Advice for cruising on a sold out mega-ship

[walkerinatl]

My family has been on between 8-10 cruises.  We are scheduled for one on Odyssey of the Seas that appears to be a sellout.  I have noticed that most of the add-ons that become available also sell out very quickly, and my wife was looking at dining times that appear to be almost sold out, even though we are not at the point where we can make reservations yet.  The iFly is sold out and the Northstar is almost full, and we were only able to make reservations today, the floating mats are down to 8 left as of today.  We are a month out from departure day.  My main question is - have you sailed on ships/cruises like this and were you able to use your ultimate dining plan, or were all of the times sold out?  Were you able to get into shows or do those sell out too?  The Key is sold out as well.  I'll take any advice.  Thanks in advance.

[JazzBassMan]

What is your scheduled boarding time? That will make a big difference here. 

I just got off Odyssey. The first day I went straight to Chops to make all my dining reservations at 11AM. I had to take a couple of 5PM reservations for the restaurants, but other than that I could at least get my choice of specialty restaurant booked for each night at dinner and each sea day at lunch. 

[ZBrady]

As Jazz said, if you board early you will likely still get to make reservations for restaurants, you just might not always get your desired time. That is the trade-off for getting heavily discounted dining prices. 

There will be people that have made reservation that cancel and/or no-show. If you catch it right you may be able to get those experiences still. 

For shows, they will open seating for those without a reservation 15 minutes before showtime. Most venues will not 'sell out', but for smaller venues you should have no problem if you arrive early enough. 

Generally, the best advice is to manage your expectations, realize that not everything is going to go as planned. You will have still have a great vacation 

[Va4fam]

We are sailing Odyssey on April 8th.   Not sure if that is your sailing but where are you seeing Northstar and iFly are sold out?   I don't see anything listed for shows and activities yet. 

[Ampurp85]

I sailed Odyssey last Nov and it was at max capacity, I was able to get all the dining times I wanted. Did NorthStar but no iFly or bumper cars because of lines. They only open a few slots on the cruise planner for anything that is not an excursion. If the excursion and private island stuff says limit spots or sold out, it is, and the only hope is someone cancels. If you are sailing between now and Easter, expect it to be over capacity as that is spring break and a busy season. Whatever you can book, book now.

[walkerinatl]

16 hours ago, Va4fam said:

We are sailing Odyssey on April 8th.   Not sure if that is your sailing but where are you seeing Northstar and iFly are sold out?   I don't see anything listed for shows and activities yet. 

We are on it the week before.  

[BigKarl]

Patience and Flexability.

[Mike6453]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:25 PM, walkerinatl said:

My family has been on between 8-10 cruises.  We are scheduled for one on Odyssey of the Seas that appears to be a sellout.  I have noticed that most of the add-ons that become available also sell out very quickly, and my wife was looking at dining times that appear to be almost sold out, even though we are not at the point where we can make reservations yet.  The iFly is sold out and the Northstar is almost full, and we were only able to make reservations today, the floating mats are down to 8 left as of today.  We are a month out from departure day.  My main question is - have you sailed on ships/cruises like this and were you able to use your ultimate dining plan, or were all of the times sold out?  Were you able to get into shows or do those sell out too?  The Key is sold out as well.  I'll take any advice.  Thanks in advance.

While I have not been on odyssey I've been on anthem twice. Dinning plans only book your first meal choice, the only show you can reserve was the cabaret but that played four times during the cruise. All the shows and activities otherwise can't be  reserved or can only be done once on the ship. You should get plenty of options regardless but board as soon as possible. I was on the holiday cruise and you could still book Northstar and ifly so stay calm and roll with the options.

[smokeybandit]

The only advise is to enjoy yourself. Ships are designed to accommodate crowds and not feel crowded.

[jeffmw]

The Oasis class ships handle capacity very well. You seldom feel like the boats are crowded and, while things do get booked, there tends to be availability.

Odyssey, last I checked, has the highest ratio of passengers to ship size. So, theoretically, there is less space per person on a Quantum class ship than an Oasis class ship. But not sure how that manifests itself in the day-to-day of the ship.