ReneeFLL’s Semi-Live Review B2B Ovation TP & NZ Oct 9th - Nov 9th

[rudeney]

Love this! 

 

Don't forget that if skies are clear and Voom is slow to shut your wifi off and back on to connect to a stronger access point.  I do really wish that RCCL would use better mesh routers on the ships.  I think half of the complaints about Voom are the ship's wifi and not the satellite service.

[ReneeFLL]

6 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Thanks for this live review. We’ve done 2 cruises from Hawaii to Vancouver, but adding a TP for the first leg has always been on our bucket list and your review may move it to the top!

Thanks for coming along and hope you enjoy it.

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Following along Renee.

Sounds like awesome cruises you are doing.

Hope you have a wonderful time.

Thanks for coming along.

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Must not have been any picnic getting those tatoos.

Ouch, wonder how far around the front they go? That has to hurt.

 

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I think my trip home from Sydney will take about 2000 hours.🤣

No thanks, I'll stick with my 19 hours.

[meg1021]

I just found this post and will be following along.  We are booked on a B4B in February/March on Brilliance, and even though the majority of the cruise will be the circumnavigation of Australia, we are stopping in NZ on 2 of the segments.  I'll be very interested on your assessment of any tours that you may take.  Thanks for taking the time to post. It's much appreciated.

 

BTW, we did the inaugural sailing of Ovation in 2016, from Barcelona to Beijing.  We love the Anthem class, with the open public spaces, the 270, and the Solarium.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

Thanks for coming along.

Enjoy your cruise

[Tree_skier]

15 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

This will be my first review so hopefully it won’t be to bad. We are sailing on the Ovation Of The Seas. This will be a b2b with the first cruise being a 19 day TP and then an 11 day New Zealand cruise. This is our first time on Ovation and our third time doing a TP since 2017. We originally wanted to do a Northern European cruise, but there wasn’t anything that interested us at the time so we booked this one.

Here is our schedule for the 2 cruises. Any questions regarding the second - New Zealand cruise I will answer them when that cruise starts.

 

Honolulu Oct 5 - 9 Wed - Sun

Honolulu Oct 9 Sun board Ovation 🍹 💃🏼 🍹

Cruising Oct 10 Mon

Cruising Oct 11 Tues

Cruising Oct 12 Wed

Cruising Oct 13 Thur

Cruising Oct 14 Fri

Moorea  Oct 15 Sat 8:00am overnight   

Moorea Oct 16 Sun till 8:00pm

Papeete  Oct 17 Mon 7:00 - 11:59pm

Cruising Oct 18 Tues

Cruising Oct 19 Wed

Cruising Oct 20 Thur

International Date Line Oct 21 Fri

Cruising Oct 22 Sat

Cruising Oct 23 Sun

Napier  Oct 24  Mon 8:00 - 6:00

Wellington  Oct 25  Tues 8:00 - 7:00

Picton  Oct 26  Wed 7:00 - 4:00  

Cruising Oct 27 Thur

Cruising Oct 28 Fri

Sydney Oct 29 Sat

 

B2B   Any questions regarding this cruise I’ll be happy to answer when this one starts.

Sydney Oct 29 Sat

Cruising Oct 30 Sun

Cruising Oct 31 Mon

Milford Sound Nov. 1  Tues 8 - 9   

Doubtful Sound Nov. 1  Tues 1 - 2   

Dusky Sound Nov. 1  Tues 4 - 5   

Dunedin  Nov 2   Wed 12:45 - 9  

Christchurch Lyttelton  Nov. 3  Thur 9:30 - 7  

Wellington  Nov 4   Fri 8 - 6  

Napier  Nov  5   Sat 8 - 5  

Picton  Nov 6   Sun 8 - 5  

Cruising Nov 7 Mon

Cruising Nov 8 Tues

Sydney Nov 9 Wed end of cruise 😭😭😭

Sydney fly back on the 15th

 

On Wednesday Oct 5th we flew to Hawaii. We were originally scheduled to fly from FLL to LAX then to HNL. American Airlines decided to change the flights to FLL to DFW to HNL which left us only 61 min to change aircraft in DFW.  If you have ever passed through DFW, an hour is barely enough time to get from one aircraft to another, likely in different terminals. True to form, we arrived at C22 and were departing from A34.  We made it just as our seating group was being called. Whew!

 

After arriving in Honolulu we took an Uber to the hotel. We stayed at the Hale Koa on Waikiki Beach for 4 days. It’s next door to the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  As usual the check in time took a while. It always seems to there and not sure why. Our room was a partial ocean view this time. As you can see in the pictures it’s a very small ocean view, but we were fine with it. It had a king size bed and a balcony which is nice to sit out there and enjoy coffee, food and drinks.

Oh good God! I have no hope of getting anything done this week for sure now.  I'm so looking forward to following!  This sounds like an epic adventure.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

What an amazing itinerary! Looking forward to following along!

