Cruise 2011

We just got back from an amazing cruise! We reserved a spot on Royal Caribbean's largest ship (actually the largest cruise ship in the world!), the Oasis of the Seas. We left on September 24th from Ft. Lauderdale and arrived home on October 1st. The ship was amazing! Upon arrival, we toured around the ship - it took us most of the week to see it all! Here are a few pictures of the ship, although it's hard to grasp how awesome it really was.

This is the Aqua Theater - a 17 ft deep pool with plenty of high-dive platforms. They also showed movies here at night.

 See the high divers?

This is a view of the Boardwalk and Aqua Theater from the pool deck. There were several interior balcony rooms available but we're glad we didn't get them since you're pretty much on display for everyone.

Basketball Courts

Mini golf!

The zip line - again, looked like fun but we didn't try it.

The beach pool is where we hung out during the day.

The Flow Rider surf activity. We didn't try it but it looked fun!

The kiddie pool - we stayed away from this one!

These were the best seats in the house inside the Solarium pool (indoor) - adults only AND it overlooked the front of the ship!

The indoor whirlpool - complete with TV's! This was always a hot spot. (Except on this day when it was closed for cleaning!)

The Main pool on the ship (even though there were many pools).

The surfboard benches outside the Wipeout Cafe!

 The Boardwalk

Boleros Latin nightclub on the Royal Promanade.

The Globe and Atlas pub.

Sorrento's - the pizza place!

The Schooner Bar - wouldn't be Royal Caribbean without one!

 The comedy club was especially good!

This is the Rising Tide bar. It moved up from the Royal Promanade to Central Park - 3 stories above!

The roof of the Rising Tide bar.

View of the Royal Promanade from the Rising Tide bar.

Central Park!

The steakhouse, Chops Grille

What Central Park is complete without a Coach store?

Vintages wine bar - too bad I couldn't have any!

Music in the park

The main dining room on the ship. We had dinner here each night except the final night. On the first night, we met a nice couple from Arizona that ended up getting engaged in St. Thomas, and a group from Denmark - a married couple and their friend that ended up getting separated from her husband a few weeks prior to this vacation! Poor thing!

These handy little eScreens were all over the ship - you touch them to find out what's going on and where to go on the ship. They even told you how long the wait was at restaurants. Pretty clever!

Our room! Pretty good size for a cruise ship. Lot's of storage and VERY clean! We even had cable TV in the room.

Our room was on this side, 2 from the top!

Here are some additional pictures of us upon arrival - like kids in a candy store!

On Day 2, we ventured to Atlantis resort in Nassau, Bahamas.

Our ship

On the bus to Atlantis from the cruise ship.

It rained at the beach - boo!

Overall, our impressions of Atlantis were not good (kind of dumpy for the price), however the casino was pretty cool and they had these awesome glass sculptures.

Once back on the ship, we sat in the Solarium to get out of the rain.

 This was a door on the Norwegian Cruise Line boat next to us in the Bahamas - maybe a reason to not cruise with them? It reads: "Door to remain closed at all times."

Formal night! I got so many compliments on this dress it was insane! After dinner we saw the play Hairspray which was really great!

 The ever-present towel animals!



Day 3 of the trip was a quiet day at sea as we travelled towards St. Maarten. Unknown to us, the ship was down one of its engines so it would take us longer to get to St. Maarten. We each had a really great massage in the spa in the morning. After a nice day at the pool, we went to dinner in the main dining room, where it was Italian night. Note the festive napkins flying through the air...

Drinks at the Globe & Atlas Pub after taking a ride in the Rising Tide bar.

The Kids Club took a little march through the Royal Promanade - they were so cute!

I was riding the non-alcoholic train so I got an O'Doul's at the pub. At the end of the night we went to an outdoor party thrown by Malibu rum called the Escape party. Let's just say all the white people were standing around tapping their toes, watching the GOOD dancers on the dance floor (all the black people).

Who's up for some late night Bingo???

On Day 4 we arrived in St. Thomas slightly behind schedule due to the ship being down 1 engine. We didn't have any excursions planned that day so we took our time getting off the ship. We walked around the downtown area and into several shops (mostly jewelry). Since we weren't in the mood to spend any molah, we got some lunch at an open-air cafe. It was so hot that day that we could barely eat! After seeing a lot of the town, we headed back to the ship by 3 and had a little pool time. After dinner in the dining room that night, we grabbed a drink at the Globe & Atlas pub where we ran into the couple from AZ we met on the first night - they had gotten engaged that day! Her ring was gorgeous! We ended the night by watching about the first 15 minutes of Burlesque from our balcony over the Aqua Theater, until Chris had enough and we decided to go in :).

A shopping area in St. Thomas

Malibu sponsored a party in the Solarium.

Towel animals!! Not sure what this one is....



On Day 4 we stopped in St. Maarten which was awesome! The weather was great and we spent the day at the beach. Specifically, we went to Orient Beach which is nudist, but we didn't see anything juicy - just people that you wish would put more clothes on! We ate lunch on the beach and caught a guided bus tour back to the ship through Phillipsburg, the capital. Our tour guide was really good and told us a lot of great information about the island. At 2:30 we got back to the ship and had some additional pool time. That night we went to the Motown show, "Headliners", which was good but had to leave early because we were so tired. Great day!

The beach at St. Maarten

This was the Carnival Dream next to our ship - it is Carnival's biggest ship.

Our ship!

Our ship and the Carnival Dream.

The captain of the ship (Captain Thor) at the Crown & Anchor society gathering.

This group of Scottish partiers got married and were having a great time at the Globe & Atlas pub.

Towel animals! I have NO idea what this one is......

On Day 6 we spent the day at sea by the pool. That morning we went to Johnny Rocket's for breakfast and then got our tan on. We had lunch at the Park Cafe with our Aussie friends, Con and Rita. That night was formal night and we ate in the dining room. We had reservations at the comedy show that night and it was great! Both comedians were really funny. Later that night we went to the Champagne Bar with Con and Rita.

Con and Rita!

Towel Animals!



Day 7 was our last full day on the ship, Friday. We were at sea the entire day, but the weather was not the greatest. We managed to lay by the pool all day, but with a few interruptions for rain. We used a BOGO coupon for milkshakes at Johnny Rocket's for lunch - yum! Since it rained in the afternoon, we managed a few naps in the Solarium :). Later that night, we met Con and Rita for drinks at Dazzles nightclub (turns out we were the only people there at 7pm!). We ate dinner at Izumi, the sushi restaurant, with Con and Rita and then headed to our favorite, the Globe & Atlas pub, for after dinner drinks! A great final chapter to our trip!

Getting shelter from the rain!

A rainbow!

Sunset from the Solarium

Dazzles!

Towel animals!

On Saturday morning we got off the ship at 9:30 am after eating breakfast a final time in the Windjammer Cafe. We were amazed at how quickly they got everyone off the ship! Ten minutes after exiting the ship, we had our bags, had gone through customs, and were in a cab to the airport! It was a fantastic trip!!