LIVE(or at least my best attempt) from the Oasis Of The Seas, sailing October 13th

[Aquahound]

Chris, I agree with you 100%. I am not one who normally gets all spun up here on CC about MDR wear, but I couldn't help but notice this as well. I was amazed at how many people came in to the MDR in flip flops, ball caps and tank tops. One party even came in wearing those stupid Carlos and Charlie's balloon hats. Maybe it was the fact our table was near the entrance this was so noticeable, who knows?

 

To the contrary though, a huge kudos to the staff of Oasis for kicking those people off the ship who over consumed and fought with the concierge in the CL! Now, that was AWESOME!

[tispwisp]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your review and pictures! We decided last week to sail on the Allure last minute (leaves two weeks from today)! :eek: We've been hesitant to sail on a ship this size because of the crowds. Your pictures eased our minds tremendously! We are now excited about our sailing! Thank you!

 

I agree with you about formal night dining attire for the main dining room. We were talking with our waitress a few cruises ago about this and she said that the servers are often insulted when people dress down in the dining room. She said the servers felt disrespected and asked why people would show up to such a fine dining area dressed so poorly? (Consider the countries where many of the servers are from - regardless of what you think of the food, this is a 5 star dining establishment to many of them). I always tell people when they question me about this issue to please dress appropriately, it shows respect for the dining venue you are in and the people who are working hard to serve you. There are many other venues to dress casually - which we will be doing on the Allure & Ruby. No formal attire for us this time!

[villauk]

Chris,

 

Thank you so much for this review. I have been 'tuning' in from the start. We have booked our first ever Caribbean vacation for next August on this very itinerary and ship, and you have provided a wealth of information. You have definitely quelled the 'have we made the right choice' feeling.

 

Now, if you could just book an Enchantment cruise to the Bahamas and do another wonderful review on that, we'd be all set for next year :D.

 

Joking apart, if we have as much fun as you appeared to have and meet such fantastic sailing friends, I'm sure we're in for a blast. Thanks again :).

[cathy1227]

Chris: BEST.REVIEW.EVER!!! We are boarding in 6 days & your review was such a nice precruise "adventure" for me! One question I saw here but don't recall the answer: Are the 'snacks' in the Champagne bar free, or is there a fee? Again - thanks for sharing your vacation with us & I'm glad you had such a blast!

[StuckOnaTub]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your review and pictures! We decided last week to sail on the Allure last minute (leaves two weeks from today)! :eek: We've been hesitant to sail on a ship this size because of the crowds. Your pictures eased our minds tremendously! We are now excited about our sailing! Thank you!

 

I agree with you about formal night dining attire for the main dining room. We were talking with our waitress a few cruises ago about this and she said that the servers are often insulted when people dress down in the dining room. She said the servers felt disrespected and asked why people would show up to such a fine dining area dressed so poorly? (Consider the countries where many of the servers are from - regardless of what you think of the food, this is a 5 star dining establishment to many of them). I always tell people when they question me about this issue to please dress appropriately, it shows respect for the dining venue you are in and the people who are working hard to serve you. There are many other venues to dress casually - which we will be doing on the Allure & Ruby. No formal attire for us this time!

 

My idea of getting dressed up is putting socks on and a suit is something you swim in.:D That said, I do very grudgingly dress appropriately for the mdr. What really irritates me are the people who sign up for a seating time and then never show up so they do not tip any of the dining room staff. The lowlifes probably stiff their room steward also. Are gratuities considered included on the Oasis? I wish they were for all so the line staff would be paid at least the minimum that they should be able to expect.

[efields2]

. Are gratuities considered included on the Oasis? I wish they were for all so the line staff would be paid at least the minimum that they should be able to expect.

 

If you select My Time Dining all gratuities are automatically added when you book. This is for all of RCCL's ships, not just the Oasis/Allure. If you select Main Seating or Late Seating, they aren't automatically included.

[BugsyCruiser]

Chris: BEST.REVIEW.EVER!!! We are boarding in 6 days & your review was such a nice precruise "adventure" for me! One question I saw here but don't recall the answer: Are the 'snacks' in the Champagne bar free, or is there a fee? Again - thanks for sharing your vacation with us & I'm glad you had such a blast!

