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

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Elsa is in my head singing Let It Go!   You are spot on!  Everyone needs to be able to chill and relax…life promises us nothing but what we make of it!  So why be grouchy?

[asquared17]

3 hours ago, She Sails Away said:

he commented that last week or a few days ago maybe, Icon of the seas and Wonder of the seas docked at Coco Cay on the same day.

no. and in fact, this is my literal nightmare

many 3-ship combo or double oasis/icon combo is just sooooo many humans

also imagine looking out at the bridge near chill island and wonder looking SMALL compared to icon. 

that’ll be a mind trip. 

 

love the pic of your duck in the seat on the tram

and i’m SO glad you had perfect weather today!!! the best

[She Sails Away]

Had a great lounging around the room this afternoon after Coco cay, a massage at the spa, and then I wandered a while and got iced coffee. I just happened to end up in the elevator with the piano guy again! This time I just settled in for a free concert and rode the elevator for 30 minutes.
 

It was fun to see people come in and out. Most people were appropriately surprised and happy to see him. The guy is playing his heart out and he’s fantabulous. He played a huge long Queen medley, and some Elton John and Billy Joel and he’s just so incredible. But what he has to put up with. Some people walked in with trays of half eaten food and just plopped them down on top of his piano so they could fish around in their tote bags for their phone or whatever. A couple of people walked in and looked irritated that he was taking up so much space, sighed,  and put their elbows on his piano and faced the other way.  One guy was too drunk to have any kind of reaction. Others came in, not drunk at all, but had zero reaction as well. As though every day you walk into an elevator, with a piano playing merrily for your entertainment. What is the matter with people. 
 

Dinner at Windjammer. Tonight is dress-up night and I’m not having any of it. I had planned to go to playmakers tonight, but I just wasn’t hungry enough. Windjammer is definitely not the ideal place to eat, though, so many kids walking around, coughing around the food without covering.
 

That reminds me, when we were in the elevator with the piano guy, a lady got in, and was pressed up against his piano, due to the crowd, and was facing him, so she was basically a foot away from this piano guys face, and she just kept coughing and coughing without covering. And he just kept playing with no reaction. I mean, how do you do that. That was actually the deciding factor on what drove me out of the elevator, even though the concert was still going on. Yikes. What a workplace hazard.
 

A quick rest in the room and then I’m headed out for casino and yes, I’m going to watch the Aqua show a third time so don’t judge. Why wouldn’t I? There are no other headliner shows this evening and it sounds like a load of fun. Also, we don’t get any good channels on TV here.   I’m hoping I can make myself go to bed right after, I could use an early night.

 

also, I legitimately thought this was a real seagull.

 

[She Sails Away]

PS, I found the card room today and found it pretty depressing. It's tucked away in a weird corner although it has an amazing view of boardwalk. It was clammy and hot in there at the same time, very small and super silent, and there were two separate parties working two separate jigsaw puzzles on tables on opposite sides of the room. Which was about 10 feet apart. I don't know, it felt like a neglected closet with a million dollar view.

 

and it's two stories, both similarly depressing and reminiscent of a 1970s motel laundromat. Someday they'll take that little space and turn it into a bazillion dollar suite with a terrific view.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

1 hour ago, She Sails Away said:

Windjammer is definitely not the ideal place to eat, though, so many kids walking around, coughing around the food without covering.    
 

That reminds me, when we were in the elevator with the piano guy, a lady got in, and was pressed up against his piano, due to the crowd, and was facing him, so she was basically a foot away from this piano guys face, and she just kept coughing and coughing without covering. And he just kept playing with no reaction. I mean, how do you do that. .    

 

See my reactions above with the emojis!  Absolutely horrifying!

[She Sails Away]

Guys, quick question. If your shoes got soaking wet, like "someone threw them in a swimming pool for a joke and forgot about it for a few weeks" wet, would they dry faster if you put them on your humid balcony or if you just left them in the room?

