Is Odyssey of the Seas a good ship for a Transatlantic crossing for over 60 year olds?

[Sandie]

We are considering a Transatlantic cruise on Odyssey of the Seas in 2024.  While it appears to have many activities for younger travelers and families, would there be a variety of activities for those over 60?  We were disappointed in the new menus on a sailing in March, 2023.  How is the food on Odyssey of the Seas.

[basenji56]

I did this crossing last November and last April 

Thought it was great 

[kwokpot]

I was on the Odyssey four weeks ago and having been away from a Royal cruise since March 2020 (Although cruised many other cruiselines post pandemic) I thought the ship looked GREAT and the MDR menus and food were actually very good. The cabins are really nice with plenty of storage and very roomy. The buffet lunch was a little disappointing, though with the food basically the same every afternoon and the quality was just OK. Service throughout the ship was very good. I would highly recommend the Odyssey!

[HicksRA]

Menus are pretty much the same fleetwide. 

[twangster]

All I can take away from your post is that you don't like activities for younger travelers and families which is the what defines Royal Caribbean at the moment regardless of the ship.  Royal is a family cruise line.  However some older people love that so without knowing what you are looking for it's difficult to know if you would enjoy cruising on a family cruise line.  

 

What activities for people over 60 are you interested in?

[Badatz2]

8 hours ago, Sandie said:

We are considering a Transatlantic cruise on Odyssey of the Seas in 2024.  While it appears to have many activities for younger travelers and families, would there be a variety of activities for those over 60?  We were disappointed in the new menus on a sailing in March, 2023.  How is the food on Odyssey of the Seas.

My wife and I were on the Anthem last year and are going on the Ovation next year.  The ship is great for passengers of any age.  We are both over 70 and went on the IFly and Flowrider (many times) and participated in all types of activities, sports and sit down.

We were busy all day, everyday, from wake up till sleep time.  It all depends what you like and what you are capable of.

We were especially blown away by the indoor general pool and the Solarium indoor pool, both which are very handy on a transatlantic. We have done seven of them in numerous classes.

Come with an open mind and I have no doubt that you will find TOO many things to do.  Enjoy

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Transatlantic repositioning cruises are great. While in my opinion nothing compares to the Cunard experience, any TA is relaxed, quiet and most certainly enjoyable. Enjoy!

[welshrich]

Hi there, not been on Odyssey but have been on Anthem, Quantum and Ovation, you will have a great time as the solarium is enclosed should you get any bad weather.   We've done about 7 TA crossings and there are usually guest lectures, movies in the theatre on sea days and generally more activities planned on the crossing.  We also found that on the longer cruises you get to know fellow cruisers and the crew a bit more so it's a bit friendlier.

[GimmeOcean]

We're on the Odyssey TA in April. Looking forward to it! Looks like there are plenty of activities on board to keep any age busy. I'm assuming these cruises tend to skew a bit older anyway.

[gfkcruiser]

We did the TA on Odyssey in April 2022.   Very few children on this sailing as is usual on TA.  Did not notice any difference from our TA on Celebrity.  Thought food good but prior to changes.  However, not thrilled with buffet. Specialty dining good.  

[Tree_skier]

I plan on doing a TA on specifically on Odyssey for my 60th birthday.  It was my favorite ship.

[Another_Critic]

7 hours ago, Badatz2 said:

My wife and I were on the Anthem last year and are going on the Ovation next year.  [snip]

We were especially blown away by the indoor general pool and the Solarium indoor pool, both which are very handy on a transatlantic.

Just an FYI - Odyssey does not have an indoor family pool; same pool as other Q class, but uncovered.  Also does not have the outdoor Windjammer seating.

[Another_Critic]

Did 1 TA on Quantum, 3 TAs on Anthem.  Also did 1 TA on Princess, 1 on Azamara, 1 on Celebrity, 1 on Vision (Arctic Crossing), and 1 on Voyager (Arctic Crossing).  Have 1 more TA booked on Anthem, 1 on Oasis, and 1 on Odyssey.

[nimbex1970]

The TA cruises, in general, due to length and dates do not have many children.  Weather can be iffy, depending on route, so there are more indoor activities planned.  While I don't know your preferences of activities, they have been geared more to bingo, trivia, dance classes, pop up activities like animal folding, cooking displays as well as more pay for venues like roll your sushi, wine tasting and such. It's a whole different schedule with a TA, and I don't know if it repeats every TA.

[Scoobydobe7]

10 hours ago, Badatz2 said:

My wife and I were on the Anthem last year and are going on the Ovation next year.  The ship is great for passengers of any age.  We are both over 70 and went on the IFly and Flowrider (many times) and participated in all types of activities, sports and sit down.

We were busy all day, everyday, from wake up till sleep time.  It all depends what you like and what you are capable of.

We were especially blown away by the indoor general pool and the Solarium indoor pool, both which are very handy on a transatlantic. We have done seven of them in numerous classes.

