Oasis of the Seas Photo Review - March 9th-16th, 2013 Sailing

[perch59]

Loving the review... Only 5 days till I'm on that ship!!!!

[cjknox]

Excellent review so far!

[maryanne356]

Great review. Love the pictures. My daughter wondered how you got that carousel photo with it moving in the backround? Sailed on the Oasis last August 2012 and sailing on the Allure this August 2013. She tried to do it last time but couldn't get it to look like yours:)

[Poorplaya]

Great review and pictures so far, cannot wait to read and see the rest of this one.

[akcruz]

Excellent review. Your pics (and your daughters) are beautiful!

[burlybear]

... I scowled in the direction of the child and her parents (well actually at the back of their seats...I am Canadian...I would not scowl to someone's face;)).

 

I think I was drinking water when I read this, and nearly choked to death because I started laughing so hard.

 

Yes as a Canadian I entirely sympathize with you - I remember one flight a small child sitting behind us and kicking or even body-checking our seat for the majority of the 3.5 hour flight. I so wanted to say somehting, but my husband was like no no we can't...:rolleyes:

 

But just because we don't say it doesn't mean we aren't thinking it and trying to send psychic angry vibes their way...:p

 

Great review so far!!

[Russ Lomas]

Excellent review. Your pics (and your daughters) are beautiful!

 

Thanks for saying so. Mom and dad have to agree with you.

:)

[Russ Lomas]

Great review. Love the pictures. My daughter wondered how you got that carousel photo with it moving in the backround? Sailed on the Oasis last August 2012 and sailing on the Allure this August 2013. She tried to do it last time but couldn't get it to look like yours:)

You have to have a DSLR camera to do it (I am pretty sure most point and shoot cameras do not have the option you need). Set up the camera where it will be still and will not move (preferably on a tripod, or at least on a table or bench or something). Select the bulb setting or a longer exposure time (play with it to get the photo you want-take lots and keep the best one).

 

The photo you ask about was shot with an F-stop of f/16, and ISO of 1600, with no flash, with an exposure time of 1/2 second.

 

If I had had a tripod with me and my remote control to push the shutter button, I would have used it. The photos you can take using that set-up are amazing.

[Russ Lomas]

This was our second RCCL cruise. We cruised on the Liberty of the Seas last year during the same week as we did on the Oasis this year (Ontario's March Break for kids and teachers like myself). Last year, the program was packed! The 6-8 program and the 9-11 program was bursting at the seams. My DDs often reported that there were over 60 kids there, and from what I saw, I believe them. They found it to be chaotic on the Liberty last year, but still enjoyed the programs they offered. I thought the facilities were excellent on the Liberty of the Seas. I just did not like how you had to walk through the arcade to the very back of the ship to sign the kids in and out.

 

The experience on the Oasis was VERY different (at least it was on our cruise).

I did not grab any photos inside the area (sorry). I tried to but was told it was closed when I went there to take photos and they would not let me in. I did not feel comfortable taking photos when it was open and other kids were there playing in case they thought I was some sort of stalker.

 

Anyways, the facilities on the Oasis were beyond belief. From the Nursery area, to the kids theatre, to the Science Lab...wow! Strangely enough, I rarely saw many kids in it all week. In fact, as soon as you enter you see a play area in the middle of the hallway with lots of toys for toddlers. I did not see even a single person in this area the entire week. I only saw 1 or 2 kids in the Nursery the entire week. My DDs also said that it was far less busy than on the Liberty last year.

 

We gave both my 9 year-old and 11 year-old DDs permission to sign themselves in and out as they liked, as long as they contacted us when they did to tell us where they were going to be. That worked out great because they were happy to be given a bit of freedom (something we rarely give them at home), and it also gave us some time without them clinging to us if they did not like the activities in the program;).

 

Is the program for every child? No. Will some love it? Yes. As for my two 4 year-old twin DDs, one loved it and wanted to be there all the time and the other would go to it grudgingly and would rather spend time with mom by the pool.

 

I must say that I did see one small show that they put on on the Boardwalk towards the end of the week with the kids as the stars of the circus. It was really cute and well done. Here are a couple of photos of it.

 

Kids were put into different groups as clowns, butterflies, and tigers. Below is a photo of one of my little tigers. Too cute.

