Oasis of the Seas 9/3/16 Trip Report

[aubreyc1988]

Instead of a day by day review, I will review different categories, like food, dining, shows, etc.

 

A little background on us, my husband and I don't have kids, Oasis was my 12th cruise, my husbands 11th. We aren't loyal to any particular line, but we prefer NCL/Royal Caribbean. We typically cruise 2x a year, once in September and once in Jan/Feb. It has been almost 3 years since our last Royal Caribbean cruise, and we were very excited to go on Oasis class and she did not disappoint :)

 

There will be pictures, but not a TON, and if you have any specific questions, ask away

 

First thing I will report on is FOOD related topics

 

Taste of Food in MDR

 

I would say it was average to ok. We dined around 3 times in the main dining room. The best night we ate there was on the second formal night. My husband ordered lobster, which he said was delicious. I had prime rib, which was also good. We only got dessert once out of the three times we dined in the main dining room, which was a birthday cheesecake they brought out for my husband. It was *very* good!

 

Service in the MDR

 

While everyone was very nice and personable serving us, it was extremely slow. Having said this, we don't like to sit and wait two hours for a three course meal, an hour for dinner suffices for us. Some people are fine with a long dinner, but just our personal preference, we like shorter dinner service.

 

Overall thoughts on MDR

 

The food was perfectly acceptable, as was the service. Yes, nothing really stood out as exceptional, besides the lobster and prime rib, but it was still good and way above what you might receive on land at lets say an Applebees or Outback. We dressed sort of casual, with my husband in khakis and a nice shirt, me in summer-y dresses and sandals. We couldn't care less what other people wear in the MDR, but we did see shorts, t-shirts, jeans, hats worn backwards, etc. Didn't bother us, but just writing this in for other people who might care.

 

Chops Grille

 

We had a free dinner for two voucher from our TA for any restaurant onboard and we chose Chops. Service was excellent, and I ordered the 9oz Filet, as did my husband. I was disappointed in the menu selection and all the upcharge items. Before we set sail and onboard, they were selling chops as a 45.00pp cover charge, which I thought was high anyhow. When dining there, I was shocked at the number of items with a LARGE extra fee required, on top of the cover charge. I took a couple of pictures with my phone of the menu, sorry for the quality, lighting was dim. I don't have pictures of the dessert menu, sorry :(

 

 

 

While the filet was very good and the sides we got were delicious, I would not pay my own money to eat here, as I feel like the price is too high. I would just order the filet in the main dining room and pay the small fee over paying 45.00 cover charge for the whole Chops experience. The lobster fee in the MDR was 20.00 I believe, for a whole lobster, which is still a better option to me than going to Chops.

 

I did get it as a perk though and DID enjoy my dinner

 

More to come on the Food/Dining part of my trip report, I need to go digging for some photos, please subscribe if you want to follow along

[aubreyc1988]

Sabor

 

We ate at Sabor on the last day of the cruise. My husband ordered the quac, which came highly recommended by other people on the cruise and on cruise critic reviews. You also get chips and salsa for "free".

 

 

 

I also ordered chicken and cheese quesadillas, which was recommended by our server. The quesadillas were bland, mostly because the cheese wasn't even mixed in with the chicken, making the bites were you got only chicken, it just tasted too dry

 

 

I didn't like the salsa, because it has cilantro in it and I think cilantro tastes like soap. When I asked my server if it was made fresh, he told me yes. Then when I asked if I could have a batch made without cilantro, he told me know because its premade and not made fresh :/

 

I ordered a royal paloma, which was SO good - made with raspberry, grapefruit, and guava! Too bad I found this drink on the last day of our cruise, would have ordered more of them

 

 

 

Our bill was 12.00 (I have the drink package), which included the 18% gratuity (I didn't realize this until after I wrote in a tip)

 

It certainly wasn't the best mexican place I've ever been to, but it was a good value for the price. Most things on the menu were 6.00 each, so very affordable and I WOULD go again to try some other things on the menu.

