Big Al's 10/27 5 night Halloween cruise review..

[big al]

I have waited 5 days to write my review, thoughts & impressions on our Oasis 5 night “Halloween” cruise due to time & been very busy. But today I have some time & thought THIS was the day to write it…

 

Some bio & background on myself: I am Diamond on RCI, this being our 13th RCI cruise for my wife, Teresa & I, 30th overall cruise. I am also a cruise agent for 17 years. This cruise was to celebrate my wife’s 60th birthday, so we invited 2 of her 5 other sisters, their husbands, and one of my SIL’s daughters, and her husband. I had been planning this for 18 months, and of course , I did all the planning on excursions, entertainment , dining, choosing the cabins, etc..lots of work, because only 2 of the 6 others had ever been on RCI, and the young nephew had NEVER even been on a ship before. I sent them all e-mails about what a great ship & cruise we will have including videos on the Oasis & some of the possible excursions in Nassau & Cozumel, our ports of call we would visit.

 

As I always say, these are MY opinions, observations & thoughts, so if you were on the same cruise & disagree, or have been on another Oasis cruise & disagree, fine, but those who know me or have read my posts ( like under the “Cabin Tips” section - there is “Thanks, cruise ship balcony , a commentary “ , has done very well..) know that I speak from my heart & am very honest.I am not a Loyal to Royal person ( though I LOVE RCI, but as an agent, I must try all, and I have cruised on Carnival, Norwegian, Disney, HAL, Princess, & Celebrity as well) . Another thing- this review does NOT contain 8,000 pictures , nor will it take you 2 weeks to read …sometimes I read reviews that take longer to read than it took to take the cruise, LOL…as a former teacher, I am used to grades, so I will assign grades to the different portions of my review , I.E., “ The headliner show as an “A”…..okay, let’s get going!

 

Problems began when RCI cancelled the Abba tribute band called Adbacadabra about 3-4 weeks before the 10/ 27 cruise date . This was REAL bad for 2 reasons: first, I had told my family, ALL ABBA fans , that we were going to have an ABBA tribute band as the headliner..my wife is from Peru, along with her sisters, and Abba was HUGE there, so everybody knew their music & was excited. I was in touch with the manager of the band, who’s name was Gary, because planning this so far out, I wanted to make sure I was reading his website info correctly ( “Join Adbacadabra on the Oasis Of The Seas 10/27/ 11-1 for a cruise” ) , and he said, yes, they had been booked , and they have done many RCI cruises as headliners.Great, I thought, we are set! I checked in about 4 months before the cruise ( June) , and all was still a go. Then one of our Roll Call members said that on the Adbacadabra website, it said “postponed” about 3-4 weeks before the cruise..I called Gary and he confirmed that RCI CANCELLED his performance due to “issues with the theater and CATS”..he told RCI he would perform ANYWHERE on the ship, but they still said no..VERY DISAPPOINTING! Grade for this move: F

 

There were more problems with scheduling the shows..first, shows were SUPPOSE to be ready to book 60 days out, which meant Aug. 27 or 28..on the Roll Call, we were all going back & forth trying to find out when..I called Crown & Anchor several times and they were clueless. FINALLY entertainment opened about one week later, and what a mess it was! CATS was on the first night at 8:30..terrible to put that on the FIRST night of the cruise- people like to explore the ship & chill on the first night. Oasis of Dreams, the diving show, was set to go on the 2nd night ( Tues) at 9 PM & 10:45. I had already booked CHOPS for our birthday celebration for 8 of us @ 6:30 PM, hoping we could eat & see the Oasis dreams show at 9 instead of 10:45. I knew it might be tight, but I thought ( as I always say) that I would just tell them that we had a show to catch at 9, so please “try & go a bit faster” because the ladies wanted to change ( what else??) from pumps to comfortable shoes..back to the schedule, Wednesday was going to be our 1st sea day and I had planned a Meet & Mingle myself, not RCI, because they do not sponsor any M & M’s on less than 7 nights..that was going to be at 11 AM in the Jazz On 4 club, deck 4 confirmed by RCI & some help from Jennifer @ Cruise Critic -Thanks Jenn!. We had 94 sign up & although there were some last minute confusion on where & when the meeting would be ( got an e-mail from RCI saying we were confirmed at 10AM in DAZZLES instead of 11 AM in Jazz On 4 FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE CRUISE!!)…after waiting 24 hours and no response from RCI, I brought out the big guns and e-mailed Adam Goldstein, President of RCI, whom I’ve had a e-mail relationship since I wrote the FIRST positive review on the Oasis 9 weeks after she debuted on CC, and he had his secretary call me & tell me how happy he was to read something so positive…anyway, 3 hours after I sent Mr. Goldstein an e-mail stating how disappointed I was in RCI changing times & venues on us, I get a PHONE call from Julianna, the events coordinator on the Oasis itself ( yes, FROM THE SHIP ON A TA!!) ,and she apolopgized about the confusion and told me we were set for 11 am in the Jazz on 4 club, Wed, the 29th!! It seems WHO you know DOES matter!!! Thank You Adam Goldstein!!! And thank You, Julianna for the goodies & even a microphone!! Unfortunately, only about 15 showed up out of 94 that signed up , about 15%, waaaayyyy too low a number…usually at least 25-35% show. To the people who showed up , it was great meeting & talking cruise talk…also we had a Sailaway Party at 4 PM, but the embarkation problems interfered with a lot of people..I did meet 12-13 Roll call people there & nice meeting you as well..

