hunan6

Day three

Breakfast: back to park cafe. Why mess with perfection? My parents ordered off the menu in the MDR. They enjoyed breakfast there very much. They went around eight and sat right down. By 8:30 a line was forming.

Morning by the pool again. My son did the flowrider. At perhaps it's most crowded, the wait was 20 minutes. Mini golf next. No crowd there. I must say, we have now had two sea days, and crowds have been noticeable, but very manageable.

Lunch at windjammer. At noon on a sea day, there was no line, and though it was full, there were tables to be found. By 12:30 there were many open tables. Lunch was very good, and they were serving hand dipped ice cream cones from a cart.

In the afternoon, my daughter wanted to participate in family karaoke in the on air lounge. It was packed. This was an awesome event. She loves to sing, and it was very cool for her to do so in front of a large, very supportive audience. It was a most positive atmosphere, and all participants got loud ovations. So far, a trip highlight.

I snuck in a quick trip to the boardwalk doghouse after that. I highly recommend the Sicilian. Sensational.

Back to the pool before dinner. By around 3:30, there were many open chairs at all pools. This was a great time to swim.

Dinner in MDR: much better all around tonight. Highlight for me was the profiteroles for dessert.

Immediately from dinner we went to oasis of dreams in the aqua theater. We told them in the MDR that we had 7:30 show tickets, and they got us out much quicker tonight. Still, by the time we got to the show, it was mostly full. If you are in this boat, so to speak, you might want to do windjammer for dinner. Anyways, based on a tip I read in another review. We headed up to the rock climbing wall area. We had an amazing view of the show. Oasis of dreams was spectacular. They earned their standing ovation. Just get there earlier than we did.

After the show, a late swim, and an even later dash to the promenade cafe for treats, it was off to bed.

Thoughts on the day:

-I have not felt much love for promenade cafe on these boards. Perhaps that is why it has been such a pleasant surprise. Very yummy. The pink strawberry tart is perhaps the best dessert I have had on board. Also, I would suggest that their King Arthur roast beef sandwich rivals the mighty kummelweck. There, I said it.

-we are Disney people. With that being said, I would hold the attentive service on board the oasis up to Disney any day.

- although the kids have not utilized the adventure ocean much, my four year old niece has enjoyed the couple of times she went. The teen area seems overrun with the type of kids who are glued to their phones, and that is just not my kids. Again, not knocking anyone, just a matter of choice I guess.

-teaser for tomorrow-there is a celebrity on the ship, and we met him this morning on the way into st. Maarten. Very kind.

Hoping you will continue to post your review for the rest of your trip - very informative!

 

A couple questions, if you wouldn't mind answering...

 

For the "First Night Done Right" - when did you purchase this - when you got on the ship or before online, and also, when and where did you make the switch from Chops to Giovanni's? And who picks the time of the reservation?

 

Thanks for your info.(y)

We purchased the FNDR package on the cruise planner, perhaps one month before the trip. I went straight to Giovanni's after boarding. I then noticed on the info channel on our television that we were booked for bo chops and Giovanni's, I went to chops and cancelled there. It was a piece of cake. They will pick one for you, and you won't know until you board. But you can go straight to the restaurant you want to use it for, and they can set it up. You shouldn't have a problem. Let me know if I can help more.

Day 2

Started day with an early morning cup of coffee and small pastry at park cafe. Sitting outside in Central Park early in the morning is an absolute must do. Breakfast at windjammer at 8:30. No problem getting a table for six. Breakfast was very good.

Morning by the pool. Seats available at ten, but they went very quickly after that. You could definitely sense the number of people on the ship on the pool deck today, though it was still easy to have a great time.

Hit the gym for a run at eleven. Plenty of equipment available. Gym seems well equipped, though I only did cardio.

Had lunch at solarium bistro. Our group was mixed on it. I enjoyed the curried chicken and pork goulash. Others found the menu a bit on the exotic side. It was quite full in there for lunch, by the way.

Back to the pool for the afternoon. The wife and I ditched the kids for a bit and headed to the solarium for some peace and quiet. So much for that. I will start by saying that the solarium itself is very well done. The problem is that it was packed and very loud. Adult area on Dream seemed much more quiet and relaxing. We honestly found it quieter by the kids pool, and soon headed back. We very much loved the lazy-river type pool in that area.

