Oasis Review June 11, 2011 (including CL Suite)

[Wonders10]

As depressed as I am to be back home, I know there are people out there with cruises coming up that can't get enough of cruise vacation reviews so here is mine:

 

The cruise party included myself (31), my mom and my niece (10) who was a last minute addition about a month before the cruise. We were booked originally in a D1 balcony cabin, however 4 days before sailing I received an email informing us we had been upgraded to a Crown Loft Suite. I about fell off the couch. I am Gold and my mom/niece have never sailed with RCCL before.

 

Overall, the cruise was probably one of the best cruises I have been in (only 6 in about a 4 year time frame). This was my second experience with Royal after sailing on the Grandeur last summer. My mom and I had such a great time and loved everything so much that we actually booked the Allure for 2013. Who knows if we will keep it but you really can't pass up the OBC and reduced deposit.

 

Stateroom: Like I said above, we were in CL Suite 1756, the very first suite on the starboard side. The balcony is a tad smaller than the other suites because it is on the end but we had no issues at all with it. It was still much bigger than the balcony we would have had. I had some concerns with getting the elevator since we were the highest level but I only recall one or two times during the entire cruise where I felt we waited a really long time to catch an elevator. The cabin itself was beautiful, more than enough room for the 3 of us. Great storage, beautiful view, and the master shower upstairs was amazing. If I could stay in this suite every cruise, I would!

 

Concierge Lounge/Suite Perks: Staying in a suite gave us some nice little perks, like access to the Concierge Lounge on Deck 11. We loved the free soda in the afternoons to get out of the sun and chill before getting ready for dinner. We usually got a soda and a cheese platter. Service here was wonderful and we all loved looking out to the boardwalk area. We did eat lunch here once (mini burgers and salads - all good) and continental breakfast on the last morning. It was so nice and quiet there - a great place to escape the crowds in the dining room waiting for use to disembark. We also had fruit platters left in our cabin and upgraded room service but we only used the "upgraded" version once.

 

Labadee: We chose to set up camp at the Suite beach, Barefoot Beach Club, and it was beautiful. We were driven on a private golf cart and given 3 lounge chairs in a shady spot. We also got complimentary floats. The water could not be more beautiful and we spent a lot of time in the water (I have the itchy sunburn to prove it). The lunch was delicious as well, and the steak and shrimp (suite extras) were delicious. We walked down to the markets and found the people working there to be a little too pushy for us so did not spend much time down there. Looking back, I think it was my favorite day of the cruise.

 

Falmouth: My only regret (maybe) is not booking an excursion here because we didn't even get off the ship and just had a sea day. It was a great day to enjoy the pools without a lot of crowds, but I missed not having a "land" thing to do. Next time...

 

Cozumel: We all went to Nachi Cocom and had a great beach day. The water was clear, service was good, food was yummy - no complaints. And I bought a beautiful alligator purse - I can find a good purse anywhere lol. It did not look like it came close to the 100 person limit that day.

 

Dining Room/Food: We had My Time Dining but I had made reservations for 6:15 every night. We ended up having the same waiter every night, which was fine with us - he was great (I may have developed a small crush) as well as his asst. waiter (Edison/Rasvan) They greeted us by name every night and always knew what we liked and didn't like (i.e. my niece loving her hard roll and caesar salad; no fresh pepper for any of us, etc) Overall I was always satisfied with the food everywhere we ate - even the WJ but that was only twice. We never did make it to get a cupcake or to Johnny Rockets for burgers but did get milkshakes (yum). The food was great, but I do think I've had better on some of my other cruises...the desserts however were by far the best I've had on a cruise.

 

Activities: We were rarely at a loss for things to do. I'm not the adventurous type, but we were able to get my niece skating, rock climbing and boogie boarding without issue. Definitely sign your waivers before you leave home. And look at your compass for when things are open, we liked to get there when it first started to avoid the waits - it did get crowded. Luckily once was enough for her.

