ShirleysJourneys

Odyssey of the Seas – Royal Caribbean

In September, 2021, we were privileged to sail on the Odyssey of the Seas – one of the newest Royal Caribbean ships at the time, and a member of the Quantum Class of ships in the fleet which includes the Anthem, Ovation, Quantum and Spectrum. She is beautiful!

There is just so much to see on this ship. One of the most impressive venues is 270 with floor-to-ceiling windows for views during the day and an amazing computerized screen and a stage that transforms the venue into a stunning theater.

A library is located on deck 6 to the rear of 270. During the pandemic restart, they took out all the books! I guess that was one way to eliminate the transfer of cooties. There are tables and chairs here which provides a nice space for playing games. During the pandemic they had signs on the tables saying, “unavailable.” I am definitely ready for things to be available again.

But 270 is not the only entertainment venue on the ship. They have a typical theater on the front of the ship, too,

and a two-story music hall where they offered trivia, bingo and live music.

The Casino is located next to the Music Hall.

But theaters and casinos are not the only venues of entertainment. There are many other entertainment options for folks.

The Flowrider (complimentary)

The North Star. When we were onboard, they were giving complimentary rides on port days with a reservation. (Must make reservations ASAP onboard. It books up quickly.) Rides on sea days were for an extra fee.

IFly – Sky diving simulator (for an extra fee)

This is one of the workers showing off his skills.

Sky Pad Bungee Trampolines. (Complimentary) and we chose to wear the virtual reality simulators while jumping. The game made us think we were animated characters collecting candy while on a race. (EDITED: As of March 31,2023. The Skypad bungee experience has been removed from all the Royal Caribbean ships. The dome is still there but the area is going to be repurposed for other activities. They are removing the bungee trampolines.)

Soccer Billiards (complimentary)

Chess – Also notice the running/walking track. It circles the entire deck.

Twister

No thanks. I have a hard enough time just getting up off the floor.

Rock Climbing

The Sportsplex has arcade games (for a fee) and offers multiple complimentary activities during the day: They set up pickleball courts at times and have open play basketball games. I tried the archery and the bumper cars when those were offered. Zone Zero is a virtual reality swashbuckling adventure for an extra fee. There was no way to get great pictures here, but take my word for it. That was a lot of fun.

You will see that I am wearing a mask. Masks were required at all indoor venues during our sailing since it was one of the first sailings after the pandemic cruise restart.

There are several pools onboard including a splash pad for the younger guests.

The Solarium tends to be a calm area on the ship. There are small pools, whirlpools, and lots of lounge chairs for relaxing

The Solarium may only be open for older individuals, but there are dedicated spaces for kids, too.

Splashaway Bay …

They also have dedicated kids’ clubs. This is the entrance for Adventure Ocean –

They even had pandemic signs geared for the kids.

A complimentary, well-equipped fitness center is available. The staff also offers some fitness classes for a fee.

After all that activity, it is time to eat!

The Main Dining Room spans three decks and it is located mid-ship which is very different from most ships with main dining primarily in the aft.

There are other complimentary dining venues around the ship. The Windjammer Marketplace is the huge buffet area onboard. The Windjammer has multiple food and drink stations and is typically open all day. Since we sailed in September of 2021 and the capacity was only at about 30%, they only had the Windjammer open for breakfast and lunch. They closed at 3PM to clean and deeply sanitize. Guests had to choose an alternate dining option for dinner and snacks.

There is no shortage of desserts. I decided to get a variety……

Good thing there is a walking track and a gym onboard!

I don’t drink alcohol, and I don’t drink many soft drinks, but I do enjoy Specialty Coffee – Caramel, yum!! So I usually purchase a coffee card which allows 15 specialty coffees for one set price. (A large coffee will sometimes require two punches – depending on who serves the coffee.). My guess is that the coffee card will eventually disappear in favor of an electronic version loaded to the guest’s Seapass card. (Princess cruise lines has already done this.)

On the Odyssey there are two locations for my specialty coffee fix. One is here in the Windjammer.

One of my favorite venues is the 270 Cafe. They serve custom salads, and pre-made sandwiches at breakfast and lunch, and they have pastries, fruit and dessert, and other light fare. This is where I liked to get my specialty coffee.

The Solarium Bistro at the front of the ship is a smaller version of the large Windjammer marketplace buffet. It is great for a quick bite.

Sorrento’s Pizza is another complimentary venue and the pizza is great! It is also conveniently located beside Cafe Promenade where there is a self-serve beverage station and some snack, fruit and dessert options.

