Travel along for a day-by-day photo tour detailing our 7-Day Christmas cruise onboard Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas, a Quantum Ultra Class ship, from New Jersey to The Bahamas during the month of December including onboard activities, incredible dining experiences and ports of call.
DAY 1
Sail away was set for 3:30 p.m. from Cape Liberty, the Royal Caribbean Cruise Port located in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was a chilly embarkation day with wind gusts of 20+ mph on this brisk December day, but we enjoyed all the amazing spaces onboard from lunch at Playmakers Bar & Arcade (yes, we had the world-famous chicken wings) during the big game.
If you’re looking for a delicious IPA while onboard Odyssey of the Seas, Playmakers is the place for you. Jared enjoys IPA’s, and we found that not every bar offered much more than the standard selection of domestic beers like Michelob, Coors, etc. However, there were times when Playmakers ran out of IPA’s during our Sea Days, so if IPA’s are important to you – you may want to hit this spot early.
On Embarkation Day, the following lunch options were available during our cruise:
- Solarium Bistro: complimentary dining 11:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- Windjammer Buffet: complimentary dining 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- Giovanni’s: a la carte dining 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade: a la carte dining
After lunch, we hit the bumper cars, and of course the adults-only Solarium where we had our pick of two forward-facing sun loungers with fantastic views of Manhattan and The Narrows as we cruised by the Statue of Liberty and under the iconic Verazzano-Narrows Bridge.
Travel Tip 👉 Skip the buffet on embarkation day and opt for other complimentary dining experiences like our favorite, El Loco Fresh, home of fresh made flour tortillas
We ended our first day onboard Odyssey of the Seas, also known as “Casual Night,” with a sensational dinner at Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen, Royal Caribbean’s Italian-inspired specialty dining experience onboard Odyssey of the Seas.
We shared starters, including their famous Italian Stromboli featuring a decadent white truffle sauce (we should’ve ordered two) then, we moved onto the main courses: Chicken Parm for Janine & Osso Buco for Jared – but it was the Amore Della Cucina that stole the show with its garlic-cheese knots & olives! Italian is our main food group, and we had previously dined at Giovanni’s Table onboard Allure of the Seas, but this was an entirely different menu and dining experience. For those wondering the difference between the two, Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen focuses more on shared plates and pizzas while Giovanni’s Table is more pasta heavy (Janine: Think of dinner at Nonna’s).
We were fortunate enough to receive an onboard credit through a Royal Caribbean promotion when booking our cruise online, so we used that credit for each of our specialty dining experiences. We did not purchase a dining or beverage package on this cruise.
After dinner, we enjoyed a few Limoncellos and celebrated the Holiday Season with Christmas Caroling and a tree lighting Ceremony in The Royal Promenade. Since this was a Holiday-cruise, Odyssey of the Seas was so brilliantly decorated for the Christmas Season and our cruisers took full advantage with several dressed as Santa Clause, The Grinch, and even adorable Snowmen!
DAY 2
Our first full day onboard Odyssey of the Seas was a sea day as our ship made its way south on the Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey. We were awake and at Vitality Fitness Center by 6:00 a.m. to get in a full morning workout. If you’re going to run on a treadmill, you might as well do it surrounded by floor-to-ceiling views of the open sea!
After our morning workout, we hit the Windjammer made-to-order omelet stations. We were early enough that breakfast was still being served, but late enough that the rush had already passed. The skies were cloudy with peaks of sunshine, but the weather was sadly still too chilly to enjoy the empty pool decks.
If you are planning to cruise on the Atlantic during the winter months, this is definitely something you should keep in mind.
After lunch, we battled our fellow cruisers in pickleball, volleyball and basketball up on the SeaPlex followed by several entertaining rounds of movie and music trivia.
Our second evening onboard Odyssey of the Seas was also our first formal night, and it was one we’ll never forget. Throughout the ship, we celebrated all things French.
With every cruise, we look forward to seeing what the culinary team crafts when it comes to formal night and this was one of the best. Our delicious sunset dinner in The Main Dining Room featured all of our favorites: Baked French Onion Soup, Calamari, Beef Bourguignon, Escargot & Chicken Cordon Bleu, but the best part of our meal was the fabulous service we received from our servers Paul & Solomon. These are two Royal Caribbean rock stars!
Travel Tip 👉 Request table no. 400 when in The Main Dining Room, Deck 4. This private four seater is nestled in a lovely enclave, surrounded by gorgeous artwork and stunning sea views. This table was randomly assigned to our stateroom, and it was a wonderful surprise to be seated so close to the window on the starboard side (to catch the sunset) but also to have a table tucked away from it all.
