kadmgs

Genie Stuff:
At exactly 90 days out, we did get our genie survey. For my neighbourly (neighborly?) cruise with @Lovetocruise2002 this past summer, I had saved everything in a word document, so it was easy to update and tweak for this sailing. I did put in the notes that we would love to work with Derick again since we had him last year. The kids really liked him.
At 30 days out we got our welcome letter, and we were thrilled to find that it was from Derick! The kids were so happy. I sent out an email with life updates, and we have had a few more back and forth emails regarding scheduling etc. 
Here are some of our requests, I'll keep everyone posted on how they come out. 
I pre-booked Izumi hibachi in the cruise planner quite a while ago knowing that is the new norm. But like an idiot, I accidentally booked it for formal night. I've asked Derick if he could switch it to a different night for us. I got the canned "I can't promise anything" response, so we will see what happens.
After reading some other posts, we requested Cabana #43 in Thrill Water Park. I was surprised to get a "you got it" response. It seems to be in a good spot, close to the slides as well as the attendant station. We are there at the same time as Freedom, so I anticipate the park being super busy. I'm already looking forward to the chicken sammich hack!
Dining wise, we are skipping chefs table and CP150. While I would like the meal at Chefs Table, the rest of the gang wouldn't. Most of our group weren't impressed by CP150 either. I may have to make some requests for their bread and the fillet at some point, because those were REALLY good.
Night 1 will be in CK because fillet night. We also asked Derick that we wanted to get to Portside BBQ sooner in the cruise. Last year when we finally made it there, we were in full on Star Class food coma status and really couldn't enjoy it. I would also like to get to Playmakers. We have not eaten there yet. 
We are going to surprise the kids with a birthday party for them on the cruise. Lydia became a teenager a month ago, and Johnny turns 10 a couple weeks after the cruise, so why not. Johnny is obsessed with hippopotamuses and Lydia is a competitive cheerleader. I asked for cakes in those themes. I did tell Derick I fully understand that there are limitations that the pastry team have, but there is no harm in asking right?

More pre-cruise stuff.
Last year on Oasis we sailed while everything was still at reduced capacity and the ship had about 3500 guests on board. While it was nice to not have any lines, the ship felt dead. This will be our first Oasis class at full capacity, so it will be great to see the ship come alive. I'm going to channel my inner @Ampurp85and do some good people watching. 
We crossed the points threshold and now are diamond status. I plan on chatting with the Loyalty Ambassador to make sure we take full advantage of our perks. Granted the drink vouchers aren't in play here, but I'll check out the diamond lounge, get our free photos etc etc. Any suggestions, throw them out there.
I don't know if it's just me or not. Does anyone else have flashbacks, or a nostalgia moment when you're out and about and The Power of Love comes on the radio, and you are brought back to the opening of Aqua80? (now excuse me while I pull up Youtube and watch the music video)

This could be interesting. Instead of "cruise fare" pricing, everything is just labeled a "compulsory gratuity"
Sit back and watch everyones head explode..

Starting my awkward this guy can't dance single digit dance today!

(actual footage of me dancing, that's me on the left)
 

Lol Waitress of the seas would be a good ship name but imagine how many posts about tipping would be made. 

I got it while sitting in a meeting and I yelled at my phone, "I'm not on a cruise, you ***hole!" My co-workers/friends were like, "what???" Needless to say I had to explain. Good thing it wasn't a formal meeting or with people that aren't my friends. 😂

So my wife and I just got home from our 1st cruise, it was on Oasis of the Seas last week. Thought I'd share a few observations that might help other newbies.
First thanks to Matt for all the great videos and info, I can't tell you how much they helped!
 
So we have just reached that point in life where our kids are old enough to leave home alone and we don't have to plan vacations for them, but now for us. So we decided to cruise.  I'll just say, overall about the experience...wow. I've never had a more relaxing and fun vacation. The staff and amenities of the Oasis were just incredible.  They were eager to help, and went out of their way to answer any need we had.  There is so much to do on the ship, I don't think we even saw it all.  We had a great time, and we are already planning next years cruise. If you've never cruised before and are on the fence, I'd say jump in and give it a go! (A caveat to this - we enjoy relaxing and having a drink, sitting on the beach, etc - we don't need to go hiking, biking, be busy all the time, we are happy to sit, chat, and watch the world go by.  A cruise seems like the perfect place for this.)
 
