The Little details on cruises that we look forward to when boarding the Oasis!

[PhoenixCruiser]

I personally love the smell of a cruise! I know it sounds crazy and I can't really explain it, but it's a combination of sea air and relaxation (if that had a scent!) I still remember the "smell" of our first cruise-it makes me smile just thinking of it.....oh, why so long until the next one.....:(

 

 

LOL me too! When we boarded the Mariner of the seas earlier this month, I stepped on and the smell hit me immediately. I said "I love the smell of ship". The staff welcoming us just laughed and said "us too" :):)

 

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[waterbug123]

My favorites: The cabin steward turning down your bed at night with the little mints on your pillow and towel animals and !

 

Sorry, no more mints on the pillow on any RCI ships. Towel animals seem to be hit or miss these days, although we had them every night on Oasis.

[waterbug123]

One of the things I always look forward to is the "bing" sound the card reader makes when you insert your sea pass, when boarding. I am afraid that that will no longer be present on the Oasis, due to the security screening taking place on the pier,

Eric

 

You still get the "bing" on Oasis! :)

[AlBell509]

Sorry, no more mints on the pillow on any RCI ships. Towel animals seem to be hit or miss these days, although we had them every night on Oasis.

AWWW I liked those..

You still get the "bing" on Oasis! :)

YAY!:D

[AlBell509]

Seeing the new webcams has brought me to some new ones: The sunrise over the ocean, and how in the morning everything is so quite and outside the floors on the ship are wet... LOL!!:D:)

[Merc]

you still get the "bing" on oasis! :)

 

love the bing!!!!

[nydoll1]

I know you get them in other places, but we all love the towel critters. Highlight last week was the bat "flying" in our room on a hanger attached to the ceiling. On the oasis, my son loved the viewers that are around the ship in all sort of places where you see different images. He also loved the "Live the Oasis" book and we did the trivia contest at the end of the trip, he loved going to all of the locations to answer the questions. Best was when my DH had to go into the comedy club during a show to get him his last answer and when he walked in with a book the comedian said -- "A book, what, you think you're going to be bored?" That was priceless!

[AlBell509]

I know you get them in other places, but we all love the towel critters. Highlight last week was the bat "flying" in our room on a hanger attached to the ceiling. On the oasis, my son loved the viewers that are around the ship in all sort of places where you see different images. He also loved the "Live the Oasis" book and we did the trivia contest at the end of the trip, he loved going to all of the locations to answer the questions. Best was when my DH had to go into the comedy club during a show to get him his last answer and when he walked in with a book the comedian said -- "A book, what, you think you're going to be bored?" That was priceless!

 

We never had the bat... SOunds cute!!!

 

And very funny about the trivia/ book!!!!

 

Thats another thing.... The entertainers and crew are a great part of the cruise!

[DHooch]

My wife's and my first cruise was on the Song of America. The first thing we did was to go up to the Viking Crown lounge and have a Piña Colada. This has now been a tradition on our RCCL cruises. There is nothing better than being high on a ship with a drink in your hand, watching the world go by.

 

On that same cruise, a good friend of ours, a batchelor, came with us. The three of us each ordered a different drink at the pool at about 10:00 in the morning. (Yes, I know it was a little early.) We enjoyed the drinks. That night in the main dining room, the bartender came to our table to get drink orders. It turns out that this was the same guy who served us the drinks at the pool earlier that day. Recognizing us, he said, "will you be having..." and accurately listed the same drinks we each had at the pool. We were flabbergasted! He had to have remembered us and our drink order earlier that day along with hundreds of other passengers and their drink orders. Unbelievable! This kind of service is the other thing we look forward to on our cruises.

[erries]

That night in the main dining room, the bartender came to our table to get drink orders. It turns out that this was the same guy who served us the drinks at the pool earlier that day. Recognizing us, he said, "will you be having..." and accurately listed the same drinks we each had at the pool. We were flabbergasted! He had to have remembered us and our drink order earlier that day along with hundreds of other passengers and their drink orders. Unbelievable!

 

This kind of blows my mind, but then when I stop to think about it, I'm not really that surprised. The service on Royal Caribbean has always been amazing!

