Just of Oasis Dec 13 sailing.. Lost luggage & cruise review

[CruizeDoggies]

We need to research this app as Delta is our main carrier. We have the Delta app loaded, is it on there? It would be great to know where your luggage is while you travel.

 

God forbid, if I were to read that it was placed next to the bananas in a bowl and ketchup. :eek:

 

Bags next to the Bananas and Ketchup would be worse than bags not arriving!! ;)

Speaking of, I totally forgot to look on this recent cruise for the Bananas in a bowl next to the ketchup!

[CruizeDoggies]

We were on the same cruise.

 

Did you try the Solarium pool? We had a great time there.

 

We hung out in the Solarium a little. We spent most of the afternoon in there while we were in Saint Thomas. It's very nice and relaxing and on most days it was nice and warm.

[poncho1973]

Bags next to the Bananas and Ketchup would be worse than bags not arriving!! ;)

Speaking of, I totally forgot to look on this recent cruise for the Bananas in a bowl next to the ketchup!

 

Don't worry. I was on the ball for you! I made sure they weren't. There was no banana/condiment fraternization on the trip that week.

[poncho1973]

We need to research this app as Delta is our main carrier. We have the Delta app loaded, is it on there? It would be great to know where your luggage is while you travel.

 

God forbid, if I were to read on the app that it was placed beside the bananas in a bowl next to the ketchup and mayo.

 

It's in the main Fly Delta app.

 

Click on the three bars My Delta logo in the upper left.

Click Track My Bags

 

I don't see it now, because I'm not actively tracking any bags/flights, but I know we clicked something that said "send notifications of bag checks" or something like that. It shot us text messages & emails while we were in the US. Then outside the US and in the air we had to manually check the app or our email.

 

Using the app ONLY in flight was free.

[Artemis908]

Were you able to get any kind of drink you want at the Prohibition Party?

[pajazz28]

Great

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Forums mobile app

[DutchCruiseFan]

Great review!

[CruizeDoggies]

Were you able to get any kind of drink you want at the Prohibition Party?

 

We did not see anyone else order any other type of drink but on other reviews I read that you could. The drinks were all gin and we got 5 different kinds. My husband and I are not real gun drinkers but they did a good job of hiding the gin taste. I liked all of them except one made with gin and tequila. My college days ruined my taste for tequilla. :) After they passed all the drinks out, the bar staff asked which ones you liked the best and brought you more.

 

If you don't have a drink package and you like to drink, the party is a better deal, but we already had the package so it felt like we were paying double.

[parrothead33]

Great review. We're on the Allure in a few weeks and will definitely cross pack - fingers crossed everything arrives.

[Duke Mazer]

Day 5, 6, 7 and what happened to your luggage??

[gabby3]

In September, my husband and I along with 14 others went on Tyrkey and Greece cruise. Four od us did not receive our luggage in Venice. We were told it was left in Amsterdam, but would arrive "soon." This did not happen before the ship sailed. To make a long story short, my luggage arrived on the 4th day of the cruise. The others received theirs three weeks after we returned home. RCL tried to help as much as they could to make a bad situation better. This was the first time I had not cross packed with my husband, but did pack extra items in my carry on. This did not spoil the trip, but it was stressful.

[CruizeDoggies]

Hey guys. I will have rest of days posted tomorrow. I had a doggie emergency today and was at vet all day!

All is well for now.

Happy New Year to everyone!

[CruizeDoggies]

In September, my husband and I along with 14 others went on Tyrkey and Greece cruise. Four od us did not receive our luggage in Venice. We were told it was left in Amsterdam, but would arrive "soon." This did not happen before the ship sailed. To make a long story short, my luggage arrived on the 4th day of the cruise. The others received theirs three weeks after we returned home. RCL tried to help as much as they could to make a bad situation better. This was the first time I had not cross packed with my husband, but did pack extra items in my carry on. This did not spoil the trip, but it was stressful.

 

It is just such an unfortunate situation. We didn't have cruise care insurance but RCI was nothing short of amazing. They helped us so much and it wasn't even their problem. Props to them!! And I'm glad you had stuff in your carry on! That's what saved me. I had two pairs of shorts and some swimsuits and RC gave us complimentary laundry service too!

