Oasis changes/getting nervous

[Cruise a holic]

5 hours 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.

This isn't BS  I would have never stayed- but they did!  I would make such a fuss they might have to throw me off the ship!  Sometimes you can be too nice and understanding- not me! lol  Bet others left!

Edited February 25, 2023 by Cruise a holic

[reallyitsmema]

10 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

This isn't BS  I would have never stayed- but they did!  I would make such a fuss they might have to throw me off the ship!  Sometimes you can be too nice and understanding- not me! lol  Bet others left!

 

Sitting for two hours, waiting for your meal is crazy.  We have had an issue in Chops on Anthem before, which was handled without making a "fuss" or going to guest services.  We had a reservation and were seated immediately.  No one came near us or acknowledged us for almost 15 minutes.  Three or four other tables were seated after us and all of them had different waiters get them drinks, water, bread and took their orders.  We still had no one come to us at all.  My husband got up and spoke to the manager who was at the desk seating people.  He immediately apologized to my husband and said he would send someone to us immediately.  A waiter, who wasn't assigned to our table, was sent over to us immediately and took care of us from then on.  The manager came over later to apologize again and to make sure we were happy.  We declined dessert as we had a show to get to but the manager noticed on our reservation that we were supposed to be celebrating a birthday that night and sent something to our cabin.

 

What started out badly, ended up just fine because we didn't just sit there.

[LB_NJ]

9 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.

Both Royal and Celebrity have gone downhill however based on my last cruise I still believe Celebrity is “acceptable.” Some people might think it has slipped below that.

 

If you can book Royal for $50 pp/pn it still might be worth it.  The cruise lines are cutting back to try and get to full profitability. I would not expect improvements until they have paid down a lot of the debt.

[kruzerci]

7 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

Both Royal and Celebrity have gone downhill however based on my last cruise I still believe Celebrity is “acceptable.” Some people might think it has slipped below that.

 

If you can book Royal for $50 pp/pn it still might be worth it.  The cruise lines are cutting back to try and get to full profitability. I would not expect improvements until they have paid down a lot of the debt.

I fully agree with that statement. 

[bajathree]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Sitting for two hours, waiting for your meal is crazy.  We have had an issue in Chops on Anthem before, which was handled without making a "fuss" or going to guest services.  We had a reservation and were seated immediately.  No one came near us or acknowledged us for almost 15 minutes.  Three or four other tables were seated after us and all of them had different waiters get them drinks, water, bread and took their orders.  We still had no one come to us at all.  My husband got up and spoke to the manager who was at the desk seating people.  He immediately apologized to my husband and said he would send someone to us immediately.  A waiter, who wasn't assigned to our table, was sent over to us immediately and took care of us from then on.  The manager came over later to apologize again and to make sure we were happy.  We declined dessert as we had a show to get to but the manager noticed on our reservation that we were supposed to be celebrating a birthday that night and sent something to our cabin.

 

What started out badly, ended up just fine because we didn't just sit there.

Had this same exact thing happen to us in Dec in Giovanis on Odyssey....handled it exactly the same way you did with same results you experienced.

[bajathree]

48 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

Both Royal and Celebrity have gone downhill however based on my last cruise I still believe Celebrity is “acceptable.” Some people might think it has slipped below that.

 

If you can book Royal for $50 pp/pn it still might be worth it.  The cruise lines are cutting back to try and get to full profitability. I would not expect improvements until they have paid down a lot of the debt.

Had friends who just sailed Celebrity Edge over Christmas and New Years and mentioned a decline in food quality....it's across the board on all cruise lines. Does Celebrity handle it a little better....probably. Odyssey handled it OK in Dec ...mainly probably cause they have a very well designed functional Windjammer unlike Oasis Class but Allure months prior was absolutely terrible....was so turned off that we have sworn off Oasis class ships till things improve.

Edited February 25, 2023 by bajathree

[John&LaLa]

10 hours ago, ValerieJo said:

 

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.

