Oasis of the Seas ~ October 31, 2015 ~ Pictorial Review!

[clochette]

what a great review thank you.

[glitterbee]

Your pictures are fabulous!! How did you get so many without people?? And, what kind of camera did you use. I'll be on her in early March, and don't want to miss a thing! Thanks!

[DarthGrady]

what a great review thank you.

 

No problem! :)

 

Your pictures are fabulous!! How did you get so many without people?? And, what kind of camera did you use. I'll be on her in early March, and don't want to miss a thing! Thanks!

 

It's not easy on Oasis to be sure, most of the ship pics were taken on Nassau day while the ship was nearly empty.

 

The pics are a mixture, some were with my Nikon D5100, the rest were my phone (Motorola/Google Nexus 6).

[Justmekaren918]

Thank you for a great review and pix's! I believe it was a different Drew on Liberty and I thought he stunk; no imagination into anything. I am sorry Halloween was a let down since Oasis is supposed to have 1of the best. I can't wait to hear more.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[garnetpalmetto]

Thank you for a great review and pix's! I believe it was a different Drew on Liberty and I thought he stunk; no imagination into anything. I am sorry Halloween was a let down since Oasis is supposed to have 1of the best. I can't wait to hear more.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

That's Dru Pavlov that's on Liberty. Drew Devine is the CD on Oasis.

[DarthGrady]

Day 3, At Sea:

I woke up surprisingly early on the second morning, I must have had some residual rest from my extended slumber on the previous day. I got in a couple of zip line rides while it was empty since I never got to ride it on Allure. We all met for breakfast at Johhny Rockets which was pretty busy. The eggs and home fries were good, but the pancakes were the same low-grade flavorless pucks that are found in the Windjammer.

 

Later on we stopped by the past guest party at the Aqua Theater. There were many returning customers on board, over 200 Diamond, 130-ish Diamond Plus and 6 Pinnacles. We never got our invitations for the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle (and I forgot to write it down before we left) so we missed it unfortunately.

 

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in the Solarium. Paul and Dean, the Solarium Bartenders, were really nice guys. We had a lot of fun talking with them throughout the week. In the evening we stopped into Dazzles for some pre-club music. They had the nightclub in the Solarium which is always a mixed bag. It’s nice to be outdoors and have a different venue, but the in the hot months (aren’t they all in the Caribbean?) it can be very stuffy.

 

Zip line pics

 

From the Boardwalk

 

What you zip over, not a short drop

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

The Solarium Cafe

 

The Solarium

 

 

The Solarium Bar, my usual hangout in the afternoons

 

The observation deck just below the Solarium, all the way forward on deck 14

 

From the observation deck

[MerriWthr]

A Darth review just days before I board the Oasis this Saturday. I'm in heaven

 

My thoughts exactly!!

 

Michelle

[DarthGrady]

More sports deck

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

The rest of the gigantic pool deck of the Oasis

 

 

and by night

 

 

A look down into the cavernous elevator bank

 

 

 

Many evening beers were had in the pub

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Day 4, St. Thomas:

On our last visit to St. Thomas aboard the Allure we never even left the shopping area around the pier due to bad weather. Luckily the weather cooperated this time, so we got a cab over to Emerald Beach. Emerald is only about ten minutes from the ship, and nowhere near as crowded as some of the more well known beaches on the island. We enjoyed the day there, the water and beach were pleasant. There are also a few bars and restaurants at the few hotels that sit on the beach.

 

Before the evening activities I stopped at the pub for a few beers. Those that are looking for more than the typical American mega-brews should inquire here. They don’t have much in the way of craft beers, but they do have a decent selection of European brands.

 

One of the escalators that hurries the exit at ports of call

 

 

In St. Thomas

 

 

The HAL Oosterdam was next to us that day

 

 

At the beach

 

[DeesEscape]

Great review and awesome pics! Thanks so much. We will be on Allure in Jan. 1st time! Can't wait. :)

[DarthGrady]

Day 5, St. Maarten:

 

Our day in St. Maarten started earlier since the ship leaves early, at only 4:30 pm. This does not leave a lot of time for fun unfortunately. After visiting a few shops in Phillipsburg, we got a cab to Orient Beach and stayed there for the rest of the day. To avoid paying high bar prices for beer, we filled a backpack with the $1 cans that they sell in Phillipsburg. The beach was very nice, and not at all crowded since we were the only ship in port that day. I wish we had more time to enjoy it.

