Oasis of the Seas TransAtlantic Voyage Through the Eyes of Art & Ellie

[chloe kitty]

I doubt if Royal crew deliberately put incomplete Mah Jongg sets on board the ship. They probably were the sets that were on the ship before dry dock....blame previous cruisers for destroying the sets...and not letting them know about it, if they found a set that was incomplete. Should the staff take inventory of the sets, maybe....they may not know what a complete set was supposed to have.

 

I have been on ships where the TV for scheduling wasn't working perfectly....and now we will hear from those that blame the RCI computer department on this....yes it is a problem, but it isn't life threatening....it is inconvenient....that is why the cruise compass is the better resource and calling the quest services desk when their is something that doesn't make sense.

 

Some things can happen on ANY cruise; perfection isn't easy to achieve, I don't expect it...in this life.

I can see from your signature, that you have only cruised on RCI. That is the problem! You have not seen what other cruise lines do for their passengers, and how they care about their passengers comfort.

Of course I printed out my reservations. I would assume they would match the TV. RCI promotes the use of it's Tv's for reservations, etc. So, it should be accurate. Nothing in life is perfect, and I certainly don't expect it to be perfect. RCI has failed on this cruise. We did not let this ruin our vacation, I am just pointing out their failures. Obviously nobody proof reads their Compass, today it said that our sea pass accounts will be delivered to our staterooms before we arrive in ROTTERDAM . We have also seen many references to this being in the Carribean. This is actually funny!

As for the Mah Jongg sets, of course the sets were ruined by previous passengers. One would think that RCI would occasional check them. I am sure that previous passengers have complained about the incomplete sets, and RCI did nothing.

Edited October 26, 2014 by chloe kitty

[Cindy]

I've been following this thread and the other live reports closely, since I will be on the Oasis in three short weeks. I'm genuinely sorry for those of you who don't regularly cruise on RCI, because it doesn't sound like you've had a "typical" Royal Caribbean experience. I think the reasons for that are many, with the primary culprit being an overly ambitious dry dock and on-going construction, but also numerous issues with preparedness of staff and their inability to adjust to a cruise and weather that are out of the norm. Although I can understand the reasons, that isn't to say that I excuse RCI from responsibility or give them a free pass!

 

I have never heard good things about the first cruise after dry dock on any cruise line, which is one reason we avoid the cruises right before and right after, but I do think the closures and construction on Oasis are excessive. Hopefully RCI will learn some lessons from this first-ever Oasis TA and dry dock, and avoid repeating the mistakes when Allure goes in for her make-over next year.

 

Chloe Kitty, I've sailed on five different mass market lines, and I've found that RCI does some things better than others and there are some things they need to improve. In that respect, RCI is exactly the same as Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and Carnival. I understand that RCI has fallen well short of your expectations on this sailing and are deserving of criticism for many things, but I think to say they don't care about their passengers' comfort is an unfair exaggeration. I could say the same about every line I've sailed with, including your preferred (based on your signature) line Princess, if I compiled a list of things that had gone wrong or weren't to my tastes.

[The Big Booper]

I've been following this thread and the other live reports closely, since I will be on the Oasis in three short weeks. I'm genuinely sorry for those of you who don't regularly cruise on RCI, because it doesn't sound like you've had a "typical" Royal Caribbean experience. I think the reasons for that are many, with the primary culprit being an overly ambitious dry dock and on-going construction, but also numerous issues with preparedness of staff and their inability to adjust to a cruise and weather that are out of the norm. Although I can understand the reasons, that isn't to say that I excuse RCI from responsibility or give them a free pass!

 

I have never heard good things about the first cruise after dry dock on any cruise line, which is one reason we avoid the cruises right before and right after, but I do think the closures and construction on Oasis are excessive. Hopefully RCI will learn some lessons from this first-ever Oasis TA and dry dock, and avoid repeating the mistakes when Allure goes in for her make-over next year.

