Fourth Times the Charm! An Oasis Review

[kmcphee26]

Hi, everyone! "Just" off the Oasis (did the 5/17 Eastern Caribbean sailing). I wasn't going to do a review since there is a very detailed (and so far FANTASTIC) B2B review going on that includes our sailing. But, I just can't help myself. (Plus it's Friday and I am trying to avoid doing actual work at work). It won't be that detailed, but please let me know if you have any questions.

 

I have pictures, but most of them ended up being of me and my family taking ridiculous selfies and I don't think any of you want to see that.

 

Anyways, here it goes!

 

Pre-Cruise:

I had been on the Oasis three times before and the Allure once so I really wasn't planning on doing another Oasis class cruise anytime soon. In fact, I was planning on not going on a cruise this year in order to save for a Med/Greek Isles cruise next year. But obviously I was checking for deals just in case. One day in February, by some crazy fluke, I caught a great deal for a balcony on the Oasis. I checked flights to FLL and realized I could use my miles. That was all it took. Sign me up! I called my parents and coerced them to join me (pretty easy task, TBH). So by the end of the day the three of us were booked in an OV balcony on deck 11. I spent the next few months reading CC, creating a color-coded Google calendar, and just generally obsessing about the upcoming cruise.

 

About three weeks before we were set to embark, I got a call from my mother saying that she had broken her ankle. My first thought was to cancel, but she said under no circumstances were we not going. She was given a soft cast so she could take it off at the pool/beach and we arranged for a wheelchair through Special Needs at Sea (HUGE thanks to those on CC who steered me in the right direction). I also filled out a special needs form with RCI for wheelchair assistance at the pier and a shower stool for our cabin.

 

Finally May 16th was upon us and I headed to Newark airport for my flight. As luck would have it, United had a flight from Boston (where my family lives) to FLL, with a stopover in Newark. So I met my family at Newark and we all headed on to FLL. (I will say that the silver lining of a mother in a wheelchair/on crutches is cutting every line at the airport- thanks, Mom!). We landed in Fort Lauderdale around 3pm and headed for the Hilton Marina. I have stayed at this hotel before and I love the area. I like checking out all of the yachts I will never be able to afford to even charter. We had also booked this hotel since it's within walking distance of Bimini Boatyard, which has a great happy hour. Unfortunately, walking was now not an option. We were still determined to go, so we hopped in a cab. A few minutes later, I was drinking a half-priced Michelob Ultra and eating $4 conch fritters. I highly recommend this place for happy hour or if, like us, you just want a light dinner so you can save all your calories for once you get onboard.

[chazg]

Great Start! We are heading out for our 2nd Oasis trip in August. Thanls for getting me primed!

[kmcphee26]

Day 1 - Boarding, Embarkation, and when I stopped being able to drive the wheelchair!

 

We were all up before dawn because we were so excited and wanted to see the Oasis come into port from our hotel balcony (read: I wanted to see the Oasis come into port and made everyone else wake up). It was a really cool thing to see, and so weird to see the ship all lit up in the dark. When I yelled "THERE IT IS!" my mother responded with something like "no no that's just the city lights. Nope, that behemoth was my home for the next 7 days. After a quick trip to the hotel gym and a coffee run, we got ourselves ready to make the 5 minute ride to port. (Quick aside: I was in the elevator coming back from the gym and a woman asked me "Was there a prom here last night?" I responded that there was because I had seen a ton of prom goers the night before. As I was walking back to my room, I realized she must have thought I was one of those prom goers. I am 28. Needless to say, if I wasn't about to board the Oasis, this would have made my day. End of aside).

 

We got to the port around 11 because, based on our previous experiences, we thought we would be able to get on the ship in time. Due to a customs inspection and a small norovirus scare, the boarding was held up. Check-in itself was still a breeze so we went to the wheelchair area to wait and after probably 30 minutes, boarding began. Like the airport, I assumed we would get on first because of the wheelchair. Unfortunately, they only had enough wheelchairs to take a few people at a time. We waited a while as they took the people who had arrived before us. Then I started to notice that they were boarding the diamond members. I started to whine like the spoiled little brat I am and eventually my mother decided she could make the trak up the gangway on her crutches. (Please note I am exaggerating a little bit, we all wanted to get this vacation started! But my Mom really is a trooper, isn't she?). About 97 minutes later (again exaggerating) we were on the Royal Promenade.

 

At check-in, my dad noticed that his seapass and my mother's seapass did not have any drink packages noted (he got Select, she got Premium) even though they had pre-purchased. They told us we would need to go to guest services. Isn't waiting in line at GS the first thing everyone wants to do onboard? Once we hit the Promenade, however, we noticed one of the many stands selling the packages. My dad was able to get it all sorted out right there. Guest Services crisis avoided! While we were there, I purchased my Premium package as well (wooo OBC).

 

Our first stop was the Park Cafe. We did not have the access to the rooms yet so we could not see if the wheelchair was waiting for us. My Mom hobbled along Central Park until we found a seat. The line for basically everything other than soups and paninis was atrocious, so we grabbed some paninis and beers, both of which were just what we needed. (Note- lines/crowds were a common theme on this cruise, it will be something I touch on again for sure, it was the worst I have ever seen it on the OA class). Normally, at this point in the cruise, we would go check out our table in the MDR, but our seapass cards had no table numbers. We had early seating in the MDR, but we are friendly with one of the head waiters (we have cruised with him several times over the last few years) and we requested to be in his section. He was working in MTD, but said we would have the same table in the MTD section (MTD is all on deck 5) at 6pm every night. So my next thing to do was to find him and figure out where I was xpected at 6pm. Luckily, he was in the Solarium Bistro and I wanted a drink at the Solarium Bar, so perfect!

