Royal Caribbean: What I Loved, and What I Didn’t, on Odyssey of the Seas
Last week I did something that surprised a lot of people: sailed Royal Caribbean for the FIRST TIME!
I know - shocking right? I’ve been an avid cruiser for 10 years. I live here in Florida where there are 5 cruise ports within just a few hour’s drive. I should have sailed with them a dozen times by now, but somehow it just never happened.
So last week I jumped aboard the Odyssey of the Seas for a 6-night Western Caribbean itinerary. It was also, somehow, my first cruise with Cozumel on the itinerary. Since this was a cruise of “first times”, I also brought my mom along - my first time cruising with her!
I promised myself I would go on this cruise with an open mind and give it my honest review. So read on to see what I thought about Odyssey of the Seas!
And if you’re ready to book your next cruise - with any cruise line! - send me a message to get started!
See that thing on a stick above the ship — that’s an observation ball called The North Star and I RODE IT!
Terrified the whole time but I did it!
What Worked
Rather than give you a boring day-by-day summary of the trip, I’ll pinpoint the things I really loved, and the things that didn’t quite click for me.
The Food - to my honest surprise, the food was FANTASTIC! Out of all the cruise lines I have sailed, Royal Caribbean was second only to Virgin Voyages, which is really saying something. They were particularly accommodating to special dietary needs. At the Windjammer buffet, there was a whole section of tasty vegetarian things. I watched the pizza parlor completely sanitize the prep area so they could make a gluten-free pie for a guest without any cross-contamination. At dinner, the main dining room has switched to a digital menu that you access via their app (paper available upon request) and I was thrilled to see an entirely vegan menu right there alongside the “normal” options - with REAL appetizer, entree, and dessert options! A cruise where you’re not stuck eating salad and fries the whole time? Score!
The Crew - the staff aboard Odyssey really shined. I had a rough first night on the ship (more on that later) and the staff went out of their way to help me. Everywhere I went they seemed genuinely happy to be on board and back to having a full ship again. I met quite a few guests who were doing back-to-back cruises and they all made a point to tell me how great the staff was - they were sailing Odyssey instead of one of her bigger cousins just because they loved the crew so much.
Odyssey Herself - She may not be the biggest ship in the world (that honor belongs to RCL’s Wonder of the Seas, who we sailed by on our way out of Fort Lauderdale — wow that is a big ship!), but Odyssey is beautifully designed. The layout of the ship is intuitive and by the second night, I already knew how to get around without looking at a deck plan. (Sidenote: I also loved that I never once had to walk through a smokey casino or annoyingly loud kid’s area to get where I needed to go!)
Alas…it wasn’t all perfect on board…read on to see what I didn’t love on Odyssey of the Seas …
At least I could still get Starbucks and avocado toast on board…and now I’ll never own a house, blah blah blah
What Didn’t
Entertainment and Theatre - For a sailing of over 3,000, the ship was downright dead after dinner. The nightclub was empty. There were no deck parties. I went to bed one night at 9:00 and didn’t miss anything. The much-loved “Showgirls” show was retired from Odyssey just prior prior to our sailing, and the show that will replace it hadn’t started yet, so we were stuck with only “The Book” — a nonsensical, boring, hour of song-and-dance numbers — for 5 out of 6 nights. The best use of their multi-million dollar theatre was actually at the end of the cruise, when they ran a special presentation to show us how all of the cameras and fancy screens and things worked. If your tech demo is more entertaining than your shows…you may have a problem.
Coco Cay - Royal Caribbean bills their private island experience as “The Perfect Day”, and I guess if your idea of perfect is fighting for beach chairs, it’s perrrrrfect. The island was just too busy. We were docked with Oasis of the Seas, and even with neither ship sailing at full capacity the island still felt overwhelmingly crowded. Even when we walked over to “chill island”, which is supposed to be a quiet, relaxing area, there were parents allowing their kids to run around screaming, people blasting music —nothing “chill”. After less than 2 hours we just went back to the ship for some peace and quiet.
Cabin Comfort - my mom and I sailed in a Junior Balcony, which was big and decorated beautifully, but there were so many little things about the cabin that drove us crazy. Why — in a ship built in 2021 — are there no plugs/charging ports by the bed? Why was there no way to turn the bathroom light off? (Was it supposed to be a nightlight sort of thing?). WHY WERE THE PILLOWS THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE PILLOWS EVER CREATED?! Story time: The first night, the pillows were so terrible that at 4:00am I finally gave up and just walked around the ship. A security guard asked me if everything was okay and I told her about the pillows. She wrote down my cabin number and the next morning THANKFULLY I had some better, feather pillows in the room. Without her I would have been sleeping on a rolled-up towel for 6 nights. I just don’t understand how the ship itself was so beautifully designed, but the cabins didn’t get the same treatment?
This is a photo of me pretending to enjoy Coco Cay
Conclusion
I think there is a particular type of customer for this cruise line, and it’s just not me.
So….all in all…I don’t know if I’ll be jumping at the chance to sail on Royal Caribbean again. Maybe if I went with the whole family, who would appreciate the craziness of Coco Cay and give me some socialization after dinner, I might enjoy it more.
Have you sailed with Royal Caribbean? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
If you’re ready to book your next cruise - with any cruise line! - send me a message to get started!
