Oasis Western 3/2-3/9 Review With Pictures

[cruisingqueen74]

Christy- this is a FANTASTIC review. You've made me fall in love with RCCL all over again and I can't wait until I can sail on their MEGA ship :D

[Cdnbarrieguy]

Time for another side note: If you remember, I booked fairly late, at 46 days out, and was unable to book a cabana for Labadee at that time. On the excursion page for Labadee, all the cabanas for Nellies said, "Inquire onboard." I did actually call a rep to see if they were indeed all gone, and she did confirm that they had all been reserved already. I asked if any cabanas are held back for onboard booking, and she told me no. I'm not sure if that is true or not. She also said that there was no waiting list. Bummer! In doing my research, I came across yet another helpful CC tip. I read that some people had luck with "inquire onboard" later changing to "book now" on the excursion page. So I stalked the page. And stalked the page some more. I checked the excursion page for Labadee pretty much twice a day until the week before our cruise. I had just about given up, but was doing my standard morning check just for giggles, when all of a sudden, there in front of my eyes, is an Over the water Nellies cabana available for booking. I booked it right away, and received an email confirmation. I then did a happy dance. No, really. My son was a witness!

 

So - I have been trying to book a Cabana but all have been showing the "Inquire Onboard" for my May 11th sailing. Saw your tip about checking... and basically every 12 hours checked. This morning logged in and saw - "Beach Cabana - Over the Water at Nellies Beach" showed as Reserve! Clicked the button as fast as possible and paid :) Thanks for the tip!!

[Dancnlizard]

Thanks for the great review and pics! My family and I were on this cruise with you (including my almost 4 year old daughter). We loved the ship!

 

In regards to the mini golf balls, they were also located by the holder of the golf clubs (at least the time that we had gone).

 

Glad that you were able to get an over the water cabana! I agree with checking especially the week before the cruise as the suite passengers are able to book the Barefoot Beach cabanas through the concierge via email at that time. That is what I ended up doing and canceling my Nellie's Beach cabana :)

 

Thanks again for all your hard work and wonderful pics!!

 

Gwen

[ChristyLNDRN]

So - I have been trying to book a Cabana but all have been showing the "Inquire Onboard" for my May 11th sailing. Saw your tip about checking... and basically every 12 hours checked. This morning logged in and saw - "Beach Cabana - Over the Water at Nellies Beach" showed as Reserve! Clicked the button as fast as possible and paid :) Thanks for the tip!!

 

Woohoo! Enjoy your cabana! Glad it worked out for you:)

[gskline]

Day 3, Labadee, continued:

 

Welcome to Rainy Labadee:

 

To access your Nellie's cabana, you need to check in at the suite beach, Barefoot Beach. We walked quickly through the rain, and checked in with the concierge for the suite area. He had a clipboard, and all the cabanas were pre-assigned. The Nellie's over the water cabanas are numbered 1-10. Here's a link to a Labadee review which has a great picture of the numbering system. Scroll down to post #11 and you will see what I mean.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1770883

 

Now, I think any cabana would be fabulous, but I personally would have preferred not to have #1 or #10. #1 is turned inward, so I think your view would be mostly of the beach. #10 is sitting almost directly on the beach...so it would be much less private than the other cabanas. As I said, our cabana was pre-assigned...#6 as it would have it. I was a happy camper.

A very nice gentleman with an umbrella walked us over to #6. There were the floating beach mats waiting for us next to the cabana, as well as a cooler with 4 huge bottles of water. We then met our cabana attendant, who got us our bracelets (I think to get into the suite beach for lunch later) and told us to let him know if we needed anything. He brought us 4 towels a few minutes later.

 

The view from our cabana:

 

 

Inside of our cabana:

 

 

From across the way, from left to right: Over the Water Nellie's cabanas

4, 3, 2, 1:

 

 

Immediately to the left of #4 were what I believe to be the two Nellie's hillside cabanas. Beautiful location, but I believe no direct water access? I may have a picture of those two coming up. Lots more pics coming!

 

 

Dear Christy,

I was thinking this would be romantic for our 25th Anniv. Is the beach near these Cabanas private for the guests of the Cabanas only? Seems like this would be a very relaxing way to spend the day. Were there enough floats for everyone in this area to use? What is a reasonable tip for your Cabana Butler? Sorry for all the questions, but this just seems like a really cool surprise for my wife! I hope I'm able to book one!

