Oasis LIVE (one month later!) Review

[Ocean Boy]

Well, I've really bungled the dock in St Thomas...but this I know is right...there is a fairly sizable shopping center with shops and restaurants within easy walking distance. You walk along the shore, it's all fairly new development, with a nice wide sidewalk, very safe and clean and those rocks by the pier are where you can see the iguana. On our way back lots of people were sitting out having a drink!

I will definately post an image of my spreadsheets, but there is no way to post the Excel document. I could talk to the 21 St Century Handyman and see if he can put it with the Cruise Compasses. He's already letting us use a little piece of hs work share file now, maybe one more doc wont hurt;)

 

You got it exactly right.:p

[Familygoboston]

Fortunately, the camera isn't forced to live in a closet in the basement with the rest of the family's gizmos.

For sure! I often joke that the camera is " other woman" "Nikki";)

 

You got it exactly right.:p

 

Whew! :o

[Familygoboston]

We arrived early to Phillipsburg, St Martin and had pre ordered breakfast for the balcony. Even though it was set up very nicely on our balcony, it was just too hot to eat out there! We moved the whole table and our chairs into the room and ate with the door open, but at least we were in the shade.

Digression about what side of the ship to book, skip right along if you are already booked happily, or don't need to book a balcony or OV.

 

Often people enquire on these boards as to which side of the ship (port/left or starboard/right) to book their balcony or OV cabin. We generally book port side cabins because that's usually the side in port (though not always) and we enjoy seeing the dock workers and comings and goings and runners at the end of the day. We usually like to send me ahead and have DH take a "where's waldo" photo of me on our balcony, like this one on NOS

 

(Photo of balcony on NOS)

 

 

So before I discovered Cruise Critic, I booked the port side of Oasis feeling smug, that I was an experienced cruiser, I knew what to book, I knew the inside secrets! Then I came home (from that NOS cruise in the photo up there) and read every review I could get my hands on about Oasis. And low and behold...did you know that Oasis built all of its pax embarking and disembarking infra structure on the Starboard side? SO except in very rare instances, OA will almost always be docked with the starboard side looking toward the port. Now obviously half the cabins are port and half are starboard (or the whole ship would list when we all went to bed and that could get really dangerous, but that's just speculation on my part.) So we can't all book on the same "good" side. Luckily for all of us, both sides have good and bad. I'm going to enumerate them so you can decide which team you'd like to be on...port or starboard.

 

Port:

-beautiful ocean views while in port in St Thomas, shady in the AM, sunny in the PM

-In St Martin we had views of the ocean, sun in the AM, shade in the PM

-we were berthed port side port in Nassau, but the view was largely other ships and we looked down upon their pool decks from our cabin on 10. She is backed in here as you can see form this photo I posted already.

 

(photo of Oasis in Nassau)

 

 

 

Starboard:

-dock and shopping center view in St Thomas, sunny in the AM, shady in the PM

-St Martin, not sure what you see there, but the balcony will be shadier in the AM, sunnier in the PM

-ocean/Atlantis view in Nassau

 

So choose your team, paint your face and come down and pick up your port or starboard jersey and let the battle begin! In the end though, either experience will be wonderful, so it's just a matter of you own preferences. Back to the review...but if you really want more digression, ask for my Dad's (Cptn Bud's) explanation of why it's called Port and Starboard. I posted it on a thread once about Port and Starboard and literally bored people straight to death. True story, not a single person replied to the thread after my post, they all literally died of boredom. (I needed quite a bit of recovery time myself after Cptn Bud explained it to me, and I have quite a bit of experience with long rambling stories that only one person finds interesting, being his kin and all!)

 

After slathering on SPF (you have seen my whiteness in the photos so far, right?) packing the beach bag and grabbing our chairs, we head out to find a cab to Orient beach (remember the chairs? I have to digress about the chairs, and I have had one digression already so I'm feeling really guilty, but you need to hear about the chairs.)

