MrsHFQ

We sailed on the Odyssey in September and loved a lot about our cruise but (further to your observations)....... Lobster tails were not on the menu at all except as a paid for option. Weird sandwiches - one of the sandwiches I had from the Two70 cafe had several different ingredients from what was on the label (including pineapple instead of pesto....) It was almost impossible to find a seat in Two70 for The Book 20 minutes before it started despite having made reservations.

We prefer evening. Quite happy to make our own bed in the mornings. We like to take things easy some mornings so it's good not to feel like we need to rush out of our cabin etc. We ask for extra towels when we need them (or ice etc). Had a really good cabin steward on the Odyssey this summer and would often see him in the mornings so it was easy to ask for what we needed

Also from the UK. Have booked the DBP today for £59 which is well below what it has been up until now. Had booked several excursions a few weeks ago but today have cancelled and rebooked and saved quite a few ££s

Independence will be sailing out of Southampton again for the summer.

We had to pre pay gratuities with our UK booking for MTD

We decided to ring up and cancel and rebook as that was precisely the thing we were concerned about. We go the same time slot.

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up! Had already got lunch booked for Jamie's on Anthem but have just cancelled it and booked at the cheaper price.

We had Joff Eaton on our first 2 cruises and no other CD since has met his high bar for us. He was always around, very personable, great fun. We always watched his morning show in our cabin. On our cruise this summer we only saw the CD once, very briefly, when she introduced a show. Never saw her around the ship and her morning shows were less than interesting.

We did the Chef's Table last year on the Anthem but wouldn't do it again. There were 2 or 3 people that totally dominated the conversation and were very full of their own importance. The person who I sat next to didn't speak to me at all the whole meal - and yes, I did try to make conversation with him but he was much more interested in being the centre of everyone's attention at our end of the table. We were a little disappointed with the food. Had to send the steak back as it wasn't cooked as ordered and even when the chef came out to have a conversation with my husband as to how he wanted it, it still wasn't right 2nd time around. Would love to try it again but .....

For The Anthem but not T/A - Canary Islands in June 2024

That's a really good price! Just checked ours - £77..... will keep looking.......don't want to pay that much per day!

We did the Village of Oia on your own RC excursion. It was a very early start (6.45!) but worked out well. Going on an RC excursion meant priority on the tenders. We had a coach to Oia, a short guided tour then time on our own. The coach took us back to Fira where we could spend as little or as much time as we wanted and we were given a cable car ticket to return to the tender that we could use at whatever time we chose. As it had been a very early start, we joined the cable car queue soon after 1pm and didn't really have to queue long at all for the cable car (got on to the 2nd one) or for the tender. It suited us and we enjoyed our day.

We did a 9 night from Rome on the Odyssey last month. We stayed a few days pre cruise in Rome - the hotel was very central (2 minutes from the Trevi Fountain) which was ideal for sightseeing. The hotel was very quirky but a perfect base. We had private transfers booked from airport to hotel, hotel to port and port back to airport. They weren't cheap for the 3 of us but worked out well. We booked our tickets and timings ahead for the Colosseum, Vatican Museums, Hop on Hop off bus and a river trip. Planning each day and timings definitely helped. We left plenty of time to 'go with the flow' and didn't jam too much in. In Naples we opted to do our own thing but didn't quite manage to navigate to where we wanted to. Not over impressed with Naples but that may well have been my fault for not planning well enough! In Santorini we took an early RC excursion which meant we could get off on a tender easily and then on a coach to Oia. We had plenty of free time in Fira and could then take the cable car down at our own time (we avoided queues that way). In Mykonos we opted to do our own thing - easy to walk off the ship and explore. We had thought about doing a beach transfer but were glad that we didn't as the day was incredibly windy! In Kusadasi we did a brilliant walking tour (RC) which included Pigeon Island and then some shopping. Easy port to do on your own if you want to explore the port of Kusadasi. Piraeus - we just used the Hop on Hop off buses - one from Piraeus to Athens and the other around Athens. We had pre purchased tickets to the Acropolis but then discovered they had introduced a timed ticket which would have meant presenting our tickets at the Acropolis and then being given a timed entry ( we heard from others that they then had a wait of over 2 hours) so we cancelled. The HOHO bus was very slow around Athens as the traffic was very busy. Chania - RC provides a shuttle bus to the centre and then we walked through the shops and down to the beautiful harbour - lovely just to sit and enjoy or walk around to the lighthouse. Lovely ports!

That's useful to know.... we've got our check in time for 12 for Friday and I've just checked on my app and it's asking me to click a time for my wellness check (3 or 3.30!)! Will just make sure we've done the health status on the app the day before and hope that's ok....

Thanks, TKATeacher, that's really useful! We have this excursion booked for our cruise next week. We booked it as a way of making the tender process easier getting off the ship. 7.30 is a really early start but hopefully worth it to avoid the worst of the crowds! There are 3 ships in but one doesn't arrive until about 1pm so we will probably be back (or going back) on the ship by then!