Oasis changes/getting nervous

[Cruise a holic]

My sister and her family are current on the Oasis.  One of our favorite Royal Ships.  We are again booked on it in August.  They are very disappointed with the food and service on the cruise this week.  First, my brother in law got food poisoning.  Traced back to an indian fish dish on the buffet- lasted 24 hours, he is ok now.  Last night, they dined in Chops, one of our favorite specialty restaurants.  They arrrived at 6:30.  The waiter was working on 10 tables!  By 8:30 the waiter brought them their main course, forgot to bring the salad and appetizers!  The main course was overcooked.   Overall they reported that the  food in all venues was mediocre at best and the service lacking.

 

We usually take the unlimited dining package, but now- I wonder if we should consider canceling this cruise and consider other options. We are diamond plus with Royal and Elite plus with Celebrity.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Cruise a holic

[kruzerci]

Unfortunately that’s pretty normal for Royal Caribbean at the moment (less the food poisoning). Our last two cruises have been very disappointing. Additionally, both sailings (7 nights and 4 night) had at least one night where only a movie was shown in the theatre rather than a show. 

[time4u2go]

18 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Unfortunately that’s pretty normal for Royal Caribbean at the moment (less the food poisoning). Our last two cruises have been very disappointing. Additionally, both sailings (7 nights and 4 night) had at least one night where only a movie was shown in the theatre rather than a show. 

I pretty much agree with these thoughts. There have definitely been cut backs and it is very noticeable.

[Denversail]

4 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I pretty much agree with these thoughts. There have definitely been cut backs and it is very noticeable.

I wouldn’t assume this is all the result of intentional cutbacks. I think some of it is a result of staff shortages and new inexperienced crew members. My fingers are crossed that as time passes they are able to increase staffing and some of these issues go away. 

[Sunshine3601]

We had 6 cruises in 2022.  Our least favorite was Oasis beginning of September.   Very disappointed with the WJ, not thrilled with Solarium bistro, not too pleased with CK either (we were in a JS).   Breakfast at JRs was good but wasnt happy with their burgers for lunch and the new charge.  So we stuck with MDR for all our other meals, food was decent but nothing great.  We had a brand new waiter, just boarded the same day we did.   He was fabulous.  

We enjoy quantum or radiance class much better.   We feel we get better service and better food.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Sunshine3601

[ValerieJo]

1 hour ago, kruzerci said:

Unfortunately that’s pretty normal for Royal Caribbean at the moment (less the food poisoning). Our last two cruises have been very disappointing. Additionally, both sailings (7 nights and 4 night) had at least one night where only a movie was shown in the theatre rather than a show. 

 

Same here.  We are sailing on Oasis in two weeks and hoping for some improvement.  The best thing to do if be sure to fill out the surveys at the end of the cruise to voice your displeasure or nothing will change.

[bajathree]

It's not just Royal....this is being reported with all the cruise lines.....cutbacks....poor service ....overworked staff and disappointments with general food quality.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

My sister and her family are current on the Oasis.  One of our favorite Royal Ships.  We are again booked on it in August.  They are very disappointed with the food and service on the cruise this week.  First, my brother in law got food poisoning.  Traced back to an indian fish dish on the buffet- lasted 24 hours, he is ok now.  Last night, they dined in Chops, one of our favorite specialty restaurants.  They arrrived at 6:30.  The waiter was working on 10 tables!  By 8:30 the waiter brought them their main course, forgot to bring the salad and appetizers!  The main course was overcooked.   Overall they reported that the  food in all venues was mediocre at best and the service lacking.

 

We usually take the unlimited dining package, but now- I wonder if we should consider canceling this cruise and consider other options. We are diamond plus with Royal and Elite plus with Celebrity.

It can be any ship. On liberty last spring a bunch of us got a stomach problem. Over 50 all got sick the same night. Quite a few went to their doctor and at least one tested positive for e coli. Unfortunately I was on a b2b. I tried to report it onboard and was brought by a Mdr guy to the front desk to talk to someone. He shouted at me it was impossible there was anything wrong with their food or they wouldnt have been allowed to sail. It had to be cozumel. Personally I didnt get off in cozumel,  only roatan where I didnt eat or drink anything.  Over 50 getting sick friday night and posting it on one roll call is beyond my experience. I'd assume many more who didnt post.  

 

Quite a few tried to call rcl and also met with resistance.  Not covid we dont follow those stats. But thanks. 

 

Then dec I did another b2b and got a respiratory something and sick for 3 weeks. 

