A CArnival cruiser's review of Oasis 3/15/14 sailing

[MandyMooToo]

If I remember correctly the wait times for the different dining venues were posted on your stateroom TV.

 

 

Yes, they have them on your stateroom TV and on various screens (if that is what they are called :D) around the ship. Any screen, near the elevators for example, could be touched to get info on eateries and their real time capacity. Loved that feature! It was nice to have an idea about where you could get in and out of if you were in a bit of a hustle.

 

I too thought the Windjammer was small for a ship of this size but on further consideration, for us at least, it was not an issue as we only ate there once the whole cruise. We visited so many other food establishments that we never really bothered with the buffet.

 

To the OP-Thanks for the review, love hearing other opinions/experiences!

[jimbo5544]

Yes, they have them on your stateroom TV and on various screens (if that is what they are called :D) around the ship. Any screen, near the elevators for example, could be touched to get info on eateries and their real time capacity. Loved that feature! It was nice to have an idea about where you could get in and out of if you were in a bit of a hustle.

 

I too thought the Windjammer was small for a ship of this size but on further consideration, for us at least, it was not an issue as we only ate there once the whole cruise. We visited so many other food establishments that we never really bothered with the buffet.

 

To the OP-Thanks for the review, love hearing other opinions/experiences!

My pleasure.

[Paulette3028]

First a little bit about us. My wife and I are veteran cruisers, the vast majority of cruises (25) have been on Carnival. We were traveling with a small group of family and friends that totaled six cabins. This cruise was our 29th and the second, albeit a large gap in between on Royal. Two other cabins are veteran Carnival cruisers and my son in law is Diamond on Royal and his parents and another couple who both cruise exclusively on Royal. The last two cabins in the group was a veteran cruisers like us, whose past cruises have mainly been on Carnival, but also included several on Royal, Princess and soon to be Viking, which is a fairly eclectic mix. The son in law and I constantly chide each other (in a good natured way) regarding Carnival and Royal much like you can read here, but unlike here we stay good natured about all of it. Our daughter and son in law stayed in a Grand suite and we stayed in a balcony cabin next door that had a door that we had opened and also the balcony divider opened as well.

 

We flew down to PBI from LGA on Friday 3/14/14. Our flight, which originally going to leave at 11 changed several time to eventually settle on a time of 3:40. The flight took off just about an hour late and landed almost an hour late as well. Our transfers were waiting for us to take down to Embassy Suites in Ft Lauderdale and we ended arriving about 8. So much for a leisure afternoon around the pool.

 

After checking in we headed out for something to eat in small groups. We ended up at a shopping center next door in a Mexican restaurant. Being it a Friday during lent, we all tried some form of fish. It actually was very good. After dinner we made pit stops at Wine World for some wine to carry on and Publix for other needed staples. Turning for the night, we awoke the next morning and tried to look out our balcony to see if we could see the ship. Alas, our room was facing north, leaving our room we went around the corner and spied all the ships, first in line was the Ruby Princess and then beyond that (sort of) was the Oasis of the Seas.

 

After a buffet breakfast, doing some travel business, we began our journey to the cruise port. It began somewhat rocky in that we waited about 20 minutes for an elevator, well note quite a true statement, we got several elevators on the 10th floor, but all full. Finally all gathering up together in the lobby we waited for our shuttle. Netting it all out, we finally arrived at the cruise terminal around 11:30. Check in was well underway. We quickly passed through security and on to check in. Kudo's to RCCL, their check in process is the quickest and best we have ever seen. Fifteen minutes later we were up the gangway and on the largest ship in the world, well, almost, we found out during the week that the sister ship, Allure of the seas, is about 3 inches or so longer.

 

First impressions

OK, they have done a wonderful job with the Promenade, Central Park and Boardwalk. As we explored the ship, it was easy to see why these are such popular areas. At one p.m. we headed up to windjammer for lunch. Oops, that as not happening, Windjammer was full and we were turned away. Back down to the 8th floor. Most ended up at Park City Cafe for a sandwich or a salad. Then we took the kids back to the boardwalk to ride the Carousel. After that, I finally got the first drink of the cruise. Another small mis-step as I ordered an Absolute and cranberry and was asked if I wanted a lemon, I said no thank you, I would like a lime. The reply was they were out of lime's and that maybe I could pretend the lemon was green. I asked when they were getting limes and the response was next Saturday, not a good start. We wandered around some more, a couple more cocktails and then headed for our first meal at Giovanni's Table.

 

There was a bit of confusion regarding our reservation, but we got it all worked out. We ended up with two tables, one for six and one for ten. The staff gave us the low down on how to order and suggested apps for the table family style. We took her recommendations as to that and her recommendations for dinner. It was a very enjoyable evening and the food was very good. After dinner, we walked around for a bit and headed to bed.

 

Sunday cruising

We woke up early on Sunday up and went to look for coffee and found it on the Promeneade. We made a quick stop at guest services to take care of a small problem and then headed up to breakfast. Windjammer was almost empty and got to see it for the first time. I was surprised how quickly it filled to capacity. After that we headed to the main pool to find some chairs . One thing does not change on different cruise lines, the chair hogs were out in full force. I do have to say though, that all chairs got full, the staff marked times and removed towels and personal items for chairs with no occupants.

 

After spending the day at the pool, we went down to get ready for our first formal night. We went down for cocktails on the Promenade and picture taking. Photographers were out in full force taking pictures of all the cruisers dressed up for the first formal night. At six, we headed for our first visit to the main dining room. We usually go to the MDR the first night, so it was a little unusual for us to be heading to our table for the first time on the second night. We were on the 4th floor of the dining room (there are 3 floors) in a side room. Having small children traveling with our group, it was probably a good thing, although to be honest, the wife and I missed be ing in the center of things in the dining room. Dinner was very good, the wait staff doing their best to accommodate us the best they could. After dinner we headed back to the room as we had made arrangements to babysit our two small Grand children for the night so our daughter and son in law could have a night out.

