Live From Oasis of the Seas 2/18-2/25!

[jam19872016]

8 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I do believe that the pushy vendors are located in the shopping village (the market)

Thanks! I'll be sure to avoid that area.

[jam19872016]

I'm further along in the planning stages than last time. Packing is already done, and I didn't even have any help from my feline friends this time! Parking is done-ish, I'm just going to park at the port. Planning to park at Terminal B and walk to Terminal A. I have heard they charge $35 a day to park at A. I have heard it is still $25. I am not sure what it correct anymore, but I know Terminal B is $22 a day which is already insanity but it is what it is. 

 

Check in is done, I secured a 3-3:30 check-in. Umm ok, going to gamble on showing up early and see what happens. Don't be like me, but if you do, I have never had a problem showing up in Miami early if you come early enough. They do have the sings up to sort by boarding time, so probably at some point when they get backed up you will need to wait for your boarding time, but in my experience it is a large terminal and showing up early is ok. YMMV.

[DeanDeeDee]

Looking forward to folloing you on your next cruise.  I've never been to any of the ports that you will be visiting, accept Nassau.  Can't wait to see how much you like them.

[#55worktoplay]

Joining in and looking forward to it.
 

Oasis was my least favourite Liberty was most favourite but Harmony was up there on the good side. I am going on Utopia next year.   I really want to go on Odyssey but haven’t looked too much at it. 

 

Have a great cruise. 

[exlondoner]

Faint but pursuing, I am much looking forward to reading about your next trip on a ship I would never consider. Along with the ‘Why?’ moments, there will also be quite a number of ‘That looks really nice’ moments, and many things of interest. You will probably need a whole paragraph to explain the dining options to the ignorant (ie me).

Edited February 16 by exlondoner

[StanleyandGus]

18 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

In total, I was down to 198.8 when I started my 56 day adventure in September. Over 100 LBS lost from my starting weight.

Congratulations on your weight loss- many of us know how difficult that can be!

[happy cruzer]

For lower calories, fish/seafood is your friend :).  Can't wait for the food pictures!  Enjoy every minute!

[jam19872016]

13 hours ago, DeanDeeDee said:

Looking forward to folloing you on your next cruise.  I've never been to any of the ports that you will be visiting, accept Nassau.  Can't wait to see how much you like them.

Thanks for following along!

 

12 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Joining in and looking forward to it.
 

Oasis was my least favourite Liberty was most favourite but Harmony was up there on the good side. I am going on Utopia next year.   I really want to go on Odyssey but haven’t looked too much at it. 

 

Have a great cruise. 

I love Oasis but I do think Harmony is my favorite of the three in the class I have sailed. I've sailed all the Freedom class and I think Liberty was my least favorite. It surely needed the upgrades that got canceled in 2020. Nothing major, but it was certainly not as inviting as her sisters and I missed Playmakers. Sabor was nice though.

 

I did Odyssey and I enjoyed it a lot. Very nice ship. However, that was at about 40% capacity and I couldn't help but notice how many choke points there were on the ship. I am not sure I would love it as much as full capacity. Royal usually does a great job of spreading people out so their ships don't feel crowded, but that did not seem to be the case on Odyssey.

[jam19872016]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Faint but pursuing, I am much looking forward to reading about your next trip on a ship I would never consider. Along with the ‘Why?’ moments, there will also be quite a number of ‘That looks really nice’ moments, and many things of interest. You will probably need a whole paragraph to explain the dining options to the ignorant (ie me).

Glad to have you along again! There will be many opportunities to check on salt and pepper shakers. I will be enjoying dinner in four different venues this cruise 😁.  I wonder if they will all have their own style ?

[jam19872016]

25 minutes ago, StanleyandGus said:

Congratulations on your weight loss- many of us know how difficult that can be!

Thank you! It has not been easy but I am so happy that I've been able to make it work.

 

14 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

For lower calories, fish/seafood is your friend :).  Can't wait for the food pictures!  Enjoy every minute!

I love seafood so that is probably something that has helped. I can't wait to have all those yummy foods in front of me to photograph because that means I will be eating them 😋

[jam19872016]

Unlimited Dining Plan:

 

Copy and pasting the official verbiage for the uninitiated then I'll follow up with non technical speak

 

Overview

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package. For one low price, enjoy specialty dining every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing. Please see Important Details and Advisements for more information.

Highlights

• Enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

What's Included

• Specialty dining every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days.
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit, which can only be used once a day.
• For ships with this venue, Izumi Sushi is a prix fixe menu or $39.99 food credit.
• For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $15 surcharge, and Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.
• For applicable sailings, Holiday Celebration Dinners are included with a surcharge.

