kevdad

The connecting door can be closed, but cannot be locked once it is unlocked by the stateroom attendant.

This is what we found odd on the Oasis a few weeks ago when we had a connecting cabin with our pre-teen kids. Either side could bust into the other room without warning. Not so good when we were hoping for a little "privacy".... It's tempting to bring a door jam on our next voyage.

The distance between St. James Parish and Falmouth is about the same as the distance between South Chicago and Lake Forest, Compton and Beverly Hills and Brooklyn/Queens and Greenwich, CT. Not saying Falmouth compares to Lake Forest, Beverly Hills or Greenwich, but to extrapolate the issues in St. James Parish to Falmouth is a big stretch in my opinion.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/jamaica-travel-advisory.html

It looks like a Level 2, same as Mexico. Personally, I wouldn't think twice about doing excursions in either place. Would I walk around by myself in certain areas? Probably not. No different than certain areas in the U.S.

Thank you, I'm surprised they don't show that on the map!

We have deck 7 starboard booked for New Year's. I'm confused as to where the sign blocks the crossover (and also what the sign itself is). If I look at the deck plan, where is it blocked? TIA

https://www.******************.com/deck-plans/harmony-of-the-seas/deck-7

It's really hard to say how each individual kid will take to a new sport, but I can tell you that all four kids in my son's class started out getting comfortable with the Flow Rider by boogie boarding alongside the instructor. Within 20-30 minutes all four were standing and loving it. And this was on a night when the temps were fairly cold and they were all shivering!

This was posted this morning; check out the departure day flyers

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55007264&postcount=13

Our departure day flier on the Oasis definitely didn't list a time. I wonder if it depends on the ship?

Challengers Arcade on Oasis has one. Highly doubt there is one in Adventure Ocean, I never saw one and doubt they would put one in the kids club. Children in the kids club with access to Mountain Dew, Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc.? That could be interesting!

The information provided is very specific, especially for novice cruisers. Along with your luggage tags you are told where to wait to be called for disembarkation. You are also provided a list of breakfast venues and times. If you received your luggage tags it's right there. Also similar information in final cruise compass. I don Know how RC could make it any clearer.

 

By staying in your cabin until 9:30 not only did you make it difficult for the steward, you are fortunate that your name wasn't being announced in an effort to find you as they tried "zero down" passenger count.

 

Hopefully if you cruise again you will read the paperwork

And not feel uninformed.

While I didn't save a copy of our Oasis Departure Letter, this is similar to what we received a week ago:

http://www.businesswebshop.com/fp/Oasis/Oasis-compass-depart.pdf

I could be blind as a bat, but I don't see where it specifically says what time the cabin needs to be vacated. In fact, it says "feel free to relax in your stateroom". Where is the "very specific" statement you're referring to?

Strangely, when we went to the Windjammer last Sunday at 8:00 a.m. for our last breakfast there were plenty of open tables. And this was on a cruise that they announced had 6,400 passengers. It was great.

We then rented a day room at the MCO Hyatt. The kids swam, we had lunch in the restaurant and relaxed in the room. It was $119 well spent.

I specifically searched many times in the Oasis disembark material for the time we needed to be out of our cabin and didn't see a time. This was a week ago.

Our son was one of four in his lesson on the Oasis.

I may add some additional thoughts as I think of them, here's two:

My son did a Flow Rider lesson the first night at 6:15. It was him and three other kids for an hour. Each kid started on a boogie board with an instructor alongside holding the kids board, talking with them and eventually releasing at the appropriate time. After a few turns each kid practiced standing on the boards. I thought it was $69 well spent for the excellent instruction and confidence building in front of little to no crowd.

Thinking more about Adventure Ocean, it seems that part of the problem was a ton of unused space. It has a huge footprint but I seriously think that less than half is actually used during peak periods. Between the large unused entryway, game room, craft room, multiple hallways, large middle room (for toddlers?) that I hardly saw used, and other random spaces, it seems they could have made the actual age-group rooms (Explorers & Voyagers) much bigger. The teen club space was very large but, again, I wish they had different spaces for the 12-14 and 15-17 age groups.

