Oasis Trip Report June 19-26, 2010

[lvstitch]

Great report, thanks for sharing:D

[BrianAlt]

This is really wonderful. I love the pictures. I wonder, will you be done before I leave next Friday?

[swwake]

Brian - thanks for the compliments. I think I'll be finished by next Friday - I'll make it my goal. I think this is going to start moving a bit faster after the initial ship impression because I ended up with fewer pictures later in the week, the things we did got repetitive, and there won't be as much to describe. I'll do my best :)

[Aunty Pat]

Great review of the ship. I can’t wait to read more. We (my 19 year old niece & I) just paid our deposit today for the December 11 cruise. It will be my first time back to sailing RCCL since 1989.

Aunty Pat

 

Barefoot Windjammer - Phantom ‘81

K&D German Rhine Line ‘84

NCL - Norway ’85, Pride of America ’05, Southward ’87, Star ’97 & ‘05, Starward ’92, Sun ’02 & Windward ’93

RCCL - Song of America ‘89

American Hawaiian - Independence ‘98

HAL - Volendam ’99, Noordam ’06, Oosterdam ’07 & ‘09, Statendam ’02 & ‘08, Prinsendam ’03 & ’06, Westerdam ‘09 & Zuiderdam ’04, ’06 & ’07

Carnival - Spirit ‘05

Celebrity – Summit ‘05

Cruise West - Yorktown Clipper ‘06

Princess - Golden Princess ‘07

A & K - East Queen ‘07

Cunard - QM2 ’08

Crystal – Serenity ‘09

Future Cruises

Oasis of the Seas - December 11, 2010

[swwake]

We freshened up a bit, then Chris and I set off to explore the ship a little and we all agreed to meet at the Opus 5 Dining Room (Main Dining Room, Deck 5, reserved for My Time Dining) at 7:50pm for our 8pm reservation.

 

I don't remember where Chris and I went, but I do remember we got caught up in all the magic that is Oasis and lost track of time. This was the first time I noticed that there are very few clocks on the ship. We use our iPhones as our clocks and we don't wear watches, so we were a little lost without clocks all week. This was one of the very few disappointments (I won't even rank it as a complaint) that we had about Oasis. Recommendation: bring a watch.

 

We showed up at Opus 5 right at 8pm. There was a line on each side of the entrance, with a roped area between the lines for people leaving and/or re-entering the dining room.

 

One line is marked "Guests with reservations" and the other is marked for guests without reservations. We stood in the appropriate line for about a minute. It was longer than the other line at the time. A hostess with a clipboard approached us, welcomed us, and asked us to move over to the other line "to expedite".

 

At the front of each line were two hostess stands. Each had a computer where they could, I assume, look up your group and which tables are available at that time. Once they had designated a table, they gave a slip of paper to a "runner", who escorted us to our table. On the way to our table, behind the hostess stands, but before getting to the large doors at the dining room entrance, there were nice lounge-type sofas, chairs, bar stools and tables. There were decorated shelves lining the walls on both sides, and self-service wine tasting kiosks. We never used these, but I wish I had thought to do this. It would be nice to try different wines before dinner so you might know what you'd like to order in the dining room. I guess, having the wine package, we didn't need to do this.

 

We were assigned to Table 808 with Celeste (waiter) and Donnel (assistant waiter). Celeste's service was mediocre at best. For example, Katie had to ask her three times to bring tea for her, after Celeste had asked what she wanted to drink.

 

Donnel, on the other hand, was just wonderful. He was very attentive, and the girls fell in love with him. He is from Jamaica and had a great sense of humor. I'll talk more about Donnel later in the week.

 

The food in the Main Dining Room was not good. We were on Carnival Conquest in 2004, followed by Liberty of the Seas in 2007. In 2007, we noticed that we didn't like the quality of the food as well as that of Carnival, but we came onto the Oasis with a clean slate and an open mind. Only to be disappointed. I can't really pinpoint it, but most of the entrees were just mediocre, some with very little flavor. One of the later nights, I had a "baby scallops with ziti" entree and I just couldn't finish it. It was really bad. On the steak night (I think the first formal night), several of us ordered the filet mignon, and it was sliced in three or four slices and had very little flavor. It was only offered cooked two ways: medium-rare or medium-rare. There seemed to be no marinade or seasoning.

