Ovation of the Seas

abmdis

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 10, 2019
We are looking to do Alaska with our 3 kids (11, 9, and 7). It looks like RC Ovation of the Sea goes to Glacier Bay (at least in 2020 they do). The ship seems to have a lot of great activities for the kids and also see Glacier Bay (which I have heard is a must). Seems like it would be a great ship/itinerary for my family. After reading reviews I have read that it is too big and you will be waiting in line or you won't see much since the ship is too big to get close to glaciers. Has anyone been on Ovation of the Sea? Any thoughts?
 
Ovation does not have a Glacier Bay itinerary to the best of my knowledge. It sails Dawes Glacier, not GB. It's far too big for GB.
 
We did Ovation this past May with stops at Dawes and Hubbard. Both were fantastic views. The weather and ice conditions will dictate how close you can actually get and that will change on any given day. Another cruiser that had done Alaska a few times before noted we were not quite as close but not that much further than most other ships.

The option of doing the NorthStar while near the glaciers would negate any slight difference in how close the ship can get. The view from up there is great and it goes the full range of motion extending over the side of the ship. We did the free shorter ride and once with the fee at the glacier.

Our son loved the ship. We were lucky to be early enough that the number of kids was not too bad. Therefore some of the kids clubs groups were consolidated. The counselors shared that the cruise after ours the number of kids was double ours and then went up to the max for the cruise after that and would stay there the rest of the summer.

Crowds were never an issue except for the muster drill. Lines didn’t seem too bad for most activities but we never went to seaplex for the roller skating. Bumper cars and trapeze seemed to have the longer lines. The bumper cars line had faster turnover than the trapeze. Both were about the same length but since only one person can do the trapeze at a time it twice as long for the line to progress. Climbing wall never appeared to be more than a few minutes but sessions were often limited or cancelled due to weather. IFly was fantastic but since that is with reservations no real lines. NorthStar was pretty easy to do reserved (free or paid) and had options to do as walk up as well. I know one guy went up something like 10x’s during our cruise and only had 2 or 3 reserved. Pools never seemed to be crowded but hot tubs did have some busier times.

We liked the ship so much we booked while onboard for a similar but slightly different itinerary in 2021. You will probably find it to be a good experience for you and the kids. Happy planning and cruising.
 


Glacier bay is part of the parks and the ships have to have a special permit. It is not just paying the port fees. Royal did not have the contract and will start cruising there next year.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/news/glacier-bay-issues-new-contracts-for-cruise-ship-services.htm
Update: Ovation has updated 3 sail dates to include GB, but only 3.
May 22, August 28 or Sep 4, 2020 departures.

I'm surprised, because Ovation is the biggest ship doing Alaska.

It's also important to remember that RCCL's licence includes all of their brands, so includes Azamara and Celebrity ships as well. Ovation departs Seattle, which means the day they could reasonably slot in GB is Tuesday, and HAL already has 2 ships sailing GB most Tuesdays. License aside there is also traffic control on how many ships can do GB in a day.
 
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I received a notification about this thread and I was quoted. The message above done not appear to be the message in the notification.

Anyway, yes there are quite a few rules about ships going to Glacier Bay and many logistics. I know some folks on the 2020 Alaska sailings have received notification in the last week or so about the itinerary change. So far, it looks like those impacted are dropping Skagway to accommodate the Glacier Bay day. Since they probably have contracts for how many visitors they need at each port it is a balancing act to meet all the requirements for the other ports on those sailings.

The addition of Glacier Bay is a huge bonus. If not, there is so much to see you will still see some wonderful scenery.
 
I'm surprised, because Ovation is the biggest ship doing Alaska.

Even though it is the biggest ship doing Alaska it is not really that much bigger than some of the others. The Norwegian ships are almost as large as she is and she is only 180 ft longer and 31 feet wider than the Radiance of the Seas which sails Alaska regularly.

One of the issues is height, as ovation had a really tight fit under Lions gate bridge in Vancouver and other ships have the same issue. Locally they are looking at other options for a port that would accommodate larger ships.

As of the fjord, Endicott arm is probably as narrow or narrower than Glacier Bay. I have a pic from the aft of the ship as we spun around near Dawes and it was really close.
 



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