 

You should do a Live Review 😉

[nelblu]

I've sailed Oasis in August, October and December.  Had early traditional and the service was good to excellent.  The old menu and the entrees and appetizers were very good with the exceptions of the pork chops entrees.  Dry and chewy.  I do a better job with Shake and Bake.  The Osis WJ is a disgrace both for breakfast and lunch.  No ready to make omelet/egg and waffle/pancakes stations.

Tried the pr-made omelets.  What you get is an omelet that has been sliced into 3 pieces with very little fillings.  At the WJ lunch they put out seafood, chicken and egg spreads.  Talk about garbage salads--so watery and don't know if they used too much mayo, however it certainly was not Hellman's.

 

Sailed on Anthem in early February and the 1st 2 nights the service was ever so slow. some at our table threatened to go to the WJ for dinner.  The Headwaiter promised better result going forward and he sure delivered.  Don't know whether the problem was in the kitchen or our wait staff.  The new menu was iffy.  3 out of the 8 nights entrees left a lot to be desired.  The worst was Mexican night as i was looking forward to the Carne Asada, but all I got was a piece of meat that was dry and inedible.  Italian and British night could have used better selections of appetizers.  One night the chef's recommendation was the Pork Chop entree, but our waiter cautioned us not to order it.😆

 

The bright portion of my dining experience was the Anthem WJ.  Better set up and selections than the Oasis class.  For breakfast they have 2 made to order omelet/egg stations and waffle/pancake station.  You can see the individual making the waffles fresh.  When you order the freshly made omelets/eggs, they give you a gizmo (?) that tells you to pick up your order.  One day, after placing my omelet order, I went to get coffee and left the gizmo at my table, and it must have gone off and one of the staff members delivered to my table.  I was impressed. 

 

 For lunch, they had at any given time 2 made to order pasta stations and 1 stir fry station.  Both of these stations were quite busy.  Like on Oasis the spreads were garbage.  One day at lunch they had a dish called "Italian chicken beef steak".😊 Don't know what it was, but it certainly tasted good and quite moist.

 

One day for lunch I was dying for a tuna salad sandwich or wrap.  I went to 2x70 (Park Cafe version) and saw that they had tuna salad wrap.  So, I ordered the wrap and was shocked that the length of the wrap was about a little over an inch.  I was so shocked, and the server saw my look and gave me 2 additional tiny wraps.  Although small, they tasted very good.  Cutting back, anyone.  By the way, no chips whatsoever on the ship.  I even asked to look under the counter.  I was told that chips have been eliminated fleetwide.  I was advised to order from rooms service.  I just bit my lips.

 

Another item that has gone the way of the Dodo bird is the antipasti salad at Sorrento's.  This is also fleetwide.  I really enjoyed the olive salad with the pizza.

 

Hope things improve.🙏 The stock has certainly rebounded although took a hit last week.

Edited February 26, 2023 by nelblu

[BennyandBo]

9 minutes ago, nelblu said:

I've sailed Oasis in August, October and December.  Had early traditional and the service was good to excellent.  The old menu and the entrees and appetizers were very good with the exceptions of the pork chops entrees.  Dry and chewy.  I do a better job with Shake and Bake.  The Osis WJ is a disgrace both for breakfast and lunch.  No ready to make omelet/egg and waffle/pancakes stations.

Tried the pr-made omelets.  What you get is an omelet that has been sliced into 3 pieces with very little fillings.  At the WJ lunch they put out seafood, chicken and egg spreads.  Talk about garbage salads--so watery and don't know if they used too much mayo, however it certainly was not Hellman's.

