Live quick and dirty from Oasis

[gsuoumu]

togenic review coming, but just wanted to check in with some early thoughts. Early 30s married couple, no children.

 

Wrapping up Day 4 and our first port day at St Maarten. Embarkation was an absolute breeze. Through the entire terminal in ~15 minutes.

 

We're on 8702 Starboard Aft oceanview balcony. Our first ever oceanview balcony and going forward for us we both agree it's not a deal breaker. It's nice to have, but we feel like we would be fine without it if we had an inside cabin. We haven't really used it all that much. Would basically pay for our drink packages by doing an inside cabin.

 

That being said, we love Deck 8. We're very close to Dazzles and Central Park which is convenience for two major reasons: 1) My wife drinks soda a lot and Dazzles cup refills are easy to accomplish and 2) Park Cafe Kummelweck. I thought this thing would be a disappointment. And it's not the best sandwich I've ever had or anything, but I've eaten at least one every day so far. It's really actually very good. So we recommend Deck 8 highly.

 

We were one of the people that left Cats at intermission. I know a lot of people probably love it. We just aren't one of you.

 

We do not do specialty dining so no info there. We've been mostly pleased with the MDR food so far. My prime rib on night 1 was very good. My wife is generally hard to please because she doesn't eat anything besides chicken and select cuts of beef. But she enjoyed her beef tenderloin on Night 2 and I enjoyed my duck as well. We did Windjammer on Night 3 because we wanted to stay in our 4th of July tshirts and shorts and unlike the masses don't feel like a tshirt and shorts is okay for the MDR (No judging, we just can't do it ourselves).

 

 

Comedy Show was amazing. Mike Pace and Cary Long or maybe I have those names reversed. Mike Pace (the bigger guy) was hilarious but you're definitely gonna want to not be easily offended.

 

 

Oasis of Dreams was spectacular as well.

 

 

4th of July Celebration was really kinda awful. Just the house band playing for 30 minutes, a singer from Cats doing the national anthem and then the balloon drop. Not at all like last years on Freedom which was amazing - they had patriotic music playing from the band, everyone was singing, having a blast, then a professional singer sang two or three songs, and then the balloon drop. Kinda disappointing.

 

 

Service has been top notch but we are admittedly low maintenance. We actually enjoy being left alone. But the servers have been very attentive and moreso in the Windjammer than I remember in the past. I was worried about getting a lot of upsell stuff. And yes, it's prevalent - ESPECIALLY on Day 1. But here's the thing... every time I've just smiled and said "No, thank you" they've left me alone. So I don't mind it a bit.

 

 

WiFi a bit spotty, but generally good enough.

 

 

I know it's asked a lot: The 10 drink card was being sold today.

 

 

Like I said, more full review with some photos will come after the cruise. But I'm here and had a bit. I'll try to keep poking in the rest of the week.

[gsuoumu]

Almost forgot: We did a Discover Scuba Diving with Octopus Diving in St Maarten today. Best experience of my life. They were spectacular through the entire process. Willing to work with our time restraints, communicated very well through e-mail, handled payment well, didn't upsell and treated us first timers with respect and care. We lucked out I suppose and were the only two booked so we got a very personal experience. The dropped us right back off at the boat as well. A terrific trip, cheaper than on the boat and probably much better as it was more personal. I can't recommend them enough.

[spender]

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[hollygtn]

Have not heard anyone talk about beds lately. How hard was your bed? Considering bringing a topper.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Will be following your live updates. Enjoy your cruise!

[gsuoumu]

Have not heard anyone talk about beds lately. How hard was your bed? Considering bringing a topper.

 

 

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Absolutely no issues here in that regard. Bed is very nice.

 

It does tend to be a little warm for us. Not anything unmanageable, but we have both been warm at night. We usually prefer it around 70 at our house.

[OCSC Mike]

Have not heard anyone talk about beds lately. How hard was your bed? Considering bringing a topper.

 

Hi again,

 

FWIW, ours was hard as a rock last month (which I love but obviously some people do not). My SIL got extra foam egg crate toppers from the cabin attendant to soften theirs. I'm sure it's possible different cabins have different mattresses but figured I'd share. This was ocean view balcony 9612 for the record.

 

Do what you gotta do, we need your husband to help keep stuff dry on the swim/wade into the beach for lunch Thursday and we don't want him to have a bad back or be in a bad mood. :)

[gsuoumu]

Headliner Show last night was an acapella group named Mo5aic. They were very entertaining and we enjoyed that a lot.

 

Dinner was spectacular in the MDR again. We both had the beef short rib. I had the french onion soup and enjoyed it as well. On Night 2 they actually moved us to a different table in Silk on Deck 5. We liked the table but the service just wasn't as good. I filled out one of the smiley comment cards and said we'd prefer to be back with our original waiter and when we were seated back there last night our server was very welcoming and seemed delighted we were back. We don't love the table or the location, but the servers are amazing and that's the top priority for us.

 

80's Dance Party was last night. We arrived about halfway through it. Didn't dance but those who did seemed to be having a good time. We were there to do the Battle of the Sexes competition which was immediately following. It was awful. I hate to be a complainer, but the CD and AD on this ship don't seem to be nearly as funny or entertaining as I've seen on other ships. Casey (Last name?) from Freedom and his accompanying AD last year were amazing. Every one of these late night activities were amazing and a ton of fun. The AD this year (Mo) just isn't funny and the show last night seemed sorta unorganized compared to the way it's been in years past and especially on Freedom last year. We really enjoy laughing at people that are brave enough to do The Quest and I'm sorta concerned it won't be that good this year because the execution hasn't been there this year. We'll see.

 

Did San Juan today. The early departure is a real bummer. Unless you're willing to get up early - and we're definitely not! It's vacation! - it really puts a damper on the day. By time we got up and had breakfast and relaxed for a bit we only had 3 hours left. We walked around a bit just to see the city, but I wish we had stayed on the ship.

 

And the casino has taken way too much of our money.

[hollygtn]

Hi again,

 

 

 

FWIW, ours was hard as a rock last month (which I love but obviously some people do not). My SIL got extra foam egg crate toppers from the cabin attendant to soften theirs. I'm sure it's possible different cabins have different mattresses but figured I'd share. This was ocean view balcony 9612 for the record.

 

 

 

Do what you gotta do, we need your husband to help keep stuff dry on the swim/wade into the beach for lunch Thursday and we don't want him to have a bad back or be in a bad mood. :)

 

 

 

LOL. I'm worried about his back and my mood. Do you think the beds pushed together are more of a queen or a king? It is *only* $40 to bring a queen eggshell. But honestly if they will bring a topper it might be better and less hassle.

 

 

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[OCSC Mike]

LOL. I'm worried about his back and my mood. Do you think the beds pushed together are more of a queen or a king? It is *only* $40 to bring a queen eggshell. But honestly if they will bring a topper it might be better and less hassle.

 

We can't have that, lol.

 

It did take the cabin attendant a little while to find available egg crates but once he did my SIL (who has a bad back) was much happier.

 

As for the size of the bed, I'd say it's kinda in between a king and queen. It'd definitely wider than a queen but not quite a king. The bottom is also a curved shape, not a square/rectangle, so it's slightly longer in the middle.

 

Also, the egg crates they have are for one single bed (i.e. you need one per person).