Jump to content

Casita on Odyssey...Anyone with experience


Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)

Hi.

Thinking about booking a Casita on Odyssey or sea days.

 

Does anyone have any experience with booking and locations? I went on youtube and did a search here

but not too much comes up for research. 

 

I will be in a regular balcony cabin so not suite status if it matters, and guessing it does, when choosing location.

I don't know where they are located but I do not want one by the kids pool.

 

If we just did the Solarium, would we need to get up and out very early for the chairs? I do not want to stress about relaxing LOL

because we just hang, sleep and drink during day.

 

Thank you all very much.

Edited by js
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We sailed on Odyssey for our one and only Star class experience (so far?!) and our genie reserved us the "best" casita (his definition, not mine!) which was right by the main pool, right by the pool bar. We did NOT enjoy it at all! Way too crowded, people walking around us the whole time, scooting their chairs so close to our little roped off area that we could barely stand up.

If we did a casita again we would definitely go for one deck above the pool (that's where most of them are) where you could have a little privacy.

Since we're not huge pool people, we only stayed out there a couple of hours, so i'd say if we'd been paying for it, it wouldn't have been worth it.

But - if you're a group and/or you plan to stay out there most of the day, then i think it WOULD be worth it! No fighting for chairs, or position.

I think you can pre-purchase it, then when you board you go to the activities desk or the excursion desk and ask for them to reserve the one you want.

And yes, if going to the Solarium you might have to get there early, depending on the weather outside....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We sailed on Odyssey for our one and only Star class experience (so far?!) and our genie reserved us the "best" casita (his definition, not mine!) which was right by the main pool, right by the pool bar. We did NOT enjoy it at all! Way too crowded, people walking around us the whole time, scooting their chairs so close to our little roped off area that we could barely stand up.

If we did a casita again we would definitely go for one deck above the pool (that's where most of them are) where you could have a little privacy.

Since we're not huge pool people, we only stayed out there a couple of hours, so i'd say if we'd been paying for it, it wouldn't have been worth it.

But - if you're a group and/or you plan to stay out there most of the day, then i think it WOULD be worth it! No fighting for chairs, or position.

I think you can pre-purchase it, then when you board you go to the activities desk or the excursion desk and ask for them to reserve the one you want.

And yes, if going to the Solarium you might have to get there early, depending on the weather outside....

Thank you. I would prefer to be the deck above pool. We enjoying having fun but like you, dont need the crowd and loudness of being right at pool. We usually sail Haven on NCL but my TA had a great balcony group rate, we are 20 minutes from port, and we decided to come back to RCCL so trying to do “Haven Lite” on RCCL lol

 

I was going to pre-purchase today or tomorrow so wanted to get some reviews. I wake up early for gym but just dont want to have to wake up even earlier to stress about chairs and shade. 
 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it. 

Edited by js
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all.

I'm just brining this to the top.

Do any of you have pros or cons of why you would want/not want a casita?
I had hoped to book possibly today. I do not want by the pool, I want the deck above the

pool. Has anyone rented?

Thank you so much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only reason I would book is if i needed shade, or if a couple hundred didn't really mean much to me. The locations are not the best and you shouldn't have a problem getting chairs on that deck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, BK79 said:

The only reason I would book is if i needed shade, or if a couple hundred didn't really mean much to me. The locations are not the best and you shouldn't have a problem getting chairs on that deck.

Thank you. I want shade and willing to pay for it. I don't see too many umbrellas on the top deck. I do see coverage in the solarium, which is where I would prefer to be, but I don't want the stress of making sure my dh and I have a lounger. I already get up early for the gym so I have the rest of my day to hang, and don't want to wake up even earlier to get the gym done and then go find seats.

 

I'm up and out and my dh usually 30-60 minutes behind me. I'm so torn.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
38 minutes ago, js said:

Thank you. I want shade and willing to pay for it. I don't see too many umbrellas on the top deck. I do see coverage in the solarium, which is where I would prefer to be, but I don't want the stress of making sure my dh and I have a lounger. I already get up early for the gym so I have the rest of my day to hang, and don't want to wake up even earlier to get the gym done and then go find seats.

 

I'm up and out and my dh usually 30-60 minutes behind me. I'm so torn.

 

 

If you find a sale and the price is one you're willing to pay and this means a lot to you - buy it.

 

I saw folks using them all over Symphony, and they seemed very happy with their purchase (it's not for me, but I'm betting Key wasn't for them).

 

Many were sleeping or reading when I walked by...very relaxed.  

Edited by TwoMisfits
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

If you find a sale and the price is one you're willing to pay and this means a lot to you - buy it.

 

I saw folks using them all over Symphony, and they seemed very happy with their purchase (it's not for me, but I'm betting Key wasn't for them).

 

Many were sleeping or reading when I walked by...very relaxed.  

Thank you very much. I appreciate this a lot!

I think you just swayed me to purchase 🙂

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Purchase on a port day that you’re not interested in or better again a port day which docks later in the day. It’s much cheaper. 

