Cruiser Formerly Known As Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on Odyssey of the Seas Sailing to A Minus B Plus C Plus H Islands

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Cool Bike

 

 

Love the Drones 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Finale

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

After the show, we did our nightly routine of going down to Café Promenade to get some tea and iced water for the cabin to drink for the night.

 

As noted previously, we were supposed to change the clocks/watches/cell phones ahead by one hour.  So I made the switch to set the phone one hour forward (or so I thought I did...)

 

Few more pictures as we call it a night.

 

Same night pictures from our balconies. 

 

 

I noticed there were flashing color lights in the upper corner cabin  (see arrow).

 

 

Zooming in:

 

These people must be really festive to decorate their cabins with lights

 

 

 

 

I will let the Eurythmics song close out the night:

 

 

 

This concludes day 2 of the trip report

 

++++++++++

As always, thanks to all that’s been reading along.  We don’t do anything special on sea days so sea days are not compelling reading unless you enjoy talking Financial info 🤪

 

[NHProud]

@harryfat1 I find your financial analysis fascinating.  Have you ever written a book(s) ?  

[perfect match]

I have a pet peeve with the roving piano player. For the most part, I think having him or her on the ship can be a fun encounter.  However, when that piano player moves into an elevator or into an already busy, congested hallway I’m not so amused! Elevators are always a wait at best. Adding a piano into that elevator takes it away from its intended purpose which is to transport guests from one floor to another. There are many cruisers who are in wheelchairs or scooters or on walkers for whom taking the stairs is not an option. There are others, myself included who can manage the stairs just fine some of the time, just not all of the time. Falling down the stairs is not something I want to do, but has been a risk I have had to take  so someone can play a piano in the elevator.

 

Crowded hallways, like right after a show lets out and people are all pushing and shoving to get to their next activity = not a good location for a piano player either.

 

The acoustics in a cruise ship elevator are, let’s just say, less than ideal for listening to piano music! I wish that better, safer places could be found for the piano player.

 

Ok, rant Thanks for listening. Let’s get back to Harry’s excellent review! 
 

By the way, Harry, I couldn’t view your Effectors videos on my iPad. I could see your other videos, but for some reason not these. I have no idea why. 🤔

 

Edit: Harry, I forgot to say that I’m glad that you, your family, and your home did not suffer any damages from all of the rain. 

Edited February 2 by perfect match

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, perfect match said:

By the way, Harry, I couldn’t view your Effectors videos on my iPad. I could see your other videos, but for some reason not these. I have no idea why. 🤔

That’s odd, because they show fine on my iPad.  I am watching them on an iPad Air 4.

[luvtoride]

7 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

 

 

I will let the Eurythmics song close out the night:

 

 

 

This concludes day 2 of the trip report

 

That is a very good rendition of the song.  I know that wasn't Annie Lenox but this HSCC seems to be a very good cover band.  @harryfat1do you know if they play concerts around the country?

 

 

[hucifer]

11 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Haha, yeah, sure. Go ahead and blame the bean counters.  That’s like blaming the knife after someone got cut instead of the person wielding the knife.

 

Contrary to what people think, Finance of its own does not spearhead the changes in corporate policy.  We are the tail of the dog.  We wag when the dog tells us when to wag and not the other way around.

 

The typical scenario is for Finance to produce a whole bunch of reports and then senior management/board of directors reviews it and says “Why is labor cost so high?” 

 

Then Finance will provide a more detailed breakdown of the ship’s operating cost by department type and then the CEO will say, we want to reduce costs related to cabin cleaning as it’s wasteful to clean it twice a day.  That's when they have to figure out what is the bare minimum number of cabin stewards needed for each ship.

 

Finance on its own has no clue about how long a cabin steward takes to clean any given cabin.  Operations must provide that info.  I’m sure they have it to the minute on what is the expected time for a worker to clean the cabin.  When they go through training to become one, all cabin attendants have to meet these criteria.

 

So Operations has to tell Finance that it takes 25 minutes (my hypothetical number from above. No idea how accurate it may be) to clean one cabin and on average, they think a person can clean a maximum of 25 cabins per a typical working day.  This number has to come from operations.  Your average bean counter sitting in the Miami corporate HQ has never cleaned a ship's cabin.  They know zip about that. 

 

Only when there’s enough data input from Operations will the Finance group calculate the wage savings in reducing the staff.  For example, assume in the old days of twice-a-day cleaning, each cabin steward could only clean 15 cabins (again my theoretical number).  In a ship like Odyssey with 4,200 people that’s 2,100 cabins or they need 140 cabin stewards on any given sailing to have full coverage to clean all the cabins 2 times a day.

