harryfat1

4 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

Thanks @harryfat1. I do find this as interesting as you do. I agree it is extremely confusing and just WHY? 
 

If I am not mistaken, Carnival numbering is the same as Princess though I have never noticed a carpet correlation. 
 

When I sailed Oasis our interior was in a central corridor off the forward elevators so we never needed to even go into the port or starboard cabin hallways.

 

Our Jr. suites on Adventure were likewise just off the aft elevators and somehow I was easily oriented on that ship from the start and the rooms were right where we expected so if we had this crazy number system I never noticed it.

Our insides on this Ovation sailing were 9233 and 9633. Maybe that is because we were midship rather than aft? I wonder if forward insides are X1XX and X5XX?

 

Eventually you can learn the logic but I still don’t see how it’s better than the Princess system.

Yes, as you go from the front of the ship to the Aft, the numbers get bigger.  So 9190 is toward the front of the ship and 9286 is toward the back.  That's easy as it's similar to the planes where row 35 on the plane is toward the back compared to row 15.

Your cabins of 9233 and 9633 are in the interesting location of a horizontal hallway.

9233 is being classified as being on the port side so hence the 2 number.  9633 is on the right side (starboard side) of the ship so it has the 6 number.  

The number convention is X1XX and X2XX and X3XX is on the port side and X5XX and X6XX and X7XX are on the starboard side.

It's been over 10 years since I sailed on Carnival so I don't know their carpeting system.  I will keep an eye out in December for the Carnival Jubilee.

I only know about the Princess carpet color from one of the trip reports before my sailing (interesting info you learn in reading other people's reports)

On 5/25/2024 at 1:03 PM, KmomChicago said:

Now that the cruise is a full day in the rear view mirror, but while it is all still fresh, a few thoughts on the overall experience. 

 

First up: The Itinerary - because that was the foundation choice for this voyage, the first decision made.

 

The Alaska scenery really is, most definitely, worth seeing yourself. I am extremely fortunate to have travelled a lot and seen a lot of the USA and a good sample of the rest of the planet.  The Alaska coastal region that I viewed on this trip, is easily among the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen anywhere. For me its only rivals have been the Big Island of Hawaii and Machu Picchu in Peru. 

 

For me, the shorter voyage just partway up Southeast Alaska was "enough."  Fully understanding that there is A LOT more Alaska up there. I think for sure a younger Kmom at a much different point in life would have preferred a one way voyage with additional land days before or after closer to Anchorage. 

 

This sailing was probably the last one, or at most, second to last, before the K-12 crowd takes over for summer high season, and a massive proportion of the fellow cruisers were couple in the middle-age to retired bracket. I would assume that for many of them, this easy look at Alaska is enough to satisfy the urge.

Thanks for doing a live cruise report.  I tip my hat to you and anyone else able to do one.  Not everyone appreciates the time and effort it takes to put together a trip report.

I know you said you have no immediate plans to go back to Alaska.  I understand that as we only go back once every 10 years or so.  But if you ever want to go back again, I highly recommend the one way route with either Princess or HAL or NCL as they go to Glacier Bay National Park where you spend an entire day there with the Park Ranger coming on board to guide you throughout the day.

If you prefer just RCI/Carnival ships, then at least do the Radiance of the Seas as they go to Hubbard Glacier.  Princess/HAL sails to both the Glacier Bay and the Hubbard Glacier on their one-way sailings and if you like glaciers, you need to check out those one-way sailings starting/ending in Vancouver.

Hubbard Glacier:

Glacier Bay:

US National Park Rangers come onto the ship for 9 hours to guide people through the park and set up shop on the ship to answer questions/sell merchandise

On 5/23/2024 at 10:23 AM, KmomChicago said:

So one thing really bizarre about this ship: stateroom numbering scheme. 
 

Some designer decided to make interior cabins odd and exterior/balcony even.

 

That may not be exactly right either as it looks like a handful of interior rooms might be accessed on the exterior side of corridors. Can’t verify without a major survey of the deck plans. 
 