 

Sailed on Anthem in early February and the 1st 2 nights the service was ever so slow. some at our table threatened to go to the WJ for dinner.  The Headwaiter promised better result going forward and he sure delivered.  Don't know whether the problem was in the kitchen or our wait staff.  The new menu was iffy.  3 out of the 8 nights entrees left a lot to be desired.  The worst was Mexican night as i was looking forward to the Carne Asada, but all I got was a piece of meat that was dry and inedible.  Italian and British night could have used better selections of appetizers.  One night the chef's recommendation was the Pork Chop entree, but our waiter cautioned us not to order it.😆

 

The bright portion of my dining experience was the Anthem WJ.  Better set up and selections than the Oasis class.  For breakfast they have 2 made to order omelet/egg stations and waffle/pancake station.  You can see the individual making the waffles fresh.  When you order the freshly made omelets/eggs, they give you a gizmo (?) that tells you to pick up your order.  One day, after placing my omelet order, I went to get coffee and left the gizmo at my table, and it must have gone off and one of the staff members delivered to my table.  I was impressed. 

 

 For lunch, they had at any given time 2 made to order pasta stations and 1 stir fry station.  Both of these stations were quite busy.  Like on Oasis the spreads were garbage.  One day at lunch they had a dish called "Italian chicken beef steak".😊 Don't know what it was, but it certainly tasted good and quite moist.

 

One day for lunch I was dying for a tuna salad sandwich or wrap.  I went to 2x70 (Park Cafe version) and saw that they had tuna salad wrap.  So, I ordered the wrap and was shocked that the length of the wrap was about a little over an inch.  I was so shocked, and the server saw my look and gave me 2 additional tiny wraps.  Although small, they tasted very good.  Cutting back, anyone.  By the way, no chips whatsoever on the ship.  I even asked to look under the counter.  I was told that chips have been eliminated fleetwide.  I was advised to order from rooms service.  I just bit my lips.

 

Another item that has gone the way of the Dodo bird is the antipasti salad at Sorrento's.  This is also fleetwide.  I really enjoyed the olive salad with the pizza.

 

Hope things improve.🙏 The stock has certainly rebounded although took a hit last week.

Stock will tank in 2 years time when Royal Caribbean = crap food becomes common knowledge. 

 

I spent a lot of money for my upcoming Wonder cruise. And a **** ton of money for Icon next year. With each passing day I become more concerned about food quality and choice. Looking a little less forward to it as time goes on. Kinda stinks.

 

Reports on this thread bummed me out.

[bajathree]

11 hours ago, BennyandBo said:

Stock will tank in 2 years time when Royal Caribbean = crap food becomes common knowledge. 

 

I spent a lot of money for my upcoming Wonder cruise. And a **** ton of money for Icon next year. With each passing day I become more concerned about food quality and choice. Looking a little less forward to it as time goes on. Kinda stinks.

 

Reports on this thread bummed me out.

My last 2 and my upcoming Royal sailings were/are comp'd sailings. My one out of pocket Royal sailing that I had booked for June I cancelled. There is no way I would be paying some of the prices Royal is asking for some of these sailings with current quality and cutbacks....I would be looking at alternatives. If I was going to to be paying out of pocket for a cruise right now I would defiantly be looking at Celebrity over Royal.

[topnole]

On 2/25/2023 at 7:29 AM, 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.

Just curious how you traced it to a specific food source?  Assume you could only know this if others you know ate that the same and got sick, while others who didn’t were fine.   I was hospitalized once for this type of sickness and the hospital they said they had zero idea whether it was food related or a virus.  They only know or worry if multiple people have the same issue that they can trace to the same exact source. And even then it is just guessing.  They said it could be something consumed days prior, but it vary a lot.  So timing of food source is impossible to know.  It could just as easily be a piece of fruit or lettuce consumed at a different time or even a virus caught before the trip that took several days to kick in.  

[Cruise a holic]

31 minutes ago, topnole said:

Just curious how you traced it to a specific food source?  Assume you could only know this if others you know ate that the same and got sick, while others who didn’t were fine.   I was hospitalized once for this type of sickness and the hospital they said they had zero idea whether it was food related or a virus.  They only know or worry if multiple people have the same issue that they can trace to the same exact source. And even then it is just guessing.  They said it could be something consumed days prior, but it vary a lot.  So timing of food source is impossible to know.  It could just as easily be a piece of fruit or lettuce consumed at a different time or even a virus caught before the trip that took several days to kick in.  

