Ovation of the Seas

[SpainAlien]

I boarded Ovation of the Seas a couple of days ago in Sydney and thought I would give a little review of my experiences.

 

Starlink: I was getting 20mb download in Sydney but now we are now halfway between Sydney and New Zealand so we are getting up to 3mb

 

MDR food: generally tasty and a good choice 

MDR service: friendly and helpful

 

Solarium Bistro: food was nice but service was slow with empty plates being left on the tables for a good half hour even though it was less than half full

 

Two70: nice venue for quizzes but limited view from a lot of seats for shows like Spectra's Cabaret.  Get her at least 20 minutes early to get a seat

 

Music Hall:  this venue is too small for trivia on cruises out of Sydney. Loads of people want to do the triv but can't get a seat.

 

Pool terrace: loads of chairs by the pool, no towels reserving seats. The Aussies don't seem to want to sunbathe

 

North Star: if you want to take pictures make sure you put your camera right up to the glass because otherwise you get a lot of reflection

 

IFly:  great fun.  I'm 60, overweight and not fit but if you just relax and do what you are told you'll have a good time.

 

We still onboard for another 10 days so if you have a question let me know

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DbPA]

Anxious to read how your weather is, and if any port cancels like last week. We will be on the next cruise. 

[SpainAlien]

1 hour ago, DbPA said:

Anxious to read how your weather is, and if any port cancels like last week. We will be on the next cruise. 

It was good yesterday but today is dark clouds and a bit windy. Tonight's show has been postponed due to the movement of the ship.  The forecast isn't too bad for this week in NZ though so fingers crossed

[SpainAlien]

Next bit is Fish n Ships: quite nice but it's a shame the fish isn't a little thicker. The batter is nice and the chips are too. Don't forget to pick up your ñottle wooden fork from the counter

[SpainAlien]

The New Zealand wars lecture was quite hard work and I'm afraid to say that fell asleep for a minute or two.  Lots of dates, locations and names you won't remember

Edited February 11 by SpainAlien

[SpainAlien]

5 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

 ñottle 

Sorry, this supposed to read "little" but I've got a new phone and the keyboard is different size

[springfire]

10 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

It was good yesterday but today is dark clouds and a bit windy. Tonight's show has been postponed due to the movement of the ship.  The forecast isn't too bad for this week in NZ though so fingers crossed

We will be on the March 2 Ovation cruise, hopefully the wind won't be too bad and doesn't cause us to miss any ports.   Enjoy your cruise!

[SpainAlien]

We went ti the Ovation Rocks party last night is was lively and good fun. Sit downstairs in Two70 for this so you can get down to the dance floor easily. 

 

We had a good search around our cabin last night and realised we didn't have a hairdryer. We weren't sure if RCCL had stopped putting them in cabins but a quick phone call to guest services and the volunteered to send one right up.  I don't know what had happened to ours maybe tye last guest took it or maybe it is away for repair but either way they were happy to get us one.

 

Sorrentos: lovely pizza, the special one was spicy chicken on day 2, day 3 was carnivores pizza.  I don't know if there is any other late night food venue open but i was disappointed that Cafe Two70 wasn't open when the Ovation Rocks party finished. I will investigate further

 

We're in Bay of Islands today and Auckland tomorrow. We got a leaflet in our cabin telling us about the shuttle buses for Napier, Picton & Wellington but today we have to go the the Royal theatre after we have docked to get tender tickets, they just want one person per cabin to go

 

I meant to say, we have a virtual balcony and we have a kettle and tea/coffee facilities. Everything I had read had said that we wouldn't but certainly going out of Sydney we have.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 11 by SpainAlien

[birdofsong]

This is great.  We're on the 3/12 cruise.  If you have the ability to post pictures, I'd love to see what everything looks like.  Thanks!

[little britain]

2 hours ago, birdofsong said:

This is great.  We're on the 3/12 cruise.  If you have the ability to post pictures, I'd love to see what everything looks like.  Thanks!

Perhaps you missed my recent review which you may find useful 

 

[birdofsong]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

Perhaps you missed my recent review which you may find useful 

 

Thank you!!!

[SpainAlien]

Ok, so Bay of Islands was a disaster. We arrived at 10am but by 2pm we were still waiting to be called for our tender.  We went to guest services and they said that they would escort us on to the next tender, we left the ship at 2.45pm. 

 

Once on the pier we joined the queue for the shuttle bus to Piahai, where we waited for another half hour.  The shuttle bus took abour 10 minutes but by the time we got in to town it was 3.45pm and the last tender back to the ship was due back at 7pm.  Being mindful the how long it had taken to get there we decided to head back at about 5pm and sure enough the queue for the tender was enormous, fortunately there is a small yacht club right by the bus stop so we ducked in there and waited for the queue to die down, we were on the 6.30pm tender back to the ship.  

 

We were due to be in Auckland today, loads of people have independant excursions booked but here we are 2am still in Bay of Islands. Apparently the winch brake on tender number 4 failed so they had trouble getting it onboard.  According to the casino staff today is now a sea day.  No announcements and no news on the TV other than the ship's position

 

Today was the day that was the reason why I booked this cruise. Today I was going to Hobbiton.  It has taken months of planning how to get there and buy the tickets for the right time. Everything that we have arranged is non-refundable because we are less than 24 hours out.  