 

We were awoken bright and early by our granddaughter and after playing a bit headed up to the Windjammer for breakfast. I noticed during breakfast they had a screen showing the occupancy status of each restaurant for breakfast. It might be better situated outside the restaurant instead of inside.

 

During days at sea, is one of the few times when I felt I could believe how many people were on the ship. We started around the kids splash area (very nice by the way), but the pools and chairs around were packed. It was the second time we saw staff removing stuff on chairs that was left for more than 30 minutes....kudos for them, not a fan at all on chair hogs. After lunch we went to the solarium (adults only). It was crowded, but not as much. Mostly glassed in area, it was very hot with out a breeze. There is little buffet restaurant there, but we never got back there. A small pool that was very crowded with some from Italy that never got out in the times we were there. I get very suspicious of someone drinking beer and not leaving the pool for over 3 hours..... Maybe it's me.

 

Monday was a blur. We docked in Labadee and because our daughter and her family were in a grand suite, we had the opportunity to go the private area and upgraded to a cabana. Their son, who is a little over one got mopey after an hour or so and was sleeping on one of his grand mothers (both were on the ship) shoulders in the cabana when he had a seizure. Both of his parents are nurses and began to whisk him back to the ship, along with a PA who happened to be nearby. He ended up to be fine and they said the seizure was a result of an ear infection and a high fever (neither of which were evident when we began the day). Kudo's to the security on Labadee for their quick reaction in getting him back on the ship quickly and the medical staff on the ship. We never got the name of the PA who assisted. If by small chance this person reads this please contact me through here so the parents can properly thank them.

 

Tuesday we docked at Falmouth Jamaica. We ended up just shopping around the port area which was redone for the Oasis and Allure. This was the only time we had limited internet and ended up texting and some email back home. We are very familiar with Jamaica and go there for land based vacations more than a few times. They did a really nice job in the port area, but its just not Jamaica to me. Tuesday night we had to leave dinner early to go to the diving show in (or I guess I should say at) the Aqua theater. Kudos again to our wait staff for getting us fed and out the door in time from dinner to attend the show. The show was very good, somewhat reminiscent of a show at Sea World. The main difference being the diving was from platforms on a moving ship.

 

 

Wednesday was another day cruising. We began with a character breakfast in the main dining room character breakfast. We did the dreams ocean adventure character breakfast on Wednesday morning at 7:45 am. Our head waiter had made arrangements for a table for 12 (I think it was 115) great table by the way. They did a really nice job getting the kids involved but not to involved with Shrek, Fiona, puss and boots. It was a very nice breakfast, and definitely had a Disney feeling to it that we both commented on the way out. The rest of the day we relaxed as a regular sea day, very nice. Wednesday night we did a show in the Opal theater (loved the layout BTW) I think it was called come fly with me. Great show, mixing a production show with acrobatics and a Circus de Solel (I know I spelled that wrong). I would not have thought I would have enjoyed it but I did.

 

 

On Thursday we docked at old familiar Cozumel. This was our 14th time sailing and stopping at Cozumel. Three in our group (myself included) had signed up on line for the Cozumel Bar Hop (a private) excursion. Not so much for the bar aspect, but mainly because it was totally centered around the Atlantic eastern side of the island which I have never been to. What a great excursion! I cannot recommend this team highly enough. It is a small independent business that runs this and they do a great job. We met at 9:15 am (11:15am ship time) (yes, that's correct am), due to the two hour difference -one for eastern to central time zone and one due to the fact Mexico has maintained the old timelines for day lights savings time and would not spring forward until April 6th.)

 

We got on the air conditioned bus and headed out across the island. Most of the group was from various cruise ships (in port that day were Oasis and Serenade from Royal, Paradise and Elation from Carnival and a smaller ship docked downtown called the Dolphin. There were two other people that were staying at a resort almost across the street from our cruise dock called the Park Royal Holiday. This tour (rough translation of the event) included 4 stops and beach or water front bars in a area where it is rustic (not electricity -wired in anyway, on the first stop they had both solar and wind power) and no one lives there. I fell in love with this side of Cozumel. The first of the four stops was the best, not crowded, nice breeze and just a wonderful place. At each of the four stops, included was a specialty shot of their choosing and then you are free to partake and pay for any additional food and beverage of your choice. We spent about an hour in each stop and the tour was about five hours long and ended with being dropped off at the cruise terminal. Thursday evening after dinner, we had reservations at the comedy show for 9 pm. The two comedian show with a nice warm up by the host was very funny. It is an adult dated event evening.

 

Friday the last day, a day at sea. We spent a leisurely sea day (the first on this cruise, got burned and relaxed and then got ready for the chef's table to be held in the concierge lounge. I have attended the Chef's table 5 times on Carnival (yeah I know that's over the top) but wanted to try it on Royal. My wife does not so much enjoy the eclectic menus and has never done with me. I attended this event with my son in law and my wife's cousin who has gone with me on these in the past on Carnival. My son in law and daughter were staying in a grand suite so I piggy backed in the concierge lounge for a cocktail before attending the C.T. The C.T. Is held on the Oasis on the upper level of the Concierge lounge.

 

At the appropriate time we headed next door at the library which was to be the meeting place for the group. After a champagne there, we head back to the lounge and up to the upper level. I wish I had brought my camera, but there was a place card in front of each chair. We introduced our selves and began. There were three people there, the C.T manager, a Sommelier, and a sous chef. As each course was brought out, we first heard from the sommelier on the wine pairing for each course telling us about the wine we were to have. Then the chef explained each course, how it was prepared and something interesting of each item. It took us a full three hours to complete this gastronomical event. We nada great time and totally enjoyed the company as well.

 

We then returned to our cabins to pack our bags and get ready to leave the Oasis.

