Oasis Review -- 5/26/12 sailing. The "WOW," the less than "WOW," and the HUH?

[Dave85]

Hello! This was my 27th cruise and my second on the Oasis. The previous one was just this past November and I plan to throw in some comparisons. We're Diamond members, a young couple in our late 20s, and we LOVE big ships with the "WOW" factor.

 

I'll structure this in a section by section bullet point format so it is hopefully a quick read. Before I begin, I just want to send a quick shout out to the wonderful Meet & Mingle Roll Call thread from our sailing! As I said over on our roll call thread, it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to meet many of you and I hope that some of you will chime in here if you think I got it wrong!

 

The Comparison

 

The 5/26/12 sailing ("the May sailing") and the 11/5/11 sailing ("last November") couldn't have been any more different. Last November we sailed at a time when most school age children and college students were still in school, so the atmosphere on board was much more "mature." By mature I don't mean to invoke images of loose dentures and early bedtimes, rather the ship just had a more adult feel to it. Everything seemed more couples oriented. For example, there was much more drinking and merriment up on the pool deck during the day. Last November, the bar waiters were running around like chickens with their heads cut off and could barely keep up with the demand for their services! Of course, they were making tons of money and couldn't be happier. Every man proudly sported a Royal Caribbean Beer Purse (including yours truly). On this sailing, RC burse sightings were few and far between.

 

The May sailing had a much more family-oriented feel. The ship was dominated by families with children and multi-generational family groups. Pool deck bar waiters at times looked more like lost, sad children... wandering around aimlessly, calling out, not getting a response. Great if you wanted a drink! You could get one quite quickly... but it was clear that the bar staff wasn't as happy as they were last November. In the casino, three different casino dealers remarked to me in the course of conversation that it had been a very quiet week for them. This was evident just by looking around. I loved never having to wait for a table though! That was wonderful... but some of the casino staff was clearly bummed out. Again, it was a family cruise with a different atmosphere!

 

Please keep all of this in mind if you're thinking of booking Oasis (and I imagine it applies to all of the other ships on normal Caribbean routes). If you want one "feel" or the other, book accordingly. For my fiancee and I, we prefer the former. In the future, we'll apply this lesson.

 

With that out of the way, lets commence the review...

 

The "WOW"

 

• Ricky Matthews! WOW, I have a new favorite cruise director after 27 cruises. I was skeptical of the high praise he was receiving on these boards but there is no doubt in my mind that I have never laid eyes on another individual with half the energy of Ricky Matthews. What really "WOW-ed" me though was that he always seemed to go the extra mile. While some cruise directors might quickly show their face at the "Escape by Malibu Beach Party" or "twenty by Absolut" (Editorial note: Amy Fickert didn't even do that last November), Ricky not only showed up but made a point of interacting personally with guests all around the room (including my father, who does not dance, yet Ricky persuaded him to dance!) Once the action picked up, not only did Ricky stay at the party but he WAS the party. There he was, sweating, jumping up and down in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by guests having the time of his life. Lets also not forget the engagement proposal that he helped facilitate after an evening performance of Come Fly With Me. The guy had clearly asked Ricky for his help earlier in the sailing and the two of them nailed it together! Congrats to the newly engaged couple! Ladies and gentlemen this man loves his job, and we loved him for it. There is no question that he deserves to be the permanent CD of Oasis. RCI, make it happen.
  
• Hairspray. We missed it last November and couldn't have been any more impressed. Definitely exceeded expectations.
  
• Our dinner at Chops. Last November we dined at 150 Central Park and it just wasn't my speed. I'm not one to appreciate the swanky lettuce from Swank Farms in South Florida contorted into imaginative positions while floating around a piece of fish that I've never heard of on a lazy river of duck liver juice. Give me that large juicy porterhouse any day of the week... sure, I miss the rib eye, but the meal was simply delicious. Well done, Chops.
  
• Hayley in the Diamond Lounge. Sounds like she didn't make everyone happy last week, but she was just fantastic to us. The few problems that popped up during the week she quickly and graciously attended to. It was really night and day from the less than special experience we had in the D lounge last November, and we couldn't have been happier. She received a "WOW" card from us. I'm not even 100% sure that the Diamond Concierge is eligible to benefit from the WOW cards (I think I read that on here at some point) but whatever... she deserved it and can hang it on her wall for all I care.
  