 

Incidentally, we have already lost Dunedin from the itinerary that we booked due to the tides

 

 

[DbPA]

Oh no. That stinks!  That’s 2 weeks in row skipping Dunedin. (I think). Are you still supposed to go through Sounds?

[birdofsong]

1 hour ago, DbPA said:

Oh no. That stinks!  That’s 2 weeks in row skipping Dunedin. (I think). Are you still supposed to go through Sounds?

I'm sailing the same itinerary on 3/12, and they told us we are also skipping Dunedin.

[SpainAlien]

1 hour ago, DbPA said:

Oh no. That stinks!  That’s 2 weeks in row skipping Dunedin. (I think). Are you still supposed to go through Sounds?

So far we are still going to Napier, Picton, Wellington and the Sounds unless something else happens 

 

[DbPA]

What’s the deal with that?  Why would they cancel Dunedin already for a Mar cruise?  Must be a Pier/Port problem?  Anyone know?  We haven’t yet been notified for next week cruise. 🤷‍♀️

[birdofsong]

16 minutes ago, DbPA said:

What’s the deal with that?  Why would they cancel Dunedin already for a Mar cruise?  Must be a Pier/Port problem?  Anyone know?  We haven’t yet been notified for next week cruise. 🤷‍♀️

This is what the e-mail says:

 

"Dear Guest,

Due to sailing restrictions created by changes in the tide, we’ve adjusted our departure time for Wellington, New Zealand. While we’re no longer able to visit Dunedin, to help make up for this change, we’ve added an extra three (3) hours to our visit in Wellington! This means we’ll have even more time to explore everything this beautiful destination has to offer. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by these changes."

 

 

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, DbPA said:

What’s the deal with that?  Why would they cancel Dunedin already for a Mar cruise?  Must be a Pier/Port problem?  Anyone know?  We haven’t yet been notified for next week cruise. 🤷‍♀️

Maybe this, Otago Harbor is being diffacult.

While strict new biofouling standards caused cancelled stops at Otago Harbour last year, restrictions have not affected visits to Port Chalmers this year.

 

A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman said while one boat had been turned back from New Zealand this year, there had been no cancellations due to biofouling at either Port Chalmers or Fiordland this year.

Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson this month said that during the season to date there had been four "non-compliant vessels".

Three cruise ships had restricted itineraries and only one of the 54 cruise ships expected to arrive in the country had not entered New Zealand waters.

It was turned back because it was unable to meet the standards "vital for protecting our marine ecosystems and economy".

 

A spokesman for Cruise Lines International Association said cruise lines were committed to protecting the marine environment globally, including in New Zealand, which had some of the strictest biofouling requirements in the world.

"The revival of cruise operations in New Zealand has been largely successful. However, the industry looks forward to further discussions with New Zealand authorities on overcoming continuing barriers such as the lack of suitable hull-cleaning facilities within the region," he said.

[SpainAlien]

New revised itinerary

[DbPA]

Well, at least a little compensation. But very disappointing when you have been planning for so long, I’m sure. Hope the rest of your trip is perfect!  

[STEVE-O]

On 2/10/2024 at 11:59 PM, SpainAlien said:

Next bit is Fish n Ships: quite nice but it's a shame the fish isn't a little thicker. The batter is nice and the chips are too. Don't forget to pick up your ñottle wooden fork from the counter

The app lists this diner with a $ sign.  Is it included with only a charge for lobster or ??

TIA

[Joelster123]

Yes it's just the Lobster that there's a charge for

[springfire]

On 2/12/2024 at 4:39 PM, birdofsong said:

I'm sailing the same itinerary on 3/12, and they told us we are also skipping Dunedin.

We are sailing on 3/2 and they still have Dunedin listed on our itinerary.   

[SpainAlien]

We docked in Napier today. There is a well organised shuttle bus service in to the centre of the town dropping you off right in front of i-Site.  The town was pretty much destroyed in anearthquake in 1931 so it was all rebuilt in the art deco style of that age.  Very pretty little town. 

 

If when you get to i-Site you go straight in they have some tours available. We chose one to go up to TeMata lookout which was pretty.

 

Tonight was "Crazy Quest" which was great fun followed by the White party and music from Pulso which was mostly rock music.

 

We went to Jamie's for tea last night. Staff were great, explained the menu well and insisted on bringing extra dishes out.  The bruschetta was excellent as was the meat plank, we both had the shrimp fettucine which was nice then I had the lamb chops and my aunt had the ribs, both very  nice. We finished up with a banana split and the tirimisu.  All in all we were happy with our choices and would go back on future sailings

 

 

[SpainAlien]

Today was Picton.  The passengers started queueing up to get off at least an hour before we were cleared in the port so we just waited in Sorrentos.  We arrived at 11am and were cleared at 11.30am, we set off to leave the ship at 12 noon and went straight off without having to queue, the shuttle buses in to town were well organised and we were in Picton by 12.15pm.  If you go to Picton go down to the waterfront and walk around from there it is very picturesque 

 

We went to MDR again tonight it was Asian night. Great staff, nice food but nothing outstanding

 

We saw Weird Little Guys in the theatre they were good fun