Onboard the Oasis of the Seas (August 21, 2010)

[EJPhilly]

I got the 500 minute package for $150. That works out to $0.30/minute. I still have over half my minutes left.

 

In addition, I had a Gold Crown & Anchor coupon saving me 10%, bringing the net cost down to $135.

Great review, can't wait to see your pics!! Have one question.. where do you get the Crown & Anchor Coupon book? I know I read it somewhere on CC, just don't remember where. I am Gold and going on Oasis next May. Thanks

[amethyst365]

Wednesday, Day 5

 

I neglected to mention the Aquatheater Showcase yesterday. We didn't have a great spot since we got there late and they aren't doing reservations for the show, but we were still able to see everything except the high divers. The show was disappointing because we wanted to see more. Instead of being able to see Oasis of Dreams and Splish Splash, we just got to see a few acts from each show over the course of just 30 minutes, leaving us wanting more. What we did see was good, but I don't think it worked well to combine the shows seemingly haphazardly like they did. Nonetheless, I'm glad that I got to see some of the show anyway. It gives me something to look forward to see next year on the Allure of the Seas.

 

 

yesss - I totally undertand and Im there with you!!!! At least you got to see something hahah more than I saw:) Im so jealous!! The divers are happy they could at least do some sort of show:)

 

 

The skating, however, was very good and I was very impressed that it seemed like a flawless production to me. I also liked the sand artist. I would have liked to see more of that, perhaps in a show itself.

 

Yes I also agree - the skaters were fabulous - really world class athletes - I actually found the sand artist a bit long in time - but then i was there to see the skaters - he was very good - but maybe a touch too long - really glad you enjoyed it - good to see others perspectives...:)

 

Rush, rush, rush... It felt kind of like that going from place to place for each next event or activity. Immediately after the ice show, it was time to go to the Royal Promenade for the 70's dance party.

 

HAHAHHAH thats soo funny... Im so glad you wrote that cos thats exactly how I felt! There is just sooo much to do - Im glad it wasn't just me that felt that!:)

 

What's on the agenda for tomorrow? It's a somewhat busy day in Cozumel. I'm taking our older son to Chankanaab for the Dolphin Royal Swim.

 

WOW wow and wow - so cool - we did this - its so awesome!!!!! I held a dolphin in my arms, got to kiss it, it pushed me up put of the water, and i hung onto their fins and they took me for a swim- you will LOVE this - its wonderful:) enjoyyyy

thankyou so much for your review!

[newsier]

Great review, can't wait to see your pics!! Have one question.. where do you get the Crown & Anchor Coupon book? I know I read it somewhere on CC, just don't remember where. I am Gold and going on Oasis next May. Thanks

 

Hi Eileen,

 

The C&A coupon book will be in your cabin when you arrive, generally on the bed with other material to read.

 

Enjoy...........

 

g

[PrincesScuba]

Hi Eileen,

 

The C&A coupon book will be in your cabin when you arrive, generally on the bed with other material to read.

 

Enjoy...........

 

g

 

 

Or on the desk/vanity. :)

[EJPhilly]

Or on the desk/vanity. :)

Thanks so much!!!

[demodawn]

Enjoying your cruise. Thanks so much for taking us

[blueclawfan]

Daghis , Thank You for your updates ..keep that ship clean now.. leaving in the am for ft lauderdale. our turn now. hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as i enjoyed reading this. take care and thanks again

[time4me2fly]

It's great to read about your cruise on the Oasis!

 

There's talk about a refillable 8 bottle beer cooler/carrier. If you have time can you check at a bar if/or when the Oasis is offering it? If they have it...how much and what beers are available?

 

There's mix stories about some ships offering it for $33 - $35 plus grats for first fill up and $23 -$25 plus grats for refills.

[cre8fmom]

Thank you for all your great info......I am hoping you might be able to help me out on a question. I posted this in another thread, but I figured you would only be reading this one......If you're in the area and can check on this, it would be much appreciated.

Trying to figure out if our 2 cabins have the doors right next to each other. Has anybody stayed in or near 14302 and 14304 ? As alot of ya know, doors are like in "pairs", and I'm hoping these 2 are next to each other. If you stayed near by, I can probably calculate it out to see the answer to my question.

I think I will also post this question on a "live thread" and maybe I can get an answer in real time :)

Thank you in advance for that info

 

I am loking forward to these photos as well- We are in 14304 in October!!

