Oasis Review - Jan 26 - Details on BYO Wine and Prem. Drink Pkg

[VirtualRain]

I loved your review, and thought that your pictures must have been post cards, not real pictures!

I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the Seafood Shack! We wanted to try it, but heard that it was nothing special, and just fried fish. We will make sure that we go there now.

 

I don't understand why more people aren't raving about the Seafood Shack... the crab legs and lobster are to die for! :D

 

And thanks again everyone for the kind words!!! :)

[long pond cruiser]

Loved your review and just absolutley stunning pics!!! Thanks so much for posting!!!

[battchief1]

Thanks for the review

[hillslife]

Awesome review and pictures! We are booked for June...so excited to see the Central Park area...we have one of the balconies overlooking the park...looks beautiful.....

 

Thanks so much....

[Merion_Mom]

VirtualRain:

 

Very comprehensive and helpful review. And those pictures! :eek: I agree with another poster: Some day I will get a "big girl camera" and try to get photos as good as yours!

 

Just one comment: I am going to trust your arithmetic, and just say: If you calculated a 15% savings by using the Premium drinks package, I think that that is an EXCELLENT savings, not marginal AT ALL.

[Lionesss]

Very nice review.

Thank you

Loved your pictures.

Sea Ya

[LBumb]

great job

[salted]

Terrific photos. By comparison my pictures of the Oasis look pathetic, but I was using a Canon SX140 camera handheld:rolleyes:..

One thing I noticed was that the Central Park, Promenade and Boardwalk pictures did not have any people. You must have been up late or very early to get those shots.

[VirtualRain]

Terrific photos. By comparison my pictures of the Oasis look pathetic, but I was using a Canon SX140 camera handheld:rolleyes:..

One thing I noticed was that the Central Park, Promenade and Boardwalk pictures did not have any people. You must have been up late or very early to get those shots.

 

Thanks! Actually, most of the shots of the ship were taken in the evening between 6 and 8PM while my GF was getting ready for dinner. The ship is like a ghost town at that time as everyone is either at dinner or getting ready for dinner. :)

 

VirtualRain:

 

Very comprehensive and helpful review. And those pictures! :eek: I agree with another poster: Some day I will get a "big girl camera" and try to get photos as good as yours!

 

Just one comment: I am going to trust your arithmetic, and just say: If you calculated a 15% savings by using the Premium drinks package, I think that that is an EXCELLENT savings, not marginal AT ALL.

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, 15% savings on drinks thanks to the package shouldn't be dismissed. But it's not a killer savings either given I had to compromise on the wine I was drinking in order to achieve that level of savings.

[cruising cockroach]

The "un-inclusive" package (as I like to refer to it) is not all that great. My key problem with it was the lack of wine selection. Being a wine enthusiast, especially with meals, the selection of house wines included was a total disappointment. They use a French brand called St. Martin which in my opinion was drinkable but not up to the standard of food I was pairing it with. (They dont even serve it in Vintages... the wine bar).

 

Thanks for the frank review. Probably cheap wine they buy in bulk ~ regional co-ops sells wine by the litre in France - bring your own container and fill it from a hose in the wall. Wonder if RCI buys it by the barge full and pumps into some wine tank onboard its ships?

 

Looks like the package is only worth it if free (like on spring TATL crossings).

[cruiseclues]

Really nice photo review...hope your have some more of those really great photos coming. :):):)

[sunseeker551]

Thanks for the great review. We've sailed Allure and Oasis but are trying Liberty B2Bs in a few weeks. I'm curious to see how the smaller ship compares. I also appreciate your comparisons to other cruise lines. Very interesting to read. We're getting tired of the same ports but are a bit nervous about trying other lines.

 

Love your shots too btw! I'm planning to bring my 5D MKII with me this cruise (have only taken my G11 with me on past cruises). I assume you weren't given a hard time about your tripod? I'm guessing no one cared? I have a travel one as well that I think I might throw in after seeing your pics. Thanks again for posting!

[helen haywood]

The Sistine Chapel ceiling pales in comparison to your sunset photos!

[Terre]

Thank you for the review and beautiful photos! We will on the Oasis in May and you gave us some good tips and info. I love the photo of the carousel in motion!

[LTyler]

I don't understand why more people aren't raving about the Seafood Shack... the crab legs and lobster are to die for! :D

 

And thanks again everyone for the kind words!!! :)

 

Beautiful pictures I was on your sailing also!! I agree about Seafood Shack we had lunch on there this past time and in October was veryyy good!!!!

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks for the great review. We've sailed Allure and Oasis but are trying Liberty B2Bs in a few weeks. I'm curious to see how the smaller ship compares. I also appreciate your comparisons to other cruise lines. Very interesting to read. We're getting tired of the same ports but are a bit nervous about trying other lines.

 

Love your shots too btw! I'm planning to bring my 5D MKII with me this cruise (have only taken my G11 with me on past cruises). I assume you weren't given a hard time about your tripod? I'm guessing no one cared? I have a travel one as well that I think I might throw in after seeing your pics. Thanks again for posting!

 

You made me LAUGH OUT LOUD calling Liberty a "smaller ship". :D

[SueBabe]

I thoroughly enjoyed my evening reading your very organized and informative review. Your pictures are magnificient!