 

If they reduce it to 25 cabins per attendant at one cleaning a day, they only need 84 cabin stewards (2,100 cabins divided by 25).  The difference is savings of 56 jobs at whatever average salary each person makes and annualize that for all the ships in the fleet is your cost savings. 

 

The bean counters calculate all these numbers in Miami for the CEO to approve but they don’t initiate it.  They are the tail that will wag when the dog wants the info and then Finance wags/calculates.  Finance is never the group that just sits around and says “Hey, let’s see how much money we can save if we fire 56 cabin attendants on the Odyssey?” 

 

That’s not how Corporate America's Finance operation works.  The directive and thought came from the senior management after looking at the various reports and wanted to cut every single line of expenses and then operations are the one that comes up with the idea on what headcounts are needed to safely operate the ship as Accounting has no idea how many people are needed to clean a ship.

 

But nobody ever blames management or Operations.  It’s always the bean counter’s fault for calculating the numbers…🤪

 

Well, thank you for a very detailed and thorough explanation in defense of bean counters. Basically, you just provide the info, not the solution. 

[Cjonthesea]

On 1/13/2024 at 6:59 PM, harryfat1 said:

I will show you the "secret entrance" to 270 from the Aft deck 6 cabins when we get there on the report.  Saves you time and walking.

Ha! While looking at deck plans I suspected such a thing! Thanks for confirming!

[KiwiGal117]

Hi Harry - I was pondering your deep dive into the financials while driving my son to the bus (yes, my life is THAT exciting)... how are the tips treated by the corporation?  Are they income?  They must have to go through the balance sheet no?  If they are income do they then take some to offset the tax liability?  

[Mom*3]

8 hours ago, perfect match said:

By the way, Harry, I couldn’t view your Effectors videos on my iPad. I could see your other videos, but for some reason not these. I have no idea why. 🤔

 

 

I had trouble viewing these particular videos on my iPad as well, but they eventually loaded. 
 

Harry, I love your writing style and your financial analysis tidbits. 
 

We saw Effectors II on Wonder last year and are looking forward to seeing the first installment on the Odyssey in the Spring. It was a little confusing to see it out of order. But, we enjoyed it more for the performance value and special effects. Our youngest did musical theatre and competitive dance for years, so we can appreciate all of the hard work and dedication these performers put in. 
 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!
 

[WyKnott]

14 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

What I would have liked is extra elbow space.  As I discussed with Biker previously, if they had “filled in” the middle area on deck 4, in theory, we wouldn’t be as cramped as they could eke out more space to spread people out..

I think part of the problem with crowded MDRs is before covid, there were more large tables, it was accepted that you might be dining with strangers, now there's a lot more 2- and 4-tops, less room between tables.

[WyKnott]

A follow on to my table size post, last year on my most recent solo cruise, ahead of time I requested to be seated at a large table. I wanted to be seated with others so I wasn't sitting at a table by myself.

 

I was seated at a large table all right - which I had all to myself, except for one night when another couple was seated at the table, they never came back after that, maybe it was something I said? 🙄

 

I didn't care enough to request to be moved, and I did get extra attention from my waiters and the maitre d so there's that. 

[NHProud]

1 hour ago, WyKnott said:

A follow on to my table size post, last year on my most recent solo cruise, ahead of time I requested to be seated at a large table. I wanted to be seated with others so I wasn't sitting at a table by myself.

 

I was seated at a large table all right - which I had all to myself, except for one night when another couple was seated at the table, they never came back after that, maybe it was something I said? 🙄

 

I didn't care enough to request to be moved, and I did get extra attention from my waiters and the maitre d so there's that. 

I’m in San Diego , also.  The sun is out ☀️ .  

[HeyJut]

Hi Harry. I’ve read many of your previous reviews and enjoyed them immensely as I am this one. I missed the Navigator one, so I will have to try to find that. I have never been on a Royal cruise. I think I commented on a previous review of yours that I got off of the Majestic Princess the week before you did. I did just get off of the Carnival Celebration almost 2 weeks ago and enjoyed that, I went solo. Your sons have definitely grown up. And your wife is lovely. Missed not seeing the in-laws.

I am the opposite of you as I enjoy the ship and definitely enjoy the balcony. I’m still timid when going solo about going out into the ports so I just enjoyed the ship.

