Oasis Trip Report June 19-26, 2010

[swwake]

thanks Susan,

still reading with eagerness and looking forward to the next one! When you went to the ics show - was it really cold inside? do you have to take warm clothes with you to see this show? thanks.

I really hope to finish this up soon. We drove to Dallas last night and took the kids to Six Flags (amusement park) today. Just got home about an hour ago.

 

Studio B isn't cold at all. It may have been a little cooler when they have the ice rink uncovered, but not cold, by any means. With so many people inside the room, it warms up quickly.

 

If you want to ice skate, you have to bring long pants, though.

[smilegirl07]

Susan,

 

Your review is by far one of the best and it makes me really look forward to my Oct. 16th to W.Carib on Oasis!!!

 

I love all the pix that you upload, it makes me almost believe that I am on the cruise already!

 

Thank you!!

[jujucrew]

swwake just want to say a "big thank you" for taking the time to do this review

ive read it all and its been brill to read,

youve done a great job but most of all thank you for sharing your holiday with us.

we wanted to go on oasis but we chose independence of the seas this time

well its our first cruise,

hopefully next year will be the oasis you certainly sold it too me!!!:D

[charliegirlac]

It's not so much work - stress relief for me - and I get to relive a fantastic vacation. I found the menu for Sunset. http://www.sunsetsxm.com/food_dinnerlunch.php

 

Burgers $9-$12. Hot dogs $6. Includes fries. I guess this is about what you'd pay in an airport. But the food was pretty good. And you can't beat the view!

 

Thank you!!!

[swwake]

After the 70s party, we went to Dazzles for awhile. We found the drinks there to be pretty good. We were early getting there, but within just a few minutes, it started getting crowded. The 70s music and party continued late into the night. Dazzles was good for us because they did not limit the age, and Caitlin, at 17, could get in.

 

Dazzles is 3 stories high, but only the first two floors have seating. The bar is on the first level. Behind the bandstand is a huge window that looks out over the boardwalk. The dance floor is color-changing acrylic squares. Here is a photo.

 

The next day, Day 6, was a day at sea. If you can remember WAY back at the beginning of this report, I was pretty upset on Day 3 when, for our first day at sea, the Flowrider times were limited due to filming a commercial for Allure. At that time, I had been told that the filming might continue on Thursday, Day 6. But, to my delight, when I received my Cruise Compass the night before, I saw that both Flowriders were open all day Thursday. I was pretty excited.

 

Thursday morning, I got up and headed on to the Flowrider. I grabbed a banana somewhere along the way (maybe Park Café?). It was about 9:30 by the time I got to the Flowrider, if I remember right. Chris ended up joining me a little later. The girls (all three of them) slept in.

 

At about 1:00, Kellye found us at the Flowrider and said that she had promised the girls we would meet for lunch at Johnny Rockets at 1:30. So, off we went.

 

I don’t know if Johnny Rockets takes reservations, but there was a 20-minute wait when we got there. We looked up and saw many tables outside and asked about them, and the hostess said “oh, you want to sit outside? We can seat you now.” I thought that was a little weird. It was hot out there, but there were umbrellas and it wasn’t unbearable.

 

While waiting for the others to meet us, Kellye and I ordered 2-for-1 milkshakes using our Crown & Anchor coupons. They also brought out all-you-can-eat fries and onion rings.

 

The food was pretty good, and a nice change from the Wipe Out Café we’d been eating most of the week for lunch. The atmosphere was vibrant, although they didn’t sing and dance outside – only inside. But we could see them through the windows. Also, we were eating at the same time that the Belly Flop contest was happening at the Aqua Theater, so it was loud, and we could see some of the action on the big screens.

 

After lunch, I went back to the Flowrider, of course. Chris was going to go to the gym because he thought he had lost his Mojo at the Flow, but I talked him into coming back to surf with me. Kellye hit the pool, and the girls went ice skating.

 

It was sometime on Thursday that one of the readers of my live report on Cruise Critic contacted me and asked if I had seen her son, who is in the Oasis of Dreams show. After some back-and-forth, we figured out that it was Jesse (stage name Mowgli), who is her son. I told her (Barbi) that my girls had a crush on him after seeing him in the show.

