Trip Report! Oasis Of The Seas - 1/6-1/12 - Nurovirus Cruise

[rickcherryb]

Can you tell me if the couple spa treatment mentioned is $280.00 per couple or per person? Thanks

[gatour]

Nice balance review.

 

"The Shop" can be quite crowded especially as the cruise comes to and end.  For that reason I do my ship souvinour shopping at the begining of the cruise.  A lot less hectic experience.

[Ocean Boy]

58 minutes ago, gatour said:

Nice balance review.

 

"The Shop" can be quite crowded especially as the cruise comes to and end.  For that reason I do my ship souvinour shopping at the begining of the cruise.  A lot less hectic experience.

The Shop on the Oasis class ships is really poorly designed. It was so much better on the Voyager/Freedom class ships especially when it was branded "The Logo Shop". They no longer have either the variety or quality that they used to have.... of course ... in my opinion.

[kag19]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us!  The pictures you posted of Izumi have me salivating...  We will be booking lunch there on our upcoming cruise.  We have sailed Oasis before and loved everything about the ship.  Hopefully you will have a chance to try the Oasis class ships again without the whole norovirus thing. :)

[Clarea]

48 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

The Shop on the Oasis class ships is really poorly designed. It was so much better on the Voyager/Freedom class ships especially when it was branded "The Logo Shop". They no longer have either the variety or quality that they used to have.... of course ... in my opinion.

 

I agree, I've never seen clotted cream biscuits on Oasis class!

[Ocean Boy]

25 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I agree, I've never seen clotted cream biscuits on Oasis class!

Give me a can of those biscuits and a 20 year old RCI Singers and Dancers show and I'm in heaven.

[hiccups]

18 hours ago, ashezap said:

My final thoughts on the cruise was that it was a really cool ship, I really appreciated the amount of things to do and the options you are presented with. but, I just don’t think I want to cruise with that many people again. I’ve gotten to a point in my life (probably due to my career choices) where I don’t like lines and crowds of people. I’ve experienced it for myself and can say that the oasis does indeed feel crowded in allot of areas... maybe because our sailing was booked to capacity. 

 

I'm grateful I got to experience the Oasis class at least once. I have no regrets but the experience just helps me plan and shape other trips in the future... and I’m patiently waiting on my refund. 😁

 

Thanks for reading everyone! 

 

Enjoyed your review!  Our only sailing on an Oasis class ship was a few years ago, and we lucked out and got a steal on a Grand Suite (only reason we booked the cruise--someone on CC noticed a glitch in pricing and several of us were able to book at that price).  We decided if we ever were on a ship that size again, we'd only book a suite.  Having the preferred seating and the sun deck made a huge difference when travelling with that many passengers.

We've only sailed smaller ships since that cruise (Oceania and Azamara), but we have an upcoming cruise on X.  I'm looking forward to the variety of venues again, but I'm sure at times will feel overwhelmed by the number of passengers, even though there won't be as many as on an Oasis class ship.

[Robo1098]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 5:53 PM, ashezap said:

  This one was surprising too! I would never think to serve lobster with vanilla bean but it makes lobster even richer turning it into a sweet and savory, decadent taste of the ocean. The only thing I had to remove was the cilantro because I am one of those weirdos with genetic aversion to cilantro... it tastes like straight up hand soap to me! If you don’t like cilantro, look it up... it can literally taste completely different to two different people! 

 

 

I am the same way about cilantro. I tell people including my wife about it and they only seem to half way believe me. Straight up soap taste.

[Cindy]

19 hours ago, ashezap said:

My final thoughts on the cruise was that it was a really cool ship, I really appreciated the amount of things to do and the options you are presented with. but, I just don’t think I want to cruise with that many people again. I’ve gotten to a point in my life (probably due to my career choices) where I don’t like lines and crowds of people. I’ve experienced it for myself and can say that the oasis does indeed feel crowded in allot of areas... maybe because our sailing was booked to capacity. The solarium did not seem as relaxing as it did on my last cruise on the solstice and I really missed the big thermal suite. I missed the elegance of celebrity and the old school ocean liner vibe of Disney. The food was delicious, especially Izumi and 150 Central Park. And the entertainment was ok. I could do without the hoards of unattended children running about (worse than Disney) The best thing I experienced was the friendliness of many of the crew. There were several folks I encountered that seemed to genuinely enjoy their jobs and that runs directly into the guests experience. Happy Crew, Happy You! 