Come with an open mind and I have no doubt that you will find TOO many things to do.  Enjoy

The Odessey does not have an indoor pool

[Sandie]

My thanks to everyone for your replies.  I have enjoyed 3 Transatlantic cruises and one Transpacific on Celebrity and Princess. As several people shared, they are wonderful for relaxing, especially after touring on the days prior to the crossing.  Certainly happy to hear that there are a variety of activities as well as guest lecturers. I hope that maybe by October, 2024, the menus will improve over what we experienced on Enchantment in March.

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, Sandie said:

My thanks to everyone for your replies.  I have enjoyed 3 Transatlantic cruises and one Transpacific on Celebrity and Princess. As several people shared, they are wonderful for relaxing, especially after touring on the days prior to the crossing.  Certainly happy to hear that there are a variety of activities as well as guest lecturers. I hope that maybe by October, 2024, the menus will improve over what we experienced on Enchantment in March.

I may be the only one with a negative view. We have done 4 TA'S on Oasis Class, 2 on Voyager Class, 1 on Freedom Class. We are in our 70's and to date Oasis Class TA'S are our favorite.  Last year we did a 7 night Ovation followed by a 10 night TP on Quantum. I felt Quantum Class was by far the most boring cruises we have ever been on. Ship feels very narrow and crowded. Just our personal experience.  

[MommaBear55]

On 8/31/2023 at 7:42 PM, Sandie said:

We are considering a Transatlantic cruise on Odyssey of the Seas in 2024.  While it appears to have many activities for younger travelers and families, would there be a variety of activities for those over 60?  We were disappointed in the new menus on a sailing in March, 2023.  How is the food on Odyssey of the Seas.

We are well over 60 and love the Odyssey. The menus are terrible everywhere, but we try to do a mix of specialty dining and Solarium Bistro and avoid the MDR. The transatlantics tend to be predominantly those of retirement age, as school is in session and they are longer cruises. They generally have better than average evening entertainment and often the theater staff do solo shows in the afternoon. There are enrichment lectures, never ending trivia, different exercise classes, line dancing, bingo, skydiving, flow rider, basically something for everyone. 

[Nick67]

I’m also considering this same cruise on the Odyssey. Can anyone comment on what type of weather to expect. Thanks

[eaflorida]

On 8/31/2023 at 10:31 PM, twangster said:

All I can take away from your post is that you don't like activities for younger travelers and families which is the what defines Royal Caribbean at the moment regardless of the ship.  Royal is a family cruise line.  However some older people love that so without knowing what you are looking for it's difficult to know if you would enjoy cruising on a family cruise line.  

 

What activities for people over 60 are you interested in?

Book a princess cruise. Very few children, especially on longer cruises.

[The sea calls my name]

My husband and I did the April TA this year on her. We are both Senior citizens loving retirement and loved sailing on her. I love the Solariums on RCCL ships and especially this one since it is climate controlled which is great for a TA. We also had plenty to do or nothing to do if that was our choice for the day.  There were not many children because of the time of year and the length of the cruise. The ones that were on were never in venues that we used. 

 . 

[FOXTROT]

Any ship is great for a Transatlantic crossing. There is plenty to do even for us over 70. Just do it. There have been no reports of people starving to death on the ship, food is good. 

[Teeara]

On 9/2/2023 at 12:25 AM, Nick67 said:

I’m also considering this same cruise on the Odyssey. Can anyone comment on what type of weather to expect. Thanks

It depends on the time of year you're planning on going.  If you're doing an Eastbound, then those are typically in the spring.  You'll generally go from warmer to cooler temps.  If you're doing a Westbound, then those are typically in the fall, so you'll generally go from cooler to warmer temps.

 

Here's a video of our Westbound TA on Wonder last year with our daily weather conditions (we left Barcelona on October 30th and arrived in Port Canaveral on November 13th).

 

 

[Nick67]

9 hours ago, Teeara said:

It depends on the time of year you're planning on going.  If you're doing an Eastbound, then those are typically in the spring.  You'll generally go from warmer to cooler temps.  If you're doing a Westbound, then those are typically in the fall, so you'll generally go from cooler to warmer temps.

 

Here's a video of our Westbound TA on Wonder last year with our daily weather conditions (we left Barcelona on October 30th and arrived in Port Canaveral on November 13th).

 

 

We would be eastbound. Thanks for responding 

[Galveston Cruiser]

We are in our late 70's, have 16 transatlantic and multiple repositioning cruises behind us. Sailing Odyssey in October from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Ft. Lauderdale with 3 TA's booked for next year.  We have cruised on most classes of RCL ships and have enjoyed each one.  We don't need to be entertained or sail on a specific class.  We enjoy traveling.  As to food, that is very subjective.  We have had excellent and not so excellent food across the fleet and this includes specialty restaurants. No one will go hungry.  I would venture to stay the majority eat better on the ship than at home.