Day 9 - Back Home

I'm awake before the alarm. Breakfast starts at 6:30. Our scheduled departure time is 7:30. I have toyed with using wheel chair assist. The walk 4 levels to the terminal and then to baggage claim is long.

Ultimately I decide to bite the bullet and just walk off. Even walking at my slow pace it will be faster than wheel chair assist and there are passengers that need the asssistance more than I do.

We leave the cabin at 7:30. Elevators are impossible so the first step is two flights of stairs with my carry on luggage. We quickly disembark and start the tedious walk. Back and forth on a sloped ramp to get down to the terminal entrance.

Actually the process was very smooth. Baggage is quickly located and facial recognition works flawlessly. No need to even pull my passport out of my pocket. Within 30 or 40 minutes we are in the car headed to Clermont. 

There have been wild monkeys in the brush next to Park N Go forever. This trip they were the most active I haver ever witnessed.  All over the road and even climbing on some of the cars.

The drive home is smooth, one of the advantages of returning on a Sunday. The weather is cloudy with a cold front expected later in the day.

I pass through the gate to our community just before noon. The temperature outside is 77 degrees. A dark cloud bank can be seen just to our west.

The wind begins to blow and within 20 minutes the temperature has dropped over 20 degrees.  One of the fastest significant temperature drops I ever remember.

Within a few hours the laundry is done and packed away until next time. When you ask? No idea, nothing is booked, but we are looking at a Princess cruise.

Day 8 Coco Cay

There are two large ships in Coco Cay today. I would guess between the two there are over 10,000 guests on shore.

The weather is perfect. Low 70's an occasional cloud and a slight breeze. The high seas of several days ago are gone.

I often just stay on the ship, but today I decide to walk ashore, wander around, and even avoid the shuttle. It is busy but not crowded. I confine my walking to the paved walkways and avoid the unstable sand.

When we get to the food building everything is open, there was available seating if we wished, and there were no lines. I indulge in a small soft serve ice cream.

The grounds are clean as expected. I head back to the ship.

Luggage is quickly packed so the rest of the day is free. Some music at the piano bar then meet everyone in the Crown Lounge before dinner.

Half way through dinner the head waiter sceams over the PA system telling us to thank his staff and remember them on our survey and then plays music that is deafening. In my opinion - disgusting. Worse than I remember on any ship. I share my opinion with management.

An hour of music in Central Park and the it is time to set the alarm for 6 AM.

The seas are flat as we travel the last few hundred miles back to Port Everglades.

Day 6 & 7 Sea Days

As we head north from Aruba the temperatures remain in the upper 70's. With the wind on our stern there is little breeze on the decks or balconies.

Every voyage brings a new experience. In the elevator on my way to Central Park the elevator stops at deck 8 but the doors won't open. Push the door open button, still no response. Try a different floor. Still no movement.

No panic. Its not like the elevator is falling. Eventually the elevator continues to deck 9. I exit, relay the issue to the staff and take the stairs down to 8.

Probably 15 minutes later while walking past the elevators the same elevator is at deck 8 with passengers unable to open the door. After 16 years The Oasis is beginning to show her age.

During the night the winds shift to the north and the temperature begins to drop.

On day 7 fewer people are at the pool but the sun remains bright.

The usual choice of trivia, shop sales, and classes like animal towel folding. We enjoy New Orleans Jazz on the boardwalk as young children play all sorts of games, eat cupcakes, popcorn, and hotdogs in a carnival atmosphere.

I've made a conscious effort to avoid writing about the obnoxious people in our society today, but I will digress for a few paragraphs. We decided to grab a bite in the suites lounge instead of having breakfast in chops.

They have two excellent coffee machines that grind and make your coffee to order. More to the point it also makes hot chocolate with hot milk or water, whichever you prefer. Fruits, pastries, and other goodies are availble to eat.

For most of the morning the lounge was quite empty. Then a woman came in and took a table near the entrance facing everyone else in the room. Placed earphones over her head and made what I presume to be a video call with someone. So what you may ask? Well with earphones she had no idea how loud she was talking. Everyone could hear nothing except her complaining abour her father, how bad a person her sister was, and how as soon as she got home she was going to talk to the warden.  It wasn't clear which type of warden, and it doesn't matter. No one else cared. Now hearing this once would have been bad enough, but she was one of those people that kept repeating everything over and over. Forget how irritated she made the other guests in the lounge, what about the poor person on the other end.

