Oasis of the Seas - Day 4

Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Falmouth, Jamaica

The gangway opened at 8:30am, but our excursion departed at 11:30 am so we took things slow getting ready this morning. There was no need to rush, especially since we couldn't do too terribly much before our excursion. We walked around the port a little before heading to our bus.

We decided to book a historical/cultural excursion. We thought the kids should learn a little about the places we were visiting since we/they were fortunate enough to take the vacation and we were loaded with entertainment on board. Plus Labadee was going to be our fun, play on the beach day and this was our cultural day. That didn't go as planned, but what can ya do.

We booked the 1700's Great House & Plantation Tour with lunch. Falmouth is known today as the home of Usain Bolt, Olympic record holder for sprinting (basically, the fastest man on earth). However, in the late 1700's and early 1800's it was a wealthy port town known for shipping sugar and rum, of which Jamaica was the world's leading producer. This tour was, in fact, of a sugar plantation.

Here we visited the property's boiling house- where the the sugar cane juice would be boiled down into a syrup. We also tried a blood orange- grown locally- the juice was pretty good, but the orange itself was bitter and difficult to chew.  Then we took a pic of the kids by a big tree.

Before heading to the Great House, we stopped for a Jamaican style lunch and I'm pleased to say the kids gobbled up the jerk chicken, rice & beans. I thought they'd be too picky, but they were not. Or just too hungry to care! We had some really yummy mango juice as well. 

The views from the Great House were beautiful as was the property itself. They had one of the first in-ground swimming pools of their time! And indoor plumbing in the master bath. The stone structure below was basically the office- where all the books were kept and below that is the pool. Plus, we have traveled to a different country, learned about another culture and my kids favorite part of the day was probably collecting and playing with leaves.

We were back on board in time for dinner, then the kids headed to Adventure Ocean for a couple hours while Daniel & I relaxed. I was up most of the night before sick to my stomach and was not feeling super great all day and was ready for some down time. 

Oasis of the Seas - Day 3

Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Labadee Haiti/At Sea


We were supposed to dock in Labadee, Haiti today which is Royal Caribbean's private island.  However, upon arrival to the port, the captain came over the intercom and advised us we would not be able to disembark due to safety reasons. The swells were too high, already crashing on the dock and if we got any closer the boat would damage the dock and vice versa. Plus the dock simply wasn't safe with the waves crashing on it and a storm or at least rain appeared to be moving in on the island.

I was pretty disappointed because we were simply going to have a family beach day- no excursions- just fun and relaxing. They changed the onboard itinerary for the day, providing more activities to accommodate the change in plans. We headed for the pool after breakfast since that's what we were planning to do most the day anyway.

This happened to be the only time we swam the whole week, despite the incredible pools they had, esp for kids. Between kids club and other activities we did throughout the week, there wasn't time to also jump in the pool and the kids really didn't mind. Plus the water was pretty cold.

We swam for a good chunk of the morning then dried off and went to the Adventure Ocean Lab for family science where we made pink and green slime. Then we grabbed some lunch and watched Despicable Me 3 in the aquatheater before heading to the room for a nap. The big kids and I went to the Promenade to meet Poppy and Branch from Trolls while Daniel & Allie continued resting in the room. They came down right before the characters arrived.

Waiting to meet the Trolls made us late for dinner, but we went to the dining room where the surprisingly had not given away our table so we stayed to eat. We had a 7:30 showtime for the Oasis of Dreams Aqua Show, so dinner was a tight squeeze. The kids really enjoyed the show filled with acrobats, trapeze and divers. It was really cool. 

Oasis of the Seas - Day 2

Monday, March 5, 2018
At Sea

Our first full day on the cruise- a sea day- and we started out with a character breakfast! Yep, Oasis of the Seas has the Dreamworks Experience so there were several days to have breakfasts, character meets and parades! The kids aren't as familiar with Dreamworks characters as they are Disney but they still enjoyed the experience. They did have the opportunity to watch some of the Dreamworks movies on the way down in hopes of pumping them up.

So, we had a great breakfast and got to meet Alex the Lion, King Julien (who is not my favorite character in the movies, but was so fun to watch everytime we saw him on around the ship) and Gloria.

After breakfast, we explored Central Park then dropped off the Kids at Adventure Ocean (we called it Kids Club. I don't really know why). While they played and had fun, we explored the ship and went zip-lining!

sometimes you gotta stop and smell the 'roses' :)

 Above is the SunDeck- it was so windy up there, but the views were incredible. Below is the adults-only solarium. Get there early if you want the good seats!

After we picked up the kids, we grabbed pizza at Sorrento's so we'd have a good seat for the parade! One of the kids club workers spotted Maggie and waved at her during the parade, then stopped and gave her a hug when it was over. So sweet!! 

We took a little break in the stateroom. The kids loved sitting in the window. We were so far forward that we could see into the bridge. Didn't really see anything except a person standing every once in awhile, but still need we could see it. 

Then we headed to the boardwalk and hung out for awhile. The kids loved the carousel (no extra charge) so we took quite a few rides throughout the week. In fact, we probably spent the most time at the boardwalk - there was plenty to do there for the kids, plus they had several live shows and movies at the Aqua theater.

Then it was time to head back to the room and get ready for our first formal night! Unfortunately, I did not get a group picture or even one of all the kids together. I didn't buy the photo from that night either, so just these few singles.

We hurried to the Frozen in Time ice show after dinner but were still late. Dinner at 5:30 was a tight squeeze for a 7pm show, but we were mostly late because we were on the wrong side of the ship and there was no cut through so we had to back track, go back down, etc. We sat in the very back, on the floor, but it was still a neat show. 

Afterward, we headed back to the stateroom to change then brought the kids back to kids club. I had a short break then went on a space walk around the ship with Maggie's class so she could be a part of it. They simply didn't have enough teachers to have one dedicated to her and Maggie really wanted to do it. I was a little bummed not getting the date night time with Daniel, but it was kinda cool seeing first hand how the teachers worked and interacted with the kids. They do a great job and were very thankful to me helping out. Overall this was a Fun, Full day!!