Oasis Info/Review/Video (Jan. 2nd)

[DEIx15x8]

Intro:

I just got back from the January 2nd sailing and though I'd share some information with everyone back here. I have divided this post into three sections; "Information" to cover some of the Oasis stuff I heard, "Review" to talk about my opinion of the week, and "Video" to discuss the videos I will eventually be posting.

 

 

 

Information:

1) Ken Rush leaves on January 30th.

2) Captain Bill Wright leaves on January 16th. (Back to work on the 18th, lol)

3) The Oasis lifeboats 1 & 2 issue:

----A) Were damages after the water off the bow got caught in the channel of the boats hull. Lifted them up breaking the davits and leaving the dangling by their lines which resulted in damage to the top (none to the boat's hull).

----B) More inflatable boats have been installed to compensate.

----C) Will not be replaced for atleast six more months!!

--------i) New lifeboat 1&2 will have a traditional hull while retaining size

--------ii) Lifeboats 3-18 will remain the same as 1&2 will break the water

--------iii) Allure will have this setup from day 1!

4) Experts are onboard working on testing the insulation for the funnels this week (major issue last week).

5) Nat. Geo are back on this week to redo some shots.

6) Captain of the Carnival Dream will be onboard in St. Maarten this week.

7) A new TV system to monitor the ships location and several other new features not on any other ship is still being tested and will be installed in a few months.

8) The phone system is temporary and all phones will soon be replaced by new ones with a much LARGER screen and CLOCK!

9) Gold balls on the Oasis were tested during sea trials to ensure that they were heavy enough to use but not heavy enough to injure if dropped onto boardwalk.

----A) Side note: The first golf ball fell onto the boardwalk this week and I was right their to see it (well, everything but the actual ball, lol). I was watching the zip line guy help a passenger off when he suddenly pushed her out the gate and dove to the edge of the platform. It looked like he was going to dive right off the edge. He then started frantically looking back and forth between the boardwalk and golf course to try and figure out what just happened. He then radioed it in and his supervisor came over to fill out a report on the incident. I don't know that they ever found the ball.

10) They need more births

----A) They regret transferring Sovereign of the Seas

----B) Banks won't give them loans to build any ships right now

 

 

 

Review:

The Good:

----Size:

If you name something it probably goes here. The ship is absolutely incredible. It truly is the largest cruise ship ever built and feels like it. That is something I have never felt on the Voyager or Freedom class. Before I became obsessed with cruise ships and especially RCCL I had wanted to sail on the Voyager after seeing the documentary while sailing the Empress. When we pulled up to Bayonne they had a banner that showed the Empress and said "Nordic Empress" hanging on the left. On the right they had a banner that showed the Voyager and said "Voyager of the Seas". The Voyager was docked down the pier to the left and after we headed towards that direction I actually said to my parent, "are you sure we're supposed to go that way? Isn't that the Empress?". With the Oasis their is no mistaking this ship for any other. With a ship this big though and a full load (8,074 total people on board, crew+passengers) the ship was never crowded and never had lines. It was easy to find empty areas. I even managed to be the only person on the entire Boardwalk at one point.

----Layout:

The ship is incredibly easy to get around. If you get lost you didn't try very hard to find your way. The ship in general has a very familiar feeling for those that sailed the Voyager or Freedom class but from the start it is very obvious that this ship is not the same. The Royal Promenade has a very different feel than the old once. It is less of a corridor and more of a hall. It seemed to be the place to go at night as it was always packed with people hanging out, watching games, dancing, eating, and anything else you can think of. It was actually much more popular than Blaze (partly due to Boleros popularity during the sailing). The pool deck is incredible with many empty seats all around even with the ship being full. My expected biggest disappointment going into this cruise was Central Park as it seemed very small, cramped, and useless. We had a room on deck nine and used CP many times to cross the ship and the area ended up being my favorite part of the entire ship. It was absolutely huge and completely shattered all my expectations going in. The space seemed to be twice as long and wide as I though it would be. The quietness of the area with the added piped in sound effects made it the most peaceful area to walk through when getting from end to end. The main path (didn't think their was one but when in their it become obvious) is plenty wide for people to walk in both directions at the same time. The secondary path is great when your not in a rush and just taking a leisurely stroll to look at the plants.

