WAAAYTOOO

My husband and I experienced the Boss Underwater Scooter tour and it was absolutely amazing! I am not a swimmer and it was a bit intimidating at first but Captain Jim made both us feel very comfortable.  We didn't snorkel while the others did.  We stayed behind and Captain Jim gave us a cup full of fish food to feed the fish and watch them swarm as we did.  He also pointed out different species as well as they swam up near the boat.  When it was time to get onto the scooter, Jim hooked mine up to a reel and pulled it up above water so that I was able to get into the helmet without having to go under water.  He was so kind and courteous!  I loved every minute and highly recommend this adventure. You won't regret it!
 
-Kimberly Daniel 

I so agree with you on this, @_Quinn_.  It is almost NEVER a $$ savings issue for us but is more of a convenience factor.

I'm a long-time drink package skeptic, but took the plunge when my wife and I sailed out of Tampa in October (to be fair, only our fifth cruise). I'm sure I didn't break even, because my wife doesn't drink very much and I couldn't drink enough to make up for her. But--I'd encourage you to think of it in terms other than just "am I saving money." It was really nice to try different things, not worry about if we were wasting money if we didn't finish something, and not have to constantly check my cruise account against my budget. And besides booze, we hit Cafe Lattetudes several times, which I probably wouldn't have done at all without the drink package. We're on another cruise out of Baltimore in December which is slightly longer and will include adult children, but I'm seriously thinking about biting the bullet and buying the drink package again.

Prepare to be WOW'ed.  Congratulations.  You will be spoiled forever.

I believe you are absolutely correct in your assumption.  It's a pyramid scheme.  WAAAY fewer places to RoyalUp to, in the suites.  Waaay more places to go in the lower categories. ...plus, as you said, the $$ involved in moving from an interior to a balcony is much less (and much more achievable to many) than going from a GS to a SLS.

Yes, you would cancel your individual meal reservation if you decide to purchase the 3 night plan.  You shouldn't have any problem getting a reservation for Izumi once you board.  Flexibility will be your friend.

Today we got into Costa Maya. Thry were predicting rain but so far so good. Overcast with sun trying to prak through. 
Did not do any tours. Just walked around the town and got suckered into buying a ring and some cosmetics. I hate this about tourist spots. 
Came back on ship to take advantage of the pool while people are in port. 
BTW Bloody Mary's are $15! 

It's pretty incredible to think that's onboard a ship.

VOOM went BOOM?
I would imagine O3b, the actual ISP for VOOM, had an outage.

I originally put in our Royal Up bids on 9/8  for our 11/20 sailing on SOS, we originally booked a standard balcony room.   About two weeks ago, all but the Owners Suite had expired, and I couldn't edit the Owners Suite Bid.  Got notified yesterday afternoon that we got the Owners Suite, so about 5  days notice.  We've never been in anything above a Jr Suite, and are super excited!

In this thread I'll post pictures of some of the entertainment on Odyssey of the Seas.
First up, Showgirl!
Showgirl! Past. Present. Future. is a powerful Royal Caribbean original entertainment production that can be found on a couple of Royal Caribbean ships. 
Other ships have a slightly different Showgirl! variation based on the technology and production equipment available on each ship.  Since Odyssey is the newest ship at the moment she has all the cranes, hoists, variable stage lifts and other technology to really make this production shine.
I've seen the show before and enjoyed other variations on different ships but the current cast on Odyssey of the Seas is really spectacular.   
In preparation for sailing Odyssey of the Seas a 3rd time I reached out to Royal Caribbean to seek permission to take photos of the entertainment on board.  While some shows do have photography and/or video restrictions, Showgirl! just asks for no flash photography.  
Here are some of the photos from the November 15 sail date with none other than Nick Weir himself in attendance.  Nick is the Senior Vice President of Entertainment for the entire Royal Caribbean Group including all brands within the group.  This show was created by Nick and his very talented team.

When I was on Odyssey, the waitstaff in Playmakers brought me cans of soda and a glass.  probably 2-3 at a sitting.  maybe more if I was watching a whole game 🙂

She was so surprised and happy! This has been one of my best vacations!

Kiesha and I had very different starts to our day! She went to the 7:00 AM complimentary stretching class, then breakfast. I just had breakfast. 😋
We ready to debark at 9:30 AM.  How amazing is CoCo Cay! Kiesha and I had so much relaxing fun! We hung out at Oasis Lagoon on the morning (sun was warm and the water was cold). We had lunch at Chill Beach. We ended the day at Harbor Beach.
Upon return to the ship, we napped and had pre-dinner snack of Sorrento’s. Then it was dinner. I had the zucchini fritter, tofu tacos, lemon tartlet and mud pie. Kiesha had the shrimp ceviche, short ribs, cheesecake and crème brûlée.