 

Overall, I was very happy with Adventure Ocean on the Oasis. Did the kids go there very often, not really. I think that there is just so much to do on this class of ship, that the kids would rather be out exploring the ship and doing stuff. Maybe that is why the program did not seem as busy as last year.

 

One thing that I forgot to mention about the Boardwalk yesterday...Around lunchtime, RCCL sets up a little stand with some different sandwiches on a bun and some sort of sausages. I was surprised to see it when walking by since they use collapsible tables, so other than that hour or so that it is set up, you would have no idea that it would be there. The food offered there was quite good. Not gourmet, but definitely worth stopping by for a bite.

[Russ Lomas]

The Dreamworks experience is something that my family really enjoys. Yes, it is a knock-off of what Disney offers, but the kids still like it. RCCL does a great job of "family" cruising and this is one of the little extras my family really enjoys. We will be traveling on the Independence of the Seas next March and were hoping that the Dreamworks experience would be added to it, but alas it appear that it will be the only Freedom/Oasis class ship without it. Too bad in our opinion. I know others (I recently read some complaints about it from some British passengers on CruiseCritic) do not like it, but my family does.

 

Where else can you get your photo taken with this huge viking (sorry I don't know all the character names like I do with the Disney dudes) in the middle of the Promenade when you are simply walking to go to dinner.

 

Sometimes you just luck out and run into the characters walking around the ship going somewhere. Last year, I remember pushing the elevator button and it opened. Standing in the elevator was Gloria the hippo all by herself. My DDs howled with delight. Other times, like in the photo below, there are set meeting times and places.

 

What I liked was when RCCL employees kept an orderly line so you could pose and take photos of your family without others jumping into the shots. What I did not like was on the Promenade at times, RCCL photographers set up and took photos (to sell you) with the characters. My DDs waited in line for 10 minutes and had the photographers take a photo of them. When I was rudely told off that I could not take a photo of my children with the character, only ship photographers could do so, I was ticked off with them. If they did not charge outrageous prices for an 8x10, I actually may buy a few of them (Well, maybe I would if they could actually take photos as well as I think I can, and I am no expert).

 

The other time you see the characters is if you book one of the FREE character breakfasts offered on sea days. If you are interested in the characters at all, you should definitely book one of these ahead of time for the early morning breakfast in the dining room. The kids always love the experience of meeting 3 different characters. Note: the characters are not the same every day they offer this breakfast, so you may not see your favourites.

 

It is late once again, so I will try to share some more tomorrow evening, until then...goodnight.

[NOLA3cruisers]

Loving your review! Thanks for doing it!

[MomtoCCC]

Glad to hear about your experience in AO. Our dd has always loved going but I do think on this trip she won't be going as much becuase of all the activities, shows, etc.. She does need to go at night time becuase we have a few things planned that she can't attend (Comedy club, Chef's table). She will enjoy seeing the characters as well. :)

[bythesea]

I should be upstairs packing, but I am busy reading this review, ok I am heading up to pack. 2 more days YAY!!!!

[dsmith4675]

Yes, they are only for lunch in the MDR. They do not offer any buffet style service in the main dining room. Lots of salad choices daily on the menus and nice freshly baked bread daily on the table when you arrive (not warm, but still tasty).

 

Thanks for the info!! Still loving your review!! :D

[Rcarper4001]

Thanks for the review, can't wait for more

[Buggy2001]

Thanks for your review! Can't wait for our trip June 8, 2013!

[Russ Lomas]

Late tonight, so just a short entry for tonight...

Casinos are something I personally could care less about. That is simply because I feel that I might as well just give my time to money to RCCL at the Purser's Desk and enjoy the other facilities of the ship without wasting my time. For me, the rules of gambling are simple...I gamble...I lose. Why not spend my money elsewhere and get more enjoyment out of it. Everything in life I have, I have had to do it the hard way...earn it. Other than a free lottery ticket here and there or a $10 prize, I do not win. I know some people love their gambling. I am just not one of them. It is hard to love something when you already know the outcome and it will not be in your favour.

