Oasis 9/5-12/2015 Eastern Full Review w/ Compasses

Hi let me warn you this will be a long review so you who don't want to read everything I'll give you the highlights at the beginning and anyone that wants to read everything you can go from there. I will also include all compasses and inserts that I have. I'm happy to answer all questions. Just a reminder I can also answer most accessible questions. I'm a c5-c6 Quad in a manual chair.

Embarkation: we arrived around 2 p.m. and basically walked on the ship no problems.

The Ship: to start its massive! To all you first time cruisers if you go on the Oasis first you're going to have a hard time going on any classes below that. I'll start at the top of the ship and go down.

The Sports deck which includes the flow riders, basketball court, mini golf, Sports pools, ping pong talked and the zip line. The venues are spread out and set up great everything here is a lot of fun and the lines were not that long and did not take much time at all. The ping pong tables are surrounded by some glass walls which makes it nice for balls not running off everywhere. There are two flow riders. One is used for stand up and the other is used for knee boarding and they usually have a divider down the middle of the knee boarding one which makes the lines go really fast. The pools to me were not that crowded because there's four pools not including the adult pool in the solarium. The kids pool and splash zone is great and my 3 year old loved it. They do enforce no diapers or swim diapers so be on the lookout if you're one of those moms. haha

Central park is really nice but I believe it's better at night because of the lighting. It seemed kind of humid some days because it’s down in the ship on deck 8.

The Boardwalk is my favorite place to hang out if you're going to be outside. Plenty of room, plenty of things for the kids to do i.e... the carousel, the play cars, play buses and play boats. The festivals they had on the boardwalk on sea days were fun for the kids. The Aqua Theater is very neat and really cool to sit back and watch a movie on the two big screens or just relax. Plenty of food on the boardwalk also.

Royal Promenade lots of shops bars and places to eat including Sorrento's and cafe promenade.

The Pool deck had plenty of chairs and with four pools plus the solarium it didn't seem like it was as crowded as normal on other cruises.

The Entertainment on the ship was very good. Now if you're a first-time cruiser you won't know any different but for repeat cruisers this is not like normal Royal Caribbean ships. Not only is there not a show every night before or after dinner you have to make reservations for the majority of all the shows. More on this subject in the detailed review. The comedy show is a must because it's like a comedy club and not just one comedian. Come fly with me was outstanding kind of similar to circus de soleil mini show. The dreams aqua theater show was again outstanding. Splish Splash comedy show was very good. The Abracadabra headliner in my opinion was mediocre at best. The parade was fun with all the characters.

The Food on the ship was good and in my opinion is so subjective depending on people and pallets my opinion doesn't count for much. I had breakfast at every place I could accept the solarium and they are all outstanding but the Park Cafe and Johnny Rockets are my favorites. I didn't eat in any specialty dining restaurants though I did have Sabors 3 times which is a la carte and I will say it is my favorite and top-notch Mexican food.

The best table side guacamole I've had but get it spicy it’s the best. We mainly do the buffet for lunch so I'll leave it at that. Dinner in the dining room I thought was very good every night except the last night.

VOOM INTERNET is better than your home internet! We face timed at dinner with Grandmas. Cost was $133 (I got 15%off with my Plat. C&A) for the week for 2 devices.

Technology is great on the ship. LCD TV Menus by the elevators which have compasses, restaurant and menu info.

Adventure Ocean looked great but our kids didn’t go but we did use the babysitting and they were awesome and the girls wanted to go every night.

I have no opinions on the casino or drinking because we don't do either, sorry.

Service is great on Royal Caribbean don't get me wrong I'm not complaining but as an avid Royal Caribbean cruiser since 2002 service has declined and I'm not a fan of the prepaid gratuities because the waiters and waitresses know this and their service has declined. We usually tipped more on our past cruises. I understand why they did it but for us loyal people who always tipped in the past, we are now getting less service.

Port of calls are all great. We did the Blue Lagoon in Nassau, rented a Jeep went to Magen’s Bay in St Thomas and in St Maarten took the water taxi to the boardwalk, shopped, rented a jet ski and stayed on the beach.

