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Oasis, Dec 5, 2021, a live blog failure? Time will tell.


barbeyg

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We are Barb & Ken, from the Smoky Mountains of TN.  We have sailed with RCI since the early 1990s, and love cruising. We first sailed in an inside cabin, quickly moving to an OV on the next cruise.  I remember being.so.close to the walls of the Panama Canal locks that I could see the petrified fish and barnacles on the walls from our great big window).  After much cajoling and whining, I talked my husband into a balcony for the following cruise. We upgraded to JS several cruises ago, and never looked back. We sailed in a GS on Anthem to NE the fall of 2019 thanks to a RoyalUp, and this is our first cruise since sailing resumed. We have missed it so much!

Who is going: Just us, Ken and Barb. I’m an accountant in a large corporate setting, so am always looking for a quality bargain. I love planning travel almost as much as actually going.  Cruising is my favorite, because even though I enjoy cooking, I also enjoy a break.  Ken is in logistics at a large coffee company, and is your quintessential dad, hating waste.  So he finishes my meals onboard…and wonders why he gains on a cruise, turns off lights around the house all the time…even if someone is in that room.  Once he turned off the oven as we ran out for several hours of errands….even though I had a turkey baking.  He also has some really cool electronics all over the house to save on the cost of electricity. I’m an ‘early-adopter’ electronics geek, so love that. 

When: December 5, 2021, eastern Caribbean

Celebration: Last year’s 35th anniversary, my birthday

Cabin: CLS 1724 — our first!

Logistics:  We will be testing at home Friday morning, very early.  If for some reason inconclusive or a test is defective for either of us, we have CVS booked as a backup. Will cancel if not needed.  We then drive to Savannah, GA, which makes the trip 1 hour longer, but will have some great food along the way. We will be driving from Savannah to Ft Lauderdale the second day, staying near the interstate that night. Haven’t decided on the Buc-ee’s that we will make a pitstop at yet, but one is on the list. 

Our checkin time is 11:30 Sunday morning. Since we are in a suite, we will arrive between 10:30 and 11:00.  When checkin first opened for our sailing, RCI assigned me 11:30 and my husband 12:00 even though I checked us in at the same time.  I was fine with that, since I planned to have a drink and relax while I patiently waited for him onboard.  For some reason, he wasn’t crazy about it, but sacrifices, you know?  I was eventually able to change his checkin time to 11:30 too, but it sure was fun teasing him about waving buh-bye as I boarded, blowing kisses as I left. 🤣

How we got here:  We were first booked on Odyssey for this week, in a JS.  When we saw the Covid restrictions as sailing resumed, we decided to do a ‘cheaper’ cruise, so moved to a JS on Oasis, which was half the price, albeit one night less.  After toying with a few bids for GS and CLS, we found a CLS facing aft, close to one side of the ship and snatched it up for slightly more $$$ than the JS we previously had booked on Odyssey.  So, cheaper it isn’t, but upgrade it is! 

Special plans:  Dining in 150 CP for my birthday, Cococay Beach Club same day, Coastal Kitchen most nights,  no plans for the ports. We are doing a similar itinerary next December on Harmony, so may not even leave the ship this time.  This is our first time sailing Oasis class, so we want to check out everything onboard.

Caveat: I have been wrestling with whether or not to do a live blog for several reasons:

1.  I was afraid I would jinx us by starting a blog, then one of us test positive two days ahead.  Now, I’m too excited to fret, and know if that happens, there is a reason for it. But, I will cry buckets. Serious buckets.

2.  I am nowhere near as entertaining as other writers here. Some of you are amazing at blogging. I was a bit intimidated. 🙂

3.  I could get onboard and only update sporadically, failing at live blogging. After all, we have 4 free drinks a day, plus the suite happy hour.  I’m a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.  I plan to do the Ultimate Abyss, even though I’m a bit claustrophobic. Who knows what could happen?  Also, Cruise Life Rick and John&LaLa from CC onboard. I could be starstruck. 😂

If you have questions, I will try to find the answer to them. No promises, but will do my best, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the experience. 

I apologize now, before failing at this. You have been warned. 🙂 Set your expectations low, and no one will be disappointed. 😂 

 

 

 

 

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I love your writing style and I'm looking forward to your blog!  I was originally going to quote something above and respond to that, but there were so many lines that made me laugh out loud that I couldn't pick one.  🙂  We're in a CLS on Allure in May so I can't wait to read about your experiences!  I hope you have a fabulous trip!

