Oasis of the Seas Western 2/16/13 w/ cruise compass, and menu pics.

[BoyntonBeth]

the dining room wasn't open disembarkation day. They had pastries coffee/tea/water in the theater where C&A members can wait

 

With all due respect, I have to disagree. I was on OA exactly a month after you and the MDR was definitely open the last morning.

 

Do you still have the "As You Depart" flyer? On the front side, usually the first paragraph lists the times the various venues are open for breakfast. The MDR is always listed - sometimes at hours earlier than usual, sometimes on a different deck (on ships that have multi-level dining rooms), but it's always listed and always shown in the same area as the other venues.

 

Perhaps you are more attuned to other venues or you have breakfast before the MDR opens on the last day.

 

I drive home, so I'm not in a rush to get off the ship. As a result, I have never not had breakfast in the MDR the final morning.

 

You may be right, but that's so different from my experience on many, many Royal cruises. Of course, YMMV.

[relaxatsea]

Thanks so much for your great review and photos!

 

I especially appreciated all of the menus!

[Peeker28]

Great Review thanks

[battchief1]

Thanks for the review.

[lovn2liv]

From your posts it was apparent you made this vacation your own and enjoyed yourself. It was fun reading and viewing your photos. Thx for your dedication and service to us all. Will be on this ship in a couple of weeks. You helped a lot.

[Terre]

With all due respect, I have to disagree. I was on OA exactly a month after you and the MDR was definitely open the last morning.

 

Do you still have the "As You Depart" flyer? On the front side, usually the first paragraph lists the times the various venues are open for breakfast. The MDR is always listed - sometimes at hours earlier than usual, sometimes on a different deck (on ships that have multi-level dining rooms), but it's always listed and always shown in the same area as the other venues.

 

Perhaps you are more attuned to other venues or you have breakfast before the MDR opens on the last day.

 

I drive home, so I'm not in a rush to get off the ship. As a result, I have never not had breakfast in the MDR the final morning.

 

You may be right, but that's so different from my experience on many, many Royal cruises. Of course, YMMV.

 

Man, I hope it's open on the last day. We always enjoy breakfast in the MDR on the last day before getting on the plane. Maybe she thought I meant embarkation day...

[finiansbay]

This was a great review and I loved your pictures. Very helpful info for our first cruise on Oasis in November. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this.

[LAatl]

I'm pretty sure the MDR wasn't open that day for breakfast. I know it was announced that you couldn't even get room service that morning.

[BoyntonBeth]

I'm pretty sure the MDR wasn't open that day for breakfast. I know it was announced that you couldn't even get room service that morning.

 

The only time I was aware of room service being available on the last day was on the turn around day of a back to back. Even then, it was only available for those who were b2b, so it was actually published as not available. I've been on a bunch of b2bs, and was only offered room service once.

[NCMtnGal]

Thanks for the wonderful review and great photos. My daughter and I are on the Oasis this Halloween and can't wait. It's her first ever cruise *21st birthday gift* and only my second. Your reviews have just added to our excitement. Your info on not going out of the fenced in area of Jamaica are noteworthy. We are traveling with a single group and may go seperate ways on excursions so that advise was passed on to my daughter. I did send you an email asking for the link to the Compass so we can look over them. Thanks again for the super review! Glad you had a great time.

[FirstCruise2331]

Ive very much enjoyed reading and looking at nice food pics! Thanks for taking time to post

[paperkrazie]

Thank you so much for the great review and pics! We are sailing on Oasis in February, and this adds to the excitement for sure!

 

Few questions if you don't mind...

 

Are the after-dinner drinks included with the beverage package, or is there a separate charge for them? If you pay, do you remember how much each one was?

 

Where, and how many, outlets are in the cabin?

 

Does the desk/vanity area have storage on the sides of the mirrors and desk drawers? (We loved this storage on Enchantment, as we each took a side, and had all of our belongings in one spot.)

[nilsuesig]

Does anyone have compasses for the Oasis the more recent the better. I'll be traveling on January 31, 2015 on the Western Caribbean.

Thanks for any help.

[mattmax11]

Take this note...you need your sail pass card to check out pool towels. You get two towels per person and they swipe your card. You can trade them anytime the entire trip for clean, dry ones and if you don't return them by 10 pm Friday night, they charge your room $25. Make sure you get these towels the day before your port and bring a beach bag to carry them in. We were all packed and ready to get off the ship. We met at Johnny Rockets for breakfast. Easily one of the best on the ship. Everything is cooked to order so it's fresh and not made for the masses. The my FIL loved the breakfast potatoes and the French Toast was Yummy!

