Balcony

Suite

Inside

Royal Caribbean International

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Rome (Civitavecchia)

U.S.A.

Caribbean - All

Bahamas

Caribbean - Southern

Europe - All

Mediterranean

Caribbean - Western

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Italy

Mexico - All

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Turkey

Caribbean - Eastern

Israel

Nile River

Jamaica

Transatlantic

Spain

Dominican Republic

France

Portugal

Bermuda

USVI

Excellent

Average

Very Good

Poor

Terrible

Oasis of the Seas

Allure of the Seas

Anthem of the Seas

Liberty of the Seas

Freedom of the Seas

Navigator of the Seas

Adventure of the Seas

Harmony of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas

Grandeur of the Seas

Independence of the Seas

Serenade of the Seas

Jewel of the Seas

Brilliance of the Seas

Rhapsody of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Radiance of the Seas

Vision of the Seas

Ovation of the Seas

Quantum of the Seas

Symphony of the Seas

Odyssey of the Seas

Wonder of the Seas

Spectrum of the Seas

Poor entertainment, too pricey for tours 

Saint-Tropez

Overall we had a great time, first TA and won't be the last.

PROS:

- Newish ship, modern, beautiful common areas and spaces. 4200 passengers, so felt crowded but never had a problem getting a lounge chair by the pool, table at Windjammer or table at main dinning room. 

- Crew: probably the best we had in all of our cruises, friendly, attentive and just have to ask once for "special request" and they were sure you had it every day. Compare to other lines they worked 7 days/week being able to accumulate vacation time, and were happy with it.

- Toys: bumper cars (long lines), laser tag, climbing wall, flow-rider, i-Fly, etc. Arcade was terrible. Endless way to be entertained if willing to do lines or pay for it.

- Shows: Not easy 15 nights, but between good and excellent. Some so over the top that made you wonder why put some much money in this instead on other areas.

CONS:

- No outdoor eating. Windjammer has no outside area, and for us this is very important.

- Food: first time we don't give a 10 rating during a cruise. Not bad, but some hits and lots of misses. 

- Health: 1/3 of passengers were coughing their lungs out and everyone was self-serving with same tools that were reposition too close to food for comfort.

- Elevators: Some genius created touchless elevator buttons. If crowded all decks get pushed just standing close to them. Very frustrating. 

- Olives/Drinks: wasn't able to get a decent martini with olives. People loved the chocolate one.

Overall good experience and RCL is positioned itself as the cruise line for families, being the Most and reaching a big target demographic (largest ships, technologically advanced, shows, etc). But we missed quality over quantity.

Great ship full of toys for a TA cruise, but some cons....

My wife and I celebrated her birthday and our retirement.  We had a great time visiting ports in Italy, Greece and Turkey. Unfortunately we had to reroute from Israel due to the war.  However, RC diverted to other beautiful Greek Islands.  We felt safe despite the conflict.  Nice entertainment, the 260 stage was awesome! Comedy, music, dancing...  Also enjoyed the North Star Observation and the Air Flight chamber. Good food, although this was the first cruise I've been on that lobster had to be purchased. And hard working wait staff. Our waiter even performed magic card tricks for the guest. The Taco shop was delicious too. Solarium pool and whirlpool was very relaxing. Balcony room was nice. Room attendant did a great job keeping our room clean and supplied with clean towels and ice for our champagne.  However, the towels were too rough.  Made several new friends and plan on getting together on future cruise.

Great Time/ New Friends

Took this cruise for the itinerary. Mykonos, Santorini & Israel. Unfortunately war broke out and the Israel stops were cancelled. Not RCL fault. Completely understood this. MDR food was ok. Much smaller portions served on BIG plates doesn't impress me. No lobster night (could pay $17.99 + 18% gratuity for a 4 oz tail). Onion soup great, but the cheese on top was like chewing bubble gum, too thick and dense and chewy. The buffet was a joke. Many nights the exact same thing in the MDR was on the buffet. Same items, lunch and dinner. Mostly meat/gravy type items. Same vegetarian & Indian items each meal. After 8 days we could hardly even go up there, it all seemed like the same things over and over. It appears they want you to pay extra and go to the Specialty Restaurants. 

The outdoor movie screen had 2 ornamental palms placed so they covered part of the screen no matter where you sat

(except IN the pool). If you wanted to watch an evening movie (which repeated some nights), you had an obstructed view.

Typical lame cruise ship activities. Wine tastings, name that tune, bingo, guess the price of something quiz.

Great Showgirls Show with VERY talented singers in the theatre. 

Beautiful ship, outstanding staff.  I can't say enough for how friendly and attentive everyone was. 

All in all having 5500 passengers is just too many people. Crowded dining area in the buffet, lines for everything. 

No dedicated computer lounge, no free sauna or steam in the fitness center, no changing rooms for the pools. 

I guess bigger is not always better. We'll go back to the smaller ships where hopefully the food is more like we have come to expect on cruises. If you are a gambler and a drinker, you might find this a fun ship. Plenty of places to spend money drinking. For us, it's the itinerary and food that makes the cruise. This one didn't make the grade.

