Cruise Day 6 - At Sea - 9/16

Marty and I started our day off in the Diamond Lounge for some breakfast and coffee.

espresso

note the proper pinkie technique

Mmm, mmm, good! (I am married to such a HAM!)

After breakfast and coffee, we headed down to the Royal Promenade to open the shops. Our last two days are sea days and I knew the shops would be crowded so we wanted to get our shopping out of the way.

The espresso in addition to the shopping spree apparently has Marty all wound up for Super Sports Morning! He wants to try the zip line and do the FlowRider again (with his own personal photographer along for the ride) and we hope to beat the crowd. And we do! All of the following pictures were taken before noon:

Woohoo - zip lining!

They are VERY safety-conscience on the ship

The triumphant zip liner!

Back to the cabin for a quick wardrobe change and then back to the sports deck for the FlowRider:

Go, Marty!

Uh, oh!

Good first try!

Now we're talking!

WOOHOO! GO, MARTY!!!

All good things must come to an end

But what a good ride! And look at the scenery!

FlowRider mastered!

Ah, dip in the jacuzzi - well deserved! (How many toes do you count?)

And to top it all off - beer mustache. The ultimate sports hero reward!

Cruise Day 5 - St Thomas - 9/15

Mom and Dad decided to try the Solarium Bistro (healthy buffet) for breakfast this morning while Marty and I went to Johnny Rockets (for the unhealthy regular breakfast). After breakfast, Marty and I, once again. went exploring around the ship. One week was not going to be enough to see it all!

We were docked at St Thomas and there was some evidence that some severe weather had blown through. Whether is was from Hurricane Earl a couple of weeks earlier or Hurricane Igor is unknown. I took pictures of some upended boats we could see from the ship:

A couple more shots from around the ship:

Kissing Statue tucked in a corner near the Globe and Atlas Pub

Trellis in Central Park

Virtual Blackjack in the casino (I think Marty is staring at the virtual boobs!)

Marty went ashore briefly. We docked in a different place than we did last time we were at St Thomas and there wasn't as much to do near the port.

When he got back he decided to go surfing on the FlowRider so we got Mom and Dad and headed up to the pool deck. The line at the FlowRider was long so we just decided to watch for a little while. We also watched some zip lining and then headed to the Boardwalk to ride the carousel. We also played some shuffleboard and watched some rock climbers.

We found some shade to watch the FlowRider

Mom and Dad in the peacock bench on the carousel

Marty on the black steed in front of Mom and Dad

Mom showing Marty how it's done

As you can see, we had a busy afternoon! Mom and Dad decided to sneak in a nap before sail away at 5:00.

Mom emailing on the balcony shortly after sail away

Beautiful sunset leaving St Thomas

After sail away, we went to dinner in the main dining room. Then off to see Frozen in Time, the ice show. It's amazing what professional skaters can do on such a small ice rink. It is 1/8th the size of an Olympic rink. This is a very good show but one of the skaters was having an off night. Not only did he fall several times, he caused one of the female skaters to fall off a sled on which she was riding when he bumped into it. We found out later during a backstage tour that this particular skater was new to the group and had only been in the show for a couple of weeks. The skaters usually come as a group and stay for 7 months but this guy was replacing an injured skater. I had much more empathy for him when I found out the story behind the scenes.

Another good day on the high seas...

Cruise Day 4 - St Maarten - 9/14

We weren't scheduled to dock until 10:00am. Marty went for his early morning work-out at the spa. When he returned to the cabin, we decided to find out how to get to the viewing area above the bridge for docking. We headed to the Diamond Lounge for coffee, fruit and cheese first. It took us a while to figure out how to get to the viewing area (it's deck 14 forward and you have to walk through some cabin hallways to get there) so by the time we got there the ship had already docked. There was no shade, no breeze and it was HOT! We had planned to maybe head to Maho Beach to watch the planes land but decided with the schedule change and the heat we would just stay on the ship.

More time for exploring and it's even better when everyone else is off the ship! We wanted to find out how to get to the very back of the ship so off to the Boardwalk and Aqua Theater we head. We discovered that on deck 5 (one deck below the Boardwalk) where the jogging trail goes all the way around the ship (only deck where you can do that) we could get directly behind the Aqua Theater stage. We need to get back there while we are at sea. I'm sure the view is awesome!