 

Debarkation

 

I always sleep pretty lousy the last night of a cruise for a host of reasons. As usual, I slept fitfully and finally rousted myself out of bed at 5:30 to get ready to start the journey home. After a quick breakfast in the windjammer we quickly found out they'd already called self debarkation and were up to our number 3. We quickly gathered our carry-ones and headed downstairs to get off the ship. Debarkation went as well as getting on the ship and we quickly got our bags and cleared customs and went outside to get our transfer back to West Palm Beach for our flight home. I love PBI for its size and quick check in and small lines through security. Once at the gate, I could I have been upgraded, which was a nice perk for the flight home.

 

I cannot help but do a comparison between Royal and Carnival and our cruising experiences. I know there is a lot of contention here (at cruise critic) at times between the two lines and their supporters but here are my thoughts (yours may vary from mine). So here we go....

 

The ship. All I can say is WOW, (yeah, I know it's part of their add campaign but it is one hell of a ship). The biggest difference is how much wider it is. The separate space on the Promenade, Central Park and the Boardwalk are amazing. The ability to spread out all those people makes the common space on this ship do a much better job of making it feel less crowded. Great concept and a great ship.

 

Comparisons

Carnival has amenity baskets in the bathroom, no big deal but none for Royal.

Towel animals on both. The wife loves them. Not every night like we are used to on Carnival, but fine with me. She also missed the entertainment in the MDR that we are used to seeing (every night on Carnival). I believe it was only two nights on this cruise.

Both staff equally as friendly.

Drink prices were higher on the Oasis, ok, I will say it here first, everything was a bit more pricey.

Room -our balcony room on the Oasis seemed a bit smaller that ones we have stayed on Carnival ships (we have stayed in almost every room type on Carnival except inside rooms). The balcony seemed smaller width wise but a bit deeper. We originally booked a grand suite but later chose the balcony room that was connected to our daughters grand suite. That worked out remarkable well. Because it was a connecting cabin we got a chair as opposed to the normal couch we get on Carnival, we did miss the couch. The bathroom is smaller on Royal than on Carnival, but I did enjoy the shower doors as opposed to the curtain on regular balcony rooms on Carnival. Now the sink is another subject. I would equivocate it to a spit bowl at a dentist office. Honestly, it became some what of a joke, I had a hard time washing my hands in the sink.

Staff - equal, we have never had a bad experience on any cruise we have been on and we were not disappointed with the staff on the Oasis.

Costs - there is no way to get around it. Royal costs more (no not all the time, but it was definitely our experience). I will give some examples: the room itself. We paid a lot more for our D1 room on this cruise. While the prices did drop after final payment (significantly) there were no rooms we could upgrade to so we were locked in. Carnival (with booking early saver) would have given us OBC, which would have been huge on this cruise. I do have to say there are many opportunities to go for your money on Royal, from freshly squeezed orange juice in the windjammer to drink prices, to extras during main dining and it goes on and on. I realize they are all options (and I believe that options are good) but I get the feeling I am being taken more and more as the cruise wore on. A perception, but it's what I felt, and I felt it a lot.

 

Entertainment. Huge win for Royal here. The entertainment was both frequent and good including steel drum bands at the main pool during sea days (something talked about a lot (about not having) over on the Carnival boards. It was all over the ship, different venues, different types, nice.

 

The wife went to see Hairspray with her sister and her cousin on Sunday night. She enjoyed it, her sister said it was ok. Not my cup of tea, if I want to see a Broadway show, I will go to Broadway.

 

We did the ice show (frozen on ice - a Hans Christian Anderson themed event) on Monday afternoon. Really well done, very reminiscent of Disney on Ice (see a theme here?). We also did the character parade on the promenade at 12:30. An even stronger Disney theme. The promenade was packed, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.

 

Final thoughts:

 

embarkation and debarkation. Royal does an admirable job (hell, excellent) in getting people on and off the ship, at the beginning and end of the cruise as well as every port of call. Doing the security prescreening on land makes the actual getting on board much easier.

 

Muster drill. Our muster drill was in the Champagne lounge, the recording malfunctioned and they ended up restarting it. There was a lot of people in there, and the crowd wandered into the promenade. My thoughts then and now was that there was not nearly enough focus on this and many people were having conversations through out the drill. In the event of an emergency, it would leave way to much up for interpretation. I expected better. They do check you in scanning the bar code on your sea pass.

 

There were many more kids then I expected. It is not a school vacation in the northeast, but maybe so for other parts of the country. At a show on Thursday night it was mentioned that there was over 2000 non US cruisers on the ship, firming my thoughts on how many foreigners were on the ship. It was significant ,not bad, but noticeable and was not sure if it is a different clientele that Royal draws of some thing specific to the time of year. This was the first time we have ever sailed in a March.

 

I was happy to get to enjoy the Oasis of the Seas. They worked hard at making the cruise be the best that it can be. We both commented to each other that it had the feeling more of a Disney vacation mixed with a cruise to us (not a negative), just that there is so much to do and you want to experience it all it ends up "feeling" like a Disney vacation (and we have done many of those). I am not sure I liked having to make reservations for shows, dining etc. in advance and then having to keep the schedule once we get on the ship. I think I prefer the laid back cruising concept we had experienced in our past cruises more. Could we have done this on the Oasis, sure. But it's hard not to experience all she has to offer, again a Disney comparison.

 

Windjammer is just way to small. I do not know what the occupancy is (only saw the graphics on display inside the restaurant), but it should be bigger....way bigger.

 

My favorite thing? Central Park and the promenade. Really unique cruising experience. The promenade def has the feel of walking through a mall, again not a bad thing. My least favorite thing? The Boardwalk, I hate amusement parks, and why I don't think I would ever go on the Quantum. These are our impressions, its just us. Would I go back again, yes. Anytime soon? Probably not.

 

Wonderful and simple review of your Oasis cruise -- that I appreciate. I will be sailing on the Allure June 29 sailing, and hope that some of what you describe happen during that sailing. Specifically, how the staff handled the 'pool chair hogs'.