 

Entertainment: The best by far of any cruise. I couldn't believe I was seeing these things on a cruise ship! We saw everything but the headliner show and the comedy show. Hairspray and Oasis of Dreams are tied for my favorite, followed by frozen in time and then come fly with me. In all fairness, come fly with me was the last show we saw and I think I might have become numb to the amazingness - like, "oh there's another guy flying through the air. Big deal." It was a great show though. I was a little bummed that the Grease sing-a-long in the AQ theater was cancelled to show basketball. But I'm sure the b-ball fans were happy.

 

Shopping: Lauren the shopping guide really got on my nerves for some reason, but I couldn't stop watching her on the shopping channel and singing about the forum shoppes in Cozumel. One thing I wasn't really crazy about was how sale merchandise was laid out in the middle of the promenade. It made walking through there almost impossible at times and the cruisers went nuts digging through the merchandise out there - I don't have the patience for that I guess. The $10 sale on a previous cruise line was held during the day in the dining room where there was MUCH more room to browse and look at the merchandise. On the Oasis, it was much too crowded for me - it looked like women were grabbing as much as they could hold without even looking to see what they had in their hands! lol

 

Embark/Disembark: Embarking was a breeze. Dropped off luggage curbside, parked, walked inside, after 10-15 minutes we were on the ship! Disembarking was also relatively painless but there were a few more lines and time spent waiting than embarking. Nothing major though. Plus I didn't have the excitement of boarding a ship to take my mind off waiting.

 

Feel free to search for my name (wonders10) on youtube to see a couple videos, including one of our suite. If I can think of anything else, I will add it, but please feel free to ask questions!

[DEERINH2O]

Congrats on the upgrade. Nice review.

 

 

Kathy

[reallyitsmema]

Thanks for the review. Just watched the suite video, your niece is precious!

[debshomespun]

Shannon: Could you post a link to the you tube videos for us "computer challenged" people? I wasn't able to find it. Would love to see the suite video, and any others you might have. Thanks! :D :D

[Tiggercat]

What an amazing upgrade!!! I am almost Diamond Plus (1 more cruise) and that has NEVER happened to us! Congratulations.

[Nancynurse]

Thanks for the review. We will be on Oasis in 4 weeks in a crown loft suite that faces the sports decks. I loved watching the video on Youtube. I have a couple of questions...

 

Is there a walk in closet and where is it located?

 

Was the shower amazing? Is there a spot to sit to shave legs?

 

Did you go up to sunbathe on the suite deck to get away from the crowds?

 

Was there a seperate line for embarkation to get on the ship?

 

We also added on a third person (my father) to my kids suite next door. He will probably stay below for the privacy from my boys 17 and 20. Did you use the couch and was it comfortable?

 

I am so excited. Thanks for your answers in advance!

 

Nancy

[reallyitsmema]

Shannon: Could you post a link to the you tube videos for us "computer challenged" people? I wasn't able to find it. Would love to see the suite video, and any others you might have. Thanks! :D :D

Here is the link.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/wonders10

 

I didn't know how to find it either but I looked on youtube help and it said the above is the standard format. You just have to put the specific username at the end and you can find any videos posted by that user.:)

[alexkrn46]

Your niece is adorable,thanks for sharing.

[Wonders10]

Thanks for the review. We will be on Oasis in 4 weeks in a crown loft suite that faces the sports decks. I loved watching the video on Youtube. I have a couple of questions...

 

Is there a walk in closet and where is it located?

 

Was the shower amazing? Is there a spot to sit to shave legs?

 

Did you go up to sunbathe on the suite deck to get away from the crowds?

 

Was there a seperate line for embarkation to get on the ship?

 

We also added on a third person (my father) to my kids suite next door. He will probably stay below for the privacy from my boys 17 and 20. Did you use the couch and was it comfortable?

 

I am so excited. Thanks for your answers in advance!

