Just off Oasis-WOW

[abhb]

Sorry if this is long. I hope it helps anyone going on the Oasis.

 

Background-this was DH and my 10th cruise 8 of which were RCCL. We are Emerald C&A. We sailed with another couple who have sailed on many other cruise lines. They are gold members in C&A. I will mention why this was important in this review. We did the western sailing, Labadee, Falmounth Jamaica and Cozemel.

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Stirling that we got on Bookit for $85 a night with free airport pick up, free full breakfast and free shuttle to the pier. We got to the hotel about 11:30 checked in and signed up for the shuttle. They told us the shuttle was at 11:30 because you can't get on to the Oasis until after 12:00. I told them that was not true. So we decided that we would pay to take a taxi the next morning since we wanted to be at the pier at 11:00. The next morning I was talking to a woman that was also going on the Oasis. She told me they gave her a 10:30 shuttle. When I went to the front desk to inquire why we were not put on the first shuttle I was told that the other lady had a group of 11 and they hotel had special permisson to get them an earlier shuttle and we were welcome to go on it as well. Sometimes it pays to have a big mouth:p

 

We arrived at the port at 11:00 after making another stop to pick up more passengers. Went thru security, checked in and were on the ship at 11:15. As we walked in I couldn't believe how much bigger the promanade was compare to voyager class.

 

As we walked around, I was in total amazement at how huge and beautiful the ship is. We were one of the first people eating in the windjammer. Got the honey stung chicken. First time I have had it that it was not dried out. It was really good. Most of the food in the Windjammer all week was pretty good.

 

Cabins-Our friends had an interior. A week before sailing they got a call from the upgrade fairy and got a CP balcony 4 doors down from our D5 balcony midship. I was surprised that a D on the Oasis is smaller than a D on voyager class. It is really the size of E or Promanade view on voyager class.

As Emerald, we received robes in our room as expected. Our friends also got robes (remember they are gold). I was surprised to find shampoo, conditioner and lotion bottles in our room. Our friends also got these. We compared our coupon books and they were the same. So much for getting additional benefits for being two tiers higher:( We did get chocolates on our pillows. It was not Dove. They were not very good.

One thing I really liked about the room was the lighting. There is a main switch, two smaller cabin light switches and the bathroom switch. One of the smaller switches turns on the lights above the paintings in the room. It gives the room an nice ambiance. When the bathroom switch is off, the bathroom light turns into a night light. It doesn't fully shut off which is nice when you have to get up in the middle of the night.

 

Dining and food-We did MTD and loved it. We had reservations everyday and never went at our reservation time. We went when we wanted to go and never had a wait. We had the same waiter (Milton) and assitant waiter (Richard) all week. They were wonderful.

 

Food in the MDR was pretty good. The food was always hot. The savory bits were overbaked all week. I ate them anyway:D. They were still good. The lobster tails were huge and delicious. Richard told us that the Oasis gets different lobster than the rest of the fleet. That is why they are so big. Desserts were OK.

 

We ate most breakfasts and lunches in the Windjammer and found the food to be pretty good. We ate 1 breakfast at Johnny Rockets (not an extra fee for breakfast) It was good. We also ate one breakfast in the Solarium Bistro (it has healthier choices). We didn't like it at all. The turkey bacon was barely cooked and the turkey sausage was gross.

 

We ate several lunches at Park Cafe. Loved it. They have a salad bar, some wraps and hot paninis that they bring to the table after the press them. There were about 6 or 8 choices of paninis.

 

Giovanni's Table-($15 pp) None of us liked it. I was hoping it would be like Portofino but it wasn't. It was very loud and the food wasn't very good. Our waiter told us that it was built to be loud. Above the tables are these large curved and painted things that push the conversations and noise back down so it is loud. We heard other tables conversations:eek:

 

Shows-We saw every show. I loved all of them. Make sure that you have reservations for the shows if you want to get in especially the Aqua theater dive show and the comedy show. These venues have much less seating than the other shows. If you get a chance to see a show at the Aqua Theater from one of the public decks (we watched from dec 12 aft) you can see the way the floor of the Aqua Theater pool works. You will also see the divers that stay underwater during the show. This was very interesting to watch.

