asquared17

….i do this. but it’s just one oversized microfiber for my hair and then i use my own microfiber for the pool deck. but that’s honestly because i hate the towel check in/check out process. i enjoy the boss and her packing mentality

can’t wait to hear about utopia!!! not sure i’d know what to do with all my time if i didn’t live blog you’re stuck with me, my friend!!

...a seventh oasis class. perhaps we can skip the bionic bar and abyss slides on this one

this is a rookie move. first of all, you never admit that you have room left in the bags. secondly, you should HARDLY send ACTUAL PROOF of said room!!!! ...also i suspect the boss will turn you into a luggage cart and make you haul it all, ala me

THIS. like at least let me have the ~illusion of sleeping.

exciting!!!!!

or they had such a time that the actual acquisition details are… blurry

i, too, shun nitrates!!!! ELF can be healthy!!! ) (at times ) this is becoming too common an occurrence. ah, well done a man after my own heart!!!!

i can’t believe we as literally missing each other by ONE DAY. what are the odds?!?! we will be weather twins, if nothing else!! also good call on the furniture rearranging. we also pull the trash can out and put to the side of the desk. it’s in plain sight, but i’m not about to be doing acrobatics to throw away my garbage (apparently i must generate enough that this is a thing) we love a good bezos spree

and bezos thanks you in return

stories like these emphasize why i love CK above all else

hooray!!!! cup clip club friends unite!

curious to see if that is the case and they are going to stick to it or if that will eventually fold after people raise hell. seems silly to class a JS as a sky JS if it doesn't have the full sky suite privileges that a typical sky suite on quantum and oasis class would have. a strange distinction to make, especially if on spectrum of the seas and icon class. not saying they won't hold to it... but that's a strange line in the sand to draw.

i think it’s a JS with sky suite amenities. the IT team just goofed in the description.

gOODBYE FOREVER.

random/stray observations: despite her age, the ship was always clean. we rarely saw dirty plates, cups, etc (other than it lining the corridors, etc. the public areas were always clean (at least when we walked through) or in the process of being cleaned. the crew in housekeeping worked HARD. and it showed. it was an interesting mix of folks. not necessarily all first timers, a lot more repeat/seasoned cruises than our previous trip. less deer in the headlights and more -- oh yeah let's do this because we already know this tip/trick. like ELF for lunch every single day and the insane line because of that, or folks staying aboard in nassau and falmouth. even the aqua show on night three, there were so many folks on the starboard overlook on deck 7, waiting for the show. we are used to knowing that little trick and having the place to ourselves until at least halfway through. not this time. folks KNEW. EVERYONE WAS ON THE SUNDECK ON THE LAST DAY BY 8AM. WHAT. EVEN. (?????? who are all these repeat cruisers taking a page out of our book????? how dare they?? just kidding, but it was wild.) the fashion choices (or lack thereof) were nothing short of astonishing. no shoes, skirt hems that stopped at hip height, complete and utter disregard for fellow passengers just trying to make their way through the ship, visually unaccosted. ALAS. it was not meant to be. we had just under 6500 pax on board when i asked our the C+A loyalty ambassador and this was one of the first times i've ever felt the crowds so keenly on an oasis class ship. i forgot to mention!! the C+A ambassador gave us our pins! i got my D+ and J got her diamond pin!! we are officially OFFICIAL. and J will OFFICIALLY get her diamond vouchers now. prior to symphony, oasis was our absolute favorite ship. i would sail her again BUT it would have to be a really smart choice (ie, CHEAP) or literally the last resort. i think i would rather try a standard balcony on the new beyond/ascent/xcel on celebrity before choosing oasis. while there is certainly nothing wrong with the ship, i have now been fortunate enough to sail her five times -- so i think we need to break up for a while given our previous history. we should clear the air. i actually did look into caribbean sailings for december 2025 and was sad to see that only oasis and icon (among the oasis class) were sailing out of miami/FLL. i think symphony might be sailing out of miami in 2025 as well but when i go to book a suite, it crashes, so who knows what is happening there. it has been absolutely MARVELOUS having you along for the week. a real treat for me, as i was away from my family during a historically difficult time, and you all made it so wonderful. i know it was a quieter start than i am usually prone to having, but i feel like we really picked up speed and had ourselves A TIME. i'm so glad there were no medical emergency evacuations and delays back to port this time -- although the emergency evacuation off cococay certainly was something. perhaps i've attracted all the oasis shenanigans and the rest of you will all have a pleasantly peaceful time. this is what i want for y'all. thank you for letting me flex my writer muscles, as i've missed it terribly, and i sort of feel like you should receive a certificate of completion for making it to the last page of this liveblog i hope you have had as much fun as i have, sharing observations, thoughts and experiences. and if nothing else, that you've joined us in the cup clip club. what's next? well, funny you should ask.... forever yours in bezos + shenanigans, -A