Anyhoo this means it’s there’s no easy way to learn if your room is accessible from the port or starboard corridor. Obviously you either figure it out or sleep in the Solarium, but it definitely feels like the Mad Hatter came up with the strategy. 

As I’m late to the second half of the report (virtual party), I guess I am here to help clean the tables.

One advantage of responding later in the report is we can chat about stuff that most cruisers don’t care to read and it doesn’t take up your valuable time during the cruise to respond while you are on the ship.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the RCI ship numbering convention either.  They use X1XX to X3XX on the port side and then X5XX to X7XX on the starboard side.  It becomes really confusing when you have interior cabins where if it's on the port side, it's X3XX, and X7XX if on the starboard side.

For example, here you have the interior cabins 8305 and 8303 on the port side, and "logically" you would think the next one after that would be 8301?  Of course not.  The next one is 8703 and then 8705 as RCI now considers these cabins to the on the starboard half of the ship so the numbers need to be in the X7XX sequence. 

Good luck finding your cabin on the first night after you have had your 15th drink on the drinks package...

I much prefer the Princess numbering system where the starboard side is an odd number and the port side is an even number. 

Here's the Majestic Princess deck plan that we sailed on to Alaska.  Much simpler numbering system:

In addition, Princess ships have a different color scheme for the carpet where one side is red and the other side is blue so as soon as I walk out of the elevator, I just look for the color of the carpet and can easily tell if I am on the correct side of the ship.   Unless someone was totally plastered from the 15 drinks/day drinks package, in theory, most people could tell the difference between red and blue…

As I said, most people don't care about this stuff unless they are 9.2 on the anal scale like yours truly...🤪

46 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

You always were a Sir Mix-A-Lot fan. 😜

Some people will say that's my "biggest" contribution to these boards...🤪

3 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Hey you there on that mystery ship next door! Be careful on that balcony today. You’re being watched by hundreds of passengers in Steerage over here! 
 

 

So finally catching up with the trip report.  It's like binge-viewing on Netflix to be current.

The ship is the Crown Princess.  You can tell from the shape of the Aft that was typical of the Princess-style ship of that generation.  I don't know much about cruise ships but I do have a keen eye for the ships' "Afts"...🤪

Here's the docking schedule for Skagway today

A couple of comments on other previously discussed topics:

• Carnival-designed ships (Carnival/Princess/HAL) have 3 banks of elevators.  That makes catching one easier if you have cabins on extreme ends of the ship
• When I was on the Odyssey last December, my favorite morning routine was getting coffee at cafe 270 right when they opened at 7 AM and sitting at the 270 lounge enjoying a pastry and the view of the ship's wake.  Maybe it was the Caribbeans but nobody was there that early (Alaska crowd might be different).  You have the entire lounge to yourself to drink the coffee in peace.

On 5/13/2024 at 5:29 PM, KmomChicago said:

So it occurs to me I should mention some of my mentors and idols here in CC board reviewland.  My very favorite reviewer is @harryfat1 who does not live review and in his own words,  was formerly known as CheapoDad (he gets solid value for his dollar which is what I like to do as well).  I think he's hilarious. He's an accountant so my guess is he's pretty Spock-like as I am.  He taught me the single most important lesson about cruising (and vacations in general).  Take the picture. When in doubt, take more pictures. Data is cheap, and you will never have the same chance to take the picture again. Even if you return to the same place someday (doubtful) things will be different and you will have lost the moment. 

 

Like myself, Harry doesn't always spend a lot of time on Cruise Critic in between his cruises, so if you want to actually get some back and forth conversation going, right after one of his sailings is the time to do it.  The bonus is, since he takes 80 bajillion photos and since he is very busy back at his accounting job after the vacation, it takes him weeks to post a single review so you will have lots of chances to send him an encouraging word. 

On 5/13/2024 at 5:46 PM, KmomChicago said:

 

He just finished one up. He started posting in January and was active on the thread until mid-April.  I appreciated this review as it was on Odyssey of the Seas, a Quantum class ship like Ovation, so he not only entertained me with his usual brand of himselfness but also gave me a fair amount of usable Quantum details. 