Tonight was formal night in the MDR. Someone had messed up our reservation and split our party of eleven into two different dining rooms. I have to say that royal bent over backwards to get it right. Well done. Dinner was mixed. It was formal night, and though these are certainly not what they once were, we found that most people were dressed very nicely. For example, the majority of men had on a jacket. There were people in jeans and shorts, but they were in the minority. Service was excellent. My 4 y.o. niece fell asleep in my brother's lap, and our waitress, Ming, cut his steak for him. The food was mostly good. My steak (the ny strip) was not great. The escargots were on the other hand. Dessert was good all around.

After dinner we had reservations for Cats. I have seen cats around half a dozen times, including its original broadway run in the 80s. I very much like the show, though I understand why many don't. Anyhow, the boys did not want to go, so I decided to skip out and take them to the pool. Word from those in our group who went is that the show was "phenomenal" and that 2/3 left at intermission. The show did not begin until 9, so that might have been due to the lateness as much as disinterest in the show.

Quick observations on day:

-Deck fifteen after dark was teen flirtation central. Deck seemed overrun with teenagers.

-several of us did zip line. Some were able to go multiple times. Line was at worst thirty minutes long. Also, even though I completed our sports waivers online, they had no record of it, so we had to do it again. No big deal.

-felt very little movement of ship.

-despite online complaints, rooms were very cool (tempwise).

-tried hard not to be a chair hog. Our spot was occupied most of the day. Went to lunch, worked very hard to do so within the thirty minute chair reserving rule, and returned to find that someone had moved our stuff and taken one of our chairs anyways. Perhaps there needs to be some name for this villain..the anti chair hog something or other. Who knows. I want to emphasize, we were gone less than thirty.

- there must have been hundreds of people crowded into the on air bar and outside of it watching the NBA finals. I'm not a sports guy, and I realize most people are. Still, I especially don't get paying so much money to do something you could do at home for free. Just me. If you're into that, yes, they show such things onboard, and it seemed like a pretty fun atmosphere to take such an event in. Everyone seemed pretty civil

About us- we are a party of eleven. This trip was planned to celebrate three anniversaries this year: my wife and my twentieth, my brother and his wife's fifteenth, and my parent's fiftieth. There were also five kids between four and fourteen. My plan was to have a basically no frills trip. It seems like so much on these boards is about extras, such as diamond c and a status, expensive excursions, and specialty restaurants. And though we did some of this, we stuck to the plan. I am not at all criticizing participation in those things, it is just not how we choose to cruise. One more thing-- five years ago we cruised on the Disney Dream for a similar celebration, and I may make a comparison or two along the way.

Day one

Parking: offsite at park port canaveral. Pros: $53 vs. $128 at the port, still very close, well run, friendly, free bottled water being handed out, efficient. Cons: very few, hot, a bit crowded at lot, but easy to find and get into line for our ship, very orderly. All in all, highly recommend, would definitely use again.

Boarding: this is where I most felt the size of the crowd. Still, like with parking, very efficient, not as bad as I feared. We did the non diamond, non platinum, non anything line. First line through security constant movement, not bad at all despite length of line. One note--we have two staterooms; one for kids, one for wife and me. We brought four bottles of wine due to the two per stateroom rule. We were worried they wouldn't let us have four since the kids are minors. No problems on this end. Next line to check in to ship. Again, very short wait. From there straight onto ship by 11:45. Entire experience from arrival at parking lot onto Oasis was about an hour. Not bad.

Our cabin: Central Park view staterooms 9251 and 9253. We were very happy with our choice of staterooms. This class of room has a window bench seat that is a great place to sit, read, and look at at Central Park. No outside noise.

Arrival lunch: this was a stressor for me in the planning stages. I had read many times to avoid the windjammer on embarkation day. We went straight up just in case to see. The reviews were right. It was about noon, and there was a long line to get in. We went down to park cafe where there was no line, we found a table outside and enjoyed a delicious lunch. The kummelweck you ask? Fantastic, maybe not as much as the hype though. Everything is great there though, and I highly recommend it as an embarkation day lunch option. We were able to go straight into our stateroom when finished lunch, which was around 1:00.

Dinner: we purchased the first night done right for $15 per person. They assigned us to Chops, but we wanted to go to Giovanni's. We were easily able to switch this. We wanted Giovanni's for several reasons based on its reputation. First is that they don't spend the entire night up-selling you. Second is its more casual atmosphere. Third is that they have the best filet on the ship. Long and short-we loved it. Jessie, our excellent waiter, began by recommending the filet, which he said is the best on the ship, and that includes chops. Three of the four in our party ordered it, and all loved it. The entire experience was fantastic. I did not intend to go to a speciality restaurant because I am happy with the MDR, but the FNDR offer was too good to pass up. I would definitely pay full price to go back in the future. Highlight of the evening was the grilled octopus appetizer. Outstanding.

