Day to Day Trip Report (review) – Family of 10 on Oasis May 4, 2013

[LBumb]

great job

[jpolm]

After dinner we went back to (you guessed it) the in-laws OS so the kids could play together. It really was such a nice place where we could all be together and not want to kill each other (most of the time). It really was money well spent (by my FIL, that is :p). We then made it back to our rooms and finished getting everything ready for the boys to go down as well as hung out on the balcony, which the boys LOVED. We put them down after teeth, books, you know the whole shebang. DS2 out within 2 minutes and DS1 was out in about 5! So, what to do what to do? Read and call it a night? Heck no, call Papa and see if he will come watch TV in our room while us youngins go explore some more! What a nice Papa. So, DH and I just walked around and ended up on the Promenade deck and we got ourselves these (ok, so I got both on the pretense that they were for both DH and I....he had a bite of each, that's still sharing in my book):

 

 

 

The chocolate chip scone was not good, and I like me some scones. The chocolate brownie, however was DEVINE!!! :D I had quite a few of these babies throughout the week (as did DS2 :p). Plus the fact that they were always there and free, oh my. They have various time appropriate snacks and sandwiches at the Café Promenade 24 hours a day. It is wonderful. They also have coffee, tea and ice water available there so can get yourself a cup o something while you enjoy your treat/snack.

 

So, after my snack we walked around a bit more. You really could just walk around half the time and enjoy yourself. We went through the Solarium and let me tell you, I promised myself that I would spend at least a few minutes in there at some point that week….did I, NO but I will get into that later. It was just such a nice area and it was the first time that I thought “oh, if we were on this cruise just the two of us……THIS is where I would park my big butt ALL week!”

 

We then went back to release Papa and climbed into bed and read for about 2.5 minutes and fell asleep. What a great first day to our much anticipated Oasis vacation! Oh, how I wish I were still there……:rolleyes:

 

What a great report so far. We leave next Friday and sail away June 1st on oasis eastern cannot wait family of 5 (5,10, and 12)

[justschuttme]

Day 2

 

 

After a wonderful night’s sleep (the beds on the Oasis are VERY comfortable), I woke up the next morning BEFORE the sun. I am not sure why, perhaps I just knew that I could have some time to myself exploring the ship! So, I pop up (ok, no one “pops” up at 615…I get out of bed), get dressed and leave DH sleeping to go explore the ship BY MYSELF!!!! I walk straight to the solarium and snag one of these bad boys…

 

 

 

As I am lounging, I realize that we are quite close to port and I watch the sun come up and the captian pull into port. I leave my comfy bed to get better pictures from one of the many open windows near the very front of the solarium (there were a few folks that happily took my place on said comfy bed). It is truly amazing to watch this MASSIVE ship glide gracefully into port. I am so glad that I woke up and was able to see it myself as the sun rose on an absolutely beautiful day.

 

Pulling into the Bahamas’

 

 

 

 

Atlantis Sunrise...

 

[justschuttme]

Day 2, morning….con’t

 

 

After I watched us dock, I continued to walk around a bit more. I really loved this hot tub, but alas it was never meant to be as we never made it over there. It is just outside the Solarium but the times we passed by, there were only adults in it (it does appear to be included in the adults only section however). It is the famed infinity hot tub that hangs over the side of the ship. Amazing to see, probably amazing to soak in. :D

 

I am an admitted coffee-addict, so just about now I was ready for my fix. The day before I was enjoying the ship with a headache that wouldn’t quit, when it dawned on me it was due to not having my daily Starbucks to which QUICKLY remedied while DH and I were exploring before Muster. So, I venture down to the Promenade deck and realize that I am up WAY too early when I see that Starbucks doesn’t open until 7a! No worries, I will just watch the TVs outside of On Air while I wait. Well, I can’t sit still so I just walk (read pace) around for them to open. The wonderful lady who was setting everything up asked me what I was going to order around 6:50 to which I sheepishly said “it’s ok, I will wait until you open” (I guess it really was pacing :eek:) and she replied “it’s ok, I can take you now I don’t want you to wait anymore.” This is EXACTLY why RCCL has the reputation it does b/c there are employees that will go out of their way to make it the best vacation, even if it is giving you your much needed coffee 10 minutes early. I saw her each morning and she was just as friendly every time. So, I order my usual Latte and I splurge on their GLORIOUS banana walnut bread (since I don’t allow myself to have it often at home, BUT I WAS ON VACATION!!!!!). :) I didn’t get DH anything as I was unsure what he would want. So, I am headed away from Starbucks, coffee in hand, and go over to Café Promenade to get DH some breakfast treats (that’s right folks, I am a loving, caring and generous wife……bringing the hubs free breakfast pastries)!

