TripleU

Thank you. It seems like the 5th person is always where the hotels want me to find two rooms when searching rates online. Thank you for the good information.

Just put 2 adults and 2 kids. Most hotels don't care. Even the suite at Hilton Garden wouldn't allow 5 even though there were enough beds. We happened to be traveling with my parents, so I registered one kid on their room, but they arrived 5 hours after we did and the hotel didn't say anything about 5 people in our room even though we were quite obvious about it.

We are 2 adults and 3 kids too. When we were on the Oasis last month, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in a suite. It had 2 queen beds and a fold out couch. It worked perfectly. It also had a fridge and coffee maker. The shuttle from the airport to the hotel is free. There is a Chipotle, McDonalds and Burger King right there and there's a KMart and Big Lots across the street to buy last minute items and a cheap case of water to take on. When we checked in, I asked the front desk person to arrange for a taxi for us at 10a. We came down at 10, and our taxi was waiting for us (amazing service). It was about $22 including tip. They also have a shuttle from the hotel, but it's $10pp. I was not going to pay $50 to get to the pier, and it's much slower. We loved this hotel. Our rate was $209, but it was a very busy weekend and many hotels were sold out, so that rate may have been high.

AND, we could see the ship from our room (6th floor). It was in the distance, but we could see it. A lovely way to wake up!

I have 3 kids too. We ate in the MDR on sea days and Wipeout Cafe on port days. There were maybe 5 families at Wipeout. Not crowded at all, and they have a full breakfast buffet including made to order eggs and omelets.

I've wondered the same thing. I feel like they're impossible to redeem for RCI with the "new booking" restriction. Following.....

I don't think it was open for lunch. We were up there for sail away, and there was a buffet in the suite lounge side - appetizer stuff. I'm not sure when they put it out though.

My 71yo mother tried it last month. She loved it. On her last try, she wiped out pretty hard. Her only complaint though was that she got water up her nose.

These guys were on the Oasis too. I'm not sure who they are. I thought they were from Brave, but that's Disney so I don't know who they are.

I have 5 year triplets, and they sat through the entire 2.5 hour show in April without a single complaint. They loved it (as did I, but I had already seen it on Broadway). How is it that a bunch of adults whine and complain about sitting through a musical when preschoolers have no issue with it? Why would they shorten the musical? It is what it is. If you don't want to see it, then don't go. Also, how is it confusing? One of the Cats clearly explains exactly what's going on in the beginning of the show. It's only confusing if you don't speak English.

Use Jiffy Jeff. Excellent service. I think it was $17pp when we went last August.

There's a buffet in the CL too. In the afternoon there are things like wings, coconut shrimp, calamari, bruschetta, cheese sticks, assorted cheese and other hot items (changes from day to day). Mostly appetizer stuff. I think they also have a continental breakfast set up, but we never made it up there for breakfast. It's all one room, but the buffet is different from eating at Coastal Kitchen. I recently posted a panorama photo of the room. There are also juices, water and coffee. Wine and beer are free from 11a-11p. Free cocktails are available in the late afternoon/early evening.

Just to clarify for anyone wanting info on 9642 in the future. The only potential noise related to kids is on the balcony. The part of the RFS that shares a wall with 9642 is the "master" bedroom, which is a JS within the RFS and only sleeps 2. In the majority of cases, the kids won't be in that part of the suite. There is a small interior bedroom that sleeps 4 and shares a wall with the hallway and the cabin on the other side that is not on the hump (the kids and I shared this room). That interior bedroom is right next to the bathroom of the neighboring cabin, and I had the pleasure of hearing the neighboring cabin's toilet flush right next to my head all night.

Balcony noise can be an issue anywhere on the ship. My father complained that he went out on our balcony early one morning to enjoy the sound of the ocean and the sunrise. He was instead confronted with the incredibly loud snoring of someone sleeping on their balcony. Balcony noise comes in many forms.

We were just in 9642. Great balcony. Only downside is the proximity to family suite. Kids tend to be noisy.

I guess those were my kids. Sorry about that.