After dinner, we saw Showgirls! It was so good! I danced in my seat for 45 minutes. After the show, we were exhausted. I went to hang out in the solarium and almost fell asleep. Kiesha was supposed to meet me but she fell asleep in the room. #old
Today is Nassau.
Best of the Day: Showgirls
Not So Best of the Day: The ship was having satellite issues which caused Voom to be down about half of the day.

Is this move coming to Royal? 

RCG water is actually really good.

Someone on Harmony today posted they had a similar issue.

You're such a great writer! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Looking forward to every day!

Day 3
We had a busy day of activities today, so we got up and showered before our coffee and fruit arrived (exactly at 7:30am).  
WhatsApp and the wifi were acting up for most of the day, so Yen made sure we had her extension for us to call her directly.  For the most part, she knew what we had planned, and would appear throughout the day to ensure things were running smoothly.  
Our day began at Coastal Kitchen, where Yen had arranged for Sid to be our server for the remainder of the cruise.  He's so funny!  Whenever Tim picked up the pepper to grind it onto his food, he would stop him and tell him that was what he was for. 😂😂 I had asked if they had quiche, and Jacob (CK Manager) got on the phone and called someone.  He said they didn't have it, but would have it for me the next day.  Wowzers!  That's service!
From CK, we wandered down to Two70 to check out the menu since we were thinking about that for lunch.  We checked out the venue - beautiful space at the aft of the ship.  Bingo was coming up, so we found a spot and decided to just wait it out.  As soon as the cards went on sale, I hopped in line and got us set up.  Five minutes later, the line was all the way down the hall past Vintages.  
Since we had a while before it began, Kenzie stayed behind and Tim and I went to find something to drink.  I wandered down to La Patisserie and got a couple of Starbucks drinks, and a box of a dozen macaroons (something Kenzie absolutely loves).  The gal even went into the back and pulled out some additional flavors for us besides what was in the case.  I'm pretty sure she is the kind of person who would have done that for anyone, but considering how everyone seems to react when they see our Star Class sea pass card, it could have been the reason.  I'm not gonna lie - I really like it !!
As we nibbled on the macaroons, we oohed and awed over them quite a bit and compared them to the shop inside the Eiffel Tower where we had the absolute best macaroons ever a few years back.  A gal from a nearby table came over and asked us what they were and where she could find them.  We offered her one and she declined at first.  Then she asked how much they were and we told them they were free to us since we were in a suite.  We asked again and she accepted the offer with a huge smile.  Tim noticed that there were four of them at the table, and took them the remainder of our box.  They were so excited over them !  It was so fun paying that forward !  Such a little thing, but it made them so happy!
We didn't win at Bingo, but had fun.  The Elton John performer called the numbers and he shared some funny stories.  As soon as Bingo was over, Yen appeared at our table and we walked through the rest of the day.  We made a couple of alterations to future plans, but then she gave us good news that she was able to get Kenzie into the Coco Beach Club.  I don't remember if I had mentioned before that we had added her back onto the reservation after it was sold out.  Yen put her on a "priority waitlist" and kept checking for us.  Had we not been able to get her in, we would have just cancelled our reservation so we could spend the day together.  Now we can all go together!  That was awesome news!
Since it was lunchtime and we wanted to grab food before our activities, we went back to the Brass & Bock Pub because Tim wanted the Cheddar Ale soup.  We got a new server who was rather awkward and he just didn't seem to understand that we needed a minute to figure out what we wanted.  We had told him our drink requests and the soup right away, but then said we needed more time.  It took him a while to come back with the drinks (which were just water with lemon), and then took him another 20 minutes to come back and ask if we wanted anything else.  We told him no, and about 15 more minutes went by and still no soup...and I still didn't have my sea pass card back - which was really bothering me.  A manager popped over and asked how things were, so Tim shared.  He clearly went to the back and spoke with the server because he came back out with my sea pass card and apologized.  Another 15ish minutes went by and still no soup.  Tim went back and told the manager to cancel everything.  We then went to the Windjammer to grab something quick before Kenzie had to be at the Rock Climbing wall at 2pm.  Incidentally, when we sat down with food, a server came over and asked if we wanted any drinks.  We ordered waters (Tim gets sparkling, which is an extra fee for those without a drink package), so I gave him our Star Class cards and in a minute we had multiple people clamoring over us.  It's really crazy.
We got to the rock climbing wall and Yen magically appeared again.  She got Kenzie up to the front of the crowd there, and Kenzie got into the harness and special shoes (she had brought socks with her).  Kenzie did her thing and then it was on to the IFly.  Yen got her all set up for that and we chatted for a bit while Kenzie was watching the video.  She asked how lunch was, so I shared some of the details, and she was so apologetic...more on that later.  Yen had arranged for Kenzie to go first in her group because we wanted to go to the scavenger hunt at 3:00pm.  
We made it to the Music Hall in time and I made a quick stop in the little girls' room.  By the time I got to the Music Hall, Tim and Kenzie were running around like crazy people.  The hunt was to capture photos of items beginning with each letter and bonus points for multiple items starting with the same letter.  We had a time limit, and it went fast!  We went as far as the casino trying to find something beginning with Q, and we worked up a sweat in the process!  We got back with 1 minute to spare and I was panting!  The gal counted our items and we had 82!  We were declared the winners and our prize were RC zipper pulls and bragging rights.
After that, we were exhausted and made it back to our room for some R&R - which means that Tim took a nap and Kenzie and I watched Maid in Manhattan while in a comatose state.  It was needed!  After a day of nothing and then being away from our cabin for over half the day and running around like lunatics, we were hurting.
Yen was able to get us onto the North Star today - third time is a charm!  The sun had already gone down and we saw the city lights for miles.  It was so cool!  Then it was Chops for dinner.  
After hearing that Jamie's wasn't all that fabulous and then hearing about our Pub experience, I think Yen was on heightened alert for us to have good food experiences.  She escorted us into Chops and to our table (that I believe she picked out) and I'm pretty sure had a chat with the server previously (because he addressed us by name when he came over).  Yen also brought us a bottle of our favorite wine on board (which was from Jamie's) and we nursed that throughout dinner.  That was a nice treat.  The food was fabulous!  Everything was really outstanding.  We did the same thing we always do which is to get several appetizers to share at the table, and then our main courses.  At the end of the meal, someone dropped off a dessert that wasn't ordered (the warm chocolate cake), and since it was at the table, Tim knew they would have to throw it out, so he saved it from going to waste.  He said it was absolutely outstanding - and that is a lot coming from him.  He never eats dessert !!
I'm pretty sure that Yen was keeping tabs on us, because as soon as we walked out of Chops, she was there to see how it went.  She really is fabulous!  We weren't super upset over the experiences or anything, but they were less than desirable, and since she knows we're total foodies, I think she wants to make sure we're satisfied.
When we got back to our room tonight, another bottle of our wine was waiting for us.  😊
Sorry - I wrote a book again!  There's just so much to share!  We're really having the time of our lives!  Star Class is truly amazing and with the special touches, we sometimes feel like the only people on the ship.
Tomorrow is Perfect Day at Coco Cay at the Beach Club!  We're excited!!
I can't seem to upload the day 3 Cruise Compasses right now because of the internet.  I'll get those up tomorrow.
 
 

He could be on deck 8?  I can ask to see if anyone knows where he is.  It seems the pandemic shuffled people around a bit and some have been slow to come back.  
It might have been only for that day.  The pianist in the Schooner Bar tonight as we left Chops was way more interactive and even attempted country music for someone who requested it.  We basically rolled out of Chops and landed in the seats right by the piano, so he and Tim bantered back and forth for a bit.  It definitely makes for a more enjoyable experience!
 
Right?  Even when we cruised in balcony or Junior Suites in the past, we spent time in our room enough that we felt it was important to have an enjoyable cabin.  We are introverts (even though Tim plays an extrovert when in public), so having a nice place to recharge is very enjoyable.  
 
Thanks!  Yen is amazing !  We are learning that there is really no end to what she can make happen.  I really don't know if we can ever go back to sailing without a Genie !

I loved those aquariums.  I wish they had not removed them.  I'm sure they were very labor-intensive to keep clean

Pro tip: some parents turn the couch around so it faces the wall and add sheets. Then there are nice walls on both sides and much bigger than Pack and Play. This family also put up an extra black out curtain with magnets…

 
 
 

Thank you! This is very helpful intel. Yes my son and I have a nightly hot tub routine. Quite often we picture our back yard as an ocean so sitting in a hot tub on our very own deck looking out at the ocean is very exciting for us! I will definitely find out more about the hot tub process and report back. 

We have a hot tub at home so I am hoping the process may work the same. Have it filled on Day 1, maintained at a certain temperature and test and treat the water daily. That way it will always be available. I will definitely bring this up with our genie in pre cruise communication and report back! 

To be honest, we did not use the hot tub even once when we had the GPS on Oasis.  I regret that but it is what it is.  It always seemed like it would be such a hassle to fill it and I guess it never occurred to me to ask someone else to do it for me !  I’m sure the room attendant would do it though.  I have some mobility issues and it also looked like it would be hard (for me) to get in and out of the thing. I just never tried.