Oasis of the Seas Memorial Day Cruise Review: Mostly good, except one thing.

[marinewife67]

Hello all! I recently came off of the memorial day cruise on the Oasis, and for the most part I had a really great time.

 

Background: My husband is a Marine veteran that served our country for 12 years. I am a social worker that works primarily in mental health. We are 32 and 37. We have two daughters, 9 and 7, that came with us.

 

Embarkation: Very smooth. We were on the ship in 20 min, and hung out in the Windjammer for awhile until our room was ready. Windjammer was pretty busy but we've cruised before, so we knew what to expect. Did the muster drill, then went to our room to put our luggage away before dinner.

 

Room: We had a JS on Deck 9. Lots of storage space, and the bigger bathroom was a huge plus.

 

Food: Food was excellent. My oldest daughter has celiac and they accommodated her dietary needs with food she actually liked. It means a lot to a little kid when they can eat normally on vacation!

 

Activities: Kids loved the Adventure Ocean and doing the rockwall. There were lots of things for us to do with them and this cruise very much caters to kids.

 

Shore Excursions: FANTASTIC! The girls loved the zipline on Labadee. We went through the Haitian Market and just hung out on the beach for awhile and relaxed while the girls built sand castles, plus some swimming. We also did Dunn's River Falls in Falmouth, and although our 7 year old got tired she still loved the falls. They also loved the Green Grotto caves, lots of nooks and crannies for them to explore. We didn't do much in Cozumel, except hang out on the beach and ate at a few restaurants.

 

Shows: Oasis of Dreams was phenomenal, as was the ice show.

 

Staff: Very friendly, and helpful during the incident we had.

 

The Incident:

I had a small snafu with our onboard account, nothing major, but I did have to go to guest services. Not that it should matter, but I am Muslim and wear a hijab. While standing at guest services, I had one of my daughters (the oldest) with me, and we were talking amongst ourselves. There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned around and there was a big tall man who said, "You terrorists need to get the **** out of here, they shouldn't have let you on the boat!" I was absolutely flabbergasted. He then launched into a complete racist tirade laden with expletives with my 9 year old daughter standing right there. She started crying because she was absolutely terrified. Luckily, the staff at the desk immediately called security because he was starting to act more aggressive. Other passengers also tried to shoo him away, and one very nice lady actually started talking to my daughter and tried distracting her from the obnoxious passenger. Eventually he was escorted away and I didn't see him after that.

 

I do want to commend RCI for how they handled the situation, and while that particular passenger was awful, the other passengers around me were very kind and helpful. 10/10 would recommend RCI again.

[klove613]

I am so sorry that happened to you. I can't imagine how upsetting that must have been for you and your daughter. I am glad that Royal handled it swiftly. I hope they ban that idiot!

[marinewife67]

I am so sorry that happened to you. I can't imagine how upsetting that must have been for you and your daughter. I am glad that Royal handled it swiftly. I hope they ban that idiot!

 

Thank you. Honestly I pray that he can find peace and understanding.

[mrlddst]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and didn't let that idiot ruin your vacation. The Oasis is one of my favs!

[LuCruise]

That's so awful and disgusting. So sorry that happened to you and your daughter. Good to hear Royal stepped in and handled the situation.

Glad aside from that incident , you had a great cruise.

 

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[dadofjessie]

I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you but am very glad to find out that Royal Caribbean handled the situation promptly and efficiently. It is too bad that these sorts of incidents are occurring more and more frequently. I guess that it is a sign of the times.

[cruzeluver]

Terrible sorry you had to endure that. I am not sure how well I would have reacted in that situation. Unfortunately ignorant, classes trash still exists and can show up anywhere.

[wild0826]

Very sorry that you had to endure this. As a minority myself I can empathize and understand what you were feeling. It is a shame that there are still many ignorant people in this world that believe untrue facts and believe they are self entitled and self righteous. Sorry again for you and especially your daughter.

[Gatordad815]

Our daughter has celiac as well and we were very happy with meals on our recent Oasis cruise-can’t wait to go back and experience it again!

 

While it’s great to know RCI handled the situation at guest services well, it’s disheartening that it happened at all. Quite a shame your daughter had to witness such reprehensible behavior. I know we can’t shield our children from seeing the ugly aspects of the world forever, but it’s even more difficult when an ignorant adult forces it on them without any advanced warning.

 

I hope your future gluten-free travels are incident-free and just as fun as the rest of your cruise!

[Livelikeagypsy]

I am so sorry that happened to you. Some people aren't even worth thinkimg about. Please remember the good people who showed up instead of the one bad guy.

