Just back from Oasis (Eastern 5/7-14)

[GatorTide]

Here are my thoughts - not in great detail, but my general observations - feel free to ask any questions you might have:

 

Embarkation: Easy! We parked at Park N' Go and we were shuttled to the terminal. Within 10-15 minutes, we were on board the ship. Embarkation was very smooth and organized and we were onboard by noon.

 

Early hours on ship: I wanted to do the zipline right away, but it didn't open until 1 p.m. so we went down to the Park Cafe in Central Park for hand-tossed salads and the famous roast beef sandwiches. The lines were minimal at that point and we were able to eat quickly and get back to the zipline quickly. Since we'd already signed our waivers online, it was easy to get the clearance to do the zipline. We went ahead and got wristbands to do the Flowrider since the sports staffers said the lines can get long on subsequent days. I was second in line to do the zipline and there were no crowds at that point so I did it twice in a row. You have to wear closed-toed shoes and they want you to take off jewelry such as watches and anything "dangly" like long earrings or necklaces. Suiting up for the zipline took longer than the actual ride, which lasts all of about 10 seconds - you zipline over the Boardwalk area of the ship, not the entire length of the ship. After you finish the ride, you enter your stateroom number into a keypad so you can access a photo of yourself in the Focus photo gallery later on in the trip. What was the ride like? Not scary at all! It's easy to forget to take a look around, so if you can get on to ride a couple of times, I recommend doing it early in the week so you can ride it once to get a feel for it and a second time to actually take a look around the ship - the ride is over before it begins so there isn't much time to get scared!

 

Access to staterooms opened just before 1 p.m. Our bags got to the room around 4 p.m. (balcony stateroom on deck 10 starboard - Boardwalk area). Muster drill began at 4:15 p.m. - I was trying to unpack until the last possible minute when the captain came on the loudspeaker to scold those of us who hadn't made our way to the muster stations yet. Chastened, we hurried along to our station in the Opus Dining Room.

 

Sailaway: Happened promptly at 5 p.m.

 

Day 2: Bahamas. We did the Blue Lagoon island trip. The boat ride to the lagoon took about 25 minutes and they had a lot of inflatable toys to play on once we got there, but the beach on that side wasn't all that pretty. The opposite side, however, was beautiful. If you plan to go there, walk out behind the restaurant area to the beach on the other side. Very few people were out there and the beach was gorgeous. There aren't as many chairs and umbrellas over there so you have to be quick and get over there, but if you can snag one, you'll be in for a very relaxing afternoon (if that's what you're looking for).

 

Other thoughts and then I will write more: Don't use the wine dispenser in the Opus Dining Room (fifth floor). It never worked properly! If you don't like your tablemates and decide to switch to My Time Dining and they tell you it's full, try again a day later and you might get a different answer. Generally, they will work with you to make you happy. The Schooner Bar and the Globe and Atlas Pub have peanuts or a trail mix - a good snack to tide you over 'til dinner. And the coffee bar/kiosk outside of Bolero's has mini crossanwiches and other small sandwiches that are also a good between-meal snack. They do charge for coffees and waters, but the sandwiches are free so don't hestitate to ask.

 

I'll write more later, but feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer :)

[kimala]

Thank you for your review. We will be on the ship in October, God willing. Did you happen to retain the compass? We have been begging for someone to post them. One lady did her best but I guess it was a challenge to her like it would be for me (I'm not too bright on the computer) anyways she only posted the Highlights page from each day. Did you prebook your entertainment? I noticed that there are 6 shows but 7 evenings so which night did you choose not to book a show? Thanks again.

[cruzkitty]

Gatortide-thanks for posting your review-I look forward to more! We will be sailing on the Oasis in Sept. Did you eat the food at Blue Lagoon? How was it? I am booking thru RCCL because our time at Bahamas is limited and lunch is included.

 

How was the MDR food on Oasis? How bout the crowds, shows, etc? Thanks for the info!

[will773]

Thanks for posting. Looking forward to the rest! :)

[funat55]

Thanks for the first installment of your review. I am looking forward to more. Did you use the Dect phones? If so how did they work and how much were they?

[Langley Cruisers]

If you don't like your tablemates and decide to switch to My Time Dining and they tell you it's full, try again a day later and you might get a different answer. Generally, they will work with you to make you happy.

