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Back from Oasis 5/23: helpful hints

Caribbean Allan
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Caribbean Allan

Caribbean Allan

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Hi,

 

These forums have many hints that have been given over and over and over again by so many thoughtful, generous-with-their-time past cruisers. I will only list a couple of smaller hints that you may have missed amongst all the posts:

 

1. Yes, if you have multiple electronics that must be charged, you need to bring provisions for charging them, as there is only one outlet in your room, and one in the bathroom. One of our party had their power strip confiscated, and the other of our party got to keep theirs. We also brought a lightweight, 12' long extension cord that had 3 outlets on the tip. The extension cord is handy. On my next trip, I will bring the same 12' extension cord, and will bring a smaller tri-tap to plug into the end of the extension cord, in lieu of the power strip. No chance of that being confiscated.

 

2. There are multiple posts on the forums telling you which restaurants are included as complimentary, and which ones are for a fee. They say which deck they are on, etc. I felt overwhelmed with all this information. But really, once you get on the ship the first afternoon, and use an elevator, which YOU WILL use, shortly after getting on the ship, you will find that it is almost impossible to miss an illuminated, interactive display near the elevator lobby. Push the button if you want dining information that will answer these questions. Push another button, and it will electronically draw you a map on how to get there from where you are now. Same thing for entertainment, or any other activity venue. It will even draw a map to show you how to get to your stateroom, show reservations "box office", public restroom, or medical facility. So no need to fret and get overwhelmed like I did! Just know that the information is available 24/7 at your fingertips near any elevator lobby.

 

3. Yes, the roast beef sandwiches in the Park Café in Central Park, deck 8, REALLY ARE THAT GOOD. For such a simple sandwich with bread, roast beef, au-jus, as I like it....... WOW! A couple of other condiments are available, too. But I like it with just the best au-jus that I've ever had in my life. Everything in the Park Café is always free.

 

4. As you may have read, the schedule of food, events and entertainment are always shown on the "cruise compass" which is given to you when you board, and is delivered to your stateroom each night. What you may not know, is that the electronic version of the cruise compass, which is on your stateroom TV, is updated as necessary. Schedules do change. We found that a children's movie that was scheduled for be showed one night on the outside big-screen by the Aqua Theater, was moved to the Opal Theater on the opposite end of the ship, (several hundred yards away). In it's place, they showed an ESPN Live NBA playoffs game. You would never know that in advance without reading the TV version of the compass.

 

5. Yes, for the millionth time you've read this: In the main dining room, on formal night, you will feel much more comfortable about fitting in with the crowd if the gentleman wore a suit and tie, and the ladies wore a formal dress. Even a New Years Eve sparkly formal attire would be perfect. But yes, there will be a few men with only a shirt and tie, and 1 man in a thousand will wear his best new jeans. But everyone will be looking at you if you do that, so if you don't like attention, at least wear a tie and slacks. But yes, you could do it and won't get kicked off the boat, because there are no clothing police, other than everyone else's eyes...

 

6. The time zone in St Thomas is the same as Ft Lauderdale, and is also our ship time. This would only matter to you if you made your own, off-shore excursions (not through Royal Caribbean), like we did. Our tour operator emphasized that they will meet us on the dock Local time, not ship time. Well, for us, on the Oasis Of the Seas 7-night out of Ft Lauderdale, the time zones were the same.

 

7. If you want to use your soda-package insulated drink cup all week, I would recommend bringing 3 oz of dishwashing liquid. But sodas can be had all day long from many places for free in a fresh, clean, albeit non-insulated, cup.

Although not required, I did tip the bartenders $1 for each soda in a cup or glass. But using the soda-package drink cup at a self-service machine avoided that $1 tip. The problem is, there really aren't that many self-service machines around to fill that cup up. So bring dollar bills is you are the type to tip for soda.

 

8. My girlfriend had grand ideas about sleeping with our Superior Ocean View Balcony sliding glass door open. She thought the sounds of the outside would lull her to sleep. She readily agreed that we could not sleep with the sliding door open because it was just too hot outside, even at night. So she plugged in her high quality sound machine, which simulates the sound of a fan which she uses at home. She was happy as a baby to have the door closed, and thus the A/C operational. Yes, there is room for a table top fan, if you wanted to pack one. For those of you going, "huh?", you have never met someone who absolutely, positively MUST have a fan to sleep! These people take their fans seriously! LOL.

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Caribbean Allan

Caribbean Allan

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The security guard told me my power strip was confiscated because it's a fire hazard. He also told me that the probable reason that the power strip was not confiscated from the other person in our party, was that it was probably missed on the X-ray machine.