---- Crew:

The main part of the cruise that really made it great though wasn't the ship, it was the crew. They were not necessarily (I honestly think that overall the crew on our Liberty sailing were better) the best crew we have ever had (some individual departments were better though) on a cruise but they were by far the nicest which IMO is just as, if not more important to making a cruise great. Everywhere we used our card the crew would recognize us by name. The crew was also very pleasant, always saying hi to everyone that passed by and often starting conversations. The crew were also more noticeable than on any of our past sailings. I don't know if this is entirely an Oasis thing or a RCCL policy change since our last cruise. When we would go to shows, venues, or eat at night their were often crew out doing the same things. They always had name tags on so they were easy to identify. This is something we started to see on the Liberty with some crew going to Sorrento's to eat in their work uniforms. On Oasis though when the crew would go out they always dressed appropriately for the nights dress code which made them fit in better. Part of this may have been helped by the use of crew members checking for tickets wearing the nights dress code rather than uniforms. This seems like a rather small thing but it was actually quite nice to have someone welcome you to the shows, answer questions, start a short conversation, and even talk to while waiting for the doors to open. These employees rotated from night to night so we often seemed to run into the same person each night which was a nice addition as we could get to know these crew members and learn more about the ships behind the scenes. It ended up being like the relationship that develops with the MDR waiters. The Guests Services area has also seen a much needed improvement over the Freedom class. Instead of waiting in a long line there is now a wide area in front of the desk for smaller lines to form next to each other. They also have a series of employees standing at the promenade edge of the area during peak times to assist guests with things that do not require the computers so that you no longer have to wait in line for a quick answer. The employees working at the desk and through out the ship in general seemed to be much more interested in helping the guest than I have seen before. In Ft. Lauderdale at our hotel we went to ask a question at the front desk and half way through they jumped in with an answer to the question the expected which was not even right. Most places seem to do this but onboard no matter how smaller or repetitive the question it always felt like the crew were interested in ensuring that they give you the exact assistance that you are expecting rather than just trying to kill the line.

---- Food:

Their is so much variety in food that it seemed like you could lose enough weight looking for what to eat for lunch that it canceled out. Between the great food at the Windjammer, Park Cafe, Promenade Cafe, Sorrento's, Wipeout Cafe, and Main Dinning Room it was tough to figure out where to eat next without even having to spend money. On day 1 I hated the Windjammer's new setup but after giving it some time to get used to it quickly becomes obvious how much improved the layout is. We went to Johnny Rockets for the first time (on land or sea) and was impressed with the service and food. The Oreo sundae was great and the Onion Rings were worth the price on their own. I got the St. Louis which was delicious (2nd to Five Guys which I had for the first time in Ft. Lauderdale the day before boarding, lol). After many comments on here about the MDR lunch being good we decided to give it a try for the first time. We chose the last day and went at about 1 O'Clock right after we docked so that we would be eating while the crowd ran to shore and then walk off (we had no excursion and walked around town). It worked out perfectly and the lunch really was better service and food than any of the dinners. I had walked in expecting them to do the standard fill around the room routine but instead they walked us towards the back and sat us at a window table. They had each seated table separated by at least two empty tables which gave plenty of room, privacy, and made for great service as the waiter was always walking past. I had sent an email with a series of requests for a table by the window, private for the three of us, and on deck 4. All of those requests were made and we got a great table (#467) that met all of them.