[Cruisin' Along]

Great TR - but what a pain about your luggage. I've been flying for years and this is the first I've read about them pulling luggage off the plane when it's overweight. Makes sense. But accurate tracking and getting that info to the passenger would be nice.

 

(I'm not sure that we need to worry about our luggage being pulled off - seems to be Murphy's law that our luggage is always among the last loaded on the belt at baggage claim, which must mean it gets buried at the back of the plane. :D )

 

We do usually cross pack. From now on we will cross pack several outfits instead of just one!

 

Can't wait to read more of your TR.

[CruizeDoggies]

Sorry for the delay!

 

DAY 5

Today we arrived in St. Martin. The weather was beautiful and we couldn’t be happier. We actually docked a little early and decided to forgo room service. I called an hour before it was scheduled to be delivered to make sure they hadn’t started to prepare it and asked them to cancel the order.

 

We went to Park Cafe for breakfast. They have a bagel bar with various unique cream cheeses. They also do hot breakfast sandwiches and they had chocolate milk! I was a little hung over from the Prohibition Party the night before- I’m convinced they used cheap gin! :) But I recovered after my Park Cafe Breakfast. Even though it was a port day, hardly anyone was there!

 

One thing I forgot to mention was the towel check out for ports of call. I must have just forgot how the process works, but I always thought you had to check out a beach towel upstairs at the pool deck. Now, at least for Oasis, you don’t have to check out towels for use on the ship. You do have to check out towels for use off the ship and they have towel stations on the dock so you disembark first then go get your sea pass scanned in port to get your towels. I found this a lot easier than when I last traveled Oasis; but the quality of the towels wasn’t the same. They were still fine for our needs, tho.

 

We got off the ship and walked to the Taxi area. It was so much more organized. You simply waited under the sign that listed the location you wanted to go. We opted for Orient Beach since it was always beautiful and my husband had never been to Orient Beach.

 

The Taxi ride was nice but they packed us in. If you have more than 6 people it was 7$/person each way but the ride took about 20 minutes. Once we got there, we did a little bit of price shopping for lounge chairs. They are not cheap, but they range in price. Some chairs were 15$ each (including umbrella per 2 chairs) and some were 20$ but the amenities were different. We ended up using Kontiki. The amenities were nice; there was a nice bathroom, a well stocked bar, food options, and drink service on the beach. We paid 20$/ chair but the main reason we paid the premium was because these chairs were not packed tightly together and there was more space.

[CruizeDoggies]

Day 5 Continued

 

The bar service on the beach was nice. We tried to haggle with the guy to bring down the price of the chairs and he refused but did bring us free shots of rum... I didn’t partake but I the guy tried. lol He was nice and recommended some other locations with cheaper chairs but we decided to go for it. We got buckets of beer for 20$ (6 beers) but after walking down the beach, we noted a few bars that had buckets of beer for 15$. I don't know if they had bar service on the beach, tho. There were plenty of activities for the adventurous but we just laid back and enjoyed some beers. This place took credit cards too for those who don't have cash. TIP about Orient: do shop around for chairs and find what you like and what your willing to pay. Everyone has different preferences and you will find something that fits your budget and your needs if you are persistent enough.

 

This was my 4th time to Orient Beach and it’s still such a beautiful place, but it will probably be my last. The beach vendors were everywhere (I feel like they multiplied in numbers since the last time I was there). Most of them were nice and would continue on with a polite “no thank you”. My husband had a terrible encounter tho. He was taking pictures of the beach when a man selling coconuts walked by. This story is not a lie... I promise. He came up and got in my husband’s face and said “why do you film me do you think I’m a bleep monkey?!”. He was yelling and my husband said he was just taking pictures and the guy said “You delete me from that or you buy a coconut.” It was very intense... after a few words, my husband told him, “look man, I’m going to delete you from my life”. It was wild.

 

Then, a woman trying to sell aloe massages to a couple a few chairs down and something was said which I did not hear and this woman yelled at the top of her lungs “You all are ruining my life!” and stomped off. Idk what was in the air at Orient Beach but I don’t know if I’ll go back. It was strange. Beautiful water tho and we did have a good time.