Very back of the ship - deck 5 - watching people depart in St Maarten

behind him - Aqua Theater, stage level

Mom wanted a picture of Marty at the rock climbing wall for her scrapbook so I obliged:

Marty "rock climbing"

And then back to the Royal Promenade where we discovered the full water show going on under the Rising Tide Bar. This is the first time we saw the column of water in the middle:

We met up with Mom and Dad back a the cabin. They were headed for a late breakfast at Park Cafe. Not long after, Marty and I headed for an early lunch at Windjammer. 

After breakfast/lunch, Marty decided to head on shore for a brief visit, Mom and Dad decided on a nap and I got caught up on some blogging since with everyone off the ship the internet seemed to be back up.

Marty was back to the cabin in less than an hour. Not much to do near the ship and it was too hot. So he decided to cool off by taking a dip in the pool. When he returned to the cabin, he had a wristband on indicating he had signed a waver to do the Flowrider. And he had given it a try without me there with my camera! He said he feels brave enough for the camera now so we plan to go watch him tomorrow while we're docked in St Thomas.

Mom and Dad decided on the main dining room for dinner. Marty and I weren't very hungry and decided to try tapas at Vintages in Central Park. We all decided to meet back in the cabins for sail away at 7:00.

Tapas at Vintages

guacamole w/cheese breadsticks, potato omelette wedges, ham sandwiches

The tapas was very good. The service, not so much. Plus there is really no comfortable seating available to sit and eat. But we wanted to try it and we did.

Mom and Dad beat us back to the cabin as they apparently had much better service in the dining room than we had at Vintages. When Randal (the waiter) saw Dad, he said, "I go cook your chicken." When Dad ordered sherbet for dessert, he said, "I go cook your sherbet."

We got to watch some stragglers running to the ship as they were about to pull up the gangway. They got lots of hoops and hollers from people out on their balconies. We enjoyed sail away from the comfort of our own balconies.

Tonight was the Headliner Show at 8:30. It was Finis Henderson, an impersonator/comedian. We all went and found him to be highly entertaining. In the pre-show, our cruise director indicated that the captain made the right choice in reversing the ports. My understanding is that if we had tried to go to St Thomas today we would not have been allowed to dock. He said, "When the choice is sunshine or vomit, I choose sunshine every time!" LOL!

Tomorrow, St Thomas...

Cruise Day 3 - At Sea - 9/13

Marty and I went out and about early to explore the ship. We started with the Boardwalk.

Marty and the Balloon Guy

Marty - Captain of the Sea Ya-363

Me on the Carousel

Pirate Marty - ARRRRGH!

After the Boardwalk, we walked along the Royal Promenade and then went to the Diamond Lounge for some cappuccino. Then up to deck 16 and the Flowriders. We watched some of the surfer dudes and dudettes and then wandered around for some amazing views. I got this one from deck 15 facing aft:

Boardwalk, Aqua Theater, wake...WOW!

Dad was not feeling well this morning. A little overindulgence at dinner the night before. Mom had taken him to Park Cafe for a late breakfast of a little oatmeal. He was feeling better by the time Marty and I got back the cabin but not up to getting out and about so Mom headed with us to the Windjammer for lunch. She wasn't really hungry since she had a late breakfast but just wanted to get out of the cabin. I'm glad she did because we had a great view from our table:

Lunch with a show - zipline

The captain made his noon announcement while we were at lunch and this is when we discovered our next two ports would be reversed due to Hurricane Igor. We will do St Maarten on Tuesday and St Thomas on Wednesday.

After lunch we went back to the cabin for a while. We had a show, Hairspray, at 2:30. Dad didn't feel like going but wanted Mom to go so off we went. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm kind of glad Dad skipped out because I don't think he would have enjoyed it at all. It was long (90 minutes). I really didn't know that much about the show beforehand but I found it to be Broadway-quality talent. Another not-to-miss show.

Dad was feeling much better (and hungry) by the time we returned to the cabins so we decided to go to the main dining room for dinner. Our waiter, Randal from Bahamas, took very good care of us. Dad got plain chicken breast and mashed potatoes. Randal cut up his chicken for him. It was a lovely, relaxed dinner.

