Oasis review

[Susa Beau]

Just off the Oasis on Saturday, April 21 and thought I would write a few thoughts on the cruise. We have cruised quite a bit (last year on Princess and other years on Celebrity, RCCI, Carnival, and even Windjammer before it went out of business) but never on such a big ship.

We had a balcony room-deck 10-286. The bed was near the balcony so I was glad of that. I thought the room size was fine and I liked that unlike older ships, the shower has a door (rather than a curtain).

We enjoyed the cruise and the ship and surprisingly I never felt like we were among 6,000 or so passengers. Getting on and off was easy.

I was surprised and happy to see Starbucks on board but w/ the ship offering Seattle's Best coffee (so much better than the weak stuff Princess serves), I never used Starbucks.

Despite the size, it was not difficult to find lounge chairs even if people defy the signs and save chairs (my husband saw someone putting towels on about 5 chairs in the Solarium at 8AM on the first day at sea).

I can understand the views of another woman who posted on this board who said she felt like she was at an amusement park (due to Carousel, etc). I did not feel that way but sometimes when sitting or walking in the Grand Promenade, you do feel like you are in a big shopping mall (though I did not find the selections in the stores all that different from other ships and in fact there seemed to be fewer cosmetic choices). There is a Coach store on board and that is certainly something you don't see on other ships, although I never saw that store very busy. I also agree with that poster who said that wait staff urged cruisers to fill out the comment cards. Our waiter stressed that nothing less than excellent was acceptable and if we said anything negative, even about the asst waiter (who was new), it would be marked against him. We ate in the dining room nightly so I cannot comment on specialty restaurants, however I loved the Solarium buffet for lunch and I enjoyed the Park Cafe for the salad bar (built for you after you choose ingredients) and yogurt-granola-fruit cup that I would take back to the room and put in mini bar refrig. for later consumption. The head waiter told us that the seafood shack and bistro were not successful and changes were going to be made. Basically he said they were not making $$. I didn't see all that many people at Johnny Rockets at night either so I wonder how successful that venue is.

I liked that the walking track is .4 mile around, unlike smaller ships where the track is of course smaller. One woman said she liked walking after dinner and they close the track at 7PM so that was a negative for her.

I thought the shows were good, especially Hairspray and the ice show and I liked that unlike other ships, there wasn't a production show every night after dinner.

I enjoyed the spa and took advantage of a "happy hour" special of $99 for back and foot massage, facial, and head massage. My husband used the fitness center and was surprised that except for a water fountain there were no plastic glasses to fill with water nor were saunas or small lockers available unless one paid extra. I didn't like that yoga was only offered very early (7AM) as when I am on vacation, getting up for an early morning workout is not my preference. Occasionally they had a 5:30 fitness class but we had 6PM dining so that was not an option.

I loved the Central Park area and the greenery. I think that is a really nice place to just sit and have a coffee or people watch and it never seemed overly crowded at all.

I generally choose a trip based on date/place of departure and ports, although we have now been in most of the ports. I liked the itinerary of this ship as Jamaica and Haiti were new for us.

Oh yes, one more thing. My husband's birthday was during the cruise and I stopped at guest services to kind of see what they offered (eg Princess brings you a cake and puts decorations on the door) and I certainly was not fishing around for a freebie, but the guest services person said "let me send a bottle of wine to your table" and sure enough he did. I wrote him a nice thank you note. In response to some other posters, I did bring four small bottles of wine (those little bottles you buy in a four pack) in my suitcase and they were not confiscated.

I love reading others' impressions of the ships and their cruising experiences. :)

[berbician]

Thanks for the review. Good to hear all the "good" about oasis. we will be sailing on her in about 3 weeks so excited!!!:D what time did you get to the port and how long it took you to get on the ship? :)

[kenevenpar]

Thank you for the review!

 

I still have not been convinced to try these huge ships, but never say never.

[tropic fever]

Thank you for your review. I am going on Oasis May 12 and I can't wait. Glad to read good things about her.

[Susa Beau]

Regarding what time we got to the port. We arrived Friday and stayed at the La Quinta which had free shuttle to and from airport and to the ship so we took a 12:30 shuttle from the hotel that actually left a bit later than 12:30 so we got to the port about 1:15 or 1:30 and we were on the ship amazingly fast, no lines etc.

[catfishncwc]

Thanks for the info going on my 1st RCL this June.

[mill231]

Thanks so much for the review. We will be on her June 9th. What did you think of the meals in the regular dining room? What do you suggest ordering? Can you list some of your favorites, and/or things you didn't like there? What excursians did you do, and did you like them?

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review.

[CCBR]

Thanks for the review. Good to hear all the "good" about oasis. we will be sailing on her in about 3 weeks so excited!!!:D what time did you get to the port and how long it took you to get on the ship? :)

We were on Oasis 04-14 thru 04-21, the boarding process was the smoothest we have ever experienced, we arrived at the terminal at 11:10AM, we were processed and onboard with in 15 minutes.

A great ship, great customer service, great crew on board.:)

[George C]

thanks for review, would love to sail that ship.

[lbom]

Thank you for your review. I am going on Oasis May 12 and I can't wait. Glad to read good things about her.

 

thank you as well for your review - I am also going on May 12th - 10 days to go and our first time on Oasis as well! :)

[mcrussdvc]

Hey we are also on the May 12 sailing and our first with RCCL.. can't wait to see what she's all about....

[BalekFekete]

Thanks for the review! Family and I sail on her on 23 June and, being my first cruise ever, any and all positive reinforcement is welcomed. :)

[jennmaybe]

Aahhhh....reading reviews like this brings back such wonderful memories! :)

 

Oasis was our 1st RCCL cruise last fall and it is the best cruise we've been on so far.....ship-wise. (S. Caribbean on Carnival was our favorite port cruise).

 

For all you guys that are getting ready to sail Oasis for the 1st time, you are in for a real treat!!! For those of you who haven't sailed Oasis yet.....well, all I can say is I'm so sorry.........you don't know what you're missing.:)

 

I hope you all have a wonderful cruise and come back and let us know how you liked it.

[LBumb]

good job

[Sunshine-lady]

We are wanting to sail on her, but were wondering if it was too big. Did you have any problems seeing the water show? Or any of the shows? So, basically, are there enough seats for everyone?

[JoTop]

thank you as well for your review - I am also going on May 12th - 10 days to go and our first time on Oasis as well! :)

 

Hurry up and get on, so, we can get on the Oasis on the 19th!!! WOOHOO!!:D

[jennmaybe]

We are wanting to sail on her, but were wondering if it was too big. Did you have any problems seeing the water show? Or any of the shows? So, basically, are there enough seats for everyone?

 

You won't have any problems seeing the shows, not even the water show. There are plenty of seats and even with all the shows we went to, it was never once what I would consider full. You can book the shows in advance or just go when you feel like and more than likely you will get in whenever you want to (you'll be in the stand-by line, but whenever we saw these, we always saw these people get in). The most crowded show was the ice-skating show. That is fabulous--a not to miss show!!

[sherilyn70]

Oasis was our 1st RCCL cruise last fall and it is the best cruise we've been on so far.....ship-wise. (S. Caribbean on Carnival was our favorite port cruise).

 

That's funny, that's my story as well. We loved the Oasis as a ship and it was our first RCCL cruise but our favorite cruise has been Carnival Victory southern caribbean for the ports. :)

[karena1]

Thanks for the review. Leaving for Oasis on Saturday and cannot wait. After being on Allure last week, I am even more excited to see and experience Oasis!!

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

I'm thrilled you loved her as much as I do! I'll be back on her in Sept. I can't wait!!:D