Day to Day Trip Report (review) – Family of 10 on Oasis May 4, 2013

[justschuttme]

SIL wanted to get some shopping in and since this was the last opportunity do to so they decided to leave early. So, MIL, SIL and BIL all went back to the rooms about 1:30 and showered and got ready to head out. We got their kids keys to be able to get back on the ship and they were on their way (we had pre-arraigned the taxi to come back at 3:30 so SIL had the front desk call another cab for them) about 2:00. FIL and us had the 4 kids and we let them play until about 3:00.

 

We took all the kids back to our room to get them bathed/showered and dressed to head back. The bathrooms at the Westin are HUGE and more than enough space. At one point, I had niece and DS1 in the bath and nephew in the shower with DS2 running around playing. We got them cleaned up and snacked. We met Papa and headed to the entrance and our cab wad waiting (same driver).

 

Uneventful ride back to the ship, although a nice drive. The security checkpoint in St. Maarten was not so great. Once you are in the room with the machines, they are quick and pretty nice, but the wait outside in the BAKING sun with 4 kids isn’t too enjoyable. There is no direction for how to line up, so everyone is just standing in semi-formed globs and trying to get in the room and out of the heat so it is just a hot mess. It took us about 20 minutes to get through it all and were back on the ship about 4:15.

 

We thought we were doing pretty good, as we only lost Papa and we glad we got all kids back and on the elevator all in one piece. So, just as we were about to pat each other on the back…DS2’s fingers got stuck between the door of the elevator and the side (as they were closing he had his hands flat on the door and didn’t move them as it was closing). I can’t believe they even fit! We have told them a thousand times to back up and to watch out, but this was our fault as we were not paying close enough attention. I pulled his hand out (in hindsight, I should have hit the button to open the doors, but…) and he was FREAKING out and rightfully so. I held him and tried to calm him down. They didn’t look broken, but we weren’t sure. We completely freaked out a couple standing just outside the elevator area as DH went over to call someone on the public phone there. The phone didn’t connect and they offered to do something but since BIL is a doctor, we just took him back to the OS hoping he was back.

 

SIL and MIL had come back on the water taxi and were back, but BIL had walked so he wasn't there however SIL saw him in the line just behind us so he was on his way up. He was there just a couple minutes after and checked his hand. He was so good with him, being gentle and funny with him to calm him down and check everything out, I had never seen Dr. Schutt like that before it was so nice to see and crazy all at the same time.

 

He had a bit of a scrap but no blood and no broken bones. He just wanted the band-aids, so band-aids he got. We then drilled in AGAIN, about being so careful with elevators and I kicked myself the rest of the night for not watching more closely. :o

[justschuttme]

We hung out in the OS and decided to order the kids dinner from the room service menu today since we had Chops reservations and the PA Schutt’s were going to the Chef’s Table. We ordered from the expanded room service menu available in the Suite’s, which includes whatever the MDR is serving that day as well as the usual suspects available in the rest of the rooms. You can order at anytime, however they cannot fulfill the order until the MDR opens, at 5:30. DH also went up to the Concierge Lounge and picked up some stuff for them and the rest of us to munch on. Dinner arrived at 6:15, it was a nice spread and a nice option for the kids to eat in the room. During all of this the in-law’s watched the makeup Oasis of Dreams show since they were at Chops when we went previously. They decided to watch it from the “super secret deck” instead of fight the crowds in the theatre itself. They were on deck 11 and said they were able to see everything from there that would have been visible from the regular seats below. To get to these areas, just walk to the end of the hall and tada…I believe they are on 11, 12, 13 and 14…but don’t quote me on that. PA Schutt’s left for their 7:15 Chef’s Table and we left soon after for our Chops reservations at 8:00, leaving the already PJ’ed and ready for bed kiddies with Nana and Papa.

