Ovation of the Seas Review

What a ship!

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Ovation of the Seas
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Lynnieeck
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2016
Cabin: Ocean View Connected Stateroom with Balcony
Traveled with children

The buffet food was better than most cruises and the manager of the Windjammer came on and announced some things, told us to have a great day and always had an amusing saying to finish with. Having to wash your hands on entering the buffet was terrific and meant I did not see a sick person on the ship. Also, there were a lot of hand sanitizers which is great. The food quality in the restaurant was not as good as other ships.

We don't usually do the ship's shows, preferring comedy or guest artists. However on this ship you had to prebook a couple of show and they were impressive with the quality of singers, dancers, sets and general entertainment value.

Photos lacked variety in terms of 'poses' and backgrounds. The photos are quite expensive especially seeing as they don't have to print them all out anymore. We only bought some because they were on special immediately after doing the IFly (at the IFly). About pricing, we found the bottles of wine in the restaurant had all increased in price significantly since our last cruise earlier in the year.

Cabin Review

Ocean View Connected Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin BC

Great layout. Lovely modern decor. Good balcony. Not near any noisy areas like lifts or public areas. It's in the front 1/3 of the ship so I suspect that's why we felt the waves a little more than when we get a cabin in the middle. I'm a bit susceptible to the movement of the ocean but we would book it again.

Port Reviews

Adelaide

We booked a kayaking experience to see the dolphins in a protected dolphin sanctuary. t was with Adventure Kayaking SA. We loved it, the people were good to deal with and reasonably priced. Unfortunately I know some didn't see any dolphins and we only glimpsed a few but they are wild so that's the risk. Where we docked at Outer Harbour meant we had to take a train to Port Adelaide then pay for the transfer with Adventure Kayaking. If you have a family or group then book an Uber as soon as you can as they may take half an hour to get to you but it would be cheaper overall.

Hobart

We only had limited time so I chartered the Lady Nelson, a lovely old Tall Ship in the harbour. If you come in on a day they sail then I think it's about $35 for an adult for about 2 hours. Check out their website for more exact pricing but we thought it was very special. The volunteer crew they have is very knowledgeable and friendly. Lovely experience.

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