• The service of our Asst. Waiter, Ivan from Peru, in the MDR. More on him later.
  
• Expectations exceeded in port. We had a wonderful time in Labadee and Cozumel and the new port area of Falmouth (which we didn't venture out of) really exceeded our expectations.
  

The "Less than WOW"

Sadly, we both felt that there was a marked decline in service on board Oasis since we cruised on her last November. We also noticed that crew morale was noticeably lower. This wasn't the case across the board and there are always exceptions, but it was enough of a factor to be noticeable to us. I really wonder why this was... I don't have an answer. Last November we were "WOW-ed" across the board... this time, not so much.

 

• Inattentive service. We ate breakfast in the Windjammer on 3 mornings. On 2 of those mornings, a Windjammer staff member (waiter/assistant waiter, whomever) came over and asked if they could get us anything to drink, took our order, and then never returned with what we requested. (The third morning, the waiter did in fact bring our coffee). It wasn't all bad. Other waiters then came around to happily refill the cup of coffee that we never received... interesting. Was this a huge deal? No, of course not. Heaven knows I could afford to walk the extra 50 feet to retrieve my own coffee with all of the food I was eating... but still, why even come by if you're not going to bring what we ordered?
  
• Inexcusable lapse in service. The Royal Caribbean Rusty Anchor Service Award goes to the bar waiter for our section in the MDR. I never did get his name (for which he's lucky), and it was for good reason.... because he would not serve our table. Our section of the MDR was I'd say no more than 2/3 full on any given night, save for the first formal night. He didn't have a particularly busy section. He shows up on the first night and discovers that our table was mostly drinking wine (which, as most of you know, is served by the Waiter rather than a bar server). When he found out that the only order for bar service was my diet coke (mind you I was purchasing that diet coke, I didn't have the soda package -- not that his behavior would have been excusable even if I did), he left the table never to return.... for the rest of the week. Nope, never did bring me that diet coke. Never did return to our table once for the rest of the week. Never offered us shooters after dinner that I saw other bar waiters bringing around. Nada. I'm completely fine with the fact that he may want to serve our table (and bring me my diet coke) after he retrieves the first round of drinks for other tables that were placing big $$$ alcohol orders with him. It's okay, I get it, he wants to make money. But to completely ignore our table for the rest of the week like that? Disgraceful... bad service.
  

I did promise another word on our assistant waiter. The funny thing about receiving really bad service from one crew member is that it sometimes gives someone else an opportunity to shine. Our Assistant Waiter noticed how upset I was getting that I could not get service from the bar waiter. After apparently trying in vain for some time to locate him to bring me my drink, he went out of his way to fetch me not one but two free fountain diet cokes to make things right. This, folks, is Gold Anchor "WOW" Service. When it became apparent that we weren't ever going to get bar service again on this sailing in the MDR, our Assistant Waiter just went and got me a soda for free each subsequent night. He didn't need to do this... He could have just let it go, which would have resulted in me simply complaining to the Head Waiter about the bar server's neglect (this happened on one prior cruise on the Explorer and the service improved dramatically after that point)... but instead he took initiative and made it right for me. For that, he received our other "WOW" card. Thank you Ivan.

 

The "HUH?"

If you've sailed on a larger RCI ship out of South Florida in the past few years you're by now aware that they're staffed with two DJs. One of those DJ's is purportedly a "Celebrity DJ" from the "Scratch DJ Academy." This so-called "Celebrity DJ" gets all the best gigs on the ship... he'll play the two deck parties (Escape by Malibu and twenty by Absolut), he'll play the best nights in the dance club, and he'll play special gigs elsewhere. The other DJ on the ship is the "Resident DJ," a mere mortal who gets the shaft and plays wherever the special DJ isn't, often to small crowds.

 

We love to dance. We love club music. Good DJs are very important to us. Never have I heard a less talented DJ (outside of an amateur at a dive bar in a major American city) than the special "Celebrity Scratch DJ" on this cruise, DJ Synapse. Think 16 year old kid clicking "next" on his or her iTunes playlist. There was no mixing, there were no transitions, there was no consideration of which songs go well together, there were no coherent sets and there was ABSOLUTELY no scratching. The only thing I can conclude is that the presence of "DJ Synapse" was one big joke by Royal Caribbean. Haha, Royal, you guys really had us going on that one!!! He should consider changing his name from Synapse to Syncope as I felt like fainting after listening to his sets for 5 minutes. That disappointing. Also worth noting that I only heard him play a handful of songs from within the past 3-5 years throughout all of the hours we were subjected to his sets. Strange, and in my experience, unusual. It's almost like someone told him the way to be a good DJ on a cruise ship is to emulate a bad wedding DJ.