 

The chairs were purchased at Walgreens, and we really did sit test every chair in the store. It's completely ridiculous thinking about it now, because there we are, debating the merits of each chair and sitting in the chairs, testing their fold mechanics, evaluating the ease of carrying, comparing the features of each. (what's sad, is I am not making this up just to be funny or something!) But we were debating the merits of $20 sand chairs as if we were on the Nate Berkus show. The cashier has now moved to the makeup counter nearest to the chair aisle to "take inventory" because that's when they do it in Walgreens... at 9:30 PM... on a Friday, I'm sure it had nothing at all to do with wanting to be closer to the lunatics in the chair aisle. So after all this careful consumerism on our part, we settle on the green sand chairs (think leprechaun green, oh I'm so sorry we did not photograph these chairs properly, but I did locate another photo, below, with a tiny bit of them showing) for $20 each; easy to fold, back pack straps for carrying, a Velcro pouch big enough for a towel, cup holder, Velcro attached pillow and get this...they clip closed so they don't sproing open when you try to carry them to the beach. (oh, don't pretend this has not happened to you!) They were not only adequate for our trip, they were in fact the Best Sand Chairs Ever! If I could have found a way to ship them home, I would have, and we did look into it...more on their eventual fate later...right now they are headed to Orient Beach!

 

We and the chairs head to the cab stand, where, after wandering through the pier market place, it is extraordinarily easy to find the cabs going where you want to go because there is a pavilion with all the destinations marked on it. The price is pretty much stated up front (may have even been written on the signs) and most cabs are 7- 12 pax vans, so they will usually wait a moment until they have enough parties to more or less fill the van. The price to Orient Beach was $7 per person with a full van. (the chairs rode free, and DH managed to wrangle them into the van in a way that would not bother anyone else) We were dropped off at Village D'Orient, which is a little shopping area/ mall with a dirt turn around right near the Bikini Beach Club. This is in the middle of Orient Beach, so you can take you pick and walk South (right when facing the water) and head to the busier/nudier part of the beach or go North (left when facing the water- I always add these directions because people always talk about something being North or South, but I'm not carrying around a compass with me like some Eagle Scout; I can't navigate by the stars, like an ancient mariner, or probably even Cptn Selvag...just tell me which way to walk!) to the less crowded/more conservative part of the beach. This shopping area also has some shops and proper restaurants if you choose not to eat right on the beach. Also there are a couple of little food markets where you can get picnic supplies.

 

DH and I had stayed at La Plantation right up the road from here 5 years ago, and we had the option of free lounge chairs and running a tab through the hotel on any of 5 beach clubs along the beach. (Bikini, Wakiki, Kokoa, Coco etc) We tried several on the first day or two but eventually favored a little beach club on the North end called CoCo. It is much quieter, and if you look at a google satellite map you can see the chairs are spread farther apart and there is not another club to the right or left of it, so it feels more spacious. We thought we would walk to that end and use our chairs (the best sand chairs ever) in one of the non beach club areas. BTW, the beach is public, so the clubs can rent you a chair or umbrella but they cannot keep you from tossing your towel down wherever you'd like, but the places next to Coco are where most people go because it's not all set up by the beach clubs, so there is lots of room to spread out.

 

We walked about a quarter mile in the hot sand with DH carrying both chairs, as we got close to CoCo, I started to feel nostalgic, thinking, only $20 for two padded plastic loungers and an umbrella at Coco? (you will pay less around $7-9 per chair at the more crowded clubs further South, they may not have an umbrella, but usually include your first beer free) Even though I had brought my own chairs, I was kind of feeling like on this hot day, that it might be really nice to have that umbrella. So DH and I decide to go for it and run a tab at our old friend Coco and get the umbrella. ( as it turns out, because we had lunch there and a couple of drinks and they didn't charge us for the $20 for the chairs after all) The chairs which we had just cabbed all the way from the Dutch side sat just behind our little cocktail table. But it was not a total waste of energy (spoken by the person who didn't have to carry them!) to bring them because we did use those little head pillows on the lounger! Here are a couple of photos of CoCo. For obvious reasons it's a bit "gauche" to be snapping photos madly on a nude beach (although that didn't stop the guy next to me snapping his wife with me in the back ground (I had to hold my magazine up to shield myself from being in their photo album!)

 

(Photo of Coco)

 

 

(Photo of view behind the bar at Coco)

 

 

(Photo of the chairs, just a part of a bad photo, that DH didn't want me to post, but you have to see the chairs relaxing in St Martin!!)

 

(they also make a handy drying rack!)

