PH Spa Suites on Odyssey Class Ships: Exterior vs. Interior locations

[notjaded]

My wife and I just booked a PH Spa suite on the Soujourn. We are located in one of the outermost suites (1090/1093), rather than the interior suites (1091/2). I'm curious if anyone has experienced both, and which was their favorite location and why?

 

Many thanks!

[highplanesdrifters]

7 hours ago, notjaded said:

My wife and I just booked a PH Spa suite on the Soujourn. We are located in one of the outermost suites (1090/1093), rather than the interior suites (1091/2). I'm curious if anyone has experienced both, and which was their favorite location and why?

 

Many thanks!

On the Quest a sistership, the 1090/1093 suites have a side window which is quite nice.  They also have the ability to peek around the corner from the veranda, a more open feel. At times there might be a tad more wind right at the corner. This could be a positive or negative depending on the weather. A nice breeze in a tropical location or howling wind in the poles.   I have not been in the 1091/2 suites.

 

Where are you headed?  Look forward to your report.

[notjaded]

9 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

On the Quest a sistership, the 1090/1093 suites have a side window which is quite nice.  They also have the ability to peek around the corner from the veranda, a more open feel. At times there might be a tad more wind right at the corner. This could be a positive or negative depending on the weather. A nice breeze in a tropical location or howling wind in the poles.   I have not been in the 1091/2 suites.

 

Where are you headed?  Look forward to your report.

Thanks for the information. We are doing a circle-UK cruise.

 

Did you feel that the bedroom window shades adequately blocked light?

[highplanesdrifters]

15 hours ago, notjaded said:

Thanks for the information. We are doing a circle-UK cruise.

 

Did you feel that the bedroom window shades adequately blocked light?

 

TBH, we didn't stay in the suite but would consider it.  In general we like the front suites on the sister ships.  I suspect blackout curtains would be the rule. I'll see if I can find photos. 

[kahuna21]

On 5/10/2024 at 12:22 AM, notjaded said:

My wife and I just booked a PH Spa suite on the Soujourn. We are located in one of the outermost suites (1090/1093), rather than the interior suites (1091/2). I'm curious if anyone has experienced both, and which was their favorite location and why?

 

Many thanks!

We had 1090 on Quest. Our traveling companions had 1091, interior, so we saw it.  The closet setups are different and I think the interior suite had a larger closet. The veranda on the interior suite is larger, due to the bump-out. But, I definitely prefer the outer unit 1090 for the window in the bedroom (love this) and the balcony bending around the side. Feels much more open air. We did not have a wind problem.  We have booked the same 1090 for Australia and New Zealand, next January. I imagine you are aware there is no elevator to this level.

[notjaded]

9 minutes ago, kahuna21 said:

We had 1090 on Quest. Our traveling companions had 1091, interior, so we saw it.  The closet setups are different and I think the interior suite had a larger closet. The veranda on the interior suite is larger, due to the bump-out. But, I definitely prefer the outer unit 1090 for the window in the bedroom (love this) and the balcony bending around the side. Feels much more open air. We did not have a wind problem.  We have booked the same 1090 for Australia and New Zealand, next January. I imagine you are aware there is no elevator to this level.

Mahalo for your review!  Did you or your friends in 1091 experience any noise from the fitness center below?

[kahuna21]

1 hour ago, notjaded said:

Mahalo for your review!  Did you or your friends in 1091 experience any noise from the fitness center below?

No noise in 1090. Friends did not report any noise. 

[kej1]

We have stayed almost exclusively in the Penthouse spa suites.   On the O class we prefer the corners although as mentioned if the area is windy the deck is not as usable as the inner suites.  Our neighbors who we met on board in 1091 preferred the inner suites as they use it for sunbathing and it’s more

protected.  The window on the side in the bedroom is small ( compared to the suite we are in now on Pursuit where it’s a full half wall of floor to ceiling windows) so to me it’s nice but the thing we really enjoy is the deck although we don’t mind  bundling up if it’s cool or windy.  So a lot depends on if you want more space and wind protection or prefer the side with the peak around the corner view and the small window in the bedroom.

