DDaley

I found on two separate occasions the CP change happened exactly 8 days after the announcement email. 

Here are some more Freedom pics from around the ship! I loved the pool deck amplification. We were able to snag one of the cabanas a couple times up on the twelfth deck which is where our cabin was very conveniently located. I really liked being in these deck 12 cabins (1880) because of the proximity to both the elevators and the Lime & Coconut. 

Solarium from above. They took out the big red lips!! 

Cabanas seen on the left, first come, first served. The casita on the right was clearly rentable but not on our sailing. Not sure why! We also saw Super Mario's which was the one in the back.

View from the cabana

Lovely sunset leaving Miami

Royal Theater Ladies

Sunset Flowrider + slides in Nassau. My fiance got pretty good and swapped to standing later on! Funny that it took us till the 3rd Royal cruise to try it, we will be here on all cruises with Flowriders in the future. 

Sunset shuffleboard in Nassau, don't mind the bird! 

This lil angel turned out two $75 wins on both Oasis AND Freedom! On a 1x 30 cent bet both times, unfortunately. 

Back where we started. At least it rained for our departure! Nothing like experiencing a little weather when you're from the desert. 

Hi hellooo, I am back at my desk today sadly which means I have ample time to update the tail end of my YASBCLB (Yet Another Short Bahamas Cruise Live Blog) which I am sure everyone has been dying to hear about! haha

We left off sailing into Nassau for a medical evac. While there we had a nice sunset in port and stayed till around 6:30pm. 

This 3rd night we had Giovanni's Italian Kitchen and it was great! I definitely liked it more than the Oasis' more formal version. You gotta try the Stromboli appetizer, so good. We also tried two pasta dishes, the Meatball Gigante and a Giovanni's pizza (spicy and sweet with honey, amazing!) so needless to say we were stuffed afterwards and completely missed the Once Upon a Time show in the main theatre. Whoops! 

The next day was our last, our second stop at Perfect Day. This day we finally got to try Thrill Waterpark and it did not disappoint. After having ridden the 5 ship-board slides available to me on OA and FR all week, the Thrill slides were a welcome departure. THEY ARE CRAZY FAST! The ship slides are pretty tame and slow, I almost needed to push myself out of the blue on on FR, but the Thrill slides are actually thrilling. 

The tallest red one was insane, I only managed that one once but we tried all the others multiple times. We got off around 8:15am and had done nearly all the slides by 9. Since we were joined in port by Anthem, the lines started filling up around 10 so we headed to Oasis Lagoon for awhile. 

Here comes Anthem

View from the top of Daredevil's Tower

View from Splash Summit

That yellow/pink slide was so much fun! I was not expecting to fly down backwards out of that hole the first time and managed to rotate our raft on the next 2 rides so that I went down facing forward instead. Much better!

The day got cloudy and rainy later in the afternoon but we stuck it out and rode all the slides again! We headed back to the ship around 3:30 and left at 5. Overall, definitely a Perfect day, rain and all. 

Bye Anthem! 

On 11/11/2021 at 5:18 AM, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I have to say I am not the biggest fan of Nassau...although it does look like they are building some type of beach or something as you get to the end of the dock.  Anyone know what that is going to be??

I was interested in this too! https://www.nassauportconstruction.com/about-1 Looks like that circular beach will be a fancy dock for the smaller ships/yachts to dock at. From the renderings it looks like they're also planning some sort of outdoor music venue. Would be cool for late night stops! 

On 11/11/2021 at 4:20 AM, DunwoodyDad said:

Hi, a few posts back you referenced a walking tour map for Nassau.  Will you please post that link?  
 

Related to that, how was the port area in terms of shops and restaurants being open?

Sure! I attached the PDFs I got from someone else on this blog. The loop is nice as it dumps you back at all the bars, shops and restaurants along the wharf. 

 walking tour nassau.pdfwalking tour nassau_map.pdf

Buncha sisters in Nassau.

Mariner, Indy and Odyssey 

Oops the liveness has really fallen off on this leg! I will come back to add some recaps a little later, but interesting update for this sea day has been us waiting all day for a medical evac! 