 

 

 

I then make my way back to our room, loaded up with coffee and carbs. DH is up when I get back, but the kiddies are still ASLEEP! He enjoys his croissant and muffin, while I devourer my bread and coffee. After a bit the boys start to stir and are up and ready to go!

 

We play for a bit and when we can’t keep them quiet another minute, we head up to the Windjammer for breakfast at 7:45. We were able to find a table for the 4 of us, you have to look but we were always able to find one…with the exception of the last morning for all 10 of us). DH went to grab the usual yogurt, banana, cereal, watermelon, ham, pancakes for the boys and a little something for himself (I already had mine in the room, YUM). He said yes to the coffee, to which he IMMEDIATELY regretted (NG…not good). The PA Schutt’s were down there too, but already had a table so we just stayed put and said we would meet at the pools after. The boys ate their fill and we grabbed a few of those little cereal boxes to go for later (DS1 LOVES vacation as he is allowed Froot Loops, a vacation treat). :)

[NOLA3cruisers]

Loving your review...you are so funny! Your sunrise pictures are absolutely beautiful! Our balcony is on the port side (omg that is on the left side, correct? :o), so hopefully I can take some nice pics of that Bahamas sunrise too!

[kiefer1130]

What a great report so far. We leave next Friday and sail away June 1st on oasis eastern cannot wait family of 5 (5,10, and 12)

 

We sail on June 1 also.....omgoodness, getting so excited

[tarajean1962]

I am officially hooked on this review!!:D You are a hoot and you have a gift for storytelling! Great photos too. Can't wait to read more!

 

 

Tara

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures!

[justschuttme]

Once the boys were done with breakfast, we headed back to get changed and headed to the pools. It was 8:30 and we were pretty much the only ones in the kid’s area. They loved it and had such a good time. The favorite was the raised “lazy river” water thing…sorry, I don’t know what it was called, it looked like a hot tub but the rest of the family confirmed it was COLD! The kids spent quite a bit of time in there and when they were done in there, they would hop out and play in the splash area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DS2 and I were playing in the splash area the entire time. He is still in diapers, so he had his swim diaper on. This comes into play after about an hour of us playing (basically him figuring out that climbing up on the side of the water areas, holding my hand and jumping in is pretty much THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD). One of the RCCL employees comes over and says that since he is in a swim diaper (she could see it due to the jumping in and climbing back out), that he needed to be in the “baby splash area.” Um, I thought that is where we were. It turns out that there is this small circle of water that is separate from the rest of the splash area that is for babies in swim diapers. Oh, ok….we will go over there then. Well, DS2 was having NONE of that. He didn’t want to jump into that water; he wanted to jump in the OTHER areas with water. Oh my! I can’t say I blamed him, the area was quite small and it was really warm since it was so shallow and if there were 3 babies with parents in there, it was overflowing. She was really nice about it and asked several times for us to “not be mad, that is just the policy.” I understand, however I don’t really see the big deal with swim diapers being in the water…but then again, I guess some parents might have an issue with it. So, that pretty much sealed our fate in the water for that morning (the older kids were about done anyway). Off to put-put!

 

 

 

 

[justschuttme]

Loving your review...you are so funny! Your sunrise pictures are absolutely beautiful! Our balcony is on the port side (omg that is on the left side, correct? :o), so hopefully I can take some nice pics of that Bahamas sunrise too!

 

Stop, you are making me blush! :p The pictures of the sunrise were taken from the solarium, at the tip of the ship. However, I believe if you were on the left side (if that is port side...) then you would be able to see this view (assuming they pull in the same at each port. :)

[justschuttme]

I am officially hooked on this review!!:D You are a hoot and you have a gift for storytelling! Great photos too. Can't wait to read more!

