Skovly

Yes.  Full time employees.  Or at least contract employees.  They operate CocoCay and Labadee like they are ships.  No Captain though.  

The Legend about an hour before the assault occurred.

Glory's original approach from a distance.

Right after the crash the Legend had to reset some lines.


This was after the crash and near miss as she circled around for a second try.

She did a nice turn to expose her stern to us.

















If at first you don't succeed, try again.



Round two the Captain's girlfriend wasn't at the helm so it went a little better.  Practice makes perfect.

For context, the NCL Sun aborted her approach an hour before and skipped Cozumel.

She got pretty close to the shallow water nearly running over the anchor buoys used by local excursion boats.

The anchor buoys were in her prop wash.  She collected herself and decided to move on.

MarineTraffic.com shows her track.

I understand based on news reports one passenger on the Glory was injured.  Thoughts and prayers for that individual.
Here is the video I shot from my balcony on Oasis.
Despite the collision with the Legend, the bridge crew on the Glory did a pretty spectacular job avoiding a collision with the Oasis.  When I first saw the bow of the Glory come into view it was close.  Too close.  It occured to me a collision was highly possible. 
As I was shooting the video I was keeping an eye on the stern of Glory.  It was getting closer.  I knew they couldn't apply a lot of stern thrust to keep the stern off us without driving the bow into the bow of Oasis.  As the bow of Glory began to clear the bow of Oasis I could see them apply stern thrust to avoid impact.  It was a tight near miss and excellent seamanship on their part to avoid a second collision.  
 
The wide angle lens is misleading.  The people on Glory were close.  I could have tossed them a bottle of water.  

The original Oasis and Allure had an air draft of 72m under normal operating conditions but that shrunk to 62.5m when they lowered the stacks and took on ballast water.   That's a mere 205'.    Both Oasis and Allure had to transit under the Great Belt bridge to reach the open sea when they were built and they took on ballast water and lowered their stacks to make that happen.
The wikipedia spec for the Bridge of the Americas is 201'.  Allowing for safety margins the Panamax standard is 190' maximum air draft. 
So how did the Bliss get under?
As it turns out the Pacific side of the canal is more tidal than the Atlantic side.  By leveraging tides there is an exception for ships up to...  62.5m at low tide.
So in theory the Oasis class could get under the Bridge of The Americas.  
Once the Panama Canal was expanded the neo-panamax dimensions for ships is 51.5m of beam or ~168'.  At the waterline Oasis is 47m (154') but...  she is wider above the water line maxing out at 60.5m (198').  The impact of width was very clear as we passed through the locks because there are structures along the canals on each side.  It's not clear if the neo-panamax standard is at the water line or maximum beam but it is known that Oasis class is not considered neo-panamax making her "unattractive" to the Panama Canal.  

Sail away fireworks. 

Muster drill. Best use of Bionic Bar space.  

Mario ..... the Pinnacle guy is on the cruise ..... he boarded right behind us ........ the rooms are already accessible...... they’ve been totally redone ....... the carpet drapes and furniture look brand new in our GS 

It’s FINALLY the day!!!!!
 

When the Panama Canal announced the project to expand the Panama Canal for larger ships it created a new trend in shipping.  The neo or Post-Panamax standard was developed for super sized ships that couldn't fit through the original Panama Canal.  The original Panama Canal can only handle ships built to the Panamax standard.
When the new Panama Canal expansion project was announced ports around the Northern hemisphere all realized they needed to expand and grow to accommodate the new super sized cargo, container and tanker ships that would be looking for ports to drop their goods.  This spawned a race among larger ports to be ready for the Post-Panamax vessels for if they didn't they would be forgotten and ignored by the shipping industry.
This includes the Port of Miami who had to deal with their relatively narrow and shallow channel and harbor that ships use to reach the port docks.
https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Navigation-Projects/Miami-Harbor-Deepening/
The work to make the Port of Miami ready was completed in 2015 just nine months before the new Panama Canal locks opened for Post-Panamax vessel traffic.
Had the Port not deepend the channel and harbor Oasis class ships would not be able to visit or home port in the Port of Miami.    
And so it is not inaccurate to say that we can all enjoy Oasis class ships home porting in the Port of Miami and the beautiful new Crown of Miami terminal because of the Panama Canal and specifically the neo-Panamax shipping standard that spawned from its recent expansion.  

