The Sea Called...We Answered! Our Week Onboard the Oasis 4/26-5/3...Western Caribbea

[Bradtez]

Comprehensive, thankyou so much, following :) Cant wait til our B2B in Dec.

[brookmill18]

Loving the review and all the detailed information--thank you!

 

Random question---your compass says that sail away was close to 6pm--does that sound right? I'm asking b/c we go in July and I had dinner booked for 6pm--our pre-cruise review says our sail away is at 5. I was just surprised the sail away times would vary so much and we don't want to miss sailaway.

 

Thanks!

[FunCruiser56]

Enjoying your review, we will board the Oasis in a little over 2 weeks, never thought we would do this large of a ship but after reading so many positive reviews we are really looking forward to our cruise.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

Bev

[At Sea 4Ever]

Loving the review and all the detailed information--thank you!

 

 

 

Random question---your compass says that sail away was close to 6pm--does that sound right? I'm asking b/c we go in July and I had dinner booked for 6pm--our pre-cruise review says our sail away is at 5. I was just surprised the sail away times would vary so much and we don't want to miss sailaway.

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

The first night we had dinner reservations at 615 and could not watch sail away from the pool deck because it was to late. Iv been noticing on the sail away can every week that oasis and allure take till about 6 for them to pull out of the channel. We had to watch sail away from our balcony while getting ready for dinner. If u don't have any other plans later on in the night I would make your dinner later and enjoy sail away.

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

Day 2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

Day 2:

 

 

 

 

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[ClevelandRocks!]

I'm following and really enjoying your review and pictures. Thanks for posting the review for all of us to enjoy. We'll be on the Oasis in July, 2014.

[At Sea 4Ever]

Day 2: At Sea

 

Let me start off by saying that sleeping with the ocean by your side is the most peaceful night of sleep a person can have. There was another cruise ship that sailed side by side with us all night long. We woke up before the sun came up because as important as sleep is on a vacation nothing is more important than the covenant pool chair. Now before the chair hog police get ahead of themselves, let me make it known that once we claimed our chairs we never left them for more than 30 minutes. We watched the sun come up from our balcony and then headed up to the pool deck at 6:45am.

 

 

We made our way to the beach pool and grabbed an umbrella and two lounge chairs. Now mind you the sun had just come up it's not even 7am yet and there were already people in the hot tub and a few chairs with belongings on them.

 

 

 

 

 

We settled into our seats only to realize not only did we land a great spot poolside but also front row seats to the greatest show Royal Caribbean has to offer. I present to you.... The Battle of the Pool Chairs!! We had noticed that there were seats already taken by towels and other odds and ends but only a few people around the pool deck. The head pool attendant was walking around with another attendant assessing the situation. After thirty minutes had passed and the chairs owners were no where to be found, the pool staff came around with large clear bags and put all the chairs belongings in them. This was a very routine process that had occurred all week long. Thirty minutes pass your belongings are in a plastic bag at the towel station. Another technique that the pool staff incorporated was "chair marking", very similar to marking tires. The towels on the chairs were folded in a unique way and after thirty minutes if the towels were still folded the same way you would find yourself at the towel station to claim your belongings. We struck up a conversation with a friendly attendant who explained to us that going for breakfast or lunch was fine and that leaving your chair was not the issue, but disappearing after claiming chairs was. This seemed to be a shock to some who came back to their chair after hours of being gone only to find someone else sitting there. We did witness some mild altercations and some "who me!? I was only gone for five minutes". This show went on all week! It didn't matter if it was a sea day or port day getting a seat at the pool was an Olympic sport. We realized that morning the only way to take home the gold was to be up before sunrise.

 

Up Next: Boardwalk Donuts

 

 

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

I'm following and really enjoying your review and pictures. Thanks for posting the review for all of us to enjoy. We'll be on the Oasis in July, 2014.

 

 

Thanks so much for following! I'm having a blast doing this review. I feel like I'm reliving the cruise all over again. Your trip is coming up you must be so excited!

 

 

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[ClevelandRocks!]