Good advice, but there were dozens of people getting on during muster. And one family getting off. Strange

Based on the other thread, I guess we were at the same muster station. I saw the same thing and was confused why they were even letting those people on. And there were a lot of them!

We were just on the Oasis in 9644 - right next door. The balcony is much deeper on the hump, and we loved it. I thought deck 9 was fine. I didn't have any complaints. I would stay on deck 9, if I were you.

Our friends are in a Owners Suite with MTD. There are three couples sailing together. Can our friends in the suite book dinner reservations for all 6 of us or do we book separately with the same time and all show up together. We were not able to all get the early dining time. Thanks

What Bob said is correct about making the reservation for all if they're linked. That being said, if you don't link the reservations and you each make separate MTD reservations, you may just need to wait slightly longer on the first night for your table of 6. Every night thereafter, you'll have the same table and waiters. Just be sure to have the person in the suite check in. That should help with eliminating any wait (every night).

Wow those helipads aren't just there to look pretty then.

During our bridge tour on the Oasis, the captain told us that helicopters rarely actually land on the ship because they're too heavy. Instead they hover and drop a basket to pick up the patient. Interesting.

Good info, thanks! For the Oasis, do you recall how many months before the cruise that you were able to make reservations for shows or specialty dinners?

 

Thanks again.

It opened on 1/15 for our 4/11 sailing.

We were in a RFS 2 weeks ago on the Oasis. I made reservations for everything, but it's not necessary. You do not need to sit in the suite reserved area. You just show your gold card at the door and sit where you want. The reserved area isn't always the best.

Definitely sit front row for Cats, which is not the reserved area.

You MUST make reservations for the Comedy Show - that is the only exception.

On a side note, if you're doing MTD, make reservations every night, but you'll never have to wait. Suite guest tables are held for 30 minutes past the reservation time. We never had to wait for a table - except the first night when we waited no more than 5 minutes. Some nights we ate at Coastal Kitchen, and I just let our waiter know the night before. I don't know if they still held our table or not though.

Yes. I made a 9:20a flight 2 weeks ago. Walk off the ship with your luggage at 6:30. Of course, there could be delays that change this, but if everything goes as scheduled, you'll have no problem.

Maybe I need to see more pictures, but based on the above posting it looks rather empty and Spartan. Like a bus station time forgot......

LOL - It was taken mid-afternoon on a port day when no one but my parents and I were there. There were also 2 bartenders in the room. I thought it was the perfect time to take a photo.

I thought dinner in CK was for those with a Gold Card. :confused:

That's my understanding too. Both sets of doors require a gold card to open them. We happened to be up there on the night of Chef's Table, and I saw a couple with a written invite that got them in the door.

For those of you wanting a photo, here is a panorama of the layout on the Oasis. The left side is Coastal Kitchen, the middle has the bar and Chef's Table and the right side is the suite lounge. I couldn't get all of the suite lounge in the photo. The wall of windows continues behind me. The concierges sit at the small desk just to the right of the Chef's Table by the pole. The small buffet in the suite lounge is next to the windows all the way to the right in the photo. I hope this is helpful.

Thanks for the snorkel tip!

 

Can I ask how much you paid for the photo package once you bargained them down?

They offered $140 for 2 people, and we paid $100, which was my 1st offer. We got 79 photos. I wish I would have started at $70. Oh well.

Thanks for your review! I was especially interested in your "swim with the manatee" experience at Chaankanaab as we have that booked also for our time in Cozumel in a few weeks - like you, we have done the "swim with dolphins" thing a few times, so thought this would be different - so glad to hear you had a wonderful time! Also appreciated hearing about the buffet for lunch - traveling with my 15 year old grandson who is a bottomless pit, so we will probably pay for the buffet (and they will lose money on him, no doubt!).

 

Thank you for sharing! :)

Be sure to bring a printout of your reservation confirmation for the check-in process (both at the front gate and at the dolphin discovery). Also, if you have your own snorkel, bring it! They only give you a mask to swim with the manatee, not a breathing tube thing. We only had one, and DH was kind to enough to let me use it!

Bridge tour part 4: