We choose this cruise because my wife wanted a new ship. Odyssey was launched in 2021, so she is fairly new. We have been spoiled by Harmony of the Seas, which is a Royal Caribbean ship, but also The Escape by NCL. There are a few issues that shouldn't happen for a ship this size. The main shopping area with Guest Services and the only 24 Hour restaurant. RCI has placed large merchandise display cabinets in the middle of the area called the Promenade. There is heavy traffic in this area so to turn this area into a Cairo Bazaar causes a "Bottle Neck". Then RCI decided to hold a dance party in this area. A large group of teens decided to play American Idol in this area and completely took over this bottle neck and trapped people from getting in or out of the coffee shop next to the pizza parlor. On Harmony of the Seas they didn't bring the merchandise out of the shop even though there was plenty of room to do so. There is a perfectly good shop, it really isn't necessary to fill up this walking area with their cheap T-Shirts.

There were many rude teens aboard this cruise. I saw 3 incidents of loud and rude behavior by teens. I'm not a cruise expert, however, we have been on 15 cruises so I guess I know what is good and what is not good in the cruise industry. This ship was packed. The reason was because of the steep discounts that were offered by RC. This has attracted people who have never cruised before and don't know how to behave on a cruise. I saw things that I never saw on any pervious cruise. A man fully clothed sitting in the hot tup with his street shoes on. I told security but they could care less. The food in the main dinning room along with the service was great. Enjoyed everything. For some reason GHAZI a Matre'd in the main dinning room took a liking to us and brought us some of his special dishes three nights in a row. This guy went way beyond customer service. He really made us feel special.

As for our room we had the last interior cabin in the back of the ship. 9319. Clean and cool and everything worked. The cleaning crew that we had was Pudji Pamungkas did a great job. Over all we had a great get away on the Odyssey. However, unless there are some ports that I haven't visited yet I will book on other ships with a better lay out than Odyssey. She is missing the "WOW" factor of Harmony & Escape. I wanted to go on the North Star the giant lift on top of the ship but was unable to get a booking. When the ship is in port it is free to go on the ride. Everyone got the reservations quickly. When the ship is moving, the charge is $20. However, the only times available were well after dark because no one wanted those times. So book early or be disappointed.