Just came back from a week on the Ocean Village 2. We had previously sailed with OV1 2 years ago. All in all a really good holiday, but you could tell the difference 2 years make.
We had an outside cabin on deck 11 and it was well worth the money paid £500 each for cruise only. It was always spotlessly clean and tidy when ever the maid came to clean it.
The entertainment on board this time was not as good as OV1. last time there was about 4 comedians on all week, but this time there was only 2 all week. They did have on it though Alisha Bennet from last years X factor and she was very good. The on board singers were a very mixed bag, we saw 4 of them and 2 were very good, but 2 were very very poor. The entertainment team however were very poor as opposed to OV1. They appeared very young, quite rude at times and appeared to only want to speak to the guest when they wanted to.

The food on board the ship we found to be of an excellent standard. We went in both the waterfront and plantations resturant and the food was very good and had an excellent range. We also tried James Martins Bistro and La luna which at a little extra cost was fantstic and well worth the money.

The facilities on board the ship appeared to cater for all types from the young and the old. We never experienced any problems getting seats in the restuarant, bars or even on deck. It appeared that they had bought a lot more sun loungers.

The main critism of the entire cruise was the staff. The majority of the staff do not appear to be enjoying their jobs. On OV1 all the staff appeared very friendly and always wanted to talk to you. All of them would say hello when they passed you and in the bars they would take your empty glass as soon as you finished. However on OV2 the staff just didn't seem to want to bother with the guests, there appeared to be a lot less staff than on OV1 and they just seemed not to want to serve you at all.

Overall we really did enjoy the holiday but it was slightly ruined by the staff. I am planning to go again with Ocean Village for a large family holiday in 2 years time, I just hope they get their act together.

just returned after two fantastic weeks on board OV2
this was our first time on a cruise ship and after reading some of the reports on here we were thinking are we doing the wright thing.The food was fantastic, entertainment fantastic, staff fantastic,the ship is cleaned from top to bottom every day,the atmosphere on board was really relaxing and the crew could not do enough for you no queing for food always got a sunbed. we loved it and will be booking again for next year. Well done OV2 for making this the best holiday we have had since holidaying without the children.
ps we put malteesers on our pillows as a little luxury
at night L O L

This was our honeymoon we stayed on deck 11 in a balcony cabin well worth the extra money, we found the staff very friendly and helpfull nothing was too much trouble, the spa is fantastic well worth a visit dont miss out on having a massage so relaxing. Ports of call are great but plan well, to mix days on board with trips ashore so you dont get overtired Florence well worth the visit but dont do the guided tour,take the same trip but make your own way around you will see a lot more. Didnt have any problems getting sunbeds although people do reserve them which should be banned the ship did there best to stop it. Just one point to anybody who thinks the ship is new it isnt its new to Ocean village, but is very comfortable I would travel with Ocean village again. Only one fault is that you cannot pre book your flight seats to guarantee seats together/Window seats, apart from that we had a perfect honeymoon.

This was our first voyage on OV2 having sailed on OV1, 4 years ago. We agree with previous passengers that OV2 is not of the same standard we had experienced on OV1.

The breakfast food was the most enjoyable for us as everything appeared to be fresh, whereas lunchtime choices and evening choices often seemed to be congealed and at one time we saw the chef testing the temperature of the food, which could be viewed as good food safety measures but also made us think about how long it had been sitting around!

The ship staff were always polite but there were not many of them hence the long wait for drinks and table clearance etc.

We thought the onboard entertainment was extremely good, particularly liked the
"swing tribute", Elton John lookalike. Also Jacki Graham was very professional (long may you keep her). The Pulse show team were brilliant as were the singers like Simon Ledger ,Sharon Stanton and Dan.

The ports of call were the real stars of our Caribbean holiday with each one having a charm of their own.

As this was a celebration for our 25th Wedding Anniversary we decided to take up quite a few excursions which were expensive but well worth the money as the knowledge of the tour guides was extensive, compared to a trip we took in Antigua with one of the port guides.

St. Kitts Senic railway was superb and I will remember it with great fondness for many years to come(even though I was drinking rum and coke at 9 in the morning!)

The Whale and Dolphin spotting in Dominica was a little less successful as all the marine life decided to sleep for the entire 3 hour trip(still this was a good chance to top up the tan!).


FLIGHTS! Not so good as we were on the dreaded Thomas Cook flight from Gatwick. Outgoing not too bad as we had aisle seats, coming home I was squashed in the middle and spent most of the flight standing. This is not a suitable plane to use for longhaul and I will be wiritng the OV to tell them(not that I believe this will do any good). Also was anyone reading this on the delayed flight for the passenger with the perforated ear drum, I say no more!!