 

Loving the live updates! Enjoy the time you have left on Oasis!

[RichardE954]

I'll try to swing by there tomorrow to see where it is and let you know.

 

Any luck?

 

Sounds like you're having a fabulous time, can't wait to see the pictures. Makes me wish I had booked my cruise for sooner than Thanksgiving!

[Gigi Fan]

Daghis,

 

Looking at the photo of the Royal Promenade that you posted was a treat! Brought me right back there from my Oasis cruise the week of Aug. 7.

 

Thanks for posting live. I can't imagine when you've found the time to do so. I just jotted down notes/impressions/reactions each day and even that was a challenge, time-wise.

 

Looking forward to the photos. That will be the icing on the cake, including the cupcake! Alright, that was bad, I know...:rolleyes:

 

Enjoy your sea day today!!!

[Daghis]

Thursday, Day 6

 

It's hard to keep coming up with superlatives to describe the ship, all of which are well deserved. During my visit to San Miguel, the downtown shopping area of Cozumel, I briefly chatted up a couple who were from the Grandeur of the Seas, docked adjacent to the Oasis of the Seas. I teased them a bit, and they said that they were happy with their cruise, but they admitted a bit of envy when they pulled up alongside the mammoth ship that was already docked there.

 

This morning started off late, getting up and getting ready to head out to Chankanaab for our Royal Dolphin Swim excursion. Getting there was easy, although navigating the port itself just to get to the taxis outside was a bit tricky, involving a couple wrong turns.

 

We ended up getting to Chankanaab about an hour early, so we briefly watched their sea lion show. That was amusing.

 

We then had our excursion. We put our stuff away into the free lockers (a nice included feature), and headed into a room to watch a demonstration/instructional video about the dolphins and some of the "behaviors" we'd be seeing from the dolphins. Then it was out into the water where we got to meet Raquel and Foxie, the two bottle nose dolphins that would be providing us our experiences. We got to hug, kiss, and dance with them. The best events were the "dorsal tow" (the dolphins swim by you and you hold on to their dorsal fins and they pull you along) and the "foot push" (they come up behind you and push you up from your feet, pushing you up and out of the water). It was a really, really neat experience. We even got to spend some time meeting a manatee, rubbing his algae-covered skin, and getting some good up-close time with him.

 

After all that, it was time to preview the video that would be available to purchase. It was short, only about 10 minutes long, showing everyone's "dorsal tow" and "foot push" in our group of about ten people. It was actually pretty neat. The video is available for $50. In addition, they take pictures of you when you kiss, hug, and dance with the dolphin. Those are available for $20 each. The package for the two of us (six photos and one DVD video) was $120. It's very pricey, but I had to consider that we'd already invested a couple hundred dollars for the experience itself, so it'd be nice to have something to take home from it, so I forked over the money.

 

It was at this point that I realized that I had left my wallet onboard the ship. I had my passport and some traveler's checks, though, so all was not lost.

 

At that point, we were to head downtown to meet up with our friend who'd be hanging out at Del Sol to wait for us. As a bit of backstory, I did enable international access for my iPhone before leaving just in case we'd need it. It doesn't cost anything to enable it, just if you use it. For those who may be curious, in Cozumel, the international rate for AT&T is $0.99/minute, $0.50 to send a text/MMS message, and free to receive messages. I sent some messages to my friend (who's on Verizon and who had also enabled his phone for international use), but he never received them. I'm not sure what's up with that. We'll see whether the messages finally arrive when we're back in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.

 

Anyway, we were late getting to downtown, and our friend had headed back to the ship, we waited a while ourselves, just in case he was late, too, but after a bit of shopping, we headed back ourselves. Fortunately for all of us, taxis are plentiful in Cozumel and the pricing seems fair enough.

 

Oh, I'll mention here that the Norwegian Epic was docked at the pier downtown. She's a big ship, too. I would have loved to see her side-by-side with the Oasis of the Seas.

 

Getting back to the ship was easy. There were several checkpoints along the way, including a security inspection (X-ray and metal detectors) at the pier. We weren't there at a business time, so it took longer to go through the serpentine line with no one waiting than it did to get through the actual security checkpoint itself. Then the long walk to the ship was ahead.

