Disappointed with crowds on Oasis

[jbr5049]

Sailed May 2015 and NEVER experienced a line... Must be the big difference between peak and slightly off peak.

[sleepless]

I did a B2B on the Allure last summer, the first two weeks of July, and never experienced the lines the op experienced. We did have large groups of girls celebrating their birthday from South America. It was fun to see them in their pretty dresses.

[Paulette3028]

I did a B2B on the Allure last summer, the first two weeks of July, and never experienced the lines the op experienced. We did have large groups of girls celebrating their birthday from South America. It was fun to see them in their pretty dresses.

 

You are right, Sleepless.....we were on the same cruise with you on Allure last year, and did not experience the same lines the OP had.

 

Regardless of when you cruise the ship will be full....the breakdown of cruisers will change (youth vs adults; early traditional dining vs late dining; higher # of cruisers using MTD or specialty restaurants)....we have cruised summer, mid winter holidays or Thanksgiving -- all family vacation times....we go when we can...but have never felt such overcrowding as described.

 

So Sleepless....and cruises coming up for you?

[John&LaLa]

Reports like the OP's are why I loathe cruising during the summer months. Too much money for a cruise with way too many kids.

Allure in July crowded, Oasis in May was nice

 

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[sauvichick]

I sailed on the Allure June 29 and July 8 different years and at full capacity. The only time that we experienced that sort of crowding was after the shows let out or when people got back on the ship. You will usually find more kids in the summer months as well as the various breaks throughout the year. I remember reading about the Oasis offering the Quinceaneras ( sweet 15s). I'm stuck too because as an educator we are limited to peak and expensive times. Royal is also more expensive than other cruise lines in the same category.

Edited July 21, 2015 by sauvichick

[rodenboy]

Can I just ask, when is peak cruising season?

[A&L_Ont]

Can I just ask, when is peak cruising season?

 

I think it is safe to say summer and Christmass Holidays. March break is busy but there are so many March break times it makes it most of March. Other busier times are based around US long weekends, such as Thanksgiving.

 

All of what I said is basically for US based departure ports. Generally speaking all summer cruises (eg the med, Alaska and Caribbean) are busy for the obvious reason, school is out.:)

Edited July 21, 2015 by A&L_Ont

[Indymann99]

Why? 1 O class ship carries over 300,000 pax a year and you are worried about 1 post. The ship carries the same amount of pax no matter which week you cruise, on average 104% full. Go and make up your own mind

 

So you think the lifeboats only hold 100% of the ships capacity :eek:

 

:D

[rodenboy]

I think it is safe to say summer and Christmass Holidays. March break is busy but there are so many March break times it makes it most of March. Other busier times are based around US long weekends, such as Thanksgiving.

 

All of what I said is basically for US based departure ports. Generally speaking all summer cruises (eg the med, Alaska and Caribbean) are busy for the obvious reason, school is out.:)

 

 

Thank you :)

[Seandre2]

We try also, but we cruise when we can cruise. As long as you know up front what your in for, then we embrace and take some time to get to know and engage the younger folks. My Sister is a teacher which has caused us to do several cruises over spring or Christmas break. And although not as crowded as Summer, they still seem to be a bit more crowded. I go on Vacation to not be in a hurry, a few more minutes in line...... eh, so be it.

 

We will be on Harmony Spring Break of 2017. Is it really that bad? We have 4 kids, so Spring Break or Summer it is for us. Technically, not sure it's even really spring break.. from what I can find online, most universities have spring break early March, and we are scheduled for end of March. Anyway, no worries, just curious :)

[setsail]

So you think the lifeboats only hold 100% of the ships capacity :eek:

 

:D

 

It would be very easy to explain this to you but I can't understand it for you.

 

Hint, bone up on how cruise lines rate capacity on cruise ships:D

 

Here is a pic for you to ponder

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=256002&d=1356982216

Edited July 21, 2015 by setsail

[gatorphin]

Leaving on Oasis on Saturday. Will report back on overcrowding.

[John&LaLa]

So you think the lifeboats only hold 100% of the ships capacity :eek:

 

:D

Did you know the crew are not allowed in the life boats, other than those needed to operate it. The rest use the rafts.

 

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[John&LaLa]

Leaving on Oasis on Saturday. Will report back on overcrowding.

Pay attention to the silverware in WJ at lunch. They kept running out in May

 

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[m*u*g*]

Probably a Quinceañera Cruise. They do favor the Oasis and Independent Class. I have seen very large groups of 300 or more on Liberty a while back but weren't impacted that much, except when trying to look at our photos or get an elevator.

