Oasis western Caribbean; Oct 22-29

[NouCruzer]

My wife and I just returned from a 7 night cruise of the western Caribbean on Oasis of the Seas (Oct 22 – 29). This was only our second cruise, but we really enjoyed both, as different as they were. The first was aboard one of RCI’s smaller ships (now sold), the Splendour of the Seas with an itinerary in the Eastern Mediterranean including Venice, Croatia, Turkey and Greece. While this cruise had excellent ports and excursions, we felt that it was lacking in entertainment and dining options. In large part, this influenced our decision to book on one of RCI’s largest ships. While we did not really know what to expect on a ship with a capacity of 6000+ passengers, clearly there were many more choices in dining and entertainment than Splendour, and this was very attractive. In addition, although in general Oasis receives positive reviews, several points are consistently raised by people who are less enthusiastic about the ship. I’ll address this in greater detail later on, but we evaluate all cruise reviews with a grain of salt since each individual has their own perceptions and expectations of a ship or cruise.

 

 

 

First, a bit about us. We are a middle aged couple (average age of 57 years) from Louisville, Kentucky who in the past have enjoyed active vacations like self guided bicycling in Europe and the US, and day hiking in National Parks in the US. But kids and family obligations began to limit these activities and cruising became an attractive option. This year, our youngest daughter went off to college and we are now “empty nesters”. The Mrs. was not entirely happy about the prospect of a childless house and during the first weeks of September, she had some difficult days adjusting. In my view, this was to be expected but the really hard time would be later on when the kids returned for Fall break, only to leave once again. She didn’t know that I had booked the cruise for the week after Fall break until I told her in September. And it worked; I don’t think that she missed the kids much last week… ;)

 

 

 

We flew from Louisville to FLL on the Friday before embarking, arrived at 1PM and were greeted by cloudless sunny skies, temps in the low 80s with low humidity and a refreshing northwesterly breeze. We had booked a room at the Renaissance on 17th St. near the port and checked into a spacious room (configured more like a suite with separate sitting area) overlooking the pool. Off to a good start! The hotel is within walking distance of several good seafood restaurants and we took advantage by visiting Kelly’s Landing for lunch and Southport Raw Bar for dinner. Both were excellent but the nod goes to Kelly’s, which serves up great New England seafood with a Cape Cod accent. The lobster bisque was to die for and just about everything on the menu was appealing. Our lunch consisted of a shrimp/scallop burger and a grilled lobster and cheese sandwich; both were excellent and were accompanied by a Sam Adams Boston Lager.

 

 

Next up; embarkation, the Coast Guard, and Day 1 aboard Oasis.

[LisaLisa87]

Great start. Looking forward to reading more!

 

 

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[NouCruzer]

It was a real thrill to look out of the hotel window early Saturday morning and see Oasis docked at the port. She dwarfed everything else in port. After a quick breakfast, our choices were to wait in the hotel or wait in Terminal 18, so we took a cab to the port and arrived at around 9:30AM amidst the chaos of passenger departure from the previous cruise. Nonetheless, we were directed to the new arrivals line and realized that about 200-300 other passengers had also elected to arrive early! After only a few minutes, the Terminal doors opened and we were escorted to the check-in line. After another brief wait in line, we passed through security, were checked-in in less than 10 minutes, and directed to the waiting room. Here, we waited and waited. Even Star Class passengers were directed to sit. The problem was that the Coast Guard had decided to run a full inspection on Oasis prior to boarding new passengers. A minor inconvenience and passengers were allowed to begin boarding at around noon. Fortunately, we had booked a Sky Class suite and were one of the first groups to board. So by 12:15PM, we were happily parked in the sunshine in Central Park at Park Café munching on a roast beef sandwich.

 

Staterooms were opened promptly at 1PM. Our stateroom was cabin 8260, a midship Grand Suite on the Port side on deck 8. This was a great location; we could walk out of the cabin to Central Park, it was convenient to the aft elevators, the Boardwalk and Promenade. The room itself had plentiful storage, a separate seating area and a large balcony, which we enjoyed many times during the week. While waiting for the luggage to arrive, we visited the Promenade and explored the other neighborhoods. Couldn’t resist texting photos of the ship to our daughters, who were amazed! Our youngest was astounded that there were real trees on the ship, and not only that, but live birds and butterflies! Who needs the recorded bird songs and crickets; the real things were on board…

 

After muster, we relaxed on the balcony and watched the beaches of Fort Lauderdale disappear in the distance. Our agenda for night 1; dinner in the Coastal Kitchen followed by CATS.

Edited November 1, 2016 by NouCruzer

[bigque]

Will be doing Oasis Western next year so I am all in! :cool:

Edited November 1, 2016 by bigque

[venicia]

great beginning! following along

[easyboy]

Nice start. Will be following along.

 

 

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[traveljunkie88]

Following along! We're sailing on Oasis this Saturday for her first sailing from PC and couldn't be more excited!!

[tropicgirl3]

Also following your review! We will be on the Oasis for Thanksgiving Break and I look forward to hearing about your time on the ship!

[NouCruzer]

Hang in there, folks. Been busy with work the last few days. Should have another update soon.

[NouCruzer]

Continuing with some general observations from the cruise and that relate in some cases to comments that we read in reviews of Oasis. One point that is mentioned often is the less enthusiastic reviews is that the ship is crowded given the number of passengers aboard. We were told that our cruise had 6000 passengers and I can honestly say that we never felt that any venue was over crowded, including the Promenade on sale days. Of course, there are times that crowds cannot be avoided, like dismissal from muster. We had muster on deck 5 along with multiple other groups. When dismissed, everyone headed towards the elevator banks on deck 5 and yes it was crowded, but a few smart individuals took the stairs from the Promenade to Focus on deck 6 and beat the rush. Similarly, I imagine that Windjammer could get crowded at noon. We didn’t venture there at that time but visited on two occasions at 1PM. Each time, we found plenty of unoccupied tables. Also, our cabin on deck 8 was centrally located to many of the public spaces of Oasis so we routinely used the stairs. Finally, this was the first vacation that we have taken without the kids in a long time, so where ever we went, it seemed like there was just the two of us…;)

 

 

We found the overall condition of the ship, and particularly our stateroom to be excellent. So from our experience, I don’t understand comments that the ship is showing its age. Aside from a few dings here and there if you look hard, Oasis seems to be very well maintained. Also, everyday, we saw crew conducting basic maintenance on fittings, cleaning the public areas and stairwells and vacuuming the carpets. Carpet and furniture in our stateroom was clean and in excellent condition. And to get a great perspective on the size of Oasis, the hallways on deck 8 extend all the way from fore to aft. Standing at one end, it looks like the hallway extends forever…:) Check it out.