 

I cannot comment on how tight the machines in Casino Royale are since I did not spend any time on them. I did however walk through the Casino on several occasions. I had read how people loved it because one side of the casino is non-smoking (I am an avid non-smoker), so I thought this was a nice compromise for those who wish to gamble, and not have to be bothered by the smoke. I could barely tell which side of the casino was non-smoking. Simple rule...if you do not put an actual physical divider up to stop the smoke from floating over, it is going to invade the non-smoking side. It is kind of like in the old days where you sat at a non-smoking seat in a restaurant or on an airplane and the person right behind you was smoking.

 

I only used the casino to get from the stern of the ship to the bow when I was on that level. Otherwise, I avoided it. I do like how RCCL "hides" there casinos. On the Carnival Valor, they place the main hallway from the front of the ship to the rear right through the middle of the smoky casino. Absolutely stupid planning. You access the casino down a couple of set of stairs in the middle of the Promenade.

This staircase looked really nice. I wish I had a wider angle lens to do the photo justice.

 

Below is a photo of my favourite time in the casino...when it was closed (therefore no smoke and a quick way to move from end to end of the ship).

 

The next photo was taken of the "non-smoking" side. You can clearly see a silver ashtray stand on the floor in the distance.

[jpolm]

Late tonight, so just a short entry for tonight...

Casinos are something I personally could care less about. That is simply because I feel that I might as well just give my time to money to RCCL at the Purser's Desk and enjoy the other facilities of the ship without wasting my time. For me, the rules of gambling are simple...I gamble...I lose. Why not spend my money elsewhere and get more enjoyment out of it. Everything in life I have, I have had to do it the hard way...earn it. Other than a free lottery ticket here and there or a $10 prize, I do not win. I know some people love their gambling. I am just not one of them. It is hard to love something when you already know the outcome and it will not be in your favour.

 

I cannot comment on how tight the machines in Casino Royale are since I did not spend any time on them. I did however walk through the Casino on several occasions. I had read how people loved it because one side of the casino is non-smoking (I am an avid non-smoker), so I thought this was a nice compromise for those who wish to gamble, and not have to be bothered by the smoke. I could barely tell which side of the casino was non-smoking. Simple rule...if you do not put an actual physical divider up to stop the smoke from floating over, it is going to invade the non-smoking side. It is kind of like in the old days where you sat at a non-smoking seat in a restaurant or on an airplane and the person right behind you was smoking.

 

I only used the casino to get from the stern of the ship to the bow when I was on that level. Otherwise, I avoided it. I do like how RCCL "hides" there casinos. On the Carnival Valor, they place the main hallway from the front of the ship to the rear right through the middle of the smoky casino. Absolutely stupid planning. You access the casino down a couple of set of stairs in the middle of the Promenade.

This staircase looked really nice. I wish I had a wider angle lens to do the photo justice.

 

Below is a photo of my favourite time in the casino...when it was closed (therefore no smoke and a quick way to move from end to end of the ship).

 

The next photo was taken of the "non-smoking" side. You can clearly see a silver ashtray stand on the floor in the distance.

 

Another nice shot of the dining room on the top level.

 

The food was great overall in my opinion. At the end of this posting, I will post a link to a detailed review of the food that I did a few weeks back, for those of you who may not have read the thread before.

 

How did I find the service in the main dining room? Overall, it was very good. Miller was our waiter. He was very friendly and did learn very quickly that I am quite indecisive when it comes to ordering off the menu (there is just so much that sounds good). I usually ordered 2 or 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. I managed to gain 8.5 lbs during my cruise week, in spite of walking miles upon miles on that ship. I did it all for my fellow CruiseCritic members, just so you could enjoy the photos of the food I took. Miller did notice on some evenings that it took me a little longer to order my food. On those occasions he usually brought me a few extra plates of food that I did not order because he came to realize that I debating over other items I did not order.

 

There were two evenings where our service was "off" and painfully slow. We had the 6pm dinner sitting, which was best for us since we usually did a show after dinner with the kids before putting them down for the evening. Any later than a 6pm sitting would have put them up too late and they would have been grumpy the next day. The two nights that we arrived about 30 minutes late, around 6:30 were the two nights that service was not so great. I do not know if our late arrival threw off the timing, but it was definitely noticeable. He tried to bring the kids their meals first so that they could go off to the AdventureOcean kids programs, which we really appreciated, while the adults stayed to relax over dessert and coffee. One night took about 50 minutes before the adults even received a menu. Most of the time this was not the case however, and I would like to thank Miller and his assistant for helping make our cruise memorable.

