"LIVE" from the Oasis of the Seas - February 21, 2015

Greetings, fellow cruisers! Tomorrow morning we are heading down to Fort Lauderdale and will be boarding The Oasis of the Seas on Saturday! I debated on whether to do a live report this trip, as there have certainly been quite a few recently. But, if you are like me, there is nothing better than passing the time until your next sailing by following along on other CC member's travels. So, whether you are soon sailing on Oasis, want to relive your last sailing, or are sailing on another RCI vessel, and are looking for a daily dose of photos, you've stumbled on to the right thread. I'll be happy to answer any questions while on board that I am able, so feel free to ask away!

This trip I (Chris) will be traveling with DH, and my two BIL's and SIL. We are all in our 50's, and have quite a few cruises under our belts. DD (a.k.a. "Nik") won't be joining us on this trip, as we try to do at least one adults only vacation a year. As you can imagine, DD is far from pleased that she'll not be spending the week with us. 😔

There likely will be more photos in this report than commentary, but I'll have a daily dose of observations, tips, and tidbits.

Some background on our sailing:

CABIN - We have booked at D1 Oceanview Balcony cabin this sailing on Deck 6. We previously sailed on Allure in Jr. Suite on deck 6 and loved the location. We have been fortunate to find some great pricing on Jr. Suites for our last few cruises, but it was not to be on this sailing. Despite checking often for price drops, the Jr. Suite price was nearly double the cost. I sure am going to miss that bathtub and walk in closet....😢

SHOWS- We have booked the Comedy show, Come Fly With Me, Oasis of Dreams and Frozen in Time. I hope to catch all of them on this sailing. I had originally also booked Cat's, but it was cancelled and rescheduling it proved to be difficult when I already had everything else confirmed. I'm not a huge fan of Broadway anyway, and probably would have had to drag DD kicking and screaming to this show.

PRE CRUISE - We'll be staying at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel for one night. We've stayed here in the past, and enjoyed it. I'll post photos from in and around the hotel as well.

PORTS - We are doing the Eastern Route. We have nothing planned or scheduled in Nassau or St. Thomas--we have been here many times. We have scheduled a private tour in St. Maarten with Bernard's who comes highly recommended on these boards. Maho Beach has been on my bucket list, so I'll be able to cross it off after this sailing!

BEVERAGE PACKAGES - Not buying any this trip. With the three free happy hour beverages we will already get, it's just not economical for us.

CC ROLL CALL ACTIVITIES - We've had a really active, fun roll call, and have lots of activities planned. We are attending an informal meet and greet for sail away, and have a cabin crawl, lunch and slot pull also planned. I'm planning on attending my "first" cabin crawl. Looking forward to seeing a Crown Loft, and one of the much talked about new Grand Suites. If my CC roll call members are okay with me taking photos along the way, then I'll post those as well!

DINING - We have MTD on this sailing. Mehhhhh, I DID NOT want MTD!!! We were originally booked for traditional early dining at 6:00 p.m. Had all my shows scheduled around them, but somehow my DBIL and DSIL's reservation was not linked with ours and by the time we discovered it, there was no room left in early dining. I really like having the same servers and table each evening. Hopefully, we will still be able to, and I am trying to go into this experience with an open mind. We're also planning on a few specialty restaurants, likely Giovanni's and Sabor. We absolutely loved Sabor on Navigator!

As of our last sailing, we joined the ranks of Diamond Plus. We've sailed on RCI almost exclusively, and are happy with the product, so we keep coming back. Which brings me to my first photo.....look what arrived in the mail this week! Luggage tags! What a nice gesture, RCI. Except that there is no place to actually put your name and address on these things! I'm not really sure what to think about these. Surely these will be meaningless to the O'Hare airport baggage handlers? Will affixing these get my luggage delivered to the room faster? I don't know, but I'm willing to participate in the experiment.....

We've been enjoying some really pleasant weather here in the Midwest...really looking forward to leaving this all behind...despite the cold front in Florida, it will be positively balmy compared to this....

