Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 15, 2013 #1 Share Posted June 15, 2013 (edited) Introduction I see another cruiser started their own review of this sailing, but I'm going to offer my view points also. If you're looking for the "short version"... the trip was amazing! The ship, the crew, the shows, the food, EVERYTHING was extremely enjoyable. The few disappointments were extremely minor, and didn't keep us from getting an NCC before we left. To get the basics out of the way... I'm Sam, my DW is Anna. We are the proud parents of three kids (Mackenzie, Jonathan, Rebecca-- hence the S.A.M.J.R. username... no, that wasn't planned :p). This cruise was to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We had originally wanted to go on a cruise for our 10th, but Mackenzie's arrival delayed our plans (she turned 15 the week before our cruise). In April 2012 (yes, 14 months before we were going to depart), we booked a D8 balcony room on Oasis. Then the research REALLY started... reading everything I could find on Cruise Critic about Oasis and cruising in general. There are too many people to thank on here, but I hope this report will "pay it forward". There will be food porn, menu's, "show" shots, odds and ends, and eventually compasses once I get home. Our trip is still going on. When we got off Oasis, we drove up the coast to Cocoa Beach. We plan on touring the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, then heading home Monday. I do have a lot of pictures to go through (not all of them "keepers"), so please be patient. The good news is the report is pretty much already written. Each night (or the next morning), I typed up what happened immediately before. I assume anyone who does a trip report does the same, because I don't know how anyone could remember all the details otherwise. It might feel like it, but this is not a "complete, everything you need to know about sailing the Oasis". It's just my memories and opinions of our wonderful seven days aboard. If people are still awake when I'm done, I'll include our trip to the space center. I'm still working on uploading pictures, but here are a couple to hopefully get you interested... Reflections... Smile for the camera... If anyone sees a shot they want a high resolution version of, let me know. I'll send you the link to download it. Edited June 15, 2013 by S.A.M.J.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 15, 2013 Author #2 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Travel Day I'll keep this day short because I don't have many pictures to go with it. One thing I learned from CC is to travel in the day before. We flew into Orlando and rented a car to drive to Lauderdale. The alarm got us up bright and early and my parents showed up at our house to watch the kids while we were gone. No problems at our home airport or our first flight. Our scheduled three hour layover in Atlanta turned into 4 hours because our connecting flight had a mechanical problem they couldn't repair. So everyone got moved to another gate. We got into Orlando an hour later than scheduled, got our car and hit the road. Easy driving until West Palm when we hit the rain that had been pounding the area for the last couple days. Despite some navigation errors on my part, we made it to our hotel for the night... Crowne Plaza Airport/Cruise Port. It worked fine for our needs... restaurant & bar in the hotel, and a view of the port... Port... Room... I would definitely stay there again if the price was right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rcarper4001 Posted June 16, 2013 #3 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Ready for more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted June 16, 2013 (edited) Embarkation Day, or "Let's get this party started!" I ended up waking up before 5, and couldn't get back to sleep. I spend some time on the computer, and shortly after 6, I look back out the window and our ship had come in. Man is she big! Kill some more time until Anna wakes up, then we get ready and head out around 8 for breakfast. A quick stop for some hairspray for Anna, IHOP for breakfast, then turn the car in at FLL. A free shuttle (provided by National) takes us to the pier. We get there shortly before 10. Our view from the shuttle bus... We gave three bags to the porters… two with clothes (one was our in flight carryon), and one had two six packs of Pepsis and a six pack of bottled water and our snorkel gear. They want your Set Sail pass and passport (or other ID) out before entering the building. There was no line at security, and we get through that with little hassle (they had to scan my camera bag three times, having me take the laptop out before the third time). There was a short wait to check in (organized by deck # & status), then get your picture taken and head up stairs to the waiting area. Once you get up the stairs is a table to get your kids wrist bands. The wrist bands will be used in an emergency to get your child to your muster station. They will direct you to seats based on your status. Get your seat, then go to the bathroom. There were some vending machines available if you got hungry. Get your kids wrist bands here... There is free wifi available in the waiting area... Edited June 16, 2013 by S.A.M.J.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted June 16, 2013 #5 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Anyone seeing any photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Anyone seeing any photos? Please let me know if you have problems with the pictures. I'm trying to use my own web server (no bandwidth restrictions), but will upload to photobucket or something else if needed. Please try refreshing your page. That has helped me in the past, I was hoping the problem is with the computer I'm uploading with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted June 16, 2013 #7 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Please let me know if you have problems with the pictures. I'm trying to use my own web server (no bandwidth restrictions), but will upload to photobucket or something else if needed. Please try refreshing your page. That has helped me in the past, I was hoping the problem is with the computer I'm uploading with. I see them now. I guess they took a bit of time to download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyLNDRN Posted June 16, 2013 #8 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Please let me know if you have problems with the pictures. I'm trying to use my own web server (no bandwidth restrictions), but will upload to photobucket or something else if needed. Please try refreshing your page. That has helped me in the past, I was hoping the problem is with the computer I'm uploading with. I couldn't see any photos. I tried refreshing, and then some, but not all appeared. Refreshed again and they all disappeared! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted June 16, 2013 grrr... don't you love technology? Give me a few minutes and I'll adjust... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #10 Share Posted June 16, 2013 OK, lets try this again... from the beginning (hopefully with pictures)... IntroductionI see another cruiser started their own review of this sailing, but I'm going to offer my view points also. If you're looking for the "short version"... the trip was amazing! The ship, the crew, the shows, the food, EVERYTHING was extremely enjoyable. The few disappointments were extremely minor, and didn't keep us from getting an NCC before we left. To get the basics out of the way... I'm Sam, my DW is Anna. We are the proud parents of three kids (Mackenzie, Jonathan, Rebecca-- hence the S.A.M.J.R. username... no, that wasn't planned :p). This cruise was to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We had originally wanted to go on a cruise for our 10th, but Mackenzie's arrival delayed our plans (she turned 15 the week before our cruise). In April 2012 (yes, 14 months before we were going to depart), we booked a D8 balcony room on Oasis. Then the research REALLY started... reading everything I could find on Cruise Critic about Oasis and cruising in general. There are too many people to thank on here, but I hope this report will "pay it forward". There will be food porn, menu's, "show" shots, odds and ends, and eventually compasses once I get home. Our trip is still going on. When we got off Oasis, we drove up the coast to Cocoa Beach. We plan on touring the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, then heading home Monday. I do have a lot of pictures to go through (not all of them "keepers"), so please be patient. The good news is the report is pretty much already written. Each night (or the next morning), I typed up what happened immediately before. I assume anyone who does a trip report does the same, because I don't know how anyone could remember all the details otherwise. It might feel like it, but this is not a "complete, everything you need to know about sailing the Oasis". It's just my memories and opinions of our wonderful seven days aboard. If people are still awake when I'm done, I'll include our trip to the space center. I'm still working on uploading pictures, but here are a couple to hopefully get you interested... Reflections... Smile for the camera... If anyone sees a shot they want a high resolution version of, let me know. I'll send you the link to download it. I apologize for the problems everyone. I'm determined to get this going... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Travel DayI'll keep this day short because I don't have many pictures to go with it. One thing I learned from CC is to travel in the day before. We flew into Orlando and rented a car to drive to Lauderdale. The alarm got us up bright and early and my parents showed up at our house to watch the kids while we were gone. No problems at our home airport or our first flight. Our scheduled three hour layover in Atlanta turned into 4 hours because our connecting flight had a mechanical problem they couldn't repair. So everyone got moved to another gate. We got into Orlando an hour later than scheduled, got our car and hit the road. Easy driving until West Palm when we hit the rain that had been pounding the area for the last couple days. Despite some navigation errors on my part, we made it to our hotel for the night... Crowne Plaza Airport/Cruise Port. It worked fine for our needs... restaurant & bar in the hotel, and a view of the port... Port... Room... I would definitely stay there again if the price was right. Someone holler if these pictures are working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted June 16, 2013 #12 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Yes, I see nice big pictures now.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merion_Mom Posted June 16, 2013 #13 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Travel DayI'll keep this day short because I don't have many pictures to go with it. One thing I learned from CC is to travel in the day before. We flew into Orlando and rented a car to drive to Lauderdale. The alarm got us up bright and early and my parents showed up at our house to watch the kids while we were gone. No problems at our home airport or our first flight. Our scheduled three hour layover in Atlanta turned into 4 hours because our connecting flight had a mechanical problem they couldn't repair. So everyone got moved to another gate. We got into Orlando an hour later than scheduled, got our car and hit the road. Easy driving until West Palm when we hit the rain that had been pounding the area for the last couple days. Despite some navigation errors on my part, we made it to our hotel for the night... Crowne Plaza Airport/Cruise Port. It worked fine for our needs... restaurant & bar in the hotel, and a view of the port... Port... Room... I would definitely stay there again if the price was right. Is there a reason that you flew into MCO instead of FLL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #14 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Embarkation Day, or "Let's get this party started!" I ended up waking up before 5, and couldn't get back to sleep. I spend some time on the computer, and shortly after 6, I look back out the window and our ship had come in. Man is she big! Kill some more time until Anna wakes up, then we get ready and head out around 8 for breakfast. A quick stop for some hairspray for Anna, IHOP for breakfast, then turn the car in at FLL. A free shuttle (provided by National) takes us to the pier. We get there shortly before 10. Our view from the shuttle bus... We gave three bags to the porters… two with clothes (one was our in flight carryon), and one had two six packs of Pepsis and a six pack of bottled water and our snorkel