Live...Live....Live from the Oasis 8/28/10 with Merion Mom

[Ocean Boy]

Hi, M! I never had the chance to give my cabin attendant the fisheye - that was for the Guest Services gentleman who said that if my steward said no, then there's nothing HE can do about it. I had no chance to do ANYTHING to my steward, because he never introduced himself, never talks to us, and never makes eye contact when we attempt to talk to him.

just FYI.

 

:)

 

He probably got the heads up from guest services and is afraid to look at you.:eek:

[snowbird1]

Yes, Carol, tell me too, what did you and Lorna Book.....

 

Col Bill (DH of Lorna)

 

HI COL Bill, great to see you here. LOL, I think you will find out soon enough, you know a surprise.

[chef_christoph]

Once again proving that Miami really does read these boards.

 

I don't doubt that someone from RCI does read these boards, but in this case it probably had more to do with CC staff contacting Miami to follow up on the report...http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=25859726&postcount=139

[Ocean Boy]

I don't doubt that someone from RCI does read these boards, but in this case it probably had more to do with CC staff contacting Miami to follow up on the report...http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=25859726&postcount=139

 

Maybe.

[TOM CRUIZES]

Tom - so good to see your post - miss you all and wish we could see you!! We plan to be on the Liberty in November 2011 out of Barcelona - along with several from last year's Indy. Hope you both are well.

_______________

 

Hi Mary good to hear from you also, it would have been good to join you out of Barcelona however it just didnt work for us, we have just booked to do Voyager out of Barcelona next year followed by a 7nt out of New Orleans just in case you have time. Sounds like Lorna is having a great time on Oasis, we get on her on 18th of this month so hoping the storms quiten down for then.

Take care and regards to Dennis

[RenieRaider]

Thanks for your posts.

Formal Night...... less formal? MORE formal?

I am hearing mixed responses.

ENJOY YOUR SHIP!

[beachlovergirl]

MerionMom - Love the live from threads. How's the weather?

[Sandy Sails]

(bump)

 

Dirtgirl, one year ago today we were all on the Mariner. Good times. Sounds like you all are having an even better time! :p

[irwinler]

We've seen references to an aqua performance called "Splish Splash" but don't find where it can be reserved in advance. Can you tell us about it - when it is performed and do you need reservations?

Thanks!

nmi

[suezyq50]

Loving the thread.

[lovetocruise0999]

Just wondering how Costa Maya went today and if everything is still on schedule?

Thanks

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks for your posts.

Formal Night...... less formal? MORE formal?

I am hearing mixed responses.

ENJOY YOUR SHIP!

 

We didn't go to the MDR on formal night, but we observed people around the ship.

 

It was the usual mix: Some very dressed up, some looking nice, some not caring.

 

MerionMom - Love the live from threads. How's the weather?

 

For us, beautiful. Hot. Sunny. Others from our cruise have gotten caught in the rain, and we have seen the aftermath, but we haven't been rained on.

 

The closest we came was the night before last, when we rode the Rising Tide Bar and noticed that it was raining on the roof. :D

 

We've seen references to an aqua performance called "Splish Splash" but don't find where it can be reserved in advance. Can you tell us about it - when it is performed and do you need reservations?

Thanks!

nmi

No reservations. Just show up. We watched from the cheaters' section on Deck 7. Lorna found a spot in the shade, but I was in the direct sunlight. We both had to stand the entire performance, but it was GREAT GREAT GREAT. Don't miss it.

 

It is billed as a "Comedy" aqua show.

 

There are funny bits, and clowing around, but there are also some AMAZING high dives, and even SUPER HIGH dives.

[Merion_Mom]

Just wondering how Costa Maya went today and if everything is still on schedule?

Thanks

 

Everything is beautiful and great. We saw some thunderheads in Costa Maya, but experienced no rain.

 

My meteorologist daughter is tracking the storms, and predicts smooth sailing for the next two days, getting us safely and easily into Fort Lauderdale.

[Merion_Mom]

DAY 3

 

We slept late and our first activity was lunch at Giovanni's table.

 

Cecelia was our waitress again. Fabulous service. We love her, she loves us, blah, blah, blah.

