rncruiser

Thanks for letting me know about the trolley. As to the ship, I have found other classes of ship to be much prettier and to have much more artwork. Maybe Odyssey is just reflecting the current trend of “less is more” or maybe it is Royal Caribbean using it as an excuse to have less artwork.

I forgot to mention the ports. We went to Curaçao, Aruba and Labadee. We did a free walking tour of Curacao thanks to fellow cruiser HarryFat. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and I would definitely recommend this tour. The only thing that stopped us from fully enjoying this tour was the heat. I knew it would be hot In Curacao but I expected more of a breeze. I was in Aruba in June and did not feel the heat at all. My husband and son left the tour early because they could not take the heat. We are not beach or water sport people so Aruba really had nothing for us, which we knew in advance. We walked around the downtown area but not for long, again due to the extreme heat. Labadee has always been one of my favorite spots and continues to be. Even though we don’t really enjoy the beach, we do enjoy floating on the mats. The water was the perfect temperature and we spent several hours there. The only disappointment at Labadee was that they did not have ribs on the buffet. I don’t know if this is something new as I do not recall reading about the lack of ribs on these boards, though I don’t read every review, so may have missed it. Otherwise the food was good. My kids did the paint and sip, which they enjoyed. The pottery was larger than expected so be prepared with adequate luggage space if you choose to do this. Luckily our suitcases did have both extra space and extra weight available. I just realized I left out some other things as well. There were plenty of opportunities for photographs, but they did not seem as intrusive as in the past, which was nice. I also did not feel the Royal Esplanade was ever overcrowded, as has been my experience with the Royal Promenade on both Voyager and Oasis class ships. This was nice in our post Covid world. I think I have now covered it all, but will post again if I think of anything else.

I was on the 8 night holiday cruise on Odyssey, traveling with my husband and our 2 adult children. This was our first cruise post-Covid and our first cruise on this class of ship. We all agreed that we do not like the Quantum class and probably will not cruise on this class again. We much prefer the Oasis class ships with their greater variety of entertainment and venues. We definitely missed Central Park. The entertainment was definitely not to our liking. We all thought the book felt like it was created by AI and there was little to no human input. The Effectors was also not to our liking. The Showgirls show was ok, more like the usual Royal Caribbean productions we are accustomed to. We were very disappointed with the singer in the Schooner Lounge, who had no personality. The comedian was just not funny in either his regular show or his adults only show. We did enjoy the performer in the Crown and Anchor Pub, as well as the group that played dance music in Boleros and the Music Hall. The orchestra played in both Boleros and the Music Hall as well, but they were just too loud for either venue. The juggler was okay, but we have seen better. One night there was a singer who lost his voice during the first show so the second show was cancelled. Our cabin attendant was wonderful and having service only once a day was not an issue for us at all. We basically leave the cabin in the morning and do not return until late afternoon. It just does not get messy enough to need it cleaned again after dinner. Dining was much better than expected given the reviews I have read. We felt most of our meals in the MDR were delicious, with the exception of UK night, which was a disappointment. We are all big eaters and agreed that portions were actually too large, though it certainly didn’t stop us from eating. On lobster night we easily got around paying for a second lobster tail since only myself and my daughter like lobster. We just had my husband and son order lobster in addition to the entree that actually intended to eat. We had MTD and the earliest time I was able to schedule was 7:15. We preferred a 6:45 time so every night we just showed up at that time and then were seated. Our servers, Rajesh and Marvin were wonderful and if they were over worked, did not show it. Our favorite eating venue, other than the MDR was the Solarium Bistro. There is not much of a selection for lunch, but it was adequate and the food was good. My kids preferred the Windjammer for the larger selection but of course it is a mob scene. We only had breakfast in the MDR once because it just takes too long. We did not go there for brunch because of the smaller choices for breakfast and the very few choices for lunch, as well as the closing time of 12 noon. I always liked lunch in the MDR because of the delicious selections. Not having this available was a definite disappointment. We used room service very morning to get coffee and fruit, which we enjoy on our balcony before going to breakfast. My husband prefers ice coffee so every morning I wrote in for two glasses of ice. The first morning we received the ice but no fruit platters. Starting the second day we received the fruit. However, on day two we received two glasses of water, no ice. On day three we received both water and ice. Finally on day four they got it right and we received two glasses of ice. We spent much of our days in the Solarium, which I had mixed feelings about. I definitely liked the pools better than on Oasis class, though Voyager class pools remain my favorite. I liked that the Solarium was air conditioned but at the same time would have liked to feel a bit of the Caribbean heat. The main pools took quite a bit of adjusting to. I did AquaAerobics most sea days and had to get into the pool 15 minutes early to be ready. My daughter and I did the North Star on a sea day. It was just ok. I don’t think I would do it again, but if I did, it would definitely be the free version. We are Diamond members and made good use of the lounge. There were about 500 Diamonds and above on our sailing and most did not use the lounge. It was never crowded. I was surprised to learn that they had food there throughout much of the day. I have only used the lounge during happy hour and once or twice for breakfast on previous cruises. My daughter went in to get espresso every day and reported that there were sandwiches like those in the Cafe Promenade during the day. This is the first I have heard of this. I am not sure if this has always been the case, if it is something new fleet wide, or if it was only because it was a holiday sailing. Overall this was not our favorite cruise, mostly due to the poor entertainment. However, I did not see a difference in service either in the MDR or from our cabin attendant, as others have reported.

