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TeamTrom’s Vacation Review: Oasis of the Seas (10.29.16) plus More

TeamTrom

By TeamTrom,
in Royal Caribbean International

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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How about we start where this whole thing began on March 25th 2015, my son is now two months old, we are starting to settle in on this parenting thing (now you must be laughing) and on my way to work I get an email from Royal Caribbean… buy one get one half off… and I know how this works they always suck you in with the header but it won't be as good of a deal as it seems. I look anyway, why not, it doesn't hurt to look and who am I kidding, I just love to think about the idea of cruising again. So being in my financial situation, I search using the most inexpensive prices and WOW that looks like a great deal, it’s a year and a half away(ouch) but that’s actually good for us, enough time to put together the money and our son will be almost two by then and we think that will be old enough for a little family time with his great grandparents =) and RCI is going to throw in some onboard credit. So I call the wife, while speed walking into work because now I am behind from being distracted, out of breath like “do you think we can make this work?” Who am I kidding, I know she will be on board, just getting confirmation. She says yes, I call my dad and him and his girlfriend are in as well and BAM, just like that, we are booked. Only 584 more days to go… that is such a long time, but there is hope, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That is when the CC madness began and why I am here now.

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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I never anticipated writing one of these, I always thought that it would take away from the actual vacation but I have realized it’s not just about me, I cannot be that selfish. What about YOU, what about YOUR thoughts YOUR feelings...so I have decided to make the sacrifice, it’s all for you. Yup, just for you! Haha don’t believe that. But here is my warning label, it is more than one part so bear with me. First and most important, I am a glass half full kind of guy, when I am on vacation it is near impossible to ruin it, so if I run into a little bit of bad service or the food isn't the best food I have ever had in my life I won't let that get me down and I may not be critical enough in this review [The wife says she’ll be critical if it calls for it, don’t you worry] but when I am reading I want to hear about the “Great” anyways so I hope you do too. Secondly, we have always had an interior stateroom to keep cost low so we can spend more freely on the other amenities the ship has to offer so no balcony for us, we have yet to have one and this cruise is no different so I won't have numerous stories about drinking wine or eating breakfast on my balcony and no balcony sunset photos for you, although I feel like I have had one due to all the lifelike stories from some of you and if you’d really like I can pretend……… nah I can’t do that haha. And lastly, I don't know just how in depth this will be, I have read some that are very lacking in detail, to the extremist reviews that seem like I got a video recording of the entire vacation and while that would be awesome I am still on vacation and would like it to feel that way at least a little lol. Don’t get me wrong, I already have a couple thousand words invested in this and haven’t even reached the beginning of my trip so it’s clear what my intentions are but who knows where this will go. So there it is, I hope I still have an audience and let’s hope we can all find a way to enjoy this. I know I will!

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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UPGADE ALERT!!! Change of plans, scratch some of what I said in my previous post. WE HAVE CHANGED STATEROOMS. This is a first for us on a couple of fronts. This is the first time we have been called and given an offer to upgrade our stateroom and now our first opportunity to stay in a balcony cabin. We previously had an interior stateroom, and the smallest one available at that, but for a minimal $100 fee we have been upgraded to a Superior Balcony Stateroom on deck 6. We are now just above the Royal Promenade, on the deck with the Boardwalk and just a couple below Central Park. Pretty cool in my book. Not to mention we got the larger balcony at 80 square feet instead of the standard 50 square. I am going to be honest, I am a pretty happy camper, and now I am even more amped up for this vacation, if that was even possible!!!

6.0%20Superior%20Balcony_zps4olzf1iz.jpg

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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UPGADE ALERT!!! Change of plans, scratch some of what I said in my previous post. WE HAVE CHANGED STATEROOMS. This is a first for us on a couple of fronts. This is the first time we have been called and given an offer to upgrade our stateroom and now our first opportunity to stay in a balcony cabin. We previously had an interior stateroom, and the smallest one available at that, but for a minimal $100 fee we have been upgraded to a Superior Balcony Stateroom on deck 6. We are now just above the Royal Promenade, on the deck with the Boardwalk and just a couple below Central Park. Pretty cool in my book. Not to mention we got the larger balcony at 80 square feet instead of the standard 50 square. I am going to be honest, I am a pretty happy camper, and now I am even more amped up for this vacation, if that was even possible!!!

6.0%20Superior%20Balcony_zps4olzf1iz.jpg

 

 

Great news!

