Initially we were enticed to sail on the Ovation at relatively short notice due to a great deal that was being offered on a Balcony Guarantee cabin only a few days before the sail date. For those new to RCI Australia, don't get sucked in by the sale 'countdown timer' on the RCI website when booking, I can guarantee that as soon as one sale finishes another begins so don't feel pressured to buy because of the countdown timer. The Ovation is absolutely enormous and yes, RCI will pretty much sell every cabin on board prior to the sale date so don't make any assumptions that you will score a 'free' upgrade or have the lions share of the boat to yourself. Whilst super cruising is new to Australia, it was clear from our time on the Ovation that port infrastructure in the region simply cannot handle the vast number of people that these boats bring. Sydney's OPT could not be in a more perfect location, mere minutes from both public transport and some of the best sights in the country. However the OPT itself is vastly undersized to handle a boat of this size and this was evident during both the embark and disembark processes. Expect to jump between levels around a mass of temporary hoardings (which I think are only there to hide the true length of the cues of people waiting inside) as you bounce from one station to another. Interestingly the staff at the OPT did not enforce the 'check-in' times listed on the Set Sail Pass and pretty much let anyone in from 11am on wards. After approx. 45mins of waiting in lines inside the terminal we were finally on board and allowed to peruse the public areas as the staterooms were prepared. The Royal IQ App was something that we found to be very useful throughout the trip to book activities and schedule events from the cruise compass. It only started working once our set sail pass was scanned once on board the ship (vice in the terminal) but once registered we were able to book all activities that we listed as 'unavailable' online including iFly and North Star. You can also message others through the app for a $7.95 fee throughout the cruise. However, we found that iMessage/Facetime would work with anyone on the boat or ashore when you were connected to their wifi network (even if you hadn't purchased a wifi package) so give that some thought before spending money. The activities on board were fun but were often let down by long waiting times or rude/inattentive Adventure Staff. Some of the staff were absolutely excellent whilst others would spend their time watching YouTube videos whilst long lines for activities formed. Some staff members would overtly comment on some passenger’s appearance or behaviours, which I was inclined to agree with in some instances, however it came off as very unprofessional and unfriendly. I'm not sure if the Adventure Staff had a supervisor or not but it certainly seemed like they could get away with anything. Dining wasn't an issue at all, we transferred from Fixed Dining to My Time Dining after a 2 minute chat with one of the head waiters and enjoyed excellent service and food throughout the cruise. The specialty restaurants are very good however I would only recommend going to them as part of a dining package as they are simply too overpriced to go on an individual basis. RCI do some good deals on dining packages before the cruise so keep an eye out. We only purchased a Soda drink package prior to sailing however every other Aussie on board had purchased a full alcoholic beverage package and made it matter of pride to use this package as a status symbol to inform as many other passengers as possible of how they intended to profit from it. For us the maths simply didn't add up (as you had to buy the package for everyone in your stateroom not just those who wanted to drink) and we found it cheaper to purchase alcohol individually. However going by the amount of Aussies we saw getting escorted by police after being kicked off the boat for drunkenness (literally in every port we stopped at) I'm guessing some people maybe did manage to turn a profit on the package. Entertainment aboard was varying. RCI have clearly pumped a lot of investment into their production shows and I have to say that they were excellent and exceeded our expectations by a long way. However some of the acts they brought in from outside really missed the mark. The comedians seemed 3rd tier and recycled a lot of material from YouTube or other comedians. I'm not sure whether RCI instructs them to keep it clean or whether the comedians know that Australian families will bring kids along to any show regardless of its nature or the time of day. But they just weren't that funny. One performer, a comedy magician, seemed like he was hired straight out of the yellow pages for a 4y.o.'s birthday party. But like I said, it wasn't all bad, production shows and musical talents were excellent. As Aussies we are often a hard people