Our first cruise and we were a little dubious as it was for 23 nights! We were on OV2, the ship was lovely and kept very clean, staff were always friendly and helpful. Some of the entertainment was mediocre but some of it was excellent Robbie Williams and Freddy Mercuty tributes were really good. Food was excellent with plenty of choice, fantastic desserts. We ate at La Luna a number of times because the food was so good and the prices really good. Ports of call were great (St Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, Malaga, Eygypt, Heraklion, Turkey, Palermo, Rhodes, Limassol etc). We enjoyed it so much that we've booked the 25 night repo cruise for October this year, I will be sad to see this brand go to Austrailia

i have been on ocean village 3 times,all over new year.they were all brill, but this year was best yet,food super,staff brilliant,places visited superb,pity they are taking it away.why cant other lines take thier place,for people who dont like cruising.the entertainment was fantastic,the annie lennox show was amasing,as was freddy mercurey,who we were talking to on the way home at the airport.shelley was brilliant,even though she wasnt feeling 100 p/cent,acrobats great.the waiters,and deck staff were so friendly,especially,avinash who was from mumbia,chona and james both from the philipines,we told them they should come to england and teach our young people how to act.the captain on the second week was a really funny guy.

On the Ocean Village Cruise the crew where fantastic, and the ship itself was fabulous. Overall this cruise was great and suitable for all the family.

First and foremost bear in mind that once you are on the ship (presumably this goes for most cruises) that it's a 'target rich' customer environment! You will be pushed to purchase photographs, art, book places in the paid restaurants (Bistro and La Luna) excursions and the like. However, it is your choice you don't have to buy them so prepare for that and you'll be fine.
We have just returned from a two week Caribbean cruise (Sugar and Spice and Coral and Calypso) and thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Staff are really friendly and helpful, rooms are clean and tidy, plenty of bars (if that is your thing) plenty of entertainment or you can just do nothing. Prices are comparable to the UK in terms of drinks.
We tended to get off the ship get a local taxi and get our own personalised trip of the island, it's better value for money, the taxis close to the port are all licensed by the authorities, they will drop you off at a beach and pick you up later in the day and you don't pay them until they return to the ship.
We did do some of the activity trips which were good fun, river tubing, kayaking, quad biking and cycling. All very well organised and pretty good value for money by comparison to some holidays we've been on.
Rooms on the ship (we had an outward facing one) are fine, the TV could do with updating but I didn't go on my holiday to sit in the room so it was a minor issue. Kettle, good size mugs and plenty of tea and coffee. Beach towels are provided for the sun loungers but they are not the best so you may wish to take your own.
I've read some of the reviews from other people about Butlins on sea, not formal enough etc etc etc. That certainly wasn't our experience, it was our first cruise but we have travelled widely over the years and this was certainly one of the best holidays we've had. I can normally find something to complain about when I go away BUT Ocean Village have me beaten aside from a few very minor things it was excellent.

We loved the relaxed atmosphere of this ship, the food was good, hardly any children about although they were very well behaved. The only downside was a large proportion of the passengers doing a "German towel trick" and saving loungers from one day to the next! Some of our relatives have now booked up for a December cruise and we will most certainly be going again, soon hopefully.

Brilliant staff from start to finish

Well-oiled hassle-free transfers (but hellfire, I couldve done with a smoke-break between Gatwick & dockside).

Clean & comfortable well-kitted cabin, not cramped for two- but might be with kids. Generally good amenities on clean & well-maintained ship.

Good food with plenty of choice in the two excellent self-serve restaurants, didnt try extra-cost Bistro or La Luna cos they were over-promoted, but fellow-passengers rated them worth the extra

Mixed quality of entertainment - get a seat in Connexions bar early for comedian nights, use the balcony in Marquee theatre in case you wanna sneak out.

Get yourself a good spot on deck before 9am on the two days at sea. Day 1 ideal to settle in & explore ship, day 7 a welcome "day off"

Sensible smoking policy on board, ok in Players Bar, well-selected deck areas & in cabin (no complaints from non-smokers about being allocated smelly cabin). In fact no complaints from smokers or non-smokers.

Wines, beers, cocktails at pub prices - but since you'll be dining out then off to the pub every night it'll get expensive. Bulk deals on wine, 2 for 1 cocktails most days at the pool 3.30 to 5pm

