Oasis Review 8/27 Eastern Caribbean

[coffeeluv]

Oasis 8/27 Eastern Caribbean Cruise

 

Limited and Highly Subjective Review

 

I've been a long-time lurker here, and I've learned a lot for our cruises, so I thought I'd post a little about our experience on Oasis a few weeks ago.

 

First, a little about my family so that you know our perspective. DH and I are in our mid-40s, and DD is 2½ years old. DH and I have been without-kids Celebrity cruisers for years now. We have previously filled our on-board cruise time with specialty restaurants, reading, working out, spa services, and martinis. Having DD changes what we need and want from a cruise, so we chose RCL and Oasis because of the decidedly kid-friendly features. This was our first vacation with DD, although she is a veteran long-distance traveler for trips to see family.

 

We didn’t get to try everything on or off the ship that we potentially would have done if DD were older, so I’m only reviewing a hodge-podge of things that we tried or noticed during our week. Your mileage may vary.

 

Pre-Cruise and Embarkation

We flew in on Friday and stayed at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale, and it was fine – a pretty standard ES. There’s a Publix supermarket within walking distance, and we were able to stock up on supplies we didn’t want to stuff in our suitcases for air travel. We took a taxi to the port in the morning, and arrived at about 12:30.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We went in through the suite entrance and a smiling representative asked us for our documents. She welcomed us, noted our C&A status (just platinum, not very high), and walked us up to an available agent for check-in – absolutely no waiting. In ten minutes we were already getting on the ship.

 

Boarding into the Royal Promenade is like walking into a very loud shopping mall, which surprised us a little – didn’t even seem like a ship! Oasis is an impressive piece of architecture, with a different feel to each area of the ship. It often feels less crowded than one would expect. It is well maintained and generally well thought out.

 

We stopped at Sorrento’s for a quick lunch, then went to find our stateroom so that DD could nap. Luggage arrived at around 3pm.

 

Stateroom

We had a JS, 8232. It’s a lovely room, with some nice attention to detail. The room was a good size, plenty of space for the three of us and floor space to allow DD to play. The walk-in closet and general storage space was great. DD’s car seat fit easily in the closet, our suitcases fit under the bed, and we had more than enough storage space for all our stuff. The only outlet we could locate was over the desk, under the mirror. We brought a small multi-plug with a USB charger on it that worked out well. According to a card on the desk there was a second outlet near the bed, but if there was we never located it. The robes provided were thick terry-cloth robes. The balcony is at the beginning of a hump, so it’s a little larger than normal but oddly shaped; it’s wider on one side than on the other. We had a regular height table, three chairs, and a chaise.

 

The bed is closer to the bathroom, and the sitting area closer to the balcony. There is a very effective black-out curtain that can be pulled all the way across to divide the two halves of the room, which we used at night after DD went to sleep. She slept very well on the folded out sofa bed (we brought inflatable bumpers to keep her from rolling off), which our stateroom attendant folded back up into a sofa during the day. Our bed was surprisingly comfortable, too. Even the pillows weren’t bad.

 

Royal Tots/Kid Stuff

We didn’t use the Royal Tots babysitting at all, since we really wanted to spend our time together. We did go to the playroom for under 3 kids most days (you can take your child there and it’s filled with Fisher-Price toys), and it was well set up and enjoyable. We also checked out a big bag of toys from the Royal Tots desk for DD to take back to the room, and traded it in for a new bag once during the cruise. The toys were again FP, and it was very convenient.

 

The kids’ pool area is very creatively structured. It was crowded, but we never had trouble finding somewhere to sit. DD enjoyed the whole area immensely. The deck is strangely slippery, though, and DD did take a spill there once. Heck, about every hour someone took a pretty bad spill there.

 

We went to the Dreamworks character breakfast one morning, and it was ok. We had three characters from Madagascar, and they barely seemed to have time to get around to each table, but everyone was friendly enough.

 

Neighborhoods

We were right near Central Park, which is leafy and peaceful if a bit warm in the August Caribbean heat. There is a decent amount of comfy seating there.

 

The Boardwalk has a great carousel that is never crowded. DD loved it, and we went at least once per day. We visited some of the shops and did some people watching there. There were some family activities that DD was a little too young to enjoy (face painting, musical instruments), but older kids seemed pretty happy. If you have a kid who wants you to buy everything they see, however, steer clear. From Pets at Sea to Hello Kitty merchandise to candy and ice cream, there’s a ton of for-purchase stuff for kids to covet here.

