Cruising stole my heart!
Almost time to Oasis of the Seas!
It’s almost time! So, new cruisers, be sure to check back often and see what cruising is really like. We are so close to set sail day on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas that I can almost reach out and touch it. So, let me give you a quick idea on what I plan to do. Nothing…..and everything…… I’m so excited!
Where we’ll stay
We are staying and parking offsite, so our first thing to do on the day of our cruise is to get to the parking lot that we chose by 10 am. We decided not to do the Snooze, Park & Cruise package at LaQuinta this time. The prices went up quite a bit since our last cruise at Port Canaveral. We like the LaQuinta, and we love the shuttle driver from Roadrunner Shuttle Service, but saving money wins.
So, this will be our first time trying “off port” parking. We booked a motel in Titusville via Hotwire.com and booked parking near Port Canaveral that will shuttle us to the cruise port. I’ll let you know how that goes. It will save us money to spend in port.
Embarking
After the shuttle from the parking area drops us off, the porters will take our check in bags. then we’ll go to the cruise terminal check in area and show them our passports and printed out SeaPass from Royal Caribbean. They’ll take our pictures and give us our boarding number and our all-purpose keycard which will get us onto the ship, into our rooms, and act as a credit card on the ship.
After that we’ll sit in the waiting area for a while until they call our number. After they call us, we’ll wait in line for the gangplank, after ignoring requests from the ship photographers to take our souvenir pictures. Be warned, there are numerous photo opportunities the entire cruise. You can buy what you want, and ignore the rest. Or, you can just opt not to pose for the photo opportunity. But I’ve found ship photographers to be surprisingly good, and I love that I can buy what I like and ignore the rest. I always buy one good portrait of the two of us.
On board
Then we’ll be on the ship, and I’m so ready! The first thing we’ll do is find a place to eat that’s open so we can sit down and relax a while. Most people head to the buffet first thing, but we’re going to try to find somewhere else that isn’t quite so crowded. We’ll have our carry-on luggage with us, and we won’t be able to get into our rooms until 1:30 pm or so, so after we eat, we’ll find a place to relax on the promenade deck and just take it all in.
I know it’s going to be overwhelming, this is the biggest ship we’ve ever sailed on and Freedom of the Seas was overwhelming, even though it’s smaller. Then, after we can drop our luggage into our rooms, we’ll explore the ship. I should have no problem wearing off all of the calories I take in at the buffet just walking around this ship.
Oasis is a huge ship
I’ve already told you a bit about Oasis of the Seas and its size in a recent blog, but I don’t think that I’ll even realize how big she is until I’m on her. There is so much I want to do. We’ve already booked the shows that we want to see, which include the Broadway hit, Cats, a comedy show, and an ice skating show.
As for onboard activities, I’m definitely going to do the zipline, but I think that the rock climbing wall is going to be a no-go since I’m dealing with a rotator cuff problem. And there’s no way I’m doing the Flowrider, I have no desire to come off of the ship in a cast. The Merry Go Round on the Boardwalk may be more my speed.
VIP list
Since I’m going to blog about this cruise, Royal Caribbean has put me on the VIP list, whatever that means, and is providing complimentary internet service, so, unless they forget, and as long as the ship’s computers work with my hosting service, I should be able to share activities and pictures with you day by day.
I plan on taking lots of pictures of the ship, and I also plan on sharing how Puerto Rico and St. Thomas are faring after the hurricane. I’ve been in touch with the owner of the Skyride to Paradise Point, and now know that the skyride is not open because they have no electricity yet. I’ve been told that some shops in Charlotte Amalie are open, but not all. I’m not sure what to expect in Puerto Rico. Labadee is supposed to be in good shape.
I am also scheduled to interview the cruise director, and I’ll share that on my blog. I’ll let you know how the food is, how good the entertainment is, what our balcony room is like, and how exciting Oasis of the Seas is. The ship is supposed to be decorated for Christmas, I’m interested to see just how Christmassy it will be. I’ll be sure to post pictures of the Christmas decorations.
The Quiet Cruiser 