Just back from an awesome trip on Odyssey

[BigKFamily]

My husband and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary with an 8-day Southern Caribbean Cruises on Odyssey, our 7th cruise and the first since the pandemic. Here's a few observations ...

 

• Our assigned check in time was 1 p.m.  We (like many others) have tried to get there as early as possible in the past, so we weren't sure how strict they would be.  Since our check out time at our hotel was 11 a.m., we decided to take our chances and go early.  The electronic "Set Sail Pass" meant no stopping at the desk before going to the waiting area, and no one looked at our assigned time.  We were on the ship by 11:15 a.m.  What a breeze check in is now!
• Everyone always heads for the Windjammer when they arrive ... we headed for the Solarium Bistro.  This became one of our favorite places during the cruise.  A good selection at the buffet -- many of the favorites from the Windjammer -- but never crowded where you couldn't find a seat.
• Your Sea Pass is delivered to your cabin, you don't receive it before boarding the ship as in the past.  Cabins were ready at about 1:20, and were at our door when we got there.  We got lucky and our luggage was already there as well!  This also sped along the check in, I realized in hindsight, since we weren't waiting for our Sea Passes at the terminal.  It doesn't stop you from getting a drink beforehand, no worries!
• No more muster drills!  We were thrilled with that! (Our last cruise someone actually got sick from standing the heat for so long!) You have to watch a brief video in the app, listen to what the emergency siren sounds like, and then check in at your muster station sometime within the first few hours.  So much better!
• The Music Hall is a great addition -- a two-story nightclub, with great entertainment all week.  Two70 is also a beautiful venue.  Nice to have alternatives to the Royal Theater.
• The Royal app was brand new the last time we cruise 3 years ago.  We used it constantly this trip, since they are trying to get away from paper Cruise Compasses.  But it's glitchy.  It often had the wrong information about shows, which is somewhat baffling to me.  It should be pretty easy to keep that up to date in comparison to print!  The chat function was great -- made it easy to let hubby know where I was and vice versa -- and yes, it was free.  I've seen questions about whether you get notifications or not ... the answer is, sort of.  I can't speak to how things are with the paid wifi.  We used the free wifi and enabled notifications.  They would briefly appear on your screen sometimes, other times not.  And there was no badge on the app that ever indicated there was a message waiting.  However, if you opened the app, an icon would appear if you had a message waiting.
• I'm always surprised to here how negative people are about the Main Dining Room.  We have never had a bad experience with it, and this time was no exception.  We always opt for the later seating (it's so much easier on port days to have time to shower and change before dinner.)  We heard some people complaining about finding a good time for their My Time reservations.  The menu was a little shorter than in the past, and without the regular options that used to appear every night.  But each night had a great selection, according that night's theme (Italian Night, Mexican Night, etc.)
• Our ports were Labadee, Aruba and Curacao.  We lucked out with good weather the whole trip, and each of these locations were beautiful.  The night we left Curacao, we made an unscheduled stop at Aruba for a passenger to be medically evacuated.  It was at about 11 p.m.  It looked like everything was handled well, and we heard the passenger was doing well.  It didn't delay our arrival back in Fort Lauderdale a bit.
• NorthStar is a lot of fun and was very easy to schedule through the app.
• Arriving in Fort Lauderdale we asked for early disembarkation, as we had an 11 a.m. flight.  We were scheduled at 7:30 am.  Things were slightly delayed and we weren't allowed off until 8 a.m.  It was still plenty of time, but another instance where RC simply isn't using their app correctly.  They said you would receive a notification through the app when it was time to depart.  The notifications were simply coming in at the originally scheduled time, so people didn't know whether to listen to the announcements, or to the app.  There was a glut of people showing up at the entrance to the gangway saying "but the app says it's my turn!"

 

All in all, a great trip!

[mrchips14]

Thanks BigK

 

We are sailing on March 11th, the same ports as you.

 

Would you have the order of the dinner themes as the app only shows 6 nights and not sure about the order. We are trying to pick a night for Chops.

 

Glad you had a great time, we can't wait our turn.