My brother in law is a gastroenterologist.  He unfortunately has treated many patients with this condition.  Of course he will do a stool sample and send it out tomorrow 

[firefly333]

16 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

If you can book Royal for $50 pp/pn it still might be worth it.  The cruise lines are cutting back to try and get to full profitability. I would not expect improvements until they have paid down a lot of the debt.

I'm in texas so dont see other prices regularly and book solo, but I dont see prices for $50 .. which means $100 solo per day recently. If they exist maybe short cruises out of florida? Idk .. I've had to abandon my $100 a day yard stick. There are not even any carnival cruises from texas under $100 a day unless you get casino offers. 

[zebra36]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:21 AM, matj2000 said:

 

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

 

Why! I think folks sometimes post this info to show it isn't their first rodeo when commenting or posting.

 

 

 

[ARandomTraveler]

18 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

Both Royal and Celebrity have gone downhill however based on my last cruise I still believe Celebrity is “acceptable.” Some people might think it has slipped below that.

 

If you can book Royal for $50 pp/pn it still might be worth it.  The cruise lines are cutting back to try and get to full profitability. I would not expect improvements until they have paid down a lot of the debt.

$50 dollars a day!? What cruise are you seeing those prices on? All of my cruises for the past several years have been $185 per person, per day (or more) for a regular balcony cabin. I know I'm booking on the higher end of prices because I sail holidays, summers and prime spring weeks, but I can't imagine the price difference for sailing a less desirable time is that much.

[melbur]

Just spent 4 weeks on Oasis and the food was mediocre at best, in all venues. Service one week in the MDR was outstanding, the other 3 barely passable. Had maybe 2 excellent meals in CK.

Serenade, Brilliance and Vision also in the last 3 months and I would say in each case food was so-so.

It's across the board IMHO and each of my surveys reflected that.

[Jasukkie]

8 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

$50 dollars a day!? What cruise are you seeing those prices on? All of my cruises for the past several years have been $185 per person, per day (or more) for a regular balcony cabin. I know I'm booking on the higher end of prices because I sail holidays, summers and prime spring weeks, but I can't imagine the price difference for sailing a less desirable time is that much.

I'm starting to see deals again. Radiance for $36/night out of LA to Vancouver for five nights, for example. Five nighter on Oasis out of Bayonne for $57/night. Several Alaska sailings in the $40/night range now. Of course, inside cabins, usually on older ships. 

[Rusty_lock]

On 2/25/2023 at 7:41 AM, reallyitsmema said:

 

I find it very hard to believe that anyone would sit in a restaurant for two hours before they got any food.

That was my first thought.  Who sits in a restaurant for 120 minutes without being served and doesn't say something to the waiter and the manager.

[George C]

My first celebrity cruise a decade or so ago our table waited 2 hours to get entree items was after 10 pm , a few just left our waiter was new , many other tables got dessert and left before that , this was on celebrity newest ship solstice . We now just get UDP on royal, we 5 free drinks and suite happy hour drink package is not needed but we do normally buy a bottle of wine each night with the 40 percent discount.

[mek]

On 2/25/2023 at 11:09 AM, 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.

My grandson and his wife have an October, 2023 cruise booked on Adventure - her first and his 5th, (on other lines.). I guided them in this direction and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I didn't make a mistake.

[sgmn]

50 minutes ago, melbur said:

Just spent 4 weeks on Oasis and the food was mediocre at best, in all venues. Service one week in the MDR was outstanding, the other 3 barely passable. Had maybe 2 excellent meals in CK.

Serenade, Brilliance and Vision also in the last 3 months and I would say in each case food was so-so.

It's across the board IMHO and each of my surveys reflected that.

