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Oasis 9/26/2021 - 2 BR Aqua theater


Jkaczano

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Hi Everyone!  This is my first time doing anything like this, so I apologize in advance if it stinks  

We - me, DH, and our 2 sons (J 15 and M 13) - were originally planning on going to Disney the last week in August.  But with the spiraling case counts we have been getting nervous.  After much debate, we decided last night that we would cancel Disney (for the 3rd time due to COVID) and I started playing around on Royal’s website.  I found a 2 bedroom aquatheater suite for a good price and called to book it immediately.  The boys got over the Disney disappointment pretty fast when we told them about the cruise.

Joining us on this cruise will be my mom, Mary.  We’ll be leaving our house in New Hampshire on Saturday the 25th and spending the night at her house in Connecticut.  Google maps says it’s only about a 2 - 2.5 hour drive from there, so I think we’ll be fine driving down Sunday morning.  5 people and luggage in my Traverse may be a little squishy.  

This is our first cruise on RC.  We’ve cruised on Disney several times, but the last 2 trips have been “disappointing”.  We’re all looking forward to trying something new.  So far we’ve booked tickets to Thrill water park and a chill island beach bed.  I’d love to book a cabana as DH and mom aren’t water park people, but thrill water park, cocoa beach club, and chill island are already sold out.  The floating cabanas are $1700! and Oasis Lagoon seems like a crowded location.  Breezy Bay and South Beach aren’t listed. 
 

I look forward to bringing you all along and appreciate any advice you have. 

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You will love the 2 BR ATS.  It is such a fun suite.  You will have views of the Aqua Theater as well as the ocean.  The 2 BR ATS was our first (and second) Star Class experience.

There is something for everyone on the Oasis class ships.  The teens will be endlessly entertained.

The master BR is very spacious. The second BR, not so much.  It's basically an inside room with lots of beds.  My guess is that you will give your mom the second BR and let the boys sleep out in the living room.  ...but that will still give everyone LOTS of room.

The deck 8 ATS's are enormous and they get smaller the higher up you go.  ...but even decks 9 and 10 have lots of room.

As @cruisellamasaid, you are definitely starting off right.  The Oasis is still the only O class ship that has been amplified so it has all the bells and whistles (water slides, resort pool deck, etc.).  It's such a beautiful ship.

Hmmm...water park and Chill Island beach bed.  Not too sure that's going to be all that convenient unless your chill island and water park folks are going to remain separated most of the day.  Not saying that you CAN'T move between the 2 but they are not particularly close to each other.

Let me see if I can offer you a little help.  NOT saying that this will work, but lately I have been getting LOTS of emails from Private Journeys (a service of Royal) for my upcoming Star Class bookings.  They MAY (or may not !!) be able to help you get a cabana.  I recommend that you drop one of these nice ladies an email and see if they maybe can help you get a cabana.  Star Class has a way, sometimes, of "finding" accommodations that appear to be sold out....but aren't QUITE.

Sandra Fernandez  (sfernandezgonzalez@rccl.com

Nataliya Bugaevskaya (nbugaevskaya@rccl.com

Perhaps they are completely sold out and there's nothing the Private Journeys folks can do....but it's worth a try.

Enjoy your Star Class experience.  You will never go back to regular cruising after this experience !!  ...and good luck with snagging a cabana somewhere.

 

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@WAAAYTOOO  thank you.  I was thinking of putting the boys in the 2nd bedroom and my mom in the living room because the boys sleep in and my mom is usually up early in the morning.  I thought that would allow her to have coffee out on the balcony without worrying about waking them up.  If she’s sleeping, the boys could come through the master to the balcony. Is that a mistake?

For Perfect Day, I feel torn. My husband burns easily and my mom has had 2 knee replacements.  They would be miserable at Thrill and just want a place with guaranteed shade (DH)  by the ocean (mom).  The boys are really active and want to go to the water park.   So I thought I could get the boys into the water park then head back to the beach bed for a couple hours. Then go back and check on them at lunch time.   I can’t imagine either group being on the island for more than 4 hours, so a cabana almost feels like a waste unless I could get one for a good price.  An extra $800 seems like a waste for us.  We do have a cruise to Southern Caribbean in January 2023 and are planning on talking to private journeys for our Grenada stop.  My husband lived there for a couple years and has distinct ideas about what he wants to see again (It’s been 20 years).  I’ll definitely contact them for that. 
 

 

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18 minutes ago, Jkaczano said:

 I was thinking of putting the boys in the 2nd bedroom and my mom in the living room because the boys sleep in and my mom is usually up early in the morning.  I thought that would allow her to have coffee out on the balcony without worrying about waking them up.