 

Pools and Deck chairs-There are four pool areas and the solarium. There is a the H2O kids area, main pool, sports pool and beach pool. We never had a problem finding chairs even though the chair hogs were out in full force. We did see Deck Patrol remove items from chairs. The solarium in two stories and is very beautiful and serene.

 

Overall, the ship is beautiful with an amazing amount of things to do. They have interactive tvs outside of the elevators that give you information such as dining wait times, daily compass and room directions.

The stateroom tvs are interactive also.

 

The sailing was full with over 1800 kids. The only time it felt crowded was the usually, when shows let out and during parades.

 

A+ for overall experience. We would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Any questions?

[cruzkitty]

Enjoyed your Review-thanks for taking the time to post. I am looking forward to our cruise on Oasis in September.:D

[hazeleyez3]

I was surprised that a D on the Oasis is smaller than a D on voyager class. It is really the size of E or Promanade view on voyager class.

 

Any questions?

 

I am a little confused here. Voyager's E cabins and Promenade cabins are around 160 sq ft. The Ds on Oasis are listed at 182 sq ft.

[Puffinater]

Thanks for the review. We will be heading out next month.

[boowaaccaa]

Thanks for your review!

One question : How do you get the coupon books?

[abhb]

Hazeleyez3-it may have been bigger in length but it felt smaller in width than other D's we have had. Our bed was by the balcony and there was very little room to walk around the bed. The couch was a love seat not a full couch like in D's on voyager class.

 

Boowaacca-the coupon books were in our room from C&A.

[Familygoboston]

Just curious about MTD...what time did you reserve and what times did you actually go? Were they pretty flexible about getting you out in time for all thise shows? We loved MTD on Navigator, also had the same table and waiters, but wondered if that was because we always made our ressies between 6:30- 7 :30 depending on what we had going!

[proudpatriot07]

Thanks for posting that, I really enjoyed reading. I hope to go on Oasis one day.

[SciFiCruiser]

Hi abhb,

 

We cruised with you! Were you at the meet and mingle? I was the one who came in last.

 

Are robes and chocolate not available for everyone? This was our first RC cruise and we were surprised (but delighted) to find robes in our closet. And although we did not use them, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. We had a D3 cabin but I did not think that warranted anything special.

[didicruiser]

Thanks for the great review. I have to wait until Feb :eek:

[abhb]

familygoboston-we had reservations between 7:30 and 8:30. We usually showed up around 7:00 to 7:15 and never had a wait.

 

SciFiCruiser-Yes I was at the meet and mingle. I won a hat. I was sitting with my friend in the last row. We were in the first two seats next to the dance floor. I was really disappointed with the turn out. We had over 50 people registered and there were maybe 10 adults there. Robes are supposed to be a perk for platinum members and above or suites. Shampoo and lotions are for Diamond and above and suites. Maybe this is the norm on the Oasis. I really don't know.

[SciFiCruiser]

SciFiCruiser-Yes I was at the meet and mingle. I won a hat. I was sitting with my friend in the last row. We were in the first two seats next to the dance floor. I was really disappointed with the turn out. We had over 50 people registered and there were maybe 10 adults there. Robes are supposed to be a perk for platinum members and above or suites. Shampoo and lotions are for Diamond and above and suites. Maybe this is the norm on the Oasis. I really don't know.

 

I was also surprised to see the low turnout...maybe the fact that we got the in-room invite that morning? I know there was a post on here about it though, but perhaps people were more interested in exploring or relaxing.

 

My guess is that OASIS/ALLURE are special and more generally perky for non-status folk.

 

Did you get lots of towel animals. We got 5 or 6...but we also had a a 6 year old and an awesome cabin steward. Dexter...I miss you!

[sherilyn70]

Thanks for the great review. I have to wait until Feb :eek:

 

Me too... anxiously counting down the days. :)

[Dizney]

Thanks for the review! We are sailing in June.

What all did they do for you at the Meet & Mingle? We finally have enough for an "official" party. What day/time did they have it? Thanks in advance for your reply. :D

[LBumb]

great review