Itchy&Scratchy

Cococay was as gorgeous as ever. This time I discovered a "secret" path from Chill Island to the South beach, and took it several times. It's so serene.... if you stop for a second, you will see little lizards in the bushes: The island is so beautiful and colorful: we ate at the Snack Shack like last time (Nov 2021), but I could swear - the food was much greasier this time. We had the same food: a chicken sammich, mozzarella sticks, funnel cake, grilled veggies. Seagulls were out of control this time. They descended upon the tables and loungers while people were still eating. And if you got up to get something else and left your food unattended for a second - whoa!!!! Madhouse. The water was cold again, despite it being April instead of November. But it was sunnier and a lot more pleasant this time. I took at look at the buffet when I got some hamburger buns to hand feed the fishes. Buffet food looked very good, especially compared to Princess Cay buffet food.

in St Maarten, we asked at the Tourist Kiosk about a beach to choose. I had some choices in advance, but still - nice to know local opinions. That's what we did last time and we went to Little bay. We liked it ok last time. Should have gone there this time as well. This time, the kiosk lady said - Great Bay... First, the land taxi (we didn't know about the water taxi) dropped us off in downtown, and we had to walk several blocks to the beach. Good thing my not so mobile dad wasn't with us. Then we had to walk down the very crowded (despite the rain and foul weather) beach before we found one spot that wasn't heavily populated. $20 for 2 loungers and an umbrella. The umbrella came in very handy when it poured down. We really didn't like this particular beach and will not come here again. Not pretty, too crowded even on a bad day, really bad wifi connection. A decent bathroom in a nearby restaurant, though. We got some trinkets on the way back (lots of stores and stands along the beach) and also took the water taxi back ($7 roundtrip, $5 one way). This was the highlight of our trip to St Maarten. When we got back to the ship, the weather improved vastly and I walked around the port area to look for some more souvenirs and take some pictures. beautiful fragrant flowers:

A little about our destinations... It was rainy in both San Juan and St Maarten, but it was much worse in St Maarten: thunder, lightening, cold wind, cold water. So, in San Juan we asked the taxi driver for a beach with amenities. He recommended Isla Verde. Well, definitely not my definition of a beautiful beach, but the kid was super happy jumping in the waves for hours, so I have nothing to complain about. As long as our kids are happy, right? There was a lot of construction around the beach. We paid a nominal fee for 3 loungers and an umbrella (I think $15 for the umbrella and $5 per chair?) and chose a place to set them up farther down the beach, with fewer people around. Water was very brown because of all the kicked up sand. We called the taxi driver to come pick us up hours later (he gave us his card), and he got there fairly quickly. His car didn't go in reverse (it was very old), so my hubs and some random dude had to help push it, so that the taxi could turn around in the parking lot. Fun times. 🙂

just for funsies: this sounded like a really interesting activity. I should have gone...

Other notes on the ship food: We had breakfast at the WJ daily. On some days it was impossible to find a table for the 3 of us, and they still let people in. Some diners were very obviously done with the breakfast, but kept lounging around on their phones, despite many loud speaker announcements that people were waiting for tables to become available and to please not linger after finishing breakfast. Some of the people were single diners occupying a round table for 5-6 people. Very inconsiderate. Breakfast food at WJ was very basic. However, guacamole and smoked salmon were served every day. If you don't like the guac toast they make (different toppings every day), you can simply ask for guacamole separately or on a plain toast. I love avocado, so I had it for breakfast every day. Omelettes were very good, and now they give you a buzzer. My kid's daily WJ breakfast: I only stopped by WJ for lunch once to look around - it was basic as well. We didn't stop by after MDR dinner like we do on Princess ships, though. Sorrento Pizza only had pizza, so no grilled veggies or anything else. Park Cafe no longer has bagged chips. They also no longer have hot sandwiches we had enjoyed on previous Oasis class cruises: chihuahua cheese quesadilla or three cheese panini. They had about 3 kinds of panini sandwiches in the glass display, but none that we wished to try. Salad toppings were very basic this time, unlike on our previous cruises. My hubs used to love a custom made fancy topping salads from Park Cafe - they are gone now. Desserts used to be fun, but not so much now.

