REVIEW - Oasis 4/11/15 Western with kids in Royal family suite

[SherriZ366]

Yes, they have a side railing that goes about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way down the side.

 

 

Thanks -- that makes me feel good

[birdlord]

Following because I want to hear the stories you promised on missing ship and overboard passenger!

[LuCruise]

Great report so far. Wow, I'm wondering if I'll chicken out trying the FlowRider. Impressive that your 71 year old mom tried it. 👍

 

 

 

I'm excited to take our kids to the parades. They sound impressive.

 

 

 

Great you made it to the comedy show. What did your kids do while you were there?

[LuCruise]

Ps - thanks for the feedback about the character breakfast.

[TripleU]

Day 6 - Cozumel

 

I forgot to mention that while we were eating lunch on day 5, there was an Alpha, Alpha, Alpha code announced ship wide. I was pretty sure that was a medical emergency, and I confirmed this with our waiter that evening.

 

On the morning of Day 6, an ambulance met us at the port. We waited to see who came off, but it was taking too long and we gave up. They did take a stretcher on board. I wish I knew more.

 

Because we needed a relatively quick breakfast, we headed to the Wipeout Cafe again. I really recommend this on port days as it was not at all crowded - maybe 5 other families there.

 

We disembarked and took a taxi to Chankanaab park. DH and I had already paid for a manatee swim there. The taxi was $24 for all 7 of us - there was a sign clearly stating all taxi rates, and I made sure to double check it before we got on.

 

Our prepaid manatee experience meant we didn't have to pay for the park entrance fee. I printed a coupon off the internet, and we got a small discount for the entrance fee for the kids and my parents. $77 total. Before we got into the park, they offered us a deal on the all-you-can eat buffet lunch. They were advertising one price, but it ended up being cheaper. It was $65 for all 7 of us (kids were free). I don't know if this ended up being a better deal than eating at one of the other places in the park and I didn't even want to look at the menus in case we were overcharged. Ignorance is bliss. That's less than $10 per person and we had many choices on the buffet, which is so much easier when you have kids.

 

The manatee experience was AMAZING! Almost everyone there wants to do the dolphin experience. We had already swam with dolphins on our honeymoon, and I'm obsessed with manatees. There were only 5 of us. We each got to do 5 different behaviors with the manatee, and then we got to just swim with him and feed him for about 20 minutes. The best part was 2 of the people couldn't swim and were too afraid to leave the platform. There were only 3 of us swimming with him. It was an amazing experience and worth every penny. Afterward, they try to sell you photos. We, of course, bought them. I bargained them down, but I have a feeling I could have done better. Oh well. I'm so glad I have photos from my absolute favorite thing I've ever done in my life.

 

The kids played on the beach with my parents while we did this. There is only one kid friendly beach at the park - meaning a sandy beach with a walk-in entrance. The rest of the park has some pretty decent snorkeling, but there are stairs down to the water and a steep drop off. Later in the day, I found hammocks on the other beach areas, which bummed me out because we were ready to leave.

 

The lunch buffet was pretty good. Absolutely no one checked our bracelets. I'm wondering if we could have just eaten there for free. There was also a smaller buffet upstairs with nearly all the same items. There was only us and one other couple up there. We basically had a private buffet while it was packed downstairs. Nice!

 

After lunch we all went to the sea lion show. It was so miserably hot. I feel badly for the sea lions and their terrible life there, but I did enjoy the show. It's no different than sea world. The lady narrating the show did it in both Spanish and English. I couldn't understand either (I speak a little Spanish, and I couldn't even tell which language she was speaking). I think it was just a bad PA system.

 

We then decided to walk over to the crocodile exhibit. Nothing too exciting there. Just like a zoo. By this time, we realized the girls all had terrible blisters from their brand new water shoes. I really wanted to snorkel a bit, so we tried that, but I only got to go out for a couple minutes. The girls were all crying. Not a good way to end the day. The taxi ride back to the port was the same amount, and very quick.

 

We had dinner at Coastal Kitchen because the menu had changed and our waiter told us to skip the Basil menu. He made several recommendations throughout the week, and he was always spot on. I know I've had the Basil menu before, but when he said to skip it (and we wanted to try the new menu in CK) we did. The only real change was the appetizers. Everything else was the exact same proteins prepared a different way. Scallops went from a red sauce to a white sauce - things like that. The food was good, but I prefer the MDR.

 

That evening we saw the Come Fly With Me Show. It's in the Opal Theater, and I believe it's the entire Cats cast. This was the last time they performed the show because their contract was over. It was really good. Lots of aerialists and acrobatics. Good singing and dancing. Again, a cheesy story line, but all of us, kids included, really enjoyed it! I assume the new Cats cast will take over?!?!