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You are too sweet, @CravingaCruise! Thank you for the kind words. We are so excited for our first CLS too. Will def post pics throughout. I hope you have a great cruise as well! 

Today, we started pulling out clothes for the cruise, and eliminating what we don’t need to bring. Our ritual involves me trying to be practical and coordinate articles of clothing so I can mix and match, minimizing the packing. It involves Ken dragging everything out of the closet because he ‘likes choices and wants a mini-closet’ of clothes with him.  Doing this chore a few days ahead allows me to go thru his ‘mini closet’ pile and sneak a quarter of the casual shirts…16 at last count for a 7 night cruise…back into the closet, then act puzzled onboard if he asks about them. 🙃

On our last cruise out of NJ, we lugged our bags over to a porter, Ken’s humongous bag, and my medium-sized one. I somehow ended up rolling Ken’s bag over, and after taking one look, the porter said (imagine a NJ accent here), “Geez lady, what’s in this thing?”  I responded that it was my husband’s bag, as Ken rolled up with my (normal-sized) piece of luggage. The porter looked at Ken and busted out laughing. Ken laughed. The porter laughed, they both laughed again, and the porter slapped Ken on the back, exclaiming, “Sure, lady!”  

Ken had to wrestle the tip out of my hand for his buddy, the porter. He was laughing about that incident again today as he precariously weighed down our packing rack. 🙄 We will see who has the last laugh after I cull his ‘mini closet’. 😇 

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1 hour ago, Akeka said:

Great start!  I'm on the same sailing and it's also my first time on a Oasis class.  This cruise will push me into Diamond status, woo hoo!

Congrats on achieving Diamond status, and hope to see you onboard!  I remember how excited we were to 'arrive' at Diamond, and that was when they were only offering the cheap booze during happy hour. 🙂  We will receive our first crystal block on this ship, on our way to Diamond+ by the end of next year ourselves.  I figure unless we win the lotto, Diamond+ is where we will stay.  Pinnacle seems so far away right now.    

1 hour ago, Dlove707 said:

looking forward to your live blog as me and my wife are also on this sailing

Hope you see you guys onboard too!  

Any of you who'd like, feel free to post pics, or share anything you'd like, in this thread.  🙂  

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27 minutes ago, Yesiamthere said:

Looking forward to your blog.  I’m thinking about blogging on our February cruise but so afraid I’ll just blog until I’m on the cruise.  Will you use a computer or just your phone for blogging?

I will be using my phone.  Not bringing my iPad or Mac with me, would be too easy to check in with work, which I plan NOT to do.  I figure that there will be shorter and more frequent posts on the ship, and I will let Siri type for me as I dictate.  Should be buckets of fun when I have had a few drinks.  😂  Hopefully I will catch those.  My greatest concern are the photos I will post with commentary, but if that is an issue, I will just comment on the next post, learning as I go along.  I think you should go for it, even if you drift off onboard.  🙂

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Hi, my sister and I are on the same Dec 5, Oasis Cruise.  My sisters' first, My...lost count but my last cruise was in 2005!  A lot has changed. Those were the days when Everything was included  My question is, I heard there are 2 formal nights and maybe a Disco theme night. Anyone have any info?  I need to know if I need to bring my hot Pink spandex bell bottoms and disco ball earrings!LOL

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23 minutes ago, senior sisters cruise said:

Hi, my sister and I are on the same Dec 5, Oasis Cruise.  My sisters' first, My...lost count but my last cruise was in 2005!  A lot has changed. Those were the days when Everything was included  My question is, I heard there are 2 formal nights and maybe a Disco theme night. Anyone have any info?  I need to know if I need to bring my hot Pink spandex bell bottoms and disco ball earrings!LOL

ABSOLUTELY!!!  Even if we don't have disco night (which I hope they do), you haven't seen what some people wear.  You will fit in, no matter what. 😀

Edited to add:  just looked at the schedule for the current week, and there is a disco party.  Shine up those disco ball earrings, girl!  

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2 hours ago, barbeyg said:

I will be using my phone.  Not bringing my iPad or Mac with me, would be too easy to check in with work, which I plan NOT to do.  I figure that there will be shorter and more frequent posts on the ship, and I will let Siri type for me as I dictate.  Should be buckets of fun when I have had a few drinks.  😂  Hopefully I will catch those.  My greatest concern are the photos I will post with commentary, but if that is an issue, I will just comment on the next post, learning as I go along.  I think you should go for it, even if you drift off onboard.  🙂

Let Siri type for you - great idea!  I could sit at a machine at the Casino and speak to Siri. I wonder if she would pick up the background noise. Lol. Can we switch our internet back and forth from the phone to I-pad?

