MattG

Day 4 - CocoCay
We’ve settled into a good rhythm in Windjammer breakfast. The quality is okay, the selection seems thin, but when the goal is to get food in kids stomachs, sometimes you have to make do. We’re a bit forward, so sometimes we walk down the stateroom corridor to the mid-ship elevators,  sometimes we walk up to the pool deck and walk across. Our docking time was 9:00am, with gangway down at 9:30am, so we were approaching Coco Cay as we walked into the Windjammer at 8:00am. 

The future “Adults Only” section is still a pile of sand, with little in the way of progress or anything looking finished: 

 We finished up brekkie and went to the room to change into bathing suits, and then headed to the promenade to wait for the cringe-worthy song (sorry) telling us the gangway was down. While waiting, the Wife pointed out a numbered facade on the Promenade, and inquired if it was some sort of inside joke among cruisers - she said it reminded her of Club 33 at Disney. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

I didn’t get any photos of getting off the ship, but I did grab a photo of Oasis from the bridge to Chill Island:
 

When we got halfway down the pier, I looked back at Oasis and said outloud “holy f*ck that’s a big ship.” It’s just like to took a skyscraper and laid it on it’s end, it’s just unconscionable that something like this exists, but there it is. 
We were lucky to be solo in CocoCay, no other ships joined us. It made the entire place feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. We posted up at the same place as our last trip, the back portion of the middle (smaller) of the three coves on Chill Island. There’s a cluster of palm trees that, with the umbrellas, provides  us shade all day. 
We got ourselves situated then went down to the beach to play for a bit. The water was cool, but nice and clear. The weather was mid-80s, and plenty of clouds in the sky to provide relief every few minutes. It was truly a perfect day. 

After about an hour at the beach, we went (with a Coco Loco stop in between) to Captain Jill’s Galleon, the pirate ship at the Welcome Plaza. It’s a play area for smaller kids where Splashaway Bay may be too intense. There’s water jets, a few water slides, a rope climb, and a crow’s nest to climb to. All of the kids had a blast here for another hour before we headed to Splashaway Bay.

Splashaway Bay is one of the neatest kids water parks that I’ve been to, it’s large enough to accommodate age groups up to teens, who would then be better served by Thrill Waterpark. One downside is the moment you set foot on the proper “park” portion, you’re going to get wet, as there are sprayers/misters everywhere. 

Our middle child doesn’t care for that, so she happily played in the perimeter sand while the oldest went up and down the adjacent water slides for another hour. Unfortunately, we were told adults can’t go down these slides, which was different than we were told last December (I definitely went down these slides!): 

After a bit more time at the slides, we went back to our chairs, then to Chill Grill for lunch. We brought out food back to the chairs and ate while the kids played in the sand, being careful to keep food covered so we don’t get a seagull bombing (which happened twice in 10 minutes!). 
It was difficult to get more photos from this point, as I didn’t want to carry my phone and get it wet. 
After lunch, we went back to the beach for a bit, then our youngest fell asleep at the chairs. I took the girls over to Oasis Lagoon and swam for a bit, before our middle child wanted to go back to the chairs and play more in the sand. After passing off to the Wife, the oldest and I played more in the pool, before wrapping up to head back. Curious about South Beach, we walked out the south end of Oasis Lagoon and took the tram road down to South Beach. This was my first time here, and I really liked it! It was more of a traditional beach, still having chairs but directly facing the ocean (no cove cut-out). The distance between the chairs and the water was much deeper too, giving more room for activities. South Beach is not very large, the entrance is right next to the overwater cabanas and goes for a little ways. It has its own Snack Shack for food. Due to its size, it’s very quiet and feels very secluded, you get no noise from Thrill Waterpark, Splashaway Bay, or any of the music/DJs of Oasis Lagoon. It feels like a different world. 
After touring South Beach, we grabbed the tram back to Chill Island to pick up the rest of the family, and head back to the ship at 2:30pm. It was much earlier than the all-aboard at 5:00pm, but the kids were fried, one was still napping, and we didn’t want to push prepping for dinner. 
Once the girls were ready for dinner, we saw that there was an open ice-skating session, so we decided to take it for a spin:

There’s a waiver you need to sign at the entrance of Studio B, and they add a sticker to your SeaPass card. Depending on how busy the ice skating is, you can pick from one of four 20-minute skating sessions to participate. Because it wasn’t busy, the staff gave us passes for the current session. Once your waiver is complete, you head down into the open end of the ice rink to show the attendant your sticker, then pick up your skates and helmet. We went around the rink with the girls twice (well, the girls hanging onto my arms or the wall because they can’t really skate yet 😄 ), and we wrapped up and headed back up to the stateroom to pick up the rest of the family. 
Tonight was dinner at Izumi Hibachi. It’s located on Deck 4 in the same location as Izumi Sushi. When you walk into Izumi, you turn left towards the Hibachi tables. There are three tables with 10 chairs each, and it’s not a large area at all: 

Overall, it was a good show, and the food was okay. The fried rice was (and always is) my favorite part. There’s no fire like a normal hibachi show, and the chefs all did the same tricks. Some of the other chefs were more improvisational and had more outgoing personalities. The kids loved it. 
After the kids went to bed, it was close to the first seating of Aqua80s. I didn’t have a reservation, but I figured I’d find standing room somewhere to watch the show. There was a line for “No Reservation Guests” that was only about 10 people deep, and the host said “You can stand upstairs at the rock wall, or in the splash zone”. I asked how “splash” the splash zone was, and the host laughed, then with a serious tone said “we give you towels for a reason”. I went up to the rock wall, and not being impressed with the distance to the stage, headed down to the splash zone. I found a seat in the third row on the far right side, imaging I’d be safe. 

I sat down just in time for “Power of Love” start and see the flying rig in action. After Marty left, the opening act began, and guys, when I say this soundtrack is 🔥, I’m not kidding. I would pay cash money for a copy of this soundtrack, the mashups are SO GOOD. The choreography is good, the lighting is top notch, but the star of this show is the soundtrack, my goodness. Here’s a few more show shots:

I have to insist anyone going on Oasis has got to see this show, it is a MUST DO!
After Aqua80s, I headed down to the Royal Theater for the Love and Marriage game show:

It was a great show, and the youngest couple won! The first time I had seen that happen, usually it’s the oldest couple that wins, but this young couple was on fire tonight. 
Tomorrow is Nassau. We have no plans to get off the ship, see you then!
 

Hi everyone,
I've heard about the Cruise Compass "going digital", and all the activities are in the Royal app. I don't mind it, but my wife certainly misses the paper Cruise Compass - something to read in bed, or at a meal and plan the day rather than relying on technology to find events. Even then, it's several more steps (find phone, unlock phone, find & open Royal app, fix WiFi, re-open the app, find the Planner, etc). 
I've recently seen a few Cruise Compasses pop up in the archive that look like perfect PDF replicas of the Cruise Compass, but while on board Oasis there was no indication of how to access it. On Day 6, I flipped through the TV stations and went to the Cruise Compass channel, where I was presented with a QR code, which goes to:
https://minio.rccl.com/compass/cruisecompass.pdf
Lo and behold, it's the PROPER Cruise Compass in PDF form! While I can't print this out, it's identical to the paper Cruise Compass that's being phased out. The URL above should work for anyone connected to ship WiFi. 
 

Day 4 - CocoCay
We’ve settled into a good rhythm in Windjammer breakfast. The quality is okay, the selection seems thin, but when the goal is to get food in kids stomachs, sometimes you have to make do. We’re a bit forward, so sometimes we walk down the stateroom corridor to the mid-ship elevators,  sometimes we walk up to the pool deck and walk across. Our docking time was 9:00am, with gangway down at 9:30am, so we were approaching Coco Cay as we walked into the Windjammer at 8:00am. 

