Is Bigger Always Better? - Oasis of the Seas March 12 2017 Review

[CanadaCathi]

I think it is #1. Hopping on a little bit of a soapbox here, I don't mean to offend. But there is no way you learned the cracker/cheerio trick if you are a certified diver. Although a neat trick (in a cruise vacation kind of way) , fish will swim around you anyway, there is really no need to alter the eco-system of marine animals by feeding them human food. Just like dairy doesn't agree with you, sweet wine doesn't agree with me (ptewwee), human food doesn't agree so well with fish.

Take only pictures, leave only bubbles.

 

I get the diver soapbox, but our guide in San Andres Columbia showed us that one. They were a little more lax with rules there though, they also took us on a questionable night dive and a cave dive that I definitely shouldn't have done. I get it, and it's not something I do all the time, and I sure as hell don't leave the plastic floating around. You may want to skip my Cozumel review because we're going to feed more fish there.

[CanadaCathi]

I think I made it too easy, looks like everyone has done a good job of following along. No, I am definitely NOT a sky diver, the older I get the more wimpy I get about heights and that just makes me want to hurl everywhere at the very thought of it. IT’S FALLING. I try to avoid falling whenever I can. I once fell down a flight of stairs in a parking lot and was stopped by my head hitting a truck bumper. 100+ stitches and a wicked Harry-Potter-esque scar later and I STILL DON’T LIKE FALLING. So yes, all those other things are true. I love to dive but rarely get to do it because Jelly isn’t old enough yet and I don’t like to ditch her, I am a nerd through and through and am sad I am too far away to attend CarolinaCon13 (http://www.carolinacon.org/), and I do love salt. Like, I TOTALLY get the expression, ‘dear as salt’. When I lived on a farm I once licked a salt lick. I own a Himalayan salt platter. I have finishing salts for baking like espresso salt, spicy salts for accenting like sriracha salt, savory salts and subtle salts and sweet salts (mmm, honey salt in homemade cornbread). I just finished making a Snickers Cheesecake for my brother who is visiting – I probably won’t even eat any. But I will eat a bowl of Lay’s ANY TIME.

So, now you have some idea of just how much I love salt. This is important to the story because of something that 150 Central Park does that is probably not a big deal to others. As a matter of fact, I heard other people COMPLAIN about it.

Look.

At.

This.

 

Do you see what that is?! That is a salt sampler, brought to each table with two kinds of bread and unsalted butter. The idea is you sprinkle a little bit on your bread. I ALMOST DIED RIGHT THERE. The salts included a standard sea salt, Indian, Hawaiian, Australian, French sel gris, and smoked alder salt from Washington State. I’d had all of them before except for the Indian salt, which I since looked up and found to be ‘kala namak’. It’s a super interesting one; because of the sulfurous area where it’s found, it tastes like hard-boiled eggs. Now, there aren’t a lot of things that I enjoy that taste like hard boiled eggs other than hard boiled eggs, but this was delicious. It would be fantastic on so many things. So this was a very rare and special treat, and made me love 150 Central Park immediately.

 

I was seated by the window with a lovely view of Central Park for good people-watching, and I decided to start with the house martini; Basil, Cucumber, and Grey Goose.

 

 

It was made table side and was every single bit as delicious as you think.

I started with the Lobster Gnocchi in Carrot Puree.

 

It was very good, and there was a generous amount of lobster. I appreciated the lack of dairy but at the same time found myself missing the richness that comes from a cream or butter-based sauce.

I had a difficult time choosing between the scallops and short ribs for my entrée. I went beef.

 

 

I very rarely cook short ribs because Jelly doesn’t like them, so I often end up turning to this option when I am in a fine-dining establishment.This was good, but not great. It did not melt in my mouth but was a bit chewy; as you can see the ‘leeks’ were a mere suggestion, and again with the damn veggie puree. I may sound low-class when I say this, but I really missed having a starch to go along with the hunk of meat; where are those mashed potatoes when you need them? Or a little dollop of potatoes au gratin would have been lovely. It was plenty of food, I just felt like it was unbalanced.

