First time on Oasis Class (Oasis of the Seas) - back from 12/5/15 sailing

[birdlord]

I started this mini-review a few minutes ago and I hit something on my keyboard and it disappeared, so my apologies if it appears twice. I can't find on my "Threads started by..." statistic that it posted, so I'll start again. I'll be brief, but do it in stages so as not to rush and forget something I might want to say.

 

My DH and I have been married almost 19 years -- our first cruise was on the Monarch of the Seas in 1997 for our honeymoon. It's been some time since we cruised with RCI, and we really wanted to sail an Oasis class ship after seeing one on our cruise last year. My DH is quiet and reserved, so it's funny he likes cruises (other than we can all agree sailing the Caribbean sea for a week ain't so hard to take) and so we don't participate in nearly enough things on board, but it's fine with me. I'm much more outgoing, but I don't need to participate in everything. We both enjoy being spectators.

 

Today I will post some general thoughts on Oasis.

 

In preparation for the cruise that I booked a year ago, I read every review I could get my hands on, asked questions that had been asked 100 times already, and logged on almost every single day during the past year to consume every morsel of information I could about Oasis. This did prepare me pretty good for the Oasis. It's enormous of course. I ran into several co-passengers who were upset with the size -- these folks tended to be elderly or have physical impairments that made it difficult to walk around such a large vessel. I agree, it probably isn't a ship I'd suggest to someone who would not want to do a lot of walking.

 

Like many others have posted, I did not feel I was on board with almost 6,000 other passengers. I never got a number on how many people were on board, but I "heard" that it might have been 5700. In any event, sure there are lines, but nothing that would reflect that amount of people. I'm impressed with how RCI has figured out the flow of the ship and all of it's venues to make it work as well as it does. The only issue was the same many have and that is in the Windjammer. I only ate there twice. Once before muster (that was a disaster) and once when most people were off the ship in Labadee. The day most people were gone was still a bit aggravating, but at least I got a table.

 

The ship is beautiful and photos can't do it complete justice. I love the details. I love the whimsical decor and artwork. I loved all the doorknockers that decorate the entrance to Silk, though that was not our dining room. I did not feel that the ship was showing its age as some may have noted in other reviews. If I could be super picky and whiny, I would say I'm not a fan of the plastic strap loungers on the pool/sun decks. I can live with them though :-)

 

I also have no service complaints. I had no rude bartenders or felt "ignored" at any particular bar as some have felt. Sometimes service was slower, but I wasn't panicking over how long it took to get a drink. I did take a bunch of ones to "tip" the roaming servers as some have suggested. Sometimes it did bring them around more regularly, sometimes not. It was hit or miss. No complaint there, though. No big deal. If a server didn't come around, I just went to the bar myself.

 

I think the pools are plentiful though I'm not a "huge" public pool person. I get skeeved a little easy and with that many people on board, you will see the occasional thing floating in the water ... like a band aid ... that isn't going to kill you, but definitely turns me off.

 

The Solarium, where we spend a lot of time since we don't have kids, was most definitely warmer than I'd prefer. Many reviews have mentioned this and I was hopeful that sailing in December would alleviate the warm, but it really didn't. So long as you could find a lounger that could catch the breeze through one of the windows, you were fine. Otherwise, it was a bit stifling. Nonetheless, I found it very relaxing. By comparison, last year on Celebrity Silhouette, the Solarium was totally enclosed and was air conditioned. I wasn't a fan of air conditioning either. I prefer the Oasis solarium.

 

The alternative restaurants (paid fee): Can't really say much as we ended up only going to Sabor the first night (versus dealing with the chaos of the first night and MTD which many people complain about). The sampling dinner at Sabor was just like everyone says. WAY TOO MUCH FOOD, even for two. It was excellent and not just straight-forward Tex Mex style that you get here in NJ.

