Thoughts on just completed Oasis cruise

[publicpersona]

Just got back from the Feb 26 sailing of the Oasis (Eastern Caribean). Although we've sailed 30 cruises on every other class of RC ship from Sovereign on up, this was our first time on Oasis class.

 

What I did like:

 

* The ship can only be described as magnificent. Kudos to the ships designers for job well done.

* The Oasis is still looking brand new. Very clean and no signs of wear and tear yet.

* The Oasis was a departure from RC standard ship design in many ways. Although the familiar elements were still there, this was a significantly different ship experience than any other class of RC ship.

* The crew was the cream of the crop. With just a couple exceptions, we didn't encounter anyone that didn't seem to be the best at what they do.

* It had more of a Celebrity quality to it than other RC ships. For example, the bathroom in our stateroom seemed larger, especially the shower, and was a decor more Celebrity-ish than RC. Larger shower. And even had that mysterious foot rest thingie in the shower (which the ladies know what is; guys are clueless).

* My Time Dining was very well done. Well organized and service was excellent. MTD has always been haphazard and disorganized on other ships. Oasis was just the opposite.

* Our waiter, Armand from the Philippines, was the most attentive and professional of any we've had in 31 cruises. The assistant was fine too.

* Our stateroom attendant was excellent as well.

* The zip line was fun to do and to watch, albeit a very short actual ride.

* Embarkation was efficient and fairly quick (we arrived around 12:30 PM).

* Entertainment was the best of any cruise.

* The Comedy Show was surprisingly good and very much like going to a comedy club back home (with the exception of the guy that they let on between the two featured performers; he was a complete failure).

* The Aqua Theatre shows.

* Cruise Directory Richard Spacey was very entertaining the whole week.

* Concierge Lounge was spacious. No chance or running out of room any time soon.

* Central Park was very nice. It had an ethereal, Epcot-like feeling to it. Good place to put specialty restaurants and Vintages.

* Chops and Giovanni's Table were great and well worth it.

* MDR food was even better than expected.

 

What I didn't like:

 

* Ours was a Boardwalk View balcony on deck 9. Although I thought we'd be fine with this since you can see the sea from here, it had as much appeal to me as a promenade view room would. Very noisy during the day and a view of Johnny Rockets that I enjoyed for about five minutes. Noise was not a real problem at night after things had shut down as there wasn't much traffic on the Boardwalk then.

* The pool deck. I like a pool deck that has a focal point. Oasis doesn't. With so many passengers, it just isn't realistic that everyone will be out on the pool deck together watching something like Belly Flop, Sexiest Man, etc. (these are held in Aqua Theatre), or even a line dance class or Welcome Aboard party.

* In general, Oasis has too many passengers to support a sense of joint adventure that you get on smaller ships. I rarely encountered the same fellow passengers twice, and there didn't really emerge any "characters" that kept popping up all week. They don't even bother with a cruise in review video.

* The stateroom (BV balcony) was more of what I think of as Euro chic design. No offense intended; I just find that any hotel that advertises itself as Euro chic design means that the rooms are nice to look at, but impractical to live in. There are very few drawers in which to store stuff - two in the entire room. More cute little shelves and cubbyholes that are just a few inches deep. This was particularly annoying in the nightstands which lack a drawer. The safe is about half the size of the safe on other ships (not even a 8" netbook will fit in it).

* The Solarium "pool" is a joke. Despite having a spacious and beautiful Solarium, there isn't what I'd call a pool at all. It is a small, round wading pool of sorts with a fountain in the middle. You are just not going to "swim" or even float on your back in this thing without bumping into a wall very quickly.

* The main dining room was least elegant of any ship. There just isn't a sense of grandeur and openness.

* Studio B was surprisingly smaller than Voyager/Freedom. We missed the ice show, so I can't comment on whether that had an impact, but just surprised that it had shrunk. On the plus side, this allows there to be a walkway around it.

* Crown & Anchor had some miscues. We did not receive an invitation to the repeater's party despite being D+, and when we asked about this at Guest Services, they told us to show up in the theatre at a time which was actually when it ended. We were disappointed about that because it looked like a good one and the Captain has spoken at it. We let the Loyalty Ambassador know (not to complain really; just so he'd be aware) and he wasn't very interested in our not getting the invitation. Our "Welcome Aboard" basket arrived on day four. The bottle of vino amenity that I had specifically requested well prior to the cruise to be delivered to MDR was delivered on day two to the stateroom (which is a problem since they charge a corkage fee to bring to MDR. On the other hand, when Chops couldn't find our bottle in MDR on the first evening, they .. sit down for this .. gave us a free bottle to make up for it and we didn't know until the next day about a mixup. :-)

* There are good public address systems and loud public address systems. Oasis has a loud one. No matter where I was on the ship, I never once understood a single word in any announcement (except "bingo"), which made all the annoying announcements all the more annoying.

* Debarkation process was not good. It wasn't in the port that was a problem, so much as organization getting people off the ship. They called ten numbers at once, which caused a line to form from the promenade into and around the dining room where we stood for about 45 minutes. Can't they pace this a little better?

 

In summary, Oasis was a great cruise experience and is especially for families. Although we had a great cruise, were happy with it, and may cruise it again, it isn't going to be a favorite at all. If you haven't sailed it, but have sailed other classes of RC ships, ask yourself whether you are a Royal Promenade fan (Voyager/Freedom) or a Centrum fan (Radiance, Vision, etc.). If you love the promenade, you'll love Oasis. If you are more a Centrum person, you may not. We are Centrum people ourselves, so this just wasn't our thing. I enjoy the connection with the sea, and on Oasis, there are very few places relatively speaking that you even see the sea (especially if you have an interior facing room as we did). What it comes down to is that with every generation of ship, RC has endeavored to make it seem like you aren't even on a ship at sea. With Oasis class, I fear they have succeeded.

 

P.S. One more trivial observation: With twice as many PAX and an older demographic than other ships, there was not a single Alpha (or Bravo) call the whole cruise. My guess is that each crew member now has a VoIP communicator now and that emergencies are communicated this way instead.

[GXmanDC]

P.S. One more trivial observation: With twice as many PAX and an older demographic than other ships, there was not a single Alpha (or Bravo) call the whole cruise. My guess is that each crew member now has a VoIP communicator now and that emergencies are communicated this way instead.

 

I think you might have had a non-eventful cruise, at least when it comes to Alpha and Bravo calls. We had many on our Allure cruise and they were broadcast using the overhead address system.

[Merion_Mom]

Outstanding review, publicpersona. Thanks for sharing your insights - particularly those that compare experiences that you have had on other ships. VERY helpful.

[cruzkitty]

Thank You for your Honest Review and opinions! I enjoyed reading it.

[DonnaK]

Thank you for a very informative and very fair/objective review!

[silentbob007]

Interesting. Thanks.

[farnamcoach]

I have been reluctant to book those ships. we love the Serenade style ship but I have to admit I'm a little intriiqed by Oasis class

[cruizeblues]

Great review. I've been toying with the idea of Oasis or Allure for our next cruise, but my husband would rather stick with Freedom class or smaller. He thinks that it will be over-run with people and that bigger doesn't mean better. I am excited about the solarium at the front of the ship. Aside from the pool being small, what did you think about the Solarium overall? Was it too crowded? Were the whirlpools small and over-crowded? It has always been my favorite place to spend time on our other cruises because it is generally peaceful . :)

[publicpersona]

I have been reluctant to book those ships. we love the Serenade style ship but I have to admit I'm a little intriiqed by Oasis class

Radiance class is our favorite too, and Oasis is very different (except the Schooner Bar smells just as good :-) ). We were also intrigued and glad we did Oasis this once at least. Hmmm .. speaking of smells and Radiance .. on Oasis, there was absolutely none of that funky smell in the bathrooms as are on just about every ship, and have reach infamy status on the Radiance.

 

One thing I meant to note also about the Boardwalk view vs. Central Park view. Although Central Park view rooms have a nice area to look down upon, you can't see the ocean at all and it isn't immune from daytime noise either, as it is just below the main pools/band area. The main thing I would change about the cruise we just did was to get an oceanview room for about the same money as a BV balcony. No wonder the C&A upgrade options allow you to specify that you don't consider an oceanview window -> BV/CV balcony an upgrade.

[publicpersona]

Great review. I've been toying with the idea of Oasis or Allure for our next cruise, but my husband would rather stick with Freedom class or smaller. He thinks that it will be over-run with people and that bigger doesn't mean better. I am excited about the solarium at the front of the ship. Aside from the pool being small, what did you think about the Solarium overall? Was it too crowded? Were the whirlpools small and over-crowded? It has always been my favorite place to spend time on our other cruises because it is generally peaceful . :)

 

Well, I came onto this cruise with exactly the expectations that your husband has, and found I was incorrect. To me, the Freedom class is just a Voyager class with crowds, and I was afraid that Oasis would be even more so. But, like I said, they designed the ship to leverage that space and so in some ways it feels *less* crowded than Freedom or Voyager. I think they intentionally designed spaces to hide the fact that there are so many people .. and that may explain why the dining room didn't seem as big or oppulent. It was no doubt much bigger, but they interrupted the sight lines so you couldn't see so many people.