 

Nancy

 

There is not a walk in closet in this suite. There is a closet downstairs and another upstairs that has sliding doors. We hung all of our clothes up (3 people) and used drawers for little things and had plenty of space.

 

We never made it up to the suite deck unfortunately...we wanted more shade and to be a little closer to the pools. From the pictures I saw of it, it did look like there were plenty of sunny spots though. We did not have a problem getting chairs, again we wanted shade though. On the first sea day, we arrived around 10 to the pool and most of the "good" sunny chairs were taken. We typically went to the beach pool...if you can, try to get the chairs that are actually in the water. Those looked so nice, but I'm covered in freckles and the sun is not my friend haha.

 

Embarking was a breeze. There is a separate entrance for suites that is very clearly marked and we were escorted to an available window where we were checked in...at the time we arrived (11:15ish), we had no wait to check in. Then we took the picture, got my niece's wristband and headed onto the ship!

 

I LOVED the shower! There is not a spot to sit, but there is a small footrest to lift up your leg so you don't have to bend completely over. There was nothing better than stepping in that shower after being covered in sweat, sunscreen and salt water and having the rainshower wash it all away!

 

The couch pulls out into a double bed. It actually folds out so that your head would be on one end of the couch, feet on the other end, not like typically sofa beds. My mom slept on it every night. There is a bar that runs lengthwise down the middle, but if you just sleep on either side of it, its very comfy...we'd sit on it and watch TV before bed every night. It also did not impact the space issue much at all.

 

I can't imagine anyone staying in this suite and not loving it. I never imagined I would stay in a room like this anywhere, much less a cruise ship! Have a great time!

[Wonders10]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments! I actually had you all in mind when I created the video - my niece and I did about 5 takes before we just settled on this and got ready for dinner. Feel free to ask more questions about the suite or the ship!

[Wonders10]

Thought of another suite perk...for Oasis of Dreams and Frozen in Time, suite guests were given reserved seating. There isn't enough for all the suite guests and they open it up to everyone about 10 minutes before showtime, but they are good seats! I'm sure there are good seats in other parts of these venues, but definitely take advantage and know they are reserved for suites for a reason.

 

I'm trying to think of little things that I didn't mention in my earlier review...

 

We did eat at Johnny Rockets for breakfast on the first full day. It's free and was your typical breakfast fare...we had eggs, potatoes, bacon and toast. They also had plain bagels.

[cruzkitty]

Thanks for posting your Review! Your Suite looks amazing! I can't wait till we cruise in 82 days....:D

[GSuitesailing]

I was looking forward to your return to hear your review. So glad you all had a great time and enjoyed the suite and the perks that went with it! Please tell Claire "Great Job" on the video!

[Cruising Forever!]

As depressed as I am to be back home, I know there are people out there with cruises coming up that can't get enough of cruise vacation reviews so here is mine:

 

The cruise party included myself (31), my mom and my niece (10) who was a last minute addition about a month before the cruise. We were booked originally in a D1 balcony cabin, however 4 days before sailing I received an email informing us we had been upgraded to a Crown Loft Suite. I about fell off the couch. I am Gold and my mom/niece have never sailed with RCCL before.

 

Overall, the cruise was probably one of the best cruises I have been in (only 6 in about a 4 year time frame). This was my second experience with Royal after sailing on the Grandeur last summer. My mom and I had such a great time and loved everything so much that we actually booked the Allure for 2013. Who knows if we will keep it but you really can't pass up the OBC and reduced deposit.

 

Stateroom: Like I said above, we were in CL Suite 1756, the very first suite on the starboard side. The balcony is a tad smaller than the other suites because it is on the end but we had no issues at all with it. It was still much bigger than the balcony we would have had. I had some concerns with getting the elevator since we were the highest level but I only recall one or two times during the entire cruise where I felt we waited a really long time to catch an elevator. The cabin itself was beautiful, more than enough room for the 3 of us. Great storage, beautiful view, and the master shower upstairs was amazing. If I could stay in this suite every cruise, I would!

