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]

There’s a TGI Fridays down the street from the theater so we just walked over there and after we ordered a takeout from the phone app and brought it back to the hotel to eat as you saw in the room picture previously they had a small kitchenette area that had plates/forks/teapot for people to eat in the room.

 

I do appreciate the clean streets of Dania Beach.  If this was back home, the area underneath these overpasses would be filled with homeless encampments.  Not in Dania Beach.

 

 

Last picture of the night as we made it back to the hotel with the take-out.

 

 

This concludes day minus 1 of the trip report.  I know it hasn’t been terribly exciting so far as we try to get our bearing straight after landing in Florida but it will get more interesting the rest of the trip report

[harryfat1]

Day 0:

 

So this is the “extra” vacation day we got for coming out to Florida one day earlier.  Since we had already visited Fort Lauderdale’s downtown area via the water taxi years ago, we wanted to explore the southern part of the region and visit Hollywood Beach for the day.

 

Hotel breakfast area. Lots of families/cruisers eating at 8:40. As we were eating, we saw more families getting off early flights and trying to check in similar to us yesterday as the cruise crowd started to gather for the big Holiday weekend sailing.

 

 

Another picture of the display for the cruise shuttle info.

 

 

Money-saving tip:  If you want to utilize their services, DO NOT go sign up as instructed by the display sign as that would cost you $15/pp. Instead, go to the black podium, grab their business card, scan the QR code, and from that link, you will pay less with the promo code than the list price at the display.  You are welcome…

 

Yeah, helps to be CFKACD to always look for discounts even though I won’t need it…

 

[harryfat1]

My fuzzy old-man memory of Fort Lauderdale was it was a pretty warm place during previous visits, even in December.  But in 2023, it wasn’t the case.  As a matter of fact, the weekend before our sailing – the one that Mark @h20skibum was on, it was downright UGLY weather. 

 

This was Fort Lauderdale less than a week before our visit

 

 

We didn’t get any big rain during our visit, but it certainly wasn’t hot by any means. 

 

Anyway, after breakfast and just relaxing in the hotel waiting for the sun to come out a little bit so it won’t be so cold at the beach area, we then headed out.

 

Hotel breakfast area with no crowd.at 11 AM

 

 

It was a short Lyft ride to Hollywood Beach from the hotel.  Less than $20.  Margaritaville is the biggest hotel in the area so I mapped it there as an easy landmark place to be dropped off.

[harryfat1]

So we made it to Margaritaville.

 

 

Nice lobby area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

CFKACD not willing to pay for coffee in a hotel.  I’ll stick with the complimentary coffee from our hotel.

 

 

After the lobby area, the pool and the beach access are in the back

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, there's a very WIDE bike path that many people were walking on when they shouldn't be as they would be run over.  

 

I overheard a couple of elderly ladies on their bikes (I assume they were locals) scolding the tourists who were clueless and were blocking the bike path...

 

[harryfat1]

Fairly overcast day.  When you are at home pre-planning your vacation and watching the endless number of YouTube videos on the area, they always show the hot sunny skies and when you get there, it’s not exactly as sunny as you had hoped.  Oh, well, you can’t plan for the weather.  Good thing we had warmer clothes with us.

 

So the Hollywood Beach area is south of Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades.  The beachfront area is called Broadwalk.  Not Boardwalk.  But Broadwalk.  People will correct you if you say it wrong.

 

In the warmer days, I would imagine there would be tons of people at the beach and the area would be hopping.  During our visit, there were enough people (mainly tourists renting bikes or walking around) that came out later in the afternoon to keep it from being dead but not super crowded on a mostly overcast December weekday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

After walking around for a bit, we decided to do the highlight of the day – renting a 2-row surrey bike to ride around the Broadwalk.  Yes, it’s touristy as heck but there were a lot of groups doing it as well and I have always wanted to do one from all the tourist spots I have seen in the past.