Our Disembarkation is going to be skewed a little bit compared to most reviews. We have become friends with lots of waiters and waitresses throughout our years of cruising and happen to run into one of our assistant waiters from a previous cruise that has moved up into the officer ranks so she came and met us at Sorrento's at 9:30 in the morning walked us off the ship passed all the lines straight through customs and we were being picked up to go to the airport within 15 minutes! Just let me say thanks to Lilly and it's nice to have friends in high places!

Here is a link to my dropbox with all the compasses, adventure ocean compasses minus day 1 and 2, inserts, C&A invitations and much more.

I'll continue to add to my review today and tomorrow.

Thanks Danny, especially for all the dropbox items. We'll be on the Oasis in five weeks and these will be helpful.

Thank you Danny for your review! I am enjoying it! Looking forward to the rest of it! :)

This was our 9th cruise, 7th on Royal Caribbean. We traveled with our best friends and their family on this cruise for a total of 10 people which was 8 adults and 2 children. Our family which was myself (42) my wife (33) and my 3 year old daughter. Our best friends (30 &28) with their 3 year old daughter, the wife’s mother (49), father (62), sister (25) and her husband (27).

For this reviews sake I did want to let you know that I'm actually paralyzed from the chest down in a manual wheelchair so if someone's reading this with disability or accessible questions you'll know what point of view I'm coming from. Enough of the explaining and let's get to the cruise.

We left on a Wednesday night from Lake Charles Louisiana and drove to New Orleans Louisiana spent the night. We flew out of New Orleans around 2:30 we landed in Orlando around 4:30. We rented a car and a 15 passenger van to hold all of us and are 22 pieces of luggage! We went straight to our condo dropped off bags and went to Downtown Disney that night and ate at T Rex Restaurant. It's your typical themed restaurant with decent food and Downtown Disney was very overwhelming due to the size the amount of restaurants. Before we made it back to the condo we stopped at Giordano's Chicago pizza. I'm from Chicago and had to have the best pizza in the world and I threw in an Italian beef to go along with it! Friday morning we woke up and went to Disney world magic kingdom and took our 3 year olds to see the princesses and all the other attractions that was there. It was quite a day and we crammed as much in as we could. Ps. I think if I was going to go back to Disney world it would probably take 7 to 10 days to see everything with all the different parks. Saturday morning we woke up early and drove to Fort Lauderdale which was about 3 hours. Due to me leaving my Ray Bans at the hotel and other stops we did not get to Fort Lauderdale as soon as we wanted to. I usually like to get to the port around 10:30 and board by 11:30 a.m. We did not get to the port till 2 p.m. because we were later in the day, we unloaded our bags and the guys dropped off the rental cars, we walked through security checked in and were on the ship in less than 30 minutes and half of that time was due to the fact of waiting for the guys to get back from returning the rental cars. So apparently everybody in the cruise industry has realized getting on the ship early is great and nobody gets on the boat late so at least for this trip it worked out for us.

Day 1 on the ship.

Since we got on the ship late we went straight to our rooms to check them out. We had a balcony ocean view on the 12th deck, room 12166. Now this is a handicap room which is much bigger than normal rooms and the balcony is twice the size than a regular balcony so I don't mean to brag but I don't know what it's like to be in a small room on a cruise!

Now our friends had balconies on the 8th floor looking over the boardwalk and the other couple had an ocean view balcony on the eighth deck. I've stayed in almost all types of rooms except for the grand or loft suites and I think it depends on the type of person of what room you should get.

We usually get food as soon as I get on the boat but since we were late again we met in the Royal Promenade. Now for you that have cruised Voyager or freedom class, this promenade is completely different. It's much wider, it also spans two decks. There are the normal places to sit and people watch at Cafe promenade, Sorrento's or some of the bars and also there are sitting areas in the middle of the promenade which shows how wide it is. New Shops.

I know it might sound crazy but the promenade on Royal Caribbean ships is one of the main reasons I cruise Royal Caribbean because if you have any cloister phobic issues you can easily get rid of them here and again having a slice of pizza and a drink and people watching is one of favorite things to do here. From here we went to our muster drills. Ours was in the "on air" which is on deck 5 in the promenade now. It’s funny how things have changed over the years when I used to have to go on deck 4 outside with my life jacket on with all the other crazy people with orange life jackets. It was fun back then but man it was a pain and it’s so much easier now. We set in air conditioning and listened to our leader and watched most of it on LCD TVs.

