My thoughts on my Odyssey NYE December 2021 sailing

[chiguypaul]

I wanted to provide my thoughts and insights on my recent New Year’s Eve Odyssey cruise. First, let me say that I was extremely conflicted about taking this cruise. I knew what had happened on this ship the week before with canceled ports, canceled shows, heavy passenger volume, and crew and passenger COVID cases. I went in to this cruise with eyes wide open. I had the bar set extremely low. My family decided to go after weighing out all of the risk factors and properly setting our expectations.

 

Of my 20 something cruises, with maybe 13 or 15 on Royal (we’re Diamond) this was by far the worst overall experience I ever had on a relative basis. That being said, I have zero regrets about going and I still had a really good time being with my family away from home, having food available, some activities to keep me entertained, seeing my teenagers have a great time and enjoying warmer weather. In this scenario, two things can be true at once. Like I said, the bar was low and we really wanted to cruise.

 

Below, I’m going to provide some thoughts in no particular order.

 

 

• Passenger load: Based on Christmas sailing, I expected at least 3,700 passengers, but based on all the bad International press with the Covid outbreak on our ship, tons of people canceled (thanks to all of you who did that!). We had just under 2,700 passengers (confirmed by multiple security personnel). I was VERY happy about that and this was the one area where I was the most anxious. With that load we were almost always able to find an open seat in the pool deck or in the Solarium. Public spaces rarely felt even mildly busy with the exception of New Year’s Eve.  Certain locations like Music Hall were very very crowded during the week during games. On NYE, both decks 14 and 15 were packed.
• Checkin process. We usually arrive early. We had an 11 checkin time and arrived at 10. There was no clear line and it was very confusing to know where to stand. Multiple lines started forming. Baggage people were putting the bag carts directly in front of people in the lines. Everyone regardless of their times were in the same line. No one was actually checking to see what your check-in time was so anyone could get in. There are no benefits to Diamond at all in any part of the checkin or boarding process. The ship was not ready to board so we were seated in the big waiting area. No one was told what was going on and then when the ship started boarding, people who came after us were getting on before us. It was all a mess and a frustrating start.
• Solarium Bistro was closed all week for “maintenance”. Despite that, the staff never took down the signs with the hours of operation. We were told by the crew that the Solarium Bistro was being used to feed COVID infected crew and that’s why not available. We normally have breakfast at the Bistro and were very disappointed it was closed all week. We also had a first night reservation that they canceled and the staff never made alternative arrangements for us which I didn’t think was professional. They basically left us without a reservation for a night. We went to the MDR without issue.
• Having the four Diamond drinks per day on any drink up to $13 at any location was amazing. Awesome perk. Didn’t even bother with the Diamond lounge.
• Use of masks: Overall, I thought people were good about wearing masks. Way better than what I expected. There will always be people who feel the rules don’t apply to them in elevators and common areas. If you plan on being in a bar don’t expect people to wear masks. Several people wearing their masks covering their mouth, and not their nose. I was very disappointed that there were not staff holding up signs at the entry ways of venues and other common spaces to remind people of the importance of mask wearing. They did this at Universal Studios and worked well. I do think Royal could do even more to remind people about mask wearing given the recent protocol changes and spread rates.
• Elevator usage: While most people were good about not having more than six on an elevator, some people were just clueless. There were a few times I had to get off because we had four on the elevator and some family of six would come on. I decided not to challenge people about it. It usually never took long for another elevator.
• Major Entertainment: While I knew there was a big risk of shows being canceled, and they were, I was very disappointed about it. I’m glad I knew about the risk of this ahead of time and other ships also had their shows canceled during the same week. What shows they did have were poor. The tap dance show was dumbed down by stupid gibberish. There were two comedians. One of them was terrible.  Not sure how the guy got a gig the week of New Year’s. Royal knew the week before they were going to have shows canceled and I wish they had found people who could have been brought in from the shore to fill the gap. Again, I knew all the major shows were down, but I was still disappointed about that. This area was by far the biggest bummer of the cruise.
• Minor Entertainment: Some hits and misses here. The “regular” Schooner bar pianist and the pub guitar guy were “missing” - apparently Covid. That really sucked away energy from these popular venues. The Boleros band was operating with a reduced staff. The “rock” band was disappointing - felt like a wedding band. Usually there are awesome Journey or Bon Jovi type cover bands. On the positive side, the game show type activities in MH were upbeat and fun.