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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Lights, Camera, Action: Photograph taking devices

After reading one or two hundred reviews on CC I have come to realize there are some Camera fanatics out there, and whilst I am not looking forward to this moment I figure its best if I get it out of the way because I know someone will ask what cameras I used for my substandard photos. Now I am not a camera lover, we rarely use ours because every phone nowadays has a pretty good camera on them and with my phone always on my person it is my go to. But for this vacation I may have both of my cameras on hand at various times along with my phone and Wifey will have hers. I am going to start with my Bridge Camera, which is a Canon PowerShot SX20is. This has been our all-around camera for the last 5 years or so and is still under debate as to how much we will use this or if it will even make it into our already stuffed luggage. It has a 12.1 Megapixel camera with a fixed 20x Optical Zoom. We also have a waterproof camera which is an Olympus Tough TG-1. This 12.7 Megapixel camera has a 4x optical zoom and has the capabilities to go up to 40ft underwater. We bought this camera specifically for our second cruise, knowing we’d be snorkeling and an underwater camera would be awesome. The best part about this camera is its cool picture modes that make it really fun to play with. Both Wifey and I have different variations of the Samsung Galaxy 7. While she has the standard GS7 I have the slightly upgraded GS7 Edge. They both have a 12mp Rear Facing Cameras which is equipped with new Dual-Pixel technology which helps create better photos in low-light environments and has a very quick focus. Whew, you have no idea how happy I am for that to be over with. I really don’t know much about cameras so it’s a long process of pulling them out, having a scavenger hunt for their model numbers, googling them to get some information and then putting it all together on here without boring you to death. The worst part of it all is after I wrote this part the first time my Wifey’s laptops hard drive crashed, so I had to do it all over again =( boo hoo. It never fails that someone late in the review asks again about the cameras used for the posts and please do not take it personal but I will just refer those questions to this post.

 

7.0%20Cameras_zpsmjjmskn8.png

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CruisinCJ

CruisinCJ

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We will be following your trip (yes literally following as we are on the cruise after yours) and like you I am addicted to cruising.

 

This trip is to celebrate my daughter's 30th birthday so we have the whole family along.

 

We are excited to read your comments all week. Thank you for taking the time to post during your vacation.

 

Carol.

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KPfromCT

KPfromCT

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WooHoo!!!!!:D:D

We just did our first Royal Caribbean cruise in June, same deck, same balcony on the hump. Actually, the picture looks just like our room.

 

Cannot wait for the next installment!!!

 

You are going to have a great time!!!!

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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I'm looking forward to reading your perspective of our cruise, Sean. This is going to be fabulous!:D

 

I hope you enjoy this!!! You have a great trip!

 

We will be following your trip (yes literally following as we are on the cruise after yours) and like you I am addicted to cruising.

 

This trip is to celebrate my daughter's 30th birthday so we have the whole family along.

 

We are excited to read your comments all week. Thank you for taking the time to post during your vacation.

 

Carol.

 

It must be exciting to be so close and Happy Birthday to your daughter, the best birthday present ever!!! Thanks for tagging along!

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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WooHoo!!!!!:D:D

We just did our first Royal Caribbean cruise in June, same deck, same balcony on the hump. Actually, the picture looks just like our room.

 

Cannot wait for the next installment!!!

 

You are going to have a great time!!!!

 

Just a sample photo so we know what to expect but our room has the same layout so it should be identical. I hope your vacation was amazing like I expect ours to be. I just cannot wait!!! :) Thanks

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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Vacation Schedule: Basic breakdown of our vacation

Seeing how I’m still days ahead of setting foot on the ship and I am hooked on writing something about this trip I have decided to do a bit of a breakdown of our vacation. The four of us live in Northeast Ohio but my Grandparents, and babysitters for the cruise, live down near Orlando. With them being so far they only get to see and spend time with Caleb once or twice a year so it will take some time to get everyone comfortable with each other. So my wife and I will be flying down a few days early and spending some time in Florida. My dad and his girlfriend will be flying in the day before hand and will be picking up our rental for our trip down south to Fort Lauderdale. Now some of you may be asking why our son won’t be joining us and there are a couple reasons why, both have to do with his very young age. Firstly, my wife and I don’t think that babies/toddlers and cruises mix. Now I know all the reasons why someone would bring along their child and I don’t blame them for it, nor do I judge as long as parenting is involved, but I just don’t want to be the person who has a screaming two-year-old ruining anyone else’s vacation. People spend a lot of $$$ on these vacations and while my son is pretty well behaved it doesn’t take much to bring down someone else’s time. Secondly and maybe the most important reason is I am on vacation. My son is my world, I love that little guy and he seems to brighten my day no matter what is going on but he needs a ton of attention and almost always needs to be taken care of. And let’s be honest, I want to be taken care of this week. And he needs quality time with his Great Grandparents, right?!?! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. So after a few days in Florida we drive down the morning of our cruise, spend six nights aboard that beauty, make our way back to Grandma’s for the night once we disembark and then fly back home the following morning. So that’s it, that’s my review of the Oasis of the Seas… I hope you enjoyed it ;) Haha I sure hope it doesn’t go by that fast but we all know it probably will.

