A few questions for our first time on the Oasis of the Seas (my first post here!)

I wanted to start off by saying I have been recommended this site numerous times and always read the discussion forums related to the few cruises my wife and I have been on. We are still very young (32 and 33) and have gone on cruises together for over 10 years, so we appreciate how in-depth and useful the forum here have been. I hope I can be useful to you fine people someday. :)

We have been on a few cruises so we got the basics down, but we were unfamiliar with Royal Caribbean entirely. We have been on Princess and some other "higher end" ship that we honestly cannot even remember the name of, and we found them to be very boring. Nice and elegant, but we like the bright lights, candy shops, video arcades, movies under the stars, comedy shows, etc. so we thought the Oasis of the Seas would be a perfect fit for us.

The first thing we were wondering is how important reserving restaurants are. Online, booked lunch at Giovanni's Table (we are dying to eat "al fresco" on a cruise ship!) and dinner at the Solarium (because of the glowing reviews here). We were a bit unsure of anywhere else because the sushi place got mediocre reviews and Chops Grille looks awesome (another place to eat al fresco!) but the higher price and it getting only okay reviews put us off. However, if we were to decide on the ship that we wanted to go for some sushi or Chops Grille, are we going to be out of luck? Some ships we've been on would not let us make a reservation until a day or two before we wanted to go there to eat. I am a bit worried that there will be nothing to choose from if we decide we want to try something other than the regular dining option.

Which leads me to the question about the dining room. We booked the 8:30 PM seating because we read horror stories about "any time" dining. Every cruise we ever took before, we always did "any time" because we never know when we're going to be hungry, and we never know if there will be a show or event conflicting with dinner time. With this 8:30 time we chose...how beholden to it are we? If we are running a little bit late, will they not let us in?

We booked the Prohibition event because it sounded like fun. Do I really need to dress up like an early 1900s beer baron? Does my wife need to bring along a boa?

Movies under the stars is my wife's favorite thing. Do they have them every night? This is something I am sure we can find out on ship but we were just excited to find out in advance.

Finally, the comedy shows. This is a big one for us because we loved them on every other ship we've been on. The big problem is we've been trying to reserve one since we booked this trip 3 months ago (we sail May 10th). It never let us reserve, always stating "this is unavailable for reservation". We booked all other shows just fine. Do they not let you book the comedy show online? Or did so many people actually book this 4+ months ago (which I'd find hard to believe)? Is it really the same comedy show every night twice a night? All the other comedy shows on other ships we saw had different comedians, so we would have no idea how to know which to choose if RCL only "lets" us reserve one (which they have yet to allow us).

Thank you all so much in advance and sorry if this is a bit too wordy; we're just very excited. :)

Regarding the comedy show, they have likely reached the limit for online reservations. However, they do hold back a number of reservations for booking on board. Try going to Studio B (deck 4 forward) as soon as you board and try to make reservations there. If that does not work, then you can try getting to the venue early and getting in the standby line. They open seats to the standby line shortly before the show.

Regarding the comedy show, they have likely reached the limit for online reservations. However, they do hold back a number of reservations for booking on board. Try going to Studio B (deck 4 forward) as soon as you board and try to make reservations there. If that does not work, then you can try getting to the venue early and getting in the standby line. They open seats to the standby line shortly before the show.

And it will be the same two comedians all week. The only difference will be their interaction with the audience (hopefully -- I find that to be more interesting sometimes than their canned acts).

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to book additional specialty restaurants on board. I hope you booked the AquaTheatre show for early in the week. Sometimes there are weather conditions that preclude a showing, but it will be re-scheduled for later in the week.

We loved our cruises on both Oasis and Allure. Hope you will, too!!

Regarding the comedy show, they have likely reached the limit for online reservations. However, they do hold back a number of reservations for booking on board. Try going to Studio B (deck 4 forward) as soon as you board and try to make reservations there. If that does not work, then you can try getting to the venue early and getting in the standby line. They open seats to the standby line shortly before the show.

Thank you so much for this. We honestly were trying to book the comedy shows online for the past 3 months. I can't believe so many people are that proactive!!

And it will be the same two comedians all week. The only difference will be their interaction with the audience (hopefully -- I find that to be more interesting sometimes than their canned acts).

