Live: Back to Back Big Ones: Oasis and Ascent, Jan 14-21 & Jan 21-28

[She Sails Away]

Hi, all!

Been lurking but not posting. Now that the dust is settling from a very busy November and December, I'm starting to realize I'm going on TWO magnificent cruises on BIG ships very soon. I'm sailing Oasis of the Seas out of Miami next Sunday, and when that's over, I'll be disembarking, scooting over to Fort Lauderdale, and boarding the Celebrity Ascent that same day.
 

Although I've been on the Allure many times and I've been on Symphony, I've never been on Oasis. Super excited. Traveling solo and I have a balcony room overlooking central Park. That will be a first for me as well! 
 

Another first will be sailing with Celebrity! Very interested in trying out the X brand! I have a solo cabin on the Ascent with an "infinite veranda" so I'm very interested in what that looks like. It was quite the bargain and I booked this cruise almost a year ago.

 

Am I allowed to cover my Celebrity cruise here? If so, I will, if not, I will take you all along with me on Oasis and then we'll wrap it up.

 

Here's our itinerararies:

 

OASIS: Sunday, Jan. 14

1. Miami departure 

2. Nassau

3. Coco Cay

4. Sea Day

5. Labadee

6. Falmouth, Jamaica

7. Sea Day

 

ASCENT: Jan. 21

1. Ft. Lauderdale departure

2. Nassau

3. Sea Day

4. Cozumel

5. Sea Day

6. George Town, Grand Cayman

7. Sea Day

 

Really looking forward to the fun. If anyone wants any specific info on either ship, I will recon.

 

Another first: I bought "The Key" for Oasis, so I will check out embarkation day perks and that Choppes Grill lunch on boarding day. 
 

Quick share: Last May, I picked up norovirus on the Disney Dream. HOLY SMOKES. Never ever never again, please please please.

 

In September, I got Covid (third time), on Princess in Alaska.

 

Should I just give up on cruising? Have I no immune system? And let me tell you, no one on those ships washed their hands more than I did. 
 

So. We will see.

 

Also: This is interesting: I discovered that Oasis is a group cruise for 800 people that play "Dice Tower." They have the Windjammer reserved for after dinners and you need a badge to join them.

 

Really hoping you guys will follow along because I am genuinely excited to be back on the oasis class ships, without a doubt my favorite class of ships out there. Symphony last spring was magnificent, I went with my son to the Mediterranean. Looking forward to the whole week!

Lots of photos to come!  

[LandstromCruise]

Enjoy!  Oasis is a great ship!!!  The aqua show is the best!  

[asquared17]

yessssssss a central park balcony!!!! oasis!!! we love that itinerary! four stops!!

also i am dying to see your solo room on the ascent!!! we are on her next february

[asquared17]

34 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

The aqua show is the best!  

aqua 80 is for SURE the best aqua show and i will accept no other opinions at this time

[She Sails Away]

5 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

aqua 80 is for SURE the best aqua show and i will accept no other opinions at this time

Oooh can't wait! Hiro on Symphony was pretty amazing---when did they get a lady that flies all over the audience and twirls in mid-air? 
 

Aqua show and ice skating shows are my favorite!

[Ampurp85]

You beat me by one day, I start my S2S2S on the 15th with Mariner, but I am doing Symphony then the Ascent next year.

I am on the same Ascent sailing as @asquared17, so I am looking forward to hearing more about it. I also have a room with that weird infinite veranda thing.

I did Oasis last year around this time and I agree Aqua80s is the best show. I know you are solo but try Portside, I was worried about ship BBQ but it was really good. 

[She Sails Away]

5 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

You beat me by one day, I start my S2S2S on the 15th with Mariner, but I am doing Symphony then the Ascent next year.

I am on the same Ascent sailing as @asquared17, so I am looking forward to hearing more about it. I also have a room with that weird infinite veranda thing.

I did Oasis last year around this time and I agree Aqua80s is the best show. I know you are solo but try Portside, I was worried about ship BBQ but it was really good. 