Important details and advisements

• Beverages are not included.
• Child pricing applies to children between the ages of 6-12. Children ages 0-5 are complimentary. Children must order from the kids menu.
• A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing.
• All additional reservations or changes to your courtesy reservation must be made once onboard at any specialty restaurant.
• Not valid for: Wine Pairing Dinners, Taste of Royal, Culinary Activities, and Main Dining Room premium items.

 

 

[jam19872016]

Someone on this board once summed it up pretty nicely. For those who want an elevated food experience on a mass market line, this gives them an option to pay a little more money for their cruise and enjoy better food while still allowing those fine with the basic offerings the chance to enjoy a lower cruise fare.

 

I'm paraphrasing and probably misquoting, but that was the general point of the comment and I could not agree more.

 

I do like their new menus and think it is better than the old ones, but of the cruise lines I have sailed, I would rank included food on Royal to be 2nd to last only ahead of MSC. 

 

Specialty dining is much better, but overpriced when you consider that you have already paid for your food in your cruise fare. I love the idea of an unlimited option that is at a better price point than paying individually. I'd love to see Carnival come out with something similar, I would be interested if the price was decent.

 

My price point used to be $30 p/d. If it went over that, I didn't buy it. Needless to say I stopped buying it for a while. I got it again last year when it was at about $32 (on Oasis coincidentally). I was prepared to spend $35 maybe even as much as $40 to enjoy it again this week because I really wanted it and I have not sailed with Royal in a while. It was priced at almost $47 a day and there was just no way that I could justify that so I figured I would make do with the included options.

 

Royal constantly runs "sales" but not really. I still check and I found one that claimed to specifically be a sale on dining options. Low and behold we had a real sale and I found it for just under $36 a day. Still a little high, but I went ahead and pulled the trigger. 

[exlondoner]

17 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Glad to have you along again! There will be many opportunities to check on salt and pepper shakers. I will be enjoying dinner in four different venues this cruise 😁.  I wonder if they will all have their own style ?

It will be fascinating, as, of course, will be pineapple reports. For something termed unlimited, the dining plan has a fair number of exclusions.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Someone on this board once summed it up pretty nicely. For those who want an elevated food experience on a mass market line, this gives them an option to pay a little more money for their cruise and enjoy better food while still allowing those fine with the basic offerings the chance to enjoy a lower cruise fare.

 

I'm paraphrasing and probably misquoting, but that was the general point of the comment and I could not agree more.

 

I do like their new menus and think it is better than the old ones, but of the cruise lines I have sailed, I would rank included food on Royal to be 2nd to last only ahead of MSC. 

 

Specialty dining is much better, but overpriced when you consider that you have already paid for your food in your cruise fare. I love the idea of an unlimited option that is at a better price point than paying individually. I'd love to see Carnival come out with something similar, I would be interested if the price was decent.

 

My price point used to be $30 p/d. If it went over that, I didn't buy it. Needless to say I stopped buying it for a while. I got it again last year when it was at about $32 (on Oasis coincidentally). I was prepared to spend $35 maybe even as much as $40 to enjoy it again this week because I really wanted it and I have not sailed with Royal in a while. It was priced at almost $47 a day and there was just no way that I could justify that so I figured I would make do with the included options.

 

Royal constantly runs "sales" but not really. I still check and I found one that claimed to specifically be a sale on dining options. Low and behold we had a real sale and I found it for just under $36 a day. Still a little high, but I went ahead and pulled the trigger. 

If you don’t pay, I assume you get access to waiter service in the main dining room, which I seem to remember is an impressive room, and a number of buffets. Is that right?

[jam19872016]

Some of the exclusions don't match up in practice to the official verbiage. 

 

I have always been able to dine at a specialty any time it is open, not just on sea days as the terms say. There is some question if that is still true on another thread, but I will be testing that out and reporting on both that thread and this one. I hope it is still the case as that is an important factor when determining value.

 

I have also never had a "courtesy reservation" but make a point to make all my reservations as soon as I board the ship. I have never had a problem getting what I wanted but I do book early and prefer to eat early anyway.

 

The $20 food credit at Playmakers and Portside BBQ will be tough. Playmakers I think I will be ok, the food portions are insane and I can make it work. Portside is going to be a challenge. I don't find much I would be intrested in under $20. Everything I would order as a combination totals just over the limit. It may not be able to stand as a meal on it's own, time will tell.

 

The sushi prix fixe menu is plenty of food, even though some of the rolls are now only served as half rolls to those on unlimited dining. I was offered more if I was still hungry but I was good, and I am not a light eater by any means.