Thanks Mark

[Ourusualbeach]

25 minutes ago, mrchips14 said:

Would you have the order of the dinner themes as the app only shows 6 nights and not sure about the order. We are trying to pick a night for Chops.

Find the next date that the ship is sailing the same itinerary as you.  That week change your app to that sailing and you can see the actual menus they are using.  The app for your sailing is not accurate until the day you board

[ihopfar]

Happy to hear you had a great time!  Thank you for your report.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Main Dining Room.  Not sure how much you have read about other folks experiences in the MDR since the new menus were launched.   Wondering if the Odyssey has some of the same issues being reported.

• Did you have to finish your first main before they would bring you a second?
• Did the food come out cold and/or felt like it was plated long before they brought it to you?
• Were you able to make simple substitutions like swapping one side dish with another or holding sauces, etc?

 

Thanks!

Brad

[Kruisin' Karyn]

did you eat at Wonderland and if so how was it?

[robmtx]

We were on this sailing and OP sums it up well.

They actually had to shut down disembarkation for a little while after OP got off the ship. The skies opened up and it was like a monsoon out there! We had an afternoon flight so we were trying to be the last off the ship.

 

13 hours ago, ihopfar said:

• Did you have to finish your first main before they would bring you a second?
• Did the food come out cold and/or felt like it was plated long before they brought it to you?
• Were you able to make simple substitutions like swapping one side dish with another or holding sauces, etc?

I'll let OP comment since this is their post, but since I was there too, I would like to share my experience.

1. No - they brought a plate of steak and plate of lobster to me at same time. They also would bring me both appetizers (shrimp cocktail and salad) together.

2. I didn't notice a temperature problem.

3. Yea absolutely - my GF orders a baked potato as her side and no problem substituting

 

12 hours ago, Kruisin' Karyn said:

did you eat at Wonderland and if so how was it?

No sure about OP, but we did. We've been there before. I personally prefer the location of Wonderland on Symphony vs Odyssey. The restaurant just feels more cramped on OY. The ambiance isn't the same. But the food was the same as ever. We enjoy the presentation and 'magic'. I'd recommend if it's your first time trying it.

[Halfpound]

4 hours ago, robmtx said:

We were on this sailing and OP sums it up well.

They actually had to shut down disembarkation for a little while after OP got off the ship. The skies opened up and it was like a monsoon out there! We had an afternoon flight so we were trying to be the last off the ship.

 

I'll let OP comment since this is their post, but since I was there too, I would like to share my experience.

1. No - they brought a plate of steak and plate of lobster to me at same time. They also would bring me both appetizers (shrimp cocktail and salad) together.

2. I didn't notice a temperature problem.

3. Yea absolutely - my GF orders a baked potato as her side and no problem substituting

 

No sure about OP, but we did. We've been there before. I personally prefer the location of Wonderland on Symphony vs Odyssey. The restaurant just feels more cramped on OY. The ambiance isn't the same. But the food was the same as ever. We enjoy the presentation and 'magic'. I'd recommend if it's your first time trying it.

 

[Halfpound]

My family of four, husband and two grandchildren 11 and 14 will be sailing on the Odyssey April 8th, what did you do in LaRomano, Curacao and Aruba? Thanks 
 

 

[baileybrad]

20 hours ago, BigKFamily said:

My husband and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary with an 8-day Southern Caribbean Cruises on Odyssey, our 7th cruise and the first since the pandemic. Here's a few observations ...

 

