Chaos of the Seas--Wesbound TA

[Hoopster95]

and love walking around inside a ship like they're never leaving a hotel.

 

Oasis is not an "inside" ship.

 

The #1 major factor imho for any TA = weather. Good weather = great cruise, bad weather = everyone inside therefore challenges.

 

The #2 factor imho is demographic. TA from Florida = average age over 55 easily. Like minded seniors, card playing, early seating MDR, etc etc. Vast majority doing all like-minded things everyday without any ports = problems. These masses not being able to go outside during bad weather = further problems. In comparison a TA on Adventure from San Juan is a very spread demographic, younger and culturally like different things, therefore more spread out in what people do and when (ie. Latino cruisers like late seating, therefore different show time in theatre, love dancing late at night, etc)

 

I have experienced both the above, and I have been on Oasis. By following the "LIVE" Oasis thread it was clear they had bad weather, I can only guess everyone was stuck inside on the most "outside" ship in the entire RCL fleet. It's a shame OP didn't have a good cruise.

[bouhunter]

Oasis is not an "inside" ship.

 

.

 

Interesting. Many posts here for a long time have confirmed that Oasis is focused "inside" and lacks connection to the outdoors or the ocean. Why try to deny that??? And it's obvious from posts there that many people sailing her are most interested in the ship not the ports. That's all good and well more power to them.

 

But when I see 6,000 people on a ship with limited topside space and lots of interior facing rooms, and most all dining and entertainment focused indoors, looks like inside to me compared to many other ships.......

Edited October 28, 2014 by bouhunter

[LetsGetWet!]

We haven't been on Oasis, but I have to question this? It's clear from previous reviews that the ship is built "inward" with few outside views unless one goes outdoors to really look for them. It's a ship that is "for the ship".......which many people love.

 

For OP, what is SRO? not familiar with that.

I have sailed Oasis and Allure several times each. I would definitely consider each ship to be an "outdoors" ship because of the Boardwalk area, the Central Park area and the Sports Deck area which are all very large. The Aqua Theater, an outdoor venue for aqua shows, consumes a large area too.

Interesting. Most posts here for a long time have confirmed that Oasis is focused "inside". When I see 6,000 people on a ship with limited topside space and lots of interior facing rooms, and most all dining and entertainment focused indoors, looks like inside to me.......

I think the disconnect here is between "outdoors" and "inward focused." Its true that the Boardwalk and Central Park are technically "outdoors" which would limit their use during inclement weather. But at the same time they're also "inward focused." The focus on these large public areas is definitely the ship, not the ocean or anything external to the ship - you can see nothing but ship, unless you look straight up to the sky. Definitely no connection with the ocean at all.

[Hoopster95]

Interesting. Most posts here for a long time have confirmed that Oasis is focused "inside".

 

I would challenge that. Can you show me some of those posts (links?).

Pull up the RCL website of all the public spaces and make a list of those venues that are outside and those inside, then bring up a overhead outside view of the Oasis in port for example to view those outside spaces.

 

Outside - central park, boardwalk, MASSIVE pool deck, MASSIVE sports court w/2 Floriders

Inside - Promenade

Solarium - only partially covered.

 

Do this same exercise with Radiance

Outside - SUPER small and only 1 pool, super small sports area, very small and tight deck area around the ship

Inside - Centrum, VCL, totally covered Solrium, large shops/boutiques

 

Radiance is the most "inside" ship in the fleet. I suspect Q has a good chance of taking over from Radiance in this regard.

[Hoopster95]

unless you look straight up to the sky. Definitely no connection with the ocean at all.

 

Ah yes, perfectly stated. Thank you, I didn't think of this in my last post. So add this statement to the issues of the OP not having a great experience and over-crowding to a highly rainy and bad weather TA... where do 5000 cruisers go all day?

 

There are a ton of posts on CC of experienced Oasis cruisers letting people know that Oasis never ever felt crowding, on many reviews. In respect to this, I've been on all 3 Freedom ships and I believe those ships are the most crowded out of them all in the RCL fleet.... too many cabins with about the same public space square footage as the smaller Voyager Class.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Hoopster95

[bouhunter]

The focus on these large public areas is definitely the ship, not the ocean or anything external to the ship - you can see nothing but ship, unless you look straight up to the sky. Definitely no connection with the ocean at all.

 

I guess that was my point, thanks :)

[pscruzinboyz]

Does anybody know if this info gets back to RCL management? I have to laugh because on one of my FB pages...someone yesterday asked if any cruisers on the westbound got a certificate for the sailing..." Thanks for sailing on the Oasis TA ", we always get one when we do a TA. The answer was NO! Then my comment was, I remember a Eastbound poster showing a picture say...Thanks for sailing the Westbound Certificate. It just appears that RCL gave up on this cruise a couple of months ago and will do nothing but collect the BIG BUCKS that all paid. I am so happy we cancelled and moved to the Adventurer OTS this Sunday.....and we save over 950.00 for the same D1 cabin.....yes, not the Oasis, but we get PORTS....Lot's and Lot's Of Ports!