If you are in the mood for tex-mex food, El Loco Fresh is located on the lido deck near the pools.

With so many complimentary eating options, one might wonder why anyone would pay extra to go to a specialty restaurant. That’s a valid argument, but the specialty restaurants are AMAZING! I recommend splurging on at least one during a cruise. Often, guests can pre-purchase a package of two or more at a discounted rate. If you have a specific time you like to eat dinner, though, be sure to make reservations quickly so that you can get the time slot you want. Hint: If you like lobster, we found that it was offered on the menu in the main dining room on the second formal night of the cruise. So, you might want to check the main dining room menus for the week on the app and avoid choosing lobster night as your specialty dining night.

Giovanni’s serves Italian specialties

Visit Izumi for sushi and other Asian inspired items.

Teppanyaki for your typical dinner with an entertaining Japanese cooking show

Chops Grill for some of the best steaks at sea

Playmakers Sports Bar is located within the sportsplex area and is a venue that has typical sports bar food like burgers, nachos, fries, pulled pork and onion rings. I highly recommend the onion rings! Their menu is a’ la carte pricing.

Wonderland – the Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant. This is a unique venue for sure. If you are a skittish or picky eater who wants to recognize your food, you might be uncomfortable, but if you are adventurous, this is a fun experience. We did not eat at Wonderland on this ship as we had heard that they did not have the costumed characters. We will wait for this experience on the Symphony of the Seas in another month.

Of course there is a spa and salon. They offer hair treatments, manicures, massage, and a thermal spa which has heated stone chairs, rainforest shower room, steam room and dry heat chamber.

The Ladies’ changing room is impressive. There are large showers here, too, which is convenient after using the facilities or if your shower in your stateroom is just too cramped. I didn’t go into the men’s changing room but I assume the facilities are just as nice

The ship is stunning. The artwork is beautiful and sometimes quirky, and it is fun to just go exploring. I will close this post with more pictures. I hope you enjoy exploring along with me.

Bolero’s – with Live Latin music in the evenings.

Crown and Compass Pub – Often had acoustic guitar and small band performances

Bionic Bar where people order drinks and the robots mix them

The Guest Services team is always ready to help.

Unboxed is the convenience market if you forgot to pack something. Everything is in vending machines and purchased on your account by using your Seapass card (room key)

They offer perks if you book your next cruise while on your current cruise. Your travel agent (hopefully me) will still be listed as your agent of record if you tell them.

Saint Thomas, USVI 2022

There are two cruise ports at St. Thomas. When we sailed in 2017, we docked at Havensight.

This time we were on a much larger ship and we docked at Crown Bay which is a newer port but farther from downtown.

The Crown Bay Port area is relatively small. Cruise ship tours meet up just outside the ship along the pier and are escorted to their waiting transport whether it be motor coach, open-air sightseeing taxi-buses, or other boats docked at the nearby marina.

Back in 2017, prior to hurricanes Ima and Maria that devastated much of the island. We went into town and booked a local island tour on one of the open-air taxis.

The price was $25 per person, and I remembered that we stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks, spent time at a large souvenir store on the mountaintop overlooking Meghan’s Bay, and stopped to watch a steel drum demonstration at another overlook. Then we spent some time walking around the downtown area. That was a really good tour.

In the Fall of 2021, we took one of the “return to cruising” itineraries after the worst of the pandemic was over. The Open Air Taxis were operating.

But at that time, masks were required everywhere and it was HOT, so we only took a shared taxi at $6.00 per person round trip to the downtown area to walk around a little. I was curious to see how much was changed since the 2017 hurricanes. The downtown area seemed fully repaired and open for business again.

If I had not known there was devastation 4 years prior I would not know now. We did a little shopping at Mr. Tablecloth with a friend who is exceptional at entertaining and home decorating. They had every size and every holiday represented in that store, and it is a table decorator’s dream store.

In May of 2022 we went back to St Thomas and the masking requirements were lifted, so I wanted to see if we could take a similar tour like we took in 2017. I wanted to see what had changed in 4.5 years and how the tour might differ.

One thing that was different is that we boarded the taxi at the cruise port instead of booking it in downtown.

Taxi drivers hustled passengers in order to fill their vehicles to the max. So we had to wait a bit until Daesi (pronounced Daisy) had a full group. The sign said 5 people per row, but everyone in the group sat 4 to a row and when she tried to add more in each row, it was met with resistance. No one wanted to be the 5th on a row and be the person that caused everyone to squeeze uncomfortably together. So she gave up trying to add people to the bus and we left the port area ready to see St. Thomas.

The first stop overlooked Emerald Beach.

The airport is visible in the background.

Then we stopped for a few minutes at a public beach which is maintained by the University of the Virgin Islands. People had the opportunity to purchase items at a food truck and to use the public restrooms.

The next stop gave a clearer view of the airport that serves St. Thomas and St. John.

There was also an almond tree at this stop.

It was nice to just enjoy the views from there.

We went to “The Mountaintop” which seems to be the favorite stop of ALL the open-air tourist buses. It is a huge souvenir store with a bar and an ice-cream kiosk. We have been here on every tour of St. Thomas over the years, and the bulk of our tour time was spent here on the tour this time. It is probable that the drivers are incentivized to bring groups here.

The best part of this store is the viewing porch out back. There are handy diagrams to identify the landmarks we saw. Megan’s Bay is the gorgeous beach.

And of course, I had to get selfies with all the pirate statues.

On the return to the ship we had one more stop and the same steel drum demo and souvenir booth was set up here. (This photo was back in 2017. He still had CD’s but they weren’t selling. Several people tipped him, though.)

The cost for our tour was still $25 per person. I was surprised with gas prices as they are that the tour was not more. But after I got home I compared notes with the last tour we took and realized we did not travel to the eastern side of the island, and we did see nearly as much of St. Thomas this time. Last time we had a beach stop at Secret Harbor Beach and Sunset Grill

– a much nicer beach stop where people had time to sit down at tables to enjoy the view or to even swim a little if they wished, AND we saw the little community of Red Hook and the ferry terminal.

Perhaps gas prices had something to do with our shortened tour, or perhaps the tour from the port here is just not as good as if we had caught the taxi tour from downtown, or perhaps our taxi driver just shortchanged us since we would not let her put 5 people per row. Perhaps the sights we saw back in 2017 were no longer there because of hurricanes Ima and Maria.

I guess that is something to discover next time we go to the island.

Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

This private island is owned by Norwegian Cruise line. We last visited in October 2019. Ships anchor and transport guests by tender to the island.

Beach chairs are plentiful and complimentary. We were instructed to pick up pool towels from the ship and bring them with us for the day if we wanted a towel.

We stepped on to pretty, white sand.

At the entrance, there are complimentary beach wheel chairs available for guests who need them. Unfortunately, they don’t provide someone to push them.

This is basically a beach day on our cruise itinerary.

There are some shore excursions available here: a visit to Singray City; a catamaran and snorkel tour; a kayak tour; and swimming with the pigs, but most people just hang out at the beach, though some go parasailing or rent a wave runner. A zip line is currently under construction and should be available soon.

The island has snorkel equipment for rent. When we visited, (2019) fins and snorkel could be rented for $19. Vests were $6. Stand-up paddle boards were $27, and foam floats were $16.

There were three food venues on the island, and all of them were complimentary. The taco shack offered fish, beef, or chicken soft tacos.

Jumbey offered burgers, hotdogs and the fixin’s.

And on the far end of the island, a food truck offered BBQ, ceviche, and they even had potato chips – my favorite snack food.

Guests who purchased the NCL drink package could use their package on the island, and those without a drink package could purchase individual drinks with their ship key card. But there are several drink stations for complimentary ice and water, tea and fruit punch and desserts.

I am always on search of the quietest section of the island. Upon entrance, most people miss the turn to the immediate right past the straw market where there is a fairly calm swimming area with swings. But to find the calmest area we needed to walk all the way to the far end of the beach. Otherwise, the music is playing and the entertainment staff is encourage guests to line dance and play beach games.

Ahh, this island does have a good many palm and mangrove trees, so shade is available. We left the ship early enough to secure a nice, shady spot in the calm section of beach so we could read, nap and watch the water. If we had not found a spot with natural shade, I was prepared to rent an umbrella or a clamshell for the day. Umbrellas were $21 and clam shells were $40. I walked into the water a couple of times to cool off. Upon stepping into the water, I noticed very quickly that the water is very rocky and those rocks could be slippery. Water shoes are a must!

I enjoy the cruise line’s private islands. In a few months, I plan to visit Royal Caribbean’s re-vamped island of Coco Cay. As we tendered to Great Stirrup Cay, we could see a Royal Caribbean ship docked at Coco Cay and the newly constructed water park there. Be on the lookout for a post about that port.