All in all a very lovely holiday but food and flights would make me think twice about going again with OV2.

Excellent staff,ship cleaned every day,food, there was always something for everyone, I think that some of the reviews on here are made by people who moan for a living (apart from the guy with the chinese wife) OV2 was staffed by good people in all departments, and problems were dealt with very quickly.
Simon Ledger, Robbie Williams and the 2 comedians were good so was the Errol Brown tribute to hot chocolate.So was the George Michael tribute.
The trips are expensive, so get off the ship, through the gates and barter with the privately owned taxi's we had a sixteen seater for 4 of us all day around Barbados for $150, he did the full island tour and all the drivers are very knowledgable, dropped us at the beach and came for us 3 hours later in time for us to board the ship.Try and be like the locals and relax, you are meant to be on holiday so enjoy it.

P.S. a BIG up to Thompson from Birmingham the plane was excellent and the seating,crew and the food were excellent too.

First must point out that this was our first cruise and first long haul flight. We are not the “sun-bather” types and like to be active.
Flew with First Choice and we arrived at Manchester Airport at 5:05am to ensure we got a window seat and had check-in almost to ourselves when it opened at 5:30. We got the seats we wanted and after a final cigarette we went through security to start the long wait for departure. This turned out to be even longer than we expected because we were delayed for 2 ½ hours. Mechanical problem. Left at 12 noon.
Flight was good with plenty of leg room and edible food. We arrived Barbados at 4:20pm (local time). Left the plane to find buses awaiting us but not having pushed to the front we were left without a seat and were promptly put in a taxi on our own and had a great tour of Bridgetown with Linford, a driver who had been a merchant seaman and used to live just 5 miles away from where we live in the UK. (Spooky or what?). We actually arrived before most of the buses.
The wife’s reaction after passing through immigration and getting our boarding cards was “It’s huge”. We were very impressed by the size of the cabin and the amount of storage. Even supplied towels for the beach. All towels were changed when ever they were left on the floor, as in most hotels. No sign of cases so we went for a walk and then after Muster drill our cases had arrived. After dinner we just collapsed into bed and slept like babies.
The first day was at sea so spent the time exploring and finding out where everything was, during which we found that OV2 does have a book exchange, on the same deck as the Saga Village. Also found, small point, but big for me, that Charlie’s bar served English Breakfast tea made from proper “leaf” tea in a tea pot with a silver infuser inside. At £1.50 not that expensive and got 3 cups out of the pot. .
We were on deck 9 and the cabin was big and kept clean and tidy.
We ate mainly in the Waterfront, with the occasional lunch up in Plantation and a free pizza in La Luna. We never had any problems with either of the restaurants and found them as good if not better than some hotels we have stayed in. There was always something to tickle your fancy on the menu and there has been enough said about the desserts. 
We were traveling at full capacity and yet all the staff were helpful, very polite and always had a smile and a hello for everybody. Always cleaning.
Used a couple of OV’s trips but found that it was just as easy and half the price to do most independently. Saved a lot of money that way.
A few children on board but did not see much of them.
Yes they did have sales and auctions on a lot of the time but so what, just have a quick look and pass on by.
The entertainment we saw was very entertaining () but the better the show the more crowded the venue, either in the Marquee or on top deck.
The drinks were as we expected, pub prices, but two ex-OV1 passengers moaned because the “bucket of beer” (6 bottles for the price of 5) were not Banks ???
As a smoker (Whose wife does not like me smoking in the cabin) I found starboard on deck 7 was all I needed. The casino allowed smoking but the thing the wife complained about was not the smoke but the heat, it was very warm in there, still we managed to take £12 profit home with us from the machines.
We were told that we would be delayed by 2 hours on the last day due to bad weather in the UK delaying the planes coming out but in the end we were only delayed by about 1 hour. I have one small complaints about the flight home, the tale that you keep the seats you came in for your flight home is not true. We had flown out in two seats at the side with a window but were allocated two seats in the centre on the way home and I sweated buckets all the way back (more than I had in the Caribbean), which stopped me from getting any sleep.
All in all a very enjoyable and memorable holiday, I think the wife hit the nail on the head when she said that it was: “our best holiday ever” and even asked at reception for a copy of the brochure to look for our next trip.
We found it was value for money and we met some very nice people on board. Needless to say we will be doing it again as soon as the financial situation allows and all I can say to the people who wrote some of those awful reviews is that they must be very sad indeed.