I loved the Battle of the Poolchairs post. That was funny! I'm glad they do seem to be enforcing the 30 minute rules now. I hope they keep doing that for our cruise :)

[Ocean View]

Wow great post! As always a gd cup of coffee or drink(if it's a bit later) in hand sit back and let the show begin. Love it. Thanks for taking the time to share and being so colorful! I understand getting home and settled and back to work is hard and all is time consuming. We appreciate you making the time for us:)

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

After we settled at the pool we quickly ran, ok took the elevator, down to the boardwalk for a much needed cup of coffee and of course some donuts never hurt. On the Oasis the Boardwalk Donut Shop has it's own space like a storefront. On the Allure that space is the Boardwalk Dog House and the donuts are set up on a small counter across the way. The donuts on the Allure didn't last long and seemed like they were never refilled. On the Oasis they always had a large selection and never seemed to run out. There was a variety of nine donuts everyday with eight being the staples and one being the donut of the day. They also served coffee and specialty coffees as well. It was never crowded and never a line. There were even tables and chairs.

 

 

 

 

Vanilla Frosted

 

Key Lime

 

Chocolate Glazed & Nougat

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

White Chocolate with Sprinkles

 

Strawberry Frosted with Sprinkles

 

I know what you all are thinking and no we did not have all of those donuts the first morning. The donut shop was our go to place every morning. It definitely was a step up from the Dunkin Donuts at home. Just a quick tip. If you want to take your donuts to go grab a plate from the promenade cafe first because they only have napkins in the boardwalk.

 

 

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[CruisingTeacher19]

Are the donuts free?

 

 

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[Clarea]

Are the donuts free?

Yes.

[At Sea 4Ever]

We went back up to the pool to find it quickly filling up. It was a beautiful morning and that beautiful weather followed us all week. So why not kick off the morning with some mimosas!

 

The Pool Bar on the same side as the main pool opens at 9 and the Promenade Bar opens at 7. Every other bar opens around 11.

 

I had read in the Cruise Compass that on sea days yoga was offered on the helipad for a fee. It was around 8:30 when I headed to the sun deck to get a glance at it, but it must have been cancelled because the helipad was empty. The view from the sun deck was absolutely magnificent. The way the sun hit the water was something from a postcard. Being on such a big ship you sometimes loose the sense of being on the seas. It was nice getting a great view of the ocean and letting that tranquility sink in.

 

The Sundeck is located on deck 14 forward. Take the cabin hallway all the way down to the glass doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[pixiemama91]

Wow, I don't log on for a few days and you already started on Day 2. Now that I am all caught up, I am loving your review.

 

Dinner at Chops looks amazing. We are booked next August (ugh, so far away) and the friends we are cruising with want to eat in the MDR every night, but I think I can sway them. I will just keep sending them pictures of all this amazing food porn.

 

I am glad they were enforcing the chair rules around the pool. I don't mind people disappearing for a little bit periodically, but what is the point of saving the chair if you aren't even going to be anywhere near it for hours.

 

Those mimosas look so refreshing and perfect for a morning at sea.

[At Sea 4Ever]

Wow, I don't log on for a few days and you already started on Day 2. Now that I am all caught up, I am loving your review.

 

 

 

Dinner at Chops looks amazing. We are booked next August (ugh, so far away) and the friends we are cruising with want to eat in the MDR every night, but I think I can sway them. I will just keep sending them pictures of all this amazing food porn.

 

 

 

I am glad they were enforcing the chair rules around the pool. I don't mind people disappearing for a little bit periodically, but what is the point of saving the chair if you aren't even going to be anywhere near it for hours.

 

 

 

Those mimosas look so refreshing and perfect for a morning at sea.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to comment! Don't worry I'll post enough food pics to help sway your friends : )

 

 

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[Babyrocko1908]

Waiting on the rest of day 2... :):cool::D

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

As I walked back thru the solarium to get to the pool I was amazed about how crowded it was already. The front of the solarium has clam shell shaped loungers that were all already claimed. On the Allure they just have them up on the private sun deck for suite guests. By 9 o'clock the pool deck was hopping! Could you blame people? It was in the high 80's with not a cloud in the sky. Down in Central Park, Giovanni's must have been prepping their kitchens because the smell of Italian food filled the pool deck air. It felt like a Sunday morning at home.

