labeachcomber

I bought in at $25 several years ago and have enjoyed watching it quadruple. But now a bit concerned it has dropped to $66.

The whole cruise industry is going to be affected by Zika. CDC just declared Level 1 emergency. Guessing there will be a whole lot less people who are going to be traveling to the Caribbean.

Stocks in general are down this year, so I'm going to not panic and try to avoid jumping ship. But is there a point at which long term investors would consider bailing?

You people fascinate me.

 

The more people who walk by your cabin, the more likely that SOME of them will be talking. And SOME of them will be talking LOUDLY.

 

When I book an aft cabin - which I love - "no one" walks by your cabin, because no one who doesn't have a cabin back there is walking by.

 

When I have a cabin on the hump/near the elevators, I don't hear anything from the elevators themselves, but EVERYONE walks by your cabin. And SOME of them are noisy.

 

And that's a fact.

I agree. If you have a cabin right near the elevator, you're going to get a lot of people walking by your room. And they may be walking by your room at 2 am, perhaps a bit tipsy, and perhaps quite loud. If you have a room way at the end of the hallway near the aft, you'll get less foot traffic.

So while it is true that you may not hear the actual "ding" of the elevator, it is not true that you won't hear a thing.

I think the boxing ring is one of the more ill-conceived ideas of Royal Caribbean. I'm sure when all the execs were sitting around the table, somebody mentioned boxing ring and everybody's eyes lit up. But it just doesn't have the appeal that a Flowrider would, or as mentioned, even a hot tub would.

Boxing? Seriously? Who wants to get into a ring and workout and get sweaty in front of lots of people watching? And it's not like it's a "five minutes and you're done" kind of thing. The structured classes mean you have to commit a block of time to it. Boxing may appeal to some serious fitness enthusiasts or to those who box in gyms at home, but I'm going to guess that the number is less than 1% of the cruising passengers.

It didn't take long for people to try to turn this thread into yet another "What is acceptable dress in the MDR" debate... Sigh.

As others have said, for the OP, you can pretty much wear whatever you want on the first day without feeling like you're doing something wrong (since of course you know there will be the dining room attire police casting nasty glances at you that you're ruining their cruise vacation because they consider you inappropriately dressed).

When we were on the Oasis, my wife's bag did not arrive to our cabin door until 9 PM!!! We looked high and low for the bag throughout the late afternoon and early evening. The naughty room. Guest services. Back to the naughty room. Back to guest services. Etc. I have no idea where the bag was. They must have forgotten it in the most remote part of the ship. Or perhaps it was in somebody else's cabin. So my wife went to dinner wearing a tank top, shorts, and sandals. Nobody cared.

Have fun on your cruise!

We bought a case of water right before we went to the port. Had the porter literally tape a luggage tag on to our case of water and off it went. Showed up outside our room, albeit it appeared that one passerby in the hallway decided to help him/herself to a bottle. But hey, it beats having to lug it around in my carry on before the cabins open. And certainly cheaper than the ridiculously expensive water package that they sell you onboard.

laebeachcomber hello- Honestly, how many slides can a 7 year old want and a 1 year old? Perhaps a child over the age of 11 would like diversity, but sometimes too much for young children overwhelms them and is just too much. I also don't think the children be on the slides very much each day so that is another thing the OP needs to consider. You also have nearly twice as many passengers on the Breakaway than the Grandeur which means more kids which sums up the ship needs to accommodate them so they have more slides.

 

Yes, the Breakaway has ropes but the OP children are 7 and 1 year old, they won't be doing ropes trust me at that age.

 

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I believe the smaller ship be best for the OP who has two children at the age of 1 and 7. I do believe she will have a stroller and the Breakaway is such a "crowded" ship I feel she have difficulty with the stroller getting around the ship.

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I simply just giving my advice and suggestions to the OP based on the fact she has two very young children. I definitely have to say her best bet overall is to go with the Grandeur.

YMMV, of course, but my 7 year old nephew would be on those waterslides all day during sea days. The more variety, the better. He would also definitely do the ropes course, albeit with his father perhaps in back of him just to make sure he stays safe.