We did a 2 week back to back Caribbean cruise in January to celebrate my husbands birthday.
2 years ago we sailed on OV1 on a mediterranean cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it, hence our choice to sail with OV once more.
Unfortunately the holiday got off to an apalling start with the dreadful Thomas Cook Flight from Gatwick We have never experienced such terrible, cramped,conditions on the many flights that we have taken over the years. The leg room was non-existent. My husband, at 6ft (surely not overly tall)had to sit sideways on his seat for the duration of the 10hour flight as there was not enough legroom to sit in the normal position. The narrow width of the seats made eating the abysmal food exceedingly difficult. Passengers in the aisle seats were "lucky" enough to be able to stretch their legs in the aisles, but of course this made any walking up and down the aisles extremely difficult. We immediately applied for an upgrade for the return flight, at reception when we boarded the ship. The staff knew immediatley which flight we were on and they said they get inundated with complaints every week!! We did manage to get an upgrade for the return flight, at a cost of £75 each, and although this seating was comfortable, it was no more than should have been provided for all passengers. To add insult to injury , we heard from passengers that flew from Gatwick 15mins. after our flight, with "First Choice" that their flight was half empty and that the seating was spacious. This also applied to the flights from Manchester and Birmingham - plenty of room, no complaints. So come on Thomas Cook get your act together!! Incidentally, on our return we wrote to Ocean Village and complained about these conditions, which were totally unacceptable, but a month later and we have not received so much as an acknowledgement!

The ships was kept spotlessly clean, the staff were polite and obliging, the food was excellent as was the choice. There were not enough sunbeds/seats on the 2 days at sea which was disappointing and unfortunately nothing seemed to be done about the selfish passengers who "reserved"their sunbeds with their towels before breakfast and didn't return to them for the rest of the morning. The entertainment team did a good job and worked hard, but It would have been nice to have had some Caribbean entertainment as well.

We took a few of the arranged trips which were enjoyable but expensive. The taxis that are waiting at all of the ports offer very good value for money and will give you a very informative tour.

All in all a pleasant informal cruise, but do beware of the Thomas Cook Flight from Gatwick

hi my wife and me first went on c villige 1 4 yers ago it was 1 class entertainment was very good so we book again same plase caribbean good we said we will not go any uter holliday exept with ocean villige we loved it then we book to go to panama canal all port call was good night entertainment was a very big letdown in fact rubbish and we wher expected to call at grand cayman did not captain said bad wind condition bad buy uter ships wher tended ok captain let uter ship pass him the tender boot left village bto set up ther landing gear but retund and said no room to set up so we had to up ancer and leave ithink sea wea ok to land as ihave work on the thames that was not bad weather and entertament officer was very rude to me my wife and me loved the ship we wher looking forwould to joinning the ocean vilage again for our 50 wedding anaversery the 4 oct 08 back to the caribbean but this has cange know put thank you for the good years we had with you by

This ship was family orintated but certainly mediocha.there was no choice of meals being served other than self service with out an extra charge. And ice cream as a desert being charged was unbeliveable the 2 restaurants there was a charge,compared to other cruises this was not what i would call me.

the cleanliness was great but compared again to other cruises (holand america where you get choclates on the bed every morning) this was nothing, the extras meant every thing.

the ship food was great but every thing was on a tray,the staff were easy to get every time you want something you just ask and that will be there in about 2 mins!

the staff were where excellant and very freindly they had time to talk any where if there was a problem or just to have a chat.but on other cruises they staff were better, we love cruises its something we do already recommed it to the family and are coming feb 08.

the enterainment wasnt as good as we have had before on other cruises but still good to have a night out.i would not use this ship again as i would prefure cruises like ncl and holand america.
Some body who has never done a cruise before would love it as they have not experianced the best yet. i think every thing about this ship was good but not the best i have never done ocean villiage one so that might be better i thought i would try ocean villige 2 as it was the new one.
thats all i have got to say but give it a go i am sure you will love it. if youve not yet experianced the best.
barbara and john.

the enter

update to my last email .

we received two thousand pounds compensation from ocean village/carnival cruises for the despicable way my chinese wife was treated by FIRST CHOICE AIRWAYS who refused her the flight to barbados , which should have been the beginning of our honeymoon , FIRST CHOICE AIRWAYS did not have the up to date visa information regarding my chinese wifes immigration status and refused her the flight to barbados .
luckily , ocean village were very professional and sorted out the blunder by FIRST CHOICE AIRWAYS who still refuse to accept responsibility for their appauling actions on wednesday 14th november at gatwick airport . we will be writing to the newspapers and magazines about FIRST CHOICE AIRWAYS.