Interesting, as a very frequent cruiser, will you continue to book Royal Caribbean if the food is so bad ?  Glad you've pointed it out in the surveys 

[LB_NJ]

1 hour ago, ARandomTraveler said:

$50 dollars a day!? What cruise are you seeing those prices on? All of my cruises for the past several years have been $185 per person, per day (or more) for a regular balcony cabin. I know I'm booking on the higher end of prices because I sail holidays, summers and prime spring weeks, but I can't imagine the price difference for sailing a less desirable time is that much.

Probably have to settle for OV or inside however they are there.  Repositioning cruises sometimes go for these prices.

[Daghis]

Perhaps misery loves company, but I'm a bit happy to see other people seeing the same kinds of things I did. I was on the second post-drydock sailing of Independence of the Seas, and although the ship was in beautiful condition*, the food choices (variety and presentation/composition) were generally disappointing.

 

In general, I've also noticed that, like ChatGPT, crew members were perfectly happy to give out answers that were factually wrong. On Anthem of the Seas in December, while Café Promenade was closed (which they did each night from about 5 am until 6:30 am when they would start serving again [I'm a very early riser]), a Guest Services employee insisted one morning at 5:45 am when I was seeking clarification that Café Promenade was indeed open right then (it wasn't), just like it says on the app and in the Cruise Compass. Neither the restaurant staff nor the hotel director staff seemed to care what the other folks were saying/doing.

 

 

* One thing that I noticed on deck 10 aft is that either the port or starboard side carpet seemed backwards. It was a diagonal design that seemed reminiscent of the ship's wake. If that were supposed to be, one of the two corridors had the diagonal lines pointing the wrong way (unless we were backing up on that side).

Edited February 26, 2023 by Daghis

[kruzerci]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

Interesting, as a very frequent cruiser, will you continue to book Royal Caribbean if the food is so bad ?  Glad you've pointed it out in the surveys 

I'm not who you are asking, but in our case, it was because we had several trips booked that were either NRD or past final payment. Had it not been, I would have cancelled at least two of our recent cruises. We are sailing what we have already booked under NRD, but have not booked any more Royal Caribbean cruises and will not do so until if/when things look better.

 

We have been doing Celebrity, and as others have noted, while their quality has also dropped, I still find it to be acceptable, whereas I do not with Royal Caribbean. 

[SilkySal]

We recently finished our B2B on Odyssey. Staff were all great! We had a couple of hiccups, one being no enforcement of the "no smoking" zones, both inside and outside, on board for the entire first week; however, better enforcement was noticed for the 2nd week. DH has lung issues and we had to keep moving out of areas where someone was sneaking their puffs. Very annoying.

 

The worst issue was when I sat on the accessible folding down seat in the shower and it collapsed to the floor with me on it! Long story short, I needed to pull the cord to get some help. No, I do not weigh the max of 350# for the seat. Anyway, I just had a few bruises and soreness. DH is a great handy man and, in his opinion, the bolts were too small and not long enough; they had also rusted. RCCL is very lucky that it was me that fell and was not hurt bad. Hopefully, RCCL's staff had each and every folding down seat checked out to make sure they are installed safely! Yes, this was also submitted in my survey.

 

We ate in the MTD room every night on the first week, and only dined in specialty restaurants and CK during the 2nd week. The food in the MDR was always good to great but never inedible. The specialty venues were superb, which is what we paid for, so will definitely try to dine specialty going forward or at least use our BOGO amenity for 2 nights. The filets in all venues were delicious! On our future cruises, if I don't care for the MDR menu, I will just order my favorite filet from Chops, which has a reasonable upcharge IMO!

 

To answer the question, will we continue to choose RCCL for future cruises? Most definitely yes,  even with the seat falling disaster (that's why it's called an accident). We have 10 future cruises booked with RCCL and look forward to all of them! All of the cruise lines are experiencing problems. The only other change I will make is to have DH check out that d*** seat before I decide to sit on it! LOL! Happy cruising and cheers to all of our cruising buds!!