After the muster drill we mainly toured the Royal Promenade, the boardwalk and went to check out where our table was for dinner. We had late seating and no shows for the first night of cruising. I had emailed the maître d and requested a table for 12 on the 4th floor in the middle because of my wheelchair and making it easier to get to the table. My request was granted and I appreciate it but unlike Voyager and freedom class ships when you are entering the 4th floor restaurant the Oasis does not have a venue between the restaurant and the casino. So as we were seated the first night we quickly realized that all the casino smoke was pouring into the front of the restaurant and us not being smokers had a very hard time with it. We requested to be moved which they did for the next night. Now in my opinion our service wasn't very good so comparing to any restaurant on land its great. I think we got put into a section and had a waiter and assistant waiter that were from two different areas that were trying to serve us as best they could but it was just hard for them to keep up so our service was a little slow but again don't get me wrong their service kills anything Chili's can offer any day. Again let me say I'm very spoiled when it comes to waiters and waitresses because we've had some of the best in the past and it's hard to top that, so take my opinion very lightly. Just to get to know me a little bit there's not much I won't try at least once so sometimes I pick the weird things on the menu. For my appetizer I had the Asian coconut seafood soup which was not very fishy which I was surprised and it was very light and refreshing. For my main course I had the marinated grilled pork chop which was flavorful and very good. For dessert I had the blueberry peach crumble and I'll describe it this way, I wish I could have took a pan full back to my room! After dinner we took a stroll through Central Park which is beautiful at night and the lights add to the park and make it just a nice place to be. We decide to get in bed because we had to be up at the crack of dawn for Nassau the next morning.

Thank you for doing a review. Sounds very positive so far (aside from the decline in the service). How old is your little one?

We're going on Allure, also Eastern Caribbean next year and so excited to read your thoughts. AND...we just booked Blue Lagoon beach day so especially intersted in hearing this.

I look forward to your review.

PS- You must have added your second post at the same time so I see she's 3. She looks very sweet. And how amazing that you were able to visit Disney World before your cruise. It doesn't get any better than that! :-)

Thank you for doing a review. Sounds very positive so far (aside from the decline in the service). How old is your little one?

We're going on Allure, also Eastern Caribbean next year and so excited to read your thoughts. AND...we just booked Blue Lagoon beach day so especially intersted in hearing this.

:-)

Yes she just turned 3. I'm about to post Day 2 with the Blue Lagoon. If I don't give enough info, feel free to ask.

Day 2 Nassau 7am-2pm

Woke up early that morning and watch the sunrise as we pulled into Nassau which was beautiful with clouds.

We went to the Wipeout cafe on deck 15 for breakfast and set port side along the glass as the boat docked. Wipeout cafe has your normal breakfast foods. We scheduled the Blue Lagoon through the boat as our excursion. My wife, my daughter, and 3 others from our party did the dolphin encounter at the Blue Lagoon and the rest of us did the beach package at the Blue Lagoon. Ok first let me say that in my opinion Nassau is not the best stop Royal Caribbean can offer in fact I believe Labadee is much better. Atlantis is way too expensive for the amount of time that you get to stay and that's why we did not do that excursion. Ok the Blue Lagoon Beach Break was $75 per person which is $20 more then what you pay if you do it straight through blue lagoons website. You also get more for your money by doing it through their website. Now here's the catch the boat that takes you to the Blue Lagoon is docked at Crown Bay about a two minute walk from the Oasis. It is only for Royal Caribbean excursions. If you book the excursion through the Blue Lagoon website you have to get a taxi to the Paradise Island stop to get on the boat that takes you to the island. So make sure you factor that in if you plan on doing the excursion on your own. Now the island was beautiful it had everything we needed.

They have Rentals and extras that you can rent. Plenty of shade hammocks chairs and the water is crystal clear and not very deep in the lagoon side.