Captain Thor came on around 9am and told us why we were hovering off the coast of Nassau again; waiting for a medical plane to arrive in Nassau for a passenger evacuation. I figured we’d be done with that soon enough but we have been tooling around off the coast all day! The cruisemapper route looks so crazy already and we’re not done circling yet. Update was that the plane should land around 4:30pm. 

We have a nice spot in a day bed on the port side and the sun has been coming and going all day as we turn back and forth. 

Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen tonight and Thrill Waterpark tomorrow! 

Here’s a rainbow pic as an offering for my poor live blogging. 

It’s cruise day(again)!!!! Good morning from our mega balcony in South Beach. Boarding Freedom around noon. 

We are staying at the Penguin Hotel. Pretty cute but only stay here if you're getting the mega balc.

Scenic Miami shot

13 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I just booked Oasis for Jan 23' so I am enjoying reading your blog.

I will definitely come back to recap all the great Oasis activities and specialty dining once we get home! I have a feeling our FR cruise will be a lot more laid back.

Day Four in Nassau was fairly stormy, a novelty for us native San Diegans who rarely see more than 2 consecutive minutes of rain at any time. We were in port this day with Freedom, Disney Magic and Crystal Serenity. 

We started this morning in the Windjammer (perfectly adequate) and hopped off the ship to do some limited sightseeing following a Nassau walking tour map I had found here. Let me know if anyone wants me to link it again! We saw some cool churches, government architecture and the Fort and Queen’s Staircase, carved by hundreds of slaves out of solid rock. We stopped for some conch fritters and a tasty beer flight at Pirate Republic Brewing back near the port, the fritters were great and the bar had a nice upper viewing deck that kept up protected from a TON of rain!! 

Queens Staircase (in the background)

The old island water tower. 

I spy the Ultimate Abyss!! 

Sail away

Funny position report with a lot of circling around

For dinner we tried Portside BBQ.. I am with everyone else that the sides leave something to be desired. The beans were the best side option for sure, and the Banana Dream was amazing! 

After dinner we won back all our losses in the casino with a $75 jackpot! heyooo 

Ended the cruise with the ice show. Very entertaining and better than the Freedom Ice show, I think! The had some great talent. My favorite was the duck number, obviously. 

This has reminded I never mentioned the Day 3 Aqua show! IT WAS THE BEST SHOW I have ever seen on a cruise! Just fantastic. 

We came back to the room and had to pack up but it wasn’t sad because cruise number twooo is only a day away!! 

Turnaround day/night in Miami today. Gotta do some blog catch up later today but as a big important FYI for @IRMO12HD, we got our covid tests on board yesterday!! We went to guest services to schedule and had to talk her into checking that we were eligible.. the rep thought only B2B cruisers on the same ship or international travelers could get it. She went back to check with someone else and then we were approved to schedule. Our test was at 8:40, takes about 20-30 including the long line. Had our results at 10am and 3pm (that one scared me!) and then went back to guest services to have them printed out for easier check in tomorrow. 

Back up plan B - AG Card tests still on hand but not needed, hooray! 

Oops, Perfect Day got away from me! 

Since we’re cruising today I can recap. I woke up to see Freedom docking next to us! Got some cool pics of both ships together. We hit up the Solarium Bistro for breakfast and went up to the top to see the island in all her glory.

On the island we went straight to Captain Jacks for Coco Locos and meandered to Chill Beach and eventually around to South Beach for the floating bar action! 

Hot air balloon was grounded for the day but went up a few feet later, just for looks?

Water was pretty cold in the ocean and pool but you could get used to it after a lot of just sucking it up and feeling cold. 

Late night Abyss

Last night’s dinner was Giovanni’s and it sadly was not as good as the amazing meal we had at 150CP.. we kinda thought that was gonna be the case, shouldve worked our way up! haha It was still good though and the service was fantastic. Everyone is so happy and friendly, I love the crew spirit. 

Cruising today, Day 3. Should be a laid back day! More slides and Solarium hanging in our future. Got us a sweet spot at the front of the sun deck. 

Greetings from the Solarium Bistro! Just docked at Coco Cay and Freedom showed up not long after.

