April 23, 2023

Sorry for the sparsity of news from your favorite cruisers.  Since you haven’t heard from the coast guard or any law enforcement agency, you can believe that we are onboard the Odyssey of the Seas and sailing towards Italy.

We had no problems getting to Fort Lauderdale, but once we arrived at the hotel we learned that although Royal Caribbean had reserved a room for us they had not set up payment.  The rack rate was $399 plus tax.  I got them to a more reasonable price of $250 plus tax, and now I am waiting to hear from Miranda, our agent, about getting a refund.

We got on the ship with no difficulties, even though we had not been able to get the Royal Caribbean app to work on Bonnie’s phone (she had not completed the health questionaire, but the check-in lady handled it – nyet problem).  Today, finally, I got someone at Guest Services to get it working, although it took him almost 30 minutes.  The app said Bonnie had signed in before, but she doesn’t remember it.  Anyway, it seems to be working now.

I did my first talk in the 270 lounge this morning.  It’s a huge place at the stern of the ship with glass that stretches for 270 degrees, hence the name.  It is one of the largest venues on the ship and there were some 200 folk out for “Tempest in the Atlantic.”  Tomorrow is “English – the World’s Language.”

Our inside cabin is the last one down the corridor.  The next thing is a storage room where housekeeping keeps sheets and towels.  After that, it is the Atlantic Ocean.  Small, but comfortable, and we get our steps in.

Well, we are springing forward every day for 6 days, so it is two hours later than it was Saturday and I need to rehearse for tomorrow before turning out the lights.  My cruise buddy will blog soon.

TTFN