---- Port:

Nearly 6,000 people and yet she can empty and fill like their are only 2,000. I don't think in any of my sailings I have ever seen a ship flow so nicely. We were able to get from the van to the ship in about 10 minutes. We were onboard at 11:30 and their were already others on before us. Getting through ports was even easier. Unlike other ships where crowds gather at the gangway RCCL got smart and assigned people to stand at the top of the escalators to send people away till they opened. This also made for a nice greeting and farewell when entering and leaving which added to the over all friendliness of the crew onboard. Getting off we usually left right when the gangway opened yet never waited in a line. Getting back on board depending on the time may include a line but it was always short and continuously moving. This was helped by the dedicated security building that you passed through before boarding. At 6:00 in Nassau there was a huge line of people waiting to get back on (by 6:30) that stretched down the pier and around the corner (I have video of it, and the near riots from tours dropping off at the front of the line). Somehow we still managed to leave on time. I would have bet money that we would be leaving late yet somehow we left on time.

---- Shows:

You can't mention the Oasis without discussing the shows. Everyone was incredible from the Comedy Club's awesome atmosphere to Studio B's great performers, the Aquatheater's incredible choreography, and amazingly even the main theater shows were the best I have ever seen. This is the one ships that you cannot miss any of the shows as they are all home runs. The best parts of the shows was how easy they were to get a good seat. None of the shows were ever full which is how it should be. On the Voyager the theater always seemed full and on the Liberty people often had to stand. On the Oasis everyone with tickets got in and then those in standby got in with ten to go and seats were still left at showtime.

---- Formal:

I expected a more casual cruise than any of my previous RCCL sailings (especially the way others were talking about this ships in several threads) but that was not the case. This was the most formal cruise I have ever been on. Normally after the evening show people get changed but on this sailing it was common for me to walk through the RP at 2am and see most people still dressed in their formal attire. On formal night everyone got dressed up for the occasion, if you didn't you were the oddball. Even more surprisingly though was that it seemed as though many people got all dressed up on non formal nights as well. I have never been on a cruise where so many people liked to get dressed up for dinner and even more amazingly remain dressed up all night.

 

The Bad:

Most of the issues are with the way RCCL is running the ship rather than the actual ship itself.

---- Weather:

Worst part of the cruise was without a doubt the weather. You can't blame RCCL for the weather but after the way that they touted the lack of rain days in the Caribbean it seems like something that should be pointed out. In my previous 7 night Bermuda (NYC), 9 night Caribbean (Bayonne), and 7 night Caribbean (Miami) sailings with RCCL we have never had a single moment of rain. My previous Disney sailing included a night of rain and my Carnival sailing was all rain and snow. That made this sailing a huge surprise when I went to go into CP only to find it raining. It ended up raining the second night, all day on the third day, and then when we returned to Ft. Lauderdale in was raining. The weather made the outside decks fairly empty but somehow the Royal Promenade did not feel any more crowded than it would on a typical evening. I tried to make the most out of a bad day and used the rainy morning as an opportunity to get some great Flowrider time in. It was poring out and windy but that doesn't matter when your on the flowrider anyway. Others apparently didn't agree because for nearly an hour their were only about 4-8 of us doing the boogie board side. Once their was a break in the rain more people came out and once they got 10 they put the divider up. I did a few runs after that before leaving because it wasn't any fun anymore. The divider made it more challenging for someone like me who isn't experienced. It also seemed rather dangerous. I don't know how often this happens but the one time I wiped out I spun into the divider and my foot went under and got caught. I ended up stuck in the middle of the wave on the wall while my board flew back and someone surfed on the other side while I tried to get my foot lose. When we were on the Liberty we were their 2.5 hours and only got two runs but after the 10+ runs I got on it undivided and 3 with it divided on Oasis I would rather wait twice as long to go on it undivided than go on it divided.

