Need decision making help on the Odyssey FlowRider

[xpcdoojk]

So, I am booked on a back to back Odyssey cruise out of Rome, the first part of the cruise is very port intensive, but the second is a TA which means I will be on the FlowRider for hours at a time.  

 

How bad is. The new FlowRider on the Odyssey?  Is the seam thing a big deal or just a minor thing?

 

jc

[Biker19]

14 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

How bad is.

Does it matter? It's not as if you'll cancel over that - you'll likely fight the crowds more than the seam.

 

Biker, who gave up after one run today due to the crowds (sea day on Anthem).

Edited December 21, 2021 by Biker19

[Danor71]

What seam thing?  I’m curious.

[xpcdoojk]

Do you think there will be that big a crowd on a Rome departure cruise?

 

You are encouraging me to cancel the entire thing. 

 

What is your opinion of the seem? 

 

I am actually considering cancelling the trip because of the uncertainty of Covid travel overseas.  I just put plane tickets on hold using miles and upgrading to Main Cabin extra on AA.

[topnole]

56 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Do you think there will be that big a crowd on a Rome departure cruise?

 

You are encouraging me to cancel the entire thing. 

 

What is your opinion of the seem? 

 

I am actually considering cancelling the trip because of the uncertainty of Covid travel overseas.  I just put plane tickets on hold using miles and upgrading to Main Cabin extra on AA.

Don’t know about the first leg, but the TA will likely be crowded.  Been on a few TAs and the flowrider was always busy.  Not as bad a a week in the Caribbean, but still busy and arguably worse because most were advanced veterans.   
 

No idea on the seam.  

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Danor71 said:

What seam thing?  I’m curious.

We have had reports that in the middle of the surface, the welded seam in the surface of the material they added a raised portion (it’s not completely flat) which causes some issues when trying to traverse it on the board. 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Do you think there will be that big a crowd on a Rome departure cruise?

On a nice weather sea day, you can bet on it. 

[Russ Lomas]

3 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

So, I am booked on a back to back Odyssey cruise out of Rome, the first part of the cruise is very port intensive, but the second is a TA which means I will be on the FlowRider for hours at a time.  

 

How bad is. The new FlowRider on the Odyssey?  Is the seam thing a big deal or just a minor thing?

 

jc

The seam was horrible.  By far the worst Flowrider I have been on in my opinion.  I have ridden about 20 or so on land and ships.  I talked to somebody at Flowrider, and they acknowledged the seam swelled terribly in the sun while the ship was sitting not being used during the Covid shutdown.  They told me that they were going to be replacing the ride surface on the Odyssey, Freedom, and Wonder Flowriders because the same issue happened on all 3 of them (the only 3 so far with this new inflatable ride surface they say is safer to ride on).  Whether that has been done or will be done remains to be seen however.

 

If you are planning on doing a lot of riding, you will likely be frustrated by the seam issue.  I know a couple of people who refuse to sail the Odyssey while it is like this.  After about 2 or 3 days, you figure it out, but it still is far inferior and frustrating compared to waves on the other ships when it grabs your board and sends you tumbling when on any other wave surface it would not.

 

[xpcdoojk]

1 hour ago, Russ Lomas said:

The seam was horrible.  By far the worst Flowrider I have been on in my opinion.  I have ridden about 20 or so on land and ships.  I talked to somebody at Flowrider, and they acknowledged the seam swelled terribly in the sun while the ship was sitting not being used during the Covid shutdown.  They told me that they were going to be replacing the ride surface on the Odyssey, Freedom, and Wonder Flowriders because the same issue happened on all 3 of them (the only 3 so far with this new inflatable ride surface they say is safer to ride on).  Whether that has been done or will be done remains to be seen however.

 

If you are planning on doing a lot of riding, you will likely be frustrated by the seam issue.  I know a couple of people who refuse to sail the Odyssey while it is like this.  After about 2 or 3 days, you figure it out, but it still is far inferior and frustrating compared to waves on the other ships when it grabs your board and sends you tumbling when on any other wave surface it would not.

 

Good information.  I do a lot of riding.  

 

Did the FlowRider people give any indication when they are going to replace the surface?  If they replace it soon because they know they have a problem, I would think that RCI would be pushing them for a fix, while it is still a new ship.  

[Danor71]

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

We have had reports that in the middle of the surface, the welded seam in the surface of the material they added a raised portion (it’s not completely flat) which causes some issues when trying to traverse it on the board. 

Thanks - good to know.  Hopefully it gets fixed soon.

[topnole]

3 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Good information.  I do a lot of riding.  

 

Did the FlowRider people give any indication when they are going to replace the surface?  If they replace it soon because they know they have a problem, I would think that RCI would be pushing them for a fix, while it is still a new ship.  

New or old, seems like a liability issue if they know it isn’t operating properly.  Seems they may have a strong incentive to fix it.  But surely they don’t have a lot of extra capital spending money laying around.  😂😂.   My guess is it takes a while.  

Edited December 22, 2021 by topnole

[Russ Lomas]

18 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Good information.  I do a lot of riding.  

 

Did the FlowRider people give any indication when they are going to replace the surface?  If they replace it soon because they know they have a problem, I would think that RCI would be pushing them for a fix, while it is still a new ship.  

I talked to them two months ago.  They said they knew about the issue and it would be done "soon".  Now, soon to you and I are likely different from soon to RCCL and Flowrider.  I said I would be cruising on the Odyssey in March again and they said it would be done LONG before that but gave no more specifics.

[xpcdoojk]

13 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

I talked to them two months ago.  They said they knew about the issue and it would be done "soon".  Now, soon to you and I are likely different from soon to RCCL and Flowrider.  I said I would be cruising on the Odyssey in March again and they said it would be done LONG before that but gave no more specifics.

Thanks!

[chiguypaul]

Would think the issue impacts surfers more than boogie boarding, but regardless, still a bummer for those who like to stand up.

[xpcdoojk]

At least I am now somewhat reassured that it is just a bad design and as such will probably get fixed at some point.  I just want that point to be soon.  😇

[ReneeFLL]

I watched some of the people surfing in October. I also took a video of one of the instructors, but deleted it since I ended up not posting it. Now I wished I didn’t. The passenger only seemed to have issues when he first let go of the instructor. From my understanding he was new to it. I watched for about 20 minutes while waiting on DH. (iFly) He seemed to pick it up fairly quickly and I don’t remember him having any extra trouble in the middle area. The instructor was all over the place and did just fine. 

[mil76]

Just do Ollies as you pass over the seam.  Problem solved! 🙃

[xpcdoojk]

That ain’t me.   I ain’t that guy.  I am the old super boring, carving smoothly at the top of the wave guy who slides off to the side at the end of the run. 😉