A potentially great ship let down by too many niggles

Odyssey of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 17

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5
Odyssey of the Seas

12 Night Holy Land (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 30, 2022

Ship: Odyssey of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8196

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Sadly the experience was badly let down by poor entertainment and poor food, two essentials that don't require the huge technological investment RCI seem intent on delivering!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Best yet

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
Variable from okay to disappointing and the biggest let down

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
More and more activities are chargeable or difficult to book on the free slots. Mulitpurpose areas are great if you get to use them which is difficult with such a large number of passengers

Entertainment

2 out of 5
The book and the Expositors could be something really special but in the end they were disappointing. The Book because the story is disconnected and puzzling. The Expositors because big parts of it are so childish they're insulting. Sad because the investment and technology are outstanding. The biggest complaint though has to be that on a 12 night cruise there were three RCI headline shows and two outside acts (one average crooner who loves himself.. Peter Grant and one ventriloquist who was okay) That leaves a lot of nights with little or nothing (little meaning if you bothered you'd be angry with yourself for bothering). On a ship of this quality and investment that's astonishingly bad especially as we've had a better experience on every other RCI ship going back years!

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Most staff were great... infact the waitress (Mischelle) was the best we've ever experienced on any ship and our steward was pretty close to the best too.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Clean and well maintained... what would be expected on a new ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Good but nothing special

Ship tip

Get to grips with the painful app as soon as possible.

Ports of call

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 out of 5

Haifa, Israel

5 out of 5

Ashdod, Israel

5 out of 5

Limassol, Cyprus

2 out of 5

Bodrum, Turkey

4 out of 5

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

4 out of 5

Santorini, Greece

2 out of 5
I hate tendering!

Souda (Chania), Crete

5 out of 5
Get off the ship and there's a beach, shops and restaurants galore.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
The quickest ever!
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