Oasis/Allure Experience

We used to Live in Miami (32 years). Port of Miami was 20 miles and Port Everglades was 40. We cruised a lot. Many times booked on a Wednesday and cruised on Saturday. We now live in South Georgia. We would still drive to Port Everglades, it takes about 8 hours. Then we discovered Port Canaveral. We had cruised most major lines, except for Royal. We went on the Freedom of the seas 3 times. Had a blast. In December we went on Oasis. Had a good time, but not that "We had an Awesome Time) moment. The darn ship is so big, Tons of Passengers, but the not crew to support it. On the Freedom someone was always cleaning something. Never saw anyone doing anything on the Oasis. It started to show during the week. And the dining room. My Time dining was just terrible. There was always a long waits even with reservations. Most times they would walk us to one of the other dining rooms and put us somewhere. Always between First and 2nd seatings. It was awkward, they would be cleaning up, changing table cloths ect while we were trying to eat. We can (reluctantly) drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Question. Is the Allure the same as the Oasis? I know the ships are identical, I'm asking about how things work on-board, Crowds Crew ect) any better or the same. I need a get away.

First I would ask you when you last sailed Oasis. The first time we sailed the ship I did a write up here afterwards talking about how I thought the ship had some management issues with how things were done. The second time we sailed Oasis (2016) it was like night and day. I thought the experience on the ship was much better.

Our cruises on Allure have been consistently good with another one coming up in February. However, I picked Allure only because Port Everglades is easiest for us to use flying into FLL. If both ships were still in Ft. Lauderdale it would have been a toss up and I might have picked Allure only because we have not been aboard since Mamma Mia was brought aboard. One time seeing CATS on Oasis is enough for me.

And I agree with you about Freedom. I think it is an awesome ship and we will be aboard again in April.

Our favorite sizes of ships are 90k tons (all companies) till 110-120k tons (Princess, Celebrity).

However we had terrific time in Allure. Never ever we felt that crew size was not adequate. No negatives from that cruise in January 2016.

Ship was clean, welcoming. Great organization of shows and other events.

Food? Well, Royal was never a foodie line, but we felt that food was in line with our other RCCL experiences.

We used to Live in Miami (32 years). Port of Miami was 20 miles and Port Everglades was 40. We cruised a lot. Many times booked on a Wednesday and cruised on Saturday. We now live in South Georgia. We would still drive to Port Everglades, it takes about 8 hours. Then we discovered Port Canaveral. We had cruised most major lines, except for Royal. We went on the Freedom of the seas 3 times. Had a blast. In December we went on Oasis. Had a good time, but not that "We had an Awesome Time) moment. The darn ship is so big, Tons of Passengers, but the not crew to support it. On the Freedom someone was always cleaning something. Never saw anyone doing anything on the Oasis. It started to show during the week. And the dining room. My Time dining was just terrible. There was always a long waits even with reservations. Most times they would walk us to one of the other dining rooms and put us somewhere. Always between First and 2nd seatings. It was awkward, they would be cleaning up, changing table cloths ect while we were trying to eat. We can (reluctantly) drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Question. Is the Allure the same as the Oasis? I know the ships are identical, I'm asking about how things work on-board, Crowds Crew ect) any better or the same. I need a get away.

Had a very similar experience + observation on Harmony - we stay away from O-class now. We also think there is a fan-base of different people that love O-class - we do not miss those on the other ships....;p

We used to Live in Miami (32 years). Port of Miami was 20 miles and Port Everglades was 40. We cruised a lot. Many times booked on a Wednesday and cruised on Saturday. We now live in South Georgia. We would still drive to Port Everglades, it takes about 8 hours. Then we discovered Port Canaveral. We had cruised most major lines, except for Royal. We went on the Freedom of the seas 3 times. Had a blast. In December we went on Oasis. Had a good time, but not that "We had an Awesome Time) moment. The darn ship is so big, Tons of Passengers, but the not crew to support it. On the Freedom someone was always cleaning something. Never saw anyone doing anything on the Oasis. It started to show during the week. And the dining room. My Time dining was just terrible. There was always a long waits even with reservations. Most times they would walk us to one of the other dining rooms and put us somewhere. Always between First and 2nd seatings. It was awkward, they would be cleaning up, changing table cloths ect while we were trying to eat. We can (reluctantly) drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Question. Is the Allure the same as the Oasis? I know the ships are identical, I'm asking about how things work on-board, Crowds Crew ect) any better or the same. I need a get away.

Sorry you had the bad experience, I hope it did not ruin the trip as a whole.

I have yet to sail on an oasis class (have allure booked for March), but can respond somewhat to the my time. We did my time on jots earlier this year and loved it, but we always tried to eat around early seating. Unfortunately, if you go without a reservation right after the whole place is full, there is no real recourse than to have you wait until somebody is done (may take some time) or put you somewhere else. This is why you usually cannot even make reservations in the middle of a seating, as they know it will be tough to accommodate. If they hold a table for you until late in the seating, it may mean that table only gets one seating, which can cause other issues. I would suggest if you take mtd, to either make reservations, or try to go around the early or late seating's of traditional.

I know that making reservations seems counter-intuitive, but it is no different than a busy land based restaurant. Around us, if we try to go to a restaurant that has a wait, and go around 6:30, the wait will be bad, because all tables are full, and the restaurant is not going to kick people out so somebody else can sit.

