Bad reviews

by **chablis girl** on Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:19 pm

Help. I am going on OV2 in 6 weeks with my partner and 2 year old and I am slightly concerned about the bad reviews. Has anyone else recently returned. I know it wont be like the traditional cruise but I dont like the descriptions of 'Butlins afloat'!!

by **sunflower girl** on Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:43 am

Hi Chablis girl,
My husband, 14 year old son and myself went on OV2 at the end of June and had a brilliant time. The whole atmosphere on the boat is relaxed, the cabins very clean, food was plentiful and varied, There were different types of entertainment at various venues, so you should be able to find something to suit. We didnt feel the need to dress up at any time, casual was okay evenings. You can eat whenever you wish, which can be very useful with a two year old. The restaurants were fairly quiet earlier in the evenings, we never had any problems with finding a free table. There were no signs of any rowdy behavior or drunkeness that we saw during our cruise, so I wouldn't worry about the bad reviews too much. Some people seem to want the sort of standards that you get from the large, up market ships but for a fraction of the cost on OV. Outside of the main school holidays there will less children about, so should be much quieter. The type of people on the cruise were mixed ages, but I would say 30s - 60s, just normal people wanting a different type of holiday experience.
I really hope you enjoy your cruise, it is a great way to holiday, sun, sea and lots of great places to visit. x

by **carold63** on Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:49 am

Hi Chablis Girl,

We cruised OV2 July 24th to 31st and like you thought we had made the wrong choice ! How wrong we were, brill holiday. Two families travelled from Glasgow adults and 5 teenagers no problems at all ,I think some people complain at anything ok the boat was full but you would expect that . We managed to find tables free at meals, eat a wide variety of hot food not cold even something for everyones taste and that cant be bad with 8.
We had cabins on deck 11 & 9 no problems with smells , toilets or creaky roofs.They were always kept beautifully clean & tidy by very pleasent staff.
The evening entertainment was varied ,we choose the bars that suited us if we didnt fancy it we didnt go!
Day trips were good value for money we even enjoyed the souks trip in Tunisia!
All in all we had a great cruise and this was my 4th, we didnt encounter roudy badly behaved children, bad service or anything that would make me write a review like some people ( the last one written was the one we were on!)
Dont worry like anything you cant please somepeople.

Have a great trip
Carol

PS only slight moan was lack of sun beds, probably taken up allday by the moaners who stay in their cabins!

by **chablis girl** on Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:35 pm

I have just got back from work and read th two replys and have a big grin on my face! Thankyou so much for taking the time to reply to my query. I booked the cruise ages ago as a treat after being seriously ill and we are all really looking forward to it. Thankyou.

by **JLC** on Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:55 pm

Hi all - thank you so much for the reviews of OV2. I am going on OV2 next week with my hubby for 2 weeks and have read poor reviews and was starting to dread it. Fortunately your comments have cheered me up no end and am now starting to look forward to it. The Butlins scared me too! Most appreciated.

by **doog442** on Sat Aug 18, 2007 12:50 am

you have nothing to worry about.

We cruised in late July and had a fantastic time. The cabins are kept spotless, as are the restaurants and every other part of this ship.

The staff will bend over backwards to ensure that everything is spot on.

If you want to be involved in the action go to the area around the pools, if you want quiet go to the rear decks. If you want a quiet book and tranquility with a bit of shade go to deck 7 (port side for non smoking).

In 7 days we didnt see half of this ship. We did the Bistro and it was good value,brilliant service. We did a show or two,just wondered in an out,the whole thing is just so relaxed.

the main restaurants got busy at times (but it was peak season ) however nothing really spoiled our experience.

My advice is to ignore previous reviews and just make your own mind up. I read thousands of reviews on hundreds of ships and you will always get the moaners, however everyone seemed happy on our boat!

by **cricketgirl** on Sat Aug 18, 2007 1:14 pm

Don't worry about it - you will have a brilliant holiday! Read my review; like others who have commented before, you will always get the "moaners" who find something to complain about. We had never cruised before and had a fabulous time with our 11 year old daughter. There were people with young (ie under 2) children on board and they appeared to have a ball, with lots of attention from the crew!

OV2 is a well maintained, and well run ship. We didn't want to go on a cruise where "dickie-bows and tiaras" were required at dinner; OV2 has a relaxed atmosphere where you can where what you want. We certainly didn't see ANY rowdy or drunken behaviour, everyone was normal, wanting a good holiday as far as we could make out!

Don't take any notice of the moaning reviewers and have a great time!

by **chablis girl** on Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:59 am

Thankyou, again to you all for comments. We are really looking forward to it and I will write a review when we get back.

by **JLC** on Sun Aug 19, 2007 9:05 am

Hi all - two days to go. I too will write a review on return. As previously stated I was dreading it but now really looking forward to going. Thank you so much.

by **chablis girl** on Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:14 pm

Hi JLC, have a fantastic time. Look forward to reading your review when you get back.