Luvadayatsea
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Hi All:
Attached are the Daily Planners from the Cruise Compass for the Eastern Caribbean cruise from 1-23-16 to 1-29-16. Due to file size limitations, I could not scan the entire Compass, but the rest of the Compass is mostly promotional content for the shows, merchandise, spa, etc. Also attached is some other useful information. I hope this helps with planning your cruise. Good luck and enjoy!
I strongly suggest anyone cruising Oasis or Allure that you schedule your entertainment in advance. And these Planners are very helpful for that. I have found that, in general, the evening entertainment tends to follow a consistent schedule, so the activity times in these Planners can serve as a guide to what you might expect during your cruise.
If you don't schedule in advance, you'll be forced to wait in the last minute standby line. For the Comedy show, due to the small venue, most people in standby don't get in. For the other shows, you may be able to get in, but since it's at the last minute, you'll have difficulty finding seats, especially seats together.
Another consideration: we generally had poor weather on this cruise, so most, if not all, of the diving shows were cancelled. Consider a plan B for the time slot you book the diving show as well as the comedy dive show, which can't be reserved.
The new drink package special of 10 drinks for $79 was available. They started offering it sometime around day 3. I was told by one bar tender that the price DID NOT include gratuity and that a 15% gratuity would be added to the $79.
One person's opinion on the entertainment:
Shows:
I liked the comedians Darrell Joyce and Phil Palisoul, both in the welcome aboard show and in the adult show. The adult show was not too raunchy or vulgar, especially compared with past comedy shows.
Oasis of Dreams Aqua Show: both the original and make-up shows were cancelled due to weather. However, I have seen them in the past and highly recommend them.
CATS Broadway musical: I did not see.
Frozen in Time Ice Show: Very good show, including the sand sculpture artist.
Greg London, headliner show: Personally I have never cared for magic, ventriloquists, and impersonators. Normally after 10 minutes, I have had enough. Nothing against Greg, but his show is mostly impersonating singers. Therefore, after 10 minutes, I was ready to leave. So my opinion is very biased here. He seemed talented, and the audience seemed to like him.
Come Fly with Me, production show. Very good. Very physical. Singing, dancing, trampoline, aerial artists.
Music:
I like live music so one of the things I love about the Oasis class ships is the breadth of musical talent on board. I faced nightly conflicts over which act to watch because they were all very good. Music Vision won out and I became a groupie, seeing every nightly performance.
Music Vision: played nightly in Dazzles. Outstanding. Played a wide variety of hits. The dance floor was always full. They also played quite a few rock songs (Zeppelin, Skynyrd, G&R). And the lead singer's voice really shined on Bette Midler's Wind Beneath my Wings. If you like a great party band and/or dancing, make sure you come to their performances.
Adagio Duo: This female duo played piano and violin. Very good. They often played in Central Park, and the music combined with the setting of Central Park created a wonderfully relaxing and peaceful setting. I recommend seeing one of the CP performances and enjoying a relaxing drink.
Jimmy Blakemore, pub entertainment: I saw some of Jimmy and liked what I saw. He also performed a wide variety and mixed in the right amount of banter and humor with his music. I wished I could have watched more of his performance.
Tonya Scott, piano bar: I did not see. Too many choices, not enough time
Oasis of the Seas Orchestra: in addition to backing up the production shows, various members performed in various venues. All were very good. Try to catch a couple of their performances - they are very talented musicians.
Manati Salsa, Latin dance band: Did not see.
Marlene Arden Jazz Quartet, the nightly jazz act in Jazz on 4: I saw parts of 2 shows. They were good. Their songs were more of the classic/traditional/mellower type of jazz. I personally prefer a little more beat and funk. But traditional jazz fans should not be disappointed.
Extra, pool band: I liked the music but it was WAY TOO LOUD. I think the pool band should be background music. Royal sets the volume level as if they are a headliner act. If you want the ability to read/talk/nap while lounging around the pool, you can't really do it while they're playing.
I hope this is helpful for planning your cruise.
Dan
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-23 Day 1.pdf
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-24 Day 2.pdf
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-25 Day 3.pdf
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-26 Day 4.pdf
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-27 Day 5.pdf
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-28 Day 6.pdf
Daily Planner Oasis 2016-01-29 Day 7.pdf
Oasis Welcome Aboard Info 2016-01-23.pdf
Oasis Officers & Useful Info 2016-01-23.pdf
Oasis Luggage Valet Info 2016-01-23.pdf
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Brook,
I did Oasis Western last week on the port side.
In FLL I faced the ocean side, which is better in general and the better view if doing sail away from your deck.
In Cozumel, we faced the dock but there was another Royal ship on the other side, so the view was of another ship.
In Falmouth, I faced the ocean. I think this is better becasue they play music most of the day on the port side so if you're on your balcony and want some peace and quiet, you won't get it starboard.
In Labadee, we faced the ocean, but you still had a partial land view.
I think the upgrade will far outweigh any issues about the view.
