sailing into an oasis for diamonds | 12.10.23-12.17.23 ~ oasis of the seas

[asquared17]

21 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

But we.....meaning my brother, mother and I.....will be lucky enough to sail with @asquared17 and J on the Celebrity Ascent in 2025

AND WHAT A WILD LIVE BLOGGING TIME IT WILL BE!!!!!!

no one is ready for this!!!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

25 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Nothing like a sun rise on a cruise ship . It's like 30 degrees in Chicago

I couldn't imagine eating dinner at 5pm but I probably would to avoid the MDR

But we.....meaning my brother, mother and I.....will be lucky enough to sail with @asquared17 and J on the Celebrity Ascent in 2025. I am excited to finally sail with them but also try a fully smoke free casino

OMG!  That is one blog everyone one of us will be strapped in our seats to read and envision all the “mishaps” along the way!  I already marked my calendar so you need to figure out how to blog about it here on the Royal Blogs!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

2 hours ago, asquared17 said:

good morning from nassau!!

 

 

Is that a turtle towel clip?  I love it….

[asquared17]

26 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Is that a turtle towel clip?  I love it….

yes!!!

and toucans!! 

O2COOL Bocaclips - https://a.co/d/bSWU2lj

turtles - i can’t find them single right now - they sell in CVS for more

O2COOL Bocaclips - (Clown Fish/Turtle) 4 Count https://a.co/d/iRP8tFW

[ScottD]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I couldn't imagine eating dinner at 5pm but I probably would to avoid the MDR

 

We had the 5pm MDR time last time around and it was way too early. That is one of the reasons I never tried Port Side, I rarely had lunch because by the time we had breakfast and maybe a snack, I didn't want to fill up before dinner since it was so damn early...and on port days it was get on and run right to dinner. It was too much rushing for me!  I actually just noticed the other day that our TA put us in for the 515 dinner on Liberty and I just had it changed to the later time. Actually excited to have dinner at 730 instead! 

[SweetPea]

3 hours ago, asquared17 said:

AND WHAT A WILD LIVE BLOGGING TIME IT WILL BE!!!!!!

no one is ready for this!!!

What, what?! Am i the only one feeling left out here? I mean did @Ampurp85 and @asquared17 clear this with anyone else?

HMMPH. I guess i know where i stand!

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

What, what?! Am i the only one feeling left out here? I mean did @Ampurp85 and @asquared17 clear this with anyone else?

HMMPH. I guess i know where i stand!

You are totally invited. No one knew, we just happened to be looking at the same sailing and then poof, we were ecstatic to be booked on the same one.

I believe @asquared17 is doing Aquaclass and we are doing Concierge. Get whatever type of room and join us, even the interiors are nice and large. 

[SweetPea]

45 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

You are totally invited. No one knew, we just happened to be looking at the same sailing and then poof, we were ecstatic to be booked on the same one.

I believe @asquared17 is doing Aquaclass and we are doing Concierge. Get whatever type of room and join us, even the interiors are nice and large. 

I would love to, and I'm sure everyone here would love it too! Our cruise dance card is full for 2025 already though. Please give me a 24 month bogey next time. Thank you!

 

If you push it to 2026, we're in. 

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I mean did @Ampurp85 and @asquared17 clear this with anyone else?

we actually didn’t even clear it with each other!  

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Get whatever type of room and join us, even the interiors are nice and large. 

yeah, let’s go, gang!!! fun times for all!!!

 

guys i’m fading fast and the weather was only so-so today. so while they may give me my vintage card early… i am glad we have the 5pm dining slot tonite

 

[Ampurp85]

I like the dress. It looks comfy but that CK menu........a roasted chicken leg as an app????? It sounds delicious.

[Neesa]

Love the dress, couldn't J even put her foot in the mirror? LOL, joking aside loving all the ducks (great job) and the trip so far. Enjoy your meal....oh how I wish I could run away for a week and join you on that celebrity sailing. 

And by you I mean @Ampurp85 & @asquared17 oh what an amazing trip that will be!!

[SweetPea]

Just looked at the Edge Villa lol.  If we retire next year, we could sneak in a trip to see SIL & BIL who live in FLL. What date were you looking at @Ampurp85 & @asquared17?

