Oasis of the Seas 18th birthday cruise - Preamble

[unseemlygamer]

Thursday, August 13, 2015

 

Today is our second full day at sea. I didn't wake up until maybe 8:30am. My feet were blistered from everything I did in my shoes, so today I just decided to relax in the hot tubs, and check out the fitness center.

 

Early that afternoon I went to the Splish Splash show in the AquaTheater. No reservations were required.

 

 

Not much to say, but the show was kind of silly. Before it started, the Penguins of Madagascar, along with the cruise director, put on a little act of them dancing to Footloose.

 

That night, I went to see the Come Fly With Me show at the Opal Theater. Another fantastic show, with a bunch of creative acts and songs that show what this theater can do. Sorry no photos of the actual show - nobody even took their cameras out. The content was copyrighted, so no videos either.

 

 

Friday, August 14, 2015

 

Well, today is our final full day of the cruise. :(

 

It must've been a slow journey home, because it wasn't very windy out when I went up to the Sun Deck.

 

Around 8 or 9am in the morning, I decided to take my final swim in the pools and hot tubs. They weren't very crowded at all, even for a day at sea.

 

Early in the afternoon, I went down to the Boardwalk for the Belly Flop Competition. In all honesty, I tried to get pictures of the belly flops, but I never timed them right at all.

 

 

You're probably thinking, "Maybe I could've signed up for the contest." I didn't think to do that, because I'm only between 140 and 145 pounds, but I was surprised to see that the first contestant weighed only 135. 😳

 

Interestingly enough, one of the contestants was named Mike, and he was from Pennsylvania. There would've been two of them if I had joined. :D

 

As the competition went on, the belly flops were getting bigger and more impressive. On a scale of one to 5, the 7th (I think...) contestant definitely reigned supreme.

 

[unseemlygamer]

At the end of the contest, all the contestants belly flopped together, and that was really impressive.

 

Just before that took off, an announcement came over the intercom saying that the 3pm ice show was canceled, because 3 cast members got injured. That must've been a bummer for those who didn't get to see the show. :(

 

 

I was on the Boardwalk, so I went on the Carousel and stopped at Cups and Scoops. This time I got an Oreo cupcake (wasn't really as good as I expected to be honest), and Mint Chocolate Chunk ice cream blended into a shake.

 

15 to 20 minutes later, I decided to head back to my room. Turned on the TV for bridge information. At this point, we were around the Bahamas.

 

 

From there, I continued packing up.

 

Around 8pm was the Farewell Party hosted in the Royal Promenade. Cast members of the shows had their chance to dance, and to end it off, I heard a loud pop, and then silver confetti started to come down. 🎊😄

 

I went to Focus, and decided to purchase a few photos that were taken of me onboard and in port, including my welcome aboard photo. With that I decided to get the Cruise in Review DVD. It's nothing more than an overview of the ship, some behind the scenes footage, and an overview of the ports of call, but it's nice to get it as a keepsake if you want something to spend $20 on.

 

Ready to call it a night after the party - we gotta get up pretty early in the morning, as they want us off the ship by 8, and then we're heading home.

 

Vlog for days 6 and 7:

[unseemlygamer]

Saturday, August 15, 2015

 

Nothing much to say about our disembarkation from the ship. We were already packed up and ready to go in the morning, and got off before 7:30am.

 

It was raining when we got our taxi to Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Actually it hadn't even rained once throughout the entire cruise! :rolleyes:

 

By the time we arrived at the airport, our flight wouldn't be for another 3 hours, so we went right by our gate and had some time to kill.

 

Our plane arrived 25 minutes early, therefore we got to board earlier than expected.

 

Unfortunately, our flight got delayed because there were "technical issues" with air traffic control centers in Virginia and Maryland. We also had to haul back to our gate and re-fuel the plane. Fortunately we were allowed to remain seated.

 

For some particular reason, my parents and I were all supposed to be in the same row, but a number of people including us had their seats all switched up. My dad and I switched our seats, as I wanted a seat by the window and Dad got an aisle seat. I sat next to a couple who had a connecting flight from Newark to Syracuse, so they were probably frantic to catch that.

 

Because of the air traffic control issues, we ended up taking an alternate route that passed Atlanta, went through Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, flew over Lake Erie, even touching Canada for 5 minutes, and we literally had to fly through Pennsylvania to get to Newark. As a person who LIVES in Pennsylvania, that is certainly agonizing.

 

I killed my time by watching Grease on my portable DVD player, unfortunately having to stop once I got to the final song, 'cause my DVD player was running low on battery. Jeez and as I'm reading the preview of this post, that Twizzlers commercial with "Summer Nights" comes on.

 

There was an electrical outlet right near my seat was, but I didn't bother with it since I couldn't see or feel it anywhere.

 

Therefore I spent the rest of the flight just playing video games on my 3DS, at least until we went below 10,000 feet and therefore had to turn off our electronics.

 

Thankfully, the airline did not lose my luggage again and we got home smoothly.

 

In conclusion, I had an incredible experience, enjoying my opportunity to become a legal adult aboard the world's largest cruise ship.

 

My birthday admittedly wasn't quite my first choice in time of year to cruise during.

 

This was my third consecutive time on the Oasis of the Seas, and it wasn't my first choice in ship to go on this summer. I had originally thought of going on the Liberty of the Seas - thought it'd be easier, at least for my parents, since it's sailing out of Bayonne, and we live close to New Jersey.

 

Next time I go on a cruise, I'd go on a different ship - maybe even the Allure, but truth be told, maybe I'd go on a smaller ship like the Freedom class.

 

When it comes to itineraries, the Eastern Caribbean isn't quite my first choice, especially after doing it three times on the Oasis.

 

I've definitely got something to say to cruisers - and Dad, if you're reading this, please listen. Don't - I emphasize - don't fly in on embarkation day! It's best to fly in a day before at least, 'cause you don't know how panicked I was with catching our flight, and running late could've had something to do with the airline losing my bag.

 

But as a whole, the shows, the activities, the very nice crew onboard, and our ports of call for sure, especially the excursions, were fantastic, and I’d love to cruise with Royal Caribbean again in the near future.

 

Vlog for our return home:

[Yorkvillain]

Fantastic job Mike. I enjoyed it.

[kirkaliciasmom]

Great review! I enjoyed it all. Thank You!

[travelplus]

I don't really have pictures for this day, but I do however have a video up.

 

So, we get up really early in the morning. I wash up, get dressed, and we head off for Newark airport once we're all ready.

 

It isn't a very good experience getting there from Jersey City though, because there's road work going on at the route we take. In fact, I believe they were already boarding our plane during the middle of the ride.

 

When we get to the airport, my parents are mostly calm, but I'm EXTREMELY panicked because we're seemingly about to miss our flight. :eek:

I swear to god, flying in the day of a cruise is a really bad idea, 'cause I knew this was gonna happen - and it usually doesn't happen. I don't believe it when people say that the worst thing that can happen is you miss the ship, but on the bright side can catch the ship at the next port of call. Nonononono, that's bull. There's no way they'd just let you on. I'm sorry, but this is a traumatizing event I'm not gonna just let go.

 

We get through security quickly, without any issue except my mother setting off the metal detector. After security, I make a RUN for it to our gate, while my parents walk. Boarding time is supposed to stop by the time we're at the gangway, but apparently a lot of other people, both behind and in front of us, are getting on as well, so as a result, our departure gets delayed. In fact, our flight back home was delayed as well, but more on that will be MUCH later.

 

For whatever reason, we're seated at the back of the plane. Much to my pleasure, I'm assigned a seat by the window, so I can get a good shot of us flying. (In the video, I shot a clip from my GoPro, but it's not easy to tell we're flying)

 

At least all is good once we actually get on the plane, and it's quite a bit of time before everyone gets on and we can finally take off.

 

During the flight, I occupy myself by watching The Simpsons Movie that I brought along with my portable DVD player. It's always a tradition for me to watch that movie when flying, but only when sitting at the starboard side. Quick note, what I did was bring a headset for that, especially because that movie contains THE B-word that you should never say on an airplane. Also please don't watch movies like "Meet the Parents", or even god forbid "Airplane!" when onboard a plane, 'cause people would look at you like you're psycho.

 

Once I finish that up, I kill the last half-hour, maybe 45 minutes, playing some Super Mario 64 DS. Yeah, as you can tell, I always bring along my OWN in-flight entertainment.

