Odyssey to the Greek Isles - 7 to 16 May 2022

[bonsai3s]

10 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

There is a 3€ green bus on the far right every 15 minutes that will take you to the train station nonstop....

You asked for the wrong bus!

I did not ask for the wrong bus...I am merely trying to help.

 

[bonsai3s]

1 hour ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

There is a 3€ green bus that will take you nonstop to the train station at the very left curb when you exit the terminal

Redundant...are you a troll?

[FionaMG]

47 minutes ago, Citrons said:

 

Many USA cruisers missed their flight yesterday due to the chaotic set up in Rome airport. They had to do Covid test at the airport and queue was 4 hours long. We met them as we were having a drink in the Hilton hotel waiting for our flight to Dublin. We had to help a few of them book a hotel in Rome for the night as the hilton was fully booked and noone was helping them

What a lousy end to their cruise. 🙁 I'm glad you were able to help out. 

Thanks for posting as this may help future USA cruisers plan accordingly. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by FionaMG
Sp.

[little britain]

1 hour ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

There is a 3€ green bus that will take you nonstop to the train station at the very left curb when you exit the terminal

The green bus info contradicts @bonsai3s info about white and red busses…… when you say “exit the terminal” do you mean as you leave the ship or when you get off the free port shuttle bus to the gates?  
Or are there now 3 busses?! 🤷‍♀️
thanks! 

[Trixie21]

1 hour ago, Citrons said:

Half of our group did this. We did the 20.30 flight as we thought they would miss the 11am flight. They left at 6.30am but we were up same time as them. They took the organised bus to the airport. Gets you to rome in 1 hour. They missed breakfast in the WJ. They took their bags themselves. However the bags are left in a huge hall in groups and you could easily grab your bag if you didnt take it. 

 

They made their 11am Aer Lingus Dublin flight no issues as they being irish and fully up to date in vaccine/booster did not need Covid test. Flight was full of Odyssey cruises. 

 

We had a long wait in the Hilton airport hotel drinking until the 20.30 flight. If it was just the 2 of us we would have planned a day trip to rome perhaps to kill time (seen rome before of course) 

 

Whereas the USA people missed their flights due to the covid test queue being 4 hours long at the airport.

Thanks , that's reassuring.

We have a private transfer booked for 7am to get us to the airport so hopefully all will be fine.

[bonsai3s]

37 minutes ago, little britain said:

The green bus info contradicts @bonsai3s info about white and red busses…… when you say “exit the terminal” do you mean as you leave the ship or when you get off the free port shuttle bus to the gates?  
Or are there now 3 busses?! 🤷‍♀️
thanks! 

LB,

 

We only saw the red and white buses/shuttles. (Both 3Euros/each way...direct from shipside to the train station)

 

When you disembark the ship, you enter and exit the terminal building ...when you exit the terminal building, look left. (If you are off the ship before 7am,  there shouldn't be a queue/line yet...you'll see the buses around the corner.)

 

Important: Passengers were confused because:

 

1. There were no signs.

 

2. On two turn around days that we observed, only one queue/line formed...it should've been two.  (One for the 3Euro bus, and another one for the free shuttle bus.)

 

3. It was confusing because BOTH buses/shuttles were parked next to each other, on the left side of the building. (Just around the corner).

[Coralc]

4 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

LB,

 

We only saw the red and white buses/shuttles. (Both 3Euros/each way...direct from shipside to the train station)

 

When you disembark the ship, you enter and exit the terminal building ...when you exit the terminal building, look left. (If you are off the ship before 7am,  there shouldn't be a queue/line yet...you'll see the buses around the corner.)

 

Important: Passengers were confused because:

 

1. There were no signs.

 

2. On two turn around days that we observed, only one queue/line formed...it should've been two.  (One for the 3Euro bus, and another one for the free shuttle bus.)

 

3. It was confusing because BOTH buses/shuttles were parked next to each other, on the left side of the building. (Just around the corner).

 

Bonsai. Don't worry about it. You have tried to help. People will figure it out when they are actually there. Thanks! 

[little britain]

3 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

Bonsai. Don't worry about it. You have tried to help. People will figure it out when they are actually there. Thanks! 

@bonsai3s info is always totally clear and accurate….. it’s the mention of green busses that confused things

[Coralc]

2 minutes ago, little britain said:

@bonsai3s info is always totally clear and accurate….. it’s the mention of green busses that confused things

I agree. Thanks. 

[Citrons]

5 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

Bonsai. Don't worry about it. You have tried to help. People will figure it out when they are actually there. Thanks! 

We didnt figure it out when we were there and decided to walk from the ship to the town. Terrible set up they have at Civitavecchia as we had people in their 70s dragging their luggage. Only some taxi's can come to the ship and the one we ordered with Roma Cabs would only collect us at the McDonalds in Civitavecchia. We had a nice coffee at a cafe when waiting. Ok if you are in your 20s-50s but not very clear about the green/red/white bus. Also they did not seem to be regular in and out. No information at all and very chaotic

[Citrons]

Btw we all got covid on this cruise. Not a great way to end a holiday 🤒

[FionaMG]

13 minutes ago, Citrons said:

Only some taxi's can come to the ship and the one we ordered with Roma Cabs would only collect us at the McDonalds in Civitavecchia. 