 

The Main Dining Room: Service was good. We had MTD and I did reserve times all week, but I didn't really see a need to (can't speak about the first night) during our week. But I'm Type A and I like a plan/structure. We were surprised at the portions - felt they were very small. Now was this because the portions are small or because our first night was at Sabor? Not sure, but the remainder of the week we ordered two "starters" and a main course and that seemed to make up for any small portions. We ate way too much bread, which is always a mistake we make. The first night we dined in MDR, I hated the table they assigned us. So the subsequent nights, I asked for a new table. We sat at a different table every night and after the first night, we had great locations. I kind of like to have a relationship the MDR staff, but so be it. We have no complaints. Some were better than others, but no one was poor. The dress code in the MDR (or I should say people's interpretation of it) was exactly as I've read -- from the sublime to the ridiculous. For the first time ever, I agreed that DH wouldn't have to pack suits. And so even on formal night it was just a night shirt and slacks. No one stared or pointed or whispered (that I know of). I can't say the same for DH who felt it necessary to point out everyone who was wearing a tee shirt or hoodie to dinner. Ugh. Live and let live is what I say. So long as you aren't being rude or obnoxious, I couldn't care less. The food was good for the most part. The worst dinner was the roast turkey on the last night. Oh well, my fault for changing my mind at the last minute.

 

Other fee-free venues: Park Cafe is wonderful. We didn't even attempt it for lunch on the first day. But by the time we finally got around to going, I think it was our favorite spot. Even breakfast seemed preferable (for us) than anywhere else. Solarium is a decent place for breakfast, too. Just think Park Cafe was more our style/taste. But it's not always convenient to go there before getting off the ship or when you want to get going on lazing around the pool all day....for us, anyway. Boardwalk Dogs - only had one sandwich there when we first boarded. Windjammer - not at all our style. Many rude people during our week in there. The Wipeout Cafe wasn't bad...small and limited but as someone else mentioned, the flow is good.

 

Activities are varied and plentiful. As I mentioned before, DH is not very outgoing or showy in any way. We did watch some things (karaoke), we did go to a few shows (Oasis of Dreams, Comedy Club), we did a tiny bit of gambling, we played trivia once (and would have done it again but we kept missing it or did something with a time conflict), I did the zip line, never got a chance to do the flow rider (because I got sick halfway thru the cruise -- a bad enough cold that put a damper on my willingness to want to do stuff like that). Most of our time is spent lazing around, so that's what we do.

 

Casino is large in my opinion. Never seemed overly crowded to me. We only spent maybe $45 here one night and got most of it back. We aren't huge gamblers. I really don't mind gambling, but DH grumbles about it a bit.

 

Central Park/Promenade are good. We aren't big shoppers either. Central Park is so impressive. We did the Central Park tour last day at sea. I recommend it but definitely leave more than the half hour they post... it was well over one hour. It's fascinating - even if you aren't into plants! You learn many other things on the tour.

 

Pools - we didn't really take too much advantage. Labadee day we stayed on board and took advantage and got great seats at the Beach Pool. Very nice, but it was a HOT day -- but it's nice you can sit in the shallow water just outside the pool to cool down without getting completely wet. Salt water, which is fine with me. We didn't really use any other pools except for the one in the Solarium. The pool in the Solarium has jets like a hot tub.

 

Hot tubs - only used the cantilevered one when we got on board. Had it to ourselves the entire time. It was a great spot to go on such a horrible gloomy day in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Cabin - We had a balcony room on the 11th deck. It was just like the last few we had. Laid out pretty much the same, but with slightly more storage areas. It was sufficient as it always is, for our needs. Cabin steward was great. Very responsive. We did request robes and got them immediately. Everything was set that I had requested in advance (bed egg crate, distilled water for DH's CPAP machine). We still don't know how some guests use that shower, though.

 

I'll think of more. Tomorrow I'll try to summarize our first day.

[lahlah57]

Birdlord..Never sailed with RC so on a scale from 1 to 10....what did you think? My husband and I just returned from Crystal yesterday and we love the ship but want to venture to a ship with more activity but of course that means more people. :eek:

Husband first posed as I was looking at Harmony.....overloaded with kids??? Was it hard to get to dining venues w/o long waits? Were you nickle and dimed to death? Was bottled water available w/o a fee? So sorry but I viewed your future booking on the new Harmony and curious what your thoughts are. We are in our 50 something and opposite of your husband....mine is a ridiculous social butterfly but impatient and Looooves great service!

I couldn't really get a feel for what your true thought were and the reviews of mutiple cruisers

have been disappointing.