[asquared17]

35 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

What date were you looking at @Ampurp85 & @asquared17?

february 2-9 2025!!!!!!

LETS GOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

It looks comfy but that CK menu........a roasted chicken leg as an app????? It sounds delicious.

the dress was so comfortable that i am actually hanging it back up and holding it in reserve in case i need to wear it another night. 

we were back in the room by 7:15 and it only took us that long because we had diverted to guest services for a few things. 

also i wish i had paid more attention to the chicken leg! J said she thought it sounded good too. 

2 hours ago, Neesa said:

Love the dress, couldn't J even put her foot in the mirror?

actually if you look closely, those are her little fuzzy green slippers in the pic!!

2 hours ago, Neesa said:

loving all the ducks (great job) and the trip so far. Enjoy your meal....oh how I wish I could run away for a week and join you on that celebrity sailing. 

And by you I mean @Ampurp85 & @asquared17 oh what an amazing trip that will be!!

wish you were coming with us too!! we got a great rate, would love to see more friends aboard

we FORGOT ducks tonight!!!! augh. 

actually J had to re-home a duck dropping because it was so far out of sight that no one would have found it. i got all excited because it was a mini duck but it turns out it was a barrette? never seen before!! 

 

 

okay, back tracking a bit — dinner at CK was lovely. we had an interesting…. encounter with the suite concierge yesterday at embarkation and today again as he made the rounds at dinner. basically we’re peasants in a JS and he had no time for us the shade was real. 

in any case, we had a phenomenal dinner!

i had the caesar salad (coolest caesar i’ve ever seen!) 

 

and the lobster appetizer is my favorite, so i got it as my main course and they doubled the portion

it just has the best flavors ever; the vanilla butter, pineapple, artichoke palm hearts and lobster are all so delightful when eaten together.

 

J had the lobster salad as her app and the rib eye as her main. (i have no pics of this, i am sorry!) they also brought her a second lobster app because she also loves it

i am not a big dessert person; i would always rather have more bread or pasta or something like that — but J loves a dessert, so she got the marscapone cheesecake, which was in little sphere shapes and came with raspberry sorbet. i do like raspberry sorbet though, and this was kind of like a sorbet/ice cream mix. our server was so delighted that he brought me dish of the sorbet and i ate it all

from there, we wandered down one flight to the jammer to scope out desserts. it was your usual fare; the crepe station looked intriguing, but it was sharing space with the burgers and dogs, so i was a bit turned off. also i didn’t feel like waiting in line so we turned around and headed for guest services. 

our guest services experience was due to the fact that the fridge — which i know is not a “real fridge” — is not cold. not even a little. we had asked our cabin attendant about it and he had gotten his supervisor and maintenance on it but given that we’ve just gotten off harmony and symphony and been able to pull out water bottles and cold brew that was VISIBLY cooler, this was not acceptable. 

finally i just asked for a medical fridge, because it seemed like they wouldn’t be able to just pop a new fridge in there (which really seems like the best/easiest course of action). 

well friends, we got our medical fridge. 

and i can confirm — that shiz is cold!!

 

we made tea at cafe promenade before swinging around to get popcorn from deck 4 — best $2.95 i ever spent, the smell of popcorn has haunted me on these ships for too many nights!!!! — and headed up to giovanni’s to use my last two diamond vouchers of the day for acqua panna bottles. 

the gentleman at giovanni’s seemed a bit perplexed by the request. i offered up my card and explained the diamond vouchers but i’m not sure if they will be used or if he’s just going to charge it to the room (which he asked me for before we left). time will tell. 

on our way out from gio’s, we saw the stowaway piano player!!!!!

forgive the blurriness of this shot — i was trying to hard to capture it and they were BOOKING IT across central park. 

last but not least, the tiniest little friend you ever saw!!!

i love him

time to read books and settle in for the night. 

ps: we did not make our aqua show reservation

pps: while there is no peppermint tea to be found in cafe promenade — J scored a bag or two in the jammer at lunch, and i grabbed two from the crown lounge this morning. it is a delightful blend! 