 

So Wed afternoon at 5 we had the Frozen In Time ice show, which was a tribute to Hans Christian Anderson stories & music. It was followed by 15 minutes of old time rock n’ roll and the sold out crowd was into it.It was very good, though not the best I’ve seen on RCI..grade B+

 

BTW, the ice show ORIGINALLY was suppose to be Friday, but was changed to Mon & Wed., so now I had to call RCI have all 8 of us changed to Wed @ 5…dinner was 6:30 in MTD , followed by the Headliner show at 8:30 PM..it was busy & tight, but we managed. I had Thurs night free, and Fri night was SUPPOSE to be Come Fly With Me @ 8:30…Well, get this: Friday night, at our last dinner together in the MDR, I was telling everyone to remember that we had the Come Fly With Me show @ 8:30 in the Opal Theater. I checked the Cruise Compass, and NO COME FLY WITH ME scheduled @ 8:30!! Suddenly I see a small box on the right saying “Come Fly With Me today special matinee at 3 PM”…3 Pm??? 3 Pm?? Nobody told me- NOBODY e-mailed, contacted me in ANY WAY- I was LIVID! I went down to GS and wanted to know why CFWM was NOT on the schedule- the RCI agent said they had changed the schedule ( AGAIN!!!) and the show was moved to Thurs night & Fri afternoon!! Now I had to tell the whole family that we could not see the show tonight because RCI ONCE AGAIN changed the schedule… My wife had a great idea that RCI should consider : If a show has been either cancelled OR changed it’s time, RCI should LEAVE A MESSAGE OR NOTE in their cabin to notify all that something has changed- they have all your info to do this- funny how they called SIX times and e-mailed me four times to tell about embarkation, but NO ONE notified me about Come Fly With Me being changed…terrible… GRADE FOR THIS : F

 

One more thing: Embarkation was a nightmare…I usually get to the port around 11:30-noon and go right to the Windjammer or Park Cafe. I had been called no less than SIX times by RCI telling me boarding would start NO earlier than 1:30 for Diamond members & other elite groups. When we all got there, there was such a mess- the Diamond/ Plus/ Platinum/ Emerald computers at 3 windows were ALL down, so the RCI agent had to try & coordinate the elite members with the Gold & newbies going all to the same windows that were not elite..then we headed upstairs to the Diamond area to wait- and wait we did- THREE hours up there till 3 PM with no food, no drinks, nothing..I am diabetic , and since I thought I would be eating by 1:30 the latest, NONE of us had any snacks or food ( thanks to me opening my big mouth about how much food we could eat once on board..) , and my blood sugar began dropping.There were 3 machines not operated by RCI, but by a private vender, and the lines were 20 deep for the snacks one…by that time we were told “no way you’ll be on board before 2 PM”..so eventually I got on the line & waited 30 minutes to buy M & M’s to raise my blood sugar. RCI kept saying it was not their fault, it was customs & immigration, but one RCI agent admitted to me “this was the biggest mess at debarkation/ embarkation they had ever seen”…no matter who’s fault it is, RCI should have been more pro-active on this..also RCI- when you have BIG delays like this, please set up some cheap, easy snacks & water for all, it’s the least you can do…Grade For Embarkation: F

