Oasis of the Seas by Arthur Frommer

[grand isle joe]

I can understand those who don't want to cruise on a ship that large or with that many people but for a professional to be so nasty about it is completely unnecessary.

 

 

As Jack Friday said "just the facts sir/mam".

[room010]

I think it's rather refreshing to see a respected travel journo daring to express an opinion that obviously isn't the usual gushing praise. So many of these travel articles are little more than infomercials after the cruise company has given the writers fully comp'd trips. Cynical, moi? :cool:

[cruisemom42]

As Jack Friday said "just the facts sir/mam".

 

As a former journalist, I think you are confusing travel writers with news reporters. Travel writers are often paid to have an opinion, not just to report facts. They are rather like fashion editors, movie/restaurant critics, etc. They make recommendations, they like or dislike things.....it's what makes for interesting reading.

[brfan]

Could care less on the Frommers Oasis review and will not read it because we would not sail her anyway nor do we sail any of the overcrowded ships in the Caribbean.

 

We stopped sailing the Caribbean many years ago because of the overcrowding.

 

Can you imagine being in Grand Cayman with 5 other ships and one of them is the Oasis?:eek:

 

No worries there, the Oasis will not be going to any port that requires tendering. By the way I've been to Grand Cayman where there has been 9 ships, so 5 would definitely not be that bad. :D

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Instead of slamming a ship such as Oasis that is not in the budget category, Frommer could take this opportunity to offer better budget cruise choices to his readers who look to his writing for advice on budget cruises and travel.

 

That he debases those who choose to travel on Oasis rather than offer (in his opinion) better choices short changes his readers.

 

He has also written articles slamming those who write critiques of hotels and restaurants on such sites as Trip Advisor and, I assume, Cruise Critic. He says HE is the true professional and amateur opinions are not to be trusted. I'm beginning to think he is not to be completely trusted either because lately he has chosen to use his writing platform to launch a personal vendetta against large cruise ships.

[cruisemom42]

He has also written articles slamming those who write critiques of hotels and restaurants on such sites as Trip Advisor and, I assume, Cruise Critic. He says HE is the true professional and amateur opinions are not to be trusted.

 

Could it be that internet sites that share information on hotels, restaurants, etc for free are cutting into his books sales? ;)

[Happy ks]

I pretty much knew what Frommer was going to write before I read the article, I wasn't disappointed. Although I have no desire to cruise on Oasis, there will be a market for it.

 

Articles like this keep me from subscribing to Budget Traveler. I imagine him to have a pickle puss face at the keyboard.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Could it be that internet sites that share information on hotels, restaurants, etc for free are cutting into his books sales? ;)

 

If I recall correctly, he did allude to that. He said people are relying on the word of amateurs who often have a personal grudge against a hotel or restuarant or who may possibly have a financial interest in such places, but they do not reveal the reason for their biases in their work.

 

He, however, says he has been a dependable and reliable professional for many years who has spent his life searcing out the best places of the best price. But now, travelers look more and more to the on line sites dedicated to amateur critiques to help them make travel decisions.

 

I believe he has a point up to a certain extent. I'm certain some reviews are indeed tainted with hidden agendas, but I trust most people to read all the reviews and be able to sort out poorly written and dubious reviews from what seems sincere. Frommer does not want to trust readers with that because many reviewers lack his extensive travel experience...and by extension, his unequaled judgment.

 

In the last year he has dedicated entire editorials to heated commentary against large cruise ships and how they are ruining the traditional cruise experience that he prefers. He has a point that many agree with, but just as many do not. So when he brands such people lazy and lacking in intelligence, I feel he stoops to the level of the amateur reviewers he dislikes so much. And, yes, he surely is losing money when travelers can get travel advice for free on the Internet.

[HoustonTodd]

I agree with him. And it's not just an RCI thing, because I won't ever be on the Dream either, which I also think is ridiculously big. More than that, not only will I not sail these monstrosities, I will make sure the ships I do sail will never be in port with them, because it's bad enough when you get multiple ships in a port, now with some of these ridiculous ships having 6,000+ passengers ... I will avoid them like the plague. I would pay to take a different cruise before I accepted a free cruise on one of these ships.

[McDebbie]

I would pay to take a different cruise before I accepted a free cruise on one of these ships.

Oh, I wouldn't go that far. :) I would love to visit the Oasis but was so sad to see that stern area, we love the balcony cabins on the stern and watching the waves. Nice and peaceful and quiet. You sure won't get that on Oasis. We've seen it a few times now here in port and I just shake my head each time, what a waste.

