LIVE from Odyssey of the Seas Transatlantic April 21, 2024 thru May 5, 2024

[Joe33472]

4 hours ago, perfect match said:

 I really need to think about getting myself a USB to lightning cable before our September cruise. I have a very full schedule the next few days and even Amazon won’t get one here in time for our Allure sailing. I do plan to bring and try my Firestick. We’ll see how that goes.

 

I love your watch charging on the wall! 😂 

 

We're so loving having a Roku on this trip.  It's making a big difference.  We're watching our local morning news right now and will be watching the network news we like shortly.   The iPad set up worked really good too.  We have Xfinity at home and their streaming app worked great when I had that setup. 

 

I would say that I'm using my laptop as a hotspot and connecting the Roku to that network.  That is working out great and no issues.  I'm not sure about connecting the Roku directly to the onboard network.   I might try that at some point, just to see if that works.  

 

For some reason, the personal hotspot option on my iPhone is greyed out.  I'm not sure why.   So, it's really handy to be able to share from my laptop.  I'm sure a travel router would work the same way.   Just something to consider.  

 

 

[RobInMN]

1 hour ago, Joe33472 said:

For some reason, the personal hotspot option on my iPhone is greyed out.  I'm not sure why.   So, it's really handy to be able to share from my laptop.  I'm sure a travel router would work the same way.   Just something to consider. 

I use Android phones (Samsung Galaxy), not iPhones, but from past threads it's been said that iPhones cannot WiFi Hotspot a WiFi connection, it can only Hotspot a mobile connection, and I don't think you want to be hot spotting a mobile at sea connection 😉 

 

I get a 2 device plan and set up our 2 phones. Then we hotspot our phones to connect the Firestick, laptop, tablet. But again, we use Android.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

I'm not sure why.  

As mentioned above, you can’t hotspot a WiFi connection on an iPhone. Only a few Android phones have that option. 

[Joe33472]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

As mentioned above, you can’t hotspot a WiFi connection on an iPhone. Only a few Android phones have that option. 

 

Thank you!   I totally forgot that iPhones have no option for creating a hotspot while you're on Wi-Fi.     I also totally forgot that because of this, I brought an old Android phone I had lying around (Pixel 6A) on the cruise.  And indeed, hotspot works on Android 14.  

 

 

[Joe33472]

Just realized that when I was testing the hotspot on my Pixel that I hadn't put the phone into Airplane mode 🙃And that I was on cellular at Sea. Hotspot still works when I put the phone into Airplane mode and turn on Wifi.  UGH

 

Edited April 25 by Joe33472

[Joe33472]

We went on the galley tour and brunch and it was interesting to see the kitchen operations.  The kitchen we visited was super CLEAN!   That was reassuring.   We were very impressed with the scale and organization of the kitchen.   

 

Brunch was okay, not exactly what I anticipated.  Some prior videos I watched showed a small buffet type of set up, but this was more like a small menu.  The food was good with endless mimosas.   My girlfriend had this chicken dish and said it was very good.

 

 

 

We have dinner at Coastal Kitchen tonight since there was some availability at a time that worked with our reservation for the Book tonight.

 

 

 

[Joe33472]

If I've done my calculations correctly, we're 1,276 miles from Ponta Delgada. 

 

At an average of 20 knots, we'll be there in about 64 hours (9:30 a.m. on Sunday).  Yahoooo.  

 

 

 

[LooneyCruzer]

Agree with Joe… the kitchen brunch tour was really cool. I am very versed in restaurant operations, but to see the scale of preparation and cooking for 6000 people up to 3x a day was fascinating. 10,000 cookies a day,  20,000+ rolls, all consistent and on time, just amazing. 
It was interesting that all kitchen staff must have at least a 2 year culinary degree to even start working, and how they move up the ladder. 
It was well worth the price!!!

 

 

[Joe33472]

Had our BEST meal so far on this cruise!    My girlfriend didn't even want to go, so I had to really convince her that we should at least give Coastal Kitchen it a try.  She didn't see much on tonight's menu that she wanted, but I persisted.    I'm really glad I pushed. 

 

Our server Alan was excellent.  He asked if we had somewhere to go (which we did) and really expedited our service.   The food and service was truly excellent. 

 

Started with the onion soup and roasted beet salad.  Both were excellent.    Then onto grilled NY Strip and roasted pork loin, both of which were great.  And finished with Baked Alaska and Red Velvet Cake, which we both totally enjoyed and devoured. 

