Just off Oasis 11/19-11/26

[Denise5374]

Had a great time! The ship is beautiful!!!

 

The water was really rough on Sunday and Monday night, never got to see the Aqua Theater show, we had reservations for Sunday and it was postponed to Tuesday at 5:15pm and we were still in St. Thomas, then a final show was added for Friday night and that was canceled due to winds. Also, the Splish Splash Comedy Dive Show was camceled Friday afternoon.

 

Had a great waiter/asst waiter team. All crew members we met were friendly and helpful.

 

All the shows we saw were top notch, 2 very funny comedians and a "Throw Me a Line" improv show and also Quest.

 

Will upload pictures once I get them off my cameras.

 

Any questions, just let me know :)

[will773]

Thanks for the update. How was your debarkation, Port Everglades was mobbed today.

[kckick]

We also got off the oasis today had no problem getting off the ship,it took less than 15 minutes from the gangway to pick up 10 pieces of luggage and to get on the bus.

[meab]

was there a special meal on thursday for thanksgiving?

 

how was the water - warm enough to swim?

[masonpips]

Did anyone sailing re-book for next year's Thanksgiving cruise? I started a thread and there is NO ONE out there! Did you have a good pre-cruise group online? I've found that holiday sailings tend to be LOTS of family groups (extended, some really large groups) - did you find the same on this cruise?

 

Thanks

[damosen]

I am glad to hear that you had an amazing time...some questions

 

What cabin do you have? What do you think about it?

And

On which side the ship dock on this trip?

[hazeleyez3]

I am guessing they started decorating for the holidays towards the end of the cruise?

[legendarysannin]

Had a great time! The ship is beautiful!!!

 

The water was really rough on Sunday and Monday night, never got to see the Aqua Theater show, we had reservations for Sunday and it was postponed to Tuesday at 5:15pm and we were still in St. Thomas, then a final show was added for Friday night and that was canceled due to winds. Also, the Splish Splash Comedy Dive Show was camceled Friday afternoon.

 

Had a great waiter/asst waiter team. All crew members we met were friendly and helpful.

 

All the shows we saw were top notch, 2 very funny comedians and a "Throw Me a Line" improv show and also Quest.

 

Will upload pictures once I get them off my cameras.

 

Any questions, just let me know :)

 

 

 

 

Who was the Cruise Director?

[gbcruise]

Glad you had a great time. We are on board in 6 weeks. Is formal dining on Monday and Thursday? Is the Seafood Shack Beach Party on Wednesday? Also wondering when Marriage Show and Quest is scheduled. Thanks in advance!

[GranysT]

Just booked Oasis for next Nov, so any info will be appreciated. Did you pre-book all the shows before you got on board?

[Animal Rescue]

Nice to hear you had a great time even though you had choppy waters and cancelled shows.

 

Is the "Throw me a line" game show similar to "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" We love that show and are hoping this is still running in their schedule when we board in June. Can you elaborate on what they did?

[Denise5374]

Thanks for the update. How was your debarkation, Port Everglades was mobbed today.

 

We did express debarkation and were off the ship and into a cab in about 15 minutes. Were at FLL, checked in and through security in 45 minutes. Very easy!

[Denise5374]

was there a special meal on thursday for thanksgiving?

 

how was the water - warm enough to swim?

 

Yes, there was a Thanksgiving meal (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumplin pie) as well as other items on the menu. I thought the food was really good.

 

The beach pool was chilly on Sunday but the other pools were warm enough. We snorkeled in St. Thomas and went to the beach in St Maarten and the water in both places was warm.

[Denise5374]

I am glad to hear that you had an amazing time...some questions

 

What cabin do you have? What do you think about it?

And

On which side the ship dock on this trip?

 

We were in 10690(balcony) and my parents were in 10697(boardwalk balcony). I liked thelocation of both, they were near the elevators(aft, starboard), quiet and very clean.

 

We docked on the starboard side so wehad a great view when pulling into port.

[Denise5374]

I am guessing they started decorating for the holidays towards the end of the cruise?

 

Started decorating on Tuesday.

 

I have pictures that I will post later.

[Denise5374]

Who was the Cruise Director?

 

Amy Flickert (not sure of the last name). I thought she was good, young and peppy.

[Denise5374]

Glad you had a great time. We are on board in 6 weeks. Is formal dining on Monday and Thursday? Is the Seafood Shack Beach Party on Wednesday? Also wondering when Marriage Show and Quest is scheduled. Thanks in advance!

 

Formal nights were Sunday and Thursday. Beach Party was Wednesday. Love and Marriage was Tuesday night and Quest was Thursday night.

 

Just booked Oasis for next Nov, so any info will be appreciated. Did you pre-book all the shows before you got on board?

 

Yes, we pre-booked all shows.