 

 

It was really hard to pull ourselves away from this beautiful beach, but around 2:30, we walked back to the same dirt turning circle where a cabbie was waiting to scare up more people to fill the van to justify the trip back to Phillipsburg (maybe 10 -15 minutes without traffic). Back in Philipsburg at the port area, we decide to go back on board rather than take another cab or a long walk to the town. I actually prefer the shopping in St Martin to St Thomas, because at least the last time I was there, there were more authentic little local shops around than in other Caribbean ports. We could have had the cabbie drop us there on the way in, but then what would have done with our chairs?

And the Solarium hot tub was calling!

[Familygoboston]

After a soak, a nap, and getting cleaned up we headed to dinner at 6:15 to meet our cousins. They told us all about their snuba trip; saw some really terrific fish and enjoyed it. They used to be divers, but haven't been since the kids were born, so they felt this was a good compromise ( you are underwater with a regulator, but the air supply is all managed from above, so you can do this uncertified.) Its also a very shallow dive (less than 20 feet), so if you had to bail, you could surface easily with no danger. My cousins reported that one participant could not get comfortable with the regulator and couldn't manage, so I think it helps to have some diving experience to do this.

 

Dinner tonight was a huge disappointment. Markland never made a bad suggestion all week and he wasn't about to start now. Therefore tonight, he had nothing to recommend! Actually that's not entirely true...I would not want to get the man fired! His recommendation was the salmon. We all flipped our menus back and forth looking quizzically for the salmon dish. No salmon...then Markland points to the alternate selections and says "the salmon". Uh oh! This cannot be a good situation! So 3 of our 4 order the salmon. It is edible; but a bit dry with a very bland sauce. If this is the best on offer on Day 5, my recommendation is that this is the night to book your specialty dining reservation. As you can tell by our complete lack of attention to food (no photos, no menus and I honestly can't remember what I ate half the cruise) we are food for fuel people, and not terribly fussy, though we have traveled and lived long enough to know and appreciate excellent food when it trips across our palate. So if we thought it was blah, and if you have high expectations, you might be disappointed!

 

After dinner we headed to Entertainment Place for our Frozen in Time Ice Skating Show. Because our muster station was in Studio B, we had already scouted the seats we wanted for the show. We felt the center section (facing the backstage area) would work best for this show since there is a bank of video screens that "explain the scenes" as they come up and these are best viewed straight on. Of course you will not have a bad time if you sit elsewhere, this is an excellent show! Most people say that, but I want to tell you what I thought made it really good. First, the skating talent is very good, the rink is so tiny, how they get any speed at all to jump is beyond me! The show is based on Hans Christian Anderson Tales and each tale is told with it's own moving set and costumes. Set to modern music, some are slow and romantic, some are high energy, some are cute and whimsical, one is comical and I read a review here by a guy who complained the skater kept falling, but maybe he meant this scene, where he falls purposely several times! One scene is also the famous sand artist. Even though I had seen photos of this in reviews, you can't really believe it till you see it. it's just so different! Here is a little hint of the show and the sand artist.

 

(photo of Sand Artist)

 

 

(photo of Ice Show)

 

 

After the show we have planned to hit the pool deck at night. On our shorter cruises, we always lamented that we never had a free night to go back up the hot tub and just chill under the stars, so tonight that's what we do! A little side note about planning...some folks go back and forth here on CC about whether to have a cruise with lots of pre planning or just "go with the flow". Now DH and I will readily cop to being planners (I have a spread sheet for Pete's sake!), but one of the reasons I like to plan, is that you can block out a time just to relax or explore a certain area of the ship. I like this idea because otherwise, especially on Oasis and Allure, you get to the end of the week and you start this frenzied tour of the ship..."we didn't see this yet!, we haven't gone there yet!." it wasn't just us, we saw lots of people doing the same thing over the next two sea days!! So we planned downtime on the quiet pool deck and I was very glad we did. My DH decided he really prefers the ships where you have a chance to get a little bored before you go home for our solo cruises. He likes getting the Compass and deciding, "lets do that!". But he liked this one well enough to book Allure with our daughters in 2013! And my youngest ( you might have seen her post here as CruisEM) is a planner like me, so she will likely be filling out the spread sheet this time! After the hot tub, it was off to bed for us, we will be up early for an 8 AM Flowrider lesson, and this is a story you may not want to miss!