---- Shows:

The third night was when we scheduled our Aquatheater show but unfortunately due to the rough seas (it was a break in the rain during that time) our show was cancelled. This was rather poorly handled by the CD staff and probably the low of the whole trip. We showed up an hour early and entered when the staff started letting us in and waited till showtime. The entire time you could see the rushes of water flowing from side to side and over the ends of the pool onto the deck. They played all the usual announcements leading up to the show and then at showtime they dimmed the lights, dropped the pool floor, and removed the brown sheet to reveal the water flowing wildly. Ken Rush then came onto the speaker system and announced that the captain had been trying to maneuver into a good location but was unable to (I have video of the announcement) so the show has to be cancelled for safety reasons. He then announced that all of our tickets would automatically transferred to a new rescheduled show the next day at 5:30 or we could attend the 7:30 or 10:30 shows. The problem with that is that we were in port that day so we would have to get done with our day in port, get back to get ready for dinner, and then go to the show. Unfortunately they also scheduled the platinum event for 5 o'clock so we had to miss the show regardless of our ability to get ready in time. While the announcement made it sound like our tickets would work for the other two shows since they were all booked we would have to wait standby. The situation was made worse though by the fact that it was an announcement that just made the whole situation feel like a complete show of disrespect for the fact that we had all been waiting for up to an hour to see this show. Had they had Ken Rush (or Anne) physically walk out onto the stage to make the announcement in person and be their to answer questions (rather than having to go to Guest Services to ask) the whole situation would have seemed more acceptable. Someone in another location saying that the conditions in a pool they can't even see are too rough felt a little bit rude and disrespectful to the audience. The next night after our headliner show I went to the Aquatheater while my dad helped my mom to make her way across the ship. When I got their they had not started letting people into the theater yet so I talked to one of the women who was waiting to run the tickets (I had seen her around the ship and at shows every day so I had spoken to her or at least said hi everyday up to that point). When I asked her about being able to get into the show she asked about the 5:30 show and when I explained about the platinum event being at the same time she let me in. When my parents finally arrived they had trouble getting in but when they pointed to me she let them in. I don't know if they had been letting others in or if it was just because I had talked to the person previously. Either way like all shows with ten minuted till showtime the venue was opened with many seats still open. That is why it doesn't make sense that they were unwilling to allow some extra people in. With the Aquatheater it seems like they only register tickets for the physical seats not the benches, or else most people don't show early.

---- Ship:

The ship was not properly utilized. It seemed as though the Boardwalk was never utilized beyond a hallway. I found it rather ironic that most of the original beliefs that people had about what the promenade would be for 10 years ago (which never came true) were actually true for the Boardwalk. It truly seemed like nothing more than a hallway to the Aquatheater with places to stop and eat. The aquatheater itself seemed to be a waste in it's own. It was rarely used outside of the evening shows and since the isles were always roped off and the pool floor up it never even looked like a pool. The fountain show they did on the last day seemed like it was multiple shows run together as it shut down between each song. It seemed like they should have been running those shows all day and evening when the venue was not in use in order to bring the area to life. The way it is now the entire area seemed dead 20 hours a day and then ironically for the few hours it's alive with shows in the Aquatheater everything on the BW is closed.

---- Cell Phones:

All cruise I did not see a single guest using a cell phone (probably because of the cost) so why was I stuck listening to phones all week? I'm not sure if this is new to the Oasis or a RCCL addition since my last cruise but giving the crew phones was really annoying. I was constantly hearing phones ringing and it was always crew. While waiting for shows in the main theater (we sat front and center on the upper level of the bottom deck of the theater) we kept hearing the audio/video crews phones ringing and they would even go off while the show was going on. I had this happen in other venues as well. While watching the fountain show Ken Rush sat down behind us and I only knew it because his phone went off and then he talked loudly through a song. We also did that during the Captains Q&A in the theater in which his phone went off midway through and he stopped to answer it. I'm not sure how they could fix this problem but they need to change something.