 

The Freedom class ships offer a program where you can sign up your children to be picked up by AdventureOcean staff members at 6:45pm, so you can enjoy a bit more relaxed meal after the children go to the program. Unfortunately, the Oasis class ships offer no such program. Fortunately for us, our 11 year-old DD took up the little ones to program so we did not have to leave during dinner. I know some people may question letting our 11 year-old take up her younger siblings without us, but I felt very comfortable doing this on the ship. Would I do the same thing at a resort on land? No. It is just part of what I love about cruising. I feel so safe and comfortable at sea (insert comments here about the Costa Concordia and the never-ending list of malfunctioning Carnival cruise ships).

 

The Oasis class ships does offer a different program for child dining through AdventureOcean. You can leave your child in the program when it "closes" its doors at 6pm (or was it 5pm) and they will take your child for dinner in the Windjammer Cafe before taking them back to Adventure Ocean afterwards. We did this once, but both the kids and ourselves missed each others company at dinner, so we did not do this again. We prefer the program offered on the Freedom class of ships, but that is just our opinion.

 

One final photo for the night since it is almost midnight. This is one of my favourite candid shots of the entire cruise. My 9 year-old DD with our waiter, Miller.

 

Finally, the link below to the food review I wrote previously for those who may have missed it...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1813591

 

Have a good night and I look forward to your comments and questions. Til tomorrow....

I've been enjoying your post we leave in less than 7 weeks. However I'm disappointed to hear that the adventure club didn't pick up your kids during dinner?? I was told they did this and That's one of the main reasons I chose early time dinner vs. mtd. Are u sure they aren't doing this??

[Russ Lomas]

I've been enjoying your post we leave in less than 7 weeks. However I'm disappointed to hear that the adventure club didn't pick up your kids during dinner?? I was told they did this and That's one of the main reasons I chose early time dinner vs. mtd. Are u sure they aren't doing this??

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but...

We were told that they do not do this on the Oasis class of ships. I know that they did this on the Freedom class of ships for us. The program offered by Oasis was that you could sign your child up for the dinner program. The program is open from 2 til 5 pm daily. Those children signed up for the dinner program stay in Adventure Ocean when it closes at 5pm and they take them out to dinner. You cannot pick up your child until after 7pm, when it reopens.

 

My advice to you is to think how you can make this program work for you with your early reservations for dinner. You can always talk to the maitre d' and see if you would be able to switch to MTD on the first day. I am not sure if you can switch to MTD via the telephone with your sailing date so close. Whatever you do, don't let this wreck your cruise. Figure out a way to make it work best for you. The Oasis class ship is incredible and this was only a minor inconvenience in the end. (That said, I wish the Oasis class ships would switch to the Freedom class ship way of doing things for this.)

[gwcruzer]

We are diamond plus but this will be our first cruise on the Oasis and our first time sailing with a child. I have learned sooo much.

Thank you,

Gail

[Russ Lomas]

You can get a pretty good bird's eye view of the Aquatheatre from the sports deck area.

For those unfamiliar with this area, it is a large outdoor entertainment venue. The focal point of the area is a pool with a bottom that can be raised and lowered to accommodate different activities. The pool is not too large, so the divers going off the top platforms have to be pretty nervy to even attempt this. RCCL lists it as the largest pool at sea, but I am sure from the height of 10 metres, it does not look all that big. Unfortunately, I did not see any of the shows in this area. I missed the fountain shows. I would have liked to see them, but there was just so much else around the ship to see.

 

Seas were very rough on this sailing I was on. The captain reported them as 20 foot seas at times over the first few days. Due to this, the ice skating shows and diving shows were all postponed, altered, or cancelled. I originally reserved an evening show on the day that they became available online for booking. I received an e-mail a week or two before sailing telling me that that particular show had been cancelled. RCCL was nice enough to book my family reserved seats for Oasis of Dreams for another evening. Unfortunately, they do not bother to look to see if it conflicts with your other reserved shows I guess. I already had an 8:30-9:30 show reserved for one evening. RCCL went ahead and booked us for the 9:30 diving show that same night. Well, the seats are only reserved up until 15 minutes prior to showtime, so therefore we would not be able to get there until too late. A call to RCCL came up with no solutions since all other showtimes for the diving show were full and out other pre-booked show, if moved, would then conflict with other shows. Oh well.....