 

The snacks are free :)

[BugsyCruiser]

I forgot to say in my post that a complaint to a very nice and receptive restaurant manager named Nick will HOPEFULLY resolve. I'm positive he will bring it to their attention, I just hope they act and start enforcing the dress code for the MDR

[freeruthie]

I forgot to say in my post that a complaint to a very nice and receptive restaurant manager named Nick will HOPEFULLY resolve. I'm positive he will bring it to their attention, I just hope they act and start enforcing the dress code for the MDR

 

 

I appreciate your hope about the MDR dress code and I agree with you. If I don't want to dress up, I will eat at a less formal venue for that meal. Unfortunately, I think the trend is going the other way. Each time I cruise, it seems that it is getting worse. Not dressing for that evening seems very disrespectful to the staff, who take great pride in their service.

That said, we had a near miss on the first formal night. All the males in our group had sent out their pants and shirts to be pressed and none of them were back in time for our dinner time. My son's dress pants(his only pair on the trip) were lost until the next day and the rest of the clothing showed up about 1/2 hour after our reservation time.

[MisterMom]

Chris-

 

Thanks for allowing us to live vicariously on your Oasis adventure. I, too, like the Oasis so much that I'm taking my extended family on it next summer. I appreciate your pictures and narrative as it gives me an Oasis "fix" since I have to wait SOOO long to sail her again.

 

Here's one of my favorite Oasis memories (I had to complain to management about this one. How rude of a balloon vendor to not be aware of who's around him.... :D )

 

[monkeyinhat]

There was a couple next to us on formal night in their 20' wearing pajama pants t shirts and flip flops PJ pants should never bee allowed in dining room

 

Great review , thank you

 

couple questions.

 

are the snacks in the champagne bar free

 

is the aqua theater blocked off during the day or can you sit in the chairs , do they have movies back there when their is no show. What else is the area used for I just dont get that. as an aft view lover, I miss aft balconies

 

does the ship feel crowded such as windjammer, getting a deck chair somewhere in the sun,debarking on final day

[dreamer976]

 

To the contrary though, a huge kudos to the staff of Oasis for kicking those people off the ship who over consumed and fought with the concierge in the CL! Now, that was AWESOME!

 

WHAT???!!! C'mon, tell us more! Love to hear that SOMEWHERE rude behavior is not tolerated.

 

And yes, Chris, I would be mortified to enter the MDR on formal night in what is not only not formal, but so casual I would only dress that way to maybe wash my car. I can understand, for those of us that have to fly to ports, that packing an entire extra suitcase with very formal clothes of a decade ago, like long, heavy beaded dresses, might be largely a thing of the past, but surely, as you stated, you can at least "make an effort". A nice suit, maybe dressier knitwear for the ladies, something (hey, maybe they confused FORMAL with COSTUME and thought it was an early Halloween celebration.

[efields2]

There was a couple next to us on formal night in their 20' wearing pajama pants t shirts and flip flops PJ pants should never bee allowed in dining room

 

Great review , thank you

 

couple questions.

 

are the snacks in the champagne bar free

 

is the aqua theater blocked off during the day or can you sit in the chairs , do they have movies back there when their is no show. What else is the area used for I just dont get that. as an aft view lover, I miss aft balconies

 

does the ship feel crowded such as windjammer, getting a deck chair somewhere in the sun,debarking on final day

 

Chris answered about the snacks in the champagne bar already.

 

The aqua theater was open most of the time. They played at least one movie there a day, as far as we could tell from the compass. They often had special events there, as well as a few shows. I believe they did some of the kid-related activities there too.

 

We never really felt that it was crowded, except in the windjammer for lunch. There were always plenty of chair around the pool....but I also found this crowd to be more low key, not really out and about around the pool, or around at night either. Not sure where everyone was!

 

Disembarking was the easiest I've experienced in my 11+ cruises with RCCL.

 

Sorry to hack your thread Chris ;)

[BugsyCruiser]

Chris answered about the snacks in the champagne bar already.

 

The aqua theater was open most of the time. They played at least one movie there a day, as far as we could tell from the compass. They often had special events there, as well as a few shows. I believe they did some of the kid-related activities there too.

 

We never really felt that it was crowded, except in the windjammer for lunch. There were always plenty of chair around the pool....but I also found this crowd to be more low key, not really out and about around the pool, or around at night either. Not sure where everyone was!

 

Disembarking was the easiest I've experienced in my 11+ cruises with RCCL.

 

Sorry to hack your thread Chris ;)

 

No problem. That was pretty much gonna be my answers :D And yes, the snacks in the Champagne bar are free

[mlmbar]

Read your entire week Chris, and lived vicariously since I was just off Oasis Sept 15 sailing so it is all fresh in my mind. This was my second time on Oasis and this time, we were determined to NEVER eat in the MDR. We ate in Chops, 150 Central, Giovanni's, Solarium Bistro, and Vintages. Not one disappointment and well worth the money. The tapas in Vintages are excellent and the $11 offering of 7 different ones was totally adequate for me and my friend.

