Year 4, Day 201, “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 11/17/2024. The Wellington – Day 4 of 17-night PA, NJ, and Caribbean cruise – Day 1 of 7-night Bahamas cruise on Odyssey of the Seas. Embarkation day. Time to head to Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ to board Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas. It is hard to say goodbye to the grandkids, but we will be back for Thanksgiving at their house.
Odyssey was built in 2021 and has not had any refurbishments yet. Odyssey of the Seas has a double occupancy capacity of 4,198 passengers. The maximum capacity is up to 5,510 passengers when all berths are occupied. The ship also accommodates 1,663 crew members.
Cape Liberty cruise port is located on the Hudson River in New Jersey across from New York City. This cruise port is very easy to get to if flying in for your cruise. Newark International Airport is 10 miles away and about a twenty-minute drive. We had a quick and easy boarding once we got through the backed-up traffic to the ship. There is only one terminal and both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines sail from this port. We dropped off our luggage, parked in the parking garage, and walked over to the ship. We checked in and were onboard in no time. At this parking garage you pay when you come back from the cruise on machines located outside the garage. We were told it would be $30.00 a day. We have also been here where we have had to park in the overflow lot due to the parking garage being full. See https://deestimes.com/new-jersey/ for more information and other days at this port.
Upon boarding the first thing we both said was “wow, now this is a ship – She is beautiful”.
We headed to the windjammer buffet. It is huge and the food was great.
The first day on board is always a nice day to familiarize yourself with the ship. But before you do that, take care of the mandatory safety briefing on the Royal Caribbean app. Then, check in at your assigned assembly station.
The main dining room is gorgeous. Finding your dining table is always a fun thing to do.
Our balcony room is huge with a nice shower (video to come in a day or two). Water and wine are waiting for us.
The casino is nice with spread out machines. The ship itself is so much nicer than the last ship we were on “Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas”. Of course, it is much bigger and newer than the Brilliance. Before you know it, we are off and treated to a one main sail away goodbye
Then the most heavenly sunset views while passing under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. I never get tired of these sail aways. Every large ship that enters New York Harbor must pass beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. This double-decked suspension bridge has a clearance of 228 ft. The bridge is 13, 700 feet long. It is located at the mouth of upper New York Bay and connects Brooklyn with Staten Island. The bridge averages nearly 200,000 cars daily. Think of how many people are crossing that bridge as we pass under her.
Our dinner table companions are super nice. The one couple is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and will be on the trans-Atlantic cruise with us next year. We also met up for a few hugs with long time cruise friends from NJ. That brought back many diamond lounge memories from years past.
The casino was packed after dinner. It was very hard to find a slot machine empty. The roulette tables have minimum bets of either $10.00 or $25.00. The $25.00 table was empty. We were given $8.00 worth of free play each. Lol, that does not last long. It seems as though everything is a little more expensive this trip. Every trip you go on is a little bit different. We have bought three-night specialty dining packages recently for three different prices. From Vancouver it was $89.99 each, and from New Orleans it was $109.99 each, and now from Bayonne it is $164.99 each. The headcount for this cruise is 3,951 Adults and 798 Children for a total of 4,749 passengers. This number includes 67 Pinnacles, 344 Diamond plus, 442 Diamond, and 173 Emerald. It also includes 309 Platinum, 904 Gold, and 2,510 brand new Royal Caribbean cruisers.
Daily cruise planner
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
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