 

After getting our table info, we grabbed our first drink of the day at the Solarium Bar. I am pretty sure it was a Bahama Mama. They were so good my mother and I got a second, which in hindsight may not have been the best idea. My dad went to check the stateroom since they were now open and came back to the bar with a great surprise - the wheelchair! As promised, it was in our room by 2pm. Now that I was sufficiently buzzed, it seemed like the perfect time to head down to my muster station and learn all that important safety information. Our muster station was in the Aquatheater so we just stood in the back in the wheelchair section. It went by VERY quickly (thanks, Bahama Mamas!).

 

After muster, I wanted to go unpack and get changed for dinner. Back in the stateroom, I realized this might be a problem since we had no luggage! I know they don't guarantee luggage until 8pm, but I have never gotten my luggage anytime after like 4pm. Looking back on it, maybe this was also because it was such a full sailing? Not sure. Either way I was freaking out, naturally. My boarding outfit would just not suffice for dinner and I had handpicked 7 great dinner outfits and would not be denied a single one of them! Luckily, our luggage arrived right around 5:30 and I had time to change quickly, as well as unpack.

 

Ok this is ending up a lot wordier than I thought... I have written the length of 17 college admissions essays and I haven't even gotten to why I was no longer allowed to pilot the wheelchair! I will try to dial in back I promise... to be continued soon...

[kmcphee26]

As I mentioned, we were on deck 5 of the main dining room. We had a lovely four-top by the window, but unforunately deck 5 looks out onto the jogging track and lifeboats rather than the ocean. Our waiter and assistant waiter, Decan and Vita, respectively were some of the best we have ever had. I can't stress it enough- they were attentive and so so so friendly. They were both done with their contracts after 2 more cruises so they both seemed very happy. Sitting in the MTD area, I noticed it seemed pretty hectic for the waitstaff, more so than traditional dining. This did not affect service in any way, just an observation. We also met our bar server Richard, who again was one of the best I have seen. Every night (after the first of course) he had a coors light waiting in the ice bucket right by our table for my dad and would come over and show him that the mountains were blue. My mother and I both drank wine and this was definitely the BEST improvement in the drink packages. We had the old drink package on the Jewel last year and it was basically "house red or house white?" This time, neither of us had any issues finding a variety of wines to try that were included in the package.

 

The first night was the Mojo menu (from here on out I will try to get each night straight with regards to the menu and what I ordered, but please correct me if I mess it up). I had shrimp cocktail and the eggplant and artichoke tart to start, the pork chop entree, and the carrot cake for dessert. The eggplant and artichoke tart was great, but the clear winner of the evening was the carrot cake. DO NOT MISS. So good.

 

We had reservations to Hairspray at 8:45. I was on the fence about going because we have seen it twice onboard and I own the movie and I always tell myself "it's not the same with Zac Efron!" Plus it's 90 minutes and I had just eaten so so much and I was afraid it would induce a full-on food coma. So we decided not to go. After speaking with people throughout the cruise, I really regret this. Everyone said it was phenomonal and the cast was really talented (which I can confirm based on later shows). So yeah I was pretty annoyed with myself. But oh well, next time hehe! Instead, we headed to the casino. I played three-card poker and the tables had changed since my last cruise. They now have a six-card bonus, which I had seen in Vegas/AC. But where as land-based casinos usually make you throw a dollar bet on there, the cruise tables had a $5 minimum bet. But if you didn't play it, I swear you would always get a hand that would have won it! But I digress... Once we were done with the casino, we went to the Globe and Atlas pub to listen to the pub singer. His name was Ian, I believe he was Scottish, and he was great. He played a lot of kind of folksy rock music from the 60s (I think?). I didn't know most of the songs, but my Dad knew them all. He was really talented and entertaining and funny. This would not be our last trip to the Globe and Atlas.

 

At this point we were all exhausted. My Dad was ready for bed, but my mother and I were ready to power through it- we were on a cruise after all! With a promise that we would be totally fine on our own, we sent Dad to the cabin and we headed back to the casino (in case I haven't given Royal enough of my money over the years). Several drinks and several poker losses later, I needed to call it a night. Time to help my Mom back up to the room! For those travelling with wheelchairs on the Oasis in the future, two things to note. (1) While it wasn't that hard to navigate through all the public areas on the Oasis, there were a lot of bumps that I could never get the chair over (most notably going from the elevator lobby to the hallway with the staterooms) and I would make my mother get out of her chair while I picked it up over the little bump and then she could sit back down. (2) NEVER let someone in their 20's, on the first night of their brand-new unlimited drink package, care for someone in a wheelchair! Read into that what you will, but this has been my public service announcement for the day.

 

Day 2 next... Nassau... Or what I like to call "a sea day"

[kmcphee26]

Great Start! We are heading out for our 2nd Oasis trip in August. Thanls for getting me primed!

 

 

Thanks so much! Wish I could go back.

 

Btw- agree with your signature re QoS... I am in NJ too so I went was pretty bummed.