 

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to book additional specialty restaurants on board. I hope you booked the AquaTheatre show for early in the week. Sometimes there are weather conditions that preclude a showing, but it will be re-scheduled for later in the week.

 

We loved our cruises on both Oasis and Allure. Hope you will, too!!

I just noticed your reply! Thank you for this. That's good to know then, that if we simply get one comedy show, that's good enough for the rest of the trip. On the Carnival Miracle it was about 6 different comedians over the whole week, but I guess it's a much smaller ship so there's less people they have to accommodate.

We booked reservations for every show. :)

Just out of curiosity, what made you go on the Allure even though you were already on the Oasis?

Also, I forgot to ask this in my original post:

What excursions are a "must do" on this cruise? We are doing the Labadee/Cozumel/Jamaica one. Is the roller coaster on Labadee nice? Which snorkeling excursion should we do in Cozumel? There are so many to choose from that it is almost impossible to tell them apart!

If you are more than 10 mins late to traditional seating, you may not be allowed in....there's really little reason to be late, tho... If you want the flexibility of dining when you want, you should switch to MTD...

As far as booking specialties on the ship, it's doable, as long as you are flexible with the days/times....On the "normal" ships (not Oasis class!), booking specialty restaurants is a breeze on the ship. But, there are so many passengers on Oasis class, and so many choices of restaurants, you may get shut out for some choices. All the more reason to cruise her twice!

If you are more than 10 mins late to traditional seating, you may not be allowed in....there's really little reason to be late, tho... If you want the flexibility of dining when you want, you should switch to MTD...

We were told not to do MTD because something about the tips having to be done in advance (to be honest I am not sure what this means or why it's a big deal) and also was told that the wait times can be excruciating when doing MTD due to the size of the ship.

I wanted to start off by saying I have been recommended this site numerous times and always read the discussion forums related to the few cruises my wife and I have been on. We are still very young (32 and 33) and have gone on cruises together for over 10 years, so we appreciate how in-depth and useful the forum here have been. I hope I can be useful to you fine people someday. :)

 

We have been on a few cruises so we got the basics down, but we were unfamiliar with Royal Caribbean entirely. We have been on Princess and some other "higher end" ship that we honestly cannot even remember the name of, and we found them to be very boring. Nice and elegant, but we like the bright lights, candy shops, video arcades, movies under the stars, comedy shows, etc. so we thought the Oasis of the Seas would be a perfect fit for us.

 

The first thing we were wondering is how important reserving restaurants are. Online, booked lunch at Giovanni's Table (we are dying to eat "al fresco" on a cruise ship!) and dinner at the Solarium (because of the glowing reviews here). We were a bit unsure of anywhere else because the sushi place got mediocre reviews and Chops Grille looks awesome (another place to eat al fresco!) but the higher price and it getting only okay reviews put us off. However, if we were to decide on the ship that we wanted to go for some sushi or Chops Grille, are we going to be out of luck? Some ships we've been on would not let us make a reservation until a day or two before we wanted to go there to eat. I am a bit worried that there will be nothing to choose from if we decide we want to try something other than the regular dining option.

 

Which leads me to the question about the dining room. We booked the 8:30 PM seating because we read horror stories about "any time" dining. Every cruise we ever took before, we always did "any time" because we never know when we're going to be hungry, and we never know if there will be a show or event conflicting with dinner time. With this 8:30 time we chose...how beholden to it are we? If we are running a little bit late, will they not let us in?

 

We booked the Prohibition event because it sounded like fun. Do I really need to dress up like an early 1900s beer baron? Does my wife need to bring along a boa?

 

Movies under the stars is my wife's favorite thing. Do they have them every night? This is something I am sure we can find out on ship but we were just excited to find out in advance.

 

Finally, the comedy shows. This is a big one for us because we loved them on every other ship we've been on. The big problem is we've been trying to reserve one since we booked this trip 3 months ago (we sail May 10th). It never let us reserve, always stating "this is unavailable for reservation". We booked all other shows just fine. Do they not let you book the comedy show online? Or did so many people actually book this 4+ months ago (which I'd find hard to believe)? Is it really the same comedy show every night twice a night? All the other comedy shows on other ships we saw had different comedians, so we would have no idea how to know which to choose if RCL only "lets" us reserve one (which they have yet to allow us).

