cleophus12

Originally posted by mdaviswv Thanks so much for doing this review, it was very informative. I missed seeing that you were from PA until your conclusion. Do you mind if i ask about the drive? We're driving to the Oasis from WV in November. We've been debating how much time it will require. Did you overnight once each way, or more than once? How close do you recommend being to Port Canaveral the night before boarding? Anything you could add about the roadtrip portion would be much appreciated. Thanks again!

The Pooler exit near Savannah has several hotels and restaurants to choose from and access from and back to I95 is super simple.

I will also add a comment here about FNDR. We ate at Chops and when our check came, it was for $0. We tipped our fantastic waiter somewhat generously, and the tip was the only amount to show on our bill.

This has been a great review, by the way. I agree with virtually everything you said including your comparisons to Disney. We were afraid we might miss some of the Disney magic onboard the Oasis, and I must say Royal pleasantly surprised. It had been several years since we had cruised with Royal, and we were not sorry to be back.

We self-disembarked on May 14. We were in line at 6:15, off the ship and through customs by 7:15, and inside Animal Kingdom Park at 8:35. We were inside Pandora by 8:45. Easy peasy.

Deck 11 was great. Since there is no Deck 13, we were only two decks down from the pool deck and a few decks up from CP. We were considered Aft, (Room 11276), but only a few doors down from the elevator and stair lobby. Very convenient. Only long walks to Solarium or anything else at the front of the ship. But that's just good exercise, isn't it?

When we were there a few weeks ago, the larger planes were coming in after 11:30. We left around 2 and had plenty of time to walk through Phillipsburg and then took the water taxi back to the ship ($7).

I've never done a B2B so I don't know how that works. But if your folio number changes, you probably cannot carry the drink card over. They do put your folio number on the back of the card.

Is there a promo code for this or must one call for the balcony discount?

Also, does 9164 have the two windows like 9664?

js--We were pleasantly surprised with MTD. We also like to eat around 6-6:30. I had made reservations for the nights we wanted to eat in the MDR and we were quickly seated. Only one night did we have a problem. For some reason, our reservation wasn't showing up on their screen in the MDR, so they seated us upstairs. Even then we waited less than 5 minutes. Our wait staff was very good up there too, but we missed our regular wait staff that we had each night in American Icon.

Our disembarkation experience was also very pleasant. We did get in line before 6:30 and were in the car and out of the parking garage by 7:10. Inside the Animal Kingdom at WDW at 8:35.

Empress to Cuba, May 2018. And sooooo sorry I didn't book with NextCruise while onboard. Who knew I'd come home and book the next week?

I guess there is no First Night Done Right offering on Empress since there are not enough specialty restaurants to choose from?

We are on this same itinerary next spring, so I am interested in knowing if you found most things in Key West to be open on Sunday. I am particularly interested in Kino Sandals.

We loved Deck 11. Then there's this: if someone wants you out of your chosen room, you could wind up in the middle of a group you don't want to be in. We were in the middle of a family who had booked 6 rooms, 3 on either side of us. While they didn't really bother us, they did go out on their balconies to talk to each other, so we were sometimes caught in the middle of that. It wasn't really a problem; I just thought I'd throw that out there for you to consider.

I agree that reservations for Oasis of Dreams should be made on the first night if possible. We had made ours for the third night, but since we finished dinner a bit early, we went to check out the show on Night 1. It was amazing. So good, in fact, that we went back on night 3 for our reserved show. Sorry about your MTD experience. Ours was great. I will say, however, that we did not do the MDR on the first night. We chose First Night Done Right and we were not disappointed. We were assigned to Chops and it was fabulous.

We recently returned from our first Oasis cruise. I too had heard the horror stories of waiting in line for everything. I made the MTD reservations for the nights we wanted to eat in the MDR, and on all nights we were seated quickly. One night, however, our reservation did not show up on their screen, so they sent us upstairs to dine which was fine, but we missed the waiter we were assigned to in the American Icon. Even then, we didn't wait more than a few minutes. No lines for shows with reservations. One very pleasant surprise was the absence of lines to disembark at each port. I've been on much smaller ships that have longer lines for port disembarkation. We loved our Oasis cruise and would do another in a heartbeat. Our next cruise, however, will apparently be on the Empress. Way different.

I do not love the shorter cruises. Seems like you don't really have time to get comfortable with your surroundings before it's time to get off the ship. Having said that, I just booked the 4 night Havana/Key West trip because that seems to be the best way to see those two ports with RCI. It's been years since we went to Key West, and I've been trying to get back ever since. We travel from North Carolina (usually by car) so the short cruise will be an excuse for us to go to Disney in order to make the drive worthwhile.

Been to St Thomas many times, but did something new this trip. Loved our trip to Honeymoon Beach on Water Island. Took the water ferry over, spent the day, loved it. Easy to do on your own.

Oops! that was supposed to be May 2018.

As far as character meet and greets go, Shrek was at the Crown and Anchor welcome back event on our 5/7 Oasis trip, and he wasn't busy at all. In fact, he got in line behind me for free drinks.

A fan of deck 11 here. Short walk up to pool deck or down to Central Park. Close to elevators and stairs and very quiet. No obstructions.

How smooth does she sail? We sailed on the Nordic Prince to Bermuda years ago and it was not a smooth sailing. Nor was our trip on the Monarch. I know most of the ships have those all important stabilizers now, but were they added to EotS in her refitting? A smooth sail is important to me and the smaller size concerns me that motion may be an issue.

Booked 9164 for May 2017. Can't wait!

My concern on 9164 and 9964 is proximity to Windjammer. They are not directly under it or effected by noise from up there?

No comparison to the Windjammer IMO. Much better. We had a delightful meal there on the last night of the cruise. I had booked before boarding, and it was free. If I'd known how good it was going to be, we would have eaten there more often. Although it was not terribly crowded, a reservation is probably a good idea. Service was excellent and food was delicious. I agree with PP that the appetizers and salads could make a full meal by themselves.