[jam19872016]

5 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It will be fascinating, as, of course, will be pineapple reports. For something termed unlimited, the dining plan has a fair number of exclusions.

I am not certain, but I believe the pineapple thing started on Royal. I certainly remember reading about it here before anywhere else. I have packed my pineapple shirt just in case 😅.

 

Lots of exclusions indeed. It used to be called Ultimate Dining, then they changed it to Unlimited and it truly was almost completely unlimited with only a few minor exclusions. Some of them had workarounds, like the $20 limit at playmakers (when it was honestly difficult to order $20) you could simply close your tab and start a new one. Now it is one visit per day so no cheating that rule. 

 

Slowly it has lost its value while the price for it has gone up. I would not get this every time, the value has just been eroded, but for the occasional treat I do enjoy the indulgence!

 

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

If you don’t pay, I assume you get access to waiter service in the main dining room, which I seem to remember is an impressive room, and a number of buffets. Is that right?

That is correct. And on this class of ship there are a few other options for included dining which I will peak into throughout the week. Purely for inclusion in the review, I won't be using up valuable stomach space 🙂

 

[jam19872016]

I've never really been the "make a list" type. I prefer to mostly wing it, sometimes to my own detriment. 

 

It's not a fancy spreadsheet type list, but I did make a tentative plan for my meals throughout the week. I will admit, I even enjoyed making the list.

 

Edited February 16 by jam19872016

[ninjacat123]

6 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I've never really been the "make a list" type. I prefer to mostly wing it, sometimes to my own detriment. 

 

It's not a fancy spreadsheet type list, but I did make a tentative plan for my meals throughout the week. I will admit, I even enjoyed making the list.

 

Now you need to look at the menus and plan what you're ordering...just kidding. Kinda. That is something I would do😉

Edited February 16 by ninjacat123

[jam19872016]

Weight today came in at -0.2 which doesn't sound great but I truly expected a gain. I used all my calories yesterday as I was home all day, and I had a big loss yesterday so to post another loss, even a small one, is fantastic. 

 

Steps were not good, I'm allowed two rest days a week and I took one.

 

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I've never really been the "make a list" type. I prefer to mostly wing it, sometimes to my own detriment. 

 

It's not a fancy spreadsheet type list, but I did make a tentative plan for my meals throughout the week. I will ait, I even enjoyed making the list.

 

There seem to be a number of repetitions. I had assumed that every meal would be in a different gourmet(ish) venue.

[jam19872016]

3 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Now you need to look at the menus and plan what you're ordering...just kidding. Kinda. That is something I would do😉

I didn't commit it to list, but I did that too 😅

 

Mushroom risotto and filet for lunch with chocolate hazelnut cake for dessert.

 

For dinner beet salad and short rib starter, pan seared halibut, then either fried cheesecake or peanut butter tart for dessert, maybe both if I have room. And two urban garden martinis. 

[ninjacat123]

Just now, jam19872016 said:

I didn't commit it to list, but I did that too 😅

 

Mushroom risotto and filet for lunch with chocolate hazelnut cake for dessert.

 

For dinner beet salad and short rib starter, pan seared halibut, then either fried cheesecake or peanut butter tart for dessert, maybe both if I have room. And two urban garden martinis. 

Sounds delish except the beet salad.  Beets taste like dirt to me😅

[jam19872016]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

There seem to be a number of repetitions. I had assumed that every meal would be in a different gourmet(ish) venue.

You are limited by the number of venues to choose from. I hit them all at least once. 150 Central Park is my favorite so I hit that one three times. Some ships have more options, but most have less which is another reason why the price I got it for on this ship was worth the price. 

 

Some ships only have three choices total 😮

 

 

[jam19872016]

1 minute ago, ninjacat123 said:

Sounds delish except the beet salad.  Beets taste like dirt to me😅

Probably the only salad I will eat next week. Salad is not a good description but I suppose it makes people feel healthy to order it. It's mainly finely chopped beets and goat cheese. It is so amazing though but if you don't like beets (or goat cheese) it would not be something you enjoy. 

 

As @exlondoner will confirm, I will be happy to eat your portion. Just set it next to her eggs and fisherman's pie 🙂

 

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Probably the only salad I will eat next week. Salad is not a good description but I suppose it makes people feel healthy to order it. It's mainly finely chopped beets and goat cheese. It is so amazing though but if you don't like beets (or goat cheese) it would not be something you enjoy. 

 

As @exlondoner will confirm, I will be happy to eat your portion. Just set it next to her eggs and fisherman's pie 🙂

 

What a memory. The joys of youth.

😀😀