Oasis March 20-27 a bit long

[alicia68]

I just returned from the Oasis March 20-27. Overall this was our favourite cruise out of 86 cruises on 9 different cruiselines.

 

Pre cruise we stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66 for 2 nights. This was probably the most disappointing part of the cruise but thats ok. I just found that this hotel was certainly not worth the money. While it was nice, staff friendly, the hotel itself was average.

 

We got to the ship around noon on the Saturday. Less than 10 minutes from taxi to being onboard. This was the best embarkation we have ever had.

 

Took a quick look around while waiting for our cabin which was ready for 1pm.

 

Reached our cabin 10181 central park balcony and our cabin attendent, which unfortunately her name escapes me, was there to welcome us with her friendly smile.

 

Cabin was great! We usually book an oceanview balcony but thought we would try one of these this time. After reading the boards for a few weeks prior I was a little nervous about our cabin. Im very happy to say there was no need to be! I was not noisy at all. We could hear the bird noises throughout the day as well as people milling about down in central park. Once the door was shut tight it was silent in there. I actually prefer these cabins over the water views now. Scenery is always changing, great for people watching and I enjoy seeing people amazed by the park itself. Seriously how much water do you really need to look at! By the way I am a smoker but not being able to smoke in my cabin just got me out of there earlier to enjoy the ship. At 4 am sitting out on deck was wonderful. It was like having the ship to myself.

 

Closet space was more than adequate and luggage was easily stored under the bed. My only complaint would be the cabin could use more electrical outlets but we took a power bar.

 

One of our suitcases was delivered by 1:30pm. The other however was still not there by 7pm. Cabin attendent tracked it down for us. It had been taken to the naughty room! During our pre cruise stay we had purchased wine and a cork screw. We drank the wine but I had put the corkscrew in the suitcase pocket. I dont know what I was thinking I should have just left it in the hotel room. Inside the suitcase was a bright orange piece of paper saying corkscrew found but no alcohol. I personally am happy that they have gotten a bit tougher with luggage screening not just to help to deter smuggling but think about it folks, we go through all that crap at the airport the TSA puts us through so that we can get on a plane with a couple hundred passengers but we had been ok for so long getting on a ship with a few thousand passengers and a fraction of the screening?

 

We were a bit apprehensive about a ship of this size. Once a again there is no need to be. We experienced no lines, no waits. Yes we did go to the windjammer and again no waits and easily found a table for both breakfast and dinner. Windjammer food was the standard fare and very good for a buffet. I do wish that it was opened at 6 pm for dinner instead of 6 30 but again no big deal.

 

Dining room- This was our only real disappointment on our cruise. We were on my time dining with reservations at 6pm each evening. Couple people in line ahead of us but virtually no wait so great start! Our first night in the dining room was Italian night. Our waiter was Hemant. We asked for a table for 2 and received it. It took 25 minutes for the waiter to get to us and introduced himself and bring us water. It went downhill from there. Food was terrible and we are not picky but do prefer the food to not be cold. We figured we just caught it on a bad night. We tried the dining room again on the last formal night. Once again service and food was terrible. We had ordered the steak from the alternative menu and the prime rib. The steak was probably the worst steak I have ever had! Prime rib wasnt much better. I ordered coffee and dessert but after waiting a half hour without it showing up we left the dining room. On the way out the girl taking reservations wished us a good night and asked how we enjoyed our dinner. Normally I would keep my mouth shut but this time I actually told her we didnt enjoy it at all. I did tell her that maybe my time dining just wasnt for us. The dining room manager Pawan Sah happened to over hear us ( I though he was just a head waiter standing there) and folled us out of the dining room to speak with us. We told him of our experiences and he apologized profusly, gave us his card and told us to email him before we come back in October. Fortunately I have booked far enough ahead this time to be on tradtional dining.