 

 

The crew was engaging and friendly. Most offered friendly greetings in passing and many made the effort to learn our names, so in many of the dining and bar venues we were greeted by name. There was also little waiting for bar service at the pools and on sea days, we saw at least six waiters in the adult pool area alone, making the rounds to serve passengers on loungers. Some loungers by poolside were often “reserved” with towels early in the morning but there was never a shortage of loungers to be found. Since we were suite guests, we also had access to the suite sundeck deck on deck 17 which was never crowded and had the added benefit of its own bar. We encountered only one rude guest who decided while we were at lunch that our towel and pool bag was insufficient evidence that the lounger was occupied and proceeded to relocate them to the deck floor….:mad:

 

 

So in general, many of the more negative comments that we previously saw in reviews of the Oasis were not consistent with our experience onboard. In fact, we’ve already booked another cruise on her for next year.

 

 

One last thing; there were alot of internationals on this cruise from all over the world; Japan, Croatia, England, France, Poland and other eastern European countries. This was something that I didn’t expect but hearing so many different languages provided an interesting aspect to the cruise. There were also several groups on the cruise. One was the Buddy Group (I think that’s what it was called) which was comprised of individuals with Downs syndrome or other mental challenges. What a great venue for this group! And everyone certainly seemed to enjoy the ship. On several days, one of the pool bars was reserved for the group and in the afternoons and some evenings, Dazzles was reserved for private functions for another group which I did not identify. Didn’t bother us, but one might have been disappointed if Dazzles was your favorite entertainment venue.

 

 

Up next, food and dining, onboard activities; then ports and excursions.

Edited November 3, 2016 by NouCruzer

[renelopezwa]

This was our 3rd cruise but our first with Royal. Our first cruise was what I would consider an old puddle jumper doing 4 days out of Tampa. Our second was a week on Norwegian’s newest ship which was bigger and had far more to do. This time I wanted to do something different and after hearing how grand the Royal Caribbean ships were, we booked our cruise on Oasis. I asked a friend who has cruised on every cruise line and he said "try Oasis and if you don't like it then cruising is probably not for you." He said they had all the activities, the large size and all the amenities you could possibly want in one ship.

 

We included- me (54) my hubby (60), my daughter age (23), my daughter age (33), grandson (15), grandson (8), granddaughter (1) and relative (57). We booked 3 ocean view midship balconies in anticipation of possible seasickness which several of us are prone to. In light of the fact that we have been known to get dizzy riding even the ferry, we put on patches the night before our cruise and ignored the "the ship is so big you won't even know it is moving" admonishments. By the way we were glad we had the patches but more on that later.

 

We drove all of us wedged into our Honda Pilot down to Ft. Lauderdale the night before and checked into Hampton Suites Airport Cruise South. The Hampton was great, huge 2 room suites and a great hot breakfast the next morning. The kids were thrilled with the fresh free chocolate chip cookies upon check in. No better way to start a vacation than on a sugar high.

 

The next morning we headed over to Park N Go. While the Hampton does provide a shuttle we found it ridiculous that the shuttle to the airport is free but the one to Port Everglades is $10 per person. Park N Go was only $8 per day and they greeted us warmly making sure that we and all our bags (many, many bags) and loaded us on the shuttle. Park N Go is a great service but I do have one caveat--your vehicle may be damaged due to the tight parking (more on that later).

Then at last we were all breathless with excitement in the shuttle and heading over to Oasis. A couple of twists in the roads and our 8 year old pipes up “holy batman that ship is humongous!” There was the Oasis in all her glory towering high over the treetops. Then came the juggling of luggage and people and finally we were ushered to our waiting area. This was the hardest part of the journey as a Coast Guard drill was going on which meant an extended wait to board. We jealously eyed those special souls in the priority boarding area and resigned ourselves to waiting in the peon area with a note to self that in the future we need to book more cruises and upgrade our lowly status. The 8 year old was very excited to see a playground climber perched just outside the waiting area and he was off. The wait of nearly an hour was not much by most standards but let me tell you in the standard of a 1 year old who must be entertained without disturbing others, it is an eternity! After going through every toy in the bag, two cups of juice and endless cookies we were making our way to check in. Then the endless stream of confusion over who belonged to what cabin and what passport and we were on our way. Disappointing to see that while there were photo backdrops of the Oasis there was nary a photographer to be seen. So it meant multiple shots in order to try and get the whole group in some type of photo-after all this was historic we were boarding the ship we had been hearing about for the past ten years. So up the ramp we trudged, some of us running and finally we were onboard. To say I was amazed is like saying the Olympics are just a little sporting event. Stepping onto the Oasis I felt like I was entering the mall back home. The Promenade was cobblestone and lined with shops and eateries as far as my eye could see; deck after deck. Our mouths started watering with thoughts of where to eat our first meal onboard and the heavy bags we were lugging around full of those must have for the first day items, suddenly seemed light and inconsequential as the smells and music assaulted our senses.

