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]

So we stood in line at 8:45 for the 9 PM entrance. 

 

 

If you think you can “sneak in” when your time slot is at a different time, think again as they check the time of your ticket while you are in line.  There were some people that tried to be in line at 8:45 for their 9:30 time slot and were told they couldn’t be in line that early.  So you can be late, but not early.

 

That being said, I don’t know if you signed up for the 4:30 time slot when it’s at a cheaper rate but show up at the 7:30 premium time slot, would they not allow you to be in line at 7:30 and instead tell you to come back at 9 PM, the next “non-premium” time slot?

 

 

[harryfat1]

Anyway, let’s stand in line with my new set of BFFs.

 

 

At around 8:55, they started to allow the 9 PM people to enter the lobby.  I saw one dude come up at 8:55 and was really surprised/upset to find out that he has to stand in line to get inside the building.  I guess he assumed he could just waltz in 5 minutes before his time slot and not account for 200+ people ahead of him…

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

We are inside the lobby of ESB.  Surprised they didn’t let more people inside as there’s plenty of space inside the lobby area.  Maybe because we are the first group outside of the premium pricing range they want me to ensure we don’t go up and see any sunset.

 

As CC is owned by the same organization that runs Tripadvisor, here’s a plug for that website with the viewers over there ranking ESB as the top attraction in the world. 

 

Not sure what criteria the voters were using but I wouldn’t vote ESB as the top attraction in the world...

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Similar to being on rides at Disney parks, you have some pre-show photo opts for ESB.  Maybe that's why some people love it so much?

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have animated movies in the background recreating the building process of ESB as well as photo props

[harryfat1]

Lots of famous movies were filmed here as well and celebrities have visited ESB in the past with their pictures displayed on the wall screens on the way to the elevators

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

OK, It’s time to line up to go up the elevators

 

 

Even the elevator ride has a theme as they projected animations above the elevator as you go up

 

 

The first platform you get to is the 80^th floor as you get more pre-show props

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

[harryfat1]

Then you go up to the 86^th floor for the main observation deck. 

 

If you have extra money to burn, you can go up even higher on the 102^nd floor for an even higher viewing experience. 

 

No thanks.  Not paying extra for the difference of 16 floors.

 

We are here.  Spectacular view of the NYC night scene.  This is probably the best night viewing of all 5 observation decks as you don’t have a glass barrier which creates a reflection glare at night time to blemish your pictures. 

 

Yes, the metallic wires are ugly in the day time but at night time, it’s not as obtrusive and you can sneak your cell phone in tween the slots to take some nice pictures

 

Although it’s always scary to be sticking your phone too far out as one hard bump from the dude next to you and your $1K camera could be gone

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Looking up at the top

 

 

The building to the right with a pointy thing is the Summit One and if you look closely near the top, the purple region is where we were on day 2

 

 

 

This is the wired fence I referenced earlier/  Daytime would be ugly.  Nightime, you can just take a picture through the wide openings.  

 

As it's not glass like the other observation decks, you have no worries about nighttime glares.  Best place for nighttime NYC scenery

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

How about that?  Take a picture (or 20)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Looking south, we see the One World in the middle and New Jersey to the right

 

 

A tad blurry with nighttime zoom but you can see the Statue of Liberty out in the middle of Liberty Island all lit up.  We never did take the Staten Island Ferry late at night to see the Statue lit up at night

 

 

 

Brooklyn Bridge at night

 

 

 

Summit One

 

 

 

The Edge - you can see the platform sticking out near the top of the building to give you the feeling that you are at the outside edge of the building

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

After more than enough NYC nighttime pictures, it’s time to leave.  You have the option to stand in a long line to take the elevator down to the original 80^th floor or walk down 6 flights of stairs on your own.  We opted to walk down

 

 

As with all observation decks/amusement parks/Cruise ships, ESB tries to get you to buy more photos but we bought enough from One Summit so it was an easy pass.

 

 

 

Of course, there’s the obligatory gift shop (aka visiting uncle in prison)

 

 

Last pictures of ESB and then we are done and time to look for the subway station.

 

[harryfat1]

As I mentioned before, you need to know if you are going UPDOWN or DOWNTOWN as some stations like this one only go one way so if you are going north like us, this is the one to take but if you are going south, you need to take the DOWNTOWN subway entrance as they don’t connect if they only say one direction. 

 

Trying to figure up which subway station to enter - see the sign for this one says UPTOWN

 

 

Across the street the other one says DOWNTOWN.  Not taking this one

 

 

 

It was 11 PM by the time we headed for the subway to be back to the hotel before midnight and shower.  Think I went to bed around 1 AM that night as I am always the last one to take a shower

 

Distance walked for the day = 9 miles

 

This concludes day 7 of the trip report

 

 

 

 

 

[rncruiser]

Beautiful pictures from the Empire State Building. You were definitely right to wait until after sunset to go. 

[loug1601]

Harry,

As usual, your trip report is fantastic! As you stated, you are from San Francisco and have not visited many tourist attractions. I am from NJ and never go to NYC. Funny how things work out. You have a beautiful family, and you are still your witty self!

 

Pat

[NHProud]

5 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for the info.  What email account did you use?

 

Wow.  Private tour of the Louvre.  I heard that the place is crazy busy with crowds.

 

We are not museum people but I guess it's obligatory to see the Louvre just to check it off the list.  We considered going to the Met Museum in NYC but replaced it with something else on day 9.

 

 

It was to @outlook.com.  .

 

You may be able to book an entry time at the Louvre. The Met Art Museum in NYC has a rooftop garden , bar and sort of a snack restaurant with views of Central Park.  Museum cafés are great for a fast bite plus they are usually inexpensive, clean and comfortable for a solo traveler while husband is working. 
 