 

The Future:

----Shows:

All of the shows start at different times each night which means that all the other events on board have to be arranged around them. Unfortunately this cannot be accomplished. We always enjoy the welcome aboard show but it conflicted with getting to our scheduled show that evening. I'm not sure if it is the result of this unorganized schedule or not but the Oasis lacks evening entertainment. In the past overnight after our evening show we would have a break to get changed and then go watch a show such as The Quest, Battle of the Sexes, or Love & Marriage show. Some of the events they had like the 70's disco didn't even compare to those of the past as it was nothing but music and a spinning ball (not even spotlights) while others like the deck parties were completely missing. On this cruise with the exception of one night it seemed like the only evening entertainment was music in clubs which meant that for the first time on any of my cruises I actually was bored at night and just went to bed. If they had standardized start tops so that all shows started at 7:30 & 10:30 with the comedy show also at 12:30 (odd ball show not scheduled around) they could better organize other shows to still have late night entertainment. This could allow them to bring back the farewell show as our sailing did not have any kind of final event. On Thursday night Ken already said goodbye when we weren't leaving till Saturday.

---- CD Staff:

The CD staff were great. I had enjoyed Ken Rush on the Liberty and enjoyed him again last week. He may not be wild and crazy like others but that's not his style. He is an entertaining conservative CD which is still enjoyable and I'm sure many others prefer. My favorite CD is the only other one I can remember, which is James Andrews. He was great not just for his love of slamming the Carnival CDs while in port on the Voyager (which was my favorite part of the cruise), but for the way he ran things. Unlike my sailings with Ken where he would walk out on the bridges to talk in the PR during events and out on stage in the main theater alone, James had a CD team. When ever he went to do these public appearances he was always flanked by the Bingo guy and Activity Director who acted as his CD assistants. They would do all sorts of hilarious things together like synchronized dancing and acted as though they were all the CD. If they did this on the Oasis they could ensure that at least one of the three would be available at all times to make an appearance. This could solve the problem of Ken not being available to personally cancel the aquatheater show. This CD team concept would also make it possible for all shows to start at two standard starting times as more people would be available to handle them.

 

 

 

Video:

As I said on the roll call I was all over the ship recording video clips of nearly all the areas. In total I have 1,500+ pictures and 700+ HD clips totaling 8.5 hours of video to edit together. I tried to get everything I possibly could which includes almost all areas of the ship. I did choose to skip over the adventure ocean areas as it seemed like it would be creepy to try and walk in with a video camera. I also have footage of all of the other ships that we saw in port throughout the voyage as well as the captains entire welcome speech and full 1+ hour long Q&A event. I did not record any of the main shows as they had the disclaimers saying not too but I did record the entire fountain show since it never said not too. I also have footage of the parades (more like block parties on Oasis than the parades on Voy/Fre). I am going to be uploading to Youtube the Oasis cutaway picture with a few extra images added. From their I will have annotations so that you can click on the area of the ship you want to see and get a video of that area. You will also be able to click a start icon to be lead through all the videos in a logical order for a virtual ship tour. I am back in school (got off the ship saturday went back to college sunday) so I will be a little bit slower than I had hoped in getting the videos up. What kinds of areas should I be working on first? Once I get the cutout image up and a video or two I will post the link. From their I'll keep adding more annotations as I get time to create and add the videos.

[OrdieJ]

Cant wait to see the pix and vids

[bwest the man]

Great review. Can't wait for the videos.

[DEIx15x8]

I have finally started to get the videos uploaded. It is taking much longer than I had originally anticipated. In the past I could just drop a video into Final Cut and edit it together. With these videos it has to go through a long transcoding process before I can use them. It also is taking much longer to process edits than in the past (first time with HD, hadn't expected it to be so much longer). That is why I unfortunately can not run the smooth cam effect on all the clips. For the two welcome reception videos already uploaded it was going to add 6 extra hours each in order to run. I don't have that much extra time to give up at once. Due to Youtube's 10 minute limit (I used to have a director level with unlimited length but accidentally lost my grandfather status with it. They also won't give me partner status due to the late night Oasis jokes I posted that got removed.) I have to post all of the long videos in segments. For the most part I think the order I have the videos listed in below will be the order I make them in. The "Other Ships" and "Oasis of the Seas" videos may get moved to the end, I'm not sure yet. Right now the guide is not too useful since their is only one other video up but in time as more are uploaded it will become more useful for getting around them.

