Just off Oasis - my observations.

[Ocean Boy]

Definitely a bummer to read this as I was hoping that some of the inevitable service issues with transferring personnel to Allure would be resolved by now. We are sailing in April and hope things will be smoothed out by then. We sailed on the Mariner when it was the newest ship...no issues; Liberty when it was the newest ship....no issues; Independence, a few months after the Oasis set sail and had lots of service issues (especially in the MDR).

 

I wonder if sailing on the second oldest ship is not advisable as they take a good chunk of the staff to the newest one. I really wanted to book Allure, but my family didn't want to do the Eastern route again, so I figured we would give Oasis a try.

 

I know we will have a good time, it is just disappointing to hear about service issues.

 

Independence is hardly RCI's second oldest ship so I am not quite sure where you are coming up with this theory. But it does seem that when RCI puts a new ship into service that they pick one of their other ships and pull a good percentage of the seasoned staff from it. I could understand them doing that when they put Oasis into service as the last thing they needed were bad service reviews on a ship that cost so much and needed to be filled at and expensive premium. However, taking Oasis's staff over to Allure seems to be causing some issues on Oasis that RCI doesn't need.

 

Once again, I will see for myself shortly.

[JeffersonSea]

I just checked each of those prices on RCI's website using no discounts such as military or senior. In the end Freedom is less expensive. The prices for Oasis and Allure are not what they were last year. Even RCI knew that the prices would come down. They have stated that but they are still getting premium prices for those two ships.

 

Let me clarify....those prices are from what I looked up on RC, using my booking info. 2 adults, 1 child, with the military discount (my DW is ex-Navy). Either way, all the numbers I came up with, whether Oasis, Allure or Freedom, are using the exact same booking info.

 

I'm not sure what you're looking at, but these are from RC's site, right now, 2 people, no discounts. All 3 are Western Carribbean, either May 8, 14 or 15, 2011. I don't know where your numbers are coming from, the only difference might be state of residency. (arizona for us)

 

D1: Oasis - $2518; Freedom - $2659; Allure - $3005

D2: Oasis - $2693; Freedom - $2599; Allure - no avail.

D3: Oasis - $2653; Freedom - $2579; Allure - no avail.

 

D1: Oasis is $140 cheaper than Freedom.

D2: Almost equal, Freedom $94 cheaper.

D3: Almost equal, Freedom $74 cheaper.

 

And on Oasis, for a May cruise that is just 90 days away, there are plenty of balcony cabins available. I think Allure will be in the same position a year from today. Especially if the entertainment stays the same. I would expect the Freedom to be doing very well a year from now as the "allure" of the Allure and Oasis wears off, and the service starts to slide as it apparently has on Oasis, judging from a number of recent reviews.

[Cruising89143]

Let me clarify....those prices are from what I looked up on RC, using my booking info. 2 adults, 1 child, with the military discount (my DW is ex-Navy). Either way, all the numbers I came up with, whether Oasis, Allure or Freedom, are using the exact same booking info.

 

I'm not sure what you're looking at, but these are from RC's site, right now, 2 people, no discounts. All 3 are Western Carribbean, either May 8, 14 or 15, 2011. I don't know where your numbers are coming from, the only difference might be state of residency. (arizona for us)

 

D1: Oasis - $2518; Freedom - $2659; Allure - $3005

D2: Oasis - $2693; Freedom - $2599; Allure - no avail.

D3: Oasis - $2653; Freedom - $2579; Allure - no avail.

 

D1: Oasis is $140 cheaper than Freedom.

D2: Almost equal, Freedom $94 cheaper.

D3: Almost equal, Freedom $74 cheaper.

 

And on Oasis, for a May cruise that is just 90 days away, there are plenty of balcony cabins available. I think Allure will be in the same position a year from today. Especially if the entertainment stays the same. I would expect the Freedom to be doing very well a year from now as the "allure" of the Allure and Oasis wears off, and the service starts to slide as it apparently has on Oasis, judging from a number of recent reviews.

 

I'm not going to contiue to go back and forth. I know what I pulled up yesterday with no discounts. Meaning straight prices with no state, military or senior discounts for two people.

[goouchjac]

Just sailed her from 1/29 thru 2/5. Background: My wife and I are late 50's and this is only our 5th cruise. Prior cruises were RCI Freedom, Liberty and Serenade, and last year tried Celebrity Solstice. I'll keep this brief and again, these are just my observations and experiences.