 

I found a bit of crowding at the elevators at different times so we just took the stairs and that helped after all of that fine food. I do not recall being bugged about the surveys at all!

 

Second trip and still did not do or see everything so now the plan is Allure Eastern .

 

My only complaint, and RC can do nothing about this, was the huge number of foreigners on the ship. I felt like English was truly a second language. It was apparent that for many of them, their etiquette was very different than ours. Not trying to make a generalization but an entire group tour seemed to exhibit the same behaviors that I guess could be described as pushy.

[tispwisp]

My idea of getting dressed up is putting socks on and a suit is something you swim in.:D That said, I do very grudgingly dress appropriately for the mdr. What really irritates me are the people who sign up for a seating time and then never show up so they do not tip any of the dining room staff. The lowlifes probably stiff their room steward also. Are gratuities considered included on the Oasis? I wish they were for all so the line staff would be paid at least the minimum that they should be able to expect.

 

Yep - that's my husband's idea of formal night as well - he hates to dress up. As a result, we alternate: when we cruise in the fall - no formal wear. We just hit the alternative restaurants instead. In the spring, we usually sail over my birthday, so we definitely bring our formal wear! This way we both are happy. :)

 

Also, I agree with you about the people who never show up, even though they select a time. Hopefully, most of them call to cancel so that the dining room staff is aware.

[yj2cute]

Chris, just getting a chance to catch up on this thread. I love Live reviews and have to tell you that this one is the best I've ever read! So much detail and so many amazing pictures. I will definitely be looking forward to your future reviews along with Radio and Trainman.

 

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

[Clovis8]

I've booked my first cruise on OoS this February. I have to admit the idea of formal wear in a dining rooms of hundreds (thousands?) seems silly and anachronistic. I plan to eat at the chefs table and a couple other of the upscale choices so will wear a suit but I doubt I will at the giant dining room.

[joand452]

We have not taken formal wear with us for the past three cruises. We tell our servers that we will not be at dinner the next formal night. They have insisted that what we're wearing is fine and to please come to dinner. What we're wearing is our usual dinner wear -- black capris and nice top for me and black dockers and nice, button-down shirt for DH. I know DH doesn't care, but I feel awkward eating in the MDR on formal night not being dressed up. But I think that allowing shorts, tanks, flip flops, etc. is not right at all on any night in the MDR. If we don't feel like getting dressed, we head to the WJ.

 

I realize it says "recommended dress" in the Compass, but the people at the entrance need to step it up. It's a beautiful room, and dressing down is for the WJ!!

 

Just my 2 cents! Now I want to hear about the person who got kicked out of the CL!!

[Aquahound]

WHAT???!!! C'mon, tell us more! Love to hear that SOMEWHERE rude behavior is not tolerated.

 

Yep, there was a party of drunken idiots in the CL that over did it and got very loud. The concierge asked them to settle down a little. Instead of doing the right thing, they yelled at the concierge and threatened him. Security was called, a couple was confined to their room, and in Cozumel, they got booted.

[danzur]

Yep, there was a party of drunken idiots in the CL that over did it and got very loud. The concierge asked them to settle down a little. Instead of doing the right thing, they yelled at the concierge and threatened him. Security was called, a couple was confined to their room, and in Cozumel, they got booted.

 

Yep...that pretty much sums it up :).

 

That said, I didn't see anything in the CL that would have resulted in the couple being put into separate cabins, and had security posted outside the door for an day and half til they were escorted off in Cozumel... I can only assume the "domestic" incident occurred after she lipped off to the Concierge and they were asked to leave the CL by security.

[Clovis8]

Yep, there was a party of drunken idiots in the CL that over did it and got very loud. The concierge asked them to settle down a little. Instead of doing the right thing, they yelled at the concierge and threatened him. Security was called, a couple was confined to their room, and in Cozumel, they got booted.

 

They seriously jump dumped them in another country? You would think you would have to do something pretty terrible for that treatment.

[Aquahound]

They seriously jump dumped them in another country? You would think you would have to do something pretty terrible for that treatment.

 

No, they got themselves dumped in another country.

[Clarea]

They seriously jump dumped them in another country? You would think you would have to do something pretty terrible for that treatment.

Royal has very little tolerance when guests verbally abuse a crewmember. We saw someone get banned from cruising on Royal for verbally abusing the LA once.

[Clovis8]

No, they got themselves dumped in another country.

 

Fair point but it still seems a little draconian.