Odyssey of Seas Thanksgiving Cruise

[lcpagejr]

Just returned from 8 night Thanksgiving Cruise on Odyssey of Seas… Wonderfull cruise. Excellent and friendly service, food (especially beef/lamb dishes)were plentiful and delicious , ship is absolutely beautiful. The Seaplex and Playmakers has to be the greatest innovation I have seen on any cruise ship! 

Despite a full cruise with many families and children it  never felt crowded except on disembarkation morning when everyone was at Windjamner for breakfast. 

Also we received a daily Cruise Compass in our cabin ….most of events were listed on the Royal App daily planner but it was nice to have the Compass for a more casual overview of the days activities and save the “swiping” ! 

 

Royal has the crowd control and flow down to a science. The Quantum class and other smaller class ships benefit from crowd flow procedures in place to handle the Oasis class ships.

 

Embarkation was a breeze… 15-20 min from dropping luggage off until on ship… ques never more than a couple people deep 

 

Disembarkation even faster!! Left stateroom at 8am, exited ship, cleared immigration and was at FLL by 8:35 for our 10:55 flight!! Going through TSA was longer than getting off ship and taking cab to FLL!! 

 Haven’t cruised for a few years but now they have seperate lines for passport holders and BC holders … both moved quickly and had very few people in line if any.  Facial recognition for Passport holders. I had BC … no delays what so ever. 

 

Lastly… don’t panic if you did not pre buy Deluxe  Beverage Package. Lowest price I saw was $67.99 pp for last 3 months (when on sale) then$72.99pp with the buy one 50% off normal offering. With only a $5 per day savings I kept on waiting for lower price and didn’t prepurchase. On embarkation day only  they offer packages at the buy one get one 50% off price you see on your cruise planner ( non sale)

 

I will provide a more detailed review later… any questions feel free to ask!

[sphinxgc]

Will be sailing on the Odyssey 9 days New Year's Cruise departing Dec 30, 2022.

Trying to figure out when the best nights are to book specialty dining.

Can you tell me which nights were the formal nights on your cruise?

 

[lcpagejr]

2 hours ago, sphinxgc said:

Will be sailing on the Odyssey 9 days New Year's Cruise departing Dec 30, 2022.

Trying to figure out when the best nights are to book specialty dining.

Can you tell me which nights were the formal nights on your cruise?

 

2nd night and 2nd to last night. Enjoy...She is a beautiful ship!

[bajathree]

Is Odyssey using terminal 18?

 

[Capt_BJ]

yes T-18 (yesterday)

 

be aware the parking can be quite the mess. We had an early boarding time - 12:30 - but at noon the lot next to 18 was already 'closed/full' and getting directions to alternate was not clear. I ended up in the garage at T-19. There was no shuttle to take me to 18 .... no clear directions of which way to walk and when I asked I just got confused looks ......  When we returned I found a short cut as compared to the long way around I took on arrival but it was NOT marked.

 

Overall NOT impressed with parking at Port Everglades. Much easier in Canav' and Miami. Not many options for 'off site' either. The nearest place was booked up MONTHS b4 the cruise.

 

p.s. arrival time was not being checked/enforced .... I suspect many knew this hence arrived early and the full lot at 18

Edited November 28, 2022 by Capt_BJ

[Ocean Boy]

Looking forward to your review. Sailing Odyssey in January. Will be my first time on a Quantum class ship.

[Thisguylikestocruise]

Booked Odyssey for 9/2024 Greek Isles. Part of a 19 night return to Europe trip for my wife and I. We’re excited, spent 2 weeks in Rome for our honeymoon in 2011, and always wanted to go back. The seaplex and solarium look very nice on this ship.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Thisguylikestocruise

[4Nathan]

Thank you for the review. We sail Dec 3 on the same 8 day itinerary - so excited!  Couple quick questions. How was the service in the MDR and did you notice long line ups for MTD? Are the pool attendants monitoring  “reserved” deck chairs sitting unused for hours? With 3 sea days, it would be lovely to spend a couple hours around the pool.  What were your top 3 sea day activities? Thanks so much!

[lcpagejr]

. “arrival time was not being checked/enforced .... Isuspect many knew this hence arrived early and the full lot at 18”

 

we were on same cruise.., arrived at 11:30 ( our assigned time) … not crowded at all. On ship in less than 20 min . Fyi… I did receive an email and a text that morning requesting we adhere to assigned check in time … 

[lcpagejr]

3 hours ago, 4Nathan said:

Thank you for the review. We sail Dec 3 on the same 8 day itinerary - so excited!  Couple quick questions. How was the service in the MDR and did you notice long line ups for MTD? Are the pool attendants monitoring  “reserved” deck chairs sitting unused for hours? With 3 sea days, it would be lovely to spend a couple hours around the pool.  What were your top 3 sea day activities? Thanks so much!