 

So Barbi talked to Jesse and he arranged to meet us just to say hi, and maybe take a photo with the girls. Our first attempt was at 2:45pm at the Aqua Theater, during a practice for the new Splish Splash comedy show. The girls got all dressed up and pretty, and we went to the Aqua Theater to look for Mowgli. We watched a lot of the practice and direction (which was pretty cool as we got to see the director really putting together and fine-tuning the show). But we never saw Jesse.

 

Here’s one of the huge screens at the theater.

 

I went to the library real quick (since it was closer to the stern of the ship than our stateroom) and logged in to check the email again. It turns out that we had gotten confused and Jesse was to meet us at 3:45pm. So back we went. (It was getting pretty comical by now.)

 

Well, we got to watch more of the practice, but later learned that Jesse had to put more time into rehearsal that day than he had expected, and couldn’t break to meet us. I did take a couple of pics of him in practice to send to his mom. Here is just one.

 

Katie said I was “Creepy Stalker Mom” for taking pictures to send to Jesse’s mom. I thought, if it were my son and he was halfway around the world, I’d want someone to do the same for me.

 

Here are a couple more pictures around the ship that I got from Kellye’s camera.

 

 

Next – our last day at sea: Will we ever meet Mowgli? And will we get into another Flowrider group lesson?

[swwake]

Thursday night we went to see the comedy show. We got there quite early, about 30 minutes before the 10:30 showtime. Now, we had some other business to attend to. A couple of us needed to run to the restroom. Kellye had to take care of something I can’t remember, and Chris wanted to enter the James Bond trivia contest at the casino, and the entries had to be turned in by 10:30pm. So we showed up on time, with our reservations, and found our seats.

Two of us at a time stayed in our seats, while the others ran the necessary errands. Then we would rotate out. Well, I must admit I got a little frustrated with one of the Cruise Staff when she told me I couldn’t save seats. I told her that I wasn’t saving seats. All 5 of our party had arrived in advance of being on time, and we had a reservation. Each just had something they had to take care of. I don’t consider this saving seats. I think it’s rude and people are “saving seats” when only one in the party shows up and takes up an entire row of prime seating, then the rest of the party shows up right at showtime.

Maybe I was wrong here, and I won’t mind if you let me know you think I was wrong. If so, I certainly want to learn so I won’t be considered rude in the future. Maybe there is a fine line here. Others around us did not have a problem with it and even told me they didn’t understand the cruise staff fussing at me. There was a long standby line, and I got the impression that not everyone was able to be admitted, but again, I had made reservations weeks ahead of time, and we were all present and accounted for 30 minutes before show time. I just think that if there is going to be a policy, it should be clearly communicated somewhere somehow. The only policy we heard/read was to be there 15 minutes before showtime to have our seapass cards scanned or risk losing our seats when they let the standby crowd in 10 minutes before showtime.

Anyway, rant over. Just a minor nuisance and it didn’t ruin our vacation. The show was great. It is rated 18+, and anyone under 18 is welcome, but must be with someone over 18. We enjoyed the show, but it was on par with any local comedy club show we have seen in Austin. But the girls just loved it. I think it may have been their first time to hear adult humor and audience heckling.

Thursday night was the “twenty” party in the Solarium. Chris and I went with Kellye and it was really neat. I remembered the “hourglass” girls from the Liberty of the Seas. These are really cool costumes with hoops at the top and bottom that the girls manipulate around. They pose and stand still for long times. Their entire bodies are covered in a white leotard (including heads and faces). Very hard to describe, and I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of this. But very cool. At “twenty”, they also serve drinks in glowing glasses.

It was warm in the Solarium (and it was raining, so we couldn’t spread out much), and it got very crowded. They had a good DJ from the Scratch DJ Academy, and we had a good time.

Soon enough, it was time for bed. Chris and I wanted to get up early for the advanced stand-up Flowrider on our last day.