 

Lunch was SO MUCH MORE PEACEFUL than dinner. No loud neighbors, a lovely view out the window into Central Park, wonderful wonderful food. A real food coma experience.

 

We shared three starters: a foccaccia assortment, which was lovely bread with cheese melted on it, then four condiments that you could add: tomato, olive, pesto & something that I forget. Mixed fried seafood and veggies, which was like tempura. Amazing shrimp, which Lorna ate, and fabulous calamari, which I ate. Caprese salad. Good. Really nice spring greens.

 

Then a pasta course: pesto linguini with seafood and prosciutto.

 

Main course: (are you getting the food coma comment yet?) Lorna had ricotta-mushroom stuffed chicken with a fontina sauce. I had the steak with frites and broccolini.

 

Honestly, it was delicious. The steak was a little overcooked (I ordered medium rare, and it was medium to medium well), but I was hardly HUNGRY at that point, so it all was for the best.

 

But YES, we managed to choke down dessert.

 

REALLY good desserts: Lorna had the tiramisu, and I had espresso panna cotta (looked like the raspberry panna cotta on page 1 of this thread, but no coffee bean where the raspberries were :D), which came with a tall shot glass of layers of coffee, latte with amaretto and whipped cream topped with chopped pistachios.

 

 

Then we stumbled our way to the Opal Theatre, and got excellent seats for Hairspray.

 

FANTASTIC show. Everything that you have heard: that it is top-notch professional quality from start to finish.....all accurate. AMAZING.

[Merion_Mom]

Next we went to the Casino, because we had gotten an invitation on our TV message center for an entry into a FREE SLOT TOURNAMENT.

 

It turned out that the invitation was for only ONE of us, not for "the room". Lorna took one look at the location in the casino, saw that it was not only in the smoking area but was covered in a haze of constantly-renewed fumes, and she left.

 

I was given a card for Round 5, Seat 1.

 

The girl running the show told me that I would be called in about 25 minutes, so I wandered over to the non-smoking side and played penny slots.

 

An hour later.................

 

I got my chance.

 

I have done slot tournaments before, and this one was harder. No, not because I had to use my HANDS to hit the buttons (shut up, Rick!), but because it was FIVE MINUTES long. Usually it's a couple of minutes.

 

It was HARD WORK. I got 1.4 million points. Not nearly enough to win. The winner had 1.6 million, and the 2nd & 3rd placers were in the 1.5 million range.

 

Oh well.

[Merion_Mom]

We napped.

[Merion_Mom]

Love & Marriage was that night. Very funny. Definitely not people who had done this before. Richard Spacey is very good at this.

 

The middle couple had been married 31 years, and were definitely older. That was pretty unusual. Old couple, as always, was cute. Newlyweds were funny without being annoying.

 

Then we wandered the Royal Promenade, had snacks at Sorrento's and Promenade Café, and did some shopping. They are clearancing out "Oasis Inaugural Season" stuff.

 

THEN THEN THEN

 

We finally rode the Rising Tide Bar.

 

Really worth doing.

 

We chatted with the "driver". (yes, it's controlled by someone "on board" the bar)

 

We asked her how long she had been doing it, what was her training, etc.

 

She said, "I'm in Hairspray. This is the first time I'm driving the bar."

 

Funny stuff! (she's Amber) She said that she had lost her voice (she was slurping honey) and admitted that she had had to resort to the playback at that afternoon's rehearsal.

 

She had been working on Disney and will be heading to Allure. She has a crush on Ken Rush.

 

Drinks were good on the Bar, and riding it was fun. Drinks are also expensive on the Bar. :)

[Merion_Mom]

Shower Tips:

 

1. You know how sometimes the water doesn't drain very fast, and there's a little bit of a pool of water in the bottom of your transporter tube?

 

Well, in our shower, it drains VERY fast. So fast, in fact, that there is no excess water to drain away the soap that it falling from your ablutions, and it can get very slippery in the tube. Beware!

 

2. No retractable laundry line.

 

3. Two hooks.

 

4. You know how the shower head is on long flexible metal tubing? It can be placed in a holder, or you can hold it in your hand? Well, on other ships, the attachment part is on a sliding wall-mounted piece, and you can choose to set it at any height. Not in our shower. There is just one holder, up HIGH. You can still use it in your hand, but there is only one place to put it on the wall.

[Merion_Mom]

Our safe became possessed by demons last night, and wouldn't open. We called maintenance at 1 a.m., and they were there by 1:20 and fixed it in less than 5 seconds.

[mimikens]

Our safe became possessed by demons last night, and wouldn't open. We called maintenance at 1 a.m., and they were there by 1:20 and fixed it in less than 5 seconds.

 

Remind Lorna to take her items out of the safe before she departs the ship Saturday morning.

[dennbr9]

I swear I posted an answer about putting the pictures on Lorna's computer, but can't find it now. Anyway, if there isn't an slot for camera cards, then you'll need either your camera's cord or go to the store onboard and get a universal card reader with a USB plug. I'm sure they have them; it was quite well supplied last year. I'm sure it'll be more expensive than at Target (I paid $12.99 for one), but you're pretty captive...

 

Well hello there!

 

Hope you guys are doing well, not to hijack this thread of course. Wendy and I will be doing a B2B on Oasis starting 1/28.

 

Have a Constellation Cruise in 1/12 if you are interested?

 

Take care,

Dennis

[Merion_Mom]

DAY 4

 

We slept late and toured around the ship for a while. We saw the Solarium (and it's BIG, but completely exposed), the pool deck, and looked into the Windjammer. Yes, as others have reported, it's smaller than the WJ on other ships, when you might expect it to be larger.

 

But it's okay that it's smaller. There are SO MANY places to eat lunch on this ship, it's reasonable to expect that fewer people will eat in the WJ than on other ships.

 

As we were looking around the WJ, we saw Izumi, and made a reservation for 7.

 

Then we returned to the Solarium and ate in the Bistro. It was very good. I had a little assortment of things: hummus, olive tapenade, smoked turkey salad, and some other stuff. Mango flavored water in great quantity. Helpful RC people just kept coming around and bringing me more.

 

Seats were at a real premium in there - Lorna had to grab and GUARD our table, while I got our food, then she got hers.

 

She had a turkey wrap, olive tapenade and other stuff.

 

When I went back for dessert, I spotted a gazpacho "bar".

 

I ladled gazpacho base into my bowl, then added five or six things. YUM.

 

By the time we left, it was quieter and less crowded.

[snowbird1]

Remind Lorna to take her items out of the safe before she departs the ship Saturday morning.

 

And remember the new camera. :D

[Merion_Mom]

Then we played trivia - didn't win, but had fun.

 

Next was Splish Splash. GREAT GREAT show, not to be missed.

 

Get there early enough to find a place in the shade, for god's sake. An hour in the blazing sun was uncomfortable for me (sweat dripping down my back, down my nose, and down my.........) but would have been deadly for Lorna. Lorna Frittata for dinner!

 

Then the Plat/Dia/Dia+ reception, as described before. It was in the Opal Theatre, so there was really no opportunity to meet others, but we talked with people we already knew, like Jerry the beancounter who had been on my Mariner cruise. Nice guy.

 

Sat with Dirtgirl and her family sat behind us and rolled their eyes.

 

Captain Trym spoke well, and made the reference to Cruise Critic that I mentioned.

 

We saw a very nice movie on the building of the Oasis that I hadn't seen before. Nice time-lapse photography.

 

Q&A was interesting. One woman asked, rather belligerently, WHEN the Captain had decided to change the itinerary, and WHY.

 

Everyone else basically gave her the evil eye, but the Captain answered with far more patience than I would have mustered.

 

Some ladies raised the quesion of Royal Caribbean "abandoning" the west coast........and Captain Trym explained the economics of the decision. You've all heard it already.

[The Big Booper]

No dental floss in the Star-Trek transporter tube shower?

 

Same problem on the Celebrity Solstice class !!!

 

What is corporate ship design thinking???

 

Does the transporter tube have a foot-rest for the ladies to elevate their leg when shaving said legs? DW wants to know. Solstice does.