Oh, good tip! I will check it out!

 

Symphony was gorgeous! Really interested in Ascent. There will be many photos.

 

 

[Sweety]

I will read your blog with joy. Please blog both ships.

[WAAAYTOOO]

@She Sails Away - is this Marcie ?

[She Sails Away]

No. I am Kelly. 

[JohnK6404]

We loved Oasis! Have an amazing time! 

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, She Sails Away said:

No. I am Kelly. 

Thanks !

[MaryS]

I will be getting on the Ascent on January 28th (when you get off) and can't wait to hear about your experience on her.  I'm also travelling solo and I booked  a panoramic ocean view cabin on deck 6.  Looked into the Solo infinite veranda but there weren't any available.  Have a great trip!  

[asquared17]

12 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am on the same Ascent sailing as @asquared17, so I am looking forward to hearing more about it. I also have a room with that weird infinite veranda thing.

same re: the infinite veranda. i know it is a mixed bag of reviews but we are determined to make the best of it (hopefully). looking forward to hearing what you think about it!!

12 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

try Portside, I was worried about ship BBQ but it was really good.

YES definitely try portside!! it's usually our first night dinner stop, to bypass the crowds and the chaos

 

i'm so jazzed for this s2s!!

[Lovetocruise2002]

This is my dream for July 2024! A Royal Caribbean cruise followed right after by Celebrity! I am still working on Hubby for part 2 of that S2S.

[SMOKEY0202]

Dreams do come true so surely Sabrina will have her wish granted from the cruise genie

As rates continue to increase across the board with cuts in services and now even more than normal for Solo travelers that has been rambling across the Internet, it definitely could change ways in cruising or even with which cruise lines some of us sail.

Fact is we are all always sailing by reading everyone's Live Blog and that is rewarding for each person to take the time on their cruise to bring us all along in for their venture.

One big family...

 

 

[She Sails Away]

Well, I have booked my only port excursion. It's on the Celebrity cruise, in Grand Cayman. I am going to toddle around waist-deep with a bunch of stingrays. This is "Stingray City," and according to my research, this is one of THE excursions that's a must-do.

 

I did something similar about 15 years ago with my son. It was a little creepy, but kind of fascinating, too. So I will give it a try. These are free-range stingrays that come and go at will. (When I did it, we were on Disney's island, and the rays were de-barbed and fenced in.)

 

It sounds like it could be fun. I will bring the gopro and put it underwater for some fun footage.

 

It also sounds potentially like we may be hundreds and hundreds of people, all converging on the rays at once. I mean, if this is a star attraction and there are multiple ships in port, that could happen.

 

Afterwards is lunch and then a return to the port. I think there's shopping at port, so I may come back with some rum cakes!

 

Jamaica is at a level three warning advisory from the US travel board, with lots of warnings about serious crimes. I saw some bloggers recently comment that they were harassed by drug dealers in Port when they got out to walk around. So I'm not planning to get off the Ascent in Jamaica.

 

in Cozumel, I plan to get off the ship mostly for photo opportunities looking back at the ship itself, and maybe a quick walk around those shops close to the pier. I will of course be off the ship at CocoCay and Labadee.

 

In Grand Cayman, I also looked at bus tours but goodness sakes I don't like bus tours. I mean, unless we're in a spread out foreign country and it's the most practical way to see things. I also looked at the turtle farm but recent reviews on TripAdvisor say it's basically a depressing meat farm with turtles in less than ideal conditions. so… No thanks. 

 

Has anyone done Stingray City? Any words of advice?

 

I am taking both of these cruises for the ships, not the ports, so my plan all along has been to mostly stay on board.

 

I am getting super excited. Today I started making my packing list and all of the many things I need to do before I leave on Saturday for my flight out to Miami. It's getting real! Another necessary but unpleasant chore: I tried on my swimsuit. I haven't worn it since last January when I went on Enchantment. It still fits so I'm calling that a win!

