Host Andy Sails Oasis of the Seas (Review Added 7/29/15)

[ladylemondrop]

Great review Andy thanks! I particularly agree about the wifi - Royal really have this nailed with Voom, and I really hope Celebrity follow suit, the more access you give passengers to wifi, the more they promote your cruise line by tweeting, sharing photos etc!

 

The entertainment is a good point too, and yes, I agree, hopefully Celebrity can take some tips from Royal.

 

Would be great if Royal upped the food so we can have the best of both worlds!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

 

Big kudos to Celebrity, who continues to mail personalized luggage tags to USA guests. Royal no longer offers this service. You must print out the tags and affix them to your luggage. Not that big of a deal, but I much prefer Celebrity's process. Hope Celebrity keeps it this way.

 

...

 

Very good comparison/review - THANKS !

 

BTW - Royal does mail out luggage tags, but that's only for suite guests.

 

Tom

[Texed]

Mr. Andy,

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[CruisingChick]

Andy thanks so much for your great and detailed review.

 

People need to realized that Royal Caribbean only has this VOOM internet on their newer ships (Quantum Class and Oasis Class) and the older ships still have the crappy old stuff. We were on Explorer and the internet was worse than any Celebrity ship I have ever been on.

 

It's hard to just flat out compare Royal to Celebrity as Royal has so many more classes of ships in their fleet and they are all different, especially the newer ones.

 

I have friends who just got off Liberty of the Seas and they commented that the food was not good. When we sailed Explorer we had the same opinion. We are taking one more RCL cruise in October on Liberty, if the food is not up to par I guess we will have to try Princess cruises as it seems Celebrity is pricing us out of their market.

 

Glad to hear you loved the sandwich. Sadly they are not on Liberty so I won't even have that to enjoy. No Kummelweck, no high speed internet. Thank goodness for the Diamond Lounge. I guess I will just have to drink for 3 hours (not).

Edited July 29, 2015 by CruisingChick

[mickeysgal]

Glad you had a great cruise. We sailed Oasis a few years back and were very impressed with the ship. Handled the crowds well and we've been clamoring to go back to her, but keep getting sidetracked with Celebrity!

 

So nice to hear internet speed is adequate on Oasis. With Celebrity's BBB, I have to wonder how good the internet package is when the speed/access just plods along. They need to copy what Oasis is doing.

[Queen of Oakville]

Ha ha Andy, you are a man after my own heart!!!

 

lol

 

Your review is SPOT ON! I agree with you on every comparison.

 

We're not averse to future cruises on Royal (we have Oasis booked for next year); but for us Service, Food, and Casino give the celebrity the edge.

 

Now if we could improve the entertainment and internet on X; I'd have no reason to ever consider another cruise line :D

[kenevenpar]

Andy thanks so much for your great and detailed review.

 

People need to realized that Royal Caribbean only has this VOOM internet on their newer ships (Quantum Class and Oasis Class) and the older ships still have the crappy old stuff. We were on Explorer and the internet was worse than any Celebrity ship I have ever been on.

 

 

Royal just announced that they will be adding VOOM to Majesty prior to its transfer to Port Canaveral, and that it would be free to all.

[AnchorsAweigh2011]

Thank you for sharing your excellent review of the Oasis of the Seas. Your thorough, yet succinct review captured and highlighted the differences between Celebrity and RCI.

 

My wife and I would like to cruise on the Oasis of the Seas or the Allure of the Seas in the future.

 

Once again, thank you for sharing Andy!

[Andy]

Ha ha Andy, you are a man after my own heart!!!

 

lol

 

Your review is SPOT ON! I agree with you on every comparison.

 

We're not averse to future cruises on Royal (we have Oasis booked for next year); but for us Service, Food, and Casino give the celebrity the edge.

 

Now if we could improve the entertainment and internet on X; I'd have no reason to ever consider another cruise line :D

 

Thank you for your kind comments Queen of Oakville. Totally agree in that I hope Celebrity will add the Voom internet as soon as possible, and bump up their entertainment. There are numerous new Production shows making their debut both now, and in coming months.... so we can hope things will improve in this area.

