Thoughts and Tips - Oasis May 29 - June 05, 2010

[cnst]

Hello all,

 

Below are my thoughts about last weeks cruise. Hope it helps some of you.

 

 

Oasis of the Seas, Western Caribbean – May 23 – June 5, 2010

 

- Embarkation

o Was a breeze except for the woman in our line who forgot to bring her passport. Uhhhgg!

o Got there around noon.

o Those travelling with kids (under 13?) have an extra station to go through prior to boarding.

- General

o First thing was to put our carry-on’s in the room and go have a beef-on-weck. Was very good but so are all beef-on-weck’s. Man. I miss food from Buffalo.

o Ship is just amazing. Beautiful, big, and new.

o Some would consider it too big but not us. If you don’t like to do too much walking and or are more into the excursion than the boat experience, this boat may not be for you. For those who like non-stop floating fun and entertainment, try the Oasis. I’m not much of a wordsmith but suffice it to say, this boat is incredible!

o All hail Rum Runners! Worked like a champ. Be creative as to how you place them in your luggage. Think shoes.

o We got to know two of the bartenders in the Globe and Atlas bar. Alex from Ukraine, and Rei from the Philippines. Both were very friendly and entertaining. We learned a lot from them about how things work on the ship like how they rotate the employees to similar positions around the ship every two weeks. After next week they may be a pool bartender or serving drinks in the dining room. They open the G&A bar at 9:00 am and close it around 4:00 am. They get breaks for lunch and dinner but it results in a 12- 14 hour work day. They make no base bay – only tips. It’s usually an 8 month tour. It’s guys like them that I can talk to, get to know, and learn things from someone who’s had a different life than I have that I find to be among the best things about cruises. Unfortunately, not everyone’s that way but we’ll get to that.

o Many complain about elevator etiquette. True, there are the rude few you need to lower a shoulder into but you’re on a cruise ship with 5,500 other people from around the world, don’t expect them to be polite on your terms. (and read between the lines, you’re on cruise ship, focus in the good things too) Truth is, that’s just one of the elevator etiquette violations you see. How about moving backwards when people need to get on? How about realizing that people behind you may need to get off? How about easing up a bit on the perfume or cologne? How about waiting for the next elevator instead of stopping the doors from closing and jamming yourself into in already full elevator? The list goes on and on. Now I will say RCI should post some sort of etiquette policies like when they address rude behavior, cursing, spitting, etc. How about adding “It is customary on RCI ships to allow people to exit the lifts before boarding the lift. Please allow exiting passengers to do so prior to entering the lift. ” For, it’s just one of those things I try not to let bother me.

o This ship has so much to offer and we loved it. There is much more I could tell you wouldn’t want to take all the surprise out of it. If you’re booked and waiting to go, I think you’ll have a great time.

 

- General Tips

o Deck 14, all the way forward, port side. Take a walk as far forward as you can get. Fairly private too.

o If you see the option to go star gazing with the astronomy group, do so. Mitch from “Earth” will guide your group to a very dark location to watch stars. The location? The Helipad! It’s the only way to get out there and Mitch does a GREAT job. He seems to really know his stuff. When we told a couple bartenders (Alex and Rei) they just nodded like we were crazy and said “the helipad is forbidden for guests”. I still don’t think they believe us. Apparently, Mitch has gotten special permission to do this activity. He makes it very clear that if anyone gets hurt or strays from the group that they will revoke that permission. He illuminates many of the tripping hazards like the helicopter tie-downs, etc. with electric candles but you still need to be very careful until you eyes adjust. He uses a very power full laser to point out planets and constellations. I highly recommend it.

o This one’s more for the guys. Sharing your bathroom with other roommates and things are getting a little crowed? Try the bathroom on Level 17. It’s like your own personal man-cave.

 

- Room

o Our cabin, 11324 was the third form last balcony cabin from the aft. For me this was a great location for several reasons

§ It was a good walk to the elevators and even more so to all of the forward entertainment. For me this was a great way to keep exercise in my daily routine because I’m certain you will walk at least 1 -2 miles a day. Keep in mind this ship is a ¼ mile long.