to please and re-affirmed in this sailing that we are once again gold medallists when it comes to the art of whinging. Comments that I observed from fellow Aussies this cruise included; 'I don't understand why they won't let us steal pool towels'; 'My Iced Smoothie is too cold'; 'The kids will look after themselves, we were at the bar till 3am last night'; and my favourite 'The ship is rocking too much, can you ask if we can pull in somewhere for a few hours so I can sleep'. As a result, the staff did their best to appease people but there were no shortages of yelling and downright obnoxiousness. The biggest downside for me on this ship were the public spaces. Whilst there was plenty of them they were simply too small and inadequately sized to host the number of passengers on board. You often had to show up 30 mins early to get a seat and they always felt cramped and clustered. It seems as if RCI really focussed on the bottom line when designing this shape as they’ve crammed as many balcony staterooms as possible (70% of total cabins) in the design and then filled the empty spaces with public venues. Having said that my favourite venue was the Radio City Music Hall which, in my opinion, is a great idea and design for many acts however was unfortunately underutilised during this cruise. Disembarkation wasn’t too bad in our experience as we weren’t in a hurry however there was a long queue of Aussies complaining that they weren’t allowed off the ship at the crack of dawn as they were previously informed. Ultimately I blame this on Sydney’s OPT again as they are physically limited by how many passengers they can process every hour and despite hiring scores of people to literally yell at passengers to keep walking as they depart the building, congestion continues to occur and slows everyone down. We'll probably steer clear of RCI and the other major lines when cruising out of Australia in future but if you've got a large family looking for a cheap holiday or are couple who can tolerate a lot of rowdy (unsupervised) kids then this might be a good option for you. Read Less

This is our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, but our fourth cruise overall. RC is really excellent in their embarkation and disembarkation procedures, and was much more efficient than the Princess Cruises we have been on. We did not travel with children, but noticed a meeting place for youngsters, and pools reserved for children. I think there was an arcade (at extra cost) available too. The Ovation of the Seas ship was amazing! It was so huge that just about five thousand passengers can be on board and (except for the first day) still not feel crowded. And being so large a ship it was able to offer features that would be missing on smaller ships such as: a climbing wall; sports area that offered (one at a time) bumper cars, roller skating, table tennis, a huge main theater in the front of the ship, an area with a tremendous view that doubled as a theater via unbelievable technology, a shopping mall on deck four, four different main dining restaurants, several specialty restaurants, casino, many bars including one bar that had two robotic bartenders, and a stage in the Music Hall, an open air pool area large pool with huge outdoor movie screen and several smaller pools/hot tubs, and another covered pool area with large pool and a number of smaller pools/hot tubs, a glass enclosed solarium for adults only at the front of the ship, a ride called 'The North Star' that lifted fourteen people in a enclosed bubble 90 meters into the air, a 'wave rider' for boogie boarding, and an 'i-fly' that simulates sky diving. The ship itself was fabulous. The food in the main dining room was sometimes good, but often was a step down from the main dining rooms on the Princess line, with frequent times when the meat being served was dry and/or tough. Food in the buffet, the Windjammer Marketplace, was consistently good in the main and side dishes, but the deserts were not as sweet or tasty as we had hoped. (This latter may be a matter of preference between British vs American recipes.) And there was NO FREE ICE CREAM available (other than as dessert after dinner in the main dining rooms, or on the last few days of the cruise in the buffet) except for very small soft serve cones available by the pool. The vanilla and chocolate ice cream was bland and tasted off somehow, but the strawberry ice cream was consistently good. There is a 24 snack cafe, next to a pizza place, both on deck four, neither of which charged extra. Carbonated beverages are NOT included in the cost of the cruise but could be purchased for an outrageous price either separately or as a "drinks package". Same for alcoholic drinks. We didn't purchase any type of drink package. I would have liked iced tea available at all times, but it was only available at lunch and dinner in both the buffet and the main dining