 

All aboard was 4:30 so I had a taxi arrive for us at 2PM. I’m somewhat irrational about my times but I prefer to not miss the ship. We went straight to the pool deck and met our dinner mates and enjoyed some drinks while the sun set. It was a very pretty evening, but once again, even on the pool deck we occasionally smelled the sewage smell. It was so weird.

 

Dinner was good! We were one of the last tables to leave the dinning room and we missed our show reservations. We were so tired we couldn’t make it to the Comedy show (somebody in the standby line was happy I’m sure).

[Lionesss]

I am really enjoying your review.

 

What a nice thing to read every morning.

 

Thanks again.

 

Safe travels.

[CruizeDoggies]

DAY 6: A DAY AT SEA

 

Day 6 was here... and I had managed to get this far without my luggage! I never would of thought this, but it really wasn’t that bad.

 

We woke up at 6:30 again to head to the pool deck. I’m finicky about where I sit so I prefer a good lounge spot. Just to note, there was ALWAYS a chair opened somewhere. It may not be a preferred location, or it may not be in direct sunlight, but there was always a place to go.

 

The Beach Pool was filled up by 8AM. We got breakfast at the Solarium Bistro again and brought our food out to our chairs to eat. There was a staff member constantly walking around and picking up plates. On our cruise, the Beach Pool was staffed by Abdul. He didn’t know a lot of English but he was so kind and always had a smile on his face. He helped people with their umbrellas and picked up empty glasses as soon as you took the last sip. Not many people thanked him, but we gave him a little envelope at the end of the cruise as a thank you since we hung out at the beach pool 4 days and saw him a lot.

 

At 9:30, all the main pool chairs were opened but they didn’t have direct sunlight since we were traveling North and the winter sun isn’t very strong. By this time, people were just arriving at the pool deck and were dead set on sitting at the beach pool. People started bringing chairs from other places and placed them right next to others at the beach pool. It got crowded very quick.

 

Some of the staff members kept a clipboard with them were they documented how long chairs were being saved. After 30 minutes, they removed the belongings and someone else took the spot. There are signs everywhere mentioning this rule, so I think it was pretty fair.

 

Problems started around 10:30AM. The Beach Pool was packed! No space at all. An older gentleman and his wife arrived at the beach pool and wanted a chair. There were a few people who were not in their chairs, physically, but they were in the pool or nearby. This gentleman proceeded to go to a pool staff member and show his “gold card”. He felt entitled to a spot at the beach pool. This pool staff member must have felt pressured... he proceeded to remove somebody’s belongings from their chair (these people were in the POOL watching everything). They came right out of the pool and asked what the staff member was doing.... he apologized. Then the staff member proceeded to remove another gentleman’s belongings (This person was in his chair since 6:45AM that morning.. didn’t leave once but had just left 5 minutes prior to get a cup of coffee). I’m a little outspoken so I stood up and said the gentleman just left and would be right back. The gentlemen started flashing his gold card. Of course others got involved and started shouting “go to your gold card deck” and so on. It was very childish. He was a “gold member” and others said starting with the C&A statuses and how that doesn’t get them special spots at the pool. It was wild. Eventually they found a spot somewhere else.

 

I found this completely unfair that the staff member tried to remove other people’s belongings. The people who carry the gold card decided to spend more money on their cruise... they have nice amenities and they even have their own special deck. But their gold card doesn’t give them the right to take other people's chairs at the main pool.

 

A short time later, a woman picked up a chair from across the pool and placed it right in front of another man’s chair at the Beach Pool. He flipped out “There are thousands of other chairs. Why do you have to sit right in front of me?”. He was right, it was a little obnoxious. That started another verbal argument. It was wild! I still like the beach pool but I just observed and chuckled.. what else can you do.

 

I saw several people wearing St. Thomas and St. Martin shirts... I wondered if they had lost luggage too! :)

 

We did Solarium Bistro again for lunch and we each went one at a time so Gold Card holders wouldn’t take our spots. Right after we ate, a young child threw up in the pool. A bartender was walking by and said “get out!”. That pool cleared in 3 seconds... no lie!