Shore trips thro the ship are overpriced, same itinerary for less than half the cost if you take a taxi or shared minibus at quayside, or even hire
Margarita. Port in middle of nowhere, but good beach adjacent ship. We shared a battered old yankee taxi .Touring +stops at beaches & town shopping for $15 ( '£7.50) each. Or '£32 thro the ship !
Grenada. $25 for shared minibus inland to the important bits, dropped us at excellent Grand Ainse beach, $3 watertaxi back to ship.
St Lucia. Shared minibus to Marigot Bay, Pitons, volcano etc - really good trip for about $30 plus admission charges (pennies)
Martinique. Hired a car for € 59, € 8 petrol. St Pierre disappointing, hills, rainforests, etc great.
St Vincent. Awful. So take a boat trip to Mustique or beautiful Bequila.
Barbados. We hired a moke ($90 + petrol) & explored wild atlantic coast. An occasional signpost wouldve been useful, but great fun
Tortola. Brilliant. We took the ship's catamaran trip to Virgin Gordo '£32 - thats much more than ferry/taxi, but ferry timings dodgy
St Maartin. The best stop. Shared a taxi tour incl the french end, about $20 each, then good hassle-free shopping (cheapest duty-frees on this itinerary), & good beach adjacent.
St Kitts. Limited. But an interesting minibus tour about $20 each.
Train only bookable thro ship, passengers rated it a waste of time & money
Antigua. Minibus to English Harbour etc - good trip, same itinerary as ship's tour at a quarter of the cost
Dominica. Truly awful. So book an activity thro the ship. We did river-tubing at '£38. Marginal value, but great fun

We went on Ocean Village 1 on the Jamaican Jolly cruise arriving home on Nov 27th, The Ocean Village Cruises staff are amazing.

There is so much tasty food to choose from.

The ship was very clean and the entertainment was great.We could not pick any faults at all.

Had a fantastic holiday which was far better than I had anticipated after reading some of the reviews. If you are wanting upper class snobby cruising then this is not for you. It is of the same standard as a 4/5 star hotel with added bonus of sailing to a different port every day.

The Ocean Village Olives and Ouzo cruise was our fifth cruise, each one with a different cruise line. Having had good experiences of formal cruising I went with an open mind about this cruise.
Firstly the flights. I am very tall so need some extra legroom and going out had a good seat but this I believed was because the travel agent we used put in a request although these cannot be guaranteed. However the return journey was terrible. No requests can be entertained and the seats are allocated so that the boarding cards can be issued on the last day aboard the ship. The airline was Thomas Cook and after the take off which was very uncomfortable due to no leg room at all I then stood up for the whople Journey. I have let Thomas Cook know about this but do not expect any thing to be done for tall people in future.
The ship I must say was very clean and tidy. The cabins are the largest that we had had on any cruise we have done so far (Carnival,Airtours,RCI and Star Cruises). Although the cabin steward only cleans the room once each day we did not find this a problem. The buffet restaurants were clean and well looked after by the staff who were always on hand to clear tables and provide anything which was needed. My usual experience of buffet food is that it is very often lukewarm or cold but on this ship every thing I had was very hot. This was a welcome surprise. The food may not be the best or the widest choice but I found a number of items I could eat every meal and I am a fussy eater. The crew in general were very efficient without doing anything special but I found that quite acceptable. We did not try the Bistro as I do not like food cooked using various sauces but did try the La Luna. The meal in this restaurant was very good. Reasonable price and it was very nice to be waited on at the table. The downside would be that if you did this every night it would add on a considerable amount to the onboard bill.
In previous reviews comments have been made about the cost of drinks onboard. Some people have said that these are expensive. If so I would like to know where they usually drink because it must be the cheapest place in England. A pint of Stella £2.60, Coca Cola 330ml - 95p and a std glas of house wine £2.65. All these prices are certainly less than any pub near to my area.
The informal aspect of this cruise was not fully evident as we booked a cruise for the first week the schools returned and so there were very few children on board. This of course resulted in an older age group of passengers. It was good to see on our first week that almost all passengers that I noticed went to a bit of effort for the evenings and dressed quite smart. Whilst not formal there were no T shirts and shorts in the evenings but on the second week some of the new arrivals did start by wearing Tshirts, Shorts and flip flops in the evening but it was noticeable that with each evening these people became less and less.
The entertainment on board was not the best we have seen. The ships dancers and trapeze artists were in our opinion very good and the Planet show on decjk is not to be missed. One of the best shows we have seen. The singers and tribute acts were not very good but then again I do not think a lot of tribute acts. One of the comedians on board in the first week was the same one that we had seen on an Airtours cruise 6 years ago and her act was the same. I cannot understand why people laugh when a person swears as this is not funny in the slightest . I'm sure they would still laugh if the jokes were good and told cleanly.