rooms. We did not try any of the specialty restaurants because of the unreasonably high cost ($42 or more for each meal.) I wonder if quality of the food in the main dining rooms was designed to get people to eat in the specialty restaurants. The service, from the cabin stewards to the waiters, in fact everyone, was excellent. Everyone was polite and professional, and most were genuinely warm. We felt very welcomed. The entertainment was really good most of the time, with a main show (offered three times) each evening in the Royal Theater every night, and a fabulous technical show in the 270 stage in the back three times during the cruise. The trivia games throughout the ship multiple times per day were a lot of fun, and were a great place to meet people. Wifi is offered on board the ship at a cost that too high. We waited till our shore excursions to get free Wifi, but that didn't work out well because my phone didn't connect properly to any of the free Wifi except for a museum in Dunedin. Our experience with the Shore Excursions were a mixed bag. The last three were great, the first ones were a disaster. In Dunedin, the 'Dunedin Highlights' was a total waste of money because not all of the advertised stops were visited, we were rushed through what we did visit because we were 'short on time'. And the bus driver said we were allowed to get off the bus in downtown Dunedin and take the shuttles back to the ship, but didn't tell us that it would cost $15 each if we did so. At the second shore excursion at Picton, we felt being rushed again because of being 'short of time' during our steam train ride. Utilizing 100 year old vintage railway carriages, we were taken us to a small town that was both boring and which had closed all its shops so there was nothing to do when we got to this unlovely place. And after herding us back on the train, we waited a full twenty minutes (for no apparent reason) till the train to start its return journey. The shore excursion I would heartily recommend would be the visit to Hobbiton, for fans of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. The only improvement I would wish for on this shore excursion would be that enough time be allowed for us to have lunch at the Green Dragon Inn. (A glass of very tasty apple cider, or other beverages, was included in the cost of the excursion.) But we were again told 'we are short of time' even on this excursion. Try to get a morning time slot for the excursion as the lighting for photographing the hobbit holes is better than it is in the late afternoon/evening. The Maori Cultural Highlights shore excursion was acceptable, though again we were told when we got on the bus that we were 'short on time' and so felt that we didn't get to see everything and therefore didn't get our money's worth. This excursion visits a Maori meeting house, participation in the elaborate Maori greeting ritual, and a performance by teens dressed in traditional costume. History buffs, and folks interested in new cultures would find this excursion interesting, if a bit underwhelming. The Jet Boat adventure in Auckland, was well timed and had no issues. Expect to get THOROUGHLY soaked with salt water when you ride this fast boat ride that is almost like a roller coaster when it spins and turns. If this sounds fun to you, you'll have a blast. Our last New Zealand shore excursion was visiting the oldest Kauri tree in New Zealand, along with a visit to a Mission House. Included in the cost of this excursion was lunch at a small, simple, resort, and tea with scones at the mission house. The Maori guide for the visit to the ancient Kauri tree was wonderful and passionate about all native New Zealand flora and fauna. The visit to the Mission house and adjacent stone chapel would be interesting to history buffs, because this is one location that the treaty was signed between the Maoris and Europeans in 1840. Timing of the lunch was an issue because it was offered too soon after breakfast (another ship's tour group got the noon lunch slot.) There are no tables at the mission house so it was a bit awkward trying to juggle scones (which were delicious and had accompanying clotted cream and jam) and tea. The people at the Mission house were genuinely warm. This was a peaceful place. After disembarking the ship when we arrived back in Sydney, we booked a shore excursion to the Blue Mountains. This excursion filled in some of the many hours we would have otherwise waited at the airport with nothing to do. It also allowed us to be among the first groups to get off the ship. Unfortunately on the day we visited, the Blue Mountains were enshrouded in a thick white mist, so we weren't able to see much, but no fault of Royal Caribbean. Our Cabin: we had a cabin on the 13th deck with a balcony. The 14th deck shielded us from wind and harsh sun, which was wonderful. And during the entire cruise (except for the