 

Coming up tomorrow: If You Thought St Martin has the Nude Beach, You Haven't Seen the Flowrider:eek:

 

Day 5 Compass

[happyiam]

'Happy' to see problem fixed and you're back. Your comment on dinner Day 5 jogged my memory. We had luckily prebooked this night for our dinner at Chops. We were back to MTD the next night and our waiter told us it was a good choice as Day 5 is the night to miss in the dining room. I wasn't sure at the time if he was just being nice, but your comments make me think this is true. Also, (skipping ahead), we noticed Day 6, 2nd formal night is the most popular in the DR...due to the lobster I imagine. There were lineups that night for us and the service was slower. Did you observe this also?

[Cruiseoholic000]

I would like to know more about this shopping center you talked about. Crown Bay sounds like the stores have not had many things added to it and not as good as Havensight (which is about 10min drive away). Could this shopping area be in the Crown Bay Marnia?

 

Well, I've really bungled the dock in St Thomas...but this I know is right...there is a fairly sizable shopping center with shops and restaurants within easy walking distance. You walk along the shore, it's all fairly new development, with a nice wide sidewalk, very safe and clean and those rocks by the pier are where you can see the iguana. On our way back lots of people were sitting out having a drink!

I will definitely post an image of my spreadsheets, but there is no way to post the Excel document. I could talk to the 21 St Century Handyman and see if he can put it with the Cruise Compasses. He's already letting us use a little piece of hs work share file now, maybe one more doc wont hurt;)

[cocoabeana]

I might be mistaken, but I think you meant to say dinner on day 4 should be avoided, not day 5. Am I right? I thought St. Marten was day 4!

[cocoabeana]

No I was wrong St. Marten is day 5. I was looking at some menus online for the Oasis in December and they had lobster on day 5. Day 4's menu looked horrible. Now I am really confused!

[Familygoboston]

I might be mistaken, but I think you meant to say dinner on day 4 should be avoided, not day 5. Am I right? I thought St. Marten was day 4!

 

No I was wrong St. Marten is day 5. I was looking at some menus online for the Oasis in December and they had lobster on day 5. Day 4's menu looked horrible. Now I am really confused!

 

Well, I'm not sure about the menu because I didn't photograph it, but I know that on our cruise, formal night, Day 6 was the lobster. Day 5 was the night we dined with my cousins and we were all disapointed with the menu and had salmon and day 4 we dined alone and did not have any particular gripes about the food.

 

Is it possible that we could be talking Eastern vs Western and that's why it seems different? Also, if you were looking at stuff posted on line, although the menus never change, is it possible they might substitute one days menu for another based on say ....availability of ingredients or a holiday celebration. Don't know if this is done, but wondering if that's why the "dates" are different. Maybe a few others who were on our cruise might recall!

[Familygoboston]

I would like to know more about this shopping center you talked about. Crown Bay sounds like the stores have not had many things added to it and not as good as Havensight (which is about 10min drive away). Could this shopping area be in the Crown Bay Marnia?

 

I believe the Havensight area is where we've docked in the past and there seemed to be much more shopping there and more of the big jewelry stores and such. The Crown Bay shopping area looked to me ( we didn't go in, and wander around, so this is just my impression from the outside) to be smaller, with some retaurants and shops, where you might grab some souvenirs, booze or even a few sundries. I didn't see any of the big name jewelry stores, and usually they are quite noticeable and pay for the store fronts where you will notice them. But maybe someone who has shopped there could better share what sorts of retail opportunities there are.:D

[Cruiseoholic000]

I was wondering if you attend the disco street party. If so did you like it and where did you sit?

[Familygoboston]

I was wondering if you attend the disco street party. If so did you like it and where did you sit?

 

I'm sorry we didnt do any of the parades:(, so I don't have any "recommendations";). We never really enjoyed them on the other RCI ships, and given all there is to do on Oasis, this seemed like something we felt we could skip. I have no doubt they are fun, but everyone reports they are crowded. One day nearly an hour ahead, we passed through the Promenade and people were staking out positions already by sitting in chairs at the PC and Sorrentos .:eek:

[Ocean Boy]

Not only are the parades on Oasis very crowded but they are also poorly controlled. Unlike the Voyager and Freedom class ships where they run a barrier down the two sides of the Promenade in order to keep the center clear, Oasis has no such crowd control. People would try to walk down the promenade in the middle of the parade to get to where ever it is that they were trying to go to. You really would think that people would know better and go to another deck or stay put and wait for the parade to end.

[Langley Cruisers]

...Frozen in Time Ice Skating Show...