Word to the wise – there is a curfew for those under 18 on the ship. Katie and Caitlin were on the Royal Promenade late Thursday night (after 1am), and they were stopped by security. Caitlin was told that she had to go back to her cabin. Even though the rules in the Compass say that those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult after 1am, they wouldn’t allow Katie to be that adult. Again, I think there were miscommunicated rules here. Or mis-enforced. Regardless, Caitlin was happy to head back to the cabin with Katie late that night.

Next – our last day at sea: Will we ever meet Mowgli? And will we get into another Flowrider group lesson?

[QTMichele]

Next – our last day at sea: Will we ever meet Mowgli? And will we get into another Flowrider group lesson?

 

I don't know, but I hope you'll tell us. SOON! :D

[ArkieCruisin]

I am really enjoying your review with the great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.

[swwake]

When we went to bed Thursday night, we had made the decision that we would get up for the “advanced” stand-up surfing at the Flowrider Friday morning. And so we did. We were up before 8am and at the Flowrider, having had a light snack, by 8:15am. All “the regulars” were there. There was a family who we had met earlier in the week who were at the Flowrider most of the time. There were 22- and 20-year-old brothers, along with their cousins, a 15- and a 10-year-old brother/sister. These guys were awesome and very fluid on the Flowrider. Megan had to be the best carver we saw all week. This was only her second cruise to be tall enough for stand-up. She’s just a natural.

 

That morning, during Advanced, the instructors were interviewing and placing the contestants for the afternoon’s “Best of the Best” competition. All four from this family were participating.

 

We got some great time in between 8:15 and about 9:45, when the crowds started arriving. We kept checking back at the Sports Desk about the waiting list for lessons, but they were still booked and we were still third on the list. Chris and I ended up just hanging out at the Flowrider all day, leaving only for snacks and restroom breaks.

 

A couple of times during the day, I checked email, and Barbi was still trying to connect us with Mowgli (Jesse). At one point, we even got a voice message from him in our stateroom (oh, the girls listened to that “sexy Australian voice” two or three times!). But we just weren’t sure how or when we could connect. Jesse was busy working.

 

During the day, the lines got increasingly long, as everyone on the ship suddenly realized it was their last day and they hadn’t tried the Flowrider. We watched as the same thing happened on the Zip Line.

 

The contest was held at 4pm, so that is when all public stand-up riding stopped FOR THE WEEK! I was lucky to be the very last rider before the contest. I had my personal best run that day.

 

Here’s a shot of Chris on the Flowrider.

 

We stayed and watched the comp and cheered our new friends on. They did lots of very cool tricks like shove-its, switching boards, 360s and beyond, etc. One also was able to balance a cup of water on the front of the board as he rode, and he could also ride blindfolded. The winner was voted by crowd applause. In the end, it was Megan who won. She was simply awesome.

 

During the contest, Katie mentioned to me that the one regret she had about her vacation was not riding the Flowrider more. And now it was too late…

 

After the Flowrider closed, we didn’t have much to do (on the OASIS???), and Caitlin wanted to ride the Zip Line, so she and I changed to dry clothes and stood in line. The Zip Line doesn’t require reservations. Your waiver is attached to your Seapass card, so they just swipe it at the front of the line. You are required to wear closed-toed shoes and 100% dry clothes. If you don’t have shoes, you can bring socks, and they will provide shoes.

 

We were in line for about 90 minutes! While in line, we made plans for the evening. Our plan was to pack up our bags (which had to be out by 11pm, because we were using Luggage Valet), go check out our photos at Focus and buy the ones we wanted, shower, see Come Fly With Me (our 7:30pm reservation) and have dinner at 9. Then we would relax and enjoy our last evening on the Oasis.

 

My how things can change in an instant!

 

While we were in the line, about 6pm, an announcement came over the intercom that a whole group Flowrider lesson had just been cancelled and they were calling the waiting list. If you were not in your stateroom, too bad, they were taking walk-ups. So, I jumped out of line (wearing my harness! I must have looked quite silly.) and went to the desk and signed up Chris, Katie, Caitlin and myself. Our group lesson was set for 10pm and I was beyond elated!

 

Now Katie wouldn’t have to regret not riding the Flowrider. Now, Chris could work on his Flow Mojo.

 

Now, we had to rearrange our entire evening! Ugh!

