Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

This Ain't Homer's Odyssey - A Live B2B2B on Odyssey of the Seas (8/22/2021-9/11/2021)

JessyCruises
 Share

Recommended Posts

JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

Posted
  • Author
Posted

We have arrived safely in Fort Lauderdale and are chilling out at the hotel for the evening. 

 

I was really surprised at how "normal" this travel day felt.  The only things that were really different were the fact that we had to provide our negative test results when we checked in this morning and when we boarded the flight in Montreal, we had to provide a signed attestation CDC form.  Other than that and the masks for the entire time in the airports and flights it was same old same old.  It was kind of surreal to be able to travel again.

 

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 1:07PM.  We ended up snagging a great last minute price at Thrifty for one of their "Wild Card" rentals ($30 TOTAL) so I had cancelled our Enterprise reservation which was at $48 for an intermediate - big mistake. 

 

When we walked out of the terminal there was a bus waiting to take us to the rental car building which was awesome.  What was not so awesome was the line up of 100+ people ahead of us at Thrifty waiting to check in with only 3 agents working.  We were very concerned by the time we actually got to the counter that they would be out of cars and had no interest in waiting for hours to find that out so I scrambled and jumped online to hopefully find something else.  My original Enterprise deal was still available however that was a drop off at FLL.  I managed to find a Budget rental at Expedia for $56 with a drop off at the location outside the port that offers the shuttle.  SO Budget it was!!

 

BTW Thrifty was the only rental car company that had a line more than 3 people.  I am guessing lots of people must have snagged the same last minute deal as me.  I really wish I had taken a pic of the line.  It was bonkers.

 

As I mentioned earlier, we debated whether or not to go to Sawgrass.  We ended up deciding to go but it was kind of a bust.  I bought nothing, Paul only bought a shirt and jacket.  HOWEVER, we did eat a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory so that was really worth the price of admission.  We also hit up the Super Target there to grab some wine and a few snacks for the ship.

 

As I mentioned above, we are staying at Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale at Cypress Creek.  It is nothing special but was low on Marriot points and we have a rental car so the distance from the port & airport was not a deal breaker.  Not sure if I would choose to stay here again if there was another alternative at the same point level.  There were a few hotels in Weston that were at the same level but we had stayed there before and wanted to try something different.  Paul went down for a swim a little while ago and he said the pool and hot tub was nice.  The hotel does have a cool interior courtyard with bar & restaurant which would be handy if we had not already eaten.

 

I think that is just about it for tonight.  I am going to get my paperwork together and throw on my luggage tags for the AM.  Our check in time is 12PM so we should be some of the first guests onboard.  "I am too excited to sleep!"

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

Posted
  • Author
Posted

BTW my 3 Royal Up Bids still show pending.  Lots of people on our sailing already had their bids accepted a few days ago.  I thought I had a pretty good bid on one of them (double the minimum) but I am not very hopeful now.  Although, having them all pending is better than them being expired 🤣

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Oh and we saw these cute little fluff balls in the parking lot of the mall.  I assume they are ducks but I have never seen a polka dotted duckling.  Although I am not a duck expert.  They were adorable!

36246C98-DC9D-47A4-866A-29CCA9F7E40B.jpeg

Edited by JessyCruises
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Namelocg

Namelocg

Posted
Posted

Jessy,

Can you please let me know how check in was. On the 8/8 sailing it was a nightmare. No one paid attention to check in times. It was one big mob scene with no social distancing. The line was all the way down the terminal. It took me 1.5 hours from the time I got in line till the time I boarded. I spoke to someone at Royal about this and they told me to take pics and let them know how the 8/28 boarding is but if 8/22 is just as bad I'd like to include that info also..I know that there are a lot less passengers on 8/22 than 8/8. Again thanks, just want to make sure everyone is safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Namelocg said:

Jessy,

Can you please let me know how check in was. On the 8/8 sailing it was a nightmare. No one paid attention to check in times. It was one big mob scene with no social distancing. The line was all the way down the terminal. It took me 1.5 hours from the time I got in line till the time I boarded. I spoke to someone at Royal about this and they told me to take pics and let them know how the 8/28 boarding is but if 8/22 is just as bad I'd like to include that info also..I know that there are a lot less passengers on 8/22 than 8/8. Again thanks, just want to make sure everyone is safe.

Yes I will.  What time was your check in?  I am at 12 so in the 1st group.  We are planning to return the rental car just after 11 in case we need to wait for a shuttle.

Edited by JessyCruises
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
24 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Did you not get a denial e-mail?

Nope, it’s been crickets.  There are at least 2 others on the sailing that still show pending and have not heard anything either.  My cabin number is still the same and have not been charged anything so I assume we did not get anything, but it would be nice if it was official.  Maybe I will be surprised at checkin with a new cabin.  😂. I am planning to go to guest services when we board to see if there are any upgrades available.

Edited by JessyCruises
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Namelocg

Namelocg

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JessyCruises said:

Yes I will.  What time was your check in?  I am at 12 so in the 1st group.  We are planning to return the rental car just after 11 in case we need to wait for a shuttle.

My check in time was noon. Got there at 11:45 and didn't get on board until 1:30.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Boarding went great.  Arrived at Budget at 11:40.  We were the only people dropping off a car and the only people on the shuttle which we got on at 11.51. We arrived at the port at 11:58.  By 12:02 we were in line for the health check. All they did was look at our vaccination and negative tests.  We checked in at 12:11 and went immediately onboard.

Edited by JessyCruises
  • Like 10
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tee & Chilli

Tee & Chilli

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

I asked at guest services when we boarded and they said there would be around 2,000 passengers, but the cruise director said there would be around 1100 if everyone showed up.

Those two capacity numbers are far apart. Please report if you learn of the “true” capacity. Could 2000 represent guests and crew? Thank you 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sandebeach

sandebeach

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JessyCruises said:

The new virtual Reality room in Seaplex is currently at no cost while they test it.  They will be charging for it at some point in the future.  Not sure when that will start or what the cost would be.

If you can, I would suggest booking that right away. People on our cruise raved about it. But it was so booked up that the Diamond Lounge (now labeled Diamond Club) Concierge had a long waiting list of people that she was trying to help get booked. So we never got to book it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...