[MaryS]

2 hours ago, asquared17 said:

 

 

 

Only 48 days till I board the Ascent.

[asquared17]

1 minute ago, MaryS said:

Only 48 days till I board the Ascent.

i cannot WAIT to hear all about it!!

she looks BEAUTIFUL. we were staring at her when we came back from the sun deck a little early today around 3pm and getting excited for our trip!!

[Ampurp85]

That Caesar salad looks bananas. I eat salad with no dressing, was the dressing inside????

I have only had CK during the beginning of the restart, so I am now more intrigued by the menu, since the new MDR one's leave a lot to be desired. 

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

So, @asquared17, any idea what you guys are doing tomorrow ?  It’s COLD out tonite so I don’t know what the weather is going to be like at PDCC tomorrow.  I heard it rained there today.

I assume you guys have Beach Club reservations.  I don’t want to slow you down in the AM as getting there early is key.  Maybe we can meet up in the afternoon when coming back to the ship ?

[asquared17]

30 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

That Caesar salad looks bananas. I eat salad with no dressing, was the dressing inside????

it was on the side (out of view) — i am an extremely light dressing person so i always request on the side!

31 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I have only had CK during the beginning of the restart, so I am now more intrigued by the menu, since the new MDR one's leave a lot to be desired. 

it’s a trade off; sometimes CK has the better menu (MOST times let’s be real) and sometimes the MDR.  we are MDR tomorrow but that’s because we were not wanting a 5pm dinner slot and also we were not impressed with the CK options. 

16 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

any idea what you guys are doing tomorrow ?  It’s COLD out tonite so I don’t know what the weather is going to be like at PDCC tomorrow.  I heard it rained there today.

omg. i was just about to DM you!!

it rained?! we were supposed to get rain today in nassau but it held off. got windy and cold at times, though. 

17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I assume you guys have Beach Club reservations.  I don’t want to slow you down in the AM as getting there early is key.  Maybe we can meet up in the afternoon when coming back to the ship

yes! we are going to hoof it straight there tomorrow as soon as we can. typically weather permitting we tend to linger until the place shuts down i will DM you

[asquared17]

we beat freedom into port! 

hopefully if i time it right, i can get a timelapse of raye and dan coming in!!

initially ran up to the solarium for photos and there was another man on the observation deck at the time. 

 

man: looks like we beat that other ship 

me: oh that’s freedom, they’re coming in with us today. 

man: we still beat them. it’s better 

me: …freedom is not too big, so it shouldn't really be that crowded, and i have friends on that ship, so. it will be nice to have them in port. 

man: what are you going to do, meet up with them??

me: that’s…. the plan.

man: well anyway.

 

people are strange

[asquared17]

well if all else fails, @WAAAYTOOO and i can wave to each other from the pool decks!

[WAAAYTOOO]

Cloudy, cold and windy.  Not a good combination for PDCC.  Hoping things get better.  Brakfast, then we’ll decide what to do.

[asquared17]

we are just gathering the last of ourselves together now and will be attempting to hoof it to the beach club. i think we’ll probably make an early lunch reservation so that if the weather does turn for the worse, we will at least not feel like we forfeit our meal. 

i am hopeful for a few hours at least. just of peace.

[asquared17]

we maaaaade it!!

 

[ScottD]

Looks like the sun is starting to shine... at least a little! Hope both of you can enjoy it for a bit (and meet up!) 

[Ampurp85]

Those sand imprints are killing me

[asquared17]

47 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Those sand imprints are killing me

i am pretty sure some of them are mine

1 hour ago, ScottD said:

Looks like the sun is starting to shine... at least a little! Hope both of you can enjoy it for a bit (and meet up!) 

yes!! thank you!! 

i don’t know that we will make it the full day here so that might align perfectly for the meet up

[asquared17]

we are nearly finished with lunch! 

J ordered the burger, and i got a caesar salad with chilled shrimp on top and truffle fries. 

seconds after my fries were delivered, the MEANEST looking rooster with a red fan on his head like a roman empire soldier, came marching by the table. he was BOLD. 

i looked at J and said, “i’m just waiting for him to fly up and dive bomb my fries.”

no sooner did the words fly out of my mouth, and BLAMMO!