So after months of Cruise Critic reviews we had carefully determined that our first meal should be those royally famous roast beef sandwiches at Park Café located on deck 8, Central Park. Let me just say the photographs of Central Park I had seen prior to boarding do not do justice to the reality of stepping into it. You are surrounded by plants, trees, flowers and bird chirping and the smell of food wafts through the air. Park Café was jamming-no surprise considering their well-deserved reputation. The salad bar was full of all sorts of toppings and no less than 4 salad dressings to pick from. Of course we picked a salad telling ourselves that just because we were on a cruise didn’t mean we wouldn’t eat healthy. Well that lasted right up until we reached the dessert bar. Then the famous roast beef sandwiches, with roast beef so tender and moist it melts in your mouths. There was something so satisfying about choosing food, putting it on your tray and proceeding to devour it without ever once taking out the old wallet. So crammed as we were betwixt and between fellow cruisers all looking to eat, we began the battle to find an empty table to accommodate our gaggle of cruisers. At last we found one, albeit in the sun. We chowed down and contemplated what our next 7 days would be like and knew if our first meal was any indication it would be wonderful.

So after lunch we walked around Central Park looking very much like that star-struck tourist who stops in front of every little thing exclaiming “did you see that? Hold on I have to get a picture.” Needless to say our meandering through deck 8 took a while and then it was over to the elevators to check out our cabins which were rumored to be ready now. We witnessed firsthand what we had previously read about-the pandemonium over elevators and the mad rush to board when an empty one showed up. We had the misfortune to have a stroller and forlornly waited multiple times for one empty enough to accommodate us before finally reaching our home on Deck 6. We smiled knowingly, again thanks to Cruise Critic, as fellow cruisers bemoaned the lack of tables in the Windjammer, and inwardly patted ourselves on the back for choosing Park Café instead. Then came muster station and boy I know why they call it muster—it was about all we could muster to get there. It was like herding cattle and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to how things were done. For some reason unbeknownst to us they split our party at one point placing half of us several aisles away from the others which created chaos for the 1 year old who wanted to see all of us. The crew member said that the seats next to the rest of the family would be used by crew members but stayed vacant until the end when they stuck other cruisers there. If there was a method to the madness we certainly were not privy to it. At the end the same herd of cattle was lead through the smoke filled casino which resulted in a lot of coughing from the kids and comments of how it “stinks in here.” Then once again as we waited for the elevators we realized just how many people were onboard with us. We met nice cruisers who welcomed us into the elevator and at one point a rude cruiser who pushed his children in front of us and said “I don’t care if they were waiting get in there” but we used it as a teaching moment for our children to treat people as you would want to be treated. Guess it takes all kinds.

 

Finally, we entered our little piece of paradise otherwise known as an ocean-view balcony. It seemed adequate enough until the luggage begin to arrive and we realized the reality of unpacking for 3 people in 184 Sq. feet of space and finding room to stash the luggage. We wiggled, jiggled, crammed and shoved and were finally somewhat set up for the week ahead. I peered into the postage stamp sized shower and wondered what it would be like to shower with my body pressed up against the walls and all my products crammed into the itty bitty shower basket. On a side note the first time bending over that low sink to brush my teeth was somewhat similar to being back in first grade only having grown several feet since then. While I might love my family suffice it to say I did not want to share the bathroom with them-this is definitely a one man outfit unless you are the tiniest of creatures which I am not. On a positive note no need to remember to grab a towel as you can reach any area of the bathroom from the shower stall. This is what is referred to as a three S bathroom—you can ****, shower and shave all at the same time.

 

Our next exploration began with the boys scooting off to find the pool and the girls heading over to the Boardwalk. So we gals enter the sliding glass doors to wooden planked floors, wooden carousel horses, a carousel and ahead that most famous of sights the Royal logo over the Aqua theater pool. My eyes darted from the Candy Beach, to Cups & Scoops, to Johnny Rockets and out to sea. Music was blaring and I knew I was on vacation. The kids loved the wood car and the double decker bus made just for them and the guy holding balloons near Johnny Rockets made for a great photo shoot. The little wooden stools around the Aqua Theater are cute but a few minutes on those things and you end up walking a bit like John Wayne. But it is Royal and there are thankfully more accommodating chairs strewn about for those like me with a more ample backside. Of course, due to the 1 year old we rode and rode and rode the carousel and promptly stopped by the Candy Beach to buy some chocolates. Don’t confuse the fact that you just swipe your sea pass card to purchase as meaning it’s cheap, as the candy comes out to roughly $1 per pound for most varieties. My tiny bag of Reese’s bits and M&M’s set me back over $8 and I made a mental note to keep the 1 year old focused on the carousel from here on out. I also made note that the Arcade across the way would set me back $2 per game if the 8 year old discovered it and with his penchant for gaming an hour could be costly. Taking in the smells from Sabor and the rave reviews of the guacamole made personally at your table, I reserved a future time for dining there. I surveyed the two rock walls scaling the sides of the deck and quickly determined that the older set of this group would not be partaking in that particular activity. While it was exciting to watch climbers shimmy up and ring the bell, I knew that was not a feat I was capable of completing in the 3 hours the rock climbing wall was open.

 

Ok so remember all those comments that the Oasis is so big you can’t even tell it is moving? Well at least on the first day it held true. It wasn’t until I realized that there was waves that we were no longer sitting in port. This made several of us extremely excited as the prospect of being green for 7 days was not appealing. So then it was off to change for dinner. Then we hit the first snag upon realizing the 8 year old had no luggage to speak of. Being hungry as bears we decided it would be best to eat first at 6pm and then go to Guest Services. Our dining room was Grande and it was quite grand with huge, comfy upholstered chairs that you could sink into, white table cloths and a very attentive wait staff ready to serve us. Now before boarding, again kudos to Cruise Critic reviews, I contacted Royal to inform them that we had two cruisers who had gluten allergies and one who had a dairy allergy. The head waiter assured us that we could be accommodated but the first night onboard despite the preboarding email notification, our pickings were quite slim. We had food but no bread selections and no desserts that fit our needs. We had heard rumors of a wonderful gluten free chocolate cake but alas we did not get to experience this. The kids were tickled to have the waiters place the napkin on their laps and bring them a special dessert of ice cream with fresh baked cookies. The 23 year old who is special needs, was treated to a plate of her favorite fruit, watermelon and cantaloupe. I should note that every night they had the kids’ favorites waiting for them when they showed up to dinner. The wait staff was amazing and spent time playing with the 1 year old and making all of us feel welcome. The photographers came around and we really enjoyed the photos of the family all together. We also greatly enjoyed being assigned a table and not having to wait for dinner each night. It was especially touching that the wait staff made sure to have the young ones food ready almost upon arrival. One night they even made special chicken nuggets for the 1 year old who has a severe dairy allergy. After the first night we always had warm, delicious gluten free bread and once in a while a suitable dessert. After a visit to Guest Services it was determined that the missing luggage was not delivered because no one bothered to read the tag which shaped like a submarine because they didn’t realize it was a luggage tag. So no naked 8 year old which made him very happy.

 

Our first sea day we made use of the walking track on deck 5 and found the views to be beautiful. The breeze kept the area cool and the little alcove balconies scattered around the back side are a great place to read a book or two (if you don’t have a 1 year old). While not avid exercisers we decided to keep the bulge under control by upping our activity levels rather than limiting our palates. Glad to say it worked and we returned only a few pounds heavier which is great considering the vast amount of time we spent sampling Oasis cuisines. This day we also visited the children’s clubs and found them to be great places for the kids to hang out. The varied activities for the 8 year old kept him occupied even on sea days. The 1 year old being somewhat of a cling-on baby (think kangaroo), was delighted that Oasis has a well-designed play area for the younger set. During our time here she met several new friends and maybe a few she would like to forget. The only supervision here is the parentals so suffice it to say there are times when for safety it is necessary to remove your younger children. That being said there are doubles of most toys which is really nice when children are the age where they don’t understand the concept of “sharing.” It doesn’t mean there are not battles over the same pink and blue car (only a 1 year old knows why one pink and blue car is superior to another) but it does help. The area is clean and enclosed with two doors that keep the younger set firmly entrenched making for a happy spot for moms and dads (and nanas who have been known to sneak in a nap on the one –yes just one chair located in this sanctuary-unless you are under 2 feet tall in which case you have several to choose from). The science adventures offered by the Adventure Ocean are family activities that are so entertaining the kids don’t realize they are being educated. We made “space blow mud” and the 8 year old is still playing with it. Highly recommend this area to those with children. The teen practically lived in the “Fuel” area for teens especially once they said those magical words “no parents allowed.” After seeing the dental floss swim bottoms being worn by the teen girls, mom of the 15 year old boy was thrilled to know that while she was not allowed in ---adequate supervision is everywhere. The pool area is so varied and vast that we found no crowding and there were chairs to be found on any given day. Our only tiny complaint would be that the baby splash zone is quite tiny and it does become crowded and if you have an adventuresome child (yes we are so blessed) they do not understand why they are not allowed to venture over to the big kids area which has far more water toys to play with. Thankful that by the next cruise she will be out of diapers and able to roam freely. Note that on several days there was a crisp breeze which meant the towel clips were a necessity. Our last day at sea I watched a lounge chair, a full beach bag and several pairs of shoes fly right past me. Of course, on this same occasion I realized that the towel clips I bought thanks to Cruise Critic reviews, were safely ensconced somewhere in my cabin safe from the wind. Note to self—towel clips serve no purpose if you don’t use them. At this point I should also mention that due to illnesses on our last two family cruises we packed a large medicine bag this trip and thereby ensured that no one got sick. Should you not pack these preventive medicines you could have to visit the ship’s medical facility which cost us $500 on our last cruise. So for the mere inconvenience of lugging a huge 25 pound bag of medicine around you can save yourself some money and workout at the same time.

 

Now onto Sabor. The food is tasteful and well-priced. On Oasis this is the only spot to indulge in some Mexican food which we thoroughly enjoyed. We had the fresh guacamole which was tasty and came with lots of chips which they even made gluten free for us. We had the build-your-own tacos which came with lots of spicy beef or pork and lots of toppings. The kids raved about their quesadillas and our 15 year old enjoyed the seafood mole. This time of year we found the outdoor dining venue quite comfortable but in the heat of summer it might give me pause. We did not try any other pay restaurants as we found plenty to eat for free. We did want to try Johnny Rockets but just never found the time to get there except for breakfast. Seems to us that all of the breakfast venues are the same but our favorite due to variety is still the Windjammer. We would have liked to have had more selection for gluten-free which was offered at lunch and dinner but not at breakfast. Thanks to the Windjammer we were able to try dishes we might never have eaten otherwise. Some of our favorites were the Waldorf salad, cucumber dill salad, lasagna, carrot salad, cheesecake, and the gluten free breads were wonderful especially the cinnamon raisin! We loved the Sorrento’s pizza because we were able to order gluten-free pizza. In fact we ate there our last night and had again thanks to Cruise Critic, a front row seat for the DreamWorks parade.

 

