Just off Odyssey - Rome to Greek Isles

[Nolefan95]

On 8/22/2023 at 11:50 PM, uvadover said:

For those who might be interested, I wanted to give a quick recap of our recent cruise on Odyssey of the Seas - 7 night cruise from Rome to the Greek Isles, Turkey, and back via Naples.  I am sure there are more comprehensive reviews out there, but wanted to hit on some memorable items off the top of my head.  This was a family trip, and we had 2 connecting balcony staterooms as our accommodations.  My wife and I have probably been on 10-15 cruises together, and this was the 3rd with the kids.  In no particular order...

 

Odyssey is a beautiful ship, and it is kept immaculately clean.  Common areas were always beautiful, the public bathrooms were absolutely spotless, and I love the new-era ships with handwashing stations outside of the dining areas like Windjammer.

 

The standard balcony cabin was great - the best configuration of a comparable cabin that I can remember.  Tons of storage, the bathroom uses the space extremely well, and the beds were extremely comfortable.  Once a day cabin service was plenty - we opted for evening, so that things were made up during dinner and we came back to a perfectly kept room for our sleep.

 

The ship felt very very crowded in spots.  I think the ship was built for both warm and cold weather, so the outdoor spaces felt particularly cramped - the two pools were literally overflowing with people throughout the day, and deck chairs close to the pool were nearly impossible to get.  That said, there were quite a few deck chairs farther away - some with good shade, so not all bad.  The Windjammer was perpetually packed, and your best chance at getting a table was toward the back of the venue.  There were plenty of bars, so always an opportunity to find a good spot.  I loved the Two70 venue, and only wish that they would keep the windows/shades open more during sail-aways.  Too often, they were converting things for the shows later in the evening.  Bar service was extremely slow here, even though there were rarely many people there.

 

We did specialty restaurants most nights, and thought they were great.  Chops Grille was it's typical solid self - just miss the seafood towers of the past!  Izumi is small, but the food was well done - and a nice change from the Italian food we had enjoyed the week before in Rome.  Teppanyaki was an awesome experience.  The teriyaki sauce was way sweeter than I like, but the focus was "the show" and it was great - the crew made it so fun, and the family had a blast.

 

We had a few treatments at the Spa.  The woman at the reception desk was strangely rude, and the other staff members were hit or miss.  Our appointments often started late and finished early, capped with the typical sales pitch for overpriced lotions.  If I were to go again, I would skip the spa altogether.

 

The cruise itinerary was outstanding - first day at sea, Santorini and Mykonos were great, and Kusadasi was a stunningly cool surprise.  "The Key" was huge in Santorini, as I heard it took some people 3 hours to get off the ship via tender.  On the first tender off, we were able to get on the cable car quickly and get to the top of the hill.  From there, we got an expensive taxi to the beach.  The return trip "down" Santorini was a bit of a mess, so we simply walked down the donkey pooped-on trail for a memorable view of the ship.  Mykonos docks in a random distant port, so we paid a bunch for an Uber to get us to the beach ASAP.  We took an RCL excursion in Kusadasi to Ephesus and it was absolutely amazing.  What a beautiful part of the world - we cannot wait to go back.  The excursions offered in Naples were underwhelming, so we booked via a third party to visit both Pompei and climb Mount Vesuvius - what an amazing final day of our cruise.

 

The Key allowed us to book a good time for the iFly, which we thoroughly enjoyed - it was so cool.  The lines for the Flow Rider were typically long, and the Bumper Cars were borderline ridiculous.  People lined up around the SeaPlex for a 1 minute ride - total waste of time.  Nearby, there is an arcade with crappy, overpriced video games.  My kids wasted a ton of money there on Night 1, then quickly had their privileges revoked!

 

Embarkation in Rome was quick and easy.  We had "The Key" but we definitely didn't need it to get onboard without delay.  Disembarkation in Rome was a complete clown show.  If you don't pre-book one of the overpriced transfers, prepare to be held hostage by the taxi cartel.  There are very few cabs available, Uber isn't an option, and it's all controlled by a few sleazy "strongmen" - the first offer to bring us to the airport was 500 Euros for 5 people and 4 pieces of luggage.  When I approached the RCL and port staff about a more reasonable way to get to the airport, they basically laughed at me - paraphrasing "you dummy, what did you expect."  It was pure robbery, and a sour way to end an otherwise great cruise.

 

Beyond the cruise, my goodness Rome was CROWDED.  The Vatican was almost impossible to enjoy, and you're best to arrive at other tourist sites as early in the morning as possible.  Still, paying up to "skip the line" is inevitably worth it, if you only have limited time in this great city.  We did an awesome e-bike tour after dark, which I highly recommend.

 

Again, sorry to the disjointed nature of my feedback.  Just wanted to provide what's top of mind to help those considering the trip, and happy to field other questions you might have.  Despite some of the negatives, we did put down a NextCruise deposit, so thinking about where our next RCL cruise might be.

I had the same experience in Santorini with the Key. People were also complaining about 2-3 hour waits. If going to Santorini, the Key is a must. 

[lovesthebeach2]

On 4/1/2024 at 3:09 PM, Nolefan95 said:

I had the same experience in Santorini with the Key. People were also complaining about 2-3 hour waits. If going to Santorini, the Key is a must. 

Having the Key or a royal excursion would be the only way we would get off.

The first time we went we did an excursion. Last year when we were on Odyssey we had no excursion planned so we enjoyed the empty ship overlooking the beautiful view of Santorini.

[uvadover]

On 3/31/2024 at 11:17 AM, lovesthebeach2 said:

Last October we did the “modified” Holy Land cruise that stopped in Kusadasi and we also did the Ephesus tour! That was probably the highlight of the whole cruise, way better than we ever could have anticipated! We loved Turkey! 

Kusadasi / Ephesus was one of our most favorite ports ever.