Review of Oasis, 6/4-6/11

[OCSC Mike]

I'd be interested in that list when you're done!

 

 

It will have to get a bit longer & far more interesting to be worth sharing but I will if it does. On the plus side, we have over 3 weeks to work on it.

[4myguys]

Thanks for the review, especially the different food and dining options. This will be our first trip on this large of a ship so I'm a bit apprehensive but I've done a lot of research and hopefully I'm prepared. Just need to get in that "I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere" mode.

[PlanetX]

Thanks for the great review! We'll be on Oasis in mid-August and we're really looking forward to everything it has to offer!

[Desinico]

Thanks for the review! My fiancé and I will be celebrating our honeymoon on your next sailing for July 9th. I'm super excited. I really wish I could try the cappuccino machine everyone raves about but I'm no where near diamond lol [emoji23] this is our first time on royal and only my second time sailing.

 

 

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[OCSC Mike]

We will be on the July 9th cruise. I will have to read the other review you linked up.

 

The other review is a must-read. See you in a few weeks (among the other 6,000 people)!

[EBFURR]

Thanks so much for the review. We could be long lost brothers. :D

 

We also "deal hunt" and I always say "free stuff is my favorite stuff". I am a beer guy and I usually drink WEBOS beer. What Ever Beer's On Sale. I guess I just don't have a sophisticated pallet. We like to cruise as a couple but take along our kids when we can, especially now that they are grown and are low maintenance. We have never gone on Oasis but are looking at it for next spring when our daughter (finally) graduates from college. Your review touches on everything that I would want to know. We are more 'small to medium' ship people but I think we will manage to cope with Oasis somehow. :)

[OCSC Mike]

Thanks so much for the review. We could be long lost brothers. :D

 

We also "deal hunt" and I always say "free stuff is my favorite stuff". I am a beer guy and I usually drink WEBOS beer. What Ever Beer's On Sale. I guess I just don't have a sophisticated pallet. We like to cruise as a couple but take along our kids when we can, especially now that they are grown and are low maintenance. We have never gone on Oasis but are looking at it for next spring when our daughter (finally) graduates from college. Your review touches on everything that I would want to know. We are more 'small to medium' ship people but I think we will manage to cope with Oasis somehow. :)

 

Glad to be of service to a fellow deal hunter. No sophisticated palette here either. Can't stand wine and every beer in my house right now was bought from B1G1 6-pack sales at our local supermarket chain. :D I have my preferences of course, don't like dark beer and prefer one step up from bud/miller, but that's about it (I was drinking Heineken when I wasn't drinking mixed drinks last week... all free diamond drinks of course). One additional tip reported at a popular RC blog site that I didn't end up using b/c I was content doing my drinking at night was to use your 3 sea pass drinks on beer and ask the bartender not to open them... then stick them in your stateroom fridge for late night, daytime, etc. I asked if this was frowned upon and was assured many people do it. My FIL/MIL used that method to collect bottled water for the family, lol. When we got on board she must have had 20+ bottles in her room.

 

As for the size of Oasis, research and exploring for the first couple days makes it manageable IMO. Check out everything, sure, but you'll likely found places you frequent and places you don't need/want to go to... making the ship smaller to your agenda.

Edited June 15, 2017 by OCSC Mike

[Mande30]

Great review. We were on the cruise right before yours. This was our first time cruising with more than two relatives/friends. I'm used to my spouse and my child. Thereby, doing what we want to do, how we want to do it. Its very hard for me to give that up. I had to muster up a lot of patience on this cruise. I've learned that not everyone is as timely as we are. We are the type that are early for everything and consider being just on time as being late.

 

I had to work on my facial expressions. :mad:

 

But all in all, I had a great time.

[MalteseMama2]

OCSC Mike,

I enjoyed reading your review. Freedom is the largest ship we have been on and our favorite. We've been on her 4 times with a March sailing booked. DH has recently started talking about trying an Oasis class ship, which is why I read your review.

I am not sure I would like it, too big, too many people. And it is funny because when we are on cruises I am the one who can't wait to meet fellow vacationers & DH is the one who needs his space! He's not unfriendly, he's in sales & vacation for him involves some time alone on a balcony! I just retired from teaching Kindergarten and I'm DESPERATE for adults to talk to! [emoji6]

 

 

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[Alysia]

Excellent review! I enjoyed reading it and I totally understand why you booked another cruise for July. When I am on a cruise, we don't do much. I do have a bad habit of working on my computer in the afternoons which I will not be doing on our next cruise in August. Life is too short to always be working!

