Live From Oasis of the Seas 2/18-2/25!

[KroozNut]

19 hours ago, Pochi Hanaki said:

 

Naw until RC starts reducing the cost for kids they are going everywhere they are allowed at what ever time they are allowed 🙂

🙄😒

[jam19872016]

Things have been pretty crazy non stop since reentering reality. I have a few comments to catch up on, as well as my final thoughts to post still.

 

Unless things go sideways I will get this thing finished tomorrow 😀

[jam19872016]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:03 AM, exlondoner said:

I shall be very interested to see your final thoughts. In addition, I should be interested to know the extent that this giant ship differs from lesser RCL ones such as Anthem, which I think is sometimes based at Soton. Strangely, although I hate the lack of connection with the sea and am not any sort of gambler, I have found more to like on Oasis than on your other voyages (not Cunard, obviously), even down to consistency of cruets. 😀

 

I look forward very much to accompanying you and your ma vicariously on your next jaunt.

Although it is smaller, Anthem is still one of the largest cruise ships in the world 😅. I have no experience on that ship, but I did sail sister ship Odyssey. I sailed at 40% capacity, and even then noticed many choke points that I suspect would make the ship feel very crowded at full occupancy. 

 

It also lacked so many of the wow features that make Oasis class so unique and instead gets its unique wow factors from things like the North Star observation pod (which is cool maybe one  time) and iFly which is not something I would ever be brave enough to do. A lot of things that don't personally appeal to me. 

 

The one "wow" feature I thought was cool was the giant animal spanning several decks high on the outside, on Anthem I believe it is a giraffe, oddly I don't remember what Odyssey had, maybe a giant cat chasing a ball of yarn? Maybe I dreamed that 🙂

 

For me, my favorite is Voyager and Freedom class. They are still quite large ships, but quite a bit smaller than Oasis while still having a lot of nice features and options to choose from. Independence is my favorite of this group, and I am sad to see her leaving soon back to your neck of the woods. I have enjoyed more cruises on her than any other ship and I am so sad to see her leave, especially since the response on these boards have been one of not so happy to have her back. By all means, let us keep her 😁

[jam19872016]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:05 AM, fla33023 said:

Are you doing a Live for that one? I'll have to leave a post-it since I don't spend any time on that board. I need to follow along with all of your mom's shopping trips! We mainly sail Indy & Freedom as it fits best with the school calendar. We did Symphony during the "lift and shift" phase so the ships weren't very full. I've never experienced leaving a full Oasis-class ship! We normally disembark late since we live in Hollywood, but I'd imagine it would be better to get off early in order to get an Uber. Thanks for another fun Live 😀

I will be doing a live and will be sure to post a link on this threat so that you can find it easily.

 

I love Indy and Freedom and have found that Oasis is set up well for the crowds so disembark is about the same as on the smaller girls. The issue here is Miami traffic outside the ship. 

 

Thanks for following along!

[jam19872016]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:08 AM, colesc15 said:

What point list did you end up landing on for your sailing? Any early idea of the sailing you're going to choose? 

I ended up with list available at 2000 points. The good options kicked in at 3000 and I had 2400, I was half tempted to go for it, but didn't want to undo all my early gains.

 

I would like a 7 day or longer trip on something Freedom class or higher, or Voyager class if it is amped but since neither of those options are in Florida anymore, Freedom class or higher. Prefer Port Canaveral or Ft. Lauderdale.  The only option is an 8 day on Freedom but the dates will interfere with a really nice trip I wanted to do in November (Freedom date was in December)

 

The next best bet is five days on Indy next January, but it's out of Miami. Still I might suck it up as I want to sail her again before she leaves for Southampton. I did many of cruises on her and Mariner when they were they post restart short cruises for Port Canaveral. I really had a lot of great times on those two ships, and the weekend trips were easy to get away for.

 

Other than that, I would likely just randomly pick something out of port Canaveral, or for my birthday, there is nothing else appealing.

[jam19872016]

On 2/25/2024 at 11:11 AM, Harrisonkid said:

I too enjoyed your posts. I felt like I was there with you but sadly I just stepped on our scale and I gained 7 lbs this week . Must be those dinners you at for me😁

Only 7? I gained 11.0 😮

 

Thankfully it is coming off, down 7.8 so far, although this is the point last time where it stopped coming off so easily.

