Oasis Class crowding ?

[never_cruised]

Interested to hear peoples thoughts who've cruised this class of ship regarding crowding around the ship especially on sea days 

 

What's it like to get seated in the Windjammer ?

 

What's your best points of this class of ship ?

 

What's your worst ?

 

We are looking to sail this class next year so any advice would be appreciated.

Edited March 12, 2019 by never_cruised

[GTO-Girl]

15 minutes ago, never_cruised said:

Interested to hear peoples thoughts who've cruised this class of ship regarding crowding around the ship especially on sea days 

 

What's it like to get seated in the Windjammer ?

 

What's your best points of this class of ship ?

 

What's your worst ?

 

We are looking to sail this class next year so any advice would be appreciated.

 

This is our favorite class of ship.  There is so much to see and do and the ships are beautiful!!

 

There are many places to eat besides the Windjammer if it is crowded.  Our best breakfasts (everyday) and lunches (on sea days) was in the Main Dining room which was so good!!

 

Best points are the shows, staff, and activities.  Worst point would be crowding on embarkation day...but no more so than other ships we have sailed.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

[MrFunInTheSun]

Most of the time on these ships you’ll be wondering where everyone is and is there really over 6000 people on this ship. 

 

Only times it can feel crowded is on the first day with folks trying to figure out where everything is. On embarkment day avoid Windjammer. Everyone seems to gravitate there and think that is their only food option. It’s a huge ship with tons of food options, even on that first day. 

 

On these ships it seems to be easier to get on and off the ship than some of the smaller ships. 

 

You’re in for a grand time on this class ship! 

 

 

Below are some of my recent reports 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by MrFunInTheSun

[goneclear]

The windjammer can be challenging to get seats at certain times of the morning for breakfast.

Sea Days unless you are an early riser its doubtful you will get a chair in close proximity to the pools.

Other than that and when there is a dance or parade on the promenade the ship does not really feel over crowded.

 

[Bobal]

We found the sea days on Oasis to be less crowded than any other class of ship. Unless you are set on a lounger by the beach pool there are always plenty of loungers to be found. There are so many places to go and things to do on the ship that people really seem to spread out, and so many activities to do or watch if you don't want to be out in the sun. The only time we really noticed the sheer volume of people was in Labadee.

 

Having said that the Windjammer is a bit of a nightmare. At peak times there will be lines outside, which I've never seen on other classes of ship. The good thing is there are so many other places to eat that you don't need to eat at the Windjammer, and if you're set on the Windjammer I would avoid at peak times.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Bobal

[BNBR]

Windjammer can have a line during peak times.  The staff won't just let you wander around, which is actually kind of nice.  So as tables open up, they'll sit you.  However, it's VERY easy to avoid peak times.  It's not for hours or anything.  Go just a tad bit earlier or later.  We would go to breakfast around 7:45 - 8AM or so and it's practically empty.  Show up at 9:30 and probably a line.  This is pretty consistent with every ship I've been on, not just Oasis.  But as others said, there are so many other options as well.  Johnny Rockets has free breakfast, solarium, park cafe, main dining room, etc.

 

As for general crowding.  It's the least crowded class of ship we have ever been on.  Period.  It's easy to get a lounger.  The bars are not overcrowded.  The public spaces are large with soaring ceilings, so it never feels cramped.  It's just a fantastic ship that feels spacious and comfortable.

[never_cruised]

Would I be right in the assumption that the Oasis of the Seas will have been upgraded by 2020 ?

 

If so can we expect the slides etc we see on Symphony ?

[MeHeartCruising]

We just returned from a great week on the Allure.  We also experienced the crowded Windjammer for several of our meals and had to walk around quite a bit searching for a table to sit at.  They did indeed eventually halt people from entering the room when it got this bad, however, we always were inside before they did that.  When we were on the Harmony, however, we never experienced significant seating issues in the Windjammer.  So I'm thinking they have increased the capacity some on the newer versions of the Oasis class ships.

 

The rest of the ship... we are amazed how so many people can be on the ship without it feeling crowded.  Never considered it an issue for us.

Edited March 12, 2019 by MeHeartCruising

[CruisingMarch2016]

Attitude: This is how to answer your question.

 

If you are a positive fun outgoing person--you will love it. 

 

If you find fault in little things, pessimistic, or glass half empty you will struggle on any cruise.

 

I love a quote from another CC which says something like 'when my wife and I start complaining or finding negatives on cruise's we should stop cruising'

 

Any day at Sea is better than land!!!

[MrFunInTheSun]

35 minutes ago, never_cruised said:

Would I be right in the assumption that the Oasis of the Seas will have been upgraded by 2020 ?

 

If so can we expect the slides etc we see on Symphony ?