 

Next: A Chaotic Evening, and Mowgli, Where are you??

[amethyst365]

hahah just LOVE your review!!!! its so exciting and im now in total suspense - BUT oh hang on I already know the answer hahah BUT im still in suspense - come on - more more. and then im going to send it to mowgli LOL:)

[bwest the man]

I have throughly enjoyed this report and it is one of the best I have read you could really be an author with how good you are at the suspense. I am kind of sad that it is almost over. Once again thanks for taking the time to write such a wonderful review.

[charliegirlac]

Absolutely LOVING your report!! Almost makes me want to go on the Oasis!!!

[Freo]

>>It's not so much work - stress relief for me - and I get to relive a fantastic vacation. I found the menu for Sunset. http://www.sunsetsxm.com/food_dinnerlunch.php

 

Burgers $9-$12. Hot dogs $6. Includes fries. I guess this is about what you'd pay in an airport. But the food was pretty good. And you can't beat the view!<<

 

Thank you for your link to the website. A trip to the Sunset is in order for our December Freedom cruise. ;)

[jjtt]

THANKS for your continued review!!! I can just see you now running and *pushing* your way through the crowd to get in line for the Flowrider reservations that night!!! ;) Just love the pictures and yes the suspense.... Will they ever meet?????

[ALSEAU]

Susan I have really enjoyed your review and pictures. I don't do the flowrider but I feel as though I have been a spectator watching you and your family riding the waves.

 

Even though you have not been doing a live report your writing style is such that I feel you are on board ship sharing with us your daily experience.

 

I feel sad that you will be getting off the Oasis tomorrow.:(

 

Thanks for the posts.

[bug18]

Susan -- don't leave us hanging, did you meet Mowgli? :)

[swwake]

You guys are all too kind. I have really enjoyed writing my report and re-living our vacation. I am glad to hear that you have also enjoyed it.

 

bug18 - Next installment coming up - I won't leave you all hanging.

[swwake]

With our group Flowrider lesson scheduled, Caitlin and I were at the front of the line for the Zip Line. When you get up to the front, you are already harnessed, checked, double-checked and triple-checked. They give you a helmet here, and some easy instructions of how to stand, hold on, and land.

 

Caitlin went first, and Kellye and Katie were on the other end, taking pictures.

 

Next, it was my turn. I have done the zip lines in Jamaica twice, so I know pretty much how it works. The difference on Oasis is that the way you hold on with your hands is to a “trolley”. It’s a handle with grips like a bicycle, and it hangs from the zip line. This is different from the canopy tours, where you wear gloves with one hand loosely holding on in front and the back hand serving as your “brake”. I knew it would be a piece of cake, and I’m not afraid of heights or speed, so I was ready.

 

What I wasn’t ready for was my sweaty hands, which had trouble keeping the grip. I worried about this a little bit on the way down, but the ride is so fast, there’s not much time for worry. The other issue I had was that my abs were sore. You see, riding the Flowrider requires a TON of core work, even if you don’t realize it. Any board- or balance-related sport really requires a strong core. So I didn’t realize how sore my abs were after a week of surfing. Well, as soon as I stepped off the platform and was holding on just with my hands, pulling my knees up to my waist as directed, I realized quickly how sore my abs were. So sore that I couldn’t even concentrate on this amazing float over the Boardwalk. All I could think about was how quickly could I land! So, there’s another caution to you all. Do the Zip Line early in your cruse for two reasons: 1 - the lines are shorter, and 2 – if your abs are sore from Flowrider, it will make it a little painful.

 

Regardless, it was a great experience and lots of fun, and I can now say I have done a Zip Line at sea on the Oasis!

 

When we go back on Oasis or on Allure, I will surely do the Zip Line again.

 

Here is another cool photo from the sports deck, overlooking the Boardwalk.

 

After the Zip Line, we had business to take care of. So we all went to my stateroom to meet Chris, who was coming back from the gym. When I told him we had gotten the group lesson, he was very excited! So we all had to group together and make a plan. This meant we wouldn’t have time for both dinner and the Come Fly With Me show, so we decided to skip the show. Our plan was to take care of all of our errands and packing and have dinner in the Windjammer together.