I feel that on the larger ships, they are so big that you never feel crowded. This isn't like trying to navigate a stroller at a New York subway stop. It's a huge ship and you are never going to be shoulder to shoulder at all times with people.

Some people prefer the smaller ships. I'm of the mindset that on a cruise, I want the most options for things to do, so that comes with the bigger ships. I know that's not true for everybody, as you can see from the various opinions.

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All cruise ships now have a pool area with slides for the kids so the Breakaway is not offering anything different in that area.

 

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I beg to differ. The Breakaway has FIVE multi-storied waterslides. Which Royal Caribbean ship has that?

The Breakaway also has a ropes course.

I think these two activities alone should sway the OP towards the Breakaway with the kids in mind.

I'm a loyal Royal cruiser. But you're talking about one of the largest and newest ships of Norwegian's fleet. If you're deciding purely on a "how much is there to do" basis, then the answer IMO is easy, and it's the Breakaway all the way. Let's flip the question around, and ask if you'd rather go on the Norwegian Sun or Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas, is there any doubt?

Yes there is a Taco Bar on Oasis in the Wipe Out Cafe.

As others have said, yes, there is a taco bar in the Wipe Out Cafe. Pretty much your standard, cafeteria style hard shell tacos, meat, cheese, and some processed guacamole. Lines can be out the door on sea days. Not sure why, because we found the food here pretty forgettable. Not worth the calories, IMO.

Going to echo the recommendation for deck 8. We had a D1 hump on deck 8 and loved being close to Central Park. Also liked being on a "mid" deck so climbing the stairs either up or down wasn't too bad and provided good exercise.

If you don't mind a lot of people staring at you and a constant flow of people, then go for the Boardwalk balcony.

If you're self-conscious and want perhaps a bit more privacy, then choose Central Park, since the volume of people walking through Central Park is not nearly the amount on the Boardwalk.

I think choosing a Boardwalk balcony towards the end just so you can watch the show is a bit overrated. IMO, you'll want to actually be in a seat in the actual Aquatheater in order to get the full experience.

If you're in Central Park, you can sit out on your balcony at night and enjoy the string quartet and the music while enjoying a glass of wine. And the fact that it's pretty dark means that people can't easily see you, so you might be able to relax a bit more.

You can most certainly request the same table and waitstaff. Better chance of getting the same table every night if you go early, but they'll accommodate you if they can. At the very least, you can ask to sit in your waitstaff's area.

I agree with the rental car option. Just go for the cheapest economy option and it should be quite affordable. If memory serves correctly, Thrifty and Dollar have a drop off right outside the port gates, and then you can take their free shuttle to get dropped off at the ship.

If you get in at 545 am, you'll probably have your luggage by 630 am and in the meantime you can arrange pickup of the car. Then you'll have a good four hours to drive around, get breakfast, and pick up the last minute essentials (for me it would be a case of water and some wine). Much easier than trying to do it all in a taxi.

Or if you don't really care, then just head to the port and sit and wait! Nothing really wrong with just hanging out for four hours or so and taking a quick nap.

If you are talking about lowest price and are not overly concerned about cabin type or location availability, the only time to book for the lowest price is after final payment date has passed. That is when the real sale prices begin because at that point those who booked early are due a price match if their cabin type is priced lower.

 

Happy shopping!

I agree. After watching the price drop dramatically after final payment on our Oasis cruise last summer, we've decided that from now on, we'll book the airfare ahead of time, and then just wait on the cruise as long as possible. Of course, this means that we won't get our pick of "ideal" cabin or deck, but in the end, we don't really care since all that matters to us is that we are on the ship and enjoy the cruise.

If it looks like it's selling out, then we would pull the trigger earlier. But I think once the cruise line is trying to fill the ship by dropping prices is the best time to strike, if you're able to wait. Just make sure you book something before it completely sells out, otherwise you're stuck with airline tickets and no cruise.

Just like I don't understand what "dress jeans" are. But sparkly tops always help. :rolleyes:

I don't think I've ever seen a man wear a sparkly top. But if the OP is also wondering if dress shorts for herself would be acceptable, wearing a bikini top would help as well, nobody would be looking at her shorts.