 

I was also happy to hear your feelings about Central Park and the Promenade. This will be our 15th cruise on Royal, and have enjoyed the Promenade on other ships. This time we have taken a balcony cabin overlooking Central Park, and hope we enjoy sitting on the balcony overlooking Central Park. We have had Ocean View Balconies on other ships, and found ourselves on the balcony a little bit (either early in the morning or just before dressing for dinner) -- I am hoping to enjoy the balcony on Allure more.

 

Having cruised quite a bit (and you have done even more cruises that we have), I really worry that the ships don't put a little bit more 'emphasis' on the muster drill. I surely pay attention, but when I look around, so many others pay very little attention.

 

When I look back at our cruises on Royal, all of them have had a broad range of passengers demographics. Since I have not cruised on other lines, I can't speak for them. I have found that Royal attracts many Europeans, Asians as well as Latin Americans. Many, many times there have been almost as many Latin Americans on board as Americans. When we cruised on Jewel out of San Juan, almost 50% of the cruise was Latin Americans (nor was I surprised at that).

 

With our cruise less than 100 days away, much of what you have said, helps me get ready for our cruise.

[MandyMooToo]

Wonderful and simple review of your Oasis cruise -- that I appreciate. I will be sailing on the Allure June 29 sailing, and hope that some of what you describe happen during that sailing. Specifically, how the staff handled the 'pool chair hogs'.

 

I was also happy to hear your feelings about Central Park and the Promenade. This will be our 15th cruise on Royal, and have enjoyed the Promenade on other ships. This time we have taken a balcony cabin overlooking Central Park, and hope we enjoy sitting on the balcony overlooking Central Park. We have had Ocean View Balconies on other ships, and found ourselves on the balcony a little bit (either early in the morning or just before dressing for dinner) -- I am hoping to enjoy the balcony on Allure more.

 

Having cruised quite a bit (and you have done even more cruises that we have), I really worry that the ships don't put a little bit more 'emphasis' on the muster drill. I surely pay attention, but when I look around, so many others pay very little attention.

 

When I look back at our cruises on Royal, all of them have had a broad range of passengers demographics. Since I have not cruised on other lines, I can't speak for them. I have found that Royal attracts many Europeans, Asians as well as Latin Americans. Many, many times there have been almost as many Latin Americans on board as Americans. When we cruised on Jewel out of San Juan, almost 50% of the cruise was Latin Americans (nor was I surprised at that).

 

With our cruise less than 100 days away, much of what you have said, helps me get ready for our cruise.

 

We were on Oasis last year and as far as chair hogs went i have to say that the staff was good about it. My husband and I usually choose one day to do nothing but lay by the pool reading and partaking of fruity beverages :D and the staff was always near by checking times. We actually had staff intervene on our behalf when I had gotten up and gone to the restroom and my husband went to the soft serve ice cream machine. I can't keep that man away from ice cream!! It is like he's never had it before, but I digress....we were literally gone for a few minutes when a woman walked up and moved my husband's shirt and towel off his chair. The persons we had befriended in chairs all around us told the lady we had only gone to the restroom and ice cream machine but she basically said "tough, you get up you lose your chair." Staff stepped in and she was moving as I walked back to our spot. So I guess staff is vigilant in both ways :rolleyes:

[Paulette3028]

We were on Oasis last year and as far as chair hogs went i have to say that the staff was good about it. My husband and I usually choose one day to do nothing but lay by the pool reading and partaking of fruity beverages :D and the staff was always near by checking times. We actually had staff intervene on our behalf when I had gotten up and gone to the restroom and my husband went to the soft serve ice cream machine. I can't keep that man away from ice cream!! It is like he's never had it before, but I digress....we were literally gone for a few minutes when a woman walked up and moved my husband's shirt and towel off his chair. The persons we had befriended in chairs all around us told the lady we had only gone to the restroom and ice cream machine but she basically said "tough, you get up you lose your chair." Staff stepped in and she was moving as I walked back to our spot. So I guess staff is vigilant in both ways :rolleyes:

 

Vigilant 'both ways' as you say is good. Often we jump into the WJ to grab something and then head back to our poolside chairs to actually eat, generally gone 10-15 minutes in total. It is helpful to make friendly chatter with those sitting around you at the pool.

[MandyMooToo]

Vigilant 'both ways' as you say is good. Often we jump into the WJ to grab something and then head back to our poolside chairs to actually eat, generally gone 10-15 minutes in total. It is helpful to make friendly chatter with those sitting around you at the pool.

 

Absolutely! If it had not been for our new friends we may not have gotten my husband's seat back!

Edited March 24, 2014 by MandyMooToo

[jimbo5544]

Wonderful and simple review of your Oasis cruise -- that I appreciate. I will be sailing on the Allure June 29 sailing, and hope that some of what you describe happen during that sailing. Specifically, how the staff handled the 'pool chair hogs'.

 

I was also happy to hear your feelings about Central Park and the Promenade. This will be our 15th cruise on Royal, and have enjoyed the Promenade on other ships. This time we have taken a balcony cabin overlooking Central Park, and hope we enjoy sitting on the balcony overlooking Central Park. We have had Ocean View Balconies on other ships, and found ourselves on the balcony a little bit (either early in the morning or just before dressing for dinner) -- I am hoping to enjoy the balcony on Allure more.

 

Having cruised quite a bit (and you have done even more cruises that we have), I really worry that the ships don't put a little bit more 'emphasis' on the muster drill. I surely pay attention, but when I look around, so many others pay very little attention.

 

When I look back at our cruises on Royal, all of them have had a broad range of passengers demographics. Since I have not cruised on other lines, I can't speak for them. I have found that Royal attracts many Europeans, Asians as well as Latin Americans. Many, many times there have been almost as many Latin Americans on board as Americans. When we cruised on Jewel out of San Juan, almost 50% of the cruise was Latin Americans (nor was I surprised at that).

