Oasis of the Seas Photo Review - March 9th-16th, 2013 Sailing

[trisha1165]

Excellent review - looking forward to the rest. :D

[Russ Lomas]

We are leaving this Saturday on the Oasis, Love the review, so far!!!

I wish you could pack me away in your suitcase and take me with you!!

 

You will have an amazing time. I will try to post daily so that you can build up the anticipation for your upcoming trip, but I know I will not finish posting before you travel on Saturday. You will just have to come back and catch up on my posts when you return from the Oasis. You can compare my comments to your personal opinions. I would love to know your thoughts.

[Russ Lomas]

I work/build/maintain ships and i would say they hooks are spray nozzles to wash down the windows with fresh water to keep the salt crystals down to a minimum.

 

That makes perfect sense. I could not see any water lines leading to those metal hooks, but I guess they could be on the interior of the ship's hull. When I zoom into the photo really closely, I can see that the metal hooks all join together into one line and that line does in fact go through to the interior of the hull. Boy, they really do think of everything when they design these ships. I can't wait to see what new features they add to the upcoming Quantum vessels.

[Russ Lomas]

Hey Russ, its Leo! It was great sailing and hanging out with you on the FlowRider. I'm sure we will bump into each other on a future sailing. Thanks for starting with review. It's great to relive our trip. Can't wait to keep reading!

Hi Leo. I am in Flowrider withdrawl. It is terrible. I am trying to find one within driving distance of where we live for a summer visit. Thanks again for forwarding that photo to me. I hope that the review brings back fond memories for you.

[Russ Lomas]

Well, it is late, so I will have to keep today's post short.

 

The Main Dining Room

The one disappointment that I had on the Liberty of the Seas last year was the quality of the food in the Main Dining Room. The presentation was average at best, the temperature of the food varied greatly, and the taste of the first few nights' meals were average. Our waiter on THAT cruise seemed personally offended when he asked what I though of the food and I honestly said that it was not as good as on our Carnival cruise the previous year. He looked as though I had slapped him in the face. The next two nights meals in the MDR on the Liberty last year were much better after this conversation. I loved everything about our trip on the Liberty last year, however, the food was not up to par in my opinion. I was curious to see if the food on the Oasis would be like the first few meals on the Liberty or the vastly better ones on our last couple of visits to the MDR on the Liberty.

 

I can gladly say that the food on the Oasis in the MDR this year was superior in every manner to what we experienced last year on the Liberty. I was excited to see the new menus after reading so much about them last fall and they did not disappoint me. I know that you are constantly reading reviews on CruiseCritic about how bad the food is in the MDR and how the only good meal you can get is in the specialty pay restaurants. I beg to differ. I realize that some people may be paying hundreds of dollars in a fancy intimate restaurant for their meals back home, but people, you are on a ship where they are preparing food for 6000 passengers and you only paid $1000 for an entire cruise including room, activities, entertainment, food, etc. You simply cannot expect to have the same quality food under these circumstances. If you enter the MDR with these expectations, I think that most people should be very happy with the food.

 

I find RCCL's main dining rooms look elegant. Not NYC restaurant elegant, but a million times nicer than the gaudy decor on a Carnival cruise ship in their dining rooms.

This photo was taken at lunch time on the last sea day of the voyage. The MDR spans 3 levels with a nice salad buffet set up in addition to being able to order off of the menu. The MDR is open for lunches on sea days only, of which there are 3 on the Oasis voyages. On the Liberty last year, there was a fixed lunch menu that offered the same choices each of their 3 sea days. I am told that the Oasis offers 3 different lunch menus that differ each of the 3 sea days. I cannot confirm that because we only ate lunch there once. I enjoy the formal atmosphere of the MDR for lunch compared to the other quick venues on the ship, but there was so much to see and do on the Oasis, I felt that I could not afford an hour plus to sit down there for lunch.

 

The bread table beside the salad bar looked outstanding. Breakfast are served daily in the MDR as well. We almost always ate breakfast in the MDR. You can order off of the menu and they have a small buffet set up as well on the lower level of the MDR. I loved creating my own granola with different nuts and fruits every morning here. It was also nice to see Eggs Benedict on the breakfast menu since it was not on the Liberty's breakfast menu last year.