The future “Adults Only” section is still a pile of sand, with little in the way of progress or anything looking finished: 

 We finished up brekkie and went to the room to change into bathing suits, and then headed to the promenade to wait for the cringe-worthy song (sorry) telling us the gangway was down. While waiting, the Wife pointed out a numbered facade on the Promenade, and inquired if it was some sort of inside joke among cruisers - she said it reminded her of Club 33 at Disney. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

I didn’t get any photos of getting off the ship, but I did grab a photo of Oasis from the bridge to Chill Island:
 

When we got halfway down the pier, I looked back at Oasis and said outloud “holy f*ck that’s a big ship.” It’s just like to took a skyscraper and laid it on it’s end, it’s just unconscionable that something like this exists, but there it is. 
We were lucky to be solo in CocoCay, no other ships joined us. It made the entire place feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. We posted up at the same place as our last trip, the back portion of the middle (smaller) of the three coves on Chill Island. There’s a cluster of palm trees that, with the umbrellas, provides  us shade all day. 
We got ourselves situated then went down to the beach to play for a bit. The water was cool, but nice and clear. The weather was mid-80s, and plenty of clouds in the sky to provide relief every few minutes. It was truly a perfect day. 

After about an hour at the beach, we went (with a Coco Loco stop in between) to Captain Jill’s Galleon, the pirate ship at the Welcome Plaza. It’s a play area for smaller kids where Splashaway Bay may be too intense. There’s water jets, a few water slides, a rope climb, and a crow’s nest to climb to. All of the kids had a blast here for another hour before we headed to Splashaway Bay.

Splashaway Bay is one of the neatest kids water parks that I’ve been to, it’s large enough to accommodate age groups up to teens, who would then be better served by Thrill Waterpark. One downside is the moment you set foot on the proper “park” portion, you’re going to get wet, as there are sprayers/misters everywhere. 

Our middle child doesn’t care for that, so she happily played in the perimeter sand while the oldest went up and down the adjacent water slides for another hour. Unfortunately, we were told adults can’t go down these slides, which was different than we were told last December (I definitely went down these slides!): 

After a bit more time at the slides, we went back to our chairs, then to Chill Grill for lunch. We brought out food back to the chairs and ate while the kids played in the sand, being careful to keep food covered so we don’t get a seagull bombing (which happened twice in 10 minutes!). 
It was difficult to get more photos from this point, as I didn’t want to carry my phone and get it wet. 
After lunch, we went back to the beach for a bit, then our youngest fell asleep at the chairs. I took the girls over to Oasis Lagoon and swam for a bit, before our middle child wanted to go back to the chairs and play more in the sand. After passing off to the Wife, the oldest and I played more in the pool, before wrapping up to head back. Curious about South Beach, we walked out the south end of Oasis Lagoon and took the tram road down to South Beach. This was my first time here, and I really liked it! It was more of a traditional beach, still having chairs but directly facing the ocean (no cove cut-out). The distance between the chairs and the water was much deeper too, giving more room for activities. South Beach is not very large, the entrance is right next to the overwater cabanas and goes for a little ways. It has its own Snack Shack for food. Due to its size, it’s very quiet and feels very secluded, you get no noise from Thrill Waterpark, Splashaway Bay, or any of the music/DJs of Oasis Lagoon. It feels like a different world. 
After touring South Beach, we grabbed the tram back to Chill Island to pick up the rest of the family, and head back to the ship at 2:30pm. It was much earlier than the all-aboard at 5:00pm, but the kids were fried, one was still napping, and we didn’t want to push prepping for dinner. 
Once the girls were ready for dinner, we saw that there was an open ice-skating session, so we decided to take it for a spin:

There’s a waiver you need to sign at the entrance of Studio B, and they add a sticker to your SeaPass card. Depending on how busy the ice skating is, you can pick from one of four 20-minute skating sessions to participate. Because it wasn’t busy, the staff gave us passes for the current session. Once your waiver is complete, you head down into the open end of the ice rink to show the attendant your sticker, then pick up your skates and helmet. We went around the rink with the girls twice (well, the girls hanging onto my arms or the wall because they can’t really skate yet 😄 ), and we wrapped up and headed back up to the stateroom to pick up the rest of the family. 
Tonight was dinner at Izumi Hibachi. It’s located on Deck 4 in the same location as Izumi Sushi. When you walk into Izumi, you turn left towards the Hibachi tables. There are three tables with 10 chairs each, and it’s not a large area at all: 

Overall, it was a good show, and the food was okay. The fried rice was (and always is) my favorite part. There’s no fire like a normal hibachi show, and the chefs all did the same tricks. Some of the other chefs were more improvisational and had more outgoing personalities. The kids loved it. 
After the kids went to bed, it was close to the first seating of Aqua80s. I didn’t have a reservation, but I figured I’d find standing room somewhere to watch the show. There was a line for “No Reservation Guests” that was only about 10 people deep, and the host said “You can stand upstairs at the rock wall, or in the splash zone”. I asked how “splash” the splash zone was, and the host laughed, then with a serious tone said “we give you towels for a reason”. I went up to the rock wall, and not being impressed with the distance to the stage, headed down to the splash zone. I found a seat in the third row on the far right side, imaging I’d be safe. 

I sat down just in time for “Power of Love” start and see the flying rig in action. After Marty left, the opening act began, and guys, when I say this soundtrack is 🔥, I’m not kidding. I would pay cash money for a copy of this soundtrack, the mashups are SO GOOD. The choreography is good, the lighting is top notch, but the star of this show is the soundtrack, my goodness. Here’s a few more show shots:

I have to insist anyone going on Oasis has got to see this show, it is a MUST DO!
After Aqua80s, I headed down to the Royal Theater for the Love and Marriage game show:

It was a great show, and the youngest couple won! The first time I had seen that happen, usually it’s the oldest couple that wins, but this young couple was on fire tonight. 
Tomorrow is Nassau. We have no plans to get off the ship, see you then!
 

Day 4 - CocoCay
We’ve settled into a good rhythm in Windjammer breakfast. The quality is okay, the selection seems thin, but when the goal is to get food in kids stomachs, sometimes you have to make do. We’re a bit forward, so sometimes we walk down the stateroom corridor to the mid-ship elevators,  sometimes we walk up to the pool deck and walk across. Our docking time was 9:00am, with gangway down at 9:30am, so we were approaching Coco Cay as we walked into the Windjammer at 8:00am. 

The future “Adults Only” section is still a pile of sand, with little in the way of progress or anything looking finished: 

 We finished up brekkie and went to the room to change into bathing suits, and then headed to the promenade to wait for the cringe-worthy song (sorry) telling us the gangway was down. While waiting, the Wife pointed out a numbered facade on the Promenade, and inquired if it was some sort of inside joke among cruisers - she said it reminded her of Club 33 at Disney. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

I didn’t get any photos of getting off the ship, but I did grab a photo of Oasis from the bridge to Chill Island:
 

When we got halfway down the pier, I looked back at Oasis and said outloud “holy f*ck that’s a big ship.” It’s just like to took a skyscraper and laid it on it’s end, it’s just unconscionable that something like this exists, but there it is. 
We were lucky to be solo in CocoCay, no other ships joined us. It made the entire place feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. We posted up at the same place as our last trip, the back portion of the middle (smaller) of the three coves on Chill Island. There’s a cluster of palm trees that, with the umbrellas, provides  us shade all day. 
We got ourselves situated then went down to the beach to play for a bit. The water was cool, but nice and clear. The weather was mid-80s, and plenty of clouds in the sky to provide relief every few minutes. It was truly a perfect day. 

After about an hour at the beach, we went (with a Coco Loco stop in between) to Captain Jill’s Galleon, the pirate ship at the Welcome Plaza. It’s a play area for smaller kids where Splashaway Bay may be too intense. There’s water jets, a few water slides, a rope climb, and a crow’s nest to climb to. All of the kids had a blast here for another hour before we headed to Splashaway Bay.