 

Tbh I'm dreading my oasis cruise march 12. Hoping my luck gets better. I've been trying to feel more excited. My luck lately hasnt been too good.

[matj2000]

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

 

We are diamond plus with Royal and Elite plus with Celebrity.

 

I am curious what your current loyalty status has to do with your concern...

 

 

 

 

[Trailcon]

Dw and I were on Oasis in July.  We also were disappointed in the quality of the food in the MDR.  The service was not good as the staff was overworked and undertrained (lots of new people0.  We actually went to the WJ for dinner one night and someone recognized us an asked what the problem was.  We told her our concerns and she invited us back to the MDR the next night.  They improved after that.  Our best meal was playmakers food and service outstanding.  I thought the ship was too big and too crowded. I am looking forward to our next trip 12 days Seranade Tampa to Boston.

[Cruise a holic]

31 minutes ago, matj2000 said:

 

I am curious what your current loyalty status has to do with your concern...

 

 

 

 

To demonstrate that i have sailed many times on royal ships and celebrity.  Over 20 on each including four on oasis of the seas. My only not great cruise was on the adventure last may.  Old ship cabins in bad shape problems with plumbing.  mDR food poor

Edited February 25, 2023 by Cruise a holic

[kruzerci]

20 minutes ago, Trailcon said:

Dw and I were on Oasis in July.  We also were disappointed in the quality of the food in the MDR.  The service was not good as the staff was overworked and undertrained (lots of new people0.  We actually went to the WJ for dinner one night and someone recognized us an asked what the problem was.  We told her our concerns and she invited us back to the MDR the next night.  They improved after that.  Our best meal was playmakers food and service outstanding.  I thought the ship was too big and too crowded. I am looking forward to our next trip 12 days Seranade Tampa to Boston.

I don’t want to rain on your parade, but to prepare you, after two sailings on Serenade recently (December and last week), it is even worse than our recent Oasis trip in terms of food and service. The ship is frankly filthy and very neglected looking. We honestly would have cancelled last weeks trip had it not been past final payment date. 
 

Windjammer was improved since December, but MDR food and service were absolutely abysmal. Caesar salad tasted like blue cheese, all meats almost inedible (overcooked to the point of being dry and tough, overpowering salt and funky pepper taste, etc), desserts with absolutely no flavor, silverware crusted with old food on 2 separate nights 🙁. 
 

We have been sailing Royal almost exclusively for 24 years and have left our last two cruises feeling disappointed and frankly disgusted by Serenade. I truly hope they can “right the ship” so to speak before it’s too late and their brand is further damaged. 

Edited February 25, 2023 by kruzerci

[Cruise a holic]

We have an Icon cruise booked for 2024.  Crossing my fingers that the line will get it together by then.  Ship expensive for an entry level suite xxx

[reallyitsmema]

3 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

My sister and her family are current on the Oasis.  One of our favorite Royal Ships.  We are again booked on it in August.  They are very disappointed with the food and service on the cruise this week.  First, my brother in law got food poisoning.  Traced back to an indian fish dish on the buffet- lasted 24 hours, he is ok now.  Last night, they dined in Chops, one of our favorite specialty restaurants.  They arrrived at 6:30.  The waiter was working on 10 tables!  By 8:30 the waiter brought them their main course, forgot to bring the salad and appetizers!  The main course was overcooked.   Overall they reported that the  food in all venues was mediocre at best and the service lacking.

 

We usually take the unlimited dining package, but now- I wonder if we should consider canceling this cruise and consider other options. We are diamond plus with Royal and Elite plus with Celebrity.

 

I find it very hard to believe that anyone would sit in a restaurant for two hours before they got any food.  The diner should have spoken to their waiter or management around 90 minutes prior.  That table would have had another reservation waiting for it by then, so someone should have noticed there was an issue.

[matj2000]

5 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I find it very hard to believe that anyone would sit in a restaurant for two hours before they got any food.  The diner should have spoken to their waiter or management around 90 minutes prior.  That table would have had another reservation waiting for it by then, so someone should have noticed there was an issue.

 

I agree, I am calling it BS.

[resetjet]

All of the ships on all of the lines are severely short handed.  The workers arent coming back.  Its a hard life working on a ship and word is out. 

[PhillyFan33579]

I don’t understand the point of your comment? If you are worried about the quality of food and service on an RCI cruise, why would you have multiple cruises with RCI booked? 