 

Asking for a friend

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Let’s see.  I would try the balcony first…sunshine would be the best dryer!

[She Sails Away]

K. Super fun night and now I'm climbing into bed at 11 like I'm on vacation or something. (at home I'm falling asleep by nine)

 

There was only one aqua show tonight and apparently the entire ship wanted to go and a huge amount of people had reservations for it.

 

It started at eight, so I went down there at 7:30. The elevator piano guy was at the entrance to boardwalk, pretty much smashed up against the wall next to the boardwalk hotdog place. He was playing his heart out while clumps of people walked past him without even looking his way. Even though he's my new favorite performer, I scurried past him as well so I could get to the show.
 

There was a massive snaky line all the way from the aqua theater to the carousel. Those were the people without reservations hoping to see it anyway. I got in at the back of the line. We had to wait for the reservation people to go in and then I had to wait for the huge huge line of people in front of me to go in and by the time I got into the theater there were exactly three seats left and they were all in the front row.

 

The staff leaves one towel out per seat in the first three rows which is really handy, so you can be sure there's a towel available next to you when you sit down. Except....most of the people that got there before us in the second row snatched up two or three towels apiece for themselves, leaving most of us in the front row with zero towels. And that includes a few elderly people who I'm sure had no idea what to expect even though it's clearly labeled splash zone. And that was really greedy and selfish. One towel would've been really wonderful to have.
 

In case you're wondering if the splash zone is that big of a deal, yes it is. Let me just say I did the research for us aIl; I sat 3 inches away from the pool and it is most definitely a saturation zone. Like taste the chlorine in your mouth kind of zone because you get hit that hard with the water.

 

It was totally worth it. I mean I could've got up and left of course but I just sat there for the whole thing because it was worth it. But I had no idea when I left my room I would sit in the front and I didn't know I would be so soaked, either.  If I had, I would've worn sandals and brought a towel. This wasn't a cute kind of soaking where you air dry in about 30 minutes, this was I fell in the swimming pool and decided to swim a few laps kind of wet. Like I could wring out my shirt. Hair dripping. Clothes clinging to my body. Shoes and socks squelching. I had a tote bag with me that had some casino vouchers in there and they got wrinkled and soaking wet.

 

The show was fantastic and it was quite an experience to have a front row seat despite walking away in sodden clothes and shoes.

 

afterwards I was freezing cold since I was so soaking wet and I squelched back to my room, leaving a trail of  wet footprints like a swamp monster. I remembered to close the curtains before changing clothes, then I ran down to the casino to make sure they would still cash my wrinkly wet disintegrating voucher.

 

I am on the 14th floor and the casino is on the fourth floor so I hit the elevator button and wouldn't you know it, up comes the piano playing elevator guy again, and this time he's got the party elevator going with a whole family in there riding around with him and singing at the top of their lungs. Of course I joined in and we had a good 20 minutes of riding around singing Billy Joel songs. Then his handler firmly put a stop to the party and said it was time for him to come out now. So we all trickled off our separate ways while they unlocked the piano and rolled it away.

 

The piano player asked us to all follow him on Facebook. His page is: "Francesco Pepe official."

 

So once that was over, I went to the casino and they cashed my disintegrated wet vouchers with no comment.

 

I went to the rising Tide bar and rode it up to Central Park and back down again while I caught up on texts and email and stuff and had a ginger ale. Then it was off to bed!

 

I went to Park Café a couple of times this week, and left without eating. This particular park café feels like extremely slim pickings. I mean they have their little salad guy with his tiny little salad area and it just looks like an afterthought, not a full-blown salad bar. The sandwich section is pretty much all about that roast beef and not much else.

 

Tonight around 10 o'clock, I was at Café Promenade grabbing a mug of tea. People were flocking all around me grabbing water or coffee or hot chocolate. There were three elderly ladies standing beside me staring and saying, "people are just coming up and helping themselves? Is that legal? I mean, is that OK?" They seemed really disturbed, like they were witnessing looting. I told them that everything at the drink station was free, and they seemed shocked. But they were really happy to hear that and they started grabbing coffee. I pointed over to the snack area and said all of that food is free as well, you just ask for it. They were blown away. They went straight over and asked for some cake. I bet they didn't know Sorrento's was free as well, I wish I had thought to mention it. 

