Am I gonna rot in .....

[rdsqrl]

. . . Central Park was a very pleasant and tranquil place to sit with a snack and enjoy all the plants or read a book. Hard to believe you were on a ship - I really felt like I was in a beautiful park. It even had the soft sounds of birds chirping. . .

Well, this I just don't get. Why would I want to go on a ship to sit in a park and hear birds chirping? I can do that in my land-locked town, for a lot less money. I want to know I'm on a ship, not to pretend I'm at an amusement park, shopping mall or an ice hockey arena. Where's the Promenade Deck, the aft viewing areas, the secret door to the secret observation deck? Instead, all of RC's ships seem designed to keep secret from their passengers that they're actually at sea.

[Woobstr112G]

Others make like them (good for them:)) but for me, I'll never step foot on the Leviathan Of The Seas.....

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

Well, this I just don't get. Why would I want to go on a ship to sit in a park and hear birds chirping? I can do that in my land-locked town, for a lot less money. I want to know I'm on a ship, not to pretend I'm at an amusement park, shopping mall or an ice hockey arena. Where's the Promenade Deck, the aft viewing areas, the secret door to the secret observation deck? Instead, all of RC's ships seem designed to keep secret from their passengers that they're actually at sea.

 

Exactly.....:):):)

 

Bob

[KruzPrincess]

The Oasis and Allure are just too big for me. I don't even know if I'll go on the new Princess ship. That said, though, I think it's a great idea to try some other cruise lines. That's how you find out what you really like and don't like. If nothing else, it will reinforce your love of Princess. I'm a Princess cruiser, but I just tried my first Celebrity cruise. It was interesting and nice, but I still love Princess. I may go on Celebrity again and it's nice to have options.

[stretchcruz]

DaisyRose, thanks for your review. We've been on over 40 cruises, and to be honest, our favorite cruises were way back when...smaller ships...and now we need a ship with a covered pool area due to skin cancer issues...and there are too many children nowadays to suit our tastes....not enough adult areas. We're Diamond on RCI, Elite on Princess, but cruising has changed so much that we (for the first time) are not going this year...saving our money for another river cruise...one without kids and with personalized service.

 

To each his own, glad that folks are still enjoying cruising no matter what has changed....the changes have certainly been good for the cruise industry!!

[caribill]

You can pre-book all the shows on line prior to departure

 

To me that is a reason to not sail on either of the Displacement Of The Seas ships.

 

Without knowing all of what is available each evening beforehand, why commit to so much onboard time ahead of the cruise?

 

I would rather "escape completely" and take each day as it unfolds.

[jpg1747]

I have sailed on several different lines and Princess is by far my favorite. If money were no object, I'd always choose Princess. But since that is not the case, I book the cruise that best fits my budget and wallet. While I do like Princess best, I feel that Carnival and RCCL are similar enough that I will sail either of them.

[gbadge]

Just got off the Allure after back to back curises. If you like crowds and standing in line this is the cruise for you. Everything is crowded from the dining rooms to the shows. If you have no reservation for a show or want to change your time you will stand in long lines. They up charge for services that are free on other ships like juice in the buffet.

[geoherb]

I'm tempted by RCI's smaller ships, such as the Radiance. The big ones don't tempt me, but my brother and his wife loved their cruise on the Allure.

[Happy ks]

I'm tempted by RCI's smaller ships, such as the Radiance. The big ones don't tempt me, but my brother and his wife loved their cruise on the Allure.

 

Oooh, yeah. Radiance class is a wonderful class of ship.

 

I've not been on the Oasis or Allure, no plans to as yet but I wouldn't say no just because it's large. We did go on Liberty for a pre-inaugural and while we felt it was too large for us, we would consider it for a large group cruise, say a family reunion.

 

I think we prefer to keep our options open to trying different lines. We've only been on one Princess cruise with another coming up in a couple weeks, we find it pretty much the same as RCI.

 

In reality, Celebrity's newer, larger ships are far more appealing to us with the no smoking balcony cabins.

[COMBOY]

I am 100% princess Love her ships love the people love the food LOVE EVERYTHING

 

But I recently find myself venturing to the oasis - JUST TO SEE WHAT ALL THE HUB LUB is about

 

Ive checked out the RCC boards on the oasis and the website but just cant decide if I should give it a try or not..

 

What to yall fellow princess'ers think

 

Delete. sorry

[COMBOY]

I am 100% princess Love her ships love the people love the food LOVE EVERYTHING

 

But I recently find myself venturing to the oasis - JUST TO SEE WHAT ALL THE HUB LUB is about

 

Ive checked out the RCC boards on the oasis and the website but just cant decide if I should give it a try or not..