[aubreyc1988]

Sorrento's

 

I know a lot of people who probably think this pizza is not good, but we LOVED it! Always hot, always fresh, and I thought it was the BEST cruise pizza I have had in a LONG time! We definitely ate a lot of pizza at Sorrento's! I love that there is a small bar there, so you can grab a quick drink, soda or alcohol, right after you grab some slices of pizza. Also, the freestyle machines there also make it a good place to grab a bite. I never saw a HUGE line for those freestyles, although sometimes they were out of ALL of the flavors. It was always fixed by the time we came back around though!

 

Windjammer

 

The food was fine, some of it I thought was very good, other things just passable. My real complaint about the windjammer is it's design. I dislike the "Pods" set up and prefer the way NCL sets up with buffets, with multiple long lines, traditional buffet style. The pods were probably a good idea in theory, but to me, they only encourage people to butt in front of you and it takes SO much longer to get your food. And I think it's harder to tell what's being offered. A lot of times, I just got too exhausted of people pushing in front of me, I would just eat the first thing I saw in there.

 

It wasn't as bad on port days. We went in the Windjammer when we were in Labadee and it was significantly less crowded. I loved the chicken/pork rolls they were serving, and all the bread in the windjammer was soft and fresh, which is always great! I have been on other cruises/cruiselines where the bread in the buffet is always stale and hard.

 

Solarium Bistro (Breakfast Buffet)

 

We discovered this day 2 or 3. It's a GREAT place to get breakfast, if you want the Windjammer style food with healthier options and less people! We ate here most mornings. there's basically only one "pod" that has your french toast, bacon, hashbrowns, and then another pod with fruit, healthy things, and then one small made to order station. I only ever got food out of the french toast pod, but it was a really nice breakfast venue.

 

We found out Day 5 or 6 that Solarium Bistro is now free for dinner, but you have to make reservations to get in. This is supposedly supposed to help with overflow of My Time Dining in the MDR. We couldn't get reservations, but I am sure it was good! Get reservations if you can, especially if they continue to offer it for free!

[aubreyc1988]

Ben and Jerry's

 

We ate icecream and cupcakes at Ben and Jerry's. We both did the 1 scoop for 2.50 each scoop, and a big cupcake for 2.50 each. Prices were good, considering what I have paid on other ships. The icecream was very good, cupcakes were good too, but very rich and dense, not light and fluffy.

 

Hot Dog Place

 

Also stopped by at the hot dog place. I didn't care for my chicken hot dog I got, my husband got a brat and said it was OK. I think we got there at a weird time, because there were no condiments available.

 

Promenade Cafe

 

We ate here for one breakfast and all pastries were fresh and very good. I also got a cookie on the last day and was surprised on how good it was - Be sure to try the cookies there! The cheesecake on a stick was also very good there!

 

Starbucks

 

Not really a food related venue we tried, but we did buy the Cafe Select card. It was 38.00 including the 18% gratuity for 15 drinks and was well worth it. You could get any coffee/espresso based Grande beverage. No frappucinos unfortunately. Would definitely buy that again and hopefully they continue offering the Cafe Select cards. They are available after muster drill and are not really advertised, just ask the starbucks barista about them, or the promenade cafe.

Edited September 13, 2016 by aubreyc1988

[Jax129]

Is the $45 for Chops per person?

[RCLFan]

Who was the CD, and how was he/she? We've sailed in the past with James Andrews, Ken Rush, and Becky Thompson and found Ken Rush to be quite dull whereas James and Becky were quite humorous. If you can, having sailed a number of times, can you compare current Oasis CD to any of them?

 

Thanks.

[Moonarino]

Great so far, thanks. Posting partly to follow, but also interested coz we're cruising Oasis next month for the first time in 5 years. Curious what's changed and how much, but knowing we'll love the ship (again) no matter what.

 

Suggestion? Can you resize/downsize any future pics? 1200-pix width forces side-to-side scrolling to read all the text. But if it's too much trouble, no worries. Just happy to get updates on one of my favorite ships. :cool:

 

Dinner at Solarium Bistro is no longer $20? Nice...

 

Cafe Select: My cruisemate just told me about that, but the price was supposedly $31, and it's not listed in my Cruise Planner under drink package choices. Coffee is the only "package" I'd be remotely interested in, but it seems I'll have to wait till we board to get that "card" ... Anybody?

Edited September 13, 2016 by Moonarino

[aubreyc1988]

Is the $45 for Chops per person?

 

Yes, but the pricing does vary per sailing, depending on when you buy it, if you buy it precruise or onboard.

[aubreyc1988]

Who was the CD, and how was he/she? We've sailed in the past with James Andrews, Ken Rush, and Becky Thompson and found Ken Rush to be quite dull whereas James and Becky were quite humorous. If you can, having sailed a number of times, can you compare current Oasis CD to any of them?

 

Thanks.

 

Patricio. BLAH. I didn't really care for him, but not a huge deal to us who the cruise director is. We've sailing with Ken Rush, and I would say I liked Patricio better than Ken. I havent sailed with the other two. Our fav Royal CD is probably Joff Eaton??? Joff something, I may have gotten his last name wrong.

[aubreyc1988]

Great so far, thanks. Posting partly to follow, but also interested coz we're cruising Oasis next month for the first time in 5 years. Curious what's changed and how much, but knowing we'll love the ship (again) no matter what.

 

Suggestion? Can you resize/downsize any future pics? 1200-pix width forces side-to-side scrolling to read all the text. But if it's too much trouble, no worries. Just happy to get updates on one of my favorite ships. :cool:

 

Dinner at Solarium Bistro is no longer $20? Nice...

 

Cafe Select: My cruisemate just told me about that, but the price was supposedly $31, and it's not listed in my Cruise Planner under drink package choices. Coffee is the only "package" I'd be remotely interested in, but it seems I'll have to wait till we board to get that "card" ... Anybody?

 

I will downsize photos, forgot about how CC is about that!!!

 

And as of my sailing, they told us Solarium Bistro at dinner is not a charge, but still need reservations.

 

It IS 30-31.00 but 38.00 once they tack on the 18% gratuity. It still comes out to be around 2.50 per beverage, which is SUCH a steal for a grande starbucks beverage. You will have to ask for it after muster at either Starbucks or the Promenade Cafe, won't be listed in cruiseplanner and there was no real signs promoting it that I saw anyhow

[thisislou]

Following

[aubreyc1988]

Ok, so the next category I will review is......Stateroom and General Booking info

 

We initially booked an Inside GTY (Z category) about 45 days before 9/3. The day after we booked, the price went down, and I was able to call and get the difference in OBC. A week later, the price went down for the Park View GTY room to the same price as we paid for our inside gty, so I called and got the Park View Room because light is better than no light! Then maybe two weeks before our cruise, or maybe less than that, I was able to pay 100.00 to upgrade to a Boardwalk Balcony GTY, but I would lost my OBC I got for my price reduction. My TA's company was offering free dinner for two at the time for balcony bookings, and my TA said I would also get 56.00 OBC to make up for some tax difference, so we decided to try to Boardwalk Balcony out.

 

We got assigned a B2 Boardwalk Balcony, 8707. The room is a standard size, with the bathroom being a bit smaller than on NCL Escape, but the general room size being the same. The balcony was LARGE, WAY bigger than the standard balconies on NCL. I like that they are curved and the table is large! I felt like on NCL you couldn't even face your chair outward on the balcony without your knees hitting the glass.

 

That being said, because we were a B2 and not really as far aft to really SEE the aqua show, we never really used our balcony. The doors DID filter out most of the "People noise" but there was always a gentle "Hummmmm" of the engine, and also a morning "Grinding" noise.

 

The bed (s) in our cabin were SO hard/firm. The first night, both of us didnt sleep well. I nicely asked our cabin steward if there was any way we could get SOME sort of an egg crate because the bed was SO firm, and he brought one for us for Day 2 Evening room service. This was a HIGH quality foam thing and it made our nights SO MUCH BETTER! Our room steward really went above and beyond here, as he could have just told us they didn't have any. I normally don't tip extra unless I get ABOVE and BEYOND service, so when I tell you I tipped extra, know that the service really was EXCELLENT.

 

We ended up somehow getting an extra 50.00 obc we weren't expecting from Royal, plus the dinner for two for free from our TA for booking this cabin, which basically made it the same price as we would have paid for an inside. I wouldn't book a boardwalk cabin again, unless it was a similar deal. I definitely wouldn't pay more to get one over an inside/oceanview/parkview room, just because we literally never went out on the balcony, not much a view, and the noise when out on the boardwalk balcony just wasn't peaceful. I thought maybe it would be fun to people watch, but we just never did.

 

Here is a periscope video I did of the room

 

https://www.periscope.tv/aubreyc1988/1OdKrYwzbwlxX?

Edited September 13, 2016 by aubreyc1988

[Moonarino]

[per Cafe Select]... It IS 30-31.00 but 38.00 once they tack on the 18% gratuity. ...

 

Yeah I just caught "excluding gratuities" elsewhere (but thanks). I agree, it's a great deal and I will surely track it down.

 

Thanks, and sorry for interrupting!

[aubreyc1988]

Next category up for review is.....Shows and Entertainment

 

Aqua Show

 

 

We have been on the Allure and knew that the Aqua show is a "Don't miss" show. Royal Caribbean did not disappoint! Amazing show!!!!

 

 

We had it scheduled on the first night/first showing and I suggest you do the same, as there is always a chance if you wait until later on in the week, they could cancel it if they come into bad weather.

 

 

 

My husband *thinks* they did more "high dives" on the Allure Aqua Show, but that sailing was a long time ago, so he really can't say for sure.

 

 

[cruzin76]

Appreciate the review!

[aubreyc1988]

Shows/Entertainment Cont...

 

Cats

 

I had my husband tell me what he thought of Cats, because after the first 10 minutes, I went back to my stateroom to sleep :P But he stuck it out. He said the acting/singing, props and costumes were excellent, but the plot or lack of plot was what killed the show and was really a waste of time.

 

Throughout the cruise, at different shows, everyone including entertainment staff, made "Cats" jokes, which I thought was hysterical. I don't know what they can do about it, since Royal probably paid a ton for the rights to have the show for so many years, but it seems like an overwhelming amount of people dislike the show.

 

Headliner

 

The headliner for our cruise was Earl Turner, who is a "Vegas Style Vocalist"

 

We personally didn't care for him, only stayed for the first three songs. He started out with a slideshow ALL about himself, that must have been made in the 90s, so no recent articles about him. Basically just sang covers of songs and danced on the stage and danced with some people in the audience. I was hoping for something a little bit more WOW than that. But some people did seem to really enjoy it. Just not our cup of tea.

 

Frozen In Time

 

 

This show was AMAZING. Totally what we expect from Royal Caribbean. Such talented skaters and the plot is good too. I especially love the winter costumes, such detail! A must see! They also had a sand artist, and was very talented and enjoyable to watch

 

 

Be sure to wear WARM clothes, as it is cold in Studio B. I saw one guy bring in blankets! If you are in a suite, they have sections blocked off for you, very good seats, but get there early if you aren't in a suite so you can get a good spot.

 

[aubreyc1988]

Shows and Entertainment Cont...

 

 

Come Fly with Me

 

This show was AMAZING - really neat, I felt like it had a good mix of different types of acts, and it was neat to see all that the Opal theatre is capable of

 

 

 

The Quest

 

We've attended at least 4-5 different Quests before, some on Royal, some on NCL. This one by FAR was the best one we have ever been to! DO NOT MISS IT!

 

Comedy Club

 

Comedy was pretty good. The host and the opener of the adult comedy at night were really good. Didn't care for the last guy. His whole deal was asking people "what do you do", "Oh you are a firefighter, ladies must love you". It wasn't funny and really was just waiting for him to get done with his "what do you do" to every person in the audience.

 

They do this Comedy Farewell show, but it basically is the same jokes as the Comedy that you book online.