 

Tomorrow my Facebook cruise group is having a slot pull. I hope I make it in, they're capping it at 50 and there's way more than 50 of us that plan to go. I'm not going to go down there and stand in line super early to make sure I get in, but I do hope I get in. It's a sea day, so it's going to be one of those days where everything is crowded. I will take a good look at the organized activities tomorrow and maybe do some trivia or something like that. It won't be a good day for swimming or hot tubs but it will still be a good day. And I could definitely use some rest in my cabin if nothing else.

 

some night ambience for you in the photos!

 

[asquared17]

that alligator on 4 is one of my favorites!!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

I am really enjoying this blog!  Your way of describing situations is very entertaining!  Thank you for taking it on the chin and experiencing first hand what the front row seat truly feels like at the aqua theater!  I’ll be sure to keep my distance…LOL!  
Oh and you are a real trooper for staying put for the entire show!  Not sure I could have handled that soaking as well as you did…I’m bowing down to you!   

[She Sails Away]

Woke up at 6:45 AM to the family on the balcony next-door talking to each other as loud as they possibly could. I mean they were so loud. And they were just having an ordinary conversation.
 

That's OK though, that's cruise cabin life. I stayed in bed a long time and then came to the gym. At 8 AM, the gym is 70% hardbodies and 30% everyone else. (I am one of the everyone else category.) Oasis has a lovely gym, very big and lots of natural light. Tons of machines for everybody. Crowding in all the usual spots such as the dumbbell rack, the pulldown machine, and there's a stretching class going on in the common area where you would normally put down yoga mats and do things. Looks like a really great class though. 

 

Protein shake at the juice bar for breakfast. It tastes great which is nice because it cost eight dollars.

 

It's 75° here and the Flow Rider and rock climbing walls are already up and hopping. 14° back home. My husband works in construction and they are shut down today due to the temperatures.

 

Someone in our Facebook cruise group posted that they got sick off of steak from Windjammer last night. That's entirely possible, it's also possible he has picked up Norovirus or general food poisoning or a stomach flu or anything at all. I am so hopeful I won't get sick over the next two weeks. I have always been extremely obsessive about washing my hands on a cruise ship and believe me I'm washing them constantly.

 

Of course, riding in a crowded elevator for 30 minutes to listen to the piano guy (Francesco) is probably not the smartest move on that end. But… Choices.

 

Going to walk the walking trail for a while, my athletic shoes are still soaking wet and they are now drying on the balcony so we will see how walking goes in my floppy little canvas shoes. Then: caffeine.

 

And then it's the slot pull at 10:30. Wish us luck!

[She Sails Away]

PS, the vitality spa is really pushing this thing called IV therapy. I don't remember seeing this on Symphony or Enchantment, which are the last two times I sailed with Royal. Is this new or did I just miss the trend? Honestly, I thought IVs were for people that had hangovers and couldn't stop throwing up so they needed a B vitamin boost.
 

They are really pushing this as some sort of life-changing therapy though. I hate it that they have one called "b-skinny." Who in the world believes that an IV treatment is going to make you "skinny?" And do we want to strive to be "skinny," exactly? Maybe healthy would be better? They do have one called b-lean, which at least sounds better. I don't know. Feels pretty sketchy to me but to each his own.

[WAAAYTOOO]

bVery skeptical of anything they are selling on a ship !

[asquared17]

so, TL;DR: i have actually done IV therapy before.

and it's really great -- when done correctly.