Highly recommend as well. Our son did one the first night at 6:15 with very few people around which allowed him to be confident in front of the crowds the rest of the week. The instructor actually boogie boarded with him, held his board, talked to him the entire time and let go when appropriate.

I wasn't planning to write a review but received an email from CC and that turned into something I thought I'd share. Please excuse the brevity and grammatical mishaps!

This was a New Year's cruise for our family of 5 (wife, DD9, DS12, DS12). Unfortunately, older DS12 broke his forearm the day before we flew to Orlando. Luckily he didn't require surgery. It definitely changed the dynamic of the trip for all of us. But we still had a lot of fun and he was quite the trooper throughout!

We stayed at the MCO Hyatt the night before embarkation as we always do. We find it ultra-convenient if arriving later in the day. A quick 45 minute drive to the port in the morning. The kids received 50% off the breakfast buffet which was nice.

Embarkation: arrived around 11:00. Once through a 20 minute security line, check-in was very quick with no line. On board 10 minutes later after being accosted by Santa Claus for a (New Year's???) picture (not kidding) and the obligatory drink package quick-sale.

We found the ship had the perfect amount of space for our family with lots of options to roam and find something to do. We never noticed big crowds other than in Windjammer and embarking/disembarking at ports. Though I didn't attend the New Year's balloon drop, my wife and two of our kids did and said it was absolutely mobbed. I guess no surprise there.

Our connecting cabins on deck 12 starboard side were nice with lots of storage space and large balconys. But three people, even kids, was a bit cramped in one of the cabins. We were disappointed that it took us asking three times and five days for the balcony divider to be opened after being told it was broke.

We found the MDR food to be excellent. We mostly followed our server's recommendations and he was spot-on and highly attentive (Marvin was his name, assisted by Benny). The Windjammer food left a lot to be desired, very bland and not a very exciting selection. The Solarium Bistro for breakfast and lunch was a good alternative for a semi-outside dining experience unlike any other dining location. Really enjoyed the roast beef in Park Cafe and my wife loved the salad.

Our stop in St. Martin was the first time back for the Oasis since the hurricane. We did the Soualiga boat/snorkeling adventure and had a great time with Captain Al. There still is lots of damage around the coastal areas (primarily ocean mansions) which makes me wonder how bad it is inland with the locals.

We walked around one of the San Juan forts for a little while and enjoyed the historical experience.

We had a cooler/misty day on Labadee but the kids still had a lot of fun playing on the Columbus Cove beach. My non-injured kids did the aqua park and enjoyed it for around an hour. One annoying aspect was that lunch was only served on the opposite side from where we were (Columbus Cove). The walk back and forth and wait in line was not worth it.

The kids clubs we just ok. I really wish they had a separate club for 12-14 year olds, getting mixed in with the older teenagers doesn't serve anyone well. And the 9-11 year old space seemed small and cramped. The counselors were friendly.

We had the "Drink of the Day" each day and loved each and every one. The cost of $8 was a bargain compared with some of the other options. My wife got the soda package and probably wouldn't do it again, just not worth the price for what she drank. The Rising Tide bar is a must-do for a completely different experience. We also had drinks in Dazzles and Jazz on 4, both were nice. Again, I wish I had noted the Jazz band name because they were outstanding, the woman singer in particular.

The entertainment was excellent. Oasis of Dreams, Frozen in Time, and Come Fly with me were our favorites. The headliner was pretty good (I forget his name, sorry), though his material was a bit dated and our kids didn't recognize a lot of the music or get most of the jokes. The belly flop competition was a complete hoot. We did the cartoon and Harry Potter trivia contests in On Air. Get there early for HP, it was packed! Both were a lot of fun and a good way to spend an hour with the family.

Disembarkation: we did the luggage valet with our two big bags which allowed us to leave earlier (8:30 vs. 9:30) with our carry-ons in tow. The immigration line still seemed long, though, probably 15 minutes. Easy to hook-up with our van ride (Tony Hinds, highly recommended!).