Ultimately, the biggest threat to enjoyment of whatever view you have from your deck is inconsiderate neighbors, which I had on both sides of my cabin last week.
I hope that helps. Enjoy your cruise.
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Bling,
I would say yes. The entertainment does regularly change. Even the production show, Hairspray, which normally runs at least 5 years, I believe is scheduled to be changed to Cats after the dry dock this fall.
But, it is also common for the same acts to routinely repeat on a ship or group of ships. So some of the acts during my cruise could, in fact, be on your cruise, but it would be safer to assume that the acts will be different.
I would guess that the format/timing of the shows might be similar though. I think they generally have a winning formula (party band in Dazzles, various artists in Central Park under the stars, jazz in Jazz on 4 nightly, piano in Schooners nightly, etc.), so I think the format and timing could be similar.
They even make changes at the last minute. I e-mailed Royal 4 weeks before my cruise to inquire about the acts. They told me Home Free was the headliner, and it was subsequently changed to the Platters (who were very good), and one of the two comedians they named was replaced as well.
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I'm glad these will be helpful to you.
Don't forget to schedule your entertainment in advance. I find having a recent Compass to be very helpful for that.
If you don't schedule in advance, you will either: a) have to spend your first day in long lines trying to get any available reservation times, or b) have to spend time in line before each show and hope there are leftover seats.
For those of you who are somewhat geeky and/or comfortable with Excel and/or organized, the attached spreadsheet may help when trying to determine your show reservation times.
I'm a visual person, so for my recent cruise I decided to plot the nightly activity to determine the better times for scheduling the shows. I really like the live music offered on Oasis and Allure, especially the bands in Dazzles and listening to music in Central Park, so I try to schedule shows around the music I like. Plus I wanted to be sensitive to the port times. And of course dinner :D
So using Compasses for Oasis provided by a fellow Cruise Critic member 2 months before my sail date, I plotted out the entertainment. Then another member shared his Compasses a few weeks later, so I compared them. I would say there was about 85% consistency. This allowed me to reserve my shows around the other things I wanted to see and do.
Although there were some differences in the schedule on my cruise, overall the times worked the way I hoped.
So, for those of you who are oriented toward planning and organization, perhaps this may be of use. If you're familiar with Excel, it should be easy to update the schedule for the Compasses I posted. By the way, it appears only .xls versions can be uploaded instead of .xlsx, so I saved it in an older format. Just to be clear, the info in the spreadsheet is from February Compasses, not my Apr/May cruise.
Enjoy your upcoming cruises.
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I find having recent copies of the Cruise Compass to be very helpful for planning. Thank you to everyone who previously posted copies over the past couple of months.
Here are copies of the Cruise Compass from my recently completed Western sailing on Oasis.
I hope they are helpful.
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Thanks Fishy. I wasn't aware Crab Shack existed on the Royal/Regal. You may be right about the soft opening. I wonder if it was limited to just Ruby, or if other ships are experimenting. I didn't notice how well attended it was.
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John,
Congratulations on your superbowl ROMP.
You know, I did Chef's Table last year so I wasn't looking for it and didn't notice it was missing until you said something. I wonder if the Crab Shack was a replacement. My fuzzy memory seems to recall that there may have been a notice with all of the extra "ads" you get with the Patter, but I'm afraid I don't recall. Sorry I can't be more help. If you're interested, I suggest calling Princes directly and inquiring about you're specific cruise.
Enjoy your cruise!
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Thank you Fishy.
You are correct. The 5 night had one formal. On this trip it was Superbowl Sunday, so I think a lot of people skipped the MDR and dressing up in order to watch the game. The 4 night had 1 "dress to impress" night. No other dress code guidance was provided. At least none that I noticed. For the men, there was a mix of some tuxes, some suits, some sport coats with open collars, and plenty of normal resort casual you typically wear on non-formal nights. Women dressed similarly.
I do think it truly is optional. My take is dress the way you like (while maintaining normal minimum MDR standards). My sense of how it was viewed by people was if you like to dress up, do it and enjoy yourself. If not, it's perfectly fine.
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Fawn,
We had over 800 B2B passengers doing turn around on my two segments. I thought turnaround was very efficient. I waited 5 min. in the assembly area (dining room), then it took 5 minutes to walk to and pass through customs (you just hold up your passport and walk through. The line continuously moved). Then it was a 35 minute wait in the embarkation waiting room (I was told 3 passengers were late in leaving the ship so we had to wait while they were located. It's unfortunate those 3 people held up over 800 for half an hour). Then it was 10 min. to re-board including taking a new picture for the cruise card. The whole thing took 55 minutes. If the 3 passengers didn't delay getting off the ship, it would have been completed in under 30 minutes. Also, you can skip muster on the second segment and go anywhere on ship, but services shut down during muster.
