Ovation of the Seas Review
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I have cruised with Royal Caribbean before a couple of years ago - to the South Pacific for 7 nights - and really enjoyed it. That cruise was on the Explorer of the Seas, a ship I really liked. This time was a 10 night cruise to New Zealand on the very large Ovation of the Seas. I believe it's currently the largest ship in the Southern hemisphere. We were very lucky that the crossing to and from NZ from Australia was very smooth indeed and we had perfect weather the whole cruise - with the exception of Dunedin which was shrouded in a haze from the Australian bushfires.
The ship was full, with close to 5000 passengers and 1600 crew. The ship is very big but didn't feel particularly crowded except in certain areas like the pool deck. I found the decor onboard a bit confusing. There seemed to be no particular consistent style or elegance to it, and many different styles onboard, which didn't seem to work. The Windjammer cafe was not particularly attractive or very light, and it seemed to me to be smaller than on Explorer, but I may be wrong. We ate in the Grande dining room at dinner, which was attractive however.. I did not find it as attractive a ship as Explorer of the Seas.
There is lots to do onboard. Each night the "Cruise Compass" is delivered to your stateroom, with details of what is on offer each day. It would be hard to be bored. I particularly enjoyed learning the "Thriller" dance, for the ship's guest talent show on the last day, and joining the ship's guest choir for the talent show.. My Mother enjoyed listening to the onboard pianist. This ship also has roller skating and bumper cars. You could even learn to trapeze too! No ice-rink however, which was something I loved about Explorer of the Seas both going ice-skating myself and seeing the ice-shows..
Cabin Review
Junior Suite with Large Balcony
We had a junior suite with a large balcony which was wide in terms of depth, not width, which I had not fully realised when booking. It also had a bulkhead running from top to bottom on the right hand side which obscured some of the view. This suite was not worth the extra money. A junior suite would have been fine. .
I must have misread the deck plan when booking, because our suite was directly under the deck with the pools on it which I certainly had not meant to book. We could hear a lot of feet running up and down upstairs. Next time I will be more careful to ensure there is at least a deck between our suite and the pool deck.
The suite was very comfortable and roomy however, and the beds were excellent. Unlike the junior suite I had on the Explorer of the Seas, our suite did not have the very useful walk in robe, although cupboard space was adequate. The bathroom was not well situated however being extremely close to one of our twin beds. But the bathroom had both bath and shower and was roomy.