Tips for going ashore

As usual on cruise shipd they always want to sell the organised trips at high prices. As seasoned travellers we are more inclined to want to be independent. Unfortunately the staff on the Action shore desk are not very helpful to people who don't want their trips. They do not tell you the full information on how to get transport at destinations prefering to entice the passengers into using the shuttle buses they put on at a rather expensive extra charge. In Dubrovnik there are plenty of taxis cheaper than the shuttle if 4 share and there are also public buses from very close to the port.In Katakolon a lot has been said on review sites about the train that now runs to Olympia. This is correct and would be a very cheap option to get to Olympia but beware that the train does not return to Katakalon until 10 minutes after the ship is due to depart. In Piraeus there is what is called the Metro which will take you to the Acropolis for only a few Euros return but it is about a 20/30 minute walk from the Berth in the port. Knossos Palace in Crete can be reached very easily by public bus from the bus station just along from the port entrance. (about 100 yards) and again only costs a few euros.At Cyprus I decided it would be a good idea to rent a car and go to Paphos but at the desk one of the staff spoke to me as though I was an idiot and tried to tell me that car hire in Cyprus is very expensive and it would be better to arrange it through him. His price was £70 for the day yet I know from past experience that Cyprus is one of the cheapest car hire places in the world even though you have to pay for 2 days. I hired my own car in Limassol for CY£30.,a lot less than he could arrange. Also in Cyprus they put on the shuttle for £10 return as they say that it is a 1 hour walk to Limassol. It may be a long walk but they do not tell you that buses leave the outside of the terminal every 20 minutes or so for a flat rate of CY£0.80 wherever you go. A word of warning in Ephisus for those who do their own thing. You will need to change some money to Turkish Lira as this is the only currency they accept at the ruins apart from credit cards. If you do not have any Lira then there are people who will change you money at not very competitive rates. Finally Santorini is a beautiful place but do not hang about when getting off the ship. Ocean Village cannot use their own tenders at this island and so the flow of tenders can be a bit hit and miss. Also there will be at least 4 other ships in and the cable car does not carry many passengers each trip . We left the ship at 09:50 and arrived on the quayside at 10am. We then queued for 1 hour in high temperatures for the cable car. It was also a long queue to come down later. If you do not want the cable car then you could walk up abiut 650 steps but you then have the hazard of the donkeys using the same path. Then again the donkeys could take you up but I think that this method is cruel as the walk is long on slippery..

All in all we enjoyed the holiday and would go back on Ocean Village . There were many good things about the ship and it does go to extremely interesting destinations. I hope my comments may be of some interest and help to others although I appreciate each person has different ideas of what is good and bad.

Ocean Village is definitely good value for money.

Overall I was very impressed with the holiday. It was my first cruise and it is a great way to see a snapshot of the Caribbean. Your best bet is to wake up pretty early, have breakfast and leave the ship by about 09:30, go to a taxi, they are all registered with the tourist authority, and ask them to take you to the beach, you will find a list of the best beaches in the newspaper you receive each night. Get to the beaches early because there are a limited number of sun loungers and umbrellas and if you get there late they may very well be occupied.

I would certainly be looking to book with Ocean Village again this Christmas.

We went at a good time as we know lots of people who went after us and they say it is very dirty now, gone down hill fast. Would not go on it now, although it is good value for money and the itineraries are really good.

A wonderful experience, we met many very nice people on the Ocean Village and will certainly do it again. I feel more confidant now that we all know what to expect.

For people who don't do cruises, Ocean Village have got that right, no hassle no fuss and best of all do what you want when you want.
All of the islands are lovely and the locals are very very nice.
Trips are a bit on the expensive side but were else can you swim with turtles one day go quad biking the next and then watch dolphins play in your bow wave

This was our 1st cruise, so we can't compare with others. But we chose Ocean Village Cruises because of the informality & that suited us just fine (we weren't jealous of the tuxedoed toffs waving from their balconies on the Arcadia as they departed an adjacent dock on one isalnd). The opportunity to see so many different islands on 1 trip made the holiday ideal.

Our cabin was on one of the lower decks (E), but was good sized with a window & being midships we didn't suffer any noise that some reviewers have complained about. We were only 1 deck below the restaurants & bars, handy for the Village Square & even handier for the launderette!

Food was a good standard in the inclusive buffets, available 24 hours a day. A wide choice of hot & cold at set meal times. Lunch & dinner providing 3 courses, but if you miss your chips you will have to eat at the Plantation outside normal meal times. Never experienced any delay caused by queuing.

The Bistro was well worth the extra £9.50/£12.50 at least once on the trip.

Excellent standard of cleanliness maintained by friendly & polite cabin crew.

I don't know what level of entertainment that cruisers expect, but it was OK - even if we did hear a bit too much of the Elton John songbook. The singers/players in the Village Square provided a nice background whilst drinking in the Blue Bar. The night show on the top open deck with acrobats etc was good & we enjoyed the ship's version of The Blues Brothers - who could move.

We were perhaps fortunate, but we were landed at all the advertised destination. Only Mayreau was by tender, an operation that ran smoothly.

Went on 4 excursions, which were not cheap, but the itineries & the well informed guides made them well worthwhile.

Used local bus services on several islands. These were very cheap, about US$2 return, & an experience, being sometimes crammed in with people sitting on extra fold down seats, speeding along swaying along with the reggae.

The Tourist Offices situated on the docks seemed mainly geared to operating in conjunction with the mass of taxi drivers who gathered at the gates, they were disinclined to advise on local buses waving us away with a terse "downtown". On St. Kitts my wife approached a policemwoman for directions to the bus station. The policewoman was concerned to determine that my wife was not alone. She told us that we should use the taxis not the buses. I think she was anxious that we did not put ourselves in a vunerable position.

But we encountered no problems anywhere, though some locals can be apparently over-friendly before whipping out their sponsor form or raising some other excuse for them to get some cash. As you can see some real poverty this reaction to "rich" tourists is not surprising.

We thoroughly enjoyed the experience, it is good value for money & an excellent way to see a variety of Caribbean islands. We definitely recommend it.