 

Our dinner at Chops was WONDERFUL! Our server was Schubert and he was a very soft spoken gentleman from England who was very professional and funny. He didn’t go overboard, but made us chuckle throughout the entire meal. I ordered my Pomo Martini and he said he could get me that, however he could personally make me their specialty which was a Grey Goose Raspberry Martini and I said……sure, why not?! I can’t remember what DH got, the drink of the day maybe?! While waiting on our drinks, we enjoyed the lovely bread and butter on the table (not 150, mind, but wonderful nonetheless). I don't remember what the spread was, I don't think I gave it a go but hubby said it was good (I asked him what it was and his response..."I don't know, it's good").

 

 

Anyway, mine came in this pretty martini glass and was delicious. Very happy lady (gosh, I already sound like I have a slight alcohol problem and I haven't even gotten to the end of this night)!

 

 

We order and let me tell you, it is hard to make decisions at Chops (everything looks so good). I started with the Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Cake…YUM.

 

 

DH started with the Shrimp Cocktail, the shrimp were HUGE.

 

 

Then I got the Mushroom Soup (I COULD HAVE EATEN BOWLS AND BOWLS OF THIS!!!!) and DH got Beefsteak Tomato and Purple Onions, he said was good but I don’t eat that nonsense.

 

 

[justschuttme]

We both ordered the 10oz Filet, not because we needed 10oz of steak but because we like our meat Med Rare (more on the rare side than the medium side and we find it is easier to get that in the bigger cuts). For sides, we ordered the crimini mushrooms and leeks along with the sauteed broccolini and then Schubert said we just HAD to get the roasted potatoes with prosciutto and parmesan……and really, who are we to argue?!

HOLY COW…roll us out of there.

Everything was great, our steaks were cooked perfectly and while not the best steaks we have ever had they were VERY VERY good. The sides, sorry to say were not eaten much (like most people report) but they were all tasty. We ordered a second round at one point; these did not seem as strong so two seemed ok…

 

We then ordered dessert; I had been looking forward to this dessert FOR AGES. I got the Mississippi Mud and DH got the Red Velvet. O. M.G my cake was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!! The peanut brittle garnish itself was heavenly. DH almost pulled back a nub when he dared to reach his fork over to steal a bite. With every bite, I knew I should stop BUT I JUST COULDN'T!!!! I finally forced myself to stop (and by the end of the night, SOOOO thankful I had made that decision.....more to come on that later ;)). DH liked the red velvet; he said it was very good.

 

 

 

My pictures from Chops were FAR from great, which is a shame since everything looked as good as it tasted. I just didn't want to be one of the crazies using the flash in the low lit restaurant (ok, so I would have been if DH wouldn't have been shooting ME the eye daggers each time...). :rolleyes: I would 100% go back to Chops, everything was great! :D

[justschuttme]

Forgot to mention that when you order their martini from Chops, you get to take home the glasses. For each drink (so thank good-ness I didn't order 4!!!:p) you order, they bring you a glass in a box to take home, this way you get the glass but it isn't a dirty/sticky glass that you just used! They made the trip home and I am sure I will use them at some point. It is a nice touch, something else to remember our cruise for years to come. :)

 

Next up......rising tide (again) with BIL and SIL and casino with DH, oh my! ;)

[tarajean1962]

I am now so wishing that I was on your cruise!! I must try a WJ muffin! We are booking some kind of dining package on the Oasis and it includes Chops! I LOVE those glasses!! I may have to order 4 drinks so we can get a set!:D

 

Tara

[Familygoboston]

Or did they put you all off the ship after Chops?;)

[justschuttme]

My internet is down at home (and I am completely inept and unable to figure out how to get it back up and running alone, so much wait for DH to get back in town) to be able to upload my pictures to Shutterfly. I will continue as soon as I can.

 

We actually booked a short weekend cruise just the two of us AND WE LEAVE NEXT WEEK!!!!! I sooooo hope they have the "marvelous muffins" so I may partake in a few (ok, a few dozen). ;)

[tbag124]

I am loving your review! Thanks! We have a 3.5 yr old son and often travel w/ a lot of extended family members in a large group so I love the "family perspective". We are thinking of a group cruise on Oasis or Allure in a year or so so this is great! :)

[justschuttme]

Day 6…at sea

 

Ok, so I got my days mixed up and tonight is the Rising Tide and Casino, not last night after Chops, so more on that later. Last night we just went back to the room and straight to bed.