 

The sense of the number of people was more subtle as in the lack of association among the passengers. It just seemed like you were in the city with thousands and thousands of others, so everyone was a stranger. Now, part of that is just me .. I'm not all that sociable. But in the concierge lounge each evening, I have somehow managed to get to know quite a few people over the course of the cruise. On Oasis, the CL is big and not crowded, but then again not as intimate and we really didn't talk to but a couple others in there all week. So crowded isn't the problem .. anonymous is.

 

As for the Solarium, it is very spacious .. two levels. And big enough that it didn't seem like chair hogs were a problem. The hot tubs are big and plentiful, and never seemed to be crowded. Probably not as peaceful as Radiance/Enchantment and definitely not like Celebrity Solstice class. But a very nice place and we hung out there most days. Other than the pool, the only issue I had with the Solarium was a lack of cover/shade. There was some cover, but if you are like us and want to be in a solarium-type atmosphere but don't care to lie in the sun all day, the Oasis Solarium wouldn't be your place (and in fairness, it is a *Solar*ium .. duh). Speaking of which .. if you do like to lie in the sun in a quiet place, consider the secret observation deck just below and in front of the solarium. There were lounge chairs there in a stack and it was like no one knew how to get there (one deck down and walk through the stateroom hallway towards the front of the ship).

[cruizeblues]

Thanks. I'm still torn....I don't want him to be disappointed, but I would like to try out the newest class. I think that I will use the kids as my excuse, they will be with us on the next too (Thanksgiving). There is more to keep the teens busy on the larger ships. For our next "adult only" cruise I have been dying to try a Radiance class...probably the Serenade since we really love the Southern itineraries.

[mickeysgal]

Thank you for the review. We're booked on Oasis for a summer cruise as we've been very curious to check out this ship. Question - what do you mean by Centrum type (Radiance/Vision)? Last Royal cruises we've been on were Explorer and Voyager about 10 years ago. Before that it was Nordic Empress! Have cruised other lines since then. I understand what you meant by Promenade, but what is a Centrum design? A center atrium-type design by which all things branch?

[bajathree]

Not sure Oasis Class is for me:p

[QuickieGlenn]

Nice review. I have been thinking of trying either Oasis or the Allure. But I have heard that there is less focus on the ocean. I would have to have a ocean view balcony (But I see you do pay alot more for it). I also like to sit in a outdoor bar and watch the ocean (without looking thru a window) Something that I missed on the Explorer

[publicpersona]

Thank you for the review. We're booked on Oasis for a summer cruise as we've been very curious to check out this ship. Question - what do you mean by Centrum type (Radiance/Vision)? Last Royal cruises we've been on were Explorer and Voyager about 10 years ago. Before that it was Nordic Empress! Have cruised other lines since then. I understand what you meant by Promenade, but what is a Centrum design? A center atrium-type design by which all things branch?

You've got the idea. Some people like the promenade, but to me it is Shopping Mall of the Seas. The centrum is simply the open area connecting most of the stateroom decks looking down on a bar and small entertainment area. See http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1234856553054441788nqnIko for a picture of the Radiance centrum area.

 

Actually, the larger ships that have a promenade have something arguably equivalent to a centrum area, but it doesn't look down on anything interesting and doesn't serve as a gathering place.

[klingoncruiser]

Nice review, thanks for posting.

[klingoncruiser]

There she blows.....no wait.... goes......:D edit ooops, wrong thread. lol

[mickeysgal]

You've got the idea. Some people like the promenade, but to me it is Shopping Mall of the Seas. The centrum is simply the open area connecting most of the stateroom decks looking down on a bar and small entertainment area. See http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1234856553054441788nqnIko for a picture of the Radiance centrum area.

 

Actually, the larger ships that have a promenade have something arguably equivalent to a centrum area, but it doesn't look down on anything interesting and doesn't serve as a gathering place.

 

Thank you! You explained it perfectly.

[Dave85]

Thanks for the great balanced review. I look forward to comparing Oasis to my wonderful experiences on the Radiance, Voyager and Freedom classes.