[BGCruiser85]

I'm surprised that you found the crowds that excessive. We were on this cruise and I never really noticed any crowding issues until day 6 (I think) when we got rain in the afternoon. When it was raining, yeah, the public spaces were PACKED! Outside of that however, my wife and I were always commenting on how few crowds we noticed.

[kmcphee26]

Day 2

 

I woke up bright and early (around 7:30) and looked out on the balcony. We were docked in Nassau! But where was Atlantis?! Usually port side on the Oasis has a view of the Atlantis, but this time the ship had backed into port. Interesting. I had every intention of hitting the gym really quickly, but decided hitting the Windjammer was a MUCH better idea. Getting around the WJ was definitely the one place where I found it difficult to navigate a wheelchair (though at this point my dad was the only one allowed to push it). It wasn't hard to find a table, just to get to it. This is the first time I had been onboard with the Coke freestlye machines. I only drink Diet Coke, so I didn't try any of the 90+ other flavor combinations, but I loved that I could just run up and get it myself rather than bothering a waiter for one. (Yes, I have been known to drink a DC with my coffee in the morning). WJ fare was typical. YUMMY YUMMY hash browns, fresh fruit, hit or miss bacon, sausage, eggs, etc.

 

We were iffy about getting off in Nassau anyways since we had been there before, but once my Mom broke her ankle, it was a definite no. So we headed over to the pool. In addition to being in port, it was a pretty cloudy morning, so the pool deck was a ghost town. We figured it was the perfect opportunity to try the beach pool, since it tends to fill up quickly. We were in the front row of chairs and it was nice to be so close to the water, but i imagine if the ship was moving the water would creep closer and closer to your stuff. After a few hours of partly cloudy weather (we did not even go in the pool, it was not warm enough for us), my mother went back to the room for a nap and my father and I went to the Park Cafe so he could finally get his roast beef sandwich. I had another panini (the brie, parma ham, and arugula one is delicious). Then we headed to the C&A sailaway event on the helipad. We were among the first ones there and ended up having a nice long conversation with the landscape architect who created Central Park. He knew a lot about ship operations and clearly took a lot of pride in his baby (CP). He reminded us of the gnomes (I HAD TOTALLY FORGOT) and I made a mental note to find them later in the cruise (I did, but only after forgetting about nine more times). We also spoke with the head of HR who was very nice, but I am sure you wouldn't want to be sent to her office if you were a crew member. When it was time to sail, the hotel director came out and said a few words and then introduced Jimmy Rhodes, our cruise director, and King Julien (of Madagascar fame). We did a silly version of the wave and the captain blew the horn and then we were all ushered off the helipad before the ship actually started to move. Apparently it gets VERY windy out there and could have been unsafe.

 

After the helipad, we grabbed mom again and headed to the Schooner Bar for round one of Progressive Trivia. There were four rounds in total (Day 2, Day 3, Day 6, and Day 7 I believe). Nai from Spain ran the trivia and she was adorable. She integrated homework into the trivia, which I thought was an awesome idea (more on that later).

 

The second night was formal night. My dad wore a suit and my mother and I wore cocktail dresses. No tuxes and gowns for us. We noticed a lot of people not dressed up around the ship (probably because of all the other dining options) but in the dining room itself, it seemed most were dressed up. The menu that night was Saffron. I started with shrimp cocktail (which I almost always did as you will see), then had the artichoke filled crepes au gratin which were SO GOOD (but VERY HEAVY). For dessert, nothing spoke to me so I had the BBB creme brule that they have everyday, which was good.

 

We had reservations for Oasis of Dreams and headed out on the Boardwalk to get seats, only to find out it was postponed due to weather and rescheduled for the next day at 5:15pm. Apparently it had been cancelled the night before as well. It was pretty windy out, so I totally understand. We headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge, which IMHO is one of the most nicely appointed lounges onboard. There was a good amount of people in the Viking Crown that night. They had a trio their performing a variety of music, but it was such relaxing music (think Norah Jones) that it was making us a little sleepy. So we made another stop at the casino and finished the night listening to Ian at the pub. The pub, like the night before, had a good crowd, but plenty of seats left.

[kmcphee26]

I'm surprised that you found the crowds that excessive. We were on this cruise and I never really noticed any crowding issues until day 6 (I think) when we got rain in the afternoon. When it was raining, yeah, the public spaces were PACKED! Outside of that however, my wife and I were always commenting on how few crowds we noticed.

 

Weird! Maybe it was just the places we frequented. Like the casino always felt packed. The schooner bar always seemed crowded when we went for trivia. Obviously the elevators. One day we got to the WJ a little later than usual and there was a line out the door all the way past the elevators just to get a table. Other than that, it wasn't bad. Just felt more crowded than I remembered.

[BillOh]

Hi, everyone! "Just" off the Oasis (did the 5/17 Eastern Caribbean sailing). I wasn't going to do a review since there is a very detailed (and so far FANTASTIC) B2B review going on that includes our sailing. But, I just can't help myself. (Plus it's Friday and I am trying to avoid doing actual work at work). It won't be that detailed, but please let me know if you have any questions..

 

I can't get enough reviews and the fact that you have been on this class 4 times. (to my 2 on Allure drew me in. Plus the remark about Friday at work remark also endeared you to me :) ) While my attention is set on my 2015 cruise, I'm keeping my options open for 2016. Having been on Allure twice, anything you think I should know about Allure that I have to do?