So sorry for all of the passengers that feel they got a Bad deal....but part of me thinks you had to know! We did and we have only been on her once and that is why we move because we knew it was going to be Way to crowded for 12 nights and one port.

 

Mike

[silentbob007]

I only have one TA experience (on Brilliance), but it was full of some of the most negative cruisers I've ever shared a ship with. There were hiccups (as you would expect with ports/procedures used once or twice a year), but NOTHING could please the very vocal TA EXPERTS (who tended to wear their loyalty pins/badges at every moment on the ship) ... from the food to the space in the cinema ... everything proved RCI was going to hell. Amazingly enough ... after all the complaints, I have a feeling if I booked the same cruise next year, I'd bump into quite a few of the same people.

 

I really let that get to me for the first few days ... until I finally remembered why I like cruising and I learned to get the heck away from people who wanted to dampen my experience. From what I've read about this Oasis TA, lots of things went wrong from the very start to put people in a foul mood ... that is very hard to overcome, even if everything else works fairly well.

[Big_G]

I think the disconnect here is between "outdoors" and "inward focused." Its true that the Boardwalk and Central Park are technically "outdoors" which would limit their use during inclement weather. But at the same time they're also "inward focused." The focus on these large public areas is definitely the ship, not the ocean or anything external to the ship - you can see nothing but ship, unless you look straight up to the sky. Definitely no connection with the ocean at all.

 

I guess that was my point, thanks :)

 

Sorry but the outdoor areas topside far exceed the inward facing out door areas and you can still be as close to the sea as you want on Deck 4. There is no way that an additional 100 passengers would make a difference on one of those ships. It had to be weather related. They were built for the Caribbean and not TAs. I'm not trying to bust your chops bouhunter but you should really sail one before characterizing it based on what is posted here on Cruise Critic. Your opinion may change. I agree that the ship is a destination but I've never felt like I wasn't on a cruise.

[Aquahound]

Interesting. Many posts here for a long time have confirmed that Oasis is focused "inside" and lacks connection to the outdoors or the ocean. Why try to deny that???

 

You are exactly right wrt sea views from inside. I am a huge fan of Oasis Class, but I would be lying if I said the ocean views were just as good as any other ship. There really aren't any interior public venues with ocean views and the one that did exist, the Viking Crown Lounge, was just eliminated. To look out to sea, you either have to go to your own oceanview room or go outside.

 

But that said, the top decks are very expansive, as is Central Park and the Boardwalk. There is much more deck space on Oasis Class than any other ships.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Aquahound

[Ocean Boy]

We haven't been on Oasis, but I have to question this? It's clear from previous reviews that the ship is built "inward" with few outside views unless one goes outdoors to really look for them. It's a ship that is "for the ship".......which many people love.

 

For OP, what is SRO? not familiar with that.

 

People have written this exact description of the Voyager and Freedom class ships too. It seems that any ship with a Royal Promenade is given this bad rap of being and inwardly directed ship. However, Oasis/Allure are very much built for good weather/warm weather cruising. The pool deck is expansive as is the adult solarium which is not enclosed. Major venues such as the Boardwalk, Aqua Theater, and Central Park are all open to the environment. I have been on Oasis when nights were very cool and these areas become much less enjoyable.

 

So my point is that Oasis/Allure truly are very much affected by weather and when there are 5500 people looking for remaining space when these venues become less usable it can definitely affect the "feeling" of the ship.

[Ocean Boy]

Of everything I've read -- and I've read everything I can find about the Oasis since I'm on her in less than three weeks-- this is the most upsetting statement. It's pretty obvious to me that for whatever reason, RCI didn't deliver the product people have the right to expect, and that's not OK. Yes, there are things that happened in the course of the cruise that help explain some unacceptable experiences, but it bothers me that Royal Caribbean seems to just want to point the finger and not accept ownership for any of the problems. At the very least, communication when things went wrong seems to have been absent, there were no contingency plans for bad weather, nor were there attempts to make passengers more comfortable when they were waiting hours to embark/disembark.

 

The experience I quoted above seems to be a prevailing one for this TA. RCI had the opportunity to WOW a new customer, and they dropped the ball badly. What incentive do people with no history with Royal Caribbean have to give them another chance? I hope they learned something from this trip and can correct the problems before the Allure TA and dry dock.

