Va4fam

While I do know the satisfaction…..not sure if that’s how you open the conversation. It went just like this.
So the over sharer who was a fluffy vintage with mobility issues starts with
”hopefully I don’t fall down these steps, (then proceeds to crash land into the seat) my granddaughter 💩 in the potty and we want the 💩 song.”
me:greaaaaaat
afterwards, it got even weirder. She kept creeping closer to this other couple and “falling off the seat” almost trying to land on the guys lap. The whole time, they are shifting away from her and she kept following. 
 
Eventually she either got bored, or her timer popped because she left and we all had a good laugh.
shenanigan meter 7.5 for awkward conversation and attempted groping 
 

Today we are hitting our first port, Roatan. We are using Victor Bodden again. We will be visiting with sloths etc, and doing the zip lines. After, we will be playing it by ear. 
 
Our friends are also with Victor Bodden, but doing some different activities. We are all meeting at CK for breakfast. Berty said that they could walk off with us when we get off the ship which we thought was very nice of him.
Other random thoughts from last night. Our friends were really grateful for being able to watch the show from the balcony. It’s also not lost on us that we are fortunate enough to be able to do these things ourselves. Their kids (and ours) had a blast. Earlier in the day, we had heard that Livi had been wanting chocolate covered strawberries this whole trip, so of course we had to make that happen.
 
This is her first big trip away from her parents so she has frequently been getting homesick. To see her eyes light up and truly enjoy herself last night made my night. Sure star class is amazing with the beverage package and all the dining etc, but it’s the intangibles that really do it for me. To be able to make someone’s day with just a simple text message is what it’s all about. 

So, the show is entertaining, and the performers are incredibly talented so my critique is purely on the production. 
 
To us, the show felt disjointed. The way Aqua80 was done, you could almost follow a story. It also helps that all of the songs were familiar, so you can easily jam along. This one we didn’t get that feeling. The music is mainly instrumental, mostly drum beats. 
 
They do follow similar formulas, some dancing, synchro swimmers, aerial work, more dancing, slack line, diving, tightrope rinse and repeat….though for those who have seen the show, what the heck is the spinning guy with the whips? 
 
There seems to me more aerial work in this show, and she is phenomenal. 
 
Overall, while the show is entertaining, and the cast is strong, it’s just not as fun as Aqua80. I give it 3 out of 5 stars. 

I’ll just leave this here🤣
The Boss was completely unaware 
#starclassbehavingbadly

@GregD.......awkward family photos are the best way to get everyone in the picture.   They usually turn out to be some of our favorite pics.
Seems like the shenanigans are in full swing, if only we had a shenanigan meter at the bottom of each post!!

@GregD.......awkward family photos are the best way to get everyone in the picture.   They usually turn out to be some of our favorite pics.
Seems like the shenanigans are in full swing, if only we had a shenanigan meter at the bottom of each post!!

@GregD.......awkward family photos are the best way to get everyone in the picture.   They usually turn out to be some of our favorite pics.
Seems like the shenanigans are in full swing, if only we had a shenanigan meter at the bottom of each post!!

@GregD.......awkward family photos are the best way to get everyone in the picture.   They usually turn out to be some of our favorite pics.
Seems like the shenanigans are in full swing, if only we had a shenanigan meter at the bottom of each post!!

@GregD.......awkward family photos are the best way to get everyone in the picture.   They usually turn out to be some of our favorite pics.
Seems like the shenanigans are in full swing, if only we had a shenanigan meter at the bottom of each post!!

@GregD.......awkward family photos are the best way to get everyone in the picture.   They usually turn out to be some of our favorite pics.
Seems like the shenanigans are in full swing, if only we had a shenanigan meter at the bottom of each post!!

CUP CLIP CLUB UNITE!!!!!

Seems like the perfect time to try out those pineapple shirts!!  😆

Seems like the perfect time to try out those pineapple shirts!!  😆

Loved it! The cast was really good. I have one minor gripe, the woman playing Rizzo seemed to be trying to portray a deep rough voice and it seemed a bit forced at times. It didn’t really detract from the show though.

They asked if we wanted to, we said no, it's not really our thing. We have had pictures done before and weren't happy with them.
Not yet, but I have not been looking. I'll do some research and let you know.

Those are loofas!!! Never thought I would want to use things that I would wash my bits and pieces to identify my luggage....hopefully they are new and not....contaminated......
Pasta Carbonara🤣 pasta made with eggs....Breakfast Pasta!!!
 
Thank you.
We have a rental car. It was 3.5 miles from our hotel to the port. About 12 minutes to drive there. 

