Vision vs. Oasis cruise review

[sojodave]

I went on Oasis last September and I just got off the Vision on the April 9th cruise. I'm sitting at my desk and my equilibrium hasn't quite caught up with dry land. We cruised with friends in a group of 8 and we had a blast on the Vision. It was very interesting coming off of Oasis to compare the two.

 

The Ship: Oasis grade: A. Vision grade B+

Oasis definitely wins in the WOW factor, but I liked the Vision a lot. It was easy to get around, hardly any waits with the elevators, and it didn't take 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. I didn't miss some of the Oasis bells and whistles, but I did miss the Oasis Solarium. The Vision Solarium got pretty crowded and it was hard to find chairs. The movement of the ship on the Vision was pretty noticeable. I didn't mind the rocking back and forth, but I did mind the shuddering up and down movement I felt in the mdr on the first two nights.

 

The Service: Oasis B. Vision A.

My wife and I are pretty low maintenance, but I did notice that on the smaller ship the service was slightly better. Our room attendant was as fast as a Ninja in getting our room serviced when we were out. Our waiters at dinner in the MDR, could not have been any better. The Captain made himself available and was very personable.

 

The Ports: Oasis B. Vision A.

On Oasis we went to Labadee, Jamaica, and Cozumel. We enjoyed those ports, but the ports on our most recent cruise were better.

Roatan:

We went to Little French Key, and if there is one place on earth I want to be if I had one day to live, it would be Little French Key. It looked like a postcard. The water was warm, perfect beach and crystal clear water. It was a little pricy, but worth every penny.

Balize:

Balize is an tendered port and when we got there at 4:30 in the morning, the anchor went out and it must of been near our room because the chain scared me to death. I sat up in bed and thought we hit something. We did the cavetubing.bz excursion setup on Cruisecritic. It was fun and we didn't have to carry out tubes, we got the full cave and river; plus, they feed us lunch before returning us back to the port.

Costa Maya:

We went to Tropicante in Mayahual. They don't charge you to sit down on their lounge chairs and lunch was very reasonable. We loved the beach and walking around to the various vendors. It was a great beach day.

Cozumel:

We went to the hotel Cozumel and did their all day inclusive. It was only $30 per person, but I was not happy when I pre-booked and they said it would be $44 per person if you pre-booked. I argued with the woman for 15 minutes. I was ready to walk, but I was with a group and they wanted to stay. We went back up to the same woman and she charged us $30.:mad: Oh well, we had the place to ourselves with a buffet and an awesome pool.

 

The Food: Oasis grade A. Vision grade B+.

On both cruises, we ate in the mdr at dinner. The Windjammer was much bigger on the Vision and loved that they had an custom egg station. The Vision had fewer restaurant choices, but we didn't miss it because we enjoy the MDR. I am a diabetic and need to eat low carb. On both cruises, the crew did a good job of getting me food choices. The service was great on both ships and my wife wanted to adopt our waiters.

 

Entertainment: Oasis grade A. Vision grade B.

The shows on the Vision were shorter and not as good as the Oasis. The comedians were good, but I didn't enjoy Boogie Wonderland and Rhythm and Rhyme. I feel the shows were catered to a older audience. My wife and I are in our early 50's and we felt that more than half the ship were older than us. Karaoke was in a better venue on the Vision, but the talent of the singers on the Oasis was much better. There was always something to do on both ships, but the bigger ships spread people out more and have more to choose from.

 

The Fellow Passengers: Oasis grade B. Vision grade A.

When we were on Oasis, the majority of people were from Europe and countries other than US. They had a different manner system and personal space than I was used to. The Vision had very few children, a lot of couples in their 30's and 40's, but like I said earlier, a lot were 50+. A lot of the entertainment was built for an older audience. The dance party was for 50's and 60's music.

 

Our Room: Oasis grade A. Vision grade B+

We had a balcony on the Oasis and our room was on the 8th deck, near Central Park. Our room on Vision was on the third deck, near the front of the boat with a ocean view. The Vision room didn't have a refrigerator, nor did it have any shelves in the closet. I liked the Oasis bathroom better, and the bed was softer.

 

Overall Cruise Experience: Oasis Grade A. Vision grade A

I loved both cruises and I was surprised how much I liked our cruise on the Vision. We had never cruised with friends before and it was a lot of fun. There isn't anything I would change about our cruise on the Vision and I would book that size ship again. I am interested in the Freedom class to see how I would like that.

 

We parked next to Oasis in Cozumel, it is startling to see the difference in size.

 

[janetz]

Very nice comparison. Great picture also. :)

[Clarea]

We also cruised on Oasis last September and Vision in October, January, and March. I agree that it's hard to beat the variety of food available on Oasis, that is one of it's great attractions. However, we still prefer the smaller ship.

[whirlygal]

I was on the Oasis this past week and saw the Vision pull up as we were getting off the ship.We saw that same view as your picture. Thanks for posting about the Vision of the Seas. I wondered where your cruise had taken you.

[Luv my furbaby]

I was on the Oasis in November 2015 and the Vision in January 2016. Comparing them is like comparing apples to oranges. Though I loved the bells and whistles on the Oasis I preferred the Vision.

Embark/disembark - Vision was a snap - Oasis a nightmare. I have never been on and off a ship so quickly as I was on the Vision - I know A LOT less passengers.

Staff - Vision wins hands down!! Though they were ok on the Oasis, I think the amount of passengers just wears them out.