 

I used my C&A ‘specialty dining’ drink coupon to get a glass of Chilean red with dinner that was very good. For dessert I made a mistake, and I can admit that, but it’s because I don’t really care about dessert to begin with and I thought the Basil Panna Cotta sounded interesting. It was not. It was bland and watery and flavorless and the pistachio biscotti was CHEWY. Sacrilege!

 

 

I basically slapped it off the table in outrage. I wasn’t going to say anything because, well, I didn’t really care, but the waiter could immediately tell I was not thrilled and offered to bring something else. So I got the Bittersweet Bourbon Chocolate Tart to-go for Jelly, who I just knew would be pissed about eating with the kids. It was ok if you’re into chocolate, which I guess most normal people are. I liked the salted caramel sauce.

 

Service was excellent until the waiter got busy, and then it took 15 minutes to get the dessert and a very good cup of coffee. Still, I arrived at 6:25p for my 6:30p reservation and was done by 7:40, much earlier than I expected. My waiter was TJ and he did a very good job. I would definitely try this one again and would recommend it. I’m out of room here for pictures so I’ll post the men uphoto in my next one.

Edited March 29, 2017 by CanadaCathi

[CanadaCathi]

150 Central Park Menu -

Chocolate Tart –

Pacified Jelly –

 

The movies showing this evening were ‘Storks’ at 6p, and ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’. I’m a big Harry Potter fan and am planning to take Jenny to Universal next March, but I had told her she/we had to read at least the first book before we went, and before I let her watch any of the movies. So far she hadn’t really been too interested, but she ended up playing an HP video game with her cousins at Christmas and was warming up to the idea.So I figured ehhh, let’s break the rules and start her on the last movie, why the hell not. I wasn’t sure how she’d do (and god forbid if any of the animals had died), because she still watches mostly animated stuff, but she hung in there and ADORED it, so, yay! We got there ½ hour early to get seats and there were plenty available, and once again I was glad I had a sweater. We remembered snacks this time!

 

(Alex enjoyed it as well)

 

And then it was a very late bedtime for the sleepy girls.

 

Up next – Our very favorite port, COZUMEL!

[CanadaCathi]

Day 6 – Cozumel

Weather Forecast – 73 degrees and sunny

Drink of the Day - No clue, I've fallen apart here, sorry

 

Friday!

 

In addition to the digital maps of the ship that were posted by the elevators, they also had these message boards at the ends of the hallways that were super useful.

 

 

We once again – you guessed it – had breakfast in the She'sLikeTheWindjammer, at 7:45a, and I was a little concerned when we peeked out on deck because it was VERY cool and breezy; one woman beside us remarked that she was going to go grab her coat! Noooooooo, this was NOT what we wanted Cozumel to be!

 

Oh, and also, it was St. Patrick’s Day.

 

Like it's such torture to be on a cruise with your mother and she just wants to take a damn picture of you? Ugh, children are awful.

We arrived before sunrise, and it was beautiful.

 

 

I don’t much care for the Cozumel port despite all the recent renovations. It’s still the same three basic shops over and over again selling all the same things (liquor, jewelry, crap). And we tend to avoid the local bars and restaurants, although I know people who park their butts and stay all day and get hammered and have an amazing time.

 

Last year we did a day trip to a resort just up the strip,at the Melia. We enjoyed it, but chairs were hard to get and we ended up walking down the beach to another resort where the snorkeling was better. So we figured this year, why not just get a day pass to THAT resort? I love doing resort day passes. It’s a lot of money for something so, well, unexciting, but if all you want is some good food and unlimited drinks and swimming and sun and sand, this is the excursion for you. We’ve done dolphins and rays and catamarans and learned we like the simplicity of this a LOT. One of my great sorrows about Oasis is that she’s too big to tender at Grand Cayman, where we like to do the same thing.

 

We tried to take our time getting off the ship because we knew there was a time different (-1 hour) and that the resort day pass technically wasn’t til 9a, but we just couldn’t wait. The taxi organization this year was MUCH better, they seem to have that worked out now, so we got in a cab right away and were off. Something we like to do is stop at the local mercado fresco for fresh corn tortillas. Nothing is quite like a handmade, just-warmed corn tortilla (sprinkled with a tiny bit of lime and salt, of course). This year we had some translation issues with the driver getting where we needed to be (he took us to a grocery store/supermarket first, but luckily had a translation app on his phone so I could look up ‘fresh market’). It was 5 pesos for 8 tortillas, so, what, twenty-five cents? Gahhhh need to move there. Yes, I’ve made my own, but it’s not the same, I swear.

