DAY 1: Sailaway!
Sunday, Jan 13
Sunday, Jan 13
I was anxious to see the famous "Terminal 18" that was built specifically for Oasis and Allure. Many cities competed to be the home port for those ships, and in order to win the business, Fort Lauderdale made many promises to Royal Caribbean and of course the Cruise Terminal is second to none.
It seems like usually there are porters approaching you offering to take your bags but we were sort of caught up in the foot traffic of disembarking passengers. We followed the "Check-In" signs and I was in disbelief as I noticed that there was a very long line up of people checking their bags (to be delivered to cabins in a few hours). Then I noticed that they appeared that these people didn't have luggage tags! Were they brought up in a barn? Honestly, who doesn't show up with luggage tags? Didn't get the memo, I guess. All you have to do is print your own before you leave home and staple them to the handle. Whew... thank goodness we didn't have to stand in that line! We were able to immediately drop our bags and head inside.
Once inside we were immediately divided into two groups, according to deck number. Deck 7, to the right! We found ourselves in line for the metal detectors and that took about 5-10 minutes and we were through that. Now we were in the actual check-in room. There are NINETY check in counters!! Again, our line was determined by deck number. About this time I wanted to shout, "I'M DIAMOND! I DON'T STAND IN LINES".... but I fought the urge and we queued up with other Deck 7'ers. The wait was about 15 minutes before we were ushered to an available station to complete the check-in process. I was impressed that they eliminated one of the usual lines by adding cameras to this station, so that our pictures were taken for the security database - so that they can see our face every time we scan on and off the ship. This was a pretty quick process because of course I had all the required documentation ready. SeaPass cards in hand, the next stop the ship's photographer for the Embarkation photo, and then up the escalator to the holding tank - er... I mean waiting lounge. This was a HUGE room with rows and rows of airport gate style seating divided into roped off sections. There was a sign that read, "GOLD" and there were quite a few people sitting there, looking somewhat somber, considering they were about to begin an awesome vacation. We kept walking and came upon staff that looked at our cards and remarked that we were Diamond, which had already been called, therefore should keep on walking. This repeated a few times as we passed more anxious travelers that appeared to be penned up. So sad that those people won't get to the buffet as quickly as we will. At this point our Diamond status paid off big time as we were again and agin singled out to proceed. Before we knew it we were on the ramp to the ship, and we were on board!
It was 11:45 by now and the rooms aren't ready until 1:00, so of course we headed to the Windjammer. It was early enough that only one of the two sections was open but it was late enough that both sections should have been open (and they were pretty soon after that). The crowds were almost unmanageable, navigating the various food stations, and it didn't help that many people were pulling carry-on sized roller bags, so people were tripping over them as they balanced their trays full of food. We were able to find a table for two against a window overlooking the golf course - that is... the mini-golf course. At this moment - first food - the cruise has officially begun!
Did I mention that the Windjammer is on Deck 16? SIXTEEN! After lunch we set out to explore the ship and figure out the lay of the land. From the pool deck we were overlooking The Boardwalk, just one of the seven "neighborhoods" on board. As we walked toward the front we could overlook Central Park and we counted five swimming pools, not including the one designed for the kids.
Shortly before 1:00 we made our way back to Deck 7 to see if our room was ready and it was. Pretty typical inside room. More on my impressions of the room details later. Otherwise today's entry will be a mile long. And this way you'll keep coming back because of course you are dying to hear!
The Muster Drill was at 4:30, but it is now called the Assembly or some such thing, and our station was the water theater. They scanned our SeaPass cards as we arrived so they could verify attendance. Much more efficient than the clipboard method back in the stone ages of cruising.
We ate dinner at 5:45 - I will talk a little about the dining options, but lets do that maybe tomorrow, since this is already just a tad bit long. I had Prime Rib and Tom had Grilled Pork Chops - both dishes were excellent. Carrot cake for dessert! This was our first time trying Royal Caribbean's My Time Dining. More on that later in the week.
After dinner we attended the acrobatic water show called Ocean Aria. We had reservations I had made a couple weeks ago online. It was nice to see that they actually checked as we arrived. They had those hand held scanners and just scanned our cards, greeted us by name and ushered us into the seating area. It pays to get there early as only every other row has sling back seats that are comfy - the other rows are bench style. I can hardly find words to describe this show! The talent, the special effects, the choreography… A… MA… ZING. The floor of the pool would rise and fall so that sometimes the cast could walk on the water or sometimes they could dive into it (scary if you think about it). Cast would enter and exit the show from under the water, or once the acrobats (one man, one woman) appeared via overhead trapeze which started out behind us but descended to the stage as they performed amazing tangled up stunts, and finally over the water he released her into the pool from a pretty good height. The diving, was incredible. At one point they had two diving boards going - one left, one right - and they kept diving and diving and diving… left, right, left, right and the dives kept getting more amazing with all the twists and turns you would see in the olympics. And then they would get higher later in the show. Sometimes they even did synchronized amazing dives with the two boards at once. The cruise director afterwards said it would cost you $200 to see that show in Vegas and I really don't doubt it!
After the show we walked around the Royal Promenade - the signature feature on Voyager Class or bigger in the Royal Caribbean fleet. It's like an indoor street with shops, restaurants, tables to sit and eat. Of course there's a little more to it than that on this ship but I will save it for later. Tom got a slice of pizza at Sorrento's and I got a cookie at the Promenade Cafe. What! Ok a cookie and a brownie maybe. Geez! I know I will regret it, I know!
Check out the ship's live webcam. It offers four different shots around the ship.
Tomorrow: Sea Day!
A few photos from today:
Interactive maps throughout the ship to help you find your way, or to tell you "what to do right now"
The heart and soul of most Royal Caribbean ships: The Royal Promenade. The fountain in the foreground is the "base station" for the Rising Tide Bar that is currently three decks above, and will return soon.
First lunch on board in the Windjammer - overlooking the mini golf.
Prime Rib for dinner!
Panoramic shot of our room: 7675. Typical inside room. Nice big TV.