Oasis of the Seas Live - We’ve been Saved by the Bell 🐾🐾 March 12-19, 2023. ​​​​​​​

[Lionesss]

Good morning from FLL. 

 

Today is travel home day. 
 

Traditionally we walk around the neighborhood checking out Publix gift boutiques. And see a few homeless people. 
 

Today, we will not have time. Have to go to the airport to travel home. 
 

But wait!

Whats this?

 

Seated behind me at the Embassy breakfast low and behold—— a homeless person. 
How do I know. The nice security man wished him a good morning and let him actually finish his breakfast before they kindly escorted him out.  
 

I was actually impressed with the compassion. 
 

Ok. Time to pack. 
 

Think and pray for us as we travel today back home. 
 

08:19. 

[bobmacliberty]

9 hours ago, CruiszBug said:

The Quest was something I thought Phoebe would enjoy (it had been awhile since I had been) and I wasn't wrong! It was a scream! Such high energy! Ran into some Bella Cruisers and told them about the lift. We ended up being on Team 6 and I believe the Bella's were Team 2? They were waving at us from across the way, lol!

Well, once again we get to the door of Studio B in advance and were told they don't have a wheelchair lift! What? Lol! Didn't we just do this dance yesterday? So I asked them to call Darwin to see. He responds, Yes, we are ready for Phoebe. So off we go! Everything is going just great... UNTIL? Phoebe is heading down the stairs, but a crew member sees that the end railing as been removed (as it must be for the lift to operate) and he puts it back! So Phoebe and Brittany bump into the railing which shorts out the lift and they are quite literally stuck! For about 20 minutes... Electricians and techs are working to free them. Eventually they disassembled part of the lift so Phoebe could be lifted out.  After that repairs were quick and now more people know about how that system operates. So maybe... for the future - another guest will be able to sit down front and not be told this doesn't exist. Because for sure at least a dozen people know about it now, lol! 

 

And this is important for Team 6 because Phoebe generated points for our team for being the only person dressed head to toe in white for Dress your Best night!!

 

(But conversely... I was pre-occupied with Phoebe being stuck and didn't run over to show my green underwear... which apparently I was the only one to have 'em on or fess up about it...so Team 6 got Zero points for that Quest, lol!) 😜

 

 

It's embarrassing for Royal that they didn't even know this lift existed.  There must be numerous people in wheelchairs every cruise.  How could they not know?  I'm being generous here in assuming they really didn't know it existed instead of being more cynical that they only pretended not to know so that they wouldn't need to operate the lift.  Glad that it all worked out for you.  Looks like you and Phoebe had a great cruise!

 

 

[irishgal432]

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I need a bigger list for a December trip.🤣

 

More like a book😉😇

You can make punch cards!  The most punched wins (or loses based on perspective///)😀

[Lionesss]

Part two 

 

Took the elevator up to our room with one member of the house keeping staff and she commented on how she cannot believe how cold it is. 
I go how cold is it. She responds in the 50’s. 
 

We told her we’re going home to the 20’s and snow. 
 

Pulled out a heavier shirt.

 

08:30 

[sgmn]

12 hours ago, niksmom630 said:

Dinner to night was…. 94th Aerosquadron…

 

highly recommend…. This is our “go to” pre cruise/post cruise restaurant in Miami. 
 

not inexpensive, but what is in Miami? 🤷🏼‍♀️


Great spot directly across from the airport. You can watch the planes come in. Depending on the runway traffic, it can be like a mini Maho Beach experience. 
 

shrimp cocktail was a solid 10

 

 

Beef tenderloin was the best I’ve had in a long time. And the key lime pie? Another solid 10

 

 

 

they have connected headsets hanging randomly in spots in the dining room if you want to listen in to air traffic control at the Miami airport. 
 

 

 

My hubby, the plane spotter, would love that. You would think after a lifetime in aviation we would be 'cured'

[Luckynana]

9 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Yes Royal messed up again. It was January 28/29th

👍🏼

Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one who was happily surprised to not be caught in Marathon traffic.  It's tough enough trying to navigate around Miami.  

[Luckynana]

45 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

It's embarrassing for Royal that they didn't even know this lift existed.  There must be numerous people in wheelchairs every cruise.  How could they not know?  I'm being generous here in assuming they really didn't know it existed instead of being more cynical that they only pretended not to know so that they wouldn't need to operate the lift.  Glad that it all worked out for you.  Looks like you and Phoebe had a great cruise!

