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

[Coralc]

Last time we were in Curacao, the concierge mentioned some sort of show. By the time we had walked through the fort and across the bridge, I was hot and cranky. I convinced Bill to sit by the water at an outdoor, bar so we could drink. While we were sitting there, first the bridge rolled back: 

 

And then this happened: 

And we went on to be treated to a 3-hour military show. And we had front row seats: 

 

 

One of those unexpected and delightful things that sometimes happen on vacation. ☺️

 

 

Edited February 12 by Coralc

[luvtoride]

15 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Yeah, you only get good dim sum (or any dim sum) in areas with a large Asian population.  Small towns will have Chinese restaurants where you have the basic lunch and dinner menus but not dim sums.

@harryfat1Which cruise line offers that level of Asian food?  That would be awesome if any of them did! 

I didn't eat at Izumi or Teppanyaki on Odyssey but from the menus I saw, they looked like pretty standard fare you could get t any decent Japanese restaurant.  

[harryfat1]

17 hours ago, Coralc said:

Last time we were in Curacao, the concierge mentioned some sort of show. By the time we had walked through the fort and across the bridge, I was hot and cranky. I convinced Bill to sit by the water at an outdoor, bar so we could drink. While we were sitting there, first the bridge rolled back: 

 

And then this happened: 

And we went on to be treated to a 3-hour military show. And we had front row seats: 

 

 

One of those unexpected and delightful things that sometimes happen on vacation. ☺️

 

 

Super cool. Do you remember what was the occasion for the military show?  Was it like an Independence Day celebration?

 

Yeah, I wanted to be on the bridge when it breaks away from the dock as it swings 90 degrees back to the other side but we never saw any watercraft sailing by to warrant the opening of the waterway.

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, luvtoride said:

@harryfat1Which cruise line offers that level of Asian food?  That would be awesome if any of them did! 

I didn't eat at Izumi or Teppanyaki on Odyssey but from the menus I saw, they looked like pretty standard fare you could get t any decent Japanese restaurant.  

 

As far as I know, no North American-based cruise line offers a dim sum restaurant. If someone else knows, please let a comment below.

 

Most land-based Chinese restaurants in the US/Canada do not offer this type of food.  Only a limited number offer this in sit-down seating.  There are some take-out dim sums in Chinatowns in the big cities but a full sit-down restaurant that offers this type of food is rare, especially post-COVID as many big places closed shop due to high overhead.

 

The reason it’s rare is you need a HUGE steam area to cook this food.  Every one of these round bamboo things comes from a steamer.  You would need to dedicate a huge part of your kitchen to steam this as in the kitchen they are stacked like 8 high when steamed in the kitchen. You need a massive amount of steam to cook hundreds of these in a very short time for people to eat it while it’s hot as they don’t taste good cold.

 

Carnival Excel class ship has a small booth for takeout Asian food that is supposed to have one basic steam item daily as their specials of the day.  Nothing like the extensive menu selection you would find in land-based restaurants.

 

 

Here's a sample menu I found online.  They have 1 item per day from here:

 

 

[harryfat1]

For those who have sailed on the Quantum and Ovation during the Alaska cruise season, I thought there was an Asian noodle place on board as both ships were built for the Asian market.  But not sure if they modified it for the North American market?

 

We sailed on the Majestic Princess to Alaska back in 2022 and that ship was also built exclusively for the Chinese market.  If it wasn’t for Covid, it would never have made it to the US cruise market. The entire ship has both Chinese/English signs.

 

They have a dedicated noodle place on the top deck that serves Asian noodles daily as I can tell you that your average overseas Asian cruiser WILL NOT eat the American/Mexican food typically found on the top decks' North American based cruise ships. 

 

Maybe an 8-year-old Chinese kid overseas will eat a hot dog or burger but his/her parents or grandparents won’t touch any hot dog or El Loco Fresh on their sailings in Asia so they need noodle shop for the overseas crowd.

 

Here are a few pictures from the noodle bar on the Majestic Princess:

 

 

You pick whatever you want and they will cook it for you

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luvtoride]

20 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

 

 

The reason it’s rare is you need a HUGE steam area to cook this food.  Every one of these round bamboo things comes from a steamer.  You would need to dedicate a huge part of your kitchen to steam this as in the kitchen they are stacked like 8 high when steamed in the kitchen. You need a massive amount of steam to cook hundreds of these….

 

 

 

I find it hard to believe that with the massive size of these ships Kitchens they can’t dedicate enough space for a great dim sum specialty restaurant.  What a unique choice at sea this would provide!  