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Have a great time. I love the Ovation, and will bring her back next March on a B5B. It will be my longest cruise yet. I have done Patrick’s twice, and he still remains one of my top excursions. It’s to bad about the rules now.

Thank you for doing the review. 

B5B sounds wonderful. We really wanted to do Patrick's tour again, but I understand the reason they are limiting the number of passengers.

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

Enjoy!

Thanks.

 

3 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I’m here for the slow ride to paradise. 

Yes, with so many sea days it will be slow tour wise, but we also like sea days.

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[livingonthebeach]

Thanks for doing this Renee! A TP is definitely on my bucket list. Thinking of doing the reverse - Sydney to Honolulu in 2024. Following closely. 

[Merion_Mom]

14 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

You mean like this one? How could I not take it? 😁

 

 

 

I'm thinking that Patty might have meant this one:  😉 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

I can see where this thread is going.😄

[BonTexasNY]

I'm so glad I found your review.  Another heaven on earth resort.  You'll be visiting exotic places I've only read about. I am so very happy to follow along. Enjoy every wonderful moment.

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I can see where this thread is going.😄

You and me both.
 

This all reminds me of the scuba instructor scene from along came Polly. Ruben leaves his wife for a diving lesson and comes back to find him going deep in “Davey Jone’s Locker”😉, and that is a euphemism.😳

[AlohaLivin]

22 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

the Hale Koa

I am soooo jealous, cruising to NZ and a start by staying at our favorite hotel Hale Koa! I will follow along (completely green the entire time!). I’ve always thought I could not live through the flight to AU/NZ and hope to win the lottery one day to be able to sail there and back somehow from the east coast of the U.S. via a very long route 😂

Edited October 16, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[jmh2006]

Late to the party but all caught up!  What a amazing itinerary you have.  So glad to be following along and living vicariously through you. 😀

[ownedbypets]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

You and me both.
 

This all reminds me of the scuba instructor scene from along came Polly. Ruben leaves his wife for a diving lesson and comes back to find him going deep in “Davey Jone’s Locker”😉, and that is a euphemism.😳

 

My first thought was the yoga instructor in Couples Retreat but Along came Polly is a good one too! 

[ReneeFLL]

11 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Me too!

 

10 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Me three!

 

10 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Uno

Dos

Tres

 

 

quatro---------------------- I am here too

Thanks, hope all y’all enjoy it. 

[ReneeFLL]

10 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

Me five😁

Thanks, hope you enjoy it.

 

10 hours ago, rudeney said:

Love this! 

 

Don't forget that if skies are clear and Voom is slow to shut your wifi off and back on to connect to a stronger access point.  I do really wish that RCCL would use better mesh routers on the ships.  I think half of the complaints about Voom are the ship's wifi and not the satellite service.

Thanks, I’ll try that when needed.

[ReneeFLL]

9 hours ago, singinalot said:

totally onboard for this! thanks for posting!

Hope you enjoy it.

 

9 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Enjoy your cruise

Thanks Lenny.

 

8 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Oh good God! I have no hope of getting anything done this week for sure now.  I'm so looking forward to following!  This sounds like an epic adventure.

Work, who needs work? 😆 Thanks for coming along.

[Coralc]

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I can see where this thread is going.😄

Well, just for that! 

[ReneeFLL]

9 hours ago, meg1021 said:

I just found this post and will be following along.  We are booked on a B4B in February/March on Brilliance, and even though the majority of the cruise will be the circumnavigation of Australia, we are stopping in NZ on 2 of the segments.  I'll be very interested on your assessment of any tours that you may take.  Thanks for taking the time to post. It's much appreciated.

 

BTW, we did the inaugural sailing of Ovation in 2016, from Barcelona to Beijing.  We love the Anthem class, with the open public spaces, the 270, and the Solarium.

What stops in NZ are you doing? Sounds like a great cruise. In 2017 we also stopped in Airlie Beach, Newcastle and Brisbane. Would love to do a circumnavigation of Australia.

 

8 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

What an amazing itinerary! Looking forward to following along!

Thanks for coming along.

[ReneeFLL]

6 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

Thanks for doing this Renee! A TP is definitely on my bucket list. Thinking of doing the reverse - Sydney to Honolulu in 2024. Following closely. 

We did Sydney to Honolulu in 2017. Loved it. That was our first TP and this is our third.

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

I'm so glad I found your review.  Another heaven on earth resort.  You'll be visiting exotic places I've only read about. I am so very happy to follow along. Enjoy every wonderful moment.

Enjoy the ride and thanks for following.

 

6 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

I'm thinking that Patty might have meant this one:  😉 

 

 

 

That one is much better with the trigger fish. Hope they weren’t hungry. 😆  I actually got attacked by one today. More on that when I get caught up in the next day or two.