Splashaway Bay is one of the neatest kids water parks that I’ve been to, it’s large enough to accommodate age groups up to teens, who would then be better served by Thrill Waterpark. One downside is the moment you set foot on the proper “park” portion, you’re going to get wet, as there are sprayers/misters everywhere. 

Our middle child doesn’t care for that, so she happily played in the perimeter sand while the oldest went up and down the adjacent water slides for another hour. Unfortunately, we were told adults can’t go down these slides, which was different than we were told last December (I definitely went down these slides!): 

After a bit more time at the slides, we went back to our chairs, then to Chill Grill for lunch. We brought out food back to the chairs and ate while the kids played in the sand, being careful to keep food covered so we don’t get a seagull bombing (which happened twice in 10 minutes!). 
It was difficult to get more photos from this point, as I didn’t want to carry my phone and get it wet. 
After lunch, we went back to the beach for a bit, then our youngest fell asleep at the chairs. I took the girls over to Oasis Lagoon and swam for a bit, before our middle child wanted to go back to the chairs and play more in the sand. After passing off to the Wife, the oldest and I played more in the pool, before wrapping up to head back. Curious about South Beach, we walked out the south end of Oasis Lagoon and took the tram road down to South Beach. This was my first time here, and I really liked it! It was more of a traditional beach, still having chairs but directly facing the ocean (no cove cut-out). The distance between the chairs and the water was much deeper too, giving more room for activities. South Beach is not very large, the entrance is right next to the overwater cabanas and goes for a little ways. It has its own Snack Shack for food. Due to its size, it’s very quiet and feels very secluded, you get no noise from Thrill Waterpark, Splashaway Bay, or any of the music/DJs of Oasis Lagoon. It feels like a different world. 
After touring South Beach, we grabbed the tram back to Chill Island to pick up the rest of the family, and head back to the ship at 2:30pm. It was much earlier than the all-aboard at 5:00pm, but the kids were fried, one was still napping, and we didn’t want to push prepping for dinner. 
Once the girls were ready for dinner, we saw that there was an open ice-skating session, so we decided to take it for a spin:

There’s a waiver you need to sign at the entrance of Studio B, and they add a sticker to your SeaPass card. Depending on how busy the ice skating is, you can pick from one of four 20-minute skating sessions to participate. Because it wasn’t busy, the staff gave us passes for the current session. Once your waiver is complete, you head down into the open end of the ice rink to show the attendant your sticker, then pick up your skates and helmet. We went around the rink with the girls twice (well, the girls hanging onto my arms or the wall because they can’t really skate yet 😄 ), and we wrapped up and headed back up to the stateroom to pick up the rest of the family. 
Tonight was dinner at Izumi Hibachi. It’s located on Deck 4 in the same location as Izumi Sushi. When you walk into Izumi, you turn left towards the Hibachi tables. There are three tables with 10 chairs each, and it’s not a large area at all: 

Overall, it was a good show, and the food was okay. The fried rice was (and always is) my favorite part. There’s no fire like a normal hibachi show, and the chefs all did the same tricks. Some of the other chefs were more improvisational and had more outgoing personalities. The kids loved it. 
After the kids went to bed, it was close to the first seating of Aqua80s. I didn’t have a reservation, but I figured I’d find standing room somewhere to watch the show. There was a line for “No Reservation Guests” that was only about 10 people deep, and the host said “You can stand upstairs at the rock wall, or in the splash zone”. I asked how “splash” the splash zone was, and the host laughed, then with a serious tone said “we give you towels for a reason”. I went up to the rock wall, and not being impressed with the distance to the stage, headed down to the splash zone. I found a seat in the third row on the far right side, imaging I’d be safe. 

I sat down just in time for “Power of Love” start and see the flying rig in action. After Marty left, the opening act began, and guys, when I say this soundtrack is 🔥, I’m not kidding. I would pay cash money for a copy of this soundtrack, the mashups are SO GOOD. The choreography is good, the lighting is top notch, but the star of this show is the soundtrack, my goodness. Here’s a few more show shots:

I have to insist anyone going on Oasis has got to see this show, it is a MUST DO!
After Aqua80s, I headed down to the Royal Theater for the Love and Marriage game show:

It was a great show, and the youngest couple won! The first time I had seen that happen, usually it’s the oldest couple that wins, but this young couple was on fire tonight. 
Tomorrow is Nassau. We have no plans to get off the ship, see you then!
 

Hi everyone,
I've heard about the Cruise Compass "going digital", and all the activities are in the Royal app. I don't mind it, but my wife certainly misses the paper Cruise Compass - something to read in bed, or at a meal and plan the day rather than relying on technology to find events. Even then, it's several more steps (find phone, unlock phone, find & open Royal app, fix WiFi, re-open the app, find the Planner, etc). 
I've recently seen a few Cruise Compasses pop up in the archive that look like perfect PDF replicas of the Cruise Compass, but while on board Oasis there was no indication of how to access it. On Day 6, I flipped through the TV stations and went to the Cruise Compass channel, where I was presented with a QR code, which goes to:
https://minio.rccl.com/compass/cruisecompass.pdf
Lo and behold, it's the PROPER Cruise Compass in PDF form! While I can't print this out, it's identical to the paper Cruise Compass that's being phased out. The URL above should work for anyone connected to ship WiFi. 
 

Re-visiting my "TIPS FOR NEXT TIME" from the last cruise:

Did this and don't regret it one bit. 
Magnet hooks continue to reign supreme. We lost about 25% of our hooks from the last trip, so we got another 10-pack of 25lb hooks and brought everything, and we're using all of them:

Another win. One of the shoe-organizers was heavy, and used most of the magnet power before loading down, so we left that one home. The standard one has been in constant use with kids shoes: it gives them a place to put them (NOT ON THE FLOOR!) and they can easily pick the pair they want. We also use it for hairbrushes, hair ties, chargers, cables, etc:

Still doing it!
Definitely did this, but not enough socks this time. 
I paced myself on Day 1, but kinda forgot about this later in the week, especially the late-night drinking and affecting sleep. I realized this by Day 5 and cut myself off after dinner, and that helped sleep quality a lot.
I forgot to refresh the downloaded content before we left, but we haven't had nearly as much screen time on this cruise as last time, so the content already downloaded plus the brief VOOM connections have worked out well. 
Can confirm - VOOM is a savior at dinner. 
We got a 2-device package for this cruise as we're sharing it with another family, though being able to bring another device online without kicking the other (like a kid's tablet) has been awesome
 

Day 4 - CocoCay
We’ve settled into a good rhythm in Windjammer breakfast. The quality is okay, the selection seems thin, but when the goal is to get food in kids stomachs, sometimes you have to make do. We’re a bit forward, so sometimes we walk down the stateroom corridor to the mid-ship elevators,  sometimes we walk up to the pool deck and walk across. Our docking time was 9:00am, with gangway down at 9:30am, so we were approaching Coco Cay as we walked into the Windjammer at 8:00am. 

The future “Adults Only” section is still a pile of sand, with little in the way of progress or anything looking finished: 

 We finished up brekkie and went to the room to change into bathing suits, and then headed to the promenade to wait for the cringe-worthy song (sorry) telling us the gangway was down. While waiting, the Wife pointed out a numbered facade on the Promenade, and inquired if it was some sort of inside joke among cruisers - she said it reminded her of Club 33 at Disney. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

I didn’t get any photos of getting off the ship, but I did grab a photo of Oasis from the bridge to Chill Island:
 

When we got halfway down the pier, I looked back at Oasis and said outloud “holy f*ck that’s a big ship.” It’s just like to took a skyscraper and laid it on it’s end, it’s just unconscionable that something like this exists, but there it is. 
We were lucky to be solo in CocoCay, no other ships joined us. It made the entire place feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. We posted up at the same place as our last trip, the back portion of the middle (smaller) of the three coves on Chill Island. There’s a cluster of palm trees that, with the umbrellas, provides  us shade all day. 
We got ourselves situated then went down to the beach to play for a bit. The water was cool, but nice and clear. The weather was mid-80s, and plenty of clouds in the sky to provide relief every few minutes. It was truly a perfect day. 