 

I did my research online and these guys got good Google ratings so I went with them as there were 3 bike rental places in the area and they all charged the same price so there’s no savings with anyone over another

 

 

 

 

 

You have to leave your ID with them as collateral in case you don’t come back with the bike.  The dude looked at my ID and said, “Oh, CALI”.  Yeah, he’s not from the West Coast…

 

So we put the boys in front to make them work and steer while the wife and I took pictures/videos in the back row.

 

 

These bikes are heavy so it was a fair amount of effort to pedal.  Especially against the wind.

[harryfat1]

Lots of good photo opts with the bike:

 

 

 

Here are couple of short video clips:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[perfect match]

Another over packer checking in here! DH is too. I like having choices and the ability to be flexible with what I’m wearing when my plans change as they always seem to do. Also, it never fails that if I do manage to pack the minimum clothing items inevitably one of those basic items manages to become unwearable at the worst possible moment during my trip. 
 

About that GPS of yours doing strange things, we spent a week this past fall in Weston, FL, just southwest of FLL. Right off the bat, as soon as we got into the area my normally very reliable GPS went crazy! I decided it must be haunted 👻 or something. It often had my location blocks away from where it actually was. It sent me the long way around to get places like yours did. It completely missed telling or showing me highway exits that I needed to take. They weren’t new highways or exits either. It was set to give me spoken directions. Sometimes it did, sometimes it wouldn’t say a word, the list went on and on. It’s still no entirely back to normal. I had to resort to using maps to get around! 🤣

 

We rented bikes and rode that same bike path along Hollywood Beach. It was fun, but you’re right about a lot of people not watching where they were going. It wasn’t a crowded day either. We still had fun and were able to cover a lot more territory than we would have if we had walked.

 

I liked your tip about scanning the QR code for the shuttle to get a better price. We have seen sailing out of Port Canaveral lately which we just drive our own car to, but l’ll remember to look for that on the next trip where we have to fly into the port.

 

[JamesEM]

Thanks for the information about Dania/Hollywood Beach areas, I have always stayed in the 17th street area, i.e. Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn, etc.  As for staying at an all exclusive the costs have also gone up.  My thoughts now are booking an older smaller ship, there prices seem more reasonable. 

[KmomChicago]

Hi Harry! I am pleasantly surprised you’re back. We / I have a lot of similarities but you are much funnier than I am, and you taught me the most important lesson about taking the pictures. Seriously that has served me on many cruises, so thank you!!

 

We are more Carnival than RCI and Oasis class was our favorite ship and best cruise as well, but cost and timing have not worked out to bring us back to that class. 
 

We also are frugal but occasionally splurge as one time special situations. One time in Carnival steakhouse, one time in a private cabana on a cruise ship owned island, one Christmas cruise (oddly priced lower than usual). We are going on our first Quantum class (Ovation) in May to Alaska so I am just on page 1 but looking forward to your excellent photos and funny yet carefully reasoned assessments of value for investment. 

[KmomChicago]

Sorry I am a couple days late but Packing: I do a two stage process where I first do a net zero plan. During this phase I consider bulk very seriously. If for example I have a bulky item for formal night but I also have a nice enough item made out of a thinner material, the lower bulk item wins. Sometimes bulky items have to come along but they eat up tons of space so I lean towards thin with layers available to manage colder temperatures.  
 

Two thin tops I can wear with the same light sweater (that can also be handy at other times), that are nice enough for evening but also work for daytime, always win.  I pack extra thin t-shirts, the stretchy form fitting type that are like $5 at Target as they are comfortable, can be layered or just worn alone as shirts, match almost any shorts or pants, and take up hardly any space in luggage as emergency options. 
 

After phase 1 / net zero is done I know how much space is available for contingency clothing. An extra pair of shoes, workout wear, extra sweater, beach towel, may or may not make it in at this point.

