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jll583

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    Oasis Trip Report 8/13-8/20

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Did you book with RCI or a TA? I would love to do this, as I have a lot of LP, but I usually book with a TA and get OBC with them, and I was pretty sure I probably couldn't double dip

     

    We booked thru RCI, but this seemed to be a seperate thing with the MyVegas deal. We still received our OBC for a promotion when booking, Worst case scenerio, if RC doesn't allow it, you can return the reward on Myvegas and get your "gold" points back. We had to do that with my Husbands as i didn't read the fine print stating one reward per cabin. Also, it has to be done within 30 days of booking the cruise.

    Oasis Trip Report 8/13-8/20

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Day 1- Boarding/Embarkation Day

     

    I woke up around 4am, I was soooooooooooo excited. I ended up watching the Oasis come into port on the webcam. That only heightened my excitement. Finally actually got up and showered and got dressed around 7. Went down and ate breakfast in the lobby and came back up to grab our luggage. So at this point, I started to regret my decision of waking up so early......

     

    Anyway, we headed out to port around 8:30am/9am. There is nothing like getting that first look of the ship for the first time. I was truly amazed of the Oasis size. We parked right on site in the parking garage. (We actually prepaid for that as well, it was $128 for the week). We pulled up and it was super busy. It was probably about 9:15 or so, we dropped our bags with the porters. Quick heads up, my husband slapped a luggage tag on a case of water. It was a no go. I"m not sure if it was the porter we had or what. They wouldn't take it, it was worth a shot. However, I saw other cases of water in the hallways later that day when luggage was delivered. Some of them were in large bags, so I don't know if that made a difference and others were just like ours with the luggage tags taped to the top. Anyway, once we dropped the luggage off, we were off to park. I assumed since we were there and it wasn't 9:30 yet, we'd be the only ones waiting in line. WRONG! There was quite a line at that point.

     

    Around 9:45, they opened the doors to the terminal. We had our set sail pass and passports ready for inspection. Then we went thru security. We did have two carry on bottles of wine. They didn't even check them, maybe they did via the security machine. I was prepared to have to take them out, but nope. We then headed up the escalator to check in. They check you in by what floor your cabin is on and I assume there is a line if you are a frequent cruiser. There was quite a line, but only a few agents working. Then all the sudden, it was like the clock struck 10 and a whole bunch of agents came out of a side door and we were at the front of the line. We signed our forms promising we didn't have diarrhea and had our pictures taken for our seapass cards and we were given a number to board. We are gold and were given the number 1. We then took a seat and people watched for awhile. I will say they have some aggressive sales people coming around trying to sell the different packages (dining and drinks). I just told them we were all set and they moved on to others.

     

    We were called to board around 11:15am and walked right on the boat. I'll be honest, they don't really check the cards they give you. I handed mine to the lady, but there were many on the floor and many sitting on tables when we boarded. We didn't stop to have our photo taken, I will say they are a little aggressive on the photo front as well, but I get it, its there job. A quick "no thanks" is all that is needed if you aren't interested. We headed to the specialty dining desk in the Promenade (someone from Guest Services pointed it out to us) to find out about switching to Chops for FNDR. We were told at the desk that FNDR now only includes Sabor and Giovanni's. We could go to Chops or 150 Central Park for half price if we'd rather but would be charged the difference. I didn't fight it, I thought maybe I got some misinformation along the way. It seems that it just changed recently from what I've seen. They also told us our reservation was for Giovanni's at 7pm which was odd because I had signed up for an 8:30pm dining time when we purchased FNDR. I stated that and they stated they changed it to 8:30.

     

    We then noticed my husbands sea pass card did not have a coke sticker for the soda package so we were advised to head to the drink table where they sell packages. They checked and stated it should have been on there as we had the Boardwalk balcony so it was to be included (mine was correct). They also gave him a cup there stating that it only showed up under my name so there would only be one cup in the room waiting for us. We then took fellow Cruise Critic members advice and headed to Park Cafe for the roast beef sandwich (Kummelwick) It did not disappoint! We then just walked around trying to figure out where everything was on the ship.

