Oasis Dec. 8, 2019-Phenomenal Cruise!

[RCCLNYMETS41]

This was our 16^th cruise with Royal.

Obviously the following is just my personal opinion.

-From dropping off luggage at Miami Terminal A to boarding the ship took about 15 minutes. We were on the ship at 10:50am & were in the Windjammer (traditional 1^st meal) at 11:15.

Meals

-Checked our table in main dining room-I requested a table for 8 with other couples, & was given a table for 2-this was changed to table for 8 with no problem.

-ate all breakfasts in Windjammer & was very happy

-ate lunches & snacks at Windjammer (selection of main meals didn’t change much), Park Café (Kummelweck sandwich, of course), Dog House (basic hot dog, not very special), El Loco Fresh (good selection, but food temperature was luke warm at best), Sorrentos (was consistently excellent! & I’m originally from NY), Café Promenade (enjoyed the desserts & basic coffee)

-main dining room-table #510 Rohan (waiter) & Gheorghe (assistant waiter) & Srdjan (head waiter) (ate at every night for dinner) service was excellent & food was very good

-we did not eat at any specialty restaurants or order room service

Cabin-#7680 Ocean view Balcony

-starboard side aft

-bed by the balcony

-fairly close to lobby stairs & elevator

-not noisy

-Lislaine (cabin stewardess) was excellent! Very friendly.

  Brought a deck chair for our balcony & provided an extra cruise compass (for the scrapbook) every night

-luggage was delivered by 3pm

Entertainment

-Frozen in Time (ice show)-well performed as always, but story wasn’t my cup of tea

-Aqua80s (Aqua theater show)-excellent!

-One Sky (theater)-this show is in a review phase by Royal Caribbean Production team. This means that corporate production team is on board for a while analyzing & tweaking the show

-Adult stand-up Comedy Show-3 comedians

  1 comedian was great

  The other 2 I did not care for-I know it is an adult comedy show, but I am not a fan of using the F word or other vulgar words just for the sake of saying them-not my idea of funny- Give me Brian Regan, Jeff Nease, Modi or Sebastian Maniscalco any day (just my opinion)

-Earl Turner (headliner from Vegas)-what a showman! Singer, dancer & funny.

-CATS (sorry JohnLaLa)-I love love love a great Broadway Musical! Grease, Annie, Chorus Line, They’re Playing Our Song, West Side Story, Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, etc.…CATS was the worst Broadway show I have ever seen.  The performers were good, but the story & the show were not for me (IMHO.) I would have walked out, but I was worried about getting run over by a performing cat running up or down the aisle.

-Resurrection (Journey cover band)-one of the best shows I have ever seen in our 16 cruises with Royal! The drummer actually toured with Journey for about 6 years & the lead singer had an impressive Steve Perry style voice along with his mannerisms-he was dressed in the Live in Houston concert outfit to add to the ambiance (Journey fans will know this outfit)

-70s Disco Street Party (Royal Promenade)-always our favorite night!

-50s & 60s Street Party (Royal Promenade)-very good

-Caribbean Street Party (Royal Promenade)-very good

 

-Bobby Brown (CD) & Kat (activities manager?) & the entire entertainment staff was great! We had Bobby as a CD years ago & did not care for him then, but he was great on this cruise.  Very visible & friendly.

  -Bobby was leaving the Oasis at the end of the cruise. He is going on vacation. Sorry I don't have specific dates, but he is heading to Allure next for its amplification, & then on to the Odyssey.

This was straight form Bobby at Captain's Q & A.  He also said that as always, things are subject to change.

The next cruise director, Michele Scarpato, was on board with him.

 

-We did not do any excursions or buy any drink, dining or internet packages.

-Royal App-downloaded it but did not really use it (I’m old school & like the paper compasses)

  -guest services could not get the App to work as my cabin key

  -the App has a couple of “surprises” (used on Boardwalk & deck 12) within it

-From Bobby at Q & A-they are currently experimenting on 2 ships being able to use the App to text others onboard

  -they are also trying to have an App feature that gives the ability to be sitting at the pool & order food or drink, & it will be delivered to where you are by somehow locating you, & then you should also be able to locate others in your party around the ship (I am not techy so I have no idea about this-I’m just getting the hang of an etch-a-sketch)

  -he also said that over 80% of passengers download the App, so there is talk in the future about not delivering paper copies of the Cruise Compass to staterooms nightly, but they would still be available at guest services (thank goodness for my collection.)