 

With our cruise less than 100 days away, much of what you have said, helps me get ready for our cruise.

Thanks for the feedback, appreciated. Glad my info will assit you as well.

[Retiredprofessor]

We are sailing Oasis next year and really enjoyed your review. I was one of those who didn't think I would like such a huge venue, but we have family that we have shared several cruises with and the wanted to try her. I'm a little concerned with your (and other's) comments on the Windjammer. What other areas are available for breakfast and dinner? (Besides MDR) Also is there special seating areas for suites and/or Diamond level? Thanks.

[jimbo5544]

We are sailing Oasis next year and really enjoyed your review. I was one of those who didn't think I would like such a huge venue, but we have family that we have shared several cruises with and the wanted to try her. I'm a little concerned with your (and other's) comments on the Windjammer. What other areas are available for breakfast and dinner? (Besides MDR) Also is there special seating areas for suites and/or Diamond level? Thanks.

I will first start off my reply in asserting I am not a Royal expert by any means. There are other places to eat, it just took us a while to find them. At the elevator lobbies, there are kiosks which provide several functions, one of which tells you the occupancy of restaurants currently serving. We did not know these provided this info till the last morning. I am unaware of blocked off suite/diamond seating, my guess that would not go over well with everyone else..... The Concierge lounge did have (my guess the diamond does as well) breakfast options for those guests. I did have breakfast one morning in the Concierge lounge and it was good. Not at all sure if either offer lunch, but I am sure someone here knows that.

[akcruz]

We are sailing Oasis next year and really enjoyed your review. I was one of those who didn't think I would like such a huge venue, but we have family that we have shared several cruises with and the wanted to try her. I'm a little concerned with your (and other's) comments on the Windjammer. What other areas are available for breakfast and dinner? (Besides MDR) Also is there special seating areas for suites and/or Diamond level? Thanks.

 

I will first start off my reply in asserting I am not a Royal expert by any means. There are other places to eat, it just took us a while to find them. At the elevator lobbies, there are kiosks which provide several functions, one of which tells you the occupancy of restaurants currently serving. We did not know these provided this info till the last morning. I am unaware of blocked off suite/diamond seating, my guess that would not go over well with everyone else..... The Concierge lounge did have (my guess the diamond does as well) breakfast options for those guests. I did have breakfast one morning in the Concierge lounge and it was good. Not at all sure if either offer lunch, but I am sure someone here knows that.

 

Breakfast is not a concern at all as their are multiple options such as the Park Cafe, Johnny Rockets (which is free for breakfast), the Solarium, etc. We NEVER ate breakfast in the windjammer. We ventured there twice, once was for one lunch on a sea day and that was a little later than 1, and the other was for dinner after a later port of call and a nap. Both times we had no wait at all.

 

Dinner is a little more tricky, you can always get pizza at sorentos, or hit up one of the pay restaurants. Of course, the windjammer is not as crowded them as many passengers go to other restaurants.

 

Just keep an eye on the screens to judge capacity. We were amazed when the WJ was red, many others with green with no wait at all.

[dreamer976]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this great review.:)

[LMaxwell]

A thorough and enjoyable to read review. Are there areas of the ship you felt you missed out on due to the sheer volume of activities and size of the ship?

[jimbo5544]

A thorough and enjoyable to read review. Are there areas of the ship you felt you missed out on due to the sheer volume of activities and size of the ship?

Thanks. I am not sure that we missed anything per se (although we might have spent more time in a particular place...the example that comes to mind is viewing a movie at the aqua theater, which we stumled across going to a show.) I know if I read the compass, I would know more about what was happeneing on any given day, but I enjoy wandering and exploring. It was more of a feeling of not wanting to miss anything (I am probably not saying it well). With all the things to do and see, it took away what otherwise might have been more leisure time (some cruisers might like that more). Just a differnet way of a cruise vacation than what has been our comfort zone. Not necesarily a bad thing, but surely a differnet thing. We did end up having a discussion about this very topic waiting to get on the plane to come home. We (I really) might have have a somewhat similar thing if it were a Princess or NCL (or any other) crusie line, but probably not to the extent we had on the Oasis.

 

The other thing I don't think I really understood until I got on the ship, was how different these neighborhoods were (both is location and setup). Really well thought out, and as I mentioned it dispersed the people really well.

[jimbo5544]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this great review.:)

Thanks! I really enjoyed doing it. I will probably do more in the future.

[Realtor at Sea]

Wonderful review comparing/contrasting the two cruise lines! Would you be so kind as to tell me what is in the Carnival Amenities Basket. Thanks!

[jerseygirl74]

Totally agree about WJ... Much too stressful trying to get a table. Park Cafe always able to get a table outside. We enjoyed the ship too but having to book everything in advance really boxed you into a schedule & didn't always jive with other events that you are not aware of preboarding.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[big al]

First a little bit about us. My wife and I are veteran cruisers, the vast majority of cruises (25) have been on Carnival. We were traveling with a small group of family and friends that totaled six cabins. This cruise was our 29th and the second, albeit a large gap in between on Royal. Two other cabins are veteran Carnival cruisers and my son in law is Diamond on Royal and his parents and another couple who both cruise exclusively on Royal. The last two cabins in the group was a veteran cruisers like us, whose past cruises have mainly been on Carnival, but also included several on Royal, Princess and soon to be Viking, which is a fairly eclectic mix. The son in law and I constantly chide each other (in a good natured way) regarding Carnival and Royal much like you can read here, but unlike here we stay good natured about all of it. Our daughter and son in law stayed in a Grand suite and we stayed in a balcony cabin next door that had a door that we had opened and also the balcony divider opened as well.

 

We flew down to PBI from LGA on Friday 3/14/14. Our flight, which originally going to leave at 11 changed several time to eventually settle on a time of 3:40. The flight took off just about an hour late and landed almost an hour late as well. Our transfers were waiting for us to take down to Embassy Suites in Ft Lauderdale and we ended arriving about 8. So much for a leisure afternoon around the pool.