 

What to yall fellow princess'ers think

 

Well, you should try it as long as you completely realize 100% that the Oasis isn't going to be like a Princess Cruise. I've been on both lines (not Oasis yet) and both provide a very nice cruise experience, but they are different. Some people simply aren't very flexible, don't do their homework and when things aren't the way they want...boy do hear it on these boards. Try it once. See what the hub bub is all about and you can always go back to Princess. What the worst that could happen? The Oasis gets very good reviews on CC, but you do pay a premium to go on that ship due to it's popularity which might not translate into value for you and disappointment. But who knows you might like RCCL better. Just keep an open mind and go with the flow. :)

[gertz]

Never mind. I got off my xxxx and looked it up. With thanks to Travelocity:

 

Space ratio: The enclosed space (cubic feet) per passenger on the ship.

Example:30000/1000=30 cubic feet

Where 30000 is Ship Size expressed in Gross Tonnage and 1000 is the passenger capacity on ship.

Note: Space ratio does not necessarily correlate with stateroom size. Ships can have small staterooms but very large public areas, yielding a higher space ratio number.

The higher the ratio, the more passengers will have a sense of the ship's roominess.

 

Thank you. It is amazing with a little simple research what you can find. Space ratio is an imperfect tool for a comparison but it is mathematical formula and the only measurement that I am aware of that predicts how crowded a ship might be.

Also of interest your upcoming cruise on the Crown. You might compare the space ratio on it to say the Diamond or other Princess ships. But take into consideration the Diamond and a number of others have retractable tops on the main pool area the Crown does not. In bad weather no one uses that pool they come inside theoretically decreasing the space ratio thus it will be more crowded. That is why we do not refuse to go on the extra deck ships but will only go on one if the itinerary is very right for us.:)

[quiltsnh]

I have not sailed on Princess but will in June 2012 to Alaska... can not wait! however I did sail Oasis in March 2011(diamond member with RCCCL and also a TA) I will tell you I never found it to be crowded and we sailed on a full ship. ALways found a seat at the pool, booked shows in advance. I found the cabins to be much smaller than the Freedom class. The level of actitivies was fantastic.... I waited 15 minutes to zip line on a sea day, I was always able to find a seat for breakfast in the Windjammer, lunch I went to various places and short waits there as well. The one thing you must remember is you must book all your shows before you go or you will be disappointed.... very litttle opportunity for walk ins. It is a beautiful ship and the neighbors are great. I love Central Park and Solaruim. I thought the food in the DR was average but there are so many other food venues that made up for it. I feel it is a matter of personal choice. One thing I noticed though is when it rained one afternoon, and all the outdoor space was wet there was limited areas that could be used. I think our theroy there was so much hype and we had to try it.... we traveled with a group of 40 who have done Freedom/Explorer classes before and decided we saw it and will either go back to Freedom class or move to another line I am hoping the interesting itienraries of Princess interest them.

[paradiseisaprincessaway]

Woah

 

Thanks everyone so much!!! I really appreciate your feed back and its good to know that fellow princesses have experienced others. I have expereinced carnival and was not pleased - but again it wasnt princess

 

I think the interest is just all the hub bub about it the itinary really isnt that great and it is costly considering what i pay for princess....

 

however with that said I think I might try it for sure (why not) its a vacation really at the end of the day.

 

But also with that said -- I want to get on the royal for its first voyage is it hard to do that?

[DeepWaterMariner]

We like variety in our cruising so the Oasis or Allure would be worth a try. A lady we know just got back from the Allure and said it was the most fabulous cruise they had ever been on. They had a loft suite so that might have put them in a good mood from the start. I don't think we will be trying these ships any time soon since we generally will not fly for a cruise less than 10 days but if we were close enough to drive we might give them a try.

[cruisdog]

My wife and I were on the Oasis of the Seas in Oct. 2010, and we loved it. We had fixed time for dinner and never had to wait, the service and the food was excellent. We pre-booked all the shows and went to every one and totally enjoyed every show. There were so many other other venues for breakfast and lunch that we only went to the buffet twice. We didn't have to stand in line for anything, the only time we had to wait in line was for the zip line when there was 6 people in front of us.

The only other times we felt crowded was after the shows and after the parades, but this is true of all the other ships we have been on, there will be crowds after events.

The ship sailed full but there were so many venues that it never felt crowded anywhere.

We loved the Oasis so much we signed up for the Allure this October.

It was a totally enjoyable experience and well worth the extra money.

We also love the Princess line and am sailing on the Sapphire in May. Different ship, different experience. A cruise is what you make of it, and any cruise is better than a day at work.