• Our assigned check in time was 1 p.m.  We (like many others) have tried to get there as early as possible in the past, so we weren't sure how strict they would be.  Since our check out time at our hotel was 11 a.m., we decided to take our chances and go early.  The electronic "Set Sail Pass" meant no stopping at the desk before going to the waiting area, and no one looked at our assigned time.  We were on the ship by 11:15 a.m.  What a breeze check in is now!
• Everyone always heads for the Windjammer when they arrive ... we headed for the Solarium Bistro.  This became one of our favorite places during the cruise.  A good selection at the buffet -- many of the favorites from the Windjammer -- but never crowded where you couldn't find a seat.
• Your Sea Pass is delivered to your cabin, you don't receive it before boarding the ship as in the past.  Cabins were ready at about 1:20, and were at our door when we got there.  We got lucky and our luggage was already there as well!  This also sped along the check in, I realized in hindsight, since we weren't waiting for our Sea Passes at the terminal.  It doesn't stop you from getting a drink beforehand, no worries!
• No more muster drills!  We were thrilled with that! (Our last cruise someone actually got sick from standing the heat for so long!) You have to watch a brief video in the app, listen to what the emergency siren sounds like, and then check in at your muster station sometime within the first few hours.  So much better!
• The Music Hall is a great addition -- a two-story nightclub, with great entertainment all week.  Two70 is also a beautiful venue.  Nice to have alternatives to the Royal Theater.
• The Royal app was brand new the last time we cruise 3 years ago.  We used it constantly this trip, since they are trying to get away from paper Cruise Compasses.  But it's glitchy.  It often had the wrong information about shows, which is somewhat baffling to me.  It should be pretty easy to keep that up to date in comparison to print!  The chat function was great -- made it easy to let hubby know where I was and vice versa -- and yes, it was free.  I've seen questions about whether you get notifications or not ... the answer is, sort of.  I can't speak to how things are with the paid wifi.  We used the free wifi and enabled notifications.  They would briefly appear on your screen sometimes, other times not.  And there was no badge on the app that ever indicated there was a message waiting.  However, if you opened the app, an icon would appear if you had a message waiting.
• I'm always surprised to here how negative people are about the Main Dining Room.  We have never had a bad experience with it, and this time was no exception.  We always opt for the later seating (it's so much easier on port days to have time to shower and change before dinner.)  We heard some people complaining about finding a good time for their My Time reservations.  The menu was a little shorter than in the past, and without the regular options that used to appear every night.  But each night had a great selection, according that night's theme (Italian Night, Mexican Night, etc.)
• Our ports were Labadee, Aruba and Curacao.  We lucked out with good weather the whole trip, and each of these locations were beautiful.  The night we left Curacao, we made an unscheduled stop at Aruba for a passenger to be medically evacuated.  It was at about 11 p.m.  It looked like everything was handled well, and we heard the passenger was doing well.  It didn't delay our arrival back in Fort Lauderdale a bit.
• NorthStar is a lot of fun and was very easy to schedule through the app.
• Arriving in Fort Lauderdale we asked for early disembarkation, as we had an 11 a.m. flight.  We were scheduled at 7:30 am.  Things were slightly delayed and we weren't allowed off until 8 a.m.  It was still plenty of time, but another instance where RC simply isn't using their app correctly.  They said you would receive a notification through the app when it was time to depart.  The notifications were simply coming in at the originally scheduled time, so people didn't know whether to listen to the announcements, or to the app.  There was a glut of people showing up at the entrance to the gangway saying "but the app says it's my turn!"

 

All in all, a great trip!

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We were on Odyssey in January '22. We sail on her with the same stops on 2/25/23. Looking so forward to it.

[itsjustin]

Thanks for the super detailed recap. I feel even more excited for my trip next month!

[The sea calls my name]

We were on The Odyssey in Oct 2021 and loved this ship. We are doing the April 22 Transatlantic on her this year so glad to get a recent review.  Do you by any chance have a copy of the Show schedule that you could post?  I am curious what shows are currently on the ship.

 

Thanks

[robmtx]

3 hours ago, Halfpound said:

My family of four, husband and two grandchildren 11 and 14 will be sailing on the Odyssey April 8th, what did you do in LaRomano, Curacao and Aruba? Thanks 
 

 

I'm assuming you mean Labadee, to which we rented a cabana at barefoot beach. There's plenty to do there though, even if you just want to roam around and find beach chairs.

 

In Aruba we went to Riu Antilles for the day. It was an all inclusive resort and the guests were quite into dancing and drinking around the pool. The beach was way too crowded for our tastes (all shaded areas were taken.)

