Had a great relaxing sea day. A mixture of trivia (we were the winners!!), game shows, enjoying the suite sun deck, trying a new take on a Pain Killer and enjoying our beautiful balcony with some scenic cruising past Cuba.
Very nice lunch at Chops Grill. We have the Unlimited Dining Package so didn't have to pay the cover charge. We paid $174/person for the whole cruise to be able to eat at a speciality restaurant each day for lunch and dinner. We are finding it a very good deal.
Beautiful ship. Lots of stuff to do. Or just do nothing and relax. Lots of shaded places to sit.
One thing is the ship doesn't have is an outdoor pool grill with burgers, hot dogs or chicken sandwiches. It looks like that is supposed fo be Splashaway Cafe. And while that venue is listed on the elevator deck plan it doesn't exist in real life. I believe this is the first ship I have been on that doesn't have such a venue. There is El Local Fresh that has great looking poolside tacos and burritos. But if you do want a burger or hot dog, I think you will need to head inside to the buffet. Other seasoned RCCL cruisers can jump in here and help out if there is another venue offering burgers and hot dogs poolside.
More from the Odyssey of the Seas . . . .
Had some very good sashimi and sushi at Izumi on our first sea day. Some very creative dishes. My favorite was the Champagne Lobster Roll.
They also have a starter called Crispy Chicken Kara-Age. This is a very of Hawaiian Fried Chicken. Boneless chicken thighs marinates in soy, ginger and mirin. Then dredged in corn starch and deep fried. Served with Thai chili sauce. I have made this at home with a similar marinade but my sauce is soy, lemon and seasoned rice wine vinegar. Also I dredge in potato starch and sesame seeds for extra crunch. Also gluten free (as long as you use gluten free soy sauce).
Also had a very good lasagna last night at Giovanni's. Thin layers of pasta with a flavorful Bolognese. And tons of cheese. They use cottage cheese as well as mozzarella. Some may prefer ricotta but I prefer the use of cottage cheese.
Today we are in Costa Maya. Not planning to get off the ship - at least voluntarily. :-) Today we will spend the morning in the Solarium since most guests will be off exploring. Will try the Solarium Cafe and hopefully the 270 Cafe for a salad. And maybe Sorrento's for a slice!! Lots of food venues to check out today. Tomorrow is a sea day as we head back to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.
More from the Odyssey of the Seas . . . . .
The Odyssey of the Seas has the best designed Solarium I have ever seen. It is all the way forward on deck 14. Dual hot tubs on either side. A tiered regular pool with individual infinity pools. And a bar!! And there is a bistro which serves breakfast, lunch (sea days only) and dinner. And it is adults only. And the views!!
Would be a great ship for Alaska!!
During boarding, all vaccinated guests were given a purple colored wrist band to identify that status. Many venues on the ship are designated as vaccinated only or for everyone. The theater is an example where the lower level is for vaccinated guests and the upper (balcony) is for everyone. They scan your seapass.in order to enter this venue. They enforced masks in the upper area. Lower level was "masks recommended". The Music Hall is the same. Deck 3 is for vaccinated and Deck 4 is for everyone. We are vaccinated but preferred that theater balcony since it was less crowded.
The Solarium is an example where it is supposed to be only for vaccinated guests although there are no crew members checking. I also saw in the program that early seating in the MDR was only for vaccinated guests. As in real life, you need to monitor and be in charge of your own health and safety.
Final thoughts on the Odyssey of the Seas . . .
Had such a smooth debarkation at Port Everglades. They used facial recognition once you claimed your luggage. After you cleared that, it was straight outside to your transportation. In our case we took a taxi to Fort Lauderdale airport to catch the Red Coach bus to Tampa. We left our cabin at 8:45 and were at the FLL bus stop at 9:15. Bus picked us up at 9:40. Walked in our front door at 3PM. This is the third time using this bus. It was a really great option for us this time since we had flown out to LAX to catch the Emerald Princess to Port Everglades. Then were on the Odyssey. Prices vary depending on how far in advance you book.
We went to three shows on the Odyssey plus a magic show by Hector is Magic. All the shows were very impressive. "The Book" was in the 270 venue and really utilized all the special features they added to that space. Also saw "Showgirls" and "The Effectors" in the main theater. The latter was very well done, especially considering they had only launched it the prior cruise. Needs some tweaking and there were some issues with the lighting queues in one of the numbers. But that didn't detract from the energy of the performances.
I was very impressed with all the food. We are in all the specialty restaurants except Teppanyaki. Most impressed with Wonderland. Some very creative and delicious dishes. The Tomato Water and Deconstructed Caprese was my favorite. The Italian dishes at Giovanni's were also very good. I didn't have a bad meal. We had the Unlimited Dining Package. We paid $174/person for the six night cruise. With that we could lunch and dinner each day at a specialty restaurant. We also got $20/person credit to use for lunch or dinner at Playmakers Sports Bar. We found this a great value. Without the package, the restaurants would have cost $256/person. The UDP also gives you a 40% discount on any bottles of wine under $100 while you are dining. We didn't have the drink package so took advantage of that twice.
Playmakers has some very good food. The Truffle Burger was super flavorful. The BBQ chicken wings were crispy with a good kick from the sauce. And a tall tower of crispy onion rings was not just an Instagram moment. They were pretty tasty.
The 270 cafe was a great place for breakfast. We only tried it on debarkation day. It had about six different breakfast sandwiches plus fruit, muesli, bagels, parfaits and assorted pastries. Perfect for grand and go. And surprisingly great included coffee
Only ate in the buffet once for a quick snack. They have a pasta station which had three different sauces. The carbonara was not as good as Giovanni's, but it was still very good. Also found a burger which was just okay. I never did find a poolside location serving burgers or hot dogs.
Sorrento's pizza was just okay. The crust was not very tasty. I prefer the pizza on Carnival and Princess. What was very surprising at Sorrento's was how good the antipasto was. They had a great and tasty variety including marinated tomatoes with mozzarella, fried mushroom, cheese stuffed potatoes and marinated eggplant and roasted peppers. I would highly recommend the antipasto. The pizza would be okay for a late night snack if nothing else is available.
Only tried room service once but it was some very good BBQ chicken wings. Normally there is a $7.95 service charge but that is waived if you are in a suite. Suites also have the option to order dinner from that nights main dining room menu.
Each bar has a unique menu with specialty cocktails. I didn't find any of them particularly memorable. Most disappointing was the Lime and Coconuts version of a Pain Killer. I was expecting a cocktail using cream of coconut. That along with dark rum and nutmeg is a delicious creamy concoction. On RCCL the recipe uses coconut flavored syrup (the same brand they use for coffees). This lacked the strong coconut flavor this cocktail needs.
The activities on this ship are many and varied. Flowrider. Climbing wall. NorthStar. IFly. Tons of indoor activities at SeaPlex including pickle ball, archery, bumper cars and basketball. A huge number of arcade games. The iFly was not an option for me based on size restrictions. I loved the bumper cars and archery.. NorthStar also exceeded my expectations. Very cool to see the ship and island from high above. Book the IFly and NorthStar as soon as you can. And both have complimentary sessions when the ship is in port. Otherwise, they have a charge.
Lots of musicians around the ship. The pub had a guitar player. Schooner Bar alternated with a piano player and a different guitar player. Boleros had a Latin band. There was a party band who played poolside. We also saw the show orchestra one night in Boleros.
Overall, a wonderful cruise. Will I book another RCCL cruise? Maybe. I feel like many of the features on this ship are wasted on me and my wife. I would sail this ship or similar RCCL again if the itinerary was interesting.
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