 

Let me understand this - are you saying that a passenger can change to MTD in the middle of the week and still get in? Is this what you did? So I assume you were asked to prepay your tips for the entire week, at Guest Relations?

[Goofygator]

Thank you for your review. We will be on the ship in October, God willing. Did you happen to retain the compass? We have been begging for someone to post them. One lady did her best but I guess it was a challenge to her like it would be for me (I'm not too bright on the computer) anyways she only posted the Highlights page from each day. Did you prebook your entertainment? I noticed that there are 6 shows but 7 evenings so which night did you choose not to book a show? Thanks again.

 

Kimala- I didn't forget you! After my original posts I got caught up with some really long work days. I got all the pages scanned just couldn't figure out how to get it all posted consolidated as one so I ended up posting it page-by-page! I have Day 1 done and if this works I will get the other days up right away.

 

Try this link:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-_EbBfMc9ivZjM0YjRhZmItZmEwNi00NzNmLWFiZjEtYTBjZjYzNTIyNWM3&hl=en

[wendyam76]

Goofygator - thank you so much! Our cruise meet found your highlights pages so helpful and I am away to our meet page to post this link.

Wendy

[Aquahound]

Don't use the wine dispenser in the Opus Dining Room (fifth floor).

 

Funny you say that. It didn't work properly for me either. After trying 3 times and getting no wine, the next day I had to go to Guest Relations and have the 3 charges removed from my SeaPass account.

[EJPhilly]

Here are my thoughts - not in great detail, but my general observations - feel free to ask any questions you might have:

 

Embarkation: Easy! We parked at Park N' Go and we were shuttled to the terminal. Within 10-15 minutes, we were on board the ship. Embarkation was very smooth and organized and we were onboard by noon.

 

Early hours on ship: I wanted to do the zipline right away, but it didn't open until 1 p.m. so we went down to the Park Cafe in Central Park for hand-tossed salads and the famous roast beef sandwiches. The lines were minimal at that point and we were able to eat quickly and get back to the zipline quickly. Since we'd already signed our waivers online, it was easy to get the clearance to do the zipline. We went ahead and got wristbands to do the Flowrider since the sports staffers said the lines can get long on subsequent days. I was second in line to do the zipline and there were no crowds at that point so I did it twice in a row. You have to wear closed-toed shoes and they want you to take off jewelry such as watches and anything "dangly" like long earrings or necklaces. Suiting up for the zipline took longer than the actual ride, which lasts all of about 10 seconds - you zipline over the Boardwalk area of the ship, not the entire length of the ship. After you finish the ride, you enter your stateroom number into a keypad so you can access a photo of yourself in the Focus photo gallery later on in the trip. What was the ride like? Not scary at all! It's easy to forget to take a look around, so if you can get on to ride a couple of times, I recommend doing it early in the week so you can ride it once to get a feel for it and a second time to actually take a look around the ship - the ride is over before it begins so there isn't much time to get scared!

 

Access to staterooms opened just before 1 p.m. Our bags got to the room around 4 p.m. (balcony stateroom on deck 10 starboard - Boardwalk area). Muster drill began at 4:15 p.m. - I was trying to unpack until the last possible minute when the captain came on the loudspeaker to scold those of us who hadn't made our way to the muster stations yet. Chastened, we hurried along to our station in the Opus Dining Room.

 

Sailaway: Happened promptly at 5 p.m.

 

Day 2: Bahamas. We did the Blue Lagoon island trip. The boat ride to the lagoon took about 25 minutes and they had a lot of inflatable toys to play on once we got there, but the beach on that side wasn't all that pretty. The opposite side, however, was beautiful. If you plan to go there, walk out behind the restaurant area to the beach on the other side. Very few people were out there and the beach was gorgeous. There aren't as many chairs and umbrellas over there so you have to be quick and get over there, but if you can snag one, you'll be in for a very relaxing afternoon (if that's what you're looking for).

 

Other thoughts and then I will write more: Don't use the wine dispenser in the Opus Dining Room (fifth floor). It never worked properly! If you don't like your tablemates and decide to switch to My Time Dining and they tell you it's full, try again a day later and you might get a different answer. Generally, they will work with you to make you happy. The Schooner Bar and the Globe and Atlas Pub have peanuts or a trail mix - a good snack to tide you over 'til dinner. And the coffee bar/kiosk outside of Bolero's has mini crossanwiches and other small sandwiches that are also a good between-meal snack. They do charge for coffees and waters, but the sandwiches are free so don't hestitate to ask.