 

In Curacao we went to the Marriott Beach Resort. It was a lot more chill, with a very small private beach and excellent service. The day pass gave us $65 food credit per person which included drinks.

[robmtx]

Oh a couple more tidbits from this sailing.

-We had a note in our room one day that said a pax was missing luggage since the pier on boarding day. We see posts here about people losing their luggage, but it's rare. But I guess it does happen!

-Starlink was smooth like butter. This was the first cruise I had ZERO internet issues the entire trip. Streaming was a breeze.

-the built in Chromecast worked well on our TV. Looking fwd to this being available on more ships.

-Chair Hogs suffered some defeats! Attendants removed towels around us for three different parties. We would have told the hogs to check the towel station for their towels (and personal items they left) but of course they were never seen in the next 2 hours we were there. Others joined us with the freed seats, and we even saw them timing more towels in our general area. I think one showed up while I wasn't there and I was told they were "annoyed but didn't say much, walking off"

-El Loco Fresh didn't have Beef. This was our first time not seeing beef there. Not sure if that's a temp change or permanent. They also didn't have cilantro.

-James the piano player was one of the best Schooner Bar performers I've seen.

-The Logo Shop was really low on t-shirts. Lots of 2XL and 3XL but only a couple shirts at L or XL. They also didn't have model ships.

 

Again not my post, but didn't feel the need to have 2 about this sailing, so putting in my review as well. Thanks!

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

I was on the sailing as well and agree with everything that has been said. It was my first time on a Q class ship. It has a few design quirks that I didn't care for but it is  beautiful and well maintained ship with a great crew. It has the most functional Windjammer of any RCI ship that I've been on. It was a great week, can't really think of any negatives and no need to restate what has already been said. 

 

@robmtxI agree about James in the Schooner Bar. He was fantastic. I thought the bartenders were too. That became my "go to" bar for the week. 

[Pappy64]

On 2/7/2023 at 5:25 PM, BigKFamily said:

My husband and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary with an 8-day Southern Caribbean Cruises on Odyssey, our 7th cruise and the first since the pandemic. Here's a few observations ...

 

• Our assigned check in time was 1 p.m.  We (like many others) have tried to get there as early as possible in the past, so we weren't sure how strict they would be.  Since our check out time at our hotel was 11 a.m., we decided to take our chances and go early.  The electronic "Set Sail Pass" meant no stopping at the desk before going to the waiting area, and no one looked at our assigned time.  We were on the ship by 11:15 a.m.  What a breeze check in is now!
• Everyone always heads for the Windjammer when they arrive ... we headed for the Solarium Bistro.  This became one of our favorite places during the cruise.  A good selection at the buffet -- many of the favorites from the Windjammer -- but never crowded where you couldn't find a seat.
• Your Sea Pass is delivered to your cabin, you don't receive it before boarding the ship as in the past.  Cabins were ready at about 1:20, and were at our door when we got there.  We got lucky and our luggage was already there as well!  This also sped along the check in, I realized in hindsight, since we weren't waiting for our Sea Passes at the terminal.  It doesn't stop you from getting a drink beforehand, no worries!
• No more muster drills!  We were thrilled with that! (Our last cruise someone actually got sick from standing the heat for so long!) You have to watch a brief video in the app, listen to what the emergency siren sounds like, and then check in at your muster station sometime within the first few hours.  So much better!
• The Music Hall is a great addition -- a two-story nightclub, with great entertainment all week.  Two70 is also a beautiful venue.  Nice to have alternatives to the Royal Theater.
• The Royal app was brand new the last time we cruise 3 years ago.  We used it constantly this trip, since they are trying to get away from paper Cruise Compasses.  But it's glitchy.  It often had the wrong information about shows, which is somewhat baffling to me.  It should be pretty easy to keep that up to date in comparison to print!  The chat function was great -- made it easy to let hubby know where I was and vice versa -- and yes, it was free.  I've seen questions about whether you get notifications or not ... the answer is, sort of.  I can't speak to how things are with the paid wifi.  We used the free wifi and enabled notifications.  They would briefly appear on your screen sometimes, other times not.  And there was no badge on the app that ever indicated there was a message waiting.  However, if you opened the app, an icon would appear if you had a message waiting.
• I'm always surprised to here how negative people are about the Main Dining Room.  We have never had a bad experience with it, and this time was no exception.  We always opt for the later seating (it's so much easier on port days to have time to shower and change before dinner.)  We heard some people complaining about finding a good time for their My Time reservations.  The menu was a little shorter than in the past, and without the regular options that used to appear every night.  But each night had a great selection, according that night's theme (Italian Night, Mexican Night, etc.)
• Our ports were Labadee, Aruba and Curacao.  We lucked out with good weather the whole trip, and each of these locations were beautiful.  The night we left Curacao, we made an unscheduled stop at Aruba for a passenger to be medically evacuated.  It was at about 11 p.m.  It looked like everything was handled well, and we heard the passenger was doing well.  It didn't delay our arrival back in Fort Lauderdale a bit.
• NorthStar is a lot of fun and was very easy to schedule through the app.
• Arriving in Fort Lauderdale we asked for early disembarkation, as we had an 11 a.m. flight.  We were scheduled at 7:30 am.  Things were slightly delayed and we weren't allowed off until 8 a.m.  It was still plenty of time, but another instance where RC simply isn't using their app correctly.  They said you would receive a notification through the app when it was time to depart.  The notifications were simply coming in at the originally scheduled time, so people didn't know whether to listen to the announcements, or to the app.  There was a glut of people showing up at the entrance to the gangway saying "but the app says it's my turn!"

 

All in all, a great trip!

On 2/7/2023 at 5:25 PM, BigKFamily said:

My husband and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary with an 8-day Southern Caribbean Cruises on Odyssey, our 7th cruise and the first since the pandemic. Here's a few observations ...

 

• Our assigned check in time was 1 p.m.  We (like many others) have tried to get there as early as possible in the past, so we weren't sure how strict they would be.  Since our check out time at our hotel was 11 a.m., we decided to take our chances and go early.  The electronic "Set Sail Pass" meant no stopping at the desk before going to the waiting area, and no one looked at our assigned time.  We were on the ship by 11:15 a.m.  What a breeze check in is now!
• Everyone always heads for the Windjammer when they arrive ... we headed for the Solarium Bistro.  This became one of our favorite places during the cruise.  A good selection at the buffet -- many of the favorites from the Windjammer -- but never crowded where you couldn't find a seat.
• Your Sea Pass is delivered to your cabin, you don't receive it before boarding the ship as in the past.  Cabins were ready at about 1:20, and were at our door when we got there.  We got lucky and our luggage was already there as well!  This also sped along the check in, I realized in hindsight, since we weren't waiting for our Sea Passes at the terminal.  It doesn't stop you from getting a drink beforehand, no worries!
• No more muster drills!  We were thrilled with that! (Our last cruise someone actually got sick from standing the heat for so long!) You have to watch a brief video in the app, listen to what the emergency siren sounds like, and then check in at your muster station sometime within the first few hours.  So much better!
• The Music Hall is a great addition -- a two-story nightclub, with great entertainment all week.  Two70 is also a beautiful venue.  Nice to have alternatives to the Royal Theater.
• The Royal app was brand new the last time we cruise 3 years ago.  We used it constantly this trip, since they are trying to get away from paper Cruise Compasses.  But it's glitchy.  It often had the wrong information about shows, which is somewhat baffling to me.  It should be pretty easy to keep that up to date in comparison to print!  The chat function was great -- made it easy to let hubby know where I was and vice versa -- and yes, it was free.  I've seen questions about whether you get notifications or not ... the answer is, sort of.  I can't speak to how things are with the paid wifi.  We used the free wifi and enabled notifications.  They would briefly appear on your screen sometimes, other times not.  And there was no badge on the app that ever indicated there was a message waiting.  However, if you opened the app, an icon would appear if you had a message waiting.
• I'm always surprised to here how negative people are about the Main Dining Room.  We have never had a bad experience with it, and this time was no exception.  We always opt for the later seating (it's so much easier on port days to have time to shower and change before dinner.)  We heard some people complaining about finding a good time for their My Time reservations.  The menu was a little shorter than in the past, and without the regular options that used to appear every night.  But each night had a great selection, according that night's theme (Italian Night, Mexican Night, etc.)
• Our ports were Labadee, Aruba and Curacao.  We lucked out with good weather the whole trip, and each of these locations were beautiful.  The night we left Curacao, we made an unscheduled stop at Aruba for a passenger to be medically evacuated.  It was at about 11 p.m.  It looked like everything was handled well, and we heard the passenger was doing well.  It didn't delay our arrival back in Fort Lauderdale a bit.
• NorthStar is a lot of fun and was very easy to schedule through the app.
• Arriving in Fort Lauderdale we asked for early disembarkation, as we had an 11 a.m. flight.  We were scheduled at 7:30 am.  Things were slightly delayed and we weren't allowed off until 8 a.m.  It was still plenty of time, but another instance where RC simply isn't using their app correctly.  They said you would receive a notification through the app when it was time to depart.  The notifications were simply coming in at the originally scheduled time, so people didn't know whether to listen to the announcements, or to the app.  There was a glut of people showing up at the entrance to the gangway saying "but the app says it's my turn!"