 

All videos from January 2nd-9th sailing!

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Reception:

 

Future Links:

Fountain Show

Captain's Corner

Parades

TV System

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Entertainment Place

Main Dinning Room

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium

 

Should I make a new thread to post the updates when I add more videos?

[scopewest]

Wow, what a lot of work for you but thank you for posting all this info for us!!

[CruiserTK]

Thank you for posting these videos. I look forward to seeing more. Posting new videos on this thread should be fine.

[bwest the man]

Just posting them on this thread should be good.

[ahornb]

This is awesome! Thanks! I'll take the info any way I can get it! :)

[DEIx15x8]

Finally got another update. Sorry about the delay but I did not want to post till I got all nine parts uploaded. My school Internet is limited to 10GB per week and the videos were about 1.5-2GB each. These videos are the Captain's Corner session. The total time was about 1 hour and 15 minutes but once again due to Youtube's time limit I have divided it into 9 segments and created an index to link them (as well as links at the end of each video). If anyone plans to watch them all I would appreciate it if you could take notes of what is discussed. Not long notes just like simple statements such as: lifeboats, omelets, Allure changes, future itineraries. I know these are topics discussed but not sure where. If you make a list post it here and I can add that info to the links on the index page to aid future viewers in picking segments to watch. These videos are all in 1080P now as well, so hope you enjoy the better quality! I have also introduced a new Upper Third graphic for these videos.

 

 

All videos from January 2nd-9th sailing!

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Message:

Captain's Corner:

 

Future Links:

Fountain Show

Parades

TV System

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Entertainment Place

Main Dinning Room

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium

 

Next up will be the fountain show. I am going to need to figure out the names of all the songs used so that I can add that information to the lower thirds. I think I will be posting a short video in a day or two that has roughly 15 seconds of each song. That way people can hear them and hopefully with everyone on here giving input we'll be able to figure them all out.

[Texas Teen]

WOW! Very Cool!

[DEIx15x8]

I posted a video with 15 second clips of all 6 songs. If you move your mouse over the video it will tell you what song number you are currently listening to. I think I got four of the songs figured out but the two instrumentals I have no clue on.

 

My guesses:

Song1:

Song2: Superman March - John Williams

Song3: Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones

Song4: Desert Rose - Sting

Song5:

Song6: Time To Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli

[DEIx15x8]

Found from Youtube:

 

Song1: Sing Sang Sung - Big Phat Band

Song2: Superman March - John Williams

Song3: Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones

Song4: Desert Rose - Sting

Song5:

Song6: Time To Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli

[DEIx15x8]

Got the full listing of all 6 songs thanks to danner309 & ramoskak on Youtube:

 

Song1: Sing Sang Sung - Big Phat Band

Song2: Superman March - John Williams

Song3: Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones

Song4: Desert Rose - Sting

Song5: Malaguena - Ernesto Lecuona

Song6: Time To Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli

 

Will be editing the full show into what should be two parts and uploading in the next few days!

[DEIx15x8]

I got all of the fountain show uploaded. I had to do it in 3 parts with two songs in each. Sorry about all of the people that got into the shot during the first and second parts. I don't think anyone ever passes through the shot during the third part. Originally I had a nice seat in the center of the theater (as you can see from the title screen shot) where no one would get in the shot but the ash from the funnels that night was exceptionally bad. That's why we moved over to the left side where the rooms could shield us (and the water would blow the other way, not sure why it always goes to the right) from getting dirty. Unfortunately that also meant that everyone who decided to show up late or leave early on the left side walked right through my shot. I had planned to sit on the rock wall level or one of the upper deck balconies for the second show to get a different angle to slice in during the people shots but unfortunately packing to go home took too long and I had to miss it.