[hubofhockey]

Could it be that internet sites that share information on hotels, restaurants, etc for free are cutting into his books sales? ;)

 

I agree that less and less people care what Frommer thinks about destinations or ships. More people are likely to get their information from places like this and trip advisor than from his online column or $15 guide (how quickly do those become outdated?). As for Frommer's opinion of the Oasis, it might carry a bit more weight if he actually reviewed the ship after being a passenger on it. I like hearing complaints and compliments about a ship or destination from people who have actually been there.

[njhorseman]

I agree that less and less people care what Frommer thinks about destinations or ships. More people are likely to get their information from places like this and trip advisor than from his online column or $15 guide (how quickly do those become outdated?). As for Frommer's opinion of the Oasis, it might carry a bit more weight if he actually reviewed the ship after being a passenger on it. I like hearing complaints and compliments about a ship or destination from people who have actually been there.

 

 

He didn't write a review of the ship...it's a commentary on the whole "bigger and bigger ships are better and better ships" concept. That doesn't require actually being a passenger on the ship.

[craigers]

grand isle joe As Jack Friday said "just the facts sir/mam".

 

Grand isle joe,it was Joe Friday.Just the facts joe.Ihad to do it.

[grand isle joe]

grand isle joe As Jack Friday said "just the facts sir/mam".

 

Grand isle joe,it was Joe Friday.Just the facts joe.Ihad to do it.

 

Thanks craigers....I just new it didn't sound correct. I guess I mixed it up with Jack Bauer.:confused:

[Fredr]

hello,

 

Reading the thread it seems than many responders do not know who Arthur Frommer is, just that he doesn't like large ships.

 

FYI...Arthur Frommer is 80 years old, and has been one of the most successful andinfluential businessmen in the travel world for over 40 years.

 

He is a lawyer by profession and wrote his first book for GIs when he was stationed in Europe in the 1950s (he was drafted into the Army). He then wrote "Europe on $5.00 a Day" but practiced law until about 1961 when he became a travel writer/businessman full time. He researched and wrote numerous books on how to see Europe on so much a day.

 

Since the 1960s he has sold his travel guide publishing businesses, started new ventures like his Budget Travel magazine, has a newspaper column, radio shows, and hotels among other things.

 

As a rich and very successful person, Frommer can and does tell it like it is. You may not like what he says but this is not a clown writing about a subject that he doesn't know anything about.

 

And essentially Frommer wants you get your money's worth when you travel.

 

Rick Steves is very similair to Frommer.

 

I agree with him on some things and disagree on others. And even after 30 cruises on ships ranging from 31,000 toms to 109,000 tons, it seems to me that the Oasis has a place in the cruise world. I wish those who sail her a great experience.

[G'ma]

Bravo, Mr. Frommer.

 

My sentiments, exactly.

[G'ma]

Frommer's specialty is budget travel. Why is he even discussing Oasis, whose current pricing hardly qualifies the ship as budget travel?

 

If he doesn't want to sail on a big ship, fine, but why does he have to insult the intelligence of those who do want to travel on Oasis? Or Carnival Dream? Or NCL Epic?

 

Frommer's disgust is palpable in recent articles he has written against big ships, but smaller ships are hardly disappearing. He still has plenty to choose from. And what a great time he will have on the small ship he chooses! All the families and stupid, depressed people he condemns will be on the big ships. So they will do him a big favor and he can sail with those oh, so intelligent passengers who are just like him.

 

In truth, I find the two columns he has written this week and last week somewhat deceptive. His description of Labadee as a barbed wire- fenced sandy beach clearly shows he has never even been to Labadee. Also I doubt he has ever been on Oasis.

 

His articles would be carry more weight if he actually sailed a big ship and saw what folks are doing. But I don't think he could make himself enjoy it because he has made up his mind about such ships and their passengers. I do feel he has lost objectivity and professionalism when he denigrates travelers who have travel preferences that do not agree with his.

 

By the way, I will be sailing Oasis in one week. I don't give a hoot what grouchy Frommer thinks about Oasis or folks like me.

 

As a professional travel writer AND traveler for over 50 years, I believe that his opinion is a valid one. It's not the only opinion but, he's been around long enough to have seen it all.

 

He has spoken for many of us....and, as a writer, that is what he does. Many have looked to Frommer, his organization, his guidebooks for many many years and he's never disappointed.

 

It's OK to disagree with him but I don't believe it's quite fair to question his motives or to find a hidden meaning in what he says. I can assure you, he has been to Labadee and probably most other vacation places on the planet. I happen to agree with him about it, too. Now, with the addition of an overpriced roller-coaster, it's become a mini-amusement park with sand, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence with armed guards just outside the vision of the tourists.

[cruiserbryce]

its funny...watching the thing on Good Morning we were talking about how it lookied like a Las Vegas hotel...for me at least, just not what I have in mind for a cruise...