After about an hour at the beach, we went (with a Coco Loco stop in between) to Captain Jill’s Galleon, the pirate ship at the Welcome Plaza. It’s a play area for smaller kids where Splashaway Bay may be too intense. There’s water jets, a few water slides, a rope climb, and a crow’s nest to climb to. All of the kids had a blast here for another hour before we headed to Splashaway Bay.

Splashaway Bay is one of the neatest kids water parks that I’ve been to, it’s large enough to accommodate age groups up to teens, who would then be better served by Thrill Waterpark. One downside is the moment you set foot on the proper “park” portion, you’re going to get wet, as there are sprayers/misters everywhere. 

Our middle child doesn’t care for that, so she happily played in the perimeter sand while the oldest went up and down the adjacent water slides for another hour. Unfortunately, we were told adults can’t go down these slides, which was different than we were told last December (I definitely went down these slides!): 

After a bit more time at the slides, we went back to our chairs, then to Chill Grill for lunch. We brought out food back to the chairs and ate while the kids played in the sand, being careful to keep food covered so we don’t get a seagull bombing (which happened twice in 10 minutes!). 
It was difficult to get more photos from this point, as I didn’t want to carry my phone and get it wet. 
After lunch, we went back to the beach for a bit, then our youngest fell asleep at the chairs. I took the girls over to Oasis Lagoon and swam for a bit, before our middle child wanted to go back to the chairs and play more in the sand. After passing off to the Wife, the oldest and I played more in the pool, before wrapping up to head back. Curious about South Beach, we walked out the south end of Oasis Lagoon and took the tram road down to South Beach. This was my first time here, and I really liked it! It was more of a traditional beach, still having chairs but directly facing the ocean (no cove cut-out). The distance between the chairs and the water was much deeper too, giving more room for activities. South Beach is not very large, the entrance is right next to the overwater cabanas and goes for a little ways. It has its own Snack Shack for food. Due to its size, it’s very quiet and feels very secluded, you get no noise from Thrill Waterpark, Splashaway Bay, or any of the music/DJs of Oasis Lagoon. It feels like a different world. 
After touring South Beach, we grabbed the tram back to Chill Island to pick up the rest of the family, and head back to the ship at 2:30pm. It was much earlier than the all-aboard at 5:00pm, but the kids were fried, one was still napping, and we didn’t want to push prepping for dinner. 
Once the girls were ready for dinner, we saw that there was an open ice-skating session, so we decided to take it for a spin:

There’s a waiver you need to sign at the entrance of Studio B, and they add a sticker to your SeaPass card. Depending on how busy the ice skating is, you can pick from one of four 20-minute skating sessions to participate. Because it wasn’t busy, the staff gave us passes for the current session. Once your waiver is complete, you head down into the open end of the ice rink to show the attendant your sticker, then pick up your skates and helmet. We went around the rink with the girls twice (well, the girls hanging onto my arms or the wall because they can’t really skate yet 😄 ), and we wrapped up and headed back up to the stateroom to pick up the rest of the family. 
Tonight was dinner at Izumi Hibachi. It’s located on Deck 4 in the same location as Izumi Sushi. When you walk into Izumi, you turn left towards the Hibachi tables. There are three tables with 10 chairs each, and it’s not a large area at all: 

Overall, it was a good show, and the food was okay. The fried rice was (and always is) my favorite part. There’s no fire like a normal hibachi show, and the chefs all did the same tricks. Some of the other chefs were more improvisational and had more outgoing personalities. The kids loved it. 
After the kids went to bed, it was close to the first seating of Aqua80s. I didn’t have a reservation, but I figured I’d find standing room somewhere to watch the show. There was a line for “No Reservation Guests” that was only about 10 people deep, and the host said “You can stand upstairs at the rock wall, or in the splash zone”. I asked how “splash” the splash zone was, and the host laughed, then with a serious tone said “we give you towels for a reason”. I went up to the rock wall, and not being impressed with the distance to the stage, headed down to the splash zone. I found a seat in the third row on the far right side, imaging I’d be safe. 

I sat down just in time for “Power of Love” start and see the flying rig in action. After Marty left, the opening act began, and guys, when I say this soundtrack is 🔥, I’m not kidding. I would pay cash money for a copy of this soundtrack, the mashups are SO GOOD. The choreography is good, the lighting is top notch, but the star of this show is the soundtrack, my goodness. Here’s a few more show shots:

I have to insist anyone going on Oasis has got to see this show, it is a MUST DO!
After Aqua80s, I headed down to the Royal Theater for the Love and Marriage game show:

It was a great show, and the youngest couple won! The first time I had seen that happen, usually it’s the oldest couple that wins, but this young couple was on fire tonight. 
Tomorrow is Nassau. We have no plans to get off the ship, see you then!
 

On our cruise on Anthem last December, it took until Day 3 to get regular Cruise Compasses (I was able to get our attendant to gather a Day 1 and Day 2 copy for me to complete the set).
On our current cruise on Oasis, no amount of cajoling or reminding our attendant has produced consistent Cruise Compasses. We ask every day, and we've only been given Day 3 and Day 5 in our stateroom. I've seen them around in other guests hands so I know they exist. I've resorted to nicking them off the attendant's cart (sorry bro) or picking up folded-up leftovers. I could go to Guest Services but that would be a hike, plus however long standing in line. It's certainly made me use the app more, but for people like my wife, she'll just go without it and not really check the app, possibly missing out on something she'd might want to do. 

Thank you! I write these because I get so much info from the other live blogs, I feel the need to give back. 
 
In 2015, we had an Oceanview Balcony on Grandeur, and really loved it. With the family now, balcony staterooms are a "nice to have", and we'd rather save the money or put it towards a family-inclusive activity. That leads us to start at Interior rooms. 
This is the first time being on Oasis. Last cruise on Anthem we had two connecting Interior with Virtual Balcony rooms. We were also traveling with another adult in our party (so 3 adults, 3 kids across two connecting rooms). The connecting rooms made sense as it gave our other adult room for her clothes, her own bathroom, her own bed, etc. When we looked into this cruise, we initially booked two interior connecting rooms again (cheapest at this time was Interior Central Park View) , but a few months later realized our third adult wouldn't be joining us. I started considering other options, and saw 5+ rooms throughout the Oasis deck plans for non-suite staterooms. When I went to price out 5+ rooms, the 5+ Central Park Balcony staterooms were cheaper than 5+ Oceanview staterooms, so that's what led us to the room we have now.
So, about the 5+ room: There's the normal "big bed", the sofa bed that folds out, and there's also a bed that, when stowed, sits flush with the ceiling. When unlocked by the stateroom attendant, it unfolds to a vertical position, then the bed nested inside unfolds again to be parallel with the ceiling. It provides a great afternoon activity space if we're in the stateroom in the afternoon, or if the girls are up earlier than the boy and want to play together. There's a free-floating aluminum ladder with hooks at the top, you can attach it to the side of the bed nearer the "big bed", or on the side near the TV. It stows with the bed when not in use. 
We watched a few stateroom tours of a standard Oasis room, and gauged our storage. There was enough for the Wife and I in the wardrobe, but not much else for the kids. Anthem had these great over-bed cabinets that don't exist here. The past few family trips, we packed the kids clothes in gallon ziploc bags - Day 1 Morning, Day 1 Evening, Day 2 Morning, Day 2 Evening, plus jammies, bathing suits, and extra sets of clothes. So basically each kid had ~20 ziploc bags with clothes. Then we put all their ziploc bags in their respective suitcases (actually duffel bags that collapse). When we get on the ship, we open the suitcase, stand up the ziploc bags, and sort them based on when they need them, then slide them under the "big bed". When it's time to change, each kid knows where their suitcase is, pulls it out, pulls out their outfit, and pushes the suitcase back under the bed. 
We have a giant (it can fit multiple bodies) collapsable duffel bag that we unfold and use as a laundry bag. It's actually a stroller gate check bag for Southwest. The kids (and adults) put all dirty clothes in the duffel, and at the end of the cruise, we zip it up and take it home with us. We then take the kids empty duffel bags and stuff them into one of the parents suitcases, so we have less luggage to travel home with. We also brought, like 25 magnet hooks and a hanging shoe organizer, and we're using a LOT of wall space. There's never anything on the walkable floor in this room. 
I say all of that to say: There's enough space in this 5+ stateroom for 2 adults and 3 smaller kids. We could probably pull this off until the kids are 10, and then we'd need more space. We could stretch those ages a little later if we had a Jr Suite, as the extra square footage and storage space would go farther. If we had older kids, we'd need more room for larger clothes, more space for getting ready, more room for accessories/electronics, another shower for getting ready, etc. 
I hope I answered your question! If not, let me know and I'll try again 😄

