Short review Ovation OTS Mar 2023 - NZ

[mr walker]

Back a week or so from our 12N Ovation OTS NZ cruise 11-23 Mar Sydney roundtrip. It was our first cruise since COVID & seemed to go very quickly. I make some points:

-          Embarking was very fast & we were soon on ship after shuttle drop-off. Got to say hello to Graham @ gbenjo as we boarded (and a quick good-bye in the terminal as we left also).

-          Ship was huge (largest we have ever been on). Apart from seeing physical size, a real indicator was when we headed aft for sail-away & it just was so far to get there 😀

-          Ship was very nice and all staff encountered were very pleasant and very enthusiastic to please.

-          Our cabin lady & waiters in dining room (MTD) were very good – nothing was too much trouble.

-          Always easy to get a drink or something to eat around the ship.

-          We did brunch in the dining room on a few sea days which was a good way to avoid the Windjammer at times, and also helped with portion control 😉

-          We thought the food overall was not as good as previously, but we always found something to eat & never had to cook or clean up once. I really enjoyed the soup offerings and it was always a challenge to choose from the many delicious desserts. New menus are due shortly.

-          We made all 5 ports in NZ as scheduled. The CD announced on the final night that our cruise was the first one all season to do so. We didn’t do any tours, just took the time this time to visit the local ports areas which we enjoyed. Milford Sound was again spectacular & BOI beautiful.  

-          We never did catch up with Chiliburn @ Chiliburn, even though I did keep a lookout for him. I’m sure he had a good time.

-          We did many trivias etc (even managed to win one!) & enjoyed our time.

-          There were some medical issues on board with people in isolation and a degree of coughing etc, which we did our best to avoid. Mask wearing was maybe 15- 20%, including staff, but as the numbers grew there were more masks and all staff were masked for last day or so. I did come down with a respiratory thingy towards then end – negative to C!

-          We did have a 'man overboard' call one evening, and so everyone had to get scanned at Muster station, but it turned out a false report & we carried on as usual.

-          Likely we will stick to smaller ships – we have a Brilliance OTS booked for Dec – from now on as we just don’t use all the bells & whistles that Ovation offers.

-          Disembarking worked well & we were soon back on land 😮

-          Very pleasant cruise after waiting so long and we were sad it all ended so quickly.

 

Cheers Neil

Edited April 2, 2023 by mr walker
typo

[Chiliburn]

28 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Back a week or so from our 12N Ovation OTS NZ cruise 11-23 Mar Sydney roundtrip. It was our first cruise since COVID & seemed to go very quickly. I make some points:

-          Embarking was very fast & we were soon on ship after shuttle drop-off. Got to say hello to Graham @ gbenjo as we boarded (and a quick good-bye in the terminal as we left also).

-          Ship was huge (largest we have ever been on). Apart from seeing physical size, a real indicator was when we headed aft for sail-away & it just was so far to get there 😀

-          Ship was very nice and all staff encountered were very pleasant and very enthusiastic to please.

-          Our cabin lady & waiters in dining room (MTD) were very good – nothing was too much trouble.

-          Always easy to get a drink or something to eat around the ship.

-          We did brunch in the dining room on a few sea days which was a good way to avoid the Windjammer at times, and also helped with portion control 😉

-          We thought the food overall was not as good as previously, but we always found something to eat & never had to cook or clean up once. I really enjoyed the soup offerings and it was always a challenge to choose from the many delicious desserts. New menus are due shortly.

-          We made all 5 ports in NZ as scheduled. The CD announced on the final night that our cruise was the first one all season to do so. We didn’t do any tours, just took the time this time to visit the local ports areas which we enjoyed. Milford Sound was again spectacular & BOI beautiful.  

-          We never did catch up with Chiliburn @ Chiliburn, even though I did keep a lookout for him. I’m sure he had a good time.

-          We did many trivias etc (even managed to win one!) & enjoyed our time.

-          There were some medical issues on board with people in isolation and a degree of coughing etc, which we did our best to avoid. Mask wearing was maybe 15- 20%, including staff, but as the numbers grew there were more masks and all staff were masked for last day or so. I did come down with a respiratory thingy towards then end – negative to C!

-          We did have a 'man overboard' call one evening, and so everyone had to get scanned at Muster station, but it turned out a false report & we carried on as usual.

-          Likely we will stick to smaller ships – we have a Brilliance OTS booked for Dec – from now on as we just don’t use all the bells & whistles that Ovation offers.

-          Disembarking worked well & we were soon back on land 😮

-          Very pleasant cruise after waiting so long and we were sad it all ended so quickly.

 

Cheers Neil

I kept an eye out for a Panthers jersey.

I had a good time, I was with some Penrith  ‘ Ladies’ which kept me in trouble.

 I come down with Covid 2 weeks ago when we were in Auckland. I am just getting over it now and what an ordeal. It was the sickest I have been for a long time.

 

We had dinner in the main dining room at a large table and I was sitting next to a woman who said she has Covid.

I said how did you get on the ship ? she lied on her declaration but it all gone now ,nothing to worry about.

A couple of days I heard she was in hospital and then a few more days everyone at the table had Covid.

I wish I got her name !!

 

The big ships have got a few things going for them,mainly variety. But I am looking forward to a small ship Neil ,bring back Radiance and Voyager.