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1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

don't underrate yourself. You've been very entertaining so far. I am still laughing at the porter story. 😆

Exactly!  You're a very entertaining writer!  I've laughed aloud and made my hubby stop what he was doing so I could read your blog to him several times already!  I can't wait to see what you write with Siri after you've had a few drinks!  😂😂

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31 minutes ago, CravingaCruise said:

I can't wait to see what you write with Siri after you've had a few drinks!  😂😂

Sometimes my husband can’t believe what I SAY after a few drinks. 😂  Siri can also tend to make assumptions about what I’m telling her. It must be my southern accent.  I will do my best to fix anything really odd. It’s the anal accountant in me. I have to correct my own grammar. 👀

For anyone following along, wondering when the concierge email goes out to suite guests on Oasis, we received our email 11 days ahead. I am one of those goobers who gets all excited over the concierge email.  It’s like the cruise is finally real, you know?  

Reservations in Coastal Kitchen are “first come, first emailed”, and the seating is limited for the 5:30, 6:00 and 6:30 times. I won’t tell you guys that as soon as I saw the email (while at a standstill in traffic due to a rush hour accident) I immediately pulled into a grocery store parking lot so I could respond….but I did get the times we wanted (5:30 for all nights - so we could change into something comfortable, walk some of our dinner off, and still see the shows/attend the events we want to).  I also asked nicely about reservations at the Cococay Beach Club restaurant, and the concierge scheduled that as well for us.  Score! 

Tonight, 2 of Ken’s casual shirts migrated back to the master closet.  Both were identical golf shirts to others he had on the packing rack. 🤔 Currently trying to decide if he really needs 3 white dress shirts for two formal nights. I will meditate on that overnight.  Even if the server accidentally dumps an entire serving of salad dressing down his shirt (this happened to him at Red Robin’s once 🤣😂), he still has a second, right?  Maybe it’s a guy thing, having spares for their suits. One of those mysterious things men do that leave wives scratching their heads…..
 

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It’s 3:30 am the day we leave for our cruise.  Don’t check for the time I posted this. I wrote it early killing time. No, we don’t have an early flight.  We are taking a leisurely 7 hour drive to Savannah today. But, I’m like a 5 year old when it comes to travel. I get so excited that I can’t sleep. Thank God for eye cream, because I’m going to have some serious bags this afternoon.

 

I’ve always been this way about travel. Ever since my first long trip with Grandma and my cousin Mary when we were both 13 years old. Grandma took us to visit family in Baltimore.  Grandma loved travel too, and she booked the 3 of us on the Amtrak train round trip.  I remember the excitement of being on the train…and wanting to seriously hurt Mary because she cried every day for her Momma. I was worried that Grandma would cut our trip short, but obviously I get my travel attitude from Grandma, because she wasn’t budging on our schedule. Mary was allowed to call her Momma every day, but there was no going home early, thank goodness.  That trip was when the travel bug bit, and I have been sold out ever since.

 

I’m sitting here in the living room, dressed and trying to figure out how to wake my husband without being obvious about it. I would bounce on the bed, but we have a memory foam mattress.  I realize now that was a poor choice.  If I am “accidentally” a bit noisy, like when I was unloading the dishwasher a bit ago, he sleeps right thru it. And he gets annoyed when I cheerfully lift one of his eyes to “see” if he is awake.  I don’t understand how he can be so blasé.  We haven’t cruised in 802 days…not that Im counting.  He knows how I am about travel, but does he accommodate this infantile behavior?  No!!!  Whatever.

 

We will be taking our Covid tests as soon as I wake him…I mean, as soon as he wakes up.  And he wants to pick up his new reading glasses on the way out, like it’s that important for him to see.   Whatever.

 

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Two negative Covid tests.  Thank you e-Med! Getting Ken dressed to go out and test would have been more than he could endure after I finally woke him at 6 am.

I may have pillaged his wallet for his ID, and had his phone, the test kit, and ID all set up for him, as he staggered out to the table.  What a great wife! I talked him into not worrying about his hair all askew, because this person at eMed will never see him again, right? Unless they are on the cruise, or that person has a website like the “People of Walmart”.  Ssshhh. Don’t put thoughts in his head.