 

They had to close the pool and drain it. It was closed all day but they didn’t start to drain it until much later in the afternoon. The gross part... they didn’t close the part with the chairs... yet each time the ship listed side to side, that nasty water rolled back and forth. We found it funny. It cleared several people out of the Beach Pool and it was finally calm. (The Solarium is probably best for those who like to avoid drama).

 

We had enough sun (and drinks) by mid afternoon and needed to cool it off so we could make it to dinner. [Thank you Ultimate Drink Package] :) We showered up and did some shopping for some more clothes on the ship... there were not many options but I found some casual wear.

 

Tonight was our second formal night. We got ready a little early and explored the Boardwalk and other parts of the ship. It’s beautiful at night and when there isn’t a show at the Aqua Theater, it’s quiet back there and the lights are beautiful. We didn’t do any pictures tonight because my husband’s face was a little sunburned.

 

TIP: if you want to take pictures, make sure you get several on the first few days because that red sunburn look doesn’t look good with a flash! Early in the cruise, your less likely to be red!

 

It was lobster night in the dinning room! They also had prime rib on the menu so most of our table ordered both! Our waitress was wonderful and actually put the meat and lobster on the same plate for “surf and turf”. The lobster was very good and we left full. We stayed late again and missed our reservations for “Come Fly With Me”... oppps! :)

[CruizeDoggies]

Funny side note....

 

After dinner, we went to look at our pictures. We were pretty pleased. We were looking through them and found some pictures we took at the gangway at each port.

 

I was wearing the same clothes in each picture! The same pair of shorts and a Royal Caribbean logo shirt (one of several that they gave us when we filed the luggage claim). hahaha. I couldn't help but laugh. It was pretty funny.

[CruzCrazy]

DAY 6: A DAY AT SEA

 

Day 6 was here... and I had managed to get this far without my luggage! I never would of thought this, but it really wasn’t that bad.

 

We woke up at 6:30 again to head to the pool deck. I’m finicky about where I sit so I prefer a good lounge spot. Just to note, there was ALWAYS a chair opened somewhere. It may not be a preferred location, or it may not be in direct sunlight, but there was always a place to go.

 

The Beach Pool was filled up by 8AM. We got breakfast at the Solarium Bistro again and brought our food out to our chairs to eat. There was a staff member constantly walking around and picking up plates. On our cruise, the Beach Pool was staffed by Abdul. He didn’t know a lot of English but he was so kind and always had a smile on his face. He helped people with their umbrellas and picked up empty glasses as soon as you took the last sip. Not many people thanked him, but we gave him a little envelope at the end of the cruise as a thank you since we hung out at the beach pool 4 days and saw him a lot.

 

At 9:30, all the main pool chairs were opened but they didn’t have direct sunlight since we were traveling North and the winter sun isn’t very strong. By this time, people were just arriving at the pool deck and were dead set on sitting at the beach pool. People started bringing chairs from other places and placed them right next to others at the beach pool. It got crowded very quick.

 

Some of the staff members kept a clipboard with them were they documented how long chairs were being saved. After 30 minutes, they removed the belongings and someone else took the spot. There are signs everywhere mentioning this rule, so I think it was pretty fair.

 

Problems started around 10:30AM. The Beach Pool was packed! No space at all. An older gentleman and his wife arrived at the beach pool and wanted a chair. There were a few people who were not in their chairs, physically, but they were in the pool or nearby. This gentleman proceeded to go to a pool staff member and show his “gold card”. He felt entitled to a spot at the beach pool. This pool staff member must have felt pressured... he proceeded to remove somebody’s belongings from their chair (these people were in the POOL watching everything). They came right out of the pool and asked what the staff member was doing.... he apologized. Then the staff member proceeded to remove another gentleman’s belongings (This person was in his chair since 6:45AM that morning.. didn’t leave once but had just left 5 minutes prior to get a cup of coffee). I’m a little outspoken so I stood up and said the gentleman just left and would be right back. The gentlemen started flashing his gold card. Of course others got involved and started shouting “go to your gold card deck” and so on. It was very childish. He was a “gold member” and others said starting with the C&A statuses and how that doesn’t get them special spots at the pool. It was wild. Eventually they found a spot somewhere else.

