Pay it forward - my tips about oasis

I was very fortunate to count with this website's tips to plan my trip on 5/29/10 western Caribbean. *I want to pass on the things that worked did not work etc, for our family. I want to say that it is no doubt a magnificent ship. It is like many say, WOW! But it is also too many people, employees are not happy with their working conditions and you are going to have to deal with all kinds of people on the guests and crew side alike... Very nice and not so much....

After hearing comments from people that have been to the freedom class, this was the first and last in the oasis class for us; our future plans will be to sail in the freedom class because to us it DID feel crowded and too many people more than one time. *As a note, we have been to Disney, rccl, costa, carnival and ncl. *We are very rccl loyal, and will continue to be. Also planning to try celebrity.

We are a late 30s couple with a 5 year old daughter, and don't go crazy with the expenses....

Pre-cruise planning- Boarding and disembarking

Made a reservation for chefs table prior to sailing via phone

Booked all the earliest times for the shows online

We embarked at 10:30am smooth as it can be

Got the wow phones, no lines, no drama, not hard... Also not worth it unless reliability is not a big deal for you

Made reservations for a kids cupcake class

Signed up for kids club

Disembarked in no time. Just waited for our turn and it was really easy

Shows and entertainment

Comedy show, not a big fan, but also, not much into improv

Hairspray, great production. My husband found it so so because it was very girly

Ice skating show, amazing! An idiot was saving a whole line next to us and it got ugly with other guests... I even got yelled at and insulted by the wife because I complained of the amount of times they made us stand to let them go in an out... We called the ship's security who chose to do nothing... Not impressed.

Aqua show, amazing... But it was broken almost all the trip. They got it working at the end, but then we had quite a bit of maneuvering we had to do because the reservations we had made were conflicting and the reservation system was not helping plus customer relations in this particular is useless and rude

Headliner were group of Beatles impersonators very good I might add. Not too many people attending

The parades and the disco inferno 70s party were terrific. Don't miss the promenade shows

Fly with me, great! Watch it from the second floor and as back as you can. We had a great view. Even our 5 year old

Another thing we did and loved, the astronomy session out in the helipad. The guy that runs them is very nice and it's worth it just to be able to see the ship from a place otherwise impossible to access

Dining

If you Are into food, consider specialty dining. *The main dining room is definitively overwhelmed and the food is consistently overcooked. We loved! The waiter we got in the mtd plan. *It was the same every night

Also if ok with you, try to go earlier rather than later. *The lines when we were leaving the dining room, between 7:30 and 8:00 were horrible

Chefs table is worth every penny! Very noisy from the concierge lounge downstairs.... And the group you get makes a difference... We were super lucky with that and the chef, sommelier and maitre that took care of us all the wine you can have and there is enough food for 3 dinners....

The park cafe is hands down the best place to have a quick bite, specially the famous roast beef sandwich and their salads. *Their breakfasts are also good. Everybody figures it out very quickly and it is always full... More than I am willing to take.....we hardly went there, although I wish we could have eaten there, I'm not about to eat uncomfortable and crowded with people acting like you have to get up because you don't have enough food to deserve a table. It is also very hot outside and the door is constantly opening, which makes it very warm inside or out

Breakfast at Johnny rockets is free, and it is made to order. *You can tell. *It is much better than the one at the main dining room, but the menu is limited and no substitutions like egg beaters are possible. If you are not picky with ingredients and like a good freshly made egg sandwich or pancake won't be disappointed.

Ports of call

The private beach is beautiful, but you have to pay for everything, except food. *Chairs, drinks, rides on the trams, etc. *It adds up quickly

Costa Maya is a joke! I actually was upset that they even call it a*

Port. Is a fake mall with no facilities and very very overpriced. *Nothing to do around, and they might as well say they are calling on another private place... Because there is NO beach...... *There is nothing to do unless you book a tour via the cruise ship. My advise is enjoy the ship

Cozumel is cute... Small and with not the best beaches on earth, but pretty ot opportunities. *We rented a car and went around on our own. *Got also water and*I was very fortunate to count with this website's tips to plan my trip on 5/29/10 western Caribbean. *I want to pass on the things that worked did not work etc, for our family. I want to say that it is no doubt a magnificent ship. It is like many say, WOW! But it is also too many people, employees are not happy with their working conditions and you are going to have to deal with all kinds of people on the guests and crew alike... Very nice and not so much....