[harryfat1]

19 hours ago, NHProud said:

@harryfat1 I find your financial analysis fascinating.  Have you ever written a book(s) ?  

Thanks for the kind words.  I’m not smart enough to write a book.

 

Besides, writing a book is boring.  It’s like talking to myself. A lot more fun to have these bantering with fellow travelers in these forums where we learn from each other’s experiences.

 

If I had written a book by myself in the corner somewhere, I would never have known about Mark's special luggage tag hack on saving paper/toner...

[harryfat1]

19 hours ago, perfect match said:

I have a pet peeve with the roving piano player. For the most part, I think having him or her on the ship can be a fun encounter.  However, when that piano player moves into an elevator or into an already busy, congested hallway I’m not so amused! Elevators are always a wait at best. Adding a piano into that elevator takes it away from its intended purpose which is to transport guests from one floor to another. There are many cruisers who are in wheelchairs or scooters or on walkers for whom taking the stairs is not an option. There are others, myself included who can manage the stairs just fine some of the time, just not all of the time. Falling down the stairs is not something I want to do, but has been a risk I have had to take  so someone can play a piano in the elevator.

 

Crowded hallways, like right after a show lets out and people are all pushing and shoving to get to their next activity = not a good location for a piano player either.

 

The acoustics in a cruise ship elevator are, let’s just say, less than ideal for listening to piano music! I wish that better, safer places could be found for the piano player.

 

Ok, rant Thanks for listening. Let’s get back to Harry’s excellent review! 
 

By the way, Harry, I couldn’t view your Effectors videos on my iPad. I could see your other videos, but for some reason not these. I have no idea why. 🤔

 

Edit: Harry, I forgot to say that I’m glad that you, your family, and your home did not suffer any damages from all of the rain. 

Haha, yeah, the piano player takes up valuable real estate, especially at night time when there are a lot more people using the elevators.

 

But we enjoy them as they provide high entertainment value.  I think many of the cruisers, especially the ladies enjoy being in the elevator with him.

 

Not sure about the iPad viewing as I don’t have an iPad – CFKACD has an Android tablet instead as those cost less.  But from reading the other posts, the problem may not be with all the tablets. 

 

It might be if I have multiple videos in the same post, it could impact the download from the server to your iPad.  Going forward, I will try to have just 1 video upload per post to see if that works better.

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, luvtoride said:

 

Ahhh, finally someone comments on my musical selection. I was waiting to see if anyone here likes my musical taste.

 

Yeah, I like these guys.  Probably the most consistent cover band on YouTube in playing all the major hits.

 

Looks like these guys are situated in Australia as I don’t see them having concerts outside of there:

 

https://www.songkick.com/artists/10202223-hindley-street-country-club/calendar

 

Since the previous post is regarding Piano Man, let’s queue the Billy Joel classic:

 

 

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, hucifer said:

Well, thank you for a very detailed and thorough explanation in defense of bean counters. Basically, you just provide the info, not the solution. 

Correct.  We calculate the financial costs of every major business decision but rarely does the Finance department make the final decision.  That comes from the CEO/President/BOD.

 

The only time I can think of the Finance folks changing business processes is when the operations are doing something wrong and it causes penalties/fines and we get the bill, then we tell the other departments to change what they do but I seldom see any Finance group just comes out and say “lay off these guys to save money” on our own.

 

But it’s easier to blame the bean counters as we show the company the money savings in making various decisions - shoot the messenger...

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, Cjonthesea said:

Ha! While looking at deck plans I suspected such a thing! Thanks for confirming!

Sure thing. 

 

If you have the time and read along later on in the trip report, I talked about how we got lost and what the opening looks like the deck plan implies it’s a constant opening but it’s not in reality.

[harryfat1]

10 hours ago, KiwiGal117 said:

Hi Harry - I was pondering your deep dive into the financials while driving my son to the bus (yes, my life is THAT exciting)... how are the tips treated by the corporation?  Are they income?  They must have to go through the balance sheet no?  If they are income do they then take some to offset the tax liability?  

Oh, I haven’t done my deep dive yet.  That’s coming in about 3 plus weeks after RCCL published their SEC reporting.  This was just a high-level analysis from the top of my head after reading the press release.

 

The tip is revenue to the corporation as it’s collected by them as part of the fees onboard or pre-cruise but they get to deduct the whole amount as an expense since it’s being distributed to the employees.  In accounting, we call this a “wash” meaning if they collected $1M in tips, they will get to deduct $1M in expenses as technically the money shouldn’t belong to them.

