Smitty815

For those wondering about movies on the OASIS I believe they still have them.

 

I was on the ship April 25/2015 and I can say for certain that there were movies played in the aquatheatre because I stumbled across one. I have no interest in watching a movie while on vacation so I am not sure if any were playing in the Amber Theatre.

I never heard of this forum before my cruise on the Oasis 2015-April-25.

I looked for a forum afterwards because of all my excitement about cruising and I wanted to find out more about the Harmony. I liked all the information on this forum so I decided to register.

 

There is a lot of complaining on this forum, however, I will tell you that my experience a few weeks ago was awesome and it was not a single bit different or less exciting than my previous 2 cruises with RCI. It is still an awesome cruise line and you will not regret a vacation with them.

Before seeing it on Oasis back in January I took a couple minutes online to look up a playbill since I had not seen it before. I wanted to know what I was going to see and what the musical was actually about. It makes a difference if you know what you are watching.

 

Excuse my sarcasm but why can't people just take a minute to read the synopsis then make the decision whether you really want to sit and watch it.

 

I shouldn't need to read a playbill before a show in order to understand it. I went to Chicago on the Allure and understood that just fine. Since I am not a broadway enthusiast, I expected the same when I was going to CATS. It only took about 30 minutes before dozens of people began to leave. Then I could hear whispers from people saying "I have no clue what is going on her"; "This is boring", etc. Most people who sail with RCI are accustomed to spectacular shows that attract your attention, however, CATS just doesn't do that.

 

People can talk about CATS being a number one broadway show for years, however, there is a difference between "Shows on Broadway", and "Broadway shows on a ship". People who go to a show on Broadway are more likely to have a greater interest in broadway shows. Many people on the ship go to the broadway show because it is one of the shows that you book. Since the audience is filled with casual observers, the show needs to be something that needn't be prepared for and has a certain level of excitement.

So I have a question that was somewhat answered above but not fully.

 

I have always prepaid my gratuities and half always left extra for my waiter and stateroom attendant. I notice that it does say, "recommended" gratuity. If I did not check this off, would I not be charged the gratuity at all or would they charge it once on board? Also I notice some people have said that you can change the amount and reduce it. Could I essentially reduce the amount to 0$ and save $80 on my cruise? It's not something I wish to do, however, I wonder if many people do this and if that may be the result of the increase.

 

Hoping someone could answer those questions for me!

Thanks for the review. We're trying to decide between Oasis and Allure for next year.

 

I have been on both. They are really the exact same. If I had to choose right now I would just choose Allure simply because Chicago was good and CATS is horrible (in my opinion).

I went on the 25-April 2015 sailing which was also to those same ports.

 

I can't help you with the Cabana, but these are the things I did:

 

- Labadee was my favorite port that I have ever gone on. I don't care for learning about culture. I just want a nice beach with activities. The big surprise for me was that I did not know a meal was included at Labadee. Since RCI owns the island, they have a large BBQ buffet on the beach. It was AMAZING to say the least. I loved it. My group all signed up for the zipline since that is one of the main attractions for the area. I believe it was over $100. We were disappointed with it. It was a cool zipline, but it was just the short practice one and then the main one. If you like ziplining and have been to some good ones (ie: St. Marteen Xtreme) then I would avoid this one. After the zipline we decided to do the Dragon Coaster on a whim because it only cost us $20 (you can use your seapass on the island). The Dragon Coaster was waaaaay more fun than the zipline and at 1/5 the price. They even let us go back on a second time for free because there was no line there at the time.

 

- Jamaica. I would choose an excursion that includes Dunns River Falls. I loved it honestly. We did the snorkel and Dunns River Falls. The Snorkel was cool. I go snorkeling once every cruise. We didn't see too much but there were some nice coral reefs and we fed some fish. The falls were an experience I will never forget. I will go back there again next time I am in Jamaica. Oh...avoid the marketplaces or just know how to deal with the vendors. They were very friendly at first to get you hooked in, and then they because extremely pushy if you didn't want to buy a product. Two people in my group got sucked in and were afraid to leave. They got separated from my tour group (had to walk through a marketplace at the end of the falls) and my tour bus was delayed in leaving until they got back.

 

- Mexico. I did the ATV to Jade Caverns. I have mixed reviews on this mostly because I am easy to please, but others might not be. The ATV trail is very bumpy. I am from a place where ATV's regularly drive up my street, so I know how normal ATV-riding is. This was a much less comfortable ride. I would never ride my own ATV on the trail for fear of all the damage being done to it. With that said, knowing that I could beat the crap out of someone else's ATV was fine with me! It was a 45 minute ride to the Caverns and then 45 minutes back. The Cavern is filled with bats and smells like sulphur. They encourage everyone to jump into the cavern. I hate jumping in water from heights but I did it anyway because I couldn't pass up the experience (well that and my girlfriend already jumped in and the group was making fun of me!). I would have regretted if I never jumped in. You will need to go back to get a shower at the ship afterward but it was totally worth it. I would never see anything like that where I am from.

I did find Mexico slightly sketchy though. For some reason the police came to the end of our excursion and stopped out shuttle bus. They spoke in spanish for a few minutes and I was wondering if maybe something was going down and I wouldn't make it back to the ship, but all was well and we went on our way. I noticed on the way back that the police were at the entrance to most excursion places so perhaps they were looking for someone in particular.

Oh, Mexico is picky about bring food in the country as well. Usually I take some fruit off the ship with me to snack on during the day. They had officers at the port to confiscate any food taken off the ship.