I AM NEVER LOOKING FOR THEM AND YET THEY BE FINDING ME

cabin thoughts: we had cabin 10728 this is THE LAST CABIN on deck 10 before you hit the 2BR aqua suite. it was blissfully quiet (aside from one or two occurrences with our neighbors in 10726. oasis cabins are.... dated. the closet space and weird little nooks and crannies are a clear example of how far the newer ships have come. the sliding closet doors were noisy in our wild cococay day/night, and we only had two very small drawers in the vanity. the pointless table that sat across from the little sofa, was so far in the way that we actually re-arranged it so that there were THREE bedside tables. one by the window, one in the middle of the split beds, and the useless table between the bed and the sofa (where the other bedside table was initially. doing this opened up the narrow space between the vanity and the sofa, so we were able to move around a little more freely. bathroom; the space tube shower wasn't as tight as some have been but it was certainly not as spacious as the wider circular door we have seen on odyssey and even harmony, last may. the wooden cubbies were a bit more inconvenient to get in and out of than the open shelving experienced on harmony/odyssey. in comparison to harmony, where there were USB outlets built into the vanity, and outlets thoughtfully placed, we struggled a bit charging our devices. there was a multi plug half moon unit on the desk, but the other outlets were below the desk and you had to bend down to get to them. by the time your cord wrapped back up around, it was a little tight and we found ourselves leaving things on the chair or the floor to charge. the weather stripping on our door was definitely due for replacement. we heard a lot of wind noise and outdoor noise in a way that i've never heard before. most of it was aqua 80, so no complaints there , but be advised; if you're that last cabin before the aqua theater suite, you WILL hear the show. it was quiet because it was the last standard balcony on the deck.... but it was also the last standard balcony on the deck. so that was one hell of a walk with luggage on disembarkation day, with bags of laundry, cabin attendant carts, and luggage lining the corridor. some not so great things may have flown from my lips as we attempted to move out!! we had the newer crossover carpet (not sure how else to categorize it) AND a new couch. i knew this because i had seen a youtube video of the cabin filmed early 2023 and things were updated from then. i was pleasantly surprised. i did feel very bad for our stateroom attendant. in addition to our immediate zone, he had cabins well forward of us AND the star class 2BR AS. nevertheless, he always had a smile for us and knew our names and was helpful, but he was ridiculously overworked. and i understand how asking for extra towels turned into "extra pillows" -- that we couldn't get rid of for the entire week all of this to say -- i WOULD take this cabin again -- or at least, the dead last balcony on the sailing. it was honestly the quietest we've ever experienced, especially when you consider that we still had a lot of actual cabins around us. i wouldn't have minded the walk as much if i'd been feeling generally better, and even appreciated getting extra steps in.

okay gang, sorry for the delay. this sinus infection is kicking my butt, hard. but here we go... overall thoughts: oasis has the BEST aqua show in the fleet. aqua 80 is outstanding and cannot be topped. the power of love and purple rain will forever shine in my heart!! they have the NICEST crew in the fleet. there is something very comforting and warm about this crew. and don't get me wrong, we have had some really wonderful crew members on other sailings/ships. but there is something about THIS crew, that makes it like your favorite cozy blanket on a cold day. even our captain was noticeably more relaxed and jovial when compared to our sailing in december. ....although with no one overboard and only one ALPHA ALPHA ALPHA... i can understand why. PORTSIDE! we went two times! it was really just delicious, and something the rest of the fleet just doesn't have. a treat, and reasonably priced for the amount of food that you get. i would always recommend this as a night one dinner; it's quiet and calm, and the venue picks up considerably throughout the week. VINTAGES. y'all know how i love my champagne. we were delighted to see our favorite bartender, roman, at vintages. he always had a frosty cold glass and fresh bottle of champagne for us. i even asked him if he would ever be on another ship and he told us that he would happily be staying on oasis. willingness to correct/accommodate. this sort of goes back to the earlier point about the crew, but -- it was really something how accommodating the crew were. we had a great experience with the excursions team, and our head waiter in the MDR was really something. we had all sorts of shenanigans with getting a table for two, and we weren't on the right floor on night 2, so once we finally arrived on night 3, he was willing to work with us. he offered even to get us into specialty restaurants if we wanted, with a reservation at our convenience and a discount. (we did not inquire what kind of discount it would be ) every night he would personally check in on us, and make sure we were taken care of. and our MDR waiter and assistant were both very kind and present. i have some particular food preferences and they handled everything in stride, even anticipating them by the second time we were there. (evian, caesar salad; no croutons, dressing on the side ) also guest services was really great. (even though i'm not sure what happened with the cute officer and everything i had brought up to him at that time... maybe my pajamas and wild bedhead took his breath away ) each time i went, they were able to quickly and easily resolve our issues and didn't make me feel like a pest for needing assistance. i was very grateful to know they handled things.

i would advise you to exercise caution if walking around there, especially for a sustained period of time. @AshleyDillo has the right idea with an uber/lyft option

i am so glad you have joined us in the cup clip club https://www.amazon.com/Enbar-Drink-Cup-Holder-Clip/dp/B088DFX1BB/ref=mp_s_a_1_11_maf_1?crid=3OVS4OO00FI75&keywords=cup+clip&qid=1707862994&sprefix=cup+clip%2Caps%2C196&sr=8-11 the hold bezos has on me… i echo everyone on the magnetic hooks, ducks, iron flask cups and reusable water bottles and raise you — inflatable mattress pad, waterboy liquid hydration packets (i prefer to liquid IV) and magnetic acrylic cubes that snap to the wall to hold makeup brushes, pens etc. i bought these: https://www.amazon.com/Organizer-Whiteboard-Refrigerator-Classroom-Accessories/dp/B0BKGF1195/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=10SBUBBEYFN8H&keywords=magnetic+acrylic+cups&qid=1707863160&sprefix=magnetic+acrlyiv+cups%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-8 but these are cheaper: https://www.amazon.com/MaxGear-Accessories-Whiteboard-Organizer-Compartments/dp/B0C1NBQQQ5/ref=mp_s_a_1_4_maf_1?crid=10SBUBBEYFN8H&keywords=magnetic+acrylic+cups&qid=1707863160&sprefix=magnetic+acrlyiv+cups%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-4

legit my favorite part

some of us feel like it follows us around

i mean there’s a reason why we head to be trained before they let us use the thousands of dollars machines at starbucks. not saying everyone can’t handle it… but obviously there are a few… who struggle

it was broken, then fixed. then broken, then fixed again. i stopped visiting the CL after day 4, so i can report no further details