Impressions of 3-13-2010 Cruise

[mrtdm1]

We just returned from week's cruise, 3-13 to 3-20-2010.

 

Here are a few comments.

 

If you have one or more couples with you, you need to get the ROYAL CONNECT PHONES. We got stuck in a traffic on the Interstate and were late arriving and did not get them. RCL needs to provide at least one for each cabin. They did not so far.

 

If you are a Karaoke Buff, the selection is terrible!! You may bring your own discs and they will play it. They say it is because of the Royalty Fees, so most are flip sides of the Hits. No Neil Diamond, few Garth Brooks, etc.

 

It if you want my time dining, i suggest you book before you get on board. If not you may have a good wait after 700PM. We booked in advance and went right in and we had 8 people.

The Windjammer Buffet area has the best table service on any ship we have been on and that is over 30 cruises! They will get you what ever you want and bring it to ur table. They even help u find a table!

 

The shows were all good. The Ice show was a little slow for us, but the costumes were great.

 

Hair Spray and the Aqua Show are MUST SEES. The Comedy club is so so as is Come fly With Me. But 2 each his own.

 

If you drinkl a lot of Soda the package is great and they put the indicator on your card so u do not have to carry the bulky glass they give you everywhere. Just show your card.

 

We were in #12220 with a oceanview balcony. It was adequate. One couple we came with was next to us so we had the steward open the Balconies between us. Great idea.

 

Embarking was fastest we every have had. We were on the ship in 15 minutes, easy.

Disembarking same way. If you are Platinum and above u have a special room with Cont. Breakfast for your waiting. We were in Opus Dining Room 3.

 

If you get to the Windjammer before 0900 AM daily you have no problem eating Breakfast there. We had slow service at Johnny rockets for Breakfast one morning with no one there!

 

The solarium is mostly lighter fare with a lot of low calorie food. We did not get in any of the specialty restaurants as they were booked. Get them booked on line b4 you leave!!

 

Lots of things for children and teens to do as well.

 

Did not do any excursions as we have been there and done that on all the Ports we visited.

 

Take advantage of the Liquor shopping in St. thomas as they allow you 6 bottles each on return home. I bought 6 liters of Crown Royal there, Cheaper than on ship, 14.00 per. so check your ship prices b4 getting off ship. The ship recoomends a specif place to by spirits. It is not the cheapest. I found Dewards 12yr, liter for 20.00 in small shop on St. Martaan for Example.

 

Also very little movement on our cruise. Ship is soo big you hardly know you are at sea. Same goes for crowds. Seldom did we see crowds and mostly at the parades on deck 5.

 

Central park and the Cafe there are very nice. Mostly snack type and salads there.

 

lastly, they ship must be seen to beliver. Photos jus do not capture the enormity of it.

 

Hopefully when Allure sails, prices will come down. We books in may of last year and got a good price. It has since gone up for same cabin

 

Any way have fun. It is a great experience

[mgg42]

I too just got off the same voyage, so I'll add my thoughts, rather than start another thread.

 

I agree with the OP about boarding and disembarkation. Super easy, super smooth. I walked off the gangway, grabbed my bags and cleared customs in about ten minutes total.

 

I had a junior suite (9642) on the hump and it was fantastic. The room was very nice size, and the deep balcony easily accommodated the lounge chair I got my room steward to secure for me:).

 

Overall, the cabins are all slightly SMALLER than on other ships, as such, the standard balcony cabin one of my fellow travelers had seemed really, REALLY tight.

 

The IS a retractable clothes line in the shower (tub) of the junior suite, even though there is not in the standard cabins.

 

The outlets are NOT in a bad place. They are in an excellent place (and please, STOP whining about how hard it is to reach them, it makes everyone sound old and feeble). The fault in the design is that there should be a hole in the back of the desk to drop the cords through.

 

The windjammer was clean and efficient. Unfortunately, the food was mediocre, and got very tired after day one. The MDR was okay, but I really believe the specialty restaurants are worth the price. I had excellent meals at Chops (twice), Giovanni's, 150 Central Park, Izumi, and The Chef's Table. I would do them all again.

 

The ship is incredible, a must see. But it is very insular- that is, the focus is on the ship. As such, there are very limited places to see the water. If you have an outside window or balcony, you're set. But otherwise, you're basically limited to small windows in the MDR, a limited view from the Aquatheater, and otherwise, you're basically limited to the pool and sports decks. No windows in the specialty restaurants (except Izumi), No windows in Boleros, The Schooner Bar, The Champagne Bar, or anywhere else on the lower decks. Kind of a bummer.

 

Service was outstanding.

 

Cruise Director needs to be sent on a one-way journey to nowhere. But then again, I feel that way about all cruise directors. Why do these people even need to exist anymore?

 

Tons of kids on this voyage, but really saw none of them- all in Adventure Ocean and the kids pool area.