Edited December 13, 2015 by lahlah57
Directed to poster

[birdlord]

Real quick - I forgot to mention the Boardwalk - interesting area. Didn't do a ton there, though we came back through time and again. I did ride the carousel - of all my pics on FB for the week, the pics with me and the carousel horse and riding the carousel were the hit. I have a real horse back home and so everyone who knows me knew that if there was a horse on a ship, real or not, I'd find it.

 

Also forgot to mention the fitness center and running track. We are runners and despite some complaints about most of the track being "inside" (covered), we appreciated not having to run in the sun -- in fact, during the heat, the worst part for running was aft where you are exposed to the direct sun! We loved that it was almost a 1/2 mile long (our home gym only has a 1/7 mile track and it can get awful). DH ran 5 miles every morning but for our day in Cozumel and I ran a few times. Fitness center is very well equipped but not to many areas to do my workout that includes needing wall space to use the balance ball (for wall squats, etc.). Once I found a space, everyone else who wanted wall space came flocking. Ugh.

[lahlah57]

PS~I am Lauri from Cali:D

[birdlord]

Birdlord..Never sailed with RC so on a scale from 1 to 10....what did you think? My husband and I just returned from Crystal yesterday and we love the ship but want to venture to a ship with more activity but of course that means more people. :eek:

Husband first posed as I was looking at Harmony.....overloaded with kids??? Was it hard to get to dining venues w/o long waits? Were you nickle and dimed to death? Was bottled water available w/o a fee? So sorry but I viewed your future booking on the new Harmony and curious what your thoughts are. We are in our 50 something and opposite of your husband....mine is a ridiculous social butterfly but impatient and Looooves great service!

I couldn't really get a feel for what your true thought were and the reviews of mutiple cruisers

have been disappointing.

 

For what our expectations are, I felt scale was a 8/9. I never sailed Crystal, so can't compare. As for kids, I was very strategical in selecting what week we booked. We learned last year on Celebrity that Thanksgiving week (and Christmas week) are a huge no-no if trying to avoid a ton of kids. Yes, there were kids. Were there a ton? No. Enough that you noticed there were kids on board, but not so much that they were running into you on deck. My disappoint with kids are usually the parents who aren't watching them or think the other guests feel that their kids are so darn adorable and will forgive anything. For the most part, we did not experience that. Never had much of a wait at a dining venue. Since we don't have kids, we can go later, but I think the latest we went to dinner was 8:15 or 8:30. Now, like I said, we were strategic again in our first night dinner plans. I knew enough to avoid MDR on first night, so we went to Sabor. It was almost empty. I forget what time we went, though. Bottled water was included in our drink package. I am pretty sure there is a charge without a package, but you can bring a case on board (many people have said that you can check it in with your luggage). If you are looking for a "luxury" experience, I don't think RCI is it. We love good service,too, and admittedly are both very impatient but I don't remember a time we felt aggravated with the service. Of course, being at a different table every night makes it hard to know for sure. But compared to Celebrity, the staff was VERY responsive to any special requests or concerns. I had a horrible dining room service last year on Celebrity, which I know is same company as RCI, but there was no excuse for that.

[birdlord]

PS~I am Lauri from Cali:D

 

What area? I lived in Cali for 3 years when I was 19-21 - in Merced (not the most glamorous town) in the San Joaquin Valley

[Betsynh]

Great write up so far... DH and I are headed out January 9th on the Eastern itinerary. It will be our first on an Oasis class ship, too. We are 50-ish and traveling without kids so really appreciate your perspective.

[birdlord]

Great write up so far... DH and I are headed out January 9th on the Eastern itinerary. It will be our first on an Oasis class ship, too. We are 50-ish and traveling without kids so really appreciate your perspective.

 

The kid issue is big for us, so I understand. I once asked a travel agent why they don't offer adult-only (or say, only over 12 years old) cruises and she explained that some lines used to, but found they couldn't book enough people. Really? Wow. I'd definitely do one, even if it meant on an older/smaller ship. Like I said, I was strategic in planning this particular week knowing it was just far enough away from Thanksgiving and Christmas that many families with children wouldn't be on board (or that was my hope). I actually think most (but not all) kids were not from the U.S. What always surprises us is the amount of people with babies on board! I don't see anything wrong with it, but it seems odd to spend the money to fly/cruise with a baby along (not that they charge for babies that I know of, but how much can you really take advantage of? I don't know. Never had a baby!)