 

Thank you all so much in advance and sorry if this is a bit too wordy; we're just very excited. :)

We just returned from a back to back on the Oasis (4/12-4/26). As regards My Time Dining, we have never had a problem...this was our third cruise using My Time. We had the same table (726) for 13 nights. We ate at 5:45 night every night.

We did not do any specialty restaurants, with the exception of the complimentary lunch for consecutive cruisers on Saturday after we had re-embarked. We have found that the Main Dining Room to be a great experience for all the 21 nights that we have been on the ship.

For lunches, I usually got my wife a salad with a couple slices of prime rib in the Park Cafe...you create your own salads....We usually ate lunches either in the Solarium or Windjammer...we would take the food back to our recliners and eat. Also, the Solarium has the best gazpacho you will find anywhere. Breakfasts were usually in the Main Dining room ordering off the menu.

The Comedy Live show usually has open seats.... they open it up for standbys 5 minutes before showtime.

There are only 4 things that you really want to reserve in advance, Hairspray, Come Fly with Me, Frozen in Time and Oasis of Dreams. There is also a diving show called Splish Splash that is open to all without reservations. Just check out your Cruise Compass. The Headliner show was also very good.

Other must do's include the tour of Central Park led by the Director of all things green. 12,000 individual plants, etc....

Also, we took the All Access Tour last year...it is a 3-4 hour tour of the whole ship. From the lowest decks including the engine room and control room to the galleys, laundry, storage, crew areas, helipad, all the way up to the bridge. It was the best $150 pp that we spent....it was much better than the money spent on bingo. You have to sign up at Guest services after you board.

My only advice is to not try to do it all....after 3 weeks we still got turned around sometimes. We usually spent the day sitting on deck 15 just outside the Solarium in the shaded area overlooking the sea.

Enjoy your time on the best ship on the seas....Want to emphasize that I am just a satisfied customer and not a paid shill...some may wonder because of my praise of the ship. Here is the link to my previous review. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=225507 Hope this helps... I would also refer you to this thread that I started last year after our cruise. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1896085

We were told not to do MTD because something about the tips having to be done in advance (to be honest I am not sure what this means or why it's a big deal)

This just means that you pay your gratuities at the same time that you pay for the cruise instead of having it added to your seapass account each day on the ship and paying for it at the end of the cruise. Personally, I like pre-paying the gratuities. I know some people don't for various reasons which have been discussed a lot ;) on these boards.

and also was told that the wait times can be excruciating when doing MTD due to the size of the ship.

We haven't been on the Oasis yet but I haven't heard anything about long waits. We are doing MTD on our upcoming Oasis cruise and do not have reservations for any nights. Our last RCI cruise we had almost no waits for a table for two in MTD. We usually went around 7 or 7:30.

This just means that you pay your gratuities at the same time that you pay for the cruise instead of having it added to your seapass account each day on the ship and paying for it at the end of the cruise. Personally, I like pre-paying the gratuities. I know some people don't for various reasons which have been discussed a lot ;) on these boards.

 

 

We haven't been on the Oasis yet but I haven't heard anything about long waits. We are doing MTD on our upcoming Oasis cruise and do not have reservations for any nights. Our last RCI cruise we had almost no waits for a table for two in MTD. We usually went around 7 or 7:30.

You have to pay the gratuities no matter what....so pay in advance and do My Time....make your reservations in advance... the only long wait is for those who do NOT have reservations. And the earlier the better. I know if you have small children it might be more difficult to get ready early, but doing so you have plenty of time to get the early shows. This is just my opinion, but it is grounded in real life experience that just ended 72 hours ago.

This just means that you pay your gratuities at the same time that you pay for the cruise instead of having it added to your seapass account each day on the ship and paying for it at the end of the cruise. Personally, I like pre-paying the gratuities. I know some people don't for various reasons which have been discussed a lot ;) on these boards.

 

 

We haven't been on the Oasis yet but I haven't heard anything about long waits. We are doing MTD on our upcoming Oasis cruise and do not have reservations for any nights. Our last RCI cruise we had almost no waits for a table for two in MTD. We usually went around 7 or 7:30.

