Odyssey to the Greek Isles - 7 to 16 May 2022

[FionaMG]

4 hours ago, MCazer said:

Thank you!  I was wondering why the deck plan as an open spot, without lifeboats there, and perhaps when they made the plans they thought they wouldn't.  Oh well, the cabins they are in will most likely have a davit in front of them. But since they were originally supposed to be in Inside staterooms, they will be fine.  When the price came down months ago, I was able to switch them to obstructed view.  All in all, a good deal.  Nice to have the extra room and ocean air!  

 

 

Yes that is possible. They may have based the plans on the earlier quantum class ships and I understand the layout of the lifeboats on Odyssey is a bit different. I totally agree it's better than an inside so definitely worth the small additional charge.

[FionaMG]

MDR menu:

 

We didn't fancy any of the starters on the main menu so we ordered the butternut squash soup from the vegan menu, which was very good. Unfortunately, by the time I remembered to take a pic all that was left of it was a drip on the tablecloth, but let's face it, it was a bowl of orange- coloured soup so it's not too hard to imagine. My bad. 😕

 

Lobster tails (2 each; they were pretty small):

 

Molten chocolate cake (slightly warm but far from molten), which I enjoyed anyway despite not living up to its name.

[MCazer]

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Yes that is possible. They may have based the plans on the earlier quantum class ships and I understand the layout of the lifeboats on Odyssey is a bit different. I totally agree it's better than an inside so definitely worth the small additional charge.

You didn't happen to notice if there are smoking sections on deck 5 did you. Would hate for our balconies to be above a smoking section

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, MCazer said:

You didn't happen to notice if there are smoking sections on deck 5 did you. Would hate for our balconies to be above a smoking section

Actually, now that you mention it,bit says in the compass that smoking is permitted on the port side on deck five. 😕

However, that particular section is quite a narrow passageway so not really an ideal smoking location, when there are more spacious areas with seats farther along, away from where you are.

[MCazer]

My kids are above the narrow part, my cabin is actually above a wide section just a forward of them on the other side of the hump. Large balcony cabin. It appears someone on the cruise may have a similar view, possibly deck six or seven. 
 

of course, when I booked, I thought our room was over the water and not an open area.  When I see photos, it doesn’t appear to have anyone on the deck.  Hopefully it isn’t used much. Ugh

[FionaMG]

Our excursion today to Arkadi Monastery, Rethymno and Lake Kournas was very nice, although I really don't know why they had us meet in the theatre at 7 when the ship wasn't even due to be cleared till 7.30. 😕

 

Our first stop was at the monastery. After the guide showed us around we had some free time, which we put to good use by sampling some local yogurt with thyme honey at the café.

 

 

The arrow on the tree here is pointing to a hole made by a Turkish shell.

 

The next stop was in the town of Rethymno. Again, the guide showed us around a bit and then we had some more free time to wander.

 

 

 

 

Just faintly visible to the right of the lighthouse is a mountain with some snow on top. It's over 2000 metres high and the last of the snow doesn't melt until late June. Somehow, you just don't associate snow-capped mountains with the Greek Isles.

 

Our final stop was at Lake Kournas where we got to sample a local speciality, a type of flatbread/pancake-type thing, made with cheese and spread with honey. It wasn't my favourite because I am not keen on sweet and savoury together, but I think I would have liked it more just with some butter.

 

 

 

Heading back to the ship, the guide got a phone call asking where we were because it was all aboard time! At that point we were only a couple of minutes away but we were the last excursion bus back.

 

As a side note, for those not going on excursions, there was a ship-sponsored shuttle bus into Chania town centre at a cost of 6 dollars per person round trip, bookable in the app or at the shore excursions desk. They said it was about a 20 minute drive. 

 

[FionaMG]

11 minutes ago, MCazer said:

My kids are above the narrow part, my cabin is actually above a wide section just a forward of them on the other side of the hump. Large balcony cabin. It appears someone on the cruise may have a similar view, possibly deck six or seven. 
 

of course, when I booked, I thought our room was over the water and not an open area.  When I see photos, it doesn’t appear to have anyone on the deck.  Hopefully it isn’t used much. Ugh

We have an open area with seats just below us. We're on deck 6, starboard. It doesn't seem to be used much.

 

In this next photo, the right-hand balconies you can see are large balcony cabins. 

 

[FionaMG]

The show tonight was Showgirl. It was a typical singing and dancing production upgraded by the use of technology and lighting effects. I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

We went to guest services after the show to exchange our departure tags as the ones they'd given us were too late. I asked what happened to the forms they usually give out so people can say what time they need to be off the ship. Oh, we just assign times randomly now except for the people who've booked our transfers. Seriously?!?

 

I also asked where we could print our boarding passes for our flight home. Oh, we don't have computers and printers for guests' use any more because of COVID. What?!? They had them on Harmony back in September. Oh, well it's a corporate decision.

 

And I also needed to deal with the fact that my credit card company's security system is on steroids and declined the usual hold for my onboard account. It's an issue they have with electronic payments so I gave him the card and it turns out that they don't even have the physical payment terminals onboard any more. So of course when he tried to put it through without me inputting a pin of course it was declined again. Grrrr. Sometimes technology is just too sophisticated. Which means another wait in line tomorrow to try a different card or pay cash. Luckily we're not big spenders! 🤬

[firstsailor]

Thank you for your report. We had originally booked room 6222 but then we moved to a group rate and got our son his own room and we moved to a regular balcony room. Good to see I had guessed correctly LOL! 