 

I got on the computer to check the status of a possible Mowgli Meet-Up. Unfortunately, I had a message from Barbi with the subject line “Too Late?” Basically, she had been in touch with Jesse and we had all figured out that meeting was practically hopeless, due to all of our busy schedules (including Jesse’s rehearsals and training). So I popped her a quick reply that we would be at the Flowrider from 10 to 11 if he had a chance to stop by there. Again, unfortunately, due to the time difference, Barbi was surely asleep by now in Australia. Oh well, at least we got to see Jesse performing and rehearsing earlier in the week. Maybe we will have to book another cruise to meet him in the future…

 

In the next couple of hours, we packed our bags, sorted out our gratuity vouchers and any extra gratuities (for Katie’s stateroom attendant and our assistant waiter), and went to Focus to go through our pictures.

 

Focus is very cool. If you are going on Oasis or Allure, you need to know about this. On Day 1, after check-in and before you board the ship, there are booths for the Bon Voyage photo with your group. Even if you don’t want this photo, be sure you take the picture. Take a picture with your entire group, and give the photographer a Seapass card for each stateroom of your party. With this photo, face recognition software is used to save your picture and associate you with your party and your stateroom.

 

Now, on your Seapass card, there is a “Photo #”. Ours was 17-71 and the girls’ number was different. When you stop by Focus, any time during the cruise, you will find these tall rotating bookcases with binders in them. In our case, our binder was in Bookcase #17 and binder #21. We could pull our binder and all of our party’s photos were filed inside. There are pockets in the front and back of the binder. The way we organized, was we left any photos we didn’t want in the right side pocket. For photos we thought we might want to purchase, we moved them to the left side pocket. Then at the end of the cruise, we could sort through those photos and make our final decisions.

 

There are some photos that the face recognition software didn’t automatically sort, so they still have the stands along the walls where you can look over them to find yours. You’ll need to do this a couple of times during the week, pull the photos and put them in your binder.

 

Also, there are several kiosks around Focus (which are usually very busy) where you can insert your Seapass card and view your photos. I found this a little more cumbersome than going through the binder, but maybe I didn’t take the time to really learn how it worked.

 

As far as purchases, there are a couple of specials. There is a book that you can buy for $99. It is a special Inaugural Season Oasis book and has pages with different categories for various Neighborhoods on the ship, as well as the ports of call. There are some default pictures in the book, and then placeholders for your own personal pictures. The catch here is that you need to have photos in each of the neighborhoods and ports, as they won’t let you substitute. It’s a neat book, in hardback, and thin. A cool keepsake. We did not buy it, though, because we didn’t have pictures taken in all of the different Neighborhoods. If you plan ahead and get your pictures taken during the week, this is very cool.

 

Another option is the CD offered for $349. This CD will include ALL of your photos in digital form. With 8x10s at $19.99 and 5x7s at $9.99, it doesn’t take long to add up to a total close to $349, so if you are buying lots of photos, this is a bargain. We did not buy that many, however, and because I’m also a Disney fan, I didn’t find this to be much of a bargain. You see, in Disney World, you can buy a Photo Pass for $99 if you purchase in advance. Then you get a CD with all of your photos of your group for that price. Also, before the CD is finalized, you can go online and edit your photos, change them to B&W or Sepia, add borders and captions, etc. I find that much more flexible and affordable than the RCCL option. But I digress.

 

Here’s one of the photos we bought. Katie says it’s the best picture we’ve ever taken together.

 

Anyway, we finished choosing and purchasing our photos and moved on to other errands. At some point during the day, there had been a table set out by the pool with a T-shirt sale – 2 for $20 for RCI logo shirts. I bought 4 of these as souvenir gifts for family back home. We also went by the shop on the Royal Promenade and Chris bought a t-shirt and we bought an ornament for ourselves and one for my Mom, who collects the gold ornaments. We always buy the miniature ship ornament for each cruise we take, but unfortunately, they were sold out of the Oasis ones L Another reason I guess we’ll have to go back!