 

So we arrive at the Fort Lauderdale airport to get our bags. My dad retrieves his bag, my mom retrieves her bag, which is almost identical to mine. We spend maybe 45 minutes at the baggage claim, and unfortunately it turns out that the baggage handler wasn't responsible enough to get my luggage on our plane. :mad: We think maybe us running late had something to do with it, but who knows? And I think some other people had their bags lost as well. As a result, I'm left with the clothes on my back for the rest of the day, and the following morning, but with the help of my dad, I have clothes to wear for our excursion in Nassau tomorrow, and after our afternoon docked in Nassau, I fortunately receive my bag onboard the ship. Y'see, I got trust issues here. Thankfully I have my carry-on and camera bag with me though. :)

 

We get onboard the ship with a few hours to kill before our muster drill, and in fact I get a welcome aboard photo at the cruise terminal. That'll be posted later.

 

While we're waiting for our staterooms to open, we sit at a table near the H2O Zone kids pool, which isn't open for the time being, and we each grab something to eat at the Windjammer. Trust me, that place is one of the most crowded dining areas on the ship, especially on embarkation day. Also it's pretty annoying to carry food to a table when you have a camera gripped in one hand, 'cause it takes forever. I grab some fried chicken, and despite the crowd, a kind guest lets me sit at their table. :)

 

After I'm done with that, I head back down to the pool deck. My dad's still getting the lost luggage issue sorted out, and I help myself to a couple frozen yogurt cones. I've always had a reputation for eating a LOT of frozen yogurt (or ice cream, whatever it actually is) from the self-serve stands on Royal Caribbean ships, but I didn't find myself doing that as much as usual, though still quite a lot.

 

Our staterooms are ready a little earlier than expected. I make myself at home, unpacking stuff from my carry-on, and I decide to video tour my stateroom. My stateroom was #14727, a large inside cabin that wasn't really what I expected, but I guess it'll do - and my parents stayed in stateroom #14730, a Grand Suite that was added to the aft of the ship when it was upgraded back in October.

 

We have our muster drill at the AquaTheater, and surprise surprise - we get to see the safety video along with the "wash your hands" song that was the first thing I saw when I turned on the interactive television.

 

Because of how hot and humid it is in Florida, I cool off in the main pool and watch us sail away, with my trusty GoPro in my hand.

 

I'm at the pool deck, so my plan is to stop at the Wipeout Café, but since that's not open, I stop back at the Windjammer. This time, I get a couple pork sausages, with some vegetables, and a serving of rice. I didn't find myself eating a lot of vegetables on this cruise, and let's just say I consumed a LOT of rice. When we were onboard I found myself stopping at the Windjammer and Wipeout Café most of the time, and trust me, even with that jogging track and fitness center, you're not gonna get any skinnier. ;)

 

Prior to this cruise I had decided to purchase the soda package myself, 'cause I love the Coke Freestyle machines, but my dad had already bought it for me. One drink I ALWAYS get from those machines is Coke with Lime, which they used to sell about 10 years back, and they still have a Diet version, but it's satisfying to get the real thing from those machines.

 

I go to the Teen Meet and Greet, where I meet a couple Brits who were doing a back-to-back cruise, many people from the Carolinas, and quite a few passengers who actually live in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas, so this ship isn't far from them at all. I think it'd be nice to take a cruise that's not far from where you live - don't you think?

 

So I'm ready to call it a night after that. And we have some Nassau excitement from a glass bottom boat in store the next day, so stay tuned for that! :D

I may post it really early in the morning.

 

Awesome review so far. Sorry to hear about your luggage. One question when your Parents booked the Grand Suite why couldn't they upgrade you to a Balcony Room or at least an oceanview onboard through Guest Services? I at least would want an Oceanview. Heck I would rather sleep in the Grand Suite rather than an Interior Stateroom.

 

I have been in Interior Staterooms but that was because the cruise was subsidized by my work benefits but when I go on my own I'll go in the Oceanview.

 

Hope you had a fun 18th Bday!!! I'm 31 and can hardly remember by 18th BDay lol.

[Yorkvillain]

Hope you had a fun 18th Bday!!! I'm 31 and can hardly remember by 18th BDay lol.

 

I'm 45 and can hardly remember my 31st bday.

[stefs111]

Travelplus, I have a question for you. I'm curious how you get work to sub the cruise for you?

[cruiserinsg]

.Great review and am impressed. Thanks and Happy belated Birthday greetings. :)

Edited August 22, 2015 by cruiserinsg