I would make your reservations for MTD. Make your reservations now. Even though there were 6300 passengers on board, we never had to wait in any restaurant for more than 5 minutes.

My advice is to chill and enjoy yourselves.

I would try and dine at 150 Central on the first night. We were on the Oasis 3/22-29 Eastern and they were giving a 20% discount for eating there on the first night. We did all the other specailty dinning restaurants with the exception of Chef's Table, all were really good.

If you go to the Comedy Club about 30 min. before the show and wait in the "no ticket" line, you should get into the show.

I did the All Access Tour and it was very special. at $150/pp it is a little expensive but worth doing once.

I did a review of the Eastern cruise so the ports would not interest you, but I did take some really good pictures of the ship and a lot of "food porn" from the restaurants. Click on the link below to see the review.

You are going to LOVE the Oasis.

I would make your reservations for MTD. Make your reservations now. Even though there were 6300 passengers on board, we never had to wait in any restaurant for more than 5 minutes.

Problem is the only times left for MTD are too early or too late for us. We will take our chances. If we have to wait, so be it. We will just, as you said, "chill and enjoy ourselves"! ;)

You should also come on over to our roll call and sign up for the meet and mingle.

We are doing MTD and have done it many times on Carnival. It worked real well for us. I also read mixed reports about it but when we did it we signed up for a time each night.

Problem is the only times left for MTD are too early or too late for us. We will take our chances. If we have to wait, so be it. We will just, as you said, "chill and enjoy ourselves"! ;)

We never reserve dining in advance, we just go to the MDR and we are seated within 10 minutes. (Only two of us)

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We were first time cruisers last summer and our absolute favorite excursions was climbing the Dunn's River Waterfall. We had absolutely NO idea what it was, thought we'd be looking at a beautiful waterfall. Boy, were we wrong. Whole family completed it and bought the video provided by the guides. We love watching it, brings back great memories!!

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I just noticed your reply! Thank you for this. That's good to know then, that if we simply get one comedy show, that's good enough for the rest of the trip. On the Carnival Miracle it was about 6 different comedians over the whole week, but I guess it's a much smaller ship so there's less people they have to accommodate.

 

We booked reservations for every show. :)

 

Just out of curiosity, what made you go on the Allure even though you were already on the Oasis?

 

Also, I forgot to ask this in my original post:

 

What excursions are a "must do" on this cruise? We are doing the Labadee/Cozumel/Jamaica one. Is the roller coaster on Labadee nice? Which snorkeling excursion should we do in Cozumel? There are so many to choose from that it is almost impossible to tell them apart!

We actually did a B2B on Allure in 2012, then decided to do the same thing the next year on Oasis. But we switched the order--allure was Eastern/Western then Western/Eastern on Oasis. To us, since we'd already done a lot if these ports, that the ship is the destination on these two.

We liked both Naci Cocum and Chankanaab in Mexico. Labadee is just a beach day, and we just hang around the shopping area in Falmouth. But we're in our 60's and not into the active things. You may want to try Dunns River Falls in Jamaica. Definitely do a ships excursion in Jamaica.

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The first cruise i ever went on besides a Navy ship was on the Oasis. I loved it. There is so much to do. And like was said earlier make sure you book the all the big shows because those fill up fast and they say no saving seats but i saw some kids trying to save a hole middle row for their friends that did not have reservations and some guy just told the kid to move and went and sat in the middle of the row with his party of four. Then the place filled up quick. Also if you show up 30-45 min early for the comedy show you should be good. The comedians were funny and the wife and i enjoyed ourselves. We ate at Chops one night and my parents who were with us liked it so much that they are going to go on The Freedom with us next year and my mom keeps telling me we are going to Chops again right. The Sushi place was pretty good and depending on what time you go there should not be too much of a wait my dad and I went there and we walked right in were seated and served within 15 min.

We actually did a B2B on Allure in 2012, then decided to do the same thing the next year on Oasis. But we switched the order--allure was Eastern/Western then Western/Eastern on Oasis. To us, since we'd already done a lot if these ports, that the ship is the destination on these two.