 

Another purchase we made was in the Star Pier shop down on the Boardwalk. I bought a “Surf the Oasis” t-shirt there. This is a surf shop with board shorts and rash guards, etc. It was the only place I could find a shirt that had any reference to the Flowrider.

 

Next: Our last evening on the Oasis and Impressions of Windjammer

[dmndlil]

Thanks for your great review! One of the best! Makes me want to sail on Oasis oneday.....maybe :)

 

Looking forward to your next installment! :D

[swwake]

After purchasing our photos, Kellye went to the Schooner Bar to meet some new friends she had met on the cruise. Caitlin and Katie went to the gym, and Chris and I just casually explored the ship, enjoying our last evening aboard.

 

We had all agreed to meet at 8pm in the Windjammer for our last dinner, so that we wouldn’t have to spend as much time as if we were in the Main Dining Room. I got a little mixed up and thought it was 7:30, so Chris and I got there and found a nice table overlooking the sports deck and starboard side ocean. We waited a bit for the others, but decided to go ahead and eat at about 7:45. We finished up about 8:10 and looked for the others on our way out of the Windjammer.

 

There she was, Kellye at a nice table for 6, with her wine chilled and two glasses for her and me. Right after we found Kellye, Katie and Caitlin showed up. I apologized for the mix-up on the time and Chris and I sat with the rest as they ate.

 

This was our only Windjammer dinner. We enjoyed it. We found the offerings to have good variety and they were very good. We didn’t have a bit of trouble finding a table – lots of open ones. And the service is simply impeccable. Chris had ordered a coke, and when we left our first table and headed over to the new one with the girls, a server hunted us down to refill Chris’s coke. They also bring out little dessert treats, and the dining room manager visited our table just to chat at least twice.

 

After dinner, we went back and changed to our swimsuits and packed some last-minute items. As I mentioned, we used the Luggage Valet service. We had to sign up for this earlier in the cruise (I think by Wednesday night). They checked us into our flights on Friday and gave us special luggage tags. We had to have our luggage outside our door by 11pm (vs midnight for regular non-valet service). The cruise line then checked our bags in and we didn’t have to lug them around Ft Lauderdale all day, since our flight was at 4pm Saturday. Also, we had our boarding passes and got to bypass check-in at the airport. We were able to go straight through security and to the gate. It was $20 per person (not per bag) and very convenient. I believe this is a free service for some suite guests.

 

We explored the ship a little more, then got to the Flowrider at 9:45 for our group lesson. We were super excited that one of our favorite coaches, Stephen, was there with us. There were 8 in our group and everyone did stand-up. The night surfing is fun because they turn on the colored lights and it’s just a whole different vibe. We were able to improve quite a bit, and really had lots of fun.

 

About 15 minutes into the session, I looked up, and there was this guy sitting up on one of the rails beside the Flowrider. I recognized that it was – wait for it –

 

 

 

 

 

Jesse! (aka Mowgli)

 

So I introduced myself and Chris, then went to get the girls (who were on the other side of the Flowrider because they ride “goofy” (right foot forward) ) and brought them to meet Jesse.

 

It was really nice to chat with Jesse in between our turns surfing. He is an all-around great guy, and all of us Americans just love that Aussie accent. Jesse is 18 and had only been on the ship for about 3-5 weeks at the time (I don’t remember exactly). He said he was really enjoying it, but he missed being able to do some of the active things he did on land back at home.

 

Finishing off our vacation on the Oasis with a 1-hour Flowrider session was one of the highlights of the week. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Earlier in my report, I posted a link to the video that I made with us surfing (mostly from that night). I’ll post it again here, just in case you want to watch it.

 

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=534211787&v=app_2392950137&ref=notif#!/video/video.php?v=451255061787

 

After the Flowrider, the girls suggested that we hit the hot tub for a few minutes. So we went down to the cantilevered tub on the port side, and there was only one person there. The tubs are split into two “halves”, so we climbed in the other half. We hung out there for about 20 minutes, relaxing and reflecting on all of the cruise. It was a nice time to just chill out.