 

Appetizers were better, for the most part. The escargot was marginal, and served in a metal tray that lost its heat very quickly, rather than in a ceramic crock. There was more garlic than escargot. Shrimp cocktail was ok. The caesar's salad was consistently good and refreshing, portioned right and with good dressing. The best were the vidalia onion tart (borderine AMAZING), and the garlic soup, which I remember loving on the Liberty.

 

We didn't get dessert most nights, but I am a chocoholic and we ordered a chocolate souffle one night. It fell flat. (no pun intended). It was simply not good.

 

I understand the part about having to cook for 6000 passengers, etc., but if Carnival can somehow provide quality food, I don't know why RCI can't. All that said, I will say that I still wouldn't "complain" about the MDR food. It was just a disappointment. It did not ruin our vacation.

 

Oh, and we found the MDR service to be v e r y s l o w w w w. It took an hour and a half almost every night, without dessert. It was hard for the servers to get back to us to refill waters, wine, bring more bread, etc. Sometimes servers from other tables pitched in to help (which was nice, because we also got to know them pretty well too and had fun with them).

 

The girls left dinner before dessert (as they did most nights). After dinner, Chris, Kellye and I went out for more exploring. We were ready to get the party started and hit the dancefloor. Somewhere.

 

This is where it gets weird. I don't remember the order of events, but it doesn't really matter, because it was the same everywhere. I guess it's about 9:30 by now.

 

We went to Dazzles. It was deserted. There was a band playing and about 10 patrons at tables. There was a couple doing some swing dancing on the dance floor, and I think one other couple dancing. Hmm..6000 passengers, and only 15 at Dazzles?

 

We tried Boleros. There was a good band playing merengue and salsa music there. Maybe 3-4 couples dancing, and a handful of people at tables and the bar watching. Later in the evening (as we kept making the rounds of all the bars/lounges), we saw the "dancing couple" from Dazzles there doing a latin dance.

 

We checked Jazz on 4. A good band, but nobody there. Later in the evening, again, the "dancing couple" was there doing a foxtrot or waltz.

 

Blaze - the hip-hop club - we walked by the outside and you can see shadows in the small windows. Hooray - some decent music, and we could see shadows of heads bobbing and people having a good time. I think we have finally found the place to be. So we showed our Seapass cards (this is usually an 18+ club) and went inside. Rounding the corner toward the dance floor, we found that for every bobbing head in the windows, there was a 4-year-old dancing with them. We couldn't see the shadows of these heads since the windows don't go that low. It was really surreal to be in an adult dance club seeing a bunch of little kids dancing on the dance floor. Clearly this was not the place for us.

 

So, we thought, maybe everyone is up on the pool deck enjoying the salty air and the breeze as we are sailing off toward the Bahamas. Let's go check.

 

Um....no.

 

There were no humans up there.

 

What a beautiful ship on a beautiful night, with beautiful lighting. And not a soul up there to enjoy it. We had it all to ourselves. And we enjoyed it for awhile.

 

Then we set off to "find the people" again. We tried the cantilevered hot tubs. One was "closed for maintenance" and the other was occupied by a couple who were apparently breaking in the ship in style. We didn't disturb them.

 

We made the rounds to all the bars on the ship again. Everything was open, but nothing was crowded. Finally, we decided to grab a cocktail and go enjoy our balcony. We were really tired from the early morning flight and the long day. This was a nice way to end the evening.

 

Next up: The first port call, where we found plenty of party people.

[swwake]

Because we knew we would have a very long day on Saturday, Day 1, I had not booked an excursion for us for Nassau on Day 2. I figured we'd sleep in and just head over to the straw market and Senor Frogs for awhile when we got up.

 

Easier said than done. I woke up first and called Kellye. I couldn't get Chris to budge, and Kellye couldn't get the girls to budge. So Kellye and I met at the Solarium Bistro for breakfast. It was about 10:25 when I got there, and they closed breakfast at 10:30. We really liked Solarium Bistro for both breakfast and lunch throughout our cruise. They had healthy options like yogurt, granola, whole wheat breads, turkey bacon, etc. It's buffet style, and sometimes takes a few minutes to get a table, but it's a really nice, open, airy environment. We loved it.

 

Let me introduce: Henry.

 

After our breakfast, we went back to our rooms and had to really push the girls to get them to move. Eventually, we left the ship.

 

A few weeks ago, they were doing some maintenance on Oasis of the Seas. They added baffles in front of the life boats. What I read was that the rough seas on the Trans-Atlantic voyage had shaken the lifeboats up a bit, so they needed to add these. A few voyages before ours were delayed to late departures from Port Everglades while they worked on these. By the time of our cruise, they were installed, but weren't completely painted.

 

Katie loves thrift shops and bargains, so I knew she'd love the straw market. I had to brief her on bartering before we went.

 

Once the girls saw the knock-off designer purses, it was hard to get them out of the straw market. A few purchases later, we convinced Katie that there would be similar markets at other ports and we only had about an hour to visit Senor Frogs. Katie was looking forward to this, since she had been to Senor Frogs in Cozumel in 2007 but would be of drinking age at Nassau.

 

 

[swwake]

Some of the sites at Senor Frogs:

 

 

 

 

Senor Frogs was lots of fun, but we didn't have time to eat there. Seemed like quite a party for so early in the day (1pm).

 

Larry Lindsay was calling us back to the ship for All Aboard by 1:30pm.

 

Next up: did someone say "Flow Rider"?

[BrianAlt]

I understand the part about having to cook for 6000 passengers, etc., but if Carnival can somehow provide quality food, I don't know why RCI can't. All that said, I will say that I still wouldn't "complain" about the MDR food. It was just a disappointment. It did not ruin our vacation.

 

No excuse! If they want to have 6k people on board, GREAT, but they should be able to feed them at the standard that is expected.

 

I don't think we'll be eating at the MTDR once, we'll be at the speciality restaurants. If the food isn't up to par with restaurants that I frequent (and I live in the NYC area), I will be disappointed.

 

But it won't ruin my vacation either! :D

[rikatine]

Love your post about your search for "the people". It is really hilarious with the pictures to go with. Felt the same way on the Adventure of the Seas. That is one reason we liked the Radiance class ships. But here we go, booked on the Allure late next year.

 

Did you go to the Globe and Atlas?

 

Thanks for your review so far, got a good laugh and great detailed information too. Love it!

[swwake]

Love your post about your search for "the people". It is really hilarious with the pictures to go with. Felt the same way on the Adventure of the Seas. That is one reason we liked the Radiance class ships. But here we go, booked on the Allure late next year.

 

Did you go to the Globe and Atlas?

 

Thanks for your review so far, got a good laugh and great detailed information too. Love it!

We didn't make it inside Globe and Atlas, though we walked by several times. I think we might have subconsciously been avoiding it because the pub on Liberty of the Seas was always so smoky when we went to it. It didn't look like Globe & Atlas was that smoky. But for a similar environment, we spent lots of time at the Schooner Bar, which has a smoking and a non-smoking section.

[CruiseLover15]

I am so enjoying your review and I love your writing style. As far as the clocks or lack there of, I wonder if it is similar to Vegas. There are not clocks in the casinos because they want people to be thinking about spending money gambling and not worrying about the time. Maybe on the ship they want people to stay out and about hopefully spending more money.

Edited July 3, 2010 by CruiseLover15

[swwake]

Back on the ship, we were hungry, since we hadn't had time to eat at Senor Frogs. We decided to try Solarium Bistro for lunch. It was really good. In this photo, you can see a little bit of what makes Solarium Bistro so nice, open and airy in the background.

 

After lunch, Chris and I went to the Flow Rider, which was open until 6 that night. We didn't get many pictures of us on the Flow Rider, because we mostly took video on our Flip Cam. Here is a link to a video I put together.

Flow Rider Video (I think you have to be a Facebook member to see it.)

 

At the Flow Rider, while standing in line, I heard one of the instructors ask the guy in front of me "are you working tonight?" Then when that guy rode, he was really awesome, with a very smooth, surf-type style. When we were back in line for the next ride, he was talking to me and I asked him about working on the ship. Turns out he was Paul O'Shea, the piano player/singer at the Schooner Bar. Paul is from Australia and has surfed all his life. It was really fun to talk to him, and from that point forward, we visited him nightly at the Schooner Bar. At the end of the cruise, he was selling his CDs and autographed one for us. Super nice.

 

The lines were pretty long, and we didn't feel like we got very much ride time in. We had not booked a group lesson for the Flow Rider, because we didn't think we would need it, but we decided we'd like to have one in order to just get more time on the water. So we checked, and they had one at 6:15pm the next night (Monday) and we signed up.

