Ovation crossing report

[SDuckers]

We just got back home after taking the Ovation transatlantic crossing from Miami to Lisbon, so I thought I'd give a quick report here. 

Overall, our experience was excellent.  For the most part, service was attentive and timely.  Some servers were particularly outstanding.  There were a few "clunkers" but they were by far the exception.

The cruise was mostly full.  Based on the roster of passengers we got at the end, there were 550 passengers on board and I think I recall that full capacity was 600.  But the ship never felt crowded.  Other than a little bit at lunch after daily team trivia ended.  The main dining room was open for both breakfast and lunch every day except our one port day in Funchal, Madeira.  We never ate there, so I can't report on how many did or how the service was.  We preferred the Colonnade for breakfast and either the Patio or Colonnade for lunch.  We ate lunch at the sushi restaurant one day.  It was okay but nothing special.  Frankly, after that we sort of forgot it was there.  We had dinner our last night at Solis.  The food was very good, and the sommelier was very helpful in helping us select a premium wine (we had ship credits to use up!) to match our meal.  I definitely would have liked to be able to eat there more than once.  We were on the waiting list for a second reservation but never were contacted.  We loved Earth & Ocean.  Menus, while very limited, are inventive and delicious.  Colonnade had a lot of themed nights.  TK BBQ one night, TK ribeyes another (they were great!).  Also Indian Market, Thai, Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese nights.  You could still order from the "classics" menu even on those specialty nights (other than the TK nights).  We ate in the dining room on three or four nights.  One night we agreed to share a table with another couple.  It was okay but we really didn't have much in common and sort of wished we hadn't agreed to share a table.  So it goes with that.  We also attended a hosted dinner with a Seabourn staff member.  That was a night when, for some reason, service was excruciatingly slow.  We wanted to see the show (I believe it was the night Handre was giving his piano performance) so couldn't say for dessert and barely had time to finish our dinner before we had to leave. One night we had arranged with Chef Lindsay for a special dinner of sweetbreads.  They were outstanding.  Sadly the "sommelier" had no clue how to pair a wine with that entree.  I get that that is an unusual entree, but when her first suggestion for pairing was a rosé champagne we knew we were on our own.

Team trivia was VERY highly attended.  I think the first day about 180 people participated.  That number dropped off as the days went by but the Club was still very crowded each day for trivia.  It was a lot of fun.

The evening entertainment options were really good.  One of the Seabourn singers I swear should be singing opera at the Met.  We also had Johnathan Christopher https://www.jonathan-christopher.com/ perform twice.  He was outstanding.  Also hung out around the ship and was very friendly and personable.  A celloist named Wendy Law also performed twice. https://www.wendylaw.com/  She was amazingly good.  We also invited her to join us for dinner at Earth & Ocean and she was delightful.

We were in Suite 700 at the front of the ship, and while we were warned about the noise we would get when anchoring at a port, we were not warned at how noisy that suite would be with waves slapping the ship's hull in choppy seas.  Sometimes it sounded like a bomb was going off, which was disconcerting in the day time and not conducive to good sleep at night.  The suite also is far away from everything except the Observation bar and the aft hot tub.  Given how much we were eating, it was probably a good thing to have those longer walks!  The layout of the suite itself was great, and particularly appreciated given the number of sea days we had.

We got to take a galley tour with the head chef (Chef Lindsay Lewis) and that was very interesting.  It was particularly interesting to find out how they maintained fresh produce for a 12 day cruise with only the stop in Funchal.  I will say it was somewhat apparent by the last day that fresh fruits and vegetables were almost used up.

It wouldn't be "cruise critic" if I didn't mention a few negative nits (besides the afore-mentioned "sommelier").  We had arranged for Seabourn transfer to and from the ship.  On the transfer from our hotel in Miami to the ship, we never received any communication from the transit company regarding when we would be picked up.  Since boarding didn't start until 1:30, we thought we would be safe to go to church at 10:30 and be back at the hotel by noon for pick up.  Surprise!  We were on our way back to the hotel at 11:15 when we got a call from the hotel that the driver was there to pick us up.  Why so early we didn't understand.  Even with a REALLY bad traffic jam due to a Miami Heat basketball game, we still were at the embarkation terminal by 12:30 and had to wait there with many other folks for almost an hour.  I would have rather been in our hotel room.  Our first morning on the ship, we woke up early and since the Colonnade didn't open for breakfast until 8, we decided to order room service.  Called the room service number and got the "Hold music" for 30 minutes with no one picking up.  So we gave up on it.  Mid-cruise, we got a survey and I mentioned this.  The head of food service called to explain that their phone system had glitches that morning and that's why no one picked up.  So they DO pay attention to those survey responses.