 

 

Tara

 

It is so funny that you use the word "hoot" as I say to my family ALL the time "hoot and a half" which to them makes me look/seem WELL BELOW cool on ANYONE'S scale. Shows how much they know. Glad you are enjoying it. :D

[justschuttme]

I guess I should have mentioned that we decided not to get off the boat in the Bahamas. With the short time in port and with the kids, we thought we would just stay on the boat this day and have the ship "all to ourselves." :)

 

We all dry off, cover up and head over to put-put. It really is a cute course and a fun time. It is not the most difficult put-put you will play, but really the point is to just let the kids loose and have a blast. Our kids ran around, played, looked out over the water, etc and just had a great time. We made sure they were not interfering with other folks playing, but if they weren’t we just let them be.

 

DS2 and I spent a lot of time just sitting/standing looking out over the water. He LOVES water (he actually calls it juice, ALL water is juice, which is hysterical) so he was content just looking out and pointing out what he saw at the beginning. These are the times that stick with me well after the vacation is over, just little/small times where I get some time with one of the kiddies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clubs, balls, pencils, etc are all there at the course so you don’t have to search for anything to play. There are plenty of chairs so you can sit while your kids play if you wish. It is in a good spot, you overlook the water, are just around the corner from the FloRiders and can see the zip-line. There was a steady breeze, so all-in-all a great way to end the morning.

[Jan_In_Maine]

I'm not sure how old your kids are (I've been reading along over the days) ... we will be on the Oasis with our 3 1/2 grandson in August. Our "kids" have a room that has a sofa bed and they will also have a play yard in the cabin. Is the play yard a good thing to have for a 31/2 yr old? Thanks, Jan

[justschuttme]

I'm not sure how old your kids are (I've been reading along over the days) ... we will be on the Oasis with our 3 1/2 grandson in August. Our "kids" have a room that has a sofa bed and they will also have a play yard in the cabin. Is the play yard a good thing to have for a 31/2 yr old? Thanks, Jan

 

Our kids are 2 and almost 5. We didn't know when we booked the cruise if DS2 would be able to share a bed with DS1 or sleep on the pull out by himself. We knew as it got closer that he needed to still be in the play yard so we brought it along. It was the only way we could have done it, so for us it was good. The room is big enough for it and he sleeps just as well in it as he does his crib at home. If your grandson is comfortable in it and it will make your "kids" feel better, then I say go for it. Of course we didn't have to fly down, so not sure if that would factor in the decision or not. I would say they know how their son is and if he will do better in the pull out or play yard.....real decisive, I know. As far as space goes, it will be just fine. :)

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for answering! :) Jan

[tarajean1962]

Awww!:D Your little guy is adorable!! We love putt-putt and that's the only kind of golfing I am any good at!;) Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of your day!

 

 

Tara

[justschuttme]

Once the kids had their fill, we all went back to our rooms to get changed for lunch. We were FINALLY heading to the Park Café to get the INFAMOUS roast beef sandwiches. We got down to the Central Park around 11:15 so we had to wait for them to open back up for lunch. There are tables and chairs just outside the Café as well as others just past the walkway with comfy chairs and tables. We sat there until they opened. The other adults got in line while I went to secure our table with the kids. You order and are either given your food straightaway or given a number and then food the is brought to your table, depending on what you order. You can have a salad made to order, the RB sandwiches, other various sandwiches/Panini’s, chips, etc. Just about everything we had was great……the RB sandwiches were the biggest hit, of course. I personally didn't like the seeds on top, but they were very easy to pick off. I REALLY liked the course sea salt on it, however.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have the water and tea station just like the Promenade Café, which is nice. SIL and BIL had the coke package, so they went to one of the machines on another deck before lunch and got their cokes. Note, they have a coffee counter with specialty coffee for purchase, however at the same counter they have sweet treats for FREE. I went to check it out, of course, but there was nothing that caught my eye so we just finished up and headed out. YUM!

 

It is just a nice, relaxing lunch with something a little different. :)

[justschuttme]

After lunch, it was back to the room to put DS2 down for a nap while DH and the PA Schutt’s brought the older kids to Adventure Ocean for the first time during the trip. However, dessert was in order before heading back. So, DS2 and I went through the Windjammer to pick up something for mommy to enjoy during nap time. So, with goodies in hand we made it back to the room to play for a few minutes and then NAP TIME (aka alone time for mommy).

 

 

 

 

 

The cookies were good but this chocolate cake was weird, it was like eating wet cake. :rolleyes: I know you think I mean moist, but no, it felt like wet cake. It was the weirdest consistency I have ever had with cake. It didn’t taste bad; it just felt like water cake. I still ate most of it. Ha! :p Anyway, both boys slept great the entire week, just like at home, naps for DS2 were no exception. I did this and read during nap!

 

 

 

 

I was going to read until I fell asleep myself, but alas no nap for mommy. Oh well, it was two hours of being alone in a quiet room (aka a wonderful vacation treat....no cleaning, organizing, yard work I was neglecting JUST sitting, resting, reading....). :D DH just wandered while we were in the room....no kids and no wife on the Oasis....HAPPY LIFE! :p

[justschuttme]

We had booked DS2 sometime in the nursery starting at 2:30, however he was still sleeping (and sleeping HARD)! DH had come back to take him so he rubbed his back to wake him up, he stirred but didn’t wake up. DH said his name; he opened his eyes and went right back to sleep. So, we called them and moved the time to 3:00 with no problems and let him sleep another 30 minutes. Poor baby was tuckered due to no nap real nap the day before.

 

 

The older kids were still in their kid clubs and we were all planning on heading to the Schooner Bar for trivia at 3:00, so I left to meet the rest of the family while DH took DS2 to the nursery. We didn’t know how drop off would be so I was holding my breath when he walked up. He said that he got a little upset but if our phone didn’t ring in 15 minutes, we were GOLDEN. So, we started trivia and just had a ton of fun. We didn’t realize it was progressive trivia (meaning there were two other rounds on two other days) but we figured we would either be able to come back or not…still fun today. We did pretty well, I believe we scored 14 out of 20. We didn't win the extra point for funniest name (ours was Schutt to Kill and the winning name was Progressively Drunk), whatever man. We never got a call from the nursery, WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! Now, of course, I love my kids to pieces BUT it is nice to be alone with the hubs for a bit too. ;) So, after trivia we just walked around and found ourselves on the Boardwalk right in front of the Donut stand! Well, don’t mind if I do…

 

We got these:

 

 

 

 

The green slime looking one was DH’s key lime (didn’t taste it but he said it was good, um okaaay) and mine was the chocolate. As I stated previously, it was one of the two things on the ship that were listed in my book as below good. It wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t worth the calories! So, I tossed it and we continued on our adult’s only jaunt around the ship. We ventured down to the casino and promptly lost some money in the slots.

 

 

We headed back upstairs about 3:45 to get the old kids from their clubs running into the PA Schutt’s on the way. The kids said they all had a great time and we were SOOOOO happy to hear it. We went back to our rooms to shower and such. I then went down at 4:30 to get DS2, who was playing and having a good time watching Baby Einstein’s on the TV. It was very cute how excited he was to see mommy though (they couldn’t get the gate open fast enough).

 

We all met back up in the in-law’s OS and the kids played and horsed around on the big balcony. They all had dinner in the suite. It really is nice if you are in a suite as you can order room service from a bigger menu. It was a nice (not quick, mind you) way to feed the kids and let them play together as well.

 

Next up…dinner with the PA Schutt’s at Izumi while the grandparents put the kids down (have I mentioned how much we LOVE Nana and Papa and how much we appreciate them???!?!??!??!). :D

[justschuttme]

So we leave our kids in the OS in the capable hands of Napa and Papa while we go get ready for dinner at Izumi. It was formal night in the MDR and while we were not in gowns and tuxes, we did fancy it up a bit. We met back up, said goodnight to the kids (we walk out to a crying DS2 as he does NOT want us to leave…he was fine after a couple minutes we were told =P). We make our way up to Izumi, which is right beside the Windjammer for our 8:00 reservations. Now, to be totally honest I was not expecting this to be the best meal I have ever had since we eat sushi quite regularly and know “good sushi” with it being on a ship and all. Let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL! The sushi was fresh and very well prepared and the hot rock was very nice too. The edamame (complimentary) was very good.