 

Chloe Kitty, I've sailed on five different mass market lines, and I've found that RCI does some things better than others and there are some things they need to improve. In that respect, RCI is exactly the same as Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and Carnival. I understand that RCI has fallen well short of your expectations on this sailing and are deserving of criticism for many things, but I think to say they don't care about their passengers' comfort is an unfair exaggeration. I could say the same about every line I've sailed with, including your preferred (based on your signature) line Princess, if I compiled a list of things that had gone wrong or weren't to my tastes.

 

Agree 100%. The so-so service on this TA is not the usual high quality service RCI gives. And we have cruised on all lines except Costa:eek:.

[artbcpa]

I wanted to thank everyone this one last time for all their comments on this thread. My hope is that it has provided some useful information for anyone considering going on the Oasis. Even the apologists for Royal provide some useful information even though most of what they say can be found on the RCI website.

 

I believe there is a cruise line (and cruise ship) for nearly everyone and the more information you have the easier it is to find. I do encourage people to be open to trying other cruise lines as we have found that each has a different spirit with advantages and disadvantages.

 

Our best to all of you.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I wanted to thank everyone this one last time for all their comments on this thread. My hope is that it has provided some useful information for anyone considering going on the Oasis. Even the apologists for Royal provide some useful information even though most of what they say can be found on the RCI website.

 

I believe there is a cruise line (and cruise ship) for nearly everyone and the more information you have the easier it is to find. I do encourage people to be open to trying other cruise lines as we have found that each has a different spirit with advantages and disadvantages.

 

Our best to all of you.

Well said. While RCI has consistently provided the best product for our cruising style we have enjoyed every cruise we have been on, regardless of cruise line. We are always keeping in mind that we are on vacation and refuse to let a few inevitable glitches ruin our time. However, I do avoid the first couple of cruises after a dry dock as the reports are always full of an unusual number problems that need to be addressed, regardless of ship or line. You have handled these issues with grace and I applaud you. When cruising becomes more of a chore than not it is time to move on to a different form of relaxation.;)

 

I truly appreciate the time and effort you spent on this Live Report. Thank you very much.:)

[A&L_Ont]

I wanted to thank everyone this one last time for all their comments on this thread. My hope is that it has provided some useful information for anyone considering going on the Oasis. Even the apologists for Royal provide some useful information even though most of what they say can be found on the RCI website.

 

I believe there is a cruise line (and cruise ship) for nearly everyone and the more information you have the easier it is to find. I do encourage people to be open to trying other cruise lines as we have found that each has a different spirit with advantages and disadvantages.

 

Our best to all of you.

 

Thanks Art and Ellie for bringing us on your journey. Your posting has been greatly appreciated. We too always enjoy the ice and diving shows. It is nice memories like that, which you will always remember.

 

Andrew

[LMaxwell]

Appreciate the photos and perspectives. Learning of the changes is interesting. Cruise does not sound up to snuff; will never take a ship right out of dry dock, on any line. Before it hadn't crossed my mind that much but now I will make it a point when booking.

[Paulette3028]

Hi Paulette - this is Art's finance Ellie. I agree that having few and incomplete mahj jong sets is not life threatening, but it is "pleasure threatening". Taking a cruise is an optional luxury experience on which we look forward to indulging in our favorite activities, be they wall climbing, surfing or mahj jong.

 

Most cruise lines attend more to their Bridge players and we mahj players are accustomed to fending for ourselves. All we require is a set and a card. We bring our cards from home, but the sets are heavy and not easily included with our luggage. I called RCI prior to departing & the woman I spoke with checked with her manager and said there were NO SETS. I posted this on CC and another woman had spoken to her concierge and was told there were plenty of sets on board, so I left mine home.

 

We found 4-5 incomplete sets on the first day, and sets missing tiles and/or racks are not useful. It may be a cultural thing; perhaps the person checking inventory has no familiarity what makes a complete set, but I tend to agree with Ellen who said Princess cared about their PEOPLE and put them first. Making certain all is in order for passengers should be their primary concern.

 

Ellie

 

.