 

 

Today is a sea day, started out like all of the others (kids waking up to the chairs, coffee run, windjammer for the usual fixings including the marvelous muffins…). This was the morning that we went ROUND AND ROUND with DS1 on going to the kids club. He wanted to go, then he didn’t, then he did, then he didn’t…you get it and if you have kids, you remember it. He would change his mind every other step on the way down there, it seemed. I left with DS2 in the stroller and just walked around and let DH deal with that plate of crazy :p I gave what I thought would have been enough time, but no…still waffling when I came back. Finally, he went in and DH met up with me and DS2. We just spent the morning walking around and just chatting. We cruised by the Flo Riders, Zip Line, etc and just enjoyed being on vacation.

 

We had read in the kids cruise compass that there was a “talent show” that day, but thought DS1 (or niece/nephew) wouldn’t participate since we could not come up with a specific talent for any of them (minus picking up an iPhone/iPad and getting past the open screen and into an app or movie in record time). Well, come to find out that they put on a little show where they sing songs and dance around (in the 3-5 age group and get smaller groups together to do something similar for the 6-9 group). So, we missed it! I can’t believe it. BIL and SIL were there and got video for us, but we missed it and I kick myself every time I think about it since we were just lazing around and we could have been there! They sang an ABC type song and danced, the video was OVER THE TOP cute so at least we have that. SIL showed me the video of nephew and his group doing “Gangnam Style” for their talent. Sorry to say, but nephew looked more like a bunny hopping through the forest than anything even remotely like the dance moves in the Gangnam Style video. Now, of course I should mention, he had never seen the video and didn’t know what it was. So, he was doing (in his mind at least) what he saw the other kids doing who HAD seen the video. Let me tell you, it is classic…he will hate all of us one day for that video, but I love it and so glad she got it. LOVE IT. So, lesson learned for future parents…go to EVERYTHING, you just never know. They all got a RCCL medal for being in the talent show, which was a hit! They thought they were just as valuable as the ones Olympians get, which is just cuter than cute.

 

Anyway, after we all met up (and SIL broke my heart by telling me and then piecing it back together by showing she had video) we all decided to go to Park Café for lunch, with a quick stop by Sorento’s to get pizza for the kids. Well, there was a parade about to start so DH just grabbed all the pizza he could carry while we hastily retreated to the elevators to escape up to Central Park. It was crazy there too, so SIL and I decided to take the kids back to the OS and left the husband’s to get us food. They came back with salads and sandwiches and we all just ate there. It was so nice to have a place we could enjoy to be in as a retreat if things were a bit crazy somewhere. No pictures, bummer again!

 

After lunch, I took DS2 back to the room for a nap (for mommy today too!!!) and DH took DS1 around for “guy time” again (not sure what they did…guy stuff, I guess). I enjoyed this bad boy before my snoozer. It was good, although I have to say the icing tasted a little weird. So, in true Steph fashion, I ATE IT ANYWAY!!!! The cake and chocolate on top were great, although I let it come to room temp as I agree with those before me, I would not have cared for it as much if it were cold.

 

 

I was scheduled to play BINGO (a MUST on any cruise we take, nod to Grams back home) with the in-laws at 4:30, so I got up from my nap and got ready for dinner since it was formal night and I wouldn’t have time after BINGO. Felt a little weird in my heels and dress going to play BINGO, then even more so when I met up with FIL who had the full tux with red bowtie, but really who cares! ;) We got the crazy $70 package that comes with the punch cards as well as the machine. All of us were waiting (they have to stand) at one point or another, but alas we did not win. The lowest prize was over $350 and the largest was a 7-day cruise (the pots are directly correlated to how many people were playing, and since this was the last “win a cruise” session, it was a fairly large group). It was fun, the cruise director staff were fun (booing the first standers, making jokes, etc), but of course would have been a better time if one of us (read MEEEEEEE) had won. :rolleyes:

 

We high-tailed it to the MDR since we let out at the exact time of our reservations. We got there just in time to sit with the others that were already there.