 

I found this completely unfair that the staff member tried to remove other people’s belongings. The people who carry the gold card decided to spend more money on their cruise... they have nice amenities and they even have their own special deck. But their gold card doesn’t give them the right to take other people's chairs at the main pool.

 

A short time later, a woman picked up a chair from across the pool and placed it right in front of another man’s chair at the Beach Pool. He flipped out “There are thousands of other chairs. Why do you have to sit right in front of me?”. He was right, it was a little obnoxious. That started another verbal argument. It was wild! I still like the beach pool but I just observed and chuckled.. what else can you do.

 

I saw several people wearing St. Thomas and St. Martin shirts... I wondered if they had lost luggage too! :)

 

We did Solarium Bistro again for lunch and we each went one at a time so Gold Card holders wouldn’t take our spots. Right after we ate, a young child threw up in the pool. A bartender was walking by and said “get out!”. That pool cleared in 3 seconds... no lie!

 

They had to close the pool and drain it. It was closed all day but they didn’t start to drain it until much later in the afternoon. The gross part... they didn’t close the part with the chairs... yet each time the ship listed side to side, that nasty water rolled back and forth. We found it funny. It cleared several people out of the Beach Pool and it was finally calm. (The Solarium is probably best for those who like to avoid drama).

 

We had enough sun (and drinks) by mid afternoon and needed to cool it off so we could make it to dinner. [Thank you Ultimate Drink Package] :) We showered up and did some shopping for some more clothes on the ship... there were not many options but I found some casual wear.

 

Tonight was our second formal night. We got ready a little early and explored the Boardwalk and other parts of the ship. It’s beautiful at night and when there isn’t a show at the Aqua Theater, it’s quiet back there and the lights are beautiful. We didn’t do any pictures tonight because my husband’s face was a little sunburned.

 

TIP: if you want to take pictures, make sure you get several on the first few days because that red sunburn look doesn’t look good with a flash! Early in the cruise, your less likely to be red!

 

It was lobster night in the dinning room! They also had prime rib on the menu so most of our table ordered both! Our waitress was wonderful and actually put the meat and lobster on the same plate for “surf and turf”. The lobster was very good and we left full. We stayed late again and missed our reservations for “Come Fly With Me”... oppps! :)

 

OMG, this story about the beach pool is crazy! We were on the Oasis the week before you, and the beach pool was calm every time I was there. I never once saw anybody say anything out of the way, and, to tell the truth, I never saw an attendant remove anybody's belongings. Maybe we didn't have as many sun worshippers on our cruise, but I'm in the process of doing my review right now and even said in the review how easy it was to get a chair even in mid morning. It just goes to show how much things can change based on who your fellow passengers are. And so close to Christmas...you would think people would be a bit more charitable.

[Artemis908]

I was telling my husband about your review and was saying that only times I lose my luggage are when I don't have direct flights. When I went to Ireland we had a stop over at London and they lost my luggage coming home. I didn't get my luggage for 4 days and since the plane tickets were purchased by my mom, they wouldn't send the luggage to me. I had to go to a different state to get it.

 

Thanks for your review though, going to Oasis in two weeks and love reading recent reviews. Our ship seemed pretty packed, I guess since it's over the MLK holiday.

[CruizeDoggies]

DAY 7:

 

It was another beautiful day at Sea. We were so thankful our last few days were full of sunny hot weather. We woke up early again to head to the Beach Pool. Why, I don’t know! I like the concept of the beach pool, I guess. We got our same seat with no problem. Other people started saving seats and there was more drama. One guy made a woman cry; she was saving seats and the guy asked why it was ok for her to save seats (yesterday this woman made a comment to the same guy about him saving seats) and she felt bad and offered up 2 of her 4 seats. He declined the seats and told her in a very serious and loud voice “I just want quiet”. She got very upset and took it personally. No need for grown ups to make other grown ups cry. It was just unnecessary.

 

Another guy went up to the pool attendant with the clip board and said “I’ll be back in 5 minutes” Then he shouted “We all know it’s the 5 minute rule, not the 30 minute rule”. Haha. Honestly it was comical. I had my seat and I was comfortable... so I minded my own business. I do wish I would have recorded some of these encounters. I know many of you probably don’t believe me.