 

I edited the video asking for names to say the name and have added annotations so that they take you to the start of the full song when you click on it. Once again be sure to click an HD level. Hope you enjoy.

 

Q: Should I link the guide to the Clips of All Songs video or leave it linked to the first video for people to go through all?

 

 

All videos from January 2nd-9th sailing!

 

Clips of All Songs (formerly asking for names):

 

Part1:

Song1: Sing Sang Sung - Big Phat Band

Song2: Superman March - John Williams

 

Part2:

Song3: Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones

Song4: Desert Rose - Sting

 

Part3:

Song5: Malaguena - Ernesto Lecuona

Song6: Time To Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli

 

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Message:

Captain's Corner:

Fountain Show:

 

Future Links:

Parades

TV System

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Entertainment Place

Main Dinning Room

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium

[kenholt]

wow, that was great,i could look at picturs ann video of this ship for hours.Thanks

[ahornb]

Thanks DEI, that Captain's Corner was really cool!

[DEIx15x8]

I have made a list of all of the topics discussed during the 1 hour and 15 minutes Captain's Corner session. I updated the index page to include all this information on each parts button. I also added this information into the description of each of the Captain's Corner videos. I started too add links on the title screen of each part to jump you to a specific topic within that part but stopped after two videos and removed them. There is a Youtube glitch (one of a surprisingly large amount) where if you click a link to a different time within the current video it will work if the video has loaded past that point (try it out with the fountain videos that already have these links). If the video has not loaded past that point it may play but with no sound and you have to refresh the page to get it back. It may also just display a black window even though it is playing. Adding these links in takes time to find out the exact time each topic starts and then the process of creating, linking, and timing all of the annotations. If google ever fixes the glitch I'll try to go back and add them but for now it's not worth the extra effort for something that won't help most. Either way check out the list and be sure to use the updated index to find new topics you may like to hear about!

 

Guide:

 

Captain's Corner

Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FF2C2232CC004C7E

Index:

 

Part1:

Intro Video

Introductions

Transatlantic Storm Stories

Q1: Aerodynamics

Q2: Stabilization

 

Part2:

Q3: Future Deployment of Oasis/Allure

Q4: New Panama Canal

Q5: Measuring Ship Size

Q6: Other Captains in Port

Q7: Ship Flag

Q8: Tendering

 

Part3:

Q9: Length of Stay on Ship

Captain Wright's Duties

Q10: Ship Info Channel

Q11: Feel Like Land Resorts

Q12: New Captains

 

Part4:

Q13: Environmental Impact

Environmental Protection Systems

Q14: Differences with Allure

Q15: Destinations for Allure

 

Part5:

Q16: Oasis Documentaries

Q17: Disability Support

Q18: Water System

Q19: Docking Order/Location

Q20: Oasis Mistakes

 

Part6:

Q21: Power & Propulsion Systems

Q22: Fleet Makeup & Globalization

Q23: Shows

 

Part7:

Q24: Terrorism & Piracy at Sea

Q25: Life Jacket Removal?

Q26: Nationality Makeup

Q27: MYO Omelets

 

Part8:

Q28: Fuel Efficiency

Q29: Missing Lifeboats/Storm Damage

Q30: Ash Problem

Q31: Room Clocks/Phone System

 

Part9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2T3C4V1zMo

Q32: Communications/TV System

Q33: Ship Maintenance

Q34: Embarkation/Debarkation

Captain's Corner Logo Mistake

Q35: Odd Golf Balls

Closing

[ahornb]

DEI, You are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing all your efforts and expertise! :):cool::)

[DEIx15x8]