Alas, here comes the last night's dinner - Mediterranean. The tapas medley was very average. I like flavorful tzatziki sauce with dill, but this one tasted like plain sour cream. I've had better tzatziki sauce from a grocery store jar. The seafood cake, on the other hand, was really yummy, and DH ordered two of them. Unfortunately, both cakes of his cakes were served on the same plate with just one smear of sauce, so there wasn't enough sauce to go with two cakes. I ordered one seafood cake and the amount of sauce was perfect for just one serving. IMHO, you have to have the sauce to truly appreciate the taste of this cake. I ordered the steak, plain, no chimichurri sauce, and it was perfectly medium. The true HIGHLIGHT of my husband's MDR journey on this cruise: pecan crusted salmon. According to my husband, this was the best dish on this cruise. THE BEST. That truly says a lot, because my husband is not like me and doesn't often get excited about food. It was served with a creamy light horseradish sauce, and was flaky and tender. The flavor was superb, according to my hubs. The desserts were amazing as well: light and fluffy peach trifle which we loved on previous cruises as well (I think it may have been called peach shortcake before) Super rich brownie: DS loved it. and a chocolate cherry tart. To be fair, DS didn't like his, so I ended up eating both of them myself - good thing I really liked them. That's whipped cream, not ice cream. I believe we also ordered crema catalana, but it was just the creme brulee from one of the previous nights, and it was just as disappointing.

I have more!!! We were in a hurry to see Cats later that night, so we asked our waiters to speed up the service. They happily obliged, despite it being a formal and very busy night. They brought all of the entrees at the same time. We didn't have time to try the Indian dish this time - I am sure we would have liked it. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a pic of the menu that night, so you get to enjoy screen prints from my phone instead: We started off with a fruit salad for DS ( he ordered one with every meal): and a delicious citrus, avocado and melon salad for me: DH had an onion tart as usual and liked it as much as usual: Cheese tortellini were once again a HUGE hit with our family, just like last time: the sauce is super rich and delicious! Both our son and I ordered one. Surprisingly, DS expressed a wish to try a lobster, so I ordered one for him and one for myself. Unsurprisingly, he changed his mind the moment he saw it brought out. He doesn't even like shrimp, so... Everyone probably thought that I wanted both lobsters for myself - no, not really. One is enough for me. 🙂 It was good - for someone who doesn't really care for them but usually orders them because they are fancy food. The desserts were good, especially the chocolate cake and the strawberry cake:

thank you, yes, I am comparing the food to our June 2022 Allure cruise and Nov 2021 Harmony sailing. Some items are the same, some are new, and overall MDR food (and only MDR food) was pretty good. Some items are gone or offered on a limited basis (like the daily favorites). Some dishes were better than on our Allure sailing. We were somewhat disappointed in food on the Allure overall because some of our favorite dishes compared unfavorably to the good old times (literally 7 months prior). But at least there were not cutbacks at other venues. There were definite cutbacks on this sailing... But overall, MDR food was as expected, good quality and quantity, with some pleasant surprises and some "meh...." reactions.

I think - show up on time, so you are not standing in that long line even longer.

we didn't check Playmakers out, but we loved Portside BBQ: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2930782-oasis-april-2-9-2023-a-wonderful-cruise/#comment-65201562 Soooo much food.... That said, I am not quite sure it was open for dinner on our cruise - do check the schedule. We tried it on a sea day for lunch.

The Taste of Mexico! Instead of trying out the Taste of Mexico people seemed to dislike very much we wanted to try the Solarium bistro. I even made the reservations.... but hubs and kiddo vetoed my decision, so we went to the MDR again. 🙂 soooo, the corn cakes were NOT anything we expected. I guess we thought they'd be more like crab cakes, but made with corn. They were not. More like tiny pancakes. They were ok. Hubs loved the poblano pepper soup, and I thought it was good, but a little too spicy for me personally: I chose the enchilada and it was good and flavorful: Kiddo once again chose spaghetti marinara. I swear - he ate nothing but baked potatoes and spaghetti on this cruise. 🙂 Hubs went with the butter chicken, which was great: The desserts were good:

Caribbean night: Coconut shrimp was great! I had a DOUBLE garlic tiger shrimp, and this time it was amazing! It wasn't amazing on the Allure. Our waiter very wisely requested double the shrimp and only a single side. I also had the NY strip steak and it was good, as usual. Hubs ordered the Caribbean chicken and it was great! he also tried the tagliatelle pasta and liked it: we all liked a fluffy and light pineapple cake: not sure what's going on with the upside down pic. I even rotated it. and DH also had a carrot cake: portions are tiny.... The kid had a brownie and liked it.

forgot to post the cappuccino cake pic:

Third night - France: We ordered a caesar salad and the snails: While I don't usually like escargot, I try it out of curiosity once on every cruise, if offered. I did like it more than Princess' escargot, which surprised me. I think it's because RCI's version was simple garlic and butter, and Princess version had lots of different spices which I didn't like. Main courses: I had a tenderloin, which was tender and great: Hubs ordered the beef bourguinion, which he liked: the seafood linguine was wonderful: and so was Rogan Josh: We were disappointed in the apple cobbler and the creme brulee, but liked the cappuccino cake. DS got the cookies (great) and chocolate ice cream every day.