 

We also enjoyed a wonderful night at the Bimini Boat Yard the night before our cruise, though our walk back to the hotel has become legendary now mentioned in many reviews after one of our own was run over by a bicycle on the 17th st bridge.

[kmcphee26]

Day 3 - At Sea

 

I woke up around 7 and did actually make it to the gym. The gym seems to have everything you would need, though I only needed the treadmill. After the gym, we all went to breakfast at Johnny Rocket's. I had never eaten at Johnny Rockets before (at least at sea). I loved that you could eat outside! The menu had all the breakfast standards- eggs any way, pancakes, omelette, sides. I had a breakfast sandwich and a side of potatos. I thought everything was pretty good. My mother's scrambled eggs were "better than the Windjammers." My dad ordered an omelette which supposedly had three eggs, but was the smallest omelette I had ever seen!

 

At this point it was past 9:30am so we figured we should scoot up to the Solarium and try to find some lounge chairs. There were actually a fair amount available, and in prime locations. We parked ourselves there for a bit, but it was still a little too cool for me to enjoy a swim so at 10:30 I went down to the Aquatheater for the C&A Welcome Back Party. I feel like there was a little too much "selling the Quantum" but the entertainment (some divers and acrobats) was really good and I enjoyed all of the officer introductions. It ran a little long, so I snuck out early to meet my parents for TV Theme Song trivia in the Schooner Bar. TV Theme songs are my bread and butter since I watch nearly every TV show (it's a sickness really). It was pretty crowded so we ended up stuck at the bar and so had a bit of trouble hearing. But, we won in the end- Royal Caribbean pens, for everyone! At that point, we puttered around the ship for a while until we were due back in the Schooner Bar for another round of Progressive trivia.

 

By 5:15 we were all dressed and ready for dinner so we could go to the Aquatheater show. Unfortunately, lots of other people had this idea and had it sooner, because the only seats together were in the way front. My mom wouldn't have made it down so many steps so we decided to skip it rather than stand in the back. (There is a wheelchair area but all the seats next to the wheelchair section were taken). It was ok, because we had reservations for the comedy show later and now we knew to be the first people there!

 

Dinner was the Pimiento menu aka "Italian night." Love when the waiters sing, I hope that's a tradition that doesn't go away any time soon. I had the Arancini and Roasted Garclic soup to start, both I would recommend in a heartbeat and wish I had right now. I had the Lasagna for my entree which was good, but again SO FILLING. The dessert was the sticky bread and butter pudding. I hate turning down a tiramisu, but the bread and butter pudding is IMO the BEST dessert on RCI and has really only been rivaled in my regular life my the sticky toffee pudding I had in Scotland.

 

I honestly can't remember what I did between dinner and heading to the comedy show, likely walking around thinking about sticky bread and butter pudding. We had the 10:30 show so promptly at 10 we stood in line at the comedy club. We waited for the previous show to file out and once they did we were able to get seats right in the front. A risk, but one that worked out this time since we were not mocked in any way. The comedians were very funny, as was the host Simeon. I would see a show with just him!

 

My parents went to bed right after the show, but being so young (kind of) and wild (not really), I decided to stay up and go to the Escape by Malibu party in the Solarium. It had a good turn out and I enjoyed the music for a bit. I felt like a bit of a creep being by myself so I eventually packed it in as well.

 

Next up... Day 4- finally... the BEACH :D

[kmcphee26]

I can't get enough reviews and the fact that you have been on this class 4 times. (to my 2 on Allure drew me in. Plus the remark about Friday at work remark also endeared you to me :) ) While my attention is set on my 2015 cruise, I'm keeping my options open for 2016. Having been on Allure twice, anything you think I should know about Allure that I have to do?

 

We also enjoyed a wonderful night at the Bimini Boat Yard the night before our cruise, though our walk back to the hotel has become legendary now mentioned in many reviews after one of our own was run over by a bicycle on the 17th st bridge.

 

Omg I knew that 17th st bridge was dangerous!

 

One thing I have never actually done but would like to is the Prohibition Party. I saw several people dressed in full flapper-garb, and while I don't think I'd have the cojones to do that, it seemed fun. However, having the drink package, I was kind of like "Do I want to spend another $35 for just the entry since the drinks I already get?" So I decided not to. Not sure if you have done it on your previous trips.

 

I finally made a trip up to the no-longer-secret sundeck on deck 14 forward. I went up as we sailed away from St. Maarten and it was just so beautiful and peaceful. If I am lucky enough to go back, I will go there for more sailaways.

 

I am sure after 2 times on the Allure, you have a good handle on it but maybe something new and different will pop up if you read the rest of the review. I would say find the gnomes, but I think they might only be on the Oasis and not the Allure? Not sure.

 

Thanks for reading!!!

[BillOh]

We got to the port around 11 because, based on our previous experiences, we thought we would be able to get on the ship in time........ Like the airport, I assumed we would get on first because of the wheelchair. Unfortunately, they only had enough wheelchairs to take a few people at a time. .

 

Like you, I have experienced and read many great things about embarkation of this class. However, I have heard, and saw from the previously mentioned pedestrian bicycle accident. (You here AZKaraokegirl) that they have a very limited number of wheel chairs and people to help with wheel chair movement and those are some of the last people on board.

[kmcphee26]

Day 4 - St. Thomas and the night I finally came down from the cruise high...