Some standout stuff:
Portside BBQ - wow great bbq, such a surprise! Recommend the chicken wings or brisket, so tender!
Izumi sushi - we did both the hibachi and sushi sides, the hibachi was great, but the sushi dinner was a highlight!
CoCo Beach Club restaurant - one of the best meals we had, and easily the best steak (Chops was decent but this place killed it)
Globe and Atlas Pub - Our bar of choice, relaxing , great staff, and entertainment. Spent a lot of time here! (although for comfort - Schooner Bar had the most comfortable chairs heh)
 
Things that could improve:
The mattresses, uhg, not great.  We found out too late that you could get a mattress topper and they were all out.
The AC (in stateroom) is not quite cool enough, and hot water was not quite hot enough.  Not enough to be a real annoyance, but noticeable. (I understand that the ship has to make all its own power for these things so it is forgivable)  Our cabin steward was able to bring us a fan for the room which made sleeping just fine.
 
Other thoughts:
Unlimited Drink package...we were going to get it, then decided not too as the wife didn't think she would drink enough to make it worthwhile.  Boy were we wrong hah. Luckily we were able to upgrade to it a couple days in.  So if your teetering on the fence whether to get it or not, I'd have to say go for it.
Main dining room was great, never had a meal that we didn't really enjoy, and the staff was outstanding.  Windjammer buffet was average, about what you'd expect from a buffet.
Shore excursions - seemed so short, like there was never enough time.  We did splurge on a cabana at Labadee and it was sooo worth it, the privacy, comfort, and service were well worth the price of admission.  I was surprised by the number of people that just came up and sat down in our lounge chairs and stuff, wierd, then you have to feel like kinda a dick shooing them out, and of course they all got mad when we said anything.
Speaking of other people, wow people like to complain.  We had a hard time meeting others, seems all people want to talk about was the bad things...its too crowded...there's kids on board...I waited 7 minutes to be seated....etc etc.  All things that we hadn't noticed or didn't bother us at all. People need to learn to relax and enjoy.  (We did meet some nice people, it wasn't all bad hah)
 
Anyway, overall we had a great time and can't wait to get back! Our only question now is do we stick with what we now know will be good (RC) or try out some other cruise lines? Either way it will be fun to figure out!
 

I got it while sitting in a meeting and I yelled at my phone, "I'm not on a cruise, you ***hole!" My co-workers/friends were like, "what???" Needless to say I had to explain. Good thing it wasn't a formal meeting or with people that aren't my friends. 😂

I got it while sitting in a meeting and I yelled at my phone, "I'm not on a cruise, you ***hole!" My co-workers/friends were like, "what???" Needless to say I had to explain. Good thing it wasn't a formal meeting or with people that aren't my friends. 😂

I got it too on my phone!  Then I herd 7 short bursts and 1 long one -- later I realized it was just the dog snoring, so no need to panic.

Me too! Well...tuxedo.

I have a black fur baby so..... this made me smile.

I’ll never understand the swinger lifestyle. On my nights out, Old White Woman here, certainly wouldn’t want to spend it having sex.  Seriously, give me a good meal and a good machine.  I get enough at home, but maybe it’s being with a new person which is the excitement…too much work. I would scare the man when my bra came off, and my boobs drooped sideways. 
 
just saying. 

