My fridge that had a problem & had shut itself off 2 years. there was a salmon in the freezer. Fortunately we have someone check out house each week, but gettign rid of the odor was no fun. We do have a large upright freezer and we try to make sure we have used as much of the stuff in it as possible before we leave.
We are in a condo development with power is included in our fees so we just leave them on. Our power consumption while gone is minimal anyway.
I like the bottle tip, The ice cube in a glass would be even easier.