Live Review, Odyssey of the Seas, Dec 3-11

[Stealthdog]

Last two sea days before we get back to Fort Lauderdale.  I'd like to get caught up today with everything through Day 7, so there is one day left for people to ask questions for me to look at.

 

Things I'll get posted today:

The rest of the Dailys through Day 7

The Chops Dinner menu

Pics from Izumi

Review of the Book

Review of the Magician show

Pics of the Seaplex

Thoughts on the gym/spa

Review of Royal Caribbean excursion in Aruba (halfday snorkle)

Pics of Curacao

Pics of Two70

Pics of El Loco Fresh

 

If anyone has anything else they want to hear about, let me know and I'll track it down before tomorrow night.

[Stealthdog]

6 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Is the food good there?

 

It was ok to good for complimentary, depending on your taste for mexican food.  We aren't mexican foodies and we enjoyed it.  It may be more closer to American style Mexican food than authentic Mexican.  We got the quesadillas, but they have a variety of other things.  There is also a really nice selection of hot sauces.  I'll take a few pics today for you to show you what is offered.

[C & L]

Big Thank you to Stealthdog for all the DETAILED information on this cruise ship and Southern sailing.

 

Could you take the time to answer the following questions:

 

1. What entertainment/shows/activities require Reservations?

 

2. What entertainment/shows/activities do you just walk up and wait in line or  take a seat--- Reservations Not required, it's -First Come-First Served?

 

I do know that certain onboard Activities require a fee.

 

Been on a two year hiatus from cruising and this is the first Quantum style ship on which we will be sailing.  

 

Your description and information is Outstanding.

 

Thank you

[Stealthdog]

Day 5 Daily

[Stealthdog]

Day 6 Daily

[Stealthdog]

Day 7 Daily

[Stealthdog]

Chops Dinner Menu

 

The menu is much larger than the lunch menu.  I think we have had just about everything on the menu by now.  We haven't had a bad meal on the ship - specialty restaurants, el loco fresh, the cafes, and Solarium bistro have all been good.  We have only been to MDR once for breakfast and haven't done the Windjammer, so really no comments on those two venues.

 

Chops is our favorite restaurant on the Odyssey.  For reference, Central150 was our favorite on the Symphony - we think Chops on Odyssey is very good, but a step below the Oasis Class Central restaurant.

[Stealthdog]

We went to Izumi last night to break up the repeat of Chops and Giovanni dinners.  My partner loves sushi and loved it.  The rule for Izumi with the UDP is you get one small plate (appetizer) and two large plates.  You also will get edamame upon arrival.  I thought Izumi expanded their menu to include some ramen and other non-seafood options but was wrong.  I ceded one of my large plates to him, much to his pleasure.  

 

For non-sushi eaters, the options outside of seafood are still limited to miso soup, a chicken appetizer, and a teriyaki dish with your choice of protein.  The non-seafood was ok, but the partner really enjoyed the various sushi offers and would go back again.

[Stealthdog]

As the week went on, more holiday decorations started popping up.  Particularly gingerbread houses seem to be appearing in front of the MDR and some of the cafes.  The ship decorations through the 4th and 5th decks look great - the staff on the Odyssey have done a wonderful job!

[Stealthdog]

5 hours ago, C & L said:

Big Thank you to Stealthdog for all the DETAILED information on this cruise ship and Southern sailing.

 

Could you take the time to answer the following questions:

 

1. What entertainment/shows/activities require Reservations?

 

2. What entertainment/shows/activities do you just walk up and wait in line or  take a seat--- Reservations Not required, it's -First Come-First Served?

 

I do know that certain onboard Activities require a fee.

 

Been on a two year hiatus from cruising and this is the first Quantum style ship on which we will be sailing.  

 

Your description and information is Outstanding.

 

Thank you

 

The only entertainment/show that requires reservation is The Book.  No reservations are available for other shows/entertainment.   The Headliner shows (comedian, comedy musician, and magician) were all walk in first come first serve.  The Production Showgirls also seems to be that case (Showgirls is Day 7 & 8, so we haven't gone yet).

 

Bumper Cars is also walk up, first come first serve and they open the Seaplex daily for a couple hours most nights for it (usually around 7-9ish).

 

Activities that do require reservations on board - iFly, North Star, and the Zone Zero virtual reality all require reservations.  All three can be reserved thru the app.  iFly and North Start are complimentary on port days and have expenses on sea days.  The Virtual Reality has a cost and every time I've looked on the app, it looks like it is sold out, so it seems very popular.

[Stealthdog]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:41 AM, Ocean Boy said:

Is breakfast in Two70 like O class Solarium, Wipeout, and Park Cafe or more like Cafe Promenade?

 

Bette is right -its like Park Cafe on OClass.  Here are some pics.