     

    Around 1, the rooms were ready and we headed there to see if our luggage had arrived. It had not as of yet. We LOVED our room. We had the most aft balcony on the 12th floor, 12329. We enjoyed the balcony so much. We were able to watch whatever was going on in the Aquatheatre from our balcony. They played various movies during the week and that would have been a prime spot to watch as well. As far as the noise, as long as the door was shut and locked you couldn't hear a thing. I would have been worried about that reading others reviews if my kids had been with us. The shows go somewhat late, however we didn't hear a thing as long as the door was shut and locked. Another thing we were worried about was the motion we might feel being so far aft. On our first cruise (on Sovereign), we had the most forward cabin and my husband was very sick the first night and i had even fell in the hallway the boat was rocking so bad. Mind you, this was 11 years ago, but the thought of that made my husband nervous. Anyhow, on sea days, you could definetly feel the boat rocking a bit. Was it bad? No. Was it noticeable? Yes. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to get that cabin again. We met our room steward Ahmad, who was amazing the whole week. We waited on our luggage for awhile as I wanted to unpack and get that out of the way. We waited about an hour with no luck and decided to head out again to explore. As we walked down the hallway, we noticed our luggage was outside another cabin waaaaaaaaay down the hall from our cabin.(Yay for the bright green luggage tags we purchased) So we wheeled them down to our cabin and unpacked. Per suggestion on here I purchased a few things which came in handy throughout the week. First I purchased a shoe organizer to go on the bathroom door. What a space saver! I had pockets for everything imaginable. I also purchased some magnetic hooks which were very helpful for wet bathing suits/clothes.There are a few hooks in the bathroom, but these you could stick anywhere. I also packed a plug with five different USB outlets. We never used it..... my husband left his phone in the car. I had my phone and ipad, but barely used my phone. I charged it overnight before we disembarked the boat on the 20th. Other than that, we used the ipad to keep in touch. We did pre-purchase Voom. It worked well for what we needed. Never had any issue with it. We used it for Facetime to keep in touch with our kids and for Facebook posts. The speed was very fast, no complaints there.

     

    When we booked, RC asked if we were celebating anything special and we stated our anniversary. When we first got to them room, they had delivered a fruit and cheese tray for us, which we thought was nice. Also, at this point we had our proof of onboard credit by the printouts on the desk. I"ve read some places where cruisers don't get it sometimes until the first night or even day 2, ours was there as we entered the room. We became aquainted with the TV system, which showed all our reservations. According to the TV, our FNDR was from 5:30 to 7:30 at Giovanni's. So we called and they stated it was changed to 8:30, but we wanted to be sure.

     

    We then walked around and became aquainted with our home for the next week before Muster Drill. Our Muster Drill was in the Aquatheatre. This was the most painless Muster Drill I've ever expiereinced. Quick and to the point, the video they play is way cheesey but oh well. We noticed a staircase next to the aquatheatre that took you down to the jogging track/back of the boat. We walked to the back of the boat and it looked as if a storm was about to hit. The sky got very dark and then we saw the Carnival Liberty pull out. We followed right after and sailed into the sun, the Carnival Magic followed us out. We all sailed into the sun, which was nice. The weather looked so nasty! The PC webcam was zoomed right in on my husband and I which really delighted our kids. They thought it was hilarious that we were on there, as we watched the Oasis depart every Sunday before we left. We sat on the back of the boat for awhile as we sailed away. That was probably my favorite spot to relax for the week. Honestly, the times we were back there, there might have been one or two other people back there. SO PEACEFUL! Then off to explore again.....This was probably the point where I found out about the Coconut Ranger Cookies. Holy moly are they delicious! Everytime I passed Cafe Promenade I grabbed one or two!

