Two unrelated Oasis questions; Dinner and Jamaica tour question

[ImpulsivePuppy]

Hi, cruising on the Oasis departing Oct 24. It's so close now!! Cruising are myself, DW, and 2 sons (8 and 11).

 

We have been assigned 'anytime' dining. If we were to show up at the same time as assigned dining is seated will we have to wait longer to be seated, should we arrive 30 minutes after the main seating? When is typically the best time?

 

Also, I asked this on the Jamaica board with no responses at all so I am hoping someone here may have some suggestions. When in Jamaica we would like to hire a private guide with a car to spend the day touring with us, showing us the sights, go off the beaten path a little. Does anyone have any recommendations for reputable, solid guides or a well-respected outfit that does this?

 

Where does the Oasis dock in Jamaica (or do you tender?)?

 

Any other random advice for this cruise is very welcome. Thanks so much!!!!

[MAJPLO]

The ship docks in Falmouth, Jamaica, no tender. I can't help with a guide recommendation.

 

When we boarded we went to the dining desk and asked for a reservation for 5:30 pm and asked for it to be a standing reservation for every night, same table, same server. This made each night much faster with no waiting, just walk right in to the prearranged table.

[Retired LEO]

MTD and traditional dining are 2 separate dining rooms so you won't be walking in with traditional dining.

 

The Oasis will dock in Falmouth.

 

I can't help you with a guide, sorry.

[Slopoke15]

Hi, cruising on the Oasis departing Oct 24. It's so close now!! Cruising are myself, DW, and 2 sons (8 and 11).

 

We have been assigned 'anytime' dining. If we were to show up at the same time as assigned dining is seated will we have to wait longer to be seated, should we arrive 30 minutes after the main seating? When is typically the best time?

 

Also, I asked this on the Jamaica board with no responses at all so I am hoping someone here may have some suggestions. When in Jamaica we would like to hire a private guide with a car to spend the day touring with us, showing us the sights, go off the beaten path a little. Does anyone have any recommendations for reputable, solid guides or a well-respected outfit that does this?

 

Where does the Oasis dock in Jamaica (or do you tender?)?

 

Any other random advice for this cruise is very welcome. Thanks so much!!!!

 

where you dock in Jamaica will be noted on your cruise itinerary ... likely Falmouth ... but you should check your itinerary ...

 

my time dining - the time you choose will depend on your preferences ... we always go with an earlier time (5:30) to get ahead of the dinner rush, and to leave lots of time before going to the late shows ... it can change from day to day, but my experience has been that MTD can get a bit behind schedule the later you book if there are lots of early people dining that take lots of time to eat, relax, chat ... :)

[ImpulsivePuppy]

it can change from day to day, but my experience has been that MTD can get a bit behind schedule the later you book if there are lots of early people dining that take lots of time to eat, relax, chat ... :)

 

Tell me more about this. 'The later you book', I thought the whole point was that you could just arrive when ever you wanted, that you didn't have to book a time at all in the first place.. What am I not understanding here..?

[jcross2]

Michael, we have booked several times with Carolyn Barrett ... barrettadventures dot com. She has always been very reliable and very reasonable price wise. She has several drivers and vehicles and you can book a specific tour or pay an hourly rate if you have a specific destination in mind. I highly recommend her company.

[ImpulsivePuppy]

jcross, thanks!

[Slopoke15]

Tell me more about this. 'The later you book', I thought the whole point was that you could just arrive when ever you wanted, that you didn't have to book a time at all in the first place.. What am I not understanding here..?

 

it is true that you are not required to book your times in advance ... you can just show up to the designated dining room for MTD ... however, there are no guarantees that there will be a table available for you when you just walk up ... sometimes there are, sometimes there aren't ... you might have to wait in line for a while until a table opens up from people that went to the MTD room before you ... even if you book a later time in MTD, it is possible that when you show up at your time, you may have to wait for a bit for a table to open ... that's why we always reserve a table (prefer same table, same waiter) at an early time ... less chance of waiting

[ImpulsivePuppy]

So Slopo, is this something you do the first day, and just have a standing reservation for the entire trip?

