Originally Posted by
Badenoch
There will be 6 perhaps 8 of us in a group including two younger relatives who've not cruised previously who want the full experience such as it is. We will be in the main dining room and the expectation is that I will be there.
I would wait for 2019 and go with Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas to Alaska.
I believe that ship will be the best for everyone in the group. It's a very classy ship, modeled after a Celebrity Solstice class ship but with some modifications made to target the Royal Caribbean more active demographic. Royal Caribbean is fine if you don't wear a coat and tie to the dining room on formal night, plus theres also a ton of alternative dining venues to pick from, including Wonderland. Wonderland is one of the most unique dining experience you can find.
In addition, Ovation of the Seas have wide range of activities and you'll find something for everyone. For the younger crowd, theres the DreamWorks Experience (DreamWork Characters, Breakfast with them, 3D DreamWorks movies, parades), Adventure Ocean (Kids and teen program), and even a xbox area. For the more adventurous, there's the iFly Sky Diving simulator, Trapeze class, and FlowRider surf simulator. For the families, they have the bumper cars. The best part is the ship is divided into areas so if you don't want to see the whole "theme park" aspect of the ship, or the casino part, it's totally avoidable.
Also the suites on Ovation of the Seas is amazing! They have the loft suite where you get a floor to ceiling, wall to wall window that spans 2 decks! It's a 2 floor suite where the bedroom overlooks the living area plus you get a nice big balcony. The most amazing view when cruising Alaska. The cheaper rooms aren't bad either, every room have some type of views. Even all the interior have a "virtual balcony" where you see whats going on outside the ship. It's basically a 80" TV thats mounted vertically with live feed from either fwd or aft of the ship. Which feed you get is determined by which way the room is facing. Even the cheapest of the cheap, single interior, have a smaller version call a virtual window which is just a TV with the live feed. This live feed isn't like the "front of the ship" channel you get on TV on most cruise ships, it's full 4K and looks significantly more real than those channels, especially looking at it from your bed.