Early Spring Break! (OY Feb 20-26)

[VoidoftheSeas]

Negative COVID tests have been acquired and we are on our way for an early spring break adventure!

Who: David (that's me), Ashley (my wife) and our two girls (10 and 7).

What: Odyssey of the freakin' Seas! Junior Suite, Room 9200

Where: Sailing from Fort Lauderdale and then it's on to CocoCay, Cozumel, Puerto Costa Maya

When: Feb 20-26

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I am super excited about this sailing! It's the first trip with just our immediate family. We had a great Star Class adventure with my parents last summer aboard the Allure, but otherwise our previous cruises have just been my wife and me.

Thanks to the new trend of multiple week long breaks in the spring, we jumped on this chance to get back on the water.

We originally booked a large ocean view room, but the prices kept going down and we bumped up to a balcony and finally snagged a RoyalUp to a junior suite this past week.

This is our first time on a Quantum class ship, and there is so much to do on Odyssey.

First, we have our travel day (today). It's a long way from Seattle to Florida, after all. We stayed in a hotel near the airport for our 6:25a flight (oof!). 

Everyone's a bit groggy after a 4:15 wakeup, but the girls are already starting to drift off as I type this up from the plane. We'll be in the air soon and I could not be more pumped!

Let's go!

[VoidoftheSeas]

Lunch and layover in Midway. First leg was uneventful, though we nearly had a bathroom emergency right before landing.

Everyone's all full up now and ready for the second leg to Florida. The energy is building!

[VoidoftheSeas]

All right! Day 1 was a success and we are halfway through day 2, already!

Some highlights of boarding day:

We arrived at Port Everglades about an hour early, but no one so much as asked about our scheduled boarding time. Just smooth straight through everything. Our kids are fully vaxxed, so no tests needed at the port.

I will say that everything was much more efficient with vaxx and test verification this time around. It seems clear that they've made some improvements over the last year.

That said, we did feel a bit of the hangover from our previous cruise being Star Class. There were a few times when it wasn't clear what we should do next, which obviously doesn't happen as SC when you literally have someone walking you from one part of the check-in process to the next.

We were onboard a bit before the staterooms were open, so there was a little time to explore the ship and grab a quick bite at Sorrento's for lunch.

The Odyssey is gorgeous and you can just feel the newness in every corner. It's so elegant and I love it!

We registered the kids for Adventure Ocean, which took a little longer than expected. It was much easier when we did it onboard the Allure this past summer, but Odyssey really only has 2 AO areas, and there is a lot more of folks having to pick the hours they are going to be there. Each child is allocated 8 hours to start with, although, if previous experience plays out, it shouldn't be super difficult to find a spot if the girls decide they want to spend more time there.

After AO, it was time to make Coastal Kitchen reservations for the week. We're only doing one specialty restaurant this trip (Wonderland!), so it's just CK for the rest of the trip. 

After making sure we were set up for the week, it was pool time, and time for some fruity drinks! 

Dinner at CK was filet (me) and roasted duck (Ashley). Always a delight.

Post dinner was AO for the kids and just relaxing in Schooner bar with some piano music and a couple of Old Fashioneds. 

Overall, the first day was a bit more relaxing and less hectic than our previous cruises, which is nice, since that is the tone we wanted to have for this trip!