Half Moon Cay Private Oasis

[posingcarrot]

Has anyone rented the private oasis on Half Moon Cay. We are going with a group and are wondering if this is worth it. It sounds and looks fantastic, but I was just wanting to hear from someone that had done it.

[bguppies]

Haven't had the luck or pleasure yet....

 

Think of it this way...

 

The regular cabanas are worth it and those you get for $50pp for a group of four.

You have to go get your own beverages. (after your 8 sodas)

You have to go get your own food. (other than a bag of chips and a snack tray)

 

The Oasis you get for around $100pp for a group of twelve.

But for the double price, you get a private hot tub, private chef, private bartender.

You also have your drinks for free and have them right there.

You have your choice of food and again, it is right there.

 

Never been lucky enough to have a big enough group going to even try for the Oasis.

 

To me, a $100pp for everything you get is one of the best bargains of any Carnival excursion offered anywhere.

 

Bill

[elcuchio24]

If you can split it up enough ways I think it's a great deal. Much better deal then the shade/chips and dip and soda you get with a Cabana, IMO.

[ddoc]

We were a group of 25 that rented it last year while we were on the Pride. The original price is for 12 people and after that to a maximum of 25 people allowed, there is an additional charge per additional person.

We had our own private chef, we had a hostess and a bar tender. They ended up taking back some of the beer as our group didn't finish all of it.

 

It is a lovely way to spend the day. I'd say well worth the money.

[ebonniekins]

It was worth every penny. You have your own private chefs and bartenders for 8 hours. We got off the boat and headed straight to our oasis. They had some snacks already waiting for us and around noonish they started making our lunch. We had bbq chicken, burgers, hot dogs, fish and tons of salads, chips, salsa, cookies. We had so much food and again if you are a big drinker, then this is well worth it. Let me just say me and just about everyone else always had two drinks in our hands. Silly yes but they were in 12oz sippy cups. I swear to you that as the day progressed, either the drinks got stronger or I was a little tipsy. You can have regular soda, beer, as well as non alchoholic drinks as well. We stuck with the regular mixed frozen drinks you normal would get as well as made up our own along the way and they were very, very good.

 

The staff were the best and super duper friendly. I would recommend it anyone as it is truly well worth every penny. There were a total of about 16 of us ( you can have up to 24 if I am not mistaken) The best way to secure it is to make sure that someone in group is platinum so that they can book get on the boat first and book for the whole group. Just make sure to pay that person back. It is about $100 per person. Luckily for us, we had our own secret weapon so we knew that it would be secured for us no matter what. (I am still forever grateful to our secret weapon and nope it was not John Heald! LOL)

[Cruise Envy]

Our roll call group of 14 had it for the Carnival Fantasy visit on 8/16/11. We all agreed we would do it again. Besides the mentioned perks, there are two private bathrooms, a private indoor shower, foam floats, snorkel equipment, and they walked us right on a tender when it was time to go, no waiting in line. Ask if you have more questions.

[nybumpkin]

We were with Cruise Envy and it was a wonderful experience. I have a review with pictures posted at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1474347. Just a note that you can book it online now - you just need someone who can coordinate payments and give info to the Shore Excursion folks (thanks, Carolyn!:D)

[CapsR1]

I hope someday to be able to enjoy the Oasis-sounds like so much fun and well worth the $$$

[wesail4fun]

Our roll call group of 14 had it for the Carnival Fantasy visit on 8/16/11. We all agreed we would do it again. Besides the mentioned perks, there are two private bathrooms, a private indoor shower, foam floats, snorkel equipment, and they walked us right on a tender when it was time to go, no waiting in line. Ask if you have more questions.

 

Did you go to guest services as soon as you got on the ship to ask for the 1st tender for the oasis?

 

Was it $99.99 each additional person over 12? Did they put the balance over 12 on your sail & sign card or could you just pay right then?

 

Did you have a problem with people walking into your party trying to crash it?

 

Can you request certain alcohol from the boat....ex: gin & tonics, rum drinks certain beer?

 

Thank you....pls add any additional tips if you have any

[wesail4fun]

We were with Cruise Envy and it was a wonderful experience. I have a review with pictures posted at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1474347. Just a note that you can book it online now - you just need someone who can coordinate payments and give info to the Shore Excursion folks (thanks, Carolyn!:D)

 

What kind of info to the Shore excursion desk???

 

Thanks

[imluvncruzn]

Our group had the oasis in May. It was well worth the money! You have to pay for the first 12 when you make the reservation. If there is more than 12 then you add those once you get onboard and yes, in May it was $99 for each additional person. They will charge the additional people to the s&s card of whomever made the initial reservation. You will have to collect the money from your group. There was not a great selection for mixed drinks. That was my one and only gripe. They offered fruity frozen drinks but after a while they just made me full. We did have a few people walk right up to the Oasis but there is a hostess who quickly told them that this was privately rented and sent them on their way. We loved it and can't wait to do it again!

[Cruise Envy]

Did you go to guest services as soon as you got on the ship to ask for the 1st tender for the oasis?

 

Was it $99.99 each additional person over 12? Did they put the balance over 12 on your sail & sign card or could you just pay right then?

 

Did you have a problem with people walking into your party trying to crash it?

 

Can you request certain alcohol from the boat....ex: gin & tonics, rum drinks certain beer?

 

Thank you....pls add any additional tips if you have any

 

I paid the intial $1299 (it's gone up to $1399) months in advance. I collected from our group prior to the cruise, and had sent the extra $$ for the additional people to my S&S account as funship dollars. On the boarding day (but not right away), I went by Guest Services and paid the $198 for our two additional guests, on my S&S. At that time they gave me one excursion ticket for the Oasis, plus two additional guest tickets. They told me we should be in the Universe Lounge if we wanted first tender (that is available to all early morning excursions). Half of our group went on the first tender, the other half later.

 

We didn't have too many crashers. Our worst one (and our first) was a lady who walked through the gate that said PRIVATE, helped herself to one of our floats, and proceeded down our stairs into the water. When we pointed out to the lifeguard that she wasn't part of our group, he challenged her and told her she couldn't use that mat. She responded by asking what she was supposed to use to float? :eek::D He directed her to the rental hut. He earned his tip that day, as he enforced the boundaries. Otherwise, we just had lots of inquiries about it.

 

If I did this again, I would get wristbands for everyone, to make it easier for the staff to know who was supposed to be there. I had gotten everyone lanyards, but we didn't wear them into the water, and they didn't make us stand out for the lifeguards.

 

You get what is listed for the bar package. They did go get sprite zero when my husband asked for it. I will say, I don't think anyone lacked for alcohol in our group. They opened the bar about 10 am and closed it about 2pm. I believe when they were about to leave Bill asked for a beer to go. After asking him how many they gave him the last five beers, three of which he carried unopened back onto the ship. My pictures from that day are here.

 

The shore excursion desk asked me for what size snorkeling fins we needed for the group. We sailed on Saturday, HMC was Tuesday, and to be honest, I didn't provide the fin information until Sunday afternoon since I had failed to collect it all in advance. We had fourteen sets of masks, snorkels, and fins waiting for us.