 

Okay, now for the cruise itself- we had a JS cabin on the hump, # 9240..great location, about 10 doors down from the elevators.Only problem was the A/C didn’t work as well as I like- it got cold late at night & early morning, but during the day it was pretty warm in there…shower was AWESOME- both hot & powerful stream. Flat screen TV was nice, though I wish you could turn it & angle it a bit- it does not move…balcony was big & had 2 lounge chairs, 2 coffee chairs & small coffee table..bed was comfy, & pillows OK, not great, not bad..Grade for cabin : A-

 

Food is very subjective, and generally I don’t comment much on MDR food, but I will say a few words, both positive & negative..the negative is I had asked weeks earlier for a Spanish speaking waiter from C & A and they assured me there would be “no problem getting a Spanish speaking waiter”..We needed one for my sister-in-law & hubby, who are from Peru & needed a Spanish waiter..when we got our assigned table, there were 2 waiters there, Falcao from India & Anthony from Trinidad & Tobago- none spoke Spanish & in fact said there were NO Spanish speaking waiters in the entire area on deck 5, table 725 ( BTW, when we got to the MDR, I reminded the Maitre D that I had requested Spanish speaking waiter & he said “No problem” , and said he found one..???)..Good news here is that Falcao & Anthony were both SUPERB waiters & service was impeccable…and the usual ho hum food was in fact, very good IMO ( remember, In My Opinion!) I had escargots 3 out of the 4 nights I ate there & they were VERY good..my prime rib, skirt steak & Lobster tails all very very good…VERY IMPORTANT: we were not only celebrating my wife’s b’day, but there were several other b’days coming up or had just passed, so we ended up having a cake on all 5 nights of the cruise!! Mine was coming up on 11/4, so we had mine last on Friday night..both the chocolate & vanilla cakes were scrumptious….Grade for MDR food : B+…..Grade for MDR service & waiters : A+

 

We ate in Chops on Tuesday night to celebrate my wife’s B’day, and all went well except I will say, RCI needs to quicken the pace a bit in there - I had made reservation at 6: 30 for 8 , and we had reservations for the Oasis Of Dreams show at 9 PM - that’s 2 & 1/2 hours for dinner, AND I told our waiters we had a show at 9, so we needed to be out by 8: 45 so we had time to change ( ladies & shoes,LOL..) & get there..the food was OUTSTANDING..I had the crab cakes ( not quite the same as before, but good) , and NY Strip- I will say the NY Strip was amongst the BEST I’ve ever had in any venue, land or sea! Everyone else also said their food was DEE-LICIOUS..I did think we waited a bit too long for the main course..it was 8 PM, and we hadn’t gotten our main entrees, and we still had to eat that, AND dessert, AND change & get to the Aqua Theater, so I summoned the Maitre D & told him it was going a bit slow & we they needed to step it up a bit ( BTW, all at the table & looked at me & said, “kinda slow, isn’t it?” )..we made it JUST in time for the Diving show, which was SPECTACULAR.. Grade For Chops Dinner: A- …BTW, I would’ve given them an ‘A’, but it was simply too slow….

 

I will not go over the 2 ports we did, Nassau & Cozumel, because there are so many posts you can find here on CC, but I will say in Cozumel we did the Chankanaab Park & did the Dolphin Swim Adventure for 6 of us ( my wife did not go because we had done this in Orlando a few years back & she wanted to take pics & videos..)..this place was fantastic! Swimming with the Dolphins is an amazing experience, and we thought for $83, we got the swim for about 75 minutes, pool, beach, botanical gardens, Mayan village & Buffet & 2 sodas, I thought it was very reasonable..highly recommended! Any questions you have on the 2 ports of call, let me know & I will answer then…

 

Hot tubs in the Adult Solarium were nice & hot…more observations/ thoughts : the ship looked good, and the new Diamond Lounge is beautiful, but gets pretty busy by 5:30-5:45..it is on deck 4 near the MDR..love the views by the sea..plenty of appetizers, both hot & cold. A word on the beers in the DL: If RCI is reading this, you may want to stock a few more craft or higher end beers besides Budweiser, Miller Lite, Amstel Light , Corona & Heineken - a bit too many truck driver beers in my opinion- add Stella , Sam Adams & maybe Pilsner Urquell or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.. Bud or Miller Lite in the Diamond Lounge? A little too crude, no? New DL grade : B+

