Day 4: Oasis of the Seas

Sometimes the waiting is painful.  We looked outside our hotel this morning and saw the boat waiting for us!

When you have a time you are suppose to check in for an event you don't want to plan something before in fear of missing the big event.  We were to board the cruise between 12:30pm-3:30pm . . . do you know how difficult it is to waste that much time?  We made a last minute stop to pick up some supplies, headed to the airport to drop off the rental car where we learned there was a free shuttle to the cruise port SCORE!, and it was only 11:30am.  I thought what the heck let's just go early . . . well, and they were letting people check in!  So by noon we were on board enjoying our first (and only) buffet at the Windjammer.  Colin loves this place . . . I am not so fond.  So about this boat . . . it is HUGE!  It is the largest cruise ship any of us have been on.  The most exciting thing?  We will be in the SAME room for 7 nights . . . two cabins with a connection door . . . I don't usually stay in the same place for more than 3-4 days so being able to unpack and fill the drawers is going to be so nice.

The view from our balcony . . .

. . . it overlooks the area called Central Park.  It is beautiful and time will tell if I prefer this view or the ocean.  The Oasis of the Seas can hold up to 6,296 passengers and 2,165 crew   . . .

. . . I am just in awe that a floating vessel can hold this many people at one time!  Thankfully we did not have that many on our sailing.  I swear it never felt crowded even knowing there were at least 5,000 on the boat.  I did hear there were around 500 kids between 12-17 on this sailing . . . that's a lot of teens.  So we had a few hours before we could go to our cabins so we set out to explore.  Surprisingly, it is easy to find your way around . . . with a map of course.  The only bad part is that it is raining outside.  So what does one do?  Eat, walk, eat, walk, unpack suitcase, walk, and you guessed it eat some more!  We completed our mandatory safety drill and briefing and was exhausted so what else do you do on a cruise?  Sleep . . . nap time!  Colin was being a delight grouch and the thought of going overboard was on my mind . . . thankfully a successful nap kept me from following through with that dream!  I think he was already having internet/wifi withdraws . . . yep, I am too cheap to pay for wifi and in fact turned my phone off for the entire week!  Who needs the internet?
We explored the ship some more before heading to our cabin to get ready for dinner.  We enjoy having dinner together each night . . . the bad part is I eat way too much!  After dinner we made a quick change and headed to the walking track to burn some calories before heading to bed!