Oasis of the Seas opinions

[kayehall]

Looking at the Oasis for 2026.  I like the itinerary but not sure I would like the size of the ship.  What are your thoughts?  Too many people?  Long lines?  Crowded venues?  But I would love to go back to RCCL.  Miss the Schooner Bar and Chops.  Hopefully they have remained what I have in my memories!!!  Also heights bother me a bit.  Looking at Deck 10 or 11.  Am I crazy?

[Ken at the beach]

9 minutes ago, kayehall said:

Looking at the Oasis for 2026.  I like the itinerary but not sure I would like the size of the ship.  What are your thoughts?  Too many people?  Long lines?  Crowded venues?  But I would love to go back to RCCL.  Miss the Schooner Bar and Chops.  Hopefully they have remained what I have in my memories!!!  Also heights bother me a bit.  Looking at Deck 10 or 11.  Am I crazy?

It may be a big ship with more people but there are a lot more venues and shows that disperse the people better than ships smaller than her do.  My favorite class of ship.

[leaveitallbehind]

I agree with Ken.  Although Oasis class ships are very large and hold a large number of passengers, there are more venues and activities to absorb the passenger load along with many quieter areas that you can find away from others.  Certainly certain venues, such as the Royal Promenade during a scheduled activity, or the MDR at dinner time, will get crowded during those times - the MDR primarily in the lobby and elevator areas awaiting seating.  But that is not uncommon on most ships. 

 

It's a function of proportion and design that IMO makes Oasis class ships less crowded in the many venues overall than many of the smaller ships. They also feature several very good specialty restaurants in a greater variety from which to choose.  It is also one of our favorite ship classes.

Edited Saturday at 01:33 PM by leaveitallbehind

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

28 minutes ago, kayehall said:

Looking at the Oasis for 2026.  I like the itinerary but not sure I would like the size of the ship.  What are your thoughts?  Too many people?  Long lines?  Crowded venues?  

 

I had similar hesitations when I first booked the Oasis class, but as Ken mentioned, the passenger volume is dispersed MUCH better (in my opinion) than smaller classes.  The pool decks can get rather crowded on sea days, but since I'm not a sun worshipper that doesn't affect me. 🙂 The only time I'm really aware of being one of 6,000 people is when the Broadway shows in the main theater let out, but the show on Oasis is Cats, which isn't quite as popular as some. 😉 

 

I can't speak to the fear of heights issue, but I don't recall noticing that I was perceptibly higher up on the top decks than on smaller ships.  My personal advice would be to go for it! Worst case scenario, you know it's not for you and stick to smaller ships moving forward. 🙂 

[SilkySal]

Ditto to the comments above; Oasis class is our favorite as well. Happy cruising!

[LuCruise]

Agree as well with the comments.  Although there are more passengers and it's a bigger ship, it doesn't feel crowded.  What I love about Oasis class is the number of different areas, the additional food venues (e.g. Park Cafe).  We don't usually do specialty but  it also has some additional ones if you want.  Also, the shows are superb.  Oasis has the best Aqua show in my opinion of the ones that I've seen.  The Aqua show is something different too if you have yet to go on Oasis class.  Central Park is great to walk through of sit an enjoy.  Boardwalk is fun.  It's just more spread out with more things to do.  I guess one piece of advice is to choose your stateroom location carefully based on what you think you'll do most if you are worried of it being too big and having long walks.

[ARandomTraveler]

I had the same thought about Oasis class ships, and avoided sailing on them for NINE YEARS!!! Curiosity finally got the best of me and I booked Symphony in 2022, and it's is now BY FAR my favorite class of ship.

 

My initial reaction to seeing the Allure docked next to our ship (Mariner) in Cozumel in 2013, was that it was way too big and there was no way I'd ever enjoy that ship. Then, reading about all the different room categories, neighborhoods, and pre-booking of shows made it seem really intimidating. 
 