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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What to Expect: What will be in my review?

So of course my family’s experiences on Oasis will be front and center but I wanted to give a basis of what else you should expect with this review. We don’t have specific plans for when we are in Florida except for taking Caleb to a beach, preferably the ocean, [Wifey: we’re deathly afraid of alligators and the whole toddler alligator attack… didn’t help!] and we will give the scoop on where and how it was. Additionally, we have our plans made for each port. In Nassau we have the excursion “Bahama Brews” scheduled through RCI. In Costa Maya we are going to the Adventure Park Maya Lost Mayan Kingdom also booked through RCI and finally we have Mr. Sancho’s all-inclusive resort reserved in Cozumel booked straight through their website. If you are interested in any of those 3 than expect those to come. We will enjoy a few of the specialty restaurants as well, specifically Chops, Izumi and Sabor. I guess I should just say to expect some food porn.

 

I also plan on sharing most of my expenses with this review. I think that cost can be essential when trying to rate how your experience is so you know if it was worth it or not. I think that a lot of people don’t even think about a cruise for their next vacation because the cost associated with it but I am constantly trying to influence others that it can be affordable and still have a great time. For instance, we paid $1415.94(now $1515.94) for our 6-night fare for 2 people and keep in mind this is one of the best ships out right now. We had to book this trip 584 days in advanced and during a BOGO half off event for a basic interior state room(now a Superior Balcony Cabin) but none of this is an inconvenience for us(Definitely not an inconvenience at all :), I wonder how long this will carry on lol;)). We never spend much time in our room(maybe we will spend additional time in there now) because the ship is so wonderful and the time frame made it so that after the initial deposit I only had to pay a small payment each month towards the final price. After you throw in the $155.40 for prepaid gratuities you come to a total price of $1571.34($1671.34) for a rate of $261.89($278.56) per day/night. Depending on how conservative you want to be that could be your final price, not including transportation to the port and back home, especially when you include the on-board credit they tossed in… for EVERYTHING. How much per night would you pay for a hotel for most vacations? $100 on the low side, $200 or more for a decent place JUST TO SLEEP. No food or entertainment included. It’s a steal in my opinion. Now I am not that conservative lol. I keep my cost low so I can specifically enjoy the additional excursions, specialty restaurants and have spending money so what could be a good time turns into a great time, one that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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Additional things we have planned to do that you can read about in this review (provided we find time for it all ;))

-Oasis of the Dreams Show

-Comedy Show

-Halloween on Oasis

-Prohibition Event (The “Secret” Party) $35PP

-Frozen in Time Show

-Voom Surf Voyage Package – 1 device (mainly to remain in contact with our family) $54.54

-Superior Balcony Stateroom on the 6th floor(6594)

-Much much more!!!!!!!!!

 

What NOT to expect, I don’t want to withhold any information ;)

-This will not be a “Live” preview. I will update when I can but I plan on enjoying my vacation =)

-I will not be posting any Cruise Compasses due to the unique itinerary (6 night/ Ft Lauderdale)

-Not likely to have menu pictures either because they can be found all over already

-Cats show is not up our alley

-Headliner and Come Fly with Me Shows just don’t seem to fit in our full schedule ;)

-We will not be booking any Spa treatments or massages. Just too costly for us.

 

Next up is the actual vacation, back story and pre information is complete. Now that that’s over tomorrow is when I can move on to the “Good Stuff”, what say you?

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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Subscribing. Looking forward to your posts!

 

great to have you with us!

 

On board with the thread.

Was on board Oasis back in April. :)

Loved every second of it. You will too.

 

I'm glad you have a great time, and you are right, I know we will love it

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TeamTrom

TeamTrom

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Hi Wifey

 

We are on the same cruise as you guys. I have a very similar spreadsheet.. however it is not color-coded. Clearly I'm not up to par with my planning.. lol :rolleyes:

 

I noticed from your signature that including this cruise we will have been on 4 cruises each and 3 of them being the same ship. Crazy!!!

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