initial approach to New Zealand and sailing the 'sounds') it was warm enough to really enjoy our balcony. I do wish that we had been on the left side of the ship so we could have seen more land as we sailed to the various ports, but the view was great on both sides of the ship when approaching our ports of call. Tendering was done at the last two ports, and was handled very, very efficiently. No complaints at all. (I expect that having shore excursions booked for those ports had a great deal in our being among the first groups that got to leave the ship.) One thing I would do differently would be to choose 'My Time' dining instead of the traditional set table with the same people. With 'My Time' dining, you can make your own reservations and would get a chance to meet different people each time you dined, instead of getting stuck at a table with a particularly snobby 'diamond level' couple who deliberately ignore you and talk only to the other frequent cruisers at the table. Would I chose Royal Caribbean again? I would need to compare the shore excursions with other cruise lines before being able to answer that question. For me, the most important aspect of a cruise are the shore excursion experiences, and most of the ones I experienced left a lot to be desired in timing, and feeling rushed. If I were a person more interested in the ship than in shore excursions, this would be my ship! It was fabulous. Read Less

I had an assumption that all cruise`s were for old fat people, how wrong I was, my parents shouted my wife and 3 boys aged 4-8-11 and my brother and my two nieces. Absolutely blown away staff are some of the most beautiful people we have meet they remind me of the fijian`s, warm, humble, caring, genuine they were the highlight of the trip without a doubt. The boat is almost as good its is better than some 5 star hotels we had a junior suite that was well appointed had two bathrooms and plenty of room four us and storage for all our stuff was on deck 10 room 218 been mid ship when there is a bit of a swell is a blessing less movement. Hard to find information about activities before you, go but easy enough once on board. Book things as soon as you get on as you may miss out especially for I-Fly and North star the viewing arm thingy majig. Food is really good caters for al,l my wife is a vegetarian even she was happy. Take a clothes line as they charge like wounded bulls for laundry. If you like a drink or to get the drinks package they make the drinks strong so none of those weak bar drinks here !. For kids suits under 3 and over 8 years of age, our 4 year old fell in the weird zone things like bumper cars, rock wall, trapeze and roller skating he was to young to do. They do have a great kids club for all ages but we never used it. great used to taking the stairs the lifts are pain full none seem to be available always full. We will remember this for a lifetime helped when my parents paid for it stunning stunning stunning Read Less

Chose this cruise since it fit into schedule while in Australia to travel to New Zealand Realized the ship is large and almost 5000 passengers but we wanted to go to New Zealand . We tried it and will never sail again ! Too many long lines for everything ! We chose to eat in Specialty Resturants every evening and stayed away from Windjammer. Loved the food and staff in Specialty Resturants. Felt like just a floating city with little opportunity to dine outside Shore excursions were very expensive & not better than average. Entertainment was mixed but enjoyed Cruise Director - many shows were standing room since kids taking seats in adult shows Very annoying and many passengers were not pleased when comedian could not do his entire show due to kids in audience at 10 pm! Believe the Captain is concerned about overall view of this ship but there is something missing including bring nickel and dimed for everything which is the Royal Caribbean way ! Too big a ship to find coffee or just water during the day as well as an ice cream cone - The ship is beautiful however much space is devoted to high end retail and the main promenade is always shoulder to shoulder people in peak hours and the shops may have one person or be empty Read Less