 

Solarium is very nice, but gets very warm with all the glass. The solarium pool was RIDICULOUSLY warm. Honestly, not much cooler than the hot tubs on either side. This kept me from really enjoying the solarium because it wasn't refreshing.

 

Fortunately, lots of deck space around the main pool and beach pool.

 

Really no problem getting deck chairs, save a little while mid-morning on sea days. But even then, there were plenty of chairs, just not right next to the pool.

 

We did dock port side in St. Maarten.

 

That's all for now, I'll add more if I think of anything.

[Jerseyboy1]

The ship is incredible, a must see. But it is very insular- that is, the focus is on the ship. As such, there are very limited places to see the water. If you have an outside window or balcony, you're set. But otherwise, you're basically limited to small windows in the MDR, a limited view from the Aquatheater, and otherwise, you're basically limited to the pool and sports decks. No windows in the specialty restaurants (except Izumi), No windows in Boleros, The Schooner Bar, The Champagne Bar, or anywhere else on the lower decks. Kind of a bummer.

 

As one who cruises for the "ocean" experience, I thank you for including this observation in your review. I think some on these boards would just assume glaze over that aspect of the ship, but you mentioned it.

 

Having cruised Royal before, I must say I like a lot of things about their product, but just think they missed the mark with that part of the ship's design.

 

Needless to say, that alone wouldn't be a reason for me not to try the Oasis one day.

 

Thanks again for a fair and balanced review!

[funat55]

Thanks for the review. I am a karaoke buff and was happy to hear you can bring your own disks. I have a lot of standards and show tunes that nobody ever has.

[juniorsmom]

I was on the same sailing and here are some of my comments.

 

One issue I had was trying to book the zip line. We boarded about 11:30 and had a quick lunch at Park Cafe and went up to the sports desk to book a time. They had system problems and the line was wrapped around the bar and past the flow riders and it was a long two hour wait. With a few drinks in us, we waited and got a good time for the next morning.

 

I found our cabin to be quite small for three people, so next time we will only book two in a room or get a Junior Suite.

 

Our dining room experience was beyond excellent our waiter Raphael from the Dominican Republic made the cruise for us.

 

St. Patrick'S Day at the Globe and Atlas pub an absolute blast.

[lakette3]

I too just got off the same voyage, so I'll add my thoughts, rather than start another thread.

 

I agree with the OP about boarding and disembarkation. Super easy, super smooth. I walked off the gangway, grabbed my bags and cleared customs in about ten minutes total.

 

I had a junior suite (9642) on the hump and it was fantastic. The room was very nice size, and the deep balcony easily accommodated the lounge chair I got my room steward to secure for me:).

 

Overall, the cabins are all slightly SMALLER than on other ships, as such, the standard balcony cabin one of my fellow travelers had seemed really, REALLY tight.

 

The IS a retractable clothes line in the shower (tub) of the junior suite, even though there is not in the standard cabins.

 

The outlets are NOT in a bad place. They are in an excellent place (and please, STOP whining about how hard it is to reach them, it makes everyone sound old and feeble). The fault in the design is that there should be a hole in the back of the desk to drop the cords through.

 

The windjammer was clean and efficient. Unfortunately, the food was mediocre, and got very tired after day one. The MDR was okay, but I really believe the specialty restaurants are worth the price. I had excellent meals at Chops (twice), Giovanni's, 150 Central Park, Izumi, and The Chef's Table. I would do them all again.

 

The ship is incredible, a must see. But it is very insular- that is, the focus is on the ship. As such, there are very limited places to see the water. If you have an outside window or balcony, you're set. But otherwise, you're basically limited to small windows in the MDR, a limited view from the Aquatheater, and otherwise, you're basically limited to the pool and sports decks. No windows in the specialty restaurants (except Izumi), No windows in Boleros, The Schooner Bar, The Champagne Bar, or anywhere else on the lower decks. Kind of a bummer.

 

Service was outstanding.

 

Cruise Director needs to be sent on a one-way journey to nowhere. But then again, I feel that way about all cruise directors. Why do these people even need to exist anymore?

 

Tons of kids on this voyage, but really saw none of them- all in Adventure Ocean and the kids pool area.

 

Solarium is very nice, but gets very warm with all the glass. The solarium pool was RIDICULOUSLY warm. Honestly, not much cooler than the hot tubs on either side. This kept me from really enjoying the solarium because it wasn't refreshing.

 

Fortunately, lots of deck space around the main pool and beach pool.

 

Really no problem getting deck chairs, save a little while mid-morning on sea days. But even then, there were plenty of chairs, just not right next to the pool.

 

We did dock port side in St. Maarten.

 

That's all for now, I'll add more if I think of anything.

 

We have Cabin 9642 booked for this coming October. Nice to hear that it is a good size room with a good size deck. glad you enjoyed the cruise.

[cruiserdrinker]

Did I read correctly, you bought 1L bottles of Crown Royal for 14 bucks each? If so, what's the name of liq store. Defiently sounds like a great deal to me