Rough night
As I sit here writing this, Oasis of the Seas is rocking from side to side. And boy is it windy outside! I saw last night that the wind gusts were 29 mph, it’s been rainy, and we’re trying to make up for lost time because of the medical emergency we had on the first night. But on the bright side, the rocking of the ship lulled me to sleep. Thank goodness for Dramamine.
Breakfast from Park Cafe
Other than that, our second day at sea was very nice. We woke up early and decided to run over to the Park Cafe, not far from our cabin, and bring back breakfast and eat on our balcony. I had a ham and egg toast Ciabatta bread sandwich, along with some Raisin Bran cereal, and a cup of coffee. He had an egg and ham on a muffin sandwich and a yogurt parfait with granola, along with coffee. Both very good. And it was nice to sit on the balcony and watch the ocean roll by.
Cruise Critic Meet n Mingle
After that we had a Cruise Critic Meet n Mingle get together down in the Comedy Live room on deck 4. There was quite a crowd there and they served a light continental breakfast, juice, and coffee. I have to say, that was the sweetest orange juice that I’ve ever tasted. I had to water it down. Our master of ceremonies was “Nelly”. He was a very nice young man from Malaysia, and there’s no way that I could ever remember how his real name was spelled. Nelly was a nickname given to him by fellow crewmembers. He was very good at his job, and told us facts about the ship.
They gave door prizes, sadly, we didn’t win any. I would have loved a Royal Caribbean hat. After that I came to the computer area to write my first blog. They do not make the computer area easy to find on Oasis. We even asked a girl who was supposed to be the place to go for info, and she didn’t know. We finally found it by using the interactive map by the elevators. There is one on deck 7 and one on deck 9, both in the forward center section of rooms. So far I’ve been in here alone, and the internet speed has been fine. I was provided internet by Royal Caribbean to write this blog, which was very accommodating of them.
Lunch in the Windjammer
We decided to have lunch in the Windjammer Buffet. We weren’t really all that impressed with the buffet. It wasn’t hard to find a table, but the layout of the buffet leaves something to be desired. It’s made up of small stations with different items at each station, but they are too close together, there was no order to it, and people were bumping into each other. Not a good thing when you’re holding a plate of food.
I’m not even sure what I go to eat, none of it was memorable. I just grabbed what I could get to. The only thing that I really liked was a beef stew. On top of that, there was no silverware at any of the silverware stations. I looked in every single container, and nothing. They finally brought out some silverware, and everyone was grabbing it. I think that I prefer that everyone just get into one orderly line, and get your food as you come to it. We’re going to avoid the Windjammer as much as possible this cruise. It is a nice big room and it seemed to have plenty of tables. Dessert was the best part of the windjammer. I got a chocolate mousse cake and a ranger cookie. Both very good.
Balcony time
After the Windjammer we walked around a while and then I decided to go to the room and relax awhile. I got myself some strawberry water and a fruit cup from the Park Cafe, and went to the room to enjoy some quiet time on the balcony, and add some photos to my Facebook page since I couldn’t download them to the ship computer. One note is that there is nothing on the Cabin TV’s besides shows promoting jewelry and shore excursions, and a few boring shows, some in English, some in different languages. Nothing you want to watch for very long.
Elegant night
It was formal night at dinner, since it was our first sea day. You don’t have to dress up, but they encourage it. I saw people dressed in formal wear, people dressed in dresses or dressy pant outfits, and people in casual clothing. It didn’t really seem to matter. I wore a pair of dressy pants, along with a sparkly blouse and a sweater, he wore a suit and tie. We once again sat with the same nice couple, and had good conversation during the meal.
I’m really not sure what our head waiters name is, or her assistant’s. I’ll try to get that tonight. Usually they have the names on the table, but not this cruise. I had Corn Fritters, with a delicious mayonnaise sauce for an appetizer, Duck a l’orange as a main course, along with iced tea to drink and a delicious chocolate mouse cake for dessert. Can you tell I love chocolate mousse? It was all delicious. And they do not skimp on the portions. Remember that on a cruise you can order whatever you want on the menu, and as much as you want. You will not go hungry. That’s my problem, you have to try it all. I need to walk more stairs!
Christmas Tree lighting
After dinner the Captain was going to be lighting the Christmas tree, so we went to the Promenade Deck (Deck 5) to watch. And everyone one else on the ship had the same idea. It was very crowded, but they were giving everyone free champagne, so it was really a nice time. There was a band on the bandstand playing Christmas music, and everything was very festive.
At 7:20 pm the Cruise Director, Tim Connor, came out on a bridge above the crowd and introduced the Captain. I can’t remember his name at the moment, but he was very personable and funny. He went on to introduce the rest of the ship management staff, and then he told us that the person who had the medical emergency the evening before had surgery that night, and was going to be okay. I’m really glad for that. And then they lit the tree. It’s a huge tree, and very pretty. I’ll post pictures later on my Facebook page.
Cats, the Broadway Musical
Our entertainment for the evening was Cats, the Broadway show. We had reservations, you can make them online 90 days before your cruise, I believe. We got pretty good seats. I wasn’t sure if the children in front of us were going to settle down, but they did, and they behaved well. They only lasted for the first half of the show until intermission.
This is a very long show. It started at 9 pm, and ended at 11:30, with one 15 minute intermission. The actors and singers were great, they did an amazing job. I’m not one for musicals though, and I can’t say that I really understand the premise of Cats. The most enjoyable moment for me was the song Memories, she did a wonderful job on it, it was beautiful. Once is enough for me though.
After that, we were exhausted after a very long day, so we went back to the room. And like I said, the ship’s rocking lulled us to sleep very quickly. And on to another day!
The Quiet Cruiser 