[justschuttme]

I am loving your review! Thanks! We have a 3.5 yr old son and often travel w/ a lot of extended family members in a large group so I love the "family perspective". We are thinking of a group cruise on Oasis or Allure in a year or so so this is great! :)

 

 

Thanks! DO IT.......as I said before, the Oasis and Allure are the perfect ships for traveling with extended family. :)

[justschuttme]

I forgot about this picture, which reminded me that “guy time” was spent mostly on the Boardwalk where there was a face-painter and balloon artist so DH, DS1 and some of the PA Schutt’s were there most of nap time. DS1 was not too keen on getting his face painted today but watched niece get hers done and both got a balloon done. They rode the carousel a bunch and just played around down there.

 

 

Once at dinner, the evening went just like the others. The kids were good for the most part (then the iPhone’s had to make an appearance), the food was good, the service was top notch, etc. I do not have a SINGLE food picture from tonight’s dinner….this is why:

I am pretty sure tonight was lobster night, and I know that almost all of us got the Fisherman’s plate on lobster night......so it had to be this night. It was good, not the best lobster and shrimp in the world but better than I was expecting. It was not over-cooked and rubbery, it had a nice flavor. I think our group tried a few of the desserts and none were overly impressed….this is terrible, I don’t have anything to show for our dinner. :eek:

 

Next up……rising tide and casino (for real this time). :p

[justschuttme]

Holy cow, I mean really…I can’t keep my timeline to save my life! I guess I am SUPER excited to share the rising tide and casino…… :eek: :o

 

 

After dinner we went to have our pictures taken since we were all fancy. We never made it to the picture place to order any. The PA Schutt’s purchased pictures, but we haven’t asked to “borrow” them yet so this is the only picture I have of that time, nice I know.

 

DS2 loved the jumping water under the rising tide, to this day I have no idea how they got the flashes to occur as the water jumped (take a look and you will see what I mean…fascinating).

 

There was a bit of a line to get the staircase picture, but no more than 10 minutes (closer to 5 I believe). They took pictures of the group, as well as each family separately. The pictures came out nicely and made sure to take enough time to get good ones without being crazy about it.

 

We then went to the boardwalk, from what I remember for no other reason than to just let the kids play around on the structures down there and ride the carousel again and again. Vacation is a time to let them do whatever and not stick too closely to the schedule we do at home (but the BEST thing about that strict schedule, is they fall right back into it as soon as we get home).

 

 

 

[justschuttme]

One more playing down at the Boardwalk...

 

After playing on the boardwalk, we went back to the room and found these cool guys. The kids loved them and got such a kick out of them. I really think it is great that they still do them, even though you know it is part of it all, it is still neat to see them welcome you back to your room. The kids went down, like normal, but we were quite ready to call it a night.

 

 

 

 

SO……NOW REALLY IS RISING TIDE AND THE CASINO.

[justschuttme]

We weren’t quite ready to call it a night, once the kids were in bed, so we called the PA Schutt’s to see if they would like to hit the rising tide again. They said sure, so I called Nana and Papa and asked if one could go to each room and they were more than happy to let the “youngins” run free for a bit.

 

So, we met at the elevator and rode down to the Promenade and hopped right on and were able to sit at the same table (our table). BIL ordered a dirty martini (as he always wanted to try one), I got my wonderful promo martini, SIL got some sort of champagne with strawberry something (I can’t remember the name) and DH got, um……a margarita maybe? :p We rode the whole way up and the whole way down, again it was a nice ride and we were surprised it wasn’t fuller just like last time. When we were waiting to start the trip down, DH and I thought another round for us would be in order (now I should mention that I had partaken in two at dinner……), so another round it was (BIL and SIL were good with their one, party poopers). It was nice company and nice conversation. When we were back at the Promenade, we parted ways (I believe they just walked around and headed back to the room) and DH and I made our way down to the casino. Oh my!

