Oasis Photo Review – All Dining and Drinks Menus - Daily Programs

[shelpt]

Still following and still enjoying your fabulous review!

[Madison2]

Following and loving your review. I was on the Oasis in January, brings back a lot of good memories.

Gayle

[evilqueenmindy81]

Excellent review so far, I'm going on an extended family cruise on this ship for thanksgiving this year, and I'm the detail oriented traveler of the bunch. Loving the cruise compasses and menus, as well as the frank reviews of different things. Thank you!

 

 

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[fernandodvs]

Following and loving it! Thanks a lot megacruiser!

 

 

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Next Cruise

 

Allure of the Seas , August 3rd 2014

 

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Edited February 28, 2014 by fernandodvs

[familycruiser01]

As I sit here bundled up under my fleece blanket and the temps outside are -10 with -22 windchill, I am ever so enjoying your review and dreaming of our trip on the Lady O in November/December this year. Amazing review and I am sitting pins and needles waiting for the next posting. Thank you!!

[3eaglesfam]

Following! Great review

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[TheBuick]

Following

[luv2zdworld]

Following and loving your review.

 

Just a few questions that have come to mind. I remember once reading that things are quieter and lines shorter on port side. I this still true? Is the Royal Promenade 2 stories, and does it have stores, places to visit on both floors? Is there a charge for eating tapas for lunch at Vintages on a sea day? Is there a Boardwalk Hot Dog House in Oasis? Are the hot dogs free?

 

Thanks for this wonderful review.

[Cruisin'BusyBee]

FOLLOWING!!! Boy, I have read many, many reviews on these boards but yours is absolutely THE BEST!!!! Thank you soooooo much for doing all this work, I am enjoying every post :D

 

C/BB

[Lilnat1803]

Following!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[jaydc2]

Following!!!

 

That is the best picture of the roast beef sandwich I have seen!

 

I am going to try that sandwich for the first time on my April 5 sailing and can't wait to eat it.

[enidcruiser]

Following and enjoying. Outstanding pictures keep me coming back. We probably will never cruise on the big ships but did enjoy the Freedom and have the Navigator scheduled in May. Thanks for this great review.

[chee7]

What a great review. "following". sailing the oasis in april. Just can't wait!!!!

[megacruiser]

Hello Megacruiser,

Looked up the Fuji X100, some camera!! F2 lens. I just upgraded to a Nikon D7100 a while ago. Just bought a .43x lens for extra wide angle shots to use on the ship. When you have time, look into Lightroom. Easy to learn the basic tools to really ungrade the quality of a picture (need to shoot in RAW for best results). Keep up this great review, I am learning alot from both the text and your pictures!!

 

Caneguy

 

Hello again caneguy,

 

You are right I am sure. Although the initial cost of Lightroom seems rather high I am sure if this is to become a serious hobby it would be worth it in the long term. If it's relatively simple then it's better than Paintshop.

 

Having said that I am one of those people who buys things, tries to make them work using what I believe to be obvious and logical commonsense, then get frustrated that it won't, and reluctantly have to resort to reading the instruction manual! :D

 

I bought my Nikon first but prefer the portability of the Fuji and the picture quality is at least the equal of the Nikon F1.8G lens. The only real use I get out of the Nikon now is for the wide angle strange perpective type of shots.

 

Cheers and thanks for your enthuiasm for my review.

megacruiser

[crafty sue]

Following - done Liberty and wondered if we would want to go bigger - think I do now reading your amazing review - it seems like a city at sea - keep up the good work

[Just The 3 Of Us]

ME TOO - following - wonderful review!!!

[thjeepster]

Following and loving your review.

 

Just a few questions that have come to mind. I remember once reading that things are quieter and lines shorter on port side. I this still true? Is the Royal Promenade 2 stories, and does it have stores, places to visit on both floors? Is there a charge for eating tapas for lunch at Vintages on a sea day? Is there a Boardwalk Hot Dog House in Oasis? Are the hot dogs free?

 

Thanks for this wonderful review.

 

 

 

Royal Promenade is only one story high...and there are alot of stores!

 

I believe the Hot Dog House is only on the Allure (and they are free). Unless they added to the Oasis since I was last on there 5 months ago.

[JessyCruises]

Wow - amazing job on the review!! I cannot wait until Nov 29th so I can try it all myself!!