[asquared17]

42 minutes ago, She Sails Away said:

Has anyone done Stingray City? Any words of advice?

okay so we did stingray city years ago (pre covid) and while i don’t remember much about the ride from the port to the eventual place where we set sail and then dropped anchor, i can tell you, there were a LOT of stingrays!!!!

keep your feet flat on the sand and drag them across the seafloor, like a shuffle. don’t pick them up and walk like you normally do. this is to prevent you from accidentally stepping on a stingray

stay calm and enjoy the curious friends i believe they told me to pucker up and hold my arms out and a stingray may have swum right in for some

[She Sails Away]

Yikes. Well. I can do this. I shall do this.

 

But maybe I need to buy water shoes?

[asquared17]

you definitely can if you want to!!

i don’t recall our group having them, and no one got stung either, but you should do what you feel comfortable with.

i felt like it was one of those, respect the rules of the person whose house you are in, sort of things. don’t startle the stingrays and they won’t startle you

[She Sails Away]

Well, here's something interesting. There's been an explosion of YouTube news this weekend about how celebrity has decided it's going to gouge and penalize solo cruisers from here on out. Instead of simply charging a solo cruiser the double supplement fee for a cabin as if they were two people, they will not only charge them as if they were two people but several hundred dollars on top of that as well. So a couple paying for a balcony room will pay several hundred dollars less than a solo cruiser paying for the exact same balcony room on the exact same cruise.

 

I listened to some YouTube videos about this this evening, and then I went over to Celebrity and did a mock booking for a Caribbean cruise in April on the Ascent.
 

If I book an interior room as a couple I am charged $2300. If I book that same room on that same cruise as a solo traveler I am charged over $3000. Wow.

 

I have never sailed with Celebrity before, and this is making a super bad impression before I even get on ship. I don't see how this is OK, I mean I guess it's legal, but is it OK? To slap a special fee onto a solo traveler?

 

I get it that they're trying to chase solo's away so their cabins can be filled with multiple people who will go blow money in the casino and buy the drink package and so forth and so on. But this seems awfully extreme. A several hundred dollar difference. Wow.

 

A few weeks ago, I booked a solo cabin on Celebrity Xcel in 2025, and I got the same decent rate that I got for this Ascent trip. And I have a hold on a cruise to Iceland with Celebrity this summer. Not sure I'll keep either reservations. Guess I'll wait to see how this shakes out. 
 

 

[Ampurp85]

Re: Solo pricing

I noticed this in in November. I booked the Ascent with my brother. But in late November my mother wanted to come. A solo cabin for her was $800 more than what it was costing for the two of us. I booked a concierge cabin for 3 and it was only $554 more than her solo. I normally travel solo, so I was hoping Celebrity would have better pricing, but it looks like I might be sticking with Royal as I am closer to getting the 340 single supplement. 

[She Sails Away]

3 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Re: Solo pricing

I noticed this in in November. I booked the Ascent with my brother. But in late November my mother wanted to come. A solo cabin for her was $800 more than what it was costing for the two of us. I booked a concierge cabin for 3 and it was only $554 more than her solo. I normally travel solo, so I was hoping Celebrity would have better pricing, but it looks like I might be sticking with Royal as I am closer to getting the 340 single supplement. 

Absolutely.

 

I get having to pay the same as two people. But several hundred dollars more? No thanks.

 

Guess I should be glad I snagged that solo on Xcel, but honestly I am not sure I am going to want it if this is how things remain.

 

 

[LandstromCruise]

Why would anyone book it as a solo then?  Just book a 2nd person and have them no show. Or are they figuring out a way around that as well?  

[She Sails Away]

35 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

Why would anyone book it as a solo then?  Just book a 2nd person and have them no show. Or are they figuring out a way around that as well?  

Well that was the question on the video I saw. A travel agent (Let's Go Travel Tips) advised the same thing. That led to speculation that cruise lines might catch on to a surge of no-shows, and implement a fee to keep that from happening.

 

But that's just speculation. Agreed...for now, best way around is to do what you describe.