Jamie's had a great cheeseburger, it was replaced by the chicken sandwich.

I'm trying to pick things that haven't already been done in this thread. I love Love LOVE magnetic hooks and probably bring about 30-40 with me every time. One time, our room attendant started making faces with them on the wall because we had so many spares. 

I love Bonine. (aside - is it boNEEN or boNYNE?) I will take one pretty much every morning (or before boarding on embarkation day) and I'm good to go. To me, it's better than Dramamine because it won't make you sleepy! Just throw it in with all your other medications and keep it in your carry on for easy access any time.

This water bottle has literally changed my travel life. The fact that it's collapsible means I can throw it in my bag without finding room for it, and then when I get to the airport, I can fill it up at a water fountain and I'm on my way. For the REALLY lazy part of me, I use the white strappy bits to hold it closed to hook onto my backpack/bag straps so I don't have to pack it in the interior of my stuff. I bought them for everyone in my family, and we also discovered that Amazon sells replacement tops (the part that screws on) in case you lose the lid or cap. 

If the water bottle changed my travel life, this bag has changed my beach life. It's completely mesh, so NO MORE SAND COMING BACK WITH YOU!!!! There's even a pocket on the side to stick smaller things in, and it's HUGE. I think I put four RC towels, a change of clothes, shoes, and a water bottle or two, with my phone, sea pass card, chapstick, and sunblock in the pocket, in there last time and it was like "that's all you got for me?" Well, probably, as bags don't talk. At least, not to me.
There's so many more I could list, but those three for sure. THANK YOU BEZOS.

random/stray observations:
despite her age, the ship was always clean. we rarely saw dirty plates, cups, etc (other than it lining the corridors, etc. the public areas were always clean (at least when we walked through) or in the process of being cleaned. the crew in housekeeping worked HARD. and it showed. it was an interesting mix of folks. not necessarily all first timers, a lot more repeat/seasoned cruises than our previous trip. less deer in the headlights and more -- oh yeah let's do this because we already know this tip/trick. like ELF for lunch every single day and the insane line because of that, or folks staying aboard in nassau and falmouth. even the aqua show on night three, there were so many folks on the starboard overlook on deck 7, waiting for the show. we are used to knowing that little trick and having the place to ourselves until at least halfway through. not this time. folks KNEW. EVERYONE WAS ON THE SUNDECK ON THE LAST DAY BY 8AM. WHAT. EVEN. (?????? who are all these repeat cruisers taking a page out of our book????? how dare they?? 😂😅 just kidding, but it was wild.) the fashion choices (or lack thereof) were nothing short of astonishing. no shoes, skirt hems that stopped at hip height, complete and utter disregard for fellow passengers just trying to make their way through the ship, visually unaccosted. ALAS. it was not meant to be.  we had just under 6500 pax on board when i asked our the C+A loyalty ambassador and this was one of the first times i've ever felt the crowds so keenly on an oasis class ship. i forgot to mention!! the C+A ambassador gave us our pins! i got my D+ and J got her diamond pin!! we are officially OFFICIAL. and J will OFFICIALLY get her diamond vouchers now. prior to symphony, oasis was our absolute favorite ship. i would sail her again BUT it would have to be a really smart choice (ie, CHEAP) or literally the last resort. i think i would rather try a standard balcony on the new beyond/ascent/xcel on celebrity before choosing oasis. while there is certainly nothing wrong with the ship, i have now been fortunate enough to sail her five times -- so i think we need to break up for a while 😂 given our previous history. we should clear the air. i actually did look into caribbean sailings for december 2025 and was sad to see that only oasis and icon (among the oasis class) were sailing out of miami/FLL. i think symphony might be sailing out of miami in 2025 as well but when i go to book a suite, it crashes, so who knows what is happening there. 😂  
it has been absolutely MARVELOUS having you along for the week. a real treat for me, as i was away from my family during a historically difficult time, and you all made it so wonderful. 💚
i know it was a quieter start than i am usually prone to having, but i feel like we really picked up speed and had ourselves A TIME.
i'm so glad there were no medical emergency evacuations and delays back to port this time -- although the emergency evacuation off cococay certainly was something. perhaps i've attracted all the oasis shenanigans and the rest of you will all have a pleasantly peaceful time. 😂😅 this is what i want for y'all.
thank you for letting me flex my writer muscles, as i've missed it terribly, and i sort of feel like you should receive a certificate of completion for making it to the last page of this liveblog 😆
i hope you have had as much fun as i have, sharing observations, thoughts and experiences. 💚  and if nothing else, that you've joined us in the cup clip club. 😆🌟
 
what's next? well, funny you should ask....
 