 

The trip down the spiral staircase should have been my first clue to just cut our losses and head back to the cabin…but NO, to the casino we go. Right about this time we decide it was time for another drink (WHAT!??!? :confused:), so we head to the bar and wait for our drink. I asked for mine up but in a rocks glass (at least I knew I couldn’t maneuver through the casino with a martini glass in hand at this point).

 

 

They were quite busy and it took a bit of time so I dug out $80 from DH’s wallet and head over to my favorite Sex in the City slot machine. I came back to the bar where DH was just signing the slip and he said “you have got to be kidding me?!” I showed him this bad boy. Yippee!

 

 

I love the bonus games, this one is my favorite (minus the Life game at the Cosmo in Vegas….that one is THE BEST). After that, we just mulled around and spent some of my winnings. I heard lotto being announced over the PA system and I just HAD TO PLAY…like we would win. So, I went over and got my $10 ticket. It came with a gold coin that you get a spin with on specific machines. We must have looked like a comedy routine trying to find the machine (which was pointed out to us when we received the coin, however it was a good bit away….like that is an excuse)! We had to go back and ask again (holy cow) and after the second attempt, WE FOUND IT…it was like winning without playing. :D We did our one pull, which is over in like .0000002 seconds, and shock beyond shock didn’t win.

 

We then saw all these people crowded around this machine. It took us awhile to figure out the point…but in short, it is like a “claw machine” that you win stuffed animals out of but it was this punch arm that you could knock down iPads, wads of $20 bills, etc. It was $1 per try and everyone seemed VERY eager to thrown their money into this machine. The reason it took us so long to figure it out, was that no matter what people tried it looked like the same thing happened each time. It looked like they were hitting the target but nothing happened. So, I guess I wasn’t too far gone since I didn’t waste any of my winnings on that machine.

 

About this time, they did the lottery announcement, this is when you find out you are among the other losers in about .00002 seconds. Awesome. We played a bit more and took my winnings down to about $70.

 

All-in-all not bad, $10 for about an hour’s worth of entertainment (however I think I would have been entertained by much less that night). Back to the cabin we stumbled and freed Papa from the nightmare of the small couch and called it a night. Fun day and night…was it fun the next morning, not so much. :(

[tarajean1962]

Yay! You're back!!:D What a fun night! Congrats on your casino win!!

 

 

Tara

[Familygoboston]

And we've reached the end...dreaded ....day 7:(

Sounds like it was a great cruise!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Great review! Absolutely loving it! Thank you!!!!!

 

Stef

[justschuttme]

Day 7, at sea and always a little sad (ok, a lot sad....but still a day on vacation). :p

 

I have no idea what time my children woke up or DH or myself for that matter. :eek: I was, without a doubt, hating myself for last night. I felt terrible and what made it worse was this was our last day on the ship! DH was kind enough to get the kids up and ready for our character breakfast we had scheduled online before the trip for the entire group. There was NO WAY was getting out of bed for anything, especially breakfast. So, I rolled back over and went to sleep. DH came back to check on me after and to let me know they were going to the boardwalk again to get the kids faces painted and if I was up to it to meet them down there. He said the breakfast itself wasn’t anything to rave about, the same as any other breakfast on the ship, but that the characters were around and they were able to “meet” and take pictures with all niece and nephew wanted (our sons do NOT care for characters except from afar). ;)

 

After a bit, I peeled myself out of bed and got ready. I was feeling better, but…… I went to the Café Promenade and got a marvelous muffin and was able to eat it (and keep it down). Yippee. It made me feel SOOOO much better, so I met the family just as niece was done getting her face painted with flowers (nephew had a dragon, that looked more like a seahorse to me, done first). I went on the carousel with DS2 and realized before we had completed even one revolution that I should have been doing ANYTHING else than spinning around on that damn thing. It seemed to last forever, but it sure was cute seeing DS2’s face, he LOVES it.