Second night We ordered carpaccio, polenta fries and arancini: Carpaccio was very good, melted in your mouth: Polenta fries were very hard, but tasted good with the sauce: Arancini was good: For main course we ordered NY strip steak which was good for those who are not into $50 steaks: my husband liked the mushroom risotto, which was very small: I didn't like it yet again. We also tried Lamb Kofta, which was beyond great. I guess I forgot to take a photo, but it was meatball shaped and super delish. We had tiramisu for dessert: it was great.

First night dinner We had the crispy crab cakes and spinach-artichoke dip (new): The dip was wonderful. The crab cakes were as usual - pretty good. Aromatic Chicken Saag was great (even for people who don't usually eat Indian food, like us): Pan roasted fish file was ok. Our kid ordered Spaghetti Marinara every day. It was great in his opinion. The prime rib was fine: I order my beef dishes without any sauce/gracy/au jus.

this. We were in an inside cabin, and all we got was a small round soap for hands, and a combo bottle in the shower. I bring our own toiletries.

onto the MDR food - it was good. I was worried because of all the recent changes to the menu and MDR procedures, but it was for not. 🙂 The food quality was just fine by RCI standards, although there were definite changes such as fewer choices and disappearance of favorites. Steaks were thinner. We had MTD and really liked our team on the first night (table 120). They advised us that we could reserve the same table for the rest of the week, which we did upon exiting the MDR on the first night. Good thing we did because on most nights we simply bypassed the line and went directly to our table (if it was empty). On one of the nights early traditional diners showed up super late and were on their main courses at 7 pm.... We got a nearby table with the same waiting team, who as I said before was great (Bhaskar and Ayan). During the first few nights they brought out one appetizer or entree at a time, but as the time went and they saw how fast we eat, they would sometimes bring a couple of them at a time. Fine by us. 🙂 They had no problem accommodating my request to have absolutely no sauces with beef dishes. No au jus, no gravy, no peppercorn sauce. I am ok with herbed butter on my steaks, but nothing else. Only one steak arrived well done, whereas I always requested medium. I ate it anyway. We also tried a whole bunch of Indian dishes, which we don't do ever. 🙂 We enjoyed all of them.

if the difference is only $150, I will definitely book the balcony. Unfortunately, most of the time the difference in price is staggering, so we have no choice but to book inside. Nothing wrong with it.

it was 100% worth it. We never do specialty dining but this was special, and all three of us wanted to try it, despite the extra cost. 🙂 Although kind of hard to find a time when you are actually hungry, between huge breakfasts and huge dinners. Most of the time we didn't even have lunch. We went to the Portside bbq on a sea day after purposefully having a small breakfast. It was great! Pictured here are two combos, which came to $30 total including grats and which were shared by 3 people (one of whom is a preteen who eats like a bird, and two adults who eat like gluttons on their last day on Earth): the one at the top is $9.99 plus grats and included 2 sides, 1 dessert, and one choice of Chef's favorites. I chose smoked wings, coleslaw and fries, and brookies for dessert. We had a beloved dog named Brookie, so I would always choose a brookie over a banana pudding dessert. Our kid looooved the brookie. I thought it was good, especially if you like both cookies and brownies. The wings were fantastic, and both sides were liked by all three of us. Fries were just regular fries, but I liked this coleslaw very much. You couldn't choose one of the Pitmaster Favorites (meats) as a part of the 2 or 3 item Signature combo described below. That's why I chose to have a separate entree, because I wanted the wings. At the bottom you see a 3 Item Signature combo with St Louis style ribs, burnt ends and brisket, with 2 sides - mac and cheese and corn on the cob. My husband found the burnt ends to be too fatty, but the flavor was great. He hates fat on his food. I loved the ribs. Brisket was good. We all loved the corn, and mac and cheese was pretty good as well. Also at the top you will find Portside Spiked Palmer, the cheapest alcoholic drink we found onboard. $11 before gratuities, $13 after. I didn't like it - it was not sweet enough for me.

