juda

We sailed to Honolulu on Ovation 2 years ago. Beautiful ship, great bars, excellent food and great cabins. Staff were really good too. The ship was sparkling and didn't feel crowded at all, albeit larger than we'd sailed on before (this was our 8th cruise across Celebrity, RCC and Carnival (in the US). I would sail on her again in a heartbeat. Having said that we are in our 60s and wanted to relax. We enjoyed the entertainment which was really standard cruise-type. Didn't make it to the MDR as food elsewhere was so good!

yes very true, although not always practical to do, but we did that where we could for just that reason 🙂

We were on Voyager in March last year - the ship does definitely need upgrading, but the only thing that impacted or frustrated us was some of the public toilets continually going out of service and it was a bit yucky with flush buttons missing and leaky toilets in some ..... it was annoying but honestly, it didn't affect our enjoyment and had a great time, food was excellent, staff were lovely, we enjoyed the shows (some more than others),  and our cabin was excellent.

All the cabins on Deck 12 are only a few years old as they were only added around  3 years ago

Ahh ok thank you -  pity as I had heard great reports ...does anyone know who will be on the Ovation Sydney/Vancouver ??

Can anyone tell me will Joff Eaton /Ovation continue on after the Australian season for the repositioning cruise  from Sydney to Honolul and Vancouver...is that the usual way? or do they change?

Thank you, very helpful 

Does anyone know what level of obstruction this cabin has please?

To clarify re the last 2 comments : We reported to housekeeping late on the second day as per above, when we had seen no one and wondering if we were doing something wrong in terms of the "make up room" card and wondering where our attendant was so we could meet him/her and learn their name. He came whilst we were at dinner I think, the second day   - then the next morning,  I left a friendly little note saying hello :) and requesting a robe and also letting him know the shower dispenser was empty ...I did get my robe, but we were provided with small soaps (only 2!)  and shower dispenser remained empty the whole cruise - we did not see him again or indeed meet him for the rest of the cruise, just saw his trolley outside other rooms at various times... Hence hubby replenished from the trolley himself when the two soaps wore out and we'd been without tissues for 2 days...bins were also only emptied maybe once every 2 days. None of this was a huge deal to us and we loved our cruise, but compared to other ships when attendant came in and introduced himself to us and we learned each other's names and had never had an issues, it was something that surprised us.

On Voyager out of Sydney this past March, we left the room on day 2 at 8.30am and left the sign out and by 3pm our room had not been cleaned. First RCL cruise (although had cruised with Celeb and Carnival before), I wondered if we had put the sign in its little holder incorrectly, so at around 3.30, I called housekeeping who told me the attendant was attending training and running late ...I was fine with that but it would be good if RCL had communicated that to us, rather thn ave us have to call ...we were in the new (added rooms) on L13 on Voyager. During our cruise, the stateroom was cleaned daily but we never had anything replaced in the room without having to try and catch the attendant, who never introduced himself (unlike out previous cruises), so whether he was overworked I am unsure, in the end, hubby just found his trolley in the hallway and replenished soap etc himself...was a it disappointing, but we didn't let it spoil our cruise, however we did direct our additional tips elsewhere whereas normally we have always tipped the attendant.

We cruised on VOTS in March 18 - the cabins are fine (my friend was in an older one, just balcony area a bit tired) ..and we lucked out with one of the new ones from 2016 refurbishment, its the rest of the ship that is tired and looks a bit run down generally, particularly the bathrooms, broek doors, no flush button etc ...one by one the public toilets (both male and female) went out of service over 9 days, they just stuck a sign on and left them that way!

Brilliant, thank you!

My husband wore chinos and collared/button shirt on Voyager for his first visit to MDR, saw heaps of guys in many variations of shorts and tees/shirts, so from then onwards, he wore his (good ) denim shorts, with collared shirt and boat shoes,no one batted an eyelid!

Thanks all :) Its not that I mind taking it, its just that on Celebrity they have shampoo/conditioner/skin lotion supplied daily so I didn't want to bother taking it, if is was provided by RCL as well :)

Hi, first time RCL cruiser here (but this will be our 4th cruise - have cruise with Carnival (ex US) and Celebrity (twice ex Aus) previously). I have a few questions pls:

1. Do RCL provide shampoo/conditioner/handcream daily or as needed ?

2. I keep reading about drink package specials combining with internet packages here on CC - does this happen in Australia and where would I find this out - we are currently 8 months from crusing ..I am unable to even book internet at this stage and drink packages are currently $87 a day pp AUD, so hoping to find out when is the best time to book.