 

Also there was a Halloween Party in Studio B on Halloween night ( Fri night) and costumes were everywhere..there also was a parade earlier in the day for best costume & results were announced later in Studio B ( a Flintstone family all dressed up including small children won…)..that was pretty cool & they played scary songs including of course, the Monster Mash, which was the name of the party..I sang “Sweet Caroline” at Karaoke on Monday night & apparently all got a big kick out of it because at least 10 people came up to me the rest of the cruise & told me they loved my karaoke..also sang ‘the Wanderer” by Dion on Wed night, which also got a nice reception..place was PACKED every night ..I think that the On Air place is a bit tool small for karaoke..within minutes of starting, you couldn’t find a seat..this is where Cleopatra’s Lounge on the Freedom ships would really come in handy…also the DJ at this place several times ( at least) played the wrong song ,and had to find the real song, while the poor person up there had to wait….

 

All in all we had a great cruise, except for embarkation & debarkation ( very long lines there, too) , and the schedule SNAFUS..My family LOVED the Oasis and we had a great cruise..It could’ve been an A , but I’m giving the overall cruise a B+…weather, BTW, was perfect on all 5 days- 80-83 F and sunny….

 

Any questions or comments, give a shout!!

 

Big Al

[twokids0204]

Nice review...

 

We were also on that cruise, it was our first time on Oasis (as well with RCI).

 

The mess up on Embarkation was insane, and we too were affected by a bunch of schedule changes.

 

My opinion though, is 5 days is too short of a cruise for a ship that large.

 

We were on the run the whole time. We actually skipped the Halloween party as we were just to tired (I do regret that).

 

Our waiter (Jonathon table 682) in the MDR on deck 4, did speak Spanish (not that it helped us). He was awesome.

 

Loved the Headliner, and even enjoyed CATS.

 

The food in the MDR was pretty good (although I found the prime rib rubbery). the Windjammer however, I was not overly impressed with.

 

The staff all over the ship were awesome.

 

Room service however SUCKED! I only ordered once, Night 1 - my kids were hungry before bed, and we ordered a fruit plate and cookies @ 8:45. It was supposed to be 30 - 40 minutes. It didn't show up until 11:30 and they were out of cookies! After that we started to store some snacks in our stateroom (bags of chips from Park Cafe or cookies from windjammer).

 

I know these issues aren't common for RCI, so I'd be interested in sailing again on either Oasis or Allure for a 7 nighter.

 

The one thing I did learn from this though... In the mornings, sleep in, and don't try to do everything so I can be alert during the night time.

 

Also we tried to hit all the big shows / activities, that we missed out on the smaller stuff... i.e. Karaoke, etc...

 

Oh, and for those doing the Boogie Board on Flowrider - don't drag your feet behind you. You will get major friction burn. I still have scabs from it.

 

Disembarking for me wasn't a huge issue. We booked to leave between 9:00 and 9:30, and we were out within our time frame.

Edited November 7, 2014 by twokids0204

[lulurobby]

Also on this sailing, something's in our opinion where oposit to your views that is why something like cruise critic can give people fair views and for them to see how people can differ.

[big al]

Also on this sailing, something's in our opinion where oposit to your views that is why something like cruise critic can give people fair views and for them to see how people can differ.

 

Of course, that goes without saying...some is not opinion, like the delays getting on & off...those are facts, there were delays, but food, service & entertainment are mostly subjective...

[Luma001]

Hey Al, good for you and Teresa!! I hope you enjoyed the cruise, even with the small inconveniences. Ana and I will be on the Independence at the end of the month. Looking forward to it and maybe catch the Oasis again one of these days.

[big al]

Hey Al, good for you and Teresa!! I hope you enjoyed the cruise, even with the small inconveniences. Ana and I will be on the Independence at the end of the month. Looking forward to it and maybe catch the Oasis again one of these days.

 

Luis! Hey cheers to Ana & let me know how you liked the IOS..we may cruise her soon...we had a great time on the Oasis despite the "minor" inconveniences...