That's simply regular maintenance that occurs frequently on Sunday mornings. They do Royal and Celebrity at the same time, which bugs me because who am I going to look at? Carnival? Ugh, just no.  I've never figured out what they do, but it's guaranteed that it occurs when I'm super bored at work.

How else is Mexico supposed to pay for the wall???
Pony up touristas

We spent a week at an all-inclusive resort on Antigua this spring. We felt safe and found several tours to get a better feel for the local culture and history. WE wandered freely in the towns and some tourist areas. Being a history buff, Nelson's dockyard was a great stop for me.
The people and the place are very nice. I don't agree with some of their methods of raising capital, but I guess they do what they must. I am referring to Investment Citizenship. A person invests (Pays) a large sum and the government awards them Antiguan citizenship. This screams of opportunity for abuse.
I like Antigua. We'll go back.

Per the link above: "This is a whole new perspective on some of Europe’s most legendary shores, onboard the region’s first Quantum Ultra Class ship. Scope out Santorini’s seaside cliffs from 300 feet above sea level in the North Star℠. Or gaze at crystal blue Mediterranean waters through the panoramic two-story windows in Two70 on your way to Ephesus, Athens, Mykonos and more."
Depending on the ports for the 7 nighter I might cancel my Allure 2020 med sailing and switch to Odyssey in 2021.  I like the idea of Rome as a home port much more than Barcelona.  Rome as a 1 day stop on a cruise seems like an exhausting day with it being so far from the port, so it would be nice to embark from there and be able to add on a few nights before the cruise in a hotel in the city. 

Italy and Greece together, no western med hopefully. but that's just my opinion.

Or...

We just got off Majesty on Monday. It was one of the Cuba-cancelled cruises where we received 50% of our fare back as a refundable OBC.  Upon boarding we ordered a drink, and there was a guy there pitching BOGOHO drink packages. After doing the math it was a $47.50/pp per day plus tip - which is a far cry from the $66/day last spring.  Normally my wife wouldn't get the package, but we were cruising without the kids, and to be honest the money was already "spent" mentally, so with a little bit of arm twisting she relented and we purchased the package.
On a side note, the refunded money covered drink packages for two, all the gratuities, and some other miscellaneous spending.  We walked off the ship with a final bill of only $94, after living large all week.
It was most definitely a great cruise. ?

Beyond it being a new class of ship with unknown new activities the environmental aspects represent a ongoing trend towards less pollution being generated.  
Symphony is 20% more efficient compared to her sisters.  That reduces emissions and lowers operating costs over the lifecycle of the ship.  
I haven’t looked at the numbers involved with LNG but a significant aspect of LNG is much lower emissions.   
At some point in the future all ships will be required to further reduce emissions,  50 or 100 years from now will look very different from today.  Icon is a step in that direction.  
Quite frankly any reduction in operating costs is passed onto cruisers.  It’s very competitive and they need to contain operating costs to continue to offer affordable vacation choices for the masses.  They can’t afford to return to the days when only affluent people could cruise.  

The red nosed provocateur was seen leaving the dock shortly after disembarking in the company of family members.

We were on the same sailing and the only time I felt the vibration was in the evening after we left Labadee around sunset. We were on the boardwalk while my daughter was riding the merry go round. I walked back to Sabor bar to grab a drink and standing directly beside it the vibration was pretty noticeable. The bottles behind the bar were shaking pretty hard and clinking together. Walking forward only a few feet in front of Johnny Rockets the feeling disappeared almost completely. I felt the same feeling when we were pulling up to Grand Cayman. We were in the pool and the water started sloshing fore and aft so I walked up to the Solarium to get a better view of the island. The glass panels would shake from time to time as we were slowing down and it almost felt like they were pulsing the props in reverse to slow the ship. Aside from those two instances I didn't feel much. This was our first cruise and I was extremely impressed at how smooth the ship was. It's easy to forget you're on the water if you weren't looking outside. On a side note, the family enjoyed our cruise so much we booked another while onboard for May 2020 sailing on Independence of the Seas to CocoCay and Labadee!

