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

[davelliott]

For anyone interested in the O3B system:

I am currently on the Oasis and the system is NOT working. We have tried Skype, FaceTime, but they don't work. I was trying to contact parents back home using google hang outs and talkatone. They won't connect. I can access the Internet to use email but we have older relatives who don't use the Internet. Their are many construction workers onboard installing or repairing network cables and routers. I am on deck 12 near the two new suites midship and saw them running the cables for network. Many times the wifi signal is very weak. I have tried moving around the ship, but still have connection problems.

 

On a similar issue, the interactive tv system is affected also. So sometimes we can't access our accounts, can't see our schedules, and can't make orders for room service. The restaurant menus are not in the system to view on the TVs. The restaurant availability on the TVs and way finders is messed up. They don't show the name of the restaurant, just a bar line show the capacity. This is kind of useless since the name is not there. Every time that I have used a C&A coupon it gives a "coupon system is not available " message and I have to get them to enter it manually.

 

A head waiter and someone at guest services told me that they were having computer issues and were expecting for someone in Miami to upload an update to the system in a cole of days.

[bigsky]

That in and of itself isn't a problem in my opinion, as long as the passengers booked with the understanding that the ship would be under construction with venues closed, and the fare was priced to reflect that. I can't say whether or not anything like that was communicated for the TA, but I can guarantee you the cruises a month after dry dock weren't sold with any mention of on-going construction or closed venues.

 

 

 

Perhaps RCI wanted to make a splash with these renovations, but in my opinion it's back-fired. Future cruisers are worried and upset because they thought they were purchasing one thing, and now find out what they purchased isn't available. I've even read a couple reports from people who were able to move to the Allure without penalty even though they were past final payment.

 

 

I had no idea we were cruising right after dry dock! We're cruising nov 1st and a little disappointed to see any construction going on when we sail. Should have been told. Not going to ruin my trip but I would have changed the date a little later. Already had our flights once I found out about dry dock. Couldn't change flights without penalty.

 

 

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[cdwh1902]

We were on the Mariner last year - from Singapore to Shanghai. There was a fair bit of construction happening on board with new shops being built and opened, as it was gearing up for the Asian market. Prior to boarding RCI notified us about the pending work to be done and gave all of us OBC for the inconvenience. :)

[mommabean]

That in and of itself isn't a problem in my opinion, as long as the passengers booked with the understanding that the ship would be under construction with venues closed, and the fare was priced to reflect that. I can't say whether or not anything like that was communicated for the TA, but I can guarantee you the cruises a month after dry dock weren't sold with any mention of on-going construction or closed venues.

 

Perhaps RCI wanted to make a splash with these renovations, but in my opinion it's back-fired. Future cruisers are worried and upset because they thought they were purchasing one thing, and now find out what they purchased isn't available. I've even read a couple reports from people who were able to move to the Allure without penalty even though they were past final payment.

 

Exactly. If someone working on the ship could tell me this last January, I don't understand why RCI wasn't making this clear to those booking the crossing. I even said that to the man last January - "there are going to be a lot of very unhappy people on board".

 

I never would have suspected it would go on for so long. I bet there is something in the cruise contract that covers all of these circumstances - who reads all of that before they click the agreement button at check in.

 

I still think they should make things like this perfectly clear when booking.

[mommabean]

We were on the Mariner last year - from Singapore to Shanghai. There was a fair bit of construction happening on board with new shops being built and opened, as it was gearing up for the Asian market. Prior to boarding RCI notified us about the pending work to be done and gave all of us OBC for the inconvenience. :)

 

I wonder if they are going to do this for those who booked the Quantum repositioning. That ship is also going to be rebuilt on the way to Asia. Major changes, yes, to a very new ship.

[pinkroses]

It is nice to read Art and Ellie's "blog". Wondering if there might possibly be a better place for these dry dock discussions

[steamboats]

For anyone interested in the O3B system:

I am currently on the Oasis and the system is NOT working. We have tried Skype, FaceTime, but they don't work.