As some others have said, I think "dress shorts" is an oxymoron. Sure, you can call them "nice shorts", but "dress" shorts to me implies a man's pair of slacks that is hemmed at the knees (which I've never seen except on maybe Pharrell), since "dress pants" to me imply nice slacks. Dockers or khakis in my opinion are "casual" pants. Other types of shorts: Cargo shorts, Athletic shorts, Swimming trunks.

As with any "can I wear ___" in the dining room, in the end, people will wear whatever they want and despite what many many people will say, what they wear will not impact significantly the cruise experience of others.

Thanks for the post. Loved the pictures.

I understand why it costs $150, because if you made it $20 then you'd have hundreds of people that want to sign up. But why not make it a little more reasonable, such as $50-60? If I recall, on Oasis, I think there were perhaps only two days of tours with maybe only 2 tour times available each day. So 4 total? And only a small group for each tour?

They could make this a regular ship "excursion", essentially 7 days a week, maybe a few times per day, if they really wanted to. But in the end, it is more work for the crew and perhaps the crew don't want the daily invasion of privacy.

I didn't mean to stir up such controversy! Well, in that case, I'll be bringing it by the glass to the MDR if I want wine with dinner. Kind of defeats the purpose for me to pay $25 for a corkage fee for wine I brought on board (and therefore already paid for...). I'd likely only have one glass anyway, so I do not benefit whatsoever from having a pre-opened bottle of wine sitting at my table!

This is what we did several times. When you meet your stateroom attendant on the first day, simply ask for some wine glasses and a corkscrew. The wine glasses are identical to the ones that you get from a bar or in the MDR. Several nights we just walked into the MDR with a healthy pour in each of our glasses. Never asked a single time about our wine. After all, we could have been at a bar right before dinner and brought our wine in. We saw lots of people walking in with wine in a glass, so I imagine it happens a lot.

Sometimes we would leave a little bit of wine in our glass so we could walk out with the glass and bring it back to our room, so we didn't have to bother with finding our cabin attendant the next day to ask for more glasses.

Does it circumvent the RCI corkage rules? Yes. Just because we "got away with it" does it make it ok? No. Just because others are doing it does it make it right? No. I realize that. It's a money-saving option that you can choose to do or not do depending on your moral compass.

On Oasis, I hardly ever saw anybody playing poker. Maybe one time all week where there were three people playing with perhaps $20. I'm not even sure if the tournament ran all the time, it seemed like there was very little interest. Maybe it just depends on the sailing...

This is right in front of the kids club with their windows overlooking that area, so I don't think it would be a good idea. Also, the Solarium area is right above it with unrestricted view onto Deck 14. :-)

While it is true that there are windows overlooking this area of 14, I imagine there are some areas off to the side that would be hard to see. Although I don't have kids so have never stepped into the Adventure Ocean area. I also fell that it is hard to see down to 14 from the Solarium unless you were standing right up at the window. But point taken. Not as private as maybe it appears.

To the OP, seems like some conflicting info here regarding toplessness and RCI. No reason to not believe that it wasn't allowed on European cruises (trying to remember if I saw it allowed on Celebrity when we were in the Med), especially since people here have stated it was. But on Oasis, the best place to go au naturel would be your own balcony.

I hope it's ok to respond to everyone in one post! :)

 

Yes, my husband did the private lessons- in fact, he would have signed up for 2 but we ran out of time. At first I wasn't sure if that would be worth it but we watched a few lessons in progress early in the trip and it really does help to get a little extra practice time in, plus it's a blast. The did keep the boogie boarding side split the entire week for us except when they did lessons on that side. I think that really helped with the wait times.

 

I HAD to have a camera on the waterfall climb and I knew I didn't want to risk my big camera so I did some research and went with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS25. I choose it because of the size- I wanted something pocket sized, the decent price- I caught it on sale for $130, because it had optical zoom, it had buttons instead of a touch screen like some of its competitors which I've heard it harder to operate underwater, and it was shockproof so I didn't have to worry as much if I bumped it while climbing. The floating strap came in handy too because I could move it up or down my arm depending on what we were doing and just tighten it and the camera would stay cradled right against me. It really handled our abuse well- it got submerged, banged, covered in mud and still came out alive. I got a little hazy at Labadee from the salt spray on the jet skis but when we rinsed it with clean water, it took great images again.