[harryfat1]

Speaking of Princess Cruises and Asian food, on the Majestic Princess, besides the Noodle Bar upstairs at the Pool deck serving basic noodles, they also have specialty dining that serves upscale Chinese food. 

 

As far as I know, Majestic Princess is one of the rare ones that has a dedicated specialty just for Chinese food, not a combination of all the Asian food on other cruise ships. Let me know if I missed another ship out there.

 

I think RCI had originally envisioned the Silk restaurant on the first set of Q class ships as part of the Asian flair when they were trying to jam the concept of “Dynamic Dining” down the cruisers' throats but from what I read, other than the decoration in Silk is Chinese, the food in the Silk restaurant is same as all the MDR restaurants?

 

Personally, I would find it odd to be eating Escargot and Burritos in a red Chiense-themed restaurant but that’s just me.

 

Anyway, the Majestic Princess’ Chinese menu had to be “adjusted” when she out to the US for the Alaska season as the original menu was too “weird” for the North American crowd.

 

Here is the current version of what Americans think of upscale Chinese food:

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/harmony-dinner-menu.pdf

 

 

I had to laugh when I first saw the menu back in 2022 when I was researching the ship ahead of our Alaska cruise.  This is very “Gringo” Chinese food. Some of the “Chinese food” here doesn’t exist in Asia.  It was created in North America for local consumption.

 

For example, there’s no Crab Rangoon or General Tso’s Chicken in Asia - made in America.  Sweet and sour pork is a cheap Chinese takeout as well as pork won ton soup.  Not a high-end restaurant. This specialty restaurant would be empty if the ship sailed back to China without reverting to the original menu.

 

They had to overhaul the original menu to bring the ship to Alaska. Here's the original menu:

 

https://www.princess.com/content/dam/princess/onboard-experience/food-dining/pdfs/menu-harmony-dinner.pdf.coredownload.inline.pdf

 

 

Actually, I showed a few items from my previous pictures as I highlighted them in green:

 

The chilled jellyfish is the yellow thing in the middle

 

 

Here’s the egg white fried rice with scallops:

 

 

Noodles with crab:

 

 

As for the yellow highlighted soup from above, how many North American cruisers will order the Chinese herbal soup?

 

It’s just so interesting to see how much the cruise ships have to change to cater to different food tastes in various regions of the world. 

 

Some day, I will be interested in sailing on the Spectrum of the Seas sailing in Asia as I have seen videos of their Windjammer, which has different food than the Windjammer on the Odyssey even though both ships are "ultra" Q class ships.  

 

I can write more about the differences between the cultures but nobody cares.  That's not why you are here - you are here to hear the Baby Got Back song.  So we will move on...🤪

 

[harryfat1]

Continue on with the trip report:

 

++++++++++

 

The tour continued with a stop at one of the small shops where the owner knew the tour guide and they gave each one of us a small sample of Curacao liqueur to see what it tasted like as it's a very famous island product.  

 

If we had been on an island tour, many tours would have taken the tourists to the distillery out of the town so the storefront is the only place you can get a small free sample of the liqueur. 

Emphasize on the word small as we all got a mini Dixie cup size sample as the store owner was pretty cheap on the pour as ost got got about 2 drops worth in each.

 

Anyway, onward with the tour.  After the sampling, we saw more artwork along the way

 

Cool bike.  I assume Biker19 is reading this somewhere - what do you think?

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

People from the tour bought popsicles here as I saw someone on YouTube recommending this ship

 

 

 

Bet you that you won’t see this Santa back home from your neck of the woods.  I would have queued up the “Here Comes Santa Claus” song from a YouTube channel but I think everyone is tired of Christmas songs by February so we will move on.

 

 

Edited February 13 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

 

 

More cool mural artwork on just about every street.  Paint stores in Curaaco must have a lot of business

 

 

 

[Coralc]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

Super cool. Do you remember what was the occasion for the military show?  Was it like an Independence Day celebration?

 

Yeah, I wanted to be on the bridge when it breaks away from the dock as it swings 90 degrees back to the other side but we never saw any watercraft sailing by to warrant the opening of the waterway.

