Catasetum's are a perfect example of an orchid that is very particular about how it is grown. It gets zero water in the winter and all the leaves fall off, and then once the new growth in the Spring is a few inches tall, you water and fertilize them pretty heavily until they put out large sprays of blooms. The flowers last for weeks. Pretty cool, and then you start over in the fall.
The most common orchid you see is the Phalanopsis. They are sold in stores for not much more than cut flowers, and the blooms last for months. You can grow them in your window sill but they do like humidity so a gravel tray is good. I wouldn't recommend ice cubes as that cold water shocks the roots, but a good rule of thumb for orchids is that if it is working for your plant, keep doing it. Normally for an indoor plant, I just put the pot in the sink and soak with water until it is all wet and the roots are green and fat. Phalanopsis don't like to dry out completely, but don't like to be soggy either. Phalanopsis are low light plants- basically you don't want to be able to cast a shadow from the sunlight.
The other think about Phalanopsis is that if you want them to bloom they need temperature variations. So put them outside in the shade in the late summer/ early fall, so they will get the temp changes and set a bloom spike. Then you can bring them back in before it gets too cold (low 40s at night).