Passengers - Vision wins again. Why - I never saw the same person twice on the Oasis, but on the Vision I was always running into the same people. Now, that can definitely be a pro or a con, but for me it was a big PRO.

Ports - Vision again. Because of the size, Oasis is just so limited.

Entertainment - Oasis big time. I have to say that the Vision was a major dud!!

All in all, though I would sail on the Oasis again, I think the small ships are for me.

BUT, any time on a cruise is a great time!!!

 

Coming up:

Adventure - November 2016

Princess Regal - January 2017

Edited April 18, 2016 by Luv my furbaby

[birdylady]

The Ship: Oasis grade: A. Vision grade B+

Oasis definitely wins in the WOW factor, but I liked the Vision a lot. It was easy to get around, hardly any waits with the elevators, and it didn't take 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. I didn't miss some of the Oasis bells and whistles, but I did miss the Oasis Solarium. The Vision Solarium got pretty crowded and it was hard to find chairs. The movement of the ship on the Vision was pretty noticeable. I didn't mind the rocking back and forth, but I did mind the shuddering up and down movement I felt in the mdr on the first two nights.

Balize:

Balize is an tendered port and when we got there at 4:30 in the morning, the anchor went out and it must of been near our room because the chain scared me to death. I sat up in bed and thought we hit something. We did the cavetubing.bz excursion setup on Cruisecritic. It was fun and we didn't have to carry out tubes, we got the full cave and river; plus, they feed us lunch before returning us back to the port.

Excellent Review. A couple comments. While I agree that there is more room on the Oasis class ships (we did Allure), I was sorely disappointed in their pool. It was the size of the Freedom whirlpools. As well as there was practically no shade to be had. To top it off, their decking in the solarium burned ours (and lots of other people's) feet.

 

Also, I found the Allure to be exhausting as I had to preplan all our activities on ship. The Vision was so much more relaxing. (my 2 cents).

 

Glad you enjoyed the Cave Tubing. I agree, they were amazing. Glad you could join us.

Erika

[alexkrn46]

Thanks for the review, Oasis is in a class of its own, but smaller ships have a place in my heart.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

 

I like going from a big ship to a small ship (or vice versa) and I think it's fun to see the differences. I enjoyed my cruises on Radiance Class just as much as Oasis Class.

[GrayMaineCruiser]

I'm very much a comparison shopper when it comes to just about everything, so really enjoyed reading this comparison. Still fairly new to cruising, and have only done two cruises on a Vision class ship (Enchantment both times). We'll be moving up to Independence in January. I like the idea of the WOW of an Oasis class ship, but my wife and I are both introverts so wondering if it might end up being just a bit too much humanity. :) We'll see how Indy goes and whether we move up or down in size from there.

[madmaninabluebox]

I went on Oasis last September and I just got off the Vision on the April 9th cruise.

 

We were on the same cruise. Hello, shipmate! :)

 

I didn't mind the rocking back and forth, but I did mind the shuddering up and down movement I felt in the mdr on the first two nights.

We noticed the same thing. Didn't really bother us, but I didn't remember noticing that as much on other small ships we've been on.

 

Our waiters at dinner in the MDR, could not have been any better. The Captain made himself available and was very personable.

Same here. Incredible wait staff, and loved how available the captain was.

 

 

We did the cavetubing.bz excursion setup on Cruisecritic. It was fun and we didn't have to carry out tubes, we got the full cave and river; plus, they feed us lunch before returning us back to the port.

So did we, we were probably on the same bus! :)

 

I feel the shows were catered to a older audience. My wife and I are in our early 50's and we felt that more than half the ship were older than us.

I agree the ship had older passengers and the shows were targeted accordingly. That last comedian was funny, but so obviously targeted towards older people. We really missed live music in the dining room.

 

I loved both cruises and I was surprised how much I liked our cruise on the Vision. We had never cruised with friends before and it was a lot of fun. There isn't anything I would change about our cruise on the Vision and I would book that size ship again. I am interested in the Freedom class to see how I would like that.

 

We did Independence last year and loved it. The extra touches like the ice skating shows and the flowrider were really nice. The Vision didn't even have a basketball/dodgeball court, I noticed.

 

We parked next to Oasis in Cozumel, it is startling to see the difference in size.

 

I took that same picture! Did you hear when the captain said his bit about beauty and the beast? :D

[APDMOM]

Thanks for the nice comparison. Love the picture of the two ship!

 

 

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[riclop]

Nice comparison but Oasis win with us anytime.

[JustUs275]

We have not sailed Oasis, but I agree with most of your Vision observations. We loved the ship size and ease of getting place to place. We enjoyed Windjammer, especially eating breakfasts out on the open deck. Rarely were there long lines at the elevators, but we still used the steps a lot. We were in the Solarium frequently and liked Park Cafe (those yummy little roast beef sandwiches with mustard! ;))

 

One negative was my choice of cabins. We had a (very) forward oceanview cabin on Deck 2 (to me, that was a generous classification to give to our cabin with its two tiny portholes that have the bed and a 3' sort of shelf in front of them!). We heard so much noise from below in the early mornings when we would arrive at ports - not a terrible thing for us because we like to be up early, but a late sleeper would have been very annoyed. Definitely felt ship movement more so than on Freedom. So overall, not at all happy with my cabin choice but we did love the ship and wouldn't hesitate to sail on Vision again!