Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas

2024 Spring Break was a blast. Three families invited us to join them on the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. We had a terrific time. Fun beach days, great shows, delicious meals, record number of carousel rides, intense Jenga competitions, tons of laughs, and one trivia win. Oh! We also explored a cave in Jamaica.

In Nassau, Bahamas, we walked down to Junkaroo Beach. It's so much busier with more bars and beach clubs than we remembered. We also enjoyed lunch at Pirate Brewing near the port. 

At Perfect Day at CocoCay, we found a good spot on South Beach. We enjoyed drinks at the overwater bar while the kids made sand castles. We had the chicken with mozzarella sticks sandwich. Then, we headed to the pool. 

In Jamaica, we visited the Runaway and Green Grotto Caves. 

Onboard, the kids loved the Carousel and the pools. We liked playing Jenga at Playmakers. We 

Heading back home

 March 9, 2024 

Yesterday we had one last day in Argentina!!  Buenos Aires to be specific.  Had an early breakfast at the Hotel Maderos.  Then after packing up we found a vegetarian restaurant a few blocks away called Raiz.   Had some delicious Thai bao bun sliders made with fried tofu and kimchi, some silky hummus with roasted eggplant and a Bianca pizza which was roasted garlic cream sauce with thinly sliced potatoes. 

All very good. Definitely Thai sliders for the win although the pizza was really delicious. Great dough and a balanced sauce. And they added some smoked salt to provide some additional flavor to the potato.  And we've had hummus at several places in Argentina and it's all been so good.  I was surprised about the Mediterranean influence on the cuisine.  We then found a cafe along the river and enjoyed a bottle of Pinot Noir Rose from Mendoza.   The wines have been very good in this region.  It was getting a bit warm outside so we headed back to the hotel. 

We had a 5 PM pickup from the hotel to EZE.  Our flight to MIA was at 9:25 PM.  With rush hour it took about an hour. Easy check-in process.  And there was a small airport lounge we could access. So we recharged devices and enjoyed some libations and snacks. Easy boarding process.  A very bumpy flight but I managed to sleep for at least six hours. I skipped dinner on the plane but did have an unmemorable potato frittata for breakfast. 

We landed at 5:15 AM local time. Immigration, baggage claim and TSA security took about ninety minutes.  Because we were flying American Airlines International Business Class, we had access to the Flagship Lounge.  Beautiful space with some good food and drinks. Our flight to IND is at 1:50 PM.  We should land about 5 PM. Should be home by 7 PM where we'll start to give the washer machine a good test. Or maybe that will wait until Sunday. Then it will be two weeks before we start our next adventure

Buenos Aires, Argentina and Iguazu Falls

 March 7, 2024 

After debarkation from the Oosterdam on Tuesday, we met our tour guide outside the terminal for a city tour of Buenos Aires. We had a total of eight people for this next leg of the adventure.  We saw the Obelisco, perhaps the most famous landmark/meeting spot in Buenos Aires as well as the church where the current Pope was Arch Bishop and the cemetery where Evita Peron was finally buried.   It's quite a story about how her body was returned to Argentina.  Too many details to put here. Check it out if you're an Evita fan. 

We visited the Cathedral that was home to the current Pope. 

After lunch at the famed Cafe Tortoni with some delicious Malbec from Mendoza, we were dropped off at the airport for our flight to IGR for the next part of this adventure.  Our flight landed on time at 6:30 PM local time. We met our tour guide and got to the hotel Gran Melia about 45 minutes later. This hotel is the only one located inside the Iguazu National Park on the Argentina side.  More on that later.   It was only a snack dinner of charcuterie and Caesar salad along with a local beer.  Headed to the room to rest up.    It was Wednesday where we'd start the real adventure. 

I hadn't done any research on what to expect at Iguazu Falls.  I've visited several waterfalls around the world including Iceland, Norway and of course Niagara Falls with the Maid O The Mist.  I wasn't prepared for Iguazu.  It is so massive.  We started our day with a nice included  breakfast buffet in the hotel. A lot of American favorites as well as delicious cheeses, Iberico ham and prosciutto. 

We met our tour guide at 8:15 and started our hike around the upper trail. It didn't take long to see how large these falls truly are and their immense power!!  The upper trail is about 1750 meters long.    Mostly flat which made for easy walking. And they have built these walkways and bridges that make it easier for all mobility levels.  We found some friends along the way including coati.  We'd seen these in Mexico several times and they typically stay away from humans. Here they were overly social. 

Next was the lower trail. Angie had some emails to catch up on so she didn't join me for this walk.  This was slightly smaller at 1700 meters long and you'd be further under the canopy of the forest.  