 

i am not saying that royal is NOT doing it correctly, but the venues we would go to for IV therapy were not administered in a ~spa. there was medical staff on deck, with licensed folks etc., and they were ready to step in if you had an adverse reaction, etc.

also not everyone's chemistry can tolerate the same amount of minerals, etc. so most places will mix to your unique body chemistry, rather than a one size fits all.

i am not surprised royal is on board with this (california, as well as many other states, have been doing this for years -- it's just starting to really pop over here in NJ/on the east coast), however i would expect it closer to the medical bay. which, i grant you, is not as glamorous. but... overall, probably much safer.

[She Sails Away]

1 hour ago, asquared17 said:

so, TL;DR: i have actually done IV therapy before.

and it's really great -- when done correctly.

 

i am not saying that royal is NOT doing it correctly, but the venues we would go to for IV therapy were not administered in a ~spa. there was medical staff on deck, with licensed folks etc., and they were ready to step in if you had an adverse reaction, etc.

also not everyone's chemistry can tolerate the same amount of minerals, etc. so most places will mix to your unique body chemistry, rather than a one size fits all.

i am not surprised royal is on board with this (california, as well as many other states, have been doing this for years -- it's just starting to really pop over here in NJ/on the east coast), however i would expect it closer to the medical bay. which, i grant you, is not as glamorous. but... overall, probably much safer.

Well, exactly. And that's what I meant… That getting a couple of these done on a cruise ship isn't going to change anyone's health for the better....would it? Definitely something to be done at a medical facility like you described.

[asquared17]

23 minutes ago, She Sails Away said:

that getting a couple of these done on a cruise ship isn't going to change anyone's health for the better....would it?

i mean, if you were dehydrated and needed an infusion of minerals to bring your levels back up, traditionally, yes. this would help.

especially after traveling, and stressors of what it does to the body -- when this happens, you dump minerals. having less minerals = not good. it is the minerals that support all your major organ systems, allowing them to function more optimally and be in fighting form.

i am not a doctor or licensed medical practitioner FWIW. PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR GENERAL DOCTOR BEFORE PROCEEDING. (please do not sue me. )

 

and, to be clear: the whole point of an IV is that you are getting a much faster/higher absorption vs it being digested when taken orally like a supplement. it is almost instantly bioavailable.

HOWEVER.

i refer back to my earlier statement of everyone tolerating their minerals differently. some people can take them at a faster drip rate than others. i get dizzy if i go too fast. you have to drink a lot of water ahead of time too, to make sure your veins are nice and juicy and don't roll when they stick you. and you need to make sure you're eating a full meal prior to and after so you don't get ~weird. (<-- my not so medically sound term that encompasses: headache, nausea, lightheaded, etc.)

 

my point is -- it's very possible they're going to explain this in the spa. OR it's equally possible that their doses are so small, there is slim chance of it knocking you for a loop. (in which case.... what the heck are you paying for?)

the "shots" of b-12 or whatever are also a little less scary since they're probably a set, smaller dose.

 

EVEN SO.

do they have someone on hand who's watching the treatment? specifically just focusing on the IV therapy patients? what is the protocol if they get lightheaded? what if they have an allergic reaction to the tape used (this happened to me, they had to use paper tape and not the soft/cushiony tape) at the site of insertion? are there snacks and juice if they get dizzy?

I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS.

[She Sails Away]

Thank you so much for explaining that to me, I really sincerely appreciate it. I've definitely did wonder what the point was and what you say makes a lot of sense. I can see how this would be the right treatment over a period of time in the right conditions.
 

One blind dose on a cruise ship, maybe not so much. There is a lot to think about and what you said has me asking so many questions.  

1 hour ago, asquared17 said:

i mean, if you were dehydrated and needed an infusion of minerals to bring your levels back up, traditionally, yes. this would help.

especially after traveling, and stressors of what it does to the body -- when this happens, you dump minerals. having less minerals = not good. it is the minerals that support all your major organ systems, allowing them to function more optimally and be in fighting form.

i am not a doctor or licensed medical practitioner FWIW. PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR GENERAL DOCTOR BEFORE PROCEEDING. (please do not sue me. )

 

and, to be clear: the whole point of an IV is that you are getting a much faster/higher absorption vs it being digested when taken orally like a supplement. it is almost instantly bioavailable.