3. I have booked our Syd/Mel flight at 10am on our return (ship arrives 0630 and we self-debark and usually catch a taxi at wharf) and when completing online, the RCL system would not accept this. the reason for the 10am flight this time is that on our previous cruises we've had to wait 2-3 hours at Sydney airport and didn't want to do that this time, so I just complete the check in with the flight number and "1pm" as the required time. Has anyone ever had an issue with this?

4. What is the tv/movie set up like on RCL? Not that we watch telly all day, but there are times when we just want to veg at night in our room and be entertained.

Many thanks :D

I had mine assigned about 2 weeks after booking, it was a lovely surprise and we are very happy with the cabin we were given :)

I don't see why, they will assign your stateroom when they get around to it.

Thanks, hubby was hassling me and especially cos our friend got hers as she booked, will just be patient then :)

Thank you - interestingly my friend booked the same cruise at a TA and was allocated a cabin, should I call RCL?

I have booked on this special and haven't done it this way before (have always chosen my cabin).

I am just wondering when I would find out the ship level and cabin number ?? (travelling March 2018)

TIA :)

We both agreed if this was the policy on our next cruise we'd not buy any DF and we weren't the only ones - hope X is listening!!

There were 3 apples and sparkling wine on arrival - we asked our concierge to take them and share them with the crew ( we knew there wasplenty of lovely fruit in ocean view cafe daily) as the platter was in the way..... The canapes arrived around 4pm each day and were sort of cute but as there's so much food on board, we never felt like we wanted to eat them, although what we had was nice - they come in a 4 dish platter and just enough for 2 people - on various days there were such things as a few melon balls, a daily selection of olives, cheeses wrapped in meat, tiny toasts with pate, dip and corn chips, tiny choc chip cookies, marinated prawns, bite sized sushi.... they weren't awful by any means like some say, just not needed and simply too full from all the food onboard. The welcome lunch was 3 courses of 3 choices, I didn't copy a menu sorry - but I had prawn cocktail, lovely filet steak with mash and spinach and an apple tarte tatin with wine as per my drinks package - the pinot grigio was lovely. Hubby had carrot soup, lamb ribs and a selection of sorbets - it was all lovely and a good start in meeting fellow passengers and nicely filled in the time until our cabin was ready :)

On Solstice a few weeks ago it was between 11.30-1.30 in Grand Epernay - however on boarding, we asked 3 staff who didn't know where we should go, there seemed to be a lack of communication ... however we eventually found a little card with all the details within the small pouch they hand you with your sea pass card, along with the ship map. The lunch was lovely and a nice welcome to the first day :)

Yes, it was a pain - we were on the same cruise and were told by the shop that sold us our 2 bottles to collect from there on last day of the cruise, however we went to the shop who then told us re collection from deck 15 btw 5-7pm - annoying in a number of ways as we often had an afternoon nap and then got ready for drinks/dinner show between those hours, when we arrived at 5, there were no directions and eventually they had lines from both side of the lift competing for collection (100 + unhappy people standing in the heat)- I felt most for the 2 guys handing out the DF as they were tripping over boxes in a very small room and people were quite unhappy and taking it out on them - not us I might hasten to add, although I was pretty pd off like everyone else for the above reasons. Celebrity could structure this so much better : either by deck or as they do with tenders, with a ticket number and call in groups!

Benjaminhuf, yes for $50pp I would do it, just not for the $500 (!!) we paid as the only things worthwhile (as opposed to previous non CC cruises) were the footstool on the balcony and the welcome aboard lunch.

Just back from the lovely Solstice in Concierge. For $50pp I would still do it, but we paid quite a bit more than that and in my view the only things worthwhile were the welcome lunch, and the footstools on the balcony, hence we would not do it again at an additional cost as we'd rather have spent those $$ elsewhere on the ship. The pillow menu is printed and you have to ask and your concierge will show you the choices (4 from memory). The memory pillows were good :) Feel free to ask me any q's that may help :)