bryanem

I earlier posted questions about deck chair saving and heard many bad stories. I haven't cruised for 3 years, my previous RC cruises all the deck chairs were saved and there were rarely open deck chairs on any nice spot on the ship. I just got back from a week on Oasis. I am pleased to report deck chair saving is largely over, at least on this cruise. I think guests are following the rules and RC is also enforcing them.  Tons and tons of open chairs, even by the pool in mid afternoon on sea days !  Amazing !  Wonderful !

It made the cruise so much more fun to be able to pick wherever we wanted to sit. Even the nice covered cabanas were unsaved, they were almost always available.

Kudos to RC and to the guests who have obviously changed their ways, I still can't believe it really happened !

Hello, 

Has anyone been to any beaches near the Falmouth cruise port in the last few months that they can recommend? 

We already are going to another excursion in the morning and afternoon so we only have a few hours, and want to stay near the port. I am seeing conflicting opinions about Burwood Beach and Doctor’s Cove and other local beaches on the open internet. I realize beaches near the port are probably more crowded, and that’s ok.  

I trust Cruise Critic member’s opinons a lot more ! 

Thanks ! 

Thank you! Excellent information! On my last two RC cruises I suffered through a crowded chaotic breakfast every mornIng on the Windjammer. I should have read my cruise compass. Through nice people like you on the boards, I have learned about the MDR breakfast, room service breakfast and speciality dining breakfast. Farewell Windjammer breakfast !😊

I believe I have read before that they serve breakfast in the main dining room, the same place you have dinner. 

Can someone please confirm that, and if so, is it less crowded than going to the Windjammer or wherever the Main breakfast buffet is?  
 

Thanks. 

Hey Watson61, we did the assigned dining time on Empress , and always were seated promptly and experienced great service. I really like the meals in the dining room, always top notch,  so I never tried the specialty restaurants. We went to Key West too, thought it wouldn’t be “tropical” enough but it was our favorite and most fun stop on the whole cruise. Have fun!!!

Empress just doesn’t have all the fun attractions the bigger ships have. It doesn’t have a big open mall area with shops and restaurants, just a small shopping area in the ship. My kids didn’t have as much to do on sea days as they did when we went on the much larger Independence.  I would recommend this as a good couples cruise ship without kids, or else for a shorter cruise with no more than one sea day. Or else if you prefer only lounging and relaxing, this ship is just great. Also, this ship does not have many or any regular balcony rooms, but the junior suites with balconies are reasonably priced. Nice friendly crew but there is no “wow” factor to this ship.  We still had a great time, it just wasn’t quite as much fun for my kids compared to the bigger ships. 

I admire you for standing up to these people, way to go ! 

It’s been three years since my last RC cruise, do they still allow deck chair saving by putting towels or personal items on chairs? 
I am going on Oasis in January and wondering if this still is as commonplace as before.  In the past, I very rarely was able to get a deck or pool chair, and 1/4 to 1/3 of the chairs were “saved” with no one there. I have heard some cruise lines monitor this and after an hour of no one there,  they remove the items and leave a tag for the person to retrieve their items at some designated place. I now get a balcony room as no one can save my chair on my balcony, or else I go to non deck or non pool areas of the ship and there are open chairs there. However. It would be cool to get a pool or top deck chair every now and then without resorting to turning into a chair saver myself. 

Does anyone have recommendations on their favorite restaurants to get breakfast on Oasis of the Seas,  other than the Windjammer buffet?  

Hello, I have sailed on the smallest Empress , and the larger Independence. I am considering the mega large Oasis.

Has anyone sailed on both large and small ships to be able to judge if the larger ships are more crowded? 

Or, is the Oasis’s square footage proportionately larger to handle the much larger number of passengers ? 

My experience was Independence didn't feel more crowded vs. Empress.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated !  

Are there any cruise lines who prohibit "seat saving" ? (putting a towel or personal item on the deck chair and leaving). We recently cruised Royal Caribbean Empress of the Seas and we could not find a single chair to sit on on the large upper deck even though easily 50% of them were empty as they were "saved".

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