 

Giovannis Table- Went here for lunch on a sea day. Was pretty good, had the lasagna. Service was fantastic! I do prefer Portofinos though

 

Seafood Shack- Had dinner nere one night. We werent overly hungry so we skipped the appetizer, ordered the fish and chips. They were very good. Waitress was a bit concerned that we skipped both the appetizer and the dessert. We said we werent that hungry but she was still a bit taken aback. She said most people who pay an upcharge for a meal want everything they are entitled too. I can understand that but we just couldnt eat it all and hate wasting. She felt so bad she only charged us one service charge. We thanked her and then left.

 

Johnny Rockets- Had lunch here. Not much to stay. Typical food great for a fast lunch.

 

Chops- Dinner here the last night. Food was awesome! Service was fabulous. Overall the best dinner we had on the ship.

 

Park Cafe- great place for a nice lunch

 

We loved the atmosphere of the boardwalk. So much fun and it had the thrown back in time feel.

 

This ship is amazing and we truly loved it. Boleros was one of our favourite spots. Not for the music but the bartender Allan is wonderful! Always has a smile, a laugh and a little magic trick to entertain the passengers. I remembered him from his days on the Navigator. This is one guy who you can tell really loves his job.

 

Shows- Oasis of Dreams outstanding! We had made reservations ahead of time but even those who didnt were able to get in. I was one the edge of my seat the whole time. How the can dive from such a height into what seems to be a somewhat small pool is incredible!

 

Headliner was a Temptations tribute. Unfortunately dont care for that type of music so we skipped it but other passengers said it was good.

 

Come Fly with Me-OMG the highlight of the shows. It was super!

 

Comedy show - The MC Simeon is quite funny himself. The 2 comedians they had were fantastic. The second guy I think his name was Craig, is the best we have ever seen. His Carnival bit is hilarious!

 

Frozen in Time- By far the best ice show I have seen. The sand artist they had during it was mezmerising

 

Did the zipline it was exhilarating and totally scary!

 

Did the Jost Van Dyke excursion- A ton of paper work and stuff to do on this excursion but well worth the time and a bit of inconvenience. We were on the Bimini Breeze boat to get there and the crew of this little vessel were outstanding. Be warned though not an easy excursion if you are out of shape or a little older! We found out just how out of shape we were! In the excursion description it says something along the lines of a short swim to the island. Ok it looks short but my god it felt a lot longer!

 

Self debarking - We were down in the promenade for 6 am as requested. In a taxi by 6 30 to make our 11 30 am flight. At the airport 2 hours before the airline counter even opened up! Luggage was 9 pounds over weight and I thought the agent was going to pass out when I said I would pay for the overage. I guess most people like to take things in and out of suitcases to try and get them to meet the weight requirements. There were a ton of people in line behind me waiting to check in for their flights and I didnt feel it was right to take up more of their time waiting for me to mess with a few peices of clothing.

 

Ok so now that I have taken up a bunch of your time I will wrap things up by saying this was a wonderful ship and I cant wait to go back and do the things we just didnt have time for!

[Cthy651]

Thank you, Great Review

So happy you had a wonderful time, will be leaving in 20 days and counting, can not wait.

[alicia68]

You will have a great time! Funny I am from Hamilton Ontario too

[emmy]

Loved your review and your experiences and thoughts echoed what we experienced on the inaugural sailing.

 

When speaking of the entertainment I too feel the show that most impressed me overall was Come Fly with Me. Lately I had found the production shows slipping in quality but this one was superb.

 

We are also sailing again in October... Oct 9 and 16..any chance you are on one of those sailing?:)

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[alicia68]

I will actually be on the October 30 sailing but it would have been nice to meet you.

 

I too have felt that the production shows have slipped a bit but I thought maybe it was just me. After so many cruises I thought that maybe my expectations were a little high. Gone are the days of being totally wowed by the shows like when we first began cruising. Oasis brought that back and it was an amazing feeling.