Casino

-I am a basic strategy blackjack player & am comfortable at a $25 table

-I played on the “non-smoking” (yeah right), side of the casino

-they had a $10 single deck 6-5 BJ table, a couple of $15 3-2 tables, & another table that started as $50  3-2 but they would take it down to $25 upon request if it was empty

-the $15 table was frustrating as it often had non-basic strategy players (one player didn’t even know an Ace can be a 1), but I never say anything as they have a right to play however they want for their money-but it can be frustrating

-the $25 table was perfect-there were usually the same 3 of us playing basic strategy & become friendly & had fun

-dealers were friendly-I even recognized Vlad from a cruise a couple of years ago

Pseudo Celebrities on board

-Chris Wong (assistant casino host)-posts on Cruise Critic as ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE was very nice

-Super Mario (#1 RCI cruiser) was on board

-Trev & Chels (video bloggers-look them up on Youtube)-I ran in to them a couple of times & they were extremely nice

 

-the entire crew was very friendly-everyone we passed gave us a pleasant greeting

-service all around was excellent!

 

That’s all I’ve got-hope this was informative.

Once again, just my opinions.

I’d be glad to try to answer any question, if & when I can.

Happy cruising!

[Cruise a holic]

Thanks for the review!  We will be on the Oasis this August for the third time!  Cannot wait to see how she has been refurbished!  We also dislike cats- horrible on Broadway- I am sure many people walked out.

[RCCLNYMETS41]

Your welcome.

Ship looked brand new (of course after $165 million amplification)

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

Thank you for sharing!

[The Grumpus]

Sounds good, thanks for the summary.  I'll be on board for New Year's and looking forward to seeing the changes. 🙂

[RCCLNYMETS41]

I forgot we also saw a hypnotist show starring Marc Savard. I have never seen a hypnotist before. His show was very funny. The necessary but boring part was the first 10 or so minutes that he had to spend hypnotizing people.

[movingagain1990]

Still on the Oasis 12/15/2019 cruise t9 the Western Caribbean.  Please do not miss the Agua80 show.  It is amazing, electric.  I just can’t think right now is words to describe it. We just got back to our cabin and I am still amazed.

[RCCLNYMETS41]

I’m jealous. 😊

[John&LaLa]

Sorry you didn't enjoy CATS. I was hoping the shorter version would be more pslatable to the non faithful. I get my chsnce to see the new version in 4 weeks. Until then, i have the movie tomorrow night. Well i guess its tonight now

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report!

[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks for the review!  Do you remember the hours for music in the Music Hall?

[RCCLNYMETS41]

I pulled out my compass from day 5 & the Music Hall Bar hours were 430pm-1am.

I know on various nights a Journey cover band (Resurrection) was playing starting at various times in the evening for about 1.5 hours each night

[little britain]

@John&LaLa ... so how was the movie 🎥?? Going to see it tomorrow. It’s been hammered by the reviewers over here! 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

@John&LaLa ... so how was the movie 🎥?? Going to see it tomorrow. It’s been hammered by the reviewers over here! 

 

Starts in 15 minutes👍

[maggieq]

Thanks for this review. We are looking forward to another cruise on the Oasis out of NJ this summer.  I agree, cats just plains sucks, imo.   I’m not crazy about the ice or diving show on oasis in comparison to the other oasis class ships. Resurrection - not journey is an amazing band.  We saw them twice on the jewel in 2016 and then was lucky to see them 3 times on the Anthem in 2017. I only hope we can cruise with them again. 

[vacationlover_mn]

15 hours ago, RCCLNYMETS41 said:

I pulled out my compass from day 5 & the Music Hall Bar hours were 430pm-1am.

I know on various nights a Journey cover band (Resurrection) was playing starting at various times in the evening for about 1.5 hours each night

Thanks!!!

[Cruise a holic]

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Starts in 15 minutes👍

heard from family the movies was a stinker.  The music beautiful however.  I will wait for the sound track to be available.

[little britain]

10 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

heard from family the movies was a stinker.  The music beautiful however.  I will wait for the sound track to be available.

Defining not a stinker. It was fabulous.  And the attention to detail with tongue in cheek advertising was clever. The cats tap dancing across the Thames was my favourite bit

[RCCLNYMETS41]

Does anyone have feedback on Michele the CD who took over for Bobby Brown?

[CruiszBug]

16 hours ago, RCCLNYMETS41 said:

Does anyone have feedback on Michele the CD who took over for Bobby Brown?

I was onboard for 3 weeks and was there for both Bobby and Michele. Definitely enjoyed Bobby more. He was much more dynamic and memorable. Especially at the 70's party! HIL-ARIOUS! Michele had a hard to understand accent at times (Russian sounding...)