We're in a Deck 12 CP balcony on Oasis right now, and there's a LOT of bleed from the pool deck into our room, especially when the band is playing. With CP on Deck 8 and the Interior CP View rooms on Deck 9, I'd recommend Deck 12 for a properly immersive experience.

@MattG i'm in awe of your storage/setup/packing situation.
i think you should write a book! or maybe start a youtube channel with all of this -- it's so impressive! you're definitely making me re-think the way we pack 😅 and also i am very grateful that we finally got magnet hooks this time around, although there will only be two in our cabin, which seems a bit overkill after re-reading how you all put it together. sounds like even your kids could give me some tips! i love the planning!!

Thanks for sharing your room experience!  I know what you mean...love the over the bed cupboards on Anthem.  Such a smart way for Royal to create additional storage space.
We booked connecting virtual interior rooms on Odyssey.  Look forward to trying those (even if not a real balcony).
Wow...and I thought I was organized.  Very impressed...amazing with the all the daily ziplock bags for your kids!  So smart too with the duffle bag for dirty laundry and then of course the magnets work well for additional items.
The bed setup looks good and can see how it would work for 3 kids and 2 adults.  We've stayed in a boardwalk balcony but with all our cancellations have yet to try the Central Park one.  They do seem nice too.  Have heard that warning too about deck 12.
Hope you're having a wonderful cruise!

Thank you! I write these because I get so much info from the other live blogs, I feel the need to give back. 
 
In 2015, we had an Oceanview Balcony on Grandeur, and really loved it. With the family now, balcony staterooms are a "nice to have", and we'd rather save the money or put it towards a family-inclusive activity. That leads us to start at Interior rooms. 
This is the first time being on Oasis. Last cruise on Anthem we had two connecting Interior with Virtual Balcony rooms. We were also traveling with another adult in our party (so 3 adults, 3 kids across two connecting rooms). The connecting rooms made sense as it gave our other adult room for her clothes, her own bathroom, her own bed, etc. When we looked into this cruise, we initially booked two interior connecting rooms again (cheapest at this time was Interior Central Park View) , but a few months later realized our third adult wouldn't be joining us. I started considering other options, and saw 5+ rooms throughout the Oasis deck plans for non-suite staterooms. When I went to price out 5+ rooms, the 5+ Central Park Balcony staterooms were cheaper than 5+ Oceanview staterooms, so that's what led us to the room we have now.
So, about the 5+ room: There's the normal "big bed", the sofa bed that folds out, and there's also a bed that, when stowed, sits flush with the ceiling. When unlocked by the stateroom attendant, it unfolds to a vertical position, then the bed nested inside unfolds again to be parallel with the ceiling. It provides a great afternoon activity space if we're in the stateroom in the afternoon, or if the girls are up earlier than the boy and want to play together. There's a free-floating aluminum ladder with hooks at the top, you can attach it to the side of the bed nearer the "big bed", or on the side near the TV. It stows with the bed when not in use. 
We watched a few stateroom tours of a standard Oasis room, and gauged our storage. There was enough for the Wife and I in the wardrobe, but not much else for the kids. Anthem had these great over-bed cabinets that don't exist here. The past few family trips, we packed the kids clothes in gallon ziploc bags - Day 1 Morning, Day 1 Evening, Day 2 Morning, Day 2 Evening, plus jammies, bathing suits, and extra sets of clothes. So basically each kid had ~20 ziploc bags with clothes. Then we put all their ziploc bags in their respective suitcases (actually duffel bags that collapse). When we get on the ship, we open the suitcase, stand up the ziploc bags, and sort them based on when they need them, then slide them under the "big bed". When it's time to change, each kid knows where their suitcase is, pulls it out, pulls out their outfit, and pushes the suitcase back under the bed. 
We have a giant (it can fit multiple bodies) collapsable duffel bag that we unfold and use as a laundry bag. It's actually a stroller gate check bag for Southwest. The kids (and adults) put all dirty clothes in the duffel, and at the end of the cruise, we zip it up and take it home with us. We then take the kids empty duffel bags and stuff them into one of the parents suitcases, so we have less luggage to travel home with. We also brought, like 25 magnet hooks and a hanging shoe organizer, and we're using a LOT of wall space. There's never anything on the walkable floor in this room. 
I say all of that to say: There's enough space in this 5+ stateroom for 2 adults and 3 smaller kids. We could probably pull this off until the kids are 10, and then we'd need more space. We could stretch those ages a little later if we had a Jr Suite, as the extra square footage and storage space would go farther. If we had older kids, we'd need more room for larger clothes, more space for getting ready, more room for accessories/electronics, another shower for getting ready, etc. 
I hope I answered your question! If not, let me know and I'll try again 😄

Thank you! I write these because I get so much info from the other live blogs, I feel the need to give back. 
 
In 2015, we had an Oceanview Balcony on Grandeur, and really loved it. With the family now, balcony staterooms are a "nice to have", and we'd rather save the money or put it towards a family-inclusive activity. That leads us to start at Interior rooms. 
This is the first time being on Oasis. Last cruise on Anthem we had two connecting Interior with Virtual Balcony rooms. We were also traveling with another adult in our party (so 3 adults, 3 kids across two connecting rooms). The connecting rooms made sense as it gave our other adult room for her clothes, her own bathroom, her own bed, etc. When we looked into this cruise, we initially booked two interior connecting rooms again (cheapest at this time was Interior Central Park View) , but a few months later realized our third adult wouldn't be joining us. I started considering other options, and saw 5+ rooms throughout the Oasis deck plans for non-suite staterooms. When I went to price out 5+ rooms, the 5+ Central Park Balcony staterooms were cheaper than 5+ Oceanview staterooms, so that's what led us to the room we have now.
So, about the 5+ room: There's the normal "big bed", the sofa bed that folds out, and there's also a bed that, when stowed, sits flush with the ceiling. When unlocked by the stateroom attendant, it unfolds to a vertical position, then the bed nested inside unfolds again to be parallel with the ceiling. It provides a great afternoon activity space if we're in the stateroom in the afternoon, or if the girls are up earlier than the boy and want to play together. There's a free-floating aluminum ladder with hooks at the top, you can attach it to the side of the bed nearer the "big bed", or on the side near the TV. It stows with the bed when not in use. 
We watched a few stateroom tours of a standard Oasis room, and gauged our storage. There was enough for the Wife and I in the wardrobe, but not much else for the kids. Anthem had these great over-bed cabinets that don't exist here. The past few family trips, we packed the kids clothes in gallon ziploc bags - Day 1 Morning, Day 1 Evening, Day 2 Morning, Day 2 Evening, plus jammies, bathing suits, and extra sets of clothes. So basically each kid had ~20 ziploc bags with clothes. Then we put all their ziploc bags in their respective suitcases (actually duffel bags that collapse). When we get on the ship, we open the suitcase, stand up the ziploc bags, and sort them based on when they need them, then slide them under the "big bed". When it's time to change, each kid knows where their suitcase is, pulls it out, pulls out their outfit, and pushes the suitcase back under the bed. 
We have a giant (it can fit multiple bodies) collapsable duffel bag that we unfold and use as a laundry bag. It's actually a stroller gate check bag for Southwest. The kids (and adults) put all dirty clothes in the duffel, and at the end of the cruise, we zip it up and take it home with us. We then take the kids empty duffel bags and stuff them into one of the parents suitcases, so we have less luggage to travel home with. We also brought, like 25 magnet hooks and a hanging shoe organizer, and we're using a LOT of wall space. There's never anything on the walkable floor in this room. 
I say all of that to say: There's enough space in this 5+ stateroom for 2 adults and 3 smaller kids. We could probably pull this off until the kids are 10, and then we'd need more space. We could stretch those ages a little later if we had a Jr Suite, as the extra square footage and storage space would go farther. If we had older kids, we'd need more room for larger clothes, more space for getting ready, more room for accessories/electronics, another shower for getting ready, etc. 
I hope I answered your question! If not, let me know and I'll try again 😄

