Oasis - Eastern Caribbean April 30th-May 7th, 2016

[Smitty815]

Hey everyone! Just got back from my Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Oasis of the Seas. I figured I would write a little review since people seem to like those!

 

A little about me first, because I find that it can influence how you enjoy a cruise, and/or certain aspects of the ship:

 

I am a 30 year old male, and my girlfriend is 25. We are both athletic, and enjoy thrill seeking activities. I am a non-drinker, and my girlfriend enjoys the scatter alcoholic beverage. I never grew up with a lot of money, so I am not accustomed to fine-dining, being treated like royalty, and I would imagine I am somewhat easily impressed.

 

So to start the review:

 

We arrived at the pier on Saturday April 22nd at about 12:00EST. Boarding was the quickest I have done yet. I dropped my luggage off at the pier and walked in to the terminal. We got scanned by customs (security?), and then we were placed in the "Gold" membership line to see one of the staff at the wicket. This whole process from dropping luggage off to having a SeaPass in my hand took about 10 minutes max. In previous years it has taken about an hour. Perhaps this has to do with my arrival time.

 

Upon entering the ship, we went straight to our room to drop off our bag and check out the balcony. We choose a Boardwalk Balcony this year just to have the experience. We were room 12329. This is the balcony closest to the AFT, right next to the sound booth for the aquatheatre. It's a pretty great view for an interior balcony. Hopefully the picture works!

 

 

As for staying on the Boardwalk, here are my thoughts. I have stayed in Central Park three times, and now the Boardwalk once. The boardwalk was cool because I could have a view of the water, and I really enjoyed watching the divers practice. You actually get to appreciate the amount of work they put in per week. The divers are actually out there non-stop! My problem with the boardwalk balcony was the noise. There would be movies on until Midnight, so if you wanted to sleep early, it was a little noisy. I find Central Park to be a lot more peaceful.

 

Personally, I will choose Central Park from now on, however, I think that if you are night owl and at the bars past midnight, you might enjoy what the Boardwalk has to offer. You won't notice the noise before midnight, and during the day you can appreciate the view!

 

After checking out the room, we made our first move to get some food. We were traveling with two friends and they wanted to check out the Windjammer. We went there and the lineup was GINORMOUS! We skipped that, and went to Central Park for a roast beef sandwich. As per usual, there was no big line at Central Park on the first afternoon. We then went to Sorrentos for a slice (no line) and then Windjammer (I love to eat, haha).

 

After all the food we got in the hottub for an hour before the safety meeting. In previous years I hated the meeting because they normally had me crammed Comedy Club, but this year I got to sit in the Aqua Theatre.

 

SUPPERTIME:

 

We did Day 1-Day6 meals in the Main Dining Room. Our waitress was Michelle for most days. Two days they switched us to another area due to lack of space I guess. We did "My Time Dining". I haven't found any regression in service or food whatsoever. Sometimes I worry when reading all the reviews that the service has gone down, but I think some people just overreact. I find it to be the same as the last three years.

 

MAKE RESERVATIONS. I just don't understand when people don't make reservations. Each time we went to supper we were given a table in less than a minute. The line for people without reservations was 30-50 people long every single night. I don't know how long it took for these people to be served.

 

My girlfriend was waiting for Jaffa Cake (dessert) all week because she loved it all the other years. She asked the Waitress about the dessert and the waitress asked the Maitre'd. He came over to our table and explained that it had been replaced in anticipation for a new menu that is rolling out in June, however, he said, "I'll have my staff make you one for tomorrow". Sure enough, the next day they brought out a Jaffa Cake to our table. Now that's what I call "Wow". You can't get that type of service anywhere else. We didn't ask for that to be done, nor did we complain. They just did it because they like to please.

 

I guess I will get all my food posts finished with here:

 

Breakfast we did at Solarium One day. My girlfriend likes it there because it's mostly healthy and she isn't tempted with everything else. Personally I like the variety in the Windjammer so I convinced her to go there for the rest of the week. They have just about everything you could want for your typically breakfast. The lineups weren't long at all. I never waited once.

 

Day 1 Show - Oasis of Dreams

 

If you haven't seen a diving show with RCCL yet, this is a must see! The talent level is unprecedented.

 

Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas.

 

We didn't have an excursion planned for this port because everything was crazy expensive and it's only a short day 7Am-2PM. We walked to Junakaroo Beach. I'm not going to lie, I hate Nassau. It's dirty, and the locals are insanely pushy. The beach wasn't sandy either. We debated going to the Colonial Hotel near the port, but you are paying mostly for the food when you purchase the day pass, so we figured it wasn't worth the money since we could just go back on the ship and eat at 1:30pm.

 

Comedy Show: I have honestly never laughed so hard in my life. The comedians were Nery Saenz and AJ Jamal. If anyone was there for the 9:30pm show, I am the one that they spend 10-15 minutes making fun of! haha

 

Day 3: Sea Day

 

We like to do the activities and the pool, so I can't speak for everything else. We have no problem finding a chair near the pool on the Oasis. There must be thousands of chairs on the ship. It's insane! Personally, I wish they would replace the golf course with another large pool, but I guess the kids like the golf. I just wish it was a good course if they are going to waste so much real estate on it.

 

Only one rock climbing wall was open all week. I didn't get to rock climb because of this. The line was from the wall, down the stairs and onto deck 6 for much of the time. I think they must have been a problem with the other rock wall. Perhaps the pulleys weren't working or something.

 

The flow rider lines are "okay". Much of the time they have the boogie board flow rider divided into 2 so that the lines go more quickly. The line was about 10-15 minutes wait.

 

The zipline wasn't too busy.