gear. They want your Set Sail pass and passport (or other ID) out before entering the building. There was no line at security, and we get through that with little hassle (they had to scan my camera bag three times, having me take the laptop out before the third time). There was a short wait to check in (organized by deck # & status), then get your picture taken and head up stairs to the waiting area. Once you get up the stairs is a table to get your kids wrist bands. The wrist bands will be used in an emergency to get your child to your muster station. They will direct you to seats based on your status. Get your seat, then go to the bathroom. There were some vending machines available if you got hungry. Get your kids wrist bands here... There is free wifi available in the waiting area... OK, I think that has everything caught up. If everyone is seeing these pictures, I can continue. It will take me a little longer to get the pictures uploaded, so bear with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #15 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Is there a reason that you flew into MCO instead of FLL? Two reasons... 1) It saved $200/ticket and 2) We're visiting Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, so it made sense (at the time) to fly RT to Orlando and stop at Kennedy after the cruise. In hindsight, this is probably the one thing I would change about the whole week (would just eat the cost, skip the Space Center and do RT from FLL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyLNDRN Posted June 16, 2013 #16 Share Posted June 16, 2013 I see pictures too! Thanks, I'm looking forward to more:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #17 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Yes, I see nice big pictures now.:) YAY! I don't have the option to edit the first couple posts, so we're sort of stuck with those. Again, I apologize. Carrying on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #18 Share Posted June 16, 2013 (edited) Now, where were we... Oh yes, sitting in the waiting area. The waiting area basically looks like what you see at an airport, just much bigger. The areas are broken up by status... This is the "no status" area. You can see the kids play area in the back. This room was very full by the time we started boarding. You see the group with the blue T-shirts facing the camera? Look all the way to the left and you should see a girl in a red T-shirt. This was a quinceanera cruise. There must have been at least a dozen girls wearing the red shirts (I'm guessing they were the ones celebrating), and each girl seemed to have a dozen if not more people with them. A couple had garment racks full of dresses. Surprising to me, I never saw them again once we boarded... there was a group in front of us when we disembarked though. Here's the view from where we came in. The check in counters are on the left and right of the picture, you take a welcome photo in front of the stands (if you want), then the escalators up to the waiting area are in the back... When we checked in we were told boarding should start around 11:15. 11:15, no boarding... 11:30, no boarding, 11:45, no boarding, 12:02... Suite members could board. They went down the "status" line and at 12:10, they directed us "non-statii" :p toward the ship... There were plenty of announcements to make sure you have your sea pass in your hand, not in a pocket, not in a holder, but IN YOUR HAND.:D They'll take your SeaPass from you, put it in the machine, you hear a "ding", and you go on. Before you get on the gangway itself, a security officer will ask to see your SeaPass again, THEN you can put it away. Edited June 16, 2013 by S.A.M.J.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted June 16, 2013 Author #19 Share Posted June 16, 2013 There are two gangways... the one we used put us on the promenade next to Sorrentos. This is just below the 'guys' erasing the 'Genesis' logo. Our first view... Of course, what's the first thing any Cruise Critic reader does when boarding Oasis? Go to Park Cafe. I got the roast beef, Anna got a salad. While we were eating, I was still checking out our Roll Call thread and Cruising Grandma (CG) had posted that she was in Park Cafe. Anna and I had found a table outside, and not a moment too soon... here was the line to get into Park Cafe... . I will say Park Cafe is not really built to handle the big influx of crowds, but this was the only time we saw it this crowded. I posted on the Roll Call that we were sitting outside, and about five minutes later, CG & Cruising Grandad came out and introduced themselves. One thing I don't remember seeing mentioned about Park Cafe was the desert station... strawberry cheesecake, petit fours, cookies, cake and other assorted sweets. I know people rave about the roast beef, but to me, it was about a 6.5 on a scale of 10. The cheesecake however.... :D OK, it's been a long day, and I think I'm calling it quits for tonight. More later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anandaindonesia Posted June 16, 2013 #20 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Good night. And MORE later please :) Thank you for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroQueen Posted June 16, 2013 #21 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Great start! Can't wait to read more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iCruise717 Posted June 16, 2013 #22 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Hope your cruise was as enjoyable as ours! Nice photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalitos Posted June 16, 2013 #23 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Glad you had an amazing trip, looking forward to reading more of your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickiw0318 Posted June 16, 2013 #24 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Having had the pleasure of meeting Cruising Grandma and Cruising Granddad before, it doesn't surprise me in the least that they were the first to welcome you to the world of cruising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lionesss Posted June 16, 2013 #25 Share Posted June 16, 2013 I am really enjoying your thread. I LOVE PICTURE STORIES Thank you for taking the time to post these. Keep it coming. Sea Ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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