After hearing comments from people that have been to the freedom class, this was the first and last in the oasis class; our future plans will be to sail in the freedom class because to us it DID feel crowded and too many people more than one time. *As a note, we have been to Disney, rccl, costa, carnival and ncl. *We are very rccl loyal, and will continue to be.

We are a late 30s couple with a 5 year old daughter, and don't go crazy with the expenses....

I'll be publishing on the following topics - not by day and not in one post, because not everyone cares about the same things. In order to know where is the most interest, reply with questions and I'll open a post with a title that I'll share in this thread.

Pre-cruise planning- Boarding and disembarking

Made a reservation for chefs table prior to sailing via phone

Booked all the earliest times for the shows online

We embarked at 10:30am smooth as it can be

Got the wow phones, no lines, no drama, not hard... Also not worth it unless reliability is not a big deal for you

Made reservations for a kids cupcake class

Signed up for kids club

Disembarked in no time. Just waited for our turn and it was really easy

Shows and entertainment

Comedy show, not a big fan, but also, not much into improv

Hairspray, great production. My husband found it so so, very girly

Ice skating show, amazing! An idiot was saving a whole line next to us and it got ugly... I even got yelled at and insulted by the wife... We called the ship's security who chose to do nothing... Not impressed.

Aqua show, amazing... But it was broken almost all the trip. They got it working at the end, but then we had quite a bit of maneuvering we had to do because the reservations we had made were conflicting and the reservation system was not helping plus customer relations in this particular is useless and rude

Headliner were group of Beatles impersonators very good I might add. Not too many people attending

The parades and the disco inferno 70s party were terrific. Don't miss the promenade shows

Fly with me, great! Watch it from the second floor and as back as you can. We had a great view. Even our 5 year old

Another thing we did and loved, the astronomy session out in the helipad. The guy that runs them is very nice and it's worth it just to be able to see the ship from a place otherwise impossible to access

Dining

If you Are into food, consider specialty dining. *The main dining room is definitively overwhelmed and the food is consistently overcooked. We loved! The waiter we got in the mtd plan. *It was the same every night

Also if ok with you, try to go earlier rather than later. *The lines when we were leaving the dining room, between 7:30 and 8:00 were horrible

Chefs table is worth every penny! Very noisy from the concierge lounge downstairs.... And the group you get makes a difference... We were super lucky with that and the chef, sommelier and maitre that took care of us

The park cafe is hands down the best place to have a quick bite, specially the famous roast beef sandwich and their salads. *Their breakfasts are also good. Everybody figures it out very quickly and it is always full... More than I am willing to take.....we hardly went there, although I wish we could have eaten there, I'm not about to eat uncomfortable and crowded with people acting like you have to get up because you don't have enough food to deserve a table

Breakfast at Johnny rockets is free, and it is made to order. *You can tell. *It is much better than the one at the main dining room, but the menu is limited and no substitutions like egg beaters are possible. If you are not picky with ingredients and like a good freshly made egg sandwich or pancake won't be disappointed.

Ports of call

The private beach is beautiful, but you have to pay for everything, except food. *Chairs, drinks, rides on the trams, etc. *It adds up quickly

Costa Maya is a joke! I actually was upset that they even call it a*

Port. Is a fake mall with no facilities and very very overpriced. *Nothing to do around, and they might as well say they are calling on another private beach. *There is nothing to do unless you book a tour via the cruise iship. My advise is enjoy the ship

Cozumel is cute... Small and with not the best beaches on earth, but pretty picture opportunities. *We rented a car and went around on our own. *Got also water and some snacks to carry back to the ship.

Room and facilities

The mapping and interactive systems via flat screens in amazing. I have to say, the way the ship is designed makes it easy to learn... Almost would say that easier than in a smaller ship

The room we had was good. *It overlooked the carousel... A tad noisy some times, but if the balcony door was closed you wouldn't be disturbed by the noise outside. *Good space, not enough outlets and the bed arrangement is very intrusive. *If our daughter's bed was opened, we could hardly move around. *I like the pulldown or sofa bed from Disney cruise lines better.

It is summer, but it is very hot in the boardwalk, the central park and the pool , solarium and zip line/flow riders areas.... I think they missed the opportunity to create more shaded spaces around

Spa... Not my favorite. Very very very big... Very impersonal too. *We were docking in costa Maya and it was very noisy! Recommend not booking at those times if you are looking for quiet.

My daughter loved the kids club... But our friend with two boys did not care for the willingness from the attendants to accommodate some reasonable requests . *It's a long story, but again... You can tell it's a lot of people and the crew is not very customer service driven. *After all you are captive audience for that week,..... And they are tired and annoyed with crowded "everything"

Well, I'm sure there are things I forget, but they did not make an impression either way. *Just ask any question you may have and I'll answer if I experienced it.