HOWEVER.

i refer back to my earlier statement of everyone tolerating their minerals differently. some people can take them at a faster drip rate than others. i get dizzy if i go too fast. you have to drink a lot of water ahead of time too, to make sure your veins are nice and juicy and don't roll when they stick you. and you need to make sure you're eating a full meal prior to and after so you don't get ~weird. (<-- my not so medically sound term that encompasses: headache, nausea, lightheaded, etc.)

 

my point is -- it's very possible they're going to explain this in the spa. OR it's equally possible that their doses are so small, there is slim chance of it knocking you for a loop. (in which case.... what the heck are you paying for?)

the "shots" of b-12 or whatever are also a little less scary since they're probably a set, smaller dose.

 

EVEN SO.

do they have someone on hand who's watching the treatment? specifically just focusing on the IV therapy patients? what is the protocol if they get lightheaded? what if they have an allergic reaction to the tape used (this happened to me, they had to use paper tape and not the soft/cushiony tape) at the site of insertion? are there snacks and juice if they get dizzy?

I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS.

 

[She Sails Away]

OK. The slot pull had 35 participants at $20 each. It lasted an entire hour and we ended up with $255. Somehow, the general consensus was suddenly that we would rush over to the roulette table and take our $255 and bet it all on black.

 

It was a huge group and I was on the very outer fringe and couldn't hear a thing and I was looking down at my phone and all of a sudden the entire mass was charging away with great enthusiasm to the roulette table. I trailed along and low and behold, we won! And we all went home with our original $20. Much better than nothing and we had an hour of good fun. 
 

after that I came up to the Promenade and got snagged in a huge crush watching a parade that took up the whole entire promenade. Big fun, really sweet production, the kids were just entranced. If I had brought my little ones when they were little, this would've been the highlight of the whole week. I watched the very tail end of it and after it was over I got coffee and cookies for lunch and came back to my room. 

 

My room attendant is having so much fun with my little Donald Duck. And honestly I think Donald is having a blast making friends whenever I leave the room. although yesterday at Coco Cay, Donald was with me and our little straw market doll got to hang with her new friend.

 

Super hot and humid today, and being that it's a day at sea, of course there are bodies upon bodies filling the lounge chairs on the pool deck and the pools are pretty much knee to elbow with very little room for actual water. I have seen some really happy cutie kids running around in their pajamas and I've also seen some shreikiing meltdown exhausted babies. You know how it is mid-cruise.

 

I'm washing my hands so much I'm going to have to go to that expensive shop on the promenade and buy some skin oil. My little bath and body lotion isn't cutting it. I'm also coming up to my room to use the restroom and wash my hands whenever possible as opposed to a public restroom. The paranoia is high. 
 

It's late afternoon now and I've just come back to my room and it is so nice in here, I think I'm just going to lay around for a while. I don't want to go anywhere near the pool deck for a little bit because they're doing the world's sexiest man competition and you know what a zoo that can be.

 

I have reservations to see big sky tonight. I think that's what it's called? Maybe one sky? I'm really looking forward to it. Their stage shows are always amazing. Lots of chatter today among my Facebook group about how great the aqua show is, people are just blown away. I feel bad for the ice-skating show, it is equally wonderful but it's not getting much love. I do have to say this is the weakest ice-skating show I've seen on any of the ships and it's because of the choice of music and choreography. It's really tame compared to the last couple of shows I've seen on Odyssey and Symphony. But so adorable and such talented athletes. They have this one amazing moment in the show where a couple of skaters dressed as fairies come out with these beautiful little swan sleds and they invite a couple of small kids from each side of the audience to jump in and then they push them around the ice while the rest of the skaters do this dazzling ballet number with all these beautiful costumes and lights. The kids in the Swan Sleds are just thrilled to pieces. 
 

