mslaabs Posted April 29, 2012 #1 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I have read a lot of “live” reviews and wanted to do one of my own, but my cruise budget did not allow for an internet package. My second thought was to do a daily journal and post the entries when I got back. That worked for two days and then I either forgot or did not have time to keep up with it. Many thanks to all who have done the live posts and giving up vacation time so others could enjoy. I did manage to jot down a few notes and I took over 800 photos which will help me take you through the week. I will be posting photos, but not all 800. I also have food porn so if you are offended, please close your eyes and scroll past it. As much as I would like to, I won't get through the whole week in one sitting so keep checking back. I will post a little each day. A bit of background Travelers – Me (obviously), my husband, and my parents. We have all cruised with Royal before, but this is was our first time on Oasis. Pre Cruise Night We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th street. Convenient to Walgreens in case you forgot anything or the airline lost your luggage. We made two trips there and we didn't even need anything. However, we bought stuff :rolleyes: . It was also a short walk down to the 17th street bridge from which you can see the cruise ships docked. We met up with some Florida friends from a previous cruise for dinner. They took us to a place called Shooters and I had Lobster Mac and Cheese which was VERY GOOD (warning: food porn coming). Embarkation Morning The hotel offered the typical free hotel breakfast, but we chose to go across the street to the Bagel Shop and Starbucks. We took a cab from the hotel to the cruise ship terminal and arrival just before 11:30. I meant to write down the cab fare, but as you will come to find out I forgot to write down a lot of things. I’m going to say no more than $15 with tip. We had a very short line at the security check point and then were ushered right up to the check in desk. From there we had our Welcome to the Cruise photo taken, which we normally skip (thank you to someone on here who clued me into the fact this is the photo used for face recognition to match up all other on board photos). From there we went up the escalators and as we approached the top they called Platinum level to board. That’s us so we were directed to the boarding line and did not have to wait in the lounge area. Since we were one of the first groups to board I thought it would be safe to try the Windjammer. I had read how this is the place to avoid on day 1, but this turned out to be a good decision for us. There was no crowd and we were able to get a table by the window. The Windjammer itself seemed a lot smaller from the Voyager class ships, but it could be the way the seating was laid out. I thought the tables were more crowded together and less walking space. I like the food station idea rather than one long line. Next up…exploring the ship. View of 17th Street Bridge from our hotel room Lobster Mac and Cheese at Shooters Oasis from the 17th Street Bridge. I zoomed in, this is really much farther away than it looks. On the way to the port Windjammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted April 29, 2012 #2 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Anxious for more - we'll be on the Oasis on 4 weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roe2ship Posted April 29, 2012 #3 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Looking forward to reading more and viewing the pictures.....thanks for taking the time to post.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mslaabs Posted April 29, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted April 29, 2012 After lunch, first on my list was Central Park. The weather all day had been cloudy with a bit of rain here and there (due to the weather conditions, deck 8 became some what of a wind tunnel). As we approached the doors to Central Park I saw a container of umbrellas. I wasn’t sure if they were props or not, but then I saw people walking around with the umbrellas. Of course I grabbed one and we headed out in the rain. The use of golf umbrellas on deck 8 of a cruise ship is something that I never would have thought a need for. The park itself is amazing and you don’t feel like you are on a ship when walking through there. In fact there were very few places I felt like I was on a ship, which is one of the few negatives I found about the Oasis. For me personally, I like the feel of being at sea and enjoy looking out windows or being on open decks to see the water passing by. I don’t remember any of the entertainment decks having windows, other than in the main dining room. Deck 5 is the jogging track deck and even its views are limited due to the lifeboats. The pool and sports decks are the only ones you can see the water from, with the exception of the aft area where the Aqua Theater is. On our stroll through the park we passed the Park Café which looked to be crowded but people seemed to be finding places to sit. We checked out the menu at Giovanni’s and decided we should try that sometime. After Central Park we went to the Boardwalk, saw the merry go around and made a mental note to come back later to ride it. We also made a stop at the dining room to find our table and checked out the zip line and flow riders. Before the cruise I was in the frame of mind that I was going to try the zip line. Once we saw it in person I quickly had a change in thinking. No zipping for me. At 1:00 the cabins opened up and we got our first look at our accommodations for the week. We had a hump cabin with the bed by the balcony (our preferred location) while my parents had the cabin next to us with the bed next to the closet. We definitely had more space to maneuver in for closet use. My dad struggled all week with getting things in/out of the closet. We asked for the balcony divider to be opened, which it was without any problems. I loaded up a bag with a week’s worth of shirts to be ironed and sent that off with our room attendant. They were back the next day, looking much better than the crinkled look they had when I dumped them out of