 

Hope you enjoy your July cruise!

[OCSC Mike]

OCSC Mike,

I enjoyed reading your review. Freedom is the largest ship we have been on and our favorite. We've been on her 4 times with a March sailing booked. DH has recently started talking about trying an Oasis class ship, which is why I read your review.

I am not sure I would like it, too big, too many people. And it is funny because when we are on cruises I am the one who can't wait to meet fellow vacationers & DH is the one who needs his space! He's not unfriendly, he's in sales & vacation for him involves some time alone on a balcony! I just retired from teaching Kindergarten and I'm DESPERATE for adults to talk to! [emoji6]

 

Coming from someone who has said I prefer Freedom over Oasis, I still say give Oasis a shot. It doesn't feel overly crowded except at certain times/locations. As for too big, it is, but as I keep posting, you can/will make it feel smaller by finding the locations you like to frequent and ignoring others.

 

Congrats on the retirement! My wife just finished her 17th year teaching (the last 12 in kindergarten). She's ready to become a Dean because she's afraid she won't make it to retirement if she's stuck in the classroom that much longer, lol.

[DRW2]

Ah...enjoyed reading your brief overview! Actually copied and pasted your post and some responses into a word document so I can print it and make notes when I actually have time after work (you gave some good pointers I haven't seen before). Going on the Oasis at the end of July with my two teens and this will be our first cruise ever. I plan for this to be a relaxing vacation and not one where we are constantly on the go. I've tried to soak up as much information as possible, especially the more recent reviews (and there are several going on right now which has changed my mind about a few things :)). Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[OCSC Mike]

Just wanted to share a collective "you're welcome" to everyone who has thanked me thus far. I was honestly afraid that my review wouldn't provide much help so I'm pleasantly surprised at the response. Maybe focusing on certain areas (like free food) rather than other areas made it different in a good way.

[gingersvp]

Just wanted to share a collective "you're welcome" to everyone who has thanked me thus far. I was honestly afraid that my review wouldn't provide much help so I'm pleasantly surprised at the response. Maybe focusing on certain areas (like free food) rather than other areas made it different in a good way.

 

Why your review has been helpful is that you didn't just say what you did and didn't like, but why you did or didn't like something. That makes it much easier to translate back to my own experience to understand how your feelings about it would relate back to how I might potentially feel about something.

 

We all have different things that we find important on a vacation - so it's helpful when reading your review when we know what's important to you and why. You've done a great job with that! (And also why I was interested in your list of what you're going to do differently next time.)

[Cindylovestocruise]

Loved your review. My husband and I also live close to the port (Melbourne) and cruise Oasis often. Our daughter drops us off at the port so we don't have to pay to park. We are diamond and we really like the complimentary drinks. I also like to get cans of soft drinks to put in the refrig. to use during the day. Thanks for the info about being able to use the 3 drinks on the sea pass in the MDR and specialty restaurants. Oasis is a big ship but I have never felt like I was crowded. There is always something going on for entertainment so it spreads everybody out to do different things.

 

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[APDMOM]

Great review, Mike! I love reading the different perpectives and experiences of fellow cruisers. Thanks for your compliments on my review too!

 

We travel with my parents about once a year since 2003. However, we agree on one meal together per day. Other than that, we break up in groups of 2 or 3, and everyone chooses what they want to do. We did this in 2003 when my uncle and aunt came also - 4 weeks of travel with 6 adults! It was an excellent agreement from the start, as we did not want anyone to say, "I wish I had done this or that". It has worked very well for us. Nobody feels obligated to do anything, and we enjoy one meal of quality time. :)

 

I wish we can stike a deal for next month! Unfortunately, the bookings for 3 on Royal are very expensive. I keep looking at the week of July 16th though... hopefully something will show up. (Either Oasis, NCL Escape, or Carnival Magic).

 

Enjoy your cruise in a few weeks!

[APDMOM]

Loved your review. My husband and I also live close to the port (Melbourne) and cruise Oasis often. Our daughter drops us off at the port so we don't have to pay to park. We are diamond and we really like the complimentary drinks. I also like to get cans of soft drinks to put in the refrig. to use during the day. Thanks for the info about being able to use the 3 drinks on the sea pass in the MDR and specialty restaurants. Oasis is a big ship but I have never felt like I was crowded. There is always something going on for entertainment so it spreads everybody out to do different things.