 

Im grateful I got to experience the Oasis class at least once. I have no regrets but the experience just helps me plan and shape other trips in the future... and I’m patiently waiting on my refund. 😁

 

Thanks for reading everyone! 

 

 

I really enjoyed your review...certainly not the vacation you had hoped for, but you did a good job making the best of the situation.

 

We have only been on the Oasis once. We went the week before Thanksgiving, and found it to be a slow travel week with very few kids. Like you, we did almost all specialty dining...we never even crossed the threshold of the Windjammer. If you ever think about trying an Oasis class ship again, see if you can swing a suite. With Coastal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge, it really is a completely different experience. Based on your review, I think the two of you would enjoy it!

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for taking the time to write such an enjoyable review.😀

[John&LaLa]

7 hours ago, gatour said:

Nice balance review.

 

"The Shop" can be quite crowded especially as the cruise comes to and end.  For that reason I do my ship souvinour shopping at the begining of the cruise.  A lot less hectic experience.

 

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

The Shop on the Oasis class ships is really poorly designed. It was so much better on the Voyager/Freedom class ships especially when it was branded "The Logo Shop". They no longer have either the variety or quality that they used to have.... of course ... in my opinion.

 

The issue with the "shop" was the sidewalk sale got moved inside of it in an attempt to control the illness.  The one way in and out was the control mechanism.  

 

No shop on any ship could have done any better given those requirements.  

 

Promenade was absolutely empty other than the massive line for Guest Services

[VPIcruiser]

Thanks for taking the time to write this. Excellent write up and very informative. 

 

[Ocean Boy]

33 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

 

The issue with the "shop" was the sidewalk sale got moved inside of it in an attempt to control the illness.  The one way in and out was the control mechanism.  

 

No shop on any ship could have done any better given those requirements.  

 

Promenade was absolutely empty other than the massive line for Guest Services

I stand by my original post. Poor design, less variety and quality than the Logo Shops of the past. And that includes the present V/F class ships now too.

[John&LaLa]

6 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I stand by my original post. Poor design, less variety and quality than the Logo Shops of the past. And that includes the present V/F class ships now too.

 

But you weren't there. 😉

 

You ever been to the 2 for $20 mob sale. Sometimes held on pool deck, sometimes in the promenade?

 

Imagine that inside an enclosed shop with two points of egress and 2 cash registers.  Nothing to do with quality or variety of merchandise.

 

Pretty sure the OP was not commenting on your concerns.

 

Oh, and what was really hilarious was the folks freaking out if they got touched by another passenger.

 

I'm sure the old ways were better, they always are. 😁

Edited January 15, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

But you weren't there. 😉

 

You ever been to the 2 for $20 mob sale. Sometimes held on pool deck, sometimes in the promenade?

 

Imagine that inside an enclosed shop with two points of egress and 2 cash registers.  Nothing to do with quality or variety of merchandise.

 

Pretty sure the OP was not commenting on your concerns

I didn't have to be there. I was giving my thoughts on the present day Logo Shops not anything related to that particular sailing. I swear sometimes it seems like you recently took some kind on course on being argumentative.

[John&LaLa]

11 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I didn't have to be there. I was giving my thoughts on the present day Logo Shops not anything related to that particular sailing. I swear sometimes it seems like you recently took some kind on course on being argumentative.

 

Apologies, I assumed you were saying the problem with crowd control was due to poor design of the shop.

 

The OP said the shop was claustrophobic and crowded, it was, I was adding perspective

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by John&LaLa

[ShipsandDipper]

Thanks for the review.  It's interesting that you noticed some of the same things on Oasis this last week as we noticed on Harmony.  We didn't think Oasis felt crowded and didn't notice an inordinate number of kids when we sailed her in October 2017, but we sure did on Harmony last week! 

[cunnorl]

Thank You for a wonderful review. Happy Birthday and Anniversary to you both! May you have many years of clear skies and smooth sailing.