My family and I took our third cruise in Jan to the South Pacific. This was a shorter 8 day cruise with only two port stops. We would have preferred more but thought that since it's a big ship, there would be lots to do so on that basis we thought that the limited stops should be a worthwhile trade off. Unfortunately, trying to get onto any of the activities on the boat was a real challenge. Luckily we'd booked ahead for the activities we could. We saw others on the boat who didn't do this and missed out altogether. So out of the 8 days we got 2 minutes of iFly and 2.5 minutes on the Bumper cars (after wating 1.5hours, and giving up after half an hour wait the day before).It was a similar wait for roller skating so we didn't manage to try that at all. We booked the Northstar and also lined up over an hour to get a 2nd go on the day we were at Mystery Island. The of ping pong tables and video game machines were always buys (one gaming station was out of order the whole time) so we only managed on game of table tennis and no video games. The pools are small and overly crowded including the adults-only pool. There were 2 days when the main pool was shut down due to accidents (e.g. kids soiling themselves in the pool). The evening shows were all quite entertaining except for one comedian/magician who seemed to have no energy and couldn't really engage the crowd. The musical shows were great. Getting a seat is the biggest problem. You had to wait in the theater at least half an hour early in order to get a seat. We didn't play bingo, which was also held in the theatres, however we did see the were huge crowds and that there was not enough room for everyone who wanted to go. Again and the lines started stretching out well before the start time. On to dining, again the crowds spoiled what should have been a relaxing holiday. Lining up for the restaurants (even with a booking) or having to keep eagle eyes peeled to see who was vacating a table in Wind Jammers was just a drag. On previous cruises, we enjoyed the restaurants over the buffet. On the Ovation, we ended up going to Wind Jammers more as the cruise progressed as the food in the restaurants were no better and had a smaller range to chose from. We purchased a 3 night dining package and thought it was reasonable value. Wonderland was nice visually and was an interesting experience more than simply good food. Compared to our previous cruises on the Radiance and on a P&O, I found the food on the previous cruises better and with more snack options even though they were much smaller ships. The tendering experience for Mystery Island went pretty smoothly. The cruise director had been explaining the expected delays etc the night before so our expectations were not great, but we were one a tender quick smart. Our previous cruise to one the small islands took about an hour and a half of waiting in the ship corridors to get onto a tender. At Noumea, the city became very crowded with the Ovation as well as a P&O ship docking the same day. This meant getting on the popular hop-on hop-off bus was difficult. Some passengers said they'd waited over an hour to get bus back. We had wanted to get off at one more bus stop but was not game to get off when we saw the bus situation. On board internet was surprisingly good (compared with what was available a few years back). RC have an app that lets you message each other and the internet speed was pretty good for being in the middle of the ocean. Unfortunately, the app didn't always work and IT issues at the end of the cruise meant we could not contact each other or see our final account, This is the first cruise review I've written. One reason for this is that it's been a month since our cruise and we still have not post-cruise survey which RC said they would send out. I had also contacted them asking for the survey but have not had any answer after a week. So overall I still enjoyed the holiday and still like cruising. However I felt that RC had gone downhill since the last time we cruised and the Ovation was way too crowded. Next cruise will be back on a smaller ship and probably not with Royal Caribbean. Read Less

1. Confirmed On-Shore Booking got Rejected by an On-Shore Staff We booked a snorkelling excursion for Mystery Island using their computer device. The booking was confirmed and paid for but when one of the On-Shore Staff member went to print our tickets, she was told by another On-Shore staff member not to print our tickets as she was about to book the excursion for another family and that there were no spots left. Our On-Shore staff then told us that our tickets won't print as there's no vacancy. We thought that was strange and logged back on the RC computer system which still allow us to book the tickets. We were about to repeat the booking process but the other On-Shore Staff told us that if we book the last few available tickets then she'll just cancel them and we won't get the tickets. I was totally devastated. Our cruise accounts showed that the money was deducted from our account but was subsequently refunded when the staff refused to print our tickets and cancelled our booking. Excursions are suppose to be booked on a first come first serve basis but it seems that RC staff is able to cancel our booking to accommodate someone else. 2. Don't be fooled into thinking that On-Shore activities are only available through RC at Mystery Island (or Noumea) We were totally devastated at not being able to book snorkelling excursions as "spots were not available" but was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were lots of snorkelling excursions offered by the locals. In fact, all the excursions RC had, we were able to book once we landed on Mystery Island and Noumea. 