Oasis of the Seas

To play the Devil's Advocate here a second:

1. 3-4 oz of fish or meat is a standard serving. Americans eat too much.
2. Cruise fares are so low (25 years ago, a Caribbean cruise was out of the reach of all but the very wealthy) because they have taken the basic service to bare bones. If you want to have extras, of course you pay. Liquor is a huge revenue stream everywhere. They should let cheap schmucks bring their own aboard??
3. The whole reason for a cruise is to get you to stay on board and buy stuff.

*-)

3-4oz. according to who, weight watchers?
Hey schmuck, the reason to go on a cruise is to have fun(whether you buy stuff or not)!

As far as the traffic, it wasn't bad at all. I've seen it much worse with less ships in. Of course the large presence of police directing traffic was a huge help.
The problem however, was the untrained crossing guards who think their job is to direct traffic and have no clue how. They were more of a problem than a solution yesterday and one of them almost got two people run over on the water front by blowing her whistle and waving cars through against the light. I also see them do this in the morning in front of Niskey Center and its an accident waiting to happen.....Not the mention the lawsuit for the person who gets hit.

I heard the police actually pulled over people who were trying to illegally pass in the center lane. Wow!

Also heard that this voyage was filled with people from the travel industry -- so probably not as much of a boost to the bottom line as the shops would like.

Two things amaze me about that boat:

1. That it actually floats.

2. That anyone would actually want to pay to stay on it.

The Oasis of the Seas passed right by our house on the southwesternmost tip of Water Island. It was a sight to see! I've never been on a cruise ship......not really "my thing" but it was impressive to see the ship come into the channel. Water Island residents met at Phillips Landing (Water Island ferry dock) and watched the ship come into the dock. It took approximatly an hour and a half (by my clock watching) for OoftheS to get tied up at the dock. Considering the enormity of the ship and the actual operation/mechanics of docking the "largest cruise ship in the world"........I was impressed with the Captain, Crown Bay Dock personnel, Coast Guard, Homeland Security, VI PD, taxi drivers, etc.. It was an amazing event to observe. The ship passengers were travel agents and journalists. Bones and the Dancing Dolphin were fully booked with OoftheS passengers (and other ships' passengers) who visited Honeymoon Beach for Heidi's buffet lunch after their sail/snorkel adventure.

While there are always negatives, I give accolades to local and federal authorities for investing the time and energy thru the weekend prior as well as December 7th to practice their "plan" (both the "safety zone" activated around the ship on the water as well as the land-based roadway/traffic flow in Crown Bay/Subbase area). The day of the ship arrival, while there were still some mis-steps, overall, the plan and practice drills made things on sea and land go much more smoothly. Additionally, if you noticed, there were MANY ships in town. I realize the VI Daily News only publishes the "capacity" but if you added all the ships potential passengers for that one single day when OoftheS arrived, there was potential of 20,000 passengers on STT that day. Now....there was no way I was going to step foot onto STT that day but talking with a couple on Honeymoon Beach (who have been coming to STT twice a year for 10 days each time for the last 10 years), they were on STJ on Tuesday and there were loads of passengers visiting STJ (and buying goods and services) as well. The couple felt that STT and STJ managed impressively well, the infrastructure (roadways, ferry, service providers, etc.) was tested but from their vantage point, they saw people doing their jobs well under pressure to manage the volume, minimize the disruption, and enable all visitors to have a good experience.

Water Island residents emphasized that this "day" was planned well in advance. Residents had ample time to prepare. People transported to work and school a little earlier than usual to avoid getting delayed.

IMHO, Cruise ships (whether OoftheS or the "Dam" ships, Carnival, Mickey, Princess, etc.) that continue to keep STT as a Port of Call, Villa/Time-share/hotel visitors, Sailing/Cruising visitors, Eco-visitors.......it's ALL good for the economy. Let's welcome them all!

"Hey schmuck"

DUN: Are we having a bad day??;)

Anyone know the actual definition of "schmuck"? :@)

I do, I do. Why?

You ask why??? O' vay...

Before I start something, I am not Jewish. My husband is, but he only tells me what he wants me to know. LOL

Anyway...forget all of this. Has nothing to do with this thread. My apologies!

Saw the pictures of the Oasis next to the usual supper monster ship, and it was unbelievable. Someone suggested when would it end?? How about when it reaches from FL to the the Bahamas, and they don't need to leave port.

A bridge. Hey, that could come in quite handy. We could just board on this end and skate board or zip line our way back to FL!

Pamela

Oh, DUN? Here is the page from the USDA: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/meat_amount_table.html

Since when did the government know what we need(or want)?
Tax & spend, spend & tax...I tells ya, it`s mashugana!!!!

VAt, you want me to eat 4 oz. Gefilte Fish with 2 matzo balls...you call that a meal?....oy vey!

East Ender, go to a Jewish deli(such as one in New York), and THEN you tell me what a serving is Irving!

Lichium!(to life!)

Dun,
Stand naked in front of a full length mirror and ask yourself ( do I need more than 4oz. gefilite Fish with 2 matzo balls). Irving retired from the stage deli, he now works for Jenny craig.