§ Conversely, there is not much walking involved when going to dinner as it is also in the aft section of the ship. Just and elevator ride down. No sweaty arrivals to formal dinner.

§ Being located near the end of the hall, we were able to easily go check out the seldom used public space overlooking the aquatic area. This was a great place to have a drink, watch some entertainment, play cards, etc.

o We had our two kids in tow, 10 and 15. The 10 year old is 5’-0” and the 15 year old is 5’7”. One is a cat and one is a dog and they fight like such. The pull out couch was absolutely a fine fit for them.

o The main bed was wonderful! Pillow top. Did not want to get up in the morning.

o Bathroom was roomy as was the shower.

o Whoever recommended bring a multi extension cord was wise person. Thank you.

o There was a slight sewer odor in the hallway… sometimes. There was also a sewer odor coming from the vent in the bathroom sink. It would only smell when you ran the water. It was pretty gross but I don’t spend my time sniffing gasses from the bathroom sink so not that big of a deal. The room itself never smelled badly.

 

- Service

o Our room attendant was very good. No complaints there. I seemed to have more fun with the other attendants down the hall but our guy did his job admirably.

o Pool bartenders were some of the rudest I’ve seen. If you have a soda card and cup, you better speak up because you will be over looked. Some of you will say “that’s because they know they’ll not get a tip”. First, they make it real easy not to tip them due to the lack of attention. Second, tips should be built in to the soda package. This was not a major problem but doggone it, the cruise would have been virtually perfect if it hadn’t been for few surly pool bartenders. Not to get too bogged down here but frankly, this is a behavioral issue and that comes from the top down. The Food and Beverage Director is responsible for his crew knowing that cruises are a premium vacation experience not some local bar scene. A smile upon greeting, a “you’re welcome” after a hearty thank you are really basic stuff. Would it prevent me from sailing RCI again? Nope. Will I contact the appropriate people for future correction? Yes.

o Dining room service was very good. Started off a little rocky. The second day our waiter lost her assistant due to illness. That was a rough night and I hoped her/our Head Waiter would chip in and help run food, fill drinks, etc. Didn’t happen. I felt badly for our server.

 

- Food

o We really enjoyed the food and all the selections. I dine out a LOT and thought the main dining room (Opus) food was very good. They had a nice selection most every night. Keeping in mind that they’re serving over a thousand of people a 3 course meal in a 2 hour span is nothing short of miraculous. (the “shot of the night” shot glasses make for an interesting collection after several nights)

o Contrary to other posts, we enjoyed a dinner at the Windjammer. It had some pretty good food considering it’s a buffet.

o We went to Chops where I had the bone-in rib eye and my wife had the filet, both mid-rare. Both were very good and definitely a notch above Opus. Were they Morton’s or Lawry’s? No, but neither was the price tag. Verdict: Worth the extra money for a special night.

o For in between meals (for us and the kids) Sorrento’s was great. They change up the pre-made pizzas and the “make your own” toppings on a daily basis.

o Wipeout Cafe was good as well but usually crowded.

o I’m not much of a sweets guy but the availability of all the frozen yogurt was killing me. 3 vanilla’s in a row is my record. 4 locations by the mid ship pool and one in the Wipeout Café.

o Johnny Rockets has complimentary breakfast and while the service was not the best, you have to try potatoes. Very Good and worth it!

 

- Excursions/Ports

o Labadee – beautiful and well done. Some of the sales staff was very laid back with no pressure (big building) but the other places (smaller huts) were very aggressive by putting things on you and telling you what you owed them, doing and extra service without telling you about the extra cost and demanding tips. I was not there but this was my wife and son’s experience. My 10 year old son actually apologized to his Mom because she was conned into buying a wooden flute for him.

o Costa Maya – we did the Chacchoben Ruins, about a 4 hour excursion. When they say buy mosquito repellant, do it. Those mosquitoes must love vanilla ice cream because I must have killed 30 in a 5 minute span. It was so bad my daughter and I had to walk back to the main huts where it wasn’t so bad. Tip: Never leave the ship without cash. You may need to buy something important, like bug spray.

o Cozumel - We didn’t do too much here except visit the merchants at the end of the pier. By our third day I had contracted some sort of sinus/chest illness so was not up for laying out in the 95 degree heat. With that said, Cozumel sells antibiotics (and other meds) over the counter. I bought some erythromycin and felt better… on Saturday.

 

- Disembarking

o We were #80 which was near the end since we drove to the ship. If you have an early flight, you can request an earlier time. Ours was a 9:15 time slot. It took a while but we got to our bags which were there before us. Here’s a good tip. Get a porter to take your bags (and you) to the curb/car. They know how to move from baggage to customs quicker than anyone in the building. You better keep pace because you’ll be moving quickly past all those standing in line. This must have saved us twenty minutes and was well worth the $10 tip.

[Windy56]

Wow! Really thorough and well organized review! I've been asking about music venues on Oasis. My husband and I love to dance. Any suggestions?

[cnst]

I forgot to mention, Alex our bartender, introduced us to one of the onboard subcontractors who is the chief welder. Apparently they were having (or predicting) problems with waves making contact with the lifeboats near the bow of the ship. They are welding massive plates to deflect any water that may hit and dislodge the life boats. There are about 30’ tall and 15’ wide like elephant ears directly under the “wing “ turrets and in front of the lifeboats. Thought that was interesting. You have to love a proactive stance by RCI and not a reactive one.

 

As for dancing, we never got to it but there's a pretty complete list on the Compass every day for all sorts of themes. You should be able to find something to your liking.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for taking the time to write about your week --- it is appreciated. Jan

[rzmz89]

Thanks for the info. We get to board on Saturday. Can't wait.

[msshechild]

Hello, in regards to the passport issue you mentioned. I was told all we need is ID and a birth certificate if we are leaving and returning out of a US port. Did she not bring that either?

[funat55]

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts. Very informative. If you have the time, can you comment on the entertainment and shows.

[Cruising Khi]

Thanks for the review!

[BrianAlt]

Thank you and well done!

 

Probably my favorite review so far.

[denamo]

We'll be on the Oasis in five days and reading your review makes the anticipation even more exciting! Thank you for the great review.

[wahlberc]

As promised, I am offering our review and suggestions, as those before us who took the time, certainly helped us a lot.

Embarkation: Drove own car to port. Checked baggage (already tagged) at curbside. Easy & convenient parking next to terminal @ $15 per day. Unfortunately, husband’s bag did not arrive until 11pm that evening. Wore shorts into dining room with no questions asked.

Check-In: 11:15a.m. Fast & Courteous. As expected, departure was delayed until 9pm and the 2nd formal night changed to Wednesday instead of Thursday. TIP: If you have dinner reservations at a specialty restaurant on Wednesday, suggest you change it before you depart.

My First Purchase was at “The Shop” for an RCL Sea Pass Card holder. Only $4.50 and well worth it during our cruise.

Lunch: 12pm Solarium, Deck 16, Forward. Nice selection of salads. This restaurant offers a more diet conscious menu. TIP: Beware its turkey bacon for breakfast! They serve oatmeal (possibly instant) where the windjammer does not. Even though WJ is crowded, we enjoyed breakfast there most mornings. Johnny Rockets for Breakfast is made to order. Slow service and usually busy. TIP: There is not an up-charge for breakfast at Johnny Rockets, however the waiters will ask for your sea pass card & keep it until you are done. Then they hand you a charge form asking for a gratuity. The Seafood Shack for lunch has Great Service and food. The coconut shrimp is delicious, Calamari is so-so. Up-Charge for lunch is $8.95pp and well worth it.

Dinner: My Time Dining is not what we expected. Next cruise we will go back to traditional set-time dining. We found the wait time between appetizer and main entrée to be between 1 to 1 ½ hrs. on each evening we ate there. Our waiters were inexperienced as well. So when they say, “plan 2 hours for dinner”, this is the reason why. However, on the last night we were fortunate to have a seasoned waiter by the name of Terrance. He made up for the previous unpleasant dining experiences we had in the dining room & Chops.

Giovanni’s: Excellent Service and Food. Suggestions. Appetizer: Fontina cheese and Spinach soufflé. Soup: Porcini & Tomato. Entrée: 8 oz. beef fillet with garlic oil flavored fries *****stars!