 

We have My Time Dining in April. And per your suggestion, I think we will forego eating at Chops and save the money for drinks and the seafood lunch :D. It appears from looking at a compass that MTD eats in a different room/deck than the MDR. Is that true? Is there music in the dining room?

 

Now I am even more excited :) Thanks, Sue

[Rcarper4001]

Thanks for the review, We are going in August and now are going to eat at the seafood shack.

[VirtualRain]

I thoroughly enjoyed my evening reading your very organized and informative review. Your pictures are magnificient!

 

We have My Time Dining in April. And per your suggestion, I think we will forego eating at Chops and save the money for drinks and the seafood lunch :D. It appears from looking at a compass that MTD eats in a different room/deck than the MDR. Is that true? Is there music in the dining room?

 

Now I am even more excited :) Thanks, Sue

 

There is music in the dining room, which makes it absolutely fabulous. The MDR is a beautiful 3 level venue spanning decks 3-5 with a huge open area in the middle... very grand! The lower two levels are for early and late seatings with deck 5 for my time diners.

[Sherri914]

Thank you for your honest review and beautiful pics. I've been teetering back and forth about the drink package and MTD. We are sailing in November so I do have some time to make up my mind. I've finally decided to go with My Time Dining for sure. But about the drink package... I still haven't decided. I'm not a big wine drinker, but I do love my 'umbrella' drinks, mojitos, and other mixed libations! I'd done the math too, so I knew one would have to consume 6-7 drinks per day to make it work out in ones favor. With three port days, is it worth the package? I'm not so sure. Maybe so just to be carefree for the week. We're on the Western itenerary, so we'll likely be on the ship at least half of two of the days the ship is docked at two of the ports. (We'll hop off for a couple of hours in Jamaica and Cozumel, then back on the ship to enjoy some nice ship time without the crowds!)

 

Now I do seem to remember reading somewhere about after-dinner drinks - some sort of shooters or something - being included with the drink package. A different special offering every day that was brought around in the MDR. Do you remember seeing those?

[akcruz]

Thank you for your honest review and beautiful pics. I've been teetering back and forth about the drink package and MTD. We are sailing in November so I do have some time to make up my mind. I've finally decided to go with My Time Dining for sure. But about the drink package... I still haven't decided. I'm not a big wine drinker, but I do love my 'umbrella' drinks, mojitos, and other mixed libations! I'd done the math too, so I knew one would have to consume 6-7 drinks per day to make it work out in ones favor. With three port days, is it worth the package? I'm not so sure. Maybe so just to be carefree for the week. We're on the Western itenerary, so we'll likely be on the ship at least half of two of the days the ship is docked at two of the ports. (We'll hop off for a couple of hours in Jamaica and Cozumel, then back on the ship to enjoy some nice ship time without the crowds!)

 

Now I do seem to remember reading somewhere about after-dinner drinks - some sort of shooters or something - being included with the drink package. A different special offering every day that was brought around in the MDR. Do you remember seeing those?

 

Even though you have 3 port days, remember Labadee is Royal's private island, so drinks there would be included on your package. This is what's pushing us towards doing, although haven't made up our minds yet. It is a tough decision.

[labeachcomber]

Thanks for possibly the most comprehensive and beautiful review I have ever seen here on Cruise Critic!

 

We are sailing the Oasis this summer and bringing our Canon Mark II. I hope to be able to get some of the same gorgeous photos that you were able to capture. We're not excited about the ports but are only sailing like you because we want to experience the ship itself.

 

Disappointed to hear that for the most part the extra dining venues seem to have fallen short of the mark. I love seafood so was already planning to be at the Seafood Shack. We usually do several meals outside the MDR on our cruises but perhaps this time we'll stick with the masses.

 

Great comments about the drink package. I've always thought that it wasn't worth it. But I'm not somebody who can put back 10 drinks per day! It is a bit ridiculous that the drink package costs so much and even with that volume of alcohol consumed you only saved a meager 15%. How many people can drink enough to make it a good value? I'm guessing the majority of people that sign up do not hit the breakeven mark.

[travel1887]

You mentioned you did My time Dining. I have cruise previously with another couple and we did flex dining, but was disappointed at we never got to sit at a table with others. I am traveling with my adult daughter and have requested 8:30pm table for 8. However, I would prefer to eat earlier. If we can and change to My time dining, do they seat you with others, or give you a table for just two. I would like to thank you for such an outstanding complete review of your experience, it was extremely helpful. thanks:)

[travel1887]

I am not great with Boards posting, so hope you see this. My question is My time dining. I am currently reserved for late dining, but prefer to eat around 7:30pm. When you were seated were you put at table for more than your party. I am travelling with my adult daughter and would prefer to seat with others at dinner. My experience on another cruise line was we were seated with the four in our party and never with others even though requested. thanks

[KGSB11]

Very nice review. This is possibly the first review that contains a majority of information that is helpful to me; biggest two of which were wine information and pros/cons with Princess.

 

Like my photographer friend said once, the camera copies an image, but the photographer takes the picture. No one says after a nice dinner, "Awesome oven!!". Very nice photos indeed. :D For some reason, the picture of Johnny Rockets with the wet pavement is my favorite. Was this after rain or after they cleaned it?

 

Having a room on 8th deck, I plan to make my primary stateroom Vintages or (now thanks to you) the Trellis Bar. What was the main difference in wine selections between these two locations? Any other good venues for wine?