A potentially great ship let down by too many niggles

Item: Odyssey of the Seas
Rating: 3.5
Author: lwdcourt

Odyssey of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

lwdcourt

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 24

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

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: 2 years 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.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 out of 5

5 out of 5

5 out of 5

2 out of 5

4 out of 5

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

4 out of 5

Santorini, Greece

2 out of 5

I hate tendering!

Thumbs Up 0

Souda (Chania), Crete

5 out of 5

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

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

The quickest ever!

4 Comments

AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Nice itinerary. Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations. After awhile the little things begin to pile up. Those are the most frustrating cruises of all.

Thumbs Up 0

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badavidson 2 years ago

Complete different experience but understand sailing in a pandemic.

Thumbs Up 1

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

Thumbs Up 1

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javawoody 2 years ago

Thanks for the review

Thumbs Up 1

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Other reviews of this sailing

Impressive cruise itinerary!

Great cruise