Oasis cruise 8/28 - 9/4, the good, bad, and ugly.

[GWM907]

Disembarked from Oasis on Sunday 9/4/22. Not a day by day review but I thought I would highlight some of the good, bad and ugly. By way of background we have been on 40+ cruises with roughly half on RCCL.

 

Embarkation - Very efficient. One of the best ever. Had a 10:30 time. Arrived at 10:40. On the ship before 11am.

   

The ship - Overall good condition. Some wear and tear is obvious like the carpets in the cabin hallways and the very worn fabric on the sofa in the cabin. Nothing that would ruin your cruise but noticeable. The ship was at at least 100% capacity. There were a LOT of children. Lines everywhere especially at the Windjammer. The pool areas were overwhelmed on every sea day. 

 

Dining - 

 

MDR - Very hit or miss. The quality of food seems to have gone downhill. I realize food is subjective so this is simply my opinion. The service however was definitely inconsistent. Some courses came out too fast while others took forever. We had traditional early seating. By the time we left the dining room the lines for MTD were unbelievably long. I mean from the entrance of the dining room as far back as they could go and then around the elevator areas. I would suggest you avoid MTD. RCCL seems to have a big problem handling it.

 

Windjammer - Have been on most if not all classes of RCCL ships including 4 cruises on Oasis class. Without a doubt I would rate this Windjammer the absolute worst I have ever experienced. The quality and selection of food was not good. There were no omelet or pasta stations. Fried eggs were placed on a warming tray where the eggs kept cooking so you ended up with dried yolks. I could go on. Suffice it to say it was not good. I should also mention the lines. Many times only half of the venue was open. Lines went from the entrance, down the hall and up the center stairway. Also it was difficult to find a table. Announcements were continually made to please vacate your table when done so other guests could enjoy their meal. 

 

Specialty Restaurants - Had dinner at Chops, Giovanni’s and Izumi Hibachi. All excellent service and food.

 

El Loco Fresh - This was disappointing. The burritos are kept on a warming tray and as a result the soft taco gets crunchy. It was also very messy. Since you help yourself there were a lot of spills as you reached to get your food. This is understandable. What I don’t understand is why they don’t do a better job with ongoing cleaning.

 

Portrside Bar B Que - Service was good. Food was just ok. Not the best bar b que. 

 

Entertainment - 

 

Aqua Theater - Aqua 80 is outstanding. Be sure you make reservations to see it. Do not miss it.

 

Main Theater - The shows in the main theater were not that interesting to me. Saw Ron Lucas, ventriloquist, who was very good. There was a classic rock band which was not for me. And, of course, Cats is still playing - enough said. 

 

Itinerary - Have been to Port Canaveral and Nassau many times so neither holds any interest. Did not get off the ship. Coco Cay was VERY crowded. Mariner of the Seas was in port on the same day. It was difficult to find chairs on Chill Breach. Only stayed on the island till lunch time.

Having sailed this itinerary a number of times this was more of a stay on the ship trip. 

 

Disembarkation - Very organized. Handled our own luggage and was in our car before 7am.

 

Overall - I have never had a bad cruise. This one does not rate near the top but still had a good time. Here is hoping the upcoming December Anthem cruise shows some improvement.

 

[blade3]

We too have a 10:30 time for an October cruise. What time did you arrive to get in the drop off luggage line? Have heard of long waits to drop off luggage from your car .

Did you get to park in the garage or across the street from it?

[GWM907]

1 minute ago, blade3 said:

We too have a 10:30 time for an October cruise. What time did you arrive to get in the drop off luggage line? Have heard of long waits to drop off luggage from your car .

Did you get to park in the garage or across the street from it?

The line was not that bad. We arrived at about 10:10, waited a short time to drop our bags (maybe 10 minutes) then headed to the garage. It turns out it was full because they had 2 ships in the day before so we were sent to overflow parking. Not far from the terminal. Unloaded our car at about 10:35. In the terminal by 10:40. on the ship by 11 am.

[mets123]

I was on the Oasis both in May and June. I agree 100 percent about the Windjammer, it was like that back then. Sorry to hear it hasn't changed. But if Raja is still in charge up there, then it explains a lot. He has no people skills.

[Tee & Chilli]

Was your sailing the last week before school started?