Thanks again,

Greg

Edited March 16, 2013 by gskline
Left my name off

[ChristyLNDRN]

Dear Christy,

I was thinking this would be romantic for our 25th Anniv. Is the beach near these Cabanas private for the guests of the Cabanas only? Seems like this would be a very relaxing way to spend the day. Were there enough floats for everyone in this area to use? What is a reasonable tip for your Cabana Butler? Sorry for all the questions, but this just seems like a really cool surprise for my wife! I hope I'm able to book one!

Thanks again,

Greg

 

 

I think a cabana for the day is a great romantic idea! The beach near these cabanas is Nellie's beach, and that is open to all guests. Don't think that it doesn't get crowded based on my pictures from that day....remember, it was raining, so I think a lot of people stayed on the ship. There is a private beach...for suite guests that is...that's Barefoot Beach, and there are cabanas there as well...they go first to suite guests, and then I believe they can be rented by non-suite guests if there are any left over, but I'm not sure how that all would work out. Our cabana butler brought the floating mats to the cabana for us, so you would definitely be able to use them. We tipped him either $20 or $30...for the life of me, I can't remember which. It was a very relaxing way to spend the day...I felt like we were in our own private little oasis (no pun intended:)) If you can get one, I definitely would go for it, especially the over the water cabanas. We thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the rain. Any and all questions are welcome!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 7, Final sea day:

 

I just re-sized all my remaining pictures, so this review will be winding down soon...

 

We started out our last day with breakfast at Johnny Rockets...the usual omelet and breakfast sandwich. We must have been feeling a little goofy this morning:

 

 

 

I think this one is my favorite:

 

 

This really isn't that early...where is everyone??:

 

 

I thought these two pics were cool, from a different perspective:

 

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 7, at sea, continued:

 

On the agenda today was the All-Access Tour for hubby, and the solarium for me. I was there by 8:30, and snagged one of my favorite oversized chairs. There I stayed, quite happily until DH came and found me after his tour around 1:00.

 

Here's some pics from the tour:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This first set were in the Galley and Provisions, I believe.

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 7, at sea, continued:

 

More All Access Tour pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, engine control room (I think?), Laundry area, and one of the crew Windjammer

[Cupcrazy]

Christy, Thanks for the great review. Those over the water cabanas look awesome. I going to look into them for my next cruise.

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 7, at sea, continued:

 

More All Access Tour pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....And then the camera battery died. I think that was most of the tour though. He said he enjoyed it, although he said he thought the backstage tour he took on the Carnival Ecstasy was better run. Apparently he didn't find the two people leading the tour to be super-informative, and they were unable to answer many of the questions that were asked. He said at one point on the Carnival tour, they sat down in a conference room with the head of security for a long Q&A session, which he really enjoyed. Also, they got to sample some treats in the kitchen on Carnival, but not on Royal. For a comparison, after the tour on Royal he received a tote bag (kinda rough burlap-ish material) and an apron. On Carnival, he got a 8x10 photo of the group on the bridge, hat, lanyard, and treats delivered to our stateroom. As a refresher, the tour was $150. He had to wear long pants and close-toed shoes.

 

I'll probably finish up the rest tonight!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Christy, Thanks for the great review. Those over the water cabanas look awesome. I going to look into them for my next cruise.

 

Thanks for commenting! The cabanas are indeed awesome! Enjoy your upcoming cruise:)

[julia]

Ok, time to wrap up Day 5, at Sea:

 

 

Tonight we also had 10:30 reservations for the comedy show. I really enjoyed the smaller size of the venue, Comedy Live. Both comedians were absolutely hysterical!! We also got to sit next our "tablemates" Tony and Beth who we had met in the dining room at the table next to us. Reservations are a must for this show! Not much room for stand-bys to get in.

 

l

 

Terrific review! Could you please tell me who the comedians were? Thanks!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Terrific review! Could you please tell me who the comedians were? Thanks!

 

Phil Tag & Joe Yanetty

[MisterMom]

They had these same funny chairs 20 years ago:

 

 

I'm so NOT a fan of those chairs.....