 

http://www.hhtcruises.net/cruises.html

[FloatMe]

We will be on Harmony Spring Break of 2017. Is it really that bad? We have 4 kids, so Spring Break or Summer it is for us. Technically, not sure it's even really spring break.. from what I can find online, most universities have spring break early March, and we are scheduled for end of March. Anyway, no worries, just curious :)

It is not really bad, in fact not bad at all. Now I wouldn't think about a 4 day cruise out of Florida during spring break[emoji32] but we really have had pleasant experiences. Both of our spring break cruises we're over easter, so a little later in the season. This last April on Adventure we were told thar there were almost 900 "children" on board, and honestly we never really noticed. I am guessing harmony will disperse them even more. On another spring break we did have a group from MIT kick our butts in trivia all week. That was annoying[emoji2]

 

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[caseymorgan]

Irritating, but the flowrider and the hang gliding didn't have a bad line.

 

They have hang gliding now?!?! What if you land in the water? :D

[Cuizer2]

We are very frequent cruisers on almost all cruise lines. We have previously sailed on Oasis once and Allure twice (in addition to other RC ships). On July 11 we took our entire family of 14 on Oasis.

 

The lines for everything were much longer than I remembered. Lines for Windjammer, Park Cafe, and even Sorrento's Pizza.

 

My granddaughters waited in lines of over 100 people twice to ice skate (finally getting in their third attempt). The line for the flowrider was also ridiculous at times. Last time the family went on Allure the girls got right into skating and waited for maybe 15 minutes to surf.

 

The main dining room was so crowded we were practically touching the chairs of the people behind us on one side and the wall on the other side. Our waitress could not get around to all of us take orders or even to deliver meals. She had to have guests pass plates to each other!

 

The solarium, instead of being relaxing had standing room only in the pool. Even the disembarkation was a mess walking through Disney like mazes six times back and forth with all our luggage to get to customs.

 

I don't know what caused the difference. Maybe the fact that last time we traveled in June and this was July. Maybe because there were several very large groups of teenage girls on board.

 

Whatever the reasons, we certainly did not have the pleasant cruise experience we had 3 times before on this class of ship. Of course we enjoyed many many things on our cruise and felt fortunate to be with our family on this beautiful ship, but we were very disappointed with the overcrowding.

 

I believe Oasis has had some additional cabins added in 2014. However, that alone would not account for the increase in lines that you are referring to.

[Cuizer2]

They have hang gliding now?!?! What if you land in the water? :D

 

It is a sky diving simulator and you are inside a clear tube, so you don't have to worry about landing in the water. :)

 

Of course to simulate the air rushing past you they use a very large propeller connected to a very powerful motor. Land on that and you'll quickly learn what it is like to be a carrot in a blender. :eek:

[John&LaLa]

It is a sky diving simulator and you are inside a clear tube, so you don't have to worry about landing in the water. :)

 

Of course to simulate the air rushing past you they use a very large propeller connected to a very powerful motor. Land on that and you'll quickly learn what it is like to be a carrot in a blender. :eek:

I think they meant the zip line.

 

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[Seandre2]

It is not really bad, in fact not bad at all. Now I wouldn't think about a 4 day cruise out of Florida during spring break[emoji32] but we really have had pleasant experiences. Both of our spring break cruises we're over easter, so a little later in the season. This last April on Adventure we were told thar there were almost 900 "children" on board, and honestly we never really noticed. I am guessing harmony will disperse them even more. On another spring break we did have a group from MIT kick our butts in trivia all week. That was annoying[emoji2]

 

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Thanks for the info! It's a 7 day Eastern Caribbean. We are all very excited. I was going to wait to tell the kids closer to time, but my 11 yo loves engineering and I thought he would really enjoy watching the ship come together.

[foflocruiser]

depends on time of the year.

Holidays, long holiday weekends, all of March for different Spring Breaks and when kids are out of school for summer.

[ccmg]

We were also on the Oasis, July 11th cruise. We saw very few crowds throughout the week. Maybe 5 people in line for the flow rider at any given time. Same with the zip line. The pools were very busy on sea days but we expected that and planned around it. We have many photos where just a handful of people in them.

Biggest crowds we saw were lines at show times and in the Prom area when the "sales" were going on.

Another family traveling with us said they were just amazed how "uncrowded" it felt all week with that many pax on board.

[FloatMe]

Thanks for the info! It's a 7 day Eastern Caribbean. We are all very excited. I was going to wait to tell the kids closer to time, but my 11 yo loves engineering and I thought he would really enjoy watching the ship come together.

They may have an age restriction and it is awfully expensive ($150 last time I checked), but he would love the behind the scenes tour. Bridge, engine room, I-95, galley, etc.

[Cuizer2]

I think they meant the zip line.

 

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Then you would be better off landing in the water vs. what is below the zip line.