Chops: Extremely poor service this evening. With advance pre-paid reservations for Wednesday, we found we were not on the book. After much confusion they accommodated us on Thursday evening. We were so disappointed with the service; I can’t remember what appetizer we chose. Started out waiting 20 minutes for a bottle of wine. After waiting over 1 hr. between appetizer and main entrée, we were tired & no longer hungry. Another table next to us was seated at same time. They were finished with dinner as we were still waiting for our entrée. Spoke to manager; he assured us he would get back to us the next day to resolve these issues. After two calls to guest services, he never called. Very Unprofessional!

We were a group of 8 each evening, so may suggest to split up. Altho, it would take away from the fun in sharing dinner with friends & family. On Princess cruises, we have been at a table of 10 and had the wait staff over us the whole time.

Room Accommodations’: Cabin 12620, D5 Category, Mid Ship is Excellent! Located on Starboard side to view all ports for this Western Cruise. Our Cabin Steward Dexter was pleasant & accommodating. We had 2 Twin beds made into a queen. Request this in advance thru your travel agent or RCL before you depart. Bed is located by balcony door. TIPS: Balcony light switch is located behind curtain, right side. If you leave slider door open the A/C will shut off. If not locked, you will hear wind whistling thru the room. This room is across from a steward supply closet. A past review said it was very noisy from ice machine and carts clogging the hallway. We never found this to be the case. Room was very quiet the whole time. The bed linens and mattresses are GREAT. Entry door opens out instead of in. And they are heavy ! On Deck 12 we found the AFT elevators convenient for Dining Room, Theatres, Casino, Sports Deck, Guest Services and Café Promenade for coffee 24/7. Forward elevators for Specialty Restaurants and Central Park. If you get lost, the touch screens at elevator doors come in handy to get you in the right direction.

Since there are few storage drawers, I brought an over the door clothes hanger, and space saving hangers. A suggestion I received from a previous cruiser. I hung this over the closet door and it worked well. I also brought an extension cord & power cord but did not use them. Only 2 outlets located under desk and behind bed.

Closet: 6-7 feet wide-includes 13 hangers. Shelving inside of closet has 6 deep but narrow shelves with 1 shelve to hold a safe. If you put too much jewelry or “stuff” in safe, it takes about 3 tries before the door opens.

Vanity: Blow dryer located in top drawer, although RCL will tell you it’s attached to bathroom wall. 3 drawers with 1 small and 2 somewhat large. Next to vanity are 2 cupboards. Top Cupboard has 4 narrow/shallow shelves and bottom cupboard has 2 narrow/shallow shelves.

Entry Way: 2 coat hangers, 1 small shelf, and 2 magazine racks.

Bathroom: 1 small/shallow cupboard w/trash can under sink. 3 deep shelves and 2 extra coat hangers on wall plus 3 hangers on bathroom door. Two adequate shelves under vanity for 2 people. We also had small bottles of shampoo, bath gel and hair conditioner in our bathroom- Quite surprised! Shower was adequate with Hand sprayer and foot rest to shave legs on. Surprisingly there is more hot water than cold in shower and sink. Don’t burn yourself!

Phone: Found it hard to read the LCD screen or to operate. If you can figure it out, you can record your own personal greeting.

Oke, I had too much sun and took the time to jot all these items down in an A/C room! The A/C worked great even at a neutral setting.. Again, keep the Sliding glass door shut and locked.

Labadee: We found it to be beautiful. BBQ on the beach was good. Watched the food hogs take as many ribs as possible so the guests behind them have none! Secret: Go to the Bell Tower beach and walk up to the Bell Tower. Follow path to a surprise beach area. Zip Line is $85.00 for about a 1 minute ride, but thrilling. Altho, it took 2 hrs. to ride up the mountain and Zip back down.

Costa Maya: Rode the bus, $2.00pp to Charlie Brown’s in the fishing village. The best Salsa & Chips and Shrimp Nachos we have ever had. But don’t buy the Cuban Cigars! They are fake and costly. We were suckers! Took a taxi back to the pier for $3.00pp. A 5 minute ride each way. If you want to stay close to the ship, there is a pool and chairs at the end of the pier as you depart. However, found it extremely crowded and noisy with loud music. Also a lot of babies and small children in pool without swimming diapers !

Cozumel: Took the Fury Snorkeling Excursion. More family oriented than the last time we were in Cozumel. Expecting a party boat on return, but found it subdued.

Snorkeling was oke. Private Beach is beautiful with hammocks and even a bed under palm fronds..hmmmm?? I would like one in my backyard !

The Oasis is unbelievably huge. It’s like a city on the seas. We found 7 days is not enough time to explore and take advantage of all it has to offer. I understand the ports of call are limited for the size of the Oasis, so you may just want to stay on board during a Western Cruise. There was always lounge chairs available (on 2nd & 3rd tiers around pools) The umbrella chairs were always taken early. The solarium is peaceful if you can take the heat. Very stuffy and warm. BTW, we understood the ship was full with 5,400 passengers. Possibly the reason we had unpleasant dining experiences.

We enjoyed the shows even though we were tired from waiting in the dining room for service. They also have matinees for some of the shows. I agree with others who have commented, “RCL has put the $$ in entertainment and taken away from dining & service. We also felt they are nickel & diming everyone on this ship.

Slot Tournament: It’s a lot of fun, but please read the fine print to find out exactly what is required to win the advertised cruise and cash. Thinking we were in the top 12 for the drawing on a 7 day cruise or cash, at the end they announced they did not receive enough players this day and gave us 2 choices. Either wait until Friday for another tournament or play a run-off for cash prizes. They need 75 players, we only had 55. So they took in $1,375 and paid out less than $900. In addition, the cruise & cash is not paid out until November, 2010 on the Navigator of the Seas after several tournaments during the summer. But it was fun for only $25.00.

Bingo: Definitely play the “auto machines”. They give you 30 chances per game where paper only gives you 3. Price of bingo increases each day. On the last day machines are $71.00 and paper packets are $48. The jackpot on the 6th day was $6,100 won by a single player.

Disembarkation: Since we live in FL, we chose the later time. We had an estimated departure time of 915am, but were off by 9am. Well organized and efficient. We found our baggage immediately, tipped a porter $20 for 5 bags and he flew us threw the line towards customs. While my husband retrieved the car he took our bags across the street and loaded them. We were in our car before 930am! Definitely worth the $20.00.

We wouldy enjoy sailing on this ship again. However, would not take the Western cruise unless we decided to stay on board.

[regg1216]

Which pier did you dock at in Cozumel?

[Harmons_Florida]

We were on this same sailing. Pretty much agree 100% with everything in the first review posted.

I thought the lunch and supper foods in all venues was better than average. I thought breakfast in the WJ was horrible. Eggs were very watered down (even in the omelets), pancakes were bland, etc. Johnny Rockets breakfast seemed a bit better, but still not what I would consider better than average.

We didn't experience the extreme wait times with the My Time Dinning as did the second poster. We did only eat in the MDR twice, which were both on formal nights. The first night we had a 6:30 reservation, the second night we ate around the same time but did not reserve. Both nights we were taken in to the requested table for 2 in less than 5 min. There did seem to be a considerable amount of time between courses, but I'd say 20 min tops, not more than an hour like the previous posted mentioned.

[tsleam]

i have to say that 99% of our trip was wonderful. it's nice to read about the good stuff, but just to add a couple of things (complaints) that i think people should know:

 

make sure you check your sea pass card to ensure that you have a dining room table number. i never thought to look at my card to see what the number was and to my surprise, when we walked into the dining room for our 6pm main dinner seating, THERE WAS NO NUMBER ISSUED TO US!! soooo, we had to wait in a very very very very long line, which took almost an hour, to get assigned a table. no explanations from the dining staff on how this happened!! we had no special requests for our dining other than a 6pm main seating. nevertheless, our waiter was excellent and got us out of there in time for the aqua theater show that night.

 

another thing, do your research on shore excursions before you go!! namely, restrictions. i thought i had read where children could ride on the dragon's coaster in labadee with parents. we didn't sign up before boarding so went to the excursion desk to sign up. well, 2 people at the excursion desk told me they could not allow children under 12. much to my surprise when viewing all of the pictures in the photo gallery how many children were riding with their parents, which we specifically stated that we wanted to do. we were denied booking this excursion. i wish i would have brought the printout with me from the rccl website to show them. these people were not very knowledgable at all!!

 

and one more thing, laundry service. we sent a few things out for laundry on wednesday not realizing that it would take 48 hrs to get back. we got them back late afternoon on friday. if we would have known, we would have done without and saved the $25. maybe my fault for not asking.

 

all in all, it was a wonderful week of overindulgence!!

[Sharonbel]

I also was on the 5/29 cruise and agree with most of these reports however I did have a few different experiences...

 

I am a Diamond member so we had many benefits and most are listed on this site somewhere but will answer any questions for you.

 

I made my dining & show reservations prior to boarding (one month before) and I got everything I wanted....I was able to change some on board as well. The bummer for me was in My Time Dining even though I had a reservation I had to wait a bit to get in....I strongly suggest getting there 15 minutes before your reservation time and ask to be seated with Rochelle & Anon....they become very popular and are EXCELLENT...we were always done in less than 1.5 hours and they moved faster when I said I needed to get to a show etc. The smaller the table the faster you eat. We had a table for 2 and joined friends for a table for 4 & 6 and everything went fine.

 

The Meet & Mingle party was pretty good & had some gifts that they raffled. It was held the Sunday at Dazzles Lounge.

 

TIP: When making reservations prior to boarding the system requires you have a 2 hour dinner time prior to all shows so keep that in mind. I also suggest going to an early in the week to the Aqua SHow (do not sit in the first 5 rows)...we went to the first one offered and after that the show had much technical difficulty & was cancelled often and had to add shows to accomodate people and those may interfere with others you have to get to.

 

The Park Cafe is the best place for lunch and gets crowded....as you have heard the roast beef sandwiches (had many) are awesome as well as the paninis (only had one) and the salad bar is terrific....they also had Greek salad always available at the samndwich bar. This place always had Crystal Light drinks as well as lemonade, coffee, tea etc.

 

The Mondo bar had fruit tarts, eclairs & other desserts & sandwiches (coffee cost extra).

 

The Cafe Promanade & Sorrentos have free coffee & food, both pretty good spots to snack or have luch at.

 

I had breakfast at Johnny Rockets once, service was SLOW and the only thing that was terrific was the potatoes. I had it at the Windjammer once and it was just soso. Lots of Indian & Asian offerings there.

 

DIAMOND BENEFIT: The rest of our breakfasts were at The Diamond breakfast in the private dining area of the main dining room...it was terrific and EVERYTHING was cooked to order....yummy eggs benedict, offered fresh squeezed OJ on a couple of days, always had free cappuchino, mocha lattes etc.

 

The corn dogs at the bar in front of Johnny Rockets were yummy....they offered pretzel dogs at the Wipeout Cafe but I didn't have one...I heard they were good. Both free.

 

We ate at Chops one nite and the service was a little slow but it was a full house. I had the 10 oz Fillet and couldn't finish it...this is typical steak house fare...HUGE potatoes, onion rings, garlic mashed etc....the chocolate dessert was so rich I could only eat 3 bites.

 

The first parade was fun but that was the only one I went to. The 70's disco party started at 11:30 in the promanade and moved to the discos and I heard went on till 3AM....it is for the party animals. I usually am but did too much that day!!

 

The internet was always pretty fast as compared to other ships...not as fast as my Fios service at home, however. There are 3-4 spots on the ship that have terminals.

 

Use the touch "Where am I" screen near the elavators to show you how to get to everything...they give you little maps to get you where you want to go. They also tell you what food venues are busy....this is a terrific feature.

 

The 11 & 12 AFT decks overlook the Aqua theater and are a great place to view the show as well as the ocean & both are open to the public.

 

No one I came accross had problems with the GPS phones that RCL rents to you, if you want them....they are $17.50 ea and if you have children they are a good thing to have. I did hear they work better inside than outside however. We used our walkie talkies and they were fine.

 

They had 2 or 3 Trivial Pursuit games scheduled daily and we won a few times....it was fun. You do not need to buy the book they sell to do any of the games.

