Pasting formatted Word Doc

John&LaLa · May 22, 2019

OASIS OF THE SEAS - DECEMBER 9 - 16, 2018

Saturday, December 8 - Travel day

Good morning from the United Club in LAX. I left home at 6am, drove to the bus terminal, boarded the 6:30am bus to LAX, checked one bag at about 7:15am, and was inside the United Club by 7:30am. I paid extra to be in the United Club. The plane is due to depart at about 10:40am. I should arrive at MCO around 6:25pm. A fellow cruiser whom I have only met online has offered to pick me up. A very nice gesture, given that I probably outweigh him (ha ha). He lives in the home of the chocolate fish (Cocoa Beach) and has a great view of all the rockets taking off from the Kennedy Space Center.

So at any rate, a little about me. This will be my 34^th cruise, my 14^th with Royal Caribbean, and my first on the Oasis of the Seas (I was on the Allure of the Seas about five years ago). I have become a little disenchanted with Royal Caribbean. Recently Royal Caribbean has done some things that just don’t sit well with me. These are corporate issues and not cruise issues, so yes, I have enjoyed the cruises. Believe it or not, I have booked a grand suite just so I can try out the Coastal Kitchen (which is available to suite guests). I believe that guests in the junior suites can also eat at the Coastal Kitchen. However, full suite guests can make reservation through the concierge the week before sailing. Then if there is room the junior suite guests can make reservation on board (apparently reservations are necessary). The Coastal Kitchen does not take reservations at 7:00pm because they turn over the tables at 7:00pm. I’m not sure why they do that. Once the table top touches the dirty floor, the staff will have to wipe down the table before anyone can eat on it.

Now there are different levels of suites. The grand suite I am in is “Sky Class.” I’m not sure why they call it sky class, since it is only about one hundred feet above sea level. Nonetheless, there are some benefits that come with being in a “full” suite (I don’t know how “full” it will be, given that I am traveling solo). The benefits are listed below, courtesy of the concierges...

Dear Sky Class Guest,

Our names are Federico & Claudine and we are your Concierge onboard the amazing Oasis of the Seas. We are honored that you have chosen Royal Caribbean for your cruise vacation. I will be available to assist you throughout your cruise. My hours in the Suite Lounge are daily from 8:00am to 1:00pm on a sea day 8:00am to 12:00pm on a port day and 5:00pm to 8:30pm every evening.

As a suite guest you are offered exclusive amenities and services not available to other guests onboard the Oasis of the Seas. For your convenience, here is a brief summary of the services:

· Use of the Suite Lounge located on deck 17 aft.

· Continental Breakfast in the Suite Lounge, deck 17 daily from 7:30am to 10:30am.

. Ala Carte Breakfast in Coastal Kitchen, deck 17 from 8:00am to 10:00am the days at

sea (port days 7:30pm to 10:00am).

· Ala Carte Lunch in Coastal Kitchen, deck 17 daily from Noon to 1:30 pm

. Complimentary selected Wind by the glass Selected Beers Bottle water and soft

drinks in the suite lounge (from 11:30 am to 11:00 pm)

· Complimentary beverages served in the Suite Lounge daily from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

. Ala carte dinner at Coastal Kitchen, deck 17 starboard side, from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm

(reservations are required. Please let me know your time preference so I can assist

with reservations)

· Spa bathrobes for use onboard and upgraded bathroom toiletries.

· Exclusive Reception for suite guests with the Captain and Senior Officers (please find

invitation left in the suite).

· Specialty Restaurant menus displayed in the lounge.

· Complimentary pressing service on the first formal night.

· Show Reservations are not required for suite guests except the Adult Standup Comedy

Show (please come see us on the first day of the cruise to book your comedy show as

space is very limited). Please show your Sky Class SeaPass card (room key) at the

entrance 20 minutes prior to show time as booked seats will be given away 10 minutes

prior to show time.

· Private sun deck with loungers and cabanas on deck 17 forward. (Cabanas are limited

and are available on a first‑come‑first served basis). Deck 17 sun deck is a smoke‑free

area.

· Limited VIP seats for the shows (except the adult comedy). Please show your Sky

class card (room key) at the entrance 20 minutes prior to show time as booked seats

will be given away 10 minutes prior to show time.

· Complimentary Voom Internet Service – Access Code to be provided by the

Communication Specialist onboard.

The Oasis Class ship (Oasis, Allure, Harmony and Symphony) are the only four ships that require reservations for most of the shows, these reservations are electronic, for guests in staterooms. Sky Class SeaPass cards holders (suite guests) are able to attend the shows without processing reservations by only showing their Sky Class SeaPass card at the entrance and can also access the reserved VIP area at the entertainment venues (due to the limited space, the only exception is the Comedy Live for the Adult Standup Comedy Show where reservations are still required and there is no reserved seating area). Once onboard please visit me in the Suite Lounge on Day 1 and I will be glad to process Standup Comedy reservations for you if needed.

Great News! make your own reservations for our entertainment venues, specialty dining, Vitality at Sea Spa and sports, as well as Shore Excursions! on‑line please visit our website. In order to complete your on‑line reservations you will need to have your booking ID and sailing date. Click here to book your reservations ‑‑‑> http://www.royalcaribbean.com/home.do

We will be able to assist you onboard with Spa and Shore Excursions on Boarding Day in the Suite Lounge on Deck 17 from 11:15 am until 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm till 8:00 pm

The Suite Lounge is a private area exclusive for guests staying in the Star & Sky Class Suites only and is accessible 24‑hours with your SeaPass card.

Dress code:

We respectfully request that guests observe a casual dress code (no swim or pool attire is allowed, footwear is required at all times) when visiting the lounge.

Age requirement:

To ensure all our guests are able to enjoy these exclusive venues we require that all guests 20 years and younger must be well behaved and accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.

The lounge is designated smoke‑free area. Food and beverages are for consumption within the lounge only.

It will be our pleasure to assist you in any way to make your cruise experience the more enjoyable and wish you an unforgettable time onboard the Oasis of the Seas.

Please do not hesitate to contact for anything you need!

We want to ensure you will have a memorable cruise vacation.

Kind regards,

Federico Taylor & Claudine Fernandes

Office :29192 / Email: OA_Concierge01@rccl.com

And here are the benefits I receive based on my Crown and Anchor level...

As a Diamond Plus member, you'll receive exclusive benefits and privileges on your upcoming voyage, including:

· Priority Check In & Complimentary Water: Enjoy priority boarding & two bottles of complimentary water in your stateroom upon arrival.

· Onboard Offers: Be sure to reference the Welcome Letter in your stateroom on embarkation day to view the great onboard offers for shopping; Vitality Day Spa, Internet Café, and other activities.

· Lounge Access: Enjoy exclusive access to the Diamond Club where you can relax and mingle with other Crown & Anchor Society members.

· Nightly Happy Hour: Enjoy three complimentary drink vouchers during the nightly happy hour (times vary by ship).

· NextCruise Bonus: Up to $600 onboard credit or dollars off. Plus, only $100 per person deposits on select fares when you book your next cruise onboard. Visit the NextCruise Office for details.

· Balcony & Suite Discounts: Book your next cruise onboard in a Balcony or Suite stateroom and enjoy savings; combine this offer with the Next Cruise Bonus and save more!

Thank you for your continued loyalty and have a wonderful voyage!

So what else? Well long ago, when I first started writing my cruise reviews, I noticed that people like lots of details. So I write my review while on the ship. Then it became apparent that people like lots of pictures. So I take many pictures. But posting the pictures is boring and time consuming. Then Photobucket decided to increase its price for third party hosting of the pictures from $36 per year to $400 per year. So I switched to SmugMug. The cost is a much more reasonable $48 per year and there is no limit on the amount of storage or bandwidth I use. In addition I can create albums and link to the albums in my review. This benefits you as you can view bigger photographs in the SmugMug albums than the cruise forum allows and benefits me because it is a lot easier to post one link to an album with fifty photographs than it is to post a link to fifty pictures in the review. The result, I spend less time posting the photographs and thus I am willing to post more of my photographs. I do however post a limited number of photographs in the review.