[Turtles06]

Andy, glad you had a good cruise overall, and thanks for taking the time for a Celebrity v. Royal comparative review. My spouse and I will be sailing with Royal for the first time this fall, on another mega-ship, Anthem of the Seas (the inaugural TA), so I was particularly interested in your reactions to Royal. Anthem seems to be an S-class ship on steroids, and I think the cabins at least will feel very familiar to us.

 

I'd read about Royal's famous roast beef sandwich before; glad to hear you loved it too. It's on our "must eat" list. As for Chops, thanks for the feedback. Many longtime Royal cruisers have been really negative about it and running it down (the menu is far more limited than it used to be), to the point that I thought for a minute about cancelling our reservation, but decided we should try it. And I'm more convinced now that we should.

 

Reservations just opened today for the shows and activities on our sailing, including a full production of We Will Rock You, which has gotten raves. So yes, nothing like that on Celebrity. (Nor iFly, the sky diving simulator that I've just booked as well. LOL!)

 

Welcome back, and thanks again!

[Bobal]

Excellent review - I agree with everything you said. Such a pity that the food is not up to par as, in almost every other respect, we think Royal has the edge (for us D+ members) - particularly in the Diamond/Concierge lounge experience and in entertainment on Oasis class ships. This is why we were so disappointed to hear that Royal had shelved their plans for Dynamic Dining as we hoped they would up their game and provide some new and innovative food in the MDR.

 

Very glad you enjoyed your cruise and also to hear that you had so many positive things to say about our favourite class of ship. I particularly like that you pointed out how the largest (almost) ship in the world doesn't feel crowded - as this is one of the biggest criticisms from those who've never sailed on her :rolleyes:

Edited July 29, 2015 by Bobal

[tgg]

Hi Andy,

 

Want to enjoy those great sandwiches again? Just come to Buffalo NY where this is a local specialty. Here's a link to the 10 best local restaurants serving Beef On Weck:

 

http://www.10best.com/destinations/new-york/buffalo/restaurants/beef-on-weck/

 

Toni

[TRIPACIAN]

Thanks Andy, we sailed on the Allure last year and agree with your review. We enjoyed the ship and entertainment so much that we wanted to do a TA with fewer kids. The Harmony is the new big sister to the Oasis and Allure and we. Booked the inaugural TA in October 2016.

[acwmom]

I currently have a reservation for both the Reflection, and the Oasis, for the same week in March 2016. Friends of ours also have a reservation on Oasis for the same week. The base cost difference is $900, with Celebrity being more.

 

When I take into consideration that we have the free classic beverage package, $300 OBC, and tips/gratuities included (not to mention we have an Aqua cabin booked) the price becomes more similar.

 

The bottom line is, paying out of pocket for drinks, we won't come near approaching that difference in cost.

 

Right now we are leaning towards Oasis, just because it seems to have so much to offer.

 

Thank you for a comparison review, it was very helpful.

 

Robin

[rua642]

Andy, thanks for your review. We were recently on Liberty, and everything you said about Allure can be said about that ship as well. We were most disappointed in the food --- particularly the poor quality of beef served in the MDR and the mediocre offerings at the buffet. On the other hand, the entertainment was above and beyond anything I've ever experienced on any cruise line. Would I go back on Royal? I would, for the right itinerary, but for the overall experience we prefer to stick to Celebrity.

[CruisingChick]

Andy, thanks for your review. We were recently on Liberty, and everything you said about Allure can be said about that ship as well. We were most disappointed in the food --- particularly the poor quality of beef served in the MDR and the mediocre offerings at the buffet. On the other hand, the entertainment was above and beyond anything I've ever experienced on any cruise line. Would I go back on Royal? I would, for the right itinerary, but for the overall experience we prefer to stick to Celebrity.

 

Hi when were you on Liberty? We are booked for October 22nd with friends. Final payment is Monday. We have other friends that just got back and also said food was disappointing.

