iluvwineandtravel

Hi Joe, Yes. that is correct. We also did Chef's table for Thanksgiving night which was superb. It was the same menu we had on Grandeur in March, but appreciated having a different chef with a slightly different interpretation on oasis and really enjoyed it being in the suite lounge on the 14th floor. I think the food quality was higher at Chef's table, but I still really enjoyed the experience and food at Vintages as well!!! Yes you are correct about the number of courses, and the dinner at Vintages was more about presentation of the wines vs the food. The menu was a special menu just for them, although it likely pulled some of the dishes from the specialty restaurants and other locations. You could definately have more wine if you liked it. I did not feel limited in anyway and got more of several of them because i esp. love CAVA love Italian wines. The CAVA really served as a palate cleanser as well ( In fact, it was the palate cleanser that is served at Chef's table). :). I did not ask about a discount on the bottle of wine served with the meal, but that is a really great question!!!! They have only been offering this dinner for 3-4 weeks. It started on Oasis and is now spreading fleet wide so I am sure the offerings will evolve. I enjoyed it so much that I would have done it a second day if they offered a different menu.

Other photos from the ship in Nassua

Day 2- Nassau This was our 3rd time to Nassau this year. We decided to stay onboard and explore the ship more since this was our first time on Oasis class. The views were really beautiful from the ship. We had a gorgeous view out of our balcony. We ended up having lunch in the windjammer again which was less crowded since it was a port day. We got a window seat and also enjoyed the beautiful view. I went to the gym in the morning and also really enjoyed the full walking track on deck 5, and the chairs on the back. It is crazy that you only need 2.4 laps to equal a mile on this ship! I walked a mile late in the afternoon and sat in the chairs at aft to enjoy the sailway from Nassau. We departed early at 3pm on that day! Tonight was our dinner at vintages. It started at 6:30pm. We went to the diamond lounge first and then made our way to Vintages. There was only us and 1 other couple at the dinner. For each course, you chose between 2 items, and then you got the wine that was paired to go with that item. I should have taken a picture of the menu, but for the first course I chose the octupus which was paired with Vilarnau Cava from Spain. I love Cava and have had this wine before. Many of the other wines were italian with a NAPA cab for the main course I ordered. Course 2, I chose lobster bisque paired with Nipozzano Chianti. The beef for my main entree was slow roasted and paired with a cab, and then I got a chocolate molten style cake for desert paired with a port. I liked the presentation of the Tiramisu my husband got much better, but overall I thought the dinner was a fantastic value and I really enjoyed the setting of the wine bar!

More day 1 photos!

So I am a little behind on this. I promise to catch up on all of the posts after the cruise as this cruise has been unbelieveable! I got a great deal on wifi today until the end of the cruise. I am excited to have it for the last 2 sea days. It kind of gave me the best of both worlds--- still had the ability to relax, disconnect, and enjoy the cruise, and still had wifi going into the final two sea days for 75% less than I would have paid at even the cheapest rate. Tonight is thanksgiving and we are going to chef's table in the suite lounge, but I also want to blog about the wine pairing dinner we did at Vintages on night 2. It was $50 per person and I thought it was really fantastic! It was only DH and I and one other couple! The sommelier said they have only been doing them for 3-4 weeks now and they are now spreading fleet wide! Until I catch up, I will leave you with a few photos of St. Maarten today!!!

We ended up doing the Martini classes on the last 2 sea days (friday and saturday), and I enjoyed them. I loved that he gave us a discount for doing the one saturday!