 

I think it's interesting you are an accountant.  All those numbers would eventually make my head spin but I am grateful you do what  you do.  I can handle like, minor bookkeeping and my taxes as long as nothing weird is going on with them.

 

Hi,

Wow.  Thanks for the wonderful words. I never realized I was a mentor to anyone.

If I had known, I would have charged tuition fees as cheapo dad needs to make money from writing all these trip reports.  CC only pays me in the form of free iced tea coupons redeemable at Windjammers between the hours of 3 to 6 PM (which coincidentally is when they are closed)…

Also, appreciate the referral link.  I will forward to you my standard 10% referral fee whenever CC pays me.

How exciting.  Alaska cruise on the Ovation.  I have been to Alaska 3 times but never with RCI so it will be interesting to see things from your perspective. We were just on the sister ship (Odyssey) six months ago so I’m familiar with the layout of the Q class but the Odyssey is slightly different in restaurant setup compared to her older sister ships.

Yeah, I take a sabbatical from CC during non-cruise planning/trip writing time.  We are going to NYC next month so that trip planning has been taking up a lot of my time.  But I’ll be back here on CC in July to drop in the pictures from the NYC trip as a continuation of my old Odyssey trip report as some friends from that thread are interested on seeing NYC.

Since the Odyssey is moving to New Jersey this winter, some people might be interested in NYC as a pre/post-cruise excursion so after your Alaska cruise is over, come over to my old trip thread in July and we can chat more then.

My next cruise is in December on the Carnival's new flagship, Jubilee, so I will be over at the Carnvail boards starting in August to plan for that cruise.

Anyway, people are not here to hear me ramble on. Have a wonderful Alaska cruise.  The scenery is amazing.

We now return you to your regular scheduled Alaska cruise report…

On 4/15/2024 at 9:58 PM, NHProud said:

How are your plans coming along for New York City ? 
 

It’s the same for the Chrysler building .  I was stopped from entering. 
 

If you are ever in LA the Bradbury building lobby is very interesting. I was , again, stopped from going in . I saw the interior on a Perry Mason episode. Perhaps, you can talk your way into taking a look in these off limit lobbies. 

Thanks for checking up on our travel plans.

We might end up going earlier than originally anticipated as we are trying to get to NYC before the oppressive August heat sets in.  So now I had to cancel the original hotel and flight that was booked for August and looking to book on a revised date.  That’s been taking up more of my time that should be used for planning instead.

That being said, we have an overall idea of what we like to do.  Will be seeing major tourist sites like the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, Central Park, and so on. Doing what all other tourists will do.  Most likely will be buying an I love NY shirt and a cheapo mini-replica of the Statue of Liberty when we visit the uncle in prison.  

The thing about planning is that when you are at home in perfect condition, you will want to do everything but when you get there, if it’s too hot or rainy or you are too tired, then you have to change/curtail the activities so we will unlikely end up doing everything from the plan. But at least there's a plan...

On 4/7/2024 at 10:25 AM, topanga49er said:

Hi If you are still looking at this, Thank you for your review of Odyssey.  As a lifetime NYer, if you love architecture you cannot miss the Woolworth Building.  It's down near the Freedom tower, oculus, etc.  Woolworth building is also called "the Cathedral of Commerce".  You can see gargoyles of the people that built it using nickles and dimes.  The upper floors are now residences, but the lobby is one of the most beautiful anywhere.  Here is a short video about it:  https://nylandmarks.org/explore-ny/the-woolworth-building/

 

Hi,

Thanks for the info.  I will add this to the list of buildings to check out while we are in NYC.

Per the link you provided, it says the lobby is closed to the general public and they no longer offer tours so we can only see what’s outside.

I am old enough to remember going to the Woolworths stores when I was young. Doubtful the younger generations even heard of the name.

On 3/26/2024 at 5:18 AM, rncruiser said:

I live in Queens, not far from Flushing. There are many authentic Chinese restaurants there. My family goes to a great hot pot restaurant called Spring Shabu Shabu. We’ve been to a couple of others but this one is the best we have found. Unfortunately it is not too close to the subway. 

Thanks for the info on the hot pot restaurant.