 

The Royal Promenade is the only air-conditioned neighborhood, and it really does feel like a shopping mall. There was a lot of live music (heavy emphasis on 80s music, which was fine with us!), and it was often crowded, but it is a nice area. We did visit the Cupcake Cupboard after our TA sent us a pack of mini cupcakes and DD wanted more. I’d wondered about people on the boards saying that the cupcakes were cold and hard. The package that was delivered to our stateroom noted that the cupcakes are actually FROZEN and need to be thawed before eating. Turns out the same was true of the ones we purchased on board, but the woman staffing the Cupcake Cupboard said nothing about this. Once thawed the cupcakes were soft and delicious. The other stores were the types you usually find onboard ships, selling watches, jewelry, shawls, RCL branded stuff, and booze.

 

Dining and Other Food

We did My Time Dining in the MDR for dinners, and went to the Windjammer, Sorrento’s, Park Café, Cafe Promenade, and Izumi for various other meals. The interactive TV in the room allows you to check capacity at the various venues. Pay serious attention to this, and avoid places that are showing up as red. We learned that quickly, especially with the WJ which is much too small for its traffic.

 

The MDR food was passable but not great. It tended to be bland (except the Indian dishes, which were nicely spicy) and at times very dry. Some dishes, including both salmon and dessert soufflé, were oddly rubbery. Appetizers tended to be more successful than main dishes, and many of these were quite good. Our waiter was helpful in steering us toward better choices if we asked for something he thought wasn’t very good that night.

 

The WJ was pretty average quality mass-buffet food. We went there for some breakfasts and lunches because the variety is helpful when dealing with a toddler (and with DH!). Although the scrambled “eggs” had a bizarre texture, the over-easy/medium eggs you could get (precooked) were actually pretty good. The potatoes at breakfast were also good, and DH and DD were happy to see rice available during breakfast (DH is Japanese-American, so rice is good at every meal, and DD loves rice more than just about any other food). I ate salads for lunch, and although the veggies were fresh there wasn’t much variety. Fruit was abundantly available, including pineapple, melons, and some whole fruit like bananas, kiwi, and apples.

 

Pizza by the slice at Sorrento’s was best when it was right from the oven. After that the crust got a little stiff. Café Promenade had small sandwiches, too, which were reasonably good. Park Café was very nice, with breakfast sandwiches, cereals, and a bagel bar at breakfast, and panini, salads, fruit, and roast beef sandwiches at lunch. It was never quite as crowded as we expected it to be, so that was good.

 

One of the surprising things we found was that there are no food trays anywhere on board. I suppose it’s a good strategy to manage food waste, but it was inconvenient. Even in the WJ, you must balance your plate, silverware, and glass and carry it to a table. This becomes problematic if you are getting food for more than one person (as I tried to do initially, getting food for myself and DD), because it’s just not possible to carry multiple plates and beverages. We ended up with a system where we got food and beverage for DD first, found a table, got her started, and then took turns getting food for ourselves. We kind of ate in shifts, which was a bit awkward.

 

We went to Izumi one day for lunch, since they said they welcomed all ages at lunch (made the reservation in advance on-line). DD loves veggie sushi, so we thought it would work out well. We got the cold shoulder from our initial waiter, who frowned at us a lot and didn’t seem to like that we had brought a (very well-behaved) child into their establishment. He was oppositional about my special request (I don’t eat shellfish, so I wanted a roll made without crab which turned out to be no problem for their sushi chefs), and forgot to bring our miso soup. We were switched without explanation to another waiter who was much more helpful, who even suggested extra rice for DD who is just getting used to chopsticks and eager to practice. The quality of the fish was fine, but the rolls themselves were nothing spectacular (execution wasn’t great, and too many of them involved plain mayo drizzled on top, which is a little odd).

 

Beverages and Libations

The flavored waters available at the Park Café and in the WJ are great. The free orange juice in the morning was hit-or-miss. Sometimes it was delicious and even pulpy, sometimes it was watery. Milk for DD was easily available.

 

I’ve seen great debates on these boards about the free coffee. It is Seattle’s Best coffee prepared reasonably strong (as directed, which is less intense than Starbuck’s). If you like Seattle’s Best coffee prepared strong you’ll like it. If you don’t, you won’t. I like my coffee smoky and bold, and I drink it black. I like black Starbuck’s bold coffees, I like straight espresso, and I like really strong French press coffee. I was ok with the coffee on board, which wasn’t as strong as I usually prefer. I especially like it when I compare it to the awful stuff we’ve gotten free before on Celebrity (which sent us running to pay for Café Americano just about every day). If you’re a mild coffee cream-and-sugar sort, you might be unhappy. They do have a good variety of tea instead. Also, Café Promenade sells Starbuck’s coffee and coffee drinks.