Make sure to make all the possible show reservations in advance. Make the other ones as soon as you get onboard (like laser tag). Public skating was a bust - they scheduled the registration for it at 2:45 on skating days, but by 2 pm all the time slots were "sold out". Our kid didn't get to skate... We went to the adult comedy on the first night, while our kid enjoyed laser tag galore over and over again. I didn't realize that the comedians change throughout the cruise since I was only able to make one reservation for one show. If you want to see other comedians, show up when they start letting people without reservations in. The ice skating show was good, with the Sand Guy (during the Ice show) being the definite highlight of the show. I am not spoiling it for you. Show up and see for yourself. Aqua80 was great. I walked out of Cats about 30 minutes in. My boys stuck around (which surprised me because they don't even like musicals) for another 15-20 minutes until I came and got them. People were walking out A LOT in the middle of the show. I must admit - it was boring, with every song sounding exactly like the one before it. I love musicals, I really do. But this one was boring. I walked out of Cats to go see Queen Tribute at Schooners, but in my opinion, the guy wasn't very good. It's very subjective... So, I walked out of that as well. The app doesn't show everything. We forgot to request the paper Compass....and missed some activities because of that. Not a big deal. Bolero's is the worst venue for dance classes. It's packed, and the stage is tiny. Maryna the guitar player was pretty good. We loved listening to her in the Central Park. We didn't go to the Music Hall (unfortunately), and sometimes the entertainment greatly overlapped with our dinner time. This was very unfortunate. I tried attending the guitar and vocal entertainment at the Atlas bar, but it was very loud for such a small venue, and I couldn't enjoy it. The ventriloquist show was superb!!!! We all loved it! I forgot to snap a photo of the entertainment schedule.

Hello, all, It's time for me to post some pics and observations of our Oasis cruise. There will be mostly food and menu pics and opinions, but I'll make sure to mention other things as well. To start off, we had a wonderful cruise. I was afraid that Oasis would be even more tired looking than Allure, but found that Oasis is in great shape after being amped. Everything looked fresh and new, except for the sofa in our inside room. That was the only thing that was definitely showing its age. We flew to MIA and stayed at the EB hotel the night before. A lot of people north of Atlanta had awful weather and a whole lot of flights were cancelled. Some didn't even make it to the ship.... We were lucky. EB Hotel was wonderful and I heartily recommend it for those who are picky and want great customer service and new, well appointed rooms. We were thrilled with this hotel, its location, the customer service, and everything in between. It's right next to a Pollo Tropical and Burger King. It offers complementary bottled water and tea and coffee pods for a Keurig coffee maker in the room. The room itself was gorgeous and spacious. And the bathroom has a motion activated night light! Hotel shuttle came very quickly. The following morning we took an uber plus ($25) to the port. I have never seen such a chaotic embarkation before.... Our boarding time was 11:30, and we showed up at exactly that time, only to find a queue of people stretching waaaaaaay out for this arrival time slot. It was crazy. We usually show up at our designated time and get in immediately (not any kind of a diamond or key or anything), so waiting in this long line was annoying. The lines for 12 pm, 12:30, and later arrivals were about 1/4 as long as ours. By the time we made it to the terminal slowly shuffling forward, all the other lines were let in at the same time with us. What the heck? After that, a long line split up into a whole bunch of shorter ones for check-in and xray machines, and it wasn't too bad after that. We picked up a tumbler for my soda package and headed to the buffet. The WJ buffet was very basic, but satisfactory. Our cabin was ready right after 1:30 pm, and our luggage was at the door a little while later. We had a regular inside cabin for 3, deck 8, forward, 8439. double sleeper sofa: To my surprise, Oasis had a built-in night light in the bathroom, which Allure didn't. It was very welcome. I brought our own, but we didn't need to use it. Our attendant Ravi showed up right away and explained the once a day service. In practice, it was still 2 times a day, because he had to clean in the morning and then set the sofa bed up for us in the evening (when he also tidied up a bit). He left towel animals for us several times. Oh, he also gave me some more hangers since our cabin had very few of them in the closet.

Just off the Oasis. Here is what it looks like. It is my understanding (4 times on Oasis class) that this class doesn't have any cabins for 3-4 people with pullman beds. My kid loves pullman beds.... Pictured on the sofa bed is a 5'3, 120# child:

the problem with the NCL Free at Sea package is that you can't tuck it on the lowest rate (Sail Away). Hence, the difference between the lowest rate that you would pay without the "free" stuff and the rate you must choose in order to add the free stuff is a lot more than only the gratuities you think you are paying. And did you notice how most of the POM cruises have the Sail Away rate sold out for over a year in advance? even for 2025. How convenient. Just to push you to buy a higher rate with "free" stuff. But if you do find a sailing with the Sail Away rate, here is an illustration to what I am talking about: you can't have "free" stuff if you pay $829 pp. You must pay $909 pp first, and then add gratuities. You will say - oh, it's less than a hundred bucks pp. Yes, it is for THIS cruise, but my point is that it's in addition to the $153 you said it costs.