Thank you! I write these because I get so much info from the other live blogs, I feel the need to give back. 
 
In 2015, we had an Oceanview Balcony on Grandeur, and really loved it. With the family now, balcony staterooms are a "nice to have", and we'd rather save the money or put it towards a family-inclusive activity. That leads us to start at Interior rooms. 
This is the first time being on Oasis. Last cruise on Anthem we had two connecting Interior with Virtual Balcony rooms. We were also traveling with another adult in our party (so 3 adults, 3 kids across two connecting rooms). The connecting rooms made sense as it gave our other adult room for her clothes, her own bathroom, her own bed, etc. When we looked into this cruise, we initially booked two interior connecting rooms again (cheapest at this time was Interior Central Park View) , but a few months later realized our third adult wouldn't be joining us. I started considering other options, and saw 5+ rooms throughout the Oasis deck plans for non-suite staterooms. When I went to price out 5+ rooms, the 5+ Central Park Balcony staterooms were cheaper than 5+ Oceanview staterooms, so that's what led us to the room we have now.
So, about the 5+ room: There's the normal "big bed", the sofa bed that folds out, and there's also a bed that, when stowed, sits flush with the ceiling. When unlocked by the stateroom attendant, it unfolds to a vertical position, then the bed nested inside unfolds again to be parallel with the ceiling. It provides a great afternoon activity space if we're in the stateroom in the afternoon, or if the girls are up earlier than the boy and want to play together. There's a free-floating aluminum ladder with hooks at the top, you can attach it to the side of the bed nearer the "big bed", or on the side near the TV. It stows with the bed when not in use. 
We watched a few stateroom tours of a standard Oasis room, and gauged our storage. There was enough for the Wife and I in the wardrobe, but not much else for the kids. Anthem had these great over-bed cabinets that don't exist here. The past few family trips, we packed the kids clothes in gallon ziploc bags - Day 1 Morning, Day 1 Evening, Day 2 Morning, Day 2 Evening, plus jammies, bathing suits, and extra sets of clothes. So basically each kid had ~20 ziploc bags with clothes. Then we put all their ziploc bags in their respective suitcases (actually duffel bags that collapse). When we get on the ship, we open the suitcase, stand up the ziploc bags, and sort them based on when they need them, then slide them under the "big bed". When it's time to change, each kid knows where their suitcase is, pulls it out, pulls out their outfit, and pushes the suitcase back under the bed. 
We have a giant (it can fit multiple bodies) collapsable duffel bag that we unfold and use as a laundry bag. It's actually a stroller gate check bag for Southwest. The kids (and adults) put all dirty clothes in the duffel, and at the end of the cruise, we zip it up and take it home with us. We then take the kids empty duffel bags and stuff them into one of the parents suitcases, so we have less luggage to travel home with. We also brought, like 25 magnet hooks and a hanging shoe organizer, and we're using a LOT of wall space. There's never anything on the walkable floor in this room. 
I say all of that to say: There's enough space in this 5+ stateroom for 2 adults and 3 smaller kids. We could probably pull this off until the kids are 10, and then we'd need more space. We could stretch those ages a little later if we had a Jr Suite, as the extra square footage and storage space would go farther. If we had older kids, we'd need more room for larger clothes, more space for getting ready, more room for accessories/electronics, another shower for getting ready, etc. 
I hope I answered your question! If not, let me know and I'll try again 😄

Thank you! I write these because I get so much info from the other live blogs, I feel the need to give back. 
 
In 2015, we had an Oceanview Balcony on Grandeur, and really loved it. With the family now, balcony staterooms are a "nice to have", and we'd rather save the money or put it towards a family-inclusive activity. That leads us to start at Interior rooms. 
This is the first time being on Oasis. Last cruise on Anthem we had two connecting Interior with Virtual Balcony rooms. We were also traveling with another adult in our party (so 3 adults, 3 kids across two connecting rooms). The connecting rooms made sense as it gave our other adult room for her clothes, her own bathroom, her own bed, etc. When we looked into this cruise, we initially booked two interior connecting rooms again (cheapest at this time was Interior Central Park View) , but a few months later realized our third adult wouldn't be joining us. I started considering other options, and saw 5+ rooms throughout the Oasis deck plans for non-suite staterooms. When I went to price out 5+ rooms, the 5+ Central Park Balcony staterooms were cheaper than 5+ Oceanview staterooms, so that's what led us to the room we have now.
So, about the 5+ room: There's the normal "big bed", the sofa bed that folds out, and there's also a bed that, when stowed, sits flush with the ceiling. When unlocked by the stateroom attendant, it unfolds to a vertical position, then the bed nested inside unfolds again to be parallel with the ceiling. It provides a great afternoon activity space if we're in the stateroom in the afternoon, or if the girls are up earlier than the boy and want to play together. There's a free-floating aluminum ladder with hooks at the top, you can attach it to the side of the bed nearer the "big bed", or on the side near the TV. It stows with the bed when not in use. 
We watched a few stateroom tours of a standard Oasis room, and gauged our storage. There was enough for the Wife and I in the wardrobe, but not much else for the kids. Anthem had these great over-bed cabinets that don't exist here. The past few family trips, we packed the kids clothes in gallon ziploc bags - Day 1 Morning, Day 1 Evening, Day 2 Morning, Day 2 Evening, plus jammies, bathing suits, and extra sets of clothes. So basically each kid had ~20 ziploc bags with clothes. Then we put all their ziploc bags in their respective suitcases (actually duffel bags that collapse). When we get on the ship, we open the suitcase, stand up the ziploc bags, and sort them based on when they need them, then slide them under the "big bed". When it's time to change, each kid knows where their suitcase is, pulls it out, pulls out their outfit, and pushes the suitcase back under the bed. 
We have a giant (it can fit multiple bodies) collapsable duffel bag that we unfold and use as a laundry bag. It's actually a stroller gate check bag for Southwest. The kids (and adults) put all dirty clothes in the duffel, and at the end of the cruise, we zip it up and take it home with us. We then take the kids empty duffel bags and stuff them into one of the parents suitcases, so we have less luggage to travel home with. We also brought, like 25 magnet hooks and a hanging shoe organizer, and we're using a LOT of wall space. There's never anything on the walkable floor in this room. 
I say all of that to say: There's enough space in this 5+ stateroom for 2 adults and 3 smaller kids. We could probably pull this off until the kids are 10, and then we'd need more space. We could stretch those ages a little later if we had a Jr Suite, as the extra square footage and storage space would go farther. If we had older kids, we'd need more room for larger clothes, more space for getting ready, more room for accessories/electronics, another shower for getting ready, etc. 
I hope I answered your question! If not, let me know and I'll try again 😄

Sorry for the lack of posts, I haven’t had a lot of time to sit down and write the narratives I like to write 😆
 
Rest assured, I’ve been taking notes so I can write them later, and taking more photos. 
 