 

What makes this a real "HUH?" rather than just a disappointment is that the Oasis Resident DJ, Tony Scott, was outstanding! Oh my, so much talent. Not only could he do all of the things above that DJ Synapse could not, but he had the keen ability to read the room and play appropriate music. Case in point, first night of the cruise he was spinning in Dazzles to a room filled with mostly multi-generational family groups. He played a fantastic set that made everyone happy, mixing very current music with music from past generations seamlessly. Tip of the hat to you, DJ Tony Scott. Keep up the good work!

 

I realize that something like this doesn't matter to everyone, but for us, this was the one thing that tangibly affected our cruise in a negative way. We quickly got over the indifferent service and rolled with it (we were on vacation!!!), but this was an actual disappointment. Royal Caribbean, if you're bringing someone on and calling them a "Celebrity," please do some basic screening of their ability to perform! In fairness, all of the other "Celebrity" DJs I've had on prior cruises have been excellent... so lets just chalk this one up to a "miss." We just want to dance to good music with a competent DJ... that's all!

 

Conclusion

With the exception of the poor Celebrity DJ and some isolated indifferent service, we had a fantastic time back on the Oasis. There is absolutely nothing at sea that compares to an Oasis class ship... nothing. I only mentioned a precious few things in this review to highlight some real highs and some particularly noticeable lows, because if I mentioned everything that was great and met my high expectations this would go on forever and ever. I cannot recommend an Oasis class ship highly enough to anyone thinking of giving it a try. My parents, who have mostly been sailing Celebrity in the past few years, joined us on this sailing and had such a ball that they're planning on booking Allure for next year!

 

While my next 2 cruises are already booked (including my honeymoon next year) and neither is on Royal, we're already talking about returning and booking the Allure for early 2014 back on the Eastern itinerary (as we did last November). We may not exclusively sail Royal, but the product that they put forward -- even if not perfect -- is a great fit for us and we look forward *knock on wood* to many happy returns and another fabulous cruise on an Oasis class ship in the not too distant future.

 

Thanks for reading! Feel free to post any questions you may have and I'll do my best to answer them.

[yogaddict]

I am Dave85's fiancee and cruise companion and agree with everything he said. I must add, however, #cruiserproblems. The cruise, as he mentioned, was fantastic. As we complained to each other that the room steward didn't fill our beer cooler with ice, I liked to remind myself how incredibly high my expectations are, and how wonderful cruising is :D

[tomko2]

Very good review -- I like to read balanced reviews.

It is great that you took the time to write it.

We were on the Allure in January (5 nighter); it had it's good, bad and ugly moments but the ship itself is certainly a wow.

We have taken at least 2 dozen cruises all on RCL and I must admit that we haven't been in any of the night clubs where there was a DJ so I have made a note to drag myself out of the casino on our next cruise and check it out.

On your upcoming nuptials, I would like to wish

you both a very Happy and Long Marriage.

Kathy:)

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your cruise. Glad you had a great time.

[royalcruz]

Thank you for your review.

 

We went on a spring break time cruise this year on Princess and also noticed how dead the bars were. Even the parties fell flat.

[DarthGrady]

Great review, thanks for posting! My wife and I (also in our late 20's) went on Allure last October and had a similar experience: Spectacular ship, decent entertainment, generally good (but not the best) service, and other little quirks here and there.

[vivavegas]

Thanks for posting your candid review! I really enjoyed reading about your experiences!:)

[DonnaK]

Great review! I love that you touched on things that aren't often discussed in other reviews!

[A&L_Ont]

Dave, a very good review. It is nice to read the great highs, and unfortunate low moments of your cruise. You have captured those items in a nice synopsis that is easy to read. I was told from another CCer on this cruise that their DL waiter got their WOW card as the drinks never stoped coming and he was a happy guy.

