Took a 7ngt vacation from Southampton to Barcelona on May 3rd. Weather was disappointing but the ship was impressive especially the 270 venue, the covered Solarium and the Seaplex sports venue. Staff were generally friendly and accommodating and our room, a large interior stateroom on deck 12 was modern and spacious. The virtual balcony was interesting but you do get tired of looking at what is just a large TV screen. RCL pride itself on innovation and the robots in the 270 Venue were great as is the backdrop but I think they can harness this technology more as they figure it out. Novelties included the Bionic bar, the North Star and iFly (as you only get 60 seconds in it). The bumping cars are also very popular so you don't get long on them either and I found one staff member here extremely rude. Food was excellent in the Windjammer and very good in the Grande but I found all the other complimentary restaurants poor and pointless. Also the 18% service charge on everything made the vacation expensive. A lot of effort was put into the Productions (Spectra, the Dream & the Beetles tribute band) but there was little else on and they kept repeating the shows each night. One annoyance was that you had to book some of these shows to get in which is again unnecessary as is having to book dinner every night. All in all I would advise cruisers to stay away from the Atlantic as it is a windy and uncomfortable voyage that even Ovation couldn't disguise which was surprising given its size but once we entered the Med she was fine and the sway dissipated. On the room front the insulation was poor and I could near neighbouring cabins as well as the sound of toilets flushing which was akin to 'Thunder' as the suction was so strong flowing though the pipping. Our last Cruise was on Regal Princess and I think the rooms were better insulated and I didn't notice the aforementioned flushing noise. There are elements of Ovation that were better than Regal, namely the 270 Venue, the Solarium, the Seaplex, the food and the general liveliness of the ship but Regal's Atrium can't be beaten, nor can its running track which is away from the pool and deck chairs. In a perfect World I think we need a ship with Regal's decor, Atrium, running track and Movies under the Stars, Ovations 270 Venue, covered front of ship Solarium, Esplanade and Seaplex and Celebrities Grand Dining room and Solarium (as an indoor pool).