dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I would be surprised if it did not. This seems awfully early for the cruise to sell out and final payment date does tend to focus people's minds.
Corinna
It's A Small World - A Never-ending Pre-trip Report
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
I would be surprised if it did not. This seems awfully early for the cruise to sell out and final payment date does tend to focus people's minds.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
No, I don't have anything booked yet for this year, not even for the trip I am hoping to take 6 weeks from now. That is part of the issue when doing Interline travel. It is a bit like playing Russian roulette. Normally rates don't come out until 3 months ahead of travel the absolute earliest and sometimes things work out and sometimes they do not. Still, if they do not work out something else usually comes up that is pretty sweet, too. This is how our Arabian Gulf Cruise happened.
I am sure it will, one way or another.
I am getting really excited about this.
Corinna
Pinkocto
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2011
Ahhh, I see. But you have the time off work already? And if one plan doesn't come through you find something else to fit in?
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Yes, I have three lots of leave booked: just short of 4 weeks in May, a long weekend to coincide with the inaugural Run Disney event at Disneyland Paris and 3 weeks in November. If what he have planned does not come off, we go to plan B, C, etc. We may have to tweak the dates slightly as it happened in May, but I am determined to make the leave work pretty much as it is booked. I do have some exciting news below.
Corinna
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Well, every cloud has a silver lining. I may have hit a snag with the November trip, but exciting stuff is happening for the May trip. Again as is so often the case with us, what we plan does not always come to fruition. We had set our heart on the Panama Canal cruise on the Disney Wonder, but as we have done this a couple of times previously, we were not feeling inclined to pay full price this year. Next year will be a different matter as the Wonder should go through the new locks and also will have had her makeover. So we are willing to pay a bit of a premium for this. Anyway, around Christmas, I started to keep a close eye on this cruise via Cruise Fish and also on the Interline agencies’ websites. Interline rates on DCL at the moment are fairly slim pickings and the cruise looked pretty heavily booked. I hoped that this would change once the final payment day had passed, especially as this was on 2nd January. However, this did not happen and the prices keep creeping up. So I had to accept that this was not going to happen. So we looked at other options. Something very quickly caught our eye and this is actually another canal – the Suez Canal. This is a Royal Caribbean cruise on the Ovation of the Seas from Barcelona to Dubai. There is also a cruise the week before from Southampton to Barcelona, which would make the perfect back to back cruise.
As I said this morning, Interline travel is a bit like playing Russian roulette. You never know if and when Interline rates are released. It also can be difficult to know when to jump in as they can be pretty restrictive. If you book too early, you may well pay more than you have to, but if you wait too long, the rate may no longer be available or worse still, the cruise may sell out. However, if you time it right, you can get some fantastic deals. One thing that helps to gage if you are wasting your time or when it is time to jump is monitoring the website to see how the prices that are available to the general public are developing. I was at a loose end earlier on today and did just this. I got more than I had bargained for.
The prices for this cruise held fairly steady and were more than I was willing to pay. For some reason, I decided to make a dummy booking and suddenly the fare dropped from £1111 plus taxes and port charges per person to £899 per person all in as soon as I selected a cabin typ2. This is a GTY booking for an interior cabin with a virtual balcony and I am very happy with this. I quickly called Graham and he told me to book it. I only had to pay £50 per person deposit for now and the rest is due mid March. I very much doubt that I could have got a better price by holding out. So the planning is very much on. We have port stops at Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples, Athens (Piraeus) and Petra (Aqaba), the canal crossing plus 9 sea days. We have been to Rome and Naples on our Med cruise in 2010 and we have unfinished business in both of them. I have never been to Athens and Petra has been on both of our bucket list forever. I should have taken it as an omen when a poster encouraging me to "Visit Petra" turned up above the platform where I usually get my train to work from.
Anyway, I am so excited that I could bounce off the walls. This means that I won’t make it to the USA this year, but I will make up for this next year.