 

SHIP: Magnificent! The neighborhood concept was brilliant. Central Park, The Boardwalk and the expanded Royal Promenade were all great!

 

CABIN: Just like the other ships. Had a D1 on deck 10 right at the edge of the hump. Balcony was good size. Storage seemed less then other ships(??) Also, lack of outlets in room. Had to keep changing chargers during the week. No biggie though.

 

STATEROOM ATTENDANT: Terrific! If you get port/midship on deck 10, Wanda is fantastic. Saw her everyday of cruise and she couldn't have been more helpful!

 

MAIN DINING ROOM: OK, here we go....service was HORRIFIC! We had early seating (6 p.m.) Every night we did not get served desserts until 8:15! Slowest I've ever experienced on a cruise. Waiter and assistant waiter were nice but totally overwhelmed.

 

CHOPS GRILL: I fell in love with Chops on our first cruise on the Freedom. Not only was the food fantastic, but you had 4 or 5 people serving you and making sure you had a terrific dining experience. Not this time. On Oasis we had one waiter and the service here was also terrible. For those that have enjoyed chops, you know that sides are served "family style". We were a table of 6 and ordered a side of aspargas. Family style defined at chops is 4 pieces of asparagas. Who knew? Our waiter would disappear for 15 to 20 minutes at a time and would only come to the table if we could get his attention. Not like I remember.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: I learned the hardway but DO MAKE SHOW RESERVATIONS IN ADVANCE!! I did reserve Hairspray (great show by the way), the Aqua Theatre (great too) and the Headliner Show so we did get in to those. However, we did want to see the comedy show but it was full every evening with two performances a night and we couldn't get in.

 

Now for the "headliner show"....it was "Bowser and his rock and roll show" or something like that. For those that don't know, Bowser was with a band called Sha Na Na. Why RCI considers him a "headliner" is beyond me. Show was terrible. Many walked out in the middle of it.

 

SOLARIUM: Spent all our pool time in this area. Kudo's to the "Deck Patrol"! Anybody who tried to save chairs with towels, books, bags etc were surprised if they were gone longer then a 1/2 hour. Deck Patrol cleaned off the chairs for newcomers and items were placed in a holding bin for people to find when they returned. Great policy.

 

SUMMARY: One of the bar waitresses solved the problem for me. She seemed a bit "down in the dumps" and when my DW asked her if anything was wrong she replied that she - and "many other crew on the ship" - were not happy there. They were overwhelmed with all they had to do dealing with 5500 passengers. She said there weren't enough of them. She also told us that the day we boarded, 14 crew members just quit and walked off the ship! Seems RCI has some HR issues here.

 

Glad we went and tried this ship but as I said to my DW, back to Freedom class for me. Much better service. Any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

I agree,,,the two new ships are just too big,,we love the Freedom and are going back next cruise:)

[klove613]

Independence is hardly RCI's second oldest ship so I am not quite sure where you are coming up with this theory. But it does seem that when RCI puts a new ship into service that they pick one of their other ships and pull a good percentage of the seasoned staff from it. I could understand them doing that when they put Oasis into service as the last thing they needed were bad service reviews on a ship that cost so much and needed to be filled at and expensive premium. However, taking Oasis's staff over to Allure seems to be causing some issues on Oasis that RCI doesn't need.

 

Once again, I will see for myself shortly.

 

Ooops meant to say second newest ship. LOL... When we sailed the Indy, it was about 6 months after the Oasis was put into service.

 

I definitely agree that Oasis does not need to be getting bad reviews when they are charging a premium price.

[golf43]

I was on the Oasis last week. We had a wonderful waiter in the dining room. His name was Jaya. Always brought out more food than we really wanted to eat. Brought extra desserts for all of us to try. There were 12 in our group.

 

I did not see anyone saving deck chairs. guess the deck patrol must have made their rounds. The solarium was nice, but seemed alittle humid at times. I wish they made that area more open.

 

We got the sales pitch a few times too for the cookbook. We all told him we do not cook so we don't need a cookbook.

 

Our group enjoyed cruising on the Oasis. We would love to go again. :)

[dadroy]

I have cruised a bit, but not all on the same line. This is the kind of thing that just irritates the cr** out of me. I have to make reservations for every show I want to see?

