MTNeedsAVacay

This ship was built for someone like me who feels the ship is as important/more important that itinerary. This ship is the destination baby!! As someone mentioned above, you could literally do a cruise to nowhere on Icon and never run out of things to do (or drink). It really is like a sea based theme park. I know some won't like this, but that's what radiance and vision class are for. I like big ships and I cannot lie!!

Ref: https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Icon/Icon_Categorization_Grid.pdf
Star: 9, Sky: 100, Sea: 70

I can tell you all tomorrow there will be A LOT to share.

Sailed on Enchantment last December. The pool will almost certainly be closed on embarkation day. There isn't a mechanism to close a roof over the main pool. The Solarium on Enchanment is closed, but when I was on that pool was also closed on embarkation day. The solarium didn't stay particularly warm even when the solarium windows were closed. 

Test load is up 
Some new additions 
 




 

It appears that splashaway bay is located there...

October 2021 was early in the Post Covid return...I would recommend contacting them as I believe your family member is no longer in the queue.

We sailed Odyssey October 2021 and a family member was due a block. Filled out the form to have it shipped, but still haven't received it over a year later.....lol.

I would suggest not getting routine bloodwork done shortly after a cruise as it might really mess up the data on your liver function.
 
Not that I ever had that happen to me.

Supposed to be an update oct. 18th.

Thank you very much for everyone’s well wishes.  Despite the excellent care my mother in law received on Oasis and in the hospital ICU in Norfolk, she passed away this past Tuesday.  She was 79.
Edited to add a photo of MIL at Beach Club September 2021.
@Mattcould you please close this thread.

Your blog is painfully familiar. Can’t tell the wife about this blog since there is just so many “I told you so” I can take. 
 
Cruise in January 2019 (last before Covid) I took one pair of shoes, both rights. My wife has picture on her phone of the shoes. She shares as often often as possible followed with “she what I have to up with”.
 
We cruise end of October which is first since Covid. God help me.

Eight Days and Counting
 We have eight days to go and we are already packing. In our defense we leave town in either five or six days. I want to leave on the 18th and my wife wants to leave on the 19th (we will stay with my parents so we won’t have to pay for a hotel). Like any good couple, we will calmly discuss why we want to leave when we do. Have a civil debate before coming up with a compromise, which means we will do whatever she wants.
We have two large suitcases, a carry on, and my C-Pap machine. We decided because we have two suitcases, we will put half my clothes in one suitcase and the other half in the second suitcase. We will do the same with my wife’s clothes, that way if one of our bags gets lost on the flight from California to Florida, we’ll each have some clothes to get by. My wife and I have been married for 30 years and together for 33, we have weathered many storms including the awful plunger incident of ’91 (which she brings up at least once every few months), and most recently when she reset my Wordle stats back to zero. But I will tell you right now, if we don’t separate our clothes and one of our suitcases gets lost in transit forcing my wife to wear my skivvies for seven days, we’ll probably never recover from that.
Since I’m retired and my wife still works, I offered to take a load of her shoulders and pack for both. She responded with an enthusiastic, “Not a chance in Hell, buddy.”  She would rather spend all day in work meetings that easily could’ve been an email than have me pack for her or myself or anyone for that matter. I am so bad at packing that she wouldn’t allow me to even pack for her worst enemy.  I don’t blame her one bit, I mean last time I packed for myself I ended up with two pairs of jammies, one shirt with a mustard stain, and eight pairs of undies for a 3-day weekend getaway, because when I pack underwear, I am like a fricken Boy Scout, “Be Prepared.” Here is how I pack my chonies: one pair for day one and one pair in case I poop myself. One pair for day two and one pair in case I eat Taco Bell for lunch (If you know, you know). One pair for day three and one pair for…surely it can’t happen three days in a row, but just in case, one more pair. And finally, two extra pairs just because. I always forget socks. It’s like my hidden talent to forget to pack socks. My wife is afraid if I pack for myself I might end up bringing three pairs of snow pants to the Caribbean, but hey, you never know when you need a good pair of snow pants.
We have stacks and stacks of new clothing my wife has been buying since we booked the cruise almost six months ago, yet I am not allowed to wear any of them. I swear, you get one little mustard stain on your shirt every time you wear one, and suddenly your wife doesn’t trust you around clothes…and food. Remember when you were a kid and you went to your friend’s house where the couch was covered in plastic and you weren’t allowed to sit on it? It’s the same thing with my stack of cruise clothing.
My wife is packing and I’m in the room to lend moral support, but I’m not paying very much attention. When I arrive on the ship and open my suitcase it will be a surprise, like when my kids were younger and they opened their Christmas presents in front of me and I see for the first time, what we got them.
I’ll be back in a few days to report on my pre embarkation testing and our traveling from rural county in California to the Sacramento area.  