[rncruiser]

14 hours ago, NHProud said:

It was to @outlook.com.  .

 

You may be able to book an entry time at the Louvre. The Met Art Museum in NYC has a rooftop garden , bar and sort of a snack restaurant with views of Central Park.  Museum cafés are great for a fast bite plus they are usually inexpensive, clean and comfortable for a solo traveler while husband is working. 
 

I have never found museum cafes in NYC to be inexpensive, though the one at MOMA wasn’t bad. I found the prices in London and Paris museums to be much better, both as far as cost and quantity/quality of food. Even eating at the outdoor kiosk at the Eiffel Tower was not expensive and the eclairs were delicious. 

[NHProud]

2 hours ago, rncruiser said:

I have never found museum cafes in NYC to be inexpensive, though the one at MOMA wasn’t bad. I found the prices in London and Paris museums to be much better, both as far as cost and quantity/quality of food. Even eating at the outdoor kiosk at the Eiffel Tower was not expensive and the eclairs were delicious. 

It’s all relative , of course .  Compared to sit down restaurants with table service a museum café might save you some cash . Have you read the book “ Personal Librarian “ about the Morgan librarian? According to my SIL it is a must read and on my to read list. 

[harryfat1]

On 8/4/2024 at 5:36 PM, rncruiser said:

Beautiful pictures from the Empire State Building. You were definitely right to wait until after sunset to go. 

Thanks. 

 

NYC has nice nighttime scenery from the observation deck.  I think the ESB is the best option as it’s outside without the reflections generated by the glass.  I believe the higher 102^nd floor of ESB is enclosed inside so paying more won’t give you better pictures – just a higher perspective.

 

For better or worse, we vacation through our cameras (cell phones) so I always think in terms of how to get the best pictures and then work backward from there on where to book.

 

Made the mistake of going to One World in the afternoon sun but it was next to the 9/11 Museum and it made no sense to come back at another time

 

[harryfat1]

On 8/4/2024 at 5:37 PM, loug1601 said:

Harry,

As usual, your trip report is fantastic! As you stated, you are from San Francisco and have not visited many tourist attractions. I am from NJ and never go to NYC. Funny how things work out. You have a beautiful family, and you are still your witty self!

 

Pat

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the kind words.  Much appreciated.

 

It’s always fun (albeit time-consuming) to write one of these trip reports.  I wasn’t sure there would be much of a readership on a 10-day NYC land-based-only vacation here on a cruise forum but I’m glad you and others are reading along so I'm not just talking to myself.

 

Tourists always see a city from different perspectives than locals do.

 

Maybe one day I will go to Alcatraz and cross that off my list of local places to see.  Need to go there during the non-summer months to avoid all the scummy tourists…🤪

Edited August 6 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

23 hours ago, NHProud said:

It was to @outlook.com.  .

 

You may be able to book an entry time at the Louvre. The Met Art Museum in NYC has a rooftop garden , bar and sort of a snack restaurant with views of Central Park.  Museum cafés are great for a fast bite plus they are usually inexpensive, clean and comfortable for a solo traveler while husband is working. 
 

I seem to have bad luck with an old email I no longer use as now I can’t access the old Outlook account. 

 

I created the cheapodad@outlook.com account a few years ago when cruisers can email me with questions on my trip report before were too intimated to ask questions in the open forum. 

 

But since I stopped cruising for a while, I stopped checking the account and now I can’t log back in.

 

Maybe I need to create a new account called cheapodad1@outlook.com to match the 1 suffix here at CC…🤪

 

Can you copy and paste the article here?

 

For the Louvre, they force you to select a time in 30-minute increments when you buy the ticket so it’s a timed thing, similar to observation decks in NYC.

 

Supposedly the line to see the Mona Lisa is insane from the YouTube videos.

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

On 8/3/2024 at 11:49 PM, perfect match said:

Harry, I didn’t realize that you and your wife as big Disney fans as we are. We got married at Disneyland in California. When we decided to move from CT to FL we drew a circle on the map around WDW that would make it an easy drive to get to the parks in an hour or less and have been Annual Passholders ever since. I could go on but let’s get back to your awesome NYC trip instead.

Nancy,

 

Being a Disney fan, you might be interested to check out Mark’s @h20skibum trip report on the RCI boards.  He just got off the cruise ship and is spending time at WDW now with his family.

 

Here’s the link as I just dropped in a post on his report:

 

 

 

In talking with him, I pulled up my old WDW planner that I put together from a few years ago. Only for the 9.2+ anal level people:

 

[harryfat1]

Onward with the trip report as we have 2 more full days left on this vacation:

 

Day 8, July 3 – NY Public Library/Bryant Park/Hudson Yard/US Intrepid Museum/High Line/Little Island

 

Yeah, as you can see, we went to a lot of places this day.

 

As we didn’t get back to the hotel until late last night from ESB, we slept in a bit and didn’t leave the hotel until nearly 11 AM.  I believe we went to the grocery store a couple of blocks away that morning to stock up on a couple more gallons of water to have enough for the rest of the vacation.

 

Hotel breakfast

 

 

The first 2 places, NY Public Library and Bryant Park are easy walking distance from the hotel, and then the rest we would need to take the subway.

 

Let's start with the easy walking part on Google Maps:

 

 

 

 

 

[rncruiser]

9 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

 

For the Louvre, they force you to select a time in 30-minute increments when you buy the ticket so it’s a timed thing, similar to observation decks in NYC.

 

Supposedly the line to see the Mona Lisa is insane from the YouTube videos.

 

 

 

Insane doesn’t begin to describe it. It’s barely even a line, just a mob of people. You basically push through to get to the fromt

and a security guard gives you about 2 seconds to look and snap a pic. Here’s mine, now you don’t have to bother going. 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

You have to go through a security bag check just to be allowed inside