[Cruise a holic]

2 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I don’t understand the point of your comment? If you are worried about the quality of food and service on an RCI cruise, why would you have multiple cruises with RCI booked? 

They did!  I couldn’t believe it either!  Boy would I have been at guest services to speak to a manager.  Horrible 

[kruzerci]

13 minutes ago, resetjet said:

All of the ships on all of the lines are severely short handed.  The workers arent coming back.  Its a hard life working on a ship and word is out. 

Word was out a long before Covid. 

[c-leg5]

50 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

To demonstrate that i have sailed many times on royal ships and celebrity.  Over 20 on each including four on oasis of the seas. My only not great cruise was on the adventure last may.  Old ship cabins in bad shape problems with plumbing.  mDR food poor

I know you have repeatedly given bad reports of your sailing on Adventure last year, followed by an excellent report of Oasis. I sailed 5 times on Adventure last (with a further 4 scheduled that we had to cancel unfortunately). Fortunately we didn’t experience any of the problems you had on your short sailing other than administration of MTD initially. A friend sailed last month and enjoyed their sailing.
 

However, there did seem to be an increase in poor reviews after Adventure repositioning to Bayonne and so it could be related to a change in personnel, especially upper management on board. This may account for changes on Oasis since your sailing. Changes in staff can result in changes in experience and protocols.

[resetjet]

7 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Word was out a long before Covid. 

I agree. But covid was the catalyst.

[cannotfathom]

3 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

My sister and her family are current on the Oasis.  One of our favorite Royal Ships.  We are again booked on it in August.  They are very disappointed with the food and service on the cruise this week.  First, my brother in law got food poisoning.  Traced back to an indian fish dish on the buffet- lasted 24 hours, he is ok now.  Last night, they dined in Chops, one of our favorite specialty restaurants.  They arrrived at 6:30.  The waiter was working on 10 tables!  By 8:30 the waiter brought them their main course, forgot to bring the salad and appetizers!  The main course was overcooked.   Overall they reported that the  food in all venues was mediocre at best and the service lacking.

 

We usually take the unlimited dining package, but now- I wonder if we should consider canceling this cruise and consider other options. We are diamond plus with Royal and Elite plus with Celebrity.

I plan on going back to specialty dining because I was so disappointed with the MDR experience we had back in September on Ovation.  I appreciate the heads up though because if there is a big lag on service I plan on asking what the problem is.  We don't pay for specialty dining to get a poor experience...we pay to get the elevated one.

[Cruise a holic]

16 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

I know you have repeatedly given bad reports of your sailing on Adventure last year, followed by an excellent report of Oasis. I sailed 5 times on Adventure last (with a further 4 scheduled that we had to cancel unfortunately). Fortunately we didn’t experience any of the problems you had on your short sailing other than administration of MTD initially. A friend sailed last month and enjoyed their sailing.
 

However, there did seem to be an increase in poor reviews after Adventure repositioning to Bayonne and so it could be related to a change in personnel, especially upper management on board. This may account for changes on Oasis since your sailing. Changes in staff can result in changes in experience and protocols.

Yes.  And if you read my other reviews for both celebrity and royal, that was my only disappointment with a cruise.  I am a glass half full person and typically have a good time!  Since I have another celebrity cruise in two weeks I am truly looking foward to it!

[DallasGuy75219]

45 minutes ago, resetjet said:

I agree. But covid was the catalyst.

Things weren't bad even after the restart because the cruiselines weren't sailing full.

But sailing full with fewer crew and more inexperienced crew (i.e., today's environment) is a recipe for a poor guest experience. 

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

My sister and her family are current on the Oasis.  One of our favorite Royal Ships.  We are again booked on it in August.  They are very disappointed with the food and service on the cruise this week.  First, my brother in law got food poisoning.  Traced back to an indian fish dish on the buffet- lasted 24 hours, he is ok now.  Last night, they dined in Chops, one of our favorite specialty restaurants.  They arrrived at 6:30.  The waiter was working on 10 tables!  By 8:30 the waiter brought them their main course, forgot to bring the salad and appetizers!  The main course was overcooked.   Overall they reported that the  food in all venues was mediocre at best and the service lacking.

 

We usually take the unlimited dining package, but now- I wonder if we should consider canceling this cruise and consider other options. We are diamond plus with Royal and Elite plus with Celebrity.

We had the ultimate dining package on Oasis 2 weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed the food in 150 Central Park, Giovanni's and Chops Grill.

We are Diamond plus and had 62 cruises so hopefully I am a good judge.

Edited February 25, 2023 by grapau27