Before we started we spotted some tiny owls who like to build nests in the ground. Today they were hanging out in trees. They also have a speed boat option where you can have your Maid of the Mist experience. The speed boat goes directly into the waterfall.

Eighty percent of the falls are in Argentina and the remaining percent are in Brazil.  Our guide was explaining that we had the chance for an optional tour to cross over into Brazil and see them from that side. Our whole group was interested!!  After a nice post trail lunch of mushroom pizza, hummus and salmon poke, our guide picked us up at 1:45 to start the drive to Brazil.  As you would expect, we had to pass through Argentina and Brazil immigration processes.  It took about an hour in total to get to the Brazil National Park. And the view really gave you a sense for the complete majesty of the falls. It was very interesting to see the upper and lower trail platforms and bridges where we had been walking earlier in Argentina. 

The trail here was much more adventurous.  While there were paved trails, it wasn't as flat as on the Argentina side.  There were many more steps.  And the temperature at 3:30 was 35° C!!   Plus the humidity!!   Good thing for dry fit shirts and shorts!!  The payoff was worth it!!   A spectacular view of the falls off from a platform that was right at the Devil's Throat, perhaps the most famous portion of these falls.   

Our "walk" back up from the falls was thankfully aided by an elevator.  You didn't need to walk back up any stairs.  There were a few ramps but the elevator did the hard work. 

We got back to the hotel at 6:15 PM after a full day of exploring the falls. We had a little more than an hour to clean ourselves up, rest a little and meet our group for dinner at 7:30.  Angie and I shared some delicious beet hummus.  Angie then had macaroni with pesto and I had eggplant ravioli.   Both very tasty.  We didn't want a real heavy meal. 

Today we have a late afternoon flight to EZE.   Our guide will pick us up at 5:15 for the short drive. It might be time to think about heading back home.

Montevideo, Uruguay

 March 3, 2024 

We docked in Montevideo, Uruguay today. We took a city tour and try to a vineyard. 

We visited Juanico Winery. 

Had a nice winery tour sampling four of their wines.  The Chardonnay was my favorite.  A little buttery but not oaky  Very refreshing.  They also had a delicious churrasco lunch with steak, pork, stuffed chicken and sausages.  

We purchased a bottle of Chardonnay to take back to the ship as well as their signature Tannat which is supposed to be like a Merlot.

Ushuaia, Cape Horn, and Falkland Islands Penguins

 February 29, 2024 

We were in Ushuaia on Tuesday, the southern most city in the world!!  It's most famous for being the gateway to expedition cruises to Antarctica.  We walked around town for a bit. There were a few restaurants but this city has an afternoon siesta so most were closed in the afternoon.  We definitely planned the day wrong. 

On Wednesday, we had some scenic sailing as we passed by Cape Horn and between the Isle of Deceit and Freycinet Island. We got so close to land!!  

Amazing skills from the bridge team.  The buffet had an Octoberfest feast featuring sausages, pretzel and pork shanks.  They were also serving that famous German Corona beer.  Prost!! 

Today we have arrived in the Falkland Islands. It's had a long, complicated history of which country it belongs to. Argentina always claimed that the Pope had settled this back in the 15th century.  But as we know from the 1980's, it is now a British colony.  We have a tour that will take us to Bluff Cove where we'll see some penguins.

We had the nicest sunny day in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands / Isla Malvinas.

We went to Bluff Cove Rookery - a private farm with King and Gentoo penguins. THERE WERE BABIES!!

You know how everyone says put down the camera and enjoy the moment. I just couldn't because I couldn't believe this was real life. You may want to listen to the king penguin videos to hear the chicks and the parents.

 Then, we headed down to the beach to watch the young Gentoo penguins practice swimming. They were so bad at swimming and then every once in a while, one would zoom by. It was so cool.

Here's a 15 minute compilation of all my videos. 

Penguins on Isla Magdalana and Glacier Alley

Our tour started just before dawn at 6 am. We took a catamaran out to Magdalena Island to hang out with the Magellan penguins for an hour. 

We also saw a sei whale, dolphins and sea lions. This is the end of the penguins' reproduction cycle. They are switching out their feathers and preparing to swim north to their winter homes in southern Brazil and northern Chile.

Then, we headed to Glacier Alley.  We left the straits of Magellan and entered the Beagle Channel. This area rivals Glacier Bay in Alaska.

Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabuco

 

We spent Thursday and Friday in Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabuco respectively.  In Puerto Montt we took a boat ride past a volcano and had some local papas (kettle cooked potato chips) and a local beer.  Also visited an area with some rapids and had a nice lunch of broiled salmon.  