[sailor05]

7 hours ago, GWM907 said:

The line was not that bad. We arrived at about 10:10, waited a short time to drop our bags (maybe 10 minutes) then headed to the garage. It turns out it was full because they had 2 ships in the day before so we were sent to overflow parking. Not far from the terminal. Unloaded our car at about 10:35. In the terminal by 10:40. on the ship by 11 am.

Do you know if they were still allowing handicapped parking in the garage?

[Sunshine3601]

6 minutes ago, sailor05 said:

Do you know if they were still allowing handicapped parking in the garage?

Yes, handicap parking is in the garage.   

[Sunshine3601]

We were, also, on this sailing and agree with almost everything you said.

WJ and Solarium Bistro were big disappointments of food selection.   We tried breakfast in both locations and was very disappointed so I stuck with breakfast in MDR, which is rare for us.  Tried WJ for lunch and burger meat was horrible.

 

We ate at CK 1st night and really enjoyed the filet but weren't thrilled with service so we didn't book again.   

 

We dined at MDR at 530 pm and enjoyed our food and service was outstanding.  We were on deck 5 of MDR and had a brand new waiter and asst. waiter that were awesome.

 

CocoCay cannot handle 2 large ships.   I was served Raw chicken sandwich at Snack shack!!    We, also. Had problems finding loungers at South Beach.

 

Aqua Show was excellent!

 

We had around 6500 passengers with little over 2000 kids.   People sure do need to learn elevator etiquette!!   The wait tines for elevators was the worst with this many people, some very rude.

 

Re embarkment.   We arrived a little before 11 am and sat in traffic for more than 30 minutes.   Worst I have ever seen.  Guess we will go back to our usual 1 pm checkin for our December Anthem cruise.

Once we got parked and inside the terminal that was a breeze.   Disembarkment was a breeze too.   We left ship around 8 am and found a porter to take our luggage to parking garage.  We're on the road by 8:23.

 

As you said, not our best cruise and we enjoyed finding quite spot in Sun Garden.  Sure was a hot week!

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[LouChamp]

Thank you for your review. As a diamond i love RCCL but the lines in this covid era are too long for me.  Getting older and IMHO not worth it.  Transitioning to smaller upscale lines moving forward. Not that I wont reconsider down the road but the reports seem similar across the boards. I find CC a wealth of information and opinions and certainly appreciate yours.  All the best!

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

Was your sailing the last week before school started?

Schools in some areas started in August but for others they started this week.   

[GWM907]

41 minutes ago, sailor05 said:

Do you know if they were still allowing handicapped parking in the garage?

Yes they were

[GWM907]

4 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

Was your sailing the last week before school started?

Yes it was for most of this area.

[GWM907]

13 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Thank you for your review. As a diamond i love RCCL but the lines in this covid era are too long for me.  Getting older and IMHO not worth it.  Transitioning to smaller upscale lines moving forward. Not that I wont reconsider down the road but the reports seem similar across the boards. I find CC a wealth of information and opinions and certainly appreciate yours.  All the best!

Thank you. We said the same about moving on to perhaps Celebrity.

[GWM907]

29 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

We were, also, on this sailing and agree with almost everything you said.

WJ and Solarium Bistro were big disappointments of food selection.   We tried breakfast in both locations and was very disappointed so I stuck with breakfast in MDR, which is rare for us.  Tried WJ for lunch and burger meat was horrible.

 

We ate at CK 1st night and really enjoyed the filet but weren't thrilled with service so we didn't book again.   

 

We dined at MDR at 530 pm and enjoyed our food and service was outstanding.  We were on deck 5 of MDR and had a brand new waiter and asst. waiter that were awesome.

 

CocoCay cannot handle 2 large ships.   I was served Raw chicken sandwich at Snack shack!!    We, also. Had problems finding loungers at South Beach.

 

Aqua Show was excellent!

 

We had around 6500 passengers with little over 2000 kids.   People sure do need to learn elevator etiquette!!   The wait tines for elevators was the worst with this many people, some very rude.

 

Re embarkment.   We arrived a little before 11 am and sat in traffic for more than 30 minutes.   Worst I have ever seen.  Guess we will go back to our usual 1 pm checkin for our December Anthem cruise.

Once we got parked and inside the terminal that was a breeze.   Disembarkment was a breeze too.   We left ship around 8 am and found a porter to take our luggage to parking garage.  We're on the road by 8:23.

 

As you said, not our best cruise and we enjoyed finding quite spot in Sun Garden.  Sure was a hot week!

 

You are right about the elevators. I forgot to mention that nightmare.

