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

[perfect match]

It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve done your research on the NY subway 🚇 system. You’ll have no problem getting around the city. 
 

Thanks for the memories of Akashi Beach. We did a Segway tour to get to the beach with multiple sightseeing stops along the way.  Next i went out on a SeaBob tour from Arashi. After that, some time on the beach for a swim and some refreshments. Our day ended when the owner of the company drove us back to the pier. I believe we visited our crazy aunt in the basement 😀 before we went back on board. I loved every minute of our day, but my arms were so sore from the SeaBob that the next day that I had a hard time doing my hair to get ready for formal night! 😂

[harryfat1]

22 hours ago, perfect match said:

It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve done your research on the NY subway 🚇 system. You’ll have no problem getting around the city. 
 

Thanks for the memories of Akashi Beach. We did a Segway tour to get to the beach with multiple sightseeing stops along the way.  Next i went out on a SeaBob tour from Arashi. After that, some time on the beach for a swim and some refreshments. Our day ended when the owner of the company drove us back to the pier. I believe we visited our crazy aunt in the basement 😀 before we went back on board. I loved every minute of our day, but my arms were so sore from the SeaBob that the next day that I had a hard time doing my hair to get ready for formal night! 😂

Impressive to be able to do the SeaBob and Segway on the same day. I would imagine the arm can be sore to be stretched out for an extended period.

[harryfat1]

After the late lunch, we went to 270 to stretch out and relax a bit.  I think it's obvious that this is our family's favorite place as well.

 

Other people are in the back as well admiring the view

 

 

Silver Seas Ship 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

I don’t remember what we did for the next couple of hours as I have a  2-hour gap in my pictures.  We might have taken a nap back in the cabins after a long morning of bus rides all over the island.

 

Not sure why I took this picture as the ship wasn’t moving.  Maybe just trying to see how far we are from Labadee, our next stop?

 

 

Looking out to the ocean.  I saw a tiny dot (arrow) and it turned out to be an oil rig.  Not surprising as we are very close to Venezuela and they are part of the well-disliked OPEC group

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Since we had time as it was only 5:45, we went up to the top deck to take some pictures of the cruise port area of Aruba.

 

What do you get if you merge soccer with billiards?  You get the RCI version of whatever this is called…

 

 

Every Q-class ship has an oversized animal on the top deck.  For the Odyssey, it’s the pink cat

 

 

[harryfat1]

Since the Seaplex is a multi-use arena, when it’s not being used for bumper car/basketball/table tennis, they use it for laser tag.  For that afternoon, they have it set for it

 

 

Cruise port area of Aruba

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

The Aruba port area looks ok but I’m sure glad we decided to utilize the NorthStar while at Cuaaco instead of here.  Not sure there’s that much more to see here in Aruba if we were higher up

 

 

[harryfat1]

OK.  Done with the view from above, it’s time to get off the ship again similar to Curacao as the ship is docked in town very late until 10 PM and the All Aboard is 9:30, more than enough time to check out the port area.

 

This picture of inside the cruise terminal was taken at 6 PM so a portion of the passengers are already back on the ship eating dinner on early seating.

 

 

 

As I mentioned before, the Aruba cruise terminal is similar to Cozumel where you have a maze of shops inside the complex before walking out. Guess it’s a good thing if you have mobility issues and don’t want to venture too far from the ship but can still visit the crazy aunt in the basement (aka shopping)

[harryfat1]

Now the cruise terminal is a lot less chaotic than at 8:30 this morning. 

 

 

Almost every kiosk is closed and done for the day

 

[harryfat1]

Ahh, yes, the Freewinds ship.  I saw this ship on every YouTube channel when the people got off their cruise ships and walked out of the cruise terminal so I know the ship is docked here year around.

 

 

Only later on someone mentioned the ship was owned by the Church of Scientology.  Then I became curious and looked up the info:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freewinds

 

It’s supposed to be used to train their highest-level members.

 

So be on the lookout for the ship next time you are in Aruba.  Can’t miss it as it’s just adjacent to the cruise ship if you are docked next to the cruise terminal.  If you are docked where the Carnival ship is docked, then you have to walk a bit to see it

[harryfat1]

Here’s the gate to keep the non-cruisers away from the cruise terminal

 

 

The sun will be setting soon

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Obligatory tourist pictures by the I Love Aruba sign. 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t take a picture of the line but there’s a whole long line to get this picture and many people try to cheat/cut in to get their picture. I took a picture of the line when we came back from the tour (check back on post #970) and the line was just as long 4 hours later.

 

What does that say about our society when people can’t even line up properly for a simple tourist picture without cutting/cheating?  Similar to chair hogs' behavior on the ship…

 

Edited February 23 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

Unlike Caruacao where you have a wide open area to take an unobstructed picture of the entire ship, Aruba has many obstructions in the way so you can’t get a “clean shot” of the ship.

 

Not a fan of the Aruba terminal.area

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

All right, we made it to the town and of course, they had shops to greet the cruisers.  Many people are visiting their crazy aunts in the basement tonight (aka shopping)

 

 

 

[NHProud]

@harryfat1 In NYC , I took the bus because I was traveling alone , female, and it felt safer .  I even took the bus to the Cloisters which is quite a distance.  You see more on a bus versus being underground.  There might be day passes available for both the subway and buses. 