 

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I have been casually looking for a position in Melbourne just to be even closer to the ships! :D

[Riveyman]

Thanks for the review.

DW and I are heading on Oasis the 4th of July week. We'll get off as you get on. This is our 3rd cruise and first on Oasis.

I've been scouring this board looking for tips/tricks from you professional cruisers and managed to pick up a few tidbits of info.

I need to work on finding the cruise deals, so I can go more often.

[OCSC Mike]

I need to work on finding the cruise deals, so I can go more often.

 

Search for threads on finding deals or start your own.

 

I'm no pro like some of these posters, it's just easy to sail from Canaveral for us. We actually don't book early like I've seen most people suggest. There used to be official "last minute deals" but RC did away with them (or so they claim). Since DW is a teacher and I work from home and my summers are slow, I generally just start checking Port Canaveral prices for June/July if we're interested in the spring and into the summer. Since I sit at home in front of a computer most days anyway, it's no big deal for me. Prices can change at any point, even in the middle of the day, so my only tip is to check as often as you can.

 

As an example, I had been seeing some good deals on neighborhood guaranteed balconies over the past 2 months (base price of $949-$999pp) and interior slightly less but not enough to skip the balcony IMO. Earlier this week, I was seeing similar prices to what I had seen for days. Slightly worse than those I think. Then, suddenly after I had just checked two hours earlier, interior guaranteed for July 9th was $599pp so I immediately put it on hold (you can hold a reservation until 5pm the next day at no charge).

 

As an aside, we got our room assignment yesterday. We had never done guaranteed before and I was a little apprehensive of doing interior guaranteed. If it was a neighborhood balcony, I don't think any of them would have been disappointing, but for interior, I didn't really want to be down on deck 3 by studio B or something. The guarantee fairy smiled upon us, however, and we got deck 10 in a location we decided we might have even picked ourselves if given the choice.

[Globehoppers]

Worst cruise ever on Oasis, a T/A from Southhampton. Ship was not ready after a two-week yard period, Crew were surly - even had an IT tech swear at me. Huge lines for everything. Very poorly managed embarkation. So bad that RCI gave us 25% credit towards a next cruise. Didn't;t compensate for the really bad experience.

[njmomof2]

Really enjoyed your review and your POV sailing with extended family. I'm jealous that you're able to book another cruise just a few weeks after your last; saw that your wife teaches and is probably now on summer break and you have flexibility.

 

We also love Freedom most, having sailed on Oasis and Allure as well. For us (me, my 2 boys and my mom), we think the size is perfect and while the bigger ships have 2 flowriders (a must for my family), the boys prefer the "feeling" from Freedom. We've made some good friends among the staff from our time on her, and we always feel a bit like we're coming home when we board her.

 

That said, we're booked on Anthem for Christmas (can't beat driving to the port in the winter, not having to worry about air travel) but I have Freedom booked for next August out of PR (been dying to do the Southern and pairing that with our favorite ship seemed like a no brainer).

 

Will keep any eye out for your review of your couples cruise in July.

[amyhphoto]

Can you tell me what the temperature inside the ship is? I tend to get cold and am wondering if I will need a fancy sweater to wear to dinner when Im in a dress. Ill be dining at the specialty restaurants. Thanks.

[shellunderwater]

Thanks for the review. Will be on Oasis in a few months for Western.

 

Interested in the Coz store you mentioned. Can't find a Coz location on their site. Where is it in Coz?

 

Also, if you are interested in a Cozumel day-drinking excursion, consider the Cozumel Bar Hop. We enjoy it over and over, mostly for the scenery on the "back side" of the island and the fact they take you back to the ship (important AFTER any Bar Hop).

 

Definitely not into doing the normal shopping walk in Coz. As one store owner said, "I have same stuff, just cheaper".

[villager70]

Thanks for the review. Will be back on Oasis in Sept and glad to hear about using 3 drink offer in dinning room. Haven't been out of new terminal in Canaveral yet.Used old pier 10) . booked back to back on Freedom in nov/dec and back on her in feb. out of Lauderdale.Thanks again. Bob The Villages

[OCSC Mike]

Can you tell me what the temperature inside the ship is? I tend to get cold and am wondering if I will need a fancy sweater to wear to dinner when Im in a dress. Ill be dining at the specialty restaurants. Thanks.

 

My wife usually brings a thin cardigan just in case since she also gets cold in restaurants sometimes. We didn't find it cold anywhere but my MIL was cold a couple times the week before. So I'd say just bring something like that. Better to have it and not use it than the alternative.