Oasis Class crowding ?

[gatour]

2 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

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

That is when I retreat from the "outside" seating at pub and head to the Schooner Bar.  🙂

[BNBR]

19 minutes ago, gatour said:

That is when I retreat from the "outside" seating at pub and head to the Schooner Bar.  🙂

 

Or Rising Tide. It's our favorite time to people watch. Lol.

[vacationlover_mn]

I love the Oasis class!  Only two negatives- the promenade sales were super crowded, and I felt chair hogs were worse, in the chairs that have ocean or pool views.

[BNBR]

Just now, vacationlover_mn said:

I love the Oasis class!  Only two negatives- the promenade sales were super crowded, and I felt chair hogs were worse, in the chairs that have ocean or pool views.

 

On our last Celebrity cruise, couldn't even get a chair on sea days. Same with NCL Escape.  At least on Oasis there is always a chair available.

[vacationlover_mn]

I should clarify- chair hogs were the worst in sunny spots that had ocean or pool views.  DH never had trouble finding a shady spot 🙂. 

[BNBR]

And I love shaded spots. Big win for me. 

[rimmit]

The Oasis class is incredibly well designed and it really doesn’t feel too crowded except in certain situations.   

 

Going to the MDR on my time dining can be a riot, especially on the first day.   The waits can be an 1-1.5 hours if you don’t have a reservation.

 

Trivia contests can be a bit of a pain in that the venues they use which are On Air and Schooner do not have enough seats and you will need to camp out a seat 30-60 minutes before if you want a seat.

 

Also all entertainment needs to be prebooked otherwise the standby lines can be long, and for the comedy show, you are unlikely to get in if you are remotely deep in the standby line.   

 

The entertainment venues in general tend to tend to be busy and seats can be tough to come by.   

 

Windjammer can be a madhouse at peak eating times.

 

Other than those examples,  it really is mind boggling that there are 6000 people on the ship.   The neighborhood really break up the crowds well.

 

Many have said they feel less crowded on the Oasis than other ships.  I personally do not agree, in that the bottle necks are much worse and more crowded than bottle necks on other ships when they occur imo, but that’s just my opinion.  I personally prefer the more free flowing nature of the smaller ships where reservations are not needed to do every major show.  I would definitely agree that when it is not a bottleneck situation the Oasis almost feels désertéd at times.  

 

I will say that the Oasis somehow is the fastest ship to embark and disembark.   Despite the size,  the disembarkation is crazy fast.

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by rimmit

[susanrobert]

We are sailing on the Oasis this summer when it is interporting.  We board in Rome.  Do you think the Windjammer will still be crazy on embarkation day even though everyone isn't embarking the same day?  Other's will embark in Barcelona.

TIA

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, susanrobert said:

We are sailing on the Oasis this summer when it is interporting.  We board in Rome.  Do you think the Windjammer will still be crazy on embarkation day even though everyone isn't embarking the same day?  Other's will embark in Barcelona.

TIA

 

We always find lunchtime in WJ on Oasis class crazy, embarkation day or not.

[taglovestocruise]

Skip it and head to Central Park Cafe or the Solarium Bistro.  If CP is crowded just take your food and eat outside at Vintages, never crowded and decent view. 

[mac66]

"Crowded" depends on the itinerary and the time of year you sail. There are peak times and off season times.

[never_cruised]

Which would you say suffers worse from crowding Oasis class or Quantum class ?

[rimmit]

11 minutes ago, never_cruised said:

Which would you say suffers worse from crowding Oasis class or Quantum class ?

 I have been on the Oasis, Anthem, and Ovation.  The Oasis has worse crowding for sure.

[never_cruised]

21 minutes ago, rimmit said:

 I have been on the Oasis, Anthem, and Ovation.  The Oasis has worse crowding for sure.

That's interesting a friend of ours recently went on the Ovation and said their experience was so so with the main issue they encountered crowding specifically on the pool deck and the Windjammer.

Edited April 4, 2019 by never_cruised

[CruisingJoe09]

36 minutes ago, never_cruised said:

Which would you say suffers worse from crowding Oasis class or Quantum class ?

Quantum Class. The Esplanade isn't a design that takes crowds well.

Oasis Class is better designed and feels less crowded. The neighbourhood concept is a genius idea and helps people to be spread across the ship as opposed to one particular area. 

 

That said, I'm a bit biased. Done all 4 Oasis Class (due back on HM in July) and only done Anthem once.

Edited April 4, 2019 by CruisingJoe09

[CRUISEFAN0001]

We've been on Oasis twice and Allure/Harmony once.