 
forever yours in bezos + shenanigans,
-A 💚

okay gang, sorry for the delay. this sinus infection is kicking my butt, hard.
but here we go...
 
overall thoughts:
oasis has the BEST aqua show in the fleet. aqua 80 is outstanding and cannot be topped. the power of love and purple rain will forever shine in my heart!! they have the NICEST crew in the fleet. there is something very comforting and warm about this crew. and don't get me wrong, we have had some really wonderful crew members on other sailings/ships. but there is something about THIS crew, that makes it like your favorite cozy blanket on a cold day. even our captain was noticeably more relaxed and jovial when compared to our sailing in december. ....although with no one overboard and only one ALPHA ALPHA ALPHA... i can understand why. PORTSIDE! we went two times! it was really just delicious, and something the rest of the fleet just doesn't have. a treat, and reasonably priced for the amount of food that you get. i would always recommend this as a night one dinner; it's quiet and calm, and the venue picks up considerably throughout the week. VINTAGES. y'all know how i love my champagne. we were delighted to see our favorite bartender, roman, at vintages. he always had a frosty cold glass and fresh bottle of champagne for us. i even asked him if he would ever be on another ship and he told us that he would happily be staying on oasis. willingness to correct/accommodate. this sort of goes back to the earlier point about the crew, but -- it was really something how accommodating the crew were. we had a great experience with the excursions team, and our head waiter in the MDR was really something. we had all sorts of shenanigans with getting a table for two, and we weren't on the right floor on night 2, so once we finally arrived on night 3, he was willing to work with us. he offered even to get us into specialty restaurants if we wanted, with a reservation at our convenience and a discount. (we did not inquire what kind of discount it would be 😂) every night he would personally check in on us, and make sure we were taken care of. and our MDR waiter and assistant were both very kind and present. i have some particular food preferences and they handled everything in stride, even anticipating them by the second time we were there. (evian, caesar salad; no croutons, dressing on the side 😂) also guest services was really great. (even though i'm not sure what happened with the cute officer and everything i had brought up to him at that time... maybe my pajamas and wild bedhead took his breath away 💀) each time i went, they were able to quickly and easily resolve our issues and didn't make me feel like a pest for needing assistance. i was very grateful to know they handled things.

Found this picture....looks like something that would make my kids whine and complain

Thanks!  Just looked up our booking with Bodden....we are doing monkeys/sloth, snorkel, beach, and hydro bikes....not quite sure what that is but sounds fun.  Thankfully no beat up ATVs.

@Va4fam Here is the thread that you can read.

It was somewhere here on the blogs, but the poster mentioned that the ATV's are pretty beat up, and one of the reasons is that there are lots of hills, and when you descend the hills, you line up with all the ATV's in a row all touching each other and ride the brakes down the hill like a giant caterpillar. I will see if I can find that post and tag you in it.

We went on our first cruise in 20 years last year and I just thought I would share what we learned. 
You don’t need a huge fancy ship on a long cruise to see if it’s a good fit. A smaller older ship has plenty of sun, sea, music and new things to experience. 
Do grab any available discounts (in advance on the royal website) for things like drink or water packages if you can get them. The offers do go away. Rookie mistake in waiting. 
if you are doing a shorter budget cruise you will be just fine without premium dining. 
This may vary from port, but we toured Cozumel on our own and were really glad we did that. There are lots of beach clubs you can do on your own or go into town. I am glad we rented a car. I’m not glad we got a parking ticket. 
In Galveston we did a hotel with a shuttle but it was a SLOW process, might not have made that a priority. An air b and b and an Uber booked ahead would have probably done the trick, though do plan for parking. 
We made the trip to the port and the port stay an important part of our vacation, we stayed 2 nights before and that helped us feel less stressed embarkation day and we loved Texas. 
if you don’t have a passport BRING YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE! Our travel agent never mentioned this and thank heavens we had backup documents. 
There are beer buckets on board but we didn’t really budget enough for drinks. We did bring soda and water on and grabbed more in port.  The ship has plenty of food but grabbing a quick snack isn’t always easy, not the worst idea to bring a few nibbles. 
It can be cold and hot and everything in between. Layers are great. 
Talk to people, make friends, we got to interact with all sorts of folks from all over. 
Try things you would not normally do, trivia, shuffle board, hide ducks, dance class, ICE SHOW.  We ate a lot of Indian food on board. 
We avoided crowds by doing everything on the late side, later meals all day.
Grab a paper cruise compass. 
Don’t worry about keeping up with everyone else. We didn’t have all the magnets or sparkle water bottles or fancy outfits but we had a great experience.