Alternative to the Oasis class from RCI

[manazca]

We’ve cruised only 5 times so far and only on the Oasis ships from RCI. We love it but at the same time, we kind of started feeling that maybe we'd want to look into something new in the future. Our 8-year old totally loves the Adventure Ocean club (she'd spend the entire day there if she could!) and my husband likes the Promenade for sitting down and enjoying coffee and people watching.

What ships sailing in the Caribbean might be a good alternative to try if we wanted a change?

[GTO-Girl]

28 minutes ago, manazca said:

We’ve cruised only 5 times so far and only on the Oasis ships from RCI. We love it but at the same time, we kind of started feeling that maybe we'd want to look into something new in the future. Our 8-year old totally loves the Adventure Ocean club (she'd spend the entire day there if she could!) and my husband likes the Promenade for sitting down and enjoying coffee and people watching.

What ships sailing in the Caribbean might be a good alternative to try if we wanted a change?

 

The Freedom class and the Voyager class ar nice size ships and will still have the promenade.

 

We prefer only ships with promenade as the others feel too small for us.  Just our preference..

 

[manazca]

Thanks, GTO-Girl! I'm thinking of trying a non-RCI cruise for a comparison.

I am keeping Freedom in mind for a possible future cruise, it seems to have very strong endorsements. I'm a bit worried about going straight from Harmony/Symphony to Freedom as it would feel to us that we are giving up on some things.

[Aquahound]

Coming from Oasis Class, you'll be giving things up no matter what line/ship you choose.  I agree with the Freedom Class recommendation, or even the Voyager Class ships that had the waterparks and Flowrider added.

 

If you want to try another line, I recommend looking at MSC's new ships.  Seaside and Seaview look beautiful and some friends of mine loved Seaside.

[manazca]

4 hours ago, Aquahound said:

Coming from Oasis Class, you'll be giving things up no matter what line/ship you choose.  I agree with the Freedom Class recommendation, or even the Voyager Class ships that had the waterparks and Flowrider added.

 

If you want to try another line, I recommend looking at MSC's new ships.  Seaside and Seaview look beautiful and some friends of mine loved Seaside.

Thanks! I wish we didn’t start cruising with Oasis. But I’m thinking that we are maybe missing on other lines equally attractive to families. I suspect my daughter would love Disney ... but what happened to those prices?! I’ll check MSC.

[George C]

We also like freedom and voyager classes ,  love navigator have done that 3 times, we also like grand suites and they are much cheaper on those over oasis class. 

[GTO-Girl]

19 hours ago, manazca said:

Thanks, GTO-Girl! I'm thinking of trying a non-RCI cruise for a comparison.

I am keeping Freedom in mind for a possible future cruise, it seems to have very strong endorsements. I'm a bit worried about going straight from Harmony/Symphony to Freedom as it would feel to us that we are giving up on some things.

 

We have sailed on the Oasis eight times and I have no problem going to the Freedom or Voyager class ships.  I love each class for their own reasons and have never once regretted being on a little smaller ship!

 

 

[brillohead]

I personally prefer Freedom over Oasis. 

I like the social aspects of cruising, and on Oasis-class ships, you can meet someone the first day and never ever see them again for the entire week because everything is spread out and divided.  Even meeting someone "on the pool deck" is difficult because the whole ship is split down the middle by the cruising equivalent of the Grand Canyon!

Also, the Solarium has more shade on Freedom, and isn't an ocean-based greenhouse.  Oasis-class has a beautiful-looking Solarium, but it always seems hot and stuffy to me, and redheads need more shade!  

I don't use the zip line or slides, and while I love the shows in the Aquatheater, they don't make or break a cruise for me -- the show is an hour of my entire week, while the Solarium is several hours of every single day of the week.  

So it all depends on if having a certain feature is going to make-or-break your cruise.  If your daughter enjoys AO, she'll enjoy that on a Freedom-class ship, too.  And the ice show, Quest, Love-n-Marriage, variety shows, MDR / specialty restaurants, etc., will be enjoyable on Freedom as well.  

[manazca]

Thanks! I started looking into the Freedom class. Liberty of the Seas is the only choice for December 2020 for the Caribbean as Freedom of the Seas will be sailing from San Juan. I am also looking into MSC Seaside as an alternative.

Thinking of maybe booking LOS in a suite for a change (only sailed in balcony rooms before) and for double points.Need to read more about suites on the Freedom class.