Okay, I must chime in here @asquared17. In our little gated community a couple moved in and pineapples started showing up all over their home, outside lights as well as home outdoor adornments, lots of gnomes as well.  They have parties.....we went once as we were invited. Um, we knew nothing about this type of gathering,  but apparently we are "vanilla" I digress. We excused ourselves in short order, to each their own.  They are snow birds thank goodness so the neighborhood is rocking as a few more moved in;  from November until about April. We believe they leave their families and come down here to live their best life for a few months. We are now understanding of the parties and as long as they don't take it onto the front lawn I am like " you do you boo!" But I do think it is similar the anonymity of it makes for a "good" environment I  guess. We all just smile and wave at each other, it's all very cordial, but weird at the same time. We don't get invited anymore, and that's wonderful! 
@Ampurp85 I know exactly what you mean about the "candle" made from napkins. Mine looked like a proper p#n!$ my plan was to take a picture but I was to busy laughing as my daughter was dismantling it dying of embarrassment. I have a pretty loud laugh and I had tears, it was a "candle" to behold...  candle my butt they know it's not a candle. Loving your adventures...

i hear this — but then why do i keep running into the same people on any cruise?! always the ones i want to steer clear of!!
(to clarify, i mean this in a strictly NON swinging capacity!!! just as someone who finds themselves HAUNTED by the same folks over and over 😂)
i felt it was necessary to add that postscript 😅 but no shade to anyone who swings. 
(,,,okay i’m just going to stop here before i get myself more in trouble hahahah)

I agree. Without getting too far into political ideology/judicial philosophy, etc., I teach my GOVT students to pay attention to who appointed a federal judge when examining a ruling. Usually, it will give insight into judicial philosophy. However, this is not the case for this particular ruling. She was appointed by Obama, so we don't really have any basis for understanding her intent. We can say that this wasn't politically motivated. Its not government overreach because its a civil case. In a civil case, proof the cruise lines violated the law isn't necessary. There only has to be proof the defendant's actions caused injury to the plaintiff. Tort law is different than criminal law. 

Christmas Miracle ✅
I have door magnets!! 

This made me laugh out loud 🤣 I have ordered lots from Red Bubble over the years and usually the items come quickly but I am waiting on a Christmas miracle for our Christmas Vacation merchandise …. Ordered beginning of November and the package was lost in transit.  Replacement package is not looking good to arrive before Thursday. I will be so bummed if my wall merch magnets don’t show up. Ugh 

I agree the amenity is usually repeats of what they have in the d lounge.  But I do love the strawberries the most.  The amenity I received on the Grandeur last week was a shrimp scampi, salmon w/ cream cheese, and grapes.  I'm not sure who would want to eat warm fish on a plate that could have been plated hours earlier unrefridgerated.  Maybe that's why they had a major Gastro virus outbreak on hat cruise.

The Starmony “Christmas Vacation” blog is officially underway! 

We are counting down the days until this Christmas vacation gets underway. We are T - 11 days and the excitement is real! If you followed along last year, you know we like to have fun with a Christmas theme.  This year it’s National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, a family favourite Christmas movie. We have a few fun things planned so follow along. 

Who’s going? 
Myself (Jacquie), 17 year old son (Reyd) and hubby (Lindsay) 
For those that followed along last year, our good friends Robert and Tammy are back again this year.  Robert is a hoot so we are in for a fun week.  Our group has expanded to include another set of good friends along with their 12 year old daughter and 16 year old son. These friends are travelling with a respite worker for their daughter and will be accessing many of the Autism Friendly Ship programming and supports. 

 

This was the inspiration for the Christmas Vacation theme blog. Lindsay purchased this 1974 Ford Country Squire a couple of months ago and his dream was to drive it in our towns Christmas parade. The lighting isn’t the best but his brothers business was awarded 3rd prize 🏆 It was a crowd favourite. 

Beats the obstructed view of the ocean I have from Colorado...

I agree... www.portparking.com is my favorite 3rd party provider in Galveston. It is owned and operated by good folks who I know personally.

Same as @CrznTxn https://www.portparking.com/ I like that we parked in a warehouse and the shuttle service was included. It was super easy and they give a better discount than the Port of Galveston for disabled veterans. 

Same as @CrznTxn https://www.portparking.com/ I like that we parked in a warehouse and the shuttle service was included. It was super easy and they give a better discount than the Port of Galveston for disabled veterans.