 

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them!

Edited May 2 by SDuckers

[johng75370]

Thanks for the report; we were also on the crossing and would concur on it being an overall excellent voyage.  Especially with the entertainment - both Jonathan and Wendy were great, as were the Seabourn singers, dancers, and band.  Love Deb Dyer on the piano.  Like you, there were a few nits where there could be improvement, but when issues were raised they were addressed and resolved.  First time sailing with Olivia as CD, and while I wasn’t that impressed with her we had Handre as the cruise “host”, who was amazing.  

 

Solis to me was “a work in progress”.  The food was pretty good, but the service was really bad - long waits for all at the table to receive their courses, and the cocktail bar situation was a mess (having a long menu of difficult to make drinks requires a lot more staff at the bar than they have).  

 

The oddest issue we had was that Seabourn does not have passports stamped showing entry into Europe.  We asked ahead of time in Seabourn Square (because we had a problem exiting Europe without it on a previous Seabourn crossing) and were told it would be no problem, and if we really wanted a stamp there would be someone in Lisbon to do it.  Of course there was no one in Lisbon to stamp the passport, and we got delayed trying to exit Europe without the stamp (again).  I’m writing Seabourn separately on that; can’t believe we were the only ones stuck that way.  

Edited May 2 by johng75370

[SDuckers]

1 minute ago, johng75370 said:

 

 

The oddest issue we had was that Seabourn does not have passports stamped showing entry into Europe.  We asked ahead of time in Seabourn Square (because we had a problem exiting Europe without it on a previous Seabourn crossing) and were told it would be no problem, and if we really wanted a stamp there would be someone in Lisbon to do it.  Of course there was no one in Lisbon to stamp the passport, and we got delayed trying to exit Europe without the stamp (again).  I’m writing Seabourn separately on that; can’t believe we were the only ones stuck that way.  

I forgot to mention how great Handre was as the cruise "host."  He was just delightful.  Funny you should mention the issue of the passport entry stamp!  We had the same issue leaving from Amsterdam (where we immediately flew upon arrival in Lisbon).  We thought we somehow made a mistake not getting them stamped when we arrived at Schipol Airport, but there was no one around to do it.  Probably because the flight began and ended inside the EU.  So you are right, they should have been stamped on our arrival in Lisbon.

 

[robertmartha]

SDuckers - thanks for the great review. Reading your review makes me want to do a transatlantic even more 😉. Just have to convince my wife 😔

 

thanks again!

[SDCRUISINGAL]

I"ll be on the Ovation very soon, May 18th for the Scandinavian/KielCanal cruise. Your review has made me even more excited! I appreciated hearing about the various dining venues. What time are the evening shows, was sitting a problem? 

[stan01]

Great review, thank you.  We are on the Ovation from Barcelona to Barbados in 2024 and Barcelona to San Juan in 2025.  I'll always go with the 25 hour days over the 23 hour days with (hopefully) the extra hour used to burn off the calories consumed.

[SDuckers]

11 hours ago, SDCRUISINGAL said:

I"ll be on the Ovation very soon, May 18th for the Scandinavian/KielCanal cruise. Your review has made me even more excited! I appreciated hearing about the various dining venues. What time are the evening shows, was sitting a problem? 

Most of the time they did two sittings for the evening shows.  I think the times were 8:30 and 10, if I recall correctly.  There were some nights they did an early show at 6 or 6:30 and then a different show later in the evening.  We never had any problem finding a seat.  The sight lines in the Grand Salon, with the multiple pillars, sometimes was a small issue, but we learned where the better seats were to avoid those pillars blocking some of the view.

[SDCRUISINGAL]

Good to know, thank you!