Corinna
As I said this morning, Interline travel is a bit like playing Russian roulette. You never know if and when Interline rates are released. It also can be difficult to know when to jump in as they can be pretty restrictive. If you book too early, you may well pay more than you have to, but if you wait too long, the rate may no longer be available or worse still, the cruise may sell out. However, if you time it right, you can get some fantastic deals. One thing that helps to gage if you are wasting your time or when it is time to jump is monitoring the website to see how the prices that are available to the general public are developing. I was at a loose end earlier on today and did just this. I got more than I had bargained for.
The prices for this cruise held fairly steady and were more than I was willing to pay. For some reason, I decided to make a dummy booking and suddenly the fare dropped from £1111 plus taxes and port charges per person to £899 per person all in as soon as I selected a cabin typ2. This is a GTY booking for an interior cabin with a virtual balcony and I am very happy with this. I quickly called Graham and he told me to book it. I only had to pay £50 per person deposit for now and the rest is due mid March. I very much doubt that I could have got a better price by holding out. So the planning is very much on. We have port stops at Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples, Athens (Piraeus) and Petra (Aqaba), the canal crossing plus 9 sea days. We have been to Rome and Naples on our Med cruise in 2010 and we have unfinished business in both of them. I have never been to Athens and Petra has been on both of our bucket list forever. I should have taken it as an omen when a poster encouraging me to "Visit Petra" turned up above the platform where I usually get my train to work from.
Anyway, I am so excited that I could bounce off the walls. This means that I won’t make it to the USA this year, but I will make up for this next year.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
For now we are just booked for the Barcelona to Dubai part. The price was just too good to pass up for a 16 night cruise. I am still holding out for a decent interline rate for the Southampton to Barcelona part. I have booked a hotel in Southampton just in case, but I can cancel this without penalty up to the day of arrival. Graham is already making noises about re-creating our 2010 Magical Mystery Tour where we suddenly had to get to Barcelona by ferry and train as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland had put paid to our original plans to get to Barcelona. He is as committed to the back to back cruise as I am, but it does no harm to have a back up plan.
I love the ports, but we will also have plenty of time to explore the ship. I have the feeling we will need it, too.
Corinna
jedijill
Chiefs fan living in Bronco country
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2005
Wow, those are fantastic itineraries! I want to go to Petra so bad! Too much watching of Indiana Jones when I was younger. 
I wish I could take 4 weeks of vacation off! I only get 5 for the entire year and that includes sick days.
Jill in CO
I wish I could take 4 weeks of vacation off! I only get 5 for the entire year and that includes sick days.Jill in CO
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Yes, I am pretty thrilled with this.
I hear you. This will be a dream come true for me.
It is a bit of a standing joke at work that I tend to disappear twice a year for about a month at a time.
Sick leave is entirely separate from our leave entitlement in the UK. I get 25 days of leave plus an additional 8 days in lieu of public holidays. As I work shifts on a rotational pattern, if I time it right, I don't need much leave to have a week off. There are usually also some swaps possible to stretch the leave. For instance there is one weekend during the cruise that I should have worked, but no leave was available. So I arranged two swaps. One is helping out a colleague who has a similar issue in July and the other means that the colleague now has a long weekend. So it is a win win situation.
Corinna
franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
You better do a trip report on this one! Even if it is just highlights, we want documentation of your DIS meet and if nothing else food porn!
Pinkocto
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2011
How exciting about your Suez Canal cruise!!!!! You are so right about silver linings. Too bad about the WBPC but the Suez Canal is going to be amazing, and those ports, I didn't know a cruise like this existed! You very well might have me trying other cruise lines in the future!
jedijill
Chiefs fan living in Bronco country
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2005
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
Congrats, Corinna. I'm envious. I'd love to visit Petra as well!
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
There should be documented evidence of the DisMeet.
