Pookie

Cupcake Class. Our task was to make a frog. This is not the the first time in my life that I have failed?
The little cutie came in just as we were finishing so Kaitlyn invited her to join in the fun!
Next up: The Escape Room. Seriously hope there’s no frogs involved. 

We decided to stop by Playmakers to visit with one of our absolute favorite people on this ship! If you’re cruising on Oasis don’t miss the opportunity to meet Djuro. 

Auqua80’s show last night was amazing. Don’t miss it. Once again the talent and athletic ability of these kids is stunning!  

Wow, you are brave, indeed.  One round with the Seafood tower ended with "never again".....for us.
Here's hoping your food is warm and the balcony is cool.

Random stuff:
Headliner for tonight And tomorrow night is Stephanie Parker who I think does Whitney Houston.  We will see her tomorrow. Tonight we’re going to try and see Aqua 80’s.  It has been cancelled twice so far because of mechanical issues so we’re hoping it works tonight. 
We were scheduled to have dinner at Izumi tonight but we all think it’s too soon after the lunch on Monday!  Instead we will have Chops brought up and we will eat on the deck as we sail out of Falmouth. I know you take a chance on temperature of the food and such, but we’re going to give it a shot. The seafood tower will look awesome on our deck?
I met Mario Salcedo, aka Super Mario, in the suite lounge. He seems like a very warm, pleasant gentleman. He seemed surprised I knew his last name. I told him I was doing this blog and he invited me to stop by his office for a picture. I’ll do that tomorrow. 
We're meeting Allan at 4pm to tour backstage at the main theater. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all works. 
 

I can hear it!
? "When you're CK, you're CK all the way. From your first appetizer to your last filet." ?
 

Dinner last night was Giovanni’s. Our server was a wonderful young lady that Kaitlyn remembered from the Allure in 2018. The ladies all had the Italian apps and food. I don’t know what it was but I’ll post pictures of it!  I walked on the wild side and had mushroom soup and a filet. Are you getting the idea this is not an in depth food review??  The filet was good but doesn’t beat CK. For dessert I declined.  When the ladies got their dessert, magically apple pie ala mode showed up in front of me! Thanks Allan?  And for my anti-raisin brothers and sisters there wasn’t a raisin in the same zip code as that warm pie?.  
Dinner was followed by Frozen In Time. Very fun to watch again. Such talented athletes!  The sandman was awesome. After the show we hustled back to the Aqua Theater for The History of Rock and Roll by Rookie. Music from the 50’s through the 80’s. This singer had more energy than a room full of toddlers all sugared up!  Very fun to listen to. By the end people were dancing in the aisles. 
Great night of sleep in this comfy bed again. Morning coffee and Starbucks arrived at 8 again. We had breakfast in the CK.  Tasty omelette and hash browns. We left the sip around 1030 and did a little shopping in the port area of Falmouth. 
 
I have to say again how great the crew members have been. Our room attendants are so fun to interact with. Both love to laugh. I dropped in to Playmakers last night to say hi to our friend Duro.  About the only ones that don’t go out of their way for you are the pool area bartenders. I’ve found that to be normal on every cruise. 
 
since it’s already Day 4? I have a pretty solid opinion now on the Genie. Someone in RCCL Corporate will be hearing what an amazing job Allan does everyday. Those who will cruise with him in the future, you can relax now. There is no doubt you’ll have a fun, memorable experience. I give him ???.  

As I wandered around taking pictures today I saw “Super Mario’s” office on deck 15. Guy’s got nothing on me.  Except a little more than 8,000 nights at sea!?

I’ll try to catch up.  Dinner at 150 was good. Kaitlyn loved then martini made table side. Shari and I had the mushroom soup brought over from chops and it was amazing again.  We were scheduled at 150 again on Friday but now have changed that night to CK.  Nothing wrong with it, but 150 just isn’t our favorite on this ship.
After dinner it was off to One Sky.  The cast is tremendously talented!  The show itself is....well...not my cup of tea.  Guess I’m just an old guy who prefers something with a story to it.  Or something.  But again, the singing and dancing was amazingly good.  The props and stage changes are really good also. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do all that when Allan takes us backstage on Thursday!
Couple of us had a little casino time after the show, others had pizza and drinks in the room.  
Met Allan at 9 this morning to help him use that magic Genie elevator card.  He put us on the shuttle cart (which is brand new) to the suite beach. He raced us on foot to the beach.  Almost a tie but we weren’t as winded?  The ladies spent a couple of hours in the water while I walked anc took pictures.  I’ll post some of those in a bit.  This is such a beautiful, relaxing place.
Back on the ship around noon and hit Loco Fresh for lunch.  Pretty much all the Mexican fast food you want:  burritos, tacos, nachos...lots of fresh ingredients to “build your own” creation.  Enjoyed by all of us.
The ladies are all napping now so I’m going to take the camera and explore. 

@Rags1 You have a bevy of beauties!

And all this talk of not getting our way with M & Ms, makes me want to ask for absurd stuff like this?:

We each had one rolling suitcase so it was easy. Kept them all the way to the Star Class banner.
And @Lovetocruise2002 your’e right, the waiter didn’t sit down to chat because of me!?  But the Chef at Izumi today did list my name as Handsome.  I’ll take that.
And the food. Coma is real. 

@Lovetocruise2002 I hear your pro tip about blogging solely from my phone. Here is an elderly tip:  I can barely see the damned thing!??

Wow that food looks officially delish!  Now I'm off to look up the Playmakers menu!  Swooning over the nachos and the onion rings!

Good morning, it’s day 2..This blogging thing that some of you make look so easy, isn’t!  I’m still learning how to transfer pictures from the camera and my phone to the IPad.  Also still figuring out how to actually post them.  I should have it all mastered by day 7?  So back to yesterday.  We took an Uber from Staybridge Suites at MIA to the port. 5 people, 5 suitcases, $30.  At Terminal A we got out and walked the last 200 yards because it was faster!  Gave our names at the Star Class kiosk and we were whisked upstairs to the lounge. The checked us in and called for Allan  This all took about 10 minutes.  Plenty of drinks and snacks were there.  Super Mario was definitely the celebrity in the room! Taylor immediately began her quest to eat her weight in Ranger cookies.  Allan took us and one other family immediately on the ship and into the suite lounge.  We were on deck 17 eating more snacks 20 minutes after getting out of the car an it was still only 1040am  Allan pulled me aside to explain that he was making sure all of his welcome surprises were ready in the room.  After 10 minutes he escorted us to the room and I found out how fun and creative he is!  From gifts to jokes to cakes he did an amazing job of welcoming our family  We hung out in the suite for a little and then ventured out to Playmakers for lunch  i believe we ordered all of the appetizers.  Our waiter, Djuro from Bosnia, was amazing!  Today is his niece’s 4th birthday.  His mother back home grows all of her own vegetables.  He appreciates his parents more now that he’s older.  You think we had some time to chat???  This is one of th great things about cruising - the interaction with others from such diverse and different backgrounds.  This young man was just great fun to talk with.  And, according to the bevy I’m cruising with he’s not too hard to look at either!
 
 
 

Waiting for @Rags1 (insert Jeopardy do do do, do do do here) to post...
Details!  We want details!  Well, you can leave out the bathroom routine details...but all other details are welcome!

Packing cubes are awesome for the most part and you can squeeze a ton of stuff in them...the pic below with the cubes/ suitcase weighed in as is at 52.7 lbs.  Darn it, even bare bones wardrobe weighs a lot.  My husband is 6’ 6” with a size 14 foot.  His shoes alone could fill a small carry on?

Thanks.
 
I had RNY in January 2017.  I remember my first cruise after surgery and the worries but honestly I packed protein bars and premier RTD shakes to make sure I had something and to keep my protein high, I did drink it so I didn't have to bring it home but for the most part I didn't need it.  I still do the same today as it is better to be safe than sorry.
 
My go to on the Oasis was El Loco Fresh, I would get Taco meat and toppings.  
 
You will have an amazing time, plus you are star class so you can get catered to.  ?
 

Well I am back from my Oasis of the Seas sailing.  After 32 Disney cruises on all 4 of their ships I was not sure what to expect.  Sure there would be food and activities but would I miss that Disney feeling that I get onboard while sailing with Disney?  We did a 7 night on the Disney Fantasy in September and it wasn't the best, I was on a knee scooter with a cast and between having to wait on elevators (even to go up one deck).  I am used to being independent and running up the stairs.  Maybe I was a little moody since I was in a cast and with a scooter.  You know how fun those scooters look, well if you have to be on one they are not fun, plus my coordination level is not good as I would run my good foot over and tip over.
Cast of Characters:
myself, Dan- avid lover of all things Disney, over planner and control freak
Scott- Husband of 23 years (bless his heart), lets me over think everything and just goes along for the ride.  Oh he complains if it goes wrong.
Itinerary 
Western Caribbean...departing from Miami with stops at Labadee, Falmouth and Cozumel.
Room
Booked a Balcony GTY and received 6322- 8D according to deck plans.  Was not excited about this room assignment at all, it was beside Playmakers and so far away from everything else it seemed. 
Travel
We traveled to Miami on Friday January 10th on uneventful flights from Columbus with a connection in Atlanta.  There are no airlines in Columbus (or Cleveland/Akron) that offer non stop service to Miami except a flight on United from Cleveland but the flight times were not ideal coming back so we (ok me, again Scott just nods when discussed) opted for the lay over.  Arrived in Miami around 10:30a and took the MIA mover to the metro rail  to the Metromover to our hotel.  I booked the Hilton on Biscayne Blvd with a Junior Suite with a bay view.  We were at the hotel by 11:30 so we stopped by the front desk to drop our luggage to explore the city.  Well our room was ready which was shocking!  So off to our room we go.  Get to the room and the curtains are all closed to keep the heat out so first thing we do is open those up, we paid for a view and we are gonna enjoy it.  The room is a corner room so floor to ceiling windows on the 2 walls and off in the distance we can see ships (we also saw them on the trip on the MetroMover).  Ships in port were Carnival Victory, Norwegian Sky, Explorer OTS, Navigator OTS and Victory Sky.
So we are situated in our room and we haven't eaten since 5:30a at the Starbucks in Columbus airport, I wasn't necessarily hungry but if on vacation Scott is always hungry and gets really hangry!  The hilton is across the street from a Publix and he LOVES their subs so off to Publix we go for lunch.  We come to love having this Publix so close for bottled water, snacks and such for the weekend.  Scott got his Chicken Tender sub (OH my they put so much chicken on that beast) and I am harder to please as I am a post weight loss surgery person so I focus on proteins and less breads, so I ended up with a Chipotle Chicken Bacon Wrap.  We also grabbed some water, pretzels and potato salad and headed to the room.  After lunch it was time for a nap (Scott needs lots of naps during vacation as well or he gets grumpy), I couldn't sleep so I got out of bed and just watched the ships.
After nap we watched the ships sail away and then we went to the  Wynwood Walls and walk around.  So I got us a Lyft and away we went.  I apologize for not having pictures in my report but I am attaching one here.  I am not a professional photographer by any means but I absolutely loved this mural.  Wynwood was amazing and so glad we ventured out.  Being in a big city like Miami is intimidating for us country boys!
 

 
After walking around I recall people talking about Salty Donut and I knew that was something Scott would enjoy, so we heading there next.  Salty Donut is just a small donut shop with cult like following.  We stood in line about 15 mins and then got our 4 donuts and we took Lyft back to the Hilton.
For dinner I had the other half of my wrap of Publix and Scott had Checkers (it is across the street as well).  I did have a small burger there as well.
Not that it was late or anything but we had an early night after starting our day at 3:30a.
Stay tuned for day 2
 

I’m downloading pictures now from my camera and then will post some of them.  I think I only took 275 or so since we boarded.  
We had lunch at Playmakers.  Maybe a star class tip here:  it was empty.  Pretty much had it to ourselves.  We sampled almost everything and it was all good.  
The suite is amazing, as always.  
We have met with Allan now several times.  I’m impressed!  Just the things waiting in our room showed creativity and humor.  I think this will be a very good week!
And for the M&M gang - we had M&M’s in the room?
 

I so wanted to reserve 1740 for our cruise in two weeks, but some super lucky person already had it ?
we will still be happy bringing up the rear, but we are definitely Team 17...?

I so wanted to reserve 1740 for our cruise in two weeks, but some super lucky person already had it ?
we will still be happy bringing up the rear, but we are definitely Team 17...?

We are Home!  Suite 1740!

We are on!