 

 

I have been on NYC busses where the bus driver(s) had no idea of how to operate the chair lift on their bus .  Disgraceful that not all employees on their bus have this knowledge.🤔

[Luckynana]

33 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

Part two 

 

Took the elevator up to our room with one member of the house keeping staff and she commented on how she cannot believe how cold it is. 
I go how cold is it. She responds in the 50’s. 
 

We told her we’re going home to the 20’s and snow. 
 

Pulled out a heavier shirt.

 

08:30 

We were quite surprised to find how cool it was when we did a pit stop on Alligator Alley. Of course, sweater was in suitcase, not reachable.  We did survive,though!😁

[Luckynana]

56 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

What an EPIC cruise this was! Kudos to John, Sue, Greg, Andrew for organizing our cruise and keeping this thread current. Schooner Bar will never be the same for us until Bella Cruise 2. You are all a delightful group of friends that Jack and I loved meeting. Getting off the ship was a breeze in a wheelchair about 15 minutes from start to getting to our car. Unfortunately the Turnpike was a mess and we were stuck in super heavy traffic for 7 hours that should have taken 4 -1/2. No worries, we got a good night sleep at Hampton Inn in Gainesville. Onward home!! I hope all who are ailing are feeling better by now. 

Jack and I are looking forward to Bella Cruise 2. 

Take care all of you awesome friends. Hope your journeys home were safe.

I still have 40 pages left to read on this thread!

Ditto from me also, Bonnie.  It was great to meet you and Jack and all of our friends face to face.🙂. Thank you for your kind words to me when we parted the last night in the Schooner🥰

[niksmom630]

12 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

We have enjoyed that hotel and restaurant pre-cruise, although i don’t recall the taxi being nearly that expensive. I don’t think flat fare to the airport has gone up by that much.
 

Was it metered and a lot of traffic?

It was metered, but traffic was not too bad, but we went from the port to the hotel, not the airport. I thought it seemed a bit high myself, but our Uber X to the port from the hotel was $47, so fairly comparable. 
 

we are going to try the free shuttle to the airport this morning from the hotel to the Miami airport. 
 

we flew into Fort Lauderdale and then took an Uber to the hotel here no in Miami. That fare for an Uber x ( we had three passengers plus 4 large suitcases) was $86 

[nasa1974]

WOW!! 107 pages.

Had a great time on my first Royal Caribbean cruise. Met some really great people and hope to stay in touch through Cruise Critic and meet everyone on another cruise.

Yesterday sure was a day to stand in lines and wait.

The flight from Miami to Charlotte was uneventful. The flight from Charlotte to Cleveland was a pain. Almost a two-hour delay and they changed my departing gate 4 times. At least the time delay allowed my luggage to get on the plane.

Now I get to do laundry, grocery shopping, pick up the mail and catch up on all the email sites I couldn't get on while on the ship. Either because the internet was terrible, two step verification or forgotten passwords (I thought I wrote all of them down).

[crewsweeper]

15 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

We're home, but I'm beat. No posting for a while, just wanted to catch up.

 

Drive took 6+ hours. Turnpike was a mess

 

 

Hate that.  You have zero idea if reason for delay is 1/2 a mile ahead or 6 miles up the road. And depending on where you get stuck, few places to get off and alternate route up I95.

 

But glad you're both home and safe.  

[firefly333]

12 hours ago, taznremmy said:

Where is everyone??? 😹  I went to Schooner’s and there were only 6 other people there….and none of them were familiar. Even the bar staff was different 🙀.  I’ll check back later.  

Currently in the Pub listening to the guitar player.

Turn around day was the worst I’ve ever experienced.  New cruisers were getting on the ship at the same time as B2B cruisers.  I’ve always enjoyed the 30 to 45 minutes of ‘quiet’ on the ship, before the next sailing. 

Miss you all!  It ‘s definitely going to be a quiet week. 😁🙀

Pat

 

I missed you. .. and had to grind my own coffee beans this morning.

 

Nice meeting you and hope we get to cruise again before belle2. 