[luvtoride]

Kmom, do you use packing cubes within your suitcase when packing?  We have always used them but this time we stepped it up a notch and used “Compression packing cubes”. They really did work well for this trip.  Besides packing for the 8 night cruise, we spent 3 nights in Florida before the cruise and 10 nights in Florida staying with friends after the cruise (and yes, the weather was cool and nasty @harryfat1 most of that time) so we were gone a total of 3 weeks.  I know that it doesn’t impact the weight of what we pack (we did travel by plane to and from Florida so we did have to stay under 50 pounds) but the bigger bulky items do take up less suitcase space using these cubes. 

 

I’m still amazed from the number of people we met on the cruise who pack for the trip in a carry-on size bag,  These people are my hero and I keep encouraging my wife that one day we will pack like that for a big trip!  

 

The only issue with packing for the return was our two Royal Caribbean robes we had delivered to our cabin, using our RCI Credit card points.  They were really nice robes which were great to use while on the ship.  Fortunately, we met up with other friends in Florida, who had driven down (they were spending several weeks in Florida) and we gave them the robes to drive home with them.  Those would have been a problem packing for flying home.  LOL.  

[edspec]

We normally do carry-on for a 7 night cruise and that is with all of us wearing fresh clothes each day. With a carryon you can't buy much in the way of souvenirs so it is a money as well as timesaver.  Our normal souvenirs are dishtowels which are cheap, don't take up much space, and useful.  We also try to wear something old on the original flight that we'll never want to wear again and then we throw those outfits away at the hotel.   

[KmomChicago]

@luvtoride I have not tried the cubes but I have done well with this method where you lay everything in half in and half out of the suitcase and then fold it all in and amazingly stuff takes up less space. They call it the bundling method. 

[harryfat1]

22 hours ago, perfect match said:

Another over packer checking in here! DH is too. I like having choices and the ability to be flexible with what I’m wearing when my plans change as they always seem to do. Also, it never fails that if I do manage to pack the minimum clothing items inevitably one of those basic items manages to become unwearable at the worst possible moment during my trip. 
 

About that GPS of yours doing strange things, we spent a week this past fall in Weston, FL, just southwest of FLL. Right off the bat, as soon as we got into the area my normally very reliable GPS went crazy! I decided it must be haunted 👻 or something. It often had my location blocks away from where it actually was. It sent me the long way around to get places like yours did. It completely missed telling or showing me highway exits that I needed to take. They weren’t new highways or exits either. It was set to give me spoken directions. Sometimes it did, sometimes it wouldn’t say a word, the list went on and on. It’s still no entirely back to normal. I had to resort to using maps to get around! 🤣

 

We rented bikes and rode that same bike path along Hollywood Beach. It was fun, but you’re right about a lot of people not watching where they were going. It wasn’t a crowded day either. We still had fun and were able to cover a lot more territory than we would have if we had walked.

 

I liked your tip about scanning the QR code for the shuttle to get a better price. We have seen sailing out of Port Canaveral lately which we just drive our own car to, but l’ll remember to look for that on the next trip where we have to fly into the port.

 

Yeah, sometimes we can’t blindly follow the GPS instructions as the software isn’t perfect.  One time we were trying to visit a beach in Oregon and Google Maps told us to go through someone’s backyard to the beach.  Ehhh, maybe not…

 

I can imagine how congested the beach area could be in the summer like on July 4.  People and bikes will all be fighting for the narrow road.

 

Oh, yeah, QR code.  Sorry.  I forgot to upload the picture. I got the card from the podium earlier in the trip and took the card to the room but didn’t take a picture of it until later the next day so when I uploaded my picture of the podium, I remembered the event but forgot to upload the picture itself.

 

So here it is.  Not sure if the QR code works via picture upload here on CC. But the card has the business name and phone number so whoever needs a ride can call the place and say the QR code is not working and request a discount over the phone instead.  I think it was $3 cheaper per person as they essentially give you the “group rate” with the discount. 

 

[harryfat1]

19 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Thanks for the information about Dania/Hollywood Beach areas, I have always stayed in the 17th street area, i.e. Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn, etc.  As for staying at an all exclusive the costs have also gone up.  My thoughts now are booking an older smaller ship, there prices seem more reasonable. 