 

I would just add that sometimes RCI seems to drop the ball when it would be so easy not to. Just for an example... We were on the first sailing of Allure this past February after it was sidelined to have its broken pod fixed. Five minutes before sail-a-way from Ft. Lauderdale the captain announces that preparations are being made on the bridge to depart. Allure actually left over three hours later. There were almost no announcement or updates given to us. And the first one came almost 1.5 hrs. after the 5 minute departure announcement. Naturally, after the recent fix, those of us who knew that the ship had just had mechanical issues began to wonder if it still had issues and whether or not we were going to be sailing anywhere. All it would have taken was a little more thoughtfulness from the captain to keep us all informed of what was going on to alieve the anxiety levels.

 

I just offer that as another example of how RCI does a great job when things go right but when they don't sometimes the ball does seem to get dropped.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Ocean Boy

[Artemis]

Chip London, what is a "PC member?" Thanks for contributing your balanced view. The fact that there were so many D and above pax does offer some perspective as to both expectations and the opportunity for negativity to spread.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Ocean Boy]

I think the disconnect here is between "outdoors" and "inward focused." Its true that the Boardwalk and Central Park are technically "outdoors" which would limit their use during inclement weather. But at the same time they're also "inward focused." The focus on these large public areas is definitely the ship, not the ocean or anything external to the ship - you can see nothing but ship, unless you look straight up to the sky. Definitely no connection with the ocean at all.

 

I would agree with this in regard to Central Park but Boardwalk offers soem very good views of the ocean. It just depends on which direction you are looking.

[nelblu]

I would challenge that. Can you show me some of those posts (links?).

Pull up the RCL website of all the public spaces and make a list of those venues that are outside and those inside, then bring up a overhead outside view of the Oasis in port for example to view those outside spaces.

 

Outside - central park, boardwalk, MASSIVE pool deck, MASSIVE sports court w/2 Floriders

Inside - Promenade

Solarium - only partially covered.

 

Do this same exercise with Radiance

Outside - SUPER small and only 1 pool, super small sports area, very small and tight deck area around the ship

Inside - Centrum, VCL, totally covered Solrium, large shops/boutiques

 

Radiance is the most "inside" ship in the fleet. I suspect Q has a good chance of taking over from Radiance in this regard.

 

Also, don't forget the jogging/walk deck, where you can view the sea/ocean and also, have chairs in the back of the ship where you can leisurely enjoy the views.

[Ocean Boy]

Also, don't forget the jogging/walk deck, where you can view the sea/ocean and also, have chairs in the back of the ship where you can leisurely enjoy the views.

 

It is true that there are great views of the ocean back there. But deck 5 on Oasis/Allure in no way compares with deck 4 of the Voyager/Freedom class ships. A good part of the view on the Oasis/Allure jogging track is obstructed by life boats.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Ocean Boy

[Yorkvillain]

Chip London, what is a "PC member?" Thanks for contributing your balanced view. The fact that there were so many D and above pax does offer some perspective as to both expectations and the opportunity for negativity to spread.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

Pinnacle Club

[GUEST080219]

I was on the cruise as well and I think most responses miss the important part.

Of course it would have been a better cruise experience when the weather had been more sunny and warmer. Sure it would have helped if the people did spread out more to the different events. And yes some of those facts the demographic and the weather could have been well known to those of us who booked that transatlantic.

 

But that is where I expect more from senior management on board and the CD staff. Where was their plan for a likely not so great weather cruise? Where were their ideas how to compensate the high dense usage of the theatre with the rehearsals?

My complaint is not that many people tried to do the same things I tried to do and I could not find a spot to even stand. My complaint is that the staff did nothing about it but let it continue for days.

 

Same with dinner in the windjammer the last day of the cruise. They only opened half of the buffet and roped the seating off at the aft. Now I was sitting near the end of the area and every few seconds people with plates of food arrived at the roped off area saw the many unused but unavailable tables and went back with annoyed faces. The waitstaff was around offering drinks and saw it but for the 10 or 15 minutes I was eating there no one of the staff member did anything. No supervisor or staff member went there to explain to the guest what the reason for that is. I have no idea if there was a good reason for that but if there are they have to communicate it. I have no idea why the staff member and the supervisors running around might have thought it could be a good idea to just let the people continue to walk towards the rope and then turn around with no one there.

 

Such things happened so often at that cruise. If they felt that the vibe was not as good as it should be. That more than just the one or two people are unhappy, when they read on here and probably elsewhere as well during that cruise that there are valid complaints the senior management and staff need to get more visible, communicate more and the staff has to work much harder to turn it around. Not just let continue with it and pretend nothing had happened.

 

That is what the real issue had been, not the weather or the indoor/outdoor spaces.

[awhcruiser]

Was there anything positive about your cruise?