150CP last night was deemed “the best meal I have ever eaten.” Very pleased with all the food and service so far! This fried cheesecake was the best dessert EVER!! A must-try. 

Captain just announced approximately 3120 on this sailing. 

This ship is beautiful!! Upon stepping foot into the promenade, the size difference was immediately apparent, Oasis class is huge! 

We had an 11am boarding time and got to the port around 10:20. We ended up being ushered inside to start the multi-check process around 10:40, walked on board by 11:10!! The terminal is sooo nice. 

I am officially on team suite.. balcony life is entirely too cramped for my standards. I am new to having to squeeze around each other at the foot of the bed! And I absolutely miss the more accessible closet space. 

Tiny cabin 10554 pictured below.

After boarding and grabbing our key cards at the (ready and waiting!) cabin, we went straight to make dinner reservations in central park. This space is so amazing, I love it. 

First thing to do post reservations was the water slides! The pink/orange ones are more tame and the green toilet bowl one is crazy fast. I recommend plugging your nose on the exit whoosh to save yourself from water rushing up there. 

Hot Flowrider action this afternoon!

Norwegian Gem and Scarlet Lady behind us in port. 

After Playmakers for lunch and a start on our beverage package usage, we hit the Solarium and a rain cloud came through from Miami Beach. We stuck it out in the hot tub and were protected from most of it under the awnings. 

Sail away from the Solarium forward deck

Trying to nap now to catch up on lost sleep, the red eye is rough. 

150CP for dinner tonight! Our first Royal specialty restaurant. Getting excited for fried cheesecake  

Oops, what’s $30 in loitering cocktails when you’re waiting for vacation to officially commence??

It’s Cruise Day!!! Sitting in downtown Miami trying to see Oasis but can’t quiite make her out from this vantage.. Boarding at 11 

19 hours ago, Rags1 said:

We used IPhones to take the proctored tests and had no issues. 

So weird because I started the whole thing on my phone, selected "I have a test" and then once I said which test I had it directed me to "visit emed.com on a computer." Guessing that wasnt the only option! Thanks for letting me know. 

Only 1 day till departure! Covid home tests taken, backup CVS test canceled. Good to go, hooray! 

The Abbott BinaxNOW home test was super easy. I will note that you need a desktop/laptop computer, after getting the iPhone app I am wondering what that was for? It says on the box to download it, and aside from creating a Navica account, it was useless. Save yourself the storage space and just make an account on the website! 

6 hours ago, TheRoll said:

How do you guys know what ships and how many are docking at cococay?

 

Using a site like Cruise Mapper!

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/coco-cay-port-392?tab=schedule

7 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

If they bring the bottles to your cabin on the last night, can you open those suckers up and do a "taste test"?

Yep, you could finish her off, even! They just don't want you buying liquor in port and then not buying drinks on board throughout the cruise. On the last night they'll take their losses I guess. 

46 minutes ago, JC Pats said:

It's the New Concept Giovanni's and puts the version on other ships to shame IMO (just bring your appetite)

Oh you've sold me!! Adding it for our one cruising night now. I was THINKING the menu items just sounded better but I have no idea why. Thank you! 

7 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

I won't even agree to be the ringleader or make the decisions because it will frustrate me when no one sticks to the plans anyways.

Yep this is me unless I'm doing Disneyland alone or with just one other. I keep a list in my notes of which rides I do per visit and anything under 15 was the result of poor time management. On days when I'm alone, I get so much more done! (Best ever - 28 rides on Nov 1, 2018, lol)

Sorry you had a rough start, @Ampurp85, I so hope your day turned around at Universal! 

14 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I noticed when we are at PDCC next week Freedom will also be there!  It will be fun to actually see both ships side by side!

I had noticed that but hadn't thought of how cool that picture will be! Hope you have a great cruise, can't believe it's actually/finally happening 

9 minutes ago, Booscruize said:

We will be boarding Oasis the day you are getting off! Can’t wait to follow and get the up to the minute low down on her before we board! 

Can't wait to read your blog as well! I will see if I can get a passenger count estimate for your sailing at the Crown & Anchor event.