Is Oasis too big? wait times shows,

[Majesty Fan]

We are considering the Oasis for our 10th Aniversary next year. We were married on RCI 10 years ago. On the Majesty. We are Diamond Plus and have not been on a RCI cruise in over 3 years. Last cruise had some issues so we have gone the Carnival Disney route. Is it too big? Long Lines, Wait times shows? What about Dismebarkation? How are the BW Balcony rooms?

Lexi

[CruiserNicole47]

We are considering the Oasis for our 10th Aniversary next year. We were married on RCI 10 years ago. On the Majesty. We are Diamond Plus and have not been on a RCI cruise in over 3 years. Last cruise had some issues so we have gone the Carnival Disney route. Is it too big? Long Lines, Wait times shows? What about Dismebarkation? How are the BW Balcony rooms?

Lexi

 

I don't think it's too big, some people do... but I like being busy all day. Lines and crowding were an issue to me, but a lot of people say it wasn't. I didn't like having to be at shows at LEAST 15 mins ahead of time even with reservations because we were worried all through dinner whether they would give our seats away if we didn't get there in time. Then even a good 20-25 mins early we couldn't get "great" seats.

People say crowding isn't an issue, but some times it was, and it was kind of frustrating to me! Park Cafe was crowded every single time we tried to go there. We had to stand with our meals in our hands for at least 10 minutes one time because there wasn't one seat inside OR outside. Luckily an older couple invited us to sit down at their table or we would have been holding our food even longer.

Lines for activities were also pretty long, depending on the time. If you're lucky and hit something (flowrider, zipline) at a good time, the wait wont be too bad.

 

This said, I still had an awesome vacation and I can't wait to go again... but I do remember quite a few times telling DBF I was sick of waiting for everything!

[househunter]

And we had the exact opposite experience on the 04/24 sailing. We felt it was the least crowed ship we had ever been on, we never waited for anything even the elevators. We made reservations for every show that we went to and walked right in. We were amazed that we never really saw any crowds anywhere. We ate at Central Park Cafe 4 time, once for breakfast and 3 times for lunch- we were always able to find a chair although it did get busier toward the end of the week when people finally discovered it.

 

It was our best cruise out of the 10 that we have been on!:)

[molly361]

On the May 8th sailing I did not find crowding as issue except maybe at peak lunch time on the sea days in the WJ and Park Cafe, but we have found that to be the same on all ships on sea days.

 

Also, if you do not pre book shows the lines were long. Other than that we were VERY pleasnantly surprised that we did not feel the crowds that we had anticipated finding Good luck!!!

[windjamming]

Pre-booking shows is the key. You do have to get there early, though, so be prepared to spend a little extra time waiting before the start time. It'll be worth it. They also have multiple show times, so it's never like the entire ship is trying to see a show at the same time.

 

As others have said, the only time I felt a little crowded was the WJ and Park Cafe. The WJ is a madhouse on every ship, so that, to me, is par for the course.

 

I found disembarking and getting on/off the ship at ports to be the smoothest I've ever experienced. At ports, security is done outside the ships, and there are at least 5 concurrent lines. I never waited more than 5-10 minutes to get back on the ship.

 

Overall, I wouldn't be too concerned about crowds. Yes, there are 8000+ people onboard, but the Oasis is also a 220K ton ship.

[wolfegizmo]

We are at the airport now having just gotten off the ship - totally loved the week! - Very rarely did we have lines anywhere - we never had a time where we were aware of all of the passengers on the ship. And being diamond plus - you get a lot of perks. The concierge lounge is great for drinks,breakfast, lunch, appetizers, and a great place to relax. Book your shows and any speciality restaurants in advance. Enjoy! We totally loved it!

[Cruising89143]

I have been on Oasis twice since she entered service.

 

Is she too big? Depends on you. For me, no.

 

Crowded? No. We have had the quickest embarkation and debarkation of any ship. About the entertainment. Yes, you have to pre book your shows if you want to insure that you are able to see the show. Not a big deal at all. Not sure why anyone would have an issue having to arrive 15 minutes early to get a seat. That is normal on any ship if one wants a decent place to sit.

 

Bottom line for me. Oasis has been the least crowded ship of any that I have taken to date. I was surprised at how well the different neighborhoods spread people out. Entertainment hands down is the best that I have seen on a ship. I loved having all the different dining options available on this ship.

[bluegirlum]

While at first I thought it was too big, by the end of the week I decided that I won't be able to go back to a ship that is much smaller (and we LOVE Majesty).

 

Yes, the WJ was crowded at lot, but that was mainly at lunch, and it wasn't too bad. The Park Cafe was sometimes crowded in that there may not have been a seat in the cafe, but the lines were short, and there is plenty of comfy seating in Central Park right outside the cafe, and we often just brought our food back to our cabin and at it on our balcony. The great thing about Oasis is that there are so many dining options--it's amazing!