After dinner, we made new friends piano-side at The Schooner Bar where Pianist James took us all on a musical journey with some of our all-time favorite hits. With every song, we became more impressed with James’ musicality – he played everything from Tom Petty and Bryan Adams to Nirvana, Radiohead and Britney Spears. Yes, the millennials had taken over The Schooner Bar that evening!
We ended our second evening onboard in The Royal Theater for “Showgirl!” a spectacular tribute to The Las Vegas Showgirl where stage production and technology meet. The energy and talent on display was unmatched. The costumes and choreography were spectacular, and there was never a dull moment throughout the performance. 10/10 recommend!
Day Three – Port Canaveral, Florida
On Day 3, we enjoyed breakfast in the Main Dining Room as Odyssey of the Seas made its way into Port Canaveral, Florida for our first port of call.
The clouds were gone and the sun was shining. Blue skies were on full display all around us. We spent the morning exploring the upper decks where we found the Flowrider and RipCord by iFly, the skydiving simulator. For us, it was a bit too chilly still to participate but we certainly did enjoy watching our fellow cruisers as Kennedy Space Center came into focus.
While arriving in Port Canaveral, a pod of dolphins put on a show to welcome us. We had the perfect spot on the pool deck for their show, and it certainly was a lovely way of starting our day in Port. Once off the ship, we headed for Cocoa Beach, and you can read more about our fun-filled day along the Space Coast soon.
Night 3 onboard Odyssey of the Seas was “80’s Night.” Although it was also a “casual” night, many cruisers were dressed in their most fabulous and florescent attire – there were a lot of Saved by the Bell references!
Dinner on the third night of our cruise with Odyssey of the Seas brought us back to the most popular specialty restaurant at sea, Chops Grille. If you’ve seen our previous Royal Caribbean vlogs, you may remember that in all honesty Chops was a miss on our first ever Royal Caribbean cruise. However, thanks to all your comments on YouTube, we decided to give Chops another go, and The Odyssey of the Seas Culinary Team did a fantastic job!
Nestled in an intimate venue on Deck 5 Forward, we were greeted by an acoustic guitar & seated at a window table with breathtaking views of the sunset. We dined on warm dinner rolls, colossal shrimp cocktail with sweet & spicy horseradish, Caesar salad & flavorful bone-in ribeye steaks with a garnish of garlic & rosemary.
There was a lot of delicious food & drink this cruise, but Chops took it to the next level! Everything was well-seasoned & cooked to perfection. To say this was the complete opposite of our first experience would be an understatement, and it just goes to show that everything deserves a second chance. A very big *Thank You* to everyone on YouTube who urged us to give Chops another try!
DAY 4 – Perfect Day at CocoCay
On our fourth day, we enjoyed breakfast in the Windjammer as Odyssey of the Seas docked at our second port of call, Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. Liberty of the Seas was already in Port when Odyssey arrived to CocoCay, but both ships were still waiting for the all-clear to go ashore which came around 10:30 a.m. You can read more about our Postcard Perfect Day in CocoCay here.
We were back onboard Odyssey of the Seas at 4:00 p.m. for Caribbean Night in the Main Dining Room. We dined on Caesar Salads, Crispy Coconut Jumbo Shrimp, Caribbean-Style Chicken, and Rustic Chicken Korma but the highlight of our meal was the entertainment.
The Main Dining Room Staff really put on a show this evening, and we had a great time smiling, dancing & doing the Macarena!
DAY 5 – Nassau, Bahamas
Our final port of call with Odyssey of the Seas was Nassau, where we arrived on Day 5 of our cruise. Nassau is by far the cruise port we’ve visited the most often, but we can never get enough! You can read more about our day in Nassau here.
The theme for night five was “Wear Red,” and a lot of people did join in on this trend since we were so close to the holiday season. We didn’t wear red, but we did drink a few glasses of red wine 🙂
For dinner on night five of our cruise onboard Odyssey of the Seas, we fell down the rabbit hole & into one of Royal’s most unique specialty restaurant experiences, Wonderland.
You simply cannot miss this standout dining venue as you pass by on Deck 5 Mid-Ship. If the restaurant’s theming & décor aren’t enough to draw guests in, their innovative menu certainly will! A hostess stationed behind a massive sculpture met us, and we were seated at a window table with views of Nassau in the moonlight. Paint brushes and a blank canvas called to us from our place settings where we ordered two of Wonderland’s signature cocktails: Down the Rabbit Hole & Smoke Rings and we began to paint.