 

Wow, still hey? That show, if there haven't been any changes, has been running for two years now? And the sand artist was phenominal and I cried. :p

.

[Ocean Boy]

Wow, still hey? That show, if there haven't been any changes, has been running for two years now? And the sand artist was phenominal and I cried. :p

.

 

I found it pretty amazing that the sand artist could make such a touching connection with people (me) as she did.

[Bogos22]

Can you give any information on the Surf's up party at Seafoof Shack? Did you eat there? Did they serve food other than seafood? And most importantly, did they have hush puppies.

 

Loving the review so far. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[Langley Cruisers]

I found it pretty amazing that the sand artist could make such a touching connection with people (me) as she did.

 

Yes, I wonder why? It actually caught me off guard a little... the actual sand art part of it. Not only had I never seen it before, but I guess because I wasn't expecting there to be a break in the skating, I really enjoyed it.

 

And afterward the whole fam looked over at me and said, "She's bawling." Bwahahahaa!! :D

.

[Familygoboston]

Not only are the parades on Oasis very crowded but they are also poorly controlled. Unlike the Voyager and Freedom class ships where they run a barrier down the two sides of the Promenade in order to keep the center clear, Oasis has no such crowd control. People would try to walk down the promenade in the middle of the parade to get to where ever it is that they were trying to go to. You really would think that people would know better and go to another deck or stay put and wait for the parade to end.

I know I avoided the Promenade during the parades. One time we got caught was Formal night, the Captains reception...so crowded and we were just passing through, but the waiters kept trying to foist a glass of champagne on us...we must have said no to 6 guys!

 

Wow, still hey? That show, if there haven't been any changes, has been running for two years now? And the sand artist was phenominal and I cried. :p

.

I so agree with you...it is strangely moving...would you like me to speculate why?;) I think the way she moves her hands is simply beautiful, like a choreographed dance, and the story of thumbelina is such a beautiful, sad and ultimately hopeful story. Rendered in just sand, it plays to the natural aspects of the story and simplicity of the tale. It is hard to explain, but that's the beauty of it!

Edited January 8, 2012 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Can you give any information on the Surf's up party at Seafoof Shack? Did you eat there? Did they serve food other than seafood? And most importantly, did they have hush puppies.

 

Loving the review so far. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

 

The party was offered on Day 5 after St Martin. We did see people there, and it looked lively but we did not attend. I'm sorry to say we never ate there, so I don't know about the hush puppies!

[gcuecruise]

I will post this in its own thread as well.

 

A note on the parades if you want a unique experience. For several if not all of the parades, they utilized the rising tide bar. I know for the Rockin Rhythm street parade (the first parade of the week I believe) you could get onto the Rising Tide Bar in Central Park with the Cruise Director and her right hand man Ken (talking Oasis here). We rode down with them and were right in the middle of the parade with no crowd problems! The kids loved it as they were the cruise director's (Amy Fickert) "backup dancers".

 

I know you could do this on the last parade of the week as well.

 

We actually heard about it on the Ken and Amy (cruise director's) show on TV in the morning as they said meet us at the rising tide at this time and you can ride down.

 

Here was my view of it: The cruise director Amy in pink and my daughter and friends as her "backup dancers".

 

[Ocean Boy]

 

I so agree with you...it is strangely moving...would you like me to speculate why?;) I think the way she moves her hands is simply beautiful, like a choreographed dance, and the story of thumbelina is such a beautiful, sad and ultimately hopeful story. Rendered in just sand, it plays to the natural aspects of the story and simplicity of the tale. It is hard to explain, but that's the beauty of it!

 

I decided to not even attempt an explanation. It is what it is. And I am very glad to have had the, very unexpected, experience.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Ocean Boy

[cransplash]

Thanks Familytogoboston- loving your reviews...

 

We have never traveled to Nassau, St. Thomas, or St. Maarten. Are there any "must eats/drink" while on any of the islands? We love trying new food/culture.

 

Also, how did you decide on the shore excursions that you did? We are thinking:

- Nassau: Atlantis AquaAdventure all day (though it is so $$ through RCI's site)

- St. Thomas: Sea Turtle Snorkel (3.5 hours)

- St. Maarten: Bike Tour (3.5 hours)

 

Have you tried any of these in your previous cruises?

 

BTW- from your reviews, I keep reading about taxis and tips while in/on port... how much cash would you recommend we bring on this entire trip?