This is a very important point to check as well when arranging pre-booked transfers. When I was researching this, one of the companies offering a cheaper rate (can't remember the name) said their pick-up and drop-off point was at the port entrance, as opposed to beside the ship. 

[Citrons]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

This is a very important point to check as well when arranging pre-booked transfers. When I was researching this, one of the companies offering a cheaper rate (can't remember the name) said their pick-up and drop-off point was at the port entrance, as opposed to beside the ship. 

We got the train to the ship just the 2 of us. On the way back we shared a taxi with our group who arranged it and were a bit clueless. Yes they were cheaper and it must be why as it defeated the purpose of getting a taxi 

[Citrons]

On 5/16/2022 at 7:20 AM, FionaMG said:

Sitting in two70 waiting to be thrown off the ship. 😭😭😭

I guess they need to update the information on the departure screen because it still says to go back and wait in your room after breakfast. 

 

This is not the case; rooms have to be vacated by 8 am.

We stayed in our room until 9.15am and the cleaner just asked were we leaving as we walked out of our rooms - but nobody actually asked us to leave. We didnt go to the Two70 at all. 

[Citrons]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:41 PM, dani negreanu said:

 

That our "problem" too...DH has hearing aids, making it even worse. We found the sound too loud in several ships, very annoying. 

Yeah a couple of americans next to us asked the piano guy to turn the volume down in the Schooner bar and he stormed off for 40mins...and it was still as loud when he returned. We found the music in all of the bars was too loud that it made it uncomfortable to sit and enjoy drinks. We would have been able to hear them without the speakers. 

[Citrons]

On 5/14/2022 at 10:39 PM, 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

Yes quite a few people out on deck 5 smoking. It is nearer to the two70. I didnt notice the smell so much - the smell of smoke was worse on Deck 14. Also i found more an unpleasent smell from the stacks on some days as we were mid ship.

[Citrons]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:46 PM, bonsai3s said:

Menu at Coastal Kitchen.

 

We had the Brazino and Filet Mignon.

The filet was cooked to absolute perfection...tender as butter.

Its very sneaky they do not explain Escargot on the menu is snails. My mam ordered these not knowing that they were snails. 🤢

[Citrons]

On 5/12/2022 at 11:02 PM, drjohn4 said:

Make sure you put something about the music being too loud in the shows in your post cruise survey.  I've seen the same comment from several others on Odyssey.  Maybe they will turn it down by the time I go. 

There was no room to put this in the survey unfortunately. Mainly the survey focused on the MDR or shore excursions. Yes the sound in the bars was definitely too loud. I didnt mind the shows too much but other members of the group all hated the Effectors and The book. We didnt go to any of the other shows. 

[Citrons]

On 5/15/2022 at 12:02 AM, 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!

 

We queued at 6.20am for the 1st tender boat tickets to Santorini. We didn't have a tour organised and got multiple taxi's (large group of us) from Fira town to Oia for €30 each taxi each way. However it appears the a public bus leaves 7am and and it would have only been €1.60. Our group though is a mix and fussy and therefore we went for the taxi option. In the end we all preferred spending more time in Fira. (We had been to Santorini before and hence did not tour the rest of the island which i recommend).

[Citrons]

On 5/15/2022 at 12:09 PM, FionaMG said:

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.

 

I liked this talk. I also liked the Two70 in the day time and found the library in it 🤗

[Citrons]

On 5/15/2022 at 12:15 PM, Biker19 said:

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

No computers in the library of Two70

[Citrons]

On 5/15/2022 at 6:19 PM, Empehi said:

Have the folks on this cruise been made aware of the COVID numbers (if any) that may be on this sailing?

Just wondering how informed the passengers are of the situation.

 

e

We did not know numbers but our group all got covid on the cruise. Many on the flight back to Dublin from our cruise were coughing and sneezing. Heard many of the americans got positive covid tests in Rome airport and missed their flights home.

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, Citrons said:

We got the train to the ship just the 2 of us. On the way back we shared a taxi with our group who arranged it and were a bit clueless. Yes they were cheaper and it must be why as it defeated the purpose of getting a taxi 

We used Civitavecchia Shuttle Express. Someone on the roll call mentioned them. They were the cheapest I could find with drop-off/pick-up at the ship: €65 each way for the two of us for a shared shuttle.

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, Citrons said:

Its very sneaky they do not explain Escargot on the menu is snails. My mam ordered these not knowing that they were snails. 🤢

 

Did she like them?

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, Citrons said:

There was no room to put this in the survey unfortunately. Mainly the survey focused on the MDR or shore excursions. Yes the sound in the bars was definitely too loud. I didnt mind the shows too much but other members of the group all hated the Effectors and The book. We didnt go to any of the other shows. 

I put it in the bit where they ask you to mention crew members, as well as the other things I wasn't happy about. It seemed to be the only place where you were able to actually write about your experience. There was the option to do and upload a video but I didn't want to do that.