 

Concierge Lounge/Suite Perks: Staying in a suite gave us some nice little perks, like access to the Concierge Lounge on Deck 11. We loved the free soda in the afternoons to get out of the sun and chill before getting ready for dinner. We usually got a soda and a cheese platter. Service here was wonderful and we all loved looking out to the boardwalk area. We did eat lunch here once (mini burgers and salads - all good) and continental breakfast on the last morning. It was so nice and quiet there - a great place to escape the crowds in the dining room waiting for use to disembark. We also had fruit platters left in our cabin and upgraded room service but we only used the "upgraded" version once.

 

Labadee: We chose to set up camp at the Suite beach, Barefoot Beach Club, and it was beautiful. We were driven on a private golf cart and given 3 lounge chairs in a shady spot. We also got complimentary floats. The water could not be more beautiful and we spent a lot of time in the water (I have the itchy sunburn to prove it). The lunch was delicious as well, and the steak and shrimp (suite extras) were delicious. We walked down to the markets and found the people working there to be a little too pushy for us so did not spend much time down there. Looking back, I think it was my favorite day of the cruise.

 

Falmouth: My only regret (maybe) is not booking an excursion here because we didn't even get off the ship and just had a sea day. It was a great day to enjoy the pools without a lot of crowds, but I missed not having a "land" thing to do. Next time...

 

Cozumel: We all went to Nachi Cocom and had a great beach day. The water was clear, service was good, food was yummy - no complaints. And I bought a beautiful alligator purse - I can find a good purse anywhere lol. It did not look like it came close to the 100 person limit that day.

 

Dining Room/Food: We had My Time Dining but I had made reservations for 6:15 every night. We ended up having the same waiter every night, which was fine with us - he was great (I may have developed a small crush) as well as his asst. waiter (Edison/Rasvan) They greeted us by name every night and always knew what we liked and didn't like (i.e. my niece loving her hard roll and caesar salad; no fresh pepper for any of us, etc) Overall I was always satisfied with the food everywhere we ate - even the WJ but that was only twice. We never did make it to get a cupcake or to Johnny Rockets for burgers but did get milkshakes (yum). The food was great, but I do think I've had better on some of my other cruises...the desserts however were by far the best I've had on a cruise.

 

Activities: We were rarely at a loss for things to do. I'm not the adventurous type, but we were able to get my niece skating, rock climbing and boogie boarding without issue. Definitely sign your waivers before you leave home. And look at your compass for when things are open, we liked to get there when it first started to avoid the waits - it did get crowded. Luckily once was enough for her.

 

Entertainment: The best by far of any cruise. I couldn't believe I was seeing these things on a cruise ship! We saw everything but the headliner show and the comedy show. Hairspray and Oasis of Dreams are tied for my favorite, followed by frozen in time and then come fly with me. In all fairness, come fly with me was the last show we saw and I think I might have become numb to the amazingness - like, "oh there's another guy flying through the air. Big deal." It was a great show though. I was a little bummed that the Grease sing-a-long in the AQ theater was cancelled to show basketball. But I'm sure the b-ball fans were happy.

 

Shopping: Lauren the shopping guide really got on my nerves for some reason, but I couldn't stop watching her on the shopping channel and singing about the forum shoppes in Cozumel. One thing I wasn't really crazy about was how sale merchandise was laid out in the middle of the promenade. It made walking through there almost impossible at times and the cruisers went nuts digging through the merchandise out there - I don't have the patience for that I guess. The $10 sale on a previous cruise line was held during the day in the dining room where there was MUCH more room to browse and look at the merchandise. On the Oasis, it was much too crowded for me - it looked like women were grabbing as much as they could hold without even looking to see what they had in their hands! lol

 

Embark/Disembark: Embarking was a breeze. Dropped off luggage curbside, parked, walked inside, after 10-15 minutes we were on the ship! Disembarking was also relatively painless but there were a few more lines and time spent waiting than embarking. Nothing major though. Plus I didn't have the excitement of boarding a ship to take my mind off waiting.