 

O3B is not supposed to be up and running until December (according to the announcements of RCI). Anyway my DH successfully skyed twice (yesterday for 35 min until the connection broke down).

 

The TV system was a whole mess on the eastbound TA too. This is not a "new" problem. The time changed back to Flordia time and then our schedule showed our dinner at 1 pm :D. Shows and dinner reservations were shown double. Account was accessible if you were lucky... A complete mess! I was happy that I printed out our schedule at home and wrote up the changes. Otherwise we would have missed shows.

 

steamboats

[davelliott]

I am glad that you could use Skype. We tried it on two different devices and it wouldn't even try to connect on a video call. It managed to send out a Skype text, but not the video.

[steamboats]

DH skyped with his laptop in his cabin - video call.

 

steamboats

[ellie1145]

When Oasis way back in June 2012 the horticulturist also told us that the ship would have fewer 'real' passengers as there would be a considerable number of workmen on board. He also said that a number of venues would be closed as work would be ongoing. Seems fair to compensate passengers for all the disruption and closed venues etc.

 

If this information was freely available so far ahead of the dry dock it does seem a little unfair not to have mentioned this to transatlantic passengers. Following this information we made the decision NOT to book this transatlantic.

 

Art and All, I do have a question about Central Park, please. The horticulturist also said that they were concerned that some of the plants etc would die during the dry dock. He also said they were refitting it with new planters and painting the walls green as the blue walls showed through the foliage. Could you tell us what Central Park is like at the moment, please? Is it also a 'work in progress?'

 

Thanks! Really enjoying this thread with all the 'on the spot' information.

[steamboats]

ellie,

 

Yes, the living wall is green now (check here for before and after picture).

 

In general the Central Park looks pretty much the same as it looked before dry dock on the eastbound TA. The weather during the dry dock was moderate and there weren´t any freezing temps. Laszlo told us on the eastbound TA that they´ve already changed a lot of plants to plants they think they would survive better. The current westbound TA might cause more "damage" than the dry dock as it was quite cold and heavy winds for the first few days after Southampton.

 

Due do the US authorities they were not allowed to replace any plants during the dry dock. All plants have to be of US origin. No way to buy anything in the Netherlands.

 

steamboats

[Paulette3028]

Thank you all for your comments and questions. Many of you recognize the time it takes to do a daily blog. For me it is something I enjoy doing and I also do it to repay the favor that others have done for me.

 

This afternoon I played bridge. There were 16 tables in duplicate and I found a great partner. We played very well together, especially since this was the very first time we did so. I play online often so I have learned to be adaptable to others preferences and tendencies, but it still takes time to learn them.

 

With regard to the casino, forget everything I said previously. I lost it all back today. LOL :(

 

Tonight we went to our first specialty restaurant. We had heard very mixed reviews; some saying that is the only place they go; others saying they preferred the main dining room. So we felt we needed to try at least one or two ourselves. After eating this evening at Giovanni's, I would definitely be in the camp that prefers eating in the main dining room. We haven't had a bad meal there or in Windjammer. Our meals tonight were mediocre at best. I started with the Cioppino and Ellie had the Zuppa de Lenticchie (lentil soup). I have had better Cioppino, but Ellie couldn't even eat her soup. (Remember how much she loved the cold soups in the main dining room.) My next course was the caesar salad. The dressing was watered down and had no body or flavor. For our main courses, I had the lamb and Ellie had the shrimp, which she ordered well done. My lamb was cooked properly but the sauce actually took away from the dish. (full disclosure: I usually don't order lamb out as I can make it better than many restaurants) Her shrimp was definitely not well done and full of breading). In total our meals were disappointing.

 

We also had tickets for the ice show tonight, which was postponed because of the rocking of the ship. So back to the piano bar we went.

 

We are looking forward to tomorrow's stop in Vigo, Spain and will let you know how it went.

 

Let me ask you....for all the things that seemed not to be right at Giovanni's for dinner, did you speak with the waiter, head waiter, Maitre D' at the restaurant at that moment? Letting other cruisers know after the fact, is fine.....I am curious what steps the restaurant took to make you happier and enjoy your dinner more, at that time. We all have different tastes, but thin watered down salad dressing isn't appetizing; nor a shrimp dish that is not well done (as requested) and full of breading, isn't pleasant (you did not expect breading with a smattering of shrimp).

[Cindy]

It is nice to read Art and Ellie's "blog". Wondering if there might possibly be a better place for these dry dock discussions

 

You're right.:o Thanks for the gentle reminder that this is supposed to be Art and Ellie's thread about their experience. There are plenty of threads to discuss the dry dock.

[Bobal]

You're right.:o Thanks for the gentle reminder that this is supposed to be Art and Ellie's thread about their experience. There are plenty of threads to discuss the dry dock.

 

Agree - hope all this irrelevant (to this thread) chat and 'point scoring' hasn't put him off coming back and posting here. Although to be fair they look like sucha a fun couple, taking advantage of everything on offer, that they're probably just off having too much of a good time :)

[artbcpa]

First of all I want to thank all of you who have posted on this thread with your comments and responses to other member's questions. As I said in one of my posts, as a new RCI passenger, I recognize that there are many of you out there who are more qualified to answer some of these questions than I am.

 

I also appreciate the support I have received for my efforts to give you our impressions of our experience on the Oasis.

 

Because I like to be as objective and positive as possible, I have delayed my posting for today as a number of issues have arisen. I wanted to give them some time to digest before posting them on cruise critic.

 

The most startling was when we came back from lunch and found that a blower was running in our room and the doors to the balcony were wide open. Our stateroom attendant was not available, so we tried calling housekeeping and then maintenance. None of them could give us an answer.

They sent someone to our cabin to take away the blower. He said there were only two reasons that a blower would be placed in our room. (1) The passengers spilled something and requested that the carpets be dried or (2) that the carpets were shampooed...and that should never happen while there were passengers in the suite. He told us that he would inquire with his supervisor.

 

When we had not heard back from anyone and it was approaching dinner time, we went to customer service on Deck 5 to see if they knew anything. While there, we recounted some of the issues that had impacted our cruise thus far.

 

What we received from customer service was a series of excuses and an attitude that should never come from someone in customer service. Instead of apologizing for what we and other passengers have had to endure, they said WE should have known that many of the venues would be closed and that construction was going to be taking place onboard the ship. In spite of what an earlier poster said about what RCI did with the Mariner, she flatly stated that the company has not given ANYONE any OBCs or perks for the inconvenience of being on a ship that is not what is advertised. She offered to have her supervisor speak with us whose main point was that as suite guests we have our own concierge and that is who we should be speaking with.

 

All I could think was WOW, is this how RCI trains its people?

 

When we returned to our cabin after dinner, I finally got the whole story from our cabin attendant and his supervisor who personally came to our room to apologize for how we have been treated and to acknowledge how they dropped the ball in shampooing our carpets without asking our permission.

 

Most of you who have been following my thread and the saga of the Oasis transatlantic westbound voyage know that the carpet shampooing is just one small part of a much more extensive issue.

[GUEST080219]

I am sorry to hear about all the issues you have. To be fair as a lowly non diamond non suite cruiser I don't have those disappointments. I would say they deliver a solid product so far. Nothing outstanding but on par with NCL or slightly below.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Having to shampoo the carpet right after dry dock?? WOW is right. That is basic maintenance and it should have been taken care of long before you boarded. Too many projects in too short of a time just meant that even the basic dry dock projects could not have been taken care of properly before accepting passengers.

 

There is no excuse for the way you were treated. Please send an e-mail off to Corporate, to Adam Goldstein and address your issues right away. I know someone here will have the address for you. Unfortunately, I do not.

 

We sailed on a Princess ship a few weeks after dry dock. While we had no issues, the cruise before us also had closed venues, etc. That taught me to avoid cruses right after a dry dock. They should compensate you.

[artbcpa]

I didn't want to go to bed without ending the day on a positive note. We went to the headliner show with Gary Williams. He put on a fabulous show. We then finished the evening at the Schooner lounge as pianist/singer Jim Long did a tribute to Elton John. It was a lovely way to end the day.

