Year 5, Day 189 “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 11/05/2025 – Day 30 of 30 day trip to Rome, Italy with a Mediterranean cruise and a transatlantic cruise back to Bayonne, NJ. Day 15 of 14 night transatlantic cruise on Odyssey of the Seas – Departed Odyssey of the Seas in Bayonne, NJ in the morning. In our bed home in Kentucky in the evening.
The departure from the ship was easy with a porter. If you don’t use a porter the line through customs is huge. Once we were outside the waiting crowd was huge. We ordered an Uber and it took about twenty minutes for it to arrive. We Ubered to Newark Airport.
Our flight was leaving at 1:44pm. We were in the airport at our gate by 11am. We sat and ate The Jersey Mike’s #11 Stickball Special. It is a cold sub made with provolone, ham, and salami. It is sometimes considered a “secret menu” item. However, it is listed on the official menu. Its name comes from a sandwich the original owner, Mike, made for neighborhood children. The founder, Mike, named it “Stickball Special” because he would make this inexpensive sandwich for children playing stickball. These children didn’t have much money, and Mike charged them only what they had. Jersey Mike’s line was huge, but they had numerous people making the sandwiches. While eating we watched our cameras. The bees are waiting for our return.
We boarded a full American Airlines flight.
We landed in Charlotte, NC and boarded a tiny plane an EMB145 American Airlines Piedmont Airlines. She is a baby plane. A big daddy American Airlines plane was in front of us on the runway and lifted off before we did. American Airlines mainline fleet has 1,002 aircraft. It is the second-largest commercial airline fleet in the world. The total number of aircraft exceeds 1,541. This includes all affiliates and subsidiaries like Envoy Air, PSA Airlines, and Piedmont Airlines. Hundreds of regional jets operate under the American Eagle brand. Piedmont Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines. The first time we ever flew to Disney World 40 years ago we flew Piedmont Airlines. So I am a nervous flyer and this is a TINY plane. The Embraer 145 can seat up to 50 passengers. Piedmont has earned a reputation for reliability and was named the most reliable E145 operator in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Our flight time once we are in the air is 47 minutes and we cruised at 26,000 feet.
To keep my nerves in check I decided to focus on reviewing our 14 night transatlantic cruise on Odyssey of the Seas:
CREW – Really friendly service. I cannot say anything bad about anyone. I have to say the crew was exceptional. I always felt that the small ships had the best crew, but I have changed my mind. Captain Marek treats everyone on Odyssey of the Seas in a positive way. He is always respectful. Or was it all that extra sleep crossing the transatlantic with all the time changes. Lol
SHIP – Clean and well maintained
Cabin was very nice with comfortable bed. Shower very good. Bathroom had a terrible smell for a few days. I actually thought we were going to die of methane gas poisoning. Steve put a rag in the drain one night to stop the smell. When we told the stateroom attendant he started making sure the trap by the toilet was not dried out.
WINDJAMMER BUFFET: Kept clean.
Food was good. I am not fond of buffets though. Wish they would serve us cafeteria style like they did when they started up after the covid closures. The selection of food was most of the time the same for breakfast and lunch. Although all of a sudden they would surprise you with something really different. Towards the end of the cruise, they featured several meat carvery stations. There were grilled vegetables available. They also had a chocolate fountain.
CAPTAIN: Was around the ship alot and said hi to everyone. He kept everyone informed of changes and weather promptly. He also was very appreciative of his crew.
SOLARIUM BISTRO: Breakfast and lunch buffet looked nice and the restaurant was not crowded. We made reservations for dinner one night. We were really disappointed in how this complimentary mediterannean dinner venue has changed. The servers in the past brought bread to your table. They would also take your soup and entree order. The appetizers and desserts were buffet style that you served yourself. Now it is a pure buffet. The chicken entree was horribly dry. Everything was in small plates under lights. I think because of the small plating they dried out very easily. I would not recommend and probably will not go again
CASINO: Clean and most of the time we could play for awhile with our money. It was not a complete take. We visited the smoking side one time and it was way to smoke smelling for us. In the non smoking side you did not smell the smoke.
BAR SERVICE: All bar service was excellent no matter where we stopped.
SPA – Wonderful manicure pedicure with a sweet kind and patient nail technician. Hair stylist was super nice also. This was the first time that I didn’t feel there was a hard sell at a Royal Caribbean Spa.
CROWN LOUNGE: The food offered for breakfast and afternoon snack was excellent. Unbelievable enough the coffee machine worked the entire trip. Evening appetizers were great. We found ourselves not going to dinner and having appetizers and socializing in the Crown Lounge in the evening. In the evenings only Diamond Plus and Pinnacles could go into the Crown Lounge for appetizers. I see this more and more on Royal Caribbean ships. Here we found one of the best Concierges ever. There is only one other that stands out besides this one in all our cruises.
MAIN DINING ROOM: Our servers were excellent. The food was okay. I could always find something to eat. But honestly, by the time we ate breakfast and lunch we were not really hungry. We felt if we didn’t eat everything the servers got upset with us.
SORRENTOS: Most of the time the pizza on the Royal Caribbean ships served at this venue is kind of just edible. This trip their vegetable feta cheese pizza was fantastic.
FINAL THOUGHTS – Not sure why, but I feel as though I didn’t sail on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. This was such a different experience than I have ever had. Totally makes me want to promote Royal and to be as they say Loyal to Royal. Is it just the Odyssey of the Seas ship? Or is this the future of sailing with Royal Caribbean? I guess we will see on our next cruise which is on Quantum of the Seas.
A little something to ponder.
Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/492X2ol Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle with Straw: Perfect for traveling. Great on cruise ships. The ships water is fantastic. Much better than carrying the plastic water bottles. Especially if you are as concerned about adding more Microplastics in your body as I am. It is BPA, lead, and phthalate-free.
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