No, that is not a mistake.  It makes complete sense.  I have never slept on the sofa beds but from what I understand they are surprisingly comfortable.  

Your concern for the added $$ for a cabana also makes sense.  After many trials, I have come to the conclusion that a cabana for the 2 of us is definitely a waste of money.  We love to nap in the cabana but that's about as much use as we get out of it.  I have a floating cabana booked for our upcoming Mariner cruise in Sept. but we will almost certainly be cancelling all 3 of those cruises due to COVID vax restrictions.  I will never see another floating cabana at that price so I image I will not be doing any floating cabanas EVER.

I know you will have a great time, whatever you decide to do !!!

We have a cruise going to Grenada (Grandeur, Feb 20, 2022) too but I feel very confident that we will end up having to cancel that one, too.  I'm sure there will be at LEAST one of those islands that will not take unvaxxed so I'm not holding my breath for that cruise.

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  • AshleyDillo changed the title to Oasis 9/26/2021 - 2 BR Aqua theater

We are checked in!  It seemed surreal to purchase a cruise and check in just 3 days later.  
 

Of course it opened today while I had J at urgent care.  He’s a competitive gymnast and banged his hand last night on pommel.  Luckily,  it looks like it’s just bruised and not broken.  We got a “health check” time of 12:30.  I added my mom’s, DH’s, and my passport information when I got home and then checked the  boys’ passport status.  We renewed theirs at the post office early June standard processing as we didn’t need them until February.  Passports were supposedly approved yesterday and we should have them next week.  
 

47 days to go!

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On 8/11/2021 at 12:29 AM, Ampurp85 said:

@AshleyDillo and @WAAAYTOOO Thanks, I was looking at a deck plan website and they had both listed as Sky class. A lot of suites have become available and if that one becomes available, I might try to snag it.

If you can snag the 2BR ATS, it's one of the best Star Class values out there typically. It's a bit of a walk to get to the end of that hallway, but the wraparound aft balcony and being able to watch the aquatheater show with room service delivery on your balcony from a specialty restaurant is very, very awesome.

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On 8/11/2021 at 12:29 AM, Ampurp85 said:

@AshleyDillo and @WAAAYTOOO Thanks, I was looking at a deck plan website and they had both listed as Sky class. A lot of suites have become available and if that one becomes available, I might try to snag it.

If any become available last minute, you might get a great deal like we did.  We booked at about 50 days out and pricing was $2-6k less than what I am used to seeing (we were planning to do this cruise fall 2023 and I’ve been watching prices).  

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We got our first royal genie email!  I took pictures of the questions for anyone who hasn’t seen it before.   As much as I’m really excited to do our first cruise on Royal Caribbean (especially doing star class), questions like these make me anxious.  So I made DH (Mike) answer them.  Felt it was fitting considering he’s known among the hospital staff for asking tough questions of interviewees.  Some of his classics are - what song describes your life/philosophy, you’re given an elephant and can’t sell it so what do you do with it, and what sport do you like most and what position would you play.  Ie - questions that look at your personality, rather than just looking for information. Not sure what they’ll think when they read his answers.  Hopefully they get his sense of humor. 
 

44 days to go!

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17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Honestly, I only answer the questions that have some relevance....like what kinds of drinks I want in my room, etc.  I think the esoteric ones are pointless.  Yes, I understand that the Genie [might] use the answer to get a feel for your personalities/attitudes but I just think they're silly.

I answered the ones that were relevant and was going to put “requires too much thought for vacation” but Mike said he would answer them.  Considering that he put he would have dinner with “Mother Theresa, Donald Trump, and Miley Cyrus because it would be entertaining” and that answering the dinner question was the biggest laugh he had in a while, heaven knows what the genie will think of us.   

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On 8/13/2021 at 11:48 AM, Jkaczano said:

Some of his classics are - what song describes your life/philosophy, you’re given an elephant and can’t sell it so what do you do with it, and what sport do you like most and what position would you play.

Thanks for posting the questions! We won't get ours for another year and a half, so I have time to plan our answers. ? I look forward to following along - we'll be in one of the 2BR ATS on Allure. 

I would love to get questions like your husband's at an interview, but I'm not great on the fly. I would hope I would be quick witted enough that my answers would be: Crazy Train by Ozzy, keep it to help wash the dogs, and competitive ballroom dancing - tradition would have me follow as the lady, but DH says I back lead. ??

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18 hours ago, melmar02 said:

Thanks for posting the questions! We won't get ours for another year and a half, so I have time to plan our answers. ? I look forward to following along - we'll be in one of the 2BR ATS on Allure. 

