Based on several friends I have that cruise other lines, the quality has declined considerably since we had cruised last. I feel our expectations based on experiences from 14 years ago was unrealistic. That said, we were disappointed. We have one more cruise booked with Royal on a smaller ship. If the experience isn’t any better we’ll be done with cruising. Thanks for watching. I hope your experience is better than ours
I appreciate this review. I have watched a ton of RCL Ovation videos. I have thought many times that the food looks yuk in the windjammer and MDR. The Solarium and Cafe 270 look like our best bet for food.The gym, solarium and Seaplex look great! Thanks for being truthful in your ship tour.
Thanks for watching. As “Loyal to Royal” diamond level members we were extremely disappointed in the quality of food. We have another cruise booked with RCI next year and are hoping this was a one off experience. If not it will be a very long time before we cruise again. As for the ship,itself we had a great time. The activities and amenities were really nice.
Apparently, when I drop a couple thousand dollars, my standards are slightly higher than yours. Service was far better on RCI several years ago and that’s what sold us on them. We travel more than the average person and eat at restaurants slightly nicer than the local iHop. Although the waitress at iHop kept our glasses full the last time we did eat there. One mark of service is attentiveness and an empty glass, especially over the course of 90 minutes, is a mark of an inattentive wait staff, Especially when they work with an assistant. I expect better from a cruise line and you should too. I could also say the food was fabulous, but it wasn’t. Why be less than truthful about our experience and opinion just to make a few fanatics who’s idea of dining out is the drive thru at McDonalds or a pizza from Little Ceasers? Thanks for watching.
I’m not paid to review cruises so I can be brutally honest. In a restaurant where I can’t get a refill over the course of a 90 minute meal, I’m not going to give a glowing review. A 4 to 6oz cut of prime rib that has brown gravy on it is a few steps lower than Applebee’s IMHO. A piece of pepperoni pizza that has one thin slice of pepperoni isn’t going to impress me either. I could gloss it all over, but that would t be honest.
We spent 38 days on Ovation earlier this year. Sounds like our experience was the complete opposite. Food was good to excellent, service did not disappoint.
Food is a rather subjective thing to discuss and a lot depends on experience. We are Diamond members and received our Crystal block on this cruise, so it isn’t as if we haven’t had experience with Royal in the past. This cruise was just below what we’ve come to expect out of Royal Caribbean. I’m glad your experience was better than ours. Thanks for watching!
@@dougstimesharetravels9378 Food is always subjective. Sorry your experience was sup-par. We are diamond plus. On our cruise, the steaks, specialty or otherwise, were some of the best I've had. Fish and Ships was our go to for lunch.
As a Diamond status member and having only sailed on Royal Caribbean, I’d say we’ve been just the opposite up to this cruise. Just because we’ve been “Loyal to Royal” doesn’t mean I’ll on;y look at RCI through rose colored glasses. When it’s not good IMHO, I’m going to say it’s not good. Thanks for watching
@@dianebrooks1889 it might be difficult to believe, but fish should not have that “fishy” taste. That’s often a sign the fish has turned bad or is poor quality. Thanks for watching
Once onboard you can sign up on the Royal Caribbean app. Guests on our cruise were limited to one ride in order to give all guests an opportunity to ride Thanks for watching
We have always sailed RCI exclusively and enjoyed each sailing. This trip we both felt the food and service were below RCI standards. We have another sailing booked next year and are hopeful this was a one off experience with a relatively new crew.
We actually enjoyed the cruise. What disappointed us was RCI itself. Because of health considerations, it had been over a decade since we cruised. The drop off in service and quality was disappointing to us. I remember when the food and service was worthy of a foodie. This cruise felt more like dining out at McDonalds than Delmonico’s. I don’t know if they’ve increased capacity so much that quality suffers or if they’re prioritizing ships amenities over food and service quality. Whatever it is, we have one more cruise booked with RCI on a smaller ship (Brilliance). If it’s not any better we’ll likely become part of the former-cruiser crowd and stick with land based vacations. Food and service are major parts of our vacation and this cruise didn’t really provide either.
Everything didn’t suck. However, the food in general on our sailing was substandard for what we expected from RCI. To not be able to get a drink refilled during a meal service that lasted greater than 90 minutes is unforgivable at ANY restaurant, cruise ship or land based. Thanks for watching
I’m going on there next month…geesh, u almost took my excitement away!😳
Based on several friends I have that cruise other lines, the quality has declined considerably since we had cruised last. I feel our expectations based on experiences from 14 years ago was unrealistic.
That said, we were disappointed. We have one more cruise booked with Royal on a smaller ship. If the experience isn’t any better we’ll be done with cruising.