Since I mentioned it lets discuss the DreamWorks parade. It is very colorful and entertaining. The 1 year old was mesmerized by the characters and the guy hanging precariously from the ropes. He gives a whole new meaning to “hanging from the chandelier” and the fact that she was taking notes means we better guard our chandeliers and ropes. One thing we noted from the parade is that Cruise Critic is spot-on and Sorrento’s is definitely the best viewing spot. We ate there early and hung out and we were right in front of all the action. We also noted that Fiona was the only DreamWorks character who was missing from our parade and it was especially notable because our 1 year old was absolutely infatuated with her. We did the character breakfast on our 1st sea day and so it required us to be up early and at breakfast by 7:45 am. For those that don’t know us early mornings are not our thing and any wake up before 8:30 am requires an act of congress and results in scowls for the remainder of the day from most members of the family except the old guy who seems to have a penchant for being able to survive on 5 hours sleep a night. So at breakfast the 1 year old, who has never seen DreamWorks was curious about Shrek. She loved the music and dancing and was ok with Shrek standing somewhere near her. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him and the pictures taken show that she was wondering why in heck he was so green. Now Puss in Boots was a different cat. She took one look at him and proceeded to try and climb her brother to get away. As photos were snapped she made the decision that maybe he wasn’t so bad and she should have another look. She glanced at his whiskers, shuddered a bit and then took a gander at his green eyes and squealed and shook her head “NO”. While it may have been traumatizing for her it made for a great photo shoot. Now color us surprised when Fiona came by and she reached right out for her offering hugs and smiles. She loved Fiona—so much so that when Fiona moved over to another table she grabbed a passing photographer to take her back to Fiona. Now let me say for the record this is not a child who likes or tolerates strangers in her vicinity much less holding her. But there she was reaching out to and going off happily I might add with this photographer who she motioned to take her to Fiona. She spent 20 minutes loving on Fiona and was not very happy when she had to leave. To top it off she was happy to stay with the strange photographer and the rest of the cruise she held out her arms every time she saw him. And no that wasn’t the last of Fiona on one afternoon we were hanging out on the boardwalk having a drink and who should walk by but Fiona. Well right away our 1 year old starts squealing and attaches herself to Fiona. A line quickly formed for photos with Fiona and our 1 year old decided that the photos should include her as well. Removing her from Fiona was a lot like trying to peel an apple with your bare hands but we managed and the resulting deafness from her anguished screams was thank goodness only temporary. So back to the parade the 1 year looked and looked but no Fiona and she kept gesturing like where is she. And, no she still was not having any of Puss- N-Boots but she was fine with the Panda perhaps his roly-polies reminded her of someone (who I might resemble). Our conclusion the DreamWorks parade is not be missed.

 

Our visit to Labadee was what we shall term -interesting and different. First off budget did not allow us to zip-line which we all agreed we would love to do next time. Being from the land of beaches we did not appreciate the beach, Adrenaline Beach, which we ended up at, being so rocky. On top of it we found it hilarious that we were expected to tip the guy to put out a chair for us, which was right under a tree that promptly dropped a huge coconut on an unsuspecting head. To clarify it wasn’t per se the tipping but the fact that some people were going to chairs that were already scattered all over the beach and sitting down with no exchange of money but for some people he chose chairs that were stacked under the tree (laden with wayward coconuts) and those he asked for a tip. Getting to Labadee we had already decided we would try the Dragon Coaster. We heard it was a short walk to the coaster but it was not our definition of short so we jumped on the trolley and tried to decipher the sign to see where we should get off. So at one point we saw a sign that said coaster and we were getting off when my hubs asked how far the coaster was. A fellow cruiser said oh it’s about a 2 hour walk which pretty much turned my unathletic hubby a paler shade of white and we not being sure if he was joking or not stayed on the trolley and it was right around the corner we saw the said coaster. Now the Dragon Coaster is simplistic in its design but the effect is heart racing as you tear down the track alternating between giving it the go and braking ever so slightly hoping the chair stays solidly on the track. Now a word of advice do not go on this coaster with an 8 year old who is used to riding shotgun with a maniac driver as he will NOT deploy the brakes at any point during your ride and you will scream so loudly you might come back onboard quite hoarse. Now the word is that the corners are quite safe and even at top speeds you will not fly off but when you hit a certain speed and a certain age suffice it to say that you began to question the reality of that fact. When you reach the end there is the sigh of relief and if you are crazy which of course we are, you have the all-day pass which means you can ride to your hearts content. Now at this point you have to come to grips with the fact that you did buy an all-day pass and you want your money’s worth coupled with the even greater realization that if you do not ride said coaster with the 8 year old, who is saying “again” you will be called “old” and “chicken” and you steel yourself again saying how bad can it be. Test track at Disney has nothing on Dragon Coaster and if the 1 year old had her way she would have been driving. If you are up for thrills then this is a great way to spend an afternoon on Labadee. We found the barbeque provided to be tasty. We enjoyed rice, ribs, corn on the cob, German potato salad and lemonade. The trolley stops are well marked and make short time of getting back to the ship. One disappointment was having cruised Norwegian before, who makes a big show of welcoming you back with cold drinks and cold towels, we felt a bit cheated.

 

Falmouth felt very elegant to us and was what I would call our priciest port call. We did not book any excursions here due to the fact that the majority of them seemed to be quite physical with most of our group being anything but. We did enjoy the shopping area but found that the prices were higher than Labadee or Cozumel. We found a lot of photo spots like near Margarita Ville and tipped a pirate to sit for a photo with the young ones. We enjoyed the Jamaican laid back vibe that we felt through town and would love to do more next time we come. Coming back to the ship early we found that it was quite empty and were able to try the flow rider and the zip line. For such a short zip line, it is quite exhilarating and were it not for the rain we might have ridden it more times. Now it is stated multiple times to bring sneakers and socks to ride the zip line but we later found out that you just need socks and you can borrow rock climbing shoes. Wish we had known that as the sneakers took up so much room in our suitcases and we packed them just for the zip line. We loved watching the riders master the Flow rider and a certain old member of our party was rumored to be quite a balanced rider. We managed a quick game of mini-golf and adored the cuteness of the course. Something magnificent about golfing while surrounded by a beautiful view of the sea and cool ocean breezes and yes later a torrential downpour that soaked us to the bone. We found the Wipe Out Café to be the perfect place to ride out a rainstorm and the fries and ice cream hit the spot. One thing we noted was that on our cruise the Wipe Out café seemed to have a malfunctioning ice machine every afternoon which was somewhat annoying as it was very hard to drink lukewarm water on a hot afternoon.

 

Cozumel was colorful and the pricing cannot be beat. We originally had booked an all-inclusive resort on Cozumel but due to reports of 80% chance of rain we decided just to do a bit of shopping. Turns out weather reports are not always accurate as the forecasted rain did not make an appearance until after 4:30 and we could have made our resort plans after all. Despite that the market place was a nice place to explore at our leisure and we found some great deals on t-shirts, gifts and such. The leather crafts are exquisite and the pricing is very reasonable. Word to the wise the natives assume, often incorrectly, that if you look very white you do not speak a word of Spanish and some funny things ensue. My daughter saw a lovely pink top hanging up and decided she wanted to purchase it. She asked for it and the man said he had one in the back. He came back with two shirts but they were a different color. She took one that was large for another friend but asked again for the pink one. He then asked the lady behind the counter for the stick to pull it down. The lady proceeds to tell him that he should just convince her to take another color and that the size won’t work anyway (which medium is her size). He mumbles about white people being picky and goes off with me to pull down the requested shirt. As he pulls it down I say in Spanish “it’s the perfect size and color so I guess picky white people have good taste and some even speak the local language.” His mouth drops and he just stands there as we laugh and walk off.

 

Now we are not, largely in part to having a 1 year old, show people. That being said we did greatly enjoy the Aqua theater diving show which was just short enough to survive with a 1 year old. On our night they had technical difficulties so the last 5 minutes of the show was rescheduled which worked in our favor as our 1 year old has about a 30 minute attention span. It is incredible to watch the athletic performers dive and do stunts. The other show we attended was the Frozen in Time. The 1 year old enjoyed Disney on Ice so we thought this might hold her attention as well. Alas it did but only for a few minutes but it was ok as several members of our party were ready to leave after 20 minutes. I found the show to be engaging and very nicely done.

 

Now towards the end of our cruise we found out that the Oasis does move and we were thankful for having the patches. We headed over to the kids club to play and then attend the napkin folding workshop following lunch. It was at this point that I realized, not having imbibed any alcoholic beverages I should not be listing to the right nor should my head be spinning. We quickly headed up top and felt the sharp breeze and saw the huge waves and realized big ships can certainly move under the right conditions. At this point we swaggered like Johnny Depp pirates back to our cabin to sleep a bit perhaps leaving our cabin steward wondering how tea totalers could look so bombed. A few hours of rest and a new patch and we were able to stand upright again and stop dragging our knuckles on the ground.

Our last day at sea was bittersweet as we tried to suck up all the vacation we could knowing that it would soon be over and we would resume normal life. One perk was that we visited the Next cruise office and booked two more cruises. Love the ability to book onboard and earn credits for your next cruises. The crew member who assisted us was pretty friendly up until we refused to sign up for the offered credit card but he maintained his professionalism somewhat. Part of our last day was spent trying to narrow down photographs. This is a program that definitely could use an overhaul. First off the photo prices are quite outrageous and limiting especially if you have more than one cabin. To purchase all of the photographs for 3 cabins it would have been over $900 no small chunk of change. On top of that the photographs are not very well organized and we spent a great deal of time trying to locate our photos. You are given a folder number but we found that many of our pictures never made it into the folder or even into the kiosk. The last day there are so many people trying to buy and look for photos that it is nearly impossible to navigate the crowd. We ended up purchasing the photo book and were dismayed to find out at 7pm that if we wanted it we had to have it assembled at the kiosk and ordered by 8pm. This information would have been nice to have upfront and left my daughter missing the parade in order to get ours ordered. Still it came out beautiful and now we have captured the memories of our first cruise on Oasis.

We asked our cabin steward for a late checkout and he was very accommodating but we later learned that breakfast is over at 8:45 and most of the waiting areas begin to close shortly after so a late checkout is pretty pointless. Next time we will leave by 9:30 am. The disembarkation process is pretty painless and Royal did a wonderful job of helping us get a porter and move our luggage through customs and out to the Park N Go area.

Park N Go took us to the lot to get our car but the departure process is a bit dicier than the arrival. The cars are packed in a lot and the shuttle drives around leaving you by your parked vehicle which you must then navigate out of the packed parking lot. I did not notice until I arrived home that my new truck had a large scrape down the side where someone hit it in the parking lot hence my caveat to beware of possible damage. Our driver helped us but he seemed like he would have rather been somewhere else and it was a little offsetting. The checkout was fast and they did offer us ice water for the ride home. I would park here again but will check my vehicle before leaving the lot.

To sum it up we loved the Oasis and cruising with Royal. We look forward to our next cruises and would love someday to go on Oasis again. Hope you enjoyed our review of this wonderful ship.

[PTAngel]

Thanks so much for this review. My hubby & I are going on this itinerary in March & are driving down from DE & parking at the port. This will be his first time on Oasis & my 2nd. I went on Eastern Carib in Sept. I really enjoyed my cruise as we stayed in a CP balcony. I wanted to stay in a CP balcony again but all the Accessible cabins are on an upper deck. So we picked an Ocean View Balcony on deck 6. I got seasick my first cruise so I start taking my seasick pills the night before the cruise & I have been fine every cruise since.

[mirp]

Wow. Two reviews in one :)

 

Both great.

 

Thank you

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[NouCruzer]

Dining on the Oasis.

 

 

Since this was a special cruise that celebrated not only our graduation to empty nesters, but also a 24th wedding anniversary and my birthday, we chose to splurge on dinners. We did not eat in the MDR, but instead reserved four specialty restaurants and ate in the Coastal Kitchen for three nights. Breakfasts and lunches were spread around the many other venues on the ship.

 

 

The dining highlight of the cruise was 150 Central Park. We approached this with some hesitation since the restaurant recently changed menus from a 6 course tasting menu to a more standard 3 course meal. Apparently, this was in response to customer feedback that complained about the small course portions in the tasting menu… :confused: Our fear was that the menu had been dumbed down but to our pleasure, this turned out not to be the case. It was a wonderful meal with attentive and impeccable service. The meal starts off with bread accompanied with unsalted butter. Then, a tray of six different salts was provided in a “salt tasting”. The flavor profile of each salt was described by our waiter and then we were left to conduct our own personal tasting. A fun and interesting experience. Appetizers came next and we ordered tuna tartare and a smoked tomato soup. Both were prepared at tableside by the waiter and were delicious. On the recommendation of our waiter, we each had mahogany black cod with bock choi as an entrée; it was wonderful and a stellar recommendation. For dessert, we opted for the cheese platter. Here the menu was a bit confusing and led us to believe that we had to select two or three samples from a menu of 7 cheeses. Our waiter simply said, “you want the cheese platter?” and brought out all 7 cheeses! And served a substantial serving of each to each of us! Great way to end the meal. Simply wonderful and we highly recommend.