On 2/25/2024 at 12:46 PM, gambler said:

Thank-you for a great review!

Happy to do it 🙂

 

Thank you for following along!

[jam19872016]

On 2/25/2024 at 12:50 PM, rwest898 said:

@jam19872016can you please post the link to your March cruise here.  Thank you 😊 

 

On 2/25/2024 at 11:21 PM, perfect match said:

Yes, please do! I’ll be looking for you.

I sure will! Just over two weeks to go before it begins 🙂

 

[jam19872016]

On 2/25/2024 at 11:36 PM, Pochi Hanaki said:

 

Naw until RC starts reducing the cost for kids they are going everywhere they are allowed at what ever time they are allowed 🙂

Fair enough, it was not advertised as 18+ like late night piano bar on Carnival. Although, it did not stop them from lounging in Solarium (every time I walked through).

 

Or watching their parents play the slots (multiple times).

 

Or in the case of one older teenager playing the slots (parents arguing amongst themselves what if he wins a jackpot we could get in trouble for allowing it)

 

Or coming in the crown lounge unaccompanied by a parent.

 

All the kids were very well behaved on this trip, which may be the only time I have ever been able to say that on Royal Caribbean. I guess I sailed during President's Day, which is a take kids on vacation kind of week. Oasis handles that many kids well with lots of places for them and again, they were all well behaved, just did not respect adults only spaces and crew did nothing to enforce it (which is odd for the casino at least). 

 

Also I see the attached ad constantly....

 

 

 

How much lower can the cost for kids get than free?

 

But I have said it before and I will admit to it again, I am the youngest person ever to shout out "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!! 😅.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Summary:

 

Dining:

 

Since I had the (almost)Unlimited Dining Plan I did not try out much of the included food on board the ship. I did eat at Sorrento's one night and it was fine. It was no better and no worse than the pizza on any other Royal Caribbean ship. I would rank it better than Celebrity and slightly behind Carnival, far behind MSC. The service is quick, however, and the ease of obtaining late night pizza places it ahead of Carnival overall.

 

Café Promenade was where I got most of my late night snacks from. The food here is much better than I remember and I liked, or loved, everything that I got from here. It is not a suitable substitute for a meal, but a very nice snack option. I don't recall having this option this late in the past on Oasis class, but I could just be not remembering correctly. It was not listed as open in the App past either 11 or 12.

 

Those were the only included options I tried. I took a walk through the Windjammer once, and it looked very uninspiring. Mostly kids foods (hot dogs, fries, burgers and the like), and mystery casserole dishes. I have rarely been anything but extremely disappointed in the Windjammer, and if we are going by looks alone, I don't think this one would do any better. 

 

El Loco Fresh is hit or miss and the line was always pretty bad, depending on if it hit, or missed, I may have only braved the line one time.

 

Park Café was my planned spot to enjoy lunch, but the one time I went in, it also looked disappointing. I seem to recall a nice selection of sandwiches and wraps available that they would heat up and deliver to you. Always very yummy. I did not see that this time, only the same selection that was available at café promenade, not suitable for a meal. The salad station looked pretty sad too, however I am sure it would have been fine. Better than Carnival's salad bar and I made do with that.

 

Solarium Bistro was closed off every time I went past it for both lunch and dinner.

 

The Boardwalk Doghouse looked very nice. Not sure how appealing hot dogs and sausages would have been after seven days, but they did look quite delicious and have always been a great choice.
 

So with that in mind, I am happy to have had the dining plan. It was more money than I would have liked to have spent, and I ate way more food than I should have and many times throughout the week I regretted my choice. But after walking the included dining, I realized I probably did make a good choice, as their included options just miss the mark, consistently.
 

[jam19872016]

Of the three casual dining upcharge restaurants I would say I enjoyed Playmaker's Sports Bar the least. All three were pretty neck and neck and honestly I enjoyed all three of them.