HE DIVEBOMBED MY FRIES!!!!!!

i will admit to screeching in shock. he was large and he was on our table!!!!! 

J shooed him away and i sipped my mimosa to calm down. 

(it’s working.)

[asquared17]

we are back on board! 

it’s been overcast all day; not as bad on the beach club side of the island as it was on the side where the ships are docked. i will tell you i am glad we are on this behemoth of a ship based on the waves we are seeing right now

after lunch we tried to take naps but i kept worrying the rain would start

i got a sense of foreboding around 1:30 and we made a break for it back to the ship. felt raindrops on our way, too, so i suspect we made it back just in time!!

perhaps @WAAAYTOOO and J and I will wave from the pool deck or something

also ps: @Neesa that is J in the bright coral coverup and purple beach bag. 

[asquared17]

also in true @Ampurp85 fashion, the people shenanigans have reached new and unsalable heights as our neighbors are… LOUDLY… getting busy…. as we sit quietly and otherwise unsuspecting, on our balcony. 

never before has a thin metal barrier seemed so flimsy and vital at the same time

[Neesa]

Humph....finally! Sure took you long enough! Finally, a J sighting! Thank you and J for the proof! 

Seriously though, it's freezing here as well. I broke out my boots today, this cold is not fun. I hope the weather gets better for the remainder of the trip. 

BTW I love the colors on J. The brightest spot at PDCC today!

[WAAAYTOOO]

So happy that I got a few minutes to chat with A and J.  They are such sweeties.  I enjoyed seeing them so much.  I can confirm that J IS on this trip.  

[asquared17]

we just saw raye!! 

highlight of our trip!!

on our way back, we were queued on the metal ramp to go back into the ship. the waves have been absolutely wild. (remember this)

there was a mom with a double stroller so we let her go ahead of us and since we were taking the forward gangway, the line is a single process and was moving quite slow. 

suddenly, the waves dropped very low, it got eerily quiet, and then —

TIDAL WAVE. 

J and i got DRENCHED. 

we look like drowned rats. 

it was like we’d jumped into the pool or the ocean!!!!

i stood there, dripping literal buckets, and laughing — because what else were we going to do??

still worth it though to see raye

[asquared17]

we are heading off to sleep — it’s true, we may not be able to hang with batman and @SweetPea  — but a brief recap;

stopped by vintages to see our main guy, roman, for champagne. J wanted sangria, so we only got one champagne for me and then doubled back later for a second. 

we visited to schooner bar to get her sangria and the bartender offered to hide my last duck for the night on a statue between the liquor bottles. it was actually a great place. she said when people noticed it, she would give to them. but on our way out, she let us know that she gave it to a tiny small in a stroller, which was perfect!

i also had a duck with drumsticks, which i put on the music equipment in central park for someone to find

also we made a pit stop at sorrentos and each got a fresh slice of plain pizza!! YUM.

dinner was our first night in the MDR, and the menu didn’t exactly thrill me — but it was better than CK, if you can believe it

since i’d already had shrimp AND a caesar, i elected not to go for round two of the same; instead i chose the corn cakes (kept expecting them to be crab cakes??) and spaghetti marinara. 

as any good italian, i eat pasta at least once or twice a week. i haven’t had it for several days by now and i swear to you, my body nearly wept with joy upon eating!! give me PASTA!! 

we both got the tres leches for dessert. 

J loved hers and i was underwhelmed.  (but again, i am not really a dessert person so you can’t go by me.)

we then wandered to the windjammer to inspect possible dessert offerings. they had churros, which seemed very promising, but the crowding was no joke and i did not feel up to waiting for the line to disperse. 

we made mint tea (which is now suspiciously missing from the jammer) and headed back to the room at the ripe old hour of 8:15pm. 

at one point just before dinner, we ran into our boarding friends (we’d met a super nice couple - amy and phil, i think?? - at boarding when it was still no man’s land and there were no signs set up in the port. we now see them all over and it’s delightful) in the shops. they told us about a real SCENE where some woman was grinding on every available (and unavailable) male in the oasis pool for over two hours. 

evidently it was wild. 

and for this i must say two things:

1) i swear to you, i cannot figure out the demographic on this cruise for the LIFE of me. it’s so scattered that it defies logic. 