I thought service was excellent from maitr’D and assistants to wait staff. The first couple days the lines were long but moved quickly… mid cruise no lines.., end of cruise lines again. But you need to remember all cruise was completely full with many families. This was 1 st time we did MTD and immediately bonded with our waiter on 1 st night. Asked to be seated in his area every night when entering dining room and they made sure we sat in his section. 
 

I did not see any staff chair hog monitoring… but we didn’t sit in pool area. We sat up top looking down at pool. But I think you could slways find a couple lounges below. Also do t forget to spend time in solarium…wonderful and air conditioned!! 
 

as for activities,.. spent a lot of time in Seaplex and Playmakers area… World Cup on  so many people watching. Casino too. Wife spent a lot of time sun bathing. Lots of other activities every hour on hour throughout ship for varying interests. You won’t be bored !! Enjoy.. Odyssey is a great ship!!

[BecciBoo]

Woohoo! And thx

[Longhorn Cruiser]

If you have a copy of the one page Entertainment schedule, can you please post it?

I'm on the same 8 day leaving this Saturday.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Longhorn Cruiser

[4Nathan]

16 hours ago, Longhorn Cruiser said:

If you have a copy of the one page Entertainment schedule, can you please post it?

I'm on the same 8 day leaving this Saturday.

I checked the daily calendar on the app for this cruise last week.  Gave me a good idea of when to make speciality dining reservations. Here’s a partial schedule for the main shows. Apparently only the Book needs reservations and you can do that now on the app. Hope this helps - of course anything can change!

Day 1 Rookie 9 pm

Day 2 showgirls 8 pm. The Book 9 pm

Day 3. Rookie 9 pm. Two70 Experience 9 pm

Day 4  Mo5aic 8 or 10 pm The Book 9

Day 5. The Book 9. Rookie 10:15 pm

Day 6. Headliner Michael Holly 10 pm

Day 7. Effectors 8 pm

Day 8. Effectors 8 pm 

I just checked the current 6 day calendar and don’t see Rookie or Mo5aic so guess we just have to wait til we board! Cruising is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get! It’s all part of the amazing adventure. Four more sleeps! Can’t wait!

 

[BecciBoo]

10 more sleeps till we leave for Little Rock..woohoo.

[lcpagejr]

3 hours ago, 4Nathan said:

I checked the daily calendar on the app for this cruise last week.  Gave me a good idea of when to make speciality dining reservations. Here’s a partial schedule for the main shows. Apparently only the Book needs reservations and you can do that now on the app. Hope this helps - of course anything can change!

Day 1 Rookie 9 pm

Day 2 showgirls 8 pm. The Book 9 pm

Day 3. Rookie 9 pm. Two70 Experience 9 pm

Day 4  Mo5aic 8 or 10 pm The Book 9

Day 5. The Book 9. Rookie 10:15 pm

Day 6. Headliner Michael Holly 10 pm

Day 7. Effectors 8 pm

Day 8. Effectors 8 pm 

I just checked the current 6 day calendar and don’t see Rookie or Mo5aic so guess we just have to wait til we board! Cruising is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get! It’s all part of the amazing adventure. Four more sleeps! Can’t wait!

 

Correct… the hook is only show requiring reservations mainly because it is in 270… not in main theater which is very large. But no worries… I made reservations about 3-4 hrs before show so I’m sure you can reserve after boarding 

Edited November 29, 2022 by lcpagejr

[wreckem2013]

4 hours ago, 4Nathan said:

I checked the daily calendar on the app for this cruise last week.  Gave me a good idea of when to make speciality dining reservations. Here’s a partial schedule for the main shows. Apparently only the Book needs reservations and you can do that now on the app. Hope this helps - of course anything can change!

Day 1 Rookie 9 pm

Day 2 showgirls 8 pm. The Book 9 pm

Day 3. Rookie 9 pm. Two70 Experience 9 pm

Day 4  Mo5aic 8 or 10 pm The Book 9

Day 5. The Book 9. Rookie 10:15 pm

Day 6. Headliner Michael Holly 10 pm

Day 7. Effectors 8 pm

Day 8. Effectors 8 pm 

I just checked the current 6 day calendar and don’t see Rookie or Mo5aic so guess we just have to wait til we board! Cruising is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get! It’s all part of the amazing adventure. Four more sleeps! Can’t wait!

 

The only shows they don’t change are Effectors, The Book, and Showgirls. The headliners are usually different week to week. Mo5aic was great last week. The two comedians were underwhelming but it’s not their fault, they are limited on what they can do. I wish Royal still did an adult only late night comedy show like they used too.