We are already booked on the Harmony for next New Year's and are looking forward to a similar ship with different shows and slides for the kids. And hopefully no broken bones a day before we leave!

Oh, and I didn't see one in Adventure Ocean. I'd be surprised if there was one in there.

The Oasis has one in the video game room. It hardly worked at all last week, but it was there...

That's great to know! My husband's biggest complaint about the MDR is the length of time it takes, but I love that I get food served for the week so I don't mind. :)

If you tell your server you want to be out in an hour, they can do it. It was no problem this past week on Oasis.

Are the buckets the mega-brewers or are there some smaller names to choose from?

When you get an invitation to a dinner and the suggested attire is formal, black tie, or cocktail, do you show up in shorts? Of course you don't, you respect the guidelines.

 

Apparently people on cruises seem to think they're staying at the Holiday Inn and eating at the buffet in the lobby. :rolleyes:

Of course we'd all dress as requested for a local gathering with friends and/or family. With 5,500 strangers floating around in the Caribbean for a week? Personally, I won't wear shorts but I certainly won't think twice about wearing business casual and won't judge either those in tuxes or shorts and definitely won't let it ruin even a few hours of my vacation.

Plenty of men don't even own a suit; blue collar workers, male and female, never, ever need them for their jobs. Even in white collar professions business casual has taken over many workplaces. Shirt with tie and dress slacks is plenty dressed up for most occasions.

 

Having to buy a suit for the cruise, and pay extra baggage fees on planes and so forth, just to get onboard and see lots of other people dressed casually on so-called formal night, is really kind of a tall order for a ship that caters to the mass market and is filled with plenty of people who just want to relax on vacation.

 

So for this guy, yeah, he doesn't want to deal with it, and his response will be, will it kill you to have to look at me in a. . . gasp. . . collared shirt with dress pants?

Excellent response! I'd add that we're on vacation in the Caribbean and have no desire to drag along all the extra clothing for the five of us for one or two dinners. We don't do that for any other expensive vacation and see no need to do that on a cruise ship.

I would have no issue. At the same time I'm not that picky of a person with no special/complex dietary needs. Meat in various sauces didn't bug me.

Only thing that might be lacking is the overall quality of desserts. Visually they were stunning, taste wise they didn't really "WOW" me. Now that didn't mean I overly sample them... One thing is they did have a nice ice cream bar setup.

 

I think in the end I got dinner from WJ two nights. Did some sort snack plate for the night just about every night, mainly just cheese.

 

My thought, setup a reservation for My Time Dining and stop by WJ early. If you like the WJ selection, cancel that nights My Time reservation.

 

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That's great advice, thanks!

I'm also thinking that the Solarium Bistro might be a good place for breakfast and/or lunch to avoid the crowds in WJ. Did you spend much time there and, if so, what did you think? There other benefit seems to be more of an "outside" atmosphere versus most of the other dining venues. We really like to eat outside if possible, any other places to do that? Once again, thanks!

Loved the review, the pictures were fantastic. One question to start: you did "WJ recon" practically every night, would you ever consider eating there for dinner most if not all of a week? We are a family of 5 with kids 12, 12 and 9 and I'm wondering if it just might be easier to go there whenever we like/are ready. If the food is good, selection big, and we can come and go as we please, that might work real well.

Thank you!

I saw that offer in our Cruise Planner as well, but for New Year's Eve. Chuckled, shook my head, and moved on. No thanks!

My hope is that the MDR meal is halfway decent that night, one of the previous posts sounds encouraging.

Deleted, I see the other thread. Sorry!

Be so careful. Siesta key is like our second home, we are worried sick about the island and all the people and animals. Thinking of you!!

My mom lives in a condo on LBK in the winter. Fingers crossed that everyone and everything is relatively safe but not encouraged at this point. Been going to St. Armands, the Mote, Salty Dog and children's garden for years. Really love it down there. Very sad day.