 

When we sailed Explorer in March 2014 it was only an 8 day cruise but by day 4 I did not even want to enter the buffet for lunch, it was that bad. How do they have so many ships and how do they continue to fill them if the food is such low quality?

[rua642]

We were on Liberty this past October. Going on one of the big Royal ships is a much different experience from Celebrity, especially in terms of activities and entertainment. I think for many people that is more important than the food. Also, food preference is subjective. Don't forget, no one has ever gone hungry on a cruise.

[BecciBoo]

As a Loyal to Royal Diamond cruiser, and having done Allure and Reflection, I agree with most of your observations. Food was definitely better on Reflection than any of our 20 other cruises with Royal. And we are happy to be aboard Solstice for our 2016 Alaska coming up. Can't wait to compare with Reflection.

 

My favorite Celebrity venue was Molecular Bar, but alas, it will be gone from Solstice when we sail...a bitter disappointment for me. Will have to hang at Martini.

 

I just wish as related companies, RCL could take the best of both worlds and incorporate them into both lines for the perfect scenerio!

 

Service was under par on our Reflection cruise, didn't even compare to the service we always get on RCCL. There were things that just weren't right with some of the venues. Little things like tenders arguing with a passenger who did not like the lack of olives at a bar....what bar does not have olives available for martini's (not Martini Bar, but passport bar). She failed to give the right answer, "Excuse me while I go track them down for you Sir". Then began to argue with us. This type of incident, while not game changing for us, was less responsive than what we were used to with Royal.

 

Ship for Ship they were about the same, being beautiful, spacious and having wow factor. But I am looking forward to that yummy food!!!

 

But Andy, you missed the best one....Park 150!!:D

[richsea]

Hi when were you on Liberty? We are booked for October 22nd with friends. Final payment is Monday. We have other friends that just got back and also said food was disappointing.

 

When we sailed Explorer in March 2014 it was only an 8 day cruise but by day 4 I did not even want to enter the buffet for lunch, it was that bad. How do they have so many ships and how do they continue to fill them if the food is such low quality?

 

We just got off Liberty on Saturday. We thought the MDR food was good to very good. It was strange,like Andy said, that they offer Beef rare or well done. I agree with you about the Windjammer; terrible! And Jade,their version of Celebrity stir fry, is absolutely tasteless. The burgers at the buffet are actually gray! We did eat breakfast in the MDR daily, & it was fine. We found Liberty to be a larger Explorer. Entertainment & service was fine. We were with extended family with a lot of kids, & thy loved the H2O Zone. We find Royal nice, but a small step below Celebrity.

Edited July 30, 2015 by richsea

[CruisingChick]

We just got off Liberty on Saturday. We thought the MDR food was good to very good. It was strange,like Andy said, that they offer Beef rare or well done. I agree with you about the Windjammer; terrible! And Jade,their version of Celebrity stir fry, is absolutely tasteless. The burgers at the buffet are actually gray! We did eat breakfast in the MDR daily, & it was fine. We found Liberty to be a larger Explorer. Entertainment & service was fine. We were with extended family with a lot of kids, & thy loved the H2O Zone. We find Royal nice, but a small step below Celebrity.

 

Yes, I found when we were on Explorer the (free) burgers were terrible. Maybe that's because they want you to pay to go to Johnny Rockets. Overall the buffet food was just terrible. We ate breakfast in the MDR every day also. The dinners in the MDR were not horrible, but the lunches were so bad at the buffet it really did leave a lasting impression.

 

Liberty has a Sorrento's did you try the pizza there? I hate to eat pizza on a cruise because we are surrounded by great pizza places where we live but I guess that could be an option.

[ISABELLA]

Andy thanks so much for your great and detailed review.

 

People need to realized that Royal Caribbean only has this VOOM internet on their newer ships (Quantum Class and Oasis Class) and the older ships still have the crappy old stuff. We were on Explorer and the internet was worse than any Celebrity ship I have ever been on.

 

It's hard to just flat out compare Royal to Celebrity as Royal has so many more classes of ships in their fleet and they are all different, especially the newer ones.

