First-timers Oasis review Mar 5-12

[maweberpa]

This was our first cruise. I don't usually post reviews, but CC was so helpful to me in planning this trip I feel I should give my comments. We were in JS 9242, portside, hump.

We arrived Friday afternoon and stayed at the Hampton Inn North Port. Very convenient to pier and airport. Perfectly fine hotel and decent free breakfast. Free transportation to pier, airport and anything within 1 mile of hotel.

We got to the pier a little after 11 AM. They take your bags right from the van drop off which is great. There was no line at the suite check-in, so we were taken right up to the counter. We were probably on the ship within 10 minutes of getting out of the hotel shuttle. Couldn't have been easier.

First thing we did was check the spa counter to get an appointment for our rasul mud treatment (it ended up being $95/pp plus tip; it was nice, but not worth that much money imo). After getting our appointment we went to Park Café for lunch. Really good food and not crowded. DH had the roast beef. I had a tuna salad sandwhich, the first of many we’d eat over the week. The kiwi strawberry water is very good. I didn't care for the lemon lime as much. I'd never had anything like this before and really enjoyed it.

After lunch, around 1, we were able to get into our rooms. We were in 9242. Great room, excellent location about midway between the 2 banks of elevators/stairs. Our room, bathroom and balcony were about 50% larger than a D1 and totally worth the price. Loved the walk-in closet and tons of drawer space. Our cabin steward Matthew was wonderful. He was even able to get me a lounger, although he said they weren’t really supposed to. Not sure if that’s true or he said it just for effect. Either way I got one. We took the stairs almost exclusively, so deck 9 was great in that respect.

We ate 4 meals in the MDR, early seating. Our wait staff was excellent. Food was also very good, given the amount of people they have to feed. Our Assistant waiter was very sweet, she even made paper wrist corsages for the ladies on the final evening. Our table location (639, I think, table for 4) was really nice, on the side entrance so no crowds. The center entrance did get crowded right at 6.

For specialty restaurants we did dinner at Izumi (very good and nice location), Solarium Bistro (excellent food, the bison was amazing!) and Chef’s Table and Giovanni’s for lunch (veal meatballs were disappointing). I will say Chef’s Table was not as good as I expected. The wine selections were all fairly cheap and the main course was lamb and not fillet. The other courses were good, but I was really hoping for the Caymus and filet. I personally didn’t think it was worth the up-charge. I should say we’ve been to several very high end tasting menus so I think our expectations were too high to start. Also, the MDR food was pretty good and our table location was on the more private side, so I think that also made the upcharge not worth it.

For pool time we used the upper deck of the solarium. Never a problem getting a chair and it was also relatively quiet up there. We ate lunch several days in the Solarium Bistro which was really good and very convenient. If you want a more relaxed environment for laying out I would definitely recommend heading up there.

As far as the ports, we were only able to get to Labadee and Cozumel due to high winds in Costa Maya. Labadee was great. Even though we were only in a JS we were able to book a cabana in advance by emailing the concierge. The only issue is we weren’t allowed in the concierge lounge, so it was a bit of a pain trying to find out our cabana number. We did eventually get a hold of him and everything worked out. The cabana (S2 for $150) was definitely the best money we spent all week. There were probably 50 people, maybe less, on that part of the beach. We hardly had any line for lunch or drinks and the service was excellent (set up you chairs, got your floating mat). We also had steak on our lunch menu, not sure what they served on the other side of the beach. As for Cozumel, we didn’t want to do any excursions, so there wasn’t much to do there. We actually couldn’t figure out how to get out of the pier area without booking a tour so we walked around the shops for a few minutes and then went back on the ship.

The shows were all pretty good. Hairspray probably had the highest production value. Come Fly With Me had technical difficulties about midway through, but did eventually get going again after a brief delay. It was good, but I don’t think it’s quite Cirque quality. Oasis of Dreams was cancelled the first night due to rain, but we were able to go on the 4th night. The diving was very good. We didn’t go to the Abba tribute band. We really enjoyed the other live music around the ship. Dazzles was hit or miss as far as dancing goes. One night the leads from hairspray did a cabaret act in there and that was entertaining.

Getting off the ship was really quick as well. The only downside is having to leave so early (and putting your bags out the night before). We asked for late disembarkment, but ended up getting 7:20. Our waiting area was MDR deck 5, which had coffee and pastries so at least that was nice. Once they called our number we were probably through customs in 20 minutes.

I will say I thought the water was rough about half to maybe a third of the time. Of course I have nothing to compare it to other than people saying you won't even know you're on a ship. Yes you know, at least I did. I took meclizine 3 times a day (and wore the sea bands) which was a hassle, but it kept me from getting sick so totally worth it. I would be curious to know if other more seasoned travelers thought it was rocky.