Also, If you bring wine on board, I'll share a lesson from my experience with the wine table on my B2B. The policy says one bottle per person per cabin per voyage. I travelled solo, so that means one bottle for segment 1 and one bottle for segment 2. (My B2B was booked as two separate cruises with two separate voyage numbers. I know some people booked the whole 9 day cruise as one trip. Not sure how the wine policy works in that situation.)
Went through the security scanners, they noticed my 2 bottles and directed me to the wine table. 10 people ahead of me with 2 attendants working. By the way, the attendants were cruise staff not port personnel. About 8 minutes later I'm declaring my wine to an attendant, who happens to be a bartender on the ship. First he tried to tell me that only one bottle was allowed in total. I had printed the policy and calmly explained 1 per person per cabin per voyage and showed him my two voayage numbers and the policy. He then agreed but said one bottle had to be held and it would be delivered to my cabin the night before the end of the first segment. I tried to argue the point. Logic didn't work. So I asked for a receipt, which he provided as a handwritten note.
Todays Lesson: if they hold a bottle, get a receipt that indicates the type of wine, # of bottles held, and the name of the attendant.
Why? Because no wine was delivered to my cabin. Had to go to passenger services 3 times to resolve. And I needed the receipt. Also, in between trips to passenger services, I found the bartender who initially gave me the receipt and asked him about it. It was out of his hands the moment we left port. He told me the food and beverage department is responsible. They finally ackowledged they lost it so I requested an equivalent from their stock and they promptly delivered it.
Nuke,
I didn't attend or view the menu but the Patter says "Experience our seafood extravaganza and enjoy our Chef's delicious steamers and pots. $20 per person cover. Reservation recommended."
Perhaps someone who has attended can share more info.
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Thank you Nanny & Rdh.
I'm not sure where your interests lie, but a couple of things to point out that may help your planning.
Cafe Caribe's hours were more limited than my 7 day sailing on CB last year. Several times they weren't open at night. Also, one night each cruise segment they hosted a special dining event called Crab Shack that carried a $20 up charge. I seem to recall on CB they were open most nights with different themes every night. So if you like to dine in the cafe instead of the MDR in the evening, you'll have to adjust. Although the buffet was still very good.
On each cruise segment they held a deck party at night (Ultimate Deck Party & Latin Fiesta). It seemed that the rest of the entertainment options on the ship were scaled back to funnel people to the deck parties. For example, MUTS played only concerts and the live bands played less.
These two things stood as being different from my last standard 7 day cruise. Of course, Princess' scheduling of events is still a bit screwy (two entertainers even commented on it), but that seems to be fleetwide.
Hope that helps. Enjoy your cruise!
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Thank you Sunset. This is very helpful for determining when to reserve on-line events, as well as overall trip planning.
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My pleasure. I find viewing recent Patters (and Compasses for Royal) to be very helpful in cruise plannng. Unfortunately they don't seem to be posted often. I'm glad they will be helpful.
Enjoy your cruise!
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Here are the Patters from my recent B2B on Ruby. The first leg was 5 days and the second leg was 4 days. Also attached is disembarkation info.
I hope this helps with your planning.
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Baroness,
They played exclusively in Explorer's Lounge. Normally they played 2 to 3 45 minute shows per night. On deck-party nights, they played one show (in my opinion Princess cut back the entertainment offerings on deck-party nights to funnel everyone to that venue).
They played both general shows and theme shows including a 70's show, 80's show, Motown show, and Rock & Roll show.
The entertainment staff did something odd that I found very frustrating. In the middle of the 70's show, with the dance floor packed, the staff stopped the band and asked for volunteers to teach them to do the hustle. After 10 minutes, the band resumed and began playing the hustle and everyone danced their own way rather than the steps they were just shown. It made no sense to stop the show and sucked the life right out of the room. They did something similar on rock & roll night.
The entertainment staff (not the singers and dancers) generally were rather weak this cruise in my opinion.
Icon was also on board, so there were two live bands. But typical Princess scheduling, often they were overlapping or neither was playing.
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Just off Ruby B2B. New band came on board - Liquid Blue. Best party band I've heard at sea. Incredible variety: Abba, Pink, Michael Jackson, Eagles, KC Sunshine Band, Stevie Wonder, Daft Punk, Reba, Bee Gees, Santana, Blondie, and Much More. 7 member band with 4 vocalists. Dance floor was always full. The guitarist and bassist ocassionally ventured into the audience to play. A lot of fun.
Will be on into March. Then will transfer to Princess Asia itinerary.
Enjoy!!
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Lolly,
Thanks for the great review. Ill be on Ruby in 3 weeks and would love a copy of the Patters.
Please send to majd at nycap dot rr dot com
Thanks
Oasis Daily Planner attached - E. Caribbean 1-23-16 to 1-29-16
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Thank you everyone for your comments.
I find the Compasses/Planners to be very helpful for planning entertainment reservations on O-class ships, so I appreciate when others post them and just want to pay it forward.
I agree MrPayroll, Dazzles is often too small for the caliber of the entertainment performing there. Like many thing on O-class - get there early for best seats.