We were on the Oasis in December 2016. We have been to the Caribbean so many time we really don't care what the ports are, Many times we don't even get off the ship. The Oasis, kinda just made me tired. Wait for this, and Wait for that. Things were opened and closed at odd times. You would have for example: Workers in Johnny Rockets uniforms working at the pizza place. It was all a bit strange to us. Trying to get a drink at some of the venues was like pulling teeth. They walk right by you, you have to get up and go to the bar yourself, and then if you are lucky you might get served. I did talk to my Cabin steward about this. He told me that it had a lot to due with the Drink Packages. The servers do get that much of a tip per drink, thus ignore people that a lot of the passengers are very demanding in regards to the packages. Thinking back there was a lot of drinking going on, you couldn't' even get up to the bar sometimes. During the safety drill we were seated at the champagne bar. Some passengers were upset that they couldn't be served drinks during the drill, you could not hear about the drills for them arguing with the bartender, it was like a sea gull feeding frieze. We are people watchers, we sat there and watched as they all Jockeyed for position to get their drinks. I felt sorry for the bar staff. I think I can still close my eyes and hear (I have the DRINK PLAN, I have the DRINK PLAN).

We were on the Oasis in December 2016. We have been to the Caribbean so many time we really don't care what the ports are, Many times we don't even get off the ship. The Oasis, kinda just made me tired. Wait for this, and Wait for that. Things were opened and closed at odd times. You would have for example: Workers in Johnny Rockets uniforms working at the pizza place. It was all a bit strange to us. Trying to get a drink at some of the venues was like pulling teeth. They walk right by you, you have to get up and go to the bar yourself, and then if you are lucky you might get served. I did talk to my Cabin steward about this. He told me that it had a lot to due with the Drink Packages. The servers do get that much of a tip per drink, thus ignore people that a lot of the passengers are very demanding in regards to the packages. Thinking back there was a lot of drinking going on, you couldn't' even get up to the bar sometimes. During the safety drill we were seated at the champagne bar. Some passengers were upset that they couldn't be served drinks during the drill, you could not hear about the drills for them arguing with the bartender, it was like a sea gull feeding frieze. We are people watchers, we sat there and watched as they all Jockeyed for position to get their drinks. I felt sorry for the bar staff. I think I can still close my eyes and hear (I have the DRINK PLAN, I have the DRINK PLAN).

I was on Oasis in Oct of 2016 and I had no issue getting drinks at all. The bars always had bartenders available everywhere I went and at most I waited for 1 or 2 other customers though usually the bartenders were readily available. I don't recall anyone telling bartenders "I have a DRINK PLAN!!!" - as you just hand them your card... Seems maybe you are fluffing up your story a bit?

Sorry you had the bad experience, I hope it did not ruin the trip as a whole.

 

Oh no, we had a good time, we were on the ocean. We just had to adjust to some things. Example I wanted some sushi rolls to have on the balcony. I walk up/down (don't remember) to lzumi restaurant. I said to the young lady at the desk, I would like to Order Some Sushi to take back to my cabin. She was looking down at her phone, I made my request again. She then looked up, sighed and said "It's easier for me if you just call Room Service" She then look back down at her phone. So from then on out, I just called room service when I wanted something. Need extra towels, just snatch them from a cart in the hallway. Several times we just skipped the MDR. I saved a room service tray. I would walk up the the Lido, fixed us a nice dinner and bring it back to the room. That was good dining on the balcony.

We were on the Oasis in January & March and about to sail on her again this Sunday.....and again in October.

We love this ship and have always had an awesome experience.

I hope Royal will take note if others are having problems.

I was on Oasis in Oct of 2016 and I had no issue getting drinks at all. The bars always had bartenders available everywhere I went and at most I waited for 1 or 2 other customers though usually the bartenders were readily available. I don't recall anyone telling bartenders "I have a DRINK PLAN!!!" - as you just hand them your card... Seems maybe you are fluffing up your story a bit?

FYI, I've been on Cruise Critic since 2001. I HAVE NEVER FLUFFED ANYTHING.

Just got off the Oasis yesterday. Cruised her before during her inaugural month. Was not impressed this time. Ship is definitely worn, toilets were disgusting. Complimentary food was just OK. Dinner in Giovanni's was amazing, best filet I have ever had. We did the galley tour and brunch and it was also great...good food too!

This cruise the ship felt like it was cruising at capacity, which it was. Pools were packed and often 50 or more people in them at a time. Noise level throughout the ship was very high.

I will say that the service was excellent, best I have ever experienced on a cruise.

I suggest people cruise at least once on the RC mega ships just to experience it. For me, this was my last such cruise.

FYI, I've been on Cruise Critic since 2001. I HAVE NEVER FLUFFED ANYTHING.

Do you remember the name of the woman at Izumi? When we were there just 2 months prior to you, the Chinese woman who was always there was possibly one of the single best cruise ship employees we had every met. She always recognized us everywhere and would go out of her way to be helpful. Just interesting how 2 months later, your experience in general is so much different than ours.

Do you remember the name of the woman at Izumi? When we were there just 2 months prior to you, the Chinese woman who was always there was possibly one of the single best cruise ship employees we had every met. She always recognized us everywhere and would go out of her way to be helpful. Just interesting how 2 months later, your experience in general is so much different than ours.

The woman at the desk was not Asian.

FYI, I've been on Cruise Critic since 2001. I HAVE NEVER FLUFFED ANYTHING.

People can have very different experiences on the same ship and even on the same sailing. Passenger mix, crew turnover, and the service team that you come in contact with can all affect your cruise. So the fact that your experience was different from someone else's is not surprising and would not accuse you of fluffing the story.

It is interesting to see how people view their Oasis class experience. I am going on the Oasis in just over a month, then have a summer cruise booked on her with the granddaughters for next year. We will see if we keep the second reservation.