Pirates and Promises

Serendipity! My knee surgery was originally scheduled for Nov 7, but because of an abscess tooth issue, it got rescheduled to Jan 23. We now have absolutely nothing scheduled for December. This would be a great time to get a week on board the Villa Vie Odyssey to 'try-before-you-buy.' And, guess what? The ship will be at the closest point to us during December. We made arrangements to get on board in Jamaica. One week on board takes us through the Panama Canal (again😮) and we can get off and fly home from Panama City. 

We booked our flight a couple days early so we could see a little of Port Royal before getting on the ship. The hotel was delightful - the Grand Hotel Excelsior. An outside bar right on the waterfront. We stayed there till our room was ready, then stayed there some more! Hey, we could barely move after the Capt Morgan's Rum Punch they served. Usually, Rum punches are mostly fruit juice and you can drink them like soda. Not this one. 

Breakfast was included, also with outdoor seating near the water. So beautiful

Not only was this, I'm sure, the best hotel in town - I think it's safe to say that it is the only hotel. The next day we decided to take a walk to the main town area of Port Royal and see the Fort Charles. Lots of history here, including the stories of the real Capt Jack Sparrow. His name was Calico Jack here. But he wasn't even the most famous pirate - that would be Capt Morgan:

The following morning, we watched as the Odyssey pulled in to port. It was a beautiful day with the sunshine making the ship sparkle. 

Oh boy! We can't wait to get on board. It's just a short walk from the hotel to the dock. We got on and found our room - 4036 - an Ocean View window, not a balcony. If you look at the photo above and see the row of square windows just below the solid blac line, our cabin is one of those just below the davits (I think.) The window gives us a very nice view.

Happily, I decided I could live with that view and not need a balcony! This means we could actually afford it (see end of previous post.)

After dropping off our carry-on bags, we wandered around the ship and shortly ran into Randy Casshingham, author of the ResidentialCruising.com website. One thing we were interested in was the ability to have an office on board. Randy has one he showed us but, unfortunately, he said all the office spaces were already taken. The shared workspace was very nice - that will have to do. Actually, we wanted the office space for our YouTube studio, but they were not sound proof. The walls had openings - some kind of ship regulations. So, you need to be quiet. That would not have worked for us anyway. 

We used the desk space in our room to deliver our Live-Stream YouTube show on Sunday Dec 15. The Starlink Internect connection worked perfectly (we know that won't always be the case) and the space was also sufficient. This could work! Here is the show:

We ate all our meals in the cafe with the buffet. I love eating from a buffet. I browse and get exactly what I want and exactly the quantity I want. The food was delicious. The, after breakfast, or sometimes before, I would go to the gym and take the stretch/exercise class. After lunch and dinner, Jim and I would walk a couple times around the deck. So much better than our typical day at home where we sit at our computers all day. If we choose to live on board I think it promises to be a healthy choice!

And, the people! So many fun and interesting people. The ship has a completely different vibe than normal cruise ships. These people are living here and they want to get to know you. I don't think we ate alone even once. 

By the end of our week on board, we wanted to stay. No more cooking, cleaning, driving, shopping. Lots of friendly people for our community. Lots of activities. And, oh yea, we'll be traveling around the world!! We could keep our business going and we'd actually be Geeks ON TOUR again!