As I shared in yesterday's entry, day 1 of the cruise was primarily spent boarding, getting settled in our staterooms, and exploring the massive ship. Our self-guided tour of The Oasis and all that she had to offer helped us feel oriented and allowed us to outline a game plan for all the on-board activities that we would try to squeeze in during the week ahead. However, the vacation had officially begun in our minds. So, we took immediate advantage of things like the carousel and the boardwalk playground. Oh, and the kids did their best to ingest their body weight in frozen yogurt!
The Oasis was scheduled to set sail at 5:00pm out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. So after wandering the ship ALL afternoon and snapping what seemed like endless amounts of photos, we headed back to our rooms for a quick wardrobe change and then ran (I'm not kidding!) from our rooms on deck 8 all the way up the stairs to deck 16 to participate in the Sail-A-Way celebration. We were just a tad bit EXCITED!
We made it to the top deck and found an open spot along the railing just in time to watch as the ship backed out of her parking spot at the port. We pretty much did a 3-point turn which I'm pretty sure is beyond impressive in a vessel of that size. Since this cruise was a first for every member of our group, we weren't certain whether it was common to have the Coast Guard escort us through the channel and out to sea. Maybe they do this for everyone, but we did feel special.
With the band playing and frozen cocktails in hand, all 6100+ passengers waved farewell to the onlookers in their toy-sized boats and standing along the docks and beaches. The air felt electric because of the energy that was radiating off the mass of people gathered with a sole purpose, to have an amazing time and create memories to last a lifetime or at least until our next cruise!
After staring out at the ocean for a while and being nearly hypnotized by the waves, it occurred to us that we would have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the view from our balconies. We needed to make better use of our time. There was a lot to accomplish in a short period!
I doubt anyone will be shocked to discover that our next stop was the kiddie pool, also known as The H2O Zone. Shocking & out of character, right? Well, it had taken quite a bit of restraint earlier in the day to not jump in fully clothed, and no, I'm not talking about the kids! Now that we were all decked out in swimwear, it was a full-on race between the kids and parents over who could get to the water cannons first!!!
Little did we know at that point, but the real excitement came later that evening during our Flowrider lessons. The Oasis has not one, but TWO Flowriders dedicated to providing anyone brave enough with an adrenaline rush. Let's just say that one member of our group backed out without hesitation, and it wasn't 11-year old Emily! I was tempted to pass on the opportunity, but my competitive nature wouldn't let me be shown up by a kid. While I wasn't able to capture photographic proof of my own participation with the camera, I did manage to catch a picture or two of Anh and Mike between wipeouts. The shutter speed just wasn't fast enough to document the .001 second that I remained vertical without the instructor's helpful hand.
As I shared in yesterday's entry, day 1 of the cruise was primarily spent boarding, getting settled in our staterooms, and exploring the massive ship. Our self-guided tour of The Oasis and all that she had to offer helped us feel oriented and allowed us to outline a game plan for all the on-board activities that we would try to squeeze in during the week ahead. However, the vacation had officially begun in our minds. So, we took immediate advantage of things like the carousel and the boardwalk playground. Oh, and the kids did their best to ingest their body weight in frozen yogurt!
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