 

Feel free to search for my name (wonders10) on youtube to see a couple videos, including one of our suite. If I can think of anything else, I will add it, but please feel free to ask questions!

 

Upgrade to a Crown Loft?!? I'm on the floor, bowing to you!!! Well DONE! Excellent review, too. Next time, get a cupcake!!! :D

 

Cheers,

Paul

[bajathree]

Congrats on the upgrade:)....however this is the type of thing that makes a C&A Diamond Plus and above member cringe:mad:....upgrading from top tier down...right:rolleyes:

[cruisebabe50]

This is like winning the lottery! I don't think it will ever happen to me. It is good to know it does happen though. Congratulations! It looks wonderful!

[Wonders10]

Congrats on the upgrade:)....however this is the type of thing that makes a C&A Diamond Plus and above member cringe:mad:....upgrading from top tier down...right:rolleyes:

 

Yes, I've read many "higher level" C&A members more than a little annoyed for us low men on the totem pole getting upgraded. I have no idea how I did it. I know we were booked in what was probably a rather popular room category in a room for 3-4 people, so my guess is they needed/wanted that room available and bumped us up since we had the "upgrade us anywhere please" selected in my C&A profile. Just dumb luck I think.

 

I have noticed many posters on the boards appearing very picky about the upgrades they will accept - perhaps that is why they never get upgraded. :rolleyes:

[missbogota]

Claire is AWESOME! Congrats on your "Big Time" UPGRADE! Love hearing about people hitting the RCL lottery!

[cruizinmimi]

What an amazing upgrade!!! I am almost Diamond Plus (1 more cruise) and that has NEVER happened to us! Congratulations.

 

I've been Diamond Plus for quite a few years now and have never been upgraded. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I will get upgraded.:D

[russnleanne]

congrats on the upgrade! Nice review..thanks...I haven't looked at the video yet.

 

I do have a question...could you feel motion alot...especially forward?

[Wonders10]

congrats on the upgrade! Nice review..thanks...I haven't looked at the video yet.

 

I do have a question...could you feel motion alot...especially forward?

 

I'll answer your question but just know that I do not have the slightest bit of motion or seasickness and sort of enjoy feeling the ship move every now and again.

 

That being said, I felt zero movement in our suite or anywhere else on the ship. On the last night, the winds seemed to pick up and I felt it more in our suite, sort of a vibration under us I guess. The tv upstairs vibrated as well so we put it back up into the ceiling. Other than that, there were many points during the cruise where I forgot for just a minute that I was on a ship. I'd say it's the smoothest sailing ship I've been on.

[Puffinater]

Congrats on the upgrade:)....however this is the type of thing that makes a C&A Diamond Plus and above member cringe:mad:....upgrading from top tier down...right:rolleyes:

 

I say good for those who are upgraded but Royal really needs to change the way it promotes upgrades for/to D+ and Pinnacle.

 

It certainly is not top down. They way they upgrade really makes me wonder.

[Cruising89143]

I say good for those who are upgraded but Royal really needs to change the way it promotes upgrades for/to D+ and Pinnacle.

 

It certainly is not top down. They way they upgrade really makes me wonder.

 

There are two different departments that upgrade. Inventory Management and C&A. I don't think that IM is giving many cabins to C&A to use for upgrades. IMHO if they aren't selling the upgrades then give them to C&A or do not use this as a listed perk. On our Allure cruise back in January, we were contacted by Inventory Management for an upgrade but it cost us.

[Pitcruiser]

Enjoyed review - added some comments on our experiences in an OS on same cruise. We picked this cruise because we wanted to see the ship and it was the only week we could get away all summer. Would not have chosen Western Carib otherwise because have done it multiple times.