 

There have been rumors/speculations that cruise lines may not be giving up all the money from the tips pool but some people dispelled that.  We will assume they are honest and pass on all the tip money that they collected and not offset that against some other expense instead.

 

As for tax liability, that’s the biggest scam out there.  Major cruise lines like RCCL/Carnival/NCL do not pay any corporate tax as they are registered overseas (since all the ships are not registered in the US for tax purposes).

 

If anyone cares to read the 10K from the company, they specifically tell you they pay no federal corporate tax because of the way they are structured.  This is how they can pass along some of the tax savings to the passengers so we can (or could in past tense) enjoy cruise vacations at a lower price than land-based vacations.

 

So your local mom-and-pop store down the street that is a Schedule C pays more federal income taxes than a major multi-billion dollar cruise corporation.  But the cruise line does pay other taxes, just not federal corporate income tax.

 

This is from their 2022 Form 10-K

 

 

[harryfat1]

10 hours ago, Mom*3 said:

 

I had trouble viewing these particular videos on my iPad as well, but they eventually loaded. 
 

Harry, I love your writing style and your financial analysis tidbits. 
 

We saw Effectors II on Wonder last year and are looking forward to seeing the first installment on the Odyssey in the Spring. It was a little confusing to see it out of order. But, we enjoyed it more for the performance value and special effects. Our youngest did musical theatre and competitive dance for years, so we can appreciate all of the hard work and dedication these performers put in. 
 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!
 

Thank you for the compliments.  I will pass along the good words to my writing staff of one that people actually read all this as I thought they were here for the pictures and the YouTube video on how to unpack your suitcase with hangers inside…

 

The Effectors are nice in having high-tech gadgets and props compared to other shows that are just singing and dancing to some songs that are older than me.

 

Entertainment is subjective similar to food so not everyone will like it but I would be looking forward to seeing part 2 of the story if I go on the Wonder.  Just the concept of seeing a continual storyline from ship to ship is intriguing.

 

[harryfat1]

8 hours ago, WyKnott said:

I think part of the problem with crowded MDRs is before covid, there were more large tables, it was accepted that you might be dining with strangers, now there's a lot more 2- and 4-tops, less room between tables.

 

7 hours ago, WyKnott said:

A follow on to my table size post, last year on my most recent solo cruise, ahead of time I requested to be seated at a large table. I wanted to be seated with others so I wasn't sitting at a table by myself.

 

I was seated at a large table all right - which I had all to myself, except for one night when another couple was seated at the table, they never came back after that, maybe it was something I said? 🙄

 

I didn't care enough to request to be moved, and I did get extra attention from my waiters and the maitre d so there's that. 

Good point.  It saves more space to have one large table than 4 small ones.

 

Nowadays people are probably less likely to share tables with strangers, especially during the holidays when many families are traveling and solo passengers will not fit in with other families.

 

I assumed you showered before dinner so that wasn’t the reason why no one was at your table?

[harryfat1]

54 minutes ago, HeyJut said:

Hi Harry. I’ve read many of your previous reviews and enjoyed them immensely as I am this one. I missed the Navigator one, so I will have to try to find that. I have never been on a Royal cruise. I think I commented on a previous review of yours that I got off of the Majestic Princess the week before you did. I did just get off of the Carnival Celebration almost 2 weeks ago and enjoyed that, I went solo. Your sons have definitely grown up. And your wife is lovely. Missed not seeing the in-laws.

I am the opposite of you as I enjoy the ship and definitely enjoy the balcony. I’m still timid when going solo about going out into the ports so I just enjoyed the ship.

Hi,

 

Thanks for reading another installment.  I have been receiving constant notifications these past few days from your reactions to the old posts from the beginning. 

 

You have come a long way in the past few days to be “live” with us. It’s probably equivalent to binge-watching 2 seasons of Game of Thrones in one week…

 

You should give Royal Caribbean a try.  Although at these high prices, you can wait awhile to try one of their ships. Every cruise line is different yet similar.

 

Now I'm curious - what brings you over to the RCI boards to read this trip report if you are not sailing on an RCI ship?

 

We will be on the sister ship of the Carnival Celebration on the Carnival Jubilee this December. No inlaws for the Odyssey cruise but they are slated to join us as a group of 11 going to Texas as I have never sailed out of Galveston before so looking forward to that. 

 

I am already planning to go and see the Space Center in Houston either pre or post-cruise. We saw the space shuttle when we were in LA a couple of years ago so looking forward to seeing more space-related exhibits in Houston.