Just Off Oasis - General Observations

[SWACruising]

Just came home from the March 27th sailing of the Oasis on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. 4 of us in connecting rooms. 2 kids 16 and 13. Here are random observations.

 

4000+ passengers including 1000+ Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Although a large themed group concerned me, it was never an issue. Saw lots of Steelers gear around the ship but everything was well spread out.

 

Embarkation was smooth. Had an 1130 time and we arrived at 1115 and walked right through with no waits. No cards until your room is ready as they are on your doors. Went right to 150 Central Park to make all of our dinner reservations for the week.

 

Staffing was down a little bit and some specialty restaurants limited reservations but for us it was not an issue.

 

We did the UDP and ate at specialty restaurants all week for dinner. Usually a 730pm reservation and late shows. A 7pm reservation probably would have worked better looking back but either worked every night.

 

A benefit of the UDP were snacks and lunch at Playmakers and Port Side BBQ.

 

Contrary to popular opinion, Chops was our favorite specialty restaurant followed by Giovani's, Izumi and then 150 Central Park. All were very good. Hibachi was fun but lacking flavor.

 

Several of the Aqua 80 shows early in the cruise were cancelled due to technical difficulties and then seas. Was able to see it on the last night and though it had a few technical issues during the show, it was fantastic.

 

Never felt like we needed to walk out on Cats. Our daughter gave us the whole back story and we went in to enjoy the dancing and singing. Sat front right as recommended and we enjoyed the show but once was enough.

 

We all enjoyed the ice show and the kids were more open to seeing it once they realized it wasn't Disneys Frozen.

 

All shows that we went to had seats open if you didn't have a reservation with Aqua 80 being standby seating.

 

My son started doing the Flowrider on day 5 and wished he had started earlier. Early and late were the best times for waits.

 

The Escape room was open but only the kids did that since we didn't try to reserve right away and spaces filled up. They loved the experience. $20pp

 

The casino had a 800 point promo for a free cruise (interior) and that was my goal. Love craps but that is tough to get lots of points and those tables were rarely open surprisingly. After about $300 down in slots and about 400 points, I hit a $1350 jackpot which of course is taxed. Played later to get to the 800 points and still was up quite a bit. On the last full day a letter and code was delivered to book a free cruise (3-8 days) including Alaska all sailing between April and September.

 

All four of us are Diamond and had 4 drink credits each per day. Never paid for a drink all week. That is a great benefit that may not last. Hopefully I'm wrong. Their screens show exactly how many credits you have left and they would tell you exactly what you have left if you asked.

 

Sorry for the rambling format. It was a great cruise after being away from RCCL for better than a decade. Let me know if you have any questions and thanks to all that helped us plan this cruise.

 

[brillohead]

27 minutes ago, SWACruising said:

All four of us are Diamond and had 4 drink credits each per day. Never paid for a drink all week. That is a great benefit that may not last. Hopefully I'm wrong.

They have stated that this is going to be a continuing benefit... I think they'd have a really hard time removing it, as it's been exceedingly popular among the Ds and above.

[masspector]

Can you post  a copy of the entertainment schedule if you have it?  Thanks

[firefly333]

Nice review. I got back sunday from 2 weeks and also found they were short staffed in many areas and lot of new not totally trained staff. 300 short in hospitality area I was told. Very hard to hire people who want to clean cabins especially. Also some food on menus missing and substituted. More so than the previous cruises I've been on. Every night our waiter would tell us what they didnt have.

 

Glad your son got to try the surfing area. Some people now only book ships that have it they love it so much. 

 

Agree chops is my favorite too. Surf and turf so I get extra lobster and a little steak. I'm so glad you had a good time.

[tj_shopper]

Thanks for the review.  We'll be on the Oasis on June 5th going to Canada.  I'm glad to hear that the Escape Room is opened.  As soon as it opens for reservations, I will book this for our group.

[PhillyFan33579]

38 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Nice review. I got back sunday from 2 weeks and also found they were short staffed in many areas and lot of new not totally trained staff. 300 short in hospitality area I was told. Very hard to hire people who want to clean cabins especially. Also some food on menus missing and substituted. More so than the previous cruises I've been on. Every night our waiter would tell us what they didnt have.

 

Glad your son got to try the surfing area. Some people now only book ships that have it they love it so much. 

 

Agree chops is my favorite too. Surf and turf so I get extra lobster and a little steak. I'm so glad you had a good time.