 

Note: I forgot to put in my other post, that my 4" long pointy scissors was confiscated, too. I didn't ask Security why. I should have though. After all, there are honest to goodness metal steak knives all over the ship that could do more damage to someone or something than my scissors. LOL. Anyway, I got my scissors and power strip back from Customs after I got off the ship. After YOU get off the ship, pass through Customs, and go OUTSIDE of the terminal building, you can ask any security guard where to get confiscated items. They will point you to an area 100 yards to the north of the main entrance/exit of the terminal building.

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alocsin

alocsin

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The security guard told me my power strip was confiscated because it's a fire hazard. He also told me that the probable reason that the power strip was not confiscated from the other person in our party, was that it was probably missed on the X-ray machine.

 

Note: I forgot to put in my other post, that my 4" long pointy scissors was confiscated, too. I didn't ask Security why. I should have though. After all, there are honest to goodness metal steak knives all over the ship that could do more damage to someone or something than my scissors. LOL. Anyway, I got my scissors and power strip back from Customs after I got off the ship. After YOU get off the ship, pass through Customs, and go OUTSIDE of the terminal building, you can ask any security guard where to get confiscated items. They will point you to an area 100 yards to the north of the main entrance/exit of the terminal building.

So power strips are generally not allowed?

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Sherri914

Sherri914

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There is an outlet under the bed that most people miss. It's accessible, just not super convenient. If you have a C-Pap or an alarm clock, it would work with this outlet. There's also an outlet on the desk/vanity area. The outlet in the bathroom - unless this was changed during dry dock - is not a standard outlet. It's some sort of weird men's shaver outlet as I recall.

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brillohead "Live from...." Rare

brillohead

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great tips - thanks! Do you recall what the time difference was while in St. Maarten and Nassau? We have a private excursion to book in St. Maarten and I'm getting confused about what time to choose. thanks!

 

It's always announced in the Cruise Compass and as you're getting off the ship in every port if there is a difference between "local time" and "ship's time".

 

Don't stress about it now -- just ask if you don't see the information when you're on board.

 

Also, virtually all the private tour operators are extremely familiar with the ship's schedule -- this is how they make their living every day -- so you really don't need to worry about it if you're on an excursion, private or ship. The people who end up missing the boat are the ones who literally did their own thing with a taxicab.

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Grandma Dazzles

Grandma Dazzles

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great tips - thanks! Do you recall what the time difference was while in St. Maarten and Nassau? We have a private excursion to book in St. Maarten and I'm getting confused about what time to choose. thanks!

 

 

Make sure you use a watch that is set to ship's time. People often make the mistake of using their phone as a clock, which often changes automatically to island time, which is not necessarily ship's time.

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nelblu

nelblu

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There is an outlet under the bed that most people miss. It's accessible, just not super convenient. If you have a C-Pap or an alarm clock, it would work with this outlet. There's also an outlet on the desk/vanity area. The outlet in the bathroom - unless this was changed during dry dock - is not a standard outlet. It's some sort of weird men's shaver outlet as I recall.

 

It's adaptable for European/US voltage.

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nelblu

nelblu

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Those were moved to the top of the desk like on other ships.

 

Great, as this was one of my gripes when I sailed on Oasis. So in essence, you've got 2 at the desk and 1 in the bathroom--standard as other ships.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Great, as this was one of my gripes when I sailed on Oasis. So in essence, you've got 2 at the desk and 1 in the bathroom--standard as other ships.

As I recall, there were 3 US outlets above the desk.

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sailor05

sailor05

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If you want to use your soda-package insulated drink cup all week, I would recommend bringing 3 oz of dishwashing liquid. But sodas can be had all day long from many places for free in a fresh, clean, albeit non-insulated, cup.

 

 

Instead of doing this, I'm taking these new Bounty paper towels that has Dawn dish washing liquid fused into them. This way I have the soap and cloth to wash these and whatever else may need it.

 

Thanks Bob!

Edited by sailor05
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Sherri914

Sherri914

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No adapter needed. It is a combo US/Euro jack.

 

Are you talking about the one in the bathroom being a Euro/US jack? I don't remember any standard American outlet in the bathrooms (meaning one that could perhaps be used for a curling iron). Was this done with dry dock?

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Clarea

Clarea

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Are you talking about the one in the bathroom being a Euro/US jack? I don't remember any standard American outlet in the bathrooms (meaning one that could perhaps be used for a curling iron). Was this done with dry dock?

Yes, I'm referring to the single US/Euro power outlet in the bathroom for electric shavers only.

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johnbob7

johnbob7

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6. The time zone in St Thomas is the same as Ft Lauderdale, and is also our ship time. This would only matter to you if you made your own, off-shore excursions (not through Royal Caribbean), like we did. Our tour operator emphasized that they will meet us on the dock Local time, not ship time. Well, for us, on the Oasis Of the Seas 7-night out of Ft Lauderdale, the time zones were the same.

 

Note that this is only true when Florida is on daylight savings time. The rest of the year Florida and ship time are one hour behind at Thomas and at Martin

 

Bobj

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