 

My last time on Oasis, there was never a problem with the Beach Pool. The Beach Pool always filled up first, but there was so much space and nobody fought for seats or brought in extra chairs. I don’t know what the problem was on this cruise, but it’s sad, honestly. In the end, it’s just a pool chair. Vacation was supposed to be relaxing... But anyway, nobody threw up in the pool this day... so that was a plus!

 

We enjoyed our last pool day and went back to our room in the late afternoon to get ready for the evening. We wanted to catch the Karaoke finals but it was 2PM and with the weather not the best on our first few days, we couldn't miss the sun. Back in our room, we found a note from Royal Caribbean to our Airline. It described the procedure for lost baggage (“When found, the bag is usually expedited to one of our ports of call”) and discussed how the luggage was not shipped to us and additional expenses were incurred for us to purchase necessary items. I appreciated that RCI went out of their way to help us with the luggage issue. They really supported us and dealt with the airline for us, which saved some stress. Although, don’t get me wrong, the first few days were upsetting.

[CruizeDoggies]

DAY 7 Continued:

 

We wanted to watch the Farewell Party on the Promenade. Don’t quote me on this time, but I think it was 7:30PM. I know we got down to the promenade to have a few drinks around 6:30 and there were no spots at Sorrentos or the Globe and Atlas Pub. We found a small table at Sorrentos where someone just got up. I walked over to the Globe and Atlas to get some drinks while we waited for the Party. I stood at the bar and three waiters were behind the bar making drinks. They saw me and didn’t acknowledge me, which was ok... they were busy. Then they started telling stories amongst each other, laughing, messing around. I was so frustrated. I stood there for 5 minutes and I was the only one at the bar! I finally ordered our drinks and wondered why we had such bad luck here throughout our cruise.

 

The party was nice. Our cruise director, Ricky, was pretty good. I enjoyed him. He is very different than Ken Rush (who was CD on last oasis cruise). Ricky is a dancer and loves to get the crowd involved and he was a lot of fun. The party was nice and lots of people danced... the Promenade was packed and you could not get from one end to the other.

 

Our last dinner was wonderful but sad. We were sad to say goodbye to our awesome waitstaff and our table mates. I will miss traditional dinning. I know there is now a delay with dynamic dinning, but it’s probably inevitable for the future. :(

 

We went back to our cabins at 10:50 to put our luggage outside the door. We had already packed but we left the room before 7 (bags are supposed to be outside between 7-11). We went out with our dinner mates after. First, we went to the Schooner bar where we were kicked out because they had to “Deep Clean”. The piano man (Jim Long) and all his fans headed down to the Globe and Atlas to listen to music and they shut down not much longer after we got there. Our table mate gave the waiter 20$ at the Globe and Atlas before we ordered and we actually got good service... no comment there.

 

After G&A shut down for deep cleaning, we went to the Casino. The Casino closed at 3AM for deep cleaning and we were not ready to go to bed. We hadn’t stayed up into the morning hours at all on our cruise, but I guess we just didn’t want it to end.

 

We eventually made it back to the cabin and went to bed. I woke up a few hours later when we were pulling up to Terminal 18... I was so sad. I wasn’t ready to go!

Edited January 2, 2015 by CruizeDoggies

[CruizeDoggies]

DAY 8

 

NO! Today was the day. It was so sad! We had departure group 26 so we were supposed to leave sometime after 9:30 I think. We woke up and packed up our last minute things. We had to be out of the room by 8:30AM so we grabbed our bags and headed to Central Park to eat at Park Cafe. There were some spots there so we grabbed some food and sat down. You can only hear departure announcements if you are sitting in a designated waiting area (you will find those on your cruise compass) so if you are in the common areas of the ship, you won’t get updates. Make sure you are aware of your approximate departure time so you can be ready to depart when called.

 

As we were eating breakfast I realized I never received any letters or invites or gifts from C&A. I didn't get invited to the welcome back party at all. I did get robes in the stateroom, but I don't know if that was because of C&A status or if everyone on Oasis got robes. I was kinda disappointing and I felt a little forgotten. However, I decided not to bring it up. There wasn't nothing they could do about it now anyway.