     

    After more exploring, we decided to go back to the cabin and relax for awhile before dinner. Around 7 our phone rang and it was Giovanni's asking if we'd like to come to dinner at 7:15. We were about to shower and dress for dinner, so we comprimised and said we'd be there around 7:45. I will say Giovanni's was the best meal of the week! It was a great start to the cruise and our vacation. The meat and cheese tray, with the pickled veggies (they just bring it as you are seated) was to die for, as was the bread with the oil/balsamic/parmesan dipper. I had the mushroom risotto and that may have been my favorite of the week. My husband had the Tuna carpaccio (bleh to raw fish) and he raved about it, so if thats your kind of thing, he gave it two thumbs up. I had the Filet for my main course. It was also very good, I ordered it medium, and it was definitely more of a medium rare, which was still fine with me, but if you are a strict medidum/medium well person, you might want to mention how you would like it cooked in detail. It was stated again by the waitress, that the filet is the same filet from Chops. It was very very good. My husband got some type of Pork Belly dish, that he did not care for. He actually cracked a tooth on it as it was so hard. So that was the one drawback of the meal. I had tiramasu for dessert and it was really good, my husband had canolli's which he also enjoyed. I will say at this point, it was probably 8:45-9pm and Giovannis was PACKED. I think they may have had a problem with the reservation system or something or they just had to cram everyone into Giovannis or Sabor.

     

    We then headed to the Casino, and I found my favorite slot, which became my home for a little while each night of the week. We then went to Kareoke (did not participate) in On-Air and watched people sing for an hour or so. We both got the drink of the day (two drinks with the 18% and tip came to around $25), which was pretty good and enjoyed people singing. By then, it was nearing midnight and since id been up since 4am, i decided it was time to turn in. Of course, one quick stop by Cafe Prominade for a few coconut ranger cookies was needed!!!!

     

    Next up: Day 2 (At Sea)

    Oasis Trip Report 8/13-8/20

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    So I thought I'd do a quick review of our trip and try to answer any questions anyone may have. (There is a post on here with the cruise compasses that i scanned, if anyone is interested)

     

    I'll also start this with we tried to do this trip as cheaply as possible. I'll start with a few pre-trip details and go from there.

     

     

    About us- This was my fourth RC cruise and husbands second, the last RC cruise being in 2006 on Soverign of the Seas (4 night). Our last cruise was Disney Dream (3 night) in 2015. I've sailed on both Carnival and RC on 7 night cruises, but its been probably 15+ years. I've always been a RC fan, so i was really pushing for RC this trip.

     

     

    First, the trip was for my husband and I's 10 year anniversary. We sailed alone this trip (we are 40 and 34 if anyone wanted to know) We (really just me) did a ton of research. Due to cost, we were originally looking at Carnival since we wanted to go for a week. I was our travel agent and did a ton of pricing. I assumed RC would be out of our budget and was very surprised to see it wasn't that much more. We booked our trip in February and booked direct with RC.We orignially booked an Oceanview Balcony on Deck 6. We opted to pre-pay our gratuties so we would n

    not have to worry about them later. I price checked EVERY SINGLE DAY. I used the app that sends an email if the price changes but i still checked ALL THE TIME. So in the begining of April I logged on to the RC site to check the price one evening before bed. Low and behold, there was a price change on Gty Balcony cabins for less than half of what we paid per person when we booked in Feb. So I call RC to change to a Gty for half the price, thinking there is no way this will happen. Three hours on hold later, they answered and while they had no more Oceanview Gty we upgraded to a Neighborhood Balcony. (We woke up the following morning and the price jumped back up to double what it was from the night before) The following day, we had our assignment of a Boardwalk Balcony, which pleased my husband greatly since he didn't have to pay for the soda package (Eat,Drink,Play promotion) MAJOR WIFE POINTS HERE :)

     

     

    I also used a MyVegas reward for Onboard Credit. It was easy to use. Once redeemed on MyVegas it gives an email address (it was a casino one if i remember correctly) to email some info to (name, sail date, ship, reservation number ect) and the OBC was applied to our account within a week or so. This onboard credit showed up and we were able to use for Shore Exursions/Dining before boarding.