Now if you want to snorkel go to the dining area and walk over the little sand hill to the back side of the island. Our friends went over there to do some snorkeling and had to wait for high tide but were able to swim through some rock formations into one of the most beautiful coral reefs and Fish area that they had ever seen. They have snorkeled in Costa Rica and other places to give you the comparison. The lunch was burgers and chicken, plantains, fries, salad and it was all good in my opinion. They also have a gift shop with about anything you need. They have a bar with all the drinks you also need. The dolphin encounter was great my daughter loved it. It’s in groups of 8 and you get to pet, kiss, hug, dance and a few other things with the dolphins so it very much worth it. Your family can watch which makes it really great without paying and also after that you can walk over and watch the dolphins swim and do their own thing along with stingrays and fish that we saw. I would recommend this excursion to anyone especially families. There was very little people there and it was very enjoyable and not crowded at all. I apologize for the lack of pics of this excursion but I took mostly video. Search blue lagoon nassau on youtube and you'll see everything you need to. After you've been on the island for awhile remember te ferry departs at 11:30am & 12:30pm to go back so don't miss them! We waited and didn't eat the lunch until right at noon. Ok, I'm going to take a break and continue Day 2 soon.

Yes she just turned 3. I'm about to post Day 2 with the Blue Lagoon. If I don't give enough info, feel free to ask.

Your day at Blue Lagoon sounds great. The dolphin experience must have been so special for your 3 year old. We're only doing the beach day, but I do like the fact that you can still go over and see the dolphins. Our kids will enjoy that.

Can i confirm that you get use of mats, tubes and noodles as part of the excursion? I know the aqua park is separate but do believe that the basic water toys are included.

Do you feel that it is worth it just for the few hours? It is pricey but seems to beat the other Nasau options and beach seems lovely (and Atlantis is pricey and the water park doesn't even open until 10am)

Your day at Blue Lagoon sounds great. The dolphin experience must have been so special for your 3 year old. We're only doing the beach day, but I do like the fact that you can still go over and see the dolphins. Our kids will enjoy that.

 

Can i confirm that you get use of mats, tubes and noodles as part of the excursion? I know the aqua park is separate but do believe that the basic water toys are included.

 

Do you feel that it is worth it just for the few hours? It is pricey but seems to beat the other Nasau options and beach seems lovely (and Atlantis is pricey and the water park doesn't even open until 10am)

Yes the mats, tubes and noodles are part of the excursion. Yes I agree it seems kind of pricey but compared to the other things you can do in Nassau it was pretty reasonable. Again if you have kids they will love it because the water is so shallow and clear and as an adult there's plenty of places to get Sun or shade and relax. I enjoyed the food and I know it doesn't seem like a long time but it was plenty for us to get Sun and enjoy the Dolphins.

I forgot to mention one thing. The manager and the rest of the people on this island are very helpful and are glad you come to the island. The manager also told me he is working out a deal with a company to bring zip lines and they're also cementing all of the wooden path to make it easier for strollers and Wheelchairs. I said all that just to show that they take great care and are trying to make it even more enticing for people to come.

Yes the mats, tubes and noodles are part of the excursion. Yes I agree it seems kind of pricey but compared to the other things you can do in Nassau it was pretty reasonable. Again if you have kids they will love it because the water is so shallow and clear and as an adult there's plenty of places to get Sun or shade and relax. I enjoyed the food and I know it doesn't seem like a long time but it was plenty for us to get Sun and enjoy the Dolphins.

Thanks so much for the feedback. It's only the price for the short time that has me questioning it. But it does sound worthwhile. And we want to enjoy and look forward to our day in Nassau rather than it just being a time waster. Our kids will be 10.5 and 6.5 when we go, and our little one doesn't really swim so the water sounds perfect.

So good to hear they are accomodating and doign thigns to make it even better for everyone.

One more question...I'm assumign the island is pretty safe? The reason I'm asking is because it sounds like somewhere I'd love to bring a camera, but if we're all in the water, then I'd have to leave the camera onshore. I never did figure out the logistics of this.

One more question...I'm assumign the island is pretty safe? The reason I'm asking is because it sounds like somewhere I'd love to bring a camera, but if we're all in the water, then I'd have to leave the camera onshore. I never did figure out the logistics of this.

Yes, think of it this way this is actually an island in every sense. No one lives here its just a place where they work. I would consider one of the most safest places I've ever been. Again the only people on the island outside of tourist, are staff that work on the island. Would be more about trusting the tourist that would be anybody else. My wife and friends left all their stuff in their bags by their chairs and had no issues.