[megacruiser]

As you know I opted for Chops Grille tonight. Can anyone tell me why “Grille” has an “e” added on at the end? Seems to imply some sort of quaintness, or an old-fashioned charm, like “Ye Olde Shoppe”, but I have never really understood why these extra “e”s are there. Anyway, just curious and if you know please do enlighten me.

 

Anyway, here is the menu offered in the main dining room.

 

 

 

 

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Now Chops Grille and I have a history going back many years. I must have dined there 7 or 8 times in total, never on my own, always either with another or in a group. Most of these occasions were in the days when, to treat yourself to something a bit special, the only options were Portofino or Chops Grille.

 

There is no doubting that the atmosphere in Chops on all their ships is very warm and it has an upmarket sort of feel. The service is much more personal than in the main dining room and less rushed, with plenty of time for explanation of the menu and all the options in detail. Now when you go to a Steak House on a ship, foregoing the main dining room dinner that you have already paid for, and pay a fairly substantial extra charge for the meal, the one thing you do expect, if nothing else, is a really good steak.

 

Sadly, never once did I come away from Chops feeling that I had had a quality steak that would compare to any of the good steak houses I had been to, mainly in Florida. Sometimes, as part of the group, we would have enjoyed the overall experience and perhaps one or two friends were happy with their steak. The best I have ever felt was: it was an ok meal, but mainly down to the company and ambience.

 

So why did I even bother going? To be honest, it came with the Chef’s Dining Package of three speciality restaurants that also included the Chef’s Table and 150 Central Park. That package saves you 20% on the individual cost of dining at each and since I knew I wanted to try the latter two, the marginal extra cost to include Chops was minimal; and hey, it may just have improved, so what the heck?

 

My self-delusional optimism proved to be unfounded and my gut instinct, which I had chosen to ignore, proved to be correct. However this wasn’t just a disappointment, this was worse than ever.

 

My waiter was excellent; he had a very upbeat nature and a likeable personality. He said that on his previous contract he had served at the Chef’s Table and I wonder if it was from there that he acquired an affectation. Virtually every time he came to the table, whatever he said was preceded by the exclamation – "da-daah!" - the sort of noise made during the flourish of removing a cloche from a plate of exquisite food. It started with “da-daah - here’s the menu!” and the same again when filling a glass of water. Latterly it got mildly irritating, but not enough to say something. He was such a gentle soul I didn’t want to upset him... I suspect he is unaware he has this mannerism. Anyway I have no complaints whatsoever about his service.

[megacruiser]

 

 

My wine preference so far had mainly been for Spy Valley Pinot Noir, and one bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. Tonight I thought I would go for something a bit gutsier to complement the steak. I chose the Nipozzano Chianti that is the highest priced bottle on the Wine Package list at $57. Don’t forget, if bought individually there would be an automatic 15% service charge “for your convenience” that frankly I wouldn’t find the least bit convenient! $65.50 for a bottle of wine of that quality? That is really pushing their luck. Chops own wine list contains a wider selection of more exopnsive vintages than the standard Wine List offered in the Main Dining Room.

 

 

 

 

 

Down to the food itself and let’s get the best parts out the way first - it won’t take long!

 

 

 

The Crab and Shrimp Cake was very good. Well cooked with crisp exterior…

 

 

 

 

...and a very flavoursome inner with a good consistency. No complaints there...

[megacruiser]

Chops Signature Salad featuring “da-daah - caramelised beets”-

 

 

 

 

Could have fooled me - I did not detect caramelisation. If 150’s beets starter was a straight 10 this was a 5 or a generous 6, just a very conventional mundane salad, nothing wrong with it, just unexciting.

 

 

 

Along with the main, you can order as many sides as you wish.

 

 

This copy of the menu is from the Diamond Lounge but has since been modified. The photo I took of the one on the night is blurry towards the bottom of the page where the following addendum and extra options is included.

 

 

“As the world's premier cruise line, we at Royal Caribbean International strive to always provide our guests with top quality. As an addition to our menu at Chops Steak House, we are proud to offer two of the world’s finest cuts of beef.

 

USDA Prime beef has the distinction as being the top quality beef available. Prime beef is the most tender, flavorful cut of beef available, well marbled with natural fats.