 

This was one of the two nights that we dined in the American Icon Grill, which is the bottom floor of the main dining room. The other two floors are Silk and The Grande. All are now oddly named remnants left over from Royal Caribbean’s failed attempt to bring dynamic dining to the Oasis. All three levels now serve the same menu; only the decorations and furniture are different. The food and service in the MDR was typically good, we all enjoyed our meals there.

 

My only pic from St. Maarten

 

 

Dinner was in the American Icon Grill

 

 

 

 

 

Each level has a bar in the foyer, which is handy

 

 

[DarthGrady]

More MDR pics

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Day 6 and 7, At Sea:

 

One of the things I enjoy about the eastern Caribbean cruises is the sea days on the way home. It’s nice to be able to sleep in without having to worry about waking up at any certain time.

 

On Thursday we took a tour of the bridge, which is offered to some of the tiers in the Crown and Anchor program. I was impressed with how far technology has advanced. The first wheelhouse I ever visited was on the original RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach. Since then, I’ve also seen the bridges of (Carnival) Fantasy Class, Radiance Class and Freedom Class ships. On Oasis, equipment that used to fill the entire room now occupies just a few stations; it’s now mostly empty space.

 

For lunch that day we met our friends for sushi at Izumi. I liked that they had a selection of beers from Asia. The sushi prices were a little steep, although I did like the complimentary endamame. I’m not sorry we went. It was nice to try it once, but I left feeling wistful for the old Jade Sushi on Monarch. The rolls in Jade were cheap and good, which is my favorite type of sushi.

 

The rest of the afternoon on Thursday was spent depleting the Solarium Bar’s beer supply. In the evening we stopped into the Diamond Lounge before having dinner in the MDR with some friends we met on board. The Solarium was hosting Club Twenty, the second outdoor nightclub event of the cruise.

 

It was, unfortunately, in Club Twenty that the entire cruise went off the rails. As we were just getting started the lights came up and the ominous “OSCAR OSCAR OSCAR” came over the speaker system, the code for a person overboard. Most reading this review will likely be familiar with the events of that emergency call, and I will not rehash them here. I will say that from my perspective, I thought the crew and officers handled the situation well. I went out to the port side rail immediately after the code was called out and noticed that the ship was already nearly stopped and turning to port. The rescue boats were in the water searching for the man within moments and we stayed in place as they looked through the night. The captain gave a somber and professional address the next morning explaining the situation for those who had been asleep during it. I personally applaud the crew members that put themselves into harms way in an attempt to save and later find the man.

 

Friday went similarly to Thursday. We had lunch in the dining room since they have a nice salad bar and buffet on sea days. Another lazy afternoon was spent with our bartender friends in the Solarium. I was surprised when the Blaze nightclub was actually pretty active on the final evening.

 

Lunch in Izumi

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

More Izumi

 

 

More beers!

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

From the bridge tour

 

 

 

One of the bridge wing control panels

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

I got a few pics of the children's area as well

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Scenes from "Come Fly With Me"

 

 

 

 

 

[PCWalton1]

Grady,

thanks for the review and all the great pictures. Our cruise on Oasis back in January was originally an end boardwalk balcony but I got lazy and moved us up by the elevators. Nice to see the view we missed out on. Kind of glad we moved, Marie likes her afternoon naps too.

[DarthGrady]

Club Twenty in the Solarium

 

 

 

One of the two cantilevered whirlpools in the Solarium

 

 

Lunch in the MDR on the last sea day

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Grady,

thanks for the review and all the great pictures. Our cruise on Oasis back in January was originally an end boardwalk balcony but I got lazy and moved us up by the elevators. Nice to see the view we missed out on. Kind of glad we moved, Marie likes her afternoon naps too.

 

I think you made a good choice. The room was nice, but she really hated the noise.

[brillohead]

 

TUTTI SALAD!!!!

 

Going to be on Navigator in less than a month, and I am already drooling over my beloved Tutti Salad Bar!!!!

[DarthGrady]

I finally got to see the Aqua Theater show on my fifth attempt between Allure and Oasis

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

A few more random shots

 

 

 

 

 

The signs still show the aborted Wonderland restaurant which was going to replace the old Concierge Lounge