I suspect Jill might well think that I have a camera permanently glued to my eye by the time the week in Melbourne is up!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
We are lucky. Our manager is a firm advocate for work life balance and normally we do not have any issues getting trips of up to 4 weeks approved provided the leave is available.
I second that.
I seem to get more excited with each passing day.
I am OK with this. We have done the WBPC twice before and I am determined to do it next year and this cruise looks amazing.
I know for us, trying Royal Caribbean and finding that we love it, has opened all kinds of opportunities that I previously could only dream of.
I'll definitely put something together for you guys.
Thanks. I am looking forward to it.
Petra is going to be spectacular.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I woke up to a lovely surprise yesterday. I had an email from Royal Caribbean stating that there had been a reservation change. I got a little alarmed and it actually took me three attempts until I understood what I was looking at. We already got our cabin assignment. We are on deck 11 forward. I am very happy with this. We love being forward and tend to prefer being on a higher deck. Our cabin is just two decks down from the adult area so this should suit us perfectly.
Corinna
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Ovation of the Seas
The Ovation of the Seas will be a completely new experience for us. It will far the biggest ship that we will have sailed on. I am both excited and a little apprehensive about this. It seems to be a curious choice to spend 16 nights and hopefully 23 nights on a ship of this size especially considering how much we have dragged or heels about the Dream and the Fantasy and still have not been on either. Still, I think the Ovation of the Seas is different enough from anything that we have experienced that the size will pale into insignificance.
First things first, the Ovation of the Seas does not actually exist yet as such. She is currently built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, which is the same shipyard that built the Dream and the Fantasy. She is scheduled for float out on 20th February and for the Ems River Conveyance on 13th March. She will then be handed over to Royal Caribbean on 12th April. This seems to be cutting things a little fine considering that the maiden voyage is already on 17th April. Still, there will be a few short cruises before we will get on board and hopefully they will have worked out all the kinks by then. Here is a recent photo. At least she looks like a ship now.
I had thought that she was pretty similar in terms of size to the Dream and the Fantasy, but she is a little bit bigger still. She has two extra decks (16 passenger decks instead of 14) and has a tonnage of 167,800 GT compared to 129,690 GT for the Fantasy. In terms of length and width they are fairly similar. Capacity-wise there is a bit of a difference as well. The Disney Fantasy ranges from 2500 passengers based on double occupancy to her maximum capacity of 4000. The Ovation of the Seas fits 4180 based on double occupancy and has a maximum capacity of 4905.
On the plus side, this ship is the right way round. On the other three ships we have been on, the same type of locations were in the same place. For instance the spa and adult pool are forward and the buffet is aft. On the Splendour, they were reversed. We essentially spent an enjoyable week getting lost. On the Ovation, order has been restored and things are where we expect them to be.
The poor ship has not even sailed yet and already it is being referred to as the runt of the litter. I actually see this as a positive. I have often heard people refer to the Wonder as the runt of the litter and more than once I had the feeling that DCL sees her in that way, but we happen to love that particular runt very much.
It is however true that there is a distinct absence of information about the Ovation. Most of what I have managed to piece together is courtesy of the deck plans or from one line side notes mentioning the Ovation in articles about other ships. I would not be overly surprised by this as DCL is also often very slow to release information. However, apparently there was a lot of hype prior to the launch of her sister ships. There is also a fair bit of information about regarding the Harmony of the Seas, which like the Ovation is the third in her class and launches a full month after the Ovation.
Dining
The dining will be the biggest will be the biggest change for us. The Quantum class ships have something called dynamic dining. They have 4 dining rooms that are available to everybody and one that is exclusive to suite guests. The four that are open to us are Chic (contemporary cuisine);
American Icon Grill (American comfort food);
Silk (Pan-Asian)
and The Grande Restaurant (formal).
On top of this, there is the buffet and there are a number of specialty restaurants with an extra charge. We may decide to have one or two meals at the specialty restaurants, but for the most part we will stick with the complimentary restaurants. In terms of menu and general atmosphere, I think Silk will be our favourite. I think I will absolutely love The Grande Restaurant and I will definitely make a couple of reservations there. However, I think this is all I can get away with as every night is formal night at this restaurant. I would not mind this at all, but for Graham this would grow old very quickly.
They have two levels of Dynamic Dining: Dynamic Dining Classic is basically the same as rotational dining on DCL where you rotate through the dining rooms, but have a set dining time, the same people you have dinner with and the same serving team. However, Royal Caribbean does restrict this to about 20% of the people on board. As we booked this cruise relatively last minute, this option was no longer available. So we are stuck with Dynamic Dining Choice. We normally prefer traditional dining arrangements with fixed dinner seatings. We had a taste of Freestyle Dining when we tried NCL in 2009 and hated it. However, there is one key difference between Freestyle Dining and Dynamic Dining Choice and this difference actually makes this a quite enjoyable proposition. On NCL, unless you were booked in a suite, you could not make any reservations for the dining rooms. On Royal Caribbean, this is not just an option, but it is actually encouraged. If you want to, you can wait until you are on the ship, but you can make reservations ahead of the cruise via the cruise planner on their website. If you then need to tweak them once you get on the ship, this is an option, too, subject to availability. So to my mind this is no different than making ADRs when going to Walt Disney World or Disneyland. As I am a bit of a compulsive planner, this will actually add to the fun of this.
Staterooms
This is again going to be a change for us. Royal Caribbean have taken the same idea that DCL had for the Dream and the Fantasy and taken this further. Where DCL has virtual portholes in their interior cabins, on the Ovation of the Seas, the interior cabins will have virtual balconies. Essentially you will get a live camera feed showing the passing scenery on an 80-inch floor-to-ceiling HD LED screen. Whether this actually adds something to experience or whether this is purely a gimmick remains to be seen. I still don’t think that this will tempt us to spend any more time in our cabin. Even when we had a real balcony, this did not happen. For us the cabin is basically just the space that we use to sleep, get showered and changed.
There was one slight worry as far as the stateroom assignment is concerned. We had booked a GTY cabin. We are normally pretty laid back when it comes to our cabins. As long as we are on the ship, it is normally all good. Indeed out of the 16 cruises we have done, we booked GTY cabins on 9 cruises. We have always liked what we have been assigned and a couple of them have actually become firm favourites. However, this time round, there was a little risk factor. The casino is on one of the stateroom decks. That particularly deck only has two interior cabins, however they are very close to the casino. Not only would I have concerns regarding noise, but the casino is the only indoor space were smoking is allowed. I can imagine that smoke will drift and we are both sensitive to smoke. Fortunately we were lucky. Our cabin is close to the kids’ club, but I don’t foresee a problem with this.
Solarium
This was a real surprise on the Splendour. The Solarium is adult area on Royal Caribbean and on the Splendour, this was indoors. This was one drawback as the air-conditioning was a little overactive and it got quite chilly in there. Other than that, it was a slice of heaven. It had comfortable loungers, tables and shares, the Park Cafe that served breakfast and then soups, salads, sandwiches, cakes and cookies for lunch. It even served afternoon tea. They also had a drink station and a bar in there. The main part of this though was the pool and two hot tubs although I never went in either as we had such a port intensive itinerary. Still, I could not imagine how this could be improved upon other than the temperature - until I saw photos of the Solarium on the Quantum class ships.
The Solarium on the Quantum class ships is spread out over two decks and after having seen photos and a video, I struggle to imagine that we would want to move from there. First of all they have plenty of loungers with a view. They even have special loungers for couples. I can just imagine spending time on one of those reading my book and enjoying the view. They also have loungers in a shallow pool. The solarium has pools that are described as cascading lagoons plus 4 hot tubs. They also had swings dotted around the place as well as a bar and a restaurant. So you really can spend all day there if you want. Here is a video that gives a great overview of the space. This is from the Anthem of the Seas, but I have no reason to believe that the solarium on the Ovation won’t be the same or at least very similar.
https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/video/585/anthem-of-the-seas-solarium-b-roll/
Quirky Features
The Quantum class ships are marketed as being the most technologically advanced ships in the world and as such, they come with a number of very quirky features. I am starting to wonder if one should even classify the Quantum class ships as cruise ships. They seem to be more like a floating amusement park.
SeaPlex
SeaPlex is the indoor activity space on the Quantum class ships. This features an indoor basketball court that can also be used for a number of other sports like 5 a-side football (soccer), dodgeball and volleyball. However, it can also be transformed to host a circus school, bumper cars and rollerskating, including a roller disco with floating DJ booth. Also in this complex is the first “food truck” at sea serving hot dogs and activity pods offering foosball, table tennis and X Boxes.
Ripcord by iFly
Ripcord by iFly is a sky diving simulator. They have something similar on International Drive in Orlando and this has always fascinated me, but I have been turned off by the cost. It remains to be seen if there is a cost involved on the Ovation. It is complimentary on the Anthem, but they charge for it on the Quantum. Still even if they end up charging for it, the charge on the Quantum seems fair. To experience this, you have to wear a jumpsuit and go through classroom based instruction first. Then one by one everybody gets to go inside the wind tunnel with a trained instructor for a one minute flight. This sounds really exciting.
FlowRider
The FlowRider is a simulator that sends water a very high speed across a small area that mimics what it is like to surf on the ocean. You can either try your hand at stand up traditional surfing and boogie boarding. I don’t think stand up surfing would be my thing at all, but I have tried boogie boarding in the ocean and loved it so that is a definite possibility.
North Star
North Star is a capsule that was inspired by the London Eye and is attached to a robotic arm. It can reach heights of 300 feet above sea level and rotates 250 degrees. This should provide some stunning views.
Bionic Bar
This is the ultimate gimmick, but I can also imagine that it will be a lot of fun. Bionic Bar has two robotic bartenders. You select your cocktail via a tablet and they get to work. You can either choose from a selection of well known cocktails or you can create your own. I am definitely going to have to try this.
Two70
Two70 is described as a living room during the day and is located at the aft of the ship with panoramic 270 degree views. It looks like a bright and inviting space and I am sure we will spend some time there. However, what makes this fall into the quirky category is what happens at night. This is transformed into a performance venue with projection mapping and robotic screens. I normally give the entertainment a wide birth, but I think I need to check this out at least once.
Technology
WOW Bands
This is an innovation that I rather like. WOW Bands are RFID-enabled silicon bands that essentially are the same thing as the Magic Bands at Walt Disney world and do much the same thing. They are used to open cabin doors, charge things to the Sea Pass account. As far as I can see, you can even use them to be scanned when you leave or re-enter the ship. This makes me happy for two reasons. In December I had forgotten to bring a lanyard and I really do not want to use a DCL lanyard. So I always had to carry a wristlet or small handbag to put my Sea Pass card in. The Sea Pass cards also get de-magnetized extremely easier and ours stopped working three times during the week in December. This then meant that we had to go to Guest Services to have them re-printed. With an RFID-enabled system, this should not be an issue. I rather enjoy what the ship has on offer than stand in line at Guest Services. On the Anthem of the Seas, they now charge for the Wow bands, but they do not charge for them on the Quantum of the Seas and so far the statement is that they won’t charge for them on the Ovation of the Seas either. Even if they decide to charge, the convenience that this provides would be worth the $5 charge to me.
Royal IQ App
I downloaded this yesterday and can’t wait to get to play with this. On the face of it, this is pretty similar to the Navigator app. It does not do anything while you are on land and you access it via the Intranet meaning that there are no charges to use it. Like the DCL Navigator app, it is your electronic guide to what is going on around the ship. However, this is where the similarities stop. Royal IQ has a lot more bells and whistles. This shows all your reservations and also allows you to change or add reservations. The one feature that I like most is that it has a function to track your luggage.
The Ovation of the Seas will be a completely new experience for us. It will far the biggest ship that we will have sailed on. I am both excited and a little apprehensive about this. It seems to be a curious choice to spend 16 nights and hopefully 23 nights on a ship of this size especially considering how much we have dragged or heels about the Dream and the Fantasy and still have not been on either. Still, I think the Ovation of the Seas is different enough from anything that we have experienced that the size will pale into insignificance.
First things first, the Ovation of the Seas does not actually exist yet as such. She is currently built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, which is the same shipyard that built the Dream and the Fantasy. She is scheduled for float out on 20th February and for the Ems River Conveyance on 13th March. She will then be handed over to Royal Caribbean on 12th April. This seems to be cutting things a little fine considering that the maiden voyage is already on 17th April. Still, there will be a few short cruises before we will get on board and hopefully they will have worked out all the kinks by then. Here is a recent photo. At least she looks like a ship now.
I had thought that she was pretty similar in terms of size to the Dream and the Fantasy, but she is a little bit bigger still. She has two extra decks (16 passenger decks instead of 14) and has a tonnage of 167,800 GT compared to 129,690 GT for the Fantasy. In terms of length and width they are fairly similar. Capacity-wise there is a bit of a difference as well. The Disney Fantasy ranges from 2500 passengers based on double occupancy to her maximum capacity of 4000. The Ovation of the Seas fits 4180 based on double occupancy and has a maximum capacity of 4905.
On the plus side, this ship is the right way round. On the other three ships we have been on, the same type of locations were in the same place. For instance the spa and adult pool are forward and the buffet is aft. On the Splendour, they were reversed. We essentially spent an enjoyable week getting lost. On the Ovation, order has been restored and things are where we expect them to be.
The poor ship has not even sailed yet and already it is being referred to as the runt of the litter. I actually see this as a positive. I have often heard people refer to the Wonder as the runt of the litter and more than once I had the feeling that DCL sees her in that way, but we happen to love that particular runt very much.
It is however true that there is a distinct absence of information about the Ovation. Most of what I have managed to piece together is courtesy of the deck plans or from one line side notes mentioning the Ovation in articles about other ships. I would not be overly surprised by this as DCL is also often very slow to release information. However, apparently there was a lot of hype prior to the launch of her sister ships. There is also a fair bit of information about regarding the Harmony of the Seas, which like the Ovation is the third in her class and launches a full month after the Ovation.
Dining
The dining will be the biggest will be the biggest change for us. The Quantum class ships have something called dynamic dining. They have 4 dining rooms that are available to everybody and one that is exclusive to suite guests. The four that are open to us are Chic (contemporary cuisine);
American Icon Grill (American comfort food);
Silk (Pan-Asian)
and The Grande Restaurant (formal).
On top of this, there is the buffet and there are a number of specialty restaurants with an extra charge. We may decide to have one or two meals at the specialty restaurants, but for the most part we will stick with the complimentary restaurants. In terms of menu and general atmosphere, I think Silk will be our favourite. I think I will absolutely love The Grande Restaurant and I will definitely make a couple of reservations there. However, I think this is all I can get away with as every night is formal night at this restaurant. I would not mind this at all, but for Graham this would grow old very quickly.
They have two levels of Dynamic Dining: Dynamic Dining Classic is basically the same as rotational dining on DCL where you rotate through the dining rooms, but have a set dining time, the same people you have dinner with and the same serving team. However, Royal Caribbean does restrict this to about 20% of the people on board. As we booked this cruise relatively last minute, this option was no longer available. So we are stuck with Dynamic Dining Choice. We normally prefer traditional dining arrangements with fixed dinner seatings. We had a taste of Freestyle Dining when we tried NCL in 2009 and hated it. However, there is one key difference between Freestyle Dining and Dynamic Dining Choice and this difference actually makes this a quite enjoyable proposition. On NCL, unless you were booked in a suite, you could not make any reservations for the dining rooms. On Royal Caribbean, this is not just an option, but it is actually encouraged. If you want to, you can wait until you are on the ship, but you can make reservations ahead of the cruise via the cruise planner on their website. If you then need to tweak them once you get on the ship, this is an option, too, subject to availability. So to my mind this is no different than making ADRs when going to Walt Disney World or Disneyland. As I am a bit of a compulsive planner, this will actually add to the fun of this.
Staterooms
This is again going to be a change for us. Royal Caribbean have taken the same idea that DCL had for the Dream and the Fantasy and taken this further. Where DCL has virtual portholes in their interior cabins, on the Ovation of the Seas, the interior cabins will have virtual balconies. Essentially you will get a live camera feed showing the passing scenery on an 80-inch floor-to-ceiling HD LED screen. Whether this actually adds something to experience or whether this is purely a gimmick remains to be seen. I still don’t think that this will tempt us to spend any more time in our cabin. Even when we had a real balcony, this did not happen. For us the cabin is basically just the space that we use to sleep, get showered and changed.
There was one slight worry as far as the stateroom assignment is concerned. We had booked a GTY cabin. We are normally pretty laid back when it comes to our cabins. As long as we are on the ship, it is normally all good. Indeed out of the 16 cruises we have done, we booked GTY cabins on 9 cruises. We have always liked what we have been assigned and a couple of them have actually become firm favourites. However, this time round, there was a little risk factor. The casino is on one of the stateroom decks. That particularly deck only has two interior cabins, however they are very close to the casino. Not only would I have concerns regarding noise, but the casino is the only indoor space were smoking is allowed. I can imagine that smoke will drift and we are both sensitive to smoke. Fortunately we were lucky. Our cabin is close to the kids’ club, but I don’t foresee a problem with this.
Solarium
This was a real surprise on the Splendour. The Solarium is adult area on Royal Caribbean and on the Splendour, this was indoors. This was one drawback as the air-conditioning was a little overactive and it got quite chilly in there. Other than that, it was a slice of heaven. It had comfortable loungers, tables and shares, the Park Cafe that served breakfast and then soups, salads, sandwiches, cakes and cookies for lunch. It even served afternoon tea. They also had a drink station and a bar in there. The main part of this though was the pool and two hot tubs although I never went in either as we had such a port intensive itinerary. Still, I could not imagine how this could be improved upon other than the temperature - until I saw photos of the Solarium on the Quantum class ships.
The Solarium on the Quantum class ships is spread out over two decks and after having seen photos and a video, I struggle to imagine that we would want to move from there. First of all they have plenty of loungers with a view. They even have special loungers for couples. I can just imagine spending time on one of those reading my book and enjoying the view. They also have loungers in a shallow pool. The solarium has pools that are described as cascading lagoons plus 4 hot tubs. They also had swings dotted around the place as well as a bar and a restaurant. So you really can spend all day there if you want. Here is a video that gives a great overview of the space. This is from the Anthem of the Seas, but I have no reason to believe that the solarium on the Ovation won’t be the same or at least very similar.
https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/video/585/anthem-of-the-seas-solarium-b-roll/
Quirky Features
The Quantum class ships are marketed as being the most technologically advanced ships in the world and as such, they come with a number of very quirky features. I am starting to wonder if one should even classify the Quantum class ships as cruise ships. They seem to be more like a floating amusement park.
SeaPlex
SeaPlex is the indoor activity space on the Quantum class ships. This features an indoor basketball court that can also be used for a number of other sports like 5 a-side football (soccer), dodgeball and volleyball. However, it can also be transformed to host a circus school, bumper cars and rollerskating, including a roller disco with floating DJ booth. Also in this complex is the first “food truck” at sea serving hot dogs and activity pods offering foosball, table tennis and X Boxes.
Ripcord by iFly
Ripcord by iFly is a sky diving simulator. They have something similar on International Drive in Orlando and this has always fascinated me, but I have been turned off by the cost. It remains to be seen if there is a cost involved on the Ovation. It is complimentary on the Anthem, but they charge for it on the Quantum. Still even if they end up charging for it, the charge on the Quantum seems fair. To experience this, you have to wear a jumpsuit and go through classroom based instruction first. Then one by one everybody gets to go inside the wind tunnel with a trained instructor for a one minute flight. This sounds really exciting.
FlowRider
The FlowRider is a simulator that sends water a very high speed across a small area that mimics what it is like to surf on the ocean. You can either try your hand at stand up traditional surfing and boogie boarding. I don’t think stand up surfing would be my thing at all, but I have tried boogie boarding in the ocean and loved it so that is a definite possibility.
North Star
North Star is a capsule that was inspired by the London Eye and is attached to a robotic arm. It can reach heights of 300 feet above sea level and rotates 250 degrees. This should provide some stunning views.
Bionic Bar
This is the ultimate gimmick, but I can also imagine that it will be a lot of fun. Bionic Bar has two robotic bartenders. You select your cocktail via a tablet and they get to work. You can either choose from a selection of well known cocktails or you can create your own. I am definitely going to have to try this.
Two70
Two70 is described as a living room during the day and is located at the aft of the ship with panoramic 270 degree views. It looks like a bright and inviting space and I am sure we will spend some time there. However, what makes this fall into the quirky category is what happens at night. This is transformed into a performance venue with projection mapping and robotic screens. I normally give the entertainment a wide birth, but I think I need to check this out at least once.
Technology
WOW Bands
This is an innovation that I rather like. WOW Bands are RFID-enabled silicon bands that essentially are the same thing as the Magic Bands at Walt Disney world and do much the same thing. They are used to open cabin doors, charge things to the Sea Pass account. As far as I can see, you can even use them to be scanned when you leave or re-enter the ship. This makes me happy for two reasons. In December I had forgotten to bring a lanyard and I really do not want to use a DCL lanyard. So I always had to carry a wristlet or small handbag to put my Sea Pass card in. The Sea Pass cards also get de-magnetized extremely easier and ours stopped working three times during the week in December. This then meant that we had to go to Guest Services to have them re-printed. With an RFID-enabled system, this should not be an issue. I rather enjoy what the ship has on offer than stand in line at Guest Services. On the Anthem of the Seas, they now charge for the Wow bands, but they do not charge for them on the Quantum of the Seas and so far the statement is that they won’t charge for them on the Ovation of the Seas either. Even if they decide to charge, the convenience that this provides would be worth the $5 charge to me.
Royal IQ App
I downloaded this yesterday and can’t wait to get to play with this. On the face of it, this is pretty similar to the Navigator app. It does not do anything while you are on land and you access it via the Intranet meaning that there are no charges to use it. Like the DCL Navigator app, it is your electronic guide to what is going on around the ship. However, this is where the similarities stop. Royal IQ has a lot more bells and whistles. This shows all your reservations and also allows you to change or add reservations. The one feature that I like most is that it has a function to track your luggage.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
The plot thickens as far as the Far East cruise is concerned. I have to admit that I always struggled to believe that an itinerary would sell out over 10 months in advance. Sure, it was a great itinerary, but I still did not quite buy it. It now transpired that all cruises on the Ovation between the end of October and the end of November have disappeared off the website. There is absolutely no way all those cruises could be sold out. Some resourceful people have now found the Ovation being listed a number of times on the Hong Kong port schedule during this period. It looks like she will do a number of 5 to 7 day cruises out of Hong Kong. I can't wait for an official announcement to be made and this may well work in our favour. We are still committed to visiting Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. So a cruise or two out of Hong Kong may fit in quite well with this. I am getting really excited about this again.
Corinna
Corinna
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