 

After checking in we headed out for something to eat in small groups. We ended up at a shopping center next door in a Mexican restaurant. Being it a Friday during lent, we all tried some form of fish. It actually was very good. After dinner we made pit stops at Wine World for some wine to carry on and Publix for other needed staples. Turning for the night, we awoke the next morning and tried to look out our balcony to see if we could see the ship. Alas, our room was facing north, leaving our room we went around the corner and spied all the ships, first in line was the Ruby Princess and then beyond that (sort of) was the Oasis of the Seas.

 

After a buffet breakfast, doing some travel business, we began our journey to the cruise port. It began somewhat rocky in that we waited about 20 minutes for an elevator, well note quite a true statement, we got several elevators on the 10th floor, but all full. Finally all gathering up together in the lobby we waited for our shuttle. Netting it all out, we finally arrived at the cruise terminal around 11:30. Check in was well underway. We quickly passed through security and on to check in. Kudo's to RCCL, their check in process is the quickest and best we have ever seen. Fifteen minutes later we were up the gangway and on the largest ship in the world, well, almost, we found out during the week that the sister ship, Allure of the seas, is about 3 inches or so longer.

 

First impressions

OK, they have done a wonderful job with the Promenade, Central Park and Boardwalk. As we explored the ship, it was easy to see why these are such popular areas. At one p.m. we headed up to windjammer for lunch. Oops, that as not happening, Windjammer was full and we were turned away. Back down to the 8th floor. Most ended up at Park City Cafe for a sandwich or a salad. Then we took the kids back to the boardwalk to ride the Carousel. After that, I finally got the first drink of the cruise. Another small mis-step as I ordered an Absolute and cranberry and was asked if I wanted a lemon, I said no thank you, I would like a lime. The reply was they were out of lime's and that maybe I could pretend the lemon was green. I asked when they were getting limes and the response was next Saturday, not a good start. We wandered around some more, a couple more cocktails and then headed for our first meal at Giovanni's Table.

 

There was a bit of confusion regarding our reservation, but we got it all worked out. We ended up with two tables, one for six and one for ten. The staff gave us the low down on how to order and suggested apps for the table family style. We took her recommendations as to that and her recommendations for dinner. It was a very enjoyable evening and the food was very good. After dinner, we walked around for a bit and headed to bed.

 

Sunday cruising

We woke up early on Sunday up and went to look for coffee and found it on the Promeneade. We made a quick stop at guest services to take care of a small problem and then headed up to breakfast. Windjammer was almost empty and got to see it for the first time. I was surprised how quickly it filled to capacity. After that we headed to the main pool to find some chairs . One thing does not change on different cruise lines, the chair hogs were out in full force. I do have to say though, that all chairs got full, the staff marked times and removed towels and personal items for chairs with no occupants.

 

After spending the day at the pool, we went down to get ready for our first formal night. We went down for cocktails on the Promenade and picture taking. Photographers were out in full force taking pictures of all the cruisers dressed up for the first formal night. At six, we headed for our first visit to the main dining room. We usually go to the MDR the first night, so it was a little unusual for us to be heading to our table for the first time on the second night. We were on the 4th floor of the dining room (there are 3 floors) in a side room. Having small children traveling with our group, it was probably a good thing, although to be honest, the wife and I missed be ing in the center of things in the dining room. Dinner was very good, the wait staff doing their best to accommodate us the best they could. After dinner we headed back to the room as we had made arrangements to babysit our two small Grand children for the night so our daughter and son in law could have a night out.

 

We were awoken bright and early by our granddaughter and after playing a bit headed up to the Windjammer for breakfast. I noticed during breakfast they had a screen showing the occupancy status of each restaurant for breakfast. It might be better situated outside the restaurant instead of inside.

 

During days at sea, is one of the few times when I felt I could believe how many people were on the ship. We started around the kids splash area (very nice by the way), but the pools and chairs around were packed. It was the second time we saw staff removing stuff on chairs that was left for more than 30 minutes....kudos for them, not a fan at all on chair hogs. After lunch we went to the solarium (adults only). It was crowded, but not as much. Mostly glassed in area, it was very hot with out a breeze. There is little buffet restaurant there, but we never got back there. A small pool that was very crowded with some from Italy that never got out in the times we were there. I get very suspicious of someone drinking beer and not leaving the pool for over 3 hours..... Maybe it's me.

 

Monday was a blur. We docked in Labadee and because our daughter and her family were in a grand suite, we had the opportunity to go the private area and upgraded to a cabana. Their son, who is a little over one got mopey after an hour or so and was sleeping on one of his grand mothers (both were on the ship) shoulders in the cabana when he had a seizure. Both of his parents are nurses and began to whisk him back to the ship, along with a PA who happened to be nearby. He ended up to be fine and they said the seizure was a result of an ear infection and a high fever (neither of which were evident when we began the day). Kudo's to the security on Labadee for their quick reaction in getting him back on the ship quickly and the medical staff on the ship. We never got the name of the PA who assisted. If by small chance this person reads this please contact me through here so the parents can properly thank them.

 

Tuesday we docked at Falmouth Jamaica. We ended up just shopping around the port area which was redone for the Oasis and Allure. This was the only time we had limited internet and ended up texting and some email back home. We are very familiar with Jamaica and go there for land based vacations more than a few times. They did a really nice job in the port area, but its just not Jamaica to me. Tuesday night we had to leave dinner early to go to the diving show in (or I guess I should say at) the Aqua theater. Kudos again to our wait staff for getting us fed and out the door in time from dinner to attend the show. The show was very good, somewhat reminiscent of a show at Sea World. The main difference being the diving was from platforms on a moving ship.