 

On the larger ships the views are not as good as they only have the smallish door and window that is identical to all the smaller rooms.  We actually moved our couch under the tv as we could see out the smaller windows that way.  The inner suites were configured differently with the furniture better located to take advantage of the view.  Anyway we aren’t crazy about the larger ships so prefer the O class.  And do remember there are stairs to get up to the room.  There is an electric chair but I’ve never seen it used.  On one cruise a gentlemen was injured and it was broken so they had to move his room.  So keep that in mind too.  There is an elevator to the spa suites on the larger ships.

[notjaded]

9 hours ago, kej1 said:

We have stayed almost exclusively in the Penthouse spa suites.   On the O class we prefer the corners although as mentioned if the area is windy the deck is not as usable as the inner suites.  Our neighbors who we met on board in 1091 preferred the inner suites as they use it for sunbathing and it’s more

protected.  The window on the side in the bedroom is small ( compared to the suite we are in now on Pursuit where it’s a full half wall of floor to ceiling windows) so to me it’s nice but the thing we really enjoy is the deck although we don’t mind  bundling up if it’s cool or windy.  So a lot depends on if you want more space and wind protection or prefer the side with the peak around the corner view and the small window in the bedroom.

 

On the larger ships the views are not as good as they only have the smallish door and window that is identical to all the smaller rooms.  We actually moved our couch under the tv as we could see out the smaller windows that way.  The inner suites were configured differently with the furniture better located to take advantage of the view.  Anyway we aren’t crazy about the larger ships so prefer the O class.  And do remember there are stairs to get up to the room.  There is an electric chair but I’ve never seen it used.  On one cruise a gentlemen was injured and it was broken so they had to move his room.  So keep that in mind too.  There is an elevator to the spa suites on the larger ships.

Have you found the bedroom window curtain to effectively block sunlight?
 

Many thanks for all your insights. 

[kej1]

I don’t recall ever having a problem with the bedroom window and light.  

[kej1]

End of cruise Part 2:

 

Suite:  one more thing we really enjoyed to add to my previous comments is the dry closet.  I know it was designed for cold weather cruises like Antarctica, but we found it really useful for drying bathing suits, rash guards, water shoes, etc from snorkeling.  It’s a terrific feature.

 

Dining:  One more comment.  We enjoyed sushi a lot even though it wasn’t quite the same as enjoying when it’s fresh at restaurants.   We had it for dinner twice and it worked out really well.  It’s served in the club on deck 9 which also has a very nice atmosphere. It was usually crowded from 6-7pm so we’d go about 7:30 and service was quick and by then people who were going to the other dining venues were gone.

 

Entertainment:  We aren’t big on it but did enjoy listening to a cup on occasion when they played in the sushi bar.  There was a piano player ( never saw or heard), sail away parties, trivia, and a big selection of movies in the rooms.  If you are looking for a good critique on entertainment I’m not the one to ask but there were various things going on but seemed pretty low key.

 

Lectures:  There were some very good lectures by various members of the expedition team.  Lots on the culture, the geology, fish, and at long last a few on WW2.  We enjoyed them and they could be watched in the discovery center on deck 4, in your suite live, or a recorded version on demand.  
 

Expedition Team:  Individuals were quite good.  But the organization and communications was very poor.  We were not informed of any excursions at all before the cruise, even in ports that are well traveled by large and small ships and are clearly non expedition ports.

In many ports during the first two week segment, there were only third party excursions allowed so why did we find out what they were the night prior at the 6:15 briefing? Also a number of the third party tours were at a cost to the passengers.  Not complimentary.  It was a mix.   Then everyone had to scramble to sign up on the app or at guest services.  This just didn’t make sense.   I had called Seattle numerous times trying to find out about tours of WW2 sites in Guadalcanal ( Honaria) and Rabaul but nothing.   So before we left we booked private tours in both places.  As it turned out the night before group tours were out on but we stuck with our private as decided 200+ people on tour buses would not provide the kind if experience we’d enjoy despite when I had talked to Seattle before leaving they had claimed tours would be small and intimate.  