3. RC On Shore Excursions can get cancelled at the last minute We booked a kayak tour in Noumea through RC only to get a note the night before arriving in Noumea that the excursion got cancelled. They did offer 20% off their "Day Trip to Paradise: Amazing Amedee Island" excursion (this was one of their most expensive excursion costing USD199 per person) and 10% any other excursion. The only problem was that we had to go to the shore excursions desk to book them and it was closed. Also all other water based excursions were already booked out by then. After our experience at Mystery Island, we were not worried about missing out as we know that the local will offer us plenty of options for less cost, which was exactly what happened. 4. On Shore Excursions are more expensive when booking through RC RC's snorkelling excursion for 1.5 hour costs just over AUD117. Booking a 2 hour snorkelling excursion locally on Mystery Island cost AUD70. Upon arrival at Noumea, we booked a shuttle bus + boat ride to go snorkelling at Duck Island. It ended up costing AUD38 per person. If you had booked this excursion through RC you would have to pay about twice the amount. 5. Despite what they say, RC Excursions are not necessarily better Our locally booked snorkelling excursion was absolutely wonderful. We were grateful that our RC snorkelling excursions were cancelled by a RC staff as we were told afterwards by another passenger that everyone in his RC snorkelling excursion were stung by blue bottles and their snorkelling excursion was cut short. He got stung in a few places and told us that he realised that RC do not run the on-shore excursions themselves but RC does have a responsibility to its passengers to ensure that they are properly looked after by RC's vendor. He demanded RC gives him a refund for the excursion but I'm not sure whether he got it. Overall I'm glad that we didn't end up going with an RC excursion. If you want to book shore excursions, I would highly recommend booking them when you land for about half the cost. Ignore RC's sale pitch that you are looked after better if you booked through RC as that was certainly not true in my case. An upside with booking an excursion with RC is that you can use your cabin credit to pay for the excursion. Booking locally means that you have to fork out additional money. Other stuff - Shows were really good. - There were lots of food and you can get something to eat anytime throughout the day. Quality of the food was ok. - Public bathrooms have an automatic flushing system, so every time you lean over to grab some toilet paper your butt gets sucked back into the toilet - Staff were very friendly (except for the On-Shore staff who cancelled my on shore excursion but I'm subsequently grateful to her as I had a great time on the excursions run by the locals and for less cost). - Rooms and Bathrooms were clean - Activities were fun, but queues were very, very long Read Less

Really impressed. The cruise was amazing. So action packed and busy. a full ship but the only time it felt busy was at the end of show times or when queuing for north star and flow rider. We had a ball and want to book again. Boarding was very chaotic with all boarding slots between 1200 and 1330 being called at 1130. Disembarkation and tendering on ports was fast and efficient. Dining. The grande restaurant was amazing and food and service were exceptional. our servers, monsa, jan and kim. Were amazing always on top of our orders and dietary requirements. Icon grill and silk the food was average and the service was lets say... Lacking. Windjammer was great however the selections at lunch seemed very repetitive by the end of the cruise.in windjammer we had chef manoj and chef joshue. Both amazing men who took care of my daughters allergies requirements exceptionally well. Facilities were exceptional and well maintained. Read Less

First time cruiser. Stayed in grand suite 6234. Do not have one bad thing to report. Our concierge Bing was fabulous and looked after our every need on the ship. Disembarked before everyone else at Noumea which was pretty good. Room amenities fabulous. Bed nice and soft (not too soft). Shower fabulous, robes a nice touch. Lots of room on the balcony. Definitely didn't get cabin fever in this room! Highly recommend stretching to a grand suite if you can save up or have the funds. Coastal kitchen is FABULOUS! Head there if you have a suite. We didnt eat in the main buffet area the entire cruise. We had two deliveries of special treats to our room whilst we sailed. Nice touch. Please note, if you don't want to sail with one thousand kids, book outside school holiday time. That's the only negative thing I have to say about this cruise - lots of kids running around. Oue fault for booking during school holidays though so we just escaped to coastal kitchen and our suite deck area on top for peace and quiet. Read Less