 

Just after I got off, DS1 was done getting his face painted…he had actually done it! He had asked for a cheetah and it looked great! I was happy he actually did it and he did look super cute. For reference, the face painting was to start at 1000 according to the cruise compass, they got down there at 0930 and she started with nephew who was first in line at 0950).

 

 

 

[justschuttme]

The kids played some more around the boardwalk area and took a few turns (with an adult other than myself) a few more (hundred) times.

 

 

real nice...

 

 

During all this, MIL was on the walking Central Park garden tour. She came to meet us after and said it was amazing. I knew she would like it and told her about it before the cruise and we made sure we found it on the cruise compass (it does not require or take reservations, you just show up if you would like to do it). She told us all about the plants and such on the boat like how they designed it, how they got them all on the ship, how they maintain them, etc. I wished I had done it…yet another thing to do next time.

 

It was getting close to lunchtime, so we decided to just eat at Johnny Rockets again. FIL arrived at noon to us already ordered and just about to eat (apparently the other adults had a plan to meet at JR’s at noon and forgot or something, he was like “what the heck….?”). I just gave him my burger since I was already worried what it would do to my stomach, so all in all, it was ok. The server brought me one out when she noticed I had given mine away, which was very nice, I had a few bites and it sat ok but I decided to not push it too far. It had been a LOOONG time since I had a burger like that, it was delicious (hard to stop eating it, but knew I would regret it if I didn’t).

 

If you get a milkshake at JR's, they do cute things with the straw wrappers. They were apparently good, but note they are not included but are reasonably priced.

 

[justschuttme]

DS2 had his very first french fry at this lunch. A little back story, I told myself and my entire family that I didn't want DS1 to have any french fries until he was at least two years old...so what does DH do? He gives him a french fry at lunch the day of his 2nd birthday, of course. I just didn't want my kids to live on french fries and chicken fingers when they were super young (DS1 likes them, but doesn't eat a ton and he doesn't even like chicken tenders now, just grilled or rotisserie chicken....SCORE). So, leave it to DH to give DS2 a french fry just a few days into him being 2. This is his face as he eats just about anything, it cracks us up....he looks like he hates it, but this is just his face. :D

 

 

 

 

 

[justschuttme]

And we've reached the end...dreaded ....day 7:(

Sounds like it was a great cruise!

 

 

It really is hard to be stoked on day 7, which is weird b/c we don't really get that way on any other type of vacation.....cruise depression, that is why DH and I booked a short weekend cruise to the Bahamas and we leave FRIDAY!!!!!! :D

[jpolm]

It really is hard to be stoked on day 7, which is weird b/c we don't really get that way on any other type of vacation.....cruise depression, that is why DH and I booked a short weekend cruise to the Bahamas and we leave FRIDAY!!!!!! :D

 

Nice!!!!! I'm pretty sad got back sat from our amazing family trip on oasis!! I held cabins for next spring but we will see if dh will want to go back as he enjoys his land vacations more. But the kids loved loved it!

[justschuttme]

Nice!!!!! I'm pretty sad got back sat from our amazing family trip on oasis!! I held cabins for next spring but we will see if dh will want to go back as he enjoys his land vacations more. But the kids loved loved it!

 

That's great!!!!!! Your husband is crazy if he doesn't want to go back....I would LIVE half the year on Oasis/Allure if I was independently wealthy! ;)

[RoeC]

I am excited to read your review!! We have two boys (ages 4.5 and 16) and will be on the Oasis in 3 weeks.

 

 

when are you sailing? We are leaving July6th..with my 2 sons 11 and 13.

