DELAND

After walking up the zig-zagging gangway, we arrived on the outside of the promenade deck, walking backwards (clockwise) around the jogging track. The first thing we noticed was the lifeboat capacity. We were thinking maybe they would hold 150 or so people. Not so...

 

A few step later, we turned right and arrived on the Royal Promenade. This was an overwhelming feeling. Finally on the Oasis. Finally on vacation. All the bright, shiny, pretty colors. So much to explore and so much to do.

 

First, we found our way to our Oceanview Balcony stateroom #9606 to drop off our carry-ons and change to swimsuits. The cabin is mid-ship, a little forward. It's a D2 category, right behind the first hump. Our balcony was angled and a little oversized. We were on the starboard side, which proved to be wonderful at the ports. We loved the location because it was a few floors up from the Promenade (Deck 5), one floor up from Central Park (Deck 8) - where Park Cafe is, and a few floors down from the Solarium and pool decks 15 and 16. We used the stairs most of the time.

 

A photo of our stateroom:

 

Next, we explored the Promenade a little.

This photo is from the forward part of the ship, near the elevators and Bolero's. That's Mondo Coffee Bar in the foreground, the On-Air Club and The Shop in the background.

 

Then we headed to the Park Cafe for our lunch. We walked right in, no lines. Here we were introduced to the famous roast beef sandwich. The man slicing the roast beef posed for me.

 

The sandwich was very good. I am not a roast beef eater, so I can't say it was the best or worst in the world, but I enjoyed it. Others in our group got a chicken salad (maybe it was build-you-own?) and a ham sandwich. I was pretty excited about the flavored waters.

Although after a couple of days of these, I felt like they were too sweet and I stopped drinking them, in favor of bottled water.

 

Incidentally, before the cruise, I ordered an 8-pack of Evian water for our room. I put Chris, Katie and Caitlin on the coke plan. I think Chris benefitted from this, but Katie and Caitlin averaged about 1 Coke per day, so I overpaid for this. Who knew the teenagers would opt for tea over Coke? The bottled water came in handy. There were two cold bottles in the mini-bar fridge in the room, which we would grab and replace with our purchased waters. By Tuesday we had drunk all of our bottles, so we purchased another 8-pack. It was nice to have the bottles to walk around the ship, and to take ashore.

 

Kellye and I shared a mid-level wine package. We ended up having 3 bottles left on Friday, which Kellye was able to take home with her. Not sure if this saved much or not.

 

Also, I ordered a 4-pack of cupcakes to be delivered to the girls' room. They only ate 1 of them. It was a neat thought, but there was so much else available onboard, and they were rarely in their room.

 

Next post, I'll add more details about our stateroom.

Susan, Thank you so much for your day to day reviews.. Its been so much help and FUN:p My son (16) and I will be leaving Saturday!! Can you tell me how the girls liked it? How was the "teen" area they hung out in.. Thanks Delia