I have always wanted to check out Hollywood Beach as I have seen pictures/videos of the place from a while back to see how different it is compared to the CA beach vibe.

 

In my research, someone said this about the Hollywood Beach area:  Miami is for the party-going folks.  Fort Lauderdale is for the foodies.  Hollywood Beach is for families.  I tend to agree with that broad analysis as there are always exceptions to any general statement.

 

Yeah, I believe RCI mentioned on their earning call a while back urging people to sail on the older vessels as they represent a better value.  Since the menu is the same fleet-wide, what you will be giving up is just the entertainment like water shows/high-tech wizardry shows at 270 but for people that don’t care for that kind of stuff or have already seen it, the older ships are better value.

 

[harryfat1]

16 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Sorry I am a couple days late but Packing: I do a two stage process where I first do a net zero plan. During this phase I consider bulk very seriously. If for example I have a bulky item for formal night but I also have a nice enough item made out of a thinner material, the lower bulk item wins. Sometimes bulky items have to come along but they eat up tons of space so I lean towards thin with layers available to manage colder temperatures.  
 

Two thin tops I can wear with the same light sweater (that can also be handy at other times), that are nice enough for evening but also work for daytime, always win.  I pack extra thin t-shirts, the stretchy form fitting type that are like $5 at Target as they are comfortable, can be layered or just worn alone as shirts, match almost any shorts or pants, and take up hardly any space in luggage as emergency options. 
 

After phase 1 / net zero is done I know how much space is available for contingency clothing. An extra pair of shoes, workout wear, extra sweater, beach towel, may or may not make it in at this point.

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment and for reading another installment.  Yeah, we started cruising more lately (as it seems the rest of the world is cruising as well judging by the crowd and the high costs).

 

How exciting to go on an Alaska cruise.  We have done Alaska 3 times, north and southbound one-way cruises as well as a round trip from Seattle.  You can look at my Alaska Princess cruise pictures to have a preview of your upcoming cruise.

 

Although Alaska packing is a different animal compared to Caribbean packing. Lots more layers and especially in May, expect rain around Ketchikan so no need to pack shorts unless you enjoy the cold.

 

What is your next Carnival cruise?  We have the new Carnival Jubilee booked for this Christmas as we have not sailed on their new Excel class of ships.  So I might see you “over at the other side of the fence” on the Carnival boards 12 months from now when I write up that trip report.

 

[harryfat1]

16 hours ago, luvtoride said:

Kmom, do you use packing cubes within your suitcase when packing?  We have always used them but this time we stepped it up a notch and used “Compression packing cubes”. They really did work well for this trip.  Besides packing for the 8 night cruise, we spent 3 nights in Florida before the cruise and 10 nights in Florida staying with friends after the cruise (and yes, the weather was cool and nasty @harryfat1 most of that time) so we were gone a total of 3 weeks.  I know that it doesn’t impact the weight of what we pack (we did travel by plane to and from Florida so we did have to stay under 50 pounds) but the bigger bulky items do take up less suitcase space using these cubes. 

 

I’m still amazed from the number of people we met on the cruise who pack for the trip in a carry-on size bag,  These people are my hero and I keep encouraging my wife that one day we will pack like that for a big trip!  

 

The only issue with packing for the return was our two Royal Caribbean robes we had delivered to our cabin, using our RCI Credit card points.  They were really nice robes which were great to use while on the ship.  Fortunately, we met up with other friends in Florida, who had driven down (they were spending several weeks in Florida) and we gave them the robes to drive home with them.  Those would have been a problem packing for flying home.  LOL.  

Brian,

 

We each packed carry-on last August for a shorter 4-night Navigator cruise + 1-night pre-cruise vacation. I can’t imagine doing that for an 8 night cruise + 2 nights pre cruise and dressing up due to the Christmas holiday.  I had my suit/2 dress shirts/dress shoes/ties (the whole 9 yards) in the suitcase last month.  Just that alone would take up half of the carry-on.

