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Ah, gotcha! Well, in that case, here is what we love about the Odyssey. 🙂 I LOVE the fully enclosed and air-conditioned solarium, unlike the Oasis class. DH loves using the skydiving simulator and the bumper cars. Both of us love the Two70 venue and the North Star for incomparable views while in port, and Giovanni's Wine Bar where we can buy our favorite menu items a la carte instead of paying for the full meal. But as I said, I really like the Oasis class too. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on either ship, but for two extra days and better ports (IMHO), I personally would go Odyssey.

Pretty big difference, yes. 🙂 Both the Oasis class and the Quantum class (including the Odyssey) have features that we miss when we're on the other one. Pros and cons are EXTREMELY subjective, however. For example, the size of the Symphony might be a pro for one person, and a con for someone else. Not having the Odyssey's skydiving simulator might be a huge drawback, or maybe you wouldn't use it even if you had it. I would recommend watching a YouTube ship tour of the Odyssey, since you're already familiar with the Oasis class, so you can compare for yourself.

On Allure, I would definitely vote for the Brazilian steakhouse, Samba Grill. We never miss it!

Highlighter/pens on my last two

To be fair, it's really not a simple matter of geographical proximity. Comparing this conflict to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a false equivalence, although I know that situation has loomed large for the UK and Europe for the past year & a half. As I mentioned earlier, I personally wouldn't cancel my plans, but the reality is that we're looking at a very different geopolitical context in the Middle East. And operating under the (admittedly uncomfirmed) assumption that the OP is American, that puts a much bigger target on his/her back in the context of the Middle East conflict than it does with Russia/Ukraine. Understandably, this might not register quite as much for our friends from across the pond. 🙂 I'm not necessarily asking anyone to believe me ... feel free to tell yourselves that I don't know what I'm talking about, because for all you know I really don't. 🤭 But for what it's worth: ALL Americans (or Canadians likely to be mistaken for Americans) would be wise to keep a low profile these days, anywhere in the world. Yes, travel--enjoy, go on with your life, but be smart.

As others have said, Royal isn't necessarily the best option for Alaska. We did Royal this year for reasons related to the ship, and it was nice, but I was reminded how much I like Princess and Celebrity for Alaska itineraries.

Agreed. Yes, things could easily escalate beyond the current region of conflict, but there's no reason to think that Italy would be in the line of fire anytime soon. That would require a EU/UN level of involvement, which doesn't appear to be on the immediate horizon. Of course, the unexpected does happen, but I wouldn't say that your risk of flying to Rome is any higher than your risk of flying to Los Angeles. Go, and enjoy! 🙂

Rude to the staff, yes, but also not super considerate to people who are waiting to be seated. It's kinda hard to enjoy your nachos and campfire cookies standing up. 😉

I enjoy stops at Coco Cay (and Labadee for that matter) because I really enjoy beach time ... for about 20 minutes. 😉 I would never consider a "beach break" excursion at any other port, since it means paying a substantial sum to be stuck somewhere I don't really want to be after the first half hour. Private islands, however, are entirely within my control. I tend to spend more time on Coco Cay simply because the food is substantially better (IMHO) than on Labadee, so I don't feel like I need to return to the ship just to eat. But either way, I love to wade in knee-deep for a few minutes, then relax on a lounger until I'm dry, then I'm ready to move on to something else. So for me, the private islands do a perfect job of scratching that beach time itch.

Nice! I absolutely love their videos, largely because Brian is like a younger version of DH and Kerry is a younger me. 😄 I've contemplated getting this, I'm just afraid it would sway my booking decisions. Not the best schedule, itinerary or price? Who cares, I can cross off another ship! 🤭

Beautiful! And good call sharing it here, where there are lots of people who understand the excitement. 😊

Yes, there are still hard tickets delivered to your cabin.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I'm glad you and your family enjoyed yourselves. 🙂

So glad to hear that you (and particularly your brother!) had such a great experience. It's nice to hear from people who enjoyed themselves. 🙂

If I were traveling with a small child, I would probably not go the UDP route. There are lots of options on the Odyssey that would be quicker and easier, and I have a suspicion that you would gravitate towards those and not get your money's worth. Maybe book a specialty dinner or two for just the adults, while the little one is at Adventure Ocean?

Yep, that's them! The lineup has changed a bit since the pre-COVID days, but the lead singer is still the same. Best show we saw on that cruise!

OH MY GOODNESS YES, this is a job for a TA!! You specifically mentioned online TAs, which I don't think is inherently a bad idea, but I would steer clear of the "big box" companies. You want personalized service for something like that. Most cities of reasonable size still have brick-and-mortar travel agencies, or you could find someone online who is self-employed--something along those lines. If I were involved in planning something like this, I would definitely want a TA on my side who is readily available and responsive.

