Ovation of the Seas Review
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This cruise for us was all about the ship. We booked early as we knew the cruise would sell out and the prices would increase. This was our third RCI cruise and 25th cruise overall. We have previously sailed on Voyager and Explorer. We are Elite on Celebrity so Diamond in RCI.
Our cabin was a balcony on deck six, number 6260. This cabin is NOT listed as an obstructed balcony however it is partially obstructed. A large pylon holding up the lifeboat is almost in the middle of the view. The balcony itself is massive, probably three times the size of a normal balcony cabin, and we managed to photograph around the obstruction, but we were very surprised to see the large pylon. This cabin needs to be listed as an obstructed balcony.
The cabin is really good, on first look it doesn't look very big, but it has very clever storage and the bathroom has a glass shower screen. The TV is wall mounted and large with an excellent picture although the shows are geared for children with the only free movie channel being Dreamworks animations. Pay per view movies were around $12USD but we didn't watch any. The bed is comfortable and the room is well appointed. Fridge, kettle with tea, hairdryer, the usual stuff. Our room attendant Idewa was excellent. Everything is new and clean, and the location was great. Not too far to the stairs and lifts, and being on six it is just a few steps down to where all the action is. There are ten lifts midship, and I think six lifts forward.
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
The cabin was great with a huge balcony, but it is an obstructed balcony, even though it is listed as a non obstructed.
Port Reviews
Picton
We hired a car from Thrifty, which we had booked in advance. On collecting the car there was an additional charge of $46NZD 'primary location fee'
There was a huge number of people hoping to hire a car, and there were none to be had, so make sure you pre-book.
We drove to the wineries the long way, via the road that goes along the sounds, then turned left at Havelock. We stopped at a few wineries and had lunch at Wither Hill, delicious. Was an amazing day.
Napier
What a beautiful town full of lovely locals. We just walked around, did some shopping, and enjoyed the beautiful old cars on display, the locals dressed in 1930s gear and the beautiful dancers.
Wellington
There was a delay disembarking so we missed our Lord of the Rings tour that we had pre-booked. But the company Flat Earth Tours were so nice about it, gave us a full refund AND a free drive around the city to see the sights. Excellent service from Flat Earth Tours!
Dunedin
We pre-booked in for a tour of Speights Brewery and lunch. A great tour and delicious lunch. The lunch was two courses and was a lot of food. It costs $59 AUD for the tour and lunch, a bargain.