Two Delightfully Unfrugal Idiots sail our White Whale (Oasis OP, 9/24 -10/1/23)

[Lovetocruise2002]

11 hours ago, SweetPea said:

we're going to see your Shane tmw. He's starting the bridge tour. If there's anything you'd like us to pass along to him, LMK.

Shane!!! He is everyone's Shane lol!

Tell him Sabrina sends her love and that I will see him in March (hopefully!)

[SweetPea]

Last night's dinner in CK was great.  

The wedge was overdressed so i ate from the bottom but otherwise great. 

I once again wanted to pick up that rack with my hands and go to town.  I asked our waiter if he could put a towel over my head so i could do that in shame. Which eventually led to a conversation on ortolan. Because why wouldn't it?

The lamb was better in CK than Chops.

Batman had the lobster. 

[OCSC Mike]

So much blue cheese on that wedge!

[SweetPea]

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

So much blue cheese on that wedge!

I mean i me some bleu cheese, but that was a 3 person job right there. Maybe 4. 

[asquared17]

so the weather is absolutely abysmal here. don’t come home. just stay on for another go around with @JVPIII

[asquared17]

or @ScottD actually. also i can’t edit the other post. 

rip me. 

but NO NEED TO COME HOME ITS TERRIBAD HERE. 

(i haven’t seen the sun in six days and it’s starting to show)

[SweetPea]

This is probably another terrible idea of mine, but we'll see how these gift bags go over ...

And in true unfrugal fashion, the first boxes of dryer sheets i picked up were scented. I have a terrible sense of smell, but when i left them out on our sideboard, Batman said they stunk up our entire downstairs and threw them in the basement.... Hence the unscented dryer sheets that i could only find at tar-ZHAY. I also thought i picked up the Tide pods with Oxyclean, only to realize they are the Downy ones. 

It's the thought that counts, right?

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, SweetPea said:

the unscented dryer sheets that i could only find at tar-ZHAY

tar-ZHAY brand??? Not very unfrugal of you.

Even I use Arm & Hammer unscented (bought during a BOGO at the supermarket of course).

[Jax]

11 hours ago, SweetPea said:

@Jax we're going to see your Shane tmw. He's starting the bridge tour. If there's anything you'd like us to pass along to him, LMK.

Oasis Genies take turns starting  the tour and hand off to the officers for techie questions, or so I'm told.   Good because i was serious about my telemetry questions.

oooh how I miss Oasis and Shane It’s my favorite ship so far, partly because of portside bbq and playmakers but mostly because of Shane. Tell him I am requesting a temporary reassignment for him to Harmony Dec 24-31. We have soooo much to celebrate, Reyd’s 18th and Gr 12 grad, he has to be there. 

[Ampurp85]

I love the beautiful cat picture. I never thought to bring laundry gift bags I normally do candy.......and cash.

[SweetPea]

8 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I love the beautiful cat picture. I never thought to bring laundry gift bags I normally do candy.......and cash.

Thank you, re: Silas.  He's a riot!

I read once, somewhere on the interweb, that they have to buy their own laundry supplies so we'll see how this goes.    Like you, i typically give snack bags.

Though we all know cash is still king!

27 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

tar-ZHAY brand??? Not very unfrugal of you.

Even I use Arm & Hammer unscented (bought during a BOGO at the supermarket of course).

I bought Arm & Hammer initially!

[Neesa]

When we sailed with Dudley Jean and we spoke via email before the sailing he responded with laundry detergent, softener and dryer sheets. We brought these aboard and he was so happy. We opted for all non scented because scent is so personal. We figured with small living spaces as well  no scent was best. 

Laundry, candy, cash! Those are our go to gifts but now I'm going to add the googly eyes as well. I am having so much fun on your adventure, what a riot! @Ampurp85 states and I agree love your birthday baby. Now @asquared17 stated and I agree go to next cruise right now and stay another week!

Last but not least it was Burger Express of Carteret not Carrols that had the BEST pork roll and cheese sandwiches.:)

[Ampurp85]

I like the human name Silas. My fur baby is named Senator Meowkins and we call her Sen for short. She has so much personality,  spicy personality.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, Jax said:

Tell him I am requesting a temporary reassignment for him to Harmony Dec 24-31. We have soooo much to celebrate, Reyd’s 18th and Gr 12 grad, he has to be there. 

I need him to go to Odyssey! lol

[Jax]

8 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I need him to go to Odyssey! lol

This can work, it may be tight but it’s totally doable.  He can catch a quick flight on the 31st and meet you on Odyssey. Lol If only genie assignments were that easy. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

9 minutes ago, Jax said:

This can work, it may be tight but it’s totally doable.  He can catch a quick flight on the 31st and meet you on Odyssey. Lol If only genie assignments were that easy. 

How I wish! @SweetPea pitch this idea to him 

[SweetPea]

9 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

How I wish! @SweetPea pitch this idea to him 

On it

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

I read once, somewhere on the interweb, that they have to buy their own laundry supplies so we'll see how this goes

any way we can confirm this? because i’ll totally bring for our stateroom attendant and co for next time!!!

[Neesa]

7 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

any way we can confirm this? because i’ll totally bring for our stateroom attendant and co for next time!!!

This is what Dudley told me when we sailed with him last year. He said the ship sold it but they were crazy expensive. And yes they do a great deal of their own laundry.

[asquared17]

thank you @Neesa!!!!!

[SweetPea]

We have had a very unambitious day today. Just a bridge tour. 

Shane says hello, but politely declined to ship hop to accommodate you lot....

I got the answer to my telemetry question, which surprisingly wasn't the answer i expected, but then hey, I'm not the one driving the ship. 

 

 

 

And what do 2 idiots do when it's windy, cold, and no one else is in the pool? 

Hot tub it, baby. 

Getting ready for Gio's now. 

[OCSC Mike]

23 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Getting ready for Gio's now.

I hope Batman allows for copious amounts of food porn.

We've always loved GT and with more and more Kitchens appearing (which we'll try and hopefully also enjoy), it was the first thing I was ordered to book for Allure next month (that was the unfrugual nod to you guys, lol).

[SweetPea]

Last cocktail hour in the lounge

 

 

 

 

Also, is it bad form to take a plate of mozzarella sticks back to the cabin for later? Asking for a friend. 

 

[SweetPea]

Overheard in the lounge...

"I can't wait to get home to find where my underpants are."

 

Ok, not overheard  ....

[SweetPea]

10 hours ago, asquared17 said:

any way we can confirm this? because i’ll totally bring for our stateroom attendant and co for next time!!!

100% confirmed. One of our favorite bartenders is so happppppyyyyyyy.

They have to wash their own uniforms and don't always have time to go ashore to buy supplies. 

[OCSC Mike]

15 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Also, is it bad form to take a plate of mozzarella sticks back to the cabin for later? Asking for a friend.

Not in my world but you probably could have guessed that.

And for future reference, it is also not bad form to eat about 2 dozen breaded shrimp in the SL before dinner b/c they're so good and you don't love the CK menu that night.

[Jax]

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Shane says hello, but politely declined to ship hop to accommodate you lot....

Well that’s depressing news …. Onto plan B

[asquared17]

22 minutes ago, Jax said:

Well that’s depressing news …. Onto plan B

we should prob not speak so openly about absconding with the genies

….FOR LEGAL AND REAL PURPOSES THIS IS CLEARLY A JOKE!!!!

[SweetPea]

Listen, i feel like the underwear topic is now a dead horse and run its course, but I'm not clever enough to make this up. 

On our way to Gio's i brought my last 3 dang ducks. 

A boy about 10 or 11 was excited. He asks me if i found those ducks. 

Me: no, I'm hiding them, do you want them?

He asked if he could take one because he had found 2 and his little brother had not found any. 

I offered him all 3. He only took the football.

Along comes his older sister who is now in on middle brother's plan. 

Their plan? 

To hide the duck in ... little brother's underwear.

[SweetPea]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I hope Batman allows for copious amounts of food porn

Not copious.

However, i need to share that Batman asked  just tonight, night 7, "what are you doing with these food pics?"

BTW, @Lovetocruise2002 and @Jax .... Batman  no longer thinks I'm playing Wordle (you're typing too much). I told him that the 3 of us share Mindy and we're all emailing ... you two are the only recipients of this blog if we ever meet in person.

[asquared17]

22 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

He asked if he could take one because he had found 2 and his little brother had not found any. 

I offered him all 3. He only took the football.

WAIT STOP HOW CUTE IS THIS NUGGET

I CANNOT EVEN

22 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Along comes his older sister who is now in on middle brother's plan. 

Their plan? 

To hide the duck in ... little brother's underwear.

oh my goD 

YOU LITERALLY CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP

[asquared17]

12 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

you two are the only recipients of this blog if we ever meet in person

AND ME 

since we are obvs related somehow some way…

[SweetPea]

8 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

AND ME 

since we are obvs related somehow some way…

I thought that went without saying!

[SweetPea]

We had a great meal at Gio's. Though both the Batman and i agreed, the crunchy, cheesy breadsticks were not worth the calories. We each had a bite and were done. 

What was absolutely amazing was the caprese salad. OMG, the freshest, creamiest fresh mozzarella. Ever. I had to force myself to stop eating it. I mean, there is no way you eat all of that on your own and ever again, at least in the next few days .... (I'll let you guys guess where that's headed, but IYKYK). Bottom line, Batman is not a fan of fresh mozzarella so i was on my own. 

Batman had the meat and cheese plate. 

 

 

I'm a terrible photographer. I took the caprese salad pic. He took the meat plate. Even though he claims he hates my phone.  

I originally ordered the Bolognese, but realized too late i wasn't asked what type of pasta i wanted. The waiter told me, you're getting spaghetti. When i told the waiter i don't eat spaghetti (or linguine or fettuccine: i like to stab my pasta in any tube form; I'm not spooning my pasta. You should know by now exactly how uncoordinated i am), he told me spaghetti was my only option. I think this was because my sole food intolerance was confused for an allergy. And by intolerance, i don't mean that i simply dislike eggs. I love eggs. Eggs hate me and my body can't process them, but it's absolutely not life threatening in any way. I simply cannot eat a dish where eggs are the main star of the show (omelets, scrambled, quiche etc).

