Ocean Village - are they any good?

tux130582

I went on the QE2 a few years go and although they had informal nights it was hard to escape when you fancied going casual in a different restaurant as once you had finsihed your meal you were on a ship with alot of smartly dressed people looking down at you. therefore it was easier to just wear shirt and trousers everyday. the actually cruise was brilliant but i like to dress down on holiday!

who are NCL?

Im currently looking up thompson and OV for last min deals

Semaj_2

I have cruised twice,both with Ocean Village 2 the better and newer of the 2 cruise ship.Just back 3 weeks from my 2nd cruise,one week stay in Santa Ponsa and a weeks Med cruise...Ocean Village 2 is excellent,laid back/casual but you can dress up if you wish,some did,some did not..Food was excellent

First cruise we stayed in an outside cabin which was good and spacious the most recent cruise we went for a cabib with a balcony.Even better,nice to get up in the morning,go on the balcony and watch the ship dock.Great for at night,sitting with a glass of wine

Ocean Village 2..recommend it

tux130582

cool thanks, was there too many passengers like others said? will I be looked down upon for wearing jeans?!

crowlands

tux130582 wrote: »

cool thanks, was there too many passengers like others said? will I be looked down upon for wearing jeans?!

Wearing jeans would be fine, I think you only need 'smart casual' for the restaurants where you have to book and pay a cover charge. NCL is Norwegian Cruise Lines - very American, didnt like the entertainment. For what it is worth my favourite cruise was on the old Airtours 'Seawing' - small ship, great food, small cabins and fantastic entertainment. I am sorry they no longer cruise....

poodledoodledoo

SwissLe wrote: »

I agree with the Butlins comment. People who see Butlins as an insult clearly haven't been for many years. It offers great value, fun, packaged holidays in good quality accom. It is exactly the same for Ocean Village - they offer cruising for people who want the advantage of seeing many places in one holiday without having the formalities of a regular cruise.

Butlins is a really expensive holiday. Gold accommodation for 6 people can cost up to £1800 for a week :eek: .

I don't know where people get this idea that it's a holiday for the working class. Most people I know can't afford to go!

getmore4less

tux130582 wrote: »

I just want to go on a cruise where I can eat en evening meal with a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, to relax!! which are the best ships for this? would like to go in august this year so im cutting it fine finding a deal!

NCL offer this style of cruising(jeans allowed in all but one of the main restaurants) and some very good prices out there,
To get the best out of an NCL ship good idea to budget for some onboard speciality eating though £50pp is enough. prices generaly cheaper booked through the US.

Just got of the Jade some issues but not enough to spoil the cruise.

With most of the midmarket lines you can getaway with jeans/dockers/polos/shirts most nights, RCI,Princess even Celebrity(there will always be someone from texas that only wears jeans), OV, Island and Thomson again can be more casual if you want.

All have alternative dining if you will feel out of place on a Formal night without the TUX/DJ.

Never been on OV always found value elsewhere but prices seem have dropped a bit this year.

For a well casual cruise Easycruise are getting some good reviews, very different product though.

colmil

I think there are huge differences between 'cruise ships'

A friend of mine told me she was going on her first cruise with Thomsons' Destiny' I didn't make any comment but I knew shw thought that all cruise ships are the same, Since when were Thomsons a proper cruise line? She was disappointed and said she expected something special which she didn't get, I told her you get what you pay for, and from what I've seen of the 'Ocean Village' brochure will be much along the same lines.

Surely you can't expect the quality of food, entertainmnt etc if you are paying a low price, I have been on four cruises, three of them with NCL, quality counts!

I would rather spend £1500 and be delighted than £1000 and wish I'd never gone, wouldn't you?

scoop99

I have just returned from Med cruise on OV2 and loved every minute of it and can't wait to return.
However, it was our first cruise so not experienced any other cruise lines, but, wouldn't want to as everything on OV2 was excellent IMO.

Any questions and I'll try to help.

Semaj_2

tux130582 wrote: »

cool thanks, was there too many passengers like others said? will I be looked down upon for wearing jeans?!

The cruise was full to capacity but your never falling over each other,some bars can get busy for the entertainment depending who/whats on and what bar you are at.Some bigger venues than others.Restaurants,walk in anytine you always plenty seating available.Wear whatever you want in the restaurants or anywhere on the ship apart from the The Bistro restaurant and La Luna where you pay a sort of cover charge for your meal...BTW these restaurants are optional.We ate in the others which were top quality and catered for every conceivable palate(shorts and t-shirt the norm)At night wear what you want,jeans,three quarters,shorts or dress up to the nines,nobody bats an eyelid....Any more info,please ask

Getting ready to book my 3rd cruise for this year,2 weeks Greek Islands,Instanbul etc with OV 2..The ships have swapped cruises,OV(by all accounts not as good a ship as 2) is doing the Med and OV2 as above

At night,we

ShockingPink

poodledoodledoo wrote: »

Butlins is a really expensive holiday. Gold accommodation for 6 people can cost up to £1800 for a week :eek: .

I don't know where people get this idea that it's a holiday for the working class. Most people I know can't afford to go!

When it was originally started, Billy Butlin charged the average "working man"'s weekly wage for a week's holiday. Does the average worker nowadays earn £1800 a week?! If so, I'm in the wrong job!:rotfl: