Willdra's Outrageous Oasis OTS October 21-28 Cruise

[willdra]

Cozumel

We got up at 9, scratched, stretched, and set out. It was a beautiful day at our last port, and we didn’t want to waste any of it. Before we left, I noticed that one side of my nose was kinda sore. I rubbed it, and it felt like a bump. I asked W if he could see it, and he said it was a little red. I don't remember granting permission to any facial abrasions to setup shop. I made a mental note to check it out later, cuz if something was gonna live on my face, I need to collect rent money from it! No free rides.

 

The Windjammer wasn’t crowded and we found seats quick. Thankfully I got all of my favorites, and I also tried the ham this time. I had to get 2 plates, since I don’t like sweet stuff touching the bacon and ham. The ham was very good. The pancake was a little tough, so I skipped it, even tho I was looking forward to having it with the chocolate sauce. Overall it was another great breakfast and I was completely satisfied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found the gangway and exited the ship after breakfast. We walked down the pier and thru the port. It’s different docking on the Royal Caribbean side. It was wonderful that there was no Dufry to run through. There are some tight spaces where people were walking slow or stopping and looking, but we maneuvered around them. There is also an area where the excursions meet that’s kinda tight. We weren’t on an excursion, so we breezed past that too. Once we were thru the first set of shops we started to see signs for the Taxis. We had to really pay attention to see the signs. We almost thought we needed to go back over to the other pier. We felt lost in the sauce. This one is kinda tricky. Once we found our course they were easy to find tho. The taxi line was long! It does move pretty fast since groups of people go at one time. We stood in line maybe 10 minutes then one of the drivers asked where we were going, and how many people we had. We told him 2 for Paradise Beach and he took us out of line. Won't He Do It?!?!

 

 

 

 

We’ve been to Cozumel many times and Paradise Beach is still our favorite spot. It’s a quick 10 minute ride from the pier.  It’s nice, clean, the pool is huge, and there are lots of chairs in the shade. It’s $3 to get in, and they only ask you to spend $10 on food or drink. They don’t really keep up with that part either. Surprisingly it wasn’t crowded at all when we got there. There were 4 large ships in Port at the time. We try to be there before 11 since we’ve seen it crowd up after around noon.

 

 

 

[willdra]

After we got settled in some primo lounge chairs, W went to try out his snorkel mask in the ocean.  While I was catching up on Social Media and syncing my devices, the waiter brought out some chicken fingers and quesadillas. That’s exactly what we normally order, so I thought maybe W ordered them and didn’t tell me. Right as I was about to claim them, the people next to us said they ordered it. Whew! Glad I didn’t intercept that order! I still double checked with W when he got back, and he said he didn’t order yet. We really weren’t hungry since we had that huge breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crilski]

A few years ago, while cruising Royal with a Flowrider, my teenage daughter tried and tried to master the Flowrider.  It never happened.  But she did meet 2 cute surfer brothers from Florida.  Toward the end of the cruise, they had a contest - who was the best surfer.  (not sure if they still do that, but it was fun to watch the skills!)   Anyways - one of the brothers won.  He surfed and surfed - while juggling at the same time.  AMAZING!!!  I never plan on trying that thing - but it was fun watching - the successes and the wipeouts!

[willdra]

The sun was extra extra hot that day, so I finished messing with my gadgets, and got in the pool with W. We stayed in a couple of hours, then we prepared to leave at around 2:30. It was much more crowded at that time than when we first got there. Omar was our server for the day and he was great. I ended up having 2 fuzzy navels and W had a bucket of Dos Equis. When it was time to leave, we went out to the front and jumped in a taxi. It was strange going back to that pier. They let us out across the street. We had to walk thru some shops then cross the street to the gate. I needed to procure some procurables, so I set about trying to find what I needed. One of my friends asked for me to bring her some Pure White Hennessy. They didn’t have it at the first few stores that we went to. We went into RonJon to get T-shirts, and a couple of other souvenirs. After that, we went out of that port and walked all the way down to Puerto Maya. They had everything that I needed.  After we got everything, we went back over to the International Pier. It’s a good little walk too. I really hope my friend enjoys the cognac. We went thru a lot for it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Over at the other pier I got the rest of my Mexico must haves. W sat in the Dufry’s air conditioned store until I was done running around. Oasis’ security is right there at the gate, not on the ship like we are accustomed to. It’s also a process. A huge long process. We were never ready for it, cuz we didn’t know where it would be. Their security was very mobile. It's like they just setup anywhere.