 

It is too bad that this cruise was not like your one in November. Demographics do make a difference. We were on Oasis in July 2011 and there were the same amount of kids, but I would say that there was more drinking by the pool. The burses were out in full force. Sadly, as age caught up with me these items started to fall to the wayside. As for the Celeberty DJ, maybe he should be scratched, right off the ship;)

 

Thanks for the review,

Andrew

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Excellent review - thanks for sharing!

[A&L_Ont]

I forgot to mention that I liked the humorous tone that was threaded through your review.

 

Andrew

[Dave85]

On your upcoming nuptials, I would like to wish

you both a very Happy and Long Marriage.

Kathy:)

 

Thanks!!!

 

As for the Celeberty DJ, maybe he should be scratched, right off the ship;)

 

I like the way you're thinking... :p Hopefully you'll have someone better at the end of the month!

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[mommaof 3]

Interesting, and fun to read review! It was enlightening to read your take on the restaurant food and DJ's. I probably wouldn't notice the DJ thing, so it's a good reminder of how different things are important to different cruisers!

 

I am surprised that your cruise last Nov didn't have a lot of kids - it's a week to avoid at Disneyworld due to the NJ teacher conference days off, I thought that the DW-like cruise ships would follow that calendar pattern too. Guess not all vacationers are from NJ, lol.

 

Thx!

[Dave85]

I am surprised that your cruise last Nov didn't have a lot of kids - it's a week to avoid at Disneyworld due to the NJ teacher conference days off, I thought that the DW-like cruise ships would follow that calendar pattern too. Guess not all vacationers are from NJ, lol.

 

Thx!

 

Haha I know! I was actually expecting more kids... I grew up on Long Island so I'm somewhat familiar with the various vacation weeks in the tri-state area. There definitely were some kids / families on that sailing, but it presented a good example of how the sheer magnitude of Oasis swallows them up to the point of being unnoticeable. This May sailing, and I imagine the same is true over the summer, there are just so many of them (1,000+) that you will notice them despite the ship doing quite a fine job keeping them occupied overall.

[roe2ship]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Oasis. Great to hear that the CD is a wonderful one!

 

Do you remember if they offered time slot choices on when to disembark the ship?? If so, do you know the latest time that was offered?

[Snowball]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

What was at the port in Falmouth? Was there shopping, bars/restaurants, a beach? What? I've only been to Ocho Rios in Jamaica (enjoyed myself both times) but I'm wondering if I even want to get off the ship in Falmouth.

[Dave85]

Do you remember if they offered time slot choices on when to disembark the ship?? If so, do you know the latest time that was offered?

 

Disembarkation was actually done differently on this sailing than my previous one (explained below). You still have the opportunity to return a little form to your cabin steward indicating when you want to get off the ship, and then on the second to last evening they'll deliver you the numbered luggage tags. I think the last cateogry you can check was 9:30-10:00, but am not positive. We were in absolutely no rush as we had a 12:30 flight from FLL, so we had a relaxing breakfast at Park Cafe (which closed at 8:30am, FYI) and headed off the ship at our leisure at around 9:40 (our number had been called much earlier).

 

Interestingly, I never heard a single announcement during disembarkation. What they were doing differently was using the big touch screens by the elevator (that tell you were you are, how busy the food venues are, etc.) to indicate which tags were called and at what time they were called. I think this was a nice change and made the process more relaxing. If your interest is staying on until later in the process that won't be an issue even if your tag was "called" earlier... you can get off later, you just can't get off any earlier than when you're called. Believe me, I'm sure that if its getting late and they need everyone off they'll start making announcements indicating so. They hadn't yet done so when we got off. Hope this helps.

 

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

What was at the port in Falmouth? Was there shopping, bars/restaurants, a beach? What? I've only been to Ocho Rios in Jamaica (enjoyed myself both times) but I'm wondering if I even want to get off the ship in Falmouth.

 

It is basically a big shopping area (much bigger than I was anticipating), including all of the normal stores you always see in the Caribbean (Diamonds places, etc.) and several large areas for local merchants that they allowed in to sell their typical goods (wood carvings, art, bracelets, etc.) They were not aggressive at all, unlike the locals invited to sell at Labadee... clearly they were instructed to take a hands off approach. There were also a couple of coconut carts, where they had a big bin of fresh coconuts that they'd slice open for you enough to fit a straw in so you could drink the water inside (this cost $3 if I remember correctly). There were also some festive stilt walkers around whom you could tip to take a picture with. That was fun!