[MisterMom]

My dad keeps telling me my ship has a big butt:

 

 

An often over-played Sir Mix-a-lot song comes to mind.... ;)

[ChristyLNDRN]

An often over-played Sir Mix-a-lot song comes to mind.... ;)

 

Oh, man! Now that'll be in my head the rest of the night....cracking up:)

[staceyeileen]

I am enjoying reliving the cruise along with you! :D

 

Your day in Labadee looks so much better than mine did. The weather was just horrible, but I'm glad to see it didn't stop you guys from enjoying your cabana. I know a lot of people stayed on the ship all day. We got off the ship around 9am and walked halfway down the pier before turning around and going back. Finally made another break for it around lunchtime. Ate lunch, walked around, got rained on some more, and went back to the ship.

 

Surprisingly, we had a very different opinion of Vox Audio. I thought they were amazingly talented! We also enjoyed Amy as the CD. Holy cow, that girl has energy. My husband said that she ran the Quest game show which as you know goes to well after midnight -- I wouldn't know, since I was asleep while he stayed out late:) -- and then the next morning she was leading the Zumba class in the Promenade at 9:30am, to a large crowd I might add. Yes, she was sometimes corny ("I'm Amy, and you're awesome!") but does a really good job, IMO. We enjoyed the comedy shows a lot also. My husband actually got in stand-by one night by himself, and then we both attended together the night we had a 10:30 reservation. Then we saw them AGAIN for the show they did on the last night in the Opus theater. We liked Phil Tag more than Joe Yanetty. I wonder if he ever got his luggage?

[MisterMom]

Oh, man! Now that'll be in my head the rest of the night....cracking up:)

 

BTW, Aunt Linda grew up in and still lives in Wilmington! DE holds a fond place in my heart.

[ChristyLNDRN]

I am enjoying reliving the cruise along with you! :D

 

Your day in Labadee looks so much better than mine did. The weather was just horrible, but I'm glad to see it didn't stop you guys from enjoying your cabana. I know a lot of people stayed on the ship all day. We got off the ship around 9am and walked halfway down the pier before turning around and going back. Finally made another break for it around lunchtime. Ate lunch, walked around, got rained on some more, and went back to the ship.

 

Surprisingly, we had a very different opinion of Vox Audio. I thought they were amazingly talented! We also enjoyed Amy as the CD. Holy cow, that girl has energy. My husband said that she ran the Quest game show which as you know goes to well after midnight -- I wouldn't know, since I was asleep while he stayed out late:) -- and then the next morning she was leading the Zumba class in the Promenade at 9:30am, to a large crowd I might add. Yes, she was sometimes corny ("I'm Amy, and you're awesome!") but does a really good job, IMO. We enjoyed the comedy shows a lot also. My husband actually got in stand-by one night by himself, and then we both attended together the night we had a 10:30 reservation. Then we saw them AGAIN for the show they did on the last night in the Opus theater. We liked Phil Tag more than Joe Yanetty. I wonder if he ever got his luggage?

 

 

Sounds like you guys had a great time too. With labadee, since we were there all day, we caught the breaks in the weather, which is when I took most of the pictures.

My husband and I joked all week about Amy's line, but we really did like her...you are right about her energy!

Thanks again for reading along:)

[ChristyLNDRN]

BTW, Aunt Linda grew up in and still lives in Wilmington! DE holds a fond place in my heart.

 

I don't know if we will always stay in DE, but I will always have fond memories...it's where I went to college, met my hubby and had my kids. We love North Wilmington where we live!

[4evercruiser]

I am really enjoying your review, especially the pictures. Hubby and I are sailing on Oasis in November, We are newbies to RC. I do have one question, though. Are the pools/hot tubs on Oasis salt water or fresh water?

 

Elizabeth

[Kimahri]

Thanks

[cruisingbajan]

Great review and Pics. We will be on her in about 4 weeks an d your review is just what the doctor ordered.:D

[ChristyLNDRN]

I am really enjoying your review, especially the pictures. Hubby and I are sailing on Oasis in November, We are newbies to RC. I do have one question, though. Are the pools/hot tubs on Oasis salt water or fresh water?

 

Elizabeth

 

I believe the beach pool is salt water, and the rest are fresh water.