knewcrewzr

There is a website that shows most of the inventory but we are not allowed to tell what it is on this forum. I use it all the time when I book a cruise. I find a room on "not the ocean but the "- - -" scanner dot com and ask the rep I talk to on the phone and that room has always been available. 

Apparently, the man is the service animal for the dog...

     We only tip extra for extra special service. The automatic tips are designed to adequately provide for whomever receives their cut of it. The servers and attendants know what their jobs entail and what the get paid for it. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't do it. I teach, and have been for 40 years.  Some say we are not compensated adequately for what we do, but I love my job. If I didn't, I wouldn't do it. 

     On our last cruise, in June, I had just finished chemo and my taste was way off. Our servers went out of their way to make sure I enjoyed everything they served to me every night. The asked me as soon as I tasted my meal if I liked it, if I wanted something different, could they suggest anything else.  You might think that would be bothersome, but it wasn't.

     I also empty my water glass at least 5 times at dinner (love the ship water!) and the assistant was there every time to fill it up. I don't drink soda or iced tea unless it is decaf (and the iced tea tastes terrible to me). We had a really nasty table mate who complained about everything the first night and was moved to other stations several times. Nothing and no one made him happy. I have no idea what his problem was, but both of our servers were wonderful. We tipped both of them an extra $50 on the last evening. We've never given that much extra before, if we do tip extra it's usually $20 to $30. The assistant server chased us out into the hallway on the last night when we finished dinner,  hugged us both and expressed his thanks with a very big smile. I hope to see them again when we cruise on the same ship next month. We got lucky and had extra great servers. We wanted to show our appreciation. Others might tip more or less. It's a personal decision.

 We will sometimes give an extra amount to our room steward as well because we ask for a full ice bucket every day, extra towels and fresh towels twice a day.  All they really have to do for us is make up the bed and clean and restock the the bathroom.  We've never been disappointed in the room service on the cruises we've taken. Of course, we keep our own room neat. Walking down the hallway, I've actually seen some room attendants hanging up or putting away people's clothing. Ridiculous! 

  To each, his own. Tip extra, or not. There is no standard amount. If the service was wonderful and you want to let them know,  leave a tip that you can afford. Just a handshake and "Thanks, you were wonderful!" is nice. A good review for them is appreciated too. Make sure you mention them by name. No one will grab you as you leave the ship about it. It's personal. Have a great cruise!

I have been able to do just this for the last 3 cruises and the next one we have booked. At first I just said I did not drink alcohol ( and I actually do not)  and that was enough for us to have one deluxe and one refreshment. Now I have a medical condition that precludes me from  the use of alcohol. Usually the mention of anything "medical" usually does the trick. For me, it not a trick but real life. They have been very accommodating for all requests. 

So what happens on the ships that charge a la cart for JR? (Anthem) They don't have a sit down restaurant for JR. Would the milkshake be free on a DP but you have to buy something to eat too?

I don't drink Milkshakes unless everything is lactose free but DH loves them.

The main dining room menus appeared the night before on the television in the stateroom. We could see what we wanted to order every evening for the next day.

I was disappointed the teas were not the same as those found on other RCCL ships during my previous cruises. I use as little caffine as possible and the Tazo decaf on the Oasis was either Chamomile( YUCK) or mint ( Double YUCK). One server during breakfast found a decaf black tazo tea but for some reason it tasted soapy. So did the Tazo regular Earl Grey from the Cafe Promonade. I found a tetley regular tea bag in the Central Park Cafe one day at lunch, but when I went back to get more they were gone. I will BMOT from now on.

As I posted on another thread, we had traditional early seating in the MDR at 6pm. Every evening as we walked to our table we passed a long line of MTD'ers waiting to be seated. Our server and assistant server were absolutley the best we have ever had on a RCCL cruise. I felt sorry for him, however, as he had to accomodate many people who were sat in his area for MTD and he had to juggle diners ordering apps, entrees and desert all at different times. He always gave us a run down of the menu with the chef's recommendations and then his own recommendations. He checked with us to make sure we were happy with our choices both for the entree and desert. The assistant server never stood still as he was on the move filling water glasses, taking away plates, serving bread, answering questions, fetching the next course, etc. We also saw the head waiter several times inquiring obout our meal and service. At the conclusion of every meal we were informed about the next day's meal and schedule both for port times and meal times. Only once did our server talk about the survey we would fill out at the end of the cruise. I have had servers who harped on and on every night about rating them, so much so that I told them if I heard it one more time I would note on the survey how annoying it was.

We ate at the Windjammer twice, on day 1 for lunch and the last day for breakfast as it was the only place open at 530am as we had early depart. We ate breakfast at the MDR every morning except one when we at at JR. Lunches were at the Dog House, Park Cafe, or Solarium Bistro. All were fantastic. We ran through the Wipout Cafe once but DH only got ice cream.