 

When we check the Cruise Compass on the day of our original show, they have a show scheduled for the time that we had booked it several months ago and were told via e-mail that it had been cancelled...not impressed!! A trip to the Purser's Desk to ask to switch back to the show I originally booked was in hand. I was told that the show I originally booked was not full...SORRY. Um...no, not acceptable. They e-mailed back to head office for permission to add our family to the show I originally booked. We received a phone message just prior to dinner that night confirming we could go see the show that I had booked originally. Thank-you!!!

 

So we go to see the show that night, arrive early and the two huge screens to either side of the diving pool read out - Diving show cancelled due to rough seas. Hmmm....a lot of wasted energy for nothing. RCCL did rebook me for an afternoon show on another day, but I was too busy that day since it was right at sail away from St. Maarten (you know the day the Carnival Dream was SUPPOSED to sail away right beside us but never left St. Maarten - RCCL comics had tons of Carnival jokes to keep us in stitches over things like this).

 

Anyways, most of my family went and saw the Oasis of Dreams show and enjoyed it. I wanted to see it with the special lighting after dark, so I planned to see the 7:30 show that night from one of the "secret aft balconies" I had discovered earlier that week. Dinner service was usually great, but this night it was terrible. We did not get out menus til 6:50 and our appetizers did not arrive til 7:15, even though we had a 6pm dinner seating. Long story short, I missed a good chunk of the diving show before I left the MDR. My 9 year-old DD went to watch the show with me from the deck 11 aft secret balcony. I knew that the secret balconies were on 2 decks. Was the other one on deck 10 or 12? I guessed 10....wrong! We walked all the way to the back of the ship only to come to a doorway leading to a cabin instead of the entrance to the deck, like on deck 11.

 

Well, just at that time, a lady from Texas, who had either had a fair bit to drink already that night, or who was just extremely friendly happened to be walking by. She was talking to her cabin steward in the hallway. She overheard me tell my DD that I was sorry and I had picked the wrong deck to go to the secret balcony and we would have to go back to the stairs, up a level, and then go to the back of the ship to see the diving show. She grinned in an unusual way and stuck out her hand and told me to shake it...feeling a bit uneasy, I slowly reached out and shook her hand. She grinned like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland and invited the two of us into her lair (I mean cabin). It turns out the door we were standing in front of led to her family's cabin, one of the aqua suites.

 

She led us through her suite and let us sit on her huge balcony to watch the show. It was a very unique view of the show. Unfortunately (yes, there seems to be a lot of unfortunatelies in my writing today), the seas had picked up again and after watching 5 minutes of the show, they decided to cancel the rest and finish the show off early.

 

Here is a view of the show from her suite.

 

and another one showing how high those two dive towers actually are. Look at the two of them at the very top of the photo. Do they really jump off the two platform at the VERY top of the photo, of just the two platforms above the springboard? Please let me know if you have seen this show and can answer this question. Those platforms on the top must be 60 feet high or more.

 

If the person who permitted to enter her aqua suite ever reads this, I apologize for referring to you as a Cheshire cat, but your huge grin and asking to shake my hand made me feel just like Alice going in the rabbit hole. Thank-you for being so friendly and providing one more special memory about our vacation.

 

Here is my DD happily watching the show from the Aqua Theatre suite balcony.

 

I wanted to get a photo of that balcony from below the next day. I think it was the middle one in this photo.

 

There was also a couple of Splish and Splash comedy dive shows planned for the week. Once again, I went to try to see one. Unfortunately (I told you there were a lot of UNFORTUNATELIES in this section), it was cancelled due to rough seas. Oh well, I went off to do the Flowrider some more instead of watching the show and had a great time there. If you have ever ridden stand-up on the Flowrider, try doing it on the ship in 20 foot seas. The water sloshed side to side. Some times all of the water flew to one side of the Flowrider and the surfer was left standing on the rubber bottom surface for 5 seconds or so before all the water rushed back onto the Flowrider from the side. We saw a few Flowrider instructors get wiped out totally by the rush of water to where they usually stand.

[Russ Lomas]

RCCL literature states that the aquatheatre pool is open for swimming in the daytime and then used in the afternoons for scuba lessons.

