LIVE from Oasis of the Seas Transatlantic (with bonus Disney World) April 2024

[laurieal]

Hello, everyone! You are cordially invited to join me on my quest to bring the Oasis of the Seas across the Atlantic for her season in Europe followed by a short dry dock.

 

 

Yes, that is indeed the Allure of the Seas. Glad you asked. Since I haven’t been on the Oasis yet and haven’t shared a dock with her in the past, I don’t have any pictures of her except this one in which she’s hiding behind her younger sister Allure. As someone who has used her younger sibling as a social shield in the past, I get it. 

 

For those who have not followed my adventure before, hi. I’m Laurie. I’m from beautiful Quebec City in Canada and I used to say I was flirting with 40 but at this point it’s just harassment. Despite getting dangerously close to being middled aged, I still consider myself a kid with an adult bank account. A dangerous combo and one of the reasons I keep ending up on cruise ships. Shh, it’s fine. It’s working.

 

 

As you will soon find out if you keep on reading this thread, I am fully paralyzed from the waist down and I use a wheelchair full-time to get around. I like to address the wheelchair accessibility aspect of my travels, because maybe one day it will be useful to someone with mobility issues who doesn’t mind run-on sentences too much. I’m sure those people exist. If that’s not you, fear not! I will address everything else the Oasis has to offer, too.

 

I am also an annoyingly glass-half-full kind of person and I like to think I don’t take myself or life too seriously, but really I just use humour as a coping mechanism (shhh, it’s fine, it’s working). Some of my interests are snacks, raspberries, cheese, doughnuts… 

 

(why are all of those about food? Some of those definitely shouldn’t be about food)

 

…coffee, wine, colourful cocktails…

 

(now how about some interests you don’t put in your mouth)

 

…reading, video games, travelling, my cat, and my robot vacuum.

 

(nailed it)

 

That’s me! If you see me on the ship, come say hello and hang out. We can awkwardly stare at each other in complete silence. It will be great!

[laurieal]

The Trip

 

The first thing I booked was an accessible interior stateroom on the Oasis eastbound transatlantic. I was hoping something else would open up, but when it did I just couldn’t justify the price.

 

There were some changes to the itinerary along the way, but here is what we ended up with.

 

 

Alicante is the only new port for me, but I am excited to revisit some old favourites.

 

Then, when it was time to book the flights, I saw that Air Transat wanted over 2000$ CAD for a one way flight from Barcelona to Montreal and, well, no. Just no. However, a round-trip flight would cost me half of that in total and that’s the story of how I also booked the Oasis westbound transatlantic.

 

So I had two cruises and a round-trip flight. What I also had was an extra week of vacation to use before August. An email later to my Disney travel agent and I had attached 8 days at Disney World to my spring travel plans.

 

To summarize, I will leave Quebec City on April 12th on a direct flight to Orlando. From April 12th to the 20th, I will be staying at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Then, on April 20th, I will take the Brightline train from Orlando to Miami where I will be staying for one night. Finally, on April 21st, I will board the Oasis of the Seas for the transatlantic.

[clochette]

I am so glad that you are taking us along, what a great trip, and I have really enjoyed your previous trip reports.

Once you reach Barcelona are you spending some time in Europe?

[laurieal]

46 minutes ago, clochette said:

I am so glad that you are taking us along, what a great trip, and I have really enjoyed your previous trip reports.

Once you reach Barcelona are you spending some time in Europe?

Thank you for joining me! 

 

The reasonably-priced flight from Barcelona I found leaves on the same day the cruise ends, so I will not be spending time in Europe during this trip. However, I have planned a few days in Madrid in the fall before the westbound transatlantic.

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, laurieal said:

Thank you for joining me! 

 

I will literally be joining you!  (The cruise, not Disney).  Hopefully we can stare at each other in complete silence (I am hearing impaired  😉).  

 

I visited Seville and Malaga/Granada (and many other places) on a high school Spanish trip.

 

I'll be spending 5 nights post-cruise in Monistrol de Montserrat.

[perfect match]

Great to see you traveling again, Laurie! I’ve always enjoyed tour trip reports and I’m sure that this one will be just as much fun! 
 

DH and I live near WDW but we’ll be getting ready for our own cruise on Allure so I’m not sure if we will be hitting the parks during the time you’re there. If we do and we happen to see you zipping by we will be sure to stop and say hi.

[laurieal]

4 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

I will literally be joining you!  (The cruise, not Disney).  Hopefully we can stare at each other in complete silence (I am hearing impaired  😉).  

 

I visited Seville and Malaga/Granada (and many other places) on a high school Spanish trip.

 

I'll be spending 5 nights post-cruise in Monistrol de Montserrat.

How fun! If you have internet access during the crossing, feel free to jump in with your thoughts and impressions.

 

Montserrat looks absolutely stunning. It's definitely on my radar of places to visit eventually.

[laurieal]

2 minutes ago, perfect match said:

Great to see you traveling again, Laurie! I’ve always enjoyed tour trip reports and I’m sure that this one will be just as much fun! 
 