 

I'll write more later, but feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer :)

Hey Jaymi..

Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet! Dolphin Swim in Nassau was AWESOME! Didn't really care for our tour in St. Thomas (was with Bernards Tours which was highly recommended, we had Elvis - he was ok). Weather wasn't great, so no great views/pics, dropped off for shopping for 2 hrs and was done in 1 hr.. wasn't thrilled with this area. Went to Mountain Top and because of light rain there was low cloud cover and couldn't see much. St. Marteen was great, would def go back there for vacation!

Ship was HUGE, Rob & I kept getting lost it was hilarious! We only saw Oasis of Dreams shows (very good) and Come Fly w/ Me (didn't care for this one)! We never ate in MDR, we tried Seafood Shack, wasn't bad, we ate in Chops twice (actually on Friday nite, we ate w/ Frankie/Beverly the couple who won Love & Marriage game, they were a hoot!! We ate in Giovanni's on Thursday nite, it was ok! Windjammer was ok for us, always got a table, def didn't have the selection of food that we had on Explorer, but it wasn't an issue for us as we aren't very fussy eaters and we could always find someting to eat! We sat everyday in Solarium Area, it was awesome, nice and quiet (weird they didn't have some kinda of music piped in), pool there was ok, it was basically like a huge hot tub, but not hot and no jets. We ate lunch there a few times, very healthyish foods. Park Cafe was great for breakfast (ate bagel w/ lox every am.. YUMMM), the little breakfast burrito was good, went for lunch one day also and had the Roast Beef sandwich everyone was raving about, it was very good, I didn't find the top of the roll too salty @ all. The coffee on ship was AWEFULL OMG!! Went to Cafe Promenade and bought their Iced Cafe Americano several times a day (even though it's Starbucks and strong) but was better than the other Seattles Best (I know they are same company). We loved sitting outside of Sorrento's and people watched @ nite. It was hilarious!

My overall thoughts are ship is HUGE and staff tended to be very impersonable (room attendant was ok), we hung out @ Sky Bar everyday and the bartender there Richard Brown was great and made me great drinks, and we loved talking to him about Jamaica and how he liked being on Oasis. I don't think we will go on Allure, we did book Freedom for next May, so can't wait for that!

I will try to post some pics when I take my disc from camera and get pics put on CD.

[01Sweetpea]

Can't wait to read more. We leave in less than 7 weeks are are SOOOO excited!

[GatorTide]

Thank you for your review. We will be on the ship in October, God willing. Did you happen to retain the compass? We have been begging for someone to post them. One lady did her best but I guess it was a challenge to her like it would be for me (I'm not too bright on the computer) anyways she only posted the Highlights page from each day. Did you prebook your entertainment? I noticed that there are 6 shows but 7 evenings so which night did you choose not to book a show? Thanks again.

 

I didn't save the Compasses, sorry!

 

Yes, I prebooked everything. We did the comedy show the first night. On the first sea day, we ended up seeing three shows - Hairspray, Frozen in Time and the Aqua Show (we had a balcony overlooking Boardwalk so we just watched from our room). We skipped the headliner show. We saw Come Fly with Me on Thursday. They canceled the Splish Splash dive show on the two days it was scheduled due to rough seas. Also, keep in mind they do the Love and Marriage Show one night (I think it was the third night? and Quest on Thursday night, and you don't need reservations for those).

[GatorTide]

Gatortide-thanks for posting your review-I look forward to more! We will be sailing on the Oasis in Sept. Did you eat the food at Blue Lagoon? How was it? I am booking thru RCCL because our time at Bahamas is limited and lunch is included.

 

How was the MDR food on Oasis? How bout the crowds, shows, etc? Thanks for the info!

 

Yes, we ate the food at Blue Lagoon. Nothing too special - hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, fruit and a couple of beverage choices. It was fine, though. They have a covered pavilion where the food is served with a guy playing steel drums. The staff on the island weren't particularly friendly. Not rude, but just kind of uninvolved.

 

I wasn't too impressed with MDR food, but I'm a bit of a picky eater. Sometimes I struggled to find appetizers that appealed to me, and I wasn't wild about the desserts.

 

The ships was full but it didn't feel too crowded except in certain instances like after shows let out, during parades, sales and disembarking. I didn't think it felt that different from any other cruise in that respect. There are so many places for people to go that it wasn't like everyone had to crush into one place at any certain time.

