ram42953

We were on the Oasis a few weeks earlier and could have copied your review almost word for word. We also tried every specialty restaurant either for lunch or dinner but only once. We did eat in the MDR a few nights and had really good meals each time. You didn't mention it but I liked the Hot Dog place on the Boardwalk for a Lunch Snack. The German Sausage with Peppers and Sauerkraut was great. Lots of different types of Buns to chose from as well.

We just completed a Cruise on the Oasis last month and I was surprised at the OP review. We have been on most of the other Class of Ships and my wife and I felt less crowded on this ship than any other Ship. We didn't change any of our habits so the only thing that I can think of is that our pattern must have been in the minority. We ate in every venue and never experienced any wait in any of them. We only had Breakfast and Lunch three times each in the Windjammer and walked right in every time. We are early risers so maybe be were always slightly ahead of the rush each time. We ate Breakfast around 7:30 Lunch around 11:30 and Dinner around 6:00. The only crowds we experienced were in the Promenade during the special events. We always got there a little early and found a Table at the Promenade Cafe and watched from there while enjoying some drinks and desserts from the Cafe.

Unless you intend to walk away from paying the tips, it makes no difference - pay them now or pay them later. Either way, it is part of the cruise fare.

I have always handed out tips equal to or above the recommended amount per day but sometimes I would give more to someone who did extra well and less to someone who didn't measure up. Now they trying to take that discretion away and then what incentive is there for any staff to go the extra mile if they are going to get the same either way? And as soon as they make tips mandatory they can raise them to what ever they want and you have to go along. When that happens it isn't a tip anymore.

Standard scooter fits in a regular cabin with no problems. I would suggest the scooter rather than a wheelchair. Scooter is easier for one person. You don't need anyone to push. I just did a week at sea with a scooter, worked perfect. I have back problems so walking distances is a problem. Use one of the above recommended companies to make it easier to get one on the ship.

 

 

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Thanks to everyone who commented. What was the cost?

We are two weeks away from leaving for a Baltic Crusie on the Adventure of the Seas. My Wife just had unexpected surgery on her leg and we are not sure how well she will be able to walk by the time we get ready to go. Her Doctor is telling her that she will be OK to travel but not sure how much walking she will be able to handle. My question is if the Ship would have a Wheelchair or Scooter available if she needed it? I really don't want to take one with me on the flight over if I won't need it.

This is SOP in tender ports, but it can (and does!) happen in docked ports also.

 

We just got off the Celebrity Constellation to the Baltics and St. Petersburg. I had read a lot about ships trying to hold independent passengers back in order to get ship tours through the lengthy Russian immigration process first, and I had also read time and time again that independents have just as much right as ship tours to disembark since there isn't a tendering process. Anyway, here's what happened on our cruise...

 

We docked around 6:30 on the day we arrived in St. Petersburg, and my whole group met near Café Al Bacio at 6:45 so we could get off the ship together. About 7:15 when there hadn’t been any announcements, my husband went and looked out the window and saw there were people getting off the ship at the forward gangway…they were bringing Celebrity tours out first from the theater while the rest of us waited patiently for an announcement. We quickly got off the ship using the forward gangway and were through immigration in about 20 minutes, so our tour left on time. People who stayed and waited for the announcement had a 30 minute wait to get off the ship, and a much longer wait for immigration. The staff at the exit never asked to see our tour ticket or a sticker, but it looked to us like that was Celebrity’s (sneaky) way of getting their tours off first.

 

This seems to be pretty common practice across cruise lines in certain ports. Just be aware it can happen and verify whether or not disembarking has started. They will NOT try to keep you on the ship if you get in the line to get off...they just don't necessarily want people on independent tours to know the ship is cleared for disembarking!:p

Cindy, we are getting ready to do a Baltic Cruise including St Pete. Did you post a review for your cruise?

On my honeymoon at a hotel in Miami we arrived to find the HOOTERS convention! Complete with a scantily clad woman posing on a motorcycle in the main hallway as we walked in! I was not pleased to say the least! We didn't spend much time in the hotel that week and I accompanied hubby everywhere ;)

 

 

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My wife was getting annoyed by the end because we kept running into them everywhere we went. We went walking thru town at one of the ports and we turn the corner and there they were doing Bikini poses on the street. We went to the Night Club to dance and there they were on the Dance Floor. We are out by the Pool and here they come again playing Pool Games and there were a few Wardrobe malfunctions. They also had a film crew that followed them wherever they went documenting everything for some TV show. Needless to say my wife was keeping tabs on me most of the time.

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We took an Eastern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan and the Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders were on board for their calendar shoot. Not sure my wife was as pleased as I was but it was entertaining to say the least.

I am betting that the reason they include the e-cigarette in the smoking ban is because of the fire risk. There have been cases where they have been blamed for starting house fires when they have been left plugged in too long and over charged.

Carry off all your bags at disembark. That will save you time as well and no risk of misplaced bags left out from the night before.

I am one that finds it surprising that as few as people get sick on cruise ships as do. I work at a company that when one person gets sick eventually a lot of others get the same sickness and those people can stay home once they get sick. Go to any school and watch sickness travel thru the student population. Some people get on board with a bug that is ready to manifest. Again I think for the most part the Cruise Lines do a pretty good job keeping things sanitary.

Wonder if this is a "no-no."

I thought the same thing. I don't think you are supposed to flush those down the Toilets.

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Stop your mail and newspaper delivery. Let your bank and credit cards know where you are going.

It's always been weird to me that you can take drugs that are acutely and chronically toxic to multiple organs, that cause cancer, addiction, lung disease, liver disease, and brain atrophy but somehow if you use marijuana it's a crime.

 

It's just classic that the magistrate suggested he smoke a cigar instead. Never mind that cigars can cause oropharyngeal cancer and marijuana doesn't (at least that we know of).

 

I'm glad these laws are starting to change. It seems a trivial thing to ruin someone's vacation over.

 

Next time they should come to Colorado. We're happy to take their money and won't threaten to throw them in jail just because their intoxicant of choice is different from someone else's.

 

Now having said that I do agree that if you knowingly break the law, whether you agree with the law or not, you should not expect much sympathy if you get caught.

If you are comparing it to smoking a Cigarette that is not a good comparison. While Tobacco is bad for your health it does not impair your judgement like Marijuana does. If you are comparing it to Alcohol then I totally agree as both do impair your judgement and if one is legal then so should the other.

I have been following this thread from the beginning because we are booked on the AOS in June. After reading all the posts I think the answer is somewhere in the middle between all the vitriol. I am sure they were optimistic that the Ship would hang on for another two weeks. Some will say that they should have cancelled but if it would have held on then you have spoiled a bunch of vacations for no reason. In my opinion what they should have done was when they knew that there was a potential problem they should have let the next boarding group know that there was a potential problem. Then they could let everyone decide for themselves if they were willing to take the gamble. I am sure there have been other cases where potential problems never materialized. I myself have had more problems with Air Travel than I have ever had with Cruising. I think for the most part they do a remarkable job dealing with all the people week after week. That is not to say that they could have and should have done better in this case but most people can't even organize their own family day to day without some bumps in the road and they all know each other intimately.