If you like hot pot, I saw one place in the Flushing Chinatown area accessible via the subway, it's called Xiang Hot Pot and BBQ and has decent reviews online:

https://xianghotpot.com/

It's located inside the New World Mall in Flushing.  Per Google Maps, we can get to Flushing in 35 minutes via the #7 train starting from Grand Central Terminal in Midtown.   

Not sure if we will go there as Hot Pot in the summer heat doesn't sound that appealing at the moment but there are many places to eat in Flushing Chinatown if we have time to venture out there.

I'm really looking forward to the Halal food trucks as all reviews on YouTube/Google gave the Halal food rave reviews.  I read Adel's Halal food truck is supposed to be very good and they are open until 4 AM on weekdays (crazy hours). We don't have anything like that on the West Coast so that's a must-eat for me

6 hours ago, luvtoride said:

@harryfat1Wow, that food looks amazing.  Which specialty restaurant was that at on Odyssey of the Seas??  

When you come to NYC, there are obviously some great Chinese restaurants in and around Chinatown where you can feast like that.  Let me know if you research any that you would like me to check out for you before you come.  

Hi Brian,

These pictures were taken in the San Francisco area.  Same restaurant as the one I shared back last month.  I just thought I shared these pictures as it was a special dinner.

Thanks for the offer for NYC Chinatown.  I have been watching YouTube channels recently (now that I don't have my nightly trip report to write), I saw that there's a bigger Chinatown out in the Queens area called Flushing.  That looks like it's more for the newer immigrants whereas Manhattan is the older crowd.

Similar to LA and San Francisco where the older generation stayed in the traditional Chinatown but the newer folks moved out to the suburbs.  Not sure if we will have time to make it to Flushings on this visit but just an FYI to anyone interested in wanting to experience other Chinese cuisines, they can head out there as well as Manhattan Chinatown. 

22 hours ago, rncruiser said:

Harry, maybe you can keep posting addendums and this thread will go on for months, or even years. You can keep us informed on your planning for NYC, and then of course post your detailed trip report here. I doubt that those of us who have been following along will mind. 

Thanks for the encouragement. I don’t think people is that interested in what I do to drag this thread that far into next year.  My life is pretty boring, but my wife’s family are more foodies so I can post occasional pictures if we have special events later on. 

At least the NYC info might be helpful for future readers sailing on the Odyssey out of NJ in the Fall/Winter season in case they are in town to see NYC pre/post cruise.

On 3/17/2024 at 5:02 PM, h20skibum said:

That food looks delicious.  You may have to share the restaurant name.  I may want to take the family when we are in the Bay Area in June, to pick up my grandson for the summer. 

Mark,

The name of the restaurant is Ming Yuan in Daly City.  The address is 209 Southgate Avenue, Daly City.  It’s about 20 minutes from SFO so you can go there after you arrive in the Bay Area.

You saw this place back on post #730 onward in this trip report as it was the Chinese New Year Dim Sum place I mentioned previously.  This is my in-law's favorite restaurant so we go there on special occasions.

You can check out the pictures I took of the menu on post #732.

Now it depends on when you are going there.  If you go during lunch, you can have either the Dim Sum food in the #731 as we had on Chinese New Year or a regular lunch.  So if you want to try the chicken feet on #734, lunchtime is the only time you can get that menu.

The “regular” menu on post #732 is lunch and dinner for people who don’t want Dim Sum exclusively for lunch.

Depending on the size of your party, if you have 10 or more, you can opt for the set dinner like the ones I just posted in #1358/1359.

Here is a picture of the menu for the set dinner.  It’s the $398 dinner (feeds 10 people).  Since we had 13 people in the super max-sized table, we added a few extra items on top of the set dinner as that was only enough for 10.  But assuming you don’t have that big of a group, you may not need the set dinner menu but you can order some of the items a la carte.

Besides the “set dinner menu” for 10 people the “regular menu” and the lunch-only “dim sum” menu, they also have the “special seasonal” menu that changes periodically (I know, confusing as heck).  This special menu can change seasonally, depending on what stuff is in season.  

Keep in mind this is served Chinese family style as they put the stuff in the middle and you share whatever.