The nice thing about cruise critic though, is the more you read it, the more you learn, and the less intimidating it got. I felt like I knew the ship very well, long before I ever stepped foot on it, so once we finally sailed Symphony, there was no intimidation anymore, and after just 1 day on the ship, my daughter let me know how disappointed she was that I spent her whole childhood sailing the smaller (voyager class and freedom class) ships, and that she never got the chance to enjoy the big ships as a kid (my bad 😢). 
 

I've sailed all classes except vision and radiance, and have a very hard time booking a ship that's not Oasis class anymore. They're so much fun, so much to do, so many venues to check out, so many shows, so much food, so much general walking around and "taking it all in" there is to do. I just love it. 
 

Oh - and as for crowds, that first experience on the Symphony was during thanksgiving week, one of the most crowded weeks to sail of the year, with tons of kids, and we didn't think it was bad at all. Everyone spreads out, and since the ship is divided up so well, you never see everyone in one place all at once (except maybe during the sail away or whatever parade or event they had going on one time on the promenade). The other good thing (for people without small children) is that typically, you're doing the opposite thing from what all the families with small kids are doing, so they're rarely, if ever, overtaking the space you're in. 

[PhillyFan33579]

I don’t disagree with any of the previous comments, but every RCI ship has Chops and the Schooner Bar. If you are worried about Oasis class ships being too large, I would recommend either a Quantum class or Freedom class ship. Both of these classes do a great job of dispersing crowds. This may not apply to you, but we play a lot of trivia when cruising. Oasis class ships are the worst for trivia because there isn’t a venue/bar that can accommodate everyone who wants to play.

[loman]

I have sailed most of the different classes of RC ships and settled on Oasis class .

I dont even look at other classes when i book a cruise.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

We loved her. 1 of our favourite ships. Only felt crowded once during a sea day around the pools other then that soo much space. Never had any issues with dining areas, bar venues etc. 

 

You dont notice the height. Tbh. I think as your quiet far away from the water you dont notice it. Yet on a smaller ship we were closer to the water line and due to the gorgeous sea around grand turk we could see the curve of the hull under the ship. That felt a long way down 🤣

 

[Roybthered]

Oasis class of ship especially Oasis of the seas is our favourite! We sailed on her in May and are on her again next we out of Barcelona. There is so much to do and see, lots of venues and places to go and to be honest we have never felt there was too many passengers. Am sure if you do it you will wonder why you have not done it before now.

[Norwich Cruiser]

Oasis class is our favourite and Oasis our favourite ship.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

3 hours ago, Roybthered said:

Oasis class of ship especially Oasis of the seas is our favourite! 

 

10 minutes ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

Oasis class is our favourite and Oasis our favourite ship.

 

Just curious, what is it about the Oasis that makes it your favorite of the class? I'm a HUGE fan of the Aqua Theater show, but overall, a couple of other O-class ships would probably be my favorites. Not that I would ever hesitate to book the Oasis, mind you! 🙂 

[lovelife]

10 minutes ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

 

 

Just curious, what is it about the Oasis that makes it your favorite of the class? I'm a HUGE fan of the Aqua Theater show, but overall, a couple of other O-class ships would probably be my favorites. Not that I would ever hesitate to book the Oasis, mind you! 🙂 

I know you didn't ask me, but I've sailed Oasis 18 times and the big draws for me are Aqua 80 and Portside BBQ. Symphony with Hooked is my favorite though.

[George C]

We love oasis class , our last 3 rccl cruises were oasis, allure and harmony. Loads of entertainment, unbelievable aqua show , good broadway plays , plus pub with guitar player, schooner with piano player, ice show . Small non smoking casino area . 

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

10 minutes ago, lovelife said:

I know you didn't ask me, but I've sailed Oasis 18 times and the big draws for me are Aqua 80 and Portside BBQ. Symphony with Hooked is my favorite though.

No worries, everybody's welcome to join the conversation! 😊 Since we live in a major BBQ capital, Portside BBQ isn't a huge draw for us, but I couldn't agree more about Aqