Maiden Voyage on Ovation of the Seas

Dinah Alonso-Wilkes on 20 January 2017
For years, myself and my daughter, Laura, wanted a girly holiday but every time we came around to looking we could just never decide or nothing was as perfect as we wanted. We wanted somewhere where we could relax together, have a few spa treatments and enjoy a drink or two.

In 2016 we finally took the plunge, we decide to go onto Ovation of the Seas for a 5 night cruise to Zeebrugge and Cherbourg this would be her maiden voyage, one of only 3 in the UK until she left for the Chinese market with no plans to return!

Ovation of the Seas is the newest Royal Caribbean Quantum class ship who's sisters are Quantum and Anthem. All of these ships are at the height of modern technology and truly pushing the boundaries of activities out at sea! We were told to be amazed and let’s just say we were not disappointed!

Before we got on board we had already decided to have the Deluxe Beverage package which meant we were able to have fruit juices, premium coffees, and all cocktails. Much were needed as we are both coffee addicts with a hint of cocktail knowledge! We also booked ourselves tables at Jamies Italian and the American Icon Grill and also on the 'free time in Brugge excursion.

Once we got on board our jaws hit the ground. Ovation was beautiful. Both myself and my daughter have been on many cruises with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, P&O and MSC to name a few so we are familiar with different ships but Ovation had charisma and charm rarely found with the bigger ships!

We made a beeline to Vitality which was the spa on-board. We booked in to use the saunas/steam rooms which can only be accessed by 15 guests on the whole cruise, we had found our safe haven!

Our first night brought us to the Bionic Bar, where you can select from pre-programmed cocktails or make your own where the robots will create your drink and serve you to exactly your specifications, you could even name your drinks which definitely made us laugh! We came here multiple times throughout the cruise just to keep naming different drinks!

We tried our hands with the bumper cars, I think my daughter had a hit out on me as everyone seemed to crash into me! We even went skydiving, yes you heard me correct skydiving on board! Ovation has her own wind tunnel where you can go and learn different tricks with professional instructors. Also much like her sisters, Ovation has the Flowrider where you can learn to surf, I learned neither myself or Laura could surf but that we do bruise easily!

A striking difference with Ovation of the seas is the North Star; a capsule suspended high above the ship on an outstretched hand give you a 360 view of the ship, sea or port of call! We built up all of our courage and went aboard. My daughter asked the questions you really want to hear when you're suspended 300 feet in the air such as what happens in an emergency...turns out there are life jackets and a large supply of bottled water for such occasions!

The food on board was second to none from Silk an Asian fusion restaurant to Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant where all is different to what it seems to America Icon Grill serving up the best American food to Jamies Italian. For us, James Italian came out on top. This was the food we loved the most, antipasti dishes which were out of this world, hand made pizzas and different kinds of pasta from around the world. You truly never got hungry on board.

We relaxed, we spa'd, we drank, we laughed and we relaxed. We did everything we wanted to do on a mother-daughter holiday. If you need time away with your significant other or you realised that actually you need time away with your children come, see me and I will find your perfect getaway!