 

It is fun to watch the Aqua SHow cast practice...they were all fabulous. As were all the skaters & singers & dancers. ALL the shows were very professionally executed and Hairspray was as good as Broadway. The Comedy club was fun and we went to the improve show as well & had a blast. OUr Headliner was "Revolution" the Beatles show...they were good and got the whole room dancing!!.....they announced that Tom Hanks hired them to play at his birthday party. Come Fly with me was terrific as well...lots of airborn acrabats!!

 

TIP: They give away your seats 10 minutes prior to the shows so ALWAYS be early.

 

We got onboard at 11:30...took 15 minutes max. Our suitcases were at the door at 1PM when they allowed us to go to our cabin....we were in a D1 #6194....huge balcony, we had our attendant bring 2 lounges and they fit with our table & chairs...the loungers were great to have.

 

DIAMOND INFO: The Diamond event every night at Blaze Lounge was terrific....appetizers & drinks....I had Cosmos and normally they were $9.25 ea but free for us in that lounge. The Diamond Lounge was in a great spot to see all the parades & shows held in the Promanade...it also had the cappuchino coffee machine available 8-8....we got treats from the Mondo Cafe (right below) and had cappuchino with it....yummy. It also is a good spot to have aprivate party since there were couches etc and always was empty (except for parades) so gather up friends and party there.

 

The library had a limited selection but I did find a few good books to try & read....way too much to do to sit around all the time and read however!!

 

There were many places to get frozen yogurt HOWEVER it melts fast!!

 

Labadee was too hot for us so we took the tram ride....we saw the whole venue and then came back to the ship....the barbeque looked good but nothing worth dripping over to eat!! Same food on board.

 

Costa Maya....same comments as earlier but we went to Maya Chan....just OK...the water was prettier at the dock and unless you drink A LOT I wouldn't go. It was so hot that many just sat under the umbrellas.....We did go through the bottled water....they had to get more for our group. The food was good.

 

Cozumel....We have been there many times and have seen most places so we decided, along with MANY people, to stay on board & enjoy the ship. On previous trips we went to Mr. Seniors which was an awesome day resort. The seveche was fabulous as well as the salsa. Seemed reasonable to us.

 

NO fairwell show & they didn't show the cruise video....bummer. The photo shop & the photographers were excellent....we bought just 2 photos but if you want to buy more than 4 the book may be the best bargain....the ones who got it loved it. The recognition system (make sure you get the first onboard photo) works like a charm and all your photos will be put in your folder and you can view them from the folder or at one of the computer stations at the photo shop.

 

Ken was our CD and did a good job but I hear Richard Spacey takes over this week....he is the best & so much fun, you will like him, I'm sure.

 

We saw the Love & Marriage game (shown on the TV for a couple of days if you miss it) & it was fun...we didn't go to the Quest this time because it was late (11:45) and we had a real busy day & 2 shows so we were dead tired...we usually NEVER miss that!! I heard it was good.

 

The shops were typical and they had the $10 tables nightly....my husband bought one of the $10 watches and the next day the light feature didn't work so we returned it....wear whatever you buy to make sure it functions well. I bought a one for $20 and it is working fine.

 

If I can think of anything else I will add it later...I'll try and answer questions & I have all the Cruise Compasses as well.

 

The ship is awesome & I NEVER felt any movement at all....no one got sick at all since you didn't even know you were moving. All the public rest rooms were clean and we had no problems with our A/C, sewer smell and some of the other complaints others had....all in all a fabulous vacation.

 

If you have children they too will have a blast...I heard the puppet show was terrific & open to the general public but it conflicted with our plans. We didn't have children with us but there were MANY on board.

 

Sharon

[Harmons_Florida]

Thanks for reminding me of some points I forgot to mention:

- Communications: I agree the internet seemed quite fast most of the time. We did rent the ship iphones and our experience was that they only worked correctly about 35% of the time. We had lots of trouble with them including connection problems, inaccurate guest finder, new compasses not loading, and party information vanishing from the phone all together. The communications booth was not open very often, and we could get no support from guest services, just the standard reply of "You must wait until the communications desk is open to get support. We got frustrated and turned them in 2 days early. We were never offered a refund or partial credit.