 

All in all, a great trip!

This is all great information and helpful.  I saw the earlier question posted and your answer, but it sounds like maybe you guys did not stop at La Romana, Dominica Republic....is that true? or did  you just not get off the ship?

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Pappy64 said:

This is all great information and helpful.  I saw the earlier question posted and your answer, but it sounds like maybe you guys did not stop at La Romana, Dominica Republic....is that true? or did  you just not get off the ship?

Correct, we did not have a DR port call. 

[ihate2cruise]

We were on this sailing as well and had a wonderful time. It was not with out a major hiccup for us, but I'll do a separate post on that...... 

 

We were a party of 10 friends traveling together and 3/10 unfortunately came home with an unexpected hitchhiker... Influenza A!

 

Now I'm gonna need another vacation 😉

 

[BigKFamily]

Answers to questions:

• Themes: Oh goodness, my memory.  Let's see -- Welcome Aboard Night, British, Italian, Mexican, Caribbean, Royal Night and Farewell.  (I'm missing one in there somewhere.)
• Our food never came out cold once.  We didn't order more than one main, but my hubby did once order two apps, and they came out together.
• Sorry, we didn't do Wonderland.  In fact, we didn't do any specialty dining.  We are always able to find dishes we love in the Main Dining Room. 
• Excursions: at Labadee we had originally planned to just relax, but decided to do the jet ski tour.  Wow! We have been on jet skis in the past, but this was intense.  First off, jet skiing in the ocean is always more challenging than in a lake, which we knew.  But our tour guide had us at full throttle all the way.  Exciting but exhausting.  Spent the rest of our time on the beach
  In Aruba, we did the Sightseeing and Eagle Beach Tour.  Our tour guide Bert was wonderful, filled us in on a lot of interesting history and landmarks, and was very proud of his island.  Be prepared for the majority of this to be the tour, with only about an hour of it on the beach.  But it Eagle was indeed beautiful and relaxing!  We got back to the ship, ate a little lunch, changed clothes, and then headed out for a Sunset Catamaran tour.  This was just beautiful! Drinks included.
  In Curacao, we did our favorite excursion of the trip: a snorkling trip.  A lot of the time we were simply on the boat, getting a tour of inlets and bays around the island.  Finally arrived at a calm inlet near the Sandals resort, with a sunken tug boat that attracts a lot of fish.  We spend a good hour there ... just amazing!  If you have a GoPro, or a waterproof case for your phone, bring it! I got some beautiful video there!
• Shows: there was only one show that required reservations, called "The Book."  We were originally told you had to wait until you got on the ship to make reservations, then when we got on, it was all sold out.  Not sure if we were given bad info, or if seats went that fast.  Nonetheless, we didn't see it.  That show is held in Two70.  In the Royal Theater, we saw a comedian, a magician, Love and Marriage ... a rotation of shows that I'm sure change frequently.