 

For breakfast they have a bagel station (3 types of bagels and 4 types of cream cheese), cereal, breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and some other items such as salmon.

 

For lunch they have salads, panini like sandwiches, lunch pastries, and a few other items.

 

Both Two70 and Cafe Promenade have self serve coffee and tea stations.  Below are pics of the inside of Cafe270 and the tea options in the two cafes for those who are tea drinkers to see what is on board.

[Stealthdog]

Now for The Book.....I am kind of torn.  If you go into the show just watching for entertainment purposes, you will love it.  Lots of things going on - violinist, acrobats, aerial acrobats, drummer, singers, and the 3-d like parts are all great individually.  And the venue in Two70 is incredible, from special effects to even very comfortable seating.  

 

I just got really confused about what the show was about and what was happening throughout the acts.  The beginning of the show was really awkward for me because I thought maybe we were watching some Physical Theater.  

 

My recommendation is go, don't try to figure out what the story is about, and just enjoy the acts.  Sit in the middle of the theater (first level or balcony) so you can see everything.  If you sit on the sides you may not catch all the acts and displays.  

 

Doors open 45 minutes before the show and it seats filled quickly, so I recommend get there at least 30 minutes before the show to make sure you have a good view.  You will need to have your card scanned to show you have the reservation for the show before they let you into Two70.

[Ocean Boy]

7 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

 

Bette is right -its like Park Cafe on OClass.  Here are some pics.

 

For breakfast they have a bagel station (3 types of bagels and 4 types of cream cheese), cereal, breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and some other items such as salmon.

 

For lunch they have salads, panini like sandwiches, lunch pastries, and a few other items.

 

Both Two70 and Cafe Promenade have self serve coffee and tea stations.  Below are pics of the inside of Cafe270 and the tea options in the two cafes for those who are tea drinkers to see what is on board.

Thanks for being patient with all the questions. This will be my first time on a Quantum class ship as well as the first time I will be on a new class of ship for me in a very long time. It is all a bit new, unfamiliar, and exciting!

[Stealthdog]

Its trivia time, so time to stop for a bit.  I am trying to do an upload on my laptop to test the limits on the streaming.  We discovered we could use the stateroom TV to stream into apps like Netflix.  I'm also trying to see if there is enough capability to use the Voom to gamplay on MMORGs on your laptop.  I'll discuss Voom the streaming tomorrow.

[Ocean Boy]

The Book can't be more confusing than CATS on Oasis.😇

[Stealthdog]

In Aruba we did an excursion with Royal called Sailaway Snorkel Cruise with BBQ Lunch & Open Bar.  We have been to Aruba 4-5 times already, and we find Aruba to be one of the easier ports to just do things on your own if you want.  We have hired a taxi to the beach, walked the port area, did private tours, and did cruise line tours.  

 

The Royal excursion this time was really nice.  After leaving the boat and shopping center, you wait outside for royal to turn you over to the local vendor, and then its a short walk to where they keep their snorkel boats.  Sometimes with cruise line tours I'm worried about how many passengers they will cram onto a tour.  With this tour we had about 25 passengers and there was plenty of space of the boat to move around.  Our last privately booked snorkel had about 50 passengers on the snorkel boat.  So, it is hit or miss.  

 

The total time for the tour was 4.5-5 hours.  They will take you to 2 different snorkel sites (all snorkel gear is provided).  Both sites were nice:  one is a common snorkel of an old sunken ship and the other a reef near the beach on the Northern part of the island.  The water in Aruba is very clear and you can see dozens of feet down.  Both sites had large pools of fish of multiple varieties.  It was one of the better snorkeling we have done recently.  An added bonus is we were able to see a sea turtle swimming in the water while we were on the boat.  After both snorkel sites are complete, you remain anchored in the water in the boat for the BBQ lunch and the Bar opens for alcohol.

 

There was nothing special about the BBQ lunch or the Open Bar - both were really standard things you get on these kinds of excursions.  If you are more comfortable sticking with the cruise line for excursions and want to snorkel in Aruba, the Sailaway Snorkel Cruise with BBQ Lunch & Open Bar is a good option.

 

Pictures of the Aruba coastline on the way to the snorkel sites (and back) and a picture of the port from the Odyssey.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Stealthdog

[C & L]

2 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

The only entertainment/show that requires reservation is The Book.  No reservations are available for other shows/entertainment.   The Headliner shows (comedian, comedy musician, and magician) were all walk in first come first serve.  The Production Showgirls also seems to be that case (Showgirls is Day 7 & 8, so we haven't gone yet).

 

Bumper Cars is also walk up, first come first serve and they open the Seaplex daily for a couple hours most nights for it (usually around 7-9ish).