 

Glad I am a CC member. If I were not, I would not know this. Then I would just show up on the ship, dumber than a lobster and expect to simply attend the show as I have on every other cruise I have ever been on. Then be turned away at the door? This is a sad commentary.

 

Flame me, but it is like the flow rider and rock wall. The advertisements show these but do not include the fact they are only open a few hours a day. So when you do not book by day 3 on a 7 day, you are out of luck.

 

I will not abandon RCI because of this since I do not use them anyway, but I will use the info when if I ever decide to book with a younger child. I am almost at grandpa age, so who knows, it may factor in. It would be really sad to book a cruise then have to explain to grandchild that the flowrider is fully booked, or ice skating is filled. It just SUCKS they get away with advertising all this stuff is there without disclosing you have to book several months in advance what time you want to do each activity.

 

SHAME ON YOU RCI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fairweather]

Thanks for the review. We are intrigued with the new concepts on Oasis and Allure, but wondered how spontaneous you could be on such a large ship with so many passengers.

 

It almost seems like some of the NCL ships where you have to reserve for the better restaurants before knowing what you might want to do for entertainment every night. I like to think of a crusie as a carefree, relaxing experience with lots of fun thrown in whenever it suits me.

 

I most definitely think we will try one of these big ships in the future to take advantage of the neighborhood concepts and new entertainment opportunities. And we will heed the advice of those here who say to plan ahead with reservations for everything that sounds like something we might want to attend, whether we end up doing it or not.

 

Gee, that almost sounds like chair hogging at the pool area. Is it?

[ShayRue]

Does anyone know if the comedy shows are the same show each night? We really want to book a comedy show for our upcoming cruise, but if they're different each night, we don't want to miss out. Do we only need to book one? Thanks in advance.

[BrianAlt]

Here is the itinerary I made for myself for my Oasis cruise. (Sorry CC boards, it's the third time I'm posting it.) I did not stick to everything on here as written, but I was pretty close. It took me a couple of hours to fit together all of the pieces. I enjoyed doing it. My wife enjoyed my doing it. It made me look forward to my cruise even more. I'm sure some think it's a burden, but to me it was a joy. If you want to see what I ACTUALLY did, follow the link in my signature.

 

DAY 1 - 10-July-2010 Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Depart 5:00 PM

FlowRider® Lessons - Pool & Sports Zone - 6:15 PM

My Time Daily Reservations - (Izumi/Vintages) - 7:45 PM

Oasis of Dreams - Aquatheater - 10:30 PM

 

DAY 2 - 11-July-2010 Cruising

Meet and Mingle - Dazzles - 10:30 AM

Dinner at Giovanni's Table Restaurant - Central Park - 7:00 PM

Hairspray - Opal Theater - 10:30 PM

 

DAY 3 - 12-July-2010 Labadee, Haiti

Arrive 7:00 AM

Dragon's Tail Coaster - Labadee - 10:00 AM

Depart 5:00 PM

Chef's Table - Concierge Lounge - 7:30 PM

Standup Comedy Show - Comedy Live - 11:30 PM

 

DAY 4 - 13-July-2010 Cruising

Frozen in Time - Studio B - 5:00 PM

My Time Daily Reservations - (Izumi/Vintages) - 7:15 PM

Headliner Showtime - Opal Theater - 10:30 PM

 

DAY 5 - 14-July-2010 Costa Maya, Mexico

Maya Chan - Taxi from Pier - 9:00 AM

Arrive 12:00 Noon

Depart 7:00 PM

Dinner at Chops Grille - Central Park - 8:00 PM

 

DAY 6 - 15-July-2010 Cozumel, Mexico

Arrive 8:00 AM

Nachi Cocum - Shared Taxi - 9:00 AM

Solarium Bistro Restaurant - Pool & Sports Zone - 7:30 PM

Depart 8:00 PM

Come Fly With Me - Opal Theater - 10:45 PM

 

DAY 7 - 16-July-2010 Cruising

150 Central Park Restaurant - Central Park - 8:30 PM

 

Day 8 - 17-July-2010 Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Arrive Cry 7:00 AM

[One Morlock]

Does anyone know if the comedy shows are the same show each night? We really want to book a comedy show for our upcoming cruise, but if they're different each night, we don't want to miss out. Do we only need to book one? Thanks in advance.

 

Yes ShayRue, the comedy shows are the same every night.

[ShayRue]

Yes ShayRue, the comedy shows are the same every night.

