Oasis vs. Epic - My thoughts

[gsearles]

Oasis of the Seas vs. Epic

 

I wanted to write a comparison of these two new ships. Lots has been written in here on both. I don’t want to repeat all the stuff said about each here but rather discuss how they compare as I know many people are contemplating which one is best for them. I think that’s the best way to put it - best for you. Both are great. Neither is perfect. Neither is terrible.

 

I am a father of two, in my late 30’s. My wife and I took our two kids (7 year old boy, 4 year old girl) on Oasis this March. We went on Epic this November with close friends of ours (couples only, no kids). Right off the bat that makes one difference in comparison, but we did check out all the kids stuff available on Epic too just for comparison sake.

 

Some points of comparison:

 

Embarkation:

 

RCI’s check in area is very nice, well put together, and imediately makes you feel that something special is going on. It’s fresh and clean and all seemed friendly. NCL’s checkin was faster but nowhere as nice and friendly, rather impersonal and in a big messy area that lacked any sense of occasion.

 

Winner: Oasis

 

The ship:

 

Hands down in terms of looks (which shouldn’t really matter but kind of does) the Oasis is just a better looking vessel. It also has marginally nicer finishing details outside in the public areas. Never mind the neighborhods (which are amazing), Oasis just has slightly better fit and finish and seems cleaner and tidier than Epic. After a couple of days of qandering around on Epic you becme puzzled by design and layout decisions. You walk a lot through empty corridors and the casino to get places. On Oasis you sometimes have to walk long distances to get somewhere of course but it feels like less of a chore - the sightlines are nicer, and you often walk past nice things like Central Park and the well laid-out promenade on your way. There are better gathering areas on Oasis and more quiet places too. Elevators give amazing views of the ship from the inside. No question the Oasis is better designed in terms of layout despite being even larger in size.

 

Winner: Oasis

 

Cabin:

 

We stayed in a Central Park balcony on Oasis and a balcony ocean stateroom room on level 13 on Epic. The Epic rooms are funkier and maybe a bit nicer in fit and finish. We were fine with the bathroom and sink layout. The Oasis room felt just a little bit bigger, probably because of the square standard layout. It would be hard to fit two kids in the Epic room we had - easier on Oasis. Storage in Epic rooms is fantastic - excellent use of every corner of the room.

 

Winner: Epic by a small margin

 

Entertainment:

 

Epic has branded entertainment and you can see the effort they put into making this the “biggest” in terms of entertainment. We saw Blue Man Group who are neat but I woudn’t go out of my way to see them again. Legends was great but short. Oasis has a great theater and I thought the version of Hairspray we saw was amazing (and hear Chicago is top notch). Not for all tastes of course so YMMV. The figure skating show was amazing. The water show was just OK.

 

Winner: Epic

 

Pool:

 

Apart from the Epic plunge there isn’t much great about the pool area on Epic. There aren’t enough pools, and there are a lot of ugly empty areas by the rock climbing wall. The Oasis pools are also small (I think they have to be on ships due to physical contraints) but there are so many of them, all with different purposes, and lots more variety of places to sit.

 

Wnner: Oasis by a mile

 

Food:

 

The buffet on Oasis seemed to have more variety but the quality may have been just slightly better on Epic.

 

The main dining room on Epic was nice enough but had a very limited menu most nights and rarely have things on it that made me want to eat there. Despite eating in the main dining room on Oasis a lot more than we did on Epic, the menu never got boring. There was always lots I wanted to try every night in the Oasis dining room, and there was a nice amount of change on the menu from night to night to keep things interesting.

 

I personally don’t mind paying a bit extra for the specialty restaurants on these ships, though I know some don’t like to do so. It makes for more variety and quality though, so if you come onboard with the mentality that you’re going to spend few hundred more for the week and just factor that in in your head on pricing you’re likely to be satisfied. We liked all the pay places we went on both ships - Park 150 and Italian place on Oasis, Cagney’s, Moderno, Italian place and Teppenyaki on Epic.

 

I don’t have a big problem with set time dining but some people do. The Freestyle concept on Norwegian is a good one, but perhaps they’ve sacrificed selection in the main dining room just a bit too much.

 

Winner: Tie

 

Coffee:

 

Very important to me. No queston here we all thought the coffee on the Epic was fantastic. Really, really good regular coffee and the lattes at the Atrium cafe were great too. RCI ships all serve Seattle’s Best coffee which some may like fine but I never have. Lattes from the mini-Starbucks on board were very good but they don’t serve Starbucks regular coffee there unfortunately. (Alure might with the full Starbucks???)

 

Winner: Epic (by a long shot)

 

Fitness Centre:

 

I manage to get to the gym 4-5 times per cruise. The fitness centre was much beter on Oasis. Both ships had very good quality equipment, but the Oasis had a better layout, more machines per person it seemed as well. Too many machines we out of order on the Epic (come on, fix them!!!). At peak time (7 AM) it was much easier to get an elliptical machine or treadmill on Oasis. By 9 AM or later on either ship it’s never a problem. The jogging track on Oasis is dramatically better. Although a bit convoluted and winding, at least it goes all the way around the ship! Also there are many spots with good views on the Oasis jogging track despite much of it being blocked by life boats. It’s also connected directly to the gym which is nice. On Epic there’s a little running “strip” on one side only, with strong smells of engine and food all the time, all completely blocked in by life boats with the exception of one small area in the middle. Terrible.

 

Winner: Oasis by a mile

 

Kids areas:

 

Again, we had kids with us on Oasis, but not on Epic. We toured the Epic kids area to check it out though. The Epic had a lot of room in the kids area but a lot of it was just big empty space. They have a cool dance floor and a great looking jungle gym type thing though. Both ships have a lot of video games. The Oasis area was nicer though, with amazingly well equipped rooms plus a theater with stage, a fun science lab and an art room in addition to the play rooms. Our kids LOVED it there and usually didn’t want to leave when we came to pick them up. Our friends kids all flt the same way. The counsellers on Oasis were all GREAT. Only got to meet one on Epic for a quick tour.

 

Winner: Oasis (with one caveat - the kids didn’t get to vote on this one!)

 

Service and charges:

 

I have no problem tipping generously to staff who have been helpful all week. However, I HATE putting money in envelopes for people I never met all week until the last night and they still do this on Royal Caribbean Ships. On Norwegian you pay a daily fee to cover this instead, a set amount rather that what you see fit. I tipped extra to a few really good servers on both who went out of their way to be helpful. Service was very good on both but slightly better on average on Oasis. Both had some great people. Epic had more marginal ones - including more than one who spoke so little Engligh that they would nod nicely and pretend they understood you but then not get you what you asked for because they had no idea what you said.

 

Winner: Oasis

 

Overall:

 

You can add up “points” or go with your gut feeling when trying to decide. Looking at the tally above I guess I voted more for Oasis and that fits my gut feeling. Both ships are great and some may like Epic more depending on their priorities. For me I like the look, feel and design of the Oasis more, and felt it had a better “vibe” somehow. There were more things I found bothersome about the Epic too. With kids no queston at all - I’m convinced a family will do better with Oasis.

 

Let me put it this way to sum up: After going on Oasis I wanted to go book another cruise on it immediately. I enjoyed the Epic trip too but didn’t feel any great desire to go back on it any time soon. I guess maybe that says it best.

 

Winner overall: Oasis

 

Feel free to comment or ask questons!

 

Greg

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I appreciate your review. We've been on Oasis and booked ourselves on the Allure because of our positive experience.

 

My husband and I have toured the EPIC to get a feel for it. I liked a lot of what they offered onboard as far as entertainment, but we didn't get to experience it for a cruise. We do still want to try it out so we know for ourselves.

 

I 100% agree with you about the children's areas. Oasis had some great features in Adventure Ocean. On the other hand Recess (on Epic) had a LOT of empty areas. That was the first thing I noticed!! I asked the director what there is to do other than the computers, movie theater, dance floor, and jungle gym. His response wasn't very reassuring that they had anything else!

[bionicman97]

Thanks for the comparison and the explainations :)

[LBumb]

thanks for posting your views.

[will work to cruise]

Thanks for the comparisons. We are sailing the Oasis in June. Not sure if we'll ever sail on the Epic or not.

[cruzkitty]

Thanks for your review/comparisons. We're cruising the Oasis in Sept and I'm thinking after that-it will probably be the Allure.

[maxxedout2]

Thanks.

Well written.

..just surfed by and read it...not sure

we'll book either soon, but always a pleasure

to learn something from someone who has

actually been on both ships.

:cool:

[ChristianDecker]

Thanx for your great summary.

So I guess I will never make it to any other company than RCCL... ;)

We are just planning our Allure cruise in 2011 and your post underlines our choice. :D

[Ocean68]

Extremely awesome review!!! Thank you so much for posting this. :)

 

If you don't mind saying, what were the other things that you found bothersome about the Epic?

[silentbob007]

Interesting comparison. Thanks.

[enyliram]

have sailed oasis and allure. sailing the epic dec 18th. will post my comparisons after i return.

[MikeNJ1109]

We haven't sailed Oasis (Allure) or the Epic yet, but look forward to trying both class of ships. That being said, we have sailed enough times on both RCL and NCL to know that we like both brands, and have been well taken care of by the staff & crew of both lines.

 

Ultimately for us -- if the cabin is clean & comfortable, if the food doesn't suck, if the service makes us feel welcome, and (most importantly) we have a relaxing vacation -- than THAT is what is most importnat.

 

Michael & Silke