If you decide to go to this restaurant, the tip is to set the Google map to the Home Depot nearby as the parking at the restaurant is nearly impossible to find a spot right in front of a very busy street.  There’s a lot more parking at the Home Depot parking and you can just walk one block to the restaurant.

Home Depot, 303 Lake Merced Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015

The final suggestion is if you are parked at Home Depot, there’s a Chinese bakery next door called Sheng Kee.  They have 11 stores in the Bay Area. You can drop in and pick up some Chinese pastries/cake after your meal to take back to your son’s place.

526 Westlake Center, Daly City, CA 94015

https://www.shengkee.com/collections/cakes

This picture were taken inside the bakery over the weekend:

I wanted the pictures of the two lobster heads

You know you are in a Chinese region when birthday cakes are in Chinese

Here's an addendum nobody asked for but I will share it anyway as we went to dinner for a family dinner the other night.  These are the big set dinner banquet-style Chinese food you only find in the bigger cities so I thought I would upload few photos:

Table for 13.  Chinese only sits in round tables for dinner at restaurants for large groups

2 hours ago, Calvin said:

Thanks so much for the review and the pictures!  I also posted a review on my 15-day Odyssey of the Seas experience, where I enumerated the pros and cons of the ship. I haven't posted much at all since, because a few MORONS decided to flame me.  I guess they believed they owned RCI and wanted desperately to defend it. I was shocked because I posted both the good and the bad.

 

One of the things I love about today's cruising is that we have so many, like yourself, who post reviews of various ships, so we can get a feel for it without sailing.  In the old days, 😁, we would have to grab a static brochure and use our imaginations.

Haha, now I'm curious about what you say that got the people all riled up?

Did you say "Only morons would sail on RCI?" or "You must be dumber than Biden/Trump (insert the political figure you dislike the most) to want to be on the Odyssey"?

Barring any real personal attacks, I don't see why people would feel offended.

Many people are too insecure in their liking.  They want to read good reviews to validate that they made the right choice in selecting/selected the right ship/cruise line.  Any negative comments from reviewers are deemed a personal attack on their selection.

They don't have enough self-conviction to believe they made the right choice in selecting their cruise ship/line and will get upset at any negative comments.

I have contributed to other boards like Disney and Edmunds car selections.  People get very upset about any negative reviews on their favorite products as if the reviewers are criticizing their kids' bad piano recital.

What these people don't realize is that a "bad review" can be a good thing such that if you are a good social media influencer and 100 people read your negative comments about the Odyssey/RCI and then they tell 100 friends and those people tell 100 friends, in no time, there will be a million people who know that the Odyssey is a bad ship/RCI is a bad cruise line.  

As such, people won't book future sailings on the Odyssey/RCI for the next few years. Then RCI will be forced to dramatically decrease the prices on all the cabins such that cheapo dads of the world can get an Owner's Suite for $100/night due to your "negative reviews".  So that becomes a good thing.

You just need to explain the economics of cruising to the "Morons"...🤪

5 hours ago, Mom*3 said:

 

@T-2 Are you on the March 24th, 6 night sailing? We just got off the March 10, 6 night. Here is the Shows at a Glance schedule. Don't worry about not having a reservation for The Book. I was prepared to reserve it in advance, checked the app regularly for it to open on the first of the month before our cruise (Feb 1). I reserved it the first day it opened. I chose the Night one, 7pm showing, since it worked better for us. But, they ended up canceling the Night one showings due to technical difficulties. They told us not to worry, they added another showing on Night 4 at 7pm, and that our reservation would automatically transfer. Which was so nice of them, except we had a reservation for Teppanyaki for 7:45 pm (reservation made pre-cruise). So, we waited in the Standby line on Night 3 for the 7pm show. I think everyone in the Standby line got in, in fact they opened up the center balcony area reserved for The Key members, so that’s where we sat. Enjoy your cruise! I can try and answer any specific 6 night questions.