 

 

Right up there with 150 Central was the Chef’s Table. We made a small mistake in reserving this for lobster night in the MDR which could explain why there was only 8 attendants for this dinner. Not a big problem, but a full table of sixteen that we had on our previous cruise led to more discourse between diners and the chef and sommelier. Chef’s Table is a 6 course meal with each course paired with wine. The preparation of each course is described by the Chef and the accompanying wine, and the reason for pairing with the food is discussed by the sommelier. This was another wonderful meal that spanned almost 3 hours! However, the portions were very large and no one at the table could actually finish the steak course and/or dessert. Here’s a case where smaller courses would have made for an even more enjoyable meal. To whet your appetite, here was the menu:

 

 

Hearts of Palm salad paired with 2014 Les Tuilers Sancerre

Sweet pea soup with truffle poached egg and nueske bacon paired with 2013 Mersoliel Chardonnay

Butter poached lobster, avocado, tomato with Champagne viniargrette; 2012 Fevre Chablis premier Cru

Braised short rib ravioli, horseradish cream; 2013 Lucente Montalcino

Beef tenderloin, morel mushrooms and smoked garlic-potato puree; 2013 Honig Cabernet Sauvignon

Chocolate sabotage (use your imagination); dessert martini.

 

Coastal Kitchen - This venue is available to Grand suite and above guests or breakfast, lunch and dinner, and to Junior suite guests for dinner only. The menu changed every other day, so while we dined here on three occasions, we never saw the same menu. These menus more closely reflect those in the MDR and indeed, offer many of the standard dishes that are present on the MDR menus. The main difference I think is the venue on the 17th deck of Oasis which offer tremendous views and the overall professionalism with which the dining room is run. I apologize that I never got the name of the Maitre’d but he ran an excellent operation that kept dinner service running smoothly; in constant communication with his servers as well as making a presence with each guest. He was a real professional and clearly deserved the extra gratuity that we left. Overall, the food was excellently prepared and served hot. Service was attentive but not intrusive. In our opinion, this venue is an outstanding perk that is offered to suite guests. We also had one breakfast and one lunch in Coastal Kitchen and our impressions of the food and service did not differ from our experiences at dinner. Simply excellent.

 

Giovanni’s Table - This was a notch below the dining experiences above, although certainly there were no major flaws. The menu had some interesting appetizers and entrees but overall we weren’t wowed by the food or service to the extent that we were in some of the venues described above. The stuffed veal tenderloin that I had seemed average and my recollection is that other dishes, such as the antipasti per due fell into the same category. This restaurant has garnered some very positive reviews from past cruisers, so maybe we caught it on an off night but our experience as so-so.

 

Solarium Bistro - The disappointment of the cruise. We had reserved this online for $20 per person, and then read several reports of Oasis cruises where dinner at Solarium Bistro was complimentary. So we cancelled our reservations. Once on board, we asked the concierge about the status of Solarium and were informed initially that dinner reservations were $15 per person; but then corrected to $25. After booking, we were informed at the restaurant that a 30% discount was being offered so we paid $17.50. Go figure. But the next day while having lunch in Coastal Kitchen, a waiter offered us dinner that night in Solarium for free. So it seems that RCI doesn’t really know what to do with this venue, and it shows. Our dinner was buffet style appetizers followed by an entrée served by the wait staff. We ordered seafood entrees, but mid way through, the waiter delivered a complimentary steak entrée…:confused: Not only did it not complement our meal, but it was a poor cut of meat that was difficult to cut even with the steak knife provided. This is a venue that seems to serve a purpose for complimentary breakfast and lunch, since it seemed to be crowded during those times, but lacks a real identity for dinner. It’s a huge space that could be put to much better use in the evening hours.

 

Vintages - A nice venue that seems to be under utilized. One of our concerns was that a recent change from a fairly extensive tapas menu reduced to a very limited menu. Maybe RCI realized that this was a mistake since the tapas menu was more expansive on this cruise. We liked this and enjoyed several selections. We would consider visiting on a more regular basis on future cruises. An added benefit is that C&A members can get a BOGO free, which we used to purchase a free glass of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. Sweet!

 

Sabor - We agree with all the positive feedback that this venue has received. Table side guacamole is excellent! Snacked on chicken tacos, which were also excellent. This is an great choice for an informal meal at any time of the day. Be aware; the margaritas are potent; which in our view is a good thing… :)

 

 

Park Café - A go-to place. Excellent roast beef sandwiches for lunch, especially with horse radish. Coffee and egg sandwiches for breakfast and all in a Central Park setting which in our opinion is probably the best neighborhood on the ship.

 

Johnny Rockets - A good made-to-order breakfast. Great neighborhood and a good alternative choice for a complimentary meal to start the day.

 

Wipeout Café - Made the mistake of visiting this venue in the late afternoon for a snack. The hot dogs seemed like they had been dessicating under the heat lamp for hours. But well attended in the morning for breakfast where they make made-to-order omelets. I guess that we visited at the wrong time.

Edited November 5, 2016 by NouCruzer

[easyboy]

This was our 3rd cruise but our first with Royal. Our first cruise was what I would consider an old puddle jumper doing 4 days out of Tampa. Our second was a week on Norwegian’s newest ship which was bigger and had far more to do. This time I wanted to do something different and after hearing how grand the Royal Caribbean ships were, we booked our cruise on Oasis. I asked a friend who has cruised on every cruise line and he said "try Oasis and if you don't like it then cruising is probably not for you." He said they had all the activities, the large size and all the amenities you could possibly want in one ship.