 

Sunday night was the first formal night, and Captain's Welcome Aboard night. Because we were on the Flow Rider until 6pm, we didn't have time to dress and have pictures taken with the Captain. His welcome speech happened during our dinner, so we missed that too.

 

Chris and I got dressed and met Kellye at Vintages for a glass of wine before dinner. The girls met us there, and we walked through Central Park to get to dinner. It was a really nice stroll. There was a ship photographer there, and we took some pictures, but I didn't buy them. Here are some we took ourselves.

 

 

This was the night they had escargot on the menu, and we talked Caitlin into trying it.

 

I don't think she liked it much.

 

A photo of the girls with Donnel on formal night, for good measure

 

Donnel was so much fun. Every night he would sing various reggae songs with us at the table. I know we were all loud, but we were having fun. The tables around us would look and laugh or smile, so I don't think they minded. This one one of the things that really made the cruise awesome for us. I hope those at the other tables were able to have as much fun.

 

Next up: First day at sea

[swwake]

I am so enjoying your review and I love your writing style. As far as the clocks or lack there of, I wonder if it is similar to Vegas. There are not clocks in the casinos because they want people to be thinking about spending money gambling and not worrying about the time. Maybe on the ship they want people to stay out and about hopefully spending more money.

We thought about that too, but there are always dinner and show reservations to get to. I think it was mostly that we were always at the Flow Rider and there were no clocks up there within view of the line. I will make the suggestion to RCI. I did notice clocks down by the sports/H20 Zone pools and on the sports deck between Wipe Out Cafe and the table tennis tables, but that one wasn't visible from the Flow Rider. There are also clocks on the touch screen information boards found by every elevator.

[BrianAlt]

We didn't get many pictures of us on the Flow Rider, because we mostly took video on our Flip Cam. Here is a link to a video I put together.

Flow Rider Video (I think you have to be a Facebook member to see it.)

 

Terrific video! Thanks much for sharing!

[Krickett]

Thanks for posting, Love the review:D Pics are great!!

Keep it coming, I can't wait to go:eek:

 

Thanks Krickett

[cluelyss18]

We're are scheduled to leave sept 25 and I am so thankful for your posts...extremely helpful! Thanks for being entertaining also ;)

[paper_planes]

Thanks for the great review! Can't wait to read more :D..

[oceanblue33]

Ba4ck on the ship, we were hungry, since we hadn't had time to eat at Senor Frogs. We decided to try Solarium Bistro for lunch. It was really good. In this photo, you can see a little bit of what makes Solarium Bistro so nice, open and airy in the background.

 

After lunch, Chris and I went to the Flow Rider, which was open until 6 that night. We didn't get many pictures of us on the Flow Rider, because we mostly took video on our Flip Cam. Here is a link to a video I put together.

Flow Rider Video (I think you have to be a Facebook member to see it.)

 

At the Flow Rider, while standing in line, I heard one of the instructors ask the guy in front of me "are you working tonight?" Then when that guy rode, he was really awesome, with a very smooth, surf-type style. When we were back in line for the next ride, he was talking to me and I asked him about working on the ship. Turns out he was Paul O'Shea, the piano player/singer at the Schooner Bar. Paul is from Australia and has surfed all his life. It was really fun to talk to him, and from that point forward, we visited him nightly at the Schooner Bar. At the end of the cruise, he was selling his CDs and autographed one for us. Super nice.

 

The lines were pretty long, and we didn't feel like we got very much ride time in. We had not booked a group lesson for the Flow Rider, because we didn't think we would need it, but we decided we'd like to have one in order to just get more time on the water. So we checked, and they had one at 6:15pm the next night (Monday) and we signed up.

 

Sunday night was the first formal night, and Captain's Welcome Aboard night. Because we were on the Flow Rider until 6pm, we didn't have time to dress and have pictures taken with the Captain. His welcome speech happened during our dinner, so we missed that too.

 

Chris and I got dressed and met Kellye at Vintages for a glass of wine before dinner. The girls met us there, and we walked through Central Park to get to dinner. It was a really nice stroll. There was a ship photographer there, and we took some pictures, but I didn't buy them. Here are some we took ourselves.

 

 

This was the night they had escargot on the menu, and we talked Caitlin into trying it.

 

I don't think she liked it much.