It was too late to get this corrected. Batman ordered the chicken piccata. We just wound up swapping. The chicken was very good.  The gnocchi it was served with, however, was bland and tasteless. Both the Batman and i agreed on this. I'm glad i didn't order the main course gnocchi dish. 

The Bolognese was excellent, but would've been much better over rigatoni, penne, or ziti. Just saying.

Batman was over food porn at this point (what are you doing with these pics anyway?) and i had to take his of his plate for him. 

 

[SweetPea]

And now, here's where i give you more deets of the Tram Trespassors saga.  I feel bad, yet i don't. 

Our CK peeps know them. (Why i feel bad.) We had book club on the sitch. And here's where i provide you further juicy deets on why i don't. 

1) i was right in my initial assessment that they're casino peeps. They're Masters (i really don't have any clue on casino status levels, so if this means nothing or means everything, I'm oblivious). Bottom line, double whammy. Pinnacle + Casino status. 

2) they've been on the ship for the past 4 weeks. They're off for a week, then heading over to Anthem, or so I'm told.

3) They were so angry over the tram sitch, they went to the head of Guest Services to complain irately  how we jumped the line and they had been served an injustice. 

4) You're asking at this point why i feel bad.  I know this.  I feel bad because they regularly buy the CK staff beers and treat them to Gio's.

[SweetPea]

And now here's the part where i tell you why a HUGE perk of Star Class has been deteriorated.

Anthem 2019: we checked in with ALL our luggage going through security which went directly to our stateroom with us. On disembarkation morning, our amazing Genie Derick met us at our stateroom with a porter to take us down to customs. No leaving your luggage out the night before like everyone else. 

Batman declared this worth the price of Star Class alone. 

Fast forward: CBP seems to be the culprit here. They put the cabosh on it.  You leave your luggage at the port to be delivered like everyone else. Disembarking, you leave your bags outside your door, albeit later (midnight v 10pm) like everyone else. CBP apparently felt that too many crew members were getting off the ship (I'm generalizing, but this is the gyst.)

I will let you ponder on that because it makes ZERO sense to me. I don't care what your politics are, and i won't tell you mine, but this is a dichotomy of contradiction here with all the nonsense happening these days. Yes, let's worry about a few too many crew in a cruise port not even leaving the terminal. Because limiting them getting off the ship ... that is what's going to save all of us. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

4 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Shane says hello, but politely declined to ship hop to accommodate you lot....

Darn it! Lol

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

BTW, @Lovetocruise2002 and @Jax .... Batman  no longer thinks I'm playing Wordle (you're typing too much). I told him that the 3 of us share Mindy and we're all emailing ... you two are the only recipients of this blog if we ever meet in person.

Dying laughing again!! I got you if we ever sail together. That is some major emailing that we have been doing all week

[Jax]

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Batman  no longer thinks I'm playing Wordle (you're typing too much). I told him that the 3 of us share Mindy and we're all emailing ... you two are the only recipients of this blog if we ever meet in person.

Haha I hope Mindy gets us cruising together one day.  What a hoot we would have. Just imagine the blog

[Jax]

38 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Anthem 2019: we checked in with ALL our luggage going through security which went directly to our stateroom with us. On disembarkation morning, our amazing Genie Derick met us at our stateroom with a porter to take us down to customs. No leaving your luggage out the night before like everyone else. 

Batman declared this worth the price of Star Class alone. 

Fast forward: CBP seems to be the culprit here. They put the cabosh on it.  You leave your luggage at the port to be delivered like everyone else. Disembarking, you leave your bags outside your door, albeit later (midnight v 10pm) like everyone else. CBP apparently felt that too many crew members were getting off the ship (I'm generalizing, but this is the gyst.)

What! Is this new? I don’t like this either. We have never had to put our luggage out the night before. Pretty sure one of us would find ourselves with an underwear problem. LOL It will be interesting to see what happens on HM this December.  My memory about some cruise details isn’t the best but I think last year on HM a porter came with the genie; grabbed our luggage and we collected it in a star class area in the terminal.  Regardless it was definitely not the night before.  

[SweetPea]

I hate ending tonight on a negative note. So please let me show you the single professional pic (yes seriously, one) of the entire cruise. 

Batman irked at having to leave his seat to come beside me.

Did we buy it, no.  So please enjoy the watermarked, screenshot version via the app. 

And also, when you're in your 50s and now have jowls that came out of nowhere, you no longer know how to smile without looking like you're trying to minimize them. 

P.S. For some reason, Batman only trusts me to cut his hair. (It wasn't always this long.). It's a seriously intricate process where i have to take off a half inch at a time, have him check. React accordingly. Layer it, have him check. React accordingly.  Use thinning shears to thin out the bottom. We all know I'm not coordinated.  Why he insists upon this is anyone's guess. This a battle I'm not fighting. I don't care.  If it makes him happy, it makes me happy.