Time for another update! This time it's the TV System. It's a basic video where I click through the various sections of the TV system to show what it can do. I hit on all the different parts like port/excursion info, on demand movies, cruise compass, personal schedule, restaurant statuses, menus, bridge cam, and more. I even get an error at one point which was hilarious, lol. I recorded it with my camera sitting on the table at an angle and it came out surprisingly well. When I recorded it I thought you would need HD and lower thirds to read the screen but it is actually crystal clear to read all the on screen text without even switching to HD. The only problem with this video is that the audio for the TV part is rather low. I recorded with the TV at the level I prefer to listen to at which is lower than most people (and apparently cameras as well). Fortunately the system has no audio except when the videos play so it doesn't matter at all. I did maxout the audio the best I could to try and get a better level for the few parts with audio which is why you may hear a hum sound. Hope you enjoy. Next will be the parades. I have several clips of the first parade and a single long recording of the entire second parade. For both we were at the forward end of the RP on deck 6 looking down and out. If you haven't figured out yet my camera has 12x zoom so I still have great shots of the acrobats. I switched sides so each parade has a different angle.

 

TV System

Part1:

Part2:

 

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Message:

Captain's Corner:

Fountain Show:

TV System:

 

Future Links:

Parades

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Entertainment Place

Main Dinning Room

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium

[DEIx15x8]

DEI, You are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing all your efforts and expertise! :):cool::)

 

Glad your enjoying. Keep watching because I'm going to keep posting as I get them done! The guide is a good resource as more videos are getting done.

[DEIx15x8]

I uploaded the parades now. Part 1 is the Rockin' Rhythm Nation parade and the start of the Lollapolooza parade. Part 2 then has the rest (most) of the Lollapolooza parade. Both videos are shot from the forward atrium on deck 6. I switched sides for the parades to give them different perspectives. It's amazing how much my video style changed between the two. The first parade was from the very first day that I had my camera (or any video camera) and it has a couple shorter clips pieced together. It also has more shakiness and quick scans and zooms. The second parade was the last afternoon of the cruise and I took one long video of the entire event in a much smoother and clean style. Hope you enjoy and be sure to watch the title slide and credit slide as I think the video I used for these may be my favorite one.

 

 

Parades:

Part1 - Rockin' Rhythm Nation & Lollapolooza:

Part2 - Lollapolooza:

 

 

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Message:

Captain's Corner:

Fountain Show:

TV System:

Parades:

 

Future Links:

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Entertainment Place

Main Dinning Room

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium

[ahornb]

Thanks so much for posting! The in-room TV thing is way cool!

[DEIx15x8]

Another video is up and it's the first ship area video! I chose to do the Main Dining Room first since it was the simplest and I only had a short amount of time last night. Not much to say about this one, it simply goes through each of the three levels of the dining room. If you don't watch the whole video at least skip to about 6:40. I have a shot where I stand next to the captain's table and go from looking straight up at the chandelier to looking down at the table while doing a full 360 spin of the room. It turned out pretty neat.

 

Main Dining Room:

 

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Message:

Captain's Corner:

Fountain Show:

TV System:

Parades:

Main Dining Room:

 

Future Links:

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Entertainment Place

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium

[Janespup]

Thanks so much! The videos are great!

[DEIx15x8]

Another update coming at you! This time it's Entertainment Place's turn. This video uses a walk through from the Opal theater all the way to the statue at the entrance of the Casino Royale. As I pass the various venues it shows a walk through of the inside of them as well before continuing on the walk to the next venue. Hope you enjoy, and don't forget about using the guide to access the different videos!

 

 

Entertainment Place

Part1 (Opal Theater, Comedy Live, Blaze):

Part2 (Studio B, Casino):

 

Current Links:

For Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone

For Profile: http://youtube.com/user/DEIx15x8

For Guide:

Captain's Welcome Message:

Captain's Corner:

Fountain Show:

TV System:

Parades:

Main Dining Room:

Entertainment Place:

 

Future Links:

Other Ships

Oasis of the Seas

Royal Promenade

Central Park

Boardwalk

Sports Deck

Viking Crown

Pool Deck

Vitality/Solarium