 

St. Thomas was the port where our plans were the most changed after my mother's injury. We were originally going to take the ferry to St. John and go to Trunk Bay, but when my mom broke her ankle, we decided to go to a beach close by and she could decide last minute if she wanted to join. We had asked our head waiter friend what beaches were closest that he would recommend and he said Emerald Beach. Perfect!

 

My father had an 8am massage at the spa so my mother and I decided to have a nice relaxing breakfast in the MDR. (Wait! I did get to push the wheelchair again! They still had SOME faith in me as a daughter!). We went down to deck 3 and found a long line to get in to the MDR. It went pretty quickly though. One side seemed to be for the buffet and the other side for a la carte. We chose a la carte. We had a table to ourselves which was nice. But overall it seemed really hectic, the crew seemed overwhelmed by the amount of people in the dining room at the time. Our waiter happened to be our waiter from our 2010 Oasis cruise. When I recognized him I got very excited. He was very polite but since he has seen hundreds, thousands of people every week over the last four years, he obviously did not remember me. Oops awkward. I was starting to feel the bloat that comes from three days of nonstop eating and (a little) drinking so I kept it light- opting from seasonal melon and cereal with a banana. My mother got eggs and said they were very good. I tried some of her hash brown and that was REALLY good.

 

We witnessed something odd (or rude or weird or kinda gross, it could be described as any of those things) at breakfast that day. Our waiter was standing over my mother's shoulder with the tray of pastries. As she was deciding, the woman at the table next to us, reached over and said "I want THAT one!" and then proceeded to grab it with her own hands right off the tray. NO WONDER THERE ARE NORO SCARES. We were all just in shock, including the waiter (who was still very professional about it).

 

We met up with my father at the main pool. It was early enough to get a good seat so my mother decided to stay on the ship while we went to Emerald Beach. (Before you think we are a terribl husband and daughter, please know that we could move around on her boot on her own if she needed to use the ladies room or wanted to go in the pool). We headed to the gangway, signed out two towels with our seapass cards and headed out to find a cab. The cab stand was busy but we just kept waving our arms saying "Emerald Beach? Emerald?" until we got some other people who were going there and were able to get a cab. The ride was either $3 or $4 pp one-way and must have been only 5 minutes. The beach was at a Best Western resort that had lounge chairs (no one seemed to be looking to charge for them so we just grabbed two) and a bar/restaurant. It was not crowded at all and we had a great few hours swimming in the ocean. I did take some pictures of this beach so if anyone was thinking about going there and wanted to see them, let me know.

 

We did not stay long since we were worried about mom (we are Irish, we worry unnecessarily). Instead, we got back on the ship and hung out by the pool with her. It was finally VERY sunny and warm so we spent a good amount of time sitting by/swimming in the main pool. I also finally had my first pina colada of the trip (I had to wait until it was really hot out).

 

I had been jealous of my dad's massage so before I got off the ship that morning, I had called and made an appointment for the "Muscle Melt" port special, which was a 50 min hot stone massage and 25 minute foot and ankle massage for $139. The appointment was for 3:45 so I headed down to the spa around 3:30. Other than starting a little late, it was wonderful. Also for the third cruise in a row, I didn't get any hard sell on the products, which was great. Maybe they stopped doing that? I was so relaxed afterwards that I didn't realize I had about 25 minutes to shower, blow dry, and get dressed for dinner. Ah! I may have made us a little late oops.

 

Dinner that night was the Jasmine menu. I has both Spinach Dip and shrimp cocktail to start (even though these things don't really go together, but whatevs). I had the conchigilloni pasta, which was like stuffed shells and really really good. For dessert, Decan and Vita strongly recommended the warm chocolate cake and for good reason- it was delicious.

 

We had reservations for the headliner, who was ventriliquist Ronn Lucas. I am not a HUGE fan of ventriliquiy (I do not think this is an actual word, but just go with it), but I thought he was very talented. Not the best headliner show I had ever seen, but enjoyable. What to do next? I talked a big game at dinner, saying I was going to go to Blaze for the "90s Old School Jamz" or maybe the Battle of the Sexes game show. But by the time I made it to the elevators, I knew I was crashing. My "OMG I am on a cruise there is so much to do so little time" high had worn off. I needed sleep. So that is what I did. Looking back now I wish I had gone to listen to some 90s Old School Jamz.

Edited May 30, 2014 by kmcphee26

[roe2ship]

I'm reading this with lots of excitement. Your entertainment schedule is the same as I have booked for my upcoming Oasis cruise!:D

 

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

[momof4_tn]

I would love to see your beach pictures from St. Thomas. We are on the Eastern itinerary in December and I'm trying to figure out a beach to take our kiddos to.

[ripjerry95]

Great review so far. I can't wait to hear more.

 

 

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[kmcphee26]

I would love to see your beach pictures from St. Thomas. We are on the Eastern itinerary in December and I'm trying to figure out a beach to take our kiddos to.

 

 

Here are two that I had on my phone since I posted them to FB. I have a few more that I will post once I get them on photobucket this weekend.

 

I am sure there are nicer beaches in St. Thomas with nicer amenities but it worked well for us because we really just wanted a nice beach that was really close and easy.

 

 

 

 

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[FuseRules]

Enjoying the Review!!

Looking forward to the rest.

[kmcphee26]

Sorry for the delay. It's been a busy Saturday!