From talking to crew members I know fairly well on recent cruises, RCI is having trouble increasing staff on ships in a timely manner. It’s not for a lack of personnel wanting to work on ships, it’s due to the long process of bringing staff on-board, which has gotten longer based on getting staff vaccinated, going thru quarantine, etc. Plus like you mentioned, it also takes time to train new hires. There are also staff members who test positive every week on every ship, which just adds to the problem. Hopefully some time in the near future ships will be fully staffed as ships return to full capacity, assuming there isn’t another widespread breakout. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by PhillyFan33579

[mrpayroll]

Thanks for the review.

[firefly333]

18 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

From talking to crew members I know fairly well on recent cruises, RCI is having trouble increasing staff on ships in a timely manner. It’s not for a lack of personnel wanting to work on ships, it’s due to the long process of bringing staff on-board, which has gotten longer based on getting staff vaccinated, going thru quarantine, etc. Plus like you mentioned, it also takes time to train new hires. There are also staff members who test positive every week on every ship, which just adds to the problem. Hopefully some time in the near future ships will be fully staffed as ships return to full capacity, assuming there isn’t another widespread breakout. 

The staff on liberty begs to differ. They say that people from India etc who used to work cruise ships got jobs with more security. They say it is hard to find people to hire. ..especially to clean cabins. Saturday night on my ship vacations were cancelled last minute and stewards got added cabins to clean. Probably not good pr that your planned vacation can get cancelled with no notice and you have to call your family you got your contract extended involuntary. 

 

If it was as you say they would have hired those 300 missing crew and be training them to come aboard. They were short staffed. My waiter the first week, it was his very first week. For the first time ever I went to find his boss. .. his boss, whatever his title, said hes a nice guy and learning english so forgive him. And he also mentioned how hard it was to hire. 

[SWACruising]

2 hours ago, masspector said:

Can you post  a copy of the entertainment schedule if you have it?  Thanks

I will see if I can find it. I'm pretty sure I packed it somewhere.

[SWACruising]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Agree chops is my favorite too. Surf and turf so I get extra lobster and a little steak. I'm so glad you had a good time.

 

My favorite cut is a ribeye but their bone in ribeye was thin. Very difficult to cook medium rare when thin but to their credit it was cooked perfectly. The filet and NY strip were thick and I preferred the strip to the ribeye.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

The staff on liberty begs to differ. They say that people from India etc who used to work cruise ships got jobs with more security. They say it is hard to find people to hire. ..especially to clean cabins. Saturday night on my ship vacations were cancelled last minute and stewards got added cabins to clean. Probably not good pr that your planned vacation can get cancelled with no notice and you have to call your family you got your contract extended involuntary. 

 

If it was as you say they would have hired those 300 missing crew and be training them to come aboard. They were short staffed. My waiter the first week, it was his very first week. For the first time ever I went to find his boss. .. his boss, whatever his title, said hes a nice guy and learning english so forgive him. And he also mentioned how hard it was to hire. 

Interesting, I heard something quite different on recent cruises on Freedom and Odyssey. However, the feedback I heard was almost exclusively from bartenders. It’s possible they aren’t as familiar with what is going on hiring wise with cabin stewards, dining personnel, support personnel, etc. 

[Lionesss]

4 hours ago, SWACruising said:

 

 

The casino had a 800 point promo for a free cruise (interior) and that was my goal. Love craps but that is tough to get lots of points and those tables were rarely open surprisingly. After about $300 down in slots and about 400 points, I hit a $1350 jackpot which of course is taxed. 

 

Did you have to be diverted to go thru customs and file your www.gov claim?

 

Loved your review.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Lionesss

[SWACruising]

4 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

Did you have to be diverted to go thru customs and file your www.gov claim?

 

Loved your review.

 

Thanks for sharing.

No, the machine wouldn't pay out the jackpot without a manager coming over. He needed a drivers license and SS# before he could pay out. I'm not a slot guy so this was a first for me. He said I would get a "W2" so I'm hoping it also includes what I donated to the casino this week. 😀

[Spurschick]

16 minutes ago, SWACruising said:

No, the machine wouldn't pay out the jackpot without a manager coming over. He needed a drivers license and SS# before he could pay out. I'm not a slot guy so this was a first for me. He said I would get a "W2" so I'm hoping it also includes what I donated to the casino this week. 😀

The W2 will only show the win. You can get a win/loss statement at the end of the year to offset losses if needed.

 

We have always been given our W2's at the same time that they paid us out our wins.

[Cruiser24]

Were you able to make reservations for shows ahead of time or is it still once you get on the ship?

Thanks.

[SWACruising]

49 minutes ago, Cruiser24 said:

Were you able to make reservations for shows ahead of time or is it still once you get on the ship?