There were 6 of us traveling, ranging in ages from 42 to 62. We were celebrating my friend's 50th birthday and we booked the cruise some 12 months earlier as she had never visited New Zealand. DH and I have cruised with RCCL previously on several occasions. Other friends are seasoned cruisers who have never cruised with Royal. We arrived in Sydney the day before the cruise and stayed at the Sir Stamford which was in an excellent occasion as we could walk to the pier. All six of us had the ultimate drink package and found it to be great value. Due to the weather we were consuming large amounts of water, as well as cocktails, beer, wine etc. DH and I had the ultimate dining package and our friends had 5 night packages. The other nights they ate in the main dining room and they had no complaints about the food or the service. DH and I were very happy with all the meals and staff at Chops, Izumi and Jamie's. We didn't visit Wonderland due to a bad experience on another ship a couple of years ago (DH refused to go back). There was heaps of entertainment. We kept missing things we wanted to do, due to conflicting schedules. Cruise Director Joff Eaton was once again AWESOME! Well done Joff, we especially loved your progressive trivia. It was so much fun :) Service was great everywhere on the ship. Over the course of the 10 night cruise, we visited every bar and every dining venue (other than Wonderland). Staff were all happy and fun, not to mention helpful. You could ask for anything in the Windjammer and they would get it for you. We had some great garlic Naan bread made especially for us. We didn't do any excursions through the ship. Personally, I had previously sailed to NZ so was happy to just do our own thing at each port. Twice we just walked around the towns and had some lunch. At Wellington, DH and I stayed on-board. We were only in port for a few hours, so decided to stay on the ship. Overall, it was a great cruise. Our friends who had never sailed RCCL before loved it and are looking to book another cruise with the company. Read Less

The Ship is GRAND!! The decor and styling throughout the ship is simply stunning and it’s super clean! Although the ship is HUGE, I found its bigger in size, by the addition of more staterooms/people. The main areas on the boat are no bigger than previous smaller ships I’ve been on! In fact the promenade can get quite congested when the sale stalls are out etc After reading several reviews, to my surprise embarkment at Sydney was seamless & literally took 10 minutes. I dropped my bag off a couple of hours earlier and came back at my designated checkin time. Disembarkation was a breeze aswell, take your own bags off, super fast was off the ship in about 15 minutes. Cabin was stylish and well designed with plenty of room. Heaps of cupboard and wardrobe space! The shower had a glass screen instead of a curtain which was a nice change! We had an obstructed balcony room on level 6, no complaints you still get a nice view looking over the lifeboats! I celebrated my birthday whilst at sea and returned to my room in the afternoon all decorated with balloons and a birthday cake towel arrangement!! Shout out to Dennis it was a lovely surprise! Take extra cloths, there is a laundry service for about $30 US for a small bag! No ironing room either so pack well! Also, no coffee in rooms only tea! I had to bring back to the room coffee from the promenade if I wanted one. I loved the adults only solarium, it was a very relaxing area with great views going in and out of ports as well as Two70 where we watched as we sailed through the breathtaking Sounds. Food was pretty average! (Had better on P&O Explorer) Fruit was not great. Most of it was either not ripe (honeydew and rockmelons) or too ripe. Entertainment could not be faulted! Our Cruise Director Joff was such a dude, very entertaining and great sense of humour! I only wish some of the entertainment was repeated more as missed some things due to only be on one night if it conflicted with something else I wanted to do. I loved New Zealand, in particular Wellington! I experienced no issues or lengthy delays getting off or on the ship on any of the port days! The first port in Picton was a ticket system and we waited for about an hour until our number was called (but we expected this) the other 3 ports I walked off and on within minutes! I opted out of organising tours through Royal Caribbean, mainly due to price and organised them at the i-site visitor centre at each port for a hell of a lot cheaper! They all pretty much guarantee your return prior to ship leaving etc Thoroughly enjoyed the Ovation of the Seas, I think if they could improve the food and put some more focus on customer service I would rate it 5* Read Less