I'm off to do some final packing, but will be back tomorrow from Fort Lauderdale! In the meantime, a favorite photo of mine....the sister ship of Oasis 😊

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Subscribing! Going on the Oasis for the first time this May, and really looking forward to more of your report!

Cannot wait!

Regarding MTD, at least on the Radiance, our large party had the same table and staff those evenings we dined in the MDR. Crossing my fingers for you on Lady O!

Looking forward to your report! Hope to sail on her soon.

You said it...cruising April 2016 on allure so love reading live reviews. Have a safe arrival and I look forward to hearing about it.

Will be cruising the week after you. Thanks for posting:)

As a fellow Chicagoan, I'm looking forward to your live review. Hoping to see a photo from one of the new aft GS!

Enjoy!

Subscribing to your review. I can't wait to follow it! Have a great trip!

Looking forward to your review!!

Can't wait to travel along with you since it is way too long till we sail again!

Michelle

Leaving on Oasis April 18! Thanks for the LIVE review!

Can't wait to hear all about it!

Enjoy the cruise. We too will be on board. May be see you in a lounge.

Need to beat the fridge cold to get at least some Caribbean warmth.:D

:)

As a fellow Chicagoan, I'm looking forward to your live review. Hoping to see a photo from one of the new aft GS!

 

Enjoy!

Us Chicagoans need someone to commiserate with... Unless some Bostonians want to join in...I think they have us beat this year!

Cannot wait!

 

 

 

Regarding MTD, at least on the Radiance, our large party had the same table and staff those evenings we dined in the MDR. Crossing my fingers for you on Lady O!

Thanks for the positive feedback on MTD! Hoping to have a similar experience!

Enjoy the cruise. We too will be on board. May be see you in a lounge.

 

Need to beat the fridge cold to get at least some Caribbean warmth.:D

 

:)

Try and stop by the Solarium Bar at around 4:30 on boarding day and join our sail away gathering!

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Subscribing :)

Looking forward to reading more, we'll be sailing the Oasis in a couple of weeks. :D

Packing is completed and I'm ready to hit the hay in order to be top of my game at 0 dark thirty. Thanks to those of you already following along for all the nice comments!

My poor pups have been following me around all evening. For all you pet lovers out there, I'm sure you can relate. As soon as the suitcases come out, they become Klingons in anticipation of your departure.

I'm fortunate to have an awesome dog sitter who is also a vet tech. 👍 Ready for this vacation to begin and feeling great about the fact that all of mine will be well taken care of while we are gone!

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Travelled Oasis last year in April after the winter that I thought would never end. This ship is great, wonderful, well you know WOW.

Make sure you wear something warm. The weather in Florida is well cold!

Will be on oasis in june...love more pics! thanks

We are on Oasis the very next week so following along

Have a great time. I'll be watching your sail away from the webcam as I do every Saturday from cold NJ. Btw you have beautiful pups.

We're on deck 14 oceanview balcony. And I know what you mean about missing that wonderful bathtub! Our dogs will be going to 'jail' tomorrow (the vet boards them for us) but they already know what's up. As soon as they see those suitcases, oh no, we're under the bed! The humans are going somewhere without us!

Better bring a heavy sweater, it's 47 degrees in Ft Lauderdale today! Brrrrrr! It's been windy and blustery here in south Florida for the past couple of days.

It's supposed to be 74 tomorrow and I sure hope so for sailaway.

On the way to the airport now. The pups have gone from being Velcro dogs to giving me the stink eye 😠

Leaving the arctic tundra sunrises behind

My "light" reading for the plane ride down. This was recommended by someone on the photography section of the CC boards.

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So excited for your review! We sail on the Oasis March 7. Freezing our tails off here in upstate NY... can't wait to land in Ft Lauderdale. Until then, we will do a virtual sail with you!

Following along. We, too, are staying at the Hilton Marina the night before our cruise (a long, long way off in December)... so interested in all of it! Congrats on your new status! :-)