I took a few minutes to see when the upcoming dry docks are scheduled and this is what I found.
With the below take into account some days will be taken up getting the ship to and from dry dock ports and to and from the USA - Europe region .
 
Oasis of the Seas 2019 - It appears her final voyage before dry dock is a Western med that leaves 15th September 2019, dry dock seems to be 22nd September with her first voyage back over the pond being November 24th
Voyager of the Seas 2019 It appears her final voyage before dry dock is Hong Kong to Singapore that leaves 3rd September 2019, dry dock seems to be 10th September till 21st October 2019
 
Allure of the seas 2020 - It appears her final voyage before dry dock is a transatlantic that leaves 1st March 2020, dry dock seems to be 13th march till 10th may.
Explorer of the Seas 2020 -  It appears her final voyage before dry dock is a Southern Caribbean that leaves 21st February 2020, dry dock seems to be 1st March till 7th may for her European season.
Freedom of the Seas 2020  It appears her final voyage before dry dock is a Southern Caribbean that leaves 5th January 2020, dry dock seems to be 12th January till 8th March.
 
Adventure of the Seas 2021 - The schedule are not out yet beyond April 2021 with no sign of dry dock in those first 4 months
Liberty of the Seas 2021 - The schedule are not out yet beyond April 2021 with no sign of dry dock in those first 4 months

Didn't want to put this in the ? What Will The Oasis Get During Dry Dock ? thread. Was thinking this might be better suited for a thread of its own.
Left side is the new deck plan, right side old. White areas show a change. Click on the image to enlarge, much have to click again when the image pops up.
If count was correct 60 new rooms added (D7-3, D9-1, D11-13, D12-13, D14-30).
Updated 11/21/2019: Things have changed slightly since orginal post. Good example would be rooms no longer going where part of Diamond Club was. That space now I think a card room.
 
BlogPost: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/07/01/deck-deck-drydock-changes-oasis-of-the-seas

Gosh I feel like an Oasis snob! Lol ? 
Still deciding on what Mediterranean itinerary to do. 2 friends just did Oasis this summer and raves about the trip. 
I’m torn because this is a trip about the ports but I LOVE Central Park and everything Oasis Class. But there’s very little time on the ship. 
Just did Freedom in March after 3 sailings on Oasis and I really missed the Oasis offerings. 
Doing Symphony May 2020. What I really need is a 10 night Mediterranean on an Oasis class so I can get my ports AND sea days. ? I’m afraid I’m becoming a high maintenance cruiser! ?

I will admit liking it also. I do understand the criticism and am thankful that someone told me to read up on the story as it is hard to follow what is going on. 
Maybe more on topic is that I am amazed that it is staying for another drydock cycle.  I shared last September that the stage manager on the back stage tour said that he was given word that a brand new mixing board was being installed which is a sign of a new production. He also shared that the current agreement with Cats allows for a finite number of cast cycles.  Well, renegotiation won the day. 

Just an update and FYI... last night (SAT, 5/26) when we got back to our cabin to finish packing ? we were cruising at 22.9 knots as we approached the keys and Miami. We were consistently over 22 knots for some time and then we almost came to a complete stop as we got closer to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale (last time I checked we were below 5 knots). I’m assuming they were slowing down for the evening for passenger comfort since we were so close to port. So she can still move when needed!
Likely due to the speed of the ship and the seas at that time, there was some felt rocking/movement of the ship, but I truly don’t believe it had anything to do with the compromised azipod.
Overall, it was by far the most comfortable cruise I’ve been on from a ship motion perspective (our first time on an Oasis class ship). All of us kept saying throughout the cruise that we can’t believe we’re at sea... only when you look at the water do you realize you’re moving. I know some folks are concerned about how their upcoming cruise would be affected by this issue. The only vibration I ever felt was when I was standing directly behind the AquaTheater looking toward the Boardwalk and the carousel... I’m going to assume that’s normal due to the location. The vibration stopped when we move a few yards away in either direction.