 

I have friends who just got off Liberty of the Seas and they commented that the food was not good. When we sailed Explorer we had the same opinion. We are taking one more RCL cruise in October on Liberty, if the food is not up to par I guess we will have to try Princess cruises as it seems Celebrity is pricing us out of their market.

 

Glad to hear you loved the sandwich. Sadly they are not on Liberty so I won't even have that to enjoy. No Kummelweck, no high speed internet. Thank goodness for the Diamond Lounge. I guess I will just have to drink for 3 hours (not).

 

We sailed on Liberty last December - the worst experience I had, starting with food and service and ending how disorganized everything felt.

We did B2B after sailing on Equinox. Day and night. Just for that reason we stop sailing with Royal about 5 years ago and I thought they have changed - well - they are not... One more try will give is to sail on Anthem next April.

[ISABELLA]

We were on Liberty this past October. Going on one of the big Royal ships is a much different experience from Celebrity, especially in terms of activities and entertainment. I think for many people that is more important than the food. Also, food preference is subjective. Don't forget, no one has ever gone hungry on a cruise.

 

It is not about quantity - it is about quality. I am paying not for a LOT of bad food, but for GOOD food, doesn't have to large portions..

[Charles4515]

I currently have a reservation for both the Reflection, and the Oasis, for the same week in March 2016. Friends of ours also have a reservation on Oasis for the same week. The base cost difference is $900, with Celebrity being more.

 

When I take into consideration that we have the free classic beverage package, $300 OBC, and tips/gratuities included (not to mention we have an Aqua cabin booked) the price becomes more similar.

 

The bottom line is, paying out of pocket for drinks, we won't come near approaching that difference in cost.

 

Right now we are leaning towards Oasis, just because it seems to have so much to offer.

 

Thank you for a comparison review, it was very helpful.

 

Robin

 

Having done both I would choose Reflection over Oasis every time. Better food and service on Reflection. Reflection is not lacking in what is offered onboard. Reflection is quality. Oasis is quantity. Only if you are bringing children then I might say you might want choose Oasis. And of course cruising with your friends would be another reason. That is why I cruised on Oasis this past May.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Charles4515

[Andy]

Liberty has a Sorrento's did you try the pizza there? I hate to eat pizza on a cruise because we are surrounded by great pizza places where we live but I guess that could be an option.

 

Hi CruisingChick,

 

Yes, they had a Sorrento's on Oasis. I thought the Pizza was average. Not bad, but not great either. FWIW, the latest version of Celebrity's Pizza was much better, IMO.

 

Hope this helps !

[Andy]

We just got off Liberty on Saturday. We thought the MDR food was good to very good. It was strange,like Andy said, that they offer Beef rare or well done. I agree with you about the Windjammer; terrible! And Jade,their version of Celebrity stir fry, is absolutely tasteless. The burgers at the buffet are actually gray! We did eat breakfast in the MDR daily, & it was fine. We found Liberty to be a larger Explorer. Entertainment & service was fine. We were with extended family with a lot of kids, & thy loved the H2O Zone. We find Royal nice, but a small step below Celebrity.

 

Hi Rich,

 

Agree with your comments. I still cant get over the cooking temperatures in the MDR. For someone who does not enjoy rare or well done Beef, I found that to be an issue. One one night, they had Rack of Lamb, which was very very good - but still only served rare or well done. I opted for well done, and made the best of it.

 

I forgot to mention Windjammer in my review, so here's my thoughts.

 

Overall, I was very surprised with Windjammer, in that I expected to food to be at least decent. I couldn't find anything to eat ! I tried the hamburger, and yes - it was gray for heaven's sake. Took 1 bite, and left it. I actually said to my family members "I wonder if this is real beef". A few moments later, I excused myself from the table - went to the Park Cafe, and had my Kummelweck sandwich... way better than anything served at Windjammer.

 

I also found it interesting that Windjammer totally shuts down at 9 pm. I thought that was very odd, for such a massive ship.

 

Celebrity's buffet is far superior in all respects.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Host Andy