Thank you so much! I thought that too but on a port day, like Nassau, maybe I could get seats in the solarium.


But wait a minute, I just went to book sea days, and see that the price of $320 on a sea day is per day, NOT for the three sea days. 

 

Is above correct? If so, forget it. I'll upgrade myself to UDP (since I currently purchased 3 nights and then a Chops + 1night so five nights and have one from my TA but I could do that instead).


Is it correct the price is per day, not per event (sea day or port day).


I am not spending $300 for one day. I sit around all day but my dh doesn't.

 

Thank you.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, js said:

Thank you so much! I thought that too but on a port day, like Nassau, maybe I could get seats in the solarium.


But wait a minute, I just went to book sea days, and see that the price of $320 on a sea day is per day, NOT for the three sea days. 

 

Is above correct? If so, forget it. I'll upgrade myself to UDP (since I currently purchased 3 nights and then a Chops + 1night so five nights and have one from my TA but I could do that instead).


Is it correct the price is per day, not per event (sea day or port day).


I am not spending $300 for one day. I sit around all day but my dh doesn't.

 

Thank you.

 

 

It is per day, thus why I mentioned waiting for a sale.  I think the lowest it got on Symphony last month was $180 for a sea day, and $100 for a port day, but it was a sell out, holiday week cruise.  YMMV on how low the price might go...when you see a price you can live with, buy.  If you can't, pass.

 

On my ship, the Key was a price I liked.  The unlimited beverage package for my spouse never was (and I looked almost daily for the last 6-8 months prior to the cruise, since it was an easy click on my computer).  We loved our Key purchase and didn't miss the beverage package, b/c we paid what we wanted to pay for the value we would receive from it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

It is per day, thus why I mentioned waiting for a sale.  I think the lowest it got on Symphony last month was $180 for a sea day, and $100 for a port day, but it was a sell out, holiday week cruise.  YMMV on how low the price might go...when you see a price you can live with, buy.  If you can't, pass.

 

On my ship, the Key was a price I liked.  The unlimited beverage package for my spouse never was (and I looked almost daily for the last 6-8 months prior to the cruise, since it was an easy click on my computer).  We loved our Key purchase and didn't miss the beverage package, b/c we paid what we wanted to pay for the value we would receive from it.

Thank you. For a sea day, in April in New York, it is $320 for one day. Not doing it and it may not even be so warm the first 1-2 days. I was very comfortable paying that for 3 days, even two so not to stress, not one, that is a silly price. 

 

I also thought of the Key, just again, so I don't have to stay up to midnight and chose the earliest arrival time (although don't think that will really matter what time I show up), I'll see how low it goes, it's not something I care about and would only use for lunch on embarkation day and get on ship early. I've decided to get the UDP so the lunch won't matter with the key.

 

We are Diamond and get the drink vouchers, and the price of the UBP is high, but we are getting it. Actually, I will make very good use of it, but my dh will probably break even. If I could just purchase for one person (me) I would and he could use his/my vouchers, but I will pay and be done with that but waiting for a sale or Black Friday or something LOL

 

Thank you again for all your help. I appreciate it.

 

8 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Per day

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want shade, the casitas don't provide much.  Open pergola and those on the top deck may be windy to the point of unusable (depends on ship/wind directions).  Even solarium may not provide shade - depends on direction of sailing, so some of the side chairs are good and other side are not.  Anything in the bow is usually mostly sun (a few chairs get shade from trees).  Solarium seats started to fill around 7am on the TA (mostly sea days).  On port days there were lots of spaces as late as 9.  There were certainly people that put towels on chairs before 7 and didn't show up until afternoon.

 

We had 1:30 arrival time and got to the ship at 10:30.  Nobody cares about arrival times anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/4/2024 at 4:58 PM, ajtaylor29 said:

We sailed on Odyssey for our one and only Star class experience (so far?!) and our genie reserved us the "best" casita (his definition, not mine!) which was right by the main pool, right by the pool bar.

Note that MOST ships don't have any casitas on the pool level -- they're all a deck above.  

On 6/4/2024 at 6:02 PM, js said:

Thank you. I would prefer to be the deck above pool. 

If you want a seat on the deck above the pool, you don't need to pay for it -- plenty will be available.  If you go forward /a bit away from the main pool, you'll find some in the shade.  

7 hours ago, BK79 said:

The only reason I would book is if i needed shade

Thing is, casitas aren't going to get you shade ALL DAY.  They're anchored to the deck, so you can't move them, and the seat'll only be in the shade for a portion of the day.  

6 hours ago, js said:

I don't see too many umbrellas on the top deck. I do see coverage in the solarium, which is where I would prefer to be, but I don't want the stress of making sure my dh and I have a lounger.

Correct, no umbrellas. 

I like the Solarium, and about half the chairs are in solid shade.  

Getting A chair isn't difficult -- certainly not stressful -- especially since they've put the no-chair-saving signs ON the chairs.  Getting two prime chairs together is more difficult.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...