 

Falmouth is not a big built up resort area like Ocho Rios... you'll never confuse the two. Outside the gates is just the small city, and we didn't venture out. It seemed that most of the people who did were on excurisons. We went into this stop with zero expectations, so I can comfortably say that our expectations were exceeded. We spent about 2 hours perusing the shops and then returned to relax the rest of the day on the ship. We'll probably do the same thing if we return to Falmouth.

[wolfcathorse]

I love Ricky Matthews. We met him at the beginning of his career on Majesty and I told him then that he needed to be on larger ships! Then he went to Serenade and now I'm glad he's making a big boat load of people happy! His enthusiasm is contagious!

[roe2ship]

Disembarkation was actually done differently on this sailing than my previous one (explained below). You still have the opportunity to return a little form to your cabin steward indicating when you want to get off the ship, and then on the second to last evening they'll deliver you the numbered luggage tags. I think the last cateogry you can check was 9:30-10:00, but am not positive. We were in absolutely no rush as we had a 12:30 flight from FLL, so we had a relaxing breakfast at Park Cafe (which closed at 8:30am, FYI) and headed off the ship at our leisure at around 9:40 (our number had been called much earlier).

 

Interestingly, I never heard a single announcement during disembarkation. What they were doing differently was using the big touch screens by the elevator (that tell you were you are, how busy the food venues are, etc.) to indicate which tags were called and at what time they were called. I think this was a nice change and made the process more relaxing. If your interest is staying on until later in the process that won't be an issue even if your tag was "called" earlier... you can get off later, you just can't get off any earlier than when you're called. Believe me, I'm sure that if its getting late and they need everyone off they'll start making announcements indicating so. They hadn't yet done so when we got off. Hope this helps.

 

Great, thank you! We had a 12:45pm flight from FLL and they recently changed it to 1:55pm:rolleyes: so we have plenty of spare time. Besides, I think they may have to escort me off this ship!;)

[Langley Cruisers]

Dave and fiancée, you seem like a nice couple with a somewhat laid-back attitude in general. This can be a definite "plus" as you experience those less than stellar moments in the wonderful world of cruising (or travel, or life in general!). In this crazy life, we have to learn to "pick our battles".

 

Thanks for your review, and glad you enjoyed. Blessings to you both on your upcoming wedding.

[chipq]

Well done. Thanks for sharing.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[bajathree]

Tony Scott is awesome:cool:

[Dave85]

Dave and fiancée, you seem like a nice couple with a somewhat laid-back attitude in general. This can be a definite "plus" as you experience those less than stellar moments in the wonderful world of cruising (or travel, or life in general!). In this crazy life, we have to learn to "pick our battles".

 

Thanks for your review, and glad you enjoyed. Blessings to you both on your upcoming wedding.

 

Thanks for the kind words!

[Papaya0301]

My husband and I are around the same age as you two with no kids, and we'll be on the Allure in November for Thanksgiving, so it's good to hear some feedback that feels relevant to us!

 

Would you say that the kids were obnoxious? DH and I always like to try and visit every bar on a ship (likely not possible on the Allure, I know) and spend a lot of time in the Solarium and being active out in ports and on the rock wall etc. We're more laid back type drinkers as opposed to partiers, but we always like to see some energy around us. We probably won't do too many specialty restaurants (we live in a great food city, so no need to pay extra for food that won't be as good as back home) and eat in MDR, Windjammer, and Park Cafe instead.

 

Considering how we like to spend our cruises, do you think that we'll feel the influx of kids? I'm actually open to rescheduling to earlier in the month to avoid screaming brats if it means saving our sanity...

[Familygoboston]

Thanks for your insight! Gosh, I never realized that DJ Splash Academy was a rent a DJ! But now it makes total sense ...it's like an internship; they are bad because they are total newbies!

 

We had one on Oasis like you, who was just awful, totally could not pace the crowd:mad:. We left both the disco and the club 21 party because you couldnt dance to him. But you are right about the in house DJ- we had the same guy and he was an absolute riot at Quest...knew exactly how to get the crowd going (and boy did he need to work hard-we had a real dud Quest...speaking of mature:eek: I'm nearly half a century and this group was old, old old;) and worse, they were real sticks in the muds)

 

Anyway...good to hear your thoughts!