CATS is the Broadway equivalent of the band, Nickleback. Surprisingly one of the most popular shows in the world, however, most people that you talk to will say that they hate it.

 

I was on the April 25th sailing and went to see CATS. I'll admit that the production/set/cast were great, but the story is just not interesting enough to hold your average audience. Definitely over half of the audience left at intermission and did not return. The lobby for the elevators were filled with strangers striking up conversations with each other about how bad they thought the show was.

 

As someone else mentioned, the show was actually a joke for the comedians. The comedy show started over the loud speaker with, "And now for a Encore production of CATS", and the audience moaned. The host then came out and said they wouldn't make us suffer through that again. Then there were other jokes about how more people came to the comedy show than the CATS show. It was slightly embarrassing for RCI, I imagine, but it was true.

[quote name='papaflamingo']Nothing personal, but I sure have no desire to sit anywhere near you. Don't get too upset, I know it's "your cruise," but it's my cruise too. And on "my cruise," having a guy in a tank top in a dining room is just not appetizing to me. So hopefully while you enjoy "your cruise" in a tank top in the MDR I'll still be able to enjoy "my cruise." Should it bother me? No. Does it? Yes. Who is right? Well, according to the Dress Code, looks like I am. Sorry... you lose.
[/quote]

To be perfectly honest, if a person is going to judge me for wearing shorts and a tank top, then I expect they may also judge me based on the color of my skin, body composition, etc. I personally wouldn't have any problem sitting next to anybody because I'm just a nice person. In fact, if we ever cross paths on a cruise I will offer to switch tables because I know I may not live up to your standards.

I came from 8-9 feet of snow on my front lawn to go on this cruise. 30 degrees Celsius is unheard of where I am from. I personally don't feel comfortable in a long sleeve shirt because I know I would have pit stains down the whole length of my shirt. That would be a little less appetizing than a shirt without sleeves don't you think?

I have been on three cruises so far, and all have been the Oasis class. My feeling is that I already pay enough for the cruise, so why pay extra for food, however, I have tried a couple of the restaurants.

 

2013 - Allure of the Seas - Samba's Grill

 

I don't think Samba's Grill is on the Allure anymore (or Oasis) anymore. It was in the Solarium. I had never tried a Brazilian Barbeque before and really wanted to try one so I didn't mind the extra price. If I remember correctly it was $30. It was the best meal I have had on a cruise! The concept of it was really cool. Basically they have a lot of different meats. Your table has a light that switches Green/Red. When you want a new meat you hit the green light and a waiter will come over with BBQ meat and shave some on to your plate. They will keep coming by with different meats until you hit the red light for a little rest. There were probably 12 different meats that were served.

I believe Samba's Grill is still on some ships, however, I am not positive.

Would I recommend it? DEFINITELY, but do note that you must be a meat lover in order to go to it. Be prepared to absolutely bloat yourself and lose those 6 pack abs that you aimed for prior to the cruise!

 

 

2015 - Oasis of the Seas - Solarium

 

On my second day of the cruise I was in the MDR. They had overbooked and rather than sitting at our scheduled table on floor 3, they moved us to a table on floor 4. My group is easy going and really couldn't care less. We actually enjoyed the different scenery. Anyway, the staff treated it like it was a huge tragedy and kept trying to make it up to us for the rest of the cruise. We kept telling them that it didn't matter at all, but the maitre d', seemed like he couldn't believe that we didn't complain. They offered us one meal at the Solarium for free. We went there on Friday (Day 6). The group was pretty excited to see what it was all about, but unfortunately that excitement turned to disappointment. Let's starts with the review:

 

For those who don't know, the Solarium cover charge is $20 (we were in for free). It is a restaurant that focuses on a healthy eating lifestyle. When we received the menu, it does not read very well. Perhaps someone who is accustomed to the finer things in life would have an easier time deciphering it's cryptic messages.

Secondly, we were told that you only get one appetizer, one salad, and one main. This was different than the MDR experience because I always ordered 2 mains in there.

I ordered Scallops for my appetizer and I asked if I could change my salad into a second appetizer which they did allow. I ordered the shrimp.

I had Scallops and Shrimp in the MDR and it was much better in there.

The solarium used vinegar on the scallops, that's it.

The Shrimp had a regular salsa on them.

Personally I wasn't a fan, but I know that's subjective.

For the main, I ordered Steak, since I figured this was a safe choice. When I got my steak I took a bite and I chewed for about 3 minutes or so before having to spit it out. It was almost like I took a wad of bubble gum because it was just not breaking down. My girlfriend and another in the group also ordered steak and had the same problem. It was literally the worst cut of meat I have ever eaten. We had no intention of telling anyone about it, however, the waiter obviously noticed that we all left our meals there uneaten and went for the desert buffet. He asked our opinions and I answered "Well I think we might head to the windjammer". My girlfriend was mortified, but I was just being honest! I didn't realize until after that this was probably interpreted as a huge insult. The staff were very apologetic and offered to get us another meal, but we did not take them up on the offer. Needless to say, we were all disappointed that we did not stay in the MDR for that night.

 

Oh the dessert! The dessert was great, but when is dessert not amazing?

I wore shorts and a tank top on all non-formal nights on the Oasis for the April 25th, 2015 cruise. I never had anyone mention anything to me. The way I view it is that I have to wear dress pants/shirt/tie for work most days, so if I am on vacation I want to be comfortable.

I would have wore shorts and a tank top for formal night but my girlfriend wouldn't let me. Three years ago when I went with my guy friends on the Allure, they did not say anything to us when we wore shorts and tanktops to formal nights. I guess it depends on the staff that are there.