DH and I live near WDW but we’ll be getting ready for our own cruise on Allure so I’m not sure if we will be hitting the parks during the time you’re there. If we do and we happen to see you zipping by we will be sure to stop and say hi.

Welcome aboard! 

 

It's been a few years since I went to Disney World (it was before Guardians, Remy and Tron opened), so if you have any tips or things that I shouldn't miss let me know! 

 

I wish you and your husband a fabulous cruise on Allure 🤩

[laurieal]

As is tradition in recent years, there was a bit of drama surrounding this trip. You know what cruise lines enjoy? People paying for their cruises. Shocking, I know. I always write the final payment date in my calendar so I see it coming in advance. I also put a reminder with an alert a couple of days before the deadline date to make sure I don’t miss it. So there it was in my calendar and my reminders: Do Not Miss Final Payment on January 29th. Excellent.

 

You know where I’m going with this, right?

 

What surprised me when I woke up on January 27th wasn’t my reminder letting me know that final payment was due in two days. No, that was expected. What did surprise me were the fifteen emails telling me my Cruise Planner reservations had been cancelled. I checked the RCI app to see what was going on: no cruise. I also checked the website to make sure: no cruise.

 

That’s when I decided to check my junk folder and there they were: the many RCI emails urging me to make my final payment which was due on January 22nd followed by an email confirming my cruise had been cancelled because I had failed to make my final payment.

 

That was around 7am on a Sunday and the call center didn’t open for another 2 hours. I tried to make a fake reservation and see if my stateroom had been released back into the inventory and it wasn’t available. But was it not available because they hold the staterooms for a little bit after cancelling them, or had someone grabbed it during the night?

 

Those were some fun two hours.

 

At exactly 9am I was calling RCI and the person I spoke with was able to re-activate my reservation and take the final payment. To say I was relieved would be an understatement. 

[perfect match]

Wow! I would have been a wreck waiting for the office to open! I’m glad that you were able to get your reservation restored! That cruise being cancelled would have seriously disrupted your plans!

 

Your experience is a good reminder to me as to why I always set my reminders for final payment due at least a week early and recheck the due date frequently. Not that I would ever mix up final payment due dates or anything…..🤣🤪😂🤣🤪😂

[texmex.ferr]

Hi Laurie

Good to see you're onboard, we'll be joining you again..    I can get DH to sit and stare at you, if you wish, he does it to other people!!!!   lol

We're just travelling our own this trip, although we know others from other TA's onboard like yourself.     Do remember Michael, Cory & Judy from our Jewel TA back in 2017, they're onboard too!!

See you onboard on 21 April

 

Margaret  (& Ian)

[laurieal]

49 minutes ago, perfect match said:

That cruise being cancelled would have seriously disrupted your plans!

I was looking at other options while waiting for the office to open and there was an accessible junior suite available on the Oasis and some availability on the Odyssey that is also leaving for a TA on April 21st. However, so close to the sailing date they were both waaaaay out of my price range. 
 

If I hadn’t been able to reactivate my Oasis booking, I probably would have extended my stay at Disney and maybe added some Universal time, too. It would have been a fun vacation, but I still would have been super disappointed and so so mad at myself. 
 

I have since updated my reminder strategy and upped them to three. I have also checked my final payment date at least ten times for my fall cruise. So far so good 😂 

[laurieal]

43 minutes ago, texmex.ferr said:

Hi Laurie

Good to see you're onboard, we'll be joining you again..    I can get DH to sit and stare at you, if you wish, he does it to other people!!!!   lol

We're just travelling our own this trip, although we know others from other TA's onboard like yourself.     Do remember Michael, Cory & Judy from our Jewel TA back in 2017, they're onboard too!!

See you onboard on 21 April

 

Margaret  (& Ian)

I have drunk some of RCI’s Château de Tuesday sparkling wine in your stateroom with you and Ian, so I think we can skip the sitting awkwardly in complete silence part 😂 

 

I’m excited to see you and Ian again! Can I still find you at the pub or with a Kir Royal in hand at the Schooner Bar?

 

I do remember Michael and Cory and Judy! They were part of the LCR group, right?

[little britain]

9 hours ago, laurieal said:

How fun! If you have internet access during the crossing, feel free to jump in with your thoughts and impressions.

 

Montserrat looks absolutely stunning. It's definitely on my radar of places to visit eventually.

I’ll be on board too! Will definitely say Hi.

 

I had asked my TA to cancel my Adventure crossing in November and they accidentally cancelled this Oasis one ( I see a theme developing!) so I exactly know your pain! I woke up to emails of cancelled restaurant reservations and my one shore ex to Montserrat cancelled ( which I had purchased at a great price when on sale).  A stress filled couple of hours waiting for the USA to wake up and then whilst he reinstated everything. Sadly I wasn’t able to get the shore ex back at the bargain price !

See you on board 

Edited April 11 by little britain

[laurieal]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

I’ll be on board too! Will definitely say Hi.

