Clover18

It had nothing to do with passenger counts. The ship was turned away at 4 ports due to Covid and they gave everyone onboard 50% of fare for that. We had two rooms. The experience was bad because the situation was exacerbated by sick crew members. One day we stopped and floated near another RCC ship for several hours while they offloaded crew members. Not a fun journey

We agonized over using our FCC before December 31. Our experience on Odyssey last Christmas was so abysmal that we weren’t sure we wanted to sale on Royal again. However, we know that there are exceptions to every situation so we decided to book harmony over Thanksgiving. It was really too much money to sacrifice. Trusting that are next experience will be much better.

If you are in a suite or even a junior suite go directly to Coastal Kitchen and book your dinners for the week. We were in. Jr. On odyssey and ate thee every night because we booked as soon as we boarded.

Our TA reserved them for us when we booked back in April. You can’t just show up and get one. You have to reserve in advance on the planner or thru your TA. If you have reserved one, You then arrive at 9:00 at the check-in to select the one you want for the day. First come first served for choice of casita.

There are two casitas on deck 14 next to the aft pool. One of these is perilously close to the smoking section and if that bothers you don’t pick that one. Then the rest are up on deck 15. Only two people can comfortably sit in the lounger at a time. The provide towels and four cans of water. You can safely leave your stuff there. If you purchased one for the day, you have to report to the lime and coconut bar, at 9 o’clock. Keep in mind that the Casitas are assigned on a first come basis, so you gonna want to get up there early if there’s a certain one you want. Biggest disappointment in these for us is that there’s absolutely no shade. You will be having a roof over your head but there’s no protection from the sun.

Don’t expect to get an exemption from wearing a mask. I hate them a rip mine off my face as soon as I sit down at a table for a drink or am walking outside on the deck. But EVERYWHERE inside you need to wear one.

Here’s a pro tip. Nobody cares what you wear to dinner. In coastal last night our 14 y/o wore a sweatshirt and spandex shorts. Little boy with dad and grandpa at next table was in tshirt and bathing suit bottoms and carrying half eaten ice cream cone. Dad was in tshirt and pants. They serve you no matter what you are wearing.

We may get go up to the next cruise desk to see if we can get on Oasis or Allure next winter. The ship is just as crowded this week as it was over Christmas. In some ways more so. Seems like more kids but I haven’t asked anyone official. Very sad that Daniel Marks has not been at schooner bar this week. Not sure if he is sick. We arrived to hear him last night as he was on the schedule but he did not show up. Bar staff did not know anything. He is not on the schedule on today’s cruise compass. Pretty sorry to miss St. Thomas. With all the other reports coming out we knew it wasn’t going to happen. I’m not sure where we’re going to dock at Puerto Plata. On the cruise mapper website it says our ship is headed towards Amber Cove, but that is a Carnival built pier and playground, so I’m not sure if they’re letting us actually dock there or if we’re stopping somewhere else. will keep updates coming.

Hello friends. Captain Per of the Odyssey Just announced this evening that we will not be stopping in St. Thomas or San Juan Due to Covid. We will receive a one day cruise fare cabin credit/refund for missing St. Thomas. We are going to dock at Puerto Plata in the Dominican republic to replace San Juan. We will also “arrive early” in Nassau on Saturday. Many of us saw the writing on the wall, particularly those of us who were on odyssey last week and who experienced the cancellation of Curacao and Aruba. this back to back was a long time planned for us, we booked in April 2021. But our only big disappointment was missing Aruba. We really wanted to swim in a warm ocean, and now that’s not going to happen. The waters in the Bahamas and the northern Caribbean are not that warm right now. But, that is part of the travail of travel. I think the captain of the odyssey of the seas is doing the best he can under the circumstances. Happy new year to all of you lovely cruise critic people. Cheers!

Yup. You nailed it. Completely let down.

Jennifer and Monica in 270 are both lovely and kind.

The ship is definitely too crowded!!!

Hey. My auto finish said “will” But I agree we will not be able to disembark in Aruba tomorrow. Just thinking that is sad situation and next weeks back to back we will probably cancel because there’s no point in coming on if we’re not gonna be able to get off and explore the ports

@Neesa we feel the same way. Disappointing but not surprising given the circumstances. I agree that we probably will be allowed to go into Aruba tomorrow. Someone I was talking with mentioned that maybe they will cut bait and head back to CocoCay for one final stop before we head back to Fort Lauderdale. But it’s hard to say at this point. Can’t Decide whether we want to stay aboard for the back to back next week. Keeping it positive!

Frankly we have made contingency flight reservations for Sunday out of FLL. we have not canceled the second leg of our B2B yet but if things go downhill regarding the ships ability to visit ports we will probably cancel. We are not impressed with the ship overall and it’s really too crowded to even enjoy the solarium pool and hot tubs, even if there were NO port stops allowed next week. a few hours ago we were cool with staying on for the second week but now seriously considering our options.

Yes we are on board Odyssey right now. We have been denied entry into Curacao because of 54 positive cases on board. Captain announcement came up 20 minutes ago. They will keep us informed when they hear from RCI headquarters what’s going to happen next. In the meantime we are docked at Curacao and awaiting further instruction. We will not be going ashore

Key is definitely worth the money if you are not in a suite. You get permission to enter the terminal as soon as you arrive no matter what time your “boarding time” is and they give you a special waiting area there. Then you are allowed to board right after the suite guests. You also get to go into shows early before regular guests. They also have discount on room service and other things For us it was totally worth it.

We are currently being denied disembarkation, awaiting the Prime Minister‘s “press conference“ before they let us off. The captain said we need to wait about an hour until we hear more from the health authorities. It sounds like a great opportunity to pass the buck to the government of Curaçao rather than make the decision not to let us go ashore from the RCI team. If they do let us ashore, it will probably be vaccinated passengers only. As much as the merchants in the city of Willemstad would like to see the increase of 5000 people buying their products, I’m sure the government doesn’t want to take the risk. Fingers crossed that they will let us go ashore. The busses are out here waiting…

That’s a bummer. We were there Sunday on Odyssey and alongside Freedom. It was perfect weather. So sorry for you

Onboard Odyssey right now and we are being delayed in disembarkation until after the prime ministers press conference. It remains to be seen if they will let us go ashore.

Solarium only has free hot tuns between 7:00 and 8:00 AM and that’s when you have to reserve your chair if you want to sit there all day.