Well its been roughly 8 days without internet and my cell phone and I am happy to say I am back in reality. I must admit though, it was nice to escape social media for a while and focus on the world around me. And the world around me couldn't have been better.
Fort Lauderdale
We recently flew to Fort Lauderdale where we spent a couple of days before we caught the Oasis of the Seas, one of Royal Caribbean's signature giant ships. The second largest in the world to be exact. The largest ship is the Allure of the Seas which is identical to the Oasis and is only larger by a few inches. We are lucky enough to have been on both ships. Oasis of the Seas was spectacular, from the beautiful open air boardwalk, and Central Park, to the Promenade filled with restaurants from a Pizza Joint, to an English Pub. There was no shortage of things to do on the ship.
The Royal Promenade
Carousel on the Boardwalk
Royal Promenade
The Boardwalk
Water Theatre on the Boardwalk
We went to a few shows including Come Fly With Me, which was a musical with some trapeze artists, and the water show which featured Synchro and high diving. One of my fellow hockey wives happened to be one of the performers, which I had no idea about until they announced the credits which was pretty cool! We also made sure to see Frozen In Time, which was on ice and was geared towards the little ones. This was the only show we took the kids to, and they loved it. My 2 year old daughter sang along even though she had never heard the songs before, she was completely entranced! She even shouted "Go Daddy Go" Because apparently Ice Hockey and Ice Dancing are one in the same to her.
Frozen in Time Ice Show
Photo taken from Google
Come Fly With Me Photo Taken from Google
Oasis of Dreams Photo taken from Google
We spent most of our time in the main dining room as the food was fantastic and it spared no extra cost. It was quite gluttonous however, as you could order as many entrees and appetizers as you wanted, for no extra charge. We also made sure to take advantage of the new prepaid drink program. We purchased the Premium Package which was $40 a day, and you had unlimited amounts of alcoholic beverages for the flat price. This was not available when we were on the Allure of the Seas in 2012 and I must say, it is a huge bonus.
Dining Room Lunch
Silk Dining Room
We chose not to dine at any speciality restaurants this time besides Sabor the Mexican restaurant on the beautiful Boardwalk. Sabor was amazing, the guacamole was the best I have ever had and they made it right there at the table. On our previous cruise we treated ourselves to Chops Steakhouse in Central Park and it was fantastic, so I highly recommend checking that out.
For daytime activities on sea days we just hung around the pool and splashed around with the little ones. Although on one sea day we put the babes in daycare because we couldn't handle the kids pool anymore! There are 4 main pools on the ship, 1 being kids pool which had a small waterpark attached. This was sheer madness. They have cannons and guns and you are constantly being kicked and splashed and jumped on but you can't really get upset because there is not a lot of room and the kids are all just trying to have fun. Our favourite pool was the Solarium pool which is small and just for wading, but it is adults only and surrounded by super cozy lounge chairs and cabanas. It is much quieter and more relaxing then the rest of the pool on the ship.
Port days had to be our favourite. We docked at Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas, St Thomas, of the US Virgin Islands, and St Maarten, which is owned by France and the Netherlands. Nassau was by FAR our best day on the trip, because we visited the amazing Atlantis Waterpark famous for their Shark waterslides where you enter the shark tank. My favourite slide was the Surge which was a roller coaster on a tube. I tried filming it but it was way more intense then I expected and the video just turned out to be me screaming! Some of the slides you enter onto the lazy river, which was great for relaxing in-between slides. The only problem, is that the ship docks you hear at 8am, and the park doesn't open until 10 am, and you then need to catch the last shuttle back to the ship at 1:30. This leaves you basically no time to catch the slides, as there are many other cruise ships docked on the same day. We were only able to fit in 4 slides, only 3 of the main ones. For $300 a person, this is slightly ridiculous. We don't blame Atlantis, but we blame RC as they should be docked for at least a few more hours, as you don't have to be back on the ship until 4:30 at the other ports.
The Suites
The Challenger Racing Slides
Slide into the Shark Tank
St Thomas was the next stop, at this location we just shopped for diamonds. Thats right, diamonds! The diamonds here are tax and duty free, and they there is much less markup. My husband treated me to a new ring and said it would be my push present for our next child, which we are planning on conceiving this fall if all goes well. You can check out a picture of the my new rock over on my instagram page. We also checked out some local markets to buy some gifts for family, and to buy a toy for the kids and let them stretch their legs. The last port day was St Maarten which was so relaxing and amazing. Only 4 of us went to this location with only 2 of the kids. All we did was swim in the crystal blue waters and drank some beer. You can't beat that!
St Thomas
St Thomas
St Maarten
St Maarten
St Maarten
All in all this was a fantastic trip and I truly recommend it for those of you who love cruising, or who have never thought about a cruise before. It is my favourite way to travel! Because there were 13 of us on this trip, and we had been on the Allure of the Seas before, this was more of a relaxation trip, and we didn't discover much of this ship, like we did in 2012. So I recommend you check out some youtube videos on the ship or go to Royal Caribbean yourself to check out all the ship has to offer! Now its time to pack for Germany, which we will be heading to exactly one week today! Excited to start a new chapter of our lives, but sad to be leaving our home for the next 8 months!