 

As for the shows, we had reservations for Hairspray and got there early and it was fine. We didn't have reservations for the headliner, but walked in. It was SRO, but there were seats, and had we wanted to walk down to the lower level, we would've found seats.

 

The only other line I found was for the zipline. From reading other reviews of my week, I seemed to be the only one that had that problem, so I think I just went at peak times. The customer services desk had some lines as well, but other than that, getting off at ports was really easy, as was debarking (?) at FLL on the way home. I really never found crowding to be an issue.

 

I was pretty anti-Oasis, but we got a great deal, and felt like we couldn't say anything bad about it until we actually tried it. We tried it and loved it.

[steamboats]

Embarkation and disembarkation on the Oasis are the smoothest and fastest you can get! No immigration and then customs but all in one! It took us much longer to disembark the Majesty the week after the Oasis.

 

steamboats

[zookeepr26]

Hi

We are leaving on Oasis in 2 weeks... cannot wait!! I have been trying today to reserve seats at the headliner, ice show and water theater show... all the ones that fit our schedule are sold out on-line already! I called RCI and she said there will be some seats available when we board. Has anyone waited to board before reserving these shows? And if so, did you have trouble getting seats??

Thanks!!!

[windjamming]

Hi

We are leaving on Oasis in 2 weeks... cannot wait!! I have been trying today to reserve seats at the headliner, ice show and water theater show... all the ones that fit our schedule are sold out on-line already! I called RCI and she said there will be some seats available when we board. Has anyone waited to board before reserving these shows? And if so, did you have trouble getting seats??

Thanks!!!

 

We booked online but here are 2 things you can do to improve your chances of getting seats to the shows you want when booking onboard:

 

1. If you are Diamond, Diamond Plus or in a suite, go to your Concierge as soon as you board and tell him or her exactly what shows you want.

 

2. Go to what's called Oasis 360 on the Cruise Compass, which is basically a box office. It was in the Blaze nightclub when I was onboard in April, but you should confirm in case it has moved. When I passed by Blaze at around 3 the line was around the room so get there early.

[dcporlando]

I just got off the boat this morning. I really don't have a lot of cruising experience, but I didn't feel particularly crowded. We prebooked our shows and just walked in. We only had a problem with dinner on the first night due to a medical situation that caused some extra cleaning and shut down for a while for MTD.

 

Having gone on this boat, I think I will go for a cheaper boat next time. My greatest enjoyment is eating, dressing up, relaxing by the pool, and some of the shows. The extras were nice, but not necessary for us.

[Cruising89143]

We booked online but here are 2 things you can do to improve your chances of getting seats to the shows you want when booking onboard:

 

1. If you are Diamond, Diamond Plus or in a suite, go to your Concierge as soon as you board and tell him or her exactly what shows you want.

 

2. Go to what's called Oasis 360 on the Cruise Compass, which is basically a box office. It was in the Blaze nightclub when I was onboard in April, but you should confirm in case it has moved. When I passed by Blaze at around 3 the line was around the room so get there early.

 

Actually if you're in a Grand Suite and higher, just go to the Concierge and you will have access to all shows and no reservations are required. The Concierge will sticker your Gold card for entrance.

[windjamming]

Actually if you're in a Grand Suite and higher, just go to the Concierge and you will have access to all shows and no reservations are required. The Concierge will sticker your Gold card for entrance.

 

Did not know- thanks!!

[zookeepr26]

We are not in a Concierge category, sadly! I guess we will have to wait in the long line. Sigh.

[zookeepr26]

One more thing... can we book the shows from our stateroom, like via the TV???

[househunter]

One more thing... can we book the shows from our stateroom, like via the TV???

 

Yes! But I would still book as much as possible before you go. Almost everything was totally sold out by the 2nd day on our trip.

[dougp26364]

We are considering the Oasis for our 10th Aniversary next year. We were married on RCI 10 years ago. On the Majesty. We are Diamond Plus and have not been on a RCI cruise in over 3 years. Last cruise had some issues so we have gone the Carnival Disney route. Is it too big? Long Lines, Wait times shows? What about Dismebarkation? How are the BW Balcony rooms?

Lexi

 

I was prepared for all the worst as far as lines, embarkation and disembarkation. None of it materialized. We were onboard within 30 minutes of stepping off the shuttle bus, reservations work great for crowd control and minimizing lines and debarkation was the same as any other RCI cruise we've been on.

 

The biggest issue I had was that the system they use to let you know which restaurants were full and which had plenty of seating wasn't accurate. It would say that Park Cafe (one of our favorites) was empty when in fact it was full. But then there are so many places to eat on Oasis that finding an empty table somewhere was never a problem. Even when there was a line, it moved along rather quickly.