 

Yes. She goes into dry dock later this year. I’ll be on the second sailing after her upgrades on 12/1/19 and will be doing a live trip report. 

[buddylover]

We have found the Oasis class in general, to be the least crowded of any ship on any cruise line we have sailed!  Been on the Harmony and the Allure and other than Windjammer on embarkation day lunch and disembarkation day breakfast,  we always commented on how 'uncrowded' these ships felt.  There are 6000+ pax, but there are so many different and large venues for everyone to be in (Promenade, Central Park, Boardwalk, Pools, lido etc) that no one area ever felt crowded.  It blew us away, but it is our favorite class as well.  If you time when you go to Windjammer (off peak times), it can be quite easy to find seating and not too crowded - but at peak times it is quite busy so you have to 'plan'.  But otherwise, these ships are "masterfully" designed!!

[JAMESCC]

1 hour ago, GTO-Girl said:

 

This is our favorite class of ship.  There is so much to see and do and the ships are beautiful!!

 

There are many places to eat besides the Windjammer if it is crowded.  Our best breakfasts (everyday) and lunches (on sea days) was in the Main Dining room which was so good!!

 

Best points are the shows, staff, and activities.  Worst point would be crowding on embarkation day...but no more so than other ships we have sailed.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

Holy cow I can't wait to sail this class when Oasis comes to NJ next year! I am looking forward to big time already.

[Sitzmark]

Of the 3 cruises we've been on, Oasis was the least crowded feeling.  Our favorite spot was probably the central park trellis bar.  I don't recall Windjammer being particularly crowded, certainly much better than the Carnival Dream, but I really don't like buffets so I don't spend any more time there than required.  We never had a reservation at the main dining room, never waited more than a couple minutes for a table.

[gatour]

On port days, the Windjammer can get crowded for breakfast as everyone wants to eat breakfast and get off the ship as soon as possible.  On sea days it is a little more spread out.

 

The great thing about the Oasis class is the "neigborhood" concept.  It helps to spread people out instead of concentrating people in one on two areas.

 

On Voyager/Freedom class you basically have the Royal Promenade, the pool deck and the Solarium

On Oasis you have  The Royal Promenade, the pool deck, the Boardwalk, Central Park and the Solarium.  Plus Schooner bar overlooks the Royal Promenade.

 

Other pros,

 

There is so much to do, that one week is not long enough to experience everyting

Related to the "neighborhoods" is that you can find an area that suits your mood.  During the day if you want to in the middle of the action you can head to the pool deck.  At night anywhere on the Royal Promenade.  If you want be slightly away from the action there is the Schooner Bar.  If you want to get away from the action Central Park is the place to be.  At night they have a duet playing.

 

Major con:

The ship does not have indoor venue that has views of  the ocean.  We really miss that.

[FLACRUISER99]

1 hour ago, never_cruised said:

Would I be right in the assumption that the Oasis of the Seas will have been upgraded by 2020 ?

 

If so can we expect the slides etc we see on Symphony ?

Maybe, however nothing has been officially announced as far as I know. Please correct me if I missed it.

[JeffT237]

2 hours ago, never_cruised said:

Interested to hear peoples thoughts who've cruised this class of ship regarding crowding around the ship especially on sea days 

 

What's it like to get seated in the Windjammer ?

 

What's your best points of this class of ship ?

 

What's your worst ?

 

We are looking to sail this class next year so any advice would be appreciated.

My wife and I really enjoy the Oasis class, we've been on both the Allure OTS and Oasis OTS now.  

 

Sea days:  The areas next to the main pools and kids pool get pretty crowded.  The Solarium area gets crowded as well.  We had no problems getting loungers on the sun deck located on the 16th deck which we prefer.  Less crowded and not as noisy.  The pools get pretty crowded.  This deck did fill up later in the morning but not as quickly as the pool deck.  You will see chair hogs.  As for the rest of the ship the crowds are dispersed fairly well, the dining areas will obviously be crowded at peak times.

 

Windjammer:  We only went here a twice for lunch and did not have any trouble getting a seat.  We did arrive before the lunch crowd and it does get pretty busy.  On both our cruises on an Oasis class we felt the Windjammer was not as good as our previous cruises.  Not as many options and its layout seems small for the number of passengers.  We had a few lunches in the Solarium bistro and never had a problem getting a seat.  We also had a lunch in the MDR and we were in and out pretty quickly.  