OP here, to report that there are no savory bites available on Odyssey. I am ok with the bread choices provided though.

It is definitely there under main dining. Click on Main Dining Room 3 and you will see the menus for all meals served in the Main Dining room.

I will miss some of the hot sandwiches which were only available in the MDR and I always thought the desserts at lunch were better than the ones at dinner.

I’m not sure which cruise line we will go with, but definitely not NCL. I have several friends who have had great experiences but the one cruise we had with them about 5 years ago was awful in virtually every aspect imaginable, and some not imaginable.

So disappointing. I may have to reconsider my loyalty to Royal. Meals in the dining room have always been my preference.

Are the breakfast and lunch buffets gone from the MDR as well?

I am looking at the menus posted on the app for my upcoming cruise on Odyssey and I am confused. It seems that on sea days there is brunch, rather than breakfast and lunch. The breakfast items are much more limited than on port days when the menu is listed as breakfast. The items that would be suitable for lunch are also very limited. Are these the actual menus? It is hard to imagine that they would hand me a menu at 8 am that includes fish, burgers, salad, and dessert.

I doubt I will ever try to make these myself. I am definitely not a baker. I guess I will just have to ask and hope for the best.

Maybe it’s on a ship by ship basis, or itinerary dependent. We will be on Odyssey, Southern Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale, if that makes a difference.

We are getting ready for our first post-Covid cruise and I know a lot has changed, especially in the food department. Are savory bites still available by request at dinner in the main dining room?

The first time I rented a Cabana we shared the cost with 2 other couples, one of which was staying in a suite. It was $275 split 3 ways to have the cabanas for suite guests, including the upgraded buffet. That was the only time I felt that it was worth it. I prefer to spend my time at Labadee floating on a mat.

As you can tell, despite my Diamond status I have not spent a lot of money in the casinos over the years.

I have checked in for my cruise in Odyssey next month. I will be traveling with my husband and our 2 adult children. My husband and I have both earned Diamond status. Our children got their Diamond status through us before they turned 18. On my husbands and my set sail pass it says “Diamond choice.” on our children’s it just says “Diamond.” Does anyone know what “choice” refers to and why it isn’t on all of our passes?

SoFlaCruzer, Thanks so much. That was exactly the info I was looking for.

This will be our first cruise since pre-pandemic. We have never been in a Quantum class ship. I was wondering how many outlets there are in a balcony cabin, and where are they located?

I started cruising with RCCL in the early 1980’s. There was a different name for the loyalty program back then. I do not recall what they called it. When the Crown and Anchor Program started they managed to lose track of my previous cruises and I had to submit documentation proving I had taken them. luckily they accepted everything I submitted.