Yes, think of it this way this is actually an island in every sense. No one lives here its just a place where they work. I would consider one of the most safest places I've ever been. Again the only people on the island outside of tourist, are staff that work on the island. Would be more about trusting the tourist that would be anybody else. My wife and friends left all their stuff in their bags by their chairs and had no issues.

Thanks again for your comments. Obvioulsy we don't know our fellow cruisers (or other ship cruisers) but good to hear in general, it's safe and a camera 'should be' ok if we at least don't leave it out in the open.

Looking forward to hearing more about your cruise.

Danny, your review keeps getting better! Thank you again for taking the time to post!

Danny, your review keeps getting better! Thank you again for taking the time to post!

Thanks Ken. I've been on this board reading forever so I figured it was about time! Though as I go through this process, please excuse my grammer sometimes. lol

One thing on this cruise that I noticed different from the last time was getting back on the boat through security is a lot more hectic than usual . For example are sleeping babies in their strollers had to be taken out and the whole stroller searched before we could get back on the boat .

After a day at the Blue Lagoon most of us we're tired after getting back on the boat. My wife went down to Park Cafe to get the famous roast beef sandwich. So yes it was a good sandwich but what you might have read my earlier post, if you're a Chicagoan or have ever had an Italian beef sandwich from Chicago you'll know this roast beef sandwich has nothing on that. But it was a good sandwich not sure why everybody makes a big of a deal about it. Now it was nap time. We did not have an Early Show so we waited and got dressed for formal night.

My wife and I take almost all the pictures that are offered so we did that for a while.

My wife Kari & Daughter Giada (Pronounced Ja-Da in case you're wondering)

Giada & Isabell (Best friends) This is there second cruise together.

We were now on the way to our new table on deck 4 which was all the way to the back right along the wall away from the smoke. For my appetizer I had shrimp cocktail, for my main course I had the filet of beef and for dessert double strawberry cheesecake. Again all three courses were delicious, my steak was cooked perfect and no complaints.

Ps. When we cruise we go all out and rent tuxedos and have fun!

We had reservations for Comedy Live at 10:30. Ok here we go if you don't get reservations before you get on the boat you will not get to see the show. For example there was more than 90 people in line to get in on the standby line. The Comedy Club only seats 90 people so when they started letting the standby line in only six people got in. This line was consistent as far as how many people in line every night of the cruise for every show. And let me reiterate the show was incredible and again it's not just one comedian its a comedian who is the host and then at least two more comedians come on the stage and it was well worth it and I probably would have paid to see the show. After the show we hit Sorrento's for some late night pizza and went to bed.

Your daughter is one little cutie! She reminds me of my granddaughter. No problem, I do not judge peoples writing, just want to read and get the info. My writing is not always the greatest.

Loving your review!! Your daughter is adorable!!

Loving your review Danny. Thanks.

Thanks so much for positing your review! We are traveling Allure soon with a wheelchair and I'll be looking for any accessible tips.

One question - did you notice public accessible bathrooms anywhere on the ship? We have an accessible stateroom, but the ship is so big there may be times when we are out and about and need to find one.

Last time on Allure, we did not need accessible bathrooms, so we did not notice.

Also, did you use any of the pools? Did you find them easily accessible? We did not do that last time either - and I understand the beach pool is accessible and there are lifts on one pool and one whirlpool.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for positing your review! We are traveling Allure soon with a wheelchair and I'll be looking for any accessible tips.

 

One question - did you notice public accessible bathrooms anywhere on the ship? We have an accessible stateroom, but the ship is so big there may be times when we are out and about and need to find one.

 

Last time on Allure, we did not need accessible bathrooms, so we did not notice.

Also, did you use any of the pools? Did you find them easily accessible? We did not do that last time either - and I understand the beach pool is accessible and there are lifts on one pool and one whirlpool.

 

Thank you.

I saw plenty of accessible restrooms but no family rest rooms.

I did not use the pools but yes you are correct on where the lifts are. I'll use them next time. I hope you keep reading because I'll discuss a few accessible things you need to know.

Loving your review!! Your daughter is adorable!!

Thanks and I agree on my daughter! :)

Loving your review Danny. Thanks.

Thanks but your review was awesome and inspired me.