Overall we had a good time, but I'm not in a rush to do it again. I really enjoyed Labadee and would definitely do a Caribbean beach vacation at some point. The other aspects we liked were being able to dress up at night and having all the live music around the ship. I think for shows and gambling though, I would just go to Vegas.

As I said above, this was our first cruise so nothing to compare it to other than other AI resorts we've been to and other vacations. If you have any questions from a first-timer's perspective I'd be happy to try to answer them.

[BrianAlt]

Very good review. Thanks for sharing.

[cruzkitty]

Loved your Review-thanks for posting!:D

[maweberpa]

Thanks. One thing I forgot to mention, room service. It was wonderful!! Room service coffee was definitely the best on the ship. Not sure why, but it was. We loved the combination wake-up call and breakfast. The breakfast arrival was broken into 1/2 hour blocks and they always came on the early side. There weren't a ton of choices, but enough to get you started in the morning. The pastries were excellent.

 

We also enjoyed coffee and cookies in the late afternoon while getting ready for dinner. The chocolate chip cookies from room service were to die for. It was very quick, our afternoon snack usually only took 20 minutes to arrive.

[abhb]

Thanks for the review. I can't wait to be on her in April:D

[01Sweetpea]

Thanks for the review.

[RN7997]

I was on the same cruise. I loved the ship, shows, etc but had a bit of a different experience. Apparently it was "Carnival" which is a Brazillian holiday, so there were apprx 2300 Brazillians onboard.....I have no problem with other nationalities, but I have to say our group was so upset with the rudeness of the people on this ship. Missing Costa Maya made it worse...it was like being stuck in a city you were not happy in. The regular pool areas and hot tubs were always packed, we experienced a lot of cutting in lines, pushing, shoving, reaching over you etc. It was quite shocking. The couple times I attempted to say something I got the "I dont speak English" line. My son was not able to enjoy the kids club bc of this and we also experienced poorly behaved, un supervised YOUNG kids at the Flow rider. If you wanted to go to a "sale" onboard for watches, jewlery, clothing, purses, etc there was a LONG LINE of Brazillians before the sale started. My youngest son had food knocked out of his hand while in line at the Wipe Out Cafe! I made the best of a bad situation, but for the things I like to enjoy onboard it was difficult. I have cruised 7 times now and never experienced that in my life! It wa so dissapointing b/c we so looked forward to this cruise. Any questions please ask, but I had to add to this b/c my experience was so different. I should add that I am not a picky or hard person to get along with so this isnt your typical response from me about a cruise.

 

I also want to say I had my two kids with me so I was not able to get to the Solarium often, but insted tried to go to the beach pool, main pool or sports pool......the mentionings above werent even at the H2O zone as my kids were too old for it.

[Montanabound]

RN, I had exactly the same experience. I was pushed, shoved, poked, run into, and even sat upon at the Aqua Theater. We noticed that they also catered the Brazilians by relaxing the rules. We were on the Freedom last year and did not remember smoking being allowed in lounges nor on the pool deck. In the dining room, at dinner, we saw camouflage shorts, tank tops, and ball caps. One girl was wearing white cutoffs so short that you could see her gluteous maximi. I am one who does not enjoy dressing for dinner, but they should either enforce the rules or change them. I thought the Oasis was beautiful and that the shows were outstanding, but I will be going back to the smaller ships.

[BrianAlt]

It seems the experience is fairly universal. Did anyone speak to any cruise staff about the situation?

[RN7997]

RN, I had exactly the same experience. I was pushed, shoved, poked, run into, and even sat upon at the Aqua Theater. We noticed that they also catered the Brazilians by relaxing the rules. We were on the Freedom last year and did not remember smoking being allowed in lounges nor on the pool deck. In the dining room, at dinner, we saw camouflage shorts, tank tops, and ball caps. One girl was wearing white cutoffs so short that you could see her gluteous maximi. I am one who does not enjoy dressing for dinner, but they should either enforce the rules or change them. I thought the Oasis was beautiful and that the shows were outstanding, but I will be going back to the smaller ships.

 

Its just a shame because its a lot of effort, money and anticipation to go on a vacation like that to end up feeling this way. I dont go out much when I am at home, but on a cruise I enjoy the nightlife usually and I love to dance. I tried to go to Blaze and forget it! I was looked at so oddly and there was no way I was going to be given space on the dance floor. I agree about dinner. I saw people on FORMAL night in shorts trying to get in and others eatting in jeans and T shirts. WOW really? It was constant. I had two Brazillians all but knock me out of the way while I was in line for the rest room and when I said to the second girl I am here in line.....she said "I no speak English!". Ughhhhhh You know I get that people from all over the world travel and take cruises....I enjoy the diversity of the cruises actually, but do they not know in Brazil what someone standing in line is??? Come on now! I get mad thinking about it. I tried to bite my tongue all week long knowing I would be on the ship with the same people all week and didnt want trouble, but it was hard. The Freedom class ships were too crowded for us and this was a not good experience so I think we plan to not cruise next year and maybe the following try an Alaskan cruise on a smaller ship. My hubby has always wanted to go there.