 

Once on the ships wifi, we were able to make show reservations on the app. I guess you could do that in the terminal but we moved right through so that was done on the ship. No issues moving things later in the week but the Aqua 80 shows got tight once a couple were cancelled. Not surprising but I didn't realize you couldn't reserve the same show twice until the first reservation happens. Gives everyone a chance to see all the shows.

 

[RoperDK]

On 4/5/2022 at 12:30 PM, SWACruising said:

No, the machine wouldn't pay out the jackpot without a manager coming over. He needed a drivers license and SS# before he could pay out. I'm not a slot guy so this was a first for me. He said I would get a "W2" so I'm hoping it also includes what I donated to the casino this week. 😀

Never been lucky enough to win a handpay. I can understand needing an ID, but how do you prove your SSAN?  Other than my old SSAN card from the 70s, I don't have any proof.  Maybe my passport?  What did you use to prove your SS#?  

[SWACruising]

2 hours ago, RoperDK said:

Never been lucky enough to win a handpay. I can understand needing an ID, but how do you prove your SSAN?  Other than my old SSAN card from the 70s, I don't have any proof.  Maybe my passport?  What did you use to prove your SS#?  

 

No proof, they just asked for the number

[DukeASUGirl]

On 4/5/2022 at 12:41 PM, SWACruising said:

Not surprising but I didn't realize you couldn't reserve the same show twice until the first reservation happens. Gives everyone a chance to see all the shows.

 

 

This makes sense, although a bit disappointing. We specifically chose our cruise because we know someone in the ice cast on Harmony (my daughter's coach), so I'll be sad if we only get to see her skate once. I had intended us to watch each show (iSkate and 1887) twice!

[captainbuzzy883]

I was on the same sailing and had a great time as always. What did surprise me was of the 4 nights we ate in the MDR (My Time Dining), the host guiding us to our table (a different person each night) had almost no clue where our table was located. We'd be left standing in the middle of tables with people eating while the  host walked around asking other servers/hosts where a particular table was. I was surprised at this, especially since they all were carrying maps with them. One night it took almost 5 minutes standing between other occupied tables before our table was found and it was pretty awkward!

Edited April 7, 2022 by captainbuzzy883

[Merion_Mom]

@SWACruising or @captainbuzzy883

 

How about the laser tag?  Was it open?  Did anyone in your family try it?

[SWACruising]

7 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

How about the laser tag?  Was it open?  Did anyone in your family try it?

 

I'm guessing it wasn't but I don't know for sure. I just never saw anything about it.

[SWACruising]

7 hours ago, captainbuzzy883 said:

I was on the same sailing and had a great time as always. What did surprise me was of the 4 nights we ate in the MDR (My Time Dining), the host guiding us to our table (a different person each night) had almost no clue where our table was located. We'd be left standing in the middle of tables with people eating while the  host walked around asking other servers/hosts where a particular table was. I was surprised at this, especially since they all were carrying maps with them. One night it took almost 5 minutes standing between other occupied tables before our table was found and it was pretty awkward!

 

That would get old quick. Our stateroom attendant was very new and really struggled. Did you get a Cruise Compass in your stateroom every night? Our attendant didn't really know what we were asking for so my son ended up getting a hard copy from guest relations every night. He told us everything was on the app which it kind of is but I'm old school and like the hard copy.

[SWACruising]

8 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

This makes sense, although a bit disappointing. We specifically chose our cruise because we know someone in the ice cast on Harmony (my daughter's coach), so I'll be sad if we only get to see her skate once. I had intended us to watch each show (iSkate and 1887) twice!

Our cruise had over 4000 people on it and the ice show was maybe half full. I think you should be able to walk right up. Aqua 80 was busier but they did accommodate walk ups for no shows.

[WIBadgerFan]

10 hours ago, captainbuzzy883 said:

I was on the same sailing and had a great time as always. What did surprise me was of the 4 nights we ate in the MDR (My Time Dining), the host guiding us to our table (a different person each night) had almost no clue where our table was located. We'd be left standing in the middle of tables with people eating while the  host walked around asking other servers/hosts where a particular table was. I was surprised at this, especially since they all were carrying maps with them. One night it took almost 5 minutes standing between other occupied tables before our table was found and it was pretty awkward!

We had the same issue on Odyssey two weeks ago.  Especially lobster night, people were seated at the wrong tables which caused a chain reaction of moving people to other tables.  People walking around with maps and confused looks is not what one expects.  Those without reservations had a LONG wait that night.