[Raptor2010]

Great review. I've been toying with the idea of Oasis or Allure for our next cruise, but my husband would rather stick with Freedom class or smaller. He thinks that it will be over-run with people and that bigger doesn't mean better. I am excited about the solarium at the front of the ship. Aside from the pool being small, what did you think about the Solarium overall? Was it too crowded? Were the whirlpools small and over-crowded? It has always been my favorite place to spend time on our other cruises because it is generally peaceful . :)

 

We have sailed on the Freedom and the Oasis and will ALWAYS choose the Freedom over the Oasis. The Solarium on the Oasis, while large and beautiful is HOT HOT HOT and the pool is, well, a joke, not much bigger than a hot tub and it too is very warm. The Solarium on the Freedom is MUCH nicer, in our opinion than the Oasis. Basically, they need to open a freakin window or two on the Oasis ;)

[joand452]

Not sure Oasis Class is for me:p

 

You sure about that??? ;)

 

We're looking forward to Allure. We've been on Brilliance (which I love) and Mariner (which DH loves). I think we'll both love this class.

 

I've started having my pre-cruise dreams. Last night it was that this ship was so large, it had its own parking lots! I remember seeing a lot with empty spaces, so I sent DH back to get the car while I waited. I'm pretty sure we're not going on a ferry....

 

I'll report back in a few weeks.

[Ocean Boy]

Wow, I just found and read your write-up thanks to the link that you provided me. It seems that our assesments of this ship are very much in line even to our thoughts on the PA system.

 

One thing about the medical calls, I think you are correct that they were not announcing them but communicating over their phone system. I was walking down a passageway one morning and a medical team was going into a cabin and I know that there was no general call made over the PA system as it was one of the quiet times on the ship when I would have actually been able to understand what was being said.

[Lizcourt]

Was on the same cruise, and would agree with you on a lot of your observations (especially about the "Celebrity" feel of the ship, the efficiency of the MTD setup and the excellence of the staff). In particular, I, too, was disappointed that they don't even try to have a cruise in review video -- that is always one of my favorite purchases on board ship. I do have to take issue with a few of your observations, however (some of which, I agree, are largely a matter of opinion):

 

1. We liked the Solarium "pool" very much. In particular, my 80 yr-old Mom and I appreciated that you entered and exited by stairs, not a ladder. While it is true that the pool is circular, and only about 5 feet deep, its not as if you can really spend a lot of time doing laps in the typically jammed "regular" pools on a cruise ship anyway.

 

2. There was, in fact, one Alpha call. It was Tuesday morning, when we were docked in St. Thomas, at about 10 am. You may have been off the ship at that time. I happened to notice it, because I was just about to take my Mom, who had developed bronchitis, down to the infirmary, and waited about 45 minutes to do so, assuming that there would be a lot of activity there in response to the call.

 

3. I'm not sure where you sat in the Main Dining Room -- and there were several segments that were somewhat closed off, and felt like separate restaurants, but on several nights we were seated in the center section, looking down on the two other dining decks below us, and definitely got the feeling of an open, grand central dining room.

 

4. I have heard comments before about the lack of contact with the sea, but now having been on the ship I really have to disagree strongly with that. Granted, we were in ocean front cabins, and certainly, an interior view cabin is going to have less of sea contact when you are in it, but there were vast amounts of deck areas on the ship, including the solarium and deck 16 above the pool deck, that had the usual sweeping sea vistas and plenty of places to sit and enjoy those vistas. In addition, the aft sports deck, where the flow riders, zip line and minature golf course were located, had phenomenal sea views. By no means meaning to flame, but it seems kind of odd, IMHO, to book an interior facing cabin and then conclude "the ship" has a lack of spaces in which to get that contact with the sea.

 

5. We did notice that there was some confusion at debarkation, but understood it resulted from some problems in customs which resulted in debarkation being halted (and thus getting backed up) for a period of time.

[kaylorcc]

Thanks for the review! We sailed the Oasis last year and I would agree with most of your conclusions. A few things that I would add- although I understand what you're saying about the grandeur and elegance of the MDR, we did like that there were more two-person tables, since my husband and I prefer to just dine together. We also noted a couple of "miscues", most notably in when our OBC was posted to our account and the poor communication we had with the customer service desk on the subject. I didn't think the crowds were a big issue, with the lone (but notable) exception of the WJ, which was a frustrating experience each and every time because of the lack of sufficient seating.

 

Overall, though, for me all of the positives outweighed the negatives, and the biggest one for me was the ship itself, which you also listed as a positive. I thought the neighborhoods were almost flawlessly executed, and the ship itself was literally amazing. I spent most of the cruise marveling at the ship, and really enjoyed my time there. I would say for most people it's definitely worth trying once.. not sure when we'll cruise on the Oasis again due to the price (you can just get so many comparable cruises for much less), but I'm so happy we got to have the experience at least once. :)

[castle701]

publicpersona - may I ask your cabin number? We are in cabins 9295 and 9297