I have lots to say on this 🙂  let me write some things up and get back to you. 

Day 4 - CocoCay
I'm fried from today, so today's update is coming tomorrow. Here are some photos to hold you over 🙂 
             

Thank you! My planning strategy is to have a few "anchor events" (meals, family activities), with pockets of time in between to fill in during the cruise of spontaneous activities. Unfortunately, a lot of the activities we wanted to are being completely ignored by us because some other circumstance takes over, like an unplanned nap, or a show being full, or AO missing a reservation, etc. 
We have to big challenges on this trip: The first is making sure everyone's having a good time - I think I'm starting to hit my own personal limit of how to make sure a 6 year old, 4.5 year old, and 3 year old are having fun doing the same thing. All three have different, unique personalities that need nurturing in different ways, so finding an activity that makes all three happy has been a challenge. The second one is that our 3 year old has developed a skin rash of some kind. It's very mild, nobody else is presenting symptoms, and his demeanor hasn't changed other than a tiny bit of lethargy. We're thinking it's an allergic reaction to something on the sheets, but he's become a bit of an unknown variable. 

Day 4 - CocoCay
I'm fried from today, so today's update is coming tomorrow. Here are some photos to hold you over 🙂 
             

Day 3 Evening
After Boat School and nap time, we get everyone dressed and head down to Park Cafe for a snack before dinner. The Wife is not quite back from her spa appointment, so myself and the three kiddos head down to Central Park to burn some time before dinner. We grab a kummelweck (duh), some kiwis, and some chips, and enjoy the scenery and some snacks. The Wife and our other family joined us at 5:00pm, and we enjoyed Central Park for a few minutes before heading into Giovanni's for our dinner.
Giovanni's was the place I was least interested in visiting on UDP, but ended up being our favorite so far, simply because the atmosphere and waitstaff were so cool. All of the uptightness I felt for the past few days melted away, and our servers just made everything easy. It could also be because the kids are finally adapting to cruise life, but this was the first meal that felt easy. I'm gaining confidence in asking the waitstaff to make modifications to the kids selections that are more appropriate for our particular kids, and the staff has been amazing at accommodation.
For dinner, I went with the mussels for an appetizer, and the bucatini alla bolognese as the main. Both were really good. Apologies for the lack of photos. For dessert, I went with the chocolate torta and the cannolis. The torta was an amazing combination of flavors (probably amplified by the several glasses of Chianti). I can't praise the waitstaff at Giovanni's enough - they handled our kids like pros. One of the chefs even came out and chatted with us for 10 minutes, really engaging us and the kids in conversation.
Pro tip to any RC staff: any amount of engagement with our kids makes us parents happy. The more you engage our kids, the more loyal we are to RC. This includes housekeeping staff, bar staff, wait staff, etc. Chat with our kids, make our kids laugh, and you've got us hooked.
After Giovanni's, the wife and her BFF headed out for a "night on the town", and us dads hung back with the kids. We headed to the Boardwalk and hit up the carousel for a few rides, before calling it a night and heading back to bed.
Sorry i haven't taken more photos today, I will try harder over the next few days.
 
Random Thoughts:
Day 2 felt really stressful as everyone adapted to cruise life for the week. Personally, i'm an over-planner: A project manager at heart, I have to make sure everyone is happy. The first 36 hours on the ship was all I had to go on, and it was a bit rough. However, going into Day 3 evening, everything started to relax and it felt like we finally "took a breath". The kids are finally starting to adapt to ship life. The late night live instrumental music in Central Park is just wonderful. Central Park really reminds me of The Via on Anthem of the Seas - a quiet, serene place to relax. I think I prefer Anthem because its indoors, but Central Park is so well curated and designed, it has to be acknowledged how perfect of a space it is. I'm glad they're doing something similar on Icon of the Seas I've only now just noticed there's no giant TV/big screen near the pool deck on Oasis. On @Matt's Wonder of the Seas walkthrough, I recall there being a TV overhanging Central Park that's visible from Central Park as well as the aft part of the pool deck, but nothing like that exists for Oasis. I wonder why, it's such a typical staple of RC ships! The number of Genie sightings is high! Thanks to all you wonderful Star Class cruisers, the Genie wardrobe is so easy to pick out, and i'm pretty sure i've spotted three of the four Genies on Oasis. Two of them were facilitating their guests dining experience at Giovanni's. While waiting for their guests, I mentioned how awesome they are at their job (from what i've heard from other cruisers here), and we chatted for a bit about their love of the job. I didn't get any names, but rest assured, if you're cruising Star Class on Oasis any time soon, you're in good hands. Late-night Sorrento's pizza can't be beat.  We just left cellular range of Port Canaveral, and Wifi is misbehaving, so no photos in this post. Sorry!
 

Day 3 Morning
Everyone slept in a little later today, and got up around 6:30am. Dressed and out the door, we headed back to the Windjammer as it was the only real place open (Solarium Bistro is 9am, MDR is 8am, Johnny Rockets is 8am). There's always Park Cafe, but the consistency of Windjammer is what's getting the kids to eat. We got some food in them, and headed back down to mini golf to burn some time before 9am drop-off at AO. Our youngest is in AO Babies (the nursery), and they only let in one family at a time. Unfortunately this creates a bottleneck of parents trying to drop off toddlers. One of the families was in for over 20 minutes, and really ate into our reservation time. It would have been nice to have a second person checking in families right at opening time. 
This morning, I vowed to do all of the adult stuff I can't do with kids attached. Bathing suit donned, I headed to Deck 15 Aft.
Ultimate Abyss: Super cool, a little slow, but I realized I have to lay waaaaaay back and pull waaaaay up on the front strap to gain speed. Gonna try that one again.  Racing Slide (Orange): I swear I launched myself down this slide, only to end up going sooo slow. I was wearing a rash guard, not thinking it would be causing more friction. Maybe try that again another time.  Supercell (The toilet bowl): What a drop at the top! Tore up my back a little bit, but spun around the bowl twice before dropping in to the landing zone. Definitely another try! Racing Slide (Pink): I ditched the rash guard for this one, launched myself down the slide, and FLEW through. Definitely ditching the rash guard going forward! Flowrider (boogie board side): I have never done this, but I have boogie boarded in the ocean. The concepts are the same, but staying centered all around is harder than it looks. I kept racing forward, then sliding back to the top of the ramp, then racing forward again. I ended up digging in my feet to control my forward/back movement. Wiped out a few times, but felt like I had better idea for the next time.  The line for the water slides takes you to one of the highest points on the ship, where this morning we were coming up on the Space Coast. The VAB was immediately visible, as well as SpaceX's SLC-40 (which I mistook for LC39-A at first). As we got closer to port and I got re-oriented, I found ULA's SLC-41, re-found SLC-40, and in the distance found SLC-39A and SpaceX's new launch tower. Pretty cool for a space nerd. As we also got into port, 
With all of those items checked off, I headed back to AO for pickup. After pickup, we headed to El Loco Fresh and Portside BBQ for lunch. Half of us went to each, and met up at the tables behind facing Oasis Dunes. It was at this time that there was a ship wide announcement that, due to a water pipe burst, there was no running water throughout the ship. 
Oops. 
We got our food, and I have to say that Portside compares favorably to Mission BBQ for those on the eastern side of the US. Good tenderness on the brisket, the chicken is moist, and the sides are all good. The burnt ends are fantastic. 
The kids are still adapting and getting punchy, and some of the grownups have spa appointments, so we divide and conquer. Our middle child is super sleepy, so we take her and our other family's youngest back to nap, while the other three go to Splashaway Bay. Word on the street is they had a BLAST! Mid-afternoon, we do a shuffle for spa appointments, and I take two to do some quiet tablet time while the oldest do some boat school. Tonight is Giovanni's Table for dinner. 
Random Thoughts:
No sign of Starlink antennas anywhere on the top of the ship. I've walked the length twice, and can't find anything looking like a Starlink antenna as shown on the other ships.  No idea on headcount yet, but it's gotta be close to max capacity.  AO Babies (the nursery) is fully booked on Day 6 and Day 7, so we've got the littles all day. The nursery said we can check-in a little after opening, and if there are no-shows, we can drop them off. Unfortunately we had the Escape Room booked for Day 6 morning, so we're going to play that one by ear.  I'm a bit disappointed at some capacity caps. Specialty restaurants are understandable, but when it comes to entertainment, I feel like there should never be a circumstance that all of the shows are fully booked. We've been struggling since Day 1 to get Frozen in Time and Aqua80s booked, and the app just kicks us out of the reso process saying there's a problem. When I call the Reservation Help Desk, they tell us "Oh, those shows are full." Or "The only one with space left is the last day at 10:30pm". I'm bummed that the kids won't be able to experience both of these shows. I'm not sure how to resolve this, other than opening reservations the morning of?  Starting to feel the fatigue of being on the Oasis class, and completely understand the draw of the smaller ships. Everything here is a hike. On the other hand, I'm also very grateful at the opportunities I have here that don't exist on Vision/Radiance-class.  Trying to remember to take photos. I love the liveblogs chock-full of photos, and I have a bunch, but most are family photos I'm not comfortable putting online, and I don't want to duplicate photos that are already out there. Any requests? In the meantime, here are more food photos 😄