Tonight is lobster night, probably the busiest night for the dining room staff. We ask our servers to help us be finished in time for the 8:30 production show. They do a good job and we make the show with 10 minutes to spare.

The show, One Sky is good. After the show we have short break and then two comedians. I felt the one was OK, the other not. Not being a fan of comedians its ok.

Tomorrow we are at Coco Cay. Two days ago the seas were too rough and the winds too high for ships to dock. We will see what the morning brings.

Day 5 Aruba

We arrive in port early, not a difficult task since Aruba is only about 70 miles from our previous port.

We make the decision to stay on the ship today. The weather is great with the temperature about 80. Some clouds and one or two brief showers during the day. The wind is brisk at 20 or 25 most of the day.

I spend a few hours doing train club stuff and a few more writing my blog.

Most importantly my first task is to check on my sand bar trees. When I first came to Aruba about 14 or 15 years ago I noticed a few trees growing on the sandbar in the harbor 100 feet from the ship. At the time I thought they would be gone before I ever would return.

Much to my surprise a year later they were still there and  doing well.

In the years that ensued I kept track of "my trees". They may have even become the reason for a cruise or two over the years. Ok I really don't need much of a reason to cruise.

I step out on the balcony. All that remains are a few dead branches.  My trees have fallen victim to climate change and pollution. I guess I can no longer use them as a reason to cruise to the Southern Caribbean. But I could just come to pay my respects!

Breakfast as usual in Chops. There are only 69 "Pinnacle" level passengers so Chops is never busy for breakfast. Ship crew members are so good. Despite only sering us once a day, 2 passengers amongst the hundreds they encounter, they remember the details like I usually have orange juice and Lynn uses honey with her coffee.

After breakfast we head to the Suites lounge where I tend to spend lots of time. Uncrowded and quiet.

It is a training day for the crew. There is a reported fire.

A crew member needs to be extracted from an enclosed space, I only can assume a confined area in the engine room, and other crew members are guiding invisible passengers in an exercise to remove everyone from the ship. All in a days training which is conducted every week or more frequently.

Dinner tonight is a strip steak. Tender and properly prepared. As with most meals the portion is large and I am unable to finish it.

Tonight's entertainment is the Ice Show. Again one of my favorites.

The show ends about 10:30 and we head to deck 16 to watch as we set sail. The lights of Aruba fade into the night as we had northwest towards Coco Cay.

The next two days we will be at sea.

Day 4 - Curacao

I consider Curacao my most favorite port in the Caribbean.

We dock late, but it really does not matter. I let the crowds get off first, then follow. We are docked at the new dock, farthest from town. The P&O Brittania is docked at the first pier.

The weather is perfect. About 80 degrees, an occasional cloud and a strong breeze, probably 20 to 25 mph.

We walk towards town and are sidetracked for a local ice cream. That ended our trek. We sat for a bit, took a few pictures and watched the bridge opn for a freighter to leave port and then headed back to the ship. I'm really not admitting this but the long walks are getting harder. I know "long" is relative, but the walk to the ice cream shop and back was about 3 miles. Long for us.

Back on the ship and showered we go to Park Cafe for lunch. The beef sandwich was excellent. The ship is pretty quiet with most passengers ashore.

The suites lounge is a good hang out space. A bar within 50 feet, views all around, and uusually pretty quiet. A good place to type.

The Spaghetti bolognese was very good, but I realized later that it was loaded with sodium. A frequent issue with cruise ship food.

A set of "jazz in the park" in central park, and it is time to call it a night.

Our next port is Aruba, about 70 miles away.

2 sea days

It is about 1200 miles from Ft Lauderdale to Curacao, our first port of call. The journey will take us about 40 hours and we are expected to arrive just after 8 AM on Tuesday.

Breakfast in Chops hasn't changed. Uncrowded and good service. Later in the morning I entertain myself by listening to the shopping sales pitch. Not that I care at all about shopping, but he is a polished pitchman.  He knows, and uses, all the tricks.

