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Oasis trip booked-- tell me about the dining!

DisGeebs

By DisGeebs,
in Royal Caribbean International

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DisGeebs

DisGeebs

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We have booked Oasis and want to get some good opinions, ideas, tips, etc. about the dining. What specialty restaurants are your favorite? Do you know the prices of them individually? If you had to choose one, which would it be? Thanks in advance!

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Ken Greco

Ken Greco

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We have booked Oasis and want to get some good opinions, ideas, tips, etc. about the dining. What specialty restaurants are your favorite? Do you know the prices of We found breakfast and lunch in the MDR when available is good also
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Shivdan

Shivdan

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Just got off Oasis, food in the specialty restaurants very good 150 Central Park was very swish, Izumi - the hibachi part- was good fun and worth the cost. You can get restaurant packages for 3/4/5 nights, you can pre-book on line or they will be offering them as you get onboard. For lunch the park cafe in Central Park was perfect, fab salads (put what you want in them) and the beef roll to die for. However on a negative note as a chef I sometimes found the sauces on the meals in the MDR slightly over seasoned, but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the MDR.

 

 

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kearney

kearney

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We have booked Oasis and want to get some good opinions, ideas, tips, etc. about the dining. What specialty restaurants are your favorite? Do you know the prices of them individually? If you had to choose one, which would it be? Thanks in advance!

 

We sailed on Allure back in early Sept. We signed up for a 4 night specialty package at $90/person. A few observations: first of all any mean I don't have to cook is a good one, so I am not as critical as other posters. While I love a good steak, I felt that Chops was more rushed that I would have liked. Since the menu is limited, I blame this on the meal being ready sooner that I was prepared. The staff did not rush us... it is just that the food was ready very quickly. We chose to eat twice a Giovanni, I felt the menu had a wider selection that interested me. 150 Central park had the best atmosphere, but the menu was a bit less interesting... why we ate their once instead of twice.

 

If I were to do this again, I would probably either 1) go with a three night package and have my first meal on the second night. Then when I got on board I would see if I could get a really good deal for the first night. One couple did Chops night one for $30/two. 2) The other idea is that instead of eating at speciatly restaurant... on nights where the dinning room menu is not interesting... go ahead and order a full lobster for an additional fee or a nice steak.... as I understand it the extra charge steaks in the dinning room are actually from chops, probably a prime vs choose steak... they prepare it in the dinning room kitchen, but a better cut of beef... hence the extra charge.

 

We brought two nice bottles of red wine which we brought along to the specialty restaurant. They did not charge a corking fee, but we did add extra tip for this service. I have not tried the samba grill or other specialty options. On Oasis we did go to the Solarium bistro. One thing I miss on Oasis class ships... is being able to dine as the sun goes down with a nice view. The Solarium Bistro and Samba Grill would give you that option. Might be a nice option on night 1, since these restaurants tend to be quiet on night one... just a thought

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RedJessi

RedJessi

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If I were to do this again, I would probably either 1) go with a three night package and have my first meal on the second night. Then when I got on board I would see if I could get a really good deal for the first night. One couple did Chops night one for $30/two.

 

How do you go about getting that kind of a deal? :D

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gqboy1

gqboy1

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Will be going on our first cruise in January. How do we distinguish what's included (free) vs. what's additional cost in the various eateries? Do we assume if there's no price listed then it's free? I'm not that interested in paying anything more than what's included on this trip for food.

 

TIA!

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Clarea

Clarea

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Will be going on our first cruise in January. How do we distinguish what's included (free) vs. what's additional cost in the various eateries? Do we assume if there's no price listed then it's free? I'm not that interested in paying anything more than what's included on this trip for food.

 

TIA!

I usually ask the crewmember.

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kearney

kearney

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Will be going on our first cruise in January. How do we distinguish what's included (free) vs. what's additional cost in the various eateries? Do we assume if there's no price listed then it's free? I'm not that interested in paying anything more than what's included on this trip for food.

 

TIA!

 

The cruise compass uses $ to tell you what restaurants are extra. Depending upon the ship the names of specialty restaurants vary. Oasis class the extra cost restaurants are Giovanni's, Chops, 150 Central Park, Sabor, Samba Grill/Solarium Bistro, John Rockets for lunch (breakfast no charge), Izumi (ala cart), Vintages.. tapas ala carte, Sabor ala cart.

 

My time dining (MTD) and scheduled seating in main dinning rooms, Windjammer, Park Cafe, Solarium bistra at lunch are no charge. There are other places as well

Note if you feel like a prime steak or full lobster while in the main dinning room... that is an extra charge... but usually less than if you ate at one of the specialty restaurants.

 

Ice cream at the Icecream shop is extra... but there is usually a soft ice cream machine somewhere near the pool area. Iced tea, watered down lemonaide, regular coffee free at windjammer... but specialty coffees are extra. Soft drinks extra along with alcoholic beverages. I am a big iced tea drinker, so lack of free soda is not a big deal for me.

 

I would search online for copies of the cruise compass for the ship you are interested in and checkout the different restaurant options. You really don't need to go to the specialty restaurants unless you want a more private atmosphere... nice to celebrate a special date. The more you familiarize yourself in advance the less confused you will be when you get on board. I am rather anal and tend to put together a table of restaurants ... list of free vs extra cost... just so I can familiarize myself before I go. Have fun

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gqboy1

gqboy1

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The cruise compass uses $ to tell you what restaurants are extra. Depending upon the ship the names of specialty restaurants vary. Oasis class the extra cost restaurants are Giovanni's, Chops, 150 Central Park, Sabor, Samba Grill/Solarium Bistro, John Rockets for lunch (breakfast no charge), Izumi (ala cart), Vintages.. tapas ala carte, Sabor ala cart.