[pabrett46]

Thanks for your review. I didn't find the water too rough actually. I had the sea bands but took them off after day two. But everyone's tolerance is different.

 

I do agree that the Brazillians were a problem. My kids also had issues with mistreatment of the Brazillians. I didn't say anything to anyone.. and I probably should have but I kept thinking I should try and make the best of it.

 

I also noticed the fellow next to us was smoking on his balcony and I didn't think that was allowed on the Central Park balconies but I could be wrong.

 

We did have a good cruise despite the issues.

[maweberpa]

Wow, that's really a shame about all the encounters with rude people and that they were severe enough to impact your vacations.

 

We aren't fans of crowds (regardless of nationality), so we did a pretty good job avoiding them all week. Obviously, that's much harder to do with kids and it does keep you from certain activities you might otherwise want to partake in. I guess I would just say, unlike places like Disney, there are parts of the ship that aren't crowded and there are ways to avoid people if that's your preference. Having the JS cabin also helped because we didn't mind spending time in our room.

 

I will also say nothing could have been cheap enough to make me go to the promenade during those sales. We watched them on channel 40 (the bridge channel) and they were insane. It reminded me of those wedding dress sales you see on TV. Yikes!

[party-of-5-ny]

Thanks for the great review, I paid very close attention to it, as I recently booked the Oasis for next March, 10-17th. I was on the fence with booking this cruise, after reading many reviews about large crowds of "unruly" passengers. My co-worker sailed on her in January, and the only negative experience she had to talk about, were large groups of passengers, that acted rudely, as described in the posts before mine.

I'm looking forward to sailing on the Oasis, but I honestly have my reservations about it as well.

Can you tell me how the weather was during your cruise? Was it warm and sunny daily? Like, "Pool weather" hot, or just warm? I'm just wondering if I should wait a month, and go in April....

thanks again!

[7leagueboots]

Good review for the Oasis. Thanks.

[will773]

Thanks for the great review! Glad to hear you had a great time!

[maweberpa]

The weather was perfect for the pool, high 80's/90's most days. Labadee was really nice. The water was cool at first, but felt good after about a minute. The only cold day (maybe 60's) was Friday. It was also very windy (30-40 kph) and cloudy that day. By Saturday when we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale it was nice again, 70's and sunny.

As I said before about the crowds, there were definitely easy ways to avoid them. We didn't eat at the Windjammer. We spent our pool time on the upper deck of the Solarium. We also avoided all the activities on the promenade. We got lucky our MDR table was off on the private side, so no guarantees there, but maybe you can request that. None of the specialty dinning places we went were ever crowded, but we did eat early, 6/6:30. I would also highly recommend renting a cabana on Labadee. The open side of the beach looked a bit like a zoo, but our side hardly had anyone on it.

One thing I really enjoyed were the number of bars and the amount of live music on the ship. I don't know if smaller ships have this many options, but we really enjoyed that and never found any of the bars to be overly crowded. In fact there were several times I commented, "where is everyone else at?".

[sdrocks]

We were on this cruise also and the only downside were the extremely

rude Brazilians. I agree with the poster about the pushing, shoving and

butting in lines by this group. Not speaking English is no excuse for no

manners. They even were fighting in the theatre during the headliner show Abba - had to be escoreted out by security. One of the ladies was

pregnant, holding her stomach and crying - not sure if she was punched or what . Felt sorry for ABBA trying to perform over this melee. Fortunately were gone rather quickly.

Have never experienced this level of rudeness on our previous 11 cruises.

On the upside we had very attentive waiters in the dining room - Ronald and Veemal - Opus dining room 4. Our room steward was also very

attentive. Had towel animals chocolates on our pillow every night.

Even though we didn't get 1 piece of luggage on the day we got home, did get it the next day. Sigh of relief as that was where our souveniors

were.

Enjoyed Labadee. Did an excursion in Cozumel, nothing special.

Embarking and disembarking were a breeze. Used the pool once, otherwise

enjoyed our balcony. Didnot enjoy the solarium bistro for lunch. Did like

the Park Cafe. We do not use elevators, so did a lot of stairs and went

to the gym or walked the track to keep our clothes fitting all week.

Loved the mudslide cookies, sunflower seed bars at the Promenade. Also

the bran muffins at breakfast.