[Magnetchief]

How disgusting.

The man should of been puit off at the next port. No further discusion.

I hope your daughter and yourself are able to move on from this.

Unfortunatly I think this something she will have to deal with again later in life.

[NolaFireLI]

Oh awful!!!

Some people really need to take a deep look into themselves and discover what is wrong with them and not take it out on others.

I'm so glad that RCI was able to take him away, and KUDOS to the fellow passenger for trying to distract your daughter.

I agree with another poster that he should have been kicked off!!! NO ONE should have to tolerate that kind on behavior on land or at sea!

[marinewife67]

Thank you to everyone that responded. It does restore my faith in humanity that the people on this board don't tolerate racism .

[SarcasmSpasm]

Wow! What happened to you is infuriating. I am so so sorry that you and your family had to put up with such racist nonsense. It truly amazes me how ignorant and intolerant people can be.

 

Kudos to RCI and the other fellow passengers who helped out in the situation.

 

And thank you to your husband for his service.

[KansasK]

I am appalled that someone would attack you in that way. How unfair of him. I am glad RCI called security and I hope they put him off the ship or kept him isolated until the ship docked. That you had to hear this is sad and even more so that your daughter had to hear this.

 

The passengers in line near you deserve credit for trying to help your daughter and for not letting this go by. RCI also deserves credit for stepping up and handling this as they did.

 

I hope this is the only time this will happen in your daughter's life or in your life.

 

You otherwise sound like you had a good cruise and I hope you will have many good memories from it!

[JaniceB]

Sounds like a great family vacation until the end. Thanks for sharing with us and I hope your daughter is okay.

[twospoiled]

Something like that should not happen to anyone of any race, religion, choice of life, etc. I am sorry that you and your daughter had to deal with someone so ignorant.

 

I would also like to say “Thank you”. Not only to your husband for serving but to your whole family. To serve in the military is a selfless sacrifice made by the entire family and you all deserve our praise.

 

I am so glad you enjoyed your cruise other than “the incident “!

 

 

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[liberiben]

Ignorance at its finest! I’m sorry that happened to you, but almost more sorry for your daughter who had to witness the hate that can be in our society. I worked at a all women’s gym, so we had a good bit of Muslim women who came. Thankfully they were never berated openly, but I did have to defend them quite a bit to others. I am Christian but we are all taught to love.

[marinewife67]

You are all such wonderful people for all your kind words. My daughter is shaken up, but she will be okay. There were people there that showed her kindness during this man's tirade, and so we focus on that and the good in people.

[Merion_Mom]

You are all such wonderful people for all your kind words. My daughter is shaken up, but she will be okay. There were people there that showed her kindness during this man's tirade, and so we focus on that and the good in people.

I am appalled that you were subjected to that person and his bigotry. I am sad to have to say that these incidents are not rare and are all over the internet, because people are now turning on their cell phones and making videos, and these idiots don't seem to care that they are being filmed.

 

Best wishes to you and your family.

[alfaeric]

I would like to think I would have stood up for you, too. But will only know that if it ever happens near me.

 

It's very sad people think that they are in the right to intimidate you like that, and I very much hope he was just dropped at the next port to fend for himself. Sadly, I'm sure he would blame you, instead of rightly looking to himself for the horrible comments.

 

Saw a movie this weekend called "This is Home" about refugees trying to put a life together here in the US this past weekend. Same thing happened to one of the featured families- she changed to an American Flag hijab to try to avoid that. Hard to fathom why someone would do that.

 

Glad you enjoyed the rest of the cruise!

[voyager70]

OP so sorry thls happened to you. I'm of Italian and Lebanese decent. Jewish and Christian. .I look very middle eastern with a long, thick full black beatd. I've had people tell me I look like a terrorist, one person even asked me if I had a problem boarding a plane. I have thick skin, let it slide. I commend you for how you handled this situation. Not sure I would have been so controlled.

[Darkingnj]

Wow, sorry you had to endure this in what should be a happy time for all...vacation. There's a certain segment of the population that feels emboldened to express their racism in public. Kudos to RCI for addressing the situation and the stranger for distracting and comforting your daughter.

[ATC cruiser]

How disgusting.

The man should of been puit off at the next port. No further discusion.

I hope your daughter and yourself are able to move on from this.

Unfortunatly I think this something she will have to deal with again later in life.

 

 

 

Don’t even wait till the next port, just throw him overboard!

[Ellceee]

I'm so sorry this happened to your family and hope your daughter is okay. I'm glad the people around you responded the way they did.