 

DD went to sleep at about 8:30-9pm every night, so DH or I would go out, get a couple of drinks to bring back to the cabin, and we would sip, talk, and read our Kindles. We had some well-prepared dry martinis from Dazzles, a decent California Zin from Vintages, and good if terribly overpriced glasses of French champagne from the Champagne bar. The pours were always generous, and the bartenders opened new bottles of wine/champagne rather than pour ones that had been open for a bit too long.

 

Spa

DH got a seaweed massage and I got a facial at different times during the trip. The spa experience wasn’t as relaxing as I’d hoped. The robes they give you to change into are paper thin, and you are then escorted to a “quiet room” to wait for your appointment. The quiet room wasn’t so quiet, and some people who took the “take off your clothes” very seriously should have rethought the use of the ottomans while wearing robes. I ended up staring upward very intently at the fake cherry tree for a while. Both DH and I were uncomfortable with the upselling the estheticians tried to do, and the services themselves were acceptable if not great.

 

Crew and Service

Crew members were extremely friendly. Our stateroom attendant, Richard, was able to help us with anything we needed. He also charmed the socks off DD, who would walk up to anyone on the ship in a uniform and ask “Do you know Richard?” He made towel animals for her at night, and left chocolate on the pillows. After the first couple of days, when she caught sight of Richard she would run full-tilt down the hall and throw herself into his arms. Seriously, she’s never done that with anyone else. She’s still talking about him.

 

Our first night at the MDR was awful. The waiter and assistant waiter took a very long time to get to us. They did offer to bring DD’s meal right away, which we thought was helpful. But when the assistant waiter put her plate in front of her he warned us that the plate itself was extremely hot and shouldn’t be touched (DD is a precocious little girl, but hey, she’s still 2 and isn’t great with direction not to touch the plate of food right in front of her)! We asked if we could have a cooler plate to transfer her food to, and he shrugged and handed us one of the decorative plates that they put out before dinner and then remove. The head waiter was a little upset when he saw DD eating off that plate, but we explained how that happened and he, too, just shrugged and walked away. Our food was cold, but DD comes with an expiration time at night so we didn’t want to take the time to send it back. We weren’t given appropriate silverware (no steak knife for DH’s prime rib, no spoon to help me consume my linguine gracefully), and we were offered no coffee after dinner, and couldn’t successfully flag anyone down to ask for these things. We were very worried that MTD was a mistake, and that prepaid gratuities somehow encouraged lackluster service. The subsequent nights we asked to be seated in a different area, and our experience changed completely. We had pleasant, helpful service that was a great relief. Etem (waiter) and Dipak (assistant) were particularly wonderful, providing recommendations to us and being charming and patient with DD.

 

Almost every crew member we encountered was friendly, pleasant, and helpful. Almost everyone was exceptionally nice to DD. We did prepaid gratuities because of MTD, but in the end we also supplemented the gratuities for staff who made our vacation experience better.

 

Disembarkation and Travel Home

We did the Luggage Valet program, which is $20pp. Before DD we traveled very efficiently, and could easily carry our own bags. But when you add DD and the multitude of items that go along with toddler travel, suddenly Luggage Valet was very appealing. It worked well. We received the luggage tags and our boarding passes in our stateroom. After we put our luggage out we didn’t see it again until it was there on the carousel at our home airport. We had to assemble at a specific time to get off the ship and be escorted through customs or supposedly forfeit participation in the program, but no one seemed to be asking for names and in the end we just walked through customs by ourselves and told the customs guy we did luggage valet so didn’t have suitcases. No problem. We caught a taxi to the airport, and arrived there in time to wait several hours for our flight home.

 

I'm happy to answer questions about Oasis and our experience.

[BillOh]

Nicely done, while I get something out of every review, I'm sure those traveling with a toddler will appreciate your insight. I did however have to ignore the greater at the terminal check in who tried to send me with the commoners in line, but I jumped into the line appropriate for my elevated Platinum status ;) (Allure was our first trip as platinum)

[Into the Sun]

sailing (2nd time and once on the Allure), you did a great informative review and in all aspects this was one of our favoritecruises as well. Very difficult to travel anywhere with a toddler..kuddos to you and DH for enjoying the ship and your DD on vacation.

[ParamedicFF]

Thanks for the great review of the Oasis! I'm glad your daughter had a fun time aboard. We're bringing our VERY active 4 year old on the Freedom next year. I hope he does as well as your daughter did.

[alexkrn46]

Thanks for the review, js worked well for you.