Thanks again cruise critic! Love having you as a resource.some snacks to carry back to the ship.

Activities were left out of the other post:

Did the jewelry and scrapbook class... Not too animated but the materials have quality. You have to pay for them

Do the zip line! It's awesome!

The climbing walls are very empty most of the time, as opposed to the flow riders that are very hard to get time in

The skating rink is great, and they have skates for almost all ages. My daughter got to do it and she is a kids 12

The carousel is very easy to get into too

Well, thats it.

Can you also elaborate on the menu you had for Chef's table?

I am sailing Freedom next year with my kids and grandkids. Everything you mentioned is why I did not book Oasis or Allure. My kids have never been on a cruise; so for their first one I wanted to let them feel they were on a real cruise; not the carnival athmosphere of Oasis; this is my personal opinion and I do not want to offend anyone. I appreciate your honest reveiw and am glad I booked Freedom over the bigger ships for the kids first cruise.

We got the same as the one listed in the post about it, as follows:

Let me say first that the dishes sound simple because they are... And that is why they are soooooo good. The chef goes describing them for about 10 minutes.... Very well and very specific ingredients. Unique quality. I have NEVER had a piece of meat like this tenderloin..... Special scallops, special mushrooms and truffles.... It is a special treat.

The menu now:

Smoked duck salad - mer soleil Chardonnay

Trio of soups - duck vegetable, truffle mushroom, and pea soup... The pea soup is the. Best

Pan fried scallops and crab cakes - belle gloss Pinot noir

Grilled beef tenderloin - caymus Cabernet Sauvignon ... My favorite dish and wine - the amazing thin: I'm not a Cabernet or a beef enthusiast

Passion fruit creme brûlée - errazuriz late harvest Sauvignon blanc

Then they bring these chocolate truffles that are amazing! But everyone is so full! I was tempted to drop them in my bag... But decided against it :)

We got version 3 of the cookbook.... It was the first week for that issue

We got the aprons, total 2 aprons and 1 book, but they brought down to the dinner the next night one book to our friends who did not come with us to the table. I thought that was a nice touch, but the servers during mtd we got were awesome!

My husband is allergic to seafood... He got the carpaccio di manzo - meat that is, when the scallop dish was served.

It lasted 3 hours and we could have kept talking because the guys we sat with were really nice.

Anything else you want to know just ask. I'll be glad to answer. We will definitively repeat in any cruise ship we take that offers it

Our reservation was also best managed via email. When we did the phone, it took forever to get a reply, and then once we had the dining email, it was a piece of cake - amber, in charge, is great!

AF-1 you were smart! But we had heard so much about oasis, we fell for it...... Your family will be very happy in freedom, no doubt! They have the chef's table. If you are into food, the adults would enjoy it!

I just realized some of the text got repeated. I'm using new technology - the iPad- and this website is not iPad friendly.... Navigation is so so.... I should have checked quality a little more....

You will see where the text got overlapped. I will try to erase but I think it is impossible or so I remember reading.....

Activities were left out of the other post:

 

Did the jewelry and scrapbook class... Not too animated but the materials have quality. You have to pay for them

 

Do the zip line! It's awesome!

 

The climbing walls are very empty most of the time, as opposed to the flow riders that are very hard to get time in

 

The skating rink is great, and they have skates for almost all ages. My daughter got to do it and she is a kids 12

 

The carousel is very easy to get into too

 

Well, thats it.

Question about the jewelry class: how much is it just curious?

Alrana

You have to pay for chair use at Labadee?

Oh by the way.....thanks for taking time to post your review/info!!:p

You have to pay for chair use at Labadee?

Yeap - 40 bucks.... 4 lounge chairs

Very cramped quarters I might add, if you want any shade. There were these tents, but they must be more, because there was hardly any

Also other people "expected tips" like the bathroom lady and the tram driver.

We couldn't figure out how much it was for the zip line from the mountain.... The loudest rumor was that it cost about 40 per person... Someone else may be able to confirm it or dispel it...

We know these people need the help because of the January earthquake, but it caught us by surprise...

Btw it is ALL cash.... You are paying the locals, not rccl

Question about the jewelry class: how much is it just curious?

 

Alrana

Hi alrana, the jewelry class was 10 or 15, I can't find my sail pass account, not sure what I did with it :confused:

They have 3 styles, or kits. All had necklace and matching earrings.