 

 

Oh, yeah, I have this type of schedule as well.  Here is the 8-day version in case anyone needs one

5 hours ago, Mom*3 said:

Harry, we just returned from our 6 night Odyssey cruise. We had a wonderful cruise and your review was so helpful in our planning. My family agrees with your assessment of the Two70 venue, we loved that area. We had a late afternoon flight and ended up at Hollywood Beach after our cruise. When we walked by one of the bike rental vendors, I knew we had to do it. My family was definitely rolling their eyes, but they agreed it was so much fun!
 

Hi,

Thanks for reporting back.  I'm glad you guys had a great vacation.

Yeah, the 270 venue is very different than other RCI venues with comfortable seating as well as a great Aft view and close access to the cafe next door.

I like the style of your bike, looks more like a sports car whereas ours looks more like an SUV. I agree that the experience at first glance is touristy as heck, but many people were doing it and it's a lot of family-together fun time.  

It's not something you'll want to do on every visit but something you will remember for a long time and that's what family vacation is all about.

20 hours ago, T-2 said:

Your cruise compass was quite an eye opener, I learned quite a lot, for one- there is a Lot more things that will be scheduled than the enticements we now see on the cruise planner app- because your cruise compass was massive for things that will be happening. And they seem to move things around even though our 2 sea days are also day 2 and 6, but I see several things different- our Two70 experience is day 5 not day 6, ours does not show any laser tag like yours but ours only ever had one and it was for the 18+. So lots of excitement yet to come, we will try to see if they have any last bookings on boarding and try the standby line if all else fails, however it works out, I know its going to be an amazing time, thanks for all the help you have given all of us!!! Keep traveling, we'll be watching for more adventures with Harry We've traveled a lot of the world but never NY, I bet you're going to inspire me. :0)

Glad the scan page was useful.  In case you need it, I just scanned page 4 from Days 3 to 7 (that’s all I have) into one PDF file so you (or others) can download it and maybe even print it to give you an idea of what might be on your cruise.

The phone app was useless in providing the precise info for our sailing.  I booked Giovanni’s for lunch based on the App saying the Belly Flop would be on Day 8 and after we got on board, we found out that got moved to Day 6 and by then they wouldn’t let us switch out the lunch so I wouldn’t trust the phone app that much.

As for NYC, if you ask the average person to list the top 10 famous cities in the world, NYC would be on that list along with London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and others.  There’s no shortage of things to do in the city as a tourist.  Given our vacation style of wanting to see new sights, we are a better fit visiting the major cities rather than lounging around at the Solarium.

My wife and I visited NYC just for a day many years ago.  We saw the Statue of Liberty and actually went all the way up on the observation deck of the original Twin Towers so it’ll be a different feeling when we visit the 9/11 Memorial as we were actually inside the tower a few years before 9/11.

Days 3 to 7 Scan.pdf

5 hours ago, T-2 said:

Thank you, they must wait until really close to sailing, to add those shows, thank you!!  I had been waiting to add 'The Book' until I could see what I would have to give up, Unfortunately now The Book is already all sold out so that's no longer a problem. 😆

You already have your answer on the Royal Theater, but just want to add that the Effectors was on day 2 (first formal night) and Showgirls was on day 6 (second formal night) for our sailing in case you plan things around the shows.

For the Odyssey, both shows were after dinner for us whereas back on the Navigator, their shows were before dinner so plan for that as well.

I don’t have the cruise compass for day 2 as our less-than-stellar cabin attendant didn’t give us a copy but here’s a copy of the day 6 compass and you can see the Showgirls were at 8 and 10 PM.  Expect the same schedule for Effectors.

Especially for the Effectors, plan to show up at least 30 minutes before the show to get a good seat as it’s very good and popular.  I rate it as a “Don’t Miss”.

As for “The Book”, talk to the Internet staff after boarding on day 1 after lunch at the Esplanade to see if they can help you get a seat.  I had read that RCI doesn’t release all of their show slots pre-cruise and you can book some on Day 1 so don’t give up on the Book.  Worst comes to worst, go to a show at least 40 minutes early and do a stand-by line to wait as there will bound to be people not showing up on time, and then you can take their spot.