 

There are a couple of nice photo opportunities on some chairs just before entering the main dining room on deck 4 (I think). No my DD is not that small, the chair is just that big.

Overall, the ship looked to be in great shape with crew constantly cleaning everywhere. One place I did notice that looked run down looking back at these photos is the seat cushion below my DD in this photo. It will be interesting to see if items such as this are repaired or replaced in the Oasis' upcoming dry-dock next year.

 

Most of the dining area is in the large three story dining room where the majority of people sit. There are some areas that sit off to the side of the dining room that are a little more intimate, but still large. I found this area to be quieter than the main dining area where most people sit. However, there was one large family at a table near us who were very loud on a few nights. Would I have liked them to be a bit quieter? Yes. Were they on vacation enjoying themselves? Yes. Had they paid to be there too? Yes. I am not going to let minor items such as this affect the enjoyment of my holiday. Just look at my twins enjoying the view out of the window behind our table. How can I let a little extra noise affect my enjoyment. Darn, those twins are cute.

 

Below is a photo of our friends I mentioned yesterday who I convinced to cruise with us on the Oasis. We sailed with them two years ago and had a blast spending time with them. They are our extended family, so we feel so blessed that they decided to travel again with us. Their two children are older and have moved out of their home, so our DDs are like their children, only better. They only have to put up with them for a week and then they can escape;). They helped us with our daughters so much on our cruise and then took another week's cruise by themselves the following week. They are my idols. At this point in life, I can only dream of doing back-to-back cruises.

No they usually don't wear those tacky beads. They had just come from the sail away party where we were supposed to wear beads to identify ourselves to fellow CruiseCritic passengers. I only managed to find a few people wearing those ugly beads at sail away, ourselves included.

[Russ Lomas]

Another nice shot of the dining room on the top level.

 

The food was great overall in my opinion. At the end of this posting, I will post a link to a detailed review of the food that I did a few weeks back, for those of you who may not have read the thread before.

 

How did I find the service in the main dining room? Overall, it was very good. Miller was our waiter. He was very friendly and did learn very quickly that I am quite indecisive when it comes to ordering off the menu (there is just so much that sounds good). I usually ordered 2 or 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. I managed to gain 8.5 lbs during my cruise week, in spite of walking miles upon miles on that ship. I did it all for my fellow CruiseCritic members, just so you could enjoy the photos of the food I took. Miller did notice on some evenings that it took me a little longer to order my food. On those occasions he usually brought me a few extra plates of food that I did not order because he came to realize that I debating over other items I did not order.

 

There were two evenings where our service was "off" and painfully slow. We had the 6pm dinner sitting, which was best for us since we usually did a show after dinner with the kids before putting them down for the evening. Any later than a 6pm sitting would have put them up too late and they would have been grumpy the next day. The two nights that we arrived about 30 minutes late, around 6:30 were the two nights that service was not so great. I do not know if our late arrival threw off the timing, but it was definitely noticeable. He tried to bring the kids their meals first so that they could go off to the AdventureOcean kids programs, which we really appreciated, while the adults stayed to relax over dessert and coffee. One night took about 50 minutes before the adults even received a menu. Most of the time this was not the case however, and I would like to thank Miller and his assistant for helping make our cruise memorable.

 

The Freedom class ships offer a program where you can sign up your children to be picked up by AdventureOcean staff members at 6:45pm, so you can enjoy a bit more relaxed meal after the children go to the program. Unfortunately, the Oasis class ships offer no such program. Fortunately for us, our 11 year-old DD took up the little ones to program so we did not have to leave during dinner. I know some people may question letting our 11 year-old take up her younger siblings without us, but I felt very comfortable doing this on the ship. Would I do the same thing at a resort on land? No. It is just part of what I love about cruising. I feel so safe and comfortable at sea (insert comments here about the Costa Concordia and the never-ending list of malfunctioning Carnival cruise ships).