 

Oh good. Thank you so much.

[kasualkathy]

We have the early seating in the MDR and we have booked 8:30 shows. Now I am wondering if we will be able to make the reserved shows on time. Any input would be great.

[golf43]

Does anyone know if the comedy shows are the same show each night? We really want to book a comedy show for our upcoming cruise, but if they're different each night, we don't want to miss out. Do we only need to book one? Thanks in advance.

 

I was on the Oasis last week with a group of 12. A few in our group went to the comedy show a few times. They did say that most of the stuff was the same, but there were a few new things each time. We all had reservations for one show. Then the group waited in line to see if they could get in the other times, which they were able to do.

[bartelbee]

We were on the 1/22 western sailing. Though this was our first on the Oasis class, we've been on every other class of RCCL ship many times and we were impressed by how great the crew was, given the amount of passengers onboard. Maybe part of the reason the crew seemed less friendly/less efficient on the next cruise has to do with the serious accident that happened to a crew member during our cruise. I do know that many of the crew we talked do were very upset by it.

 

As far as making reservations, I obediently made them in advance but once we got on the ship, we found we didn't want to be tied down by a fixed schedule. We made some shows and missed some, but we soon realized that if we got caught up in trying to do everything, it would defeat the reason why we cruise in the first place--to unwind and relax. It's not as if we can't sail the Oasis again to catch up on what we missed.

[One Morlock]

We have the early seating in the MDR and we have booked 8:30 shows. Now I am wondering if we will be able to make the reserved shows on time. Any input would be great.

 

 

I think if you let your waiter know ahead of time, they should make sure you get out in time for the show.

[lkb125]

Just sailed her from 1/29 thru 2/5. Background: My wife and I are late 50's and this is only our 5th cruise. Prior cruises were RCI Freedom, Liberty and Serenade, and last year tried Celebrity Solstice. I'll keep this brief and again, these are just my observations and experiences.

 

SHIP: Magnificent! The neighborhood concept was brilliant. Central Park, The Boardwalk and the expanded Royal Promenade were all great!

 

CABIN: Just like the other ships. Had a D1 on deck 10 right at the edge of the hump. Balcony was good size. Storage seemed less then other ships(??) Also, lack of outlets in room. Had to keep changing chargers during the week. No biggie though.

 

STATEROOM ATTENDANT: Terrific! If you get port/midship on deck 10, Wanda is fantastic. Saw her everyday of cruise and she couldn't have been more helpful!

 

MAIN DINING ROOM: OK, here we go....service was HORRIFIC! We had early seating (6 p.m.) Every night we did not get served desserts until 8:15! Slowest I've ever experienced on a cruise. Waiter and assistant waiter were nice but totally overwhelmed.

 

CHOPS GRILL: I fell in love with Chops on our first cruise on the Freedom. Not only was the food fantastic, but you had 4 or 5 people serving you and making sure you had a terrific dining experience. Not this time. On Oasis we had one waiter and the service here was also terrible. For those that have enjoyed chops, you know that sides are served "family style". We were a table of 6 and ordered a side of aspargas. Family style defined at chops is 4 pieces of asparagas. Who knew? Our waiter would disappear for 15 to 20 minutes at a time and would only come to the table if we could get his attention. Not like I remember.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: I learned the hardway but DO MAKE SHOW RESERVATIONS IN ADVANCE!! I did reserve Hairspray (great show by the way), the Aqua Theatre (great too) and the Headliner Show so we did get in to those. However, we did want to see the comedy show but it was full every evening with two performances a night and we couldn't get in.

 

Now for the "headliner show"....it was "Bowser and his rock and roll show" or something like that. For those that don't know, Bowser was with a band called Sha Na Na. Why RCI considers him a "headliner" is beyond me. Show was terrible. Many walked out in the middle of it.

 

SOLARIUM: Spent all our pool time in this area. Kudo's to the "Deck Patrol"! Anybody who tried to save chairs with towels, books, bags etc were surprised if they were gone longer then a 1/2 hour. Deck Patrol cleaned off the chairs for newcomers and items were placed in a holding bin for people to find when they returned. Great policy.

 

SUMMARY: One of the bar waitresses solved the problem for me. She seemed a bit "down in the dumps" and when my DW asked her if anything was wrong she replied that she - and "many other crew on the ship" - were not happy there. They were overwhelmed with all they had to do dealing with 5500 passengers. She said there weren't enough of them. She also told us that the day we boarded, 14 crew members just quit and walked off the ship! Seems RCI has some HR issues here.