I wonder how or why they decided to keep the divider in for boogie boarding? Now that I think about it though, our starboard Flowrider only had one of the two jets working. So I guess that's why. On Day 2 of our cruise, there was no stand-up surfing, only boogie boarding on the port side, and the divider was in place. I think they were trying to fix the starboard side but could never get it going. On Day 3, surfing was on the port side and boogie boarding back on the starboard side, but with only one of the jets, so essentially half the Flowrider. Which was fine, since you weren't really moving across the entire Flowrider. They said they were going to fix it Friday night so it would be ready for the next sailing. Guess it was fixed! I wonder if they always divide the boogie boarding as a general rule?

Looked at the Panasonic underwater point and shoot as well. We ended up buying the Canon D20, a little more expensive, I think around $290, but we are a Canon family and love the quality of pictures. So much fun having a true underwater camera. When we found out that a custom housing for our specific non-underwater point and shoot cost about $200, we thought we would just get an actual underwater camera. We saw a bunch of people fiddling with plastic boxes that they had to kind of squeeze really hard in order to get a picture. Love how hardy our camera is and it was a great purchase.

This is a great review! We were on Oasis just one week before you, so this post and the pictures bring back very recent memories!

Noticed that your husband did stand-up surfing on the Flowrider at night. Was this one of the private lessons? Next time we're on this great ship I'll definitely consider doing it. Also saw that for the starboard Flowrider for boogie boarding they had the divider in your pictures. Was it like this the entire week? It was like this for the first day for us because one of the Flowriders was getting fixed. I personally wish they would have divided the boogie boarding the entire week, since people can stay on there for as long as they want if they're not willing to try any tricks. At least this way, the line is half as long.

There is a forward deck on 14 overlooking the helipad that is rarely used.

To get out there, you walk all the way forward on the port hallway. You'll find that there is a little lookout area that has a telescope/binocular fixture, and sometimes people go out there to take a photo. But the deck wraps around the front and there are some rather private areas here.

However, I'm pretty sure that topless/nude sunbathing is not allowed in the public areas, and if not specifically spelled out, it's likely an unwritten rule. Your best bet is to get a balcony or a suite with a huge balcony....

I'm not sure why I continue to have such a hard time understanding this thread. Am I correct in thinking the following?

1. Essentially, Crown and Anchor and MLife now have some kind of shared tier status.

2. Some people become higher status with MLife based on their C&A status, but this status needs to be "renewed" every year. But since your C&A status never changes, then shouldn't you always be the same MLife status? Why make you renew every year?

3. Some people become higher status with C&A based on their MLife status. (I think this is the less common of the two scenarios.) But, since MLife status does depend on yearly gambling and spending, the C&A status gained does reset every year. So if you achieved Diamond status one year via your gambling but then the next year you didn't gamble enough, you might only qualify for Platinum?

As a lowly platinum, the book was worth about $22 to us.

Two BOGO soda, wine, or beer. (Glass of wine $10)

Two 10% off glass of wine (Saved $1 each time)

Played blackjack once, had the $5 match play coupons in my pocket, and actually completely forgot about them.

I'm not so sure I like the idea of them being loaded on to your seapass card. How are we supposed to remember what coupons we have? Will we have to tape a list to the mirror and cross them off as we use them? Will the server as you each time if you want to use your BOGO drink coupon, or do you have to decide when? (Obviously use it for a more expensive glass of wine versus a $2.50 can of Coke.)

are they paperless on Oasis yet?

Not paperless on the Oasis last week, we had the books.

Most important thing to note from all of these posts is that the slides don't open until 10 am.

Oasis was in port from 7 am - 2 pm. People that bought the expensive Atlantis pass through the ship were extremely disappointed. Nothing to do until 10 am, long lines of about 30-45 minutes per slide, and then need to make your way back to the ship before 1 pm. Barely 3 hours for a handful of times down the slide for quite a hefty fee of I think $160. Ouch.