 

We liked both Naci Cocum and Chankanaab in Mexico. Labadee is just a beach day, and we just hang around the shopping area in Falmouth. But we're in our 60's and not into the active things. You may want to try Dunns River Falls in Jamaica. Definitely do a ships excursion in Jamaica.

We definitely agree the ship is the destination but we also wanted to make the most out of it because people keep telling us Cozumel is known for their scuba diving. But like I had mentioned, there's so many different scuba diving excursions on Royal Caribbean's website that it's hard to tell them apart and I figured if someone here went on one and loved it, they could specifically let me know which one it was. :)

We were first time cruisers last summer and our absolute favorite excursions was climbing the Dunn's River Waterfall. We had absolutely NO idea what it was, thought we'd be looking at a beautiful waterfall. Boy, were we wrong. Whole family completed it and bought the video provided by the guides. We love watching it, brings back great memories!!

We will make sure to check out the Dunn's River waterfall. Thanks so much for the recommendation!

We never reserve dining in advance, we just go to the MDR and we are seated within 10 minutes. (Only two of us)

You should also come on over to our roll call and sign up for the meet and mingle.

We are doing MTD and have done it many times on Carnival. It worked real well for us. I also read mixed reports about it but when we did it we signed up for a time each night.

Yeah we always do MTD but someone talked us out of it for this trip. They kept saying it's such a massive ship and they really recommended against MTD on this ship. I wish I could recall the exact reason that they stated.

Roll call sounds pretty cool; is that just something where other Cruise Critic forum-goers meet up to say hi? That sounds cool if that's what it is; least I could do is buy someone here a drink in person for being so helpful.

I would try and dine at 150 Central on the first night. We were on the Oasis 3/22-29 Eastern and they were giving a 20% discount for eating there on the first night. We did all the other specailty dinning restaurants with the exception of Chef's Table, all were really good.

If you go to the Comedy Club about 30 min. before the show and wait in the "no ticket" line, you should get into the show.

 

I did the All Access Tour and it was very special. at $150/pp it is a little expensive but worth doing once.

 

I did a review of the Eastern cruise so the ports would not interest you, but I did take some really good pictures of the ship and a lot of "food porn" from the restaurants. Click on the link below to see the review.

 

You are going to LOVE the Oasis.

I actually saw your awesome review and all the photos. You are quite the photographer. The only bad thng is...you seemed to love every restaurant! :) We definitely want to experience some specialty restaurants, but the trip is only 7 days; if we went to them all we'd never be in the main dining room ever!

You have to pay the gratuities no matter what....so pay in advance and do My Time....make your reservations in advance... the only long wait is for those who do NOT have reservations. And the earlier the better. I know if you have small children it might be more difficult to get ready early, but doing so you have plenty of time to get the early shows. This is just my opinion, but it is grounded in real life experience that just ended 72 hours ago.

This just means that you pay your gratuities at the same time that you pay for the cruise instead of having it added to your seapass account each day on the ship and paying for it at the end of the cruise. Personally, I like pre-paying the gratuities. I know some people don't for various reasons which have been discussed a lot on these boards.

 

 

We haven't been on the Oasis yet but I haven't heard anything about long waits. We are doing MTD on our upcoming Oasis cruise and do not have reservations for any nights. Our last RCI cruise we had almost no waits for a table for two in MTD. We usually went around 7 or 7:30.

Thanks again for the tips in regards to MTD or timed dining. Makes me wonder...why would anyone ever choose a specific dining time? I know we did but that's because we were kind of swayed to do so. Is there any benefit to it at all?

We just returned from a back to back on the Oasis (4/12-4/26). As regards My Time Dining, we have never had a problem...this was our third cruise using My Time. We had the same table (726) for 13 nights. We ate at 5:45 night every night.

 

We did not do any specialty restaurants, with the exception of the complimentary lunch for consecutive cruisers on Saturday after we had re-embarked. We have found that the Main Dining Room to be a great experience for all the 21 nights that we have been on the ship.

 

For lunches, I usually got my wife a salad with a couple slices of prime rib in the Park Cafe...you create your own salads....We usually ate lunches either in the Solarium or Windjammer...we would take the food back to our recliners and eat. Also, the Solarium has the best gazpacho you will find anywhere. Breakfasts were usually in the Main Dining room ordering off the menu.