[mac_tlc]

4 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

Was your sailing the last week before school started?

Many schools in CT started that week. 
 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

45 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Thank you for your review. As a diamond i love RCCL but the lines in this covid era are too long for me.  Getting older and IMHO not worth it.  Transitioning to smaller upscale lines moving forward. Not that I wont reconsider down the road but the reports seem similar across the boards. I find CC a wealth of information and opinions and certainly appreciate yours.  All the best!

My wife has the same issue lately with the large ships. We avoid the WJ if at all possible. We have begun moving to Celebrity if it’s just the two of us. However, we are in CT and Oasis is too damn convenient… wish Celebrity had a bigger presence in NY in the summer. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited September 8, 2022 by mac_tlc

[blade3]

Thank you G for breakdown of your arrival times, very helpful!

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, LouChamp said:

Thank you for your review. As a diamond i love RCCL but the lines in this covid era are too long for me.  Getting older and IMHO not worth it.  Transitioning to smaller upscale lines moving forward. Not that I wont reconsider down the road but the reports seem similar across the boards. I find CC a wealth of information and opinions and certainly appreciate yours.  All the best!

Keep in mind the name of the this site is “critic”and the fact that people are far more likely to report negative reviews than positive reviews. I have been on 13 cruises on RCI post COVID and my cruises have ranged from excellent to outstanding. I have not witnessed any long lines on any class of ship (Voyager, Freedom, Quantum, Oasis) I have cruised on over the last year.
 

To be fair, I cruise frequently and learned a long time ago to avoid Windjammer, so I never go there. So obviously I can’t comment on how crowded it gets there, which seems to be a common complaint here. I also never do my time dining, so I can’t address that issue either. The only place I really notice that gets crowded during sea days are the pool areas. But if you go up one level from the pool area on any class of ship, there are always plenty of lounge chairs available. 
 

I have started to cruise more often on Celebrity, which I really enjoy (probably an age thing), but I still enjoy cruising on RCI and have over a dozen cruises booked on RCI over the next year. Based on my cruises, the overall experience on RCI ships when it comes to crowds and long lines has improved since pre COVID days. 
 

 

 

[mmcgann11]

We, too, were on this cruise. OP pretty much has it down -- we had MTD and never made it to dinner in the MDR. Staff was great, but a lot of issues with overcrowding. I rated the cruise as a 7.5 on a scale of 10. First time we've been on one lower than 8.5.

 

Going to be tough sell for us to sail on anything larger than Quantum class -- two excellent sailings on Anthem for us to date -- going forward.

[Yorkvillain]

Currently on board. If it makes anyone feel better - the elevators have been lightning fast for us this week. 

[Jasukkie]

I was very surprised at Windjammer on Oasis. Small, high volume, and definitely not a place to relax and linger. I like Radiance class best for Windjammer with the large outside areas. We ended up more at the cafe at Central Park and taking food out. Okay enough but limited on choices. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

My wife has the same issue lately with the large ships. We avoid the WJ if at all possible. We have begun moving to Celebrity if it’s just the two of us. However, we are in CT and Oasis is too damn convenient… wish Celebrity had a bigger presence in NY in the summer. 
 

mac_tlc

I wish they sailed out of Bayonne in the fall!

[DaniDanielle]

We were on the same cruise.  Windjammer was ridiculous.  Food and coffee were lukewarm and crew did not seem to care.  Wrote to MBayley and got the usual stock answered.  Sorry blah blah.

However, we had no issues with MTD, there was a wonderful hostess who took very good care of us.

i think they should never have filled the ship to capacity with a shortage of crew.  Kids  were wandering alone around pool deck, rude cliques of people and just now enough supervision.  Oasis is my favorite but I will never sail in season again!

[Miloomar]

13 hours ago, GWM907 said:

There were no omelet or pasta stations

I havent been on Oasis, but I imagine the layout is the same as Symphony...  I want to make sure you checked the back room of the WJ, that's where Symphony had their omelet and pasta stations. If you did go back there, were they just closed off areas with no food?

[GWM907]

2 minutes ago, Miloomar said:

I havent been on Oasis, but I imagine the layout is the same as Symphony...  I want to make sure you checked the back room of the WJ, that's where Symphony had their omelet and pasta stations. If you did go back there, were they just closed off areas with no food?

I walked all around WJ looking for seats and didn't see any. All I recall seeing are tables in the back.