(note, they take US $ if you want to go check it out, it's a much better place to get souvenirs)

 

 

 

So tortillas in hand we arrived at El Cozumeleno, 9a ship time/8a local time. The taxi is normally around $16 because it’s a bit of a drive (15-20 mins), but the driver charged us $20 including the market stop.

 

El Cozumleno was breathtaking.

[CanadaCathi]

El Cozumeleno Resort – Cozumel, Mexico

 

 

 

One of the nice things about arriving so early was that we had our pick of location. The nice lady at the desk who checked us in reminded us to wait til 9a to take advantage of things like the restaurants/bars and took an imprint of my credit card and the balance of what I owed and that was about it. Interesting note, I find that booking through a 2nd party for the day passes often saves a few bucks; I used Island Marketing both last year and this year. It was $55 for me and $25 for Jelly; when I messaged the resort directly they quoted me $65 and$30. This is a little bit more expensive than the popular Nachi Cocom, but by only a few bucks and it’s nowhere near as popular, so not as crowded.

 

 

So again, early, beautiful, and sun coming up and NO RAIN like they had been calling for, and it started warming up immediately and it was going to be a GLORIOUS day!

 

 

[CanadaCathi]

I talked to several of the guests staying at the resort, because Jenny and I had talked after last year’s visit about coming back and staying for a full week, and I wanted to hear the good and the bad. It was pretty standard; the buffet food was decent but got boring after a while, but you could order off a menu a la carte and it was really good; the rooms were decent enough, the service was very good, it was pretty quiet, there weren’t too many issues with chairs, everyone was friendly. So, yes, this is going to be an upcoming trip for sure. They have an onsite spa and kids club as well.

 

(I want to go to there)

 

(buffet hut)

 

Have I sold you on it yet?

We settled into our spot and decided to check out the buffet for second breakfast, or early elevenses.

 

 

They open up the windows to the water and it's just positively gorgeous. There was lots of fresh fruit, and I had this ‘green juice’ thing that was delicious, and the refried beans – god, I could write a poem about their beans. As a matter of fact, I think I will, that’s how good they were.

 

An Ode To Cozumeleno Resort's Refried Beans

 

Warm and soft as silk

Lard, salt and love; frijoles

I long to return.

 

So yes, you get the picture, I was a big fan of a few of the buffet items.

After breakfast we relaxed a bit.

 

 

And got a little bit of sun

 

The wait service here was FANTASTIC. Attentive, friendly, they brought me drinks.. (banana daiquiris for me, virgin chocolate monkeys forJelly).

 

 

Then it was time for some snorkeling!

[CanadaCathi]

The sea was a little bit rough, but apparently not as rough as the local guests said it had been the day prior, so I guess we were lucky. I’d been reading the past few weeks leading up to our departure about other cruisers having issues with wind and rough seas, so I counted us lucky for the weather we had. This meant the water was not as crystal-clear as last year,which was a little disappointing, but we still saw plenty of stuff (I saw a positively gorgeous massive silver long-nosed guy when we first waded in that I assume was a gar, but I’m TERRIBLE at fish identification no matter how many I see, and I didn't get a picture of him).

 

 

 

There’s a Jelly in there, somewhere.

She said one of them nipped her and I was all like, Oh c’mon, it’s a little tiny fish, but then I saw this and was like ohhhhhh…

 

 

 

 

 

And then – The Accident.

[Pennyscandy]

Accident? Oh no!

[CanadaCathi]

Duh Duh Duhhhhhhhh!

 

The sea, she was angry that day. Whether she was ticked off that we had upset the ecosystem or she had taken offense to my Unattractive Hat, I can’t be sure. The waves were crashing into shore and the undertow was fierce. Getting into the water was just as hard as getting out; you were dashed onto rocks and there were sudden drops and it was rough going. Jelly had to apply SEVEN BAND-AIDS when we got back to the room, and I had a gash that did not require a band-aid because grownups care less about bleeding all over things and are too busy trying to find the specific Secret Lives of Pets band-aids that are the only right ones.