 

Playmaker's positives were good service and really good food. The things I did not care for were the oddball pricing on the menu items that caused me to have to do a lot of math to see what I could order without having to pay extra. The other negative was the location. It was a bit warm outside and open to the outside. It was also rowdy from the kids at the pool table. Totally a space for kids so I don't fault the kids, they were just having a good time, but they were being beyond obnoxious and needed a referee after each shot as there was constant bickering about cheating and shots not counting. Constant. In fairness, most sports fans I find obnoxious also, so I don't anticipate a time when I would not be annoyed at Playmaker's 🙂.

 

Next would be Johnny Rocket's. Everything I ate here was very good and initially I was complaining about it being overpriced, and I stand by that, but had I been going a la carte, the bill here would have been lower than Playmaker's. The food was almost as good as Playmaker's and still very good. As the food is unlimited, you could also order more which is what I normally do if I pay a la carte. I always regret it after, as the food is quite heavy. The only negative here was again the location. The inside was full and I had to take a table outside where it was quite cool and windy.

 

My favorite was Portside. Sigh, it was so much better last year. My brisket had great flavor, but was super dry. The sausage was still very good, but had a strange texture to it. The sides on day one were both excellent and I repeated them on day two. The sides on day three were ok, but a little less fresh than I would have liked. Strange as the placed had only been open for about an hour and a half. The pulled pork sandwich was great both times, but again a little stale the last day. So why is this my favorite? It is still REALLY good BBQ, especially for a cruise ship, the venue is more comfortable, live music at times, and it is unique to Oasis.

 

I tried each of the elevated upcharge restaurants as well. Of these, my least favorite was Izumi. The food was just ok, nothing bad, but just not that special. Portions for those on the dining plan was also cut back from a typical order and it was the only time all week I left dinner still hungry. Service was friendly, but the server was clearly overwhelmed and it was the only dining spot all week I felt that way. I also was unable to secure a walk in which is the first time I have ever not been able to walk up at lunch at any restaurant, ever. I am not sure, but I suspect it was because they held the Sushi and Sake lunch that day, which commands a higher premium.

 

Next was Giovani's. Giovani's is my least favorite of the three Italian choices Royal has on their ships. That said, although there is not a lot of items that excite me on this menu, the choices I did pick were all VERY VERY good. The filet was ok (and the side of mashed potatos not good) but literally everything else was simply A-mazing! The service here was also very good and I appreciated the manager was able to squeeze me in when they were fully booked. Very friendly guy and was helping wait tables, as was another person in a white shirt who also stopped by to chat and check on things. The martini I ordered here was not good, but I suppose this is mostly a wine bar, as there was no cocktail menu available.

 

Chops was the second best. The filet was underwhelming, as it tends to be, not bad in any way just was not special. The sauce was Devine, but a truly good filet can stand on its own. The seafood dishes are, imho, where Chops excels. I thoroughly enjoyed both the salmon and the spicy jumbo ship. I would have liked to try the branzino to see how it compared to chops, but I also wanted to compare the filet. As the filet was just average, I regret my choice. Sides were hit or miss, mostly hit, just not pleased with the crab cake, and the bacon was too chewey and weird. The desserts were all very good and the apple pie here remains the only apple pie at sea that I rate as edible. Not just edible, but amazing! Service here was always very good.

 

150 Central Park is still my favorite option! I love the food here, very very good. The food is not just good, but truly elevated. The filet here was hands down the best I had all week, no contest. The service was exceptional and the only thing I did not care for was the lamb wellington, but I think that was more a personal preference than a quality issue.

 

I would not pay for it every time, but I am glad for the option to upgrade my dining experience by purchasing the dining plan.
 

[jam19872016]

Public Spaces and Cabin:

 

The Oasis is a beautiful ship. It is hard to believe that this ship is nearly 15 years old, as even all these years later, no other cruise line is able to match the ingenuity that went into designing the Oasis class of ships. Despite holding between 5500-6500 passengers a week, there are very few choke points around the ship. I would imagine I would have experienced a few more had I tried to dine in the windjammer or MDR, but I rarely encountered a line all week. Some of the venues were too small (looking at you Schooner) but overall, the ship flows very nicely.

With the exception of a shattered window in the Solarium, the ship is in excellent condition and was spotlessly clean at all times.

 

The cabin was adequate for my needs as a light packer and solo guest. I have no complaints. The bed was the typical Plywood mattress that Royal must have gotten a great deal on, but a mattress topper was already supplied upon arrival and I found that it made it acceptable even if not quite comfortable.