 

I had asked my TA to cancel my Adventure crossing in November and they accidentally cancelled this Oasis one ( I see a theme developing!) so I exactly know your pain! I woke up to emails of cancelled restaurant reservations and my one shore ex to Montserrat cancelled ( which I had purchased at a great price when on sale).  A stress filled couple of hours waiting for the USA to wake up and then whilst he reinstated everything. Sadly I wasn’t able to get the shore ex back at the bargain price !

See you on board 

Oh no! How stressful! I’m glad your travel agent could get the cruise reinstated, but it’s too bad about the excursion. Are you still going to Montserrat or did you decide to do something else?

 

Are you spending some time in the US before the cruise?

[Sunshine3601]

I'm excited to follow your travels.   So glad all was reinstated.  😊   always enjoy our live reviews. I've been eyeing up TA crossings for awhile but can never talk DH into that many sea days.   I love them!

Let the fun begin🥳

 

[blueboys24]

I'm so glad to see your doing another review I love reading about your adventures. That is such a good idea about the return flights , I just said to my husband and he said he won't do a transatlantic so looks like it will just be me one day In the future.

[mac_tlc]

Sounds like a fun trip! Interested in your Brightline experience. Reviews I have seen seem favorable, but the cost scares me away.  
 

We are contemplating doing two TA’s in 2025 to/from Barcelona on different cruise lines. The round trip ticket approach seems like it can be a “bargain”.

 

 

mac_tlc

[laurieal]

49 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I'm excited to follow your travels.   So glad all was reinstated.  😊   always enjoy our live reviews. I've been eyeing up TA crossings for awhile but can never talk DH into that many sea days.   I love them!

Let the fun begin🥳

 

 

11 minutes ago, blueboys24 said:

I'm so glad to see your doing another review I love reading about your adventures. That is such a good idea about the return flights , I just said to my husband and he said he won't do a transatlantic so looks like it will just be me one day In the future.

Thanks to you both for joining me! Perhaps you two can do a TA together...? 👀

 

I'm kidding, of course, but perhaps a shorter TA with a good repartition of sea days could be an acceptable option one day? I was on the Anthem fall TA in 2022 we had the following itinerary:

Only three sea days in a row may seem less daunting? I remember getting to Ponta Delgada and thinking "already?!".

[laurieal]

9 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Sounds like a fun trip! Interested in your Brightline experience. Reviews I have seen seem favorable, but the cost scares me away.  
 

We are contemplating doing two TA’s in 2025 to/from Barcelona on different cruise lines. The round trip ticket approach seems like it can be a “bargain”.

 

 

mac_tlc

The first tip I can give regarding Brightline is to sign up to get their offers. Most of the offers I got were their usual "buy four get 25% off", but eventually I received a code for a 39$ Smart Fare or 109$ Premium on select trips, which I used. Recently I also received a 50% off offer for groups of 2+

[little britain]

1 hour ago, laurieal said:

Oh no! How stressful! I’m glad your travel agent could get the cruise reinstated, but it’s too bad about the excursion. Are you still going to Montserrat or did you decide to do something else?

 

Are you spending some time in the US before the cruise?

Yes we are flying into MCO - DH is hoping to see a 🚀 launch. 
 

For not many sea days check out Brilliance TA next April. Great itinerary! 

[ecslady]

Looking forward to following you along again.  Have a safe trip to Disney and a great cruise on Oasis!

 

[gatour]

This looks like this will be a fun trip report.

 

I am anal retentive about final payment.  Along with reminders l probably check once a week and make final payment when my closest credit card billing cycle begins.  Usually a few weeks before final payment.  Don't want to wait until the last minute in case there is a processing snafu.

[laurieal]

53 minutes ago, ecslady said:

Looking forward to following you along again.  Have a safe trip to Disney and a great cruise on Oasis!

 

 

35 minutes ago, gatour said:

This looks like this will be a fun trip report.

 

I am anal retentive about final payment.  Along with reminders l probably check once a week and make final payment when my closest credit card billing cycle begins.  Usually a few weeks before final payment.  Don't want to wait until the last minute in case there is a processing snafu.

Welcome aboard and thank you for joining me on this journey!

[laurieal]

Good time zones, travellers of the virtual kind!

 

Only one sleep before travel day and I am buzzing with excitement and also nerves when I think about my to-do list. That thing is like Medusa; every time I cross something off three new things pop up. 
 

On the agenda today is some work, a hair appointment, and some last minute cleaning because I like to leave things shiny for the cat sitter. I’m also washing my bed because I like to leave things shiny for myself when I return. I have one last load of laundry for the last minute things I need to add to my suitcase and I need to pack my backpack with all the electronics. Overall nothing too exotic, really, and working from home means I can get all the laundry stuff done while working. 
 

If going on a trip wasn’t exciting enough, my friend and I are finalists for a radio contest that’s sending two people in London this summer to see Taylor Swift. They’re announcing the winner around noon, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

 

Juliette, as usual, is helping and providing great moral support. And also probably having an existential crisis based on her expression.