bcarney

Day 5: St. Maarten Booked RandomWind.com sailing for at the day. Fantastic! Highlight of the cruise. WIsh I would have brought a better sunscreen, or perhaps tinfoil… got quite burned. Hate the music in the Windjammer. I grew up with these '80s tunes, I don't need to hear them here in paradise, I'd rather hear some Caribbean music. Heck, my son now is reciting the lyrics to old REO Speedwagon tunes…

Day 4: St. Thomas Okay, done with the staff pushing the staged souvenir photos. Three of them at this stop alone before I was able to get off the pier. With digital cameras no a days who buys all these photos? Took a ferry excursion to St. Johns since we've been to St. Thomas so many times in the past. Captain announced all sorts of lurid details about famous people that lived on the island, kind of got annoying when it went into pedophilia. Trip over took about an hour and a half. Dropped off on St. John's and was told to be back by 4:30pm. Had lunch at Driftwood David's, first time I ever had the opportunity to spend $71 for burgers… dang this place expensive. Went to Caneel Bay for about an hour; $20 taxi ride each way. Dang this place expensive… Nice beach, but dang… Went back to the pier and had a mango flavored beer from some shop. It was actually pretty nice. Got back on the ferry and when it was about 20 feet out two people came running out yelling "stop"; they were passengers about to be left behind. Apparently they didn't do a headcount before leaving. This event actually made me quite paranoid about "time" on this cruise especially after our flight down. Less windy on the way back to the cruise port so we made it back in about 40 minutes. Don't bother to book any excursions to St. John's, the trip takes too long and you don't get to spend enough time on the island.

Day 3: Sea They tell me we had a head waiter. He stopped by once today for 15 seconds. The only time we saw him on this cruise. On past cruises the MDR had Indian-based vegetarian offerings at dinner time. Not so on this cruise. Kind of disappointing, but made up by some excellent curries and such in the Windjammer at lunchtime. Unfortunately didn't discover this until Day 6.

Day 2: Nassau Breakfast at the Windjammer. Not crowded at all, like I expected it to be. This proved to be the case throughout the cruise. Royal Caribbean has this experience down pat on this ship. My only issue was food was never really hot, and this was the case throughout the cruise for breakfast. Same with the elevators. Busy, but never so crowded that you had to wait for several to come by to find a spot, like on other ships. Really impressed with people and space management on the ship, other than the pool area I never felt crowded. Nassau: What a dump. Really disappointed with this island, we are only here from 7 AM until 2 PM so a trip to Atlantis was out of the question due to cost versus number of hours on-site. Wound up just walking around while the kids stayed in Adventure Ocean. Other bulletin boards expressed a concern about crime in Nassau, while we were walking around I didn't notice any place I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable being in. Wife and I went to Effy Jewelers to pay my "Cruise tax". Each cruise I buy her a piece of jewelry. This time Tesh persuaded me into three pieces; I'm glad he got the promotion to work here but I'll miss him at St. Maarten stop. Walked the half mile or so to Junkanoo Beach; we intended to go to the fish fry but it was simply too far away. Had a drink at a blue and yellow rum shack run by Marshall; finally started feeling like I was on vacation. I think this was the night we saw a performance at the Aqua Theater. It was fantastic! I highly recommend it - this coming from a person that doesn't particularly like theater from having worked in it backstage years ago. As Diamond members I went to the club for a drink that evening. They've made a change where you no longer get coupons, the discounts are supposedly added to your card so you can drink at any venue on ship. There is a list of "acceptable" drinks that you can choose from, and if you pick a premium drink you are to get a discount on it. The problem here is that it is completely arbitrary on the bar staff's part. I ordered a nine dollar beer at the Globe and Atlas a few times (Sam Adams Double Bock, very good!); One time I got it free, one time they told me I had a full price for it since it wasn't on "the list", and the third time the bartender didn't even give me a receipt so I could tip him. At the Rising Tide bar when I ordered something that wasn't on "the list" I was told I couldn't have it and he shoved "the list" into my hands. Awkward at best and frustrating as well. First formal night at dinner. Tuxedo didn't show up, had to go to customer service to cancel it. Made dressing for dinner difficult as I planned on wearing a tuxedo a couple of nights. Ship sails as smooth as silk, the only time I felt any motion was at the front of the ship when I dropped off the kids to Adventure Ocean. My wife brought a magnetic clip which we put on the wall to hold the day's Compass. Brilliant idea.