 

The Comedy Live show usually has open seats.... they open it up for standbys 5 minutes before showtime.

 

There are only 4 things that you really want to reserve in advance, Hairspray, Come Fly with Me, Frozen in Time and Oasis of Dreams. There is also a diving show called Splish Splash that is open to all without reservations. Just check out your Cruise Compass. The Headliner show was also very good.

 

Other must do's include the tour of Central Park led by the Director of all things green. 12,000 individual plants, etc....

 

Also, we took the All Access Tour last year...it is a 3-4 hour tour of the whole ship. From the lowest decks including the engine room and control room to the galleys, laundry, storage, crew areas, helipad, all the way up to the bridge. It was the best $150 pp that we spent....it was much better than the money spent on bingo. You have to sign up at Guest services after you board.

 

My only advice is to not try to do it all....after 3 weeks we still got turned around sometimes. We usually spent the day sitting on deck 15 just outside the Solarium in the shaded area overlooking the sea.

 

Enjoy your time on the best ship on the seas....Want to emphasize that I am just a satisfied customer and not a paid shill...some may wonder because of my praise of the ship. Here is the link to my previous review. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=225507 Hope this helps... I would also refer you to this thread that I started last year after our cruise. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1896085

Thank you so much for these tips, and in fact all of the 4 shows you recommended we reserved months ago! Is the Central Park tour free? I would consider the ship tour but $300 is kind of pricey and that's 4 hours we're not running around the ship. :)

The first cruise i ever went on besides a Navy ship was on the Oasis. I loved it. There is so much to do. And like was said earlier make sure you book the all the big shows because those fill up fast and they say no saving seats but i saw some kids trying to save a hole middle row for their friends that did not have reservations and some guy just told the kid to move and went and sat in the middle of the row with his party of four. Then the place filled up quick. Also if you show up 30-45 min early for the comedy show you should be good. The comedians were funny and the wife and i enjoyed ourselves. We ate at Chops one night and my parents who were with us liked it so much that they are going to go on The Freedom with us next year and my mom keeps telling me we are going to Chops again right. The Sushi place was pretty good and depending on what time you go there should not be too much of a wait my dad and I went there and we walked right in were seated and served within 15 min.

Thanks for the tips; you might convince me to go to Chops. I thought I read mixed reviews here on that place. I am being swayed to go there especially since they have outdoor seating. Did anyone find that outdoor seating resulted in poorer service? I know here in Manhattan if you go to a restaurant, it's usually a bad idea to eat outside. It's of course much more beautiful, but the wait staff tends to forget about you as they (understandably) are inside more often than outside.

Here are some photos from one of our Oasis cruises.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108294950405868184189/albums/5781769616264623649

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I know this forum moves fast so I do not expect all my questions to be answered, but I guess I will just inquire as to what is #1 for me right now: is there any benefit at all to "assigned" (8:30 PM) dinner times? Any benefit at all?

Personal favorites after four straight years on Western itinerary: Zipline in Labadee (bit pricey but a definite must do at least once) Mystic Mountain/bobsled and Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica (absolutely beautiful)and The Amazing Race in Cozumel (takes you places that are awesome and not touristy)....great memories made:)

I'm sure you already know this, but the outdoor seating at Giovanni's and Chops is along Central Park with no ocean views. Still nice, but can be a bit warm. No one does movie under the stars like Princess. Oasis movies are at the agua theater and it is a bit different, still nice, but not like a lounger. Just didn't want you to be disappointed. Have a great time.

I know this forum moves fast so I do not expect all my questions to be answered, but I guess I will just inquire as to what is #1 for me right now: is there any benefit at all to "assigned" (8:30 PM) dinner times? Any benefit at all?

You would have the same table, guests, waiters, and no wait time to sit.

I know this forum moves fast so I do not expect all my questions to be answered, but I guess I will just inquire as to what is #1 for me right now: is there any benefit at all to "assigned" (8:30 PM) dinner times? Any benefit at all?

We enjoy meeting people and getting to know them, and our waitstaff, over the week. We always do late seating and had no problems scheduling shows etc around this during our time on Oasis.