[SMOKEY0202]

Solo cruising has been a HOT topic this last week.  I have sailed Celebrity many times solo and now with this new philosophy of charging excessively is really churning with many people across the board because of their excuse saying it's supplement fee for what 2 people would spend onboard.

Even did a mock booking with Royal as solo and rate was at least $475 higher than double occupancy.

It's really disappointing to say the least because it's putting a stigma against Solo travelers.  I know Facebook has blown up to CEO of both Celebrity and Royal over this craziness.

Reality is what gets spent on a cruise solo or as couple in a stateroom goes both ways.  Some people don't spend an extra dime once onboard nor tip any crew members so how their realization is losing money from solo traveling alone makes no sense.

It's gonna make people look at other cruise lines who welcome Solo travelers 

I can't wait til board Celebrity in few weeks to speak to concierge about it and hear their response.

[She Sails Away]

Well said. And that's the word. Stigma. Like it's a burden on them to welcome us solo travelers so they're discouraging us before we even get there.

 

well I'm going to try to put that behind me since I'm already booked. Since I'm cruising in two weeks for the first time with Celebrity, I hope I love it and have the best vacation ever. On the other hand, if I don't love it, it makes it that much easier to leave celebrity behind and go to different cruise lines who are a little more solo friendly. 

[LandstromCruise]

If any of you solo travelers ever need to drag someone along to help reduce the cost I’m happy to tag along. Heck I don’t even need to sleep in the room. Cruise on an oasis class and I can just sleep in Central Park on a bench. Make it seem even more like a real park with a homeless guy camping out

[She Sails Away]

Two weeks worth of cruising draws ever closer. Can this really be happening?

 

Is it terrible that I am more reluctant to leave my cat than my husband? To be clear, I will most definitely miss my husband and we will text and FaceTime every day.  But I mean, my husband will be 100% fine without me. Bodie, not so much.

 

I booked these trips so long ago, I just kind of forgot about them. Now that it's all getting real, I am ready.

 

One thing standing out for me is how many fun firsts will happen on these cruises. Here they are:

 

First Time:

 

-On Oasis

-Sailing with Celebrity 

-Doing a same day back-to-back in different ports

-using "The Key" 

-having a Central Park balcony

-having a solo cabin (on Ascent)

-experiencing an "infinite veranda"

-buying an actual (non-alcoholic) drink package

-visiting Grand Cayman

-seeing Nassau since the port was finished (I remember it as piles of rubble and miles of torn fencing)

-porting in Jamaica

-doing a "behind the scenes" ship tour (on Ascent)

-cruising in 2024

 

 

Very much looking forward to all of it!  If anyone has any words of advice on any of those things, it would be welcome. 

 

 

 

[Ampurp85]

Love the cat, he/she is absolutely adorable.

I just realized that what you are doing is not really a back-to-back, you are doing a line to line, which is on my bucket list, and I will hope to achieve in 2025. Actually, you are hitting the trifecta in you are side to side (two sailings on different ships in a short period), line to line (from Royal to Celebrity) and port to port (port of Miami to port Everglades).

I don't know if you sailed port Everglades before but do allow a little extra time because they do security checks. Your transportation will have to provide documentation, open the trunk and they usually ask for your ID/passport before they let you through. It's also about 35-45 minutes either way when traveling between the ports but traffic/events can make it longer.

[She Sails Away]

Great advice, thanks! It's been a while but now I do remember having to stop the car and having them search the trunk and everybody had to show ID and so forth and so on. I expect that change from Miami to Fort Lauderdale to be cumbersome but I have high hopes I can transfer and get it all done within two hours. It will be interesting for sure.
 

I like the way you laid that out for me, I had no idea I was accomplishing so much! I just kind of randomly put this together and now I'm so glad I did.

[Lovetocruise2002]

9 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I just realized that what you are doing is not really a back-to-back, you are doing a line to line, which is on my bucket list, and I will hope to achieve in 2025. Actually, you are hitting the trifecta in you are side to side (two sailings on different ships in a short period), line to line (from Royal to Celebrity) and port to port (port of Miami to port Everglades).