You get the beads and materials off a closed kit, and they have tools. And help you make it, by giving you directions.

For what I was told, the kit I chose is 1 class, then there is a 2 class one and then there is a 5 class one. It took me 20 minutes to do it. I don't believe you pay for the time but for the kit, so if you pick the 5 class kit, it is actually pretty inexpensive.

I did wear it in the ship and I have worn it a couple of times since. It is nice quality, for a 10 dollar item.

The women in charge, were very inflexible with the schedule. It felt like they wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. They were scheduled every day about twice a day for 1 hour each time. And because the room has all the tools and equipment, you couldn't stay behind. Nice facilities by the way... By the entrance of the youth areas. It's called the workshop and it is in the 14th floor.

The guests were nice and in the scrapbook class you could tell there were a few pros. I bought the kit and took it home. Nice quality too.

We couldn't figure out how much it was for the zip line from the mountain.... The loudest rumor was that it cost about 40 per person... Someone else may be able to confirm it or dispel it...

If I'm thinking of what you're describing, the zip line is one of the ship's excursions. According to my downloaded list of shore excursions for our upcoming cruise, it's called "Dragon's Breath Flight Line" and costs $85! :eek:

Yeap - 40 bucks.... 4 lounge chairs

They're charging for the regular lounge chairs now? Why don't I remember that? Also, if you go to the other side of the peninsula from where you get off the dock, it was much less crowded. Did you see that area?

Thanks for your review and comments.

Whoever charged you for lounge chairs was stealing from you. You do not have to pay for the lounge chairs on Labadee you tip a few bucks if they move and clean it for you that is it. The zip line is $85.00 thru the ships excursion desk the shore excursion staff is with you at all times.

I was on the Independence in Feb and I never felt so cramped so I was a little hesitant to go on the Oasis but I'm glad I did we never felt crowded at all and your comments about the crew I can hardly believe we were on the same ship. Everyone we had contact with were more than friendly and very helpful. We could never get into Park Cafe too crowded that I will agree with you on and the Windjammer can only seat 850 which seems a little dumb with a ship that can carry over 6000 but we just adjusted our times and hit when it wasn't busy.

Thank you for your review. Oasis is clearly not for everyone. We loved it--we were on the May 15 sailing, so we went to the same ports--but understand it is too big for a lot of people.

You absolutely DO NOT have to pay for chairs at Labadee. Unfortunately, it sounds like someone took advantage of you. We always grab our own chairs there and take them to where we want to be. You can tip a person if he helps you move chairs, but you are not expected to pay for any lounge chairs or trams. There is one section for suite guests where you can pay extra for a cabana, but this sounds like a really unfortunate exception where someone took advantage of you. I am really sorry that happened.

I did the zipline there a few years ago, and it was $85. It was fun and I'm glad I did it, but I don't need to do it again.

Whew!! That is such a relief to hear there is no charge for the chairs. I am such an RCCL fan, but I was going to have to go a little crazy with a charge of $10 PER CHAIR.....yikes.....those better be air conditioned at that price!!! The kids definitely want to do the Dragon Coaster.....not sure if we'll do the zipline, though. Thanks for the input regarding the chairs everyone! :D

busy bee,

Thanks for the information. $10-15.00 is not bad for craft classes. Its about the same price if you take a craft class from your local Michaels store.

Alrana

They're charging for the regular lounge chairs now? Why don't I remember that? Also, if you go to the other side of the peninsula from where you get off the dock, it was much less crowded. Did you see that area?

 

Thanks for your review and comments.

We were in Labadee in March and asked for 4 lounge chairs and were told that it was no charge, so we just gave the guy a tip.

We were in Labadee in March and asked for 4 lounge chairs and were told that it was no charge, so we just gave the guy a tip.

Why??

So, it is clear that we pay for someone we shouldn't have :s oh well....

Thank you all for your comments and clarifications....

The zip line might be the dragon thingy... Not sure

Nope. We did not adventure past that beach after paying so much for the lounge chairs.... So we missed the other side.... Btw brianalt I love your reviews.... You were one of the people for, I wanted to pay forward to :) others

I would agree that " crowdness " is a personal standard :) you might be used to less personal space or more. We did not even considered going to wj... Just did it one day 20 min before shift closure, to be able to grab a bite.

What I will say though, is that the consistency of other guests making comments about preferring freedom class ships was surprising to me...

With regards to politeness from crew and guests, I have lived in the super friendly and polite US south and now in the very rude and impolite south Florida.... It was towards the south Florida standards....