 

Activities that do require reservations on board - iFly, North Star, and the Zone Zero virtual reality all require reservations.  All three can be reserved thru the app.  iFly and North Start are complimentary on port days and have expenses on sea days.  The Virtual Reality has a cost and every time I've looked on the app, it looks like it is sold out, so it seems very popular.

Ah, Stealthdog, you are, once again, just SO thorough in your responses.  Thank you!

[Stealthdog]

Day 8 Daily and Departure information.  The departure information has great information, and the departure times give good planning factor for people considering transportation options using a "typical" arrival time to Fort Lauderdale.  We got assigned Tag #12.....not sure why because they know we are on a B2B, but I think they try to evenly spread people out so there aren't large amounts of foot traffic at one time.  We will just stay on the ship until about 9AM then start making our way off.

[Stealthdog]

Day 6 in Curacao started as a hot mess.  We got back to the room from dinner on Day 5 around 10PM and saw we had a note on our door and a message on our phone.  Both of them were messages from 540PM telling us that our tour in Curacao (half day snorkle at Turtle Bay) was cancelled by the vendor for weather reasons, and to let us know to stop by Shore Excursions to book another tour with a 15% discount.  

 

Shore Excursions was obviously closed by that time, so we went on the app to see what tours were even available.  There were about 6 out of 14ish tours we could get on the night before the stop, the rest were all sold out.  None of the ones available were all that appealing (Pub Crawl, visit to the Caves, Curacao bus tour, etc) because we have done things one or more times before (except the pub crawl).  We have been to Curacao several times already and were looking to do something we haven't done.

 

This is why I always recommend for people to stick up for themselves, be persistent, and talk to someone in charge.  We stopped by guest services after getting back on the ship in Day 6 - we walked off the ship and just went to the little downtown area (more on that later).  They told us just to go to Shore Excursions on Day 7 and ask for Manager to see what they can do for us.  We went on Day 7 to Shore Excursions and wasted about 10 minutes talking to the employee working the station, went back to guest services, and they called the shore excursions manager for us.  He was totally understanding that Curacao was the last port day and there had a very small availability of tours they even had available the last minute.  And he is aware the Royal Caribbean isn't the only show in town that people can do tours with (private, on you own, etc).  We already received a full refund for the cruise that was cancelled as refundable OBC, but the Manager for Shore Excursions credited us back 15% off the shore excursions we did at Aruba as refundable OBC since we had no opportunity to rebook an excursion we wanted in Curacao.  It was a nice gesture and we accepted it.

 

So, stick up for yourself and don't take no for an answer from whoever is working a desk on the ship.  But, also don't be a raving lunatic. 🙂

 

Now...for Curacao.  Like Aruba, Curacao is one of the easiest port stops to just get off the ship and do your own thing.  The really cute downtown area is right there and there are alot of things to see.  Between the fort walls, the jewish synagogues, pontoon bridge, market, if this is your first time in Curacao you can explore on your own and see alot of things.  We spent about 1 hour at the restaurant by the canal watching the bridge move to allow boats in and out and sipping pina coladas.  Southern Caribbean cruises are our favorite destination cruises.

 

We were in port with Sister Rhapsody.  

[Ocean Boy]

I have not been to Curacao in so long. I'm really looking forward to getting back.

[Stealthdog]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I have not been to Curacao in so long. I'm really looking forward to getting back.

 

We walked past the area where the floating market usually is and there were no boats there.  I dont know if it just was a day or timing thing, or they no longer do it, but that area is usually one of our favorites in Curacao.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Stealthdog
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[Bette And Bill]

3 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

We walked past the area where the floating market usually is and there were no boats there.  I dont know if it just was a day or timing thing, or they no longer do it, but that area is usually one of our favorites in Curacao.

JC, the floating market has not been there for quite a while now. We used to walk down and look at all the things for sale and then go to the market area. We did not even bother walking down that way this time. 

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, Bette And Bill said:

JC, the floating market has not been there for quite a while now. We used to walk down and look at all the things for sale and then go to the market area. We did not even bother walking down that way this time. 

That is unfortunate. It was fun to walk around there.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Bette And Bill said:

JC, the floating market has not been there for quite a while now. We used to walk down and look at all the things for sale and then go to the market area. We did not even bother walking down that way this time. 

When you say, "not been there for quite a while now", when? We were in Curacao March of this year and the market was full with vendors and very busy (locals).  

[RCCLNYMETS41]

@Stealthdog Your review is awesome! Thank you for taking the time to do this all. Your description of The Book is exactly how my wife & I felt about it. Confusing story to the point of why bother, but the entertainers themselves & their talents were pretty amazing overall.

 

Also, the Effectors is another walk-in show without reservations. (not sure if it was mentioned earlier)