 

I was ready to take a break, and was almost all clear; I set one leg down in the surf trying to get my balance and my foot sank quite a bit as the waves went back out so it was trapped but ok, whatever, then I turned slightly to swing my other leg around and BAM, I was knocked down, hard, on that first leg. On a bad, arthritic knee.That was twisted. I know, arthritis at such a young age, right? When I had a car accident a few years ago I had both my legs x-rayed and the tech was aghast. We don’t do great with knees in my family. So, anyhow, I went to stand up and couldn’t. So, that wasn’t good. I crawled over to the sea wall and pulled myself up on a rock and sat there for a minute. Huh. I couldn’t put any weight on my left leg. Well, that was going to be a problem, I HAVE A LOT OF WEIGHT THAT NEEDS TO GO SOMEWHERE. I started to inch towards our beach chairs and was like ohhhhhhhhhhhh noooooooooo. Each step on that leg was excruciating. Now, I’m an exaggerator and a bit of a baby, but in reality I’m pretty tough with actual pain. When I fell down those stairs in that parking lot I didn’t lose consciousness; I stood up and calmly turned to my roommate, scalp hanging open, and said “I haven’t been in the country long enough to have health insurance, I can’t go to the hospital”. So I knew I was in trouble with this. I made it back to the chair and considered my options. I didn’t have internet access so couldn’t ask Dr. Google what I might have done, or what I should do for it, so I immediately did the wrong thing – tried to ‘walk it off’. That was a bad idea.

 

By now Jelly was out of the water and worried, so I tried to downplay it. Since I’m the only parent she’s got she tends to freak out a little when I get sick or anything, and I didn’t want to ruin her day. We were both starving so I decided to try to make it to the buffet hut for lunch. Slowwwwwwwwwwwly, one foot then dragging the other, looking like an idiot, we made it.

The lunch buffet didn’t blow me away like breakfast did, mostly because THERE WERE NO MOTHER LOVING BEANS, but they did have a guy making quesadillas, which were very tasty. We figured we’d have a light buffet lunch, then do a second later lunch from the menu, where I’d spotted tacos and rice and BEANS and stuff like that. Plus I was feeling a little queasy from the pain and couldn’t get comfortable and didn’t feel like eating right then.

 

 

I figured I’d go back and relax a bit and maybe it would magically be all better.

It did not magically get better. I sat and watched Jelly swim for a little while longer and thought about how the heck I was going to get back to the ship. More importantly, what would happen AFTER that – would I need a wheelchair? Gahhh the logistics! And I couldn’t drink anymore! And the weather was PERFECT - the sun was shining and it was hot but not too hot, and oh man, was I irritated. I waited til 2p local time and couldn’t take it any longer, even just sitting there. Never once was I smart enough to think to ask a waiter or front desk staff for Advil or anything, because while moms are great at taking care of other people, sometimes they aren't very good at taking care of themselves. We got checked out, and they got us a taxi, and we were back in port at 3:30p ship time. Hobble, hobble, teeth gritted, pale and in a cold sweat, leaning on Jelly, no stops for tequila, I made the long walk through the port and out the pier and onto the ship and up to the room, counting every single step. Closed the door and burst into tears and barfed my guts out. Went through my bag of tricks and took Tylenol, naproxen, and a Xanax, which were all the right things, and Jelly helped me get the knee propped up on a pillow, which again was accidentally the exact right thing, and then FURTHER did the right thing when she ran down and got ice (they said they don’t have ice packs on board, I called and asked), and I wrapped the ice in a washcloth with a hair scrunchie and put that on it.

Good news, everyone! 2 hours later the swelling had gone down significantly and the drugs had kicked in and I could roll over without screaming! I even felt like eating! I was ok with small steps and barely limped, so we went to the MDR for our 6p reservation, but as soon as we sat down we were like nahhhhhhhhhh. The menu was crab cakes and tuna and stuff that weren’t tremendously appealing, so we decided to have appetizers (shrimp cocktail), and then go to the WJ instead. It was taco night! They had a massive green St. Patrick’s Day cake, and more balloons and cake and ice cream, and I’m sure lots of other good things to eat but I was a little out of it so don’t remember much else.