I would love to get questions like your husband's at an interview, but I'm not great on the fly. I would hope I would be quick witted enough that my answers would be: Crazy Train by Ozzy, keep it to help wash the dogs, and competitive ballroom dancing - tradition would have me follow as the lady, but DH says I back lead. ??

Interestingly, the person who the committee hired to be the new president got the song question (there was a new question for each internal candidate).  He answered that it was an interesting question and asked if he could think about it.  He emailed the committee an answer that night as part of his thank you letter.  

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40 days to go!

2 days ago, a bunch of cabanas as Perfect Day opened up.  Most were still at the $1000 plus range, but thrill water park was available for $699, so we cancelled the beach bed and water park tickets and booked that instead.  This way we can all go into the water park and then the adults can take turns going out to explore the island.  
 

Prices also came down a little bit for the Nassau dolphin and sea lion encounters.  Mike had no interest and prefers to stay on the boat, J wanted sea lions, and M and my mom wanted dolphins.  Of course no one can agree, so I ended up booking mom and M for dolphins and J and I for sea lions. 
 

J and M’s passports also came in.  I didn’t expedite them because our next cruise wasn’t booked until February, so it was a pleasant surprise it was 9 weeks instead of the 12-16 we were quoted.  
 

I really need this vacation.  It can’t come soon enough

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On 8/13/2021 at 6:09 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Honestly, I only answer the questions that have some relevance....like what kinds of drinks I want in my room, etc.  I think the esoteric ones are pointless.  Yes, I understand that the Genie [might] use the answer to get a feel for your personalities/attitudes but I just think they're silly.

In a way, not answering some of the questions also shows the genie your personality.  They could take it as I'm to the point, and I take time for the things that matter to me.  It also lets them see that you've sailed Star Class atleast a few times, because I feel like most people are a lot more elaborate in their answers on their first few surveys and especially their first.

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On 8/13/2021 at 4:09 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, I understand that the Genie [might] use the answer to get a feel for your personalities/attitudes but I just think they're silly.

Yup, and when your genie doesn’t look at the questionnaire, or very few parts of it, it feels like a total waste of your time. 

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At 7PM tonight the Oasis left Cape Liberty on its test cruise.  It went up the Hudson and turned around by the Statue of Liberty by 7:30 and passed under the Verrazano Narrows bridge about 8:15.  It was so exciting watching on the harbor cams knowing that we will be on her in 5 weeks.

Here are some pictures from the webcam

 

 

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@Jkaczano I don't think I saw it listed but if you are driving and parking in Bayonne/Cape Liberty parking at the cruise port is $25 per day.  The 15.95 location still is listed as closed due to COVID so no clue what is going on with that one.  We are driving in as well and since I no longer have family in Bayonne we will have to pay for parking at the terminal on the 26th so add that additional $175 to the total!

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@wozswoman  Saw that.  Thanks!  We’ve only sailed Disney and have never cruised out of Bayonne.  We planned on parking at the cruise terminal and didn’t even know there used to be a cheaper option.  With my mom’s knee replacements, sometimes convenience wins out over cost.  $25 is steep but I felt better about it when I found out last week that onsite Boston Logan is now $38 per day!  COVID pricing - perfect reason to increase costs and decrease services. 

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15 minutes ago, Jkaczano said:

@wozswoman  Saw that.  Thanks!  We’ve only sailed Disney and have never cruised out of Bayonne.  We planned on parking at the cruise terminal and didn’t even know there used to be a cheaper option.  With my mom’s knee replacements, sometimes convenience wins out over cost.  $25 is steep but I felt better about it when I found out last week that onsite Boston Logan is now $38 per day!  COVID pricing - perfect reason to increase costs and decrease services. 

Maybe we will see each other on board! I'm on the 26th sailing as well with my mother, girl trip.  14th floor balcony.  ? Safe travels.

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13 minutes ago, wozswoman said:

Maybe we will see each other on board! I'm on the 26th sailing as well with my mother, girl trip.  14th floor balcony.  ? Safe travels.

A girl trip sounds like fun!  A lot more fun than coordinating the whole family. Once we’re on and acclimated, we should arrange a time to meet.

Safe travels to you and your mom, too!

Jenn

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3 hours ago, Jkaczano said:

And our genie is ……. Allan F.  Here is the email we received from him.  I’ve been working on a list of beverage and dining requests patterned after @Tiffeven’s but it feels like it still needs some work.