[raineywife]

One thing I noticed every day, but especially this day, was that there were unattended children everywhere . Like as young as 5 or so running all over the place. We finally found a place to stop and lay on the lounges for a minute near the windjammer and looking out at the ocean and we had a group of three kids come over (much too close for comfort) and stop and just stare over us. I asked “can I help you?” And they laughed and just kept staring. I finally said “please go away” and they said “ that was rude man” and ran off... yeah okay, your parents are rude for letting their offspring run around and annoy people! But that’s just my opinion. 

 

Unattended children:  something i will NEVER understand - a strange place with thousands of people all over the world surrounded by water and many rooms...

[majorjan]

wonderful review! Thanks!

[brillohead]

Question for you, @ashezap -- are you purposely misspelling norovirus to avoid search engine hits to your thread?

Just curious about the rationale....

[ashezap]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

Question for you, @ashezap -- are you purposely misspelling norovirus to avoid search engine hits to your thread?

Just curious about the rationale....

 

Hahaha! Nope. I just missed that. Thanks for pointing it out! 

[ashezap]

On 1/14/2019 at 11:00 PM, monkeyinhat said:

First of all you both look extremly young.   Not old enough to be married 2 years.   Second the consecutive dates thing is too cool.  

 

Thank you so much for the good review.  You gave me a lot of information.  We have a Oasis booked and I am leery of it.  I am not a crowd or buffet person anyway.  But hubs wants to do it.   Independence is my favorite class ship.   I am surprised at the condition of the ship you showed. Such a shame how quickly it has detoriated, but a lot of people i guess use it.

 

We are big Disney World people.      Not for the parks so much as for the food.  Some great restaurants!   After your review I am thinking the dining Package may be a good idea.   We will be there for my January birthday next year.   maybe an appropriate gift to myself.   you really sold it 

 

We always stay on the ship and enjoy the peace when in Labadee.  It is enjoyable  when others in port.   We walked away from the food, couldnt do it with the conditions.    

 

I am sorry you missed your ports.  Our first cruise was Empress out of Ft. Lauderdale.  in the middle of the first night  there was a big bump.   the propellor fell off the ship.   RC said it was an act of God , no compensation  and we would be skipping ports and stayed in Key West  then coco cay.    we for some reason were given a 500.00 obc,   i bought a sweet diamond necklace and tell everyone Captain Johnny gave it to me.

 

As far as the woman staring at you in the elevator.   My Atlanta born dad told me when i was about 11 and a man was freaking me out staring at me.   My dad told me to look him in the eye count to 10 and smile real big.   Ha ha.  i still do it to this day.  freaks them out!

 

Thanks again for info and Happy Birthdays and Anniversary

 

Aww thanks! I’m 32 and Matt is 40! 

 

This was great! I’m definitely not sorry I went because I have wanted to sail on oasis since she came out. Don’t be too leery. I would still encourage everyone to give it a try... I just don’t feel the need to do it again. I probably could have done more research as to when the ship is less crowded. Also remember to washy washy! 

 

Im a big fan of the dining package... just be prepared for LOTS of steak! Lol I wish they had a bit more fish on the menu besides Branzino at every place. 

 

The thing abouy the propeller falling of is insane! That might freak me out more than noro! 

Edited January 16, 2019 by ashezap

[ashezap]

On 1/15/2019 at 7:54 AM, suesnake2002 said:

Ashton, I'm very curious about your private hot tub time. This sounds amazing. Do you have pics of this? Exactly what was included. 

And heres the big one, the public hot tubs are so full of chemicals. Burn your eyes, was the private one one less chemicals

 

It actually wasn’t a “hot tub” more of a whirlpool spa. It’s on a platform in the room a couple of steps up and there are fiber optic stars in the ceiling. They fill it up with regular water and a natural seaweed bath powder mix from the spa. No chlorine or chemicals. There is a nice shower, two chairs and a bench.  It’s a really nice relaxing experience as the lights are very low. They scattered rose petals etc (which was not really needed for us but whatever lol) and there were fluffy towels everywhere. You go in and lock the door and you are locked in for an hour and they come and knock when your time is up. I found a photo somewhere on the interwebs I’ll post here (not mine). 

 

[ashezap]

On 1/15/2019 at 10:22 AM, rickcherryb said:

Can you tell me if the couple spa treatment mentioned is $280.00 per couple or per person? Thanks

 It was just the bath that is included in some other ultimate package but it was around $85 a couple after auto grat.