[crewsweeper]

13 hours ago, niksmom630 said:

Dinner to night was…. 94th Aerosquadron…

 

highly recommend…. This is our “go to” pre cruise/post cruise restaurant in Miami. 
 

not inexpensive, but what is in Miami? 🤷🏼‍♀️


Great spot directly across from the airport. You can watch the planes come in. Depending on the runway traffic, it can be like a mini Maho Beach experience. 
 

shrimp cocktail was a solid 10

 

 

Beef tenderloin was the best I’ve had in a long time. And the key lime pie? Another solid 10

 

 

 

they have connected headsets hanging randomly in spots in the dining room if you want to listen in to air traffic control at the Miami airport. 
 

 

 

That's a great place to go if you're staying around the Blue Lagoon.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, BonTexasNY said:

What an EPIC cruise this was! Kudos to John, Sue, Greg, Andrew for organizing our cruise and keeping this thread current. Schooner Bar will never be the same for us until Bella Cruise 2. You are all a delightful group of friends that Jack and I loved meeting. Getting off the ship was a breeze in a wheelchair about 15 minutes from start to getting to our car. Unfortunately the Turnpike was a mess and we were stuck in super heavy traffic for 7 hours that should have taken 4 -1/2. No worries, we got a good night sleep at Hampton Inn in Gainesville. Onward home!! I hope all who are ailing are feeling better by now. 

Jack and I are looking forward to Bella Cruise 2. 

Take care all of you awesome friends. Hope your journeys home were safe.

I still have 40 pages left to read on this thread!

Nice to finally meet in person though after that I dont think I saw you.

 

Will be be on Bella2? Lol time to get planning.

[jmh2006]

Good morning fellow Bella cruisers and friends.  Sitting in the Delta Sky Club at Miami for our 12:47 flight back to Detroit.  Fell asleep last night at 8:30 and slept till my 7am alarm. Guess I needed it 🤣.  Back to reality!

[PompeySailor]

11 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Good morning fellow Bella cruisers and friends.  Sitting in the Delta Sky Club at Miami for our 12:47 flight back to Detroit.  Fell asleep last night at 8:30 and slept till my 7am alarm. Guess I needed it 🤣.  Back to reality!

Safe travels to you and Dave 

See you on X 

 

[CruiszBug]

15 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

We're home, but I'm beat.

Drive took 6+ hours. Turnpike was a mess 

😲 Wow! When we exited the parking garage the GPS kept directing us to the Turnpike. I saw a sign to I-95 North and said, let's get in the Express Lane. Glad for that luck and sorry you got caught in it. Wishing you well!

 

14 hours ago, brillohead said:

The problem in Miami is one of traffic and lack of traffic planning/control.   
I have a feeling that's why so many Uber/Lyft requests get cancelled after they have been accepted -- the drivers figure they can just bail and go pick up three different paying customers in the time they'd waste waiting in line just to get to the terminal to pick up the request they just accepted.

I caught an Uber from our hotel at 7 AM on embarkation morning to head to Mass. Went to the next one available at 7:30 AM which was St. James in North Miami. It was in Creole! Loved the experience. Return trip I had the driver drop me at Starbucks to pick up breakfast sandwiches and coffee, which I brought back to the fam who were dressed and ready! This resulted in us leaving a little later than planned and getting stuck in that Biscayne Blvd madhouse, lol! Felt like I was driving in NYC with all the honking!

 

14 hours ago, niksmom630 said:

Dinner to night was…. 94th Aerosquadron…

highly recommend…. This is our “go to” pre cruise/post cruise restaurant in Miami. 

Great spot directly across from the airport. You can watch the planes come in. Depending on the runway traffic, it can be like a mini Maho Beach experience. 

shrimp cocktail was a solid 10 Beef tenderloin was the best I’ve had in a long time. And the key lime pie? Another solid 10

Your pictures and description convinced me to try next trip! You had me at the Tri-fecta of "Tenderloin-Shrimp Cocktail- Key Lime Pie"!

 

14 hours ago, niksmom630 said:

Settling in at the Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon

Love that area! So beautiful (and convenient).

 

14 hours ago, cruisinghawg said:

Blue Lagoon is our go to Hotel in MIA also. Must try that restaurant which I know is just the other side of Dolphin Expressway. Thanks for the pics!! 

Ditto!

 

13 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Owen on the way home.  This was 10 minutes after takeoff. He woke about an hour left in the flight. 

