M/Y Odyssey

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dianna912

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Messages
197
Reaction score
185
Location
Virginia
# of dives
200 - 499
There was a post last year asking about this liveaboard, but I haven’t seen much info on it. It looks absolutely lovely! Has anyone been with them? We are looking at July on the “golden triangle” itinerary.

Thanks!!
 
Alrighty, a quick update, and hopefully I will come back later with a more thorough trip report. We did end up on the BDE Odyssey Trip, from Marsa Alam to Hurghada. It was a fantastic trip. As fairly independent, and extremely slow, divers, this suited us very well. We were only with the group for the blue portions when we were circled by hammerheads. (Up to 12 at a time.) Everything else was at our own pace. If you want the typical dive master with you, showing you the sites and pointing out critters, this is not the trip for you. With two DMs for 24 divers, that just wasn’t going to happen. The DMs also did not go down for every dive. We were fine with this but I know others might not be.

As for the boat, it was very nice. Cleanliness left a lot to be desired. Floors were kept clean, but as we found in other places in Egypt, things like walls, door handles, light switches, and windows were very dirty. Linens were stained and our sheets and cover had a fair amount of hair on them. We used our own lightweight blanket and slept on top of the duvet. Considering linens should be super cheap in Egypt, that was a disappointment. It seemed they were more concerned with their branding on their linens than the actual cleanliness and comfort of them.

Food was okay. It was plentiful, and very European in style. As vegetarians, we were hoping for more local fare. Chickpeas and taayema (falafels) are staples and we were hoping for a lot of that for protein, but we didn’t see any chickpeas all week, and we had falafels one day with lunch and that was it. There were some meals where the only veg options were rice, French fries, and cold salads that we were avoiding since my hubby got diarrhea around Day four. (Still fighting that battle, fun fun.) He was not the only one, probably half of the boat suffered cramping and diarrhea at some point. Mine was shorter lived than my husband’s, blessedly.

Buy a SIM card on arrival. We are finding that internet never works as promised on these boats, and even at the restaurants and such. SIM cards are super cheap, less than ten euros. We spent $30 on data because our provider doesn’t have any good international options, especially for the more remote countries. We felt super foolish when our friends said they got data for the week for such a good price. Oh, well. We only connected because a friend was coming in the day we were leaving and we were supposed to meet up.

All said, it was a very enjoyable trip. After we got a liveaboard to ourselves for a week in Thailand, a full boat was definitely a different experience. I wouldn’t say that it was amazing, but I suspect there aren’t many better options in the Red Sea. I’ll be curious to hear how our friend enjoys BlueO2.

I would still rate it a 5/5, but that would be generous. Thailand was basically a 10/5 experience, so we were definitely spoiled by that one! (Check out the Diva Andaman if you are curious about Thailand. Clean, beautiful, 5 Star food, amazing diving.)
 
I am booked on the MY Odyssey for their Aug 10th 14 day simply the best liveaboard. Any additional information or suggestions would be appreciated. Safety of the boat, dives etc. Based on the boat, anything special needed to make sure I bring? Would assume they have general health items to purchase on boat if needed, extra gear to rent if a mask breaks etc.
 
I am booked on the MY Odyssey for their Aug 10th 14 day simply the best liveaboard. Any additional information or suggestions would be appreciated. Safety of the boat, dives etc. Based on the boat, anything special needed to make sure I bring? Would assume they have general health items to purchase on boat if needed, extra gear to rent if a mask breaks etc.

One thing they didn’t have was Imodium. Set your watch up to alert you of exceeding 30M if you are going to Brothers. I went way too deep on nitrox. Thankfully a fluke had the nitrox at 24% on that dive, so we didn’t have any issues. So many hammerheads! We also brought a PLB1 just in case. We purchased the HDVSeaTek case for it. It did get some water in it, so make sure to check it after and add extra lube to the O-ring. People have gotten lost at sea there. Read up on oceanic white tips on this forum, if you haven’t before. Read up on how to react and the safest behavior around them. (Go horizontal, stay close to the reef, etc.)

Bring a lightweight blanket. All they have is a fairly heavy comforter. (Of course, the AC isn’t great in the 100+ summer weather.)

Oh, and an eye mask was really helpful for me. And Meclizine for sure! One night was insanely rough. My husband got thrown out of our bed. They have some sea sickness meds but it is like a horse tranquilizer. Not recommended. My hubby uses the scapolamine patch but I hate it. I’m a walking side effects disclaimer on it, but he does just fine.

Prepare yourself for a 5:15 wake up time. I took tranquil sleep melatonin blend every night and went to sleep directly after dinner.

We brought an IPad with Orange is the new black downloaded from Netflix and binged on that in downtime. Along with a kindle, of course. All of their reading materials are in French.

Oh, and we always bring Nuun tablets for water. For Electrolytes and taste.

They do not provide toiletries or sunscreen. Of course, keep it reef safe.

Actually, pepto is better for travelers diarrhea. Also, Benadryl gel, because everyone got hit by some stinging hydroids at some point. If you react, I find it’s the most effective thing. Along with Benadryl pills (I took that instead of my melatonin at night once I got stung on the minimal exposed skin I have.) I’m highly reactive, though.

We also thought towel clips would have been awesome to have to hang stuff on the deck. Only hang stuff you can tie down.

We brought hotel slippers. I hate walking barefoot all week, and it’s no shoes, of course.
 
If you are particular about cleanliness, pack a small pack of wipes.

Even things like the tumblers in the bathroom (you use these to store toothbrush, razor, etc) were dirty and still had hair in them. Along with the above mentioned things.

Personally, I missed having my ginger chews. I forgot to pack them and they help with any queasiness. Unfortunately, ginger ale and ginger beer seemed to be impossible to find. We did find ginger tea in the airport in Hurghada, though, where we were told that it was very good for my husband, lol. Never knew that was a thing.

Oh, and ask for cinnamon for the rice pudding and oatmeal. They should put a bowl out for you each morning once you ask a couple of times. It makes breakfast a bit more exciting.

For that long, I’d definitely bring a small thing of laundry soap. At least for underwear and swim trunks. Stuff gets stinky fast.

I’ll try to think of any other tips.
 
Oh, and a wash cloth!! Or loofah or something along those lines. If you don’t want to pack it, there is a guy who sells large loofahs in the bazar in the hurghada marina. They are outside, so if you walk through the bazar you can’t miss it.
 
Oh, and a wash cloth!! Or loofah or something along those lines. If you don’t want to pack it, there is a guy who sells large loofahs in the bazar in the hurghada marina. They are outside, so if you walk through the bazar you can’t miss it.


Thanks for taking the time to write in details suggestions and thoughts since you were recently on the same liveaboard I will be on. Do I need to bring any bug/mesquito spray? How was the internet access to keep in touch with family during the trip? It almost seemed like they wanted bare feet on the boat, you were able to use hotel style slippers? I know no shoes and I assume that includes no sandles.

Thanks again
 
Thanks for taking the time to write in details suggestions and thoughts since you were recently on the same liveaboard I will be on. Do I need to bring any bug/mesquito spray? How was the internet access to keep in touch with family during the trip? It almost seemed like they wanted bare feet on the boat, you were able to use hotel style slippers? I know no shoes and I assume that includes no sandles.

Thanks again

Do not count on the internet. It never worked for us. Get the SIM card for sure. It’s super cheap.

As for the slippers, no one ever said anything to us about it. It was an idea we got in Thailand when the hotel we came from have very nice silk slippers that I decided to hang onto. I would have killed for slippers at Huracan Bay in Belize, where they had a barefoot policy but didn’t keep the floors swept of sand. Also, the outside decks get very hot, so the slippers serve multiple purposes.

We never used any bug spray, and I’m a mosquito magnet usually! There was always a very good breeze. Enough so that 100 degrees could feel chilly sometimes!

Oh, and don’t expect much jacuzzi time. They only filled it one night for us. They don’t fill it if they are navigating, which is just about daily.
 
Also, I would bring a full wetsuit. The folks in shorties for the shark dives were freezing.
 
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