Day 1: Had breakfast at the hotel. The buffet was $22 per person. Holy smokes. I'll pack some granola bars next time. I didn't know Royal Caribbean offers transfers from local hotels to the ship. I'll be taking advantage of that next time rather than taking a bus or a taxi - someone made the good point that the taxis are all at the port, not waiting at hotels, since there's ten thousand people there needing transportation... Embarkation was a piece of cake because of our new Diamond status. I thought it might be very crowded and confusing, but it was very organized. We left the hotel at about 10:30 AM and was shipboard by 11:30. Due to some sort of issue with the camera at the place we started at, there were no photos on our SeaPass card, which was pointed out to us almost every time we used it. First impression upon entering the ship: wow! This place is big! Announcement that rooms were ready right before 1 PM so we went to check out our cabin, 7666. Our luggage arrived by 1:10 PM - fastest luggage delivery ever in our experience. The cabin location was great - right in the middle of everything. The only issue is that it didn't cross the Promenade area and I kept coming up on the wrong side of the ship. I had to go up or down one floor to get back to the cabin. Roast beef sandwich lunch at Park Café, very tasty. Went up to the pool area so the kids could swim. I didn't swim this time, I wish I had because the pool area was so packed on later days that I didn't bother even getting my swimsuit on. Met "Big D.", our cabin steward. Nice guy. Tipped him a few bucks and asked to have to ice buckets filled at all times in the room. This provided me some very cold water, and I used it as a treat for the kids - if they did something nice I let them pick out an ice cube and suck on it. Helped with hydration in hindsight. Cabin was nice but discovered after we sailed that when the sofa is pulled out into a bed you can't get out to the balcony without crawling over the bed, which made enjoying evenings out there impossible without disturbing the kids. By the end of the cruise I decided we won't be paying for a balcony anymore since we simply don't spend enough time out there to warrant the additional cost. Also will look for Pullman beds or something else next time for the kids. Went to the "secret" sail away area that Tylor mentioned, the Sun Deck on Deck 14, had to use the emergency button to open the door but managed to make our way out there. Very breezy. Went down and was measured for a tuxedo for formal nights. Went to the dining room and had our first dinner there. Edderick was the waiter, and Crispin the assistant waiter. I think they pulled pseudonyms from a Shakespearean play. Howard Wigan was bar service, and by the end of the cruise we knew each other very well. Noted that he will be going to Quantum when it sails.

Below are my notes about our April 5-12 Oasis of the Seas cruise. Not a full review, just some observations. And I'm using some voice to text transcription software so forgive any grammatical errors. Background: this is our 11th cruise, third with children, aged 7 and 5. This was our first cruise as Diamond members so also forgive me for saying "as a Diamond member…" as many times as I can possibly fit into this post. :) T Minus 2 Thursday, April 4, 2014 Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Romulus, overnight and had a park and ride for $155. Late in bringing us to the airport the next day; always pick the one that is 1/2 hour earlier. Ate at Leonardo's, supposedly the "best pizza in the metro area". Not. T minus 1 Probably the worst travel ever. Late getting to the airport due to the shuttle's tardiness. Long lines. Did get through the TSA checkpoint faster by being a family due to the kids. Boarded plane…and was told delayed flight due to fog in Chicago. Left 2 hours late, missed connecting flight (despite staff telling us no planes were flying out of Chicago), and had to spend 12 full hours waiting at Midway airport due to being bumped from overbooked flights. Finally ticketed for a 4:30 flight, which didn't arrive until 5:45. Got to Ft. Lauderdale after 10pm. So much for my extra day in paradise. Never again will I fly Southwest. Ever. Spent $100 in crappy food for the four of us while stuck at the airport, wiping out all savings made by not flying a proper airline. Decided I will be using Choice Air from now on. So glad we flew down a day early, otherwise we would have missed the cruise. (oh, and it gets better, wait until the flight home…) Got to the hotel after 17 hours of travel that should have been 3.5. Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Marina, looks nice, room has a nice modern Oriental vibe to it. Very pricey though, a tad over $300. Wish I could have enjoyed it more, along with the pool area. Took care of some work tasks and went to sleep.

Ambulances? Holy smokes! On our 10+ day cruises we definitely noticed it age difference, skewing towards the older set. I chalked it up to kids and schooling, etc. A while back I watched an English TV program called "The Cruise: A LIfe At Sea" where they followed several people on a round the world cruise. I can't imagine 100+ days at sea. Where would I store all my new T-shirts from each port?!? :) nearly all the cruisers were 60+ including some folks that probably shouldn't have gone on a cruise.

We start with excursions through the ship, and then if nothing appeals to us we start looking at non-ship excursions. Thus far we have found any "duds" other than one on our first cruise in Martinique (on Carnival). I'm convinced Martinique is French for "don't come here". That said, there's a murder/mystery TV show on the BBC called "Death in Paradise" which is filmed in Martinique, and if I have the chance to go there again I would stop at the sites the program was filmed at.

(green with envy!) Someday I want to do a southeastern Asian cruise, as I fear it's the only way I'll be able to get my wife to go there….

My wife and I canceled reservations for specialty restaurants on next weeks cruise after the Quantum announcement of the elimination of the MDR. We figure it's a last hurrah for us of this grand old tradition, and will definitely be spending our meals in the MDR. I watched the Google+ hangout video, and it's clear that they thought this change out well; I get it, I understand where they're coming from, but for this one last cruise we will do the old-fashioned way for old times sake.

On our first RC cruise I thought about tipping my head waiter, but I had no idea who he was so I was unable to…couldn't have picked him up out of a lineup. After that, none of the other cruises had head waiters that I would consider extraordinary until our Nov 2011 Enchantment cruise. Our head waiter there rocked - expediting, picking up the slack when necessary, serving when the meals were hot, interacting frequently with all his tables, etc. We wound up giving him one of those "Wow" cards along with a big tip. It's funny how there's always a staffer or two on each cruise that winds up being a favorited person from that trip, a real memory maker.

I think when I retire I'm moving to Florida and will have a bag packed at all times ready to take advantage of last minute deals. My Oasis cruise next week had balcony cabins listed this morning at just $899. That's a helluva lot less than what I paid... A suite opened up last week at $5600 - per person according to the CruisePuppy app. That's a helluva lot more than what I paid...

Gosh, that photo looks like it's of the model of the ship instead of the real thing due to the lighting, etc.

It's obvious… they want a "hot spare" to replace any ships with mechanical problems. :)

We've been on St. Thomas 7 or 8 times so we've (me, wife, 7 and 5 year old kids) are taking the "Destination St. John: Coastal Cruise of National Park Beaches" excursion while in port since we've never been to St. John's. The ferry takes us over to St. John, gives us a 'coastal tour' of the beaches, and then drops us off in town for a few hours on our own before returning to the ship. Are there any "must do" type activities while on St. John for a family of four?

Exactly one week from … exactly right now, I'll be wandering up to deck 14 forward, left side door (thanks Tylor!) to scope out a good location for sail-away on Oasis!

For follow up - my wife and I decided to cancel the excursion. $228 for the four of us was just too much for a couple hours of beach time & a burger. They'll probably stay on board while I wander the port area exploring a bit (and trying to avoid being mugged).

Checking out pricing on the Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise, and looked at an outside room. I'm curious why RCCL's ad department selected a Kardashian-channelling midget that has the ability to levitate two inches above the bed… That's just weird looking.

Most people didn't wake up one morning and exclaim "hey, I want to take a cruise!". How did you first become interested in taking a cruise? My then fiancee and I were doing wedding planning and I was thinking of a week in Tahiti for a honeymoon. But damn.. that was expensive...did I want to go into that much debt for a honeymoon? Memorable, yes, each time the credit card bill would come it would be a reminder... A local franchisee of a major cruise chain would scour the local paper's wedding license announcements and sent people a brochure about cruising. She sent us a copy, and since she was just a few blocks from my place we made an appointment and met with her. She talked about cruising and we priced out a few cruises and decided to book one right then and there. It was 1/3rd the cost of the Tahiti trip (which appealed to me, being as frugal as I am), and actually sounded more interesting than going to a single resort in Tahiti. What really hooked me was a photo that showed the size of of some Princess ship behind the US Capitol Building - and the ship was larger! (this was 1999, well before the Oasis class ships!). We took the cruise (Carnival Fascination)...and I was hooked. I think the pivotal moment was our last port day, when on an excursion on a Tiami catamaran cruise in Barbados a very drunk man from Arkansas came up to me and said "you're newlyweds? Well, let me give you some advice, because I've been married FIVE times...." We came back from the honeymoon, and my mind immediately went to trying to figure out how to take another cruise... and here I am, 13 years later and just a few days from our 11th cruise. And apparently my love of cruising has rubbed off on my siblings. We came from very humble beginnings (where a vacation out of state might as well have been a trip to the moon), and we are all now avid cruisers.

I'm a malt man myself; give me a chocolate malt and I'm there.

I've only eaten there onboard once; I didn't find it particularly memorable so I guess my reaction is one of vast indifference. :)

Being from Michigan our water is currently in a solid state, so 75+ is acceptable. Thanks for the intel.

I'll keep an eye out for that shirt and say hello! -Fellow April 5 Oasis cruiser

I just reserved a beach excursion "Blue Lagoon Island Deluxe Beach Break" for our April 5 Oasis cruise. I was wondering if anyone has been there that time of year - is the ocean water warm enough to swim in? Atlantis is out of our price range, so it's this or wander around Nassau… any thoughts for a couple with a 7 and 5 year old?

The drinks packages don't cover cocktails over $10, or wine over $12 unfortunately. http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-beverage-packages