Oasis 12/31/17 - a gouge, a fight, hogs, and a wow

[Got Out There]

Just returned from the 12/31/17 NYE eastern Caribbean Oasis sailing and would like to share some observations. Background; we are 50ish and have sailed guessing over 60 time on RCCL and another 20 on different cruise lines. We booked this trip three weeks before sailing. Oddly, this was our first sailing on an Oasis class ship.

 

Boarding - was the quickest and easiest. Uber from MCO ($48) arrived at cruise terminal at 11:05am. We were onboard sitting having lunch by 11:30am, and this was after stopping to purchase the drink package. On board deluxe drink package was $61 per day plus 18%, after D+ discount ended up at $352. We could have purchased it cheaper when they were running the buy one get on half of ($347) around Christmas.

 

We received an email before the sailing letting us know that the first night would be formal night and suggesting we should carry on our formal attire. Once cabins were ready we headed to our OV balcony on deck 7 right by the aft elevators...this was the perfect location. Easy access to CP, Boardwalk, and Promenade.

 

Since it was NYE they were selling VIP seats at some of the venues. We inquired at the Schooner bar and were informed that for a private assigned seating for two (which were bar stools) it would be $750. This included unlimited drinks from 10:30-12:30 and a $40 bottle of Champaign - The Gouge! We were informed these were the least expensive reserved seats on the promenade. Rising tide bar was $1,500......we opted instead to go to Dazzles which had a 80's cover type band, it was perfect! Music and dancing and not overly crowded. Best first night we ever had on a cruise.

 

New Years morning we headed up to the Windjammer for breakfast around 8:30am. We were scheduled to be at sea for the next two days, however we saw that we were headed into Nassau! They were doing a medical evacuation and announced that we would be docking so that they could remove a fellow passenger. We have experienced this several times in the past on other cruises, a quick stop to allow medical personal to safely take the passenger (or crew member) off the ship and then we are on our way. This time we sat at the dock until after 2:30pm. The Fight! Evidently there was a fight shortly before midnight on NYE and one passenger was severely injured. It happened around the promenade area. The Captain said they were trying to coordinate an air ambulance from Miami and that we would stay in port until the plane arrives and then the injured passenger could be transferred to the airport. I assume that the other passenger that was in the fight was removed from the ship.

 

Other than sitting in Nassau the first two days were sea days. Both mornings we were on the pool deck around 9:00am only to find towels and other items covering all of the chairs on the pool deck...The Chair Hogs! I was surprised they were not enforcing the no reserving of chairs....not a big deal we ended up with chairs on the next deck up close to one of the bars. We enjoyed the two sea days and actually really enjoyed the upper deck location better than down by the pool, much quieter.

 

Port stops included St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. In St. Maarten we would normally go to Orient Beach, but we were discouraged from going there since the recovery on the French side was very slow. We ended up going to Kim Sha beach. This was our first time to this beach and turned out to be a very nice day. We were one of the first passengers off the ship and the first to arrive at the beach. Guessing they had about 250 beach chairs and umbrellas, by noon they were sold out. Nice little restaurant and bar there and we ended up spending the entire day at the beach......it was perfect!

 

We did not get off in San Juan due to the short stop 7:30-1:30. In Labadee we were one of the first passengers off the ship and were greeted by a nice light rain. Walked to Columbus cove were we rented an umbrella and remained there for the day until around 4:00pm. It was not an ideal beach day since the weather remained in the 70's and the sun never materialized.....none the less it was a nice day.

 

Last day was a sea day and once again we were at the pool around 9:00am and fund some nice chairs in the Solarium for the day (weather was windy and around 70)....another nice day!

 

We generally eat at the specialty restaurants most nights, however this cruise we ended up with great table mates, great MDR service, and surprisingly good food. We for the first time in years ate dinner every night in the MRD and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Only one night did we think the food was below average.

 

The entertainment was outstanding for a cruise. We saw the aqua theater show, come fly with me, and Cats. Between the entertainment and just the overall beauty of the Oasis this cruise was ...a Wow! We will definitely sail this class of ship again, but only when we sail with our children. Many of the options that Oasis offers really just does not appeal to us but those same options our children would love. Or perhaps we should book a suite and enjoy some of the unique options that are offered on this type of ship exclusively to suite guest.

 

We did the self assist departure. Left the cabin at 6:40am to find a small line that was already letting passengers off. As we walked out of the terminal we found a shuttle which we were the last two on and we were headed to MCO at 7:00am and we were having breakfast near our gate by 8:30am, plenty of time for our early 10:45a departure. Not sure this was very informative but I wanted to share something since I have benefitted from so many others on CC.

[molly361]

Thanks for the nice review

[Tin can]

Great review, thank you.

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

Very nice write-up. Thanks!

[bdpatrick]

Thanks for the review.

[Clarea]

Gouge is right!:eek:

[irishgal432]

How far away was the Kim Sha beach and the approximate cost to reserve the chairs and taxi ride.

 

Thanks

[BillOh]

In St. Maarten we would normally go to Orient Beach, but we were discouraged from going there since the recovery on the French side was very slow.

 

 

Lots of great information! Thanks for taking the time to post. Where did this discouragement come from? Was it the CD in his shows and on stage? I understand the sentiment, but since I won't be there till May 1, I'm keeping an eye on the situation. Club Orient has some chairs out, I heard a bathroom has been built and its coming back, but I'll keep watching.

[EatonDoolittle]

Thanks for the organized, well written review.

 

For the increasing number of people who (apparently) do not know what a paragraph is, or what it is for, please take note of this review.

[Ocean Boy]

Gouge is right!:eek:

No kidding!!

[RFerrington]

You were brave booking a 10:45 flight out of MCO but I'm really happy to hear that things went well and you had no trouble making it.

 

Thanks for the review !

[Got Out There]

How far away was the Kim Sha beach and the approximate cost to reserve the chairs and taxi ride.

 

Thanks

 

The ride was 15-20 minutes, $15 for two, $30 round trip for two. We shared a van with several other passengers that were going to another beach closer to the airport after they let the two of us off. Two chairs and an umbrella was $25. This is a not a huge beach, but it was nice. If you go I would recommend that you get off the ship first thing so that you can secure the "better" beach chairs. Most of the chairs are new and are the ones with the flexible straps...there are a small amount of older chairs that actually have a very nice cushion.

[Got Out There]

Lots of great information! Thanks for taking the time to post. Where did this discouragement come from? Was it the CD in his shows and on stage? I understand the sentiment, but since I won't be there till May 1, I'm keeping an eye on the situation. Club Orient has some chairs out, I heard a bathroom has been built and its coming back, but I'll keep watching.

 

If I remember correctly there was a written communication delivered to the stateroom that had the comment about the French side not being ready. When we got off we were going to head to Orient beach anyway because we too have heard a few clubs have started to come back. We changed our mind when we told the taxi dispatcher that is where we wanted to go and he strongly encouraged us to consider another option on the Dutch side.

[elleluv]

Lots of great information! Thanks for taking the time to post. Where did this discouragement come from? Was it the CD in his shows and on stage? I understand the sentiment, but since I won't be there till May 1, I'm keeping an eye on the situation. Club Orient has some chairs out, I heard a bathroom has been built and its coming back, but I'll keep watching.

 

I'm not sure where the OP got their information, but we stopped in St. Maarten while on Jewel over Christmas and there was a note in the Cruise Compass recommending that passengers not go to the French side of the island due to the devastation on that part of the island.

 

We went out to Maho and saw a LOT of damage on the Dutch side along the way. Maho beach was open and busy, but not packed. You could see there was a lot of erosion, but it looked like they had been working to replace the sand that was lost. Sunset Bar was open and operational, so we sat and enjoyed a couple of drinks and a snack while the "kids" went out and played in the water.

[Got Out There]

You were brave booking a 10:45 flight out of MCO but I'm really happy to hear that things went well and you had no trouble making it.

 

Thanks for the review !

 

Pre Check helps with the MCO security lines that can be a really pain. Not sure about being brave booking the flight, since we booked the cruise so late we really had no other direct flight options...worse case is we miss it and re-book for the next day (Southwest Airlines). Our timing was pretty good; quick departure from ship, lucky to find a shuttle needing two more people, ship was cleared as expected and not delayed, Southwest airlines check-in was very busy but pretty quick. In fact at MCO on Southwest you can not check/hand over your bags to the ticket counter agent if you are there early for your flight. The agent reviews the self bag tag and ID's, wrote something on the luggage tags and told us to hand them over to a skycap in a designated early check in area.

[marci22]

Good review and info. Those NYE prices are :eek:

[Got Out There]

Gouge is right!:eek:

 

We have always found the Schooner bar to be one of our favorites. The bar tenders shared with us that only 30 people signed up for the private assigned seating party at the Schooner. They said is was it was essentially dead there because of so few people. The bar tenders did not seem to appreciate the small private party.....

[dacsmom]

Thank you for taking time to post your review, I enjoyed it.

