111. This Royal Caribbean Cruise Redefined Luxury Travel at Sea

If you’d asked me last week whether Royal Caribbean could deliver a true luxury travel experience, I’d have said no. (And I did...just listen to episode 110!) But then I stepped aboard Ovation of the Seas, and it completely changed my mind. In this episode, I’m sharing how one unexpectedly elegant cruise completely shifted my perspective on what luxury at sea really looks like. You’ll hear about what made this experience stand out from mega-ships like Utopia, and why this ship might be perfect for your next multi-generational getaway.

Connect with Michele on IG: @jetsettingwithmichele or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/MMTinsiders

Contact Michele to plan your next vacation: www.makinmemoriestravel.co/contact

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com. 

Transcript

Hello jet setters and welcome back to yet another episode of Jet Setting with me. Last week you re listened to my episode number 81 about Royal Caribbean Cruising, whether or not you could have a luxury travel experience on board. And that was after my Utopia of the Seas sailing, which Utopia of the SEAS has almost 6,000 passengers and plus crew and it's what I would call a mega party ship. And you may recall I wasn't necessarily a fan and I didn't necessarily think it was true luxury, but now I am doing it again because while you were listening to that, I was on the amazing Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas, which has a thousand less passengers. It is actually an older ship than Utopia. She doesn't have new ship smell, but she has gotten a little refurbishment done and she's now out on the west coast doing west coast sailings. And next summer I'm super excited because she'll be porting out of LA all this summer, but next summer I'm super excited because she's going to do Vancouver to an Alaska route with a cruise tour. And watch out, that's going to be amazing.

It is actually open for groups to book already and there's some space here and there for this summer. Not to Alaska because they're going to Mexico, but if you're interested and you should be, you can let me know. So unlike episode 81 where I said that Utopia of the Seas was not luxury and I'm not necessarily going back on that, I'm just going to say that this smaller Ovation of the ship is really luxury all the way and it rates as one of my very favorite cruises ever, which for a three day, very quick cruise, it's very hard to do. Now I want to backtrack to that previous episode and what I defined luxury as. So what do you define a luxury cruise line as and what makes it luxury for you? Is it less kids? Is it the all inclusive nature where they have the WI Fi, the tips, the drink packages are all included? Specialty dining? Is it how good the WI fi is? Because this is on Starlink and it's pretty damn good. Is it the transfers and the seamless experience from baggage claim to the bus to the ship? Is it that you want a larger cabin sometimes with the freestanding tub? Is it you want an obstructed view balcony? Well, I am here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen and boys and girls, although I don't think boys and girls listen to this podcast, that Ovation of the Seas is all that it is. What I would Consider a premium cruising product. Even though they do have the sister company Celebrity and then they have full luxury, they have the Silver Sea line.

So they certainly do have more expensive or more luxurious entry level product. But I am here to tell you that my cabin is a regular balcony cabin and it is lovely. I hate to say it, but Mr. Jetsetting with me is not with me on this trip. We had power outages in Austin last week week and he had to stay home to take care of power outages. And I'm here all by myself. So I have made myself quite at home in this cabin. But there's.

If you were here, there's still plenty of storage. We wouldn't be able to both get into the bathroom at the same time. But that's not. But as for one person, this is great and it puts my MSC cabin where it was a brand new ship and I was one person and I felt like I didn't have enough room. It puts that cabin on MSC to shame. So one thing that I didn't like about my Utopia sailing is that I had to upgrade or pay more at every turn for a more luxe experience. And this time I didn't. The wi fi is great.

I've switched it from device phone to now I'm on my laptop to record this. I didn't have to upgrade to premium. It's on Starlink. It works really, really well. So great. Last time I mentioned that my two favorite cruise lines compared to my Utopia the sea sailing were Oceania and Virgin Voyages. But this time I'm really just going to stay with this Ovation sailing because I have been truly impressed. The staff is very, very good and they just really want you to be happy wherever you are.

When I go into the restaurant, like 10 servers and assistant servers. Chorus out. Good morning ma' am. Good morning, ma' am. Good morning, ma' am. The food came out quickly. It was tasty. The buffet is set up very nicely and it's completely different than the Utopia the Seas buffet which again, I poo pooed.

