bossdog421

I used to travel a lot and Newark was one of my least favorite airport areas to stay in. Another vote for embassy suites here, at least you feel safe there. At the very least go for the bigger chain hotels, like others have said even then it can be a gamble. You really aren't going to want to be in the wrong spot of Newark.
 
Not a ton to do right there either, only thing worth seeing close IMO would be the Liberty Science Center / Liberty State Park.. I have zero interest in going into the city unless it's for Broadway or Mastro's steakhouse (if you like high end steakhouses this is where it's at in NY).
 
Since my traveling days i settled down in NJ, there is a lot to do (and eat) if you are willing to drive a bit. I live about 45 mins from the airport and it's another world out here... slower pace, houses with actual property, mountains, hiking, and the best pizza you'll ever have (sorry NY and Chicago you got nothing on Jersey).

I used to travel a lot and Newark was one of my least favorite airport areas to stay in. Another vote for embassy suites here, at least you feel safe there. At the very least go for the bigger chain hotels, like others have said even then it can be a gamble. You really aren't going to want to be in the wrong spot of Newark.
 
Not a ton to do right there either, only thing worth seeing close IMO would be the Liberty Science Center / Liberty State Park.. I have zero interest in going into the city unless it's for Broadway or Mastro's steakhouse (if you like high end steakhouses this is where it's at in NY).
 
Since my traveling days i settled down in NJ, there is a lot to do (and eat) if you are willing to drive a bit. I live about 45 mins from the airport and it's another world out here... slower pace, houses with actual property, mountains, hiking, and the best pizza you'll ever have (sorry NY and Chicago you got nothing on Jersey).

I used to travel a lot and Newark was one of my least favorite airport areas to stay in. Another vote for embassy suites here, at least you feel safe there. At the very least go for the bigger chain hotels, like others have said even then it can be a gamble. You really aren't going to want to be in the wrong spot of Newark.
 
Not a ton to do right there either, only thing worth seeing close IMO would be the Liberty Science Center / Liberty State Park.. I have zero interest in going into the city unless it's for Broadway or Mastro's steakhouse (if you like high end steakhouses this is where it's at in NY).
 
Since my traveling days i settled down in NJ, there is a lot to do (and eat) if you are willing to drive a bit. I live about 45 mins from the airport and it's another world out here... slower pace, houses with actual property, mountains, hiking, and the best pizza you'll ever have (sorry NY and Chicago you got nothing on Jersey).

Oasis is doing free play now (similar to Disney's Oceaneer club), so she should be in the same area as our 8 and 10 year olds.  They love Adventure Ocean and we have to practically drag them out; so if she is there, I'm sure she'll bump into them.  There's some videos of the new Adventure Ocean area on youtube.  If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.  Our son can not wait to try out the gaga ball arena.  He loves gaga ball so much that our last genie surprised him with a VIP gaga ball family tournament in our room and even gave everyone medals. 

Today is my quarantined 40th birthday...
 
Looking back it was 2 years ago on my birthday that we went on our first cruise. It was on Disney Dream. I have to say that vacation was the best vacation i ever had. Everything was perfect. Now I'm hooked on cruising.
 
I'm not going to blast this blog with pics from a different cruise but there is one picture from my birthday 2 years ago on the ship that stands out. My wife ordered one of those special ice cream things that had like 100 scopes and the concierge brought it up to the lounge.  It was great. here's a pic with our concierge and suite lounge bartender
 

Lots of fellow posters on my cruise!
 
@Shari3 Thanks for reading my last blog. You are going to have a great time in the Beach Club! The food was amazing, and it was a great quiet upscale area!
 
@coneyraven Yup I'm in that "other board". Only posted a few times there so far. I like it here better!
 
@Tiffeven A fellow Star on this cruise! My daughter is 9, I'd say they should meet up in the kids club but i think now that shes 9 shes in a new group. Not sure if that grouping depends on how many  kids are signed up or not? Last sailing we had some people sailing with us and we still couldn't get them in the kids club. Hoping she takes to it this time so me and the wife can have some grown up fun around the ship.

Happy late birthday!  We will be Star class (2 bedroom aquatheater suite) on this cruise as well.  How old is your daughter?  Our son is 10 and our daughters will be 8, 2, and 1.