I must admit I’m a planner so I typically looked at other expedition ship websites like Silversea and Ponant to see what we’d likely do and people were amazed I knew in advance.  Now to be fair some of the other ports we visited were quite remote and the team really didn’t know what we’d be doing til we arrived in the morning.  These usually consisted of a village visit and various water activities in the afternoon - kayaks ( charge), sub ( charge), scuba ( no charge on this cruise but limited to small group I think 6-8), snorkeling ( free and all snorkel, mask and fins provided), and sometimes a beach.  Overall the activities were great, just seemed very disorganized and this was the consistent comment across all guests we met.  I hope they get their act together on this as it is an important aspect of the cruise.  The other disappointment for many was the lack of WW2 emphasis but they did add 3 lectures toward the end of the cruise ( after we’d visited most if the key sites).  
 

HQ:  I had an extremely concerning situation with Seattle.  I almost always book my own flights having many miles from traveling internationally for business for many years.  When I saw the Seabourn price on the business class from Guam to Honolulu I  jumped on it.  Seabourn booked me on the flight to Guam leaving this morning from Guam at 6:55 am.  Two days before I left my home for this trip  I received a call ( on a Sunday) from flight ease saying they needed to change my flight and I’d need to overnight in Guam as the ship although arriving at 10:00pm the night before could not disembark passengers until after 6:00 am the next day so I couldn’t make the flight.  I was not happy as we’d already made plans to stay in Hawaii for a few days and then I’d booked my onward flight myself.  I asked them to wait til the next day ( Monday) so I could verify with mgmt at Seabourn. They said yes but an hour later my flight had been changed.  Anyway I very reluctantly changed my Hawaiian plans at great expense but they were my plans so I had to live with it.

Late in the cruise I find out half the cruise is on the flight Seabourn moved me from and they are now as I write this all off and on their way home.  By the time I found out Seabourn refused to change us back as the cost had gone way up as only a few seats left!  
So for me, I won’t be using Seabourn air again!  Not a great end but we did have a lovely time on Pursuit and do have another booked for next summer ( Broome to Fiji).  

Now hanging out in Seabourn Square to our Guam hotel transfer!  Luckily they are letting us disembark the ship at 11:00am so we don’t have to wait long hours to check in!  
If anyone has any questions please let me know.  I’ve been terrible about not posting photos - my husband is the photographer.  Maybe we will add some to this post later!  Thanks for following along on this wonderful adventure!

[frantic36]

1 hour ago, kej1 said:

I must admit I’m a planner so I typically looked at other expedition ship websites like Silversea and Ponant to see what we’d likely do and people were amazed I knew in advance.  

 

My husband laughed when he read this as I am exactly the same. I used your tip and checked out Silversea and Ponant for what their excursions are in the Kimberleys. Our first 15 day segment is remote islands of Papua and Indonesia so we will just have to wait and see.

 

As to your issue with Flight Ease I agree that's bad and I would be a very unhappy soul as well about your changes. We had an issue for our flight home after our South America Grand Voyage last year after they changed a flight and the alternative wasn't great. I was able to find a better alternative but had to push hard while onboard to get Flight Ease to accept it but they did. 

 

From now on we have decided to keep our flights under our control.

[Sunviking]

On 5/13/2024 at 12:09 PM, notjaded said:

Have you found the bedroom window curtain to effectively block sunlight?
 

Many thanks for all your insights. 

We had a corner PH on the Quest on a cruise to the North Cape in midsummer.  The window curtain didn't block sunlight and since I find it difficult to sleep with much light, I didn't care for the cabin.  My husband didn't like the spiral steps going up to the suites, especially when we had a couple of rough days in the North Sea.  We never booked one again.