Only one thing marred our cruise (next paragraph). The entertainment venues are so small, everyone needs a reservation for all the major shows. There was always a long line of standy cruisers hoping for a seat. We had made our reservations online prior to boarding but the show times got changed on several of them without my knowledge. Thanks to our cruise critic friends, who posted about their conflicts or cancellations, I would have never known. CHECK your reservations several times before you board to make sure your reservations are still as you made them.

DH and I went to see the Majority Rules Game (or show, whatever it was)at Studio B but we were told at the door that it required reservations. We were not allowed in as we didn't have one, but they were admitting "Gold Card" holders. We were "invited" to stand by and wait for seats. We had gone down 30 minutes early as we knew there would not be enough seats for this one time showing. We did not want to wait as both of us have knee problems and standing for 30 minutes is not a option so we left. I was reading our Daily Compass and noted that shows that required reservations had a "ticket" icon printed next to them. That show did not have the "ticket" icon and therefore did not require reservations. We went down to GS the next morning to inquire about the show and as were speaking to a non English proficient young lady it took us several minutes to make her understand our displeasure about the situation. She printed out our reservations to show us that we HAD reservations. We had a hard time telling her what show we were complaining about. There was no place to make a reservation for those small shows/games and it was not noted in the compass that reservation were required. She finally got the idea of what we were saying and said she would get a message to those in charge of entertainment personnel to let them know what happened. We were not supposed to be denied entry into that show. We were not looking for anything to make up for it, just wanted to make sure we hadn't missed where to make reservations for shows like that. We did go to see the Love and Marriage show, which is aways a hoot. If you did not get there early, your choice of seats diminished as the Opal Theatre is not big enough to seat every guest on the ship. We did not go to Quest, having experienced it many times on other cruises, or any of the other small, one time shows. The Comedy show place is really small, so if you intend to see the comedians, make reservations!

We ate breakfast on the last day with another couple who were very dissapointed with Oasis. They said it was too crowded. We never experienced any place overly crowded except the pool deck on sea days. We used the pool deck on port days when we did not get off the ship or returned early and practically had the entire deck to ourselves. We have been on enough cruises to know that if we want a good seat anywhere, to get there early. We are early risers so we never had a problem just walking into breakfast. When we left, there would always be a long line waiting to be seated. We also heard from another cruiser that there were too many kids on board. We hardly noticed them at all. We did hear that this week, over 2000 children would be onboard. I am glad we booked last week!

Overall, we had a fantastic cruise and would do the Oasis again. This cruise was selected by my DH as he wanted to go on the BIG ship. I was very hesitant as I love the smaller ships. I couldn't have been more wrong. Granted, we are a couple, who at 60 years of age, don't do many of the things a younger couple or family would do on a cruise. I "crispy critter" in about 10 minutes in the sun so we don't hang at the pool unless I know I can find a lounger in the shade. DH is on meds that don't allow much alcohol, so were don't frequent the bars, except the Schooner where we usually sat in their comfy chairs and listened to the trivia games almost every day. We loved both the Central Park and Boardwalk. Our stateroom on deck 6 was near the aft elevators so we were right around the corner from both and could easily get there without too much walking. I imagine anyone with a far aft or forward cabin had to traverse the entire ship to get anywhere.

We didn't miss the "secret" balconies as we really didn't know about them. I felt sorry for those who had the huge new GS rooms with those beautiful huge balconies at the aft by the aqua theater. There didn't seem to be any privacy for those who had them. There was music playing all the time, lights on and plenty of people hanging around. Yeah, we've had aft staterooms and love looking at the wake but I wouldn't want a public balcony where I was on view of everone on the boardwalk or aqua theater.

The Oasis crew that we encountered every day were friendly and helpful but obviously stressed with their long hours and crowded areas to work. The pool towel stations were often empty, offerings in the windjammer were not refilled very quickly, bar servers in many entertainment areas were few and far between, and there were often long lines at GS. Almost every crew member we passed in the hallways greeted us. Our stateroom attendant was excellent, and provided us with everything we requesed, like keeping the ice full on our bottles of wine, extra towells, and whatever else we needed.

Enjoy your cruise!!

Knewcrewzr, do you have the new menu for Izumi? We're thinking of going there for sushi too in January. I also wanted to see what they had on the hibachi side.

We actually went to Izumi and looked at their menu since it was unavailable on the posted interactive boards around the ship. DH liked what he saw and decided to return the next day for appetizers before going to the MDR for dinner. Search around the RCCL website and there is an option to print a menu for Izumi but I don't think it shows all the selections.

Enjoy your cruise!

We used the MDR for all of our meals and had the first seating at 6pm. We enjoyed each and every one of our meals. I actually prefer having the same server each night. They get to know what you like quickly and work hard to make sure you have a great dining experience. The second night of the cruise I was not especially thrilled with my meal choice and he quickly whisked it away and replaced it with another choice. He checked every evening to make sure both DH and I liked the food. The head waiter also stopped by our table on several occasions to make sure we were happy with our meals and service. DH frequently asks for two entree selections and the server was happy to bring them.