 

I will write about the shows in another post.

[GatorTide]

Thanks for the first installment of your review. I am looking forward to more. Did you use the Dect phones? If so how did they work and how much were they?

 

No, didn't use them.

[GatorTide]

Let me understand this - are you saying that a passenger can change to MTD in the middle of the week and still get in? Is this what you did? So I assume you were asked to prepay your tips for the entire week, at Guest Relations?

 

Yes. What happened was that we went to our late seating table the first night but we weren't thrilled with the service or tablemates. The second day I went in and asked someone if I could switch to MTD and was told they didn't have any availability. We had reservations for Chops that night so I figured I'd try again the next day and I went back the following afternoon and spoke to someone higher up and he made a phone call to the MTD staff and they were able to accommodate us at that point so I went upstairs (MTD is on the fifth level/top of the dining room). We just had to submit the prepaid gratuity form and that was it. We had different waitstaff every night. Two nights were great and the other two just so-so. It is a bit chaotic up there - you can tell the waitstaff is really working hard to keep up with all the comings and goings - but I definitely liked not being tied to a certain mealtime. I don't think we will go back to regular seatings again!

[Langley Cruisers]

Yes....

 

^ Thank you for the reply. This is so interesting; I think this might be the first I've heard of this. Here we thought MTD was reserved and pre-paid ahead of time, and yet you were able to join part way into your week. I'm glad they could accomodate you.

 

We enjoyed MTD on Mariner last year and it was run extremely well, very smooth! Sadly have not heard the same about some other ships but I think it's good management that makes a good MTD experience.

[cruzkitty]

Thanks for your answers, Gatortide!! Did you book BL thru RCCL? Just wondering if you thought it was worth it. We also have MTD.

[marci22]

Didn't really care for our tour in St. Thomas (was with Bernards Tours which was highly recommended, we had Elvis - he was ok). Weather wasn't great, so no great views/pics, dropped off for shopping for 2 hrs and was done in 1 hr.. wasn't thrilled with this area. Went to Mountain Top and because of light rain there was low cloud cover and couldn't see much. St. Marteen was great, would def go back there for vacation!

 

Bernard does tours in St. Martin... you didn't like St. Thomas? or St. Martin?

[EJPhilly]

Bernard does tours in St. Martin... you didn't like St. Thomas? or St. Martin?

Sorry, was overtired when I wrote this this am.. it was Sunny Liston tours in St. Thomas that we weren't thrilled with (to be quite honest, I don't think we even had someone from Sunny Liston, we had a plain white open van (it said "taxi" on roof of car). Bernards Tours in St. Maarten was great!

[Merion_Mom]

Let me understand this - are you saying that a passenger can change to MTD in the middle of the week and still get in? Is this what you did? So I assume you were asked to prepay your tips for the entire week, at Guest Relations?

 

Yes. What happened was that we went to our late seating table the first night but we weren't thrilled with the service or tablemates. The second day I went in and asked someone if I could switch to MTD and was told they didn't have any availability. We had reservations for Chops that night so I figured I'd try again the next day and I went back the following afternoon and spoke to someone higher up and he made a phone call to the MTD staff and they were able to accommodate us at that point so I went upstairs (MTD is on the fifth level/top of the dining room). We just had to submit the prepaid gratuity form and that was it. We had different waitstaff every night. Two nights were great and the other two just so-so. It is a bit chaotic up there - you can tell the waitstaff is really working hard to keep up with all the comings and goings - but I definitely liked not being tied to a certain mealtime. I don't think we will go back to regular seatings again!

 

Langley, we were able to do it on the Independence, too.

 

Like Gator, we weren't thrilled with our service the first night (there was no there there, if you know what I mean), and NO tablemates at an eight-top.

 

The next night we ate in the WJ, by son's choice, the next night at a private dinner, the next night at WJ again.

 

The next day, our headwaiter called our cabin and asked if there was a problem.

 

In the course of that conversation, we mentioned that we would really prefer MTD. He said that it was full, but if we would come BEFORE 7 that night, he would switch us. (7 to 8:30 are the witching hours - bad juju)

 

We showed up around 6:35, and they fell all over themselves accommodating us. First the young lady said, Oh, there is no room in MTD, you can't switch, but the HW swept up and said, Mrs. MM, so glad to see you, come right this way.....................