 

Headliner Show - The Headliner was a ventriloquist. I forget his name, but he has been on the national stage several times, performing for presidents and royalty. He was alright, but easily the worst headliner I have seen to date. After the headliner we had the Love and Marriage game. This is always a good time. If you have skipped it in the past, make sure you make it to the next one!

 

 

Day 4: St. Thomas

 

We did the Honeymoon Cove Sail/Snorkel/Beach excursion. This was the best excursion I have done to date and I would highly recommend it. When we first looked out of our balcony we saw a pirate ship in the bay. My girlfriend shouted out for me to look at it because it looked so cool. We were really happy to learn that was our sail boat when we got to the pier. Our excursion lasted from 11AM-6PM. We sailed out to Christmas Cove ( I think that was the name) and snorkeled in the reef. There were Sea Turtles there and thousands of fish to get up close and personal with. They let us snorkel for close to an hour I imagine. We they sailed to Honeymoon Beach (I could have the names reversed) and had a big beach Barbecue. After eating, we had two hours to spend on the beach. The water was really warm, and the sand was really soft. It was a great spot!

 

Day 5: St. Maarteen.

 

We did the "Parasailing at Orient Bay Beach" with Shore Excursioneer. St. Maarteen always sketches me out because I have heard the horror stories about people missing the ship due to traffic. I initially had my parasailing booked for 2pm. When we arrived at the beach they let us change the time and go right away. This was really fine. We were in the air for about 10 minutes. They made us leave our bags at their hut, which I was a little worried about, but everything was in the bag upon my return.

 

After the parasailing, I rented a Jet Ski from the same group. They gave me it for $50USD for a half hour which seemed alright to me. This is a little more intense and not for the faint of heart. The waves were big and I got several feet of air on multiple occasions.

 

The price of the Shuttle Bus from the Pier to Orient beach was 7/person as long as there was 7 people in the bus (/van).

 

Orient beach was really nice. The water was warm. The people are a little pushy though, especially when trying to sell you chairs to sit. You can find 2 chairs/umbrella/wifi/2 drinks for $15USD so keep walking if someone tries to sell you chairs for $10 each.

 

Day 6 and Day 7 Sea Days

 

I forget the name of the show in the Opal Theatre that has the acrobatics, but it was awesome! There was some sort of glitch halfway through that caused a 10 minute delay, but you can't deny the talent. They had two guest performers on the silks that did that performed stunts that had everyones jaw drop. One slip and the female would have died without a doubt.

 

The Belly Flop and the Sexiest Man competitions were also on Day 6. We always find those to be hilarious!

 

Day 8: Disembarking - We did the 8:45 Disembark. It was a little unorganized when you went to get luggage. There was a lady shouting at every to get in line. The problem was that the line circled around the luggage and no matter how much she wanted to shout at me, I had to cross through the line in order to get my luggage. One I had my luggage, she was shouting at me (and dozens of others) to go get in the back of the line, however, the line wasn't the least bit organized, and in order to get to the end of the line we would have had to walk back through hundreds of people to find it.

This part needs a little bit of work. It's a shame to end such a great week with such a frustrating hour.

 

 

Overall, I really enjoyed the cruise! Nothing has really changed as far as the level of service, quality of the shows, or quality of the amenities. Drinks are expensive, but the one drink my girlfriend had was potent, so you get your moneys worth at least!

 

 

Anyway, if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask!!

 

 

disclaimer: I didn't proof read this, nor am I the greatest writer, so my apologies!

 

[Smitty815]

Balcony Pic

[Clarea]

Appreciate the report.

 

Did you notice any drink cards being sold?

[Smitty815]

Cards offering 10 drinks for $79 dollars could be purchased at any bar. I assume it just got tracked on your SeaPass, but the signs made it look like you got an actual card.

[Clarea]

Cards offering 10 drinks for $79 dollars could be purchased at any bar. I assume it just got tracked on your SeaPass, but the signs made it look like you got an actual card.

Thanks.:)

[Eslader]

I saw the pirate ship in St. Thomas a few weeks ago. It went to the same snorkeling area as our boat (Stars and Stripes) did. Instead of going to the beach after snorkeling with the turtles, ours took us to a shipwreck and had us snorkel there. Thoroughly enjoyed it but next time we'll probably do the pirate ship just to be pirate nerds. ;) Very cool-looking vessel.

[MICruser]

Do you happen to recall what time you had to be back on ship in St. Thomas? We are on the Oasis in October and my son is getting married on the beach in St. Thomas. Just wondering how much time we have before we have to return to ship so that we are not left behind! Thanks!

[Clarea]

Do you happen to recall what time you had to be back on ship in St. Thomas? We are on the Oasis in October and my son is getting married on the beach in St. Thomas. Just wondering how much time we have before we have to return to ship so that we are not left behind! Thanks!

All aboard time is 30 minutes before scheduled departure.

[Smitty815]

Do you happen to recall what time you had to be back on ship in St. Thomas? We are on the Oasis in October and my son is getting married on the beach in St. Thomas. Just wondering how much time we have before we have to return to ship so that we are not left behind! Thanks!

 

 

The ship docked at 10am or shortly before. All aboard time was 6pm and the ship left 630pm if I remember correctly!

[sjcruiser]

Thanks for the review. We'll be onboard in 11 days

Edited May 10, 2016 by sjcruiser

[RJCO]

Do you remember what the actual time was that you got off ship, got luggage and cleared customs . Our return flight has just been moved forward so panicking in case we don't have enough time ! Thanks

 

 

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[Pennyscandy]

Smitty815 great review. Some reviews nit pick everything it was nice to hear you and your girlfriend had a good time.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.