 

After breakfast, we went to Guest Services. This was silly, but we purchased the Ultimate package but never received our cool soda mugs. We wanted our mugs... haha. So we waited in line and they worked hard to find us two mugs. They didn’t question us or anything. The line was long as people were closing out their accounts and working out issues.

 

After breakfast, we went to wait in the dinning room (I think it was Silk.. it was the dinning room on the 5th floor). The departure process was delayed by over 30 minutes. I don’t know if it was a customs issue or if we just had a full ship.

 

While we waited, I decided to call the airline baggage office at FLL to see if they had my bag at the airport and to inquire about the process for filing the claim. I called and they couldn’t find my bag. I’m not lying. They had me describe it first, then they had me describe the contents. And we went through the same process as before the cruise “Did you have a blue coat? What about silver flip flops”. Oh my gosh. They lost my bag again! After being on hold for 7 minutes (it felt like 30 minutes), he came back and said they had my bag! Shewww! I told them we were getting off our ship and we were going to the airport after we checked into our post cruise hotel.

 

We got off the ship, and were greeted with a HUGE I mean HUGE LONG line at customs. Disembarkation is always a pain; nobody wants to get off and waiting in line is just a bummer. But this was exceptionally long. I don’t know what the problem was, but it was pretty bad. (Don’t get me wrong, I would do it all again even if I had to wait in that line again).

 

We stayed at the Doubletree in Fort Lauderdale Beach for three nights after our cruise. We took a Taxi there and got checked in and the airline called my husband. “Which ship will you be sailing out on today?” WHAT??!?! They are 7 days LATE! My husband thought it was a joke... but it wasn’t. They were on the way to the PORT with my bag. I couldn’t believe it. We explained the situation and they said they would have the bag delivered to the hotel, although it may be after 11PM. That’s ok, at least we didn’t have to spend 20$ on a cab to get to the airport!

 

The airline called around 3PM, they contract out with a company who delivers delayed bags. The contractor was almost at the hotel with our bag. We greeted him downstairs and I finally had my bag. It had a RUSH tag on it “MDW - ATL- FLL”. So it went from Chicago Midway to Atlanta to Fort lauderdale. Goodness.

 

I finally had my bag. Now we had to deal with filing the claim since we did have to purchase several items. We decided we would deal with that after Christmas.

 

When I look back on our experience, it was a wonderful cruise. I didn’t have my luggage and I didn’t have all my preferred outfits and shoes and stuff, but I didn’t need it. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. We were able to make it with only a few items and we didn’t really have a problem. We even considered taking only carry on bags for our next cruise.

 

My husband loved it. He was so depressed when we got off the ship. He couldn’t stop talking about how much fun he had. We didn’t even do a lot of the things we wanted to do. We were limited on activities because of my husband’s health limitations from surgery, but we still had a lot of R&R. I always highlight all the activities I want to do on the cruise compass and unfortunately, we hardly made it to any of the highlighted activities, but it was ok!

 

Next cruise, I will definitely purchase Cruise Care. This was my first cruise that I didn’t have insurance on. I will also cross pack better if I check a bag. I won’t fly the airline we used... I probably won’t fly them ever again to be honest. I will definitely take another cruise with RCI. I probably will take a break from the larger class ships for now. I love them and love the options, but our cruise did get a little crowded and I missed some of the more intimate feel of the smaller ships.

 

The final update to this review will be on our Post Cruise Stay.

[CruizeDoggies]

I was telling my husband about your review and was saying that only times I lose my luggage are when I don't have direct flights. When I went to Ireland we had a stop over at London and they lost my luggage coming home. I didn't get my luggage for 4 days and since the plane tickets were purchased by my mom, they wouldn't send the luggage to me. I had to go to a different state to get it.

 

Thanks for your review though, going to Oasis in two weeks and love reading recent reviews. Our ship seemed pretty packed, I guess since it's over the MLK holiday.

 

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I loved oasis. We had a completely full ship which may have contributed to some of the longer lines and drama on the pool deck, but I would do it all again. Go into it with an opened mind! Have fun! :)