We will be doing 8 nights in July. Its so fun to see your photos and some of the ports. 

[MCazer]

50 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

We have an open area with seats just below us. We're on deck 6, starboard. It doesn't seem to be used much.

 

In this next photo, the right-hand balconies you can see are large balcony cabins. 

 

Thank you so much. That makes me feel better!

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by MCazer

[sharktums]

Great report, very helpful! Sorry for another tender question...

 

I assume since you were in a suite you got tender tickets for whatever time you wanted?  Did you just see the suite concierge the night before or how would that work?  We have all private excursions so I'll need to get the early tender for my group. Did you happen to see what time people started lining up to get the numbered tickets?

 

Thanks!

 

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, firstsailor said:

Thank you for your report. We had originally booked room 6222 but then we moved to a group rate and got our son his own room and we moved to a regular balcony room. Good to see I had guessed correctly LOL! 

We will be doing 8 nights in July. Its so fun to see your photos and some of the ports. 

My pleasure. Glad you're enjoying it. I'm sure you're going to have a great time too. 🙂

[FionaMG]

7 hours ago, sharktums said:

Great report, very helpful! Sorry for another tender question...

 

I assume since you were in a suite you got tender tickets for whatever time you wanted?  Did you just see the suite concierge the night before or how would that work?  We have all private excursions so I'll need to get the early tender for my group. Did you happen to see what time people started lining up to get the numbered tickets?

 

Thanks!

 

@bonsai3s can you answer this? We're just in an ordinary cabin so I don't know the answer. 

[FionaMG]

Day 9 compass (last day, how did that happen? 😭)

 

 

 

[little britain]

I’ve seen Hector is Magic many times… he is rather charming and easy on the eyes ladies! 😊. It’s a good show. 

[FionaMG]

7 minutes ago, little britain said:

I’ve seen Hector is Magic many times… he is rather charming and easy on the eyes ladies! 😊. It’s a good show. 

I think I might have seen him on Harmony but I'm not sure. We probably won't make it though as we'll probably be finishing off our packing. 😭

[Trixie21]

FionaMG - I'm curious to know if many passengers are wearing masks onboard, even though they are not mandatory. 

Also that's a bugger about no computers with printers onboard for guests use - they were usually in the small library area above 270 on Anthem and Ovation - i used them on our Anthem British isles cruise in August last year to print our boarding passes.

[FionaMG]

@bonsai3s, if by any chance you're coming to Captain's Corner, we are sitting in the front row of armchairs immediately behind the central tiered seating. I'm wearing a red check shirt. Come and say hi. 🙂

[FionaMG]

13 minutes ago, Trixie21 said:

FionaMG - I'm curious to know if many passengers are wearing masks onboard, even though they are not mandatory. 

Also that's a bugger about no computers with printers onboard for guests use - they were usually in the small library area above 270 on Anthem and Ovation - i used them on our Anthem British isles cruise in August last year to print our boarding passes.

Hardly any, mostly Asians/Orientals, even in packed places like the theatre. 

 

I was just in the queue to activate my free diamond internet day and I asked again about the availability of printers. Apparently this particular ship was designed without an internet space for guests' use which is ridiculous to my mind. If you want to print something you need to go either to guest services or the voom person, email the document to them and they will print it for you.

 

Seriously, how is that a sensible idea? Plus, not everyone is comfortable checking in on their phone (me included); I much prefer having a full size screen and keyboard.

 

Anyway it is what it is. Maybe the Diamond concierge can print them for us. We've only been in the D lounge once, as it's hidden away in a corner by the theatre.

Edited May 15, 2022 by FionaMG
Sp.

[FionaMG]

Ship information:

[FionaMG]

@MCazer,

Pics from inside Giovanni's:

 

 

 

 

Regarding my earlier post, it's actually the left-hand of the balconies in the pic that's the large balcony; the one on the right is a junior suite.

[FionaMG]

Captain's Corner this morning was a bit different from the ones we've attended in the pat. Whereas usually you would you have the Captain, the CD or Activities Manager, the Hotel Director, the Head Chef and the Chief Engineer, today's presentation was just by the Captain and the CD:

 

It included a behind the scenes video:

 

And a couple of interesting size comparisons.

The Titanic:

 

The USS Enterprise:

 

And the different ships in the fleet:

 

I didn't ask a question; I had one for the Head Chef but since he/she wasn't there, there wasn't much point.

 

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Apparently this particular ship was designed without an internet space for guests' use which is ridiculous to my mind.

What is in the library on deck 6 of 270 where the other Q class have the online center?

[bonsai3s]

4 hours ago, FionaMG said:

@bonsai3s can you answer this? We're just in an ordinary cabin so I don't know the answer. 

No worries...

 

Suites and Pinnacles had a letter from Christopher (Chris, Suite Concierge) delivered in our cabins the night before Santorini.

Those wanting to use the tenders met at Boleros and Chris escorted everyone down to the gangway and into the tender.

First tender was at 7:15am...and Chris continued to escort passengers every 15 minutes thereafter.