[big al]

Forgot to mention the headliner act: Ronn Lucas, a comedic ventriloquist, was hysterical & simply the best ventriloquist I've ever seen...his mouth NEVER moved & you heard every word/ sentence so clearly...it worked out since we were all upset that Adbacadabra was cancelled, but Ronn filled in really well- bad part was 3 family members couldn't go because they wouldn't understand his act because of language barriers...BTW, I tried to hit upon all 7 areas that are crucial for a review: Pre-boarding experience, the ship itself, dining/food, entertainment/shows. service, ports of call ( when necessary OR if new..) , & cabins...I have read many reviews that sometimes don't even cover 3-4 of these areas, which to me, makes them less informative...just MHO...

 

Big Al

[big al]

Nice review...

 

We were also on that cruise, it was our first time on Oasis (as well with RCI).

 

The mess up on Embarkation was insane, and we too were affected by a bunch of schedule changes.

 

My opinion though, is 5 days is too short of a cruise for a ship that large.

 

We were on the run the whole time. We actually skipped the Halloween party as we were just to tired (I do regret that).

 

Our waiter (Jonathon table 682) in the MDR on deck 4, did speak Spanish (not that it helped us). He was awesome.

 

Loved the Headliner, and even enjoyed CATS.

 

The food in the MDR was pretty good (although I found the prime rib rubbery). the Windjammer however, I was not overly impressed with.

 

The staff all over the ship were awesome.

 

Room service however SUCKED! I only ordered once, Night 1 - my kids were hungry before bed, and we ordered a fruit plate and cookies @ 8:45. It was supposed to be 30 - 40 minutes. It didn't show up until 11:30 and they were out of cookies! After that we started to store some snacks in our stateroom (bags of chips from Park Cafe or cookies from windjammer).

 

I know these issues aren't common for RCI, so I'd be interested in sailing again on either Oasis or Allure for a 7 nighter.

 

The one thing I did learn from this though... In the mornings, sleep in, and don't try to do everything so I can be alert during the night time.

 

Also we tried to hit all the big shows / activities, that we missed out on the smaller stuff... i.e. Karaoke, etc...

 

Oh, and for those doing the Boogie Board on Flowrider - don't drag your feet behind you. You will get major friction burn. I still have scabs from it.

 

Disembarking for me wasn't a huge issue. We booked to leave between 9:00 and 9:30, and we were out within our time frame.

 

Thanks for the comments...yes, you should try the Oasis/ Allure again, & not be so rushed- there IS so much to do, especially on a 5 night cruise...BTW, regarding your room service, next time, just go down to the Cafe Promenade on deck 5 & grab some cookies or small finger sandwiches OR go to Sorrento's & get some pizza & bring it back to your cabin - much better than waiting for room service..BTW, I ordered breakfast our last sea day & it came in 20 minutes..late night is always longer wait times, FYI, but 3 hours is unacceptable...also, next time, TRY & take a nap ( at least the children ) if possible in the late afternoon - it really helps..I know they are full days & between the sun & trying to do everything, it's an exhausting day...

 

Big Al

[twokids0204]

Thanks for the comments...yes, you should try the Oasis/ Allure again, & not be so rushed- there IS so much to do, especially on a 5 night cruise...BTW, regarding your room service, next time, just go down to the Cafe Promenade on deck 5 & grab some cookies or small finger sandwiches OR go to Sorrento's & get some pizza & bring it back to your cabin - much better than waiting for room service..BTW, I ordered breakfast our last sea day & it came in 20 minutes..late night is always longer wait times, FYI, but 3 hours is unacceptable...also, next time, TRY & take a nap ( at least the children ) if possible in the late afternoon - it really helps..I know they are full days & between the sun & trying to do everything, it's an exhausting day...

 

Big Al

 

 

Edited November 8, 2014 by twokids0204

[ladysail2]

Nice review Alan. I think you fairly showed what you liked and disliked. It's unfortunate regarding all the show changes...don't know what was up with that.

 

About the TV. My TV moved from the wall and could swivel to the left, it couldn't swivel to the right or it hit the mirror. It didn't move out much either.

 

I think my main complaint about a ship that big is the fact that one has to show up very early to events to get a seat. I missed the Oasis of Dreams, on the ta portion, because when I showed up 20 minutes beforehand...all seats were full...and I had a reservation.

 

The ship is lovely, especially loved the Central Park, very beautiful.

 

Thanks for the review. It was nice to meet you and your wife.

 

Joyce :D

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your report, I have sailed on both the Oasis and Allure and you need at least a week to see and do all that the ships have to offer.