Another vote for 150. Personally speaking, it's not even a close call. And congratulations! 🙂

Good news, Ovation had a Journey cover band a couple of weeks ago! They were quite good, too. Brought back memories of seeing the real thing for my 14th birthday. 😄

Ovation two weeks ago was QR code located outside Guest Services or paper copy upon request.

Thank you, I'm so glad you found it helpful! 🙂 And I totally agree, desserts have never been their strong suit, which is why I was even MORE sad to see the authentic pot de crème disappear. 😞 But I have bad news: that's not ice cream on the brownie, it's the awful whipped topping stuff, so I had to scrape it off. For what it's worth, there was a different pound cake each day in the Windjammer / Solarium Bistro / Promenade Cafe, and they were really good!

I had to look it up. Ummm ... yeah ... 😲

Lastly, some general observations on the most common complaints I've seen about recent changes. To be clear, this is not intended as a "fact check" or to challenge anyone else's impressions--just to compare how they align with my own experiences. Overall decrease in MDR food quality This was not our experience, with the notable and heartbreaking exception of the dark chocolate custard which has gone from French pot de crème to boxed chocolate pudding. 😭Yes, I am still bitter about that! MDR food not served hot Two of our dishes (one entree, one appetizer) were served more warm than hot. That's still pretty good odds for two people over five nights, but yes, it did happen. Smaller portions in MDR Mostly for the sides, but yes, this was often the case. Personally, I kind of liked it, since I wasted less food this way. With a three-course meal plus bread, I sometimes struggle to eat everything I'm served. Especially if I want to save room for the late-night snack or mocktail! 😉 Inability to order multiple dishes in MDR I only did it with dessert, but nobody even batted an eye. Some people reported being told that they would have to be served one at a time--that wasn't the case for me, but it could vary by ship or they might have discontinued that particular policy. Reduced level of service in MDR We only experienced this on the two nights when our assistant waiter was sick--but even then, it was minimal. To be fair, we don't order multiple drinks with dinner, so that might be a factor. We always got our Sprite Zero within a few minutes of being seated (and without having to ask after the first two nights), and water stayed refilled. We did notice that servers were moving around the room VERY quickly and with laser-like focus, which would suggest an increased workload, but it didn't negatively impact us. When interacting with us, we never felt that they were impatient or trying to rush us. Fewer options in Windjammer We did notice the ever-present hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken strips that have been reported on other ships. Since Quantum-class ships have such large Windjammers, that still left plenty of room for other options, and they were plentiful & tasty. There were always two made-to-order stations as well--I noticed omelettes, stir fry and pasta on offer. I can see how a smaller Windjammer might leave less room for a variety of offerings, but for us, it wasn't an issue. And for the record, the chicken strips were surprisingly good! It seems like there was something else I wanted to address, but it has slipped my mind. Feel free to ask any questions. 🙂

Agreed, it's not the most aesthetic plating. 🤣 To be honest, though, I don't really mind. When I think about all the food waste that happens on these ships, I kind of like the idea that a higher percentage of the veggies will actually be eaten. 🙂

Woot woot, it's Bon Voyage time! 😃 We both had the seafood cake. Strangely, I'm almost certain that in the past, we thought the crab cake was good but the seafood cake was better. I don't recall why, though. At any rate ... this time around, we enjoyed the seafood cake but not as much as the crab cake! DH had the pecan-crusted salmon, which was good, but the "warm potatoes in a light horseradish scallion crema" were the highlight of the dish. I could have eaten a whole plate of just that! Not that I was complaining about my entree, though. I was a bit skeptical about ordering the turkey dinner, since I was afraid the turkey would be either dry and flavorless or taste like deli meat. Somewhat to my surprise, it was delicious! In fact, other than the fact that I'm not accustomed to having bits of bell pepper in my Thanksgiving corn, the whole dish was like a good quality Thanksgiving dinner. For dessert, DH got the warm apple crumble. It was tasty, with a good apple/crumble ratio, and the ice cream added a perfect touch. I had two desserts: first, the crema catalana. This is similar to a crème brûlée, but typically seasoned with citrus rather than vanilla and lightly spiced. I'm almost sure that in the Solarium Bistro, the crema catalana does have that citrus/cinnamon flavor profile, but this one did not. That's okay, I quite enjoy crème brûlée as well. 🙂 The second was the dark chocolate brownie, which is essentially the poor man's version of the brownie at Jamie's. 😉 Unfortunately, the toppings being drizzled over the whipped topping meant that I had to scrape them off as well, and I only got to enjoy the single piece of caramel popcorn and a standard brownie. 😐 And that's a wrap, folks! 🙂 We didn't eat in the MDR for France or Italy night (on purpose, since I'm a bit spoiled by years of eating the real thing), so I have no input there. I will add some general observations in a wrap-up post tomorrow.