 

The Oasis class ships does offer a different program for child dining through AdventureOcean. You can leave your child in the program when it "closes" its doors at 6pm (or was it 5pm) and they will take your child for dinner in the Windjammer Cafe before taking them back to Adventure Ocean afterwards. We did this once, but both the kids and ourselves missed each others company at dinner, so we did not do this again. We prefer the program offered on the Freedom class of ships, but that is just our opinion.

 

One final photo for the night since it is almost midnight. This is one of my favourite candid shots of the entire cruise. My 9 year-old DD with our waiter, Miller.

 

Finally, the link below to the food review I wrote previously for those who may have missed it...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1813591

 

Have a good night and I look forward to your comments and questions. Til tomorrow....

[gooloobie]

Would always love to sea how lunch is like in the MDR on sea days! The bread table looks nice!

 

 

Thanks so much for the photos!

[Russ Lomas]

Would always love to sea how lunch is like in the MDR on sea days! The bread table looks nice!

 

 

Thanks so much for the photos!

You are welcome. The link I posted in my last posting has some of the lunch photos in it from the MDR in addition to the dinner photos.

[Peeker28]

Thanks for the review, going on her on June 1st and can't wait

[cruzegurl104]

Great Review & Pics!!! I'm living vicariously thru your review...:rolleyes: Only 165 days, but who's counting....

 

 

Oh yeah, Me:o

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the review. We will be on the Allure in two weeks and the excitement is building!:D

[Sherri914]

Great Review & Pics!!! I'm living vicariously thru your review...:rolleyes: Only 165 days, but who's counting....

 

 

Oh yeah, Me:o

I too am living vicariously through this review as I'm sailing on Oasis in November. I, too, can hardly wait! It does make me a little sad as the newer reviews are posted though that the wait to board seems to be increasing now to hours instead of minutes as it seemed to be before. So much for early boarding to enjoy more time on the ship.

[cruzegurl104]

Maybe by the time we cruise, they'll have it down to a science... Here's hoping at least!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Zhane's mum]

One final photo for the night since it is almost [/font]midnight. This is one of my favourite candid shots of the entire cruise. My 9 year-old DD with our waiter, Miller.

 

This photo looks like it's straight out of a brochure!! I must invest in a new camera before my next cruise

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures!

[dsmith4675]

Loving the review!! :) less than 2 months for my DH and myself to be on Oasis!

Question - salad and bread bars, are they offered only for lunch or for dinner also? How does that work exactly?

[kamusta1]

Hi Leo. I am in Flowrider withdrawl. It is terrible. I am trying to find one within driving distance of where we live for a summer visit. Thanks again for forwarding that photo to me. I hope that the review brings back fond memories for you.

 

I know how you feel! I am having a bad case of it!! We were going to go to Disney in June, but booked Allure instead =)

[Russ Lomas]

One final photo for the night since it is almost [/font]midnight. This is one of my favourite candid shots of the entire cruise. My 9 year-old DD with our waiter' date=' Miller.

[img']http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/o772/Russell_Lomas/Oasis%20Main%20Dining%20Room/2013OasisoftheSeascruise441_zps838bda5a.jpg[/img]

 

This photo looks like it's straight out of a brochure!! I must invest in a new camera before my next cruise

 

That is exactly how I felt about that shot. Anybody from Royal Caribbean want to borrow this shot for their brochure? Feel free to contact me.

 

It is a pain dragging the big camera around at time (at least my DW always told me so), but the memories you capture with the photos are well worth the effort in my opinion.

[Russ Lomas]

Loving the review!! :) less than 2 months for my DH and myself to be on Oasis!

 

Question - salad and bread bars, are they offered only for lunch or for dinner also? How does that work exactly?

 

Yes, they are only for lunch in the MDR. They do not offer any buffet style service in the main dining room. Lots of salad choices daily on the menus and nice freshly baked bread daily on the table when you arrive (not warm, but still tasty).