 

 

After much ado, we were back on Oasis with plenty of time to spare. We are not play it close people. We have to be back on board 2 hours prior to the cutoff especially if we go out on our own like we do in Cozumel. W wanted Park Café, so that was our first stop. He was feeling weird, so he went back to the cabin to rest and take some aspirin. I dropped off my bags then went to take pictures. I walked around the ship some to make sure I had all of the pictures that I wanted. This ship is so gigantic, it will take a few cruises to take pictures of everything, but I’m here for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

While I was out, I waited for Sail Away. I realized that we hadn't watched one Sail Away yet. This was the last chance. Boooooo! I also went back up and watched some of the Flow Riders which is very entertaining. I watched Liberty OTS and my girl Carnival Dream leave Cozumel in their wake. Next was our turn. We just sailed straight out. Boring. Bye Cozumel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went back to check on W, and he was sound asleep. I was low key jealous of his nap, but I took more pictures until he woke up. When he got up he didn’t want to go to dinner in the Main Dining Room. He wanted Windjammer. I seriously started to worry about him then. In all of our years of cruising, he’s never missed MDR! I don’t care if they were serving stir fried penguin toes, he was going!

 

He got up and went to Windjammer to see what they had. He wasn’t feeling it after he saw it, so he came back and said we were going to our regular seating. Thank God!  He’s baaaacckkk!

 

 

 

[willdra]

W felt better by the time we left for dinner. We really think he was just dehydrated. We were not drinking the same amount of water that we drink at home. Once he started chugging water, he was all good. Stay hydrated peeps!

 

We got ready earlier than usual, which meant we had time to take pictures in the cabin.  We don’t like going down there standing at the door before they open. It just feels like we're putting pressure on the staff to hurry and open or something. We went down right at 8.

 

There were lots of empty seats in the dining room that night. Our table mates were missing too, and so were many of the other guests. We actually like having the table to ourselves tho. We can spread out and sit where we want. We talked to our servers more that night too. Luciano talked about life in the Dominican Republic, and Mingming talked about China. She also said that W and I remind her of her grandparents. I don’t know if that was good or bad. Like are we old like them, or do we do something specific that reminds you of them? Do tell, cuz I may want to stop doing whatever is making me look like I have a 20 something grandkid from China. She said that we were nice and smile a lot like them. Ok that passed. I swear if she said we looked old, I was gonna make an appointment with somebody's plastic surgeon and possibly spend my next cruise budget on a face lift as soon as I got home!  Mingming made me some more origami tho, and that really made up for everything. She said she loves doing it and she wants to share it with everyone to make them smile.

 

 

Mingming came back to the table a little later to tell me about the drink special of the day. She said it was the  “Margarita Arule”. Huh?! “Margarita Arule”, she repeated. Then she gave me that “I know you know what this is"  look. Sorry, I’m not familiar with that one. She had to show it to me on her phone. The servers can download the menu and drinks on their phones in a PDF, to help them explain the choices to the guests. Cool.

I looked on her phone, and it said Margarita Azul, which is a blue margarita. I told her of course I wanted one, but it was mostly cuz she had gone to so much trouble. After she went to place the order, W and I cracked up at "Margarita Arule". The way she said it was everything! We also found out that she’s still in training, that’s why some of our food was mixed up. I am so glad that we didn’t yell or get angry with them. It would’ve made everything worse since they were already nervous. I’m also glad that we didn’t snitch on them when the Maitre D came by and asked how we were doing the other night. Nothing was bad enough for them to be reprimanded about. We are not there for that. 

 

Margarita Arule

 

 

After all of that talking and laughing, I ordered the seafood cake, braised short ribs, lasagna, and the warm dark chocolate cookie. Everything was delicious, but of course I couldn’t eat it all. W and I shared everything. He had the roasted poblano soup, and chicken cordon bleu. There was no song that night, and we left around 9:30. We wanted to attend Quest at 11, but we had to get there around 10:30.