 

Entertainment:

 

I missed out on a lot of the entertainment because of the time I spent in the casino. The only production show that I caught (finally after three trips on Oasis) was the Aqua show. Unfortunately, by the time the show started at 10:15 I was, ummmm, very well taken care of by my drink vouchers from CAS and Club Royale. I, unfortunately don't remember it in great detail but these shows are always so spectacular to watch and I know that I enjoyed this one as much as the others I have seen.

 

The other main entertainment I caught was the Schooner Bar. It's very different than Carnival and in some ways I like it better. Carnival opens the Piano Bar at 9 and closes soon after midnight, even when it is still standing room only. The hours were much better, open until 1AM and often starting between 8 and 9, with on occasional extended break to not interfere with whatever is going on in the Promenade.

 

The performer had an AMAZING singing voice and interacted well with the crowd. But they key word here is performer, not entertainer. The piano bar is a very lively scene on Carnival while Royal tends to be more a guy on a piano singing. I did really enjoy him, Von I think is name was, and he will be on the World Cruise for his next contract. If you find yourself on the world cruise (jealous) be sure to check him out. His contract on Oasis is almost up.

 

As I said, I did miss most of the entertainment but i did enjoy my time in the casino, and have always been highly entertained on the Oasis class of ships.

 

Service: 

 

I found the crew all over the ship to range from good to very good. Although again, I may have benefited from most of my interactions being in the upcharge venues. The bartenders were all friendly and engaging, and every bar I went to was well staffed. No coffee line most days, no pizza line, just generally very few lines anywhere although the final sea day I do feel like we picked up extra passengers somewhere.

 

My room steward was just ok. The room was clean, and really that is all I require. But I couldn't really tell you anything about him. He did introduce himself on the second day and I saw him occasionally in the halls, but he mostly kept to himself. Not a bad thing, just different. Again, the room was always clean and that is all I truly need. 

 

Overall:

 

Overall this was a great trip. If I had any complaints it would not be brand specific but more in relation to where I am right now in what I want out of a cruise experience. I am looking for either long and interesting trips, or quick weekend getaways. A weeklong trip around the Caribbean is not really where my interests lie right now, but I do still enjoy just being on the ship and the cruise experience I just found myself wanting more than a seven day cruise could offer. That is not Royal's fault though and does not reflect on the cruise in anyway.

 

Royal is always neck and neck with Carnival for my favorite cruise line and after my last cruise on Carnival, I think I am ready to call Royal my favorite. I always tend to miss Carnival after I stop sailing with them, but I think I just enjoy the product more on Royal. The big miss for me here is really the included dining and MDR experience for My Time Dining. Carnival really excels in those areas.

 

Thanks for following along with me. I really appreciate each and every one of you, the engagement I receive from these reviews enhances my cruise experience and I look forward to doing one again soon. Next time will feature a special guest star as my mom will be joining me on that one. 

 

I will post a link here when that one starts and I would love to see you all come and join me again for the next adventure on the high seas! 

[bluewater1298]

Thanks for a great review! Look forward to your next cruise review. I've tried following a few other live reviews but they don't compare to yours. Love how you give lots of details. It feels like we're sailing along. And thanks for answering all my questions. Take care!

[Bellacruz54]

Thank you for taking us along!   We sail on Oasis in November and I thoroughly enjoyed your review!  Learned a lot from you, and loved following along! 

[colesc15]

You weren't kidding about the piano player in schooner. He's incredible and we've been here almost every night 

[perfect match]

Thank you very much for taking us along. I really enjoyed being back on Oasis again. You wrote a great live review so even though it was only a virtual cruise for me I felt like I was right there with you. As a bonus, you took me to a few spots on Oasis that I haven’t managed to visit on my own yet. 
 

I’ll be looking for the link to your next “live” in March!

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Although it is smaller, Anthem is still one of the largest cruise ships in the world 😅. I have no experience on that ship, but I did sail sister ship Odyssey. I sailed at 40% capacity, and even then noticed many choke points that I suspect would make the ship feel very crowded at full occupancy. 