[wolfganghowell]

Thanks for your review. I cannot believe the NYE gouging. That is insane. If you do Oasis again, I do encourage a suite. We did one Oasis cruise and I would never go again unless in a suite. Coastal Kitchen is delightful and the suite sundeck complete with it's own bar was a nice perk.

[Got Out There]

Thanks for your review. I cannot believe the NYE gouging. That is insane. If you do Oasis again, I do encourage a suite. We did one Oasis cruise and I would never go again unless in a suite. Coastal Kitchen is delightful and the suite sundeck complete with it's own bar was a nice perk.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. When it is just the two of us we generally will book a suite, if it is all the family we tend to book balcony rooms. We cruised as a family over Thanksgiving and booked three suites and this time we ended up booking a balcony.....price is a factor. When we booked this cruise I think there were no suites available, but then a week out a few appeared. It would have been over $10K for the two of us, so we stayed in the balcony. Just to be transparent, we have booked insides in the past too. In fact last January there was a rate so low on the Liberty for an inside I could not resist. We tend to spend little time in the room so the extra space is nice but the perks are more attractive to us then the space.

 

I have heard wonderful comments on Coastal Kitchen and look forward to trying it someday. The sundeck sounds nice especially the bar.

[davekathy]

Thanks for the review.

[mil76]

I'll piggy-back a mini-review. We did this cruise last minute as well. Booked three OV guarantee cabins in mid-December and got assigned two adjoining and one just a cabin away.

 

The NYE gouging was just jaw-dropping when we heard what they were charging. We instead opted to camp out with two of our bottles of champagne we brought onboard on the promenade. We got a spot at one of the counters for the daily sales right under the balloons and had a blast. Doing the same thing steps away at one of the bars could have set us back a couple of grand. Another gouge was no first night done right or dining packages. Instead, it was $89 per person for Chops or Giovanni's for the meal and champagne the first night.

 

One thing about having so much packed into embarkation day was the 7 nighter felt more like 10 days. We were expecting the worst for crowds with it being a holiday cruise, but it didn't seem much worse than our usual Oasis class cruise during our fall break in mid-October. We walked by the teen club one night and it was mobbed, but my oldest has aged out of Teen club and the youngest only did Teen Flowrider night. Since we booked so late, we ended up with MTD for the first time ever. We were afraid that MTD would be packed, but we went at 7:15 on the first night and were seated within minutes. We liked our waiter so much that we booked the same table at 7:15 the rest of the cruise. With all the gouging I guess they didn't sell too much champagne, since our waiter gave us a free bottle at dinner the last three nights. As for the Flowrider, the weather kept the lines down, and we were glad we packed the wetsuits. DS 15 beat me again in Best of the Best. Glad I won two years ago because I'm afraid I'll never do it again unless I leave him at home.

 

The unplanned visit to Nassau was interesting. I was at the Flowrider early and saw buildings on the horizon and then could make out Atlantis as we got closer. The rumor mill for what happened was in full force. I heard everything from a heart attack, to a stabbing, to someone getting their ear cut off. We were in Nassau for what seemed like hours. The rumors for that were that they kicked two families involved in the incident off the ship, and one person went into hiding so that was what delayed us. With all of that delay, we got to St. Maarten only 2 hour late and they extended the time in port by 2 hours, so we didn't miss out on anything other than a few hours of daylight.

 

For St. Maarten we just went into Philipsburg, instead of our usual Orient Beach. The taxi dispatcher did say that Club Orient was the only place open with facilities, but with 15 and 18 year old boys, that wasn't for us. We also heard Maho was getting the crowds that day, and since neither Air France and KLM were coming in I decided not to press the issue. Still lots of damage, and heard lots of construction from the beach, but the people seemed upbeat and resilient, and were glad to have us there.

 

Old San Juan looked fine other than a few stumps jutting out sideways from the sidewalks. Nothing like what we've been hearing about the areas farther out of town.

 

Labadee was a ship day once we saw the rain. We tried to book a cabana earlier in the cruise but they were sold out. Lucky us.

 

Since we booked everything last minute, it was much cheaper to fly back Monday, so we rented a minivan to get around Orlando for the day. On the way to Avis, the shuttle driver told us there was a launch Sunday night. So we decided to drive back to the Cape that night since it was only 40 minutes from our hotel. We had never seen a launch before so it ended up being the perfect end to the trip.

[Ourusualbeach]

Thanks for the review. We are booked on this same cruise for next year. We definitely won’t be doing the reserved seating.

[Chipster2]

Thank you both for your reviews.

[ColoradoGurl]

That was great, thank you.

 

 

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