Oasis and overwhelmed !

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We were on the Allure in May. What a beautiful ship! We also realized, too late, that we needed another week. The last night after packing I was running around trying to jam in all of my "must do's"!:eek:

 

We just booked the Oasis for 2015. I know we will be a little more relaxed this next time as we already know what our favorite areas are and plan to spend a little more time relaxing.

 

My best advice is to go ahead and make those pre-reservations for shows and dining venues. That will give you a structure to work around and make you feel a little less overwhelmed. The pre-planning now will save you lots of precious time later. Don't worry, you can still be spontaneous. If you decide later to do something different you don't have to go to the show. But if you want good seats (or any seats at all) pre-reserving will pay off. After that relax and enjoy.

 

One more thing:

When you want to eat a meal that you haven't pre-reserved take a moment to check out the "Restaurant Availability Board" that is on your tv and in the elevator areas. What a great invention! The restaurants will all be shown as "Red" - which means it is packed, "Yellow" - which means it is pretty busy, or "Green" - which means it is not busy at all. By using this system we only went to "Green" eateries. That way we also got to try a variety of the options on the ship and never encountered crowds. We certainly avoided the Windjammer rut. We only got there once. Plus we found some new favorites.:)

[niecyd]

DH and I are booked on Oasis next year. We loved Allure so much (and believe me, 1 week is definitely not enough for this VESSEL) we decided to cruise her sister, Oasis. Make sure you bring your yellow highlighter (if you haven't already)to select which activity on certain time/days....a LOT OF ACTIVITIES. Central Park is the best place on the ship. This is where you can sit on the bench, read a book surrounded by trees, warm breeze, listening to the birds, while you're in the middle of the ocean. Now thats a vacation.:D

[niecyd]

DH and I are booked on Oasis next year. We loved Allure so much (and believe me, 1 week is definitely not enough for this VESSEL) we decided to cruise her sister, Oasis. Make sure you bring your yellow highlighter (if you haven't already)to select which activity on certain time/days....a LOT OF ACTIVITIES. Central Park is the best place on the ship. This is where you can sit on the bench, read a book surrounded by trees, warm breeze, listening to the birds, while you're in the middle of the ocean. Now thats a vacation.:D

 

MY CLOCK DIDN'T WORK, We're CRUISING OASIS, May 24, 2014.

[jagsfan]

A few years ago somebody posted the picture of a girl reading an e-reader sitting against a plastic or metal tree poolside on a cruise ship.

The caption was Fake Tree Fake Book Real Girl. I'm glad to know I can sit on Oasis under a real tree with my fake book!

[kc320]

I see that you're sailing on Freedom this December. We sailed her sister, Liberty, a few years back and she is a beautiful ship as well.

 

Yes...it will be my first time on one of the "bigger" ships...looking forward to it!:)

[Russ Lomas]

We'll be on Oasis in 7 weeks and the biggest challenge to us will be avoiding the Windjammer for lunch - sounds like it is a zoo. I'm making a cheat sheet with places we can do lunch with fewer people. I plan on enjoying the ship more than the ports on this cruise. Looking forward to the experience!

 

After eating in Central Park Cafe for lunch one day, I never even had the slightest desire to go to the Windjammer for lunch again. LOVE the beef on the bun and their salads in the CPC.

[palofmine]

I was in awe in how much there was to do, not how big she was.

 

 

I'm very excited to be going on the Oasis in 3 weeks ! We have been on 35 cruises, so cruising is not new to us. But the size of this lady is !!

I've seen several YouTube videos and have to say its mind blowing !

 

My question is, how do you keep from being overwhelmed ? :confused:

 

Our cabin is on deck 6, center of the hump.

[palofmine]

We walked the entire ship the first two days, and did everything :) We booked our excursions early enough to come back and have fun, having a late dinner seating helped as well.

 

 

A week isn't long enough... Unfortunately I learned that too late.

 

Have a blast!!!

[sarajean]

I'm very excited to be going on the Oasis in 3 weeks ! We have been on 35 cruises, so cruising is not new to us. But the size of this lady is !!

I've seen several YouTube videos and have to say its mind blowing !

 

My question is, how do you keep from being overwhelmed ? :confused:

 

Went on the allure last sept. loved it. Didn't do everything we wanted so going on oasis this sept. do what you can and enjoy!!!

[AFsouth]

Our first Royal cruise was Oasis, didn't get to explore everything so we booked another on Oasis 6 months later. After that wonderful experience, we sailed on Allure within another 6 months. We really love the large ship experience.:)

[Seagun]

My daughter and I sailed on the Oasis in Oct 2010. We had always sailed on Carnival before so this was a first in many ways. I can remember driving into the port and seeing her for the first time. My reaction was "OMG, she is HUGE". I was worried about finding our way around on her but it was easy. We didn't get to explore everything but we had such a great time, booked a family cruise on the Allure the next year. We celebrated several birthdays, 70, 60, 40 and 1. We will be sailing on the Oasis again Oct 5 and so excited to be going on her again. We will try to get in some of the stuff we missed the first time but mainly just going to relax and enjoy the cruise. Like everyone says, "If you don't do it the first time, just do it again and again and again." You will love her.

[sleepless]

You will love the Oasis. I did. There is a lot to do, making it difficult to do all in one week. As someone already posted, it is best to reserve your shows, and plan your dinner dining time. We chose traditional, first seating. We had no problem scheduling the shows around that dinner time.

 

On the Oasis, there are a lot of activities ring the day, many places to eat that are included in the cruise price, and many things to do at night after dinner and a show. Just take it one day at a time; read your planner, and decide that day what you want to do with your time, just as you do on every other cruise you go on.

 

There is one thing to remember, you will not be able to do everything in one week. We left several things undone on the Oasis - visit to the Jazz Club, evening in Dazzles, and even a visit to the Rising Tide Bar. Was I disappointed? No, not really. I did what I wanted to do at the time. Do I still want to experience those things? Yes, I do. I solved that by booking a B2B on the Allure for July of 2014. I should be able to do everything in 2 weeks, including finding time to relax.

[hubofhockey]

When all is said and done, these are just two great cruise ships with plenty to do and great choices at every turn. We never set foot in the Windjammer and didn't miss it. Can't wait until the third sister comes out.

[Hot2trt]

I sailed on the Allure last October. I was not overwhelmed at all. I thought with over 6000 passengers I would be but when you think of it to scale she has the same amount of passengers as other ships half her size have half the passengers (does that make sense?)I've found the the smaller ships can be overwhelming with a feeling of being overcrowded with less passengers. Just go with the flow and enjoy yourself ;)

 

 

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[Snooksi]

Our first was on the Dolphin IV. I was thinking the same thing -- a lifeboat compared to Oasis. We are going on Oasis in November and we can hardly wait. I've made a spreadsheet of all the food and show venues, where they're located on the ship, if they require reservations, and what fees are involved (if any), to help us (hopefully) get to at least some of the things we want to try while on this cruise. And like everyone else says, if we don't try them all, I suppose that means we'll have to go back for a second trip!

 

Enjoy. :)

 

Aaahh Sherri, you must be a "planner". I did the SAME THING ALREADY and we don't leave on Allure until December! I don't want to miss out on anything and me and my spreadsheet are ready to CONQUER this ship......HA! You should see my folder already. The planning helps make the time go by more quickly!!

 

But, I also know we probably won't get to do everything on my lists as this is supposed to be a "relaxing" vacation and I know we'll be exhausted, at times, from the excursions when we're at ports.

 

Good enough reason to book a second cruise on her!! GREAT EXCUSE!! :)