 

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I'm sure any list you provide will be a great help in making your week extra special.  I do have to say this email seems like the Star experience is going to be way less personal than before.  Of course, this is out of the genie's hands and I'm sure it will still be an amazing week, but I will miss the days of the genie coming and hanging out in our room with us and the kids.  There were so many memory that we would have missed such as when our genie surprised our son with a gaga ball championship in our room or when we were all laughing and our son showed him his stuffed animal that had a tear in his back and he took it and had it stitched back together for him.  Our last stateroom attendant was also amazing.  I even have pictures of her holding our daughter.  I will definitely miss this and look forward to when this returns, but to be honest, just getting back to sea will be awesome and to do it as Star is the cherry on top. 

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30 Days to go.  
 

Good news - We sent our list of requests to our genie.  

Disappointing news - one of the deck 8 aquatheaters came available today. Unfortunately it’s $3500 more than we paid so we just can’t justify upgrading. Would have really liked the bigger room, but wow.  
 

 

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24 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

RoyalUp?  

I tried entering in last name and reservation number into the system, but it tells me it’s unavailable. I originally booked it directly through RC and transferred to our agent at MEI. From what I read on the trip Facebook group, royal up emails went out before I booked, so maybe that’s why we’re not eligible.  

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10 minutes ago, Jkaczano said:

I tried entering in last name and reservation number into the system, but it tells me it’s unavailable. I originally booked it directly through RC and transferred to our agent at MEI. From what I read on the trip Facebook group, royal up emails went out before I booked, so maybe that’s why we’re not eligible.  

Ah bummer.  Not sure why it's not available. I know sometimes folks don't get the email but can do in directly and it works for them.

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  • 4 weeks later...

And the cruise is a GO

The 4 of us just took our COVID tests right after midnight and they all came back negative.  After having so many vacations cancelled in the last 18 months, I just kept waiting for something to go wrong.  The boys and I were originally scheduled for testing tomorrow at CVS but I just couldn’t wait..  So when Mike did his test using EMed, the boys and I did ours too using our backup tests.  My mom and Mike’s parents are still scheduled for testing tomorrow.  

That’s a big change since a month ago when I last posted.  In early September, Mike mentioned that it would be nice to bring his parents on a cruise with us.  He originally thought our May 22 Adventure, but I (jokingly) suggested why not this one as the prices were good and I had seen mentions of single pricing on Oasis.  @Sharlawas able to get us a great price on 2 connecting ocean view balcony cabins down the hall from us right by the elevators, so they also be along on the cruise.  

Now that were are a group of 7, our plans on CoCo Cay went out the window.  We had started with a beach bed on chill, changed to a water park cabana, then to a chill island cabana, and now we have a cabana booked at the Beach Club.  I was hoping to do the overwater, but they haven’t budged from $1700.  
 

Today Allan also sent us final instructions for arrival on Sunday along with his WhatsApp contact information.  We have the earliest check in time (noon) but we plan to grab Dunkin Donuts on the way and be to the port around 10:45/11 if we don’t hit any traffic.  It’s a 2.5 hour drive from my mom’s house through NYC so a little unpredictable.  
 

It’s now 2:45AM and my second wind is gone.  Tomorrow we will finally start packing.  

 


 

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I really meant to be on more often, but it’s been so busy that I just settled down.  
 

Day 1

We had a boarding time of noon so we were aiming to be at the port for 11, but because we didn’t hit any traffic, ended up having about an extra 1/2 hour so we made a stop at Liberty State Park to see the Statue of Liberty.

 

We then headed to the port.  I dropped everyone off at Zone 6 where the bags were tagged and taken and we went into the regular boarding line.  Shortly before boarding started, Allan and another genie came out and moved all star class to a separate line which went into the building first.  We went through security and Allan met us to walk us onto the ship and up to our room.  

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14 minutes ago, Jkaczano said:

I really meant to be on more often, but it’s been so busy that I just settled down.  
 

Day 1

We had a boarding time of noon so we were aiming to be at the port for 11, but because we didn’t hit any traffic, ended up having about an extra 1/2 hour so we made a stop at Liberty State Park to see the Statue of Liberty.

 

We then headed to the port.  I dropped everyone off at Zone 6 where the bags were tagged and taken and we went into the regular boarding line.  Shortly before boarding started, Allan and another genie came out and moved all star class to a separate line which went into the building first.  We went through security and Allan met us to walk us onto the ship and up to our room.  

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LOL Me waiting like a dog with a bone….and then what happens…

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Let’s try this again. Hopefully I won’t lose internet this time. 
 

Our room is beautiful. Allan had cookies,  a fruit tray, and some champagne waiting. The second bedroom was made up as a queen, but room steward Gusti had it changed to twins before bed 

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