 

Prime beef is hand selected and raised in the Iowa/Nebraska region and dry aged for 28 days to intensify flavour and tenderness.

 

16 oz Dry Aged New York Strip - Char broiled and butter basted $18

 

20 oz Porterhouse for one. Slow (?) roasted with garlic and herbs $19"

 

 

 

Do Royal Caribbean realise what they are doing in offering these supposedly higher quality grades of beef at an additional supplement of a further $18 or $19 over the $35, which is already a significant extra charge? Surely it is a nothing less than a tacit admission that the regular steaks must be of inferior quality and not what you might reasonably expect when paying £35 extra anyway.

 

 

I actually swithered as to whether to take the plunge and pay the extra for the Aged Steak but, based on previous experience, I couldn’t convince myself that even that would be of the quality I would expect – let’s be honest $53 or $54 dollars is a lot extra to pay and if that too were a disappointment, that extra charge would just be adding insult to injury.

[megacruiser]

My favourite steak is a Dry-aged rib-eye from slow grown steers, because of the fine layers of fat marbling that adds juiciness to the cooked steak. From the standard menu I had in the past had disappointments with the Porterhouse, and I believe there may previously have been other cuts on offer at one time, like New York Strip, but can’t be sure…

 

 

I am not a generally a fan of fillet steak because it usually lacks flavour and succulence. On this occasion the thought of facing another tough steak was enough to sway me towards the Filet Mignon because, let’s face it, it’s never tough.

 

 

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This is the inside of the steak –

 

 

 

 

It is cooked exactly to my liking and when I bit into it I thought, yes it’s tender ok, and for a brief moment I thought I had struck lucky for once. The more I ate though, the more I recognised the complete absence of any flavour whatsoever and there was no moistness. So a perception developed that I could be eating anything, just the texture of meat but nothing to say it was beef, to the point I thought why are you eating this, you are getting nothing from it, no taste and a mouth feel that was rather dry. I left most of it. Perhaps this was one occasion where meat used for texture only could have benefited from a sauce like green peppercorn or chimichurri, thus relying on all flavour and moistness from the sauce. If there is another Chops visit, unless I have heard reliable reports of their aged steaks I will avoid beef.

[megacruiser]

The dessert menu is limited.

 

 

 

 

I am not really a big chocolate fan; not that I dislike it; I just am not someone who can love any dessert simply because of chocolate content.

 

I had this dessert on Independence of the Seas –

 

 

 

Red Velvet Cake, looks lovely but it is too dry.

 

So I opted for the Crème Brûlée, one of those dishes that is usually a safe bet. The menu said it has a burnt sugar crust, which is the norm and usually achieved by heating the sugar coating under an intense grill or applying a blowtorch. The waiter appeared with it and it was glowing…

 

 

 

 

Well I had never had a flambéed version before but was intrigued. Absolute disaster! It just didn’t work.

 

 

 

 

Some of the sugar was molten, some crystallised and underneath was like very loose slop. A complete mess texturally and flavour wise.

 

So in conclusion, I have never been impressed by Chops and this was no exception. Don’t be deterred from going because of my opinion, as I am fussy about steak. If you have enjoyed Chops in the past this will be much the same. I have always preferred Portofino and then Giovanni’s Table.

 

To come later today will be the after dinner activities including 70’s Promenade Disco Inferno and a show not much publicised involving one of the Flowriders…

[comxkid]

So in conclusion, I have never been impressed by Chops and this was no exception. Don’t be deterred from going because of my opinion, as I am fussy about steak. If you have enjoyed Chops in the past this will be much the same. I have always preferred Portofino and then Giovanni’s Table.

 

Still following.

 

The Chops commentary was especially interesting for me. I had several of the same concerns with my last Chops experience. Overall, a better steak option than the dining room, but is is worth the $35.00 per person upcharge? I honestly can't say anymore. And if the menu being tested on the Navigator is rolled out to the remaining fleet, I don't see me going there anymore.

 

At this point, I plan to use my TA specialty dining vouchers at Giovanni's.

Edited February 28, 2014 by comxkid

[RealDeal]

Loving this thread & I absolutely agree w/you about Chops...I just don't get it. We went on the Oasis last year and said to ourselves, "We would have been better off in the MDR." Luckily, we had a free dinner from our TA or else I would have been really ticked off!