niksmom630

The boardwalk is fun, in a circus-y sort of way, but there’s really nothing “to go” in the way of coffee in the morning unless you go down to 5 and the promenade. Deck 8 and CP has not only coffee and breakfast sandwiches in the morning, (Park Cafe) but also the Trellis Bar, so it was easy to grab a pre-dinner glass of wine. And then there’s the fact that most of the specialty dining venues are also there. my only complaint this sailing about deck 8 was the number of kids that were running through there in the evenings. Seemed like there were more than a few parents that took their kids their in an effort to let them run off energy while they enjoyed beverages . Except then the rest of us could not enjoy ours. 🤨

I only did that once. Day 1…..😊 then I realized the stroll through Central Park was the best—- regardless of whether your destination was upper or lower decks forward or mid. Only got caught in the rain once which was a plus…. no more looooooong hallway views

- The forward elevators are significantly less congested than the mid ship elevators. Literally never waited for an elevator for more than a minute or two…. Mid ship…. Waited sometimes 3-4 packed elevators worth of people before giving up and taking the stairs….. - worst view ever when you realize you took the wrong set of elevators to your cabin

Our cabin(s) location: I’ve sailed many oasis class ships in a variety of cabins. As a rule, we book ocean view balconies, but have had a few suites as well if the pricing was good or if we scored a Royal Up, Used to be a big fan of deck 6 mid-ship for a number of reasons. Easy to walk up two floors to CP, boardwalk access steps away, only one floor down to promenade, 2 to “entertainment center” and MDR. Only really need to use elevators to the pool deck. I’ve since changed my mind. deck 8 forward (particularly if you are in an ocean view balcony) is the way to go….. here’s why….

A few random photos …. the schooner turned out to be a good spot to end the mini crawl because we had a good view of the promenade activities

We never did get to scouting out the little wonders. time got away from us. But, I’ve got another opportunity because we’ll be in allure one more time in December out of Galveston 🤗 we did get a mini pub crawl in tho after bingo and dinner The “painkiller” Casino bar, trellis bar, rising tide, dazzles and finally the Schooner…. here we are pretty damn proud of ourselves that us 60 year olds outlasted the 20 something’s 💪

Had every intention of trying it on one of the last 10+ cruises on Oasis class ships and just never got around to it. We boarded it once on 8 and then there was a technical issue and we all had to get off…..not sure if I would make it a point to do it again, but the views on the way down were cool. I’ve also never tried the Bionic Bar, probably because my drink of choice is either a frozen concoction or a Beringer White Zin 😊

Finally scratched an item off my cruising “to do”list and took a ride on the rising tide

Didn’t see any being tended to when we exited the terminal. But a ton of people (the majority) walking off with big suitcases. Myself included. I usually walk off and take the escalator down without issue, as long as you have free hand and are comfortable doing so, it’s not usually a problem. but today I literally turned around at the last minute and went to the elevator line. The escalator looked like someone had cranked up the speed. Don’t think I’ve ever seen one move that fast at a port terminal! 😳

One hour transpired from stateroom exit to through security with tsa precheck. there were some big back ups on the ramps exiting the ship into the terminal which were explained when we finally got into the terminal RCI rep yelling “slow it down people, I’m out of paramedics which is why it’s taking so long”

My time dining update….. there are actually three podiums to check in. -one for reservations - one without reservations -one for suites didn't notice the suite line until last night, because there was no line there 😊 so, perhaps MTD lines won’t be bad if you are in a suite

Worst morning view of the week 😔

Happy for you, sad for us! 😕 Looking forward to following along with you for another week!

When did bingo get so confusing? And expensive? Oh yeah, seemingly because it’s been 15 years since or so since I played…..

Yes, @bobmaclibertyfirst time I’ve seen it as well.,.. seems events are changing, perhaps for the better…. No more “sexiest” competitions . Love and Marriage is still alive and well tho. And it’s still the best 😂

What am I missing? They are both called “planks”….. one is simply far superior to the other 👍

We did not….. mostly because we are all “beefed” out….😂

Haha! Thank you! Enjoy- there are lots of things to like about this ship and itinerary 😊

Todays pool competition featured the ladies….. cannonballs 😂

The Solarium pool gets a bad wrap for its size, and rightly so, but when it’s hotter than Hades and you need to cool off you won’t care how many people are in there ….. whatever you do, don’t make the mistake I did and walk across the solarium barefoot…🔥👣 there’s a reason you see all these shoes on the side of the pool. I’m sure someone’s posted a you tube video of me hopping across the floor like there was an imaginary “twister” game mat, trying to find a spot that was shaded or wet. 🥵 While it is tiny, the misters or sprinklers they have on symphony and harmony were a bad choice in my opinion…. The sign says max capacity is 32, but not like anyone would pay attention or the lifeguards were counting heads…. Now that I think about it…. There was no lifeguard 🤦🏼‍♀️ Yet I know I’ve seen one here before and thought it was odd since the water is 4 feet and no children are allowed in the solarium….

Very comfortable , nice breezes. But no cereal besides oatmeal . Perhaps you can convince DW To grab a box from the windjammer and join you, since it’s only a flight of stairs and short stroll away. 😉

excellent choice. In fact, as we were leaving Giovanni’s and walking thru CP, I was wishing we had. I do want to give Jamie’s a try someday, apparently the home of the REAL plank 😆

thanks for the compliment! 😊 I try for a balanced approach in my reviews. No vacation is 100% perfect obviously — but I try to find something positive to say even if I’m feeling pretty salty 😜 Sometimes I think I’ve reviewed and photographed these ships so often I won’t have anything worthy to report about!

The whole experience just wasn’t great. 😐 first we got the bread….. then 10 minutes later, the oil and Balsamic, then another 5 minutes before he brought the Parmesan… our waiter seemed frantic and rushed. When Nicole asked for his recommendation on the pasta dishes, he recommended the linguini and clams. she said “ok, anything other than the one with clams” his response “I don’t like pasta, but anything you choose will be good.” wonder who thought it was a good idea to assign this guy to the Italian eatery? 🤷🏼‍♀️ ooooookayyyy….. then she asked for an espresso martini…. He said “ok, but just so you know it’s going to take a long time because I have to go to two different places” so she says, “ oh ok, that’s ok, I don’t need one” I think he regretted his statement, because then he hurried away mumbling that he would get it. so, it’s a Thumbs down on Giovanni’s from me 👎