So really nice pool area, got the solarium for adults, has lots of specialty dining, has a covered pool pool area that isn't just for adults, but it's covered so you can be in there when it's raining or drizzling. And then there's the outdoor pool area which does have a full kids play area which I do have uploaded to my Instagram stories, but there weren't a lot of kids on this particular sailing and it is the first weekend of summer vacation. So I was actually a little surprised that there weren't more kids, and I'm sure that's not always the case, but it felt incredible that no kids were running around. The elevators are easier to manage than the ones on the Utopia. So I think what I'm saying is that I like the smaller ship size and I don't need all the bells and whistles that their larger Utopia class has. This one also had diverse activities that redefine luxury to me because it caters to everyone. It's got this energy and it really does make it a perfect getaway for multi generational families because, for example, there is an interior room that is adjoining with a balcony room. And so for a family of four with adults and two kids, it is perfect.

One key opens the entryway and then another key to open, or I guess both keys of both rooms would open this like outside door and it's like a patio door, so to speak. But you're going into your cabin and one is really small, perfect for one person or two sisters or two small children. Like when we used to cruise with the kids, we always put them in an interior and we always got the exterior, the balcony. So this is like perfect for a family, but also grandma and grandpa if they can afford to pay for more. This has one of the nicest suites I've ever been on. It's on Deck 8. It's in a corner and the views go on, the balcony wraps around, the views go on forever. It does have a free standing tub and a shower and it is two story, so it's not fabulous for anybody who needs mobility assistance.

But it does come with what they call a genie, which is AKA butler service. And it's gorgeous. And I'll put the video of that suite up on my stories too because it was eye dropping. But even here on my little balcony, I have to get off tomorrow and I don't want to go. It's been so much fun now. Didn't get to try any specialty dining this trip, but they do have a sushi specialty experience, which is highly ranked. They have Italian and they have the chopped steakhouse, but they have three main dining rooms. They have dine anytime.

They have two with an early and a late seating. So there's not any waiting in line for the main dining room. You don't have to sit at an assigned table with assigned people. Like I went in and had lunch all by myself. Obviously I had great service because I was like the first one in and I was all by myself. But so the variety of the specialty restaurants along with that main dining and of course the buffet, the Windjammer Cafe buffet all the way at the top. Also at the Windjammer there's like a secondary buffet so you can go to the back and it's quiet, it's got some cool, breezy. And let us not forget the patisserie which serves Starbucks coffee.

Not a real Starbucks. Starbucks coffee, which actually makes it really nice because it's included on beverage packages, unlike the Starbucks on Utopia. And the fabulous pizza is still there and I mean the pizza on these ships on Royal Caribbean is really, really good. So I want to talk a minute about the entertainment. So there's not a water show, there's not an ice skating show, but there are main stage productions and the dancers and singers here are excellent. And also the Journey tribute Ban, which was on Utopia when I sailed on Utopia, is now here on the Ovation on the West Coast. Royal Caribbean is coming into the west coast and they are, as Vicki Freed, their vice president of sales and support said, they are coming in hard. And that is true.

They're going to have four different ships out here in addition to Ovation, they're going to have Quantum of the Seas doing three and four night Ensenada cruises, which is where I am right now, a five night Cabo and then a five, six, seven night Cabo and Ensenada. You know how. Oops, that's Quantum of the Seas. Yeah, I said that. Quantum of the Seas, you know how I am about those short turns. Like I want to stay on for seven nights. But so Ovation, the ship I'm on now is going to have 3, 5 and 6 with an overnight and either Cabo or, or Ensenada. So the whole west coast of Mexico, really nice.

Navigator of the Seas is going to be out here for the rest of 2025 and into the fall of 2026. And then Voyager of the Seas is going to be out here starting next October 2026 and into summer 2027. So I mean they're just coming in in a really big way. So it's kind of going to be really nice when that the Ovation heads up to do a Vancouver to Alaska. It's going to be great. So one thing I did say about in episode 61, which if you haven't heard it, you should definitely go listen to it, is that the ship was really internally focused and I couldn't get up and like watch the sunrise and have coffee from my room, which is something I really always love to see at Least one morning with the sunrise. It's just how I make my memories and I like have core memories about some of those experiences. But the size of this cabin actually made it much easier to see the sunrise from my own balcony.

You can go up to the top of the ship. The Starbucks coffee which I said at the patisserie is still on four. There aren't a lot of doors exiting to the deck on four. But you can take your coffee up to the pool deck which is also if you want breakfast you can go the Window Jammer Cafe there. There are adult only areas on the ship. There were last time too but as I said there weren't a lot of kids on this sailing anyway, so. But there are adult only and the dining is great. And one thing I love about Royal Caribbean, they are Diet Coke AKA Coke products, not Pepsi.