 

 

 

A view overlooking Central Park from the pool deck

 

 

 

Some random thoughts:

With the drink package we never had to sign any receipts either poolside or elsewhere on the ship. The great lime shortage of 2014 wiped the ship clean of any limes. I mean how could one enjoy a cruise without a lime wedge!? We had no problem with just one of us going up to the bar and presenting two seapass cards for drinks. As long as you have the proper amount of cards to drinks you were fine. We were able to get two frozen drinks plus ask for two bottles of water at the same time. We were never told no when it came to that. We did see people with a handful of drinks approaching the bar and trying to order more. Those passengers were obviously told no. The top deck reserved for guests with the gold seapass card was always empty all week long. The only Freestyle machine located on deck 15 was in the arcade. The couple times we did use it either the soda was flat, there was no more ice, or the flavors we wanted were empty. I'm sure the reason for this is that one machine is catering an entire deck of thirsty pool goers and kids. I felt that we didn't get to enjoy the soda machines as much as on other ships because they were so few and very far between. The soft serve ice cream machines are located in the H2O Zone and the Wipeout Cafe.

 

We were starting to get hungry so we headed down to the Park Cafe. We didn't take advantage of this place on the Allure as much as we had liked so we decided to make up for it on this trip! Sea days for lunch it was very crowded as port days were slightly less. Seating was always a hit or miss although sometimes were preferred just to take it back to our lounge chairs. Grabbing food from the Park Cafe always seemed to be the quickest way to have lunch and not loose our chairs. They do have a decent amount of tables and booths inside the cafe along with outside seating on the patio as well. Some seats have cushioning while others are wooden which is good if your bathing suit is still damp. During the afternoon Central Park is filled with people hanging all over the place. If you can't find seating at the cafe you can always grab a seat on a bench or the table and chairs around the park. Also people including us ate at the high top tables at the Trellis Bar. Don't be intimidated about the crowds at the dining venues as there is always a way to make it work.

 

 

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

A make your own salad from the salad bar

 

Pork Jerk Wrap

 

The food selection is the same everyday except for the soup selection which changes daily. I found myself looking forward to that salad and wrap everyday for lunch. My DH was in love with their egg salad sandwiches and the famous Kummelwreck Sandwich. The bun they used for those roast beef sandwiches was delicious. Sometimes we would stop and grab a bag of chips from the cafe on the way back to our cabin as a snack. They also had perfect sized fruit cups that were easy to take along as well. The dessert and beverage bar in the cafe offered specialty beers that were not found at every bar on the ship. It's nice to find smaller less crowded bars to use the package for.

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

After lunch we headed back to our chairs to finish out the afternoon in the sun and enjoy the sounds of steel drums of Heatwave, the reggae poolside band. Across the way at the Main Pool they were having a scuba diving and snorkeling seminar. It was slightly loud and not many people seemed to be paying attention but what did catch my attention was their offer. If you purchased any snorkel or scuba set you would receive 15% off any scuba or snorkel excursion taken on this sailing. The prices of the gear were pretty reasonable too and of course duty free. I had asked if the 15% off could be applied to a future cruise excursion but they said no. Their Sea Trek Shop is located between the Main and Sports Pool.

 

 

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[At Sea 4Ever]

Up Next: Our Boardwalk Night

Oasis of Dreams

Seafood Shack

Oasis Dunes

 

 

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[Babyrocko1908]

"The Battle of the Pool Chairs" lol... your review is great!!

 

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Edited May 15, 2014 by Babyrocko1908

[At Sea 4Ever]

"The Battle of the Pool Chairs" lol... your review is great!!

 

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Thank u so much! Everyone's positive feedback keeps me going with writing this : )

 

 

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