This review is of the post-drydock Oasis of the Seas westbound TA (October 15-27,2015). Since we were on the Eastbound pre-drydock TA in September, we can accurately compare the two ships and voyages pre and post dry dock. The overriding factor in the Westbound TA of the Oasis of the Seas has been congestion, overcrowding, and SRO. We have never been on a cruise where the masses tend to dominate. Lounges and Bars were alway occupied and overcrowded; Trivia and lectures were SRO with some participants coming 1-1/2 hours early to secure seats. Breakfast venues had 15-20 minute waits or 100 person lines for seating or no seats available(buffet). This has lead to rude passenger behavior and even fisticuffs (never have been on a cruise with so many rude, inconsiderate and irate passengers—could this be cause and effect?). Naturally, many in our party have vowed never to return to this ship due to the masses that abound everywhere (even the theatre is SRO with several lines of people; in Dazzles the progressive trivia left many teams in the aisles and staircases).

 

The reason for this is quite obvious: during dry dock the Oasis added 40 cabins (up to 100 more people) while eliminating much public space: when you have more people and less public space, these problems tend to occur. They did so without adding any additional staff so more people with less staff means less quality and poorer customer service, which we also noted as major differences from the previous TA on the same ship (The spark and excitement is missing in a lot of the staff eyes. You can see they are just running through the motions to make a living). It appears very obvious that RCI intends to milk the ship for all the revenue it can get without any regards for the convenience or quality of the passengers. The promenade, once a beautiful football long area to sit, talk and relax, people watch or just stroll aimlessly has been reduced to offering hourly K-mart blue light specials on cheap merchandise with ear splitting announcements about the newest bargains from the name brand retail shops. More emphasis is on selling then allowing the passenger to relax. The ship may be able to accommodate 5500 passengers but the public venues do not have the carrying capacity to do likewise.

[AdamKnows]

I think there are two main issues here. 1) I think a lot of you nailed it with the impact of the weather on the cruise. When you have bad weather you can expect 40% or more people indoors when they normally would be on the pool deck, boardwalk, or central park.

 

2) When a ship goes to dry dock they normally have a huge transition in staff. I'm sure that having a lot of new crew members combined with the additional workload of a TA cruise with bad weather made the customer service less than what we would normally expect.

 

I get on the Oasis this Saturday and will give my assessment of how things have progressed. I seriously hope that these issues were an isolated incident.

[insidecabin]

With over 5k pax we wondered where everyone was hiding no/short lines for breakfast lunch and dinner at the times we decided to eat.

 

Plenty of indoor seating as we wandered around. Ship never felt crowded. Events like quizes were short of space and if they were given larger venues would have attracted more, the theatre being set aside for cat rehearsals during the day messed things up. That and studioB should have been used for the popular events, rehearsal done overnight.

 

Lines for shows started early and were not managed so people turn up even earlier, 6:45 for the first 8:30 cats.

 

Another issue was housekeeping failed to schedule public bathroom cleaning to match the times when people would be using them more eg. Show times.

[cinnamon]

Many of the comments here remind me of our Westbound TA on Liberty in 2011. The CD and activity staff were only prepared for port intensive 7 night cruises out of Barcelona. As a result the entertainment was lacking. There were long queues for breakfast and lunch in the MDR and chaos in the Windjammer.

 

It did improve when the weather got warmer as we approached Florida, but it put us off Repo cruises on the Freedom class (or larger) for life.

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

 

 

Same with dinner in the windjammer the last day of the cruise. They only opened half of the buffet and roped the seating off at the aft. Now I was sitting near the end of the area and every few seconds people with plates of food arrived at the roped off area saw the many unused but unavailable tables and went back with annoyed faces. The waitstaff was around offering drinks and saw it but for the 10 or 15 minutes I was eating there no one of the staff member did anything. No supervisor or staff member went there to explain to the guest what the reason for that is. I have no idea if there was a good reason for that but if there are they have to communicate it. I have no idea why the staff member and the supervisors running around might have thought it could be a good idea to just let the people continue to walk towards the rope and then turn around with no one there.

 

This happened the first time that we sailed on Oasis. We were at the Windjammer one day when people couldn't find tables and they had a section roped off. I can understand maybe not being able to use all of the serving stations for whatever reasons but to keep tables roped off when people are searching made no sense to me. This was several years ago now and I wrote a letter to RCI at the time detailing some of my issues with what I felt was poor management on the ship. We never encountered anything like this on other cruises that we have done on Oasis/Allure.

[Mac303]

One question that has gone unanswered, how many of these new cabins were actually occupied?

Edited October 28, 2014 by Mac303

[Mnrvguy]

One question that has gone unanswered, how many of these new cabins were actually occupied?

 

None.. They are still not done being built.