Psychobueller

We have sailed on the NCL Gem and loved it. We're booked on the Eclipse in July '24. I'd say they are going to feel similar even though the Eclipse is slightly larger - it's not going to be a huge difference. Based on videos I've seen, the Eclipse has plenty of seating and also an area to the rear of the buffet where you can dine outdoors, similar to the "Great Outdoors" area on the Gem. We LOVED that so we're excited to try it.

No Yes Yes

We got home today. I do have to say we had an incredible time. Our MDR waitstaff team of Paramjeet and Prashant made us few special every night. Food was good to very good, with a few excellent items that were “best ever” category. My friend and I did the behind the scenes “All Access” tour. Was super informative and got to meet Captain Ante Cavala. Great for ship geeks. Sure I’m not the only one here 🤣 Debark was super fast and easy. Cape Liberty was a pleasure to deal with.

So my phone got fried so I’m using my wife’s phone briefly to post. Will update more when I get home. However, I have to say something about CATS. My daughter is a theater major in college, and I’ve been to several Broadway shows. So we tend to like theater in my family, even amateur or community theater. But I have to say Cats was awful. Not the actors, I felt bad for them. Clearly, they are wonderful singers and dancers. But the material was so disjointed and unenjoyable. We ended up walking out and that’s something I’ve never done before. I’m gonna blow Royal Caribbean up on the survey when it comes to that section. It’s time for them to change the show. I really thought that it would be a case of people complaining online but I would find that perhaps the complaints were overblown, and I would enjoy it. But that was not the case at all. It was literally unwatchable. Again, nothing to do with the actors or their talent. They are clearly very talented folks working with terrible material.

My pleasure. I was in your shoes until Friday when we boarded 😂. You'll have a great time. The truth is the mainstream cruise lines are more similar than they are different. And the dining room there’s nothing to worry about, at least in our opinion we are really enjoying it. Have a great cruise and report back!

We’ve done Victory, Pride twice, and Sunshine. I believe it was Sunshine that I’m thinking of that I had late night, pizza, grilled cheese, and other assorted things. Also, on the Pride, I believe the Carnival Deli was open later as well, but it’s been a few years, so I don’t know if things have changed since. I should have said starving and tipsy 😂

I think I paid $69.99 per day but not 100% sure. But that was a Black Friday sale. Never seen it below $72.99 since. This Oasis sailing has had prices through the roof. Thankful I booked almost everything on Black Friday.

Fast enough that I can steam shows, YouTube, upload photos and video to Facebook, etc. Web surfing pretty instant.

Nope. Blue Iguana is their poolside Tex-Mex. Tacos, nachos, burritos, salsas. Blue Iguana is also open for breakfast. Not a full-scale restaurant like Sabor.

The new Voom with Starlink is blazing fast for cruise ship internet!

We did. They don’t have egg crate anymore. But they laid several layers of padding and it’s better. Thanks goodness or my wife might’ve thrown me overboard. She’s a sweetheart but she needs her sleep 😉

Yes they do. I am on Oasis right now. $10 per. We didn’t buy them. We are good with the card and lanyard. Easy to scan everywhere no matter which method you choose.

Currently on Oasis of the Seas. This is our first ever cruise on Royal Caribbean. We previously sailed on Carnival and Norwegian. I have some quick takes about the cruise so far: • Starlink internet is BY FAR the best internet at sea we’ve ever experienced. • Oasis is amazing in size and scale. Tons to do. Pool decks get crowded on sea days but honestly we found spots to sit and it wasn’t that bad. • the solarium is awesome. What an amazing space that is, and the new observation deck over the bow is a real treat. • The mattresses are very firm and not comfortable. One of the things we enjoyed so much about Carnival and Norwegian was the super comfortable mattresses. Our wonderful Royal state room attendant put many levels of padding on our mattress on this cruise so we could at least get some sleep. But I’m not sure why Royal would have such firm mattresses? Next time we will definitely pack an egg crate from home. • we have connecting ocean view balcony state rooms on deck 14. This is the first time we have our kids in a separate room and it is truly amazing to have more space and two bathrooms for the family. Definitely recommend. The balconies are fairly large, and when you open up the partition between the rooms on the balcony, you end up with an enormous double balcony. The state rooms themselves are well designed and very comfortable. The shower has great water pressure overall very nice balcony state room. • the ice show was superb and an amazing thing to have on a cruise ship • Aqua 80 was simply astonishing. We were spellbound for the entire hour, and honestly it took me a while to come down from the high. When royal talks about bringing the “wow“ I know this is the kind of thing they were talking about. Simply amazing and unmatched. • The new menus in the MDR so far have been actually pretty great. Pretty much everything we have had (group of seven, including three teenagers) has been really great. I’m not sure what peoples expectations are for main dining room food but I have found it to be comparable to carnival and better than my experience on Norwegian. Based on the complaining online, I expected the food to be awful. Definitely not the case. • we chose my time dining for the sailing, because 530 is way too early and 830 is way too late. We have reservations for my time every night at seven, except tonight when we get back late from an excursion so we have an 8 o’clock reservation. Our servers are amazing and we requested to have their table every night so basically it’s like traditional dining except on the schedule we choose. They really have gone above and beyond to accommodate our party and will be a very memorable part of this trip for us. Great service Royal Caribbean! • I really do miss Guys Burgers on Carnival for the pool deck. The burgers in the Windjammer are pretty good, but there’s no comparison really. Also, I feel like blue iguana on carnival does a slightly better take on Tex-Mex than El Loco Fresh. It’s not anywhere near bad though. Just not as good in my opinion. • the windjammer is great for breakfast (I go early at 7 AM), and during the lunch rush is quite workable. Again, I’m not sure what people expect on a ship with 6000 passengers but it’s no worse than any other cruise buffet on any other line I’ve been on, regardless of ship size. The Windjammer food is very good, though I think I prefer the variety offered on Carnival and NCL a bit more. Definitely not a dealbreaker. • the ultimate beverage package friggin rocks! • great mix of live music and DJ at the pool deck. Really nice casual vibe. • Sorrentos pizza does a nice job of moving the line. They make several pies at once so they always have fresh pies coming out. Carnival could take a lesson here. They tend to make pies fresh to order, but it slows down the entire process, and they’re chronically understaffed at the pizza station. I will say I think the carnival pizza is better in terms of quality but at midnight when you’re starving you just want to get a slice of pizza. Sorrentos is not bad by any stretch, and I do appreciate the efficiency. • I like the way they have little places to grab a bite around the ship. Like Cafe Promenade and Park Café. I just wish things were open a bit later and there were more late night options. The only thing open after 9 PM in terms of food is Cafe Promenade with little finger sandwiches and Sorrentos, which is often very very crowded. We enjoyed on Carnival and Norwegian, the late night buffet that had grilled cheese, hotdogs, fries, nachos, etc.. I’d be happy to take any questions from anyone as I continue through with the sailing.

I am looking forward to the new menus as well. Actually never sailed Royal before but the new menus look awesome to me.

Whiskey has zero carbs.