 

It also lacked so many of the wow features that make Oasis class so unique and instead gets its unique wow factors from things like the North Star observation pod (which is cool maybe one  time) and iFly which is not something I would ever be brave enough to do. A lot of things that don't personally appeal to me. 

 

The one "wow" feature I thought was cool was the giant animal spanning several decks high on the outside, on Anthem I believe it is a giraffe, oddly I don't remember what Odyssey had, maybe a giant cat chasing a ball of yarn? Maybe I dreamed that 🙂

 

For me, my favorite is Voyager and Freedom class. They are still quite large ships, but quite a bit smaller than Oasis while still having a lot of nice features and options to choose from. Independence is my favorite of this group, and I am sad to see her leaving soon back to your neck of the woods. I have enjoyed more cruises on her than any other ship and I am so sad to see her leave, especially since the response on these boards have been one of not so happy to have her back. By all means, let us keep her 😁

I do remember being docked just along from Anthem somewhere on a Med cruise a few years ago. She was obviously sailing full, and it was a very hot day. While I strolled back on board my smallish Cunarder, I noticed the huge queue (really hundreds of passengers) to get back on board Anthem with no shade to protect them. I don’t know whether something had gone wrong with the technology or whether this is typical, but, from what you say, it is a bit like that on board too. It certainly put me off.

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Fair enough, it was not advertised as 18+ like late night piano bar on Carnival. Although, it did not stop them from lounging in Solarium (every time I walked through).

 

Or watching their parents play the slots (multiple times).

 

Or in the case of one older teenager playing the slots (parents arguing amongst themselves what if he wins a jackpot we could get in trouble for allowing it)

 

Or coming in the crown lounge unaccompanied by a parent.

 

All the kids were very well behaved on this trip, which may be the only time I have ever been able to say that on Royal Caribbean. I guess I sailed during President's Day, which is a take kids on vacation kind of week. Oasis handles that many kids well with lots of places for them and again, they were all well behaved, just did not respect adults only spaces and crew did nothing to enforce it (which is odd for the casino at least). 

 

Also I see the attached ad constantly....

 

 

 

How much lower can the cost for kids get than free?

 

But I have said it before and I will admit to it again, I am the youngest person ever to shout out "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!! 😅.

 

 

 

Yes, reading some recent reviews of Oasis, one of the major niggles seems to be large numbers of badly behaved children swarming the ship without much parental control, and this is generally attributed to their travelling free. (The numbers, not the behaviour, I think.)

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Of the three casual dining upcharge restaurants I would say I enjoyed Playmaker's Sports Bar the least. All three were pretty neck and neck and honestly I enjoyed all three of them.

 

Playmaker's positives were good service and really good food. The things I did not care for were the oddball pricing on the menu items that caused me to have to do a lot of math to see what I could order without having to pay extra. The other negative was the location. It was a bit warm outside and open to the outside. It was also rowdy from the kids at the pool table. Totally a space for kids so I don't fault the kids, they were just having a good time, but they were being beyond obnoxious and needed a referee after each shot as there was constant bickering about cheating and shots not counting. Constant. In fairness, most sports fans I find obnoxious also, so I don't anticipate a time when I would not be annoyed at Playmaker's 🙂.

 

In a spirit of helpfulness, I suggest, next time you are in the UK in the summer, you pop in to Lord’s for a County Cricket match (not a Test Match, which an be rowdy). You will find the fans very peaceful, or, possibly, dozing, but definitely not obnoxious. 😀

[Pochi Hanaki]

15 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

 

How much lower can the cost for kids get than free?

 

But I have said it before and I will admit to it again, I am the youngest person ever to shout out "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!! 😅.

 

 

 

Yes but see my part where I said "Where they are allowed" Kids should not be where it is off limits to them.

 

For the kids sail free it is misleading. They consider kids to be 12 and under. There are also a bunch of excluded dates like the entire summer, spring break, fall break, Christmas break. So basically the only time kids 12 and under are free is when school is in session...

 

[ninjacat123]

Great review and thanks for the overview at the end!!  Looking forward to your cruise with your mom👏😺

[jam19872016]

16 hours ago, perfect match said:

Thank you very much for taking us along. I really enjoyed being back on Oasis again. You wrote a great live review so even though it was only a virtual cruise for me I felt like I was right there with you. As a bonus, you took me to a few spots on Oasis that I haven’t managed to visit on my own yet. 
 