 

We've found all these ships to actually be less crowded than smaller ships, simple because the large spaces onboard distribute people more and there are more things all over the ship that attract passengers.  The only "crowding" of any kind is at peak times waiting for elevators (such as right before dinner or after a main production show), or else peak meal times in the Windjammer (and even then only for limited time-frames).

 

We'll look forward to sailing Symphony in the near future to continue our experiences on the Oasis class ships without the slightest hesitation.

[rimmit]

6 minutes ago, never_cruised said:

That's interesting a friend of ours recently went on the Ovation and said their experience was so so with the main issue they encountered crowding specifically on the pool deck and the Windjammer.

 

We never had a line to get into the WJ unlike when we went on the Oasis, they had staff letting people in as people left.  That never happened on our 16 nights on the Ovation.  Different crowd maybe?

 

We also never had to wait very long for My time Dining.  Maybe 10-15 minutes on a busy night.  We were given slips of paper to come back in an hour on the Oasis that served as “go to the head of the line passes”.

 

minor gripes,  but didn’t have to deal with it on the Quantum Class.  Also trivia was held in 270 or schooner on quantum and if in 270 always had a seat.  Schooner only didn’t have seats if coming right when started.  On Oasis if in schooner had to camp out chairs 30 minutes prior and if in On Air avoid 10-15 minutes prior to get a seat.

 

From a diamond lounge perspective both had ample seating.  Music hall massive overflow area.   On Oasis Blaze on 4 is a large overflow area.  Not as big as Music Hall but pretty sizable.

[framboesa]

Actually when we were in Allure we were impressed that it never felt crowded. Even in windjammer, we saw big lines but only had to wait like 2/4 minutes to be seated (much better than walking around trying to find an empty table). Enjoy!

[BNBR]

1 minute ago, framboesa said:

Actually when we were in Allure we were impressed that it never felt crowded. Even in windjammer, we saw big lines but only had to wait like 2/4 minutes to be seated (much better than walking around trying to find an empty table). Enjoy!

 

Our experience as well. And if zig just a little when others zag, no lines at all. Go to breakfast a tad earlier or lunch a tad later. And even then, there are numerous alternate venues like the Solarium Cafe, JR'S, MDR, etc. 

 

It's extremely easy to avoid crowds. And really, every ship gets crowded at some point. The Oasis is probably the least crowded overall, by far. 

[sellwingri]

Guess I’m in the minority.  I was on Oasis once and felt that it was extremely crowded.  Often had to wait 10+ minutes for an elevator.  Unfortunately, I walk with a cane and find it difficult to walk up or down multiple flights of stairs.  I also enjoy being able to see the water while walking through the middle decks which isn’t possible on Oasis.  I did however enjoy the water show, Central Park, and other cruise ship novelties.  

 

I cruise mainly based on itineraries so usually sail on Radiance class ships.  The mega ships only go to the same ports and are 7 days; I enjoy longer trips.  That being said, I’m trying Harmony in September so maybe I’ll change my mind.

[ShillyShally]

I've been on both Allure and Oasis - they really don't feel crowded which is a plus, and in some ways a con, as for us I felt it distributed everyone so well that not all events were as widely attended - which is great to not be crowded but they also weren't worth staying at when only a few showed up!  

 

We do love Central Park, probably my favorite place in the evenings as it was just quiet and peaceful.  We've had a balcony here and a boardwalk one and while I think I'd want an oceanview one next time to ensure I had ocean views more, I may still opt for central park, it was really nice to sit on our balcony at night and enjoy Central Park from above.

 

Don't love the fitness center on this class - much prefer the Freedom Class on this - though the track is much better than trying to navigate the top deck!

 

Don't love that you don't see the ocean as much as you do in other ships, this has kept me from wanting to go back on but I expect I'll try this class again, especially after AMPing if not one of the newest ones already decked out.

 

Like the multitude of eating options but the smaller windjammer affects us more on this line since it lacks the variety we find on other classes - this is more our thing since we have more limited food options available anyway on board.  

[jean-lynd]

Helpful hint if you want to avoid crowded dining on Allure. They have touch screen directories near the elevators. If you click on dining a list will come up showing you what venues are currently open and how crowded they are. We didn't eat in the Windjammer all week because it was usually the busiest when we wanted to eat. We really enjoyed the Solarium Bistro for breakfast and lunch and also liked the free breakfast at Johnny Rockets. I hope this helps!

[vacationlover_mn]

Symphony never felt crowded 🙂