Explorer vs odyssey

[F19810]

I know that we should all have this problem, but I can't make a decision!  I'm looking at two cruises in the Med for next year, a 13 day on the Odyssey that includes Israel and a back to back on the Explorer (14 days total) that does Croatia and Greece.  One leaves from Ravenna (Venice) and the other near Rome (not going to try and spell the name!).  One is back to back so everything (entertainment and food) will be repeated on the second leg.  I've been to most ports and would go back to them in a second.  The back to back has longer port days in Greece vs the Odyssey's port days.  I've always loved the larger ships and the choices for entertainment and food and its been many years since I've been on a Freedom class ship.  One minute I'm ready to book the Odyssey and the next, the Explorer, can anybody tell me any things that may help me make a decision?

Judy

[Another_Critic]

FYI - Explorer is Voyager class (aka Freedom lite).

[lcpagejr]

I've been on Adventure which is same class as Explorer. Interestingly I am booked on the Odyssey next month. Explorer will be 22 years old next year...Odyssey set sail in 2021 and as should be expected has more bells and whistles such as a 2 level entertainment deck. Odyssey is 30,000 tons heavier and almost 100' longer. Odyssey supposedly has more space per passenger. 

 

We enjoyed the Adventure...Weren't blown away mainly because we have sailed on newer ships .... but ship was layed out well and had a nice Promenade.  

 

I would suggest you view the numerous ship tours on You Tube for both ships. Also...the med intineraries are usually port heavy/extensive so you wouldn't necessarily be spending many days on board (ie like Carribean sea days) so evening options would hold more weight IMO.

 

I don't think you can go wrong either way

 

 

[dani negreanu]

Odyssey. Always prefer newer ships.

[linerode]

We just sailed on Odyssey and didn't like it as well as the older ships with a larger promenade. The promenade on Odyssey is two levels and felts rather choppy. We didn't like the two level music hall and it didn't have a lot of takers when we went down. The shows on Odyssey were not nearly as good as other ships we've been on. We had one original show and then they had the aerialists but they redid their show three different evenings, so not much to look forward to. 

[wikoffclan]

For a port-intensive itinerary, IMHO the ship is secondary. For an itinerary heavy on sea days, I might choose the ship as the destination. I sailed Odyssey this past April and was blown away by the shows and entertainment. BUT my favorite Royal ship was the Empress. So who am I to judge!

Edited October 4, 2022 by wikoffclan

[karebare22]

We did the 12 day Holy Land on Odyssey a month ago. We’ve booked the Greece/Croatia B2B cruise on Explorer for next Aug 2024. I sailed on Explorer back in March (B3B) so I’m pretty familiar with both ships. It’s a tough decision since you are already familiar with all the ports, but since you  love the larger ships and entertainment and food variety then I would recommend Odyssey. It’s modernized and beautiful, and overall we had an amazing (but busy!) vacation. I really loved the large production shows, but other headliner entertainment was lacking for a 12 day cruise. Explorer is still a beautiful ship, and I actually prefer her layout vs the more scattered deck plans on Odyssey, but she needs a good update to modernize the staterooms. We chose Explorer for next year because of the itinerary, as most of the ports will be new for us.

[Tin can]

We had a similar decision for next year, either Odyssey or Explorer for the Greek Isles.

 

Explorer was considerably cheaper being the older ship but there are rumours of a mini 'amplification' coming in January which may have some basis to it as prices have recently increased quite a bit out of Ravenna in 2023.

 

The ports of call on that 13 day Holy Land cruise look superb though and I would be on that one.

[dani negreanu]

44 minutes ago, Tin can said:

The ports of call on that 13 day Holy Land cruise look superb though and I would be on that one.

 

As an Israeli, I had a look at the Holy Land's itineraries -- May and October are ideal for visiting here.

 

I'd book only the May 6 and the October 15. The one starting on October 2 doesn't have an overnight in Ashdod, so not worth it at all.

 

The other 2 dates have excellent times in Ashdod and Haifa.