I am a little late in posting on the blog, but it is because we have had such an incredible week! Day #1- Boarding Day I ended up walking to the beach from the hotel. There was a beautiful walking path that weaved in and out of a shrub covered path. The beach was beautiful at that time of morning. I walked on it a little ways and then walked down the big pier by the channel that we always see on periscope! After walking back to the hotel, I decided to go ahead and try out the lazy river prior to showering and getting ready to head to the pier. We packed up and left for the port and were calling an uber around 10:45 for the 1 mile short ride. The hotel also had a shuttle for a fee, but we prefer to take a ride with just us when possible. The line to board was already fairly long when we got there, but it moved quickly. The first line had no seperation for security, once inside there was a seperate line for pinnacle and suite guests. We did not get to break out for a seperate diamond line until the very end. By the time we got through the line, they were already boarding diamond and emerald and starting to board gold. We headed in and decided to brave it and head to the Windjammer. It wasn't very crowed yet. Flow is just always a challenge in the seating area because everyone goes all directions and everyone has bags. The promenade area was crowded since that is where we were boarding. No one was really at the pool decks early. After eating, we navigated some of the other areas of the ship and took pictures. Our staterooms opened up at 1:30, we were in a oceanview balcony forward on Deck 6 by the spa/gym. Overall, it was a convenient location to everything. In hindsight, I may have chosen an aft room and a higher floor more convenient to the diamond lounge because we really enjoyed the diamond lounge on this ship. Our muster station was in the spa and we just all watched the new video. Getting from the muster station to deck 11 aft for diamond happy hour was one of the only times the ship felt really crowded. We ended up taking the stairs up 5 flights, but it was still crowded. We like to eat early so we had My time dinner reservations at 5:45 and were seated right away. There was a long line for those that did not have reservations, but I like that oasis has a bar and a lounge area after the line if you have to wait. We also had the ice show booked for night 1. Other day 1 Insights: We went to vintages for the "meet the sommelier" event after boarding, it was really nothing, but we did learn that Vintages now offers a wine pairing dinner at their long table with the wine bottle for $50. Since we did not have a drink package this cruise, and the specialty dining was not on sale because of the holiday, we thought this was a great deal and 1/2 the price of Chef's table. You can only book this in port days, so we booked it for night #2 in Nassau. I really appreciated the new app on this ship and being able to look ahead at all the dinner menu's in the main dining room. Oasis does not allow you to board with the app yet. More photos of the ship to come!

HI all, I am in port Canaveral sitting in my hotel room this morning and excited to board Oasis of the the Seas today. This is my 27th cruise, but our first time on an Oasis class ship so I am super excited. I have had this cruise booked for a year now, after getting an unbelievable on cyber Monday last year so I have $400 OBC this cruise. This is also our first cruise as diamond, so our first time not getting the drink package in a while. The OBC will help. Because it is a holiday cruise, their were no specialty dining packages available in the cruise planner. We will be stopping in Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten this cruise. I am excited. I have not been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten in a while. I have 2 excursions booked outside of the cruise. For St. Thomas we are doing the "Taphus sips and bites tour" and for St. Maarten, we are doing the Bernard's island tour and then will likely come back to the boardwalk and get some drinks. In Nassau, I plan to just get off and have some drinks and appetizers. Starting at our favorite restaurant in Nassau, Athena cafe. My plan is to get conch fritters and their basil martini. :). We stayed last night at the holiday inn vacation club in port canaveral. I am an IHG credit card holder, so I used my annual certificate to redeem the room. The fee to maintain the card is $75, so I feel that I got a bargain on this room for $75. We arrived here early yesterday morning from Cincinnati. Lyft from MCO to the hotel was $61.72, and super easy! Our room was not ready yet so we checked our bags at the resort, and headed to Grills for lunch right next to where Navigator of the Seas was parked. I had the fish tacos which I was able to choose my fish for. ( I got fresh tuna, sushi style) and an IPA. The tacos were delicious. DL got the burger which also looked great! After lunch, we caught an uber to the taproom and Florida beer company which was a great atmosphere with lots of TV's. I enjoyed their southernmost wheat beer and DH got a flight and then purchased some IPA's for the hotel room. The weather is amazing in florda today, 60's and breezy so I wasn't as inspired to go into the amazing pool and lazy river at the hotel. Once they called and said our room/villa was ready, we headed back to the hotel. I sat out by the pool bar for a while and listened to the band, which was great. I also had a $3 mimosa, and they had a happy hour starting at 4. Our room was perfectly situated facing the channel so my favorite thing about the hotel was watching the cruise ships depart and come into the channel this morning. Yesterday, we watched Carnival breeze, the norwegian EPIC, the Disney fantasy, 2 other ships, and lastly Navigator of the Seas. This morning I woke up early, and saw Oasis come in about 5:30 am. Since then Carnival liberty and Carnival sunshine also sailed in. The lighting was perfect for the Sunshine. My plan is to head to the gym now and then possibly take a float in the lazy river prior or check out the beach prior to boarding oasis this morning. We are less than a mile from the port, so it will be an easy uber or lyft ride. The hotel also has a tram to the beach every 15 minutes, but I have not yet been. I don't have Wifi onboard, so i will update the blog, but it will be delayed. I am hoping to do Chef's table tonight or tomorrow night if I can get a special offer on board and since we have so much OBC. I am also tempted to take the Guacomole class at Sabor on one of the sea days. I did the sushi class on our grandeur of the seas cruise in march, and really enjoyed it!

