website in order to complain.

 

Then there was the reviewer who wrote her negative review on Day 2 of her cruise...…………………..

 

 

 

[TravelerThom]

2 hours ago, Bradison said:

...who decided to cruise out of NJ in March anyway?...

I’ll assume YOU. 

[twangster]

Fantastic recent experience on Ovation. 

 

I have three more booked on her including one I booked after sailing the May 13th cruise.  I wouldn't book her again if it was a bad experience.

[BHappy2Day]

Again, I am happy to see so many stick up for Ovation.  

 

I subscribed to the Hoopster95 thread and read it.  The photos were beautiful, and clearly much work and energy went into this very well done and comprehensive daily report.  

 

Ovation and Quantum are dead last in the RCCL line up overall reviews, which considering the newness and innovation in these ships, surprises me--that's where I am coming from.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=32&section=Reviews

But, posters on this thread discount the reviews, and I guess there is no consensus that a systemic problem exists.

 

That said, I will write a review at the end of my cruise.  I will absolutely have a blast even if there are hiccups on Ovation. 

 

[Darstime]

I was on the Hawaii to Vancouver cruise and besides the ever changing ports I had a fantastic time. They have a room called the 270 that is in the back of the ship and it more than makes up fo the crown room. It’s bigger has a very large dance floor and there are many things done in there 

we are booked to go next year. 

[patreke]

I was on the Hawaii to Vancouver leg.  Yes there were some issues, tenders into Maui didn't go especially well due to weather one day and there was a long wait the next day.  There were some itinerary changes and unfortunately disembarkation in Vancouver was late and luggage was quite disorganized( i think there is some blame for the port people here as well)

But, in my opinion, the attitude of a lot of cruisers was so negative about the itinerary changes that no matter what the crew did, no matter what Royal did, there was no way they were going to be positive about anything.  For me this pervasive negative attitude on the part of the cruisers was one of the worst parts of the cruise.   If I were you, I wouldn't give those reviews a lot of weight in your overall assessment of the ship.   FYI, I have booked Ovation again for 2021.

[twangster]

Maybe I should write a bad review to scare people away so fares drop and I can sail on her to Alaska again cheaply.  Hmmm.  

 

I wouldn't do that.  I like Anthem and I like Ovation.  Different from other ships in the fleet but in a good way.  If every ship was identical just a different size that would get boring and there would be no reason to sail different ships.  

 

There is a lot to like about Ovation and North Star in Alaska is awesome.  So much about Ovation in Alaska is awesome.