 

"By day, guests can swim in the theater’s magnificent kidney-shaped pool, relax on sun loungers located on tiered platforms surrounding the pool, and even participate in SCUBA lessons in the afternoon."

 

I never saw it open for public swimming at any time, so I do not believe this is true. I did see scuba lessons taking place in the pool. This is a great opportunity to learn to dive in ship's pool. I remember seeing people on the Princess ships sitting on the bottom of a 5' deep pool learning to scuba "dive". I think they should have called it scuba "sitting".

 

Proof of diving lessons on the Oasis is below.

 

Movies were played on the two giant screens on either side of the pool. The screens were huge, but very few people came out to sit and watch the movies at night, probably because there were so many other things to be doing around this great ship.

 

This area also looks nice at night.

I wish there was a way to get that darned sheppard's hook out of my photo, but RCCL had the area I wanted to stand to take this photo roped off. By the way...behind this area, on the very back of the ship on deck 8, there are 2 hidden shuffleboard courts. This is one area very few people found, including RCCL staff members who clean the ship. The ship was spotless, except for the shuffleboard courts. I often found beer cans or drink glasses here and they would still be there hours later, or even the next morning (very minor complaint though - the ship was spotless otherwise).

 

A nice shot of the RCCL logo suspended above the Aquatheatre.

[Winnigirl]

After thoroughly enjoying myself reading your Food Porn Review, I was so happy to hop over here and begin your cruise review. Your pictures are wonderful and your girls are very sweet. The picture of your dd and Miller is just perfect. It's interesting to read your view on the Oasis after reading last night a review comparing the Oasis to the Disney Fleet - what a negative report (re: Oasis) that was! How refreshing to read and to see what a beautiful ship Oasis is, and how very family-friendly it is, too. Can't wait to read more! This is getting me so excited for our September cruise!

[mkmom514]

Yes, they really do dive from those top platforms! It made my stomach do flip-flops just watching them standing up there, much less diving.

[Russ Lomas]

There were several other events held throughout the week at the aquatheatre, one of them being the infamous belly flop competition. The theatre is huge, so you cannot get right up close to the action like on most ships. I was not even in the seating area, but was standing on the boardwalk to take these photos. Luckily, I was carrying a big zoom lens! The contestants were lightweights compared to those I saw on the Liberty last year. Most of the contestants on the Liberty outweighed these guys by 100 to 200 pounds. The selected contestants on the Liberty were from a wide variety of countries. The ones selected here were all from the USA. With 2000 Canadians onboard the Oasis this week, we needed a representative to cheer for. With those big huge Molson Canadian bellies some of us have, the Canucks could have washed away their American counterparts. However, the lightweights put on quite a show and destroyed their bodies. Below is the proof.

 

This gentleman actually did land in this position fully extended. Not enough meat on this contestant to make much of a splash, but the slap of the water could be hear miles away. I have another photo of him closer to the water. If you know him and want to see that photo, let me know and I can see if I can upload it here as well.

 

The next contestant had a special surprise for the audience. My wife says Speedos and men don't mix. This photo proves that she is once again correct. Not only do Speedos and men don't mix, but Speedos are not the appropriate "packaging" materials for those doing a belly flop competition where their "package" may be dislodged by hitting the water. To make this image even less appealing, the Oasis has an underwater camera to capture the underwater action upon entering the water. Luckily for all those in attendance, this gentleman's Speedo managed to somehow survive the impact, thus sparing the 1000 or so in attendance a horrific showing on the dual jumbotron screens.

 

I must give this contestant an A+ for effort, but the technique just did not produce the amount of splash needed to be a true winner.

 

My personal favourite, although I do not think this gentleman won the competition. Look at that form!!!! Now that is going to... H-U-R-T.

 

A great action shot is next. It looks as though he is laying right on the water. Unfortunately for him (there is that word "Unfortunately" again), the photo shows why he did not win the competition. He wimped out at the last second and tucked in his knees. A good ole' Scottsman would not have done that. RCCL needs to ensure they have better global representation at these competitions.

 

One thing that was horrible about this competition was the running commentary by the Cruise Director, Annoying Amy. Her voice is what you get when you cross Joan Rivers with an overly peppy 16 year-old cheerleader. It was like nails on a chalkboard.