 

A photo of the girls with Donnel on formal night, for good measure

 

Donnel was so much fun. Every night he would sing various reggae songs with us at the table. I know we were all loud, but we were having fun. The tables around us would look and laugh or smile, so I don't think they minded. This one one of the things that really made the cruise awesome for us. I hope those at the other tables were able to have as much fun.

 

Next up: First day at sea

You have it so right, thats what a cruise is all about having FUN. What a fun bunch you guys look like.

[mcfaddensfarm]

I love that you caught your daughter's expression when she was trying the escargot! I remember when my son tried it for the first time, he didn't mind it too much but didn't finish it. Love your review, thanks for sharing!

[clarkspond75]

Great trip report, keep it coming. Going in Dec. Your thread is very informative, I feel like I'm there.

[swwake]

After dinner Sunday night, we had reservations for the 10:45pm Oasis of Dreams show at the Aqua Theater. We got there at about 10:15 and got some pretty good seats, a little to the right side, but in the lounge chairs (i.e., we didn't have to sit on the hard wooden benches with no backs). We were up high enough not to be in the splash zone, a little to the right as you face the stage.

 

Here are some photos (sorry, Barbi, no good shots of Jes - we didn't know to look at him at this time).

 

Richard Spacey was our cruise director. We were told that this was his first week on the Oasis alone (the previous week, Ken Rush was onboard with him). Here he is introducing the show.

 

More show photos:

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoy a good show, but I am not very good at interpreting the story lines, especially when they are a little vague. The story here was of the lady in the orange dress/swimsuit. She started by sitting in the upside-down umbrella. I think this was supposed to be a dream of hers, where she discovered all sorts of characters.

 

The diving was amazing. There were three different levels of diving platforms, if you don't include the side of the pool, which would make 4. The pool was similar to the one used in "O" at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Sometimes it's a pool, sometimes it's a hard floor. Pretty amazing, and I'm glad none of the divers accidentally bonked their heads during "floor time".

 

There were also acrobats who used the trampoline to do some amazing stunts. One of my favorite was where they would land on their backs, then bounce up toward the platform at the back of the theater and look like they were just casually walking up the side and onto the platform.

 

We all thought this was a great show, and I would rank it in the "Not to be missed" category. After all, the Aqua Theater is part of what makes Oasis so innovative.

 

I remembered that on Saturday when Chris and I had lost track of time before dinner, we had been out on the Boardwalk watching the performers in rehearsal for Oasis of Dreams. We were amazed at what they did and it made us appreciate the actual show even more.

 

That afternoon (Saturday), we had also noticed that the "balloon man" was missing from the front of Johnny Rockets. This is a very famous statue, which is used in a lot of Oasis's marketing materials, and we were disappointed to find him missing. That afternoon, I tried to get a bartender's attention at the Boardwalk Bar to ask, but couldn't. Later in the Cruise, Chris asked a bartender and they said he was out for maintenance. So I guess he was getting a little plastic surgery.

 

Next up: Midnight at the Oasis (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[mcfaddensfarm]

Next up: Midnight at the Oasis (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

Oh great...now that song is stuck in my head, LOL! :p

[BrianAlt]

Next up: Midnight at the Oasis (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

Um, no camels though, right? I mean, this isn't Noah's Ark. :p

[alreadypacked]

Brilliant review!! Keep it coming!:)

[swwake]

It was now Midnight at the Oasis, after the show. Chris and I decided to head over to the Schooner Bar to visit our new friend Paul O'Shea.

He's a real crowd-pleaser, with a list of songs people can choose from and request. Many are sing-alongs. He also does Piano Man nicely, complete with harmonica. There are barstools around the piano, and we noticed the same group of people seemed to sit around the piano every night. By the end of the cruise, Paul would sing some songs with back-up singers, or have a second mike to do a duet with a passenger. Lots of fun.

 

From the Schooner Bar, I snapped a picture of the Rising Tide bar midway on one of its trips up or down.

 

Back in our room, we were welcomed by an elephant. Our normal cruise buddies are friends Bryan and Melissa, who happened to introduce us in the beginning. Since they couldn't make it on this cruise, we brought them along in spirit. Here they are with Mr. Elephant.

 

We finished our last drinks of the evening out on our balcony, and watched the Carnival Dream as she cruised alongside us.

 

Then, it was off to la-la land, anticipating our first Sea Day and a full day of riding the Flow Rider. Or would it be?