 

 

Wednesday was another day cruising. We began with a character breakfast in the main dining room character breakfast. We did the dreams ocean adventure character breakfast on Wednesday morning at 7:45 am. Our head waiter had made arrangements for a table for 12 (I think it was 115) great table by the way. They did a really nice job getting the kids involved but not to involved with Shrek, Fiona, puss and boots. It was a very nice breakfast, and definitely had a Disney feeling to it that we both commented on the way out. The rest of the day we relaxed as a regular sea day, very nice. Wednesday night we did a show in the Opal theater (loved the layout BTW) I think it was called come fly with me. Great show, mixing a production show with acrobatics and a Circus de Solel (I know I spelled that wrong). I would not have thought I would have enjoyed it but I did.

 

 

On Thursday we docked at old familiar Cozumel. This was our 14th time sailing and stopping at Cozumel. Three in our group (myself included) had signed up on line for the Cozumel Bar Hop (a private) excursion. Not so much for the bar aspect, but mainly because it was totally centered around the Atlantic eastern side of the island which I have never been to. What a great excursion! I cannot recommend this team highly enough. It is a small independent business that runs this and they do a great job. We met at 9:15 am (11:15am ship time) (yes, that's correct am), due to the two hour difference -one for eastern to central time zone and one due to the fact Mexico has maintained the old timelines for day lights savings time and would not spring forward until April 6th.)

 

We got on the air conditioned bus and headed out across the island. Most of the group was from various cruise ships (in port that day were Oasis and Serenade from Royal, Paradise and Elation from Carnival and a smaller ship docked downtown called the Dolphin. There were two other people that were staying at a resort almost across the street from our cruise dock called the Park Royal Holiday. This tour (rough translation of the event) included 4 stops and beach or water front bars in a area where it is rustic (not electricity -wired in anyway, on the first stop they had both solar and wind power) and no one lives there. I fell in love with this side of Cozumel. The first of the four stops was the best, not crowded, nice breeze and just a wonderful place. At each of the four stops, included was a specialty shot of their choosing and then you are free to partake and pay for any additional food and beverage of your choice. We spent about an hour in each stop and the tour was about five hours long and ended with being dropped off at the cruise terminal. Thursday evening after dinner, we had reservations at the comedy show for 9 pm. The two comedian show with a nice warm up by the host was very funny. It is an adult dated event evening.

 

Friday the last day, a day at sea. We spent a leisurely sea day (the first on this cruise, got burned and relaxed and then got ready for the chef's table to be held in the concierge lounge. I have attended the Chef's table 5 times on Carnival (yeah I know that's over the top) but wanted to try it on Royal. My wife does not so much enjoy the eclectic menus and has never done with me. I attended this event with my son in law and my wife's cousin who has gone with me on these in the past on Carnival. My son in law and daughter were staying in a grand suite so I piggy backed in the concierge lounge for a cocktail before attending the C.T. The C.T. Is held on the Oasis on the upper level of the Concierge lounge.

 

At the appropriate time we headed next door at the library which was to be the meeting place for the group. After a champagne there, we head back to the lounge and up to the upper level. I wish I had brought my camera, but there was a place card in front of each chair. We introduced our selves and began. There were three people there, the C.T manager, a Sommelier, and a sous chef. As each course was brought out, we first heard from the sommelier on the wine pairing for each course telling us about the wine we were to have. Then the chef explained each course, how it was prepared and something interesting of each item. It took us a full three hours to complete this gastronomical event. We nada great time and totally enjoyed the company as well.

 

We then returned to our cabins to pack our bags and get ready to leave the Oasis.

 

Debarkation

 

I always sleep pretty lousy the last night of a cruise for a host of reasons. As usual, I slept fitfully and finally rousted myself out of bed at 5:30 to get ready to start the journey home. After a quick breakfast in the windjammer we quickly found out they'd already called self debarkation and were up to our number 3. We quickly gathered our carry-ones and headed downstairs to get off the ship. Debarkation went as well as getting on the ship and we quickly got our bags and cleared customs and went outside to get our transfer back to West Palm Beach for our flight home. I love PBI for its size and quick check in and small lines through security. Once at the gate, I could I have been upgraded, which was a nice perk for the flight home.

 

I cannot help but do a comparison between Royal and Carnival and our cruising experiences. I know there is a lot of contention here (at cruise critic) at times between the two lines and their supporters but here are my thoughts (yours may vary from mine). So here we go....

 

The ship. All I can say is WOW, (yeah, I know it's part of their add campaign but it is one hell of a ship). The biggest difference is how much wider it is. The separate space on the Promenade, Central Park and the Boardwalk are amazing. The ability to spread out all those people makes the common space on this ship do a much better job of making it feel less crowded. Great concept and a great ship.

 

Comparisons

Carnival has amenity baskets in the bathroom, no big deal but none for Royal.

Towel animals on both. The wife loves them. Not every night like we are used to on Carnival, but fine with me. She also missed the entertainment in the MDR that we are used to seeing (every night on Carnival). I believe it was only two nights on this cruise.

Both staff equally as friendly.

Drink prices were higher on the Oasis, ok, I will say it here first, everything was a bit more pricey.

Room -our balcony room on the Oasis seemed a bit smaller that ones we have stayed on Carnival ships (we have stayed in almost every room type on Carnival except inside rooms). The balcony seemed smaller width wise but a bit deeper. We originally booked a grand suite but later chose the balcony room that was connected to our daughters grand suite. That worked out remarkable well. Because it was a connecting cabin we got a chair as opposed to the normal couch we get on Carnival, we did miss the couch. The bathroom is smaller on Royal than on Carnival, but I did enjoy the shower doors as opposed to the curtain on regular balcony rooms on Carnival. Now the sink is another subject. I would equivocate it to a spit bowl at a dentist office. Honestly, it became some what of a joke, I had a hard time washing my hands in the sink.

Staff - equal, we have never had a bad experience on any cruise we have been on and we were not disappointed with the staff on the Oasis.