2) if this was happening at the family oriented oasis lagoon pool, what on earth will transpire at hideaway beach?!?!?!

 

and that, my friends, is the note that i will leave you on.

 

[Ampurp85]

So wait, you just asked for spaghetti with marinara? On Mexican night???? I kid.

I am glad that J seems to sort of love everything she orders.

I don't judge that you are ready and done before 9pm. This is your vacation, enjoy. 

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, asquared17 said:

we are heading off to sleep — it’s true, we may not be able to hang with batman and @SweetPea 

Haha, by my estimation, should we sail together one day, we'll see each other from about 1pm to 4pn, when we're out and about and you leave to get ready for dinner.

I've been waiting for you and J to pop into the pub to see if our buddy Jackson is there. But i forgot whose blog i was following!

And nice pawning off the duck hiding! I suckered 3 kids in the Haven into hiding the 7 ducks that i found on my closet floor that didn't make their way to @Neesa .

Enjoying your MDR reviews.

 

[ScottD]

That Tres Leches looks good..and like I could eat about 4 of them, lol.   

Also, we had a woman I kept seeing at the casino at the end of each night, and after night three I realized she was hanging on a different guy, sometimes more than one, every time I saw her. The bartender told me she came down on night one and told him she came with her boyfriend, and they broke up as soon as they boarded, so he just sits in the room drinking all day long and she was going to see how many rooms she could stay in without having to return to hers.  These ships get wild!  

[Jamesszy94]

On 12/12/2023 at 9:22 AM, asquared17 said:

we actually didn’t even clear it with each other!  

yeah, let’s go, gang!!! fun times for all!!!

 

guys i’m fading fast and the weather was only so-so today. so while they may give me my vintage card early… i am glad we have the 5pm dining slot tonite

 

That menu looks so good!! And I love your dress!

Glad you're having fun!! So jealous

[Sweety]

On 12/11/2023 at 4:22 PM, asquared17 said:

we actually didn’t even clear it with each other!  

yeah, let’s go, gang!!! fun times for all!!!

 

guys i’m fading fast and the weather was only so-so today. so while they may give me my vintage card early… i am glad we have the 5pm dining slot tonite

 

I have a dress like this. I brought ever color they had: red, blue, purple, green and black. Cruise colors.

[asquared17]

9 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

So wait, you just asked for spaghetti with marinara? On Mexican night???? I kid.

I am glad that J seems to sort of love everything she orders.

yeah i wanted the safe bet and nothing else really appealed to me on the menu

J is definitely more adventurous and willing to try things. the few times i have gotten fish, i have been disappointed every time, but hers has been fine. i tend to go for chicken, carbs, veggies and certain shellfish. 

8 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Haha, by my estimation, should we sail together one day, we'll see each other from about 1pm to 4pn, when we're out and about and you leave to get ready for dinner.

well as long as we HAVE an overlap that’s all that matters!!!

we actually passed your pub a few times! alas we did not go in. 

we made friends with roman in vintages instead i tried to make you proud

4 hours ago, ScottD said:

we had a woman I kept seeing at the casino at the end of each night, and after night three I realized she was hanging on a different guy, sometimes more than one, every time I saw her. The bartender told me she came down on night one and told him she came with her boyfriend, and they broke up as soon as they boarded, so he just sits in the room drinking all day long and she was going to see how many rooms she could stay in without having to return to hers.  These ships get wild!  

OMG. this is an @Ampurp85 kind of story!!!!

i think if we stayed in one place long enough to observe, we would see this kind of behavior more. but we so often operate in our own little bubble that we are oblivious and i can’t say i’m too broken up by it, after hearing some of these wild tales!!!!

3 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

And I love your dress!

Glad you're having fun!! So jealous

thank you!!! it is one of my favorites!! 

(i just realized i forgot to take a pic of last night’s black dress. oh well!)

1 hour ago, Sweety said:

I have a dress like this. I brought ever color they had: red, blue, purple, green and black. Cruise colors.

YES!! grab in all the colors! go with that you love and feel best in!!