In Puerto Chacabuco we had some scenic driving through the beautiful Andes mountains and stopped in the cute little town of Coyhaique.  We had the obligatory selfie shot at the city overlook.  

And I thought it was neat that they had created a tile with the QR code.  We had a nice snack of meat and fruit skewers along with cheese and beef empanadas and a very good Chilean Cabernet.  At the end we stopped at a reserve which had some rapids. There are several types of deer, but we couldn't spot any. 

The most surprising thing was the weather. Especially Puerto Montt. If you read about this area, it almost always rains.  But we had the best weather.  We did encounter pockets of rain but it was when we were on the bus or as we were getting back on the ship. Even needed sunscreen!! 

Today and tomorrow we have scenic sailing days through some Chilean fjords and the Sarmiento Channel. Should get some good views from our balcony.

Boarding the Holland America Oosterdam and first Sea Day

 

Tuesday was embarkation day!!   Holland America took us on buses to San Antonio where we boarded the Oosterdam.  Such a smooth and streamlined process. We are staying in a Neptune Suite.  Had a very good lunch in the buffet. I live the salad station on HAL ships.  They have a very tasty sesame dressing.  Dinner was in the main dining room. I had a very tasty corn and chile soup, lasagna and Peruvian chicken.  Great paprika and cayenne seasoning in the chicken and crispy skin!   No dessert. 

Angie and I played a game which was called Movie Title Password.  Similar to the TV show and Name That Tune combined. You had to bid on how many words you'd need to use to have your team guess a movie title.  Very fun!!  After that we listened to a jazz band for a couple of songs.  We were tired so it was back to the cabin.  And we both slept great!!  I think the best sleep for me since we got to Panama!!  I just missed sleeping on a cruise ship. 

Today we have a sea day as we head down to Puerto Montt tomorrow.  While Angie had a Fire and Ice pedicure, I went to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. A very tasty quinoa bowl with veggies, jalapenos, avocado, poached egg and a tasty miso sauce!!   It's foggy and the ship's horn has been blasting intermittently.  We'll have better weather tomorrow for our excursion.

Santiago - Wine, Andes, Stars, City Tours

A great day visiting three wineries.  Fascinating to learn that they have a very different wine making process here in Chile. For many of their wines, they use concrete "eggs" during the fermentation process.  Most wineries I've visited use stainless steel.   And some wines are made using all of the grapes.  Including stems.   I'm only familiar with stems being used for making grappa.  

Our first stop was Bodegas Re - a boutique winery preserving "old" methods for wine making including these clay pots. They put the grapes in whole and the weight of the grapes crushed them. 

Our next visit was Casas del Bosque - a larger winery that exports to the US. We had a wonderful tour and wine tasting. 

Had a fantastic lunch at Casas Del Bosque. Tasty tuna tartare, seared octopus, conger fish and squid ink ravioli.   All paired with some of their delicious wines. One of the best seafood lunches I've ever had.   The tuna had some dehydrated lime zest that really elevated the dish.   And the squid ink ravioli was stuffed with shrimp and ginger, covered with a delicate bechamel.  And the fish!!  Perfectly cooked on a bed of saffron orzo. 

After lunch, we visited Kingston - another small winery. They only make wine to showcase their grapes. 

The next day we booked a hike in the Andes mountains. It was a fail. The altitude got to me (Angie) so we didn't make it far. I did get one nice photo. 

On Sunday night we had a terrific late night stargazing excursion. Our guides picked us up at 7 PM for the ninety minute drive north of Santiago. There we met an astronomy professor from Valparaiso. He has built a fascinating complex. The buildings and structures are perfectly aligned for the summer solstices and the constellations. 

 We learned and saw so many things. How to find the Southern Cross which helps you determine "true south". Looking at Jupiter with its dark "rings". A close up of the Sea of Tranquility.

 And he had all kinds of artifacts from the Inka and Mapuche tribes. Including several instruments. And he played all of them. 

 Just a fascinating person. I think he would have talked to us until the wee hours and made us breakfast. But our guides knew better and we left about midnight and got back to our hotel at 1:30 AM. 

On Monday we had a tour through Holland America. We had a great city tour visiting some of the government buildings and even saw the changing of the guard!!

We had a great lunch at the Fish Market. 

 Then we went to Santa Rita winery. They have a "famous" Sauvignon Blanc called 120 that is widely distributed in the United States. The wines were okay but we had better ones on the wine tour on Friday.  

And then, it was time to board the ship.