 

Best points:  We love the central park area and the entertainment.  The aqua show is great.  The headliner show for us was a band called the Rookie and played 50s and 60s rock n roll.  Come fly away was our other show with music and acrobatic acts, enjoyed that on was well.  We still enjoy the 70s disco party on the Promenade.  Cats, I recognize the quality of the performance they really do a great job however the story was hard to follow for me and it is long.  My wife really enjoyed it.  The gym is well equipped and surprisingly had a lot of people working out for the duration of the cruise.  Usually it's busy the first couple of days then the attendance drops, same for the walking/running track.  Food is subjective, we enjoyed most of the food.  We ate at all of the specialty restaurants and the MDR twice for dinner.  Like many others we feel the MDR options have become limited and the food quality has gone down a bit.  We had no problems finding food we enjoyed as there are plenty of options.

 

Worst:  As much as we like the class because of the size, the size is also it's biggest negative.  You are at times a long way from where you need to be.  The elevators are crowded.  My wife and I have always had a tradition of not using them and only using the stairs.  It's tough to do on this class.  We did cheat a few times when we were in a hurry, but you don't save much time when you get one on a lower deck try to go to an upper deck and end up stopping at every other deck to let someone out or on.  

 

Have a great cruise and I think the positives of the Oasis class far outweigh any negatives.

[FLACRUISER99]

All bets are off if it rains all day and everyones inside.

[Zendeck]

32 minutes ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

All bets are off if it rains all day and everyones inside.

 

This made me laugh and scared me at the same time!!! 

 

My first is coming up....great post and I've taken it all in....Thanks!

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

All bets are off if it rains all day and everyones inside.

 

And when there are sales in the Royal Promenade.  6,000 people need a $10 t-shirt or pocketbook, all at the same time.

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

All bets are off if it rains all day and everyones inside.

 

Like any other ship.  At least Oasis has a ton of interior space and venues.  Most of them are empty, so with some rain, maybe they would have a more lively interior.  I wouldn't be concerned at all with crowding even with rain all day.

[jean-lynd]

We never ate in the windjammer on Allure. We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches at the solarium bistro. There are touchscreen directories by the elevators. If you touch on dining it will tell you what venues are open and how crowded they are. That was very helpful. Johnny Rockets is free for breakfast and it was very good. We grabbed lunch at sorrentos and the dog house. We did not like our breakfast at the wipeout so we didn't go back. We hung out in the Solarium on sea days. It was crowded but we were always able to find a place to sit. I hope this helps!

[mk-ultra]

Been on both the Oasis and Allure.  Honestly, it never felt crowded.  Windjammer does tend to have more people during service compared to smaller ships.  I just made it a point to get in there as soon as they opened up for whatever service.  Works for me since I'm usually awake earlier than they put breakfast out.

 

I like the variety on Oasis class ships.  More activities.  More food.  More of pretty much anything.  I'm usually on deck 17 somewhere, so Coastal Kitchen and the lounge are really nice.  Neither were ever crowded and I could pretty much show up without reservations anytime I wanted.

 

The only downside (if you could even call it that) to these mega class ships is that they don't visit many of the more interesting ports smaller ships can.  If I'm going some place like Alaska or the Med, I don't want to be on a huge ship.

 

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by mk-ultra

[Sherri914]

6 hours ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Maybe, however nothing has been officially announced as far as I know. Please correct me if I missed it.

 

I just booked today on Allure for after her dry dock.  When I called RCI to book it, even the rep didn't know if the slides would be added.  But I'm pretty sure they will be to Allure, and I would assume Oasis as well, and here's why.  On their website, they have pre-dry-dock deck plans and post-dry-dock.  The boardwalk balcony cabins for Allure (and I'm betting for Oasis) had the far aft cabins as unobstructed on the current plans, and those same cabins (almost every deck, the far aft boardwalk balcony cabins) show as obstructed post-dry dock.  I'd guess that's due to the installation of the slides, but of course, I could be wrong.  The RCI rep said that was a safe bet though. 

[never_cruised]

2 minutes ago, Sherri914 said:

 

I just booked today on Allure for after her dry dock.  When I called RCI to book it, even the rep didn't know if the slides would be added.  But I'm pretty sure they will be to Allure, and I would assume Oasis as well, and here's why.  On their website, they have pre-dry-dock deck plans and post-dry-dock.  The boardwalk balcony cabins for Allure (and I'm betting for Oasis) had the far aft cabins as unobstructed on the current plans, and those same cabins (almost every deck, the far aft boardwalk balcony cabins) show as obstructed post-dry dock.  I'd guess that's due to the installation of the slides, but of course, I could be wrong.  The RCI rep said that was a safe bet though. 

What are the dates for dry dock on Oasis and Allure ?

[Clarea]

17 minutes ago, never_cruised said:

What are the dates for dry dock on Oasis and Allure ?

 

Oasis: Sep 22, 2019 to Nov 24, 2019

 

Don't have dates for Allure.