Thanks for watching. I hope your experience is better than ours
I appreciate this review. I have watched a ton of RCL Ovation videos. I have thought many times that the food looks yuk in the windjammer and MDR. The Solarium and Cafe 270 look like our best bet for food.The gym, solarium and Seaplex look great! Thanks for being truthful in your ship tour.
Thanks for watching. As “Loyal to Royal” diamond level members we were extremely disappointed in the quality of food. We have another cruise booked with RCI next year and are hoping this was a one off experience. If not it will be a very long time before we cruise again.
As for the ship,itself we had a great time. The activities and amenities were really nice.
Oh they did not refill your Soda! OMG that’s crazy! How can they do that. Truly unacceptable! 😂
Apparently, when I drop a couple thousand dollars, my standards are slightly higher than yours. Service was far better on RCI several years ago and that’s what sold us on them. We travel more than the average person and eat at restaurants slightly nicer than the local iHop. Although the waitress at iHop kept our glasses full the last time we did eat there. One mark of service is attentiveness and an empty glass, especially over the course of 90 minutes, is a mark of an inattentive wait staff, Especially when they work with an assistant. I expect better from a cruise line and you should too. I could also say the food was fabulous, but it wasn’t. Why be less than truthful about our experience and opinion just to make a few fanatics who’s idea of dining out is the drive thru at McDonalds or a pizza from Little Ceasers? Thanks for watching.
Dude this is really negative.
I’m not paid to review cruises so I can be brutally honest. In a restaurant where I can’t get a refill over the course of a 90 minute meal, I’m not going to give a glowing review. A 4 to 6oz cut of prime rib that has brown gravy on it is a few steps lower than Applebee’s IMHO. A piece of pepperoni pizza that has one thin slice of pepperoni isn’t going to impress me either.
I could gloss it all over, but that would t be honest.
We spent 38 days on Ovation earlier this year. Sounds like our experience was the complete opposite. Food was good to excellent, service did not disappoint.
Food is a rather subjective thing to discuss and a lot depends on experience. We are Diamond members and received our Crystal block on this cruise, so it isn’t as if we haven’t had experience with Royal in the past. This cruise was just below what we’ve come to expect out of Royal Caribbean. I’m glad your experience was better than ours.
Thanks for watching!
@@dougstimesharetravels9378 Food is always subjective. Sorry your experience was sup-par. We are diamond plus. On our cruise, the steaks, specialty or otherwise, were some of the best I've had. Fish and Ships was our go to for lunch.
Could you be more negative? Sounds like you're one of "those" cruisers.
As a Diamond status member and having only sailed on Royal Caribbean, I’d say we’ve been just the opposite up to this cruise. Just because we’ve been “Loyal to Royal” doesn’t mean I’ll on;y look at RCI through rose colored glasses. When it’s not good IMHO, I’m going to say it’s not good.
Thanks for watching
I laughed when he said the fish and chips tasted horribly fishy. 😂
@@dianebrooks1889 it might be difficult to believe, but fish should not have that “fishy” taste. That’s often a sign the fish has turned bad or is poor quality.
Thanks for watching
How do you get the free ride on the North Star? We'll be on the ship in two weeks with 3 little kids.
Once onboard you can sign up on the Royal Caribbean app. Guests on our cruise were limited to one ride in order to give all guests an opportunity to ride
Thanks for watching
thanks for being honest
We have always sailed RCI exclusively and enjoyed each sailing. This trip we both felt the food and service were below RCI standards. We have another sailing booked next year and are hopeful this was a one off experience with a relatively new crew.
There's no apostrophe in Seas.
Fixed it! Thanks for Watching
Brutal! I gather you didn’t enjoy this cruise.
We actually enjoyed the cruise. What disappointed us was RCI itself. Because of health considerations, it had been over a decade since we cruised. The drop off in service and quality was disappointing to us. I remember when the food and service was worthy of a foodie. This cruise felt more like dining out at McDonalds than Delmonico’s. I don’t know if they’ve increased capacity so much that quality suffers or if they’re prioritizing ships amenities over food and service quality. Whatever it is, we have one more cruise booked with RCI on a smaller ship (Brilliance). If it’s not any better we’ll likely become part of the former-cruiser crowd and stick with land based vacations. Food and service are major parts of our vacation and this cruise didn’t really provide either.
So everything sucked. Thanks.
Everything didn’t suck. However, the food in general on our sailing was substandard for what we expected from RCI. To not be able to get a drink refilled during a meal service that lasted greater than 90 minutes is unforgivable at ANY restaurant, cruise ship or land based. Thanks for watching