 

Two funny notes: if you recall from the first day, we saw zipper shorts again! She was there with three other people and was wearing a dress that could have doubled as a torture device with how tight it was. I got a chuckle just seeing her again and pointing her out to the guys. And I have to say sorry to the guys here, no picture tonight…my family was already giving me the death stares for noticing her and saying “ah, its zipper shorts” out loud (they think EVERYONE can hear what I say…). Then, right about this time a tall man walks into the restaurant and we think he must be a worker of some sort coming to clean the floor or something based on his attire…but no, it was Papa coming to get our key so Nana could take our kids back to our room for bedtime (Ooops…). :o

 

We got 2 rolls and 4 pieces to split as well as the Beef Tenderloin Hot rock (to share also). The PA Schutt’s got 3 rolls each (but I have to say I tried one and DH assisted as well on theirs). I really wanted to get the shrimp wonton soup, but I knew I would explode at the end if I did (just one more thing to add to the list for next time). From what I can remember we got a tuna roll, salmon pieces, eel pieces and I can’t remember the other (that was mainly DH’s). The only one I remember that PA Schutt’s got was the box salmon and crab roll (IT WAS SOOOOOO YUMMY!!!!).

 

 

The hot rock was interesting. DH did the cooking and I did the eating (no, not all of it). We had done this before a Colorado Fondue here in Orlando. I have to say, I liked this a lot more. Now, it may be that when I go to fondue I really only want the Melting Pot (the BEST fondue I have ever had), so Colorade may have never had a fair shake with me. The beef was great and very tender. The veggies with it were great too.

 

 

The boys also purchased two bottles of sake (I don’t remember the name, but it came in a black bottle and she said it was the most popular choice). They chose to have it chilled, which I hadn’t tried before. I had a few and I thought it wasn’t bad, first taste wasn’t what I was expecting but all in all it was good. The guys liked it (of course, enough to order a second bottle). No dessert here, nothing really called my name.

 

 

 

 

We walked out splitting the bill and I think we each paid about $50, which we thought was very good considering how much food we got, the quality and the sake. The service was good and the timing was perfect, didn't pace it too fast or too slow. Would go back in a heartbeat. :)

[tarajean1962]

:DROTFLOL! Especially about zipper shorts and her torture dress!!:D Izumi is one thing we didn't get to last time and will definitely do this time around. It sounds like a really good meal!

 

Tara

[jpolm]

Love your review. Boy wish I could bring gramma!:) heading out in 9 days!

Zipper pants and torture dress - too funny :)

[justschuttme]

After dinner, we were scheduled to go to Hairspray at 10:30. :eek: When DH told me the time he booked prior to the cruise, I about fell over. I don’t do late…well, I CAN do late but not in a dark theater after eating half the ocean! I told myself, suck it up and you can stay awake. :confused:

 

We had time before the show so we decided to try the Rising Tide Bar. It really is neat, something everyone should try...just because. Now, it is worth noting, I have not had more than a glass of wine since before I got pregnant with DS1 (who is almost 5) and then only a couple of times with the one glass. Well, I was introduced to this baby…

 

 

A pomegranate cosmo, it was heavenly. Since I am such a lightweight, one was good enough for me…HOWEVER it gets a little more interesting as we progress through the cruise. ;) We took the full “roundtrip” up and back down on the rising tide and glad we did. It is peaceful and fun. You can’t really feel it except for a slight rumble under your feet/chair. It is worth the time (about 30 minutes RT).

 

Once we were done with that, we headed over to the Opal Theater and got good seats for the show. We all thought it was good with splashes of VERY good. The entire cast was good, however the lady that played Motormouth Maybel and the guy that played Seaweed J. Stupps were AMAZING, especially at the end. None of us had seen it before and didn’t really know the plot. We liked it and thought the production was very good. I don’t think I would have seen it twice in the same week, but I would see it again (just maybe not at 10:30 at night). I was able to stay awake, but there were some close calls (not to say there were boring spots…). It is amazing to think about these folks spending EVERY SINGLE DAY performing in all these shows and living on this boat. You can tell they work so hard to make each show wonderful and to ensure you are entertained. It is not overlooked and I know my family, for one, appreciates the effort.:)

[justschuttme]

Love your review. Boy wish I could bring gramma!:) heading out in 9 days!

 

 

I wish I was headed back in 9 days!!!! It really is nice to travel and even better to share it with DH's family. ENJOY!!! :D

[ericrz]

Loving this review, I have subscribed. I always love the "family group" reviews, as that's how we cruise too. Been on a cruise of 10 people (my daughter turned 4), on a cruise last year with 8 (with my then 6yo daughter and 3yo nephew) and will be cruising this September with the same 8, kids will be 7 and 4. Good times.