[Russ Lomas]

The Boardwalk is one area that I really was not expecting to spend much time on prior to the cruise. I had read reviews about how all it was is a money grab with loads of places to spend your money. I had read how parents were warned to avoid the area unless they wanted their kids to consistently badger them to buy things for them. I had expected to hate the area for this reason, having 4 DDs, but in fact, my DDs never bothered me once for anything and we all quite enjoyed this area. Was it my favourite area on the ship? No (that was Central Park, followed by the Sports Zone). We did however find ourselves in the Boardwalk several times per day.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to enter The Boardwalk district.

 

Entering the Boardwalk, you are flanked by some rather interesting artwork.

 

and to the other side...

 

There is an Ice Cream Parlour to the right when you enter. My family was happy to settle for the free soft serve ice cream served by the pool and in the Wipeout Cafe. There was always 5 or 10 people in the "pay" ice cream store, so I would assume it was decent, put cannot comment personally.

 

Opposite the Ice Cream Store was Pinwheels. I expected prices to be overinflated, but really, they were fair. Nothing caught my eye however that would justify the purchase.

 

Attached to Pinwheels is The Candy Beach Sweets store. It is not too large, and offers a small variety of candy (mainly for the kids I assume). I was happy that my DDs never hit me up for any candy on the cruise. They were already on adrenaline high from all the great things to do on the Oasis. No need to add sugar to that mix. Each of my DDs came with a bit of cash from the grandparents, so they decided to spend it here on a bit of candy and some stuffed animals to take home.

 

There is also a store where they have loads of costumes where you can dress up and get your picture taken (for a charge). I never saw anybody in that store. A store to build your own teddy bear (like Build-a-Bear) was there as well. I only saw a couple of people in that store the entire week.

[Russ Lomas]

There is a Donut Shop in the Boardwalk area as well. One of my weaknesses is donuts (the other being ice cream). I had given up donuts for Lent. Probably not the smartest thing to do just before a cruise with a free donut shop on board, but hey, the whole idea is to give up something that you will miss, not something that you could care less about not having. The rest of my group tended to have a couple of donuts per day here, so I assume they were pretty good. They had an assortment of 6-10 flavours that changed daily. Some of the flavours ran out pretty quickly and they did not appear to replenish the donuts as some of the flavours ran out, so the advice is to hit this store early for best selection daily. I had read online how the donuts were not very good, but the people in my group had no such issues. The donuts were served by an employee, so there was no such horror stories I read about on the Allure where kids serve themselves and touch every donut on the shelf with their hands before taking one.

 

Johnny Rockets was always quite busy. Once again, I could not see paying for something that I could get for free elsewhere on the ship (food). The onion rings looked delicious I must say, but I felt my $30 cover charge for the family to dine there would not be worth it (especially since I know I would end up spending another $30 for milkshakes there as well). One thing that is different on the Oasis from the Liberty, is that this venue is open for breakfast for FREE. We had about a 10 minute wait for a table. It is typical diner style food for breakfast. I had low expectations, but it was very good. It exceeded my expectations greatly. I hoped to return there for my final breakfast on the departure day on Saturday, but alas, it is not open that day for breakfast. I assume the food is very similar to the buffet, but it is hot here! The hash browns were outstanding.

You simply have to get a photo taken with this guy outside Johnny Rockets. I will not bother posting too many photos of my family in this review. I will try to stick to ones mainly of the ship since I know that is what I like looking at when I read reviews. So above is probably one of the favourite locations on the ship to take a photo.

 

Across from Johnny Rockets is the Seafood Shack, a pay a-la-carte seafood restaurant. I talked to several people who ate there and they said the food was better than they expected and many returned to eat there again later in the cruise. Once again (see the pattern here), I did not eat there because it was a pay restaurant.

 

Now, one thing I must talk about is RCCL's unlimited beverage package. I am not a big fan of RCCL's rules compared to Celebrity Cruises rules regarding their beverage package. I have complained to RCCL and hopefully others do as well and they will listen to their loyal customers. No access to the Coke freestyle machines, no canned drinks, no specialty coffees (including lattes and cappuccinos), no bottled water...this package is clearly inferior to that offered by Celebrity. They also force all people of legal drinking age in a cabin to take the package to discourage sharing of beverages. We had 2 rooms and one adult registered in each cabin, so we had a way to avoid having both myself and my DW from purchasing the package. If not for this, I definitely would not have tried the package since my DW would not drink anywhere near the amount required to break even.