 

Nice to hear you had a great time even though you had choppy waters and cancelled shows.

 

Is the "Throw me a line" game show similar to "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" We love that show and are hoping this is still running in their schedule when we board in June. Can you elaborate on what they did?

 

Yes, it is just like "Whose Line". Basically it was 4 actors from Hairspray and the host from the Comedy Club along with audience participants. They did skits similar to the TV show, moving people was my favorite. It was also on Thursday night in between showing of "Come Fly with Me".

[Denise5374]

Did anyone sailing re-book for next year's Thanksgiving cruise? I started a thread and there is NO ONE out there! Did you have a good pre-cruise group online? I've found that holiday sailings tend to be LOTS of family groups (extended, some really large groups) - did you find the same on this cruise?

 

Thanks

 

I did not rebook for next year. It is just too much with getting the kids out of school for the week, also DH is a Teacher and hard for him to get off as well. There were alot of large family units on the cruise. I also did not go to the Meet and Mingle. My family wasn't into it and I didn't want to go alone. Our pre-cruise thread was relativley quiet.

[masonpips]

Thanks for reporting back! That's what we've typically found on most holiday cruises!

[metairiegal]

Hi,

 

We were on the same cruise! Sorry we did not get to meet. The meet & mingle was mostly a RCCL raffle and no mingling!

 

Amy Fickert was the cruise director. Never did figure out what the "big surprise" was the last night. I think it would have been better to have the characters appear on an upper area so everyone could see them, instead of in front of the mob scene down on the floor.

 

After watching sailaways for months on the port webcam, I was disappointed that our sailaway was late and we missed it because we had 6:00 traditional dining. There were about 6 ships in port but they all sailed one after the other - we did not sail until after 6:00 in the dark. And we were sorry so many shows were cancelled. We loved the ice skating show and saw it 3 times. Comedy show was good, too. The Motown singers were good.

 

We were on deck 8, inside cabin 8141 - great cabin attendant and great location.

 

I would say food was so-so. Just about everything offered in the main dining room was also on the buffet. I thought surf and turf was steak and lobster but on this ship it was 3 garlicky shirimp and steak covered in a sauce. Lobster was offered another night. I was disappointed in the desserts - even the cookies did not seem fresh nor did the free donuts.

 

The ship is amazing and glad we did it. We thought we would book the Allure next, but once is enough on this size ship for us.

 

And, did anyone happen to park at the port's lot? Seems our car has an ant infestation, inside and out, since parking there!

[metairiegal]

Just read this report from local Fort Lauderdale newspaper that there were reports of norovirus on our sailing:

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-ship-illness-20111127,0,7772492.story

 

Oasis of the Seas sanitized at Port Everglades after illness reports

Sun Sentinel

3:52 p.m. EST, November 27, 2011PORT EVERGLADES— Dozens of people aboard Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas reported gastrointestinal illness during a cruise that ended Saturday, but the ship was sanitized and set sail Saturday as scheduled, cruise line officials said.

 

During last week's cruise, 54 guests and 10 crew members became ill with what was thought to be Norovirus, the company said in an email statement. They were treated with over-the-counter medication aboard the ship.

 

The ship is now on a seven-day trip through the western Caribbean with stops in Labadee, Haiti, Falmouth, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico.

[eswanborg]

We just got off this trip too. Lots of comments, but I'll try to keep them short.

 

This ship is absolutely beautiful. Central Park, the promenade, Board Walk, etc. all exceptional, and better in person than any of the pictures can do justice.

 

We were in an Aqua Suite (10330) and loved it. We prefer to do suites, and usually travel with extended family. This cabin will be hard to top - the balcony was overwhelming - almost as big as the cabin itself. And the layout was great for us (family of four + in-laws), with the two bedrooms and the pull-out sofa. Really stunning cabin - would book it again in a heartbeat.

 

Food was very good for us. Chops, of course, was outstanding. And if you go, do yourself a favor and ask to be seated in Schubert's section. He's by far our favorite RCCI employee - we were with him on the Mariner last year and saw him again this year. MDR food was as expected, better in some cases. The Park Cafe was an unexpected treat too - nice change up from the other offerings - wound up here frequently.

 

The little entertainment we saw we enjoyed quite a bit. The Aqua show (the couple of times it actually happened) was very good. Amazing to see that show happening on a moving ship. The diving was incredible. And "Come Fly With Me" was very good as well. Being ex-theatre people, we tend to be pretty hard on the performances - but things have really really improved over the past 10 years or so. Very entertaining and well done.

 

The few less-than-stellar things:

The wait to get back on the ship in port was too long - particularly in St. Maarten, where it took us almost an hour to get through security. They have to find a way to improve that process. I know it's 6000 people, but the other ships in port had virtually no line at all, when we stood for a long time waiting.

The Concierge Lounge on this ship (maybe just this itinerary) was very loud. Made it hard to have a conversation. And the rules seemed to be much more lax than we'd become accustomed to. We have two girls under 12, and have found routines to allow us to go to the lounge and have them be OK - this trip there were lots of kids and adults who didn't seem to understand the rules (or maybe they just didn't care).

We used the Luggage Valet coming off the ship. This was a different process than the last time we used it and were unprepared for the fact that we would not see our bags at all until we got home. Last time we had to walk them through Customs on our own, then hand them off. So we had several things we had planned to check, that we couldn't because the bags were already at the airport. AND we are still missing one bag. The bigger challenge is that with RCI doing the actual checking, we have no claim ticket for the airline. They were able to get the number eventually, but it was more challenging having no proof at all that we did check the bag. We're hoping this is resolved tomorrow, but as of yet, Southwest has no idea where the bag is and RCI's Luggage Dept. is a M-F, 9-5 office...

 

Last comment is not RCI-specific, but worth mentioning I think. The "Certified Hair Braiders" in Nassau should be approached with a bit of caution. We felt pretty taken-advantage of using them. We've had the girls hair done in other ports and it's been OK, but here we discussed the style we wanted and the ladies went to work. Then proceeded to make smaller and smaller braids, which meant more and more money. So, if you choose to do this (anywhere really), try to be as specific as possible ahead of time about how many braids you're prepared to pay for.

 

Overall we had a fantastic time. This is the 5th Thanksgiving in a row that we've travelled with our kids and my in-laws - can't think of a better way to celebrate a holiday!! Next year, we'll do New Year's instead, on the Navigator.

 

We're ready for family-oriented cruises, and these always prove to be. I would not ever lead someone to believe a Thanksgiving cruise is kid-free (seeing several posts about that topic recently).

 

EDIT - forgot to mention that my wife and 8 year-old appear to be suffering from a touch of the Norovirus that has been mentioned. First time for everything I guess. Might explain the sanitizing steam contraption we saw in use several days in the hallways. A crew of two guys steam cleaning the hand rails in the halls...

[eswanborg]

OK - forgot more comments...

 

Signing up for things ahead of time. We'd been very busy the past couple of months and hadn't really paid attention to many cruise-related things before we got onboard. So we were very surprised to find that most things on this ship required reservations, most of which needed to be done online before boarding. Again, we were in a suite, and one of the perks we look forward to is having the Concierge available. So they were able to help us, but it was a bit of surprise that all the shows in addition to the specialty restaurants, required reservations. Now we know.

 

The Flowrider - this was one of the very few things I did book ahead of time - and the private time was WELL worth the money. The two girls had a full hour with two of the staff (Jorge & ...???) who were fantastic with them. Taught them very quickly how to be comfortable and good at riding. Plus there were only two other people during that time, so the four riders had a full hour and the complete attention of the trainers. Not sure they would have done it if they had to wait in line during one of the open times. Worth the money for sure.

 

One other food comment - Giovanni's table was our other specialty dinner of the week. Not going to rush back there. Our server was inattentive, at best. The food was fine, but not knock-your-socks-off and the four of us (the adults in the group) have differing tastes, so the family-style dining made it a little challenging. We've enjoyed Portofino on other ships and would probably choose that over Giovanni's in the future (not that they're on the same ship together, but just for comparison).

[Schooner Bar Girl]

We just got off this trip too. Lots of comments, but I'll try to keep them short.

 

 

The few less-than-stellar things:

 

The Concierge Lounge on this ship (maybe just this itinerary) was very loud. Made it hard to have a conversation. And the rules seemed to be much more lax than we'd become accustomed to. We have two girls under 12, and have found routines to allow us to go to the lounge and have them be OK - this trip there were lots of kids and adults who didn't seem to understand the rules (or maybe they just didn't care).

 

The rules have changed.....KIDS are now ALLOWED in the concierge lounge at all times IF accompanied by an adult. Yes....even during cocktail hour.

[davelliott]

ESWANBORG, I'd like to know more about the aquatheatre suite. When I was on the Oasis last Halloween, I participated in a cabin crawl and got to tour one. I think it was 9730. We were in the boardwalk balcony 9329. If I remember correctly, it had the full bed in one bedroom and the two beds and two pull-downs in the other. I estimate six could sleep with that configuration. It did have two bathrooms right? What about a tub? I don't remember that. How many people were in yours and if you don't mind my asking, what was the rate for your family? It would be nice if the prices of all cabins were available to look up online, but they don't do that.

 

I am booked on the Allure for the 2/19/12 cruise with a family group of 5 and had looked at getting one of these suites for us, but they were already booked. I have booked one D8 balcony and one interior. I had thought about getting two side-by-side balconys or either the aquatheatre suite. At the time I booked, I couldn't get two side-by-side balconys at a price that I liked.