If you are sailing with us, come up and introduce yourself if you see me, please.  How will you know who I am?  I’m not a bot like Twangster, but I don’t take pics because…well, I take awful photos.  Seriously bad ones.  My best photos have a ‘deer in the headlights of a semi’ look. I avoid the front of a lens when at all possible. I prefer to be behind the camera. But, I will be wearing these at some point, because I like my t-shirts with a bit of snark.

7A00C1CE-B442-4356-9192-E33BCB13FDC1.jpeg

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On 11/29/2021 at 1:05 PM, Yesiamthere said:

Looking forward to your blog.  I’m thinking about blogging on our February cruise but so afraid I’ll just blog until I’m on the cruise.  Will you use a computer or just your phone for blogging?

Good question - IMO laptop makes it far easier than pecking on a phone.  My fat fingers aren't very efficient; hence, I did very few live posts on our Nov cruise.

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On 11/29/2021 at 6:09 PM, barbeyg said:

Yes, you can. I don’t know if it works the same way, but log out of the internet on one device, and you can log into the other. 🙂

I found it easiest to connect the device I wanted to switch to to the ship’s WiFi and go to login.com. If I entered my user name and PIN, it would then say “Too many devices” and ask me if I wanted to switch devices. I’d answer “Yes” and it would switch the connection from the old device to the new, logging me off the previous one.

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10 hours ago, barbeyg said:

I would bounce on the bed, but we have a memory foam mattress.  I realize now that was a poor choice.  If I am “accidentally” a bit noisy, like when I was unloading the dishwasher a bit ago, he sleeps right thru it. And he gets annoyed when I cheerfully lift one of his eyes to “see” if he is awake.  I don’t understand how he can be so blasé.  We haven’t cruised in 802 days…not that Im counting.  He knows how I am about travel, but does he accommodate this infantile behavior?  No!!!  Whatever.

 

We will be taking our Covid tests as soon as I wake him…I mean, as soon as he wakes up.  And he wants to pick up his new reading glasses on the way out, like it’s that important for him to see.   Whatever.

 

This is comedy gold!!

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11 hours ago, barbeyg said:

I’m sitting here in the living room, dressed and trying to figure out how to wake my husband without being obvious about it. I would bounce on the bed, but we have a memory foam mattress.  I realize now that was a poor choice.  If I am “accidentally” a bit noisy, like when I was unloading the dishwasher a bit ago, he sleeps right thru it. And he gets annoyed when I cheerfully lift one of his eyes to “see” if he is awake.  I don’t understand how he can be so blasé.  We haven’t cruised in 802 days…not that Im counting.  He knows how I am about travel, but does he accommodate this infantile behavior?  No!!!  Whatever.

OMG!  You're hilarious!  Loving your blog!

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Buc-ee!!! Time for barbecue.
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Sorry I’ve eaten part before the pic. I was hangry after not having breakfast. 😂 Wow, I would give the brisket sandwich an 8 out of 10. 

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Buc-ee’s Daytona is huge. And it was crammed full of humanity.  Think Walmart on Black Friday. It felt like we were stuck in National Lampoons Christmas vacation.  
 

My one regret: we weren’t there long enough to get Ken a Buc-ee’s outfit. I believe he was trying to rush me out before I could find them. 🧐 I think he would look sexy in it.  😉

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Our favorite travel vloggers, Kara and Nate, spent 24 hours at Buc-ee’s. See how hot the outfit is?! 😂

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All kidding aside, if you haven’t discovered Kara and Nate, I suggest you look them up on YouTube. Start at the beginning. They are fun and real. Sometimes they are truly informative, other times they make us laugh out loud,  and yet other times they are a train wreck looking for a place to happen. 🤣 Great entertainment and they have come a very long way from their beginning. 

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Staying at the Residence Ft Lauderdale Airport.  Nice area, close enough to Miami to zoom down tomorrow. I was able to have a great blackberry margarita for dinner at Firebirds. It was amazing! I could have had a second, but I’m a cheap drunk, so that was out.

Oh, I also had a yummy salmon salad too.  Almost forgot. And we walked the Dania Beach area with all the shops, restaurants, etc.E5F2A89F-3794-4532-8798-168013D748E3.thumb.jpeg.33634bc9f2785e9e582674bffde1f022.jpegF9973089-34AA-401D-9C0F-E78AF64915C0.thumb.jpeg.e04e7ec58ca8959cd9406ff5c6df1b00.jpeg 

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Thanks @Dan Curtis! We moved to this area 16 years ago after traveling here for many years. They are great places to live that avoid the tourist traffic, and we reside in one of those areas with the most amazing view from our front window. Used to think this place was just tourists too. LOL. Our view:

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