 

Overall, that was a great experience and we were in and out in 1 hour 20 minutes.   Thank goodness.  

 

Of course, I'm now being asked when we can go back and why we can't go there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  🤣

 

 

 

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[GimmeOcean]

We had Teppanyaki for dinner. Not the best Teppanyaki experience I’ve ever had (no fire!), but still pretty good and having the ocean view behind the chef is pretty cool. Food was overall very good too. Sing put on a good show.

Edited April 25 by GimmeOcean

[Tree_skier]

On 4/21/2024 at 3:36 PM, LooneyCruzer said:

Day1 aft 11326

I'm going. to enjoy following along.  We want to do this same itinerary in 2026. 

 

We loved Odyssey when we were on her in 2022.  We had almost the same cabin... We were in 10326 🙂 

 

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

Had our BEST meal so far on this cruise!    My girlfriend didn't even want to go, so I had to really convince her that we should at least give Coastal Kitchen it a try.  She didn't see much on tonight's menu that she wanted, but I persisted.    I'm really glad I pushed. 

 

Our server Alan was excellent.  He asked if we had somewhere to go (which we did) and really expedited our service.   The food and service was truly excellent. 

 

Started with the onion soup and roasted beet salad.  Both were excellent.    Then onto grilled NY Strip and roasted pork loin, both of which were great.  And finished with Baked Alaska and Red Velvet Cake, which we both totally enjoyed and devoured. 

 

Overall, that was a great experience and we were in and out in 1 hour 20 minutes.   Thank goodness.  

 

Of course, I'm now being asked when we can go back and why we can't go there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  🤣

 

 

 

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How much does CK cost per person on your ship?

[Joe33472]

24 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

How much does CK cost per person on your ship?

 

We're in a junior suite, so we can reserve for dinner only in CK based on availability.  Tonight we had a 6:00 p.m. reservation and all they had for tomorrow night was 8:00 p.m.  That's a bit late for us, but they said to check back in the morning.  We're going to check in the morning.  We have Giovanni's for lunch so maybe 8:00 p.m. wouldn't be the worst thing.   I don't think you can reserve for a fee otherwise.  I asked the concierge why our reservation tonight wasn't in my calendar and he said since it's not open for general booking it doesn't show up in your calendar. 

 

 

 

[Joe33472]

2 hours ago, GimmeOcean said:

We had Teppanyaki for dinner. Not the best Teppanyaki experience I’ve ever had (no fire!), but still pretty good and having the ocean view behind the chef is pretty cool. Food was overall very good too. Sing put on a good show.

 

Wow!   This looks like a great time.  We don't typically do Teppanyaki on land, so this was the only specialty restaurant we didn't book.    The view looks fantastic.  

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

4 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

We're in a junior suite, so we can reserve for dinner only in CK based on availability.  Tonight we had a 6:00 p.m. reservation and all they had for tomorrow night was 8:00 p.m.  That's a bit late for us, but they said to check back in the morning.  We're going to check in the morning.  We have Giovanni's for lunch so maybe 8:00 p.m. wouldn't be the worst thing.   I don't think you can reserve for a fee otherwise.  I asked the concierge why our reservation tonight wasn't in my calendar and he said since it's not open for general booking it doesn't show up in your calendar. 

 

 

 

Just looked at your menu for CK you had on the app(pulled up your sailing), why no Rib Eye in CK ? I'm thinking can't you sometimes even get a good Grilled New York Sirloin in the Windjammer

[Joe33472]

Just got back to our stateroom after seeing the Book and stopping at Giovanni's Bar for a night cap.  We really liked the show, but it was a bit weird.  I wish there was a little more explanation of what the story was about.  @Ocean Boy's explanation about what the show is about really helped us to put the performance into context.   

 

The performers were amazing, especially the contortionist.   I would say that we arrived at the venue around 8:10 and it was already filling up.  We figured that 8:30 would be plenty of time, but arrived early just because we were done early with our prior event.   It was already filling up.  So, if you want good seats, definitely arrive early. 

 

We sat in the first row on the upper floor and the view was great. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Joe33472]

7 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Just looked at your menu for CK you had on the app(pulled up your sailing), why no Rib Eye in CK ? I'm thinking can't you sometimes even get a good Grilled New York Sirloin in the Windjammer

 

I would have much preferred a grilled Rib Eye or even a filet, but it looks like the Grilled NY sirloin on the classics menu.   Having said that, I really enjoyed the NY sirloin.  Not something that I would ever order at a restaurant, but it was tasty, cooked perfectly, and tender.   It was served with a nice sauce and some mashed.   I had Chops filet and actually preferred tonight's dinner.  