     

     

    We paid in full a few weeks before the final payment date as we felt there was no way the deal we got could get any better. Thanks to come Cruise Critic Members, I found out that we could call and switch our cabin within the same category if there was a better cabin. I never would have known this. We actually ended up going from an end cabin on the boardwalk (10699) to an all the way aft cabin (12329). Easy phone call, took them less than a minute to make the change. They send a confirmation invoice right away to document the change.

    We had my time dining and made all of those reservations in May/June via Cruise Planner along with our Entertainment reservations. I HIGHLY reccomend making entertainment reservations before you board especially if there is a show you definately want to see. They are kinda strict with letting people in with reservations. The standby line for many shows were long and I saw people turned away a few times (comedy shows and Oasis of Dreams)

     

    We purchased FNDR as well, and a shore excursion for St Maarten. We also called and purchased on board credit a few times. I will say this kind of made me nervous because it never showed on our invoices but i was assured it would be documeted on paper once we boarded and be available by the second day. We drove down on Saturday the 12th from NC. We stayed the night in Titusville at the Fairfield Inn and Suites. We actually stayed here two years ago when we sailed out of PC on Disney Cruise Line. At the time, this hotel was part of the discount program for parking at the Port. That discount ended this year. We enjoyed staying at Fairfield, we will most likely stay there each time we sail. Its an easy 20 minute ride or so from the Port. At $120/nt its much less expensive than many of the Cocca Beach hotels. It also includes breakfast, which is a nice bonus. There is also a Walmart and Target less than a mile away which was nice for some last minute needs. Also, plenty of restaurants nearby as well, so no need to drive around and search for last minute items or food :)

     

     

    Next up: BOARDING DAY!!!!!

    Trolls Characters on Oasis of the Seas still?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Hey all! We are deciding between booking on the Oasis or the Harmony for the same week next month. Oasis is much closer to our home and same itinerary. Just wondering if anyone has come from an Oasis cruise recently and 100% saw Poppy and Branch from Trolls on the ship. Our 3 year old is obsessed and we want to make sure she will see them. We are going to book the excursion at labadee but I know they can change out the characters. Looking for recent confirmation or if you have done the excursion, did your kids love it? hate it? Thanks!!! :)

     

     

     

    Wanted to add, I picked up a kids flyer for day 7 along the way and it shows that morning in kids club they have "Trolls Morning" for ages 3-5 in Adventure Ocean. It says "Poppy and Branch" so they may drop in??? a2e1e3ffeb33fc71e3e1dfca9df00e50.jpg

     

     

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    My Time Dining Question

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Are there fixed number of reservations or are they paid for? I'm curious if there is any penalty for making, and for whatever reason, missing your reservation.

     

     

     

    No penalty at all. We actually went one night to cancel our reservation to do a specialty restaurant instead and they told us next time just don't show.

     

    We also went about an hour early for our reservation one night and that also wasn't a problem.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Just off Oasis

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Did you get to see 'CATS' while onboard? If so, is it gaining popularity with people staying for the whole show?

     

    We did not go to Cats. It really isn't our thing and everything we've heard about it wasn't great. We did walk past the Opal Theatre on the first night and walked in and it was not very full at all. I'm not sure the exact time we walked in whether it was before of after intermission. Also, with it being the first night it might have had a small audience with everyone still exploring the ship :)

    Just off Oasis

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Do you recall how much were they charging for the Premium Beverage Package the day of boarding? I assume the base price is in the Compass if ya still have them. :D

     

    BonVoyage

    Dawna

     

    I'm not sure what they were charging. I am looking at the compass and there is only a blurb stating to go to any bar to purchase drink packages.

    POLL: Travel Agent vs. Do It Yourself

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I did it myself. One night very late there was a price drop before we had paid in full. It dropped from 1300 a person to 598 a person. The sale lasted a few hours and then prices went up again. If we had a travel agent there is no way we would have paid half the price for our trip. I was on the phone for a few hours on hold though, but well worth it [emoji3]

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Just off Oasis

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Do they charge for the aquashow?we will be on board in October also how many aquashows are there.

     

     

     

    They don't charge for any of the shows. I'd advise making reservations in advance though! There were four aquashows while we were on board, two shows (early and a late) on two different nights.

     

     

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