11 hours ago, luvtoride said:

@harryfat1 maybe we will finally get to meet when you come to NYC.  Although I retired from my company here last year, I am doing consulting with the firm and come into the office on the east side 1 or 2 days a week.  Let me know when you're coming/ will be here and maybe we can meet up for bumper cars (oh, you're probably not going to be driving here) or a coffee.  LOL.  If you need any tips or advice before arriving, let me know and I'll be happy to help.  

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the offer.  Much appreciated.  I don’t know my exact schedule yet as it’s somewhat dependent on my boys' school/internship schedule as well as my work schedule.

If I have any questions, I will give you a buzz.

15 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Hope you don’t mind I broke my comments into two separate posts.  We will definitely get a boarding day photo with everyone, although we will just use our free D+ photos to get our copies.  If you remember my December Live, we had Daryl the floating pool llama along with us.  He will also be with us on Utopia, and we had matching family t-shirts made with Daryl’s Crew for our boarding day picture.  The grandkids insist he must come along. 

 

 

Thanks for your info on the Disney Parks.  I have found a few of those sites, and have been researching.  We are at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge for the week, and we do have the dining plan.  As luck would have it, they were giving it free if you were a Disney+ subscriber.   Since I have Disney+ as a perk of my phone plan, that was a good deal.

 

I have a list of the restaurants we want, but those can’t be booked till 60 days out now.  Park hours are released at 75 days, so I will have to see which ones have early access hours to plan what days to be at each park.

 

They now have lightning lanes and virtual queues for rides, instead of fast pass.  Now I have to figure how to get my watch synchronized to score a virtual queue in the ten seconds, or so, before they are gone for the day.

 

 Have my list of rides for each park that we want to try to get, but it still looks like we will have lines to wait in.  From what I have read, I already think I prefer the way Universal was with their fast passes.

 

 

Yeah,it'll be good to visit the uncle in prison with the clan. The family uniform on boarding day picture will be priceless. 

I’m sure many of your readers will be looking forward to the return of Daryl.

As for Disney, yeah, we did the virtual queue thing at Disneyland in 2021 for the Rise of the Resistance.  Back then, you had to get to your phone app at 7 AM on the dot to fight for a spot. 

Here’s my watch time as I waited to try to log in just a few seconds before 7 AM and the screenshot of what the pass looks like after you get it.  If you have a “smartwatch” that you can buy online for less than $20, you can synchronize your watch time to your phone time so you know for sure you are on time.

Yeah, you must be 9+ on the anal scale to go to Disney parks.

Back in 2018, they opened up the restaurant reservations 180 days before so you have to think about where/when you will be eating 6 months from now while you are on vacation.  Takes anal planning to a new level.

As for Disney restaurants, we liked Ohana the best.  We were lucky enough to be seated right by the window to watch the fireworks

Speaking of Disney, not sure if I ever mentioned that one top item on my bucket list is to see all the Disney parks in the world in the order they were built.  We have obviously been to the ones in CA and FL and we went to the Tokyo Disneyland back in 2019. 

So the next one on the list is Disneyland in Paris.  Then Disneyland in Hong Kong and finally will end up in Dinsyeland Shanghai. 

Here's Ohana in Disneyworld

Fireworks as seen from our table

15 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Yeah Harry, a few hiccups on the launch of the Sun.  They are doing the initial sailings in Europe, before bringing it to Ft. Lauderdale this fall.  The inaugural cruise was to be a 10 day sailing on February 8th.  Princess cancelled it with 10 days notice and said the second sailing on the 18th would be the new inaugural.   They cancelled the 10 day sailing of the 18th, giving passengers only a 4 day notice.   The problem was, many were flying to Europe and had quite a few non-refundable items like hotels, airfare, etc.

 

So the third cruise, which was now the new inaugural set sail on the 28th, and many of the venues on the ship were still under construction during that sailing.  They had some issues with leaking pipes that flooded one of the decks, so things were not going smoothly for that sailing.  They are now on the next sailing, and some of the kinks are slowly getting worked out.  They still have some venues that are incomplete, and it has been reported that some may not be available until April.