Day 3 At Sea

We woke up a little later than normal and made it to the Windjammer buffet for breakfast. Again the buffet pretty much has anything you would ever eat for breakfast so no reason to go on about it but it was good. Considering I'm in a wheelchair, we had no problems finding tables. From breakfast we went straight to the pool because the girls were ready to have a pool day and I'm referring to the older girls and the three year olds! Lol I kicked back drank water to keep cool and people watched.

The pools for the kids and splash zone area is plenty and I was surprised on how large it was. Plenty for the kids to do in the water being very shallow so worries. They have life jackets for the kids if you need one. They also have what I would refer to as a small lazy river but it's the size of an oversized hot tub that goes in circles but the kids who were in it we're having a blast, including our daughters who continually want to get back in it. There is a height requirement to be in there alone which our daughters were not tall enough so I was swim with them . I actually set close to it because I get splashed once in a while to cool off.

Lol one thing I suggest when you're by the pool is continually visit the frozen yogurt ice cream machine!

At some point the reggae band started playing so we headed on over to watch that by the other pool and the girls got to dance and have a good time and show off for all the people. For some reason I can't remember what we did for lunch that day but I know it was good. After lunch one of the guys from our group entered the pool volleyball tournament so we watched him play that. Later on I believe around 4 they had a kids festival on the boardwalk which we brought the girls to.

Why they played the festival games I went to support and had the guacamole spicy, Mexican beans, chips and salsa and plenty of water!

This meal was $7.50 total, try to find table side guacamole that cheap.

Day 3 to be continued....

We had a show which was the Aqua dreams show in the Aqua theater at 7:30. The show has a story line but honestly just watching them use trampolines to dive into the water and then do all the different diving boards including the high dives, very impressive somewhat scary and all and all a great show.

This is one of the perks of going on Oasis class because you get to see shows outside and it just gives a whole new feel to go into a show. Yes we had reservations for the show and again there was a very long line to get in for the standby line but I would say you would have a decent chance of getting into the show without reservations. Not to mention you can actually stand on the boardwalk and see the majority of the show without even having a seat.

Now on to dinner where for my appetizer I had the chilled strawberry bisque, my main course was tiger shrimp and for dessert I had the bread pudding. Once again since I do believe food is so subjective I will tell you all my food was delicious and once again had no complaints. P.s let me give a shout out to all the waiters who on every cruise take care of my food by cutting it up and letting my wife have time off and getting to eat her food because my hands don't work enough to be able to hold a knife and cut food.

After dinner we took the girls upstairs to adventure ocean babysitting which the girls absolutely love and beg to go back almost every night, imagine that but I will say we never referred to it as daycare, referred to it as school! The ladies that do the babysitting are absolutely awesome the girls get to watch movies play with toys and have snacks.

They give you a phone so they can call you and vice versa. We also did after hours babysitting the night of the Quest cause it doesn't start till 11:30. These ladies were even better, they picked the girls up from "school" at midnight, called us to let us know they were getting them and took them to play on the boardwalk. Our girls are nite owls on the cruise.

We were off to the opal theater to see the love and marriage show. This is a hard spot for me to give a good review and you'll understand why as I go. My wife and I have been on 7 RCCL cruises and have tried out to be on the love and marriage show almost every cruise. On this cruise we tried out for the middle couple being married for 13 years. If you were there you know I should have one because my wife breaks out of her comfort zone and gets wild even though I am in a wheelchair but some guy falls over while he's performing his moves for his wife, the crowd laughed at him and somehow votes him in over us! I was very agitated because my wife is tried so hard to get us on the show. The show was great no complaints so it doesn't change much after you've seen it 7 times!

Ok a side note for anybody in a wheelchair or that cant walk down stairs. When you enter in the theater on deck 4 stay to your right and follow the path way along the theater all the way until you see a door which will have a handicap symbol on it. Don't be scared, open the door go through it, make a left and you will see a glass elevator or let me say a hydraulic lift elevator that will take you down so you can sit in the front row of the theater and enjoy it like regular people get to. Don't worry because one of the staff actually said it didn't exist but which I smirked at and somehow found the same elevator that I always do and magically appeared in the front row! lol Off to bed to get ready for St Thomas in the morning.