 

Day 5 - St. Maarten and being treated to Chops :)

 

I woke up early since I had gone to bed at 10pm, so I went up on deck to take some pictures and then did some breakfast related recon. I checked out the Park Cafe to see what they offered. They had a create your own bagel bar, a variety of breakfast sandwiches, fruits, muffins, and cereal. Seemed like it would be perfect for a quick breakfast before getting off the ship. I reported back to my parents and they agreed. We were able to easily find nice comfy seats outside and I enjoyed a breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs and asparagus and some fruit.

 

My mother thought she was up for getting off the ship today so we headed down to the handicapped gangway area (one deck below the main one). We got a taxi for Little Bay beach which we always go to in St. Maarten. The taxi was $4pp and pretty short. The beach is never crowded and there are lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent for $5 each (no charge to get on the beach). There is a Divi resort there with a bar and some shops. They also have some water sports though we did not try any this time. Again, I have some pictures if anyone is interested.

 

We stayed at the beach for a few hours and then decided it was pool time again. We went to the same spot by the main pool as the day before and enjoyed the hot hot weather. Tonight's dinner plan was slightly different as our head waiter friend arranged to go to dinner with us at Chops after he was done working in the dining room. That meant we would not be eating until about 9:30pm. So around 3 we went to Vintages for some tapas. We ordered the spanish potato omelette, guacamole, and rice croquettes. They were all delicious and filling enough to hold the three of us over for dinner. My mother and I ordered wine (the drink package worked) but my father doesn't drink wine so he asked what beers they have in Vintages. The server said they had Heineken and Bud Light but was nice enough to run out to the Trellis Bar to grab him a Stella.

 

After Vintages my dad and I went to the "secret" sun deck on deck 14 forward. I am usually at dinner or getting ready for dinner during sail away so this was a fun change. There were probably 10 other people up there so maybe it still is secret. I really enjoyed this sun deck and wish we has used it more (it was closed for the first few days due to wind).

 

After going back to the room to get ready for the evening, I headed down to the casino where I won all my money back. Yaaaay! I was so excited. (For one night until I lost some again). Around 9 we headed up the Central Park. When we got there one of the professional photographers looked kind of bored and lonely and grabbed us to take some pictures outside in CP. Unfortunately none of them were worth purchasing but the photographer was really getting us into it and it was nice.

 

We met up with our friend and headed for Chops. I had never been to Chops on any ship so I was really looking forward to it. I ordered the shrimp cocktail to start (obvi) and the petite filet for dinner. We ordered a ton of sides and I recall the mashed potatoes and asparagus both standing out. For dessert I had the red velvet cake which I loved. I am a sucker for red velvet.

 

We didn't attend any shows that evening as our ice show reservation was deterred by our last minute dinner plans. We didn't care though as it was a really lovely evening!

Edited June 1, 2014 by kmcphee26

[kmcphee26]

Day 6 - Quest, Quest, Quest!!!

 

I was back at the gym in the morning trying to work off that red velvet cheesecake. My father had another massage scheduled but this time my mother and I told him we'd wait for him for breakfast. In the meantime, my mom and I went to the Coach one hour "sale." I put sale in quotes because they had a variety of very beautiful full-priced bags and about 7 styles of wallets on a small sale table. We were only there for a few minutes because neither of us were in need of a $500 bag, no matter how beautiful. So we went up to the main pool while we waited for my dad. Then, once the whole team was back together, it was another round of breakfast at the WJ.

 

We spent a few hours back at the main pool until we had another round of Progressive trivia in the afternoon. This round was less trivia and more brain-teasers and it was NOT EASY! From the Schooner Bar, we headed to the Boardwalk with the intention of seeing the Splish Splash comedy dive show and getting some ice cream at the ice cream parlor. Both were pretty crowded (maybe I just have no patience!) so we all agreed to go with plan B- get ready for formal night early so we could make the 4:45 movie tunes trivia (we love our trivia).

 

The 4:45 trivia was fun but a little disorganized. The member of the CD staff did not seem to be familiar with running the trivia. Maybe that's just sour grapes since we didn't win haha! We hung out in the Schooner for a bit until it was time for dinner.

 

The second formal night had the ****ake menu. I did not get the Fisherman's plate because I might be the only person on Earth who doesn't like lobster. I started with the duck and port wine terrine which was tasty and then had three cheese tortelloni as my entree (another pasta dish? How surprising). For dessert I had the low fat angel food cake and didn't think it tasted low fat at all. It was very good.

 

After dinner we had reservations for the Come Fly With Me production show in the Opal theater. Even though I had seen it before, my mouth was agape the entire time. The acrobats and aerial artists just do some crazy stuff. It's definitely a must-see. Afterwards, I changed out of my dress in preparation for what was to come later. That is, of course, America's fifth major sport, the Quest!

 

After a quick stop in the casino, we headed over to Studio B. Right at 11 (30 minutes before the start) there was already a small line outside. When they opened the doors I made a bee-line for the front row and was able to grab three seats in the front. At this point my father and I tried to get our section pumped up by jumping around and dancing like idiots while people continued to file in. To put this into some context, I may be a little obsessed with the Quest and pretty much force my cruise companions to get as into it as I do. My dad even started recruiting some people who seemed like fun from other sections and getting them to switch to our team. When the CD staff came out I immediately volunteered as captain (I have always been very involved the in Quest but have never been a captain). No guys were stepping up right away so some of the team pressured my dad to be the other captain. (Btw shout out to team 7 wooo!) It was a lot of fun even though we did not walk away with the glory. Jimmy Rhodes did a nice job over all. I will leave all the details out because it's so much more fun seeing live. All I will say is I lost my voice from screaming too much.