 

Glad we went and tried this ship but as I said to my DW, back to Freedom class for me. Much better service. Any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

What time were you able to board, we are sailing March 5 first time on the Oasis. Lorelle

[One Morlock]

What time were you able to board, we are sailing March 5 first time on the Oasis. Lorelle

 

 

We arrived at the port at about 10:45 and were on board by 11:15. Best boarding to date! Have a great cruise!!

[dennbr9]

We also sailed on the 1/29 Cruise as well as the 2/5 Western and had great MDR Service both weeks.

 

Never felt too crowded on the ship due to so many venues and so many places to eat. Only used the WJ twice for Breakfast and once for lunch in two weeks. Ate those meals at Solarium Bistro and Park Cafe most days. Did try Seafood Shack once and had a wonderful and very well served dinner at 150 Central Park. 150 CP is not for those who are Meat and Potato people as it is a very varied, flavorful, multi course Meal. Was great for what we enjoy and the service was Superb! Would do it again in the future.

 

Loved the ship, only drawback for doing it again or the Allure is the Standard East and West Itinerary they offer. This was our first B2B and turnaround was handled well. Would prefer taking one longer cruise though next time. Like the 10-14 day offerings, but these are few and far between on Freedom Class too.

 

Never saw or heard of any problems with the staff either. Our Cabin Steward ( Juvy) did a wonderful job and every crewmember we passed seemed to smile and say hello. We were also on Deck 8 so who can figure?

[lkb125]

We arrived at the port at about 10:45 and were on board by 11:15. Best boarding to date! Have a great cruise!!

 

Thanks, enjoyed your review.

[dennbr9]

Yes ShayRue, the comedy shows are the same every night.

 

The Comedians and Headliners shows are the same for each week, they only change weekly.

 

Look for the Splish Splash Comedy Diving Show they do one afternoon on a sea day. Was pretty good and no advanced seating available.

 

Bowser Headliner show was ok but needed more singing as they got away from that by doing Hula Hoop and dancing with a few people from the crowd.

 

Headliner the week of 2/5 was a very good entertainer and really got the whole crowd involved. His name was Earl Turner.

[fairweather]

Sounds like a great plan. Thanks for sharing.

[fairweather]

That's how I feel about a cruise. Good to know I don't have to feel guilty if I skip a few things.

[tbears]

The Comedians and Headliners shows are the same for each week, they only change weekly.

 

Look for the Splish Splash Comedy Diving Show they do one afternoon on a sea day. Was pretty good and no advanced seating available.

 

Bowser Headliner show was ok but needed more singing as they got away from that by doing Hula Hoop and dancing with a few people from the crowd.

 

Headliner the week of 2/5 was a very good entertainer and really got the whole crowd involved. His name was Earl Turner.

 

I agree that Earl Turner was very entertaining and a great crowd pleaser. My BF doesn't usually like to go to any of the shows on our cruises but he went to all of the shows this time and actually found them all to be first rate! We enjoyed the Oasis of Dreams Aqua Show so much we went back to watch the 2nd show that night and watched it from Deck 7's little aft area to get a different perspective. I went back to watch the Frozen In Time Ice Show again too. Yes, do make reservations. For a couple of the shows, esp. the ones in the Opal Theater, we were able to get in without reservations.

 

As far as the crew, we and others we talked with, felt there was something missing. They smiled alot but there was something lacking in their service. Our wait staff at dinner seemed frazzled at times and our waiter had a problem understanding our orders. The waiters in the MDR at breakfast & lunch weren't very friendly and seemed bothered. For lunch they weren't even familiar with the menu. :eek: Didn't ruin any of our meals though! :D We had breakfast at Johnny Rockets twice and had wonderful service there.

 

I loved the many venues and different "neighborhoods" which each had their own atmoshpere. We had breakfast at the Park Cafe one morning and stumbled on the Central Park guided walking tour. It was very interesting and informational. Highly recommend it.

 

I found this cruise to be so much fun when I wanted it and if I wanted some quiet time I'd go to Central Park. Only one night did we miss taking a nightly stroll through the beautiful, romantic Central Park. Loved all the parades on the Royal Promenade and the 70's Dance Party there also.

 

Love, loved, LOVED the Oasis, flaws and all!!! :D