Very Repetitious Menu

We flew into Rome and stayed at hotel Artimide. It was a great choice. Fine rooftop bar and restaurant and outstanding breakfast buffet. We used Rome cabs for 3 transfers and they worked out perfectly.

We did the hop on/hop off bus in Rome and it was a good way to see the sights.

We had balcony connecting rooms.

They were good size. Very happy. The balcony dividers also opened so we really didn't use the connecting interior door. Our room steward Agung was great. 

Naples we did shore excursion.. leisurely Sorrento and Pompeii. We loved it. It was very crowded at Pompeii.  Went to a farm for wine and mozzarella cheese. 

Santorini - we did views of Santorini. It was awesome but felt very rushed. Although the tour did take and pick up at the old port which saved us the cable car or donkey trail. 

Turkey did not take a excursion. The is a old fort within walking distance with a nice trail and pine trees and benches to sit on.  As you exit it's to the right.

Athens, we did Athens on your own. Got tickets and walked the acropolis. Also very crowded but glad to have seen it.

Crete we took the public bus into town and did some shopping. The cruise ship sells the tickets as you leave. The shopping is right in a small port so it's very picturesque.

Mykonos we did a beach transfer but unfortunately had high wind warnings that day so did not enjoy it.

We found the food on board to be very good at both windjammer and main dining. 

We ate at wonderland and that was fun and interesting.

We saw shows the book.. loved it!

A America's got talent show I can't remember the name.. also loved it.  And past, present, future showgirls.  It was good but our seats in the very back weren't that good. Up front would have been better.

Overall a great time.

Great Greek island cruise

The cruise was great, great entertainment and specialty restaurant food. The ship is amazing. Wonderland was fun and good. Ports were good. Excursions were not great. I would make my own itinerary and save the money. We paid for The Key which didn't really allow us to much special advantages. There was supposed to be special boarding privileges but we went in with the rest of the crowd. There was a special entry area for The Key holders but when we approached the desk we as well as everyone else who approached were directed to the general boarding area. Save your money. Go to shows early and find your seats. The seating area for The Key holders was nothing special and and was not close to the stage. 10 minutes before the show all seating is open to the general public.

Charter Cruise for Atlantis

While it is not one of the best cruises I’ve experienced, as the room was not as clean as it appears. The wifi was expensive, you have to pay 100$ for unlimited soft drinks,  The service was excellent. So many members in the cruise made us feel welcomed, appreciated and cared for. Now I can’t list down all of the crew members but ernesto and sarvesh and cleon the waiters, and safiya the janitor would come up to us and greet us calling them “they’re people” that was the sweetest thing to hear. In addition, the day care for children was very professional, they cared for my daughter and nephew like they were their own children. Furthermore, I would definitely recommend you to experience a trip to oddysea of the sea as I enjoyed it and would love to go back again. The journey was peaceful, relaxing and very joyful

Oddysea review 

My husband and I were on the Odyssey of the Seas for a Greek Island cruise. The cruise left Rome and ports included Santorini, Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos, and Naples. A few insights:

- Cabin - we used Royal Up to move to a Grand Suite from a Jr Suite. The room was clean and spacious. Pretty high tech too compared to previous cruises since we had touchscreen controls with preset scenes for the temperature and draperies

- Food - the Main Dining Room food was fantastic. We also ate at the Windjammer (usually for lunch) and 2 specialty restaurants. The speciality restaurants were good, but we still thought the Main Dining food was the best

- Service - our stateroom attendant and wait staff were exceptional

- Excursions - the excursions were informative. Expect a lot of uphill walking in Santorini. Could have done without the Turkish rug shop stop on the Ephesus tour in Turkey - was not interested in spending thousands on a rug

Overall, Beautiful ship and everything was top notch!

Amazing Mediterranean Cruise!

I’ve done the Allure of the Seas a couple years back, and it was a great experience. I don’t know what happened to Royal Caribbean since then, but this experience on the Odyssey of the Seas was awful. First off, you need to buy packages for EVERYTHING. You’d think that just because you paid thousands of dollars you could get free soda or fresh OJ.. Well think again! You have to buy a soda package which is $14 a day. Ridiculous. The food is cafeteria food. It is like a college dorm. The dining options are mediocre and the only food open after 9:30 PM is a lame pizza place. The workers look like they’re miserable and are very picky about who to be nice to. There is no nightlife on this cruise and there are screaming kids everywhere. There is no middle ground. This experience overall has made me dislike Royal caribbean and I doubt I’ll ever travel with them again. It is a way better idea to fly to your destination rather than spend time on this boat.

Overpriced, cafeteria food, overall so not worth it.

We are experienced cruisers just returning from number 25 and the last ten were on Princess, so I will be making a few comparisons in my review.