We're on this one with you ...... Are you part of the Facebook Group we have formed?  If not, here's a link.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/434708310729694/
 

We are also on this cruise with you. I enjoyed reading your last blog especially about the Cococay Beach club area. I’ve already bought my admission to it for this cruise. Super excited!

Today is my quarantined 40th birthday...
 
Looking back it was 2 years ago on my birthday that we went on our first cruise. It was on Disney Dream. I have to say that vacation was the best vacation i ever had. Everything was perfect. Now I'm hooked on cruising.
 
I'm not going to blast this blog with pics from a different cruise but there is one picture from my birthday 2 years ago on the ship that stands out. My wife ordered one of those special ice cream things that had like 100 scopes and the concierge brought it up to the lounge.  It was great. here's a pic with our concierge and suite lounge bartender
 

Itinerary
Cape Liberty – Cruising – Port Canaveral - Perfect Day at CocoCay - Nassau – Cruising – Cape Liberty
 
So, there are 2 negatives with this itinerary. First, it is the exact same ports as the cruise we booked next year. Second, we have been to all the ports already too. Both are not deal breakers by any means though.
 
We used to live in Florida and the in-laws live there. We can still see them without them being there for the entire vacation! Win win! Still not sure what we are going to do in FL just yet, Space Coast or Disney most likely. Florida is somewhere we try to go every year, so this port makes a ton of sense. The stop at CocoCay may as well be an entirely new port to us. We had an overwater cabana when we were there Feb 1st and did not explore any other area outside of the beach club. Seems like the kind of place I wont mind going to multiple times, next year my daughter should be big enough to enjoy the waterpark too. Nassau is a different beast though. I did not enjoy it when we went before. We just walked to the straw market and I felt unsafe and harassed in a tourist trap. I think the plan this time is to do a day pass at Atlantis, my daughter will enjoy the aquariums and a resort is a more comfortable place to me. Being there next year could be an issue but we could always do a tour or something, plenty more to see.
 
 
Stateroom
The Ultimate Panoramic Suite - Stateroom# 14528 – A new star class suite that was added with the Oasis of the Seas amplification. It is a starboard side stateroom located in the forward section of the ship that offers amazing 200 degree panoramic views right from your bed. A 914 sqft stateroom is going to provide a ton of space to stretch our legs. We’ll also get plenty of exercise since its pretty far from the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen… Hope our genie has been keeping in shape during the lock down because the 2  Ultimate Panoramic Suites are the only star class staterooms that aren’t in the Aft of the ship as far as I know.
 

 
These suites are located directly above the bridge wings. Which is what gives them the panoramic views. There are not a lot of write ups on these suites, I’m excited to post of pictures and details of something that isn’t well documented yet! (I loved being one of the first people in an overwater cabana after they opened. I’d like to think I did a good job documenting that experience!)
 
Here is the floorplan of the suite from @Matt first look blog about the suite.
 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/30/first-look-the-ultimate-panoramic-suite-oasis-of-the-seas
 
The unfortunate thing is there is no balcony. Good thing the suite deck is just a couple floors directly above us! It should be a fairly quite stateroom since there won’t be a lot above us, not sure if any of the solarium goes directly above this suite. It is kinda close to the kids club but not expecting a lot of noise there either.
 
So that’s it for the opening posts! Can’t wait to get the star class questionnaire! Not sure how much planning I want to leave to the genie… I think I already have my entire weeks specialty dining mapped out.

This board has been a little light since everything has shut down. Since I wasn’t invited to the fake cruise, I figured I’d follow in @Lovetocruise2002  shoes and just start a blog a little early (I mean 5 months will be here in no time).


 
Sorry if this is a bit wordier than the usual. Writing about and planning vacations helps calm me. I have been under an extreme amount of stress at work and this is my mental getaway.


 
The basics!

A 7-night cruise on the recently amplified Oasis of the Seas in the in an Ultimate Panoramic Suite, a new stateroom on the ship!


 
The story!


 
First start class cruise!!!  I hear that it is hard to go back to anything else after going star. I can see that how that happens because I had that issue with suites already. I am ready for the genie and looking forward to some food comas!