• Cruise Director: Mitch seems like a nice guy. I will say, it felt like he lost a lot of pep in his step. It felt like he was constantly trying to tap dance around the fact that all the shows and entertainment were basically a wash and there was little to answer for in terms of any type of meaningful alternative. The only way he could ever get a crowd to cheer is when he, would repeat over and over again throughout the week, that this was the first New Year’s ever on the Odyssey. I think he was still recovering from a absolutely brutal week the week before.
• General crew thoughts: Overall, the crew I interacted with were very friendly and very helpful. My encounters were very positive. From talking with them, you could tell that the week before was rough. A lot of them verbally beat up by passengers and accusing the staff of ruining the passenger’s Christmas. The crew is double masked and they are not allowed off the ship.
• The ship: This was my second Quantum class ship. I’ve been on many Oasis class ships. After a cruise on the Anthem and now the Odyssey I can officially say I don’t like the Quantum class. I would prefer Freedom or Oasis classes on any day of the week. This is all personal preference, of course. Lots of threats on CC that highlight the pros and cons of these classes. On this ship, I really like how the dining room is wide open in the middle on multiple floors - really nice compared to ships like the Anthem.
• Pool Deck Furniture: Royal has done a great job with adding all different types of furniture options on the pool dick. Lots of variety of different options. I think other ships have gone through something similar.
• Internet: The Internet speeds and reliability were not good on this ship. I had read others in CC who said something about it from the week before and they were right. Have had better performance on other Royal ships.
• Bar Service: While I was able to find a bartender available to take my drink, in the first few days of the cruise, I had a really hard time finding people to take my drinks on the pool deck. Half way through the cruise it was much better and I wondered if some of these people were brought on the ship or just recently out of quarantine.
• Library was basically shutdown. All books removed from the shelves. No games like chess, cards, etc. What is normally a fun lively space on sea days or in the evenings, was an empty space void of activity.
• Dining Room Service: We really liked our waiter. Very professional and seasoned. Knew just the right way to engage with us and take care of us.
• Main Dining Room Food: Overall, the main dining room food was average.
• Windjammer Food: Very disappointing. A lot of the food options were not hot enough. Most dishes were nothing special. I really like how the staff serve the food. Even without COVID, this is a really welcomed change.
• El Loco Fresh: Awesome!!!
• Overall Food: Was very unimpressed overall with the food. Usually I feel like the Royal food is slightly above average, but this time it’s a solid average - at best. Sure there are some hits, but there are also some big time misses - especially in the dining room.
• Pool Deck Music: Music on pool deck with the band is just crazy loud. Has been this way for years on various ships. Do any of you like the music blaring so loud?
• Ports:  We had no plans on leaving the ship for any of the ports. We’ve been to them all before and enjoy when we have the ship without the normal passenger load. PR was canceled and replaced with Dominican Republic and St Thomas was canceled.  Royal provided on board credit for the missed port and I was happy with that. Coco Cay was great - as always. I love it there.
• Covid Cases: Near the beginning of the week, our ship transferred a number of Covid infected passengers to a different Royal ship in the middle of the ocean. That was interesting. There were no Covid announcements about outbreaks until very late in the week. The number of cases was at 1.8%, but it wasn’t clear if that included both passengers and crew. Would assume that number was after we dropped the other few off earlier in the week. A few days after the cruise, we were in communication or aware of at least ten to twenty people who tested positive for Covid. Way more people are getting Covid than what’s being reported on these ships. We were OK with accepting that risk.
• Cruise rate/price factor: The rate of my cruise was extremely low. I was able to move an Oasis sailing from Christmas 2020 to  a New Year’s Even cruise on the Odyssey 2021 (brand new ship). My deal was amazing and that was a factor for going. Important note: If I had paid the standard higher rates for this NYE sailing, I think I would have been very disappointed in the cruise and in all likelihood, would have canceled. This has nothing to do with how safe I felt. I’m simply saying that paying premium rates at this point for what the cruise ships deliver today is not worth it in my opinion. At the end of the day, I was OK with the risk factors and I would not have gone had I felt worried about the health of my family.
• Flowrider: There are some other threads that talk about a buckling of the seam in the center of the board. I can confirm that it’s there. As a boogie boarder it didn’t impact me, but I can see where someone who surfs might be more sensitive to it. The viewing area on this Flowrider is terrible. It’s cramped. Much better on other ships. During boogie sessions they did NOT put up the divider. I was totally cool with that and love having the entire surface area open. And it worked out OK because the lines were never that long where they needed two sides.