Costs - there is no way to get around it. Royal costs more (no not all the time, but it was definitely our experience). I will give some examples: the room itself. We paid a lot more for our D1 room on this cruise. While the prices did drop after final payment (significantly) there were no rooms we could upgrade to so we were locked in. Carnival (with booking early saver) would have given us OBC, which would have been huge on this cruise. I do have to say there are many opportunities to go for your money on Royal, from freshly squeezed orange juice in the windjammer to drink prices, to extras during main dining and it goes on and on. I realize they are all options (and I believe that options are good) but I get the feeling I am being taken more and more as the cruise wore on. A perception, but it's what I felt, and I felt it a lot.

 

Entertainment. Huge win for Royal here. The entertainment was both frequent and good including steel drum bands at the main pool during sea days (something talked about a lot (about not having) over on the Carnival boards. It was all over the ship, different venues, different types, nice.

 

The wife went to see Hairspray with her sister and her cousin on Sunday night. She enjoyed it, her sister said it was ok. Not my cup of tea, if I want to see a Broadway show, I will go to Broadway.

 

We did the ice show (frozen on ice - a Hans Christian Anderson themed event) on Monday afternoon. Really well done, very reminiscent of Disney on Ice (see a theme here?). We also did the character parade on the promenade at 12:30. An even stronger Disney theme. The promenade was packed, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.

 

Final thoughts:

 

embarkation and debarkation. Royal does an admirable job (hell, excellent) in getting people on and off the ship, at the beginning and end of the cruise as well as every port of call. Doing the security prescreening on land makes the actual getting on board much easier.

 

Muster drill. Our muster drill was in the Champagne lounge, the recording malfunctioned and they ended up restarting it. There was a lot of people in there, and the crowd wandered into the promenade. My thoughts then and now was that there was not nearly enough focus on this and many people were having conversations through out the drill. In the event of an emergency, it would leave way to much up for interpretation. I expected better. They do check you in scanning the bar code on your sea pass.

 

There were many more kids then I expected. It is not a school vacation in the northeast, but maybe so for other parts of the country. At a show on Thursday night it was mentioned that there was over 2000 non US cruisers on the ship, firming my thoughts on how many foreigners were on the ship. It was significant ,not bad, but noticeable and was not sure if it is a different clientele that Royal draws of some thing specific to the time of year. This was the first time we have ever sailed in a March.

 

I was happy to get to enjoy the Oasis of the Seas. They worked hard at making the cruise be the best that it can be. We both commented to each other that it had the feeling more of a Disney vacation mixed with a cruise to us (not a negative), just that there is so much to do and you want to experience it all it ends up "feeling" like a Disney vacation (and we have done many of those). I am not sure I liked having to make reservations for shows, dining etc. in advance and then having to keep the schedule once we get on the ship. I think I prefer the laid back cruising concept we had experienced in our past cruises more. Could we have done this on the Oasis, sure. But it's hard not to experience all she has to offer, again a Disney comparison.

 

Windjammer is just way to small. I do not know what the occupancy is (only saw the graphics on display inside the restaurant), but it should be bigger....way bigger.

 

My favorite thing? Central Park and the promenade. Really unique cruising experience. The promenade def has the feel of walking through a mall, again not a bad thing. My least favorite thing? The Boardwalk, I hate amusement parks, and why I don't think I would ever go on the Quantum. These are our impressions, its just us. Would I go back again, yes. Anytime soon? Probably not.

 

I hope you saw the diving show in the Aqua Park at the back of the ship- it is IMO, the most spectacular show on the seven seas today..also, Hairspray was THEE best musical I've ever seen on my 29 cruises...bar none..only Disney could come close..you also didn't mention the fabulous ice-skating show...killer skaters to great music..kids LOVE that stuff...there's so much more to do on the Oasis than other ships I found...flowrider, zip-line...you also didn't mention the adult solarium pool area with those great infinity hot tubs that stick out over the sea for amazing views...sounds you had a good time ..hopefully you did not miss out on the stuff I mentioned..BTW, my fav was Central Park at night...best shows were Hairspray & diving show...

 

Big Al

[jimbo5544]

Wonderful review comparing/contrasting the two cruise lines! Would you be so kind as to tell me what is in the Carnival Amenities Basket. Thanks!

 

 

Sure, like I said, it is no big deal. There is a little basket of toiletries things in the bathroom.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[jimbo5544]

We enjoyed the ship too but having to book everything in advance really boxed you into a schedule & didn't always jive with other events that you are not aware of preboarding.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The systems works, no doubt about it. I would be interesting in seeing what percentage of people book online before their cruise begins.

[cdscooby1]

Loved your review, thank you for writing it. So glad to hear your grandson is doing well. First I can't stand Embassy Suites in Ft Lauderdale. Dirty rooms, not so nice staff and elevators that are to small and overcrowded. Started staying at the Hyatt Place next door. Cheaper, cleaner and nicer. My family sailed the Oasis two years in a row for spring break. The first year we felt like we missed half the ship it was so big. The second year we felt we had seen about 80% of the ship. Would love to take it again but the ports are boring and we decided to go back on a smaller ship to compare the difference of sailing small to huge.

Edited March 25, 2014 by cdscooby1

[JohnGaltny]

REALLY nice job on the review.

 

I also love to do comparisons and I think yours is very "fair and balanced".

Edited March 25, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for the thoughtful, fair, and balanced review Jimbo.

 

Enjoyed reading it.:)

 

Bill

[jimbo5544]

REALLY nice job on the review.

 

I also love to do comparisons and I think yours is very "fair and balanced".

Thanks, much appreciated!

[jimbo5544]

Thanks for the thoughtful, fair, and balanced review Jimbo.

 

Enjoyed reading it.:)

 

Bill

Thanks Bill! I appreciate your opinion.

[04cruises]

Great review!!! As somebody that has been on Carnival and enjoyed it, it was nice to hear opinions that were honest and not biased. A hard thing to find on CC these days.