 

After the hot tub, the girls were really tired and I think they just went to bed. Chris and I ended up cleaning up again and heading to the casino. We had a great time there and met some new friends at the blackjack table. We won another couple hundred dollars (I think we were up about $300 by the end of the cruise) and stayed until about 2:30am. I kept wondering when they would shut down the casino, as I knew we had to be getting close to the port. I think the Oasis is usually back at Port Everglades at about 5am. But they didn’t shut us down. I know that after we left, they closed our table though.

 

We sat out on our balcony for a few minutes one last evening, talked about what a great cruise this had been, and eventually slipped off to sleep.

 

Next: Leaving Oasis (sniff, sniff)

[amethyst365]

hahahah yayyy u got to meet LOL. finally - was quite a task with email between you all and the different time zones! But im so glad u all got to meet - even if it was on the last night. Jesse was happy to meet you all:)

He said he hasnt had a chance to do the flowrider yet - but is going to try and have a go when i get on in 2 wks!!! he will most likely be really good at it - due to his balance etc from diving - and im sure ill be the one who just falls off straight away and will be great entertainment for others LOL.

thanks again for your review. I look forward to posting mine :)

[charliegirlac]

Brilliant trip report!!!!

 

Thanks so much for taking me on holiday with you!!!

[windjamming]

swwake, what a great, well-written review. As someone else noted, you should be a travel writer.

 

What a fun bunch, and you guys make the Flowrider look so easy!

 

PS- Glad you finally met Mowgli- you kept us all in suspense!

[Jan_In_Maine]

I had such a good time reading about your adventure ... I'm so sorry that the last day has been written. Thanks for taking all of us along Jan

[EJPhilly]

With our group Flowrider lesson scheduled, Caitlin and I were at the front of the line for the Zip Line. When you get up to the front, you are already harnessed, checked, double-checked and triple-checked. They give you a helmet here, and some easy instructions of how to stand, hold on, and land.

 

Caitlin went first, and Kellye and Katie were on the other end, taking pictures.

 

Next, it was my turn. I have done the zip lines in Jamaica twice, so I know pretty much how it works. The difference on Oasis is that the way you hold on with your hands is to a “trolley”. It’s a handle with grips like a bicycle, and it hangs from the zip line. This is different from the canopy tours, where you wear gloves with one hand loosely holding on in front and the back hand serving as your “brake”. I knew it would be a piece of cake, and I’m not afraid of heights or speed, so I was ready.

 

What I wasn’t ready for was my sweaty hands, which had trouble keeping the grip. I worried about this a little bit on the way down, but the ride is so fast, there’s not much time for worry. The other issue I had was that my abs were sore. You see, riding the Flowrider requires a TON of core work, even if you don’t realize it. Any board- or balance-related sport really requires a strong core. So I didn’t realize how sore my abs were after a week of surfing. Well, as soon as I stepped off the platform and was holding on just with my hands, pulling my knees up to my waist as directed, I realized quickly how sore my abs were. So sore that I couldn’t even concentrate on this amazing float over the Boardwalk. All I could think about was how quickly could I land! So, there’s another caution to you all. Do the Zip Line early in your cruse for two reasons: 1 - the lines are shorter, and 2 – if your abs are sore from Flowrider, it will make it a little painful.

 

Regardless, it was a great experience and lots of fun, and I can now say I have done a Zip Line at sea on the Oasis!

 

When we go back on Oasis or on Allure, I will surely do the Zip Line again.

 

Here is another cool photo from the sports deck, overlooking the Boardwalk.

 

After the Zip Line, we had business to take care of. So we all went to my stateroom to meet Chris, who was coming back from the gym. When I told him we had gotten the group lesson, he was very excited! So we all had to group together and make a plan. This meant we wouldn’t have time for both dinner and the Come Fly With Me show, so we decided to skip the show. Our plan was to take care of all of our errands and packing and have dinner in the Windjammer together.