 
For those that did not follow along with my last blog. I was on Harmony in January staying a Crown Loft for my 10 year anniversary. (might as well plug my blog from that one! https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17626-we-still-do-%E2%80%93-vow-renewal-on-harmony-12620-%E2%80%93-2220/ ).  We had a blast and booked a next cruise on board. That next cruise isn’t this cruise (oh boy I might be addicted to Royal Caribbean, cruising seems to be my new preferred vacation type!). The cruise in January ended with a big scare, we were docked next to Anthem in San Juan and it was quarantined when it returned due to a Covid scare. Pretty sure@WAAAYTOOO   was affected by that delay. I got pretty sick about 2 weeks after that cruise, but testing was not very available at the time.  Seems fairly common to catch something on a cruise even if there isn’t a global pandemic happening.


 
I work in healthcare, so I’m no stranger to health issues. Every single day since I have been back has been nonstop and has gotten progressively more stressful. I am just completely exhausted and I need another vacation for sure… So I started looking at cruise! I was floored by how low some of the prices were… I mean it’s understandable that there is a lot of uncertainty right now, so booking vacations isn’t on a lot of people’s radar at the moment. I had my eye on a July cruise for a similarly great deal, while I am confident we will be more back to “normal” by then it’s just too close to take the chance. A September sailing provides us with a bit more peace of mind even though we will be pulling our daughter out of school again. September this year gives us another reason to celebrate to!  It is my wife’s birthday, and it is a big one! She preferred that I called it the 10th anniversary of her 30th birthday ?. We are going to celebrate my 40th on board too even though it is this week. My birthday is cancelled due to social distancing ☹


 
This time things will be different. First, it’s just me, my wife, and my daughter. No in-laws or other friends coming with us. This is going to be a good and bad thing. The good side is we will be able to take advantage of our suite and star class perks more since we wont have to worry about our other travel mates that are in different cabin categories (no MDR this cruise!). I also don’t have to share my wife and kid, making memorable vacations with just the 3 of us is extremely important to me. The bad side is that our daughter won’t have any friends on board. We are really hoping that she takes to the kids club this time. Second difference is, we are leaving from Jersey! No flight, no hotel needed, just an Uber or a friend to drop us off and we are on board! Third, Star class baby!!! So excited for this! Nothing wrong with sky class at all, but yeah… STAR CLASS!

We have been doing antibody tests for a week now. Script from doctor for Blood draw (SARS CoV 2 AB IgG). We use Quest and get results back in 24 hours most times. We are mostly testing people who had symptoms at some point at the moment. We like a min of 4 weeks without symptoms, pref 6 weeks or we wont order the test
 
I assume most places NJ would be able to order it since Quest / Labcorp are offering it.
 

I booked in September out of Jersey. Very confident we will be sailing.

We have been doing antibody tests for a week now. Script from doctor for Blood draw (SARS CoV 2 AB IgG). We use Quest and get results back in 24 hours most times. We are mostly testing people who had symptoms at some point at the moment. We like a min of 4 weeks without symptoms, pref 6 weeks or we wont order the test
 
I assume most places NJ would be able to order it since Quest / Labcorp are offering it.
 

Same sailing! It will sail! Have faith!!!

Today is my quarantined 40th birthday...
 
Looking back it was 2 years ago on my birthday that we went on our first cruise. It was on Disney Dream. I have to say that vacation was the best vacation i ever had. Everything was perfect. Now I'm hooked on cruising.
 
I'm not going to blast this blog with pics from a different cruise but there is one picture from my birthday 2 years ago on the ship that stands out. My wife ordered one of those special ice cream things that had like 100 scopes and the concierge brought it up to the lounge.  It was great. here's a pic with our concierge and suite lounge bartender
 

Seems like a star class worthy request right there!

Sounds like a drinking challenge to me. Game on!

Sounds like a drinking challenge to me. Game on!

We gotta make it feel like we touching the brain or it will be inaccurate ?

Sounds like a drinking challenge to me. Game on!

Same sailing! It will sail! Have faith!!!

We gotta make it feel like we touching the brain or it will be inaccurate ?

Same sailing! It will sail! Have faith!!!