Oasis New Years Cruise

[BURLINGTON66]

The following is a review of Oasis specifc to the New Years Eve Cruise. There are lots of great Oasis reviews on here so I will try to stick to items related to the ship and ports for this specific time frame, and a few extra things.

 

Cost - probably close to double a typical cruise and add a premium for Oasis class. Not much you can do about it - logic dictates go the week after but our view was - its a unique experience so just lump it.

 

Cruisers - lots of families, and a real mix of Americans, Canadians, Europeans, and Latin Americans - Mexico, Brazil. Everyone we met was super friendly. There were no large cruise groups to my knowledge. Plenty of kids on board so thats great if you want your kids to meet friends, but its a large ship with plent of adult only spots for those that look for quiet. Some lounger hogging but no more than typical.

 

Crowding - ship was full so probably typical Oasis crowds. NYE crowd on Promenade was wall to wall but thats OK we wanted it that way. Felt like Times Square!

 

Cabin - we had 3 balcony cabins starbord aft on deck 12. This worked for us as we were OK with stairs - 2 flights down from Deck 15 (pool, bars, wipeout cafe) and Aft is a shorter walk from the MDR, teen clubs, windjammer, dazzles, etc. They opened the dividers on our cabins for us so larger balcony. Back deck on 12 aft for viewing of Aqua theatre is a plus.

 

Drinks - I had the ultimate drink package - this was great as I could have unlimited cappucino/espressos (not starbucks but there were pretty good), fresh squeezed orange juice, bottled water, beer (except some import brands), mixed/frozen drinks, wine (up to $12/glass) and liquor (grey goose/single malts).

 

Dining - We had MDR early sitting. Only line up was first night as they escorted you to the table. We ususally did early breakfast/lunch in MDR as they had a buffet/memu option and it was generally not crowded. Windjammer was very busy for breakfast after 9am with lineups to get in.

 

Ports - We did Eastern - Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten. Although we were in St Thomas NYE and St Maarten New Years Day, everything seemed to be open. Weather was 80-85, water was a little cool but there were a lot of swimmers.

 

Sailing - a couple nights it was windy on deck but it was warm and humid. Ship moved a little but not enough to make anyone seasick (I think). I dont believe any of the indoor or outdoor shows were cancelled for weather related reasons

 

NYE events - there were several parties all over the ship. Hats and favors were handed out at dinner. There was free champagne around - it was average. Everyone was in a very festive mood - promenade was the place to be - bands, countdown balloon drop etc.

 

Summary - all in all it was a unique NYE experience. One has to accept the cost and crowding issues to really enjoy it. I am not sure we will do it again in the near future (too many other issues - winter travel/airports/storms/lineups) but it was a memorable experience and I am glad we did it.

 

Happy to answer any questions.

[Dave85]

Thanks for your review! We'd LOVE to do a NYE on Oasis or Allure but just can't bring ourselves to pay the double cruise fare, as you so well put it. We've done it a number of times on other ships and had a blast. Maybe some day!

[Wheeling_family_of_3]

Thanks for this review! We are booked on Oasis for New Year's this coming year. Glad to hear about your experience!

[Paulette3028]

Thanks for your review! We'd LOVE to do a NYE on Oasis or Allure but just can't bring ourselves to pay the double cruise fare, as you so well put it. We've done it a number of times on other ships and had a blast. Maybe some day!

 

We have talked about doing NYE, but I just can't justify double the cost....I would rather go on two cruises, that go on 1 for the price of 2.

[Kcjarvis]

Did you lose power at anytime? There was a report on twitter of a brief outage. Can you confirm?

Edited January 6, 2014 by Kcjarvis
edit

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[knittedcabin]

Thank you for the review, we are going in Feb. (around Valentines day)and I can't wait. We are also doing the Eastern Carribean route.

 

Did you lose power at anytime? There was a report on twitter of a brief outage. Can you confirm?

 

I was wondering about this as well.

[drarill]

Thanks for your review!! Celebrating NYE on a cruise is a great experience, if you want to do it again you can try other ships, it will be much cheaper. :):)

[BURLINGTON66]

We lost power very briefly late in the last evening but it was promptly restored. I believe the backup systems kept critical functions operating

 

 

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