 

[bajathree]

14 hours ago, F19810 said:

I know that we should all have this problem, but I can't make a decision!  I'm looking at two cruises in the Med for next year, a 13 day on the Odyssey that includes Israel and a back to back on the Explorer (14 days total) that does Croatia and Greece.  One leaves from Ravenna (Venice) and the other near Rome (not going to try and spell the name!).  One is back to back so everything (entertainment and food) will be repeated on the second leg.  I've been to most ports and would go back to them in a second.  The back to back has longer port days in Greece vs the Odyssey's port days.  I've always loved the larger ships and the choices for entertainment and food and its been many years since I've been on a Freedom class ship.  One minute I'm ready to book the Odyssey and the next, the Explorer, can anybody tell me any things that may help me make a decision?

Judy

I would first look at where these ships depart from. Ravenna is not Venice...Ravenna is located about 3 hours from Venice. The port of Civitavecchia is located about an hour outside Rome. Air travel is much easier to Rome than it is to Venice and travel time to the port of Ravenna is much longer and more complicated. 

Second, I always tell people don't just shop itinerary and discount the ship. The ship IMHO is just as if not more important than itinerary as this is where you sleep, eat and entertain...no matter how port intensive you are still spending more time on the ship than in ports. People who I have told this to and choose strictly by itinerary on an older ship they wouldn't necessarily have chose otherwise usually ended up regretting their choice.

You have said it yourself "I've always loved the larger ships and the choices for entertainment and food". Odyssey is one of the latest most state of the art ships Royal Caribbean has. Entertainment and dining choices are going to be much superior on Odyssey compared to Explorer....as will the ship in general...there really is no comparison as far as I'm concerned.

I would also look at the fact that one sailing is 13 nights verse the other a back to back. I would much prefer the 13 night sailing over the wasting time with the back to back and the change over of passengers and all thats involved. Also like you mentioned the back to back is just going to be a repeat of week 1. 

All roads lead to Odyssey. 

Edited October 4, 2022 by bajathree

[Tin can]

3 hours ago, bajathree said:

I would first look at where these ships depart from. Ravenna is not Venice...Ravenna is located about 3 hours from Venice. The port of Civitavecchia is located about an hour outside Rome. Air travel is much easier to Rome than it is to Venice and travel time to the port of Ravenna is much longer and more complicated. 

Second, I always tell people don't just shop itinerary and discount the ship. The ship IMHO is just as if not more important than itinerary as this is where you sleep, eat and entertain...no matter how port intensive you are still spending more time on the ship than in ports. People who I have told this to and choose strictly by itinerary on an older ship they wouldn't necessarily have chose otherwise usually ended up regretting their choice.

You have said it yourself "I've always loved the larger ships and the choices for entertainment and food". Odyssey is one of the latest most state of the art ships Royal Caribbean has. Entertainment and dining choices are going to be much superior on Odyssey compared to Explorer....as will the ship in general...there really is no comparison as far as I'm concerned.

I would also look at the fact that one sailing is 13 nights verse the other a back to back. I would much prefer the 13 night sailing over the wasting time with the back to back and the change over of passengers and all thats involved. Also like you mentioned the back to back is just going to be a repeat of week 1. 

All roads lead to Odyssey. 

 

Fully agree about the smaller ships comment. 

 

In defence of Ravenna though, Bologna airport is only an hour away and the train from Venice is straightforward but an hour longer at 2hrs 20m(ish) than Rome to Civitavecchia. 

 

It does make me smile though that Royal calls Southampton (London), Civitavecchia (Rome), Venice (Ravenna) and probably the worst Le Havre (Paris).

[F19810]

Thanks everyone for all of the input, after much consideration I have decided to do the b2b on the explorer.  Except for Mykonos, the b2b goes to different ports each week.   Venice is one of my favorite cities and this year at least, RCL has a transport from Venice airport and city center.  Price wasn't a factor, but the b2b was over $1000 cheaper.  I will do theOdyssey some day.

judy

[karebare22]

8 hours ago, F19810 said:

Thanks everyone for all of the input, after much consideration I have decided to do the b2b on the explorer.  Except for Mykonos, the b2b goes to different ports each week.   Venice is one of my favorite cities and this year at least, RCL has a transport from Venice airport and city center.  Price wasn't a factor, but the b2b was over $1000 cheaper.  I will do theOdyssey some day.

judy

Judy - maybe we’ll cross paths, we are booked for the Aug 20 and 27 Explorer sailings. Venice is so unique and interesting to explore.  This summer we flew to Venice, spent 2 days there, then took the train to Rome for a couple of days before our Odyssey cruise.