Hi!
I am very jealous of you....going on OV

They have hairdryers in the rooms. The one i had was pretty powerfull too!
My hair straightners worked as well as they do in the UK, so you'll have no worries there either!

The shop is quite minimal, but you can buy painkillers etc, i'm sure i saw nappies there too....your best bet is to email OV and ask them.
Before we went i asked them about a few things like downloading pics onto a disc from my camera. They were really helpful....as always.
There are some supermarkets near the port on some of the islands.
Barbados had a little shop where you could buy toiletries, medicines etc, in the little shopping mall at the port.

Well, have a fab time...i'm sure you will..

I have just been reading that a lot of cruise ships don't allow children in pools wearing swim nappies. Does this apply to Ocean Village too? I had assumed that as they have a deck especially for children swim nappies would be allowed. Can someone tell me please as my 2 year old is a water baby and it will be a nightmare if we can't let him in the pool.

I saw babies in the kiddies pool who i'm positive were wearing those swim nappies. There's no one there to 'tell you off' anyway.
I'm sure you'll be fine!

Just back from OV today. It has to be the best holiday I have ever had. We loved it. I have just booked for next January. We met some lovely people and some moaners but you get that everywhere you go. Visited some wonderful islands and got an excellent tan. Missing it already.

Hi,
I am so glad you enjoyed it!
How long did you go for?
What were your highs and lows?!?!?

Has anyone done an Ocean Village cruise and also cruised with another company?
Just interested to see how they compare. Have done a Thomson one and really keen on an Ocean Village one next.
Any comparisons greatly received

Hi sunseeker1,

I haven't been on any other cruise than Ocean Village (i don't know if i want to as i love OV so much)! No, i'm sure i will try another ship sometime!

If you look on the 'holiday watchdog' cruise forum there's some info on there about the difference between the two.

What i will say is that OV is a bigger ship, which appeals to me. Especially the cabin size. The Thomson ships are half the size (tonnage)

If there's anything in particular you want to know about OV, just ask.

I have booked to go on the OV next January. We have just got back from our first cruise and are totally hooked. We enjoyed ever minute of the holiday. We were unable to dock at St Kitts and Mayreau but will hopefully see these places next year. I dont think there were any downsides to the holiday apart from the odd moaners but you get them anywhere you go. We found this to be all the holidays you could want rolled into one.

Nicole

i am going back on the ov this may anyone else going then? we went on there last year and was a bit hesitent at first but did enjoy it didnt manage to get of ship at every port as hubby wasnt very well so there fore has any that has been on the ovgot any good advice on diy trips from the following ports
palma, naples italy, livorno,villefranche,ajacciocorsica,

thankyou in advance
** Edit to remove email address as per T&Cs. luci HT Mod **

You may find information on doing some of the ports on your own HERE

luci

So is the dining arrangements on the OV all self service or is there a choice of being waited on?
Am not worried to much, but when on Thomsons for a special occasion was nice to go in the restaurant of which you were waited on.
Oh, also who do you find best to book with- ocean Village direct or another way.
This time want to make sure all goes smoothly, as booked before through Cruise Control whom went bust
Thanx for all the info too

The restaurants are self service, apart from La Luna and The Bistro (you pay a supplement in both of these, but well worth it)

We booked direct with Ocean Village for our last cruise (very helpful, efficient etc, not a bad price, cheaper than any websites i looked at) then my parents booked theirs (exact same cruise/room type/deck etc) and they paid a couple of hundred £'s less!
They booked with an independent travel agent in town, and told them the amount we paid, so they gave it to them cheaper!!!

Hi

My boyfriend and I have just booked a 2 week Ocean Village carribean cruise, departing on 14th November. Travelling to Barbados, Antigua, Grenada, Dominica to name a few.

One thing i forgot to question was the weather. Does anyone know what I am likely to expect. Will it be hot?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Lindsey

Hi Lindsey and welcome to HT!

If you try http://www.wunderground.com and http://www.weather.co.uk you should be able to see what it's been in past years.

I shall merge this topic with one currently open on the Ocean Village.

luci

We got back from our OV cruise on 15th February. We had a great time. I would say though that although we enjoyed it we probably wouldn't do OV again unless it was a really good deal. In my opinion it is a fantastic cruise for 1st time cruisers but those people who have sailed before or sailed on PO,Princess etc would probably be disapointed. It suited us this time though because we took our 2 year old son. The kids club and kids facitilies are great and I couldnt fault them. I enjoyed the food but although the informal buffet style suited our circumstances I did miss the sit down waiter service meals. The staff are great and friendly and can't do enough for you. Our cabin wasn't a bad size (inside on d deck) but on our last day we paid for a day cabin to have a shower which was an outside cabin and that seemed much more spacious.

The entertainment wasn't bad. The George Michael tribute singer was very good. There was a comedian called Manwell something that was really funny (if anyone can remember his last name please let me know).

We were a bit restricted with the trips ashore because of our 2 year old so we mainly just got a taxi to a beach or had a walk around the town. Antigua was very nice. I didn't think much of Dominica or Mayreau. We have been to St Kitts before and didn't really like it last time so stayed aboard.

One word of warning though, try and avoid school holidays as our second week was just going into half term and it was definitely getting busy.

All in all we had a good time and OV was probably what we expected it to be. We are hoping to cruise again next year but are looking at Princess or NCL who also offer informal meal times but the formal style is there if you want it.

P.s. This was our fifth cruise. We have cruised before with Carnival and Airtours Sunbird.

Hi Susie

I would be grateful if you would copy and paste your review into our Cruise Reviews site by clicking on Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.

Many thanks.

luci

Hi I have never been on a cruise but after reading the reviews on ov is sounds just my sort of thing, my main question is do i need visa or immigration stuff for this cruise, on ov faq it says u don't need anything other than current 10 year uk passport but i thought i read that someone had to have immigration papers? I am very worried about this, i haven't recieved my booking confirmation from ov yet but am definately booked. I was also surprised to find that u can't pre-book seats together on gatwick flight and don't know whether meals are included or not. it's all a bit too confusing, told i won't recieve tickets til 7 days before.
Thankyou
Karen

Hi Karen and welcome to HT!

Please don't use phone style text, eg u instead of you, as some of our visually impaired members use screen readers which do not recognise these characters.

I have merged your post with one already open on the Ocean Village. You may find some useful information in earlier posts.

luci

Thankyou I will read them - have read most of them, sorry about using shortened text.
Karen