 

To sum it up we loved the Oasis and cruising with Royal. We look forward to our next cruises and would love someday to go on Oasis again. Hope you enjoyed our review of this wonderful ship.

Glad to know you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for the review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gla

[NouCruzer]

Lastly, some comments on the onboard activities and shows. There is so much to do on Oasis that it is unlikely that one can experience al the activities in a single cruise. We pre-booked a few shows and stopped in a few other venues as well. On the first evening, we saw CATS. I can’t add much to all that has already been posted about the show. We saw the original version and this performance is extremely faithful to that. So on the plus side, we know what to expect and were aware of the length of the performance. Overall, we enjoyed he show, but can also understand why attendance usually decreases after intermission. We thought that the diction of the performers was below par (maybe it was an issue with acoustics of the theater?). It made the story line difficult to follow if one couldn’t understand the lyrics of the songs. Second, the precision and timing of some of the dance routines was off a bit. But hey, we didn’t expect the level of execution that one might see at a Broadway performance. That said, here were several performers that were truly talented and we really enjoyed watching their performances. Overall, we enjoyed he show; stayed for the entire show and were glad we did. The audience offered a standing ovation.

 

 

We also pre-booked Frozen in Time, an ice skating show based on Fairly Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. This was truly a surprise; first having an ice skating rink on a cruise ship? Amazing! Second, the quality of the performance and overall execution was excellent. Really enjoyed the show and would highly recommend it to future Oasis cruisers.

 

 

A real highlight of the shows was the Headliner show. On this cruise, it was the Black Street Boys. A comedy duo from Los Angeles that was truly sensational and hilarious. If they are performing, YOU NEED TO SEE THIS SHOW!! And a word of advice (Spoiler Alert); don’t be late or they will skewer you. Really funny stuff and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

 

 

We reserved seats for the Comedy club for a mid-cruise evening. Trying to remember, the comedian was a Mr. (Billy?) Miniardi?? This was a disappointment. He seemed disinterested and the performance was lacking. He never really connected with the audience and I don’t think that he really cared to do so. For us, it was a “I’m here to pick up a pay check” performance.

 

 

 

What else? Live jazz in the jazz bar on deck 4. We stopped in several times; good music in an intimate environment. Trivia at the Schooner Bar!! We suck at trivia and it was painfully obvious given our performance. The saving grace is that one can crash in flames with a Sapphire martini in hand…:)

 

Only one more post left; a brief description of ports and shore excursions that we took. Ports of call were Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth Jamaica; Cozumel, Mexico.

[NouCruzer]

To finish up, a few comments about the ports of call and our excursions, real or otherwise… :)

 

 

 

Much has been written about Labadee, so I cannot add much new insight. It showed virtually no damage from the hurricane earlier on October, but we were told about the extensive damage that occurred in the southwestern parts of the country. Oasis off-loaded a significant amount of supplies, presumably in support. For us, this was a beach day; relaxing on a lounger with a Labadoozie in hand. The zip line and other activities seemed to be just too costly to represent good value. So in essence, it was a sea day on land.

 

 

Next stop was Falmouth, Jamaica. Using a local company, we had booked a foodie tour of Falmouth that was combined with the Heritage walking tour, similar to the excursion that was offered by RCI. The attraction of this was that in addition to the historical perspective of the town offered by the walking tour, four or five local food tastings were also included. Looking forward to this, we were disappointed when notified by the local company that they would be unable to conduct the tour on the day that we were scheduled to arrive. Unlucky. Instead, we simply visited the shops at the pier for several hours and returned to Oasis. Turns out that this was not a bad decision, since minutes after we returned, the skies opened up and thunderstorms continued for the rest of the afternoon. We watched the fireworks from one of the hot tubs in the Solarium. Later after we had changed into dinner clothes, we encountered a soaking wet couple at the aft elevators. Looking at us, they remarked that it was obvious that we had not booked an excursion for the day since we were dry, and related how their beach excursion was marred by flash flooding and drenching downpours. Maybe unlucky was actually lucky… :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Our last port was Cozumel, where we booked a snorkeling tour with Cozumel H2O. Thoroughly enjoyable and professionally run; we visited 4 different reefs. Captain Miguel and crew were extremely competent, safety conscious, and provided an excellent tour of the reefs of Southern Cozumel. The tour was scheduled for 9AM to 1PM, but it was almost 4PM by the time we returned to Oasis. A completely enjoyable, full day snorkeling adventure for the price of a half day. We highly recommend this company.

 

 

 

Finally, a comment on the weather and sea conditions. We had sunny and clear conditions from Ft. Lauderdale to Falmouth. As mentioned above, storms were encountered in Jamaica and the sea day between Falmouth and Cozumel was a bit choppier, with some larger swells causing some side-to-side motion. We had dinner on deck 17 that night and it was interesting and amusing to see how the waiters dealt with the motion. They took it all in stride. The forecast in Cozumel was for more of the same, but we actually had partly sunny skies and reasonably warm temps for our snorkeling. Storms returned that night after we returned to Oasis. The final sea day was also predicted to be marginal weather, but actually turned out to be quite nice, albeit windy. We spent a good portion of the day lounging in a wind break on the pool deck. The Captain warned us of some choppy seas heading back to Florida, but to be honest, we didn’t really think there was much motion. Some reviews of this cruise noted rough seas during this time; maybe we had simply acquired our sea legs by this time.

 

 

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable cruise on an amazing ship. Thanks to all who have endured through this long, multi-part summary.

Edited November 7, 2016 by NouCruzer

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[cruise47]

Thanks for your very detail cruise review. I am now waiting for your photos review of this cruise. Awesome review !

[easyboy]

To finish up, a few comments about the ports of call and our excursions, real or otherwise… :)

 

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable cruise on an amazing ship. Thanks to all who have endured through this long, multi-part summary.

Thanks for the detailed review.