I have to get better about taking notes in the moment...
Day 2 Evening
It's taken me a while, but I'm finally realizing that while kids are pretty adaptable, tossing them into a new environment really throws them off. Everyone's bit groggy, over-stimulated, being pulled in different directions. Putting myself in their shoes, I can imagine it's hard to adapt when you're still learning the concepts of planning, strategy, where are we going to eat next, etc. The parents always figure that stuff out, but it may not be what you (as a kid) want. Our youngest (M3) came out of Adventure Ocean in a great mood, but by the time we got to lunch, he was really cranky. We first chalked it up to tiredness, but his crankiness read a little differently. We decided to bring him back to the room to nap while the older two did "boat school" (some school lessons while on vacation). I stayed back and monitored nap time while writing yesterday's Day 2 Morning post. He slept most of the afternoon, and the girls came back from the pool to change for dinner right around the time he woke up. 
We all changed for dinner, and went to 150 Central Park. What a classy place 🙂 They had our table for 9 ready, a 5-top and a 4-top, but similar to Chops, we put all the kids on the bench and wrapped four chairs around the other side and turned the 5-top into a 9-top. The servers adapted perfectly, and were fantastic. I ordered the garden martini, and it was sooo good. Super smooth, no taste of alcohol (but it was there!). All of the food was great - the wife got the scallops and the Tenderloin for one, I got the pork belly and the lobster Thermidor. The pork belly was a little tough, but had a great flavor. The scallops were smoky and wonderful. I'm a sucker for lobster, and the lobster Thermidor was a great hit. Then came dessert. 
You guys, the fried cheesecake is everything. All the reviews are true. It's unreal how good this dessert is. It's the fried sweetness of funnel cake, with the creaminess of cheesecake. I'm 100% going back again sometime this cruise to get it again, somehow. The caramel popcorn on top is a great garnish.
After wrapping up at 150CP, we headed over to the carousel to give the kids a few rides before heading off to bed. 
 
Insert record scratch here
 
 
We're coming to realize that, while dinner with our three kids is one thing, dinner with five kids (our three, plus two from the other family cruising with us) is a whole other beast. So many more dynamics to wrangle, while trying to teach good manners in a "fancy restaurant" and not bum-rush the cocktail cart. The youngest was also in rare form at dinner, both refusing to eat and saying he was hungry. I wrangled him and took him down to Cafe Promenade where we got him two apples, and he completely changed and turned back into a happy, bouncing boy. Kids are weird. Add to this that we've eaten at four different restaurants in two days (Playmakers, Chops, Izumi, and now 150CP), we're desperately missing the consistency of MDR. We LOVE the specialty restaurants, and want our kids to have these experiences too. We did MDR last cruise, and know the menus, know the food, and wanted to branch out and try ALL the specialty dining on Oasis, but the lack of routine is taking its toll on the kids. When we were on Anthem, it was a Windjammer lunch and MDR dinner every night and the kids thrived at that routine, and so did the MDR staff, getting to know our family and our needs.
After some discussion and sleeping on it, we may see if we can shimmy our way into a 5:30pm MDR seating for dinner starting Day 4. We want the kids to have a great time too, and if they're fried from the lack of routine, it kinda makes us all miserable. Happy kids, happy parents, happy vacation.
 
  
 
 
 

Izumi Lunch: Sashimi x2 and the poke bowl. 

Day 2 Morning
Rough night for the youngest, plus still getting my sea legs meant a rough night all around. Our middle child woke up around 5:30am, and the oldest around 5:45am. I got them to play quietly while I took a shower and got dressed, then got them dressed and left at 7:00am to go get a coffee for the Wife. Heading down to the Promenade for Starbucks, and it was EMPTY. I was surprised at how energetic the ship was yesterday, that the Promenade was so dead. No line at Starbucks, so we bring coffee back to the Wife, and then take the girls to the Windjammer.
We got to the Windjammer by 7:15am, and only one half was open. The second side opened by 7:50am, and most of the seating was taken by 8:00am. This Windjammer definitely feels smaller than Anthem - less seating, fewer service stations, and the stations themselves are smaller. I understand the intention of this, but still feels baffling (and glad they did an about-face on Wonder).
We wrapped up breakfast around 8:00am, and headed down to Oasis Dunes to burn off some time until Adventure Ocean. Drop-off at Adventure Ocean was painless for the two oldest, and the youngest took a little bit longer because he’s still a Nursery kid. Once everyone was dropped off, the Wife and I headed up to the fitness center to prep for this week’s reckless abandon with UDP. After the gym, we headed to the hot tub for a bit, then back to the room to shower and change for AO pickup and lunch at Izumi Sushi.
AO Pickup went smooth, and we headed down to Izumi. Table for 9, we shared with the other family in our party. Food was ordered within 10 minutes of arrival, and mains showed up 30 minutes after arrival. Great service, great timing. Kids were coursed with adults, but it wasn’t as noticeable because of the quick service. I got the vegetable fried rice, and the wife got the spicy shrimp spring rolls, enjoyed by all. For the mains, I got the sashimi and the poke bowl, and the wife got the champagne lobster rolll, also enjoyed by everyone.
Okay, everyone who says UDP is a lot of food: they’re not lying. The fried rice is a small bowl, but very filling. Both mains are a hearty size, and combining both is a crazy amount of food. Unfortunately I didn’t finish it all, because I’m not a masochist 😄 We closed with the strawberry mochi, and all the kids loved them. I have some photos on my phone, the wife has the food photos. Those are coming later.
We came back to the room to change to bathing suits and do a little bit of “boat school” to keep the kids sharp. The wife headed off to the spa/salon to get her hair done (formal night tonight), and we have 150CP tonight. Talk to you all soon!
Random thoughts:
Definite sound spillover from the pool deck to the CP balcony rooms. Everything here seems about 5% “off” - service isn’t as crisp, soap dispensers are empty, one of the interactive screens outside AO isn’t working. Coming from the impeccability of Anthem, Oasis feels a little more mainstream. The carousel on the Boardwalk remains the favorite of all the kids. Cruise Compasses are still MIA for us. I’ve seen B&W copies at some stands (like Starbucks or behind a bar), and I saw a live copy in the hand of another guest, but every request we make falls on deaf ears. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it feels they’re definitely pushing away from them. This ship is big. Lots of walking everywhere. It’s exhausting 😄  D