 

I am sure this is not the launch that Princess had hoped for, and there were lots of comparisons to how smooth the Icon launch was.   Sun looks like a nice ship, and the new Sphere class is different than other Princess ships we have sailed.   It is about the size of Odyssey.  

Wow, that’s rough to cancel on such short notice.

Yeah, I don’t think Princess Cruises has as much experience as RCI in rolling out new ships and being on time.  RCI had the Icon in Florida for a couple of weeks generating lots of media buzz for being the largest cruise ship before accepting passengers. Princess Cruises was either too aggressive in booking the inaugural cruise without much of a buffer for shipyard delays or the built job was incomplete.

We were originally supposed to be on the 4^th ever Sea Princess sailing back in our honeymoon 25 years ago as it was a brand new ship coming out that year but the shipyard had a delay on that shipbuilt and Princess canceled our honeymoon cruise a few months prior and we had to scramble to sail with Celebrity Cruises instead. So I know firsthand what it feels like to have Princess cancel a new cruise on you.

It’s a good thing you are not sailing with them for a while for them to smooth a few things out.

19 hours ago, NHProud said:

@harryfat1 I’m not one to give advice to the expert here but I’m wondering what kind of accommodation you have planned for NYC.  My friend rented an AirBnB in Brooklyn and took the subway into Manhattan.  My nephew lives in CT and takes the train to work in Manhattan. That must be so time consuming however his wife works in CT and CT is cheaper. My friend walked a lot , ate in ethnic restaurants and spent lots of time people watching in parks.  
 

I think you mentioned architecture so you might want to look up the Cloisters ,  St John the Divine as well as the usual attractions. St John the Divine charged an admission charge if not attending a service which reminds me of Monaco where we were told we could not enter because a mass was being celebrated at the time . I told him in French to let us enter. 
 

 

I am looking at getting something in Midtown Manhattan.  It’s very expensive during the peak summer period but I wanted to minimize the commute time to/from other areas.

I want to stay inside the city so I can walk out of the hotel and see food carts and tons of people and hear the sound of police sirens at night from the hotel room to get the real feel of a big city.  I am a huge fan of the TV show, Law and Order, and that show displays NYC like no other show and I want to feel that vibe for a week when I’m there - well, minus the killings from the show...

YouTubers have recommended staying at Long Island and just taking the subway across so that might be an option as well.  I need to wait for another month after my boys' school schedule comes out before I can finalize my bookings for hotel and airfare.

The St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC is the one big church in Manhattan many people talked about. It’s just down the block from the Rockefeller Center.  It’s not as grand as the mega-churches in Europe but it will give my kids a preview of what Europe will look like as my wife and I have been to Paris and seen Notre Dame many years ago.

14 hours ago, loug1601 said:

Hi Harry,

 

You have a lovely family! Thank you so much for your terrific report. I’m a little sad that it is over 😐. But…I will now look forward to your Carnival Jubilee report. 

 

We will be sailing on Odyssey of the Seas from Bayonne in January 2025. It is a 12 nighter to San Juan, St Thomas, St John, Barbados, St Lucia, and St Maarten. We have been to this ports in the past, but still enjoy them. As a bonus, no flying required. 
 

I hope you enjoy your New York City trip!

 

Pat

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the kind words. 

There’s an old Chinese saying, there’s no banquet in the world that never ends.  This trip report has to end so I can spend the time and effort to plan for my future trips to NYC and the next cruise.

Hopefully, as long as we are all in decent health, there will be more trip reports to share down the road -  be it land or cruise vacations.

We still have to go on a European cruise as well as go back on another Oasis-class ship somewhere in the future.  Icon is too expensive for cheap folks like me for now.

15 hours ago, barbeyg said:

Thanks, Harry! We will be sailing Odyssey on the TA next month, so I particularly enjoyed your sharing of photos around the ship, and since we will walk off with luggage in Italy, now I know we will plan to grab one more breakfast at Cafe 270° before departing. 🙂

Glad you found the info helpful on the Odyssey.

Remember to reserve “The Book” beforehand and sign up for whatever rides you want right after boarding.

Yeah, be sure to grab that early breakfast before getting off the ship since they should be opened at 6 AM. 

Have a wonderful cruise.