 

 

Seafood Cake

 

Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup

 

Braised Beef Short Ribs

 

Lasagna Al Forno

 

Chicken Cordon Bleu

 

 

[willdra]

We went back to 10699, changed, and went down right on time. While we were seated waiting for the game, the lady next to me jumped up trying to catch the waitress. When she jumped up, she landed on my foot! I yelped cuz it hurt and caught me off guard. I felt it in my shanana ya'll. She apologized but I was still kinda salty. I really really really wanted to open hand slap her with an almost ripe banana. I’m not a genius like Albert Einstein, Steve Urkel, or the person who decided to put that  strawberry compote on the breakfast buffet in Windjammer, but I am smart enough to know that a simple excuse me would’ve been sufficient. Now she owes me a new baby toe. Child.

 

The Quest started promptly at 11, and it was so much fun! I laughed so hard I had an asthma attack and I don’t have asthma! Everyone was in to it! Even W went down to help out when they called out an item that he had. It was over so fast too! We will definitely stay awake the next time we are on a ship and they play it. It's usually a late night adults only type of deal.

 

 

 

 

After Quest, we got drinks and went back to the cabin. One thing I’ve noticed about this drink card, is that sometimes they forget to mark off the number when they make a drink. Since it's not on the computer, just on this paper card, I guess it's easy to forget to mark off the card. We still had 6 drinks left when we went to the theater, and we should've been down to 5 by then. I ain’t mad at em tho, and I did make a note to remind them to do it in the future.

 

The Rising Tide Bar

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the cabin, I caught up with my journal notes of this cruise, while W read his Kindle.

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God that I’ve turned W into a napper. He has never really napped before and he swears he doesn’t do naps. Well this cruise he’s napped more than me! He actually said he likes our designated mid-day naps. God is good.

 

I loved these magnets. They were so much better than the tags.

 

 

 

[edspec]

Loving this review and your attitude.  

[Trinam2]

Love, Love,Love this review...

[BillOh]

Great job so far, I am just now finding this thread. I  hope it all went well.    Love Oasis and Port Canaveral. 

[ericaleadavis]

What was your total for the trip to Paradise beach? I am trying to decide between that or an all-inclusive option like Nachi Cocum.

 

Love your review!

[kag19]

Loving your review!  We will be on the Oasis at the beginning of March with the same itinerary.  Still haven't decided what to do at any of the stops.

[rs45thompson]

Love your reviews.  Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[roxierox]

Love your reviews. You writing style is great and I love all the pictures. They always make me smile. 

 

[rcrdale]

Thanks for the great review so far.  I will be on Lady O in just a short 17 days for two weeks.   This itinerary will be our first week and it is really getting me ready.   Love your writing and all the great pictures.  

[Missusdubbya]

Wonderful review, thank you!

[pacruise804]

On 12/28/2018 at 4:23 PM, willdra said:

Great review as always.  Happy Belated Birthday!

 

I love your pictures, but I must say this one has me a little twitchy with the mis-aligned cushion 😉 

 

We will be sailing on Royal in June and your review really helped 🙂 

On 12/29/2018 at 1:15 PM, EeyoreRN said:

Following! Love your style!

 

I have never heard of an arepa before today and TBH, I'm kind of sad I now know what I've been missing. That thing looks DELICIOUS!  Your photos are stunning. Can't wait to read more!

 

Eeyore

 

If you ever cruise Carnival, they have arepas at breakfast at Blue Iguana Cantina.  You can also get fresh huevos rancheros there.

[willdra]

23 hours ago, crilski said:

A few years ago, while cruising Royal with a Flowrider, my teenage daughter tried and tried to master the Flowrider.  It never happened.  But she did meet 2 cute surfer brothers from Florida.  Toward the end of the cruise, they had a contest - who was the best surfer.  (not sure if they still do that, but it was fun to watch the skills!)   Anyways - one of the brothers won.  He surfed and surfed - while juggling at the same time.  AMAZING!!!  I never plan on trying that thing - but it was fun watching - the successes and the wipeouts!

OMG yesss that was one of my favorite activities to watch. I would end up in the emergency room and on YouTube (not in a good way) if I tried it! 

[willdra]

9 hours ago, edspec said:

Loving this review and your attitude.  

 

Thanks!!! 😁

[willdra]

1 hour ago, Missusdubbya said:

Wonderful review, thank you!

Thanks for following! 😄