 

The creative person in me, would have tried to put the 4-5 incomplete sets together to make a few complete ones....but that is me. I have been accused many times, of making sweet tasting onion soup out of onions -- instead of crying while trying to peel the onions. The boarding process wasn't pleasant from all that I have read and as Art put it so well, he did not want it to be the focal part of the cruise (which seems to be what people forget). Lots of that isn't something Royal may have control over.

 

I can sympathize with boarding issues because I know in San Juan, the boarding process was not as nice as it had been for us on previous cruises...but when all was said and done and we were on Jewel for that week -- the boarding hassles were just annoying memories.

 

Overall, reading your blog and following the wonderful pictures you both shared it is my judgement that you have had a darn good cruise, even with bumps in it.....I am sure you are someone who has experienced enough new experiences, and a ship coming out of dry dock, is just one of many....it still sounds to me you had a darn good cruise.

 

Have you built a new home. For the thousands upon thousands of dollars spent on it....with all the planning, all the attention to detail.....it very often still has bumps that cause for delays. With the cruise line, would you have wanted them to call all the cruisers and cancel the cruise.....some would say, YES, I am sure.

 

There is a department in Royal Caribbean headquarters that deals with the unsatisfactory things that occur on cruises. Cruisers after the cruise can reach out to royalguestrelations@rccl.com.

 

I have had to report to them, disappointing experiences that I have had on a cruise, now and then....but those disappointing experiences did not ruin my cruise -- they were disappointments that I brought to their attention.

 

I have enjoyed following your trip....it helped remind me why I enjoy cruising and what fun it is.

[tanzer22pilot]

Great review of our TA from the other side of the ship.

[pscruzinboyz]

Thanks Art and Ellie and other posters. Great Review...Boy, That was a fast 12 days. Enjoyed reading all of the comments and seeing all of the pictures.

Have a Safe flight back to Los Angeles. I will try to post some from the Adventurer OTS when we board next Sunday in Southamton. Hopefully the boarding for our cruise will be must better then what all of the cruisers on the Oasis experienced.

 

Mike

[Cindy]

Welcome home! Thanks again for taking us all along on your journey. I really enjoyed your posts.:)

[masonpips]

thanks for the excellent review and loved your photos!! Have a safe trip home from the port!

[Kcjarvis]

Art - great job with the review and great chatting with you. All the best!!!!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[The Big Booper]

When I heard about the dry docking of the 2 bigguns' I said " Maybe we should fly over to Europe, stay a few days, and then take the return Western TA back to the US." We had second thoughts and instead booked the Jewel's Coastal California in late summer of 2015, going to an area we had never seen and sailing on the only Radiance class ship we had never been on.

 

Based on what went on during this TA we made the right decision. Except things appear to have been even more scrambled up then we anticipated. The interactive TV system had always worked well on our previous 4 Oasis/Allure cruises and I wonder what caused it to go flooey on this trip.

 

Oh well, we had not even planned to be on Oasis in Jan 2015 and had only booked it so as to go with 2 couples we know who called us in late September and asked us to go with them, great pricing. I assume that all the construction will be finished by then.

[grandmarnnurse]

When I heard about the dry docking of the 2 bigguns' I said " Maybe we should fly over to Europe, stay a few days, and then take the return Western TA back to the US." We had second thoughts and instead booked the Jewel's Coastal California in late summer of 2015, going to an area we had never seen and sailing on the only Radiance class ship we had never been on.

 

Based on what went on during this TA we made the right decision. Except things appear to have been even more scrambled up then we anticipated. The interactive TV system had always worked well on our previous 4 Oasis/Allure cruises and I wonder what caused it to go flooey on this trip.

 

Oh well, we had not even planned to be on Oasis in Jan 2015 and had only booked it so as to go with 2 couples we know who called us in late September and asked us to go with them, great pricing. I assume that all the construction will be finished by then.

 

I, too, hope all the issues will be taken care of before I cruise the Oasis in Feb 2015. 😀

[dolphin27502]

Thanks for all the photos, the sunrise was breathtaking and worth the wait!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic App

[truffles2]

Art,

 

Are the flowers in the living wall in Central Park? I know they were removed to paint it, but I never read if they were put back.

 

Thanks.

 

Laszlo (landscaper) said he was getting hundreds of plants when we got back to FLL. They cannot purchase any living plants outside of the US. The only color in the living wall was from a bromliad, I believe. Central Park looked great and most plants did not suffer from the drydock in a very different environment.

[The Big Booper]

I wonder how the disembark at FLL was? After all, this is the normal port for the ship and they should know what to do here.

[truffles2]

I wonder how the disembark at FLL was? After all, this is the normal port for the ship and they should know what to do here.

 

It was a nightmare!

[A&L_Ont]

Laszlo (landscaper) said he was getting hundreds of plants when we got back to FLL. They cannot purchase any living plants outside of the US. The only color in the living wall was from a bromliad, I believe. Central Park looked great and most plants did not suffer from the drydock in a very different environment.

 

Thanks for the info. I met Laszlo a few years ago and he loves his garden. It is nice to hear that the plants that remained did well with the cooler weather.

[treesah]

Art and Ellie,

Thanks for sharing. You two are a class act.

[artbcpa]

Art - great job with the review and great chatting with you. All the best!!!!!

 

Thank you Ken.

 

This is a postscript to my thread. I truly wanted to end on a positive note, but I also want to tell the truth.

 

The cruise is ending the same way it began - with long lines, delays, and much chaos. They are now over an 1 1/2 hours late with the disembarkation, with little end in sight. We heard so much about how what happened in Rotterdam and Southampton with the embarkation was an aberration and we will see the difference when we land in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Well we did and we didn't.

 

Many of the same issues that took place in Europe were repeated here in Florida. Problems arose, RCI blamed someone else (this time it was immigration) and nobody from RCI was around to help. It actually feels like they hide whenever things don't go smoothly.

 

It also happened during the performances of Cats as there were long lines, without any assistance by RCI personnel. It seems like they don't learn a thing and history continues to repeat itself.

 

I guess my final evaluation of RCI as a cruise line would weigh in heavily on the negative side. Sure it could be great if everything ran perfectly. But we all know that isn't reality and when things do go wrong, RCI does not put the passengers first. There were one or two exceptions - like Israel Sanchez and Rami Tabassi - who went out of their way to try and help. But that was the exception not the norm.

 

Ellie's definition of WOW is, "WOW, could they be any less caring or helpful"?

[mommabean]

Thank you Ken.

 

This is a postscript to my thread. I truly wanted to end on a positive note, but I also want to tell the truth.

 

The cruise is ending the same way it began - with long lines, delays, and much chaos. They are now over an 1 1/2 hours late with the disembarkation, with little end in sight. We heard so much about how what happened in Rotterdam and Southampton with the embarkation was an aberration and we will see the difference when we land in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Well we did and we didn't.

 

Many of the same issues that took place in Europe were repeated here in Florida. Problems arose, RCI blamed someone else (this time it was immigration) and nobody from RCI was around to help. It actually feels like they hide whenever things don't go smoothly.

 

It also happened during the performances of Cats as there were long lines, without any assistance by RCI personnel. It seems like they don't learn a thing and history continues to repeat itself.

 

I guess my final evaluation of RCI as a cruise line would weigh in heavily on the negative side. Sure it could be great if everything ran perfectly. But we all know that isn't reality and when things do go wrong, RCI does not put the passengers first. There were one or two exceptions - like Israel Sanchez and Rami Tabassi - who went out of their way to try and help. But that was the exception not the norm.

 

Ellie's definition of WOW is, "WOW, could they be any less caring or helpful"?

 

Two great guys. Please tell me, is Rami now co-concierge with Israel? He was the diamond lounge concierge not so long ago on Serenade.

 

Gina

[artbcpa]

Two great guys. Please tell me, is Rami now co-concierge with Israel? He was the diamond lounge concierge not so long ago on Serenade.

 

Gina

 

They are the co-concierge for the Suites Lounge on Deck 17.

[mommabean]

They are the co-concierge for the Suites Lounge on Deck 17.

 

Thanks. This is helpful info.

 

Gina