T-Minus 12 Days 
I must admit, I’m quite envious when I hear about people booking over the water cabanas at Perfect Day at Coco Cay, or eating at Coastal Kitchen, or emailing back and forth with their Genie because unless I find a magic lamp on St. Kitts, I’m not getting a Genie. How I wish I could book a suite, I mean who doesn’t want to stay in the owner’s suite with all the space, all the amenities, and a bidet, I will miss having a bidet, but since I’m on a tight budget, my rump and I will rough it in a balcony room. Like many Americans, I live from paycheck to four days before the next paycheck. Being a cheapskate comes naturally to me. Some might even say it’s a gift. Okay, okay, no one calls it a gift, especially my wife.
Here I will chronicle our seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Harmony of the Seas while attempting to save as much money as possible without compromising on having fun.
I pre-booked our cruise, the deluxe drink package, internet package, and two excursions. I rushed to book the cruise instead of taking the time to try to get the best deal possible; although, I’m pleased with our deal. The reason for rushing the booking was the sale was set to expire in 1 hours and 52 minutes and I didn’t want to miss out. Little did I know that this is the sale that never ends, it goes on and on my friends. I suspect that this current sale and all the extensions date back to the day when Noah chartered the Ark of the Seas from Royal Caribbean during the Great Flood. I think I might have been bamboozled by the threat of the sale ending.
I booked all the add-ons we wanted; repricing, cancelling, and rebooking when the prices dropped. We saved on the internet package by booking one internet package with two devices instead of two individual packages. Originally, I booked the deluxe drink package for $77.99 per person/per day. My wallet wept that day. I cancelled and rebooked when the price dropped to $72.99 pp/pd. And did it once again when the price dropped to $65.99 pp/pd. My wallet no longer weeps uncontrollably, but it does whimper from time to time, not to mention, my liver is not so pleased either.
 
I’m not going to go all Ebenezer Scrooge to the point we don’t enjoy ourselves, but we are not going to spend freely like the Real Housewives of the Seas. This is our first cruise in what seems like forever and that’s a might long time, but I’m here to tell you, there’s something else, the barometer. A world of measuring how we can save on future cruses, such as the four-day Catalina and Ensenada cruise we have booked in November. The November cruise we will be thriftier. 
There are a few things I won’t skimp on and they are as follows:
1.      Gratuities. We prepaid our gratuities, but I plan on tipping above and beyond, because I may be a cheapskate, but I’m not an A-hole. Well, I may be an A-hole, but I’m not the kind of A-hole that would screw over someone else on tips just to save a few bucks.
2.      My wife made it clear that she wants something special from the ship. I plugged the words “something special” into my husband/wife translator and it comes back as jewelry.
3.      Souvenirs for the grandkids. I am thinking of something loud and obnoxious; payback is a…, well you know.   
4.      And finally, I will not lie, cheat, or scheme to get something for free. For example, if we eat at a specialty restaurant, I won’t lie to the waitstaff telling them there’s a toe in my risotto (or would it be risot-toe) just to get a free meal. Even if my risotto has a toe in it, I hate confrontation, so I’ll probably keep quite while eating around it. I’m almost certain that quality control on the Harmony of the Seas is good enough to catch a stray toe in the food being served, at least I hope so.
I will be updating a few times leading up to our cruise with my observations on the preparations and then once we board I will live blog our experience.  

I enjoy it for the morning light fare.  
otherwise, the Oasis diamond lounge was about as exciting as a conference room at an airport Hilton.  

If you are a social person then the DL can be a fun place to meet other cruisers you have sailed with before.  
Here is the original Oasis class DL:


 
The new Oasis DL on deck four was documented in this trip report:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17015-an-amplified-agglomeration-of-oasis-pictures-post-amplification/&do=findComment&comment=176041
Very similar to other Oasis class deck 4 DL's.

When Covid first started and we were still in the office at my old job - I sent this to my boss and said we need to play it on the screens around the building 🤣
 
I was denied....and then I quit

Little do you know that the additional health protocols include taking daily shifts as the "washy washy" person.