So, as you saw by my previous post, we weren't able to dock in Labadee. It was very disappointing because we all wanted to be on the beach that day. However, when someone hands you lemons, you add vodka and sugared rim and make a lemondrop! The Cruise Director, Amy, had a new page of activities out to everyone within 30 min of the Captain making his announcement that we weren't docking. You don't have to wait until you get to the beach to get the Labadoozie (which is their signature drink). All of the bartenders know how to make it. They have a peach one and a strawberry one. The alcohol at this port is included in the PI package.

This was our view of Labadee this day...

 

 

 

We hung out at Schooners and waited for the 80's Music Trivia to start. It's a lot of fun. After that we went to the MDR for lunch. This is a great place to eat. The Tutti salad is this...you go up to the salad buffet and point to what you want in the salad and they make it for you, toss it with dressing and give it to you on a plate. They also have a small buffet (this day they put the BBQ and Jerk that they were supposed to serve on the beach that day.

I ordered off the menu because we were eating at Giovanni's that night so I had the Beef Carpaccio (so good) a tutti salad and the Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Tart (OMG! A MUST). Here's the menu...

 

 

 

 

 

Went to the casino for a bit and then we went back to the room and I read a while and then we took a nap. Sorry, my days are kind of boring...I told you at the beginning we lead such hectic lives and we didn't want a lot of scheduled activites. We just wanted to hang out with the 10 other people in the family and get quality time together. I can tell you, they have a karaoke bar (On-Air) in the Promenade Deck 5 and they have several times a day where you can sing (young or old)...but I'm a professional singer and although my DH kept wanting me to sing...I was on my vacation! But, we did see people of all ages singing in there.

We got ready to head out for our nightly meeting at the British Pub...my BIL swears by the Shanghai Smash! That night we were drinking the Bog Fogs. This night was 'smart dress.' It means not the resort casual, they'd like you to wear shirt and tie. We walked around Central Park a few minutes and there was a bride and groom taking pictures.

Just a note...we had the 6 pm seating for dinner and we made sure we told our server on Sunday that we wouldn't be there Monday and Tuesday. If you know you have reservations or you know you won't be in the MDR on certain nights...tell your server. Otherwise, they hold the table thinking you're coming in and it blocks people who are doing the My Time Dining.

We gave the two 16 yr old boys the night to themselves and we went in Giovanni's and I can tell you that this place is a must! The service was outstanding. They had no problem giving us the house wine on the PI package...even though my SIL ordered a bottle of chianti for the table. BTW, the house wine was fine with us (unless your a wine snob it shouldn't be a problem.) The house wines were a chardonnay, white zinfandel and merlot. I don't remember if there was a cab.

The appetizers and pastas are served family style and then each person orders their own entree. Since we had 11 people, the server brought one of each app and was more than willing to bring extras. I'll put the menu up, but I can tell you that my favorites were the Baked Eggplant app and the Ricotta and Spinach Crepes. The Gnocchi is the best I've ever had. My entree was the Beef Tenderloin which was amazing. My BIL had the veal and he loved it (and he doesn't even like mushrooms). Niece had the lamb and said it was great. We ended the night with desserts and espresso (the PI package doesn't pay for these coffees...I believe they were $2.95). I had the Chocolate Gnocche cake, my DH had the cannolli (said it was the best he's had) and my SIL said the tiramisu was the best she's ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our room attendant was absolutely outstanding and we wanted to do something special for him. I had given him a beautiful wooden pen that my dad makes and sells. We had pre-paid gratuities but I wanted to do something else. I can tell you to plan ahead and buy a few pre-paid phone cards as these people work 6 months at a time, 7 days a week before they get home to see their families. We couldn't find any in the two ports we went to...in hindsight, I'd buy them at home before the trip. But, these workers also have to buy their own toiletries, etc. So, I asked Tony what he'd like us to get and his answer was 'candy.' Really? Ok...so we went to the Candy Shoppe on the Boardwalk and bought $18 of bulk candy and gave it to Tony. You would have thought we gave him $100 bill. He thought that was great. My son brought him back a pastry and he loved that as well.

After that, we went to the casino for our nightly deposit. And sat at the casino bar (Litah, the bartender, was great! As well as the gentleman from Bolivia but I can't remember his name) They always have the same bartenders every night so you can get to know them and vice versa. After a few hours, we went back to our rooms and went to bed. The air had started getting humid so we couldn't sleep with the door open, but even on the 11th deck, we could hear the water slapping up against the ship and it was wonderful. For those who think that a ship this big won't feel the waves, you're wrong. The water was very choppy and rocked us to sleep.

I'll post day 4 in a bit.

 

I like the idea about the phone cards but since certain cards only connect to certain countries how would i know which one to get.