 

 

They were showing Miss Peregrine in 3D but I’d watched it on the plane, plus wanted to ice my leg some more (plus Jelly had to reapply about 14,394 band-aids), so we stayed in the room after dinner and I watched John Wick, which as a dog lover I enjoyed very much. I never liked dogs until I gave birth to a dog lover, who begged and begged and begged and begged for a dog until she wore me down, and she chose the most ridiculous runt and named him Peanut, and now I call him Nutters and cook for him and he is my baby and I might love him more than Jelly.

 

 

Sadly, this was also the evening we received our departure information. I was glad I’d already decided to try self-disembarking this year (hence the one suitcase each), because as always we had a late time (#50, 11a), and we had a 12:10p flight departing from MCO. More on self-disembarking later. Sadly, I didn’t pay enough attention to the luggage valet info, because I think we qualified for it, and that would have been nice.

 

Up Next – Last Sea Day, Sea Legs Ok

[CanadaCathi]

Side Note - I am NOT the kind of parent who let Jelly watch John Wick. I had used the Netflix download feature before departing and watched it on my tablet with earphones while she watched the endless DreamWorks movie stream. Love the Netflix offline option.

[Mosttoyswin]

Really enjoy your review. Also I agree - what is it with the beans in Mexico? They are the best I've ever had anywhere and it doesn't matter where we are in Mexico they are just the best.

[Journey Logan]

This has been the best novel I have read in awhile! I got to this page and it stopped. I was stunned the book wasn't finished. I kept looking for the forward button. :confused: hahaha

Thank you for the wonderful entertaining writing. We are booked on Oasis Nov 5.:D

[CanadaCathi]

Really enjoy your review. Also I agree - what is it with the beans in Mexico? They are the best I've ever had anywhere and it doesn't matter where we are in Mexico they are just the best.

 

I probably don't want to know, it's probably some weird fat that has like 23 billion calories or gives people a lazy eye or something equally terrible. But seriously, I don't get why they have to be so good. SO GOOD! I ate them at 9am! Voluntarily!

 

And also, thank you.

[CanadaCathi]

This has been the best novel I have read in awhile! I got to this page and it stopped. I was stunned the book wasn't finished. I kept looking for the forward button. :confused: hahaha

Thank you for the wonderful entertaining writing. We are booked on Oasis Nov 5.:D

 

Ahahahaha such a novel! This is what happens when an English Major-turned kindergarten teacher-turned software PM needs a creative outlet :-). Don't worry, it will be finished soon, the cruise is almost over. And you have it still to look forward to!

 

And, thank YOU.

[Pennyscandy]

So sorry about your knee injury. I had mine replaced 3 yrs ago, but I'm an old lady. My knee was inured in a fall about 25 yrs ago and never got it checked, kept falling kept ignoring. Bad mistake, might have been able to avoid replacement. So get it checked out when you get home and travel with an ace bandage. Will miss your posts.

[wolfganghowell]

Egads - sorry about the knee (please pronounce "sorry" with the proper Canadian accent). And what a brilliant dog name, said the woman who owns 3 chihuahuas named Taco, Tamale and ....Peanut. Your little one looks like a llaso apso!

[jmaedcruise]

But never, and I mean never have I heard a normal English speaking Canadian say a-boot.

 

I think this is more of a trait of the neighbors to your south who reside in Minnesota and N. Dakota...

BTW I am from Michigan and we say "pop" as well!

[Cel_cruise]

Oh My! Knee Nightmare!! So glad it got better - you are a real trooper for getting thru the day! Have you had it looked at since you were home? Everything really okay? Hope so!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[molsonschooner]

Contrary to popular belief many Canadians pronouce it the same as you do.

 

The only time I have heard someone say "aboot " is in a satirical manner.

I agree constable, I never hear Canadians pronounce it like that.