To take the photographs, I have three cameras with me. A DSLR which I use mostly on the ship (it is heavy and I don’t like carrying it around off the ship), a travel camera which is a point and shoot camera that fits in my breast pocket for off ship photography, and a waterproof camera which is use for ....... wait for it ....... under water photographs (I bet you didn’t see that coming).

When I was on the Allure I was on an Eastern Caribbean route. This cruise will be a Western Caribbean route. Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s private beach. I haven’t been to Labadee since 2007, which is before the pier was built. I was scheduled to visit Labadee in 2012, but the ship was having propulsion issues, so we didn’t stop at Labadee. This time I’m going to check out the water park and the roller coaster. I’ve been to Falmouth once before on the Navigator of the Seas. I’m going to check out Montego Bay for the first time. In Cozumel I am going to Chankanaab Park. However, I am not going to do it through the ship.

Well, it is about 9:25am and I really don’t have anything else to add to my review. So I am going to shut down and I’ll be back at you when I get to my hotel in Cocoa Beach.

The flight was long (over four hours) and boring (too many clouds between me and the ground). However, when describing flying six miles above the ground, boring is much preferred over exciting. That said boarding did not go so smoothly for me. I left the United Club and found the gate. Boarding had already begun (which should have been my first clue). A warning buzzer and a red light went off just as soon as my boarding pass was scanned. “Sir, you are on the wrong flight. This flight is going to Houston, you are going to Orlando.” I looked at the board and sure enough, this flight was scheduled to leave twenty minutes before my flight.

I go over to the gate agent and ask if the flight to Orlando is leaving from this gate (because I don’t believe United can turn around a plane in twenty minutes). The gate agent looks surprised and says no. She thinks there might have been a gate change. I buy into this for two reasons. One, I was recently on a flight where there was a change of gates that I did not know about. Two, my boarding pass said that gate had not yet been assigned. So I ask which gate my flight is leaving from. Turns out to be gate 72B, which is gate I was told. Turns out I am at gate 70B. I saw the seven and the “B” and got in line. Oops! Sometimes I wonder how some of the idiots I end up standing behind in line manage to earn enough money to fly. I guess I just figured it out.

I walked over to my gate, they had not even started boarding yet.

When I arrived my luggage was one of the first bags out (it was marked priority, as I was in first class). However, experience has shown that being marked priority is no guarantee of an early arrival. My friend was waiting for me at the luggage carousel. I emailed him a photo of the shirt I would be wearing, so he had no trouble recognizing me. We spoke on the phone once I landed. He was the one that provided me with the carousel number where my luggage could be claimed (I asked on the plane and they didn’t know).

First we went to dinner. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said the Tokyo Steakhouse. They cook the meal right in front of you. I paid for both meals, as he was saving me from a $100 car rental bill. He even picked up me up from the hotel the following morning and took me to the ship. I am not sure how long he has lived in the area, but he was very knowledgeable about the area and the Oasis of the Seas, since he cruises and lot and the Oasis of the Seas is his home ported ship. All in all, it was great meeting him.

The hotel, Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach is connected to a surf shop (the Cocoa Beach Surf Company). In fact, when I looked out the window of my fifth floor room, I was looking into the store. That was kind of a surprise for me (another surprise for me was that one of my checked bag’s locks was missing – thank you TSA). The floor plan of the room was great. You enter into the entry hall with the bathroom to the right and the closet (which included a safe) to the left. Straight ahead was the bedroom and behind a half wall was a sitting room. However, the room had a few flaws. The two most noticeable issues are that there is no overhead lighting other than in the entry hall. This bedroom and sitting room were lighted solely by desk and floor lights, which left the room (with no outside windows) looking a little dark. The second most notable issue is that there is no television in the sitting room, and you can’t easily see the television from the sitting room.