HMC Private Oasis Question

[pyrotaz]

My mother inlaw booked the private oasis for us in November. My question is does it include snorkling equipment? I read somewhere that it does. Just want to make sure.

[gizfish]

Yes it includes snorkeling equipment and floating mats. You will have to get sizes for flippers and let the excursion desk know. They will contact you to tell you what info they may need to personalize any of the experience.

[nybumpkin]

You will absolutely love the Oasis. The snorkeling isn't great at HMC, but the best you will find is near the Oasis.:cool: When you enter the water, swim to the left - you'll be swimming in the direction of the ship and toward the channel entrance to the port. You will have snorkel gear, floating mats, and a private hot tub. Not to mention the open bar (it's not a full bar, but the rum punch is really good:D) and the food. The folks with us that tried it raved about the grilled fish.

[ShakyBeef]

To CocoaMom: I'm posting in this thread in order to keep from hijacking a general HMC excursions thread with talk of the private Oasis. Maybe others might find any info I can share to be useful here, as well.

 

Our group booked the Private Oasis for our Carnival Pride cruise of September 21st, 2014. I wasn't the person who did the actual booking and paying - that was done by a friend of ours. He handled everything. We simply had to pay him our part of the cost and show up for our wonderful day at the PO.:) So I can't help with those details.:o

 

There were 13 of us in our group, and we found it interesting and slightly mind-boggling to hear from our bartender that the week before us a couple had rented the PO just for themselves! Only two people in all that space with all those amenities and all that staff waiting on them. And all that food (the staff said they served the same spread we had to the couple, and it was A LOT of food!):eek:!

 

It was a fabulous day and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

I'm not going to write a review. DH does have a few photos, but they are not on my computer. Are there any specific questions you have that maybe I could answer?

[CocoaMom]

To CocoaMom: I'm posting in this thread in order to keep from hijacking a general HMC excursions thread with talk of the private Oasis. Maybe others might find any info I can share to be useful here, as well.

 

Our group booked the Private Oasis for our Carnival Pride cruise of September 21st, 2014. I wasn't the person who did the actual booking and paying - that was done by a friend of ours. He handled everything. We simply had to pay him our part of the cost and show up for our wonderful day at the PO.:) So I can't help with those details.:o

 

There were 13 of us in our group, and we found it interesting and slightly mind-boggling to hear from our bartender that the week before us a couple had rented the PO just for themselves! Only two people in all that space with all those amenities and all that staff waiting on them. And all that food (the staff said they served the same spread we had to the couple, and it was A LOT of food!):eek:!

 

It was a fabulous day and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

I'm not going to write a review. DH does have a few photos, but they are not on my computer. Are there any specific questions you have that maybe I could answer?

 

I read a review not that long ago where a couple booked and ended up inviting some casino staff to join them, ha.

 

I already have it booked & paid so I'm all set with that. I've read many old reviews and just wondering if anything has changed regarding the food? My only concern is - two people with me are vegetarian and one vegan...sigh. Are the salads premade with dressing on them? Wondering if Carnival could help with possibly altering something on the menu ... Did you have people try and enter Oasis? Seems like a lot of people don't realize it's private so I'm curious. If you don't mind - how much did your party tip and to whom? I'm sure I'll think of more and thank you!!

[ShakyBeef]

I read a review not that long ago where a couple booked and ended up inviting some casino staff to join them, ha.

 

I already have it booked & paid so I'm all set with that. I've read many old reviews and just wondering if anything has changed regarding the food? My only concern is - two people with me are vegetarian and one vegan...sigh. Are the salads premade with dressing on them? Wondering if Carnival could help with possibly altering something on the menu ... Did you have people try and enter Oasis? Seems like a lot of people don't realize it's private so I'm curious. If you don't mind - how much did your party tip and to whom? I'm sure I'll think of more and thank you!!

 

 

I'm sorry it took me so long to reply. I had to wait for DH to send me some pictures.

 

 

Here's our first view of the PO as we approach the island in the morning, on the first tender:

 

 

 

Here's an early view from the PO, looking out over the empty-for-now beach:

 

 

 

 

Here's looking up at the PO from the water. DH blurred faces to protect the innocent.:p That's me in the goofy, floppy blue-and-white sunhat.

 

 

Yes, throughout the day, several people tried to enter the Private Oasis. The ramp from which we entered was not a problem: it had a sign on the closed gate stating that it was a private rental. The one couple that didn't seem to read the sign and proceeded through the gate was quickly turned away by our life guard (shown leaning on the rail in the above pic). He gave them a quick 'toot' of his whistle and then pointed them back out the gate with something called to them to the effect of: "This is private. You may not enter."

 

Several people did come up to the stairs that lead down to the water, though. There is a sign stating that it was private visible from the water on the side of the little hut beside the slide (blue sign, down low, to the right of the slide in the pic). But that would not be easily noticeable from the stairs in the water, which is where most people approached us from. I can see why people might think the PO was a tiki bar, open to all from it's appearance. And the water slide drew several parents with children over. An additional "Private" sign at the stairs would greatly help with this situation, IMO.

 

All of the people that did approach were turned away with the whistle and the clear statements from the lifeguard. Except for a few that were turned away (politely:o) by those of us that rented the PO. Several lifeguards took shifts on PO duty throughout the day. And one of them wasn't very quick to spot people as they tried to enter. I had to stop one girl who had already gotten as far as sitting on the steps, removing all her snorkel gear and starting up the stairs. Her friends were coming up behind her when I told her it was a private rental. In the lifeguard's defense, it's probably not a very easy job, playing lifeguard and bouncer at the same time. And the lifeguard positioned at the PO also had to watch over the entire swimming area near the PO, which at times had lots of people in it (not just us). So, as they say here on the Eastern Shore of MD, he had a lot on him.:p

 

Well, I guess this is going to turn into a partial review, after all. I'm going to do this in a few posts, to break up the pictures. Next up: food.