 

My time dining (MTD) and scheduled seating in main dinning rooms, Windjammer, Park Cafe, Solarium bistra at lunch are no charge. There are other places as well

Note if you feel like a prime steak or full lobster while in the main dinning room... that is an extra charge... but usually less than if you ate at one of the specialty restaurants.

 

Ice cream at the Icecream shop is extra... but there is usually a soft ice cream machine somewhere near the pool area. Iced tea, watered down lemonaide, regular coffee free at windjammer... but specialty coffees are extra. Soft drinks extra along with alcoholic beverages. I am a big iced tea drinker, so lack of free soda is not a big deal for me.

 

I would search online for copies of the cruise compass for the ship you are interested in and checkout the different restaurant options. You really don't need to go to the specialty restaurants unless you want a more private atmosphere... nice to celebrate a special date. The more you familiarize yourself in advance the less confused you will be when you get on board. I am rather anal and tend to put together a table of restaurants ... list of free vs extra cost... just so I can familiarize myself before I go. Have fun

 

 

Thanks Kearney for the detailed post. I don't think we'll try the specialty restaurants this time around as our kids are very young and they could be uncontrollable at times. No need to ruin the mood for others right now! lol...

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kay1864

kay1864

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We were just off the Oasis Oct 1.

 

- I highly recommend the Dining Package (buy online in advance for cheaper rates). We paid about $21pp + tip, vs $29-45 onboard (if you book individually). We went with the 4-night package and honestly I wish we'd paid another $15 and bought the 5-night.

- Reservations were very easy, especially since we booked for 6pm. The catch is that you can't book until you're on board, but we had no trouble booking, or even changing as late as Day 2. Oddly enough Chops and 150 Central Park were wide open, but Izumi didn't have as an many openings.

- You can book in your cabin, but that option was offline for three days, so I just booked at the Specialty desk in the Promenade. Or at the restaurants themselves--three are steps from each other in Central Park.

- I chose the specialty nights based on the MDR menus. You can view the nightly menus outside the MDR on deck 3 (there's a touchscreen).

- Favorites were Chops and 150. If I'd gotten the 5-night package I would gladly have visited either a second time. Izumi was great fun, Giovanni's was very good but not as excellent as Chops and 150.

- With the package, Izumi lets you pick from the regular ($35) or premium ($40) menu with no problem. I'd recommend the hibachi (teppenyaki) over the sushi--the sushi prices were way higher than at home.

- You can get more than one appetizer or dessert, but two entrees will incur a surcharge.

- Despite warnings I'd read here about hard-sell tactics to upgrade Chops entrees, we didn't encounter these at all.

- Service was exceptional in all the restaurants, especially 150. 150 had by far the best coffee with dessert--French press!

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kay1864

kay1864

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Also, 150 is no longer a six-course meal, but rather a regular 3-course. The manager explained that people thought the six-course sizes were too small. We had more than enough to eat!

 

As a result, the menu stays the same all week and does not change mid-cruise.

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kay1864

kay1864

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Will be going on our first cruise in January. How do we distinguish what's included (free) vs. what's additional cost in the various eateries? Do we assume if there's no price listed then it's free? I'm not that interested in paying anything more than what's included on this trip for food.TIA!

 

The review here on cruise critic gives an excellent breakdown (although the prices are out of date): http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=368&pgtype=dining

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Indee96

Indee96

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The cruise compass uses $ to tell you what restaurants are extra. Depending upon the ship the names of specialty restaurants vary. Oasis class the extra cost restaurants are Giovanni's, Chops, 150 Central Park, Sabor, Samba Grill/Solarium Bistro, John Rockets for lunch (breakfast no charge), Izumi (ala cart), Vintages.. tapas ala carte, Sabor ala cart.

 

My time dining (MTD) and scheduled seating in main dinning rooms, Windjammer, Park Cafe, Solarium bistra at lunch are no charge. There are other places as well

Note if you feel like a prime steak or full lobster while in the main dinning room... that is an extra charge... but usually less than if you ate at one of the specialty restaurants.

 

Ice cream at the Icecream shop is extra... but there is usually a soft ice cream machine somewhere near the pool area. Iced tea, watered down lemonaide, regular coffee free at windjammer... but specialty coffees are extra. Soft drinks extra along with alcoholic beverages. I am a big iced tea drinker, so lack of free soda is not a big deal for me.

 

I would search online for copies of the cruise compass for the ship you are interested in and checkout the different restaurant options. You really don't need to go to the specialty restaurants unless you want a more private atmosphere... nice to celebrate a special date. The more you familiarize yourself in advance the less confused you will be when you get on board. I am rather anal and tend to put together a table of restaurants ... list of free vs extra cost... just so I can familiarize myself before I go. Have fun

 

 

Sorry to hijack but this is our first time on a cruise (first ever vacation actually) so thank you for the detailed post.

 

Does this mean that if we want water or soda with a meal we will be charged for it? Even if the place we are eating is not a specialty restaurant? If so, I'm wondering if there is somewhere we can buy a case of water and some apple juice for our kids to leave in our room?

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