That was my first post in this blog! @She Sails Away is doing what I have been bugging Hubby to do since @AshleyDillo sailed Apex. For this coming July (2024), I really want to do a S2S/line to line/port to port, except if we did ours, it would be a bit more challenging as we would have to get from Port Canaveral to Port Everglades on a Friday morning  Hubby has not agreed yet, but he also has not said no lol

[LandstromCruise]

20 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 Hubby has not agreed yet, but he also has not said no lol

Well that sounds like permission to me 

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That was my first post in this blog! @She Sails Away is doing what I have been bugging Hubby to do since @AshleyDillo sailed Apex. For this coming July (2024), I really want to do a S2S/line to line/port to port, except if we did ours, it would be a bit more challenging as we would have to get from Port Canaveral to Port Everglades on a Friday morning  Hubby has not agreed yet, but he also has not said no lol

Tell him how cool it will be to cross it off your list 

I am doing Symphony out of Miami and then the Ascent out of FLL in 2025. Luckily, they are both Sun sailings, so hopefully traffic won't be too bad. But I tend to fly into FLL over Miami, so I know it's not a bad commute.......unless there is a marathon. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That was my first post in this blog! @She Sails Away is doing what I have been bugging Hubby to do since @AshleyDillo sailed Apex. For this coming July (2024), I really want to do a S2S/line to line/port to port, except if we did ours, it would be a bit more challenging as we would have to get from Port Canaveral to Port Everglades on a Friday morning  Hubby has not agreed yet, but he also has not said no lol

If we can get from Miami to Tampa for a same-day S2S, you can DEFINITELY get from PC to PE !  It was not nearly as much stress as I thought it would be but I do realize that you would not have a car waiting for you in the terminal parking lot.  That would add a bit of complication.

[AshleyDillo]

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

it would be a bit more challenging as we would have to get from Port Canaveral to Port Everglades on a Friday morning 

I have done Miami to Port Canaveral for a side to side. If you get a rental car it can be done pretty easily

[Lovetocruise2002]

57 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I have done Miami to Port Canaveral for a side to side. If you get a rental car it can be done pretty easily

That is my plan! The car is already rented. The cruise has not been booked 

[She Sails Away]

Did something happen in Jamaica today? Or maybe specifically at Dunns River Falls?

 

We are five days out. And in my cruise Facebook group, a flurry of people were notified tonight that their various port excursions in Falmouth have been cancelled. They were all different, but many were Dunn's River Falls. 
 

One person was told her excursion was "sold out," even though she booked it in July for her whole family. 

Everyone canceled had a ship-booked excursion, not an independent one. 

[She Sails Away]

OK the general consensus in the cruise Facebook group is that so many port excursions were canceled because our time in port has been reduced a little bit, and the excursions that were canceled were ones that were six hours or so and would not have put everybody back to the ship on time. we are in Port from 10 to 330 
 

Today for the first time, all the day-to-day activities became visible on the app. You can't add them to your calendar yet, but you can browse through them. I am remembering how much I enjoy these active, nonstop busy oasis class ships. I have been heavily focused on destination cruising in 2023, this is going to be so much fun to return to the resort style of cruising and fun atmosphere. 
 

not to say that I'm going to do all those activities, there's going to be plenty of laying around by the pool. But it's so fun to have so many options.

[She Sails Away]

The winter weather is ruining plans for some people in my cruise Facebook group.

 

Some of those contending with storms have had flights cancelled. Some were flying out today, some tomorrow. 
 

I am flying out tomorrow from Atlanta, so if we survive driving through the city, I should be good to go.

 

I used packing cubes for the first time today. What's everyone's stance on packing cubes? I feel like in the long run, they took up more space than if I rolled my clothes. But I do like the separation of things.

 

I can't believe I am going two weeks without cooking, washing things, deciding on dinner, cleaning litter boxes or driving a car. And to wear shorts for two weeks sounds wonderful right about now!

 

But oh, the sad eyes when the suitcase came out!