So that's just awesome. And they've got those fun machines that you can like kind of mix whatever flavors you want. So I can get my zero sugar Sprite with some zero sugar lemonade and knock it out. And I've already mentioned the pizza. There's plenty of options if you don't want pizza. They have a fish and chips bar that's open for lunch and dinner that smells incredibly good every time I walk by it. They have ice cream by the pool, the soft serve. They have a hot dog restaurant and of course again the buffet.

So plenty of options if you don't want pizza. But if you're like me right now, it's the last night of the cruise, you don't want to change clothes to sit in the main dining room. I'm wearing shorts and a T shirt. I might just go have pizza. It's easy peasy. Now again I talked about the Utopia and the seas having those very, very short turns. And with a thousand more people I said that it was going to be plus crew, plus crew. That it was probably going to not look new and fabulous for very in much time.

I mean you can't just keep a ship that size with three and four day turns like that. It just. The wear and tear on the ship is going to be incredible. Well, this one is doing short turns as well, but again it's got a thousand fewer people and not as many crew. So the turns are not great, the short turns, but they are going to include some seven nights, so some longer time. And I just think that it is going to be a really great option for multi generational families. Even if you add in specialty dining and the Wi Fi and a drinks package, there are still no cabanas to rent. And they're not actually asking for.

They're not nickel and diming me at all. Like, the spa gratuities aren't included. They didn't try and upsell me on product. Thank you. So, all in all, I just want to say this has been one of the best cruises I've ever had. Now, of course, you're probably wondering, hey, Michele, what made this cruise so special? So for those of you who know that I love Bridgerton and I really enjoyed Scandal and Grey's Anatomy when it all came out, and I love Shonda's newest Netflix, Shondaland, about the murder in the White House. That was so funny. Well, Shondaland is celebrating their 20th anniversary and they are all on board.

Well, there's many famous members of the company, including Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, who are on this sailing. And I got my picture with all of them. Now, I did pay for it, but it was tax deductible because all the money goes to make a wish. They were on board. They did a screening of the Scandal pilot, and then Katie Lowe's was on the ship, Joshua Molina was on the ship, Shonda and Betsy, and then two stars from who are on Grey's Anatomy now, but didn't start that way. So I just want to say that meeting Katie Lowes was a big highlight for me, but truly meeting Shonda, I went up to her. I'd seen her twice during the day before the picture, but I hadn't wanted to ask for a picture with her because she's behind the camera, and I didn't think that a lot of people actually recognize her. And I was afraid if I asked her for a picture, a, she was with her kids and that wouldn't have been cool at all.

But B, I was afraid that people would then recognize her and she would just get inundated. And so I didn't say anything, but I did say good morning to her. And then the next time I saw her, we kind of smiled at one another because it was in a very crowded hallway. So when I got up on stage, she looked at me and I said, I know I've seen you twice today. And she's like, I think I know you. I feel like I know you. To which I said, well, your book changed my life. And I had heard Joshua Molina speak before when he was on West Wing, and I'm a huge Joshua Molina fan.

He's the reason I love podcasts so much and that I'm here. Podcasting is because I listened to every single episode of his West Wing weekly podcast. So that was very exciting. And then Katie Lowe's is actually like, tangentially, she's someone that we have mutual friends and contact. So I was really excited to tell her, like, oh, my God, we have mutual friends. And she's so cute and adorable. I absolutely fell in love with her. I totally have a girl crush.

And the fact that I got to be on the ship with these people as an invited guest of Royal Caribbean, to me is the perfect example of why I'm a really good travel advisor, is because I get invited to these things, these very special preview sailings where I can suss things out for you and I can learn all the insides and pros and cons. Is what I'm trying to say of, for example, that you might like this ship better than a utopia of the seas. And then the next Royal Caribbean product is going to be called the Discovery. We don't know much about it other than it is going to be smaller. So first Royal really built up. They're about to have a ship with like 8,000 people that I would never want to go on, but the Discovery is going to be smaller, probably smaller even here than the Ovation, so that it can get into smaller ports. So that is another thing to look forward to. But anyway, until next time travels, travel safe.

Don't be afraid to let me know that you want to book on Royal Caribbean. I will make sure that you get on the royal ship that is best for you and your family. And P.S. since I'm on the west coast tomorrow, I am going to experience Disneyland's 70th birthday. So you'll get to hear all about that in the very near future. Until next time, happy memories, happy travels. I don't even know how to sign off because I'm telling you, I'm still in a daze from getting my picture taken with Shondaland. So super incredible.

And the ship was just so fun.