 

Check out my Christmas tie

 

 

I have a JetBlue credit card that gives me free check-in luggage and 3 other companions going home so there was no extra cost to do a check-in (assuming the luggage arrived on time, which it didn’t…)

 

Leaving SFO, my other credit card gave me a $100 allowance for checking luggage for the whole family so there was a minimal cost to do the check-in luggage other than taking the risk of losing the suitcase

 

[harryfat1]

14 hours ago, edspec said:

We normally do carry-on for a 7 night cruise and that is with all of us wearing fresh clothes each day. With a carryon you can't buy much in the way of souvenirs so it is a money as well as timesaver.  Our normal souvenirs are dishtowels which are cheap, don't take up much space, and useful.  We also try to wear something old on the original flight that we'll never want to wear again and then we throw those outfits away at the hotel.   

Interesting concept of wearing used clothes and discarding them at the cruise port city.  Does that include a jacket/shoes/socks/underwear all in the bin at the hotel?

 

If this concept is adopted by many other cruisers sailing to FL, the hotel dumpsters will be filled with thousands of pairs of pants/shirts/jackets from all the cruisers weekly.  I would love to take a picture of that pile to share on CC...

[harryfat1]

OK, onward with the trip report

 

+++++++++++

 

The shop was located near the middle of the Broadwalk and we decided to head north first. Got as far as the gate area and then headed back south.

 

Another family having fun on their bike as well

 

 

 

This is the edge of the north part with the barrier blocking us from going any more north. I looked at YouTube pre-cruise, there’s a park further north and a Marine Education Center but we didn’t have time to go that far north. Maybe if we had stayed at a hotel/condo nearby for multiple then we would have had time to explore more of the area.

 

At the north end looking south.  Notice the color difference on the walkway?

 

The lighter color is the bike lane.  Don't walk on that or you will be run over by us or other families...   

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

We stopped here and took lots of pictures of the beach area as it was much quieter on the far end of the beach.

 

 

These are condos on the left that you can rent if you want a place with a kitchen and living room to spread out.

 

My wife getting the boys to pose

 

 

Very quiet on the far end of the beach

 

 

Some dude practicing his martial arts 

 

 

We saw many groups/families renting these bikes as well.  Maybe since it was a weekday, the locals were at work so it was mainly the tourists renting the bikes.  Maybe if it was on a weekend with the locals coming out, we’d see more of the non-surrey bikes.  Everyone seemed to be happy riding these bikes as it was a lot of fun.

[harryfat1]

 

 

The bike rental was by the hour and we only rented for an hour and that was enough for us.  If it was 2 hours, then the fun would be gone and it would be more of a painful experience. 

However, do note the area is like 2 miles from one end to the other end. 

 

If you pedal at a leisurely rate and stop and take a lot of pictures like us, you can’t do the entire area in one hour.  We only rode 2/3 of the way and then walked the rest after lunch but if you want to ride the entire route, then maybe 2 hours would better fit your schedule.

 

So when the one-hour rental time was up and we returned the bike and with wobbly legs after getting off, we went to grab some lunch.  After doing some research online, we decided on the “Taco Joint” as it had good reviews.

 

 

[harryfat1]

The restaurant looked quiet and unassuming.  We are not partying folks and not looking for someplace with loud music to eat.

 

 

Here’s a personal observation – I typically avoid restaurants/eateries that employ people on sidewalks trying to get you inside by shoving a menu in your face and telling you how great they are.  They are just trying to grab the unplanned tourists who didn’t check out what good place to eat in the area and just wander about.

 

My attitude is if a place is so great, they would attract people by word of mouth/Internet reviews. People would be packing the place without having to resort to shoving a menu in the face of everyone passing by and trying to hard sell you.

 

The Taco Joint is such a place.  Enough people eating outside at 1:30 but no workers standing by to try to entice you to come in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the taco platter from lunch as it sounded different than an ordinary burrito which I can get anywhere back home.

 

Not gourmet food by any means but it’s a decent price given its location and view of the Broadwalk

 

 

 

 

Edited January 17 by harryfat1