[Slopoke15]

So Slopo, is this something you do the first day, and just have a standing reservation for the entire trip?

 

I book my reservation for MTD on line before I go (book all days) ... same time every day (5:30 to 5:45) ... I ask the folks at the MTD check in on day one that I'd like the same table every day ... I don't always go to the dining room, and on days when we decide to go to the windjammer ... we just let the dining room know

Edited October 14, 2015 by Slopoke15

[Sherri914]

So Slopo, is this something you do the first day, and just have a standing reservation for the entire trip?

 

Last time on oasis, we has MTD. I booked all our dinner times in a relatively close window (all around 6-ish). One month before, I emailed Royal Dining and asked to have a table for 2 in an area I knew I wanted to be seated, and asked if we could have the same wait staff each night. Got to ship first day, they asked us to confirm the table they'd selected for us, and told us that each night when we arrived we were to bypass the two MTD lines (there will be one for reservations and one for those without reservations) and go straight to our table. We had the same wait staff each night. And the one or two nights we didn't go to the MDR for dinner, we simply called and let them know that our table would be available that night.

[caseymorgan]

Sounds easier to just book early regular seating. You avoid all the hassle, never wait, have the same wait staff, and eat promptly at 6pm.

Edited October 14, 2015 by caseymorgan

[bouhunter]

We were at Ocho Rios last March and did a tour with Peat Taylor. The driver he assigned to us (private tour the 3 of us) was great. We went to the Blue Hole - AWESOME. Then tubing on the river. It was a fantastic day:) Not sure but I assume Peat probably does tours from Falmouth also.

Edited October 14, 2015 by bouhunter

[Sherri914]

Sounds easier to just book early regular seating. You avoid all the hassle, never wait, have the same wait staff, and eat promptly at 6pm.

 

Definitely easier to use traditional seating - early or late - if you want the same exact dining time each night. But we don't. Some nights we wanted/needed 5:15, others 6:00, and one night 6:30 - because of tours, shows, etc. But yes, if you're good with the same time every night then traditional is perfect!

[tropiclvrs]

Definitely easier to use traditional seating - early or late - if you want the same exact dining time each night. But we don't. Some nights we wanted/needed 5:15, others 6:00, and one night 6:30 - because of tours, shows, etc. But yes, if you're good with the same time every night then traditional is perfect!

 

 

We are the same in that we want/need the flexibility so we always go with MTD. On Oasis in August we didn't make an reservations prior to sailing. The first night we were in the dining rom was on Day 3 and just showed up around 6:30. We had to wait for at least 20 minutes but it was expeced since we didn't have a reservation.

 

Upon walking out of the dining room each night after I went up to one of the crew at the desk and asked for a reservation for the next night. By then I figured we'd pretty much know our schedule for the next day. If you like you table and waitstaff let them know you'd like to be at the same table or at least the same area that the watistaff serves.

 

I did think that MTD as crazir this at time than all he previous times we've used it. I think a lot more people are choosing MTD and they need to adjust the number or tables accordingly. There are so many people that cme back and say that they had traditional dining and had a large table but hardly anyone ever showed up.

[Nccruiser01]

I highly recommend Marvyn's Paradise Tours. Very reasonably priced and they will customize it for you. Take a look at the reviews.

 

http://www.marvynsparadisetours.com/#_=_

Edited October 14, 2015 by Nccruiser01

[ImpulsivePuppy]

I appreciate all the info on this thread everyone, thanks!

[BDsquared]

We hired Marvyn's Paradise Tours. I highly recommend them!! We were treated like family! I sent an email at 11:30pm asking for what it would cost for a group of 5 to see the "real Jamaica". 5 minutes later I received an answer back from Marvyn himself. Excellent, gracious service. We did not do anything too adventurous because we had my parents with us, but we saw a lot of scenery, ate delicious food, shopped in a HASSEL FREE shop, etc.

 

A few days after we returned home, Marvyn called to thank us for our business. :)