 

I purchased the package (you do in in the Promenade immediately when you board). Do not try to purchase the package at any bars since you cannot do so. Did I get my money's worth? Yes, but just barely. It was difficult for me to get my money's worth on shore days since I did not have my first drink until after 5pm and I was often in bed by 11pm. I must say however that it was nice trying many new beers and drinks that I normally would not have ordered since I did not know if I would like them. Several times, I simply put them down after one sip and asked the waiter for a different drink saying that I did not like the first one I ordered. I also like not having to sign for a single drink. They just swipe your card and you are on your way.

 

The quality of the drinks varied greatly around the ship. If you want a beer, be sure to go to the Globe and Atlas Pub in the Promenade since they have a much greater selection. As for icy mixed drinks, they tasted different at each bar. The bars by the pool were always so busy that the drinks there were never mixed well. The smoothies were not smooth, but just chunks of ice. They also tended to just pour the alcohol on top afterwards and so it did not mix at all. I also found all of the drinks from pool bars to be VERY strong (doubles, maybe even triples). Good if you want to get wasted, but I prefer a nice tasting drink. Especially if you have the package where you can get as many smooth drinks as you wish.

 

Now for two of my favourite crew on the entire ship. The gentleman working the Trellis bar in Central Park made outstanding mixed drinks. My other favourite was the man below working in the Seafood Shack bar. I took a photo of him so I could zoom in and get his name for WOW card to submit to RCCL for outstanding service. He was always friendly, made THE BEST DRINKS, was not too busy (so he could chat a bit since he did not get many drink orders working in the Seafood Shack). Please go visit my friend if you want the best mixed drinks on the ship.

 

The Boardwalk has these little vehicles built that line the Boardwalk area. At first glance, I thought they were a bit tacky, but I must say that my 4 year-old twins absolutely loved climbing in for a drive in them whenever the went by. Nice idea RCCL, it was a nice little addition.

 

Below is a night shot of the Boardwalk area with a few of these vehicles in the foreground. I loved the lighting in this area at night. (Used a tripod for this shot for a longer exposure and to brighten it up).

[Russ Lomas]

The best feature, and most interesting in my mind, was the carousel. My 4 year-old twins could not pass it without stopping for a ride or two. I am glad there was no charge for it, or I could have paid almost as much for it as for my entire cruise and I would have had to strategically plan my route around the ship to avoid it when traveling with my kids. My older DDs rode it many times as well, but would not admit it to your face because that would "not be cool".

 

Walking up to the carousel, RCCL has shown the different stages of how the horses were carved and created. This is a nice touch.

 

Stage 1

 

Stage 2

 

Stage 3

(note the Donut Shop in the background - our traveling companions always grabbed one while watching the girls on the carousel).

 

Stage 4

 

Stage 5

[Russ Lomas]

The carousel was rarely busy. The kids just hopped on it any time they walked by. They almost always could stay on for as many rides as the wanted without having to get off since there were very few normally in line.

 

A few final shots of the carousel in action...(the typical shot with the name of the ship in the background).

 

A similar night shot from the same angle with the name of the Oasis in the background at night. I did a longer timed exposure for this one to get the carousel spinning. The rest of the ship and the person in the foreground were still, so they appear sharp while the carousel is blurred. Nice effect, but I wish I had had my tripod to make this shot even better. Still, I am pretty happy with it for saying I held the camera pretty steady for a full one second exposure (does not sound like long, but it is an eternity to hold still for when shooting).

 

Another one of my favourite shots. This one of my twins (the little ones) standing in line at night waiting for their turn on the carousel.

[MomtoCCC]

Great pics and info... keep it coming!

[Brandonclan]

Great pics and review so far!!

 

Did he say FREE DONUTS?? :D