- Maya Chan: After visiting Maya Chan, I feel that is has been very much over rated on the boards. We did enjoy our day, and the staff was nice, but not at all the DREAM day we were led to believe we would experience. For the price, it can't be beat, just don't go with expectations of grandeur. I'm not saying we wouldn't do it again; it just wasn't what we thought it would be.

- Cozumel: We choose to rent a moped ($45 for the day) and head around the island. After reading reviews, we decided to make the first and longest stop of the day at Mr. Sancho's. It was a good choice. No entry fee, and they have a host of ala carte activities such as wave runners, ATV's, Horseback riding, Parasailing, and more. The beach was gorgeous, and our server waited on us the entire day. He was very friendly, and there was never any pressure for us to buy anything. We decided to purchase an ATV and Wave Runner package which cost $90. We enjoyed both activities. Afterwards, we just cruised our little moped (which was surprisingly fast) around the island stopping to view the sites and a few stores. This was probably the best shore day of our trip.

/a

[tsleam]

so i just thought of a couple more things . . .

 

we did get the royal connect phones as well. they kept the kids preoccupied with the chat feature but found they weren't very accurate with regard to the gps. probably wouldn't get them again.

 

in costa maya, maya chan i agree was nice, but in my opinion, not for children. think the reviews ive read are overrated. my 11 year old was bored and not interested in going in the water because of the turtle grass. i think this would have been a better day for just DH and myself to just relax and drink. i thought the food was really good though and it was a good price. the trip back to the ship was "a taxi drive from hell!!"

 

in cozumel we did the dolphin family adventure at dolphinairis. this was excellent!!! i would definitely recommend this. very short trip from the ship and a wonderful experience. although they try to rip you off with the pics and video at the end!

[Zark427]

CNST - Thanks for the review... Quick question... How did you find out about "Mitch?" We are looking forward to doing that. Thanks

[cnst]

CNST - Thanks for the review... Quick question... How did you find out about "Mitch?" We are looking forward to doing that. Thanks

 

It believe it was listed on the daily Compass. I think it was around 10:00 or so but I'm not sure what night. Hope they have it for you.

[cnst]

Thanks for all the compliments. This board has been so helpful for me, it's only right to return the favor.

 

Another comment my wife corrected me on: The bartenders get $350 per month and then the rest is tips. Thanks Dear.

[Cruising89143]

I forgot to mention, Alex our bartender, introduced us to one of the onboard subcontractors who is the chief welder. Apparently they were having (or predicting) problems with waves making contact with the lifeboats near the bow of the ship. They are welding massive plates to deflect any water that may hit and dislodge the life boats. There are about 30’ tall and 15’ wide like elephant ears directly under the “wing “ turrets and in front of the lifeboats. Thought that was interesting. You have to love a proactive stance by RCI and not a reactive one.

 

As for dancing, we never got to it but there's a pretty complete list on the Compass every day for all sorts of themes. You should be able to find something to your liking.

 

They actually had issues with the waves. On the way over from the shipyard, the ship experienced very high seas and the front lifeboat on each side of the ship were damaged. They are hoping that by adding these wings, it will help stop this type issue.

[Puffinater]

Thanks for the detailed review. Great job.

[Cruiser0721]

If I can think of anything else I will add it later...I'll try and answer questions & I have all the Cruise Compasses as well.

 

 

Sharon

 

 

Sharon - Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your thoughts about the Oasis. There are quite a few of us searching for recent copies of the Oasis Western Cruise Compasses. Would you be so kind as to scan them and provide a link? I can help you if you need it, also, there's a thread "Pay it forward" that is setting up a common location to post these. Thank you so much for your consideration - it would certainly help others get the most out of their Oasis vacation!

 

Ann

[NenaCruise]

Hi...I too was on this cruise....I heard the deck phones were better than the Iphones...I did not know you could get them for less at guess services...Just remember that if you want them that you have to go to deck services as soon as you board!

 

Same experience as most! I like Windjammer for breakfast though! I went early and always had a table....my time dining experience was great...our reservations were for 6:15pm each night but we got there as early as 5:45pm and got a good table.....Peter Host and Milton I thought were angels....they too were very popular...they love kids:)

[Harmons_Florida]

The star gazing experience is printed in the Compass. He actually scheduled it twice on our sailing. Not sure if the second night worked out as it was very cloudy.