The passage to Nassau is smooth and quiet. The temperatures are expected to be in the mid 70's with increasing winds and a chance of a shower.
As the day progresses the winds change, and the waves outside the protection of the harbor grow to 5 or 6 feet or more with a constant spray coming off the crest to the waves before they crash into the rock retaining walls. Eventually they subside some as the wind moves further to the south.
At times the ship seems very empty. There are rumors as to what the passenger count is. Not surprisingly, they vary widely. I will wait until I have more accurate information.
One inovation on this ship is the hallway lighting. It starts out at a low level, and then as someone is detected in the hallway increases to full brightness.
I am sure this will save fuel. How much may be in question, there is often at least one person in the hallway, which will keep the lights at a bright level.
The cabin is very typical. A tiny desk, sofa, two closets and a chest of drawers which also hold a mini fridge. Two large cabinets over the headboard will store several of the extra pillows. My need for the shoe hanger does not exist on this ship, nor most other modern ships of the past 5 years or so.
I-Fly, bumper cars, flow rider, rock climbing, bungee bounce pad, basketball, pool and a large sports bar complex are just a few of the activites/areas. Definitely designed for a younger crowd.
The Odyssey of the seas has several music venues. The Music Hall, Boleros, The schooner bar, and the Crown & Anchor pub, along with the main theater and the Two70 complex which is a high tech multipurpose venue.
We are one of 4 ships in Nassau, and definitely the largest. The Freedom of the Seas is next to us, a Carnival ship and a Disney ship fill most of the berths.
This is only a wild guess, but I suspect only 30% of the passengers venture off the ship. We are not among them.
The Windjammer is typical of modern Royal ships, with various themed food stations. Plenty of variety, and as expected the staff is serving everything. Well everthing except coffee, juice and water which you can serve yourself sometimes.
The Diamond lounge is on a lower deck, but at least has a few outside windows.
Dinner in the coastal kitchen is again superb. Very close to the experience of Chops. When we arrive at 5:30 I think there was 1 or 2 tables occupied. As dinner progressed more table began to fill in. Since they are practicing social distancing, even full they are only at half capacity.
I quickly that the majority of passengers in the coastal kitchen are Pinnacle members. Now whether they are also suite passengers is a separate question. This is of significance as the coastal kitchen is only available to suite passengers and Crown & Anchor Pinnacle members. With 125 suites on the ship and 51 Pinnacle passengers you would expect just the opposite.
Vocalist Peter Grant is the headliner entertainer for tonight. He is good, but his performance is degraded by the audio tech that amplifies the drums and some other instruments so much that the piano and his voice can not be heard or understood. Just for kicks I measure the audio level with my uncalibrated audio app and the peak level is 110 Dba, and the average 100 Dba. Way over amplified.
I own ear plugs for a reason even though I did forget to take them to the show. I won't forget again.
Jabes plays instrumental guitar in the Schooner bar. A pleasant relief from the main theater. With limited seating, the Schooner bar quicky fills to capacity. Even if all seats were open, I feel it is smaller than on many other ships.
The regular piano bar player each evening is Daniel Marks. A young gentleman from England. Very animated and a good entertainer. In contrast to many, he almost entirely plays requests.
As we leave Nassau and head south to Aruba the seas are expected to increase to 9 feet or so with 35 mph winds. The trailing edge of a storm that hammered much of the eastern atlantic region of the US and produced tornadoes a few miles from my home in Clermont.
Being so large, motion in the ship is barely noticeable. The bubble app in my phone indicates a roll of less than +/- .8 degrees. Yes that is eight tenths of one degree.
Tomorrow will be the first of two sea days needed to reach Aruba. We are cruising at a comfortble 18 knots just behind the front moving south.
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