 

While we were at the park, my husband was starting to have a gout attack. Gout is a form of arthritis, and it flares up when you have a high amount of uric acid in your body. Foods high in purines cause it - red meat and scallops in particular. Since DH had pretty much been subsisting on red meat, it was understandable. Of course, we didn't bring his medicine since he hadn't had an attack in more than 3 years. He was in a lot of pain.

 

Up next: Last sea day with bridge tour

[TripleU]

Great you made it to the comedy show. What did your kids do while you were there?

 

They slept in the room with my parents. We wouldn't have had quite as much fun if the kids had been there. OA is open until 10p for free, but that's just too late for 5yos. OA is open from 10p-12a at a rate of $7 per kid per hour ($21 per hour for us). No thank you.

[sojodave]

Great review.

[BustedOut]

Loving this review..

 

We were on the same ship at the same time. The Love and Marriage gameshow is always a fave of ours and this one was hilarious. I was crying laughing. The 57 years married couple made it. On the bigger smaller question and he said 'She will say bigger down there' I nearly wet myself.

 

The acrobatic/aerial was great to watch and the diving was amazing. Couldn't help thinking that being a good diver doesn't make a good dancer though lol...

 

Very brave of you to walk in to Falmouth though. We drove though there on a previous cruise and it's a very grim looking place.

 

What was your impression of formal night BTW? I didn't think it was very formal and having a discussion about it on another thread. I was in a tux but not many were. (early sitting)

Edited April 24, 2015 by BustedOut

[TripleU]

Day 7 - final sea day

 

When I got up, DH and my parents were all gone. I know DH was in tons of pain from his gout. He had gone down to the medical facility to sit in line for its 8a opening. We had already discussed this, and I knew just to go have breakfast without him.

 

By the time I was dressed and had the kids ready, my parents came back. We all went to the MDR for our last breakfast. So sad. I then dropped the kids off at OA and headed back to the room. DH was there. He was feeling better after some steroid shots and some other medicine, but he was having a hard time walking. The total medical bill ended up being $204. My parents had purchased travel insurance (something DH and I never do), and I'm in the process of submitting the claim to them. It appears it will be covered!

 

Normally, there's a Splish Splash show at 3:30p on Day 5. For some reason it was rescheduled to 11:30a on Day 7. I had DH go save us seats while I went to get the kids from OA.

 

I really enjoyed the Splish Splash show. It was the same cast as the Oasis of Dreams show, but it was more fun and silly. DH preferred Oasis of Dreams though. There was more diving and acrobatics. It was a fun show, and the kids really liked it.

 

We then had our last lunch in the MDR.

 

OA is closed from 12p-2p on sea days, which is a bummer. I took the kids back, but it was still closed. The art room was open though and there was someone helping the kids make flowers out of ribbon. It was hard to do! He basically made all three of ours by himself. The kids enjoyed it though. By the time we were finished OA was open again.

 

Earlier in the cruise, I had inquired with the concierges about a bridge tour. I had read on CC that sometimes suite guests can get a free bridge tour instead of paying for the All Access Tour ($150). They told me that it was unlikely since there were many more frequent cruisers on the ship. He sent an email directly to the Captain though, and I found out on the evening of Day 6 that we could get our tour at 4pm on day 7. YAY!!! We were so excited. Kids are not allowed, so it worked out that they were at OA, which closed again at 5p.

 

We were instructed to meet the security officers at the forward elevators at 3:55p. They had a list of names, and we weren't on the list. Suddenly an elevator full of people arrived who were all on the list - I never asked, but I assume they were on the All Access tour. After explaining our situation to the guards, they called in their boss, who still couldn't help us. I kept telling them that the Allen and Israel (the concierges) had set it up. Suddenly one of the senior officers showed up and said it was ok. Later that night, Allen apologized for the confusion. He had emailed the Captain directly, and we had been approved, but we had never been put on a list.

 

After being screened with a metal detector wand by the 2 security officers, we were led to the bridge. The Captain greeted us. We were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted, but no video. He was awesome. He told us all about the ship. I'll try to hit on the highlights that I remember:

 

-because of the placement of the lifeboats, you can't see the side of the ship from the bridge, so he has to use cameras to dock the boat.

-pilots board in most ports, but they are not allowed to touch the controls because they aren't insured and any damage will be on the Captain. They are helpful though because they speak the language and know the ins and outs of each port. The one exception to this is in the Panama Canal. There the pilots are fully insured and take control of the ship.

-they do encounter small boats, sometimes Cubans, from time to time. The Cubans never want help and don't want to be found because they will be sent back. They just want to put their own feet on US soil.

-the fire suppression system is amazing!! It's so sensitive that sometimes even steam from the shower will set off the smoke detectors. All alarms are immediately checked.