 

I wanted to keep my post-Quest high going so I headed up to the Solarium for the twenty by Absolut party. Like the previous solarium party, turn out was great. A few people recognized me from the Quest and I was lucky enough to be able to hang out with some very cool people. We all headed to Blaze for the after party, which was also packed. I made a quick Irish Exit around 3am because that was way past my bedtime. But the party was still going strong at that point.

[MrsMcIB]

Thanks! This is a fun review to read. :D

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I can't get enough reviews and the fact that you have been on this class 4 times. (to my 2 on Allure drew me in. Plus the remark about Friday at work remark also endeared you to me :) ) While my attention is set on my 2015 cruise, I'm keeping my options open for 2016. Having been on Allure twice, anything you think I should know about Allure that I have to do?

 

We also enjoyed a wonderful night at the Bimini Boat Yard the night before our cruise, though our walk back to the hotel has become legendary now mentioned in many reviews after one of our own was run over by a bicycle on the 17th st bridge.

 

That would be me!

 

Like you, I have experienced and read many great things about embarkation of this class. However, I have heard, and saw from the previously mentioned pedestrian bicycle accident. (You here AZKaraokegirl) that they have a very limited number of wheel chairs and people to help with wheel chair movement and those are some of the last people on board.

 

I'm here and yes I can attest to the slow boarding for handicapped. I was in a wheelchair because of my head injury since the back of my head landed hard on the concrete sidewalk on the 17th street bridge. I was still dizzy and wasn't sure I could walk it and that coupled with my muscular dystrophy, I didn't want to chance walking. I waited in a wheelchair on the ramp for at least 20 minutes waiting for a porter to take me up the ramp onboard. I finally gave up after seeing all my friends boarding before me. I proceeded to walk it myself and made it onboard successfully. But if I wasn't able to walk, I suspect I would have been there for at least another 30 minutes. They only had one guy taking the wheelchairs up one at a time.

 

Great review. I'm reading because I've been on Allure but since I had a head injury, I couldn't fully enjoy it like I wanted to so I'm booked on the Oasis for next May. Zipline here I come.:D

[kmcphee26]

Day 7 - the last day :(

 

The plan for the morning was to go to the MDR for breakfast so I could finally have some of the delicious french toast they serve there as part of their a la carte menu. However, the plan was curtailed by all three of us sleeping through our alarms and didn't wake up until 10. (I was out til 3am- what was their excuse?!?). Sad but still hungry we headed up the the WJ only to find a line waaaay out the door of people waiting for a table. I had never seen a line outside the WJ let alone one this long (I can't stress how long). Maybe it's usually like this around 10-10:30 and I just never see it? I don't know. We didn't feel like waiting so we went down to Johnny Rockets. I had another tasty breakfast sandwich but it still wasn't as satisfying as that darn french toast. That'll teach me to party like I'm on the right side of 25. Grrr!

 

We had our last round of progressive trivia at 12:30 so we still had some time to hang by the pool in the interim. We were able to get prime seats at the solarium despite the late hour which was great. While we were there, we had some homework left to do for our progressive trivia final. The first assignment was being handled by our teammate who joined us on the first round. That task was to write down the county and guess the age of everyone on the CD's staff. We had volunteered to complete the thee two tasks. The first was to take a video of you and a crew member pretending to fish by the pool. We grabbed a confused bar server and asked him to pretend to fish in the solarium pool with me for 30 seconds while my dad recorded it on his iPhone. Done and done.

 

The second assignment we were responsible for was to create a short skit pretending to be Jimmy (the CD) and Frankie (the activities manager) on their "How you cruisin'?" morning show. We caught the show a few times on our stateroom tv and had worked out a few tentative jokes throughout the week with my dad playing Jimmy and me playing Frankie. We finalized it while we hung out in the solarium pool. At noon we headed down to trivia where we had to perform our skit. I thought we killed it but so did the other teams (my mom said we were the best, but she might be a little partial). Nai added up scores of ll the trivia rounds and homework and we came in third! Wooo! Bronze RCI medals and a swag bag! Umbrellas and hats all around. (I really did need to stock up on umbrellas because I lose all of them so I was stoked). All in all it was a very fun week of progressive trivia and the homework was a really cool idea.

 

We headed back to the solarium for some more sun at that point (our chairs were still there without us saving them yay). After a bit my dad and I decided to try for ice cream again. This time the ice cream parlor was empty. He ordered a banana split and I got a dulce de leche sundae. OMG get the dulce de leche sundae. I don't even love love ice cream and I was in heaven. We took a quick spin on the carousel (sorry mom, I know you were jealous) and took a bunch of goofy pictures (are there any other kind of pictures when you are talking about a 59 year old and his 28 year old daughter on a carousel? No). We also stopped by the aqua theater for a minute to stand in the back and briefly watch some of the Splish Splash comedy dive show's second showing. The diving was very cool, but as my dad put it "isn't this billed as a comedy?"