I'm glad that everyone does not feel the same way we did about oasis... Because I love rccl and want them to be very successful! That way we will be able to keep sailing with the smaller ships

Btw brianalt I love your reviews.... You were one of the people for, I wanted to pay forward to :) others

Thanks. :)

Well, no real reviews so far, but plenty of comments. :D I try to be helpful.

I'm planning to do a day-by-day review/journal in July. Not live though. I want to be OFF the computer for a week. So it will start as pen to paper. :eek: That will be a shock to my system.

So, I'll be paying it forward too!

We were also on the May 29th sailing of the Oasis. In fact we were the older couple involved in the incident with the man saving the entire row of seats at the ice show. Unfortunately, before all was over they had used quite a bit of profanity and informed us we were old and should be in a nursing home. (We are 60 and 63) and quite young at heart I might add. Anyway, you can encounter rude folks anywhere in the world. I'm a school director and I just wish the folks had been more aware of the example they were setting for their children who were witnessing it all. I do think RCCL took the incident seriously but not much was done. That said we still had a fabulous cruise and we did very much enjoy the ship. We are already planning a cruise on Allure with our daughter and son-in-law. It really didn't feel crowded to us. It was my 12th cruise. We have done Princess, Norwegian, and an old line called Sitmar (anyone out there remember it?) but mostly RCCL. I felt the spaces were well thought out and the passengers were nicely dispersed. I do agree the dining room early seating was a bit chaotic. I think it is a works in progress. My pay it forward tip is: if you book fairly late, like six weeks out, try asking if there are any handicapped cabins left they don't need for the handicapped. When I was booking the RCCL agent first offered us an outside cabin on the end of the ship. When I said I would rather have a mid-ship balcony he said he needed to check something and put me on hold. He came back and said he had a handicapped cabin (which we don't need) midship and since it was a late booking they no longer needed it for a handicapped passenger. We were amazed to see the size of the room. It was like a suite. Wonderful! Even the bathroom was roomy. We will be spoiled to go back to a regular balcony. So always ask if they have been released for the general public if you book late. It's a nice treat for no increase in price.

O.G.

You aee my hero!!! I'm so happy that you stumbled upon my posting! My husband was who called the " good for nothing " security. If it wasn't for our 5 year old in attendance, we would have moved right next to you.... My husband got worried that the guy could get physical after seeing his disregard for vocabulary in front of their own children.

I'm really happy you enjoyed the ship. I'm coming to realize that I'm just a small ship type cruiser; even when friends ask me about it, I tell them is like Vegas on the water , you need to do it at least once in a lifetime, and decide if it is or not for you.

Enjoy Allure! I'm sure it will awesome!

I too was on this particular sailing and agree that alot of the crew did seem over-worked and while not unfriendly ... they just werent totally "into it". Especially with the Stateroom staff on our hallway(Deck 7 starboard). Apparently one of their co-workers had been fired at the end of the previous sailing ... so they were really in down moods and not very efficient because of it ... and probably for other reasons.

As far as the crowds go ... as someone said ... it is a personal thing. Prior to Oasis I have only been on the Freedom class ships. I can say I was rather surprised how un-crowded the ship felt for the number of people on board. I was expected some sort of disorder due to crowds but was pleasantly surprised not to find any. The vast majority of people I came upon were very friendly and outgoing ... though there are always some rude people out there ... though I ran into very few.

I actually enjoyed Costa Maya ... me and my friends I was traveling with ventured away from the pier area to the "village" and enjoyed our time at the beach. Though my favorite will always be Labadee! Sorry to hear you were hood-winked into paying for chairs :(

We were also on the May 29th sailing of the Oasis. In fact we were the older couple involved in the incident with the man saving the entire row of seats at the ice show. Unfortunately, before all was over they had used quite a bit of profanity and informed us we were old and should be in a nursing home. (We are 60 and 63) and quite young at heart I might add. Anyway, you can encounter rude folks anywhere in the world. I'm a school director and I just wish the folks had been more aware of the example they were setting for their children who were witnessing it all. I do think RCCL took the incident seriously but not much was done. That said we still had a fabulous cruise and we did very much enjoy the ship. We are already planning a cruise on Allure with our daughter and son-in-law. It really didn't feel crowded to us.

O.G. --

I love posts like yours, and people like you. You had what sounds like an outrageously bad experience, yet you didn't let it influence the rest of your vacation. So many out there could learn from your attitude, and see that happiness and fun are usually entirely within your own control. Thanks for that reminder!