You're not allowed to do any video or photography in the show so I haven't tried to take any pictures of course. Wish I could though. I do plan on going again and seeing it a second time.

[She Sails Away]

PS, cookie report : have to say, the cookies are just not up to snuff on this cruise. I've tried different kinds from both Café Promenade and Windjammer. They are super dry and crumbly and hard and crunchy and nothing at all like the soft chewy coconut cookies and chocolate chip cookies and lemon cookies that I love. They all taste like an ingredient is missing or they've been left out on a shelf for a few days. We shall see if this changes during the week. 

[She Sails Away]

Two Crown and anchor loyalty events today… One just for platinum and up and one just for diamond and up. I'm an emerald and ever since I've been gold I've always been invited to these things so this is a first.

[Ampurp85]

The ice show on Oasis is super boring. I love the Aqua show but Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales are blah. Last time they took the star class children in the front row and this girl from way back came running to try to fit in. The look on her face when they wouldn't let her was rough. But it's her parents fault.

[asquared17]

we keep a little liquid soap in our cabin and hand lotion for this reason

[Babsy47]

I know that this is an utterly stupid question but . . . What is a slot pull?

[She Sails Away]

6 hours ago, Babsy47 said:

I know that this is an utterly stupid question but . . . What is a slot pull?

Not a stupid question at all!
 

So the way a slot pull works is, you get a group together ahead of time, like 20 people. Everybody meets in the casino at an appointed time and we all contribute $20. Then you take all of that money and you put it into one slot machine at one time. So if you have $400 from your group, you just shove that whole $400 into the slot machine at one time. Then you all take turns pressing the button and watching the slots turn. You go through the whole roster so that everybody gets a turn. Once you've gone through the whole roster you look and see where your money is. If it's all gone then you're done. If there's a ton of money sitting there you take a vote as to whether to cash out and distribute the money among each other or keep going.
 

So you might cash out and distribute the money or you might go through the roster all over again but generally you keep playing until the money is all gone, or you have won enough to make it worthwhile to cash out and distribute among your 20 people 

 

does that make sense? Generally these things end up taking about an hour because of course you win and lose and you win and lose you go up and down just enough to stretch things out for a long time. Most of the time everybody walks away with nothing, but we've had a really fun hour and gotten to know each other. Sometimes we go home with a few dollars. Sometimes you go home with more than you started with! You just never know. But it's mostly about having fun. There's a lot of cheering and clapping involved and we get to know each other's names and we get to spend about an hour socializing.

[She Sails Away]

I saw One Sky last night, one of their stage productions. I did not care for it. I just don't like stage productions where it's a collection of songs with no storyline, no characters to get to know, no emotional investment, no payoff. I mean that's exactly what the aqua show is but for the aqua show, it works because the music is phenomenal and the stunts are incredible and mesmerizing.
 

On stage, they're singing these mostly original songs and they're just not grabby and it's like watching an hours worth of music videos. Having said that of course the cast is phenomenal, amazing singing and dancing, beautiful costumes, wonderful sets, really dazzling. Just not my thing. 

I really really liked Hairspray on symphony, and did not like Mamma Mia on Allure. Mamma Mia is definitely not my thing--I feel like that show is about two hours worth of karaoke with a loose storyline strung in between. 
 

Speaking of which, Cats is the next show up. We will see how that goes. I've seen cats before and while it was fun to see it the first time, especially with my family, I'm not sure if that's a show I am going to enjoy a second time.

 

but that's OK. Not every single bit of entertainment on a cruise ship is supposed to appeal to every single person, you know? There's a reason there's a huge variety on the ship, there's something here for everyone and I don't expect to love everything.

 

I spent some time on the balcony last night enjoying the jazz music from Central Park. They had a lot of love going and lots of applause every time they finish a set and they were outstanding.

 

I woke up with a scratchy throat and my voice is a croak. I have had a scratchy throat most mornings so far this week and then it goes away pretty soon after I get up. I think I may have some allergies going.
 