[Familygoboston]

I will post this in its own thread as well.

 

A note on the parades if you want a unique experience. For several if not all of the parades, they utilized the rising tide bar. I know for the Rockin Rhythm street parade (the first parade of the week I believe) you could get onto the Rising Tide Bar in Central Park with the Cruise Director and her right hand man Ken (talking Oasis here).

 

This is very cool! How far ahead did you have to get on the bar? My girls would love to do this on Allure!

[Familygoboston]

Thanks Familytogoboston- loving your reviews...

 

We have never traveled to Nassau, St. Thomas, or St. Maarten. Are there any "must eats/drink" while on any of the islands? We love trying new food/culture.

Thanks! The Bahamas has very interesting culture, but it's hard to experience in Naussau, so many of us there! StThomas is USVI, so I never find it too different from the US. St Martin is neat because you get both, French and Dutch. I've spent most of my time on the French side, it's very French. For instance, even the food at the beach club was better than most of what I ate on the ship all week! If you'd like to find a nice French place to eat, try Marigot, it seems more Riveira than Caribbean! Lots of little cafes. Grande Case is another area of wonderful retaurants, but not much is happening during the day there, so on a cruise it's not as neat.

Also, how did you decide on the shore excursions that you did? We are thinking:

- Nassau: Atlantis AquaAdventure all day (though it is so $$ through RCI's site)

We've been to Atlantis through a cruise line ( Disney) It is a blast! Lots to do, but it's also expensive and the day is very short so it's hard to fit it all in. But you won't be sorry about the activities!

- St. Thomas: Sea Turtle Snorkel (3.5 hours)

We did something like this is St Croix, and it was great!It was the only place we saw a turtle other than in aquariums and in Costa Rica. Of course with all wildlife tours, they can never promise you'll see one, but there is a good chance right?

- St. Maarten: Bike Tour (3.5 hours)

As I mentioned we are partial to bike tours, but where does this one go? The roads in St Martin are hilly and narrow :eek:. I'm sure they have a safe place to take you! In general I love bike tours because you can smell the smells, see things close up, and wave to the people in a way you can't in a taxi or bus. If you do it, be sure to review it...I'd love to know how itmturns out!

Have you tried any of these in your previous cruises?

 

BTW- from your reviews, I keep reading about taxis and tips while in/on port... how much cash would you recommend we bring on this entire trip?

DH usually gets about $200-300 in cash for the whole trip. We like to get at least 100 in small bills, 1's and 5's. And we always seem to run out of small bills, so maybe more of those! In St Martin ( French side) stuff is often priced in euros, they will usually make the conversion, but it won't be in your favor! You have to decide if it's worth bringing euros. If you travel Europe a lot and have a few hanging around as we have, it's worth it, but if not it's probably not worth the bother for one afternoon! The taxis there take US and the tour operators are fine with tips that way too, so it's only cash purchases in other places

[gcuecruise]

I will post this in its own thread as well.

 

A note on the parades if you want a unique experience. For several if not all of the parades, they utilized the rising tide bar. I know for the Rockin Rhythm street parade (the first parade of the week I believe) you could get onto the Rising Tide Bar in Central Park with the Cruise Director and her right hand man Ken (talking Oasis here).

 

This is very cool! How far ahead did you have to get on the bar? My girls would love to do this on Allure!

 

For the first parade of the week they said to meet them at the rising tide bar at 12:15 as the parade started at 12:30pm. We did and we were the only people there. It was a good chance to meet the cruise director and chat a bit. Other friends in our group rode it for a different parade too. Actually my oldest daughter was one of them. My wife and I were with our two youngest and we were watching the parade and then our littlest (5) looked up at the bar coming down and saw her sister and our friends. It was very cute as she got excited.

 

I also know that for the 70s street party (not really a parade) Po from Kung Fu Panda came down on the rising tide bar which was full of people just in time for the 70s song "Kung Fu Fighting".

 

As you might know the main action for the parades and street parties was in the middle of the Royal promenade. Rising Tide Bar/Cafe Promenade/Cupcake Cupboard/Globe and Atlas bar area. I believe it was the big globe over the Globe and Atlas bar that opens up and a bridge comes out of it and extends over the royal promenade, where performers can go out over the crowd. This is where they sing and throw stuff to the crowd, etc (as well as on top of the Cupcake Cupboard). So good to be near there but not right under it as it would be hard to see straight up.