 

Tomorrow is another day. ;)

[Shippy]

I had no idea we were cruising right after dry dock! We're cruising nov 1st and a little disappointed to see any construction going on when we sail. Should have been told. Not going to ruin my trip but I would have changed the date a little later. Already had our flights once I found out about dry dock. Couldn't change flights without penalty.

 

 

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except we are sailing on 11/15. I am hoping Coastal Kitchen will be open by then..

[Folk Singer]

Great Pictures

 

agree they are great.

[Dave85]

All I have to say is yikes... Seems like the way they're handling your issues is... regrettable... and that's being charitable. They clearly have some work to do on Oasis, and not just finishing the construction!

 

Thanks for your great blog. I look forward to hearing the rest and hope your experience improves!

 

 

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[Cindy]

I'm so sorry to hear all this is happening.:( It sounds like the people at Guest Services are overwhelmed with complaints (deservedly so) and they don't have any good answers!:rolleyes:

[steamboats]

What we received from customer service was a series of excuses and an attitude that should never come from someone in customer service. Instead of apologizing for what we and other passengers have had to endure, they said WE should have known that many of the venues would be closed and that construction was going to be taking place onboard the ship. In spite of what an earlier poster said about what RCI did with the Mariner, she flatly stated that the company has not given ANYONE any OBCs or perks for the inconvenience of being on a ship that is not what is advertised. She offered to have her supervisor speak with us whose main point was that as suite guests we have our own concierge and that is who we should be speaking with.

 

Art,

 

Definitely talk to your Concierge or the supervisor!! This answer is neither polite nor correct at all. I know of suite guests being on the Med cruises who did receive a future cruise credit due to the construction noise which started above their suite by September 18th.

 

 

steamboats

Edited October 21, 2014 by steamboats

[Chelsea1]

Hi everyone,

We are on the transatlantic too - boarded in southampton - and I am enjoying reading Art's live review.

 

Some background: we are a couple from the UK travelling in a grand suite and this is our third cruise with Royal Caribbean, the previous two RCI cruises were on the Legend from Singapore to Hong Kong via Vietnam and Singapore to Tokyo on the Voyager, earlier this year. We normally travel with Cunard and have also tried Celebrity and Princess (both 14 night cruises).

 

Our experience so far on this transatlantic voyage on the Oasis:

BOARDING

We boarded in Southampton. Having experienced chaos in Sydney when we boarded the QM2 for her inaugural sailing around New Zealand, due to the number of travel agents and local VIPs viewing the ship, I guessed the same might happen when Oasis sailed from Southampton. Having made the mistake of arriving early in Sydney after an exhausting overnight flight and queuing for hours past the official check in time, with the port blaming Cunard and Cunard reps nowhere to be seen!, this time we decided to arrive late. So we arrived in Southampton, which is only 1hour from our home, at 4.30PM and were on board within 15 minutes. The lady on the checking desk said it had been truly awful earlier and she was looking forward to going home.

 

CABIN

We are in a grand suite mid-ship on a lower deck. It is identical to a GS on the Voyager. But everything is new and very clean. The bed is particularly comfortable with very good bedding, the best we have ever had. Fridge also works well and the water pressure is good. It is also very quiet, despite being close to promenade and boardwalk, although it does creak a lot in heavy seas. We are happy with the cabin and it's location.

 

CONCIERGE LOUNGE

We have used both deck 17 suite lounge and Dazzles CL on deck 8/9.

Deck 17 suite lounge feels and smells brand new, and is still under construction for the Coastal Kitchen part. The lounge is nice during the day, but extremely busy and noisy at night during the cocktail hours when the diamond and Pinnacle members can also use it. It is also very bright, with strong spot lights and no blinds or quiet enclaves. It is also very hot, seems that the aircon is not fully working yet. The service is good. I think it will settle in as a lounge when everything is finished. At the moment it feels a bit like an IKEA canteen! However the views are spectacular.