One other point - getting onto an elevator at busy times verged on impossible. A lot of people waiting to go up from 4 or 5 got on down elevators and rode them back up. There are alot of passengers on this ship - at meal times they are all out and about.

 

Stateroom: Like I said above, we were in CL Suite 1756, the very first suite on the starboard side. The balcony is a tad smaller than the other suites because it is on the end but we had no issues at all with it. It was still much bigger than the balcony we would have had. I had some concerns with getting the elevator since we were the highest level but I only recall one or two times during the entire cruise where I felt we waited a really long time to catch an elevator. The cabin itself was beautiful, more than enough room for the 3 of us. Great storage, beautiful view, and the master shower upstairs was amazing. If I could stay in this suite every cruise, I would!

 

We were in OS 14240 - port side on the aft hump. Great balcony, comfortable cabin for four of us (although 21 year old son on roll away bed found bed uncomfortable at times. Plenty of storage - do miss L shaped couches in OS on Voyager class.

 

Concierge Lounge/Suite Perks: Staying in a suite gave us some nice little perks, like access to the Concierge Lounge on Deck 11. We loved the free soda in the afternoons to get out of the sun and chill before getting ready for dinner. We usually got a soda and a cheese platter. Service here was wonderful and we all loved looking out to the boardwalk area. We did eat lunch here once (mini burgers and salads - all good) and continental breakfast on the last morning. It was so nice and quiet there - a great place to escape the crowds in the dining room waiting for use to disembark. We also had fruit platters left in our cabin and upgraded room service but we only used the "upgraded" version once.

 

Lounge is great for quiet and made to order breakfast - can get made to order eggs there (not available in WJ) - quiet place to read with a coffee in the morning before the rest of the family woke up. Concierges (we had 2) were available to talk to you if you needed something, but unlike previous cruises made no effort to get to know us. Liquor and wine offerings during dinner hour more limited than on previous cruises. Mini burgers were great for lunch. View is fabulous. I stopped into the Diamond lounge once just to see it - very small.

 

Labadee: We chose to set up camp at the Suite beach, Barefoot Beach Club, and it was beautiful. We were driven on a private golf cart and given 3 lounge chairs in a shady spot. We also got complimentary floats. The water could not be more beautiful and we spent a lot of time in the water (I have the itchy sunburn to prove it). The lunch was delicious as well, and the steak and shrimp (suite extras) were delicious. We walked down to the markets and found the people working there to be a little too pushy for us so did not spend much time down there. Looking back, I think it was my favorite day of the cruise.

 

Barefoot beach was great - grilled shimp kabobs were very good. Did jet skis which were fun but not worth what they were charging.

 

Falmouth: My only regret (maybe) is not booking an excursion here because we didn't even get off the ship and just had a sea day. It was a great day to enjoy the pools without a lot of crowds, but I missed not having a "land" thing to do. Next time...

 

The comedian that night had it right - Falmouth is Jamaican for "not finished yet". We got off, wondered around the half-built fake port area for a few minutes, and got back on for a sea day docked. Have been to Jamaica several times - nothing we wanted to see or do on the excursions.

 

Cozumel: We all went to Nachi Cocom and had a great beach day. The water was clear, service was good, food was yummy - no complaints. And I bought a beautiful alligator purse - I can find a good purse anywhere lol. It did not look like it came close to the 100 person limit that day.

 

Again did not do an excursion - got off for a few minutes but no interest in shopping - enjoyed another docked sea day.

 

Dining Room/Food: We had My Time Dining but I had made reservations for 6:15 every night. We ended up having the same waiter every night, which was fine with us - he was great (I may have developed a small crush) as well as his asst. waiter (Edison/Rasvan) They greeted us by name every night and always knew what we liked and didn't like (i.e. my niece loving her hard roll and caesar salad; no fresh pepper for any of us, etc) Overall I was always satisfied with the food everywhere we ate - even the WJ but that was only twice. We never did make it to get a cupcake or to Johnny Rockets for burgers but did get milkshakes (yum). The food was great, but I do think I've had better on some of my other cruises...the desserts however were by far the best I've had on a cruise.

 

We had early seating. Waiter was very good -headwaiter annoying as always. Had dinner in 150 Central Park one night - thought is was very good. For first time did not bring tux for formal nights - wore suit and still felt over dressed. Roast beef sandwiches in cafe on Central Park very good for lunch but hard to find a place to sit - carried back to cabin and ate on table on huge balcony. Food in main dining room is essentially nicely presented banquet food with quality uneven. Had an almost inedible prime rib, but lobster was good. We all think the quality of food in the dining room continues to decline from cruise to cruise. Windjammer very crowded and food just OK. We really think they are trying to mouse people into eating at their specialty restaurents and paying the upcharge.

 

Activities: We were rarely at a loss for things to do. I'm not the adventurous type, but we were able to get my niece skating, rock climbing and boogie boarding without issue. Definitely sign your waivers before you leave home. And look at your compass for when things are open, we liked to get there when it first started to avoid the waits - it did get crowded. Luckily once was enough for her.

 

Unbelievable amount of things to do on this ship - kids said they could not imagine cruising on a smaller ship again unless it was on an itinerary where we were off the ship all the time (like Europe or Hawaii). Private area on deck 17 for gold card holders (suite guests and D+ or above) for sun bathing very nice - comfortable padded lounges with towel covers.

 

Entertainment: The best by far of any cruise. I couldn't believe I was seeing these things on a cruise ship! We saw everything but the headliner show and the comedy show. Hairspray and Oasis of Dreams are tied for my favorite, followed by frozen in time and then come fly with me. In all fairness, come fly with me was the last show we saw and I think I might have become numb to the amazingness - like, "oh there's another guy flying through the air. Big deal." It was a great show though. I was a little bummed that the Grease sing-a-long in the AQ theater was cancelled to show basketball. But I'm sure the b-ball fans were happy.

 

Shows were good - gold card holders did not need to have reservations (except for comedy show) but everyone else did although standbys all seemed to get in (except for comedy show) when they opened up just before show time. Did need to get VIP Show stickers on our cards from the concierge - table mates were turned away from one show without reservations before they got them.

 

Shopping: Lauren the shopping guide really got on my nerves for some reason, but I couldn't stop watching her on the shopping channel and singing about the forum shoppes in Cozumel. One thing I wasn't really crazy about was how sale merchandise was laid out in the middle of the promenade. It made walking through there almost impossible at times and the cruisers went nuts digging through the merchandise out there - I don't have the patience for that I guess. The $10 sale on a previous cruise line was held during the day in the dining room where there was MUCH more room to browse and look at the merchandise. On the Oasis, it was much too crowded for me - it looked like women were grabbing as much as they could hold without even looking to see what they had in their hands! lol

 

Lauren is pretty annoying, but she got off the ship with us as did Richard the cruise director (funny guy). When they had their sales on the Promenade it was pretty hard to get by - the $10 sale looked like a real zoo.

 

Embark/Disembark: Embarking was a breeze. Dropped off luggage curbside, parked, walked inside, after 10-15 minutes we were on the ship! Disembarking was also relatively painless but there were a few more lines and time spent waiting than embarking. Nothing major though. Plus I didn't have the excitement of boarding a ship to take my mind off waiting.

 

Can't believe they got all of us off that ship so quickly and painlessly.

[Cruising89143]

Shows were good - gold card holders did not need to have reservations (except for comedy show) but everyone else did although standbys all seemed to get in (except for comedy show) when they opened up just before show time. Did need to get VIP Show stickers on our cards from the concierge - table mates were turned away from one show without reservations before they got them.

 

 

Which is something else that I have brought up to the Concierge on both Oasis and Allure. If you're going to allow suite guests(with gold cards) to enter the shows without reservations then why must they have the sticker? Just make it gold cards across the board. Seems silly to have to bother the Concierge for this.