Explorer After Oasis Class?

I have sailed on several Oasis class ships and enjoyed the variety of activities and, especially, the variety of dining. I really don’t care for the main dining room and prefer specialty restaurants and, when I’m in a suite, Coastal Kitchen. I have the opportunity to go on the Explorer of the Seas for a West Coast itinerary it looks really awesome to me. I have been to the Caribbean so many times that I don’t even get off the ship anymore. My question to all of you seasoned veterans is, how different will my experience on the Explorer be compared to the Oasis class ships? Will I have enough dining options to keep me happy? The Solarium looks way smaller on EOS, naturally. It comes down to itinerary vs. ship. Yep, I know it’s incredibly subjective but I’m looking for your opinions.

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Explorer will be a significantly different experience than Oasis. Many fewer food venues, no Broadway shows, no zipline. However, there are also significantly fewer guests on Explorer, such that there are no pre-cruise reservations for shows. There is a traditional outside promenade with space for chairs. You can still access Viking Crown without being in a suite or Pinnacle level.

I have no means to determine if you will be happy with dining options.

We like the Explorer class for size and the ease in getting around.

It won’t hold up to Oasis for variety and number of venues but if you are doing the Alaska itinerary you will appreciate the amount of exterior deck so you can sightsee from the ship.

If food and entertainment is your real focus then maybe just do Oasis, Caribbean, and stay on the ship.

I’ve sailed on Explorer 6 times, along with 2 other Voyager class cruises. I’ve sailed on Oasis/Allure 3 times and on Liberty (Freedom Class) once. The Voyager class cruises were all prior to my Oasis class cruises, but the cruise on Liberty was after my first 2 Oasis class cruises. I found Liberty to be quite boring after Oasis and Allure. We were no longer impressed by the entertainment in the theater. We are not big in eating at the specialty restaurants, but since you are, I would think you would not be happy with the lack of options. I believe there is only Portofino (or maybe it has been replaced by now by Giovanni’s Table) and Chops. Breakfast and lunch are only available in the main dining room and the Windjammer (which I am not a fan of and can easily avoid on Oasis class ships.)

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Sorry, posted before I was finished, so I will continue now.

All that being said, I would still consider a cruise on a Voyager or Freedom class ship, or maybe even smaller, if it offered an itinerary I wanted, as I am also getting bored of the typical Caribbean itinerary we usually cruise.

Also, even though the solarium gets more crowded on the smaller ships, I actually prefer the layout and do not like the pool in the solarium in Oasis and Allure.

However, if the most important thing for you is to eat in a variety of specialty restaurants, than a Voyager class ship is probably not right for you.

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I traveled on Oasis then followed with Allure. I was really looking forward to a navigator cruise we chose just because it was “smaller”. What a mistake. I was really disappointed in just about all aspects but it coulda just been “one of those cruises”. We just got off Freedom last month and totally enjoyed the experience. All subjective I agree but just to give my take.

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We go back and forth between Oasis, Freedom, and Voyager class ships pretty easily. I find cruises on V/F class ships to be more relaxing for the very reason that there is not as much going on. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes not. It just depends on what type of cruise I am in the mood for.

Anyone who is really into entertainment or specialty dining is going to be much happier on an Oasis class ship. We recently sailed Freedom after having done Allure a couple of months earlier. The production show on Freedom was just old and stale but I knew it would be that way when I booked so I was not really disappointed.

Bottom line is know what is available on any ship that you decide to book. Only you can know if you will feel disappointed by not having certain venues available to you. Should you decide to book Explorer know that you will have far less choice in dining venues. Only you can know if the trade off for an appealing itinerary works for you.

I was spoiled by having my first RCC experience on Allure but I just recently sailed on Explorer. It definitely is a different experience. We took advantage more of the scheduled activities and booked more of the onboard extras like galley tours, mixology classes, etc. and did not feel disappointed at all.

We did not find the Solarium lacking anything in our opinion, either. Nor did it seem crowded being that it was naturally smaller.

In regards to shows, we did choose to skip out on those as nothing seemed to peak our interest.

There were just a couple specialty dining options to choose from so yes if you do tend to go for several of those during your cruise vacation than you will probably be a little bored with the options.

Again though, I know Explorer tends to be able to go to some great locations. Ours was Alaska so it was well worth it! Would do it again in a heartbeat!

We did the Pacific coast cruise on Explorer last Sept and absolutely loved it. It's up there as one of our favorite cruises. There were plenty of ship activities and loved the layout. It's by no means a small ship. I'm on the ship again to Alaska in Aug and am really looking forward to it.

We haven't done Oasis class, but I can chime in on being on Explorer. There weren't too many activities that interested us (lots of upsell stuff, trivia, not much else), and the flowrider and climbing wall were more of a one time thing for us. However, both the pacific coastal and Alaskan itineraries are rather port intensive (only 1 or 2 sea days). We were never bored, and perfectly happy having a chill day on each of our 2 sea days on the pacific coastal.

The main activity we did was ice skating (they only offered it 1 sea day, and my husband did both sessions, the entire session). Other than that we read books, explored the ship, drank, napped, watched a movie, had sit down meals, etc. We didn't even end up going to that many evening shows, as they either didn't sound interesting, or they only had 1 show (happened maybe 3 of 7 nights) and it interfered with our my time dining. We actually slept a lot every night that cruise lol.

Even Explorer still has buffet, main dining, room service, snacks on the promenade, and multiple special dining restaurants. I think the main things lacking are snacks (except sandwiches and cookies at promenade cafe) in the afternoon when the windjammer closes and you come back from port hungry, and late night food (although that didn't impact us as we went to bed early each night). I always bring a few snacks with us (at least for port, as I'm a snacker), and especially for afternoons, grab a few snacks from windjammer and set them aside for later.

I think as long as you are well informed about the differences and have reasonable expectations as far as activities, you will be fine. Each ship has their own appeal. Although the cost for a pacific coastal or Alaska itinerary is probably higher than even an Oasis ship Caribbean itinerary, the ship-based cost is much lower, so keep that savings in mind too (compare prices for Explorer this year vs. Ovation next year for example). Speaking of Ovation, if you want to do Alaska on Royal, and the ship is a sticking point, consider waiting until next year. It doesn't look like Ovation will do pacific coastals though.

Thanks to all for these replies. My issue has changed a little bit. I am comparing two cruises offered by Casino Royale and the Explorer one with the great itinerary is now only available on a waitlist because the main excursion to a nice winery in Sonoma is sold out. If it stays that way, I will definitely stay on the Oasis class ships with the boring itinerary and the good dining options. I do appreciate your help and perspectives!