 

DAZZLES LOUNGE

We also tried this a couple of times in the evenings for drinks. Also extremely busy, there must be a huge number of loyalty passengers on this cruise. Blazes is also reserved for Diamond and plus in the evenings until 8.30 pm.

Guests in the suite lounge on 17 definitely make more effort to dress up. In the other reserved lounges for premium passengers sandals, flip flops, logo t-shirts, jogging pants, caps seem fine for evening attire, which it was quite surprised at.

 

DINING

We are on My Time dining.

So far we have dined 3 times in the MDR in the evening and twice in the Windjammer. MDR is fine, portions variable - some huge and some tiny! We have not booked our MTD times and have not had to wait more than 10 minutes, although we are happy to share a table. Those waiting for two,s have a longer wait. In the past we have done fixed dining and I do prefer the fixed time and table mates and wait staff each night.

 

Buffet - selection is very good so far. Enjoyed some lunch and casual dinners there.

 

Dog House - tried the classic Coney Island, which was good!

 

Also had at lease one Starbucks daily, which is a good coffee, but quite expensive with no deals.

 

Lounges - there are snacks in each CL /suite lounge in the evening - hot appetisers and cheese, olives , canapés etc. generally better on Deck 17 than the other lounges.

 

Drinks - we did not buy any packages. We did load 24 bottles of Highland Spring water on board at Southampton ! Wine we have been buying either a bottle or glass in the evening. Prices are on the high side I would say. Wine service in the dining room is very patchy (at least For MTD) so we take a glass in with us, otherwise food arrives long before the drinks.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We have not seen much so far as we're unable to book on line prior to boarding and the TV booking system only started working yesterday. Comedy club is already completely full for the cruise. Apparently CATS is not yet ready to show. We did watch some Jazz and Ice skating show. Hopefully we will get some cancellations if we just turn up early. I am not at all keen on this booking everything up in advance, takes all spontaneous fun away.

 

SERVICE

First the good: lounges all have fairly good service, particularly after a few cash tips! Dining room is fine, nothing special but OK. Food outlets service all good too.

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK, I could write an essay on this, but enough to say huge queues, staff walking by without even acknowledging customers, putting phone down when you finally get through to speak to some one. We are luckily to have the Concierge service, but the general standard is not good enough.

 

THE SHIP

We think it is really too big and busy for us, but we knew that before we booked so it is not really a complaint! The size is good for a transatlantic as the seas have been quite rough (still rolling quite a lot today) and I'm sure we are lucky to have 225,000 tonnes. Also nice to be able to walk in Central Park and the board walk when the weather is not great. Captain does a very informative announcement at noon each day regarding weather etc, which is good.

 

INTERNET

I booked the unlimited use full voyage package and so far it has been great. A bit slow at times but a lot better than we have experienced on other lines and other RCI ships. Did say that satellite was down this morning, but I managed to get on line OK.

 

I think that's about it for now. Do ask any questions and I will try to reply.

[mpoole3]

Hi everyone,

We are on the transatlantic too - boarded in southampton - and I am enjoying reading Art's live review.

 

Some background: we are a couple from the UK travelling in a grand suite and this is our third cruise with Royal Caribbean, the previous two RCI cruises were on the Legend from Singapore to Hong Kong via Vietnam and Singapore to Tokyo on the Voyager, earlier this year. We normally travel with Cunard and have also tried Celebrity and Princess (both 14 night cruises).

 

Our experience so far on this transatlantic voyage on the Oasis:

BOARDING

We boarded in Southampton. Having experienced chaos in Sydney when we boarded the QM2 for her inaugural sailing around New Zealand, due to the number of travel agents and local VIPs viewing the ship, I guessed the same might happen when Oasis sailed from Southampton. Having made the mistake of arriving early in Sydney after an exhausting overnight flight and queuing for hours past the official check in time, with the port blaming Cunard and Cunard reps nowhere to be seen!, this time we decided to arrive late. So we arrived in Southampton, which is only 1hour from our home, at 4.30PM and were on board within 15 minutes. The lady on the checking desk said it had been truly awful earlier and she was looking forward to going home.