[Grandma Dazzles]

The kid issue is big for us, so I understand. I once asked a travel agent why they don't offer adult-only (or say, only over 12 years old) cruises and she explained that some lines used to, but found they couldn't book enough people. Really? Wow. I'd definitely do one, even if it meant on an older/smaller ship. Like I said, I was strategic in planning this particular week knowing it was just far enough away from Thanksgiving and Christmas that many families with children wouldn't be on board (or that was my hope). I actually think most (but not all) kids were not from the U.S. What always surprises us is the amount of people with babies on board! I don't see anything wrong with it, but it seems odd to spend the money to fly/cruise with a baby along (not that they charge for babies that I know of, but how much can you really take advantage of? I don't know. Never had a baby!)

 

Just for your information, babies are charged at the same price as an adult. On RC and many cruise lines you pay a per passenger rate. No price break for babies or children. They are also billed full gratuities.

[birdlord]

Just for your information, babies are charged at the same price as an adult. On RC and many cruise lines you pay a per passenger rate. No price break for babies or children. They are also billed full gratuities.

 

Wow! I would have never known!

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for posting. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Clarea]

Looking forward to the rest of the review.

[blitzac]

Me, the wife and 2 kids just got off the oasis as well and had a great time. We also had a balcony on the 11th deck. Everything went smooth and had no problems at all. Loved the roast beef sandwiches at the park cafe. The kids really enjoyed the kids club and made new friends.

 

We have sailed freedom twice and an NCL ship once. I think were hooked on the oasis. Next year we plan on doing a b2b on the oasis.

[whitshel]

Thanks for the review!! We are on Oasis for the 1st time in 3 short weeks :D Quick question did you by chance happen to see if they offered the 10 drink card for $75?

 

Thanks

[swsf99a]

We were on the Oasis in November and the day of the drink card is long gone....have not seen one for a few years.

[whitshel]

We were on the Oasis in November and the day of the drink card is long gone....have not seen one for a few years.

 

They've reappeared on Liberty and Vision recently so I was hoping Oasis too. Someone also reported they offered it for the last 2 sea days on Allures eastern run.

[riclop]

Thanks for your review.

[birdlord]

Okay, so moving on to Day 1 - Embarkation day.

We had flown down day before and stayed at Hilton Marina. It suited our needs just fine and within walking distance to dining and Walgreens and what not. It was very rainy with terrible weather predictions, but we managed to walk around for dinner and errands without any rain falling. The hotel itself was fine. I keep my expectations in check, so I wasn't disappointed. Sure, there were some signs of use, but nothing bad. Frankly, I thought the room was nicer than at Bahia Mar, where we stayed last year for 3 days post-cruise. Because the weather was so yucky, we never got to hang at the pool or pool bar, so I can't really speak to any of that. Morning of debarkation, we woke up early, got in a 3 mile run (and went over the causeway to catch a glimpse of Oasis) and went and grabbed bagels at Einstein bagels so we weren't famished getting on the ship.

The embarkation experience was not as easy this time around. At first, I was encouraged by the quick check in downstairs, but went upstairs and saw ALL that seating! Wow. Last year on Celebrity Silhouette, we walked right on the ship. No waiting. Now two good things about the wait -- first, at least the seating was decent and second, when DH saw the other "sections" being seated ahead of us (we're only Gold members) he determined we need to book more cruises to move up the statuses. Fine by me! Anyway, in the long run, it wasn't that bad. We probably were on board by noon or just after.

We made sure we checked all our bags with the porters and only carried one shoulder bag on board with what we'd need so we wouldn't be trailing around our rolling carry ons. This was a good plan, but not well thought out. In any event, we explored a little bit, first going to the Boardwalk - grabbed a chicken sausage from Boardwalk Dogs and got a margarita at the bar by Sabor. We had to use umbrellas that are provided at the entrances because it was indeed raining at this point. We got to watch the divers/swimmers practice a bit at the Aqua Theatre. We then explored Central Park (umbrellas again), Promenade and that sort of thing before we went up and sat in a cantilevered hot tub (all to ourselves) for a pretty long time, just relaxing in the hot water and staying out of the rain. The pool decks were abandoned because it was miserable out. It wasn't until after we got out of the hot tubs that we realized we didn't pack dry 'street' clothes in the shoulder bag to change into, so we were in our wet bathing suits which was a miserable feeling. Our room was ready and we went to the room and first thing I did was request our robes so we could at least put them on and feel dry. I was a bit concerned what we would do if our luggage didn't show up until after dinner time, but no worries. It showed up pretty fast and we were able to change into clothes well before dinner. Sadly, sail way was a bust because it was raining, so we just watched from our balcony.