I intended to do some blogging when we got back to the cabin but the internet was down and/or jammed. I was not able to get online for nearly 24 hours. My guess is that due to the itinerary switch everyone was online getting in touch with friends and family. 

Tomorrow, St Maarten...

Rising Tide Bar and Chops Grille

Once Marty got back to the cabin, I felt somewhat rested considering our long, hot day. So he and I decided to check out the Rising Tide Bar. It moves up and down (like an elevator) between Central Park (deck 8) and Royal Promenade (deck 5). We jumped on just as it was about to head down.

We met Keith from New Zealand who declared himself the “captain” of the Rising Tide Bar. He was quite the character:

Keith from New Zealand - Captain of the Rising Tide Bar

Going down...

The Drink of the Day apparently didn't taste very good!

Rising Tide Bar coming down to the Royal Promenade

Now it was time to get ready for our first formal night and dinner at Chops Grille. We moved our reservations up from 6:00 to 5:30 because we found out pictures with the Captain were going to be from 7:15 to 8:00 and we didn’t want to miss that!

So off to Chops we go. We all ordered the filet and the sides are served family style. We chose succotash, mashed potatoes and fried onions (onion rings). Everything was excellent!

After our lovely dinner we headed out of the restaurant to discover a professional photographer in Central Park. She was meticulous with posing us all and as separate couples but when I saw the photos the next day, I was disappointed. Since I don’t have a scanner (and we haven’t actually purchased any professional photos yet), I can’t share, but, trust me, they weren’t that good.

So down to the Royal Promenade we go to meet the Captain and get our picture taken with him. There was a long line and we trudged to the back of it only to have a crew member come and wave us to the front of the line. That wheelchair sure comes in handy sometimes!

We were kind of rushed and I was afraid the photos wouldn’t come out well but I was pleased with the results. Wish I could share!

We had enough time to go back to the cabin to change into more comfortable clothes for the show. The Aqua Theater and the show itself were simply amazing. I didn’t take any pictures as I was too engrossed in the show but if you ever cruise on Oasis or her upcoming sister ship, Allure, do not miss it!

It was a VERY long day so we call came back to our respective cabins and crashed. Tomorrow is, thankfully, an at sea day!

Discover Atlantis Excursion

This excursion was a great way to see as much as possible with very limited time. I think you could probably stay at this resort for a week and still not see it all.

The excursion description warns there is a lot of walking involved and they weren’t lying! We had to take a ferry to Paradise Island Ferry Terminal and then it was about a 10-minute walk to the resort from there.

Once at the resort, we had a guide take us on a narrated tour through some of the aquariums. The excursion was 2.5 hours but the guided tour of the resort lasted less than an hour. The rest of the time was ferry and walking time.

I took a ton of pictures but whittled it way down to share on the blog:

Our ferry awaits...

Ahh, air-conditioning on the ferry!

Marty and fish (I think a tarp?)

Our tour guide shows us a live conch - I may never eat conch again!

ancient diving suit

one of the many beautiful glass sculptures at resort

leaving Atlantis (this is about halfway back to the ferry terminal)



back at the ferry terminal



There were 3 ships in port – Oasis of the Seas, Carnival Dream (Carnival’s largest ship) and Majesty of the Seas (Royal Caribbean’s smallest ship). On the ferry ride back, we went around them all and had some spectacular views:

Baby Ship, Mama Ship and Papa Ship

The drawback to the great view was that they were dropping us off MUCH farther away than where they picked us up. We could have taken a shuttle back to the ship and after we walked it, I wished we would have. But I did get a great shot of Marty with Oasis in the background that I wouldn’t have gotten if we had taken the shuttle.

Royal Bahamas Police station on cruise pier

Marty with Oasis

We got back to cabin at 1:15. All aboard time was 1:30 with sail away at 2:00. I was so exhausted when we got back and we still have dinner at Chop’s Grille and the water show, Oasis of Dreams, tonight.

I visited with Mom and Dad very briefly upon our return and they had had a nice day on the ship. Marty was starving so went to get a late lunch while I decided to take a shower and rest a bit. I did recover in time for sail away at 2:00 and, again, watched all alone from the balcony. Mom and Dad had gone out exploring and Marty wasn’t back from lunch.



Sail away - Atlantis, light house, Mama Ship, Baby Ship



Bye-bye, Mama Ship and Baby ship