Oasis: Neighborhoods

Something totally unique about Oasis of the Seas is the division of various neighborhoods. They are whole separate areas that take you away from the sea and into a different world. We've already talked about the Royal Promenade although I neglected a couple eating spots here.

If your sweet tooth strikes, you can head over to the Cupcake Cupboard.

For a fee, you may try several different flavors of cupcakes throughout your week on board. I didn't feel it necessary to pay for these.

There's also Sorrento's, a pizza place. The pizza was just so so but it was pretty handy to pick up a slice and head across the way to enjoy a pint at the Globe & Atlas Pub.

You can also pick up sandwiches, cookies, and drinks at the Cafe Promenade. But, lots of ships have a Royal Promenade. Let's move on to new and exciting, yes?

On Deck 6, you'll find the Boardwalk. We already talked about that a bit but I wanted to show you more things there to enjoy in addition to the carousel, aqua theatre and rock climbing wall.

If fried shrimp is your thing, look no further than the Seafood Shack. Eating here is an extra charge and they also have a party here once during the week that you can pay to attend. John and I looked at the menu but were not interested in the fried offerings they listed. Not a fresh piece of fish among 'em. It still had cute decor though.

This is an overhead view of the Boardwalk from Deck 15 (I think.) Those are all balcony rooms overlooking the Boardwalk. They are cheaper than an oceanview balcony and in some cases, cheaper than an inside room but allow you to see daylight. Technically, the view doesn't change like it would over the ocean but they probably provide good people watching.

This was my absolute favorite part of the Boardwalk. It's the Donut Shop! Every day, they offered 6 different (free!) varieties of donuts. They also had specialty coffee drinks for purchase but I wasn't going for that. To prove to myself that I was trying to be healthy, I mostly only ate the top halves of the donuts I selected and threw away the bottom. Half the calories!

The Boardwalk also had several different stores such as a candy store, toy store, clothing shop and so on. I didn't purchase anything on the ship. PRICEY!

While the Boardwalk is full of fun, let's move on to some place a bit more serene.

Down on Deck 8 is Central Park.

 Yes, a park -- at sea. It's totally open air so when it's raining, it also rains in the park. Our stateroom was a balcony overlooking the park from Deck 11, Room 11185. It was the best deal with the best incentives I could find outside of paying for a lowly inside room. While I missed looking out at the ocean and seeing when we had docked in port, I thought the Central Park room balcony was quite serene. I read out there and had wine out there. It was lovely.

Here I am in the park at night. They lit it up all pretty.

In Central Park there is an art gallery (free champagne!), a Coach store, the Park Cafe (good for breakfast and lunch and a nice change from the buffet) the Trellis Bar, Vintages Wine Bar, specialty restaurants and the top stop for the Riding Tide Bar.

Oh! I forgot to tell you about the Rising Tide Bar during the Promenade section. You hop on a giant open-sided elevator of sorts....complete with a full bar, tables and chairs. Then, in about 18 minutes, you travel up 3 decks and get out in Central Park. Pretty swanky, right? These fountains are what happens down below when it's on the way up. I don't have a picture of the bar itself. Sorry!

Here we are at Vintages. This was my favorite spot for a drink. It has a great wine menu and a very attentive staff. You can also pay extra for tapas but we didn't do that.

There are 3 specialty restaurants in Central Park that you pay a flat cover charge to eat at. (Are you noticing a trend about the added fees?) We received a complimentary meal from the travel company. and made reservations for the steak house, Chops. Well, the night prior to our reservation, we decided to splurge and try the Italian restaurant, Giovanni's Table.

The food and service were incredible. We had amazing mozzarella and prosciutto bites, crab and corn ravioli and the most delicious steak. After the tiramisu and cannoli, we rolled ourselves out of there. Then we decided we were a couple of fat kids and had already had what would probably be the same steak as the next night and we ended up cancelling our Chops reservation. We both decided we could feel our arteries constricting. Sometimes, that healthy voice wins.

I know there are parts of the ship I'm neglecting but would you believe I'm tired of this tour? Let's go to an island instead!!