Prefer the Freedom and Radiance class ships for overall experience.

Booked all our shows prior to boarding so had no problem with that. :)

[diva girl]

Was on the Oasis in June last year had no large rude crowds. The only time you notice a large crowd is after a show is letting out or maybe noontime on a sea day in the Windjammer. Did experience the Brazilians when staying in Aruba. Everytime the elevator door open for you to exit a group would rush the elevator before any of us could leave. This happen all week at the hotel. I didn't realize who the people were until a employee explained the situation.

[RN7997]

Thanks for the great review, I paid very close attention to it, as I recently booked the Oasis for next March, 10-17th. I was on the fence with booking this cruise, after reading many reviews about large crowds of "unruly" passengers. My co-worker sailed on her in January, and the only negative experience she had to talk about, were large groups of passengers, that acted rudely, as described in the posts before mine.

 

I'm looking forward to sailing on the Oasis, but I honestly have my reservations about it as well.

 

Can you tell me how the weather was during your cruise? Was it warm and sunny daily? Like, "Pool weather" hot, or just warm? I'm just wondering if I should wait a month, and go in April....

 

thanks again!

 

I would have no reservations about sailing Oasis again except for the Brazillians, so you may want to check the holiday calendar for next year! I would NOT go with them again if I was paid to go!

 

As far as weather this was the earliest I ever sailed and the weather was cooler then I am used to on a cruise but definately good for pool/beach etc. Like the OP posted Friday was windy and cold! No way was anyone swimming that day, but I did discover that it was a good day for an uncrowded visit to the hot tub! LOL Was warm in there;) I personally think I would not sail that early again, but thats just a personal opinion. I live in PA and its in the 40's here :( I like to come home to a nice transition to spring. We spent a little time in Fort Lauderdale the day we flew home wasting time and I put my feet in the ocean there and the water temps were COLD! The water at Paradise Beach in Cozumel also felt a little cool to me.....we stayed in the heated pool!

 

Labadee was beautiful (weather wise). They really built it up there from the last time I visited, which took from the beauty a bit. I did not rent a cabana as I was not in a suite, but can say DONT curiously walk to the far beach! Unless you have kids that are going to do the water park there stay away. This is the original side of the island from before the dock was built. The straw market was there too and felt rather unsafe. We actually saw people from the market trying to lure children over, so the hammocks etc that were there remained empty as people did not want to be bothered. As soon as you get off the ship and get onto the island the beach to the left is where the zip line is.....very pretty but water is rough on this side. Just next to where the cabanas are rented is where we should have stopped (though it looked busy). It was a nice hot day there....perfect for a float mat, which is what I did.

 

We missed Costa Maya due to high winds, but the air temps were still warm that say so using the pools were not a problem due to weather.

 

I have also sailed Freedom class ships and I will say this ship is laid out beautifully!!!! The levels are not split! We found it VERY easy to navigate this vessel despite its size!

[Coltsfan18]

Didnot enjoy the solarium bistro for lunch.

 

Loved the mudslide cookies, sunflower seed bars at the Promenade.

 

We are on the Oasis in May. This is our first cruise on RCCL. Can you tell me what type of food was served in the solarium. Also, what are mudslide cookies?? They sound yummy:D

[maweberpa]

I thought the Solarium food was good, but it was on the earthy crunchy side so I could see where some would not like it. We generally went to lunch in the middle of pool time, so I would not have wanted to eat a heavy meal in my swimsuit. Plus our deck chairs were nearby so the convenience made it a desirable spot.

 

As far as the offerings, they had a salad bar each day. They also had make your own gaspacho 2 of the days. This was great because it meant additional salad toppings (I don't care for cold soups). They also had hot dishes. There were usually 2 hot soups (miso and chicken noodle) and then hot wraps (tofu and then chicken or shrimp). They also had rice, beans and some sort of grilled meat (pork or chicken). For desserts they usually had cookies and a few other bar/pastry type things.

[Coltsfan18]

I thought the Solarium food was good, but it was on the earthy crunchy side so I could see where some would not like it. We generally went to lunch in the middle of pool time, so I would not have wanted to eat a heavy meal in my swimsuit. Plus our deck chairs were nearby so the convenience made it a desirable spot.

 

As far as the offerings, they had a salad bar each day. They also had make your own gaspacho 2 of the days. This was great because it meant additional salad toppings (I don't care for cold soups). They also had hot dishes. There were usually 2 hot soups (miso and chicken noodle) and then hot wraps (tofu and then chicken or shrimp). They also had rice, beans and some sort of grilled meat (pork or chicken). For desserts they usually had cookies and a few other bar/pastry type things.

 

Thanks!