 

Theme Parties

 

I didn't go to any of these. Missed the 80s because of a show, the 70s is REALLY before my time, and they hold this stuff in the promenade and it's just too crowded to enjoy. Plus my husband goes to bed by 10pm, so I didn't want to go to Dazzles and sit by myself. It did look like people were having fun. I must have missed the Glow Party too. There's just so much to do all the time, no way you can do it all in 7 days!

 

Zumba in the morning

 

This was awesome - I didn't participate but I did watch once and it was SO entertaining to even watch, SERIOUSLY good instructor and these cruisers were SO good at it. I am novice at Zumba and didn't dare try it myself after I saw the caliber and speed they were going at.

 

Trivia and other gameshows

 

I didn't make it to any of these. I did try to go to the Celebrity heads game show, but none of the cruise staff showed up, even though i double checked the time and place on my planner.

[pinkandgreenmom]

Thank you for the review! Following for our upcoming cruise in Nov.

[easyboy]

Nice pics. Thanks for the review.

[aubreyc1988]

Next category I will write about will be...Ports of Call

 

There will be many posts about this section, since I have loads of photos and things to write about.

 

The itinerary for this cruise was St. Maarten (Have been there a few times before), San Juan (First time in San Juan for us) and Labadee (Have been to Labadee once before many years ago)

 

St. Maarten

 

First of all, we LOVE St. Maarten. Love the food, the people, SO many things to do and see, and it's just a favorite port of ours. We've been to Maho Beach, snorkeling, Orient Beach, etc. This time we booked America's Cup 12M Sailing Regatta, which we have done before but is our ABSOLUTE favorite excursion. If you haven't done it, BOOK IT. Absolutely fabulous. We were excited to do it again, this time with our GoPro. Alas, the cruiseline cancelled our excursion maybe 2 days before we arrived in St. Maarten, a severe bummer! They cancelled it because they didn't have enough people signed up for the excursion.

 

So we ended up winging it in St. Maarten, eventually settling for a beach day at Pinel Island.

 

 

 

We got a taxi for two of us to Pinel, around 25.00. Took a 12.00pp roundtrip ferry ride to the island.

 

 

Simply gorgeous area and beach!

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

St. Maarten cont...

 

We didn't get beach chairs/umbrella because we had our towels and I'm all about saving money where I can. We set our towels out and it was perfectly fine. 20.00 for a two chairs and an umbrella btw! Water was clear and beautiful, not rocky at all. We did try to snorkel a bit, and saw a FEW fish.

 

 

Too soon it was time to go back to the ship. Ferry ride was about 15 min each way and about a 20 min drive at least back to the ship. Taxi ride back was 25.00 i think. We were going to stop at Marigot for lunch/dinner before going back on the ship, but it would have been at least another 30-40.00 in taxi ride money, plus the lunch, so we just decided to eat on board.

 

 

Here's me and my cruising partner in crime

 

 

And some pictures of the Lady O

 

 

 

We wished we could have done America's Cup, but still was a great day in St. Maarten.

[aubreyc1988]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

This was our first time in San Juan! I decided to do a self guided tour of the forts and then go to Old San Juan for some good eats

 

 

 

First of all, San Juan is GORGEOUS! We had a lovely time walking to the El Morro on our own. We didn't make it to all of the forts, but I mostly wanted to see El Morro the most. I did hit a couple of other "must see" items on my husbands app he had pulled up about "Must see places in San Juan"

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

San Juan Cont...

 

Paseo La Princesa, Old SJU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7am -2pm in San Juan isn't enough time but I was determined to make the most of the time we had. Unfortunately, we didn't get off at exactly 7am because Oasis had to wait for Carnival Magic to dock first, but we were definitely off the ship by 7:45am

[aubreyc1988]

San Juan Cont...

 

 

 

Crecimiento Monument, San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

 

 

 

We didn't know the exact way to El Morro, so we took the scenic route :p

[aubreyc1988]

San Juan Cont...

 

 

 

"La Rogativa"