-helicopters almost never land on the heliport because they're too heavy for the ship. If there is a medical evacuation by helicopter, they will lower a basket.

-there are over 1300 cameras all over the ship

-there are 2 jail cells on board

 

I'll post pictures in another post.

 

What you've all been waiting for - someone asked about being late. Two people actually missed the ship in Cozumel. Captain Per said that they got to the dock when the ship was just a few feet away. It's totally in his discretion to decide what to do. The cost of returning in this case (when we had barely left the port - just a few feet) would have been in excess of $80,000 - fuel, time, port fees and tons of paperwork. He chose not to return. Like I said before, a ship sponsored excursion was late in Jamaica, and they waited. Most of the time they'll wait for those, but no matter what, the ship will incur the cost of getting those people to the next port. I asked what happens if your kids are on board in OA and you're late. He looked at me almost with an angry face and acted like I was giving away a big secret. He never actually answered the question, but it was quite clear the ship will wait for you if you've left your kids. His reaction was funny to me - don't give away the secret because it costs them time and money.

 

Then someone asked about people going overboard and a overboard detection system. He said the ship doesn't have one primarily because there are WAY too many false reports - waves, birds, etc. He then talked about the man who went overboard in January. Here's the story - as close to verbatim as I can straight from Captain Per. The man was in his early 20s and was VERY drunk. The ship's staff had found his mother and released him into her care and made sure he was tucked away safely in bed. Apparently, he sneaked out of the room. He went to Deck 5 to the track and went over 3 (I think it was 3) security gates and crawled through a manhole (that's the Captain's word) to get on top of a lifeboat. After he was found by the Disney ship, they watched back the video. He stood up on the lifeboat and they think he slipped - they don't think he jumped, but it wasn't completely clear. They found his cell phone on top of the lifeboat. He was very lucky. Captain Per said, "It wasn't his time."

 

The Captain made it clear that if you talk about jumping or suicide, you'll be very closely watched and followed.

 

Questions were completed at about 4:50p, and I had to pick the kids up by 5 at OA or be charged. The bridge tour was basically over, but I really needed to go, so I jetted out of there. I don't know if we missed anything else.

 

I picked up the kids and met DH and my parents at the Frozen in Time show.

The ice show was pretty good. At least 3 skaters fell. My kids were a little bored during it, but I'm not sure if it was because it's definitely not Disney on Ice or if they were just really tired and hungry.

 

After the show, we had our last dinner in the MDR.

 

My parents stayed with the kids and packed while DH and I went to the Family Comedy Show. Again, Simian, the host, was my favorite. Ron Josol did an almost identical set. He added a few new, and quite funny, jokes at the end. I was worried about Barry Diamond. I didn't like him at the Comedy Club. He was really funny at this show. He also sang a few songs (not funny), but he has a great voice and was very entertaining. I'm glad we went.

 

Day 8-

 

DH, the kids and I had a 9:20a flight out of FLL. We walked off with our luggage at 6:30 (we got in line at 6:10). We were at the gate - through security - by 7:15a. No problem making our flight at all! Our taxi from the port to the airport was $12.90 plus tip - no traffic.

 

We had an amazing cruise, but the one major thing that bothered me was that I found the ship to be HOT. I was always sweating and hot. I guess it's mostly because there are so many outdoor areas (central park and the boardwalk) and the doors are always opening. On other cruises, I've always been cold in the theater, and that wasn't the case on this ship.

 

I also think the Oasis class just isn't for me. My 2 previous cruises were only with DH, so I'm trying to decide if I didn't like this ship as much because my kids and my parents were there or if I'm just not suited for a really big ship. As weird as this sounds, I feel like there wasn't as much to do on this ship. There weren't as many adult activities. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I felt. Most of the stuff on the compass has to do with Meet and Greets for the kids and other kid stuff. It's definitely a family oriented ship, and I really appreciated that. I'm not one to sit by the pool, so I'm always looking for other activities.

 

Overall I didn't necessarily find the ship to be crowded. We never had to wait any longer for elevators on this ship than we had on other ships.

 

What I really don't like is that everything has to be pre-planned. One of the reasons I didn't want to do DisneyLand (or World) yet is because of all the pre-planning required. Knowing which park to be in on which day and make dinner reservations 6 months in advance. I feel like cruising should be less planned and more free. Check the compass and make a choice, not make dinner and show reservations months in advance. I guess I'm saying I will not be on an Oasis or Quantum class again unless I have my kids with me. I'm so glad Dynamic Dining was delayed for the Oasis. I wouldn't like that at all!!

 

I'll post more pics and any updates if I think of them. But if there are any questions, please let me know!!

[TripleU]

Loving this review..