You can look up the menus for each night for all of the dining areas on the ship on the interactive screens in each elevator lobby. We checked the menus daily and never wanted to eat anywhere else. There was always something on the menu that we liked or wanted to try. They also have 3 appetizers (shrimp cocktail, esgargot, and caeser salad) 5 entrees (a steak, marinated chicken, and 3 others I don't remember), and 3 deserts (which I don't remember what they are at all since I didn't order any of them) that remain on the menu for all the nights of the cruise.

From the first night when DH asked for Coffee with Baileys and I asked for hot decaf tea with desert, they automatically brought it out for us every night after. I only drink water with dinner ( I love the water on the ship) so the server and his assistant constantly came by to fill my water glass. It never even got below halfway. He would package up desert for us to take if we didn't want to eat it after the meal (sometimes we were too full but didn't want to miss desert)

The only specialty dining venue we did go to was Izumi (which did not have its menu listed on the screens) because DH wanted some sushi. They open at 5:30, so we went there when they opened, sat at the bar, watched them make the sushi, and then went to dinner. ( I don't like sushi but I did eat some made with tempora shrimp in it and it was delicious) We were about 10 minutes late to dinner but it was no problem and the server had our dinner out to us in no time.

I am sure you will find many tempting choices from the MDR menu. One of the gentlemen at the table next to us went crazy for the lamb that was served, asked for a second plate of it and got it, and asked if he could have it the next night ( the chef sent his regrets that it wasn't available the next night but lamb was offered again later in the week). The prime rib was excellent. DH ordered the scallops every time they were offered (apps and/or entrees) and he loved them. The chicken marsala was also delicious. (oh no I'm getting hungry!!)

Enjoy your cruise. Order something you've never had for dinner. Take some of the great excursions they offer and don't worry about using the free dining option. Don't miss the Dog House on the boardwalk or the Park Cafe in Central Park, also free dining options. We ate several of the hot dogs (GOOD!!) and roast beef sandwiches (YUMMY!!!) for our lunches. The Park Cafe also makes absolutley awesome salads and paninis too. We used the Windjammer only on day 1 for lunch and the last day for breakfast but they offer almost the same thing as the dining room for dinner.

Have a great time, wish I was there again!!

or place to eat. We almost never order room service. Since I originally booked a CV (at around 749 pp) and "upgraded" at no charge to the D7 I felt the $400 total cost to change to the JS was well worth it. I was even able to choose the stateroom number from those still available. I wanted a JS to begin with, that's what we usually book anyway, but the cost at that time was not what I was willing to pay. I think I will get more than my money's worth even without all the "extra stuff". I also still have a (meager) on board credit from my original booking. Looking forward to my first cruise on Oasis! I will certainly come back (and look up this thread which will be way, way back in the list by then) to post if I get the double points or not. Really, as I said before, I have a long way to go to change from D to D+. We cruise Celebrity as well as Royal so we may never make it to D+.

Happy Cruising all!

The total cost for both DH and myself was $400. The Royal agent who helped me said that since I paid for the upgrade I would receive the double points. My booking invoice shows that it is a paid upgrade too. Not that the double points are going to make a big difference, I still have a looooong way to go from D to D+, but every little bit helps. And I get a larger stateroom too.

"before you cruise". Each time I accessed my cruise to check balance, schedule shows, look at drink packages, or try to finish the online check-in, the computer deleted my resident discount. I had to call and have them correct it, which they did with much apologies on their part. Only the third time I called did anyone tell me how to keep it from happening again. I had made final payment and had them send me a document showing $0 balance and when I tried to look at the drink packages (3rd time) I had a balance exactly equal to my resident discount. I am avoiding the entire website now. I don't even trust the "before you board" tab at the top of their home screen. I have a printed set sail pass and will let Port Everglades put luggage tags on my bags. I have exactly 2 months to sail time. It can't go fast enough for me right now!

I think there was one breakfast included in one of the hotels or lodges we stayed but it was not a cooked breakfast. I had called the cruise line and inquired about the food on the tour (we did a 4 day land tour and 7 day cruise with Celebrity in 2010) and the rep that answered made it seem that there were a few meals provided. She was way wrong. Yes, it was expensive. We ate as cheaply as possible except for the dinner at the top of the mountain at one of the lodges (can't remember the name of it but the food was fabulous). The best meal we had wasn't even on the tour. We ate at Humpy's in Anchorage before the tour started and then had lunch there again when the tour took us back to Anchorage on our way to Seward to pick up the cruise. Yummy! And all the types of beer they had too was amazing.

Enjoy your land tour but be ready to shell out for the food!

We aren't going until November and I'm sure a few things will change in the schedules but it's fun to read the Compasses and dream.

Thanks again!