 

We like to repeat ships sometimes too such as we love the Adventure and its itinerary no matter how many times we gone on her. Sadly the shows are not changed or at least not frequently so after you have seen them a couple of times we tend not to sit through them again. Unfortunately this will be the same for the Oasis except for the headliners and comedy shows as the venues were built specifically for the shows they now host. I would gladly sit through those a couple more times though. There was so much going on I know I missed something lol

 

As for the dining room food, I think most of all we felt guilty for not loving the food like we usually do. By no means are we food snobs or are the kind of people that need to be doted on every second but their was nothing exciting, gotta have it on the menus and the service was just not there. In no way did I blame the staff in the dining room though as I can imagine it must be very hard to keep up with the my time dining thing. Its one thing to have two seatings to deal with but a whole new ball game to have to try to turn tables over fast enough so people are not waiting in line outside long for a table. My hope is that the traditional in October will be what we have come to expect of cruise ship dining, decent to good to great food, prepared properly and served efficiently.

[Ilikeboats]

Great review. Just wanted to say regarding the Motown show that if you do like this music it was one of the best we have ever seen. The singers with the harmony and singing were amazing.

[GalCruzer]

Thank you for your report. We haven't cruised in a bit and are looking forward to doing it on the Oasis! ;)

[tarajean1962]

Thanks for the review, Alicia! I have to wait until January to cruise on the Allure and this stuff keeps me going! :D

 

tara

[pabrett46]

Hi there,

 

Thanks for the review. We are going next March and will be staying on Deck 10 as well just a few cabins down from you... and we're from Saskatchewan!

 

D

[Windy56]

Great review, Alicia. Thank you! Call us your Oakville neighbours. Just in Hamilton yesterday!

 

We are going to be on the Oasis during the first week in August and are really looking forward to it. It's been about 6 years since I was on a RCCL ship. Sory to hear about the food. There is a thread comparing Carnival and RCCL, in terms of food and I have to report that the food on Carnival's Pride last summer was oustanding and I am pretty picky. At the same time, I have never heard of anyone starving on a cruise ship!

 

My husband and I are into social dancing - rhumbas and foxtrots, that type of thing. Were there many venues for it on the Oasis?

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The entertainment on this ship also wowed me. The best that I have seen in a long time on board a ship. We loved the Oasis so much that we booked again for May and the Allure for January.

[horns1165]

Any motion to speak of on the Oasis?

[juniorsmom]

I am sorry to hear about your dining experience, we had the best waiter ever. Our service was excellent and he was so charming. (We had early seating). I am glad you had a good time otherwise.

[tulsaland]

Any motion to speak of on the Oasis?

 

We were also on the 3/20 sailing. We had an ocean view balcony. I usually get motion sickness but I never did on the Oasis. I took one bonine every day just to play it safe. I felt the ship move a few times but nothing like the other ships we've sailed on.

[alicia68]

There was lots of dancing each night in Boleros which was quite a busy place. I just love watching people dance as I couldnt do it if my life depended on it! Also in Dazzles and Blaze there was dancing it just depends which type of music you would like for the evening.

 

I never felt any motion at all but then I am not very susceptible to motion. I did notice on seas days that water left in glasses on the table did not move at all so I would say no motion or very little. Since our first 2 sea days were extremely windy I did expect some but never felt any.

 

For this ship I would say cabin location is the most important thing. Being close to a bank of elevators is crucial. Those hall ways are very daunting!

 

As for the dining that was just my experience and will not let that deter me from going to the dining room on the next cruise I am just going to pick traditional seating. This time we didnt have a choice as traditional was full. We by no means went hungry as there are way too many options on Oasis for that. I even thought the pizza was great and love the create your own pizza.

 

I have read here somewhere about internet service. As I did need to keep in contact with some clients I had the need to use the internet onboard each day just to check email in case of emergencies. This is where Oasis falls a bit short. The internet areas seem very much an after thought sort of like a oops we forgot about that area but here is a linen closet on a couple floors that we can convert. It served the basic purpose but was a tight squeeze. I did find the computers on deck 7 to work better than the other decks but that may just be phsycological lol

[ALSEAU]

Alicia thanks for sharing your experience with us. We are waiting for our time.

 

 

We have traditional early seating in the MDR. We are not picky eaters but do get aggravated if the dining service is slow without any apparent reason. Our way of dealing with it is immediately and that usually gets satisfactory results.