I have access to the suites lounge on this cruise, an option that I am often denied because there are so many top level cruisers. Capacity is limited so only the top of the top cruisers get the benefit.

Coffee, snacks, and bar service is usually available. Located on deck 17 there is a good view of the ocean and the ship's pools below The. seating is comfortable.

When I return to the cabin to freshen up for dinner I face a very strong draft in the hallway. By strong I mean blowing hair and flapping shirt strong.

Yes, I will be judgemental and say the jerks in the cabin next to us left the balcony door wide open while simultaneously proping open the cabin door to the hallway. The resultant tornado through the halls disrupted AC for many dozens of passengers. I took it upon myself to close his door. A risky move but neccessary.

There are a lot of kids on this cruise. More than I expected for an 8 day cruise while school is in session, but overall they are well behaved. As usual, the searching for ducks is a frequent quest. I stoped bring ducks last year after witnessing how much damage irresponsible passengers were causing to the plantings in central park.

The weather is basically good. High 70's mostly sunny. There have been a few very short showers. Many northerners are getting a good tropical burn.

By the end of the second sea day the wind has increased and the seas are now 8 to 10 feet. If the captain hadn't told us, we would not have been aware. The  ship delivers no pitch or roll to the guests. What the seas do though is slow our progress. We will be an hour or hour and a half late arriving in Curacao. Whatever our arrival we will stay in port the scheduled time.

I did not go to see the production of cats. Several others did and said it was greatly improved from a couple years ago when they last saw it. Maybe the next time I am on Oasis.

The top tier event is very brief. About 5 minutes of entertainment, a few recognitions, and a few words from the Captain. Obviously many knew it wasn't worth the effort as attendance was poor. Years ago it waa a lavish afair. No more. 

The aqua show has been redone since I last saw it. Good and worth staying up for the 10:30 PM start time. Fortunately I rembered ear plugs as the music can be deafening.

Tomorrow we will spend most of the day in Curacao.

Jan 10 Oasis of The Seas

Our first cruise of the new year is on the Oasis of the Seas. 8 days to Curacao, Aruba and Coco Cay, Royal's private island.

The drive to Ft Lauderdale is uneventful. Adrienne and Steve are driving separately and will pick up Pann and Terry at the  Ft. Lauderdale airport.

We all get together on the shuttle bus from Park-N-Go to the  terminal. It wasn't planned that we would meet there, it just happened. Once the bus was full we head to the ship. The many times I have used Park-N-Go while sailing from here, this is the first time the shuttle did not take the main entrance but instead a back entrance through the industrial area of the port. Interesting to say the least. But definitely no traffic. Probably a concession by the port to expedite the thousands of passengers passing through the port each week.

The luggage is unloaded and handed over to the dock porters. We head to checkin.

Unlike our last cruise the process is quick and easy. Probably less than 15 minutes from stepping off the bus to being on the ship

Cabins wont be open for about an hour so we find seats at the Solarium bar and settle in for 8 days of R&R.

Several hours later I head to our cabin. The luggage is found and stowed away. I try to be consistant from ship to ship, but that is not always possible. At the time she was built The Oasis had some of best designed cabins, by today's standards she is outdated and not nearly as well thought out as more modern vessels. But don't get the wrong idea. She will be fine. It may just take me a little longer to find my toothbrush.

About a year ago I started bringing vacuum hand grips for the shower. To no avail here. The shower walls are textured and will not support a vacuum. At least there is a factory installed grab bar, a nicety missing on many ships.

One of the benefits of having spent literally years on Royal Caribbean ships is my loyalty level. As we approach the dining room, along with hundreds of other passengers, I am picked out by a staff member and whisked to the front of the line. No waiting for us. We are directed to our table in a secluded section at the back of the dining room.

The southern fried chicken and key lime pie for dessert was good. Service was a little slow, but that is normal on the first night as the crew gets to know thousands of new passengers.

After dinner we find Canilo a crew member that Steve Adrienne and I met about 6 years ago. They have kept in touch via Face Book, a medium I seldom use. We quickly find him in one of the jewelry and watch shops. Probably a step up from the liquor shop that he was woking in when we first met.

It has been a long day and a good night's rest is next on the agenda.

Seas are about 6 feet and skies clear as we head south to Curacao.