[Coralc]

19 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

All right, we made it to the town and of course, they had shops to greet the cruisers.  Many people are visiting their crazy aunts in the basement tonight (aka shopping)

 

We buy these in Aruba, although they are apparently available elsewhere. We don't usually do a Xmas tree, so we purchase geckos, and put them in the guest bath. 

 

 

Edited February 23 by Coralc

[perfect match]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

Impressive to be able to do the SeaBob and Segway on the same day. I would imagine the arm can be sore to be stretched out for an extended period.

I tend to forget that I’m not as young as I used to be anymore. I really enjoyed both activities very much while I was doing them, but after being as tired and sore afterwards I think I’ve gotten a little wiser and am no longer scheduling so much in one day. 

[h20skibum]

43 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Ahh, yes, the Freewinds ship.  I saw this ship on every YouTube channel when the people got off their cruise ships and walked out of the cruise terminal so I know the ship is docked here year around.

That’s what I thought too, because it has always been moored whenever we have been to Aruba.  Then I read that it was spotted at some other ports.  It was in St. Lucia a couple days ago, and then moved to Barbados. 
 

[Coralc]

Everyone keeps saying that about Freewinds. 🙄 On a Southern Caribbean, the ship was in 3 different ports with us. The cadets were doing lifeboat rowing things, calisthenics on deck and some sort of drills on the pier. They all were wearing blue coveralls. It does sail and move. I don't know how frequently, but it is a seaworthy and functioning ship. Just because you all see it docked, doesn't mean it doesn't go out on cruises. 

Edited February 23 by Coralc

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, NHProud said:

@harryfat1 In NYC , I took the bus because I was traveling alone , female, and it felt safer .  I even took the bus to the Cloisters which is quite a distance.  You see more on a bus versus being underground.  There might be day passes available for both the subway and buses. 

Thanks for the suggestion on the bus.  I had forgotten about the bus system as everyone on Youtube talked about the subway.  I think due to traffic, traveling within Manhattan during rush hours might be faster on the subway but as you said, being a solo traveler, it's safer to be above ground in a bus. 

 

I will keep bus travel in mind, especially during nights or hot days as I read some NYC buses might have AC so that's better than walking in the heat.

 

I saw this news on NYC subway stations switching to brighter LED lights as felony assault on the subway hit a 27-year high in 2023.

 

https://gothamist.com/news/mta-to-install-bright-white-lights-in-every-nyc-subway-station

 

Per the NYC metro website, subway and local buses are part of the 7-day pass using either the cell phone payment or buying a metro card so a regular non-express route bus will be part of the pass.

 

 

[NHProud]

There are quite a few native New Yorkers  on Dani’s thread so you could ask there . On that bus ride to the Cloisters a woman with mental health issues became belligerent which frightened me so I took a cab back to my hotel.  Another time , I and a man waited patiently for a bus that never came . He asked me do you want to share a cab uptown which was my Seinfeld moment ? Who hasn’t heard that line on that show? 

My friend was in NYC this past June and she walked 77 miles in 10 days and she is 80 yrs old .  

[harryfat1]

Interesting info on RCI food waste in this WSJ video:

 

 

[harryfat1]

18 hours ago, Coralc said:

We buy these in Aruba, although they are apparently available elsewhere. We don't usually do a Xmas tree, so we purchase geckos, and put them in the guest bath. 

 

 

Very cute.

 

On every vacation to a new place, we typically either buy magnets or Christmas ornaments while visiting the crazy aunt in the basement so that way we remember the various vacations of the past.

 

For this cruise, we bought an Odyssey cruise ship ornament to add to the collection for this upcoming Christmas. We tried to find one for the Navigator back in August but since it wasn't the Holiday Season, they weren't selling them.

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

18 hours ago, Coralc said:

Everyone keeps saying that about Freewinds. 🙄 On a Southern Caribbean, the ship was in 3 different ports with us. The cadets were doing lifeboat rowing things, calisthenics on deck and some sort of drills on the pier. They all were wearing blue coveralls. It does sail and move. I don't know how frequently, but it is a seaworthy and functioning ship. Just because you all see it docked, doesn't mean it doesn't go out on cruises. 

 

18 hours ago, h20skibum said:

That’s what I thought too, because it has always been moored whenever we have been to Aruba.  Then I read that it was spotted at some other ports.  It was in St. Lucia a couple days ago, and then moved to Barbados. 
 

Yes, per Wiki, the ship is used for both high and low-level Scientology training purposes.

 

 

I think the fact that RCI ships only go to Aruba once a week or so with Symphony & Odyssey visiting on alternating weeks, the Freewinds can easily be out on training exercise on say from Thursday to Monday when the RCI ships are not in Aruba.  So whenever RCI ships show up on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the Freewinds is back in port.

 

 

[harryfat1]

7 hours ago, NHProud said:

There are quite a few native New Yorkers  on Dani’s thread so you could ask there . On that bus ride to the Cloisters a woman with mental health issues became belligerent which frightened me so I took a cab back to my hotel.  Another time , I and a man waited patiently for a bus that never came . He asked me do you want to share a cab uptown which was my Seinfeld moment ? Who hasn’t heard that line on that show? 

My friend was in NYC this past June and she walked 77 miles in 10 days and she is 80 yrs old .  

Impressive to walk 77 miles in 10 days.  I don't think I can keep that pace in my current out-of-shape condition.

 

Speaking of NYC subway, it looks like NYC is rolling out new cars for the subway: