Stealthdog

Here is a better pic of the Beyond arriving. It looks like we will be boarding her next to Holland American Neuw Amsterdam, also shown.

Will let you know. We are already in port on the Odyssey and watching the Beyond arrive now!

Map of Labadee - I don't think I have posted this yet. I didn't see these on the ship, but you can get it when you get off the ship.

Also wanted to show the wonderful views out the windows of the 5th Deck Specialty Restaurants. 🤣 These are the views from Chops and Giovanis.

Whatever issue that had the Robotic Bar out of order appears to be fixed. We saw people using it two nights ago, so it should be available for future cruises (assuming no other issues arise).

I've been putting off the Voom review and want to finish that before we head to dinner. The surf and stream on the Odyssey is outstanding. I've been on several cruise ships (in the last few years), where it takes minutes to upload a website because the speed is so poor. Whatever Odyssey has done, they have resolved any internet at sea issues I have seen in the past. I mentioned earlier you can use your TV in your cabin to access your phone apps for Netflix. I assume you could also link access streaming services equally as well. The instructions on how to do it is simple on the TV. We downloaded a couple of movies and TV shows, and the downloads were complete in less than 20-30 seconds. I posted a pic below on where to find streaming services on your stateroom cabin. The other aspect of the Surf and Stream that amazed me was with online gaming. I was able to connect to a server on a popular multiplayer game through my Steam account and tested that connection for several minutes with no disruption. The internet speed on the ship appears to be as good as what I have at home. If you have kids or grandkids (or you are) that are avid gamers, whether it is first person shooters, strategy games, or MMORPGs, they will have access on the Odyssey through the Surf and Stream. The only limitation we are finding with Voom is the # of devices - we have a 1 device package and share that with 3 devices (2 smart phones and a laptop). With this experience, I think Voom may be one of the best value purchases now.

This may be an unpopular opinion based on comments I've heard on ship about The Book and Showgirl, but Showgirl is hands down the best show on the ship. Everything about it was outstanding. In terms of Cruise Ship productions, IMHO it was better than Hairspray on the Symphony but not at the level of the Lion King on the Disney Dream. It is traditional production style with 5 singers and a little more than a dozen dancers. 3 of the singers were phenomenal, one of the female vocalists is probably the best cruise ship production vocalist I have heard. The costumes and dancers were all fun and good at what they do, with a little bit if aerial dancing at the end. The only critique (and its not about the performance) I have is there were about 15-20 staff members sitting in the audience, and they were hooting and yelling almost every scene, which was a little annoying. I get they were supporting their friends, so it really didn't interfere with my enjoyment, but I could see how people may be bothered, especially if they were sitting right next to them. Overall, Royal should be very proud of themselves with Showgirl and I would recommend everyone go see it. Get there early to get your seats.

We did the Spa tour and attended the Spa Raffle on Day 1. Royal does a better job with a number of things compared to other cruise lines, but one where they are lacking is with the Spa space. The Odyssey does have a relaxation lounge for people waiting for their spa appointments, and 1 sauna and 1 steam room that are both co-ed. They do offer day passes for use of the sauna/steam room. We find the Thermal Suites on Celebrity and NCL to be worth the cost and skipped the Spa on the Odyssey. The gym looked really good on the first day and my first thought was it was big enough for this size ship. But, going to the gym on Day 2 and Day 4, I quickly found it gets packed especially in the morning. It didn't help that many of the stationary cardio machines were out of order. It still offers a decent variety of cardio machines (bikes, ellipticals, rowers), some free weights and some machine weights. If you want to get a regular workout in the gym, you may want to consider going in the afternoon than the morning to avoid the congestion.

The Seaplex is awesome. If I was a teenager, I would probably spend my whole day there. There are two levels to the Seaplex, with Playmakers on the second level. The venue is used for many different activities - shows, bumper cars, volleyball, pickleball, basketball, soccer, badminton, and a few others that I probably didn't notice. Most nights they have a couple hours of bumper cars free time. Last night they had a game show The Quest, which was interesting. Throughout the day, the staff rearranged the sports area to set up nets, goals, and bring down basketball rims. Outside the sports space (but still inside the venue), are ping pong tables, pool tables, arcade games. There is just alot going on. For Playmakers, last Sunday was ridicuously packed. Between NFL games and World Cup games, there were never any seats/tables. I'd guess there were probably 5 different NFL games being showed. Not sure how they pick which games go on which TVs - it may be by customer request. Below are some pics of the Seaplex areas.

Here are some pics of Loco Fresh. I included the hot sauces in case that is something you like and want to see what is on board.

Day 6 we watched the Headliner Showtime: Jamie Allan in the theater. We first tried going to the 8PM act, and the theater was already packed at about 745, so we went to the 10PM act instead. The 10PM showing also filled really quickly. The filling of the theater is something we noticed with a few other shows as well - people on this sailing tended to get there 20-30 minutes before showtime and many would block several seats for family members of friends who weren't there yet. Jamie Allan was an entertaining magician, on par with other magicians we have seen on cruise ships. He included crowd participation in his acts, which is always fun. Its worth going to his show - if you pay enough attention, you may be able to figure out how he does what he does. 🙂

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.

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.

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.

We are continuing the second leg of a B2B (or side to side) and board the Celebrity Beyond this Sunday in Fort Lauderdale. We are currently finishing our first leg on the Royal Odyssey of the Seas. This will be our 4th Celebrity sailing, and have also sailed Royal, Norwegian, and Disney. I plan this review to be mostly live, but I might have some portions that will be done post cruise. Some information in case people have specific questions about cabin, dining, status perks, etc: - We booked a Concierge Class balcony but upgraded to Aqua Class in the bid-up process. We are excited for that because we have only sailed Aqua Class on Celebrity. - We will spend most of our time in the Blu restaurant but will try a few of the new MDRs and may go to one Specialty Restaurant. If we do, it will probably be Eden. - We bought the non-alcohol package and are bringing 3 bottles of wine on board with us (our TA has a fourth bottle waiting for us on board). - We have Select status. - We purchased an internet package. Itinerary for the sailing: Dec 11 - Fort Lauderdale Dec 12 - At Sea Dec 13 - At Sea Dec 14 - St Maarten Dec 15 - St Thomas Dec 16 - Who knows....keeps changing....looks like we are back to Puerto Plata Dec 17 - At Sea Dec 18 - Fort Lauderdale We have been to St Maarten and St Thomas a couple times each, and Puerto Plata for both resort stays, and cruise stops. We booked all of our excursions for this sailing thru a private vendor (Shore Excursions Group). We don't know yet what we will do in Puerto Plata yet because the itinerary just changed again 2 days ago. I'll plan to post menus, the daily, and the entertainment schedule. Ask any question and I'll try to get the answer, post the picture, or provide whatever you want. When this review is done, I'd like to do a follow-up comparison of the Royal Odyssey and Celebrity Beyond since they are both new ships in those fleets, similar sizes, and alot of people seem to have questions about differences between Royal and Celebrity. Below is a link to the current live review of the Odyssey if anyone has interest reading about it. Live Review, Odyssey of the Seas, Dec 3-11 - Page 5 - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Day 7 Daily

Day 6 Daily