 

And then every night after that, they ALL recognized us immediately, called us by name, and even sometimes seated us before others.

 

We had the same waiters every night, and they loved us.

 

I am going to say something that will annoy some people now.

 

As soon as we opened our mouths, and they could hear that we were Americans (the ship was 95% British), they couldn't do enough for us. They grinned from ear to ear as soon as they realized that we were Big Tipping Americans not Cheap Stiffing British.

 

Go ahead. Beat me up. Tell me that I am generalizing. But you should have seen their faces!

 

I am guessing that some of the ease of switching and the effusive greetings that we received every night were at least partly due to our D+ status, which is always in their computer. The number of D+ on the cruise was in the very very very low double digits.

 

So YES, it can be done.

 

:)

[Familygoboston]

:D Thanks for the Compasses, looks like a lot of work and I appreciate it!!

[Dave in Atlanta]

Eileen, I too was on the Oasis last week, and I really enjoyed your comments. (kinda surprised I didn't bump into you...there were only 6,000 of us...)

 

But I MUST take exception to your bashing of the coffee. I'm not a coffee snob, but I do drink Starbucks a couple of times a week, so I guess I appreciate high-priced coffee.

 

"The coffee on the ship was AWFUL! OMG!" Really? I must have been on a different part of the ship (- not that it would be difficult...did you notice that wherever you needed to go next, it was ALWAYS on the other end of the ship???). I DID have bad coffee once, in the Windjammer, but to their credit it was consistent with the Windjammer experience - kind of watered-down.

 

The other 20 - 25 cups I drank were excellent. Seattle's Best is (to me) a junior version of Starbucks in strength, and I actually prefer it. My favorite place to get coffee was the good old urns in Cafe Promenade. Great stuff. I loved it. The coffee in the MDR and Chops was uniformly good as well.

 

I know that coffee tastes are highly subjective, so I guess we'll just disagree. I do see statements like yours routinely on these boards ("coffee was undrinkable"..."coffee was swill", etc.) and it always amazes me. I really like coffee, and I really enjoy the coffee on RCCI ships.

[EJPhilly]

Eileen, I too was on the Oasis last week, and I really enjoyed your comments. (kinda surprised I didn't bump into you...there were only 6,000 of us...)

 

But I MUST take exception to your bashing of the coffee. I'm not a coffee snob, but I do drink Starbucks a couple of times a week, so I guess I appreciate high-priced coffee.

 

"The coffee on the ship was AWFUL! OMG!" Really? I must have been on a different part of the ship (- not that it would be difficult...did you notice that wherever you needed to go next, it was ALWAYS on the other end of the ship???). I DID have bad coffee once, in the Windjammer, but to their credit it was consistent with the Windjammer experience - kind of watered-down.

 

The other 20 - 25 cups I drank were excellent. Seattle's Best is (to me) a junior version of Starbucks in strength, and I actually prefer it. My favorite place to get coffee was the good old urns in Cafe Promenade. Great stuff. I loved it. The coffee in the MDR and Chops was uniformly good as well.

 

I know that coffee tastes are highly subjective, so I guess we'll just disagree. I do see statements like yours routinely on these boards ("coffee was undrinkable"..."coffee was swill", etc.) and it always amazes me. I really like coffee, and I really enjoy the coffee on RCCI ships.

Well I guess we'll agree to disagree!! My DH and thought it was especially terrible in Cafe Promenade.. sorry... I guess that's why they have chocolate and vanilla! I can honestly I never had 1 "good" cup of coffee. Oh, and by the way regarding your comments of some of my posts on here referring to coffee as "swill".. I can say with 100% clarification that I have NEVER EVER used that word.

Eileen

[Dave in Atlanta]

Eileen;

 

My apologies - I was generalizing some comments I've read over the years in these forums.

 

Didn't mean to accuse you personally of using the word "swill" - although it's a perfectly good word.

 

So isn't it funny about taste?...I've noticed the same thing about tastes in beer...one person's favorite is another's "I wouldn't drink that if I were desperate."

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise. I did also. I just didn't have the gumption to write up my thoughts as you did. Thanks for doing that.

[jt1120]

This question is open to anyone who has sailed the Oasis; I know that they have a 70's night, but do they have a tropcial themed night? Need to know whether to bring our tropical gear on our next cruise or not. Thanks.