Wonderland is by far the most modern & imaginative dining experience we’ve had at sea. The décor is immersive & enchanting with whimsical high-back statement chairs, gothic candelabras & chandeliers, but the only thing we could’ve done without was the harsh blue-lighting which made it challenging to read our menu, see our food and photograph/vlog.
In Wonderland, things aren’t always what they seem, and to say we were confused by the menu would be an understatement, but we were in Wonderland after all – so that is to be expected! Our server was very reassuring & promised a treat for the senses, and Wonderland did not disappoint! From appetizer to dessert, we were met with delicious and one-of-a-kind texture & flavor combinations: sushi with floral yuzu lemon. Some of our favs include the Liquid Lobster, Purple Potted Shrimp & Branzino, which Janine has been trying to recreate at home ever since.
After dinner, we hit the Bionic Bar where automation is on full display at this popular “robot bar.”
The highlight of our evening was meeting our fabulous Cruise Director, Steve from Canada, in-person! Steve was so very kind to us when meeting him. He chatted with us and he even took this selfie for us without hesitation to commemorate our meeting! Steve absolutely made our cruise, and we hope to sail with him again soon.
We ended night five with a showing of “The Voices of Royal,” where we were entertained by the incredible vocal stylings of the Odyssey of the Seas Entertainment Team.
The playlist included both classics and modern hits, and everyone in the audience was vibing!
DAY 6 – SEA DAY
Day 6 gave us another sea day onboard Odyssey of the Seas, so we took full advantage starting with breakfast in bed via room service.
This was the day we took it easy and truly enjoyed our stateroom, our ship, and everything offered onboard. We finally got to ride the bumper cars, and for lunch we ate Sorrento’s – the best complimentary pizza at sea, in our opinion! A lot of our Day 6 was spent hiding the rest of our cruise ducks featuring Janine’s handmade friendship bracelets. The bracelets were a real hit with the kiddos early on in our cruise, so she spent the morning making a few more to share.
Dinner on night six was our second formal night, and in the Main Dining Room the theme was “Royal Night.” Our Cruise Compass told us to “Dress to Impress.”
For this formal night, we enjoyed Escargots a la Bourguignonne, Spicy Shrimp Jalfrezi, and Main Lobster Tail.
We kept the laid-back theme going by making it an early night by heading back to our stateroom where we streamed our favorite Christmas Movie, Home Alone thanks to our internet package through AT&T which we used throughout our cruise. We did not purchase Royal Caribbean’s VOOM internet package on this sailing.
DAY 7 – SEA DAY
On our final sea day onboard Odyssey of the Seas we were back at the Vitality Fitness Center for another sunrise workout. Then, it was off to Windjammer for breakfast and an impressive Gingerbread Village display crafted by the Odyssey of the Seas Culinary Team. After breakfast, we hid the last of our cruise ducks, gave archery a try on the SeaPlex followed by Movie Theme Song Trivia.
Our final dinner onboard Odyssey of the Seas was at Teppanyaki, Royal Caribbean’s Japanese-inspired specialty dining experience.
After dinner, it was time to return to our stateroom and begin packing for our journey home. It was time to officially put away all of our warm weather attire and break out those big bulky sweaters and winter jackets because we were now officially heading back to the Northeast.
When it comes to disembarking the ship, cruisers have the option to pack their suitcases and leave them outside their stateroom on the last evening where Royal Caribbean Staffers will take care of getting them off the ship and have them waiting for you when you reach customs. However, we find the easiest option is to simply keep our luggage with us and carry it off the ship. We prefer this option because it is less chaotic since the majority of travelers like to enjoy breakfast onboard before disembarking. If you have any mobility issues, carrying your luggage yourself may not be the best option for you, and it should be noted that we only had to carry our luggage down two flights of stairs (from Deck 7 to the Gangway on Deck 5). Also, if you don’t have an early flight, you may want to enjoy the slower pace of allowing Royal to take care of things for you so you can take your time, enjoy the morning, and get off the ship after the rush.
DAY 8 – DISEMBARK
On Day 8, our time onboard the incredible Odyssey of the Seas had sadly come to an end, but not before we set our alarms for a 5:00 a.m. wake up call.
We woke up early to catch our return to The Narrows where we once again cruised underneath The Verazzano-Narrows Bridge, past The Statue of Liberty and that spectacular New York City Skyline welcoming us home.
Odyssey of the Seas was our home-away-from-home for eight fantastic days where the accommodations, the staff, the service, the food & drinks all continued to amaze us throughout our cruise. Core memories were made on this cruise, and we hope you get to experience the fabulousness that is Odyssey of the Seas soon!
Let us know if Odyssey of the Seas and Royal Caribbean are on your bucket list in the comments below & safe travels ♡
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