my suitcase. We discovered our safe was locked in the open position so we waited 7 hours before putting a call into maintenance to fix that. Not sure what took us so long to make the call; I guess we thought the fairy would be by to take of it. As we were leaving for dinner the maintenance man showed up (this was only about 10min after we called) and said one of us needed to be there while he fixed it. I stayed back and he had it fixed within a couple of minutes. I was impressed with the response time and the efficiency in which the problem was resolved. I caught up with the others just as the dining room doors opened. When I joined them in line they introduced this man, whom I assumed they met while in line, but as it turns out he is a frequent customer of the same restaurant my parents go to every Friday night back home. That kind of thing happens to them all the time; travel thousands of miles to run into someone from the same neighborhood. We had late seating and had requested to be seated at a table for 6-8; we ended up at a table for 4. It appeared that most of the tables were either for 4 or a much larger group like 10. I saw very few tables for 6. We were happy with what we got, until the crying kid sat down at the table next to us. We debated about asking for a new table, but as we looked around we could see (and hear) unhappy kids almost everywhere so we didn’t bother asking. I won’t comment too much on the food as everyone has their own opinions. I will say that everything I ordered was good and there wasn’t anything I had to push aside. After dinner we had reservations for the Aqua Theater Show – Oasis of Dreams, which was very good. The weather was not all that great, windy and still a bit rainy so I was surprised when the show was not cancelled. As others have said, the first few rows will get wet and not just a little splash here and there. We sat towards the back and because we did not follow the advice of others, we did not arrive early and had to sit on the bleacher like seats. At first I didn’t think there would be a back to them, but there was. While they were not the most comfortable seats on the ship, we didn’t have any problems making it through the show. After the show we took a stroll down the promenade, I got a cup of hot tea from the Promenade Café and we went back to the cabin for the night. It wasn’t until day 3 that I discovered there are to go cups at the café, located right behind the silverware. These cups are larger than the plastic coffee cups and are much easier to lug back to the cabin. One of the best things on the ship (if you knew how much tea I drank you would understand my excitement). I could actually take the stairs at a reasonable pace without having to worry about spilling hot water. Central Park from above Giovanni's Umbrellas - located throughout Central Park on rainy days 1 of 2 Flow Riders Over looking Aqua Theater from deck 14 The to go cup and a donut from the donut shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamrlk Posted April 29, 2012 #5 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Love the photos...we're on Oasis next year, and waiting patiently...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just The 3 Of Us Posted April 29, 2012 #6 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Thank you so much - can't wait for more - but I will try ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj Posted April 29, 2012 #7 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Windjammer Gosh, would have loved seeing that many people in the windjammer on the Allure last year. Not crowded at all. Breakfast was the worst. Great review so far and keep it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissTraveler08 Posted April 29, 2012 #8 Share Posted April 29, 2012 So excited to continue reading, sailing oasis at the end of June :) Thank you for taking the time to do this!!! Looking forward :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susa Beau Posted April 30, 2012 #9 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Love reading your comments. You got on the ship the day we got off. I am a coffee drinker and I too loved that you could get "go cups" to take back to room. Also like you I often felt like I wasn't on a ship as you could rarely feel it moving. It wasn't exactly a negative but it is just different and you are right there are few areas on the walking track where you can see outside the ship. Looking forward to more comments and photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LESLIEKURZ Posted April 30, 2012 #10 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Leaving in 13 days so this is making me SUPER excited. Thanks for taking the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathfinderEss Posted April 30, 2012 #11 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Nice review, can't wait for the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamesEM Posted April 30, 2012 #12 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks for sharing, we are have booked this cruise so I'm looking forward to more reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonandsuzie Posted April 30, 2012 #13 Share Posted April 30, 2012 The to go cup and a donut from the donut shop Wow. This picture will get me through my day. Sure wish this was where I was and what I was having right now! Thanks for the review and pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillOh Posted April 30, 2012 #14 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Glad the WJ wasn't crowded when you got on the ship quickly. That is probably what I'll do next time, we've moved up to Emerald so that should get us on the ship quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yarlenna Posted April 30, 2012 #15 Share Posted April 30, 2012 We were on the same cruise - and it was wonderful. I am enjoying your pictures a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef_christoph Posted April 30, 2012 #16 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks for taking the time to write about your experiences aboard oasis. I'm enjoying your review so far and look forward to reading more as you have time to provide it to us :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBumb Posted April 30, 2012 #17 Share Posted April 30, 2012 nice pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rianvi Posted April 30, 2012 #18 Share Posted April 30, 2012 We board this Sautrday. Can't wait. Great review and appreciated the pictures. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missbogota Posted April 30, 2012 #19 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Flying into FLL tomorrow for our cruise leaving Saturday! So excited!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike6116 Posted April 30, 2012 #20 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Wooo hooo... we had a great time on the ship... I proposed at the "Love & Marriage" game show and she said yes... Won the belly flop contest, the quest and the pool volley ball tournament.... great weather... Our crusie director was awesome...couldnt have had a better vacation...!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbackIslandGirl Posted April 30, 2012 #21 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Great review! Can't wait to see more!!!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonandsuzie Posted April 30, 2012 #22 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Wooo hooo... we had a great time on the ship... I proposed at the "Love & Marriage" game show and she said yes... Won the belly flop contest, the quest and the pool volley ball tournament.... great weather... Our crusie director was awesome...couldnt have had a better vacation...!!! Congratulations!!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mslaabs Posted April 30, 2012 Author #23 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Wooo hooo... we had a great time on the ship... I proposed at the "Love & Marriage" game show and she said yes... Won the belly flop contest, the quest and the pool volley ball tournament.... great weather... Our crusie director was awesome...couldnt have had a better vacation...!!! Congrats! I didn't get a chance to see the show. There was so much to do that I always ran into conflicts and had to choose which show to give up. Unfortunately "Love and Marriage" lost out to something else (can't remember what). Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mslaabs Posted April 30, 2012 Author #24 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks for the kind comments everyone. If I could just convince my boss to give me a couple of days to get caught up with my online stuff and photo posting, this would go much quicker. Day 2 - Nassau We backed into our docking position so our port side cabin was facing land. Docked next to us was the USS Gettysburg which provided us with great views while we ate breakfast. As we were eating, the Gettysburg had their flag raising ceremony complete with the playing of the National Anthem. Since we have been to this port several times, we decided there was no need to be one of the first off the ship and that we would enjoy breakfast on the balcony. We filled out the room service card with a delivery time of 8-8:30. At 8:15 room service called to say they were on their way, but the food didn’t show up until about 8:40. We didn't plan very well and were actually ready for breakfast at 7:30. We don’t have much experience with room service, but this didn’t seem like the best option for us in the future. We got off the ship about 9:30, the same time that all the tours were meeting on the dock. More poor planning on our part and we got caught up in the tours making their way to the terminal building. We spent some time just walking through the straw market and around town. I haven’t been to Nassau since they built the new building for the straw market. Last time I was there it was in a large tent, this building is a huge improvement. Back on the ship we ate lunch at the Park Café. While I would have preferred to be seated on an upper deck with ocean views like on the Radiance Class ships, being able to sit “outside” at the Park Café was second best. Everyone was on shore so the café was not crowded and we had no trouble getting an outside table. After lunch we walked over to Giovanni’s and made reservations for Tuesday night. There were still open times, but they were limited. We had the option of 5:00 or 8:00; we took the 8:00. We received an invitation to the helicopter pad for a sail away get together. The wind was gusting pretty good so the champagne they were serving was blowing out of the glasses. We looked around a bit and then decided to return to our balcony for sail away rather than being blown off the bow. We spent time at the Solarium bar which has big cushiony chairs to sit in with views off the front of the ship. Next we tried the Rising Tide Bar. That one was fun. Members of the Cruise Director’s staff are the “drivers” of the bar. This was a nice getaway from the crowds; it was like being on an island that floated away. Later in the week we were on this when the driver got caught up in conversation and forgot if he should be up or down. Another time the bar stopped part way up and the driver was once again lost in conversation and did not notice we had stopped moving (and nobody told him either). So the ride itself was always entertaining. Service at dinner was a bit slow this night. It seemed like the waiter was actually doing the assistant waiter’s job as well (more on this in day 3’s post). After dinner we went to Dazzles and watched the band “Frontliners”. We enjoyed them so much that we returned several nights to watch them. Just a note, the lower floor of Dazzles is non-smoking while the upper floor is smoking. We got our first of 3 towel animals tonight. I was a little disappointed that we did not get more towel animals, but we did have chocolates on our pillow every night. USS Gettysburg parked next to the Oasis Outside tables at Park Cafe The popular roast beef sandwich Solarium Rising Tide Bar in the background Dazzles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mslaabs Posted April 30, 2012 Author #25 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Arriving in Nassau View of Atlantis from the ship Building housing the Straw Market Straw Market Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.