[perfect match]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

We loved Odyssey when we were on her in 2022.  We had almost the same cabin... We were in 10326

We were in the same neighborhood on Odyssey as well, in 10724. We loved it there! 
 

1 hour ago, Joe33472 said:

Wow!   This looks like a great time.  We don't typically do Teppanyaki on land, so this was the only specialty restaurant we didn't book.    The view looks fantastic

We haven’t booked Teppanyaki on a ship yet, but do occasionally go on land. I am now wishing that we had booked there when we were on Odyssey! Now I’m going to have to book another cruise on Odyssey so we can do that! 😂😎

[Coralc]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

How much does CK cost per person on your ship?

Coastal Kitchen is for suite guests and does not have an upcharge. 

[Joe33472]

These time changes are rough.  As an early riser, when I travel to Europe by air I struggle with jet-lag and thought this one hour per day would be better.   Not sure about the one hour per day, but as of today, we're on Ponta Delgada time, which we don't reach until Sunday which I think is fantastic.  I think we'll have two more time changes between Ponta Delgada and Rome.  I'm hoing those are not as rough as the past four time changes.   

 

I think part of my problem is the amount of food and alcohol that I've been consuming. 🤣 All, kidding aside, I've stopped my daily "drink breakeven analysis".    Way too much time thinking about breaking even and the drink package is a sunk cost at this point.   The whole point I think was to enjoy what we wanted without worrying about it.  I don't drink a lot at home, so I will probably ease up on the alcohol and food.  That's probably more why I'm feeling the way I am feeling rather than the time changes, that I'd like to blame.   All that being said, we have lunch at Giovanni's today and will try to have some restraint.   But we did cancel two lunch reservations to Chops.  

Edited April 26 by Joe33472

[LooneyCruzer]

Lol, so cruise bloat has set in 😉

We like being diamond and having 4 free drinks. No rush to get 6-7 drinks to break even, and no specialty lunches, too much food with dinner again a few hours later. 

[Sunshine3601]

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

How much does CK cost per person on your ship?

You cannot purchase access to CK.  It's dinner only JS or 3 meals for all suites above JS.   

Pins may get access anytime.

[Ocean Boy]

@Joe33472 @LooneyCruzer

 

I have the same issues on cruises. I eat and drink very differently than when at home. By the end of the week I rarely get through my D+ daily drink allotment and I just don't feel than well from how I've been eating. I love cruising but tend to look forward to getting home and eating normally. I lose my self control when on a cruise.

[3CatsInMA]

3 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

These time changes are rough.  As an early riser, when I travel to Europe by air I struggle with jet-lag and thought this one hour per day would be better.   Not sure about the one hour per day, but as of today, we're on Ponta Delgada time, which we don't reach until Sunday which I think is fantastic.  I think we'll have two more time changes between Ponta Delgada and Rome.  I'm hoing those are not as rough as the past four time changes.   

 

I think part of my problem is the amount of food and alcohol that I've been consuming. 🤣 All, kidding aside, I've stopped my daily "drink breakeven analysis".    Way too much time thinking about breaking even and the drink package is a sunk cost at this point.   The whole point I think was to enjoy what we wanted without worrying about it.  I don't drink a lot at home, so I will probably ease up on the alcohol and food.  That's probably more why I'm feeling the way I am feeling rather than the time changes, that I'd like to blame.   All that being said, we have lunch at Giovanni's today and will try to have some restraint.   But we did cancel two lunch reservations to Chops.  

 

It's nice that you're getting a little break from the daily time changes.  Last year our first stop was Malaga and we lost an hour each of the first six nights.  I noticed on day four that the ship felt very empty as I made my way down to get my morning coffee, as that's when it really seemed to hit people. 

[Joe33472]

Not sure where the day went today!   Time flies on ship time 🙂 

 

We got a late start because of the time change and pushed our Giovanni's lunch reservation back to 1:00 p.m.  That didn't work well as the restaurant was really busy by the time we got there.  There was no waiter to wait on us, so the manager ended up having to wait on us🤷‍♂️. He's a nice guy (Dragan) and really expedited our service.  Had a nice conversation with a couple the table over from us.

 

We wanted to make it an early night so we could get our stateroom organized, so we had dinner in the Windjammer, attended an event, and called it a day.  We're so ready for Ponta Delgada and hope we're able to port.   The weather looks like it's going to be great.