 

We were on the same ship at the same time. The Love and Marriage gameshow is always a fave of ours and this one was hilarious. I was crying laughing. The 57 years married couple made it. On the bigger smaller question and he said 'She will say bigger down there' I nearly wet myself.

 

The acrobatic/aerial was great to watch and the diving was amazing. Couldn't help thinking that being a good diver doesn't make a good dancer though lol...

 

Very brave of you to walk in to Falmouth though. We drove though there on a previous cruise and it's a very grim looking place.

 

What was your impression of formal night BTW? I didn't think it was very formal and having a discussion about it on another thread. I was in a tux but not many were. (early sitting)

 

My "peppy" - LOL. I almost wet myself when he said that. He was sooo funny!

 

I saw fewer people in ball gowns and tuxes on this ship than I did on the Majesty last August, which I thought was weird. I hate dressing up, but I did put on a black dress for the 2nd formal night. I was upset with DH though because he didn't bring anything other than jeans. Yes, DH was one of those in jeans and a tie. I was mortified. He did wear a tux on our first cruise though, so I was surprised that he didn't even bring suit pants or khakis for that matter on this cruise. Had I known.....

[TripleU]

Apparently I can only upload 6 images at a time. I didn't know that. I'll break this into several posts.

 

Random photos from around the ship:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2015 by TripleU

[TripleU]

The port in Falmouth

 

 

Opening coconuts

 

 

DH and the girls enjoying the coconuts

 

 

Mini "golfing"

 

 

Mom on the FlowRider

 

 

DH on the FlowRider

 

Edited April 24, 2015 by TripleU

[TripleU]

Kid friendly beach in Chankanaab

 

 

Panorama of the kid friendly beach

 

 

Swimming with the manatee

 

 

 

The Carnival Paradise looked like our tugboat. This photo doesn't really do it justice though. Our room was on deck 9 and that was their pool deck.

 

[TripleU]

Photos from the bridge tour part 1:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TripleU]

Bridge tour part 2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TripleU]

Bridge tour part 3:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TripleU]

Bridge tour part 4:

 

 

 

 

 

[utopiahereicome]

Thanks for your review! I was especially interested in your "swim with the manatee" experience at Chaankanaab as we have that booked also for our time in Cozumel in a few weeks - like you, we have done the "swim with dolphins" thing a few times, so thought this would be different - so glad to hear you had a wonderful time! Also appreciated hearing about the buffet for lunch - traveling with my 15 year old grandson who is a bottomless pit, so we will probably pay for the buffet (and they will lose money on him, no doubt!).

Thank you for sharing! :)

[TripleU]

Thanks for your review! I was especially interested in your "swim with the manatee" experience at Chaankanaab as we have that booked also for our time in Cozumel in a few weeks - like you, we have done the "swim with dolphins" thing a few times, so thought this would be different - so glad to hear you had a wonderful time! Also appreciated hearing about the buffet for lunch - traveling with my 15 year old grandson who is a bottomless pit, so we will probably pay for the buffet (and they will lose money on him, no doubt!).

 

Thank you for sharing! :)

 

 

Be sure to bring a printout of your reservation confirmation for the check-in process (both at the front gate and at the dolphin discovery). Also, if you have your own snorkel, bring it! They only give you a mask to swim with the manatee, not a breathing tube thing. We only had one, and DH was kind to enough to let me use it!

[utopiahereicome]

Be sure to bring a printout of your reservation confirmation for the check-in process (both at the front gate and at the dolphin discovery). Also, if you have your own snorkel, bring it! They only give you a mask to swim with the manatee, not a breathing tube thing. We only had one, and DH was kind to enough to let me use it!

 

Thanks for the snorkel tip!

Can I ask how much you paid for the photo package once you bargained them down?

[TripleU]

Thanks for the snorkel tip!

 

Can I ask how much you paid for the photo package once you bargained them down?

 

 

They offered $140 for 2 people, and we paid $100, which was my 1st offer. We got 79 photos. I wish I would have started at $70. Oh well.

[APDMOM]

Thank you for taking the time to post this! :)

[baman]

I am glad to hear u had a great time we go next year and i was looking for things to do on the islands i will check into what u did sounds fun.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

[LuCruise]

Thanks for the great review. And i loved hearing traveling with kids.

 

Know what you mean about how it's odd still having to pre plan for a cruise. On most, you just show up. We went to Disney World so can relate to the pre-planning. I don't mind though as it helps with the wait for the cruise.

 

Thanks again for posting about your vacation. You are blessed having 3 girls to have these experiences.

[SherriZ366]

Thanks again for the "triplet focused" review -- you gave me lots of ideas. OA moves to Port Canaveral in Nov. 2016 so maybe we can cruise on her with DD, SIL and the boys.