[lbjen]

Wow you almost have me signing up for 150 CP, just for the salt, even though it's pretty much the only thing on the entire menu that I can eat! You said they handled your lactose intolerance well, I have quite a lot more intolerances but I am thinking about going for it now.

[CanadaCathi]

So sorry about your knee injury. I had mine replaced 3 yrs ago, but I'm an old lady. My knee was inured in a fall about 25 yrs ago and never got it checked, kept falling kept ignoring. Bad mistake, might have been able to avoid replacement. So get it checked out when you get home and travel with an ace bandage. Will miss your posts.

 

Thank you, so sorry to hear you had to have yours replaced. Mine is still a little twinge-y, probably would be a good idea to have it looked at, good suggestion!

[CanadaCathi]

Egads - sorry about the knee (please pronounce "sorry" with the proper Canadian accent). And what a brilliant dog name, said the woman who owns 3 chihuahuas named Taco, Tamale and ....Peanut. Your little one looks like a llaso apso!

 

Ahahaha omg Taco and Tamale, that just kills me, I love it.

My Peanut is a maltipoo, although he's often mistaken for a shih tzu.

[CanadaCathi]

Oh My! Knee Nightmare!! So glad it got better - you are a real trooper for getting thru the day! Have you had it looked at since you were home? Everything really okay? Hope so!!!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

No, not smart enough to have it looked at, but it hasn't bothered me, thank you!

[CanadaCathi]

Wow you almost have me signing up for 150 CP, just for the salt, even though it's pretty much the only thing on the entire menu that I can eat! You said they handled your lactose intolerance well, I have quite a lot more intolerances but I am thinking about going for it now.

 

They've come a really long way with handing allergies/intolerances; the kitchen is really good about it and the menus are pretty varied. I think with enough notice they could take very good care of you. But - give them notice. When we did the galley brunch a woman said she couldn't have any of the desserts and they said they'd find her something - they brought her a bowl of what looked like orange jello, I was DYING, it was obviously NOT what she was expecting and she refused to eat it! But really, they do some great things if they have a heads up. And seriously - that salt. Worth it. Just got eat bread and salt. I'd pay $20 to do that.

[CanadaCathi]

Day 7 – At Sea

Weather Forecast – 75 degrees but felt colder, overcast and windy

 

Ahhhhh, the sad last day at sea. The day when the sun rises and it dawns on you that your trip is almost over. If you’ve had a good vacation and done all the things you may actually be, dare I say it, a little happy to be sailing towards home. After a long week on board the idea of a hot bath and a night in your own bed starts to actually sound very appealing. The idea of grabbing a coffee in your PJs without people raising eyebrows at you (YES I GO TO THE PROMENADE IN MY PJS IT’S 6a, OLD PEOPLE) sounds heavenly. You’ve had plenty of sun and water and sand and let’s face it, you’re not use to all this activity and you’re just plain tuckered out. So yeah, I’ll admit it, I was ready to be done.

 

 

Breakfast – Windjammer

OMG there were fresh waffles! They were just stupidly good.Like, really, really good, with lots of fresh berries… mmmmmmm.

 

 

We walked around after breakfast and packed some more, then at 10:45 we headed to the Galley Tour. It was pretty much the same as the one we’d done on Freedom. I still think it’s cool. It was a little disappointing how assembly-line this one was; the sous chef had actually started losing his voice, I think he said it was the third tour he’d done that morning, and there was another tour running at the same time that we kept having to wait for.

 

 

After the tour was the brunch, at 12p. I thought the menu was so-so, but maybe I was just jaded after the week of other great things.

 

The only thing that sounded appealing was the darn waffle, so yes, I doubled down on waffles this day, but I have no regrets.

Sooooooooo goooooooooood.

 

Since it was our last day I let Jelly do this –

 

Yes, that’s chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, and a chocolate milk for lunch. Basically an 8-year old’s dream come true. Jelly doesn’t actually get all crazy and hyper after chocolate/sugar, plus we had time to walk around more so I figured what the heck. She was going to use her free WiFi from the meet & mingle after brunch but had lost it, so I have zero feedback on how the internet service was, sorry.

 

Then at 2p we made our way to the Opal Theater for – CATS!