We actually met Owen twice out and about. Once was on the elevator with his buddies. Brain fog, but I'm trying to remember if it was the one with the piano player? Very friendly and a natural conversationalist.

 

11 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Some puppies were glad to see us!

Good to be home after a long day of sitting in airports sitting in planes.

Glad you made it home to those two beauties. This our first cruise without our lovely little chihuahua, Munch.

 

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Getting off the ship was a breeze in a wheelchair about 15 minutes from start to getting to our car. Unfortunately the Turnpike was a mess and we were stuck in super heavy traffic for 7 hours that should have taken 4 -1/2. 

OW! I feel your pain. Bad way to end travel. We had a few episodes near Miami where the GPS directed us onto the Turnpike. Only to return us to 95 South... With the Express Lanes on I-95 I'll not do the Turnpike again until 95 is closed.

 

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Seated behind me at the Embassy breakfast low and behold—— a homeless person. 
How do I know. The nice security man wished him a good morning and let him actually finish his breakfast before they kindly escorted him out.  
I was actually impressed with the compassion. 

That was kind. As are you. I noticed every time you spoke to Phoebe she smiled at you. She knows things.

 

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

There must be numerous people in wheelchairs every cruise.  How could they not know?  I'm being generous here in assuming they really didn't know it existed instead of being more cynical that they only pretended not to know so that they wouldn't need to operate the lift.

I must say the experience was unexpected. Totally different than Phoebe's first cruise on Oasis where they were the ones suggesting it to us. I paid attention to how it was operated then. Hoping it was an oversight in training due to Covid shut-down and will be rectified for future.

 

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

I have been on NYC busses where the bus driver(s) had no idea of how to operate the chair lift on their bus .

Glad the NYC subway system is a better alternative for Phoebe. We've used metro and buses in Philadelphia with mostly good results. Only had one incident in Philly where the people would not vacate the seats where the wheelchair must go. I did not hold it against them because they probably ride that bus every day and consider it their spot. 

 

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

We were quite surprised to find how cool it was when we did a pit stop on Alligator Alley. Of course, sweater was in suitcase, not reachable.  We did survive,though!😁

I know, right? We felt the same when we stopped for gas. Immediately put heat on when we got back in the van.

Edited March 20, 2023 by CruiszBug

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

My hubby, the plane spotter, would love that. You would think after a lifetime in aviation we would be 'cured'

You never get cured. When I was a kid I would go to the airport just to watch planes come and go.... and I love Maho Beach on St. Maarten.

[helen haywood]

@A&L_Ont  Glad Lucy did not detect eau de Pete on you!

[Lionesss]

I just remembered something our Uber driver showed us last night as we were going back to Embassy in FLL. 
He pointed out where the new cruise terminals are being built same waterway but about 1/2 miles from current site. 
 

He did not know when they would be completed. 

 

Looked massive. 
 

At airport now. 
air conditioning working. 
Glad I brought a heavy sweat shirt. 
 

 

 

[Sea Dog]

We are a go! Start the countdown.

 

[xpcdoojk]

On 3/19/2023 at 6:14 AM, Sea Dog said:

That’s a stupid comment.

How so?  Might be wrong, but hardly stupid.  😂  

[BonTexasNY]

Hard to type while Jack drives but I wanted to get this in. I wore a tshirt at our final goodbye in the schooner bar. This is what was printed on the front of the shirt:

 

"Let's sit together and gaze out the sea sharing the warm sunshine content as we can be"

 

Thanks to all of you for making this one of the most memorable cruises ever!

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

10 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

I just remembered something our Uber driver showed us last night as we were going back to Embassy in FLL. 
He pointed out where the new cruise terminals are being built same waterway but about 1/2 miles from current site. 
 

He did not know when they would be completed. 

 

Looked massive. 
 

At airport now. 
air conditioning working. 
Glad I brought a heavy sweat shirt. 
 

 

 

 

Was the area right by the 17th street bridge?  Looks like lots of activity in that area.  The existing cruise terminal 4 there is being "re-imagined" to become the new Disney Cruise terminal (Carnival moving from terminal 4 to a redeveloped terminal 21).  There's also a major convention center expansion that will include a new 800 room Omni hotel and a few restaurants.  It will be nice having a new hotel option right there, but we might need to coordinate cruise with large conventions.