According to my photos it was May 19 (2011) for something called Dutch Navy Days. It might be like Fleet Week and an annual celebration?  There doesn't seem to be much information about it. It was really fun to watch. They ran a small ferry to get across the canal. but it was packed. We just waited for the bridge to swing back open. ☺️

[harryfat1]

You can add your own editorial here to the artwork.  Anything I say will be used against me in being banned for life from CC:🤪

 

 

[harryfat1]

More scenery:

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

OK, we have arrived at the last segment of the walking tour where RaeRae took us to the rooftop bar of the Elements Hotel for us to rest and check out the view.  I am almost certain 99% of the average cruiser will not find this place on their own.

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Looking back at the Odyssey way in the back.

 

Dang, we walked pretty far to get here as we looked back at where the ship was and afterward we had to walk back there in the heat.

 

 

OK, the tour is over.  Time to tip the nice man and we are on our own to explore the town before going back to the ship for lunch.  CFKACD not paying for lunch off the ship…

 

 

 

Zoom into the ship with the North Star up and running

 

[harryfat1]

I was curious about how much a stay at the Elements Hotel would be for say 5 nights in the same Christmas period for 2024.  Expedia quoted me $700 for 5 nights for 4 people in a double queen bed.  Not bad considering what other places could charge you.

 

Anyway, a few last pictures before we take the elevator downstairs and look for the famous Curacao and Dushi sign.

 

 

There are probably a lot of people up here at Sunset/nighttime with the Rooftop Bar drinking and chilling

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Familiar pose as previous artwork. The sign on the left explains this ChiChi sculpture and the corporate sponsorship during the tough Covid times.

 

 

 

I like to think my claim to fame here on CC is my usage of the “Baby Got Back” song in trip reports.

 

At least my buddy @BIBPhotography only remembers me for this 🤪

 

13 Million views can't be wrong:

 

 

 

 

[JamesEM]

Last year on the stop to Curacao I was able to ride the bridge when it opened, and was able to get some nice photos.  When I was there the power source for the bridge was an outboard motor.  Thanks for the info about the walking tour, now I have something to do on my next cruise,

[perfect match]

21 hours ago, Coralc said:

One of those unexpected and delightful things that sometimes happen on vacation. ☺️

Great timing! You had the best seats in the house for the show! 

[perfect match]

That looks like it was an interesting walking trip. I’ll have to keep in in mind for the next time we head to Curaçao.

[Badatz2]

3 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

More scenery:

 

 

 

 

I am not sure if your guide pointed it out but the pale yellow building in the third picture is the Mikve Israel- Emanuel Synagogue. It is the Western Hemisphere's oldest Synagogue in continuous use and was founded in 1651 

[rncruiser]

Harry, your pictures of the art work are fabulous, far better than the pitiful ones I took. I rarely write a trip report, but the couple of times I have, I never include pictures. They are never anything worth sharing. Thank you for refreshing my memory of the walking tour. Your memory is also far better than mine. 

[harryfat1]

20 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Last year on the stop to Curacao I was able to ride the bridge when it opened, and was able to get some nice photos.  When I was there the power source for the bridge was an outboard motor.  Thanks for the info about the walking tour, now I have something to do on my next cruise,

Very nice.  I was hoping for a free ride for some photos/video of the event but it wasn’t meant to be.  Oh, well, guess it’ll have to be the next visit when I see the rest of the island as well as Bonaire as I need to complete the ABC island set.

 

Just note the walking tour can be hot and tiring.  Hopefully, you will get the wind to cool you off which was absent during our visit.

[harryfat1]

20 hours ago, perfect match said:

That looks like it was an interesting walking trip. I’ll have to keep in in mind for the next time we head to Curaçao.

There are various free walking tours at different cities/islands. Per this website, there are over 85 cities in this community:

 

https://freetourcommunity.com/

 

 

Every time you go to a new place, Google a free walking tour for that city to see if they have free tours there.

 

On a side note, we are thinking about going to NYC this summer, and from my initial research, I have found a few walking tour operators for various parts of NYC so will likely book a couple of those.

 

Personally speaking, I would rather pay someone a tip to show me some sites I would never have found on my own. Just walking around aimlessly and taking a few pictures without much insight is less interesting in my opinion.

[harryfat1]

19 hours ago, Badatz2 said:

I am not sure if your guide pointed it out but the pale yellow building in the third picture is the Mikve Israel- Emanuel Synagogue. It is the Western Hemisphere's oldest Synagogue in continuous use and was founded in 1651 

Yeah, the tour guide mentioned the background of the Synagogue during the tour but by then my brain had melted from the heat/exhaustion that I forgot which building was what. 

 

At the risk of pointing out the wrong building, if I don’t know for sure, it’s best not to give out any info if I’m uncertain.