 

Once back aboard, I did confirm at DH (whom I thought wasn't going ashore) and our friend had indeed returned to the ship. We had just missed them by 5 minutes or so.

 

Remember that I had said that I had forgotten my wallet. That meant I couldn't get everything I wanted. I had wanted to do some more shopping at Cariloha, a shop that specializes in bamboo fabric items, so DH and I headed back out around 4 pm. I picked up a couple shirts, new bed sheets, and some new bath towels. It was way expensive, but I decided that this would be how I'd treat myself instead of buying far less useful souvenirs. The towels and sheets will be sent to us so we didn't have to pack them, so that's a nice bonus.

 

We walked a bit further down the street and then headed back to the ship. Another note: The cruise itinerary listed this port as 8 am to 8 pm, but we were apparently departing at 7 pm as they listed the "all aboard" time as 6:30. Oh, well, the ship's itinerary is subject to change. :)

 

Despite my plan not to dress up for formal night, I decided to go ahead and put on some of the clothes that I did bring with me. I wore black pants, a maroon shirt, and a nice tie... no jacket. I was a bit underdressed, but it seemed okay and I didn't seem to start any formal-attire riots. :D

 

In the main dining room again, this time we were seated in a different server's section. I was disappointed that we didn't have Rose tonight, but I think that reservations conflicted with our walk-in time. We missed having Rose, although Roel was okay, I guess. I didn't get the Fisherman's Plate since I didn't want the "garlicky" shrimp, but I was able to get the prime rib with a lobster tail along with it. That made me happy.*I tried the dessert sampler. Like others, I'd focus just on the chocolate cake that's included, although the other two items were okay.

 

We then went to go to our reserved show, Come Fly with Me, but we got there too late and the theater was packed and we couldn't find two seats together, so we decided to try the 10:45 show instead.

 

I'll note that we received the beginnings of the end in our cabin tonight. The departure information had arrived. Despite us having an afternoon flight, we were given luggage tags #s 2 and 3. I did not want get off the ship that early (7 am). We stopped by Guest Services and they gladly changed our luggage tags to ones at the end of the sequence, so our expected time off the ship is now 9 am. Sure, we'll still have to be out of our cabins early, but I'd much rather hang around the ship for an extra hour or two than at the airport.

 

Then it was time to line up for the Come Fly with Me show with the other non-reservers. We started filing in about 10:35 and there were plenty of seats available at that time, although they did fill up by the time the show started.

 

Here are a couple notes about this show. First, it all started with Richard Spacey doing his "Evolution of Dance" (from the quite popular YouTube video). He did an excellent job, of course. Those of you who haven't seen it can find his performance also on YouTube by searching door "Richard Spacey". Second, let me offer at this point that I'm a large man. I was a bit taken aback by the even larger gentleman who sat next to me, occupying his seat space, and a bit of mine and his wife's. It wasn't much of an issue since I was able to lean over a bit. Lastly, we were seated at the far left side, up in the middle level. From that vantage point, we ended up seeing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff going on that would be invisible to people sitting in the middle. I may actually go back to the show tomorrow during it's afternoon performance to see it from a better spot if I can.

 

And now, I'm in my usual space once again, in Jazz on 4 enjoying the live music here. I love this place. I really wish I had the opportunity to enjoy music like this at home, but without it being there, it makes it even more special to me. Kenny James has joined the band as a vocalist. I didn't want to see his performance, but he seems to be doing well singing along with the jazz band.

 

Tomorrow is the inevitable day 7. I'm doing my best to consider it as another day on the ship, but in the back of my mind, there's a slowly growing sadness knowing that this is coming to an end. I'll do my best to keep the positive thoughts throughout tomorrow, at least until I have to pack tomorrow evening.

 

I'm amazed just how long my checklist of things I still want to do is. I haven't even started looking at the Live the Oasis book that we got on Sunday. I haven't yet had a cupcake from the Cupcake Cupboard, but I've promised myself that tomorrow's the day. I want to go back to Izumi, perhaps for lunch. Dinner is at Chops Grille tomorrow. I've barely used the pools, and certainly not spent enoug time in the Solarium. So much to do, so little time.

 

Several years ago, we sailed on the Carnival Elation during 4th of July. We then sailed her again the following year at the same time. The second time was disappointing as everything was the same as it had been before. The same food. The same activities. The same jokes in the shows. This time, it's different. I know that when we sail next year, probably on the Allure of the Seas, I'll be able to enjoy the things I loved, try things I missed, and find even new things to do.

 

But that's premature. I've still got another day here, and I'm going to enjoy it as much as the first day. You can count on it!

 

See y'all tomorrow!

[Daghis]

Sounds like you are having a great time!!! From reading your posts I would guess that you did not make any reservations for My Time Dining....just showed up whenever you wanted to dine....did you have to wait long to be seated?

We tend to eat early, so we avoided the rush. We've been seated immediately the three times we went.

 

There's talk about a refillable 8 bottle beer cooler/carrier. If you have time can you check at a bar if/or when the Oasis is offering it? If they have it...how much and what beers are available?

 

There's mix stories about some ships offering it for $33 - $35 plus grats for first fill up and $23 -$25 plus grats for refills.

I asked at one of the pool bars and was told that there weren't any beer specials. They did say that they had a bucket of beer, but you were paying the individual price for each bottle.

[dancersp119]

so enjoying reading as you cruise...we are going next may...we are thinking about doing mtd instead of traditional....everytime we have cruise we do late seating...this time since there are so many opion options we thought we would try mtd. any pros/cons? and how do you handle gratuities???

[sailingawaysoon]

Thanks for the lastest installment. I'm feeling sad too (for you). I get the same way on the day/night before the last day of our cruise. You start coming to grips w/the fact that tomorrow is the last day. We leave next Friday for our Oasis cruise on Saturday and my husband is already saying he doesn't want it to be over. We haven't even made it out of Georgia yet! I hope you have an enjoyable last day on the Oasis and I can't wait to get further excited about my trip next week when I see all your pictures! Your live posts have been simply awesome!

[DPurcell58]

We'll be getting on as you get off, thanks for the great report!

[SRQfireman]

I am loking forward to these photos as well- We are in 14304 in October!!

 

Loving the live updates! Enjoy the time you have left on Oasis!

 

ohhhhhh....I would like a pix or 2 (or 3) of the inside of this cabin if possible. I need to figure out sometime how to get with ya off line about pixs.

Let me know if you can help me out on that

Thanks!

[cmjars]

How do I sent you an IM. I would to ask you a question and not have in the forum?

 

Chris

[Daghis]

The day is soon winding down. We'll soon be packing up.

 

BUT, the cruise is not over yet!

 

I played in the win-a-cruise slot tournament. I got third place in the preliminary rounds, and almost won the final round, getting second place (for a prize of $90). So close!

 

We're going to have Chops for dinner tonight. I wish I had more time to do more exploration. I only started browsing with the Live the Oasis and want to finish those tours. Plus, more jazz is in the plan for tonight.

 

I'll keep carrying my camera to get as many pictures as I can. I've filled up one 8GB memory card and am almost halfway filled on another. I've been taking some videos, too, so that takes up space.

 

I love this ship and I've been having a great time. It's a shame to have to leave, but we need to make room for the next set of happy passengers.

[Daghis]

How do I sent you an IM. I would to ask you a question and not have in the forum?

 

This forum doesn't support private messaging. You can send me an email to marc@bluevine.net. I'll try to check it tonight.

[sailingawaysoon]

We'll be getting on as you get off, thanks for the great report!

Have a great time and wave to us when you get off, we'll be getting on! I know you have to be thru the roof w/excitement! Take good care of her for us!

[time4me2fly]

Thanks for checking on the refillable beer cooler.

 

I hope you enjoy your dinner at Chops...how can you not...best steak on the ship. Also, enjoy a relaxing time listening to Jazz this evening.

 

Packing is the worst part of the cruise..so sad, but there's still plenty of time to have more fun, so ENJOY!

 

Look forward to seeing your pictures!

[CariBear]

Thanks for the MTD info! Hope you have a wonderful Day 7!! :)

[colliee]

Thanks for sharing your exprience with us Daghis!:o Really enjoyed it. Not cruising till Jan 11 but you have got me goin!!!!! Cant wait to see your pics/ videos! Well done on a great job?vacation!!!!:)

[jorapp]

"I'm so excited! I keep leaning back while browsing the web to look over at the ship through our balcony window, just to make sure she's really there. " LOL Go ahead...rub it in! We all want to be there right now instead of whatever we are doing....haha. Have a great cruise!