The ship is beautiful at two years old with no wear and tear to be found.  The decor is much more vibrant than Princess with very colorful fixtures on the pool deck such as yellow palm trees and cabanas.  There is a kiddie pool right in the same area as the main pool which we thought should have been closer to all the activities for kids and teens toward the stern. There are tons of loungers and upright chairs with a no-reserve notice on the best areas to combat the chair hogs.  A live band performs daily as well as movies on the big screen. Princess doesn't offer much live music around the pool, but blasts violent movies all day long.  At the stern of the ship can be found the flowrider, rock wall, flight simulator, bumper cars indoors, sports area, and kids club.  This ship also features the North Star capsule on a fifty-foot arm that lifts you 300 feet above the sea.  We were somewhat apprehensive about cruising with all these features that attract wild kids, but everyone on board was well behaved except for a few hall runners every night.  One main reason we sail Princess is that they don't cater to families but rather attract a more mature group (read old!) and provide a more laid back, classic cruise experience.

Our balcony cabin on deck 10 forward was very comfortable with a six-foot sleeper sofa and plenty of storage and hanger space.  The balcony itself was a little bigger than the Princess Royal Class with two reclining chairs, ottomans, and bistro table.  The bathroom is standard cruise ship size with a decent sized glass door shower.  No leaky curtains here!  Very efficient steward, but he had to guess if we were in the cabin at times where Princess uses the Medallion system that tells the crew electronically if you're home or not.

We always maintain that Princess food is excellent and found Royal's food on par with them.  All my main dining room meals were great, but my wife had one clunker.  I found the portions to be larger than Princess, enough that we didn't always finish the meal.  Our waiter and assistant were world-class in all respects and most evenings we were able to get in and out in just over an hour with time to get a good seat for the theater productions.

The Windjammer buffet was well designed with plenty of room between the food islands for the people that insist on strolling around without regard for others.  If you've ever been to a buffet you know what I'm talking about!  The selections for breakfast and lunch were diverse enough for most tastes, but it seemed like most everything was lukewarm.  Roaming servers were quick to bring drinks and bus dirty tables.  Some mornings the seating area, which is absolutely huge, was completely full.  We found that the Solarium Bistro at the front of the ship on the same deck offered most basic breakfast items in a very relaxed atmosphere and worked well for us when we had an early shore excursion.

There are several extra cost venues on the Odyssey if you chose to forgo the main dining room.  We had our anniversary dinner in Chops and it was outstanding, from the steaks to the ambience to the service.  Great evening, for sure albeit 50% more expensive than the comparable steak house on Princess.   We did not dine at the sushi place, Italian restaurant, or Wonderland.  The Cafe Promenade offered a very small selection of sandwiches and desserts compared to the International Cafe on the larger Princess ships.  And we found Sorrento's Pizza to be very tasteless and cheap.  Princess has them beat badly with their made-to-order pizzas with both ships offering these meals complimentary.

There is a good selection of bars and lounges on the Odyssey such as the Schooner with it's nautical theme, the Crown and Compass English Pub, and Bolero's with live Latin music most evenings.  There are also a few pool side bars up on deck 14 serving Caribbean themed cocktails.  We thought the prices were outrageous compared to Princess.  Eight dollar drinks were $14 plus an 18% tip on this ship!  Beer was about the same at $7.50 plus tip.

The main entertainment we found to be excellent and diverse.  From award winning acrobats to elaborate song and dance, everything was top shelf and entertaining.  Showgirls was worthy of a stage in Vegas.  The pinnacle of our evening viewing was the production called "The Book".  It's a Cirque du Solei type presentation performed in the very  high tech and modern venue called Two70.  It's a three level smaller theater at the stern with rising areas of the stage and actors dropping from portals in the ceiling along with several robotic arms waving 100 inch LED screens in front of a huge screen on the back of the wall.  Very hard to describe but you must make reservations before you cruise to see it as it fills out quickly.  I had no idea what was going on as it gets pretty bizzare but enjoyed it immensely.

In conclusion, we enjoyed our cruise very much.  We got to see four Greek Isles as well as Athens, Turkey, and the Isle of Capri off the Naples coast.  The whole ship experience was better than we anticipated and we were happy we chose this itinerary.  To a person, the crew was outstanding.  Everyone would greet you in passing and all provided the service we are used to on Princess.  We got lucky when picking the date for this cruise as it wasn't high season for families.  We will probably stay with Princess as we really enjoy the more serene atmosphere and subtle decor.  Another determining factor is the big difference in the cost of the cruise, extra-cost dining, and the drink prices.  For those reasons we will return to our old standard of cruising with Princess, but as I stated before, this ship and all it has to offer, provided a quality vacation that we thoroughly enjoyed.

Grand Greek Getaway

This cruise had the worse quarters for comfort as the beds were rock hard and the sofa was also so hard you couldn’t sit on it for any length of time. The food was plentiful at the buffet but it was of poor quality. The main dining hall meals were also sub par as the steaks were tough and the other meals were just fair. If you want to eat a lot of food all day and do not care about its quality, then this is the cruise for you. All the activities weee over booked and the shows were bland. Every activity we went to was full and there was no room to sit. Compared to Anthem of the Seas, this cruise was inferior.  When compared to other more expensive cruises that include more (free internet and drinks) this cruise was the same price because everything was an additional cost. I hated this cruise.

Beds are horrible and food is subpar 

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