[justschuttme]

Lunch was coming to an end and we realized that niece needed to get over to her Barbie Fashion Show (the last event in the Barbie Experience) so SIL took niece and dropped her off so they could get all set up. The rest of the PA Schutt’s walked around until it was show time. We went back to the room to get DS2 down for a nap, DH was going to be in the room today while DS2 napped. I left DS1 and DH to head to Dazzles for the show. As I arrived, so did the PA Schutt’s and nephew immediately asked where DS1 was so I told me he was just hanging out in the room and we got the puppy dog eyes, so I asked if he wanted me to take him back so he could hang too (apparently a Barbie Fashion Show is NOT where it’s at for an 8 year old). I took him back and still made it back in time as the doors opened, to which we got the prime real estate of the front row. LET ME TELL YOU, this show was beyond cute. You can tell they were all having a good time (minus this SUPER shy girl that was participating in everything but doing the fingers in mouth, hiccupping, crying thing the whole time…it was impressive that she was that shy and actually doing everything), the ladies running everything really enjoyed it and cared about the girls and that they worked hard on the clothes the day before. They put them in a younger group and an older group. It was done very well and they got to keep the Barbie from the package, so they all seemed happy. Niece looked so cute, we were clapping like she had just graduated college. Now, would I pay the price for this package? I can’t say, since I only have boys, but I think it would have been a bit much for me. However, she loved it and I can see why parents would splurge on this package.

 

Once it was over, we all went back to our room and as soon as DH opened the door he said “thanks, guys, for leaving me with the kid with ZERO volume control with a napping toddler in the next room!” Apparently, he had spent the entire hour telling nephew to lower his voice about every 30 seconds. DS2 can sleep through A LOT, so I can only imagine just how loud he got.

 

Anyway, it was momma’s time now…I had been dreaming of sitting alone in the ADULTS ONLY solarium all week and was finally getting my chance. I grabbed my book, my iPad and phone and practically ran out the door! I headed down almost giddy and then it hit me……a huge blast of hot muggy air, :eek: I’m sorry, WHAT!!???!?!?! The solarium, on this day at least, was like a sauna. I am not sure how the people in there weren’t fainting every other minute. I walked the length of the area, straight out of the doors on the other side. I was so bummed; it is so pretty and peaceful in there.

 

Just as I was walking out, I see SIL walking toward me…she had come to have alone time too so we ventured off to find a breezy place that wasn’t in direct sunlight…FAT CHANCE. We finally gave up and just headed back to the Owner’s Suite and lounged on the deck. It was so nice and quiet, the complete opposite of every other time we were there (since there were 4 children wanting to go in and then out and then in and then out…THE ENTIRE TIME). I just read and then fell into vacation slumber (which if we are being honest, is the best kind).

 

I was supposed to meet DH at 3:30, but I didn’t gather enough energy to care and just stayed there. He called the OS asking if they had seen me and FIL told him I was napping on the balcony. So he came with the kids and ended mommy time real quick. I dragged myself up and went back to the room to get everything together for DS1 to go to the cupcake class I had booked for the three older kids prior to the cruise.

 

I headed down with the boys for the class while DH went somewhere. I was praying just after we got there that he would hurry back since I was trying to keep DS2 from knocking everything over, running out of the store, etc. while trying to be excited with DS1. They started a bit late, but the kids didn’t seem to care. They were making monkeys and all the items needed were already placed in front of the stools, it really is organized and well put together. The girl showing them how to make the monkeys was very clear and patient with all the kids (there were 6 I think including our 3). They had a good time and they all did pretty well. DH had come at some point and got DS2 a cupcake for his treat and then took him on a little walk around the promenade, but brought him back so he could go grab a beer and a slice so I took back over. The class ended sooner than he thought, so walked back up with beer and pizza in hand with me giving him the “look” as I am trying to keep DS1’s cupcake on the plate and not on the floor, corral DS2 into the stroller while trying to keep out of everyone’s way outside the cupcake shop. Of course, this is fair since I told him to go…but still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we all got it together, SIL took DS1 with them and DH and I walked around a bit and ended up at the Park Café where we just had to get another RB sandwich (what? it’s the last day!). It was when we were done that DH became the entertainment of the park when his flip flop got stuck as he was standing the caught the table and totally ate it (impressively he didn’t drop his beer, just spilled a bit). This RCCL guy in a suit came RUSHING over and was worried but DH was fine. I sent him in for napkins to clean up and we were on our way.