 

CABIN

We are in a grand suite mid-ship on a lower deck. It is identical to a GS on the Voyager. But everything is new and very clean. The bed is particularly comfortable with very good bedding, the best we have ever had. Fridge also works well and the water pressure is good. It is also very quiet, despite being close to promenade and boardwalk, although it does creak a lot in heavy seas. We are happy with the cabin and it's location.

 

CONCIERGE LOUNGE

We have used both deck 17 suite lounge and Dazzles CL on deck 8/9.

Deck 17 suite lounge feels and smells brand new, and is still under construction for the Coastal Kitchen part. The lounge is nice during the day, but extremely busy and noisy at night during the cocktail hours when the diamond and Pinnacle members can also use it. It is also very bright, with strong spot lights and no blinds or quiet enclaves. It is also very hot, seems that the aircon is not fully working yet. The service is good. I think it will settle in as a lounge when everything is finished. At the moment it feels a bit like an IKEA canteen! However the views are spectacular.

 

DAZZLES LOUNGE

We also tried this a couple of times in the evenings for drinks. Also extremely busy, there must be a huge number of loyalty passengers on this cruise. Blazes is also reserved for Diamond and plus in the evenings until 8.30 pm.

Guests in the suite lounge on 17 definitely make more effort to dress up. In the other reserved lounges for premium passengers sandals, flip flops, logo t-shirts, jogging pants, caps seem fine for evening attire, which it was quite surprised at.

 

DINING

We are on My Time dining.

So far we have dined 3 times in the MDR in the evening and twice in the Windjammer. MDR is fine, portions variable - some huge and some tiny! We have not booked our MTD times and have not had to wait more than 10 minutes, although we are happy to share a table. Those waiting for two,s have a longer wait. In the past we have done fixed dining and I do prefer the fixed time and table mates and wait staff each night.

 

Buffet - selection is very good so far. Enjoyed some lunch and casual dinners there.

 

Dog House - tried the classic Coney Island, which was good!

 

Also had at lease one Starbucks daily, which is a good coffee, but quite expensive with no deals.

 

Lounges - there are snacks in each CL /suite lounge in the evening - hot appetisers and cheese, olives , canapés etc. generally better on Deck 17 than the other lounges.

 

Drinks - we did not buy any packages. We did load 24 bottles of Highland Spring water on board at Southampton ! Wine we have been buying either a bottle or glass in the evening. Prices are on the high side I would say. Wine service in the dining room is very patchy (at least For MTD) so we take a glass in with us, otherwise food arrives long before the drinks.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

We have not seen much so far as we're unable to book on line prior to boarding and the TV booking system only started working yesterday. Comedy club is already completely full for the cruise. Apparently CATS is not yet ready to show. We did watch some Jazz and Ice skating show. Hopefully we will get some cancellations if we just turn up early. I am not at all keen on this booking everything up in advance, takes all spontaneous fun away.

 

SERVICE

First the good: lounges all have fairly good service, particularly after a few cash tips! Dining room is fine, nothing special but OK. Food outlets service all good too.

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK, I could write an essay on this, but enough to say huge queues, staff walking by without even acknowledging customers, putting phone down when you finally get through to speak to some one. We are luckily to have the Concierge service, but the general standard is not good enough.

 

THE SHIP

We think it is really too big and busy for us, but we knew that before we booked so it is not really a complaint! The size is good for a transatlantic as the seas have been quite rough (still rolling quite a lot today) and I'm sure we are lucky to have 225,000 tonnes. Also nice to be able to walk in Central Park and the board walk when the weather is not great. Captain does a very informative announcement at noon each day regarding weather etc, which is good.

 

INTERNET

I booked the unlimited use full voyage package and so far it has been great. A bit slow at times but a lot better than we have experienced on other lines and other RCI ships. Did say that satellite was down this morning, but I managed to get on line OK.

 

I think that's about it for now. Do ask any questions and I will try to reply.

 

Thanks for the great feedback. Could you tell us the unlimited internet price? Just wondering if it has changed since the dry dock.