We are in Labadee and I'm getting ready to go out and look around for a little while but I won't last very long I'm sure. I do really enjoy watching the zip liners go though. It is a gorgeous day.

[She Sails Away]

Holy smokes, guys. It appears someone has died aboard. I just got off the ship in Labadee, and a helicopter circled the ship for a while and we were all told to clear the gangway so it could land. So I'm on the edge of the gangway standing around and the helicopter landed and then sat for a super long time. And then they brought out the body all wrapped up and they are now wrapping it even more before they load it onto the helicopter. Several people next to me said they heard the call Oscar, Oscar Oscar out early this morning.
 

It took about eight people or more to load the body into the helicopter and they are standing around arranging things inside and there is absolutely no hurry on their end. Just awful.

[asquared17]

good lord i am beginning to think oasis is cursed. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

34 minutes ago, She Sails Away said:

Several people next to me said they heard you call Oscar, Oscar Oscar out early this morning.

I think they probably meant to say "Alpha, Alpha, Alpha".  OOO is man overboard.

Very sorry to hear about this.  Happening far too often these days.

[She Sails Away]

Well I wondered the same thing but I heard more than one person commenting to each other about hearing Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. I don't know what to make of that, but it's all just super sad.

[She Sails Away]

There's talk in the Facebook group. Someone said there were two people in the water starboard and an overturned labadee staff boat and then the call Oscar Oscar Oscar went out, and a seanadoo went to rescue them. And then later the helicopter came.

 

someone else in the group thinks it was a simulation and not a real deal. Wouldn't that be nice if that was true?

[asquared17]

not them, recreating our actual OSCAR OSCAR OSCAR in labadee last month, as a drill

[jbrinkm]

4 hours ago, She Sails Away said:

We are in Labadee and I'm getting ready to go out and look around for a little while but I won't last very long I'm sure. I do really enjoy watching the zip liners go though. It is a gorgeous day.

This is a gorgeous picture. I love the colors, and the clouds.

[She Sails Away]

OK the comments are flying in the Facebook group and everyone who is commenting is very authoritative and confident in what they're saying. It genuinely sounds like two crewmembers who were in a little boat cleaning the hull got capsized and went into the water and that they were rescued and that's what the Oscar Oscar Oscar was all about. People in multiple parties saw them in the water and they saw them get rescued.
 

so that explains part one of the mystery and then it's unclear about the helicopter thing. Many people are insisting it was a simulation, one person is strongly insisting that it was a genuine medical evacuation for a serious injury that happened yesterday. All I know is what I saw, I didn't see a person lying on a stretcher, I saw a bag with something or someone in it. I'm still hoping it was just a simulation. 

[She Sails Away]

And on a more lighthearted note we have a new mystery. It's the underwear mystery.
 

When I came back from the island this morning, my cabin steward had been in and cleaned the room. There was a pair of underwear lying in a heap on my desk. This was surprising because first of all, I don't leave my underwear lying on the desk. I am a tidy person and when I get undressed at night all of my clothes go straight into my little dirty clothes hamper in the closet. I am not one to scatter clothes around and pick them up later. Secondly, my room steward has been so cute with his little decorations and so friendly and personable, it seems odd that he would just find a pair of underwear on the floor and randomly leave it on the desk of all places.

 

Still, I told myself that I must've overlooked that pair of underwear and thrown it around even though I know full well I didn't. I picked it up and guess what? IT'S NOT MINE.

 

It is most definitely a ladies pair of underwear, white with lace and a little butterfly printed on it. Where on earth did it come from. Why was it on my desk. Do I need to boil my entire desk now and everything on it? Unfortunately I handled the underwear enough before realizing it wasn't mine, to confirm that it's clean underwear, but the mystery remains. Did he find it sticking out from under the bed and assume it was mine? I mean my cabin steward is tidy enough to the point where I think if he found a pair of underwear on the floor he would genuinely fold it into little quarters and lay it gently on the couch or something, not toss it on the desk on top of my papers, which it appears to have been. That is not like him at all.  Obviously this is from the person in front of me who used this cabin but… So many questions. 
 