 

Erica

[nydoll1]

You reminded me of one additional thing. The first night in the MDR I ordered coffee after dinner, which was brought promptly. For every night after that our AW had a cup for me immediately after my dinner plate was cleared, which made me very very happy. Didnt need to ask, it was just there. The same guy, who really bonded with my kids, also worked at the buffet at the Solarium. One morning when I saw him I asked about the pancakes, which the sign said came with various items. My son wanted chocolate chips which were not available, not healthy I guess. Anyway, next morning we slept in and missed breakfast. When we got to dinner there was a big dinner plate in front of my son with a lid. When we all sat down the AW ceremoniously lifted the lid, underneath was a HUGE plate of the big, cooking kind of chocolate chips, seriously a whole bag. My son -- and daughter who had to get in there too -- was absolutely thrilled. The AW said he brought them to breakfast to make my son special pancakes and that when he didnt show he brought them to dinner. That is the kind of "little detail" that made our cruise amazing. And got our AW a very big tip on the last day. Every crew member we dealt with was awesome. When I have more time I will post about our other favorite, Magic Marvin the Bingo guy. He treated us incredibly well, lots of little gifts, etc. to reward us for our constant Bingo play (and losses!)

[DHooch]

Service in the main dining room reminded me of some other waiter stories.

 

On each RCCL ship we have been on we always had good service in the main dining room. What impresses my wife and me are the things that the waiters notice about the passengers they serve. For example, once you order something, like coffee, the waiters will bring you a cup of coffee, the way you like it and when you like it (before, during or after the meal) without asking. They always get it right. The same is true with the breads you like, before you have to ask for the bread selection. There are many other examples of this type of service.

 

One thing that has always impressed us in the past is that some waiters seem to know exactly what you will order, before you order, after the second night. On one cruise, we had a waiter that never asked us what we wanted. He always would say, "The gentleman (or the lady) will be having the..._____" filling in the blank with what we were thinking about eating that night. Sometimes he would say that the such-n-such course was not that good tonight and would recommend something else that he felt we would like. It got a little creepy but he was very impressive. He got a very good tip that cruise, just because we thought he might have been Houdini reincarnated.

 

By the way, this is why I don't fully understand when some cruisers seem to bad mouth the main dining room staff as often as they do. We have never experienced bad service on any of our twelve cruises. Oh, well!

[mkg]

I think I have to say "ALL OF THE ABOVE" - LOL. My son was just telling me last week how he loves "THE DING" when entering the ship. He said nothing beats it, your cruise has started!!

I love getting my first Pina Colada right after we board and yes, the smell of the ship!!

This was a great thread. I am so looking forward to this cruise in particular, my son is bringing his girlfriend and this is her VERY FIRST cruise! I am excited for her. We also

have 2 nieces coming who only cruised once before. So I know for me, I am looking forward to watching all of them having a great time. And now thanks to nydoll1, getting the picture book of memories!!

The best service we ever had was on our cruise last year on the Explorer, our waiter was spectacular!

[catlady27]

Where do I begin???? Getting our picture taken and realizing right then that YES, we are about to go on an awesome vacation :D

[Booking It]

how in the morning everything is so quite and outside the floors on the ship are wet... LOL!!:D:)

Yes! Everything just seems so fresh and naked... like the ship is ready to get dressed for another wonderful day.

 

Some of the things I look forward to (in no particular order):

 

• The dinging at the beginning of every announcement. The first one is the best!
  
• That smell in the corridors and cabin. You can only find that smell on a ship.
  
• Driving over the bridge from South Beach and seeing the ship waiting.
  
• Waiting on the gangway! I actually LIKE a longer line to board the ship because the wait actually makes me more and more excited to actually step onto the ship for the first time.
  
• The first lunch from the buffet. I LOVE buffet food, and I love sitting by a window and watching the world (aka Miami) carry on while we are still docked. I want to scream to everyone out there that they should be cruising, too
  
• Thunderstorms! I love, love, love thunderstorms at sea.
  
• On the flip side, I love the first clear night where the stars are brilliantly bright
  

[christinalvt]

I know someone mentioned this awhile back, but I just got around to reading it. While you cannot go to the front/helipad section on Oasis, I have heard that there are a couple of stargazing events during the week when you are able to go to the helipad. Sounds like alot of fun, I can't wait for our Jan 2011 Eastern Caribbean cruise!