 

I got on the computer to check the status of a possible Mowgli Meet-Up. Unfortunately, I had a message from Barbi with the subject line “Too Late?” Basically, she had been in touch with Jesse and we had all figured out that meeting was practically hopeless, due to all of our busy schedules (including Jesse’s rehearsals and training). So I popped her a quick reply that we would be at the Flowrider from 10 to 11 if he had a chance to stop by there. Again, unfortunately, due to the time difference, Barbi was surely asleep by now in Australia. Oh well, at least we got to see Jesse performing and rehearsing earlier in the week. Maybe we will have to book another cruise to meet him in the future…

 

In the next couple of hours, we packed our bags, sorted out our gratuity vouchers and any extra gratuities (for Katie’s stateroom attendant and our assistant waiter), and went to Focus to go through our pictures.

 

Focus is very cool. If you are going on Oasis or Allure, you need to know about this. On Day 1, after check-in and before you board the ship, there are booths for the Bon Voyage photo with your group. Even if you don’t want this photo, be sure you take the picture. Take a picture with your entire group, and give the photographer a Seapass card for each stateroom of your party. With this photo, face recognition software is used to save your picture and associate you with your party and your stateroom.

 

Now, on your Seapass card, there is a “Photo #”. Ours was 17-71 and the girls’ number was different. When you stop by Focus, any time during the cruise, you will find these tall rotating bookcases with binders in them. In our case, our binder was in Bookcase #17 and binder #21. We could pull our binder and all of our party’s photos were filed inside. There are pockets in the front and back of the binder. The way we organized, was we left any photos we didn’t want in the right side pocket. For photos we thought we might want to purchase, we moved them to the left side pocket. Then at the end of the cruise, we could sort through those photos and make our final decisions.

 

There are some photos that the face recognition software didn’t automatically sort, so they still have the stands along the walls where you can look over them to find yours. You’ll need to do this a couple of times during the week, pull the photos and put them in your binder.

 

Also, there are several kiosks around Focus (which are usually very busy) where you can insert your Seapass card and view your photos. I found this a little more cumbersome than going through the binder, but maybe I didn’t take the time to really learn how it worked.

 

As far as purchases, there are a couple of specials. There is a book that you can buy for $99. It is a special Inaugural Season Oasis book and has pages with different categories for various Neighborhoods on the ship, as well as the ports of call. There are some default pictures in the book, and then placeholders for your own personal pictures. The catch here is that you need to have photos in each of the neighborhoods and ports, as they won’t let you substitute. It’s a neat book, in hardback, and thin. A cool keepsake. We did not buy it, though, because we didn’t have pictures taken in all of the different Neighborhoods. If you plan ahead and get your pictures taken during the week, this is very cool.

 

Another option is the CD offered for $349. This CD will include ALL of your photos in digital form. With 8x10s at $19.99 and 5x7s at $9.99, it doesn’t take long to add up to a total close to $349, so if you are buying lots of photos, this is a bargain. We did not buy that many, however, and because I’m also a Disney fan, I didn’t find this to be much of a bargain. You see, in Disney World, you can buy a Photo Pass for $99 if you purchase in advance. Then you get a CD with all of your photos of your group for that price. Also, before the CD is finalized, you can go online and edit your photos, change them to B&W or Sepia, add borders and captions, etc. I find that much more flexible and affordable than the RCCL option. But I digress.

 

Here’s one of the photos we bought. Katie says it’s the best picture we’ve ever taken together.

 

Anyway, we finished choosing and purchasing our photos and moved on to other errands. At some point during the day, there had been a table set out by the pool with a T-shirt sale – 2 for $20 for RCI logo shirts. I bought 4 of these as souvenir gifts for family back home. We also went by the shop on the Royal Promenade and Chris bought a t-shirt and we bought an ornament for ourselves and one for my Mom, who collects the gold ornaments. We always buy the miniature ship ornament for each cruise we take, but unfortunately, they were sold out of the Oasis ones L Another reason I guess we’ll have to go back!

 

Another purchase we made was in the Star Pier shop down on the Boardwalk. I bought a “Surf the Oasis” t-shirt there. This is a surf shop with board shorts and rash guards, etc. It was the only place I could find a shirt that had any reference to the Flowrider.

 

Next: Our last evening on the Oasis and Impressions of Windjammer

Susan:

 

Loved your review.. absolutely awesome! Question.. were there Oasis Photographers there to take pictures of you guys doing the Zip Line?

Thanks

Eileen