I’ll be looking for the link to your next “live” in March!

Glad you enjoyed it.  Thanks for following along. 

 

Even after three trips, there are places I am sure I have not hit, it is quite a large girl. Will need to try again to make sure I hit all the spots 🙂

 

 

12 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I do remember being docked just along from Anthem somewhere on a Med cruise a few years ago. She was obviously sailing full, and it was a very hot day. While I strolled back on board my smallish Cunarder, I noticed the huge queue (really hundreds of passengers) to get back on board Anthem with no shade to protect them. I don’t know whether something had gone wrong with the technology or whether this is typical, but, from what you say, it is a bit like that on board too. It certainly put me off.

Yikes that does not sound good. I try to avoid being part of the mad rush waiting to get back on. It is not fun standing in those lines when everyone is coming back at the same time. Thankfully I have not experienced that recently, but again, I am usually back before the final back on board time.

[jam19872016]

12 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, reading some recent reviews of Oasis, one of the major niggles seems to be large numbers of badly behaved children swarming the ship without much parental control, and this is generally attributed to their travelling free. (The numbers, not the behaviour, I think.)

I was very fortunate that I did not encounter any bad behavior aside from being where they were not really supposed to be. Not even any dinner outbursts. I attribute that to Oasis having a lot to offer to keep kids busy, and me staying away from those areas 😅

 

 

12 hours ago, exlondoner said:

In a spirit of helpfulness, I suggest, next time you are in the UK in the summer, you pop in to Lord’s for a County Cricket match (not a Test Match, which an be rowdy). You will find the fans very peaceful, or, possibly, dozing, but definitely not obnoxious. 😀

I hope to visit someday. There are so many things I would love to see. As you may suspect, cricket is quite low on that list 😁

[Itchy&Scratchy]

13 hours ago, exlondoner said:

one of the major niggles seems to be large numbers of badly behaved children swarming the ship without much parental control, and this is generally attributed to their travelling free.

the "free" part only applies to those 12 and under... 😞 sadly. Mine's about to turn 13 next week and is considered an adult by RCI.

 

We've been on RCI ships many times, mostly during school holidays, and never encountered any hoards of kids running wildly and behaving badly.

[jam19872016]

7 hours ago, Pochi Hanaki said:

Yes but see my part where I said "Where they are allowed" Kids should not be where it is off limits to them.

 

For the kids sail free it is misleading. They consider kids to be 12 and under. There are also a bunch of excluded dates like the entire summer, spring break, fall break, Christmas break. So basically the only time kids 12 and under are free is when school is in session...

 

 

6 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Great review and thanks for the overview at the end!!  Looking forward to your cruise with your mom👏😺

Me too! I enjoy my solo trips but I always look forward to sprinkling in some cruises with her! She says she has been spending too much money and won't be doing too much shopping, but I know better. Window shopping is still shopping 😂

7 hours ago, Pochi Hanaki said:

Yes but see my part where I said "Where they are allowed" Kids should not be where it is off limits to them.

 

For the kids sail free it is misleading. They consider kids to be 12 and under. There are also a bunch of excluded dates like the entire summer, spring break, fall break, Christmas break. So basically the only time kids 12 and under are free is when school is in session...

 

 

I really can't complain about the kiddos this trip. There was no shenangians that I was present for. And it is not like you book a Royal Caribbean cruise and expect there to be no kids. Just took me by surprise when he had to ask permission to sing a song with a few uses of the "F" word that late at night because there were still kids in the audience.

 

The country singer was less polite, no profanity but some pretty strong innuendo for the middle of the  sea day afternoon 😂

[jam19872016]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the "free" part only applies to those 12 and under... 😞 sadly. Mine's about to turn 13 next week and is considered an adult by RCI.

 

We've been on RCI ships many times, mostly during school holidays, and never encountered any hoards of kids running wildly and behaving badly.

I wish that were my experience. Hoards only a couple times, but isolated incidents pretty consistently and I can't say that has ever happened (so far) on Carnival. Now the drunks on Carnival, that is a whole different story 😬