Oh, yes, and before sailing of course there was the muster. We went to our assigned muster area (Blaze Nightclub) and went through the whole routine. It was hard to see any video screens, so I just listened until we were dismissed. We had some time before the drill to wander around the Casino just to take a look. I was surprised how big it is. I think it was after muster when we went back to the room and the luggage had arrived.

Having read how chaotic MTD in the MDR on the first night can be, we opted for dinner at Sabor. There might have been 2 other groups there. So we basically had the place to ourselves. We opted for the $20 sampler menu, made our selections, and as I mentioned before (and has been mentioned by countless others), there was a LOT of food. I'm trying to remember what we ordered, but obviously table-side guac... I think the rest was calamari, fries, chicken quesadilla and short rib. Then they give you the dessert sampler. Which was also more than enough. We had a couple margaritas in the restaurant which were the real thing, not like the outside bar which uses the carton-mix.

While eating, the announcement was made the early showing of Oasis of Dreams was canceled. I was not surprised. I was hoping that the 9:30 show would not get canceled as we had reservations for that.

While dining, there was a group there that had clearly spent a LOT of time drinking. The one male guest was pretty inebriated and even started playing with the host's ponytail (the host being a man) and the manager had to come over and ask him to stop/leave. He was leaving anyway, thankfully.

We then explored some more and came back for the 9:30 show which was still a go. We enjoyed the show, but I have to admit, I was so scared there would be some kind of accident with the high divers... they did an incredible job, though. It was definitely worth seeing.

After the show, we went and checked out the fitness center and find out how to get on the running track so we could make our plan for the next morning. One thing we didn't notice until the next day or so was the Vitality Cafe right at the entrance of the spa -- perfect for picking up a bottled water or Vitamin Water after a run/workout. I *knew* it existed from past reviews and reading information, but completely forgot about it. If you aren't really looking for it, it's easy to sort of just walk by and miss it. They offer the bottled water, Vitamin Water, PowerAde, Smoothies, and some healthy snacks. I think the most I ever waited was for one person ahead of me getting their bottle of water.

We still had so much to investigate on board, but left it to the next day and remainder of week. The hardest thing the first day was to really get a sense of what direction forward/aft was from any particular place on board, but it got easier though there were still a couple times we got turned around by accident.

Being on the 11th deck, we learned quite fast to take advice I had read on this board before, and that was to go down to Promenade to cross ship. Our cabin was considered midship but was definitely forward ship in my opinion, so to get aft for dinner or other things, we did the Promenade cross over rather than use the hallway where the cabins are located as those hallways are pretty tight.

Oh, and as far as elevators go - we rarely had a wait for an elevator which was pretty amazing considering again the amount of guests on board.

[birdlord]

Me, the wife and 2 kids just got off the oasis as well and had a great time. We also had a balcony on the 11th deck. Everything went smooth and had no problems at all. Loved the roast beef sandwiches at the park cafe. The kids really enjoyed the kids club and made new friends.

 

We have sailed freedom twice and an NCL ship once. I think were hooked on the oasis. Next year we plan on doing a b2b on the oasis.

 

Glad you had a great time -- my husband wants to do a B2B - but first we have our Harmony sailing next year! The Oasis is a great ship. I can't believe I was getting nervous that we might not like it. Like I mentioned before, I keep my expectations in check. I was not disappointed at all, however. Cruising has definitely changed over the years. Not all for the better, but not all for the worse. I think it's a good value!

[birdlord]

Thanks for the review!! We are on Oasis for the 1st time in 3 short weeks :D Quick question did you by chance happen to see if they offered the 10 drink card for $75?