I agree with you JLMoran. I have been to Alaska 3 times on Radiance class ( Radiance, rhapsody, and serenade) and once on celebrity Millenium and love that ship size. On millenium in May 2012, we were able to get closer to Hubbard glacier than the captain ever had before because the conditions were so perfect. You could hear the calfing up on deck. Also, I will point out that all 4 times I had an inside cabin and have no regrets ( on the trip in 2012, I only paid $1200 total for the trip). I never had a problem finding space up on deck, the helicopter pad, or in the solarium especially if you try to avoid the crowd once they all get cold and go back inside for breakfast! ? My DH and I have now down northbound, southbound, 1 roundtrip from Vancouver and 1 roundtrip from seattle and we will definately be going back! It is one of our favorite destinations! We have gotten so comfortable with Juneau now that the last time we took the city bus out to mendenhall glacier and stopped at the alaskan brewery for their tour and tasting ( which is pretty far out of the town) on the way back. They always have beers there that you can't get in the town, but then we like to hit the Flight Deck in town and watch the seaplanes land.

You will love the photo safari. I did it in 2012, and it is one of my favorite excursions ever!

She sometimes has pics from her cabin on her instagram! @captainkatemccue

I love her instagram page! I have been following her for quite a while. I also follow captain Tasos who I sailed with last year on the solstice from hawaii to vancouver. He was also AWESOME!

I always get 16 oz bottles. You can get Evian too, but not every bar carries it. I also love that I can grab a free bottle on my way out to shore from the guy at the water stand by the ship exit.

I am going to do this tour in November!

i have magnets I got designed on etsy that I got printed at vista print. Put them on my door for every cruise! Like others, I also use the magnet hooks in the room to hang my small purses, bags, etc. I also take some small magnets to hang the important papers and get them off the desk.

I did serenade to new england and canada last fall too. What date did you go?

"Some Toilets in Paris can be an experience as my oldest daughter found out A hole in the ground with 2 footprints in concrete to show where to put your feet as you squat wasnt her idea of luxury ( public toilets charge so make sure you have loose change )" I experienced a lot of these type of public toilets in China when I spent 3 weeks there a few years ago!

The fall serenade cruise out of boston are fun in the fall if they do that itinerary again this year.

I am glad you highlighted this excursion. I have it already booked for November on Oasis with some of my OBC. DH and I usually enjoy catamaran excursions.

if your wife likes zumba, they usually offer it for free in one of the public areas on sea days!

Love The Blog and Photos! We were just on serenade in September. There was a young short kid in the pub who we loved. He was really talented and we loved his tricks in the pub, and enjoyed watching him in the bar show later in the week!

I just did the bites of nassau food tour a few weeks ago and really enjoyed!

No. It was real vibes. I didn't think they were that great. Usually, I am more impressed with the music overall, but it may have been that we had a lot of cold days and they played inside most of the days. I think the bands and music often vary by contract. We had Michael Grimm and his wife Lucy from Las Vegas featured in one of our Headliner shows. He was really great, and DH and I enjoyed getting to know him and talking with him several nights at the schooner bar. http://michaelgrimmmusic.com/ Lucy even sang Kareoke prior to the quest. They told us they were new to doing cruises, but our traveling about once a month so you should look for them on more ships!

On Grandeur last week, they had coco locos on the menu everyday.