[resordanis]

2 hours ago, mr walker said:

Back a week or so from our 12N Ovation OTS NZ cruise 11-23 Mar Sydney roundtrip. It was our first cruise since COVID & seemed to go very quickly. I make some points:

-          Embarking was very fast & we were soon on ship after shuttle drop-off. Got to say hello to Graham @ gbenjo as we boarded (and a quick good-bye in the terminal as we left also).

-          Ship was huge (largest we have ever been on). Apart from seeing physical size, a real indicator was when we headed aft for sail-away & it just was so far to get there 😀

-          Ship was very nice and all staff encountered were very pleasant and very enthusiastic to please.

-          Our cabin lady & waiters in dining room (MTD) were very good – nothing was too much trouble.

-          Always easy to get a drink or something to eat around the ship.

-          We did brunch in the dining room on a few sea days which was a good way to avoid the Windjammer at times, and also helped with portion control 😉

-          We thought the food overall was not as good as previously, but we always found something to eat & never had to cook or clean up once. I really enjoyed the soup offerings and it was always a challenge to choose from the many delicious desserts. New menus are due shortly.

-          We made all 5 ports in NZ as scheduled. The CD announced on the final night that our cruise was the first one all season to do so. We didn’t do any tours, just took the time this time to visit the local ports areas which we enjoyed. Milford Sound was again spectacular & BOI beautiful.  

-          We never did catch up with Chiliburn @ Chiliburn, even though I did keep a lookout for him. I’m sure he had a good time.

-          We did many trivias etc (even managed to win one!) & enjoyed our time.

-          There were some medical issues on board with people in isolation and a degree of coughing etc, which we did our best to avoid. Mask wearing was maybe 15- 20%, including staff, but as the numbers grew there were more masks and all staff were masked for last day or so. I did come down with a respiratory thingy towards then end – negative to C!

-          We did have a 'man overboard' call one evening, and so everyone had to get scanned at Muster station, but it turned out a false report & we carried on as usual.

-          Likely we will stick to smaller ships – we have a Brilliance OTS booked for Dec – from now on as we just don’t use all the bells & whistles that Ovation offers.

-          Disembarking worked well & we were soon back on land 😮

-          Very pleasant cruise after waiting so long and we were sad it all ended so quickly.

 

Cheers Neil

Good review, thanks for sharing. We board Ovation on 4/5 and we hope to see Gbenjo too. This will be our last cruise on Ovation as we want the smaller ships too! 

[NSWP]

Good reviews there Neil and Chili, pity you did not meet up for a...

[Ozwoody]

3 hours ago, mr walker said:

Back a week or so from our 12N Ovation OTS NZ cruise 11-23 Mar Sydney roundtrip. It was our first cruise since COVID & seemed to go very quickly. I make some points:

Cheers Neil

Thanks Neil & Chili

Love reading your personal reviews of Ovation, sorry you got covid chili.

Regards

[thistledoo]

10 hours ago, mr walker said:

Very pleasant cruise after waiting so long and we were sad it all ended so quickly.

We were also on the same cruise, and were pleasantly surprised that given it's size we liked Ovation so much.   The decor felt light and airy, and we loved the couch in our balcony cabin.

 

After avoiding crowded lifts on the ship we were a bit shocked in the terminal to find the escalators out of order, resulting in everyone being crammed tight into the elevators.  We never thought to ask if there were stairs we could use.

[gbenjo]

8 hours ago, thistledoo said:

We were also on the same cruise, and were pleasantly surprised that given it's size we liked Ovation so much.   The decor felt light and airy, and we loved the couch in our balcony cabin.

 

After avoiding crowded lifts on the ship we were a bit shocked in the terminal to find the escalators out of order, resulting in everyone being crammed tight into the elevators.  We never thought to ask if there were stairs we could use.

No stairs ( for the public ) at the OPT. The escalator  has been waiting for parts from the US for three weeks. One is working but access presents a safety issue so both are closed.

[mr walker]

22 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I kept an eye out for a Panthers jersey.

I had a good time, I was with some Penrith  ‘ Ladies’ which kept me in trouble.

 I come down with Covid 2 weeks ago when we were in Auckland. I am just getting over it now and what an ordeal. It was the sickest I have been for a long time.

 

We had dinner in the main dining room at a large table and I was sitting next to a woman who said she has Covid.

I said how did you get on the ship ? she lied on her declaration but it all gone now ,nothing to worry about.

A couple of days I heard she was in hospital and then a few more days everyone at the table had Covid.

I wish I got her name !!

 

The big ships have got a few things going for them,mainly variety. But I am looking forward to a small ship Neil ,bring back Radiance and Voyager.

Strewth, sorry to hear about you getting COVID mate. I did suspect that there were people who boarded with, at least symptoms, & maybe not doing the RAT test as per the rules, who just ploughed on on THEIR holiday. Hope you are feeling better.

I did wear Panther gear a number of times, but it seems we weren't in the same place at the same time. We spent a lot of time in Schooner Bar. I hope you didn't get into too much trouble with the Penrith ladies 🙂 

Yes, did enjoy Ovation but prefer Radiance & Voyager classes & Rhapsody as our first ship will always be our first love 🙂 

Now see that we got double points for the cruise. I had forgotten that when we booked it was a bonus of 2X points. Very close now to adding a + to our D's!!

Take care!!!!

Cheers,

Neil