Willdra's Outrageous Oasis OTS October 21-28 Cruise

[willdra]

Welcome to Willdra's Outrageous Oasis OTS October 21-28 Cruise!

 

This was our 29th cruise, but our first time cruising Royal Caribbean.  Did we like it, love it, or loathe it?  Welp, you have to endure my very long, rambling review to find out. (No refunds on time will be given). Willdra approves this message.

 

None of the other initials joined us on this cruise. It was only W and I. Yep, just good ole Ike and Tina. Our adult offspring were busy working and making sure that they could pay their bills, and not return to the nest. We are ok with that. W and I also wanted to sample this one on our own, since we were "cruise line jumping".

 

I still see your shadows in my room

Can't take back the love that I gave you

It's to the point where I love and I hate you

And I cannot change you so I must replace you (oh)

Easier said than done

I thought you were the one

Listening to my heart instead of my head

You found another one, but

I am the better one

I won't let you forget me

Lucid Dreams-Juice WRLD

 

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention! We heard that song a billion and 12 times on this trip. Maybe it was an omen. Or just our inability to escape pop culture. Either way, it was our theme song this time around.

 

 

This brings us to Travel Day (Or Travel-Yay!!)

Our goal was to wake up early so that we would get to Cocoa Beach at a good time. We wanted to get our money’s worth out of the hotel. Cha-ching.

We set our alarms for 4am. I woke up at 4am. I normally wake up before my alarm on travel day, then just get up so I can take my time getting ready before I wake W up. He never wakes up early. Slacker.

 

When my alarm went off I was not ready to get up. Felt like I’d only slept for 13 minutes. I lay there in denial until I was almost in the deadly "now we are rushing zone". It was also my birthday, so W had my gifts all laid out for me when I woke up. I showered quickly and ripped into my pile. While I was loving everything, W wandered in and got ready, then he went down for coffee. I threw the last few things in my bags then sent a text to the bellhop (AKA W) letting him know that my bags were ready to go downstairs. Shortly after that, we hit the road. We were close to our goal of leaving by 5. There was not much traffic, but there were speed traps everywhere. I'm so glad I don’t have to worry about those. I just sit in my seat taking selfies and keeping W company. My phone was blowing up with  “Happy Birthdays”, which also kept me occupied.

 

 

 

[F27TW]

Oh this is gonna be a fun one to read.. love your writing style already.   Can't wait for more!

[Crazy planning mom]

Following

[Trinam2]

Ohh I’m excited to read this!

[willdra]

We got hungry around Valdosta, so we stopped at an iHop there. It’s usually freezing cold in every iHop, and this was no exception. Like see your breath, my toenails are icicles, they hang meat in here, cold. While we were waiting and shivering, we noticed that all of the employees there had very “interesting” hairstyles. One looked like a rooster, one a birds nest, and one kinda looked like a pineapple. Hmmm. There must be a shortage of mirrors here. The restaurant was packed so it took a minute to get our food. After we ate and paid, we went to get gas. Or so I thought. W pulled into a sketchy looking station, and when he opened the door, it banged on one of those cement pillars. He was mad at the pillar and by default, the gas station, so we went across the street to another station. Well the pump wasn’t working that we were at, so he pulled off with the hose still attached to the car. Excuse me, but just because the pump isn’t working doesn’t give you the right to destroy the place. Yeesh! And why do they only get one chance then we leave??? After he detached the hose, we went across the highway to the only other station in the area. Lord I hoped nothing was wrong with that one!

 

Thankfully W was satisfied with the last station and we accomplished a normally easy task. We drove on and we arrived at the Courtyard Cocoa Beach in Cape Canaveral around 1. I checked into our room on the Marriott app, and I got a notification that our room was ready. The only bad thing about mobile check in is that they trick you by saying you only have to pick up your key. I don’t know about y’all, but every time I check in online they still need my ID, credit card, thumbprint, social security card, birth certificate, and 19 references. Bruh. I don’t want to work here, I just need 1 room for 1 night. After I literally felt like I’d given the Front Desk Agent everything in my wallet, we got our keys and went up to the room.  The hotel was nice. The suite had a large living area, separate bedroom, and 2 balconies. Our view was of a clump of trees, which would’ve been great if this was Jurassic Park or Animal Kingdom. Since it was neither, it was just "meh".

 

 

I took pictures of the room and changed out of my “fall” clothes because we were officially back in the middle of summer.

 

[willdra]

[willdra]

 

W's happy that his long drive is over. For now.

 

 

We wanted to see the beach therefor we went there first. Almost. W made a pit stop at Chick Fil A, cuz his last visit to Chick Fil A was over 24 hours before. I reckon he missed them. When W was satisfied that CFA was still in business and thriving, we drove to the beach. We parked and walked down to the water, which was really accessible. We took a few pictures then left cuz my forehead was on fire! It was hot as chicken grease out there. Of course me in my infinite wisdom had left my hat in the car. Can’t take me anywhere!

 

[willdra]

[willdra]

I really really wanted to visit Historic Cocoa Village, so that was our next move. Once we got there, we saw that they were having a street craft fair. We walked around and up and down the many rows. There was lots to see. We turned a corner at the end and I saw a sign from God! There was an arepa stand selling those hot circles of golden goodness. I asked W to hold my bag, cuz it was about to go down! I walked up and they handed me one right off the grill. It was so hot I almost burned my fingers clean off! I decided sadly that having fingers might be necessary for me to function on the cruise, you know for drinking purposes, therefor I waited to eat the arepa until it cooled off. I had a few bites and it was everything I dreamt it would be! I felt like I’d floated up to heaven gave Jesus a high five, then came back to the world. It was the truth.

 

 

 

[

[willdra]

I ate as much of the arepa as I could, Then we checked out more of the knickknacks and paddy whacks. After that, our next stop was to Ron Jon. This is one of my favorite spots in the whole world for a million reasons. There are rows and rows of beachy things just begging to be bought. I could literally spend days in there. Lucky for W tho I was only in there around 20 minutes. No, I wasn’t ill (thanks for your concern), I was mostly looking for gifts. I got a nice Tervis cup with the double steel walls for a friend. I saw something else that I liked, but I decided to wait. If I didn’t find anything that I loved for another friend during the cruise, W would have to bring me back to Ron Jon before we drove home the next Sunday. As we were leaving, I saw this cool little Key Lime Pie Shop across the street from Ron Jon, so we went in. The girl working there (sorry I forgot to ask her name) was so sweet! She gave us samples of the pie and wine. I ended up buying a slice of pie and a Passion Fruit infused Zinfandel.

 

 

 

We went back to the hotel to chillax, then we chose Grills for dinner.  I started with a Grills Grand Hurricane and Voodoo Wings. For my entrée I had the Grilled Fish Sandwich with Cheese. We were surprised that Adventure of the Seas was still in port when we arrived at 5:40. I hoped we could catch it leaving.

 

[willdra]

The drinks and wings were really great. W said his scampi was good. My sandwich was good but the grilled tuna had a strange texture. The fish was great by itself but it just didn’t really belong on a bun. I took it apart and ate it separately then it was great! As W was paying the bill I noticed the Adventure was still there. I went out and started taking pictures. I saw the lines going in and the Pilot boat, which meant it would be leaving soon. We watched it sail away, took more pictures, then we hit the road.

 

[edspec]

So happy to see this review.  Wondered why I didn't see an October trip report on the Carnival boards, now I know.

[willdra]

I thought I was going to be able to say that we completed another trip without going to Walmart. Then it happened. W said “so you want to go to Walmart?” and I couldn’t say no cuz I didn’t want to crush his dreams. Yet. I actually said yes before he even finished the “Mart” part. He could’ve been saying Walgreens, Walnut Hill, or Wall Street for all I knew! I did have a good reason for going tho. I’d gotten a new lens for my camera for my birthday, and I needed something to keep it from getting messed up in my backpack. So we went to Wally World and I got a little zipper bag for my lens and a shirt. W got his soda, so we didn’t do too bad. We came back to the hotel and got our crap ready for the cruise.

 

Eventually W went out on one of the balconies and saw people outside, which meant we needed to be outside too. I grabbed the camera and we went exploring the hotel. It was really warm outside, and if I didn’t have to get up and get on a cruise ship the next morning I totes would’ve jumped in the pool! There were peeps out kicking it in the lobby and sitting areas too. This hotel had a good vibe. Lots of folks were out digging the scene. We toured the pool and whirlpool area. Then out back to the fire pit. There were cool little sitting areas with separate TV’s in the sitting area. There were also smoking couches in a waiting area in the back. It looked like furniture from the set of Mad Men. W loved it back there.

 

[willdra]

[willdra]

[willdra]

We wanted to find the beach next, which meant walking out back in the dark. We followed the lit pathway until we heard the sound of the waves. I can’t lie, it was a little scary out there at night. Those bushes lining the path looked like they came right out of a scene from Stranger Things! When we found the beach, I took a few pictures then we went back up. Then we walked around some more before going back up to the room. We had a couple of cocktails, watched TV, then turned in. Uneventful.

 

Before I fell asleep I said a prayer thanking God that nothing jumped out of those bushes by the beach. I would’ve hated to lose W, especially right before the cruise.

 

 

[KmomChicago]

Hi Willdra! Looking forward to this. Our first RC was Oasis as well, this past March. We loved it very very much; you could call it an upgrade from our preceding trip on Carnival Sensation.  Knowing your loyalty to the Whale Tail, I will be very interested in your opinion on the stunning Oasis of the Seas!

[LuCruise]

Fun review...and you're not even on the ship yet.  Looking forward to hearing more.

[carnivaladdix120]

Willdra!! So excited about this review! I always enjoy you Carnival reviews and like you, we are trying RC for the first time, this Sunday on the Navigator and are really excited to see the differences after 23 Carnival sailings. Can't wait to read more!!!!

[MzShae]

Yes! I've been waiting for your review! Looking forward to it.

[willdra]

8 hours ago, F27TW said:

Oh this is gonna be a fun one to read.. love your writing style already.   Can't wait for more!

Thanks for reading! 😄

[willdra]

8 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Following

 

Welcome Aboard! 😄

[willdra]

7 hours ago, Trinam2 said:

Ohh I’m excited to read this!

 

Thank you! 😃

[willdra]

4 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Hi Willdra! Looking forward to this. Our first RC was Oasis as well, this past March. We loved it very very much; you could call it an upgrade from our preceding trip on Carnival Sensation.  Knowing your loyalty to the Whale Tail, I will be very interested in your opinion on the stunning Oasis of the Seas!

 

Thanks for reading along! 

[willdra]

3 hours ago, carnivaladdix120 said:

Willdra!! So excited about this review! I always enjoy you Carnival reviews and like you, we are trying RC for the first time, this Sunday on the Navigator and are really excited to see the differences after 23 Carnival sailings. Can't wait to read more!!!!

 

Thank you! Hopefully I will have a good bit done before your embarkation! 😍😍