[Ampurp85]

I had cleaning shammies in my room before, so maybe the steward found them and assumed they would look good on you and left them.

[She Sails Away]

The Facebook back-and-forth continues over what happened with the helicopter this morning. One person insists they know the full story but don't want to disclose it out of respect for the family involved. They claim there was a serious injury that happened inside of a Stateroom yesterday. If that's the case, why would they wait all the way until 9:30 this morning to evacuate? Wouldn't they have barreled towards land sooner? 

 

In any case, I'm starting to question what I saw and starting to hope that no one actually died and this is all just a bunch of chaos swirling around an actual event that will hopefully have a positive outcome.

I just had a massage and shamelessly asked the spa staff if they knew what the helicopter thing was all about. They did not, but they casually told me stories of crew members being killed on other cruise lines they've worked on before. I'm sorry I brought it up and I intend to drop it. But if I hear anything definitive from a reliable source, I will let you know.

 

[She Sails Away]

And.... the helicopter just returned and landed in the same spot, people are saying someone was evacuated on it and it's gone.

[asquared17]

i feel like we need to sage this ship. 

[She Sails Away]

37 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

i feel like we need to sage this ship. 

Absolutely. What in the world. A capsizing, a rescue, and two medical evacuations in the same day.

[She Sails Away]

OK, to recap. Two crewmembers went in the water while they were cleaning the ship while it was docked. They were rescued. Meanwhile we had two medical evacuations by helicopter, one around 9:30 in the morning and one around 3 o'clock.
 

And I'm going to go with whatever everybody's saying and say those were both medical evacuations, no deceased person.

 

Recapping the rest of my day seems kind of small compared to those gigantic events.

 

But, I had a massage, some time in the room, talked to various loved ones on the phone, and went back for the final performance of the aqua show and actually got a good seat even though I was in the standby line. Really really wonderful show as I have mentioned many times. Also, Francesco the piano player was stationed around the corner from my room today in front of adventure ocean. I lurked in the hallway a little bit and listened to him play. So many people walked past him without even acknowledging him like he's invisible, and here he is playing concert hall quality piano  as loud as he can. 

 

And along those same lines, when the aqua show was wrapping up its final minutes and they were doing the last few minutes of their song which was going to be followed by everybody taking a bow, scores and scores of people got up in mass and left the theater to get a jumpstart on the crowd exiting. So they're walking out of the theater during the final minutes while the performers are still performing. How rude is that? I understand if you have a reservation and it's critical you leave but there's no way that many in the audience had reservations that couldn't possibly wait long enough to give these people a good round of applause like they deserve. 
 

Somebody standing in line beside me told me she heard the aqua show on icon is even better than Aqua 80. I don't know what they're basing that on. I'm sure it's going to be fantabulous. But… How large does that aqua theater have to be to accommodate all the people on the ship in chunks? Or do they just do an aqua show every single night so that everybody can get reservations in and see it at least once while they're cruising?
 

I have my State room TV on and there's a little lengthy infomercial here promoting icon of the seas. Down at next cruise, the giant posters and marketing materials are for icon. But on my State room TV, the commercials playing for Royal Caribbean feature Star of the seas.

 

All of those usual knickknack sales in the promenade are going on right now, and it's dress in Caribbean clothes night. The ship has a mellow feel to it tonight, people are out and about but the vibe doesn't have the frantic energy that it had last night.
 

Back in the room for an early night. I'm debating staying in for the night or heading back out for some more fun.

 

Super Duper humid and sticky out tonight or I would sit on the balcony and listen to the jazz.

 

Tomorrow is Jamaica.
 

I sent out a bag of laundry today. Since I'm cruising for two weeks, that had to happen at some point.

 

below is a magnet someone gave me from our cruise Facebook group. pictures from today