 

We headed back to the Solarium and grabbed my mom to get ready for dinner. We were getting ready a little early tonight because I promised my mom I would go to the champagne bar with her before dinner. You see, my mom loves the champagne bar. But on our last Oasis venture in 2012, my boyfriend and I had to go without her (read: she was having luck in the casino). We might have failed to mention it until we were looking at pictures and reminiscing six months later. She has held it over my head ever since. Did it help that I went to the champagne bar on the Jewel (an arguably way more appealing champagne bar btw) twice on our cruise last summer? Nope. So we got ready for our last night and headed over to the champagne bar (I was again allowed to take her since the champagne bar was conveniently located right outside our entrance to the MDR). I had a flirtini and my mom had a sunset Bellini. Both were very tasty and the champagne bar was very beautiful and classy. As we were leaving the bar to head to dinner, we bumped into our head waiter friend (clearly heading back to work from checking the score of the Heat game in On Air- that's right bro I got your number) and he was nice enough to wheel the chair all the way back to our table (or he just also no longer trusted me with my mom's care).

 

Dinner was the Pomodoro menu. I started with shrimp cocktail (duh) and the Spanish tapas plate. The Spanish tapas plate was good and very reminiscent of the Vintages menu. I was very torn on the entree. I wanted both the rigatoni pasta and the turkey dinner. I was trying to break away from this all-pasta trend I had going on, but my parents were both getting the turkey dinner. In the end I got the turkey dinner, which was delicious and what I believed was the right choice until today when I saw a pic of the rigatoni pasta on another thread here on CC. I just obviously need to go on another cruise to rectify this. Nothing really thrilled me on the dessert menu but I was already pretty full so I decided to try my first ever key lime pie. Despite my mom's "you're going going to hate it," I enjoyed it, but I mean I'd much rather some red velvet or bread and butter pudding. Dinner was a blast this last night. They played "I Gotta Feeling" and my dad got up and danced with Vita, our assistant waiter. It all had a nice farewell party atmosphere and I got some nice pictures with our entire waitstaff. We also gave some extra tips to everyone and gave our three WOW cards to our head waiter, waiter, and assistant waiter. They were well-deserved and I hope they get something from them.

 

After dinner we had a conundrum with regards to what to do. We were planning on going to the farewell comedy show in the opal theater (no reservations needed) because the two comedians onboard had been so funny. But then we saw in the compass that there was a "Dirty Minds Adult Game Show." This was our fifth time on the Oasis class and we had never even heard of this before so we felt we had to go. New and shiny and different! Yes! Plus, and thank god my parents aren't on this site, I thought I had a pretty dirty mind. So, again, done and done. The line for the show/game was getting long even 30 mins early (btw it was in the comedy club) but we were able to get a good spot in the front. Two members of the CD staff were running it (I believe the names were Danny and Sally) and they asked us to form teams. Since I only feel comfortable saying inappropriate stuff in front of family (I'm a therapist's dream I bet) we stayed a team just the three of us. It was essentially a super super super dirty version of majority rules. With points given even if you weren't in the majority but the hosts thought it was funny enough. All I will say is this... Some people on this sailing were really dirty. Omg. There were things I didn't know. There were lots of things my parents didn't know. It was hysterical but it led to lots of questions from my parents that I definitely did not want to get into. Somehow, by some weird law of averages, we won?!?!! (This has less to do with us having dirty minds and more to do with us answering the question "who or what does Sally look like?" with "a much thinner Adele"). Either way, this really fun game show is definitely not kid friendly in any way, shape, or form. I would also not recommend it for anyone with delicate sensibilities at all.

 

At this point my parents took the responsible route (we had a 10am flight) and went to bed. I obviously went to Blaze to check out the scene. Again it had a good crowd but I decided to cut out after one drink and head to bed as well.

 

Up next- disembarkation, a few things I forgot, and some general notes

[kmcphee26]

Thanks to all who are reading and who have commented!!!!

 

 

That would be me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm here and yes I can attest to the slow boarding for handicapped. I was in a wheelchair because of my head injury since the back of my head landed hard on the concrete sidewalk on the 17th street bridge. I was still dizzy and wasn't sure I could walk it and that coupled with my muscular dystrophy, I didn't want to chance walking. I waited in a wheelchair on the ramp for at least 20 minutes waiting for a porter to take me up the ramp onboard. I finally gave up after seeing all my friends boarding before me. I proceeded to walk it myself and made it onboard successfully. But if I wasn't able to walk, I suspect I would have been there for at least another 30 minutes. They only had one guy taking the wheelchairs up one at a time.

 

 

 

Great review. I'm reading because I've been on Allure but since I had a head injury, I couldn't fully enjoy it like I wanted to so I'm booked on the Oasis for next May. Zipline here I come.:D

 

 

Oh wow that's terrible. I hope you have a great great time on the Oasis!!!!!

[NeuroQueen]

What a great review. Your poor Mom. I drove my mom around in a WC in Las Vegas one year and it wasn't pretty. We were on the same sailing. Was it windy or what? I actually made it to the Captains question and answer talk and he said he backs into Nassau so he can get out quickly since St Thomas is so far. He spun that ship so fast my head was spinning. I was surprised, but realized my other two Oasis trips had been to Western, so we came in bow first. I had never felt the ship move until this trip. We caught that cold front that had just hit Florida before we left. It was freezing the first two days.

 

I found out there was a Casino group of 300 people on our cruise which explained the crowded Casino all week. I would love to see the pix from ST Martin. Did the resort look nice? I have a Divi time share and I've wanted to trade it for St Martin. I think we were in your Quest group. You guys were amazing. We were about three rows up and VERYl loud. I'm sure we had put that alcohol package to great work that day. Haha. I totally agree with you about the champagne bar on the Jewel. Nice job on the review.