 

Thanks

 

I think the others have answered this better than I could -- I did not hear of any drink card - and I certainly was not familiar with them before! We did buy a drink package for this cruise. I don't know that we broke even.... we probably did.

[birdlord]

After waking up and going to the gym, we had breakfast at Solarium - was decent for what we wanted. Surprisingly had no problems finding chairs we LIKED in the Solarium for hanging out all day. Lunch was at Wipeout Cafe. I'm glad they have a casual/burger option, but not a fan of how they prepared the burgers. I really wish they had a pool side grill (with fresh burgers) the way Silhouette had. Oh well. Watched some dodgeball, looked around some more on the ship. First night we dined in MDR. Seated very quickly. Service was fine, but location not great. We were surprised at the small portions at dinner, but thought maybe our eyes were used to what we saw at Sabor night before? Tonight we had nothing on our schedule so we just checked out more of the ship, etc. I believe this was the night we went to the Casino and played my favorite "Deal or No Deal" - got what we put in, which wasn't much. Watched some other card games/craps. Lots of cigarette smoke so we didn't hang too long. Also, a side note -- the internet service really is as good as advertised. We bought the access for two devices w/2nd device being 50% off, plus another 10% off for C&A...came to $141 for the week. DH grumbled a bit about getting it for two devices, but it was worth avoiding the argument about who would be on what device and when. We had OBC from RCI and our agent, so I wasn't worried about the cost.

[Biker19]

The one male guest was pretty inebriated and even started playing with the host's ponytail (the host being a man) and the manager had to come over and ask him to stop/leave.

 

The image of this is just so.......:eek:

[The Fun Researcher]

After the show, we went and checked out the fitness center and find out how to get on the running track so we could make our plan for the next morning.

 

Glad you had a great cruise!

 

We had a lot of positives for the Oasis, but the fitness center was a HUGE disappointment. First, it smelled of cigarette smoke. (of all places!). We asked the workers about it and they said it was due to the employee break area being just above (I think they said above) the fitness center. The smoke gets pulled in. The ship was still docked at Ft. Lauderdale getting ready to sail, and they said that once the ship was at sea it would clear up. Problem was, it never did, and we checked many times. Was a huge turn off. The whole fitness center felt like an afterthought, versus a highlight on the Freedom class. I like to run (on a treadmill) and lift free weights. The fitness center felt chopped up, and incohesive. The free weight area was fine, but I really missed the beautiful views out the fore of the ship on the Freedom class with all the windows. Not so on the Oasis.

 

Maybe they felt that all the walking you need to do on the Oasis takes away the need for some good exercise? ;)

 

Dan

Edited December 16, 2015 by The Fun Researcher

[birdlord]

Glad you had a great cruise!

 

We had a lot of positives for the Oasis, but the fitness center was a HUGE disappointment. First, it smelled of cigarette smoke. (of all places!). We asked the workers about it and they said it was due to the employee break area being just above (I think they said above) the fitness center. The smoke gets pulled in. The ship was still docked at Ft. Lauderdale getting ready to sail, and they said that once the ship was at sea it would clear up. Problem was, it never did, and we checked many times. Was a huge turn off. The whole fitness center felt like an afterthought, versus a highlight on the Freedom class. I like to run (on a treadmill) and lift free weights. The fitness center felt chopped up, and incohesive. The free weight area was fine, but I really missed the beautiful views out the fore of the ship on the Freedom class with all the windows. Not so on the Oasis.

 

Maybe they felt that all the walking you need to do on the Oasis takes away the need for some good exercise? ;)

 

Dan

You remind me of the smoke smell now! I did keep telling my husband it smelled like smoke to me! Oddest place on ship to smell smoke. Free weight area was where I found wall space that immediately attracted many others! Lol. I didn't need any machines but I did note treadmills only had small Windows to look out. Last year on Silhouette, the treadmills were in front of floor to ceiling glass walls. Now that was nice!

[The Fun Researcher]

You remind me of the smoke smell now! I did keep telling my husband it smelled like smoke to me! Oddest place on ship to smell smoke. Free weight area was where I found wall space that immediately attracted many others! Lol. I didn't need any machines but I did note treadmills only had small Windows to look out. Last year on Silhouette, the treadmills were in front of floor to ceiling glass walls. Now that was nice!

 

Exactly!

 

Dan