[ShakyBeef]

"...just wondering if anything has changed regarding the food? My only concern is - two people with me are vegetarian and one vegan...sigh. Are the salads premade with dressing on them? Wondering if Carnival could help with possibly altering something on the menu..."

 

The dishes were all premade. There were no lettuce-type salads. But there was a shrimp & bean salad, and what looked like German potato salad.

 

Here's the buffet spread that was provided:

 

 

For the tortilla chips, there was salsa, a guacamole dip, and a sour-cream based dip. There were brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Fresh fruit salad as well as whole fruit (not pictured: apples, pears, bananas, oranges), and I guess that far right bowl was another kind of cookie I'm not remembering.

 

Barbeque lunch offered was fish (mahi mahi), hamburger, cheeseburger, hot dog, or chicken. This was unlimited - you could order as much as you wanted. I just had the fish. It was dry but edible.:o DH had the fish, then the chicken. He said the chicken was actually pretty good.

 

Carnival may be able to alter the menu. But it looks like there is something for everyone in the spread they offered us. Maybe the vegan could bring a couple snacks along in case they aren't satisfied with the fruit and other items offered. I don't know if tortilla chips are vegan, but if so, the salsa, and guacamole with chips and fruit should all be 'safe' and satisfying.:) Good luck and enjoy!

 

Here's a few more shots of the PO...

 

 

 

The Ceiling Décor:

 

 

 

The Bar:

 

 

 

The Restroom Doors and Bar:

 

 

One more post coming after this one...

[ShakyBeef]

...If you don't mind - how much did your party tip and to whom? I'm sure I'll think of more and thank you!!

 

I don't usually discuss tip amounts, but I'll make an exception, because I wondered about whom and how much to tip before we went to the PO, too. And it would have been nice to find more input on the subject here on CC. If I had simply asked, like you, I might have gotten some answers.

 

Everyone in the group handled tipping individually or as couples. We didn't discuss the amounts with each other (at least not in any conversation for which I was present). At the end of the day, DH and I gave the bartender $20. And we also gave $65 to the lady that seemed to be working the hardest and asked her to 'share it with everyone who took care of us'. That's all we said - we left it totally up to her how much to share. By then, most of them had left but she was still there taking care of us. If we were the average tippers in our group, I'd say the Carnival Team that took care of us at the Private Oasis (in what several of them freely admitted was the best job on the island;)) had a pretty good day.

 

I wondered if we should tip the lifeguards, but in the end, didn't. This may have been the wrong choice. I wrestled with it a bit then and still do, a little. I didn't want to insult them by tipping them - I've never heard of lifeguards being tipped before. But I also didn't want to deny them money to which they might have been looking forward. I hope I didn't make the wrong choice.:( I made myself feel better about not tipping by remembering that I had swum out with my snorkel gear on all the way to just past the swimming area rope and searched for (and recovered!:D) the two pairs of sunglasses our main lifeguard had lost when his kayak flipped over while he was on kayak duty, earlier in the day. That took some effort on my part and the glasses would have cost him money to replace. So that's kinda like a tip, right?:o Also, several of us were giving fruit (at their request) and soft drinks and bottled water to the lifeguards throughout the day. So they got some 'perks' if not tips.:o I do wish I had known what the norm was for tips and PO lifeguards, though. I hope this helps.

 

One last picture...

 

The hot tub deck (below the main 'building' deck level, and not covered by the roof of the 'building'). The sandy area with the clam shell loungers can be seen in the background. The sandy area does not connect to the water. It's just sand spread out on a little terrace behind the PO. It was nice to have this other "beachy" dimension to the PO. The edge of the stairs leading up to the main area can just be seen in the right of this picture.

 

 

I hope this info and these pictures helped. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[cb at sea]

I have never heard of tipping lifeguards, so I think you did right. Not everyone you come into contact with is a "tipped" employee...

[ShakyBeef]

I have never heard of tipping lifeguards, so I think you did right. Not everyone you come into contact with is a "tipped" employee...

 

Thanks.:) That makes me feel better.:o I knew the lifeguards weren't Carnival crew; they were locals (from Exuma). But I also know that the Bahamian economy is mostly based on tourism and so many Bahamians work essentially for tips, supplementing low incomes. So I didn't want to short them. But when I likened it to an American lifeguard position, I couldn't imagine tipping them. I thought it might be insulting to someone in that position, like tipping a security guard or an EMT. So I just decided to err on the side of not insulting, but possibly looking cheap.:o

[ShakyBeef]

An interesting (to me, anyway:p) detail:

 

Our bartender (shown in the light blue polo shirt behind the bar) was Dante. His "regular" job is as the bartender at the crew bar. Passengers would normally never meet him. He's a friendly guy and described "his bar" to us and the hustle that is required to satisfy the constant demands from fellow crewmembers each night. He says he has to put up with a lot of attitude delivered in many different accents.:p So serving a limited drink menu to just 13 guests at the peaceful PO was almost like taking a break compared to his usual gig (although, of course, he had to go back to that usual gig that very night:rolleyes::o).

 

DH and I mentioned that we would be taking the Behind The Fun Tour later in that cruise and he said "Then you'll see my bar!:D". And we did. Neat place.:) I could easily imagine the place packed with hard-working, hard-partying crew.