 

Overall, while my entire family was very happy with going even though there were many disappointments. This cruise was just not the same as others. It’s annoying having to not sit at certain tables because they are blocked off, or wearing a mask all the time, having shows canceled, ports canceled, trying to talk with someone in a bar with a mask on and not hearing them, wearing a mask in all indoor places unless eating or drinking, etc. You get the idea. With all these things I mentioned, the cruise experience is greatly diminished and you have to know and except that. Omicron hit hard and fast and it definitely took the cruise industry backwards. If you plan on a cruise during Covid, just assume that anything and everything may be different than what you expect or what is planned.

 

Feel free to ask any questions.

[z4ltw]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and feedback, much appreciated

[Jimbo]

Nice review. Covered all the bases with the good and the bad. I know you were pretty excited for this cruise from your posts pre-cruise.

Maybe when you cruise again it will be much better.

[chiguypaul]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Nice review. Covered all the bases with the good and the bad. I know you were pretty excited for this cruise from your posts pre-cruise.

Maybe when you cruise again it will be much better.

 

We were so excited - right about that!

[gracia98]

Thanks for your feedback. We cancelled this cruise and had no regrets. We did pay a premium for the NYE. One of the factors for cancelling, we didn’t want a diminished experience.  We are also as Diamond members and this would have been our first time on Quantum class to see how it compares. We cruised in early December on the Independence for a weekend cruise and even with Covid restrictions, things were great. But that was before Omicron really hit the US.  We are now re-booked for March 2022. Hoping things will be back to “Covid Normal” by then.

[Sam.Seattle]

2 hours ago, chiguypaul said:

Covid Cases: Near the beginning of the week, our ship transferred a number of Covid infected passengers to a different Royal ship in the middle of the ocean. That was interesting.

This is the first I have heard of passengers being transferred while at sea.  Seems extreme? Do you have any additional insight on this topic?

[SilkySal]

14 minutes ago, Sam.Seattle said:

This is the first I have heard of passengers being transferred while at sea.  Seems extreme? Do you have any additional insight on this topic?

I read in some other posts that some of the crew who tested positive were being transferred to out-of-service ships to quarantine. Don't think they would have transferred any paying passengers, just quarantining them on the ship until it returns to port. At least, that is what I've been reading.

[chiguypaul]

18 minutes ago, Sam.Seattle said:

This is the first I have heard of passengers being transferred while at sea.  Seems extreme? Do you have any additional insight on this topic?

Only that the captain told us we were transferring over crew members to the other ship that had Covid. Likely helped RCL bring down the percent infected numbers on the cruise. RCL probably couldn't wait to get them off for that reason alone.

[mk907]

Thank you for your balanced and knowledgeable review chiguypaul! I really liked that you bullet pointed everything here and while it maybe didn’t rank as a top experience, sounds like you made the best of the situation!

[chiguypaul]

3 minutes ago, mk907 said:

Thank you for your balanced and knowledgeable review chiguypaul! I really liked that you bullet pointed everything here and while it maybe didn’t rank as a top experience, sounds like you made the best of the situation!

 

Thanks @mk907. Just under a week before sailing, we assessed at least a dozen other vacation options as alternatives, and the cruise, even with the expected limitations, was still the best option for my family.

[Td6462]

I completely agree with every point of your review. 

This was our first cruise and we did pay full price. We also contracted covid on board. Actually our daughter contracted covid in AO and all the rest (4)tested positive once off the ship. 

We also went in eyes wide open and  accepted the risk. Having no other prior experience to compare we had fun until we didn't. 

We plan to try again in the future.

Great review!! 

I will say the best part of our experience was our cabin attendant. He was amazing! Yay Nitin!!!

Our over priced reduced experience has not deterred us from trying again another time.

[flamingos]

We just boarded and I I’ll confirm: the pool deck reggae band is crazy loud. 

[Sam.Seattle]

5 hours ago, flamingos said:

We just boarded and I I’ll confirm: the pool deck reggae band is crazy loud. 

Like it should be!!!!

 

[LATTELOVE]

Thank you for taking your time for this review and 

telling it like it is.  I appreciate the entire report.

Thanks again!