Oasis of the Seas Vs Carnival Imagination

[kramonas]

First, a little background.

 

The last time I cruised was about 20 years ago when i was in my early 20's. Raising a family and having to build a real career put a damper on cruising for us. But now as our lives stabilized and with our kids growing up, we were once again able to go on a couple cruises.

 

Back then, i probably did 15 or so cruises on all the cruise lines. By far, i liked RCCL the best, and Carnival the least.

 

on 5/4 the wife and I went on the RCCL Oasis of the Seas, couple weeks before the cruise, I heard the Carnival ad on the radio about $39/night cruise, so i looked it up.. Turned out, we could take us and our 4 kids (2 cabins, 6 people), for less than we paid for ONE of us on the Oasis.. So we booked it too. Imagination from 5/20-5/25. would be the first for the kids.

 

I have to admit, after being on the Oasis, I figured the Imagination would be a total let down. boy was i wrong.

 

Talk about how things have changed over 20 years.

 

First, i will say Oasis had MUCH better food than on the imagination. However, the LIDO buffet was better on imagination than Oasis. MDR service was also much better on Oasis. Imagination, you had to wait at the table for even water, while the Oasis they were right on top of it.

 

Oasis - Plenty of pool and hot tub space.

Imagination - couldn't get near a hot tub unless it was in the morning or late at night. Pool always packed.

 

 

But thats about it for positive points on the Oasis. Here are my other observations. keep in mind, i just spend $3500 on the Oasis, and $1500 on the Imagination. so this is as unbiased as it gets.

 

 

Oasis - you always feel pressured to buy drinks, someone would come up to you literally every 30 seconds. you really feel nickel and dimed all the time.

 

Imagination - they would come once or twice and ask, and thats it. not obtrusive, but welcomed.

 

 

Oasis - When you first get on, you were pretty much on your own, very disorganized and crowded and confusing first time on the ship.

 

Imagination - The first day, the crew wears bright red shirts that say "Ask me Anything" - what a brilliant idea that only cost them a few dollars for a shirt and make a customer so much more comfortable. Red shirts were only first day but definitely set the tone for the service.

 

Oasis - Huge ship, maybe too big, spent a lot of time walking from one end to another.

Imagination - Everything vertical on the promenade. Not a hassle to get around. Actually liked this much better. Lesson learned, bigger is not always better.

 

Oasis - Cruise director - only saw videos of him on the TV. Everyone else was an "Assistant Cruise Director", who you would see around the ship once in a while or introducing a show. never actually talked to one or got within 10 feet of one.

 

Imagination - Willie (Cruise director) was awesome. great personality, very approachable, and ill bet he met with every single person on board in those few days. Felt like I left a friend on board when i left.

 

Oasis - Ports = St Thomas and St Martin - Nothing but overpriced, cheap Chinese jewelry.

 

Imagination = Cozumel, had one of the best times ever went to paradise beach, and the port area was beautiful. Key west, been there before, but still a great stop. We all agreed we want to go back to Cozumel again.

 

So in conclusion, I was so expecting the Imagination to suck, but for a little ship, it kicked the sh-t out of the Oasis when it came to the Crew, personality and overall cruising experience.

 

and all of this at 1/5th the price of the Oasis,

 

Although i would have liked to see better food, the next cruise we take will be carnival, just maybe a little bigger ship.

[Rockee4055]

It's nice to see the comparison. I have also sailed on Royal (2) with 10 of my 14 on Carnival.

 

I really didn't like Royal because of the buffet food and thought CCL was so much better.

 

I never experienced what you said about the wait staff on CCL. I always felt they were right there and waiting to serve us.

 

We considered doing the Oasis or some of CCL's smaller ships. I hear a lot of things about Oasis and the biggest complaint is that the lines for EVERYTHING are so long. Most people think it's a beautiful ship and it looks that way but like you said, bigger is not always better.

 

I will be on the freedom in 5 days and am looking forward to make the comparison to some of the smaller ships. I've never really done that before but am going to pay special attention to it this time.

 

You spoke about the cruise director on CCL. One cruise the CD actually came and sat with us at lunch. We talked for about an hour and he was the nicest guy you'd ever meet.

 

In one of the shows before it got started 5 days later we were in the front row. He was on stage just hanging out and actually said hello to us, called us by name as well. That impressed me!

 

We had a security guy who remembered us from 4 cruises previous on another ship we were both on together. As soon as he saw us he yelled out our last name. We were absolutely blown away by that.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Imagination and welcome to Carnival's hospitality.

[kramonas]

well, the lines on Oasis where bad the first day or 2, but over the week, it leveled out.

 

Especially if you had pre-registered for the shows and stuff.

 

I think looking back, the main thing i didnt like on Oasis was the fact the whole cruise felt commercialized, like everything was going to cost extra. From the onboard stores to the ports to the waiters.

 

CCL felt much more like a vacation, a cruise the way i remember from 20 years ago.

[firefly333]

Ive done Oasis twice and never felt pressured to buy drinks any more or less than on Carnival.

 

I would enjoy each of the ships for what they offer.

 

I like the Dream review from a NCLer .. where she shows us what she liked about trying Dream for the first time with pictures... where she sticks to her Carnival review here on the Carnival boards. Oh well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree with a lot of your observations.

[Jana60]

Ive done Oasis twice and never felt pressured to buy drinks any more or less than on Carnival. I loved the roast beef sandwiches in the cafe and other meal choices. I learned to avoid the buffet on Oasis, but so many good choices, np.

 

I guess each to his own. I read this comparisons, like it represents every Oasis cruise or everyone's cruise on Imagination. I know its just your opinion, but when you put up generalizations.. thats what I could do without, since some might apply to me and most do not.

 

I would enjoy each of the ships for what they offer. Small ships I like that you run into the same people over and over and get to know them. I also loved Oasis. You skip right over the huge differences in entertainment which matter to me.. thats why these kind of comparisons to me are ok..so you didnt like this or that .. and I liked it. kind of thing.

 

I would prefer if you were on Carnival to just tell us about the Carnival ship .. not try and compare it to some other completely different ship.

 

I disagree firefly. I don't think the OP generalized to all ships Carnival OR RCCL. He spoke only about his own opinion about those 2 specific ships. I was very disappointed in the entertainment in the main show room on the Glory in December but I still like the entertainment in the other areas of the ship more than the entertainment in other areas on the Island Princess or the Monarch of the Seas both of which I have cruised upon during the past year. Its all very subjective anyway but I still enjoy hearing what someone else thought about their cruise and particular ship they traveled on. Gotta say neither Monarch, nor Glory had anything to compare with Glacier Bay or Athens! So I'd have the say the cruises I've taken to Alaska (on Island Princess) and Mediterranean (on Navigator of the Seas) were my best trips ever and they would have won even if I had been required to travel there on a garbage tanker.

[gapearl]

Very nice review and comparison. Thanks for taking the time to post.