After dinner: late night pool trip with kids, followed by an ever later night pizza run to sorrentos.

Random thoughts on the day:

-I lied a bit. We did purchase two frills. We got our kids the soda package and voom surf and stream internet. Internet works great. Daughters soda cup didn't work. I took it to the desk, and they swapped it out for a new one. That works fine.

-despite the ships size, it seems surprisingly easy to get around. Elevator waits have not been a problem.

- although the embarkation process was much easier than I expected, I think Disney wins on this one. I don't remember feeling like a cattle herd at all when boarding the dream.

-storage in room not bad at all. Large suitcases easily fit under bed.

Deleted by poster

Assuming that if this were a death, there would be some media coverage at this point. Of course, to assume...

Can't find anything news-related on google, but it might be too early.

Beaches to the rights at Labadee only for select guests? Have they done something different with Columbus cove? I thought it was open to all.

Great review. Thanks Kelly. Headed to oasis in 17 days, and I'm wondering about the typical crowds at Park Cafe?

There's been much hate for the service charge, but I don't mind if it guarantees I can get wings on board now. Is there a space on the order form for "fill my closet with wings?" Pics looks pretty good.

Thank you all very much for your time and thoughts. They are most helpful. We are 22 days away from sailing, and this helps us be even more excited.

so we are new to both the gluten free world and the oasis. Our TA has notified the line, and we know to go to the MDR on day one to talk it through with them. Aside from that, any suggestions on how to dine well gluten free on oasis? It is not Celiacs, so a little cross contamination is not the end of the world. Apologies if this topic has been done many times.

cruising on oasis to st. Maarten in June. I am planning on getting a taxi for nine people to Le Galion for a few hours. How easy will it be to get a return back to phillipsburg?

Hi

 

Yes $15 pp and we could choose Chops. I think 50% off would roughly equate to dining at Giovannis which I believe is $29. The percentage discount for Chops is higher.

 

 

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Just to be certain, they will not make us pay the difference at chops if it is greater than a fifty percent discount?

Just booked this deal after reading this thread. When will we hear what restaurant we have? Sounds like we can change once aboard. Hopefully not solarium, now that it is apparently included.

Can kids eat at the solarium?

I realize I'm about to repurpose this thread, but then again, so did the whole Seinfeld thing (Art Vandelay? This is my boyfriend?). I want to spread a little love for Junkanoo Beach. Is this the best beach in the West Indies? No. But if you are looking for a free, easy excursion within easy walking distance from Nassau cruise port, I for one think this is great. It is uncrowded. The sand is nice. The water is clear. A previous poster commented on never taking children. I wouldn't tell someone what to do with their own kids, but we went recently with four adults and four young children, and they had a blast. There were some Bahamians selling things and braiding hair on the beach, but they were friendly and not at all pushy. The girls wanted some braids, and we had a nice time talking with these ladies. We also had some some amazing conch fritters at a stand right there on JB. Again, great opportunity to sample some friendly and rich Bahamian culture. We found Junkanoo beach to be a wonderful complement to our stop at the cruise's private island. It was a nice chance to be a tourist but also to interact with, and not just exploit, the country we were visiting.

i am having a hard time finding a clear answer on this one--is there a way to shower after a workout, without walking back up to my cabin?

Needed a quick, cheap flight from savannah to BWI. My experience, at least, was great. My family now somewhat regularly flies this route, and have never had a problem.

So I am ashamed to ask this, but can I get chicken wings on the oasis? I thought I saw them on a sample room service menu. If so, where? Not exactly gourmet fare, I know, but I'm not cruising Cunard either.

1. 11 and 12 year old close cousins traveling together. Any chance royal will bend on age requirements for youth activities?

2. How are the teen spaces/activities? I understand the middle school ages are often together with older kids. Is it still fun for them? Mine are 12 and 14.

Thanks for the advice. Based on suggestions, I was able to change our reservation to 7:30. Hopefully I won't get same error message.

We have a 5:30 main dining room time. Will we make it to 7:30 Oasis of Dreams show, or should we go for 9:30? We have a four year old in our group, and 7:30 is much better. Thanks.