Not all bookings are eligible for RoyalUp also. For example, if you booked through something like Costco, those bookings will not be eligible for RU and you would probably get an error message if you tried.

Kids drink vouchers can also be used for smoothies at the vitality cafe or promenade cafe, bottles of water, or specialty coffees. My kids are pretty young, so they maybe had 1 sugary drink a day, so my husband and I used the kids vouchers for our morning iced espresso drinks and save the adult drinks for alcohol! Any extra vouchers at the end of the day we used to stock the room with bottles of water.

Day 2 - Perfect Day at CocoCay 
I was up before the kids so I went the short distance to the Suite Lounge and used the coffee machine there to bring back a mug and watch our morning arrival to CocoCay from our balcony. I was kind of surprised there seemed to be no one awake at 6 am, which isn’t super early for docking at 8. We were pacing the Norwegian Breakaway the whole time and I didn’t realize how super close the NCL private island is to CocoCay. Once the kids were up we decided to head to coastal kitchen for a quick bite before starting our beach and Waterpark day. CK is the way to go for a quick, pleasant breakfast - just walking on 17 you could see the herd of people lined up for the Windjammer on 16 at the base of the stairs. Service was quick, and during our meal they started blaring “Perfect day at CocoCay” song that is basically Bill Withers lovely day retooled. Not sure that was necessary that early over pancakes, but it was funny to watch the crowd pick up significantly after it was done - in case anyone was still dozing or relaxing that song was the adrenaline shot needed to get the wheels in motion. We started prepping for the day. It was hot and sunny and well into the 80’s by 9 am so we made sure to bring extra sunscreen, hats and everything we might need for the day which was to include beach and Waterpark. I originally had a beach bed at Chill island reserved along with our Waterpark passes thinking we would have shade in the afternoon after wearing ourselves out on water slides, but I upgraded to a Chill island cabana that cost less than the original pricing in the cruise planner this week before our sailing.
We checked into the Cabana and we were only minutes into unpacking our items and re-applying sunscreen after possibly sweating it off during the walk between the boat and the Chill Island cabanas ( did I mention it was hot today ? 😂) when the “disruption” began.
 
I’ll spare someone’s identity with specifics and all of you the gritty details but long story short - when it’s already child meltdown city at 10 am and adult histrionics - loud and obnoxious adjacent to our Chill cabana, it’s worth asking about the possibility of a another location that might be open to enjoy the perfect day without disruptive neighbors, and I’m glad we did! We wound up moving to the end in number 11 and it was an awesome location away from other cabanas right along the breakwater. It was in the second row and didn’t have a direct view of the chill beach, but we could see directly out over the turquoise waters toward the NCL island and no people in sight. To the left was the Up and away balloon, behind us you could see the overwater cabanas and jet skis, and off to the right side just clear blue seas.  It was definitely a windier location, so not ideal for a cooler day, but on this scorcher of a sunny day the breeze was welcome. Our cabana attendant Thaddeus was great, very helpful and quick to come check and bring anything we needed. From the time ordered food to having it served was always less than ten minutes and he surprised us with funnel cakes from somewhere that were not on the cabana lunch menu. We had initially planned to hit the Waterpark around 1 but were so enjoying the calm of the cabana, and the wonderful raft floats, we didn’t venture out until about 2:15. 
 
The Waterpark had plenty of open chairs with shade and short lines at 2:30 and we all headed to the wave pool to cool off. The line for the tallest tower slide attraction was less than 15 minutes and the rest of slides maybe 5 or less? We stayed until 3:45 and headed back to ship. I’m glad we didn’t spend the whole day at the Waterpark, everything we wanted to ride and use we were able to do in 90 minutes and it was so much hotter than the beach side - plus it’s close to the ship to end the day. 
 
Overall CocoCay was outstanding, we only explored a fraction of it and I don’t think it would get old visiting over and over again because there are so many neat areas and activities. I can’t say the same for Castaway Cay, nice but not 10 + visits exciting. 😆 
Here are some pics 

I think you are in the minority liking that MCO humid air. lol 
Enjoy your suite.  The first time we were in a suite on Oasis class we were hooked! Just remeber free soda, water, wine and beer in the lounge all day!   Also make sure you make show reservations, before you could flash your card, but now you need reservations made on the app or by the concierge.
 
Don;t forget to try the Room service menu that is free and is not half bad.
 

Situated in the room for sail away after exploring the ship. We did have our sea pass cards waiting for us after we left Coastal Kitchen for lunch, and it’s a ridiculously easy walk from our loft suite to the coastal kitchen and suite lounge. Thanks to the good info on these blog forums, I am definitely glad we went with the deck 17 room, and did not entertain a Royal up that was offered on an Aquatheater suite. For this sailing the choices upgrading from a crown loft were the 2bd Aquatheater, the 4 bd villa suite, or the Royal loft with a grand piano — the latter two just way way too lavish for me and the teens!
Oasis class general impressions :
I can tell as echoed in previous reviews of Oasis class ships THE ELEVATORS ARE A PROBLEM. I can’t even imagine not being an able bodied person to take the stairs if needed - absolutely packed up and down all ways so far, it seems they are short by about half the elevators in both banks. 
Central Park is ah-mazing. What an awesome concept and kudos to the design team for the idea of live plants and the gardeners who tend the area. The whole ship is enormous and beautiful but the whole Central Park area is a wonderful standout, the kids and I agree hands down if you went with one of the interior balconies - definitely the Central Park vs. Boardwalk. 
 
The Casino reeks of stale smoke, we had to pass through there empty to find fhe hibachi place we are eating at tonight and our muster station, and it’s nauseatingly smoky…completely empty with machines off. I don’t want to think how gross it is when it’s open. I’ll be avoiding this area in passing if I can. 
 
Suite Class impressions : 
Wonderful.
 
Mario helped me with the UDP thing for a minute on a busy day around 1:30 when the desk was stacked with confused arriving passengers, and when I popped in again to ask about Waterpark passes since I didn’t see anything in the shore excursions stuff in the room as we returned this afternoon for sail away, he greeted me with a hello by name. 
 
Maria in the suite lounge bar,  who brought me a glass of chilled wine with lunch approached me immediately upon my return with a sweating glass of beer from exploring the ship waiting to ask Mario about the Waterpark and said “let me get you a fresh glass” 
Maria ( housekeeper) was in the hall when I was returning to the suite and went over everything about the room and our dining times and the sofa bed before I could even get the sea pass card from my pocket. 
Wonderful service so far. 
 
the Suite : there’s plenty of videos and pictures online of the crown lofts and it’s more spacious in person. Side note we are port side and do face Cape Canaveral for sail away. I was also pleased the depth of the upstairs bed to the railing is more than it seems online, I think I was picturing dropping something off the the side of the bed and bumping my head on the rail, but it is spacious. 
 
Here are some pics from wandering around today more later! We had masks waiting for us, different for adult, teen and 12 Also make Note of the super weird artwork piece of the half man half sea creature with a mustache being coddled by a man - my kids noted on the way to the casino, I’m not an HGTV designer but what exactly would be the appropriate room to display this ?? Feel free to tell me in replies 🤣

Wow! I can’t say enough about suite class so far - I would pull the $$ trigger on that again in a heartbeat JUST for embarkation on an Oasis size ship. We finally left MCO at 12:15 and the bus ride was uneventful in a good way. There were several people dozing off in the cool A/C after whatever “hurry up and wait” travel situations have finally culminated in getting to the ship. The last few times we have used transportation from the Airport to the ship have been on Disney years ago and the mood on Disney is considerably more amped up with people wearing Mickey ears while being inundated with DCL cartoons and Mickey shorts. I would compare it to a weekend trip to Vegas - the Friday night outbound flight is hooting and hollering ( DCL) and the Sunday flight back is hungover and asleep ( RCL). Speaking of which …. The RCL port rep came on board to let us know there are 6000 ppl checking in, a long line ahead and to have Covid test, and Covid cards at the ready for phase one of spot check. We bypassed the entire cluster of what looked to be nothing short of a 500-800 person line, were shuttled past everyone and waiting behind one family to get into the terminal. 20 minutes from off the bus to door on the ship, but I can feel the elevator pain already as it took almost as long to get to 17. Made it Suite lounge and  Coastal kitchen by 1:35, and Mario already handled the aforementioned adult 12 year old dining situation with the UDP. Interestingly enough, not one person in the whole chain has told us how to get to our room? I guess we just see if there’s keys there. More later - I keep getting alerts that I have a few hours left to complete the safety drill. Here is the line at the port at 1 pm 
 
 

Covid results are in and we are clear to sail, here’s hoping the air portion from Denver to Orlando goes smoothly. I can’t wait for that first waft of hot, humid mildewy jetway air as we emerge into the MCO terminal, that makes me sweat in places I forgot I had sweat glands living here in the dry prairie that is Colorado. 😀