bcarney

I sailed Adventure four times, so I have a preference for that particular ship.  I prefer it's itineraries (well, Caribbean itineraries, as I haven't sailed elsewhere).

I take full credit for this.  After noticing the balance of my SeaPass card after my April Oasis cruise, Chairman Fain had full confidence he could afford another of the big ships.

I take full credit for this.  After noticing the balance of my SeaPass card after my April Oasis cruise, Chairman Fain had full confidence he could afford another of the big ships.

I take full credit for this.  After noticing the balance of my SeaPass card after my April Oasis cruise, Chairman Fain had full confidence he could afford another of the big ships.

I pulled the trigger ... One ocean view cabin in April, for four people, on Jewel was $X.  With this sale, two connecting ocean view cabins (two in each room) were just $30 more!  That was a no-brainer - booked!!!!!  Thanks for your help Michelle!!!

I pulled the trigger ... One ocean view cabin in April, for four people, on Jewel was $X.  With this sale, two connecting ocean view cabins (two in each room) were just $30 more!  That was a no-brainer - booked!!!!!  Thanks for your help Michelle!!!

I pulled the trigger ... One ocean view cabin in April, for four people, on Jewel was $X.  With this sale, two connecting ocean view cabins (two in each room) were just $30 more!  That was a no-brainer - booked!!!!!  Thanks for your help Michelle!!!

I received a big wad of them (6 or 8) on my Apr 5-12, 2014 Oasis cruise...

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…

I've not been on any Freedom class ships yet.  Up until this cruise the largest ship we've been on was Adventure, and we loved it so much we took it four times.  :)  My chiropractor is a cruise fanatic as well, and he's been on both Adventure and Freedom; he said that Freedom is just like Adventure, only larger, unlike Oasis which is a complete rethink of the ship layout.
 
If it sounded like I didn't like Oasis I apologize; that's not the case. It's more the "whole cruise experience" board the ship that I was slightly disappointed with.  
 
I'll keep the tip about Indian food in mind for my next cruise - I found that even the buffet style food in the Windjammer is superior to what I can find locally.  I chalk it up to so many of the chefs being from the subcontinent.  

Summary:

 

While we loved the ship, we discovered that the reason we cruise is to visit the Caribbean islands, not to stay shipboard.  With only three stops, one being a pointless stop in Nassau, we really didn't get to "experience" the Caribbean in the way we are accustomed to.  It kind of felt like we were staying in a big American resort, or mall, or something. We didn't feel like we actually "went" anywhere.

 

Don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant cruise (in my book a "bad" cruise is one that sinks. beyond that they're good).  And the ship did "wow" us, but the ship is not the only reason we cruise we discovered.

 

We'll be cruising again, already talking to my buddy about one next spring (Jewel out of San Juan), but probably not on Oasis class ships anymore (unless I can score a back-to-back, that might make it more interesting).

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

One thing I forgot - I really, and I mean really - enjoyed the artwork on Oasis.  There was a wide variety of disciplines to look at, from paintings to ceramics to cool stereoscopic photographic images from the 1950s.  And there were a number of displays of natural wonders, like samples of various types of minerals that were encased in these neat telescope shaped brass tubes.  I wish I would have taken more photographs of the art onboard.
 
 

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.

 

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. 

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.

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.

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!  

My next cruise is in October on Allure of the Seas. I'm traveling with a bunch of friends from an online forum. This is the second official group cruise from our forum. We've been planning this cruise since April last year (when it was 17 months out).

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.
 

When isn't that the case with everything on CC? :P

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

I'm in the process of going through my online check-in for my April 5 cruise. When I got to the form where I had to select my date of birth, the oldest year that was possible to select was 1900.  Why is Royal Caribbean discriminating against 114 year olds?  I certainly plan on cruising when I'm that age.  Looks like I'll have to find another cruise line when I'm a centenerarian-plus.  Holland America (aka "God's waiting room") perhaps?
 
:)
 

I'm in the process of going through my online check-in for my April 5 cruise. When I got to the form where I had to select my date of birth, the oldest year that was possible to select was 1900.  Why is Royal Caribbean discriminating against 114 year olds?  I certainly plan on cruising when I'm that age.  Looks like I'll have to find another cruise line when I'm a centenerarian-plus.  Holland America (aka "God's waiting room") perhaps?
 
:)
 

I'm in the process of going through my online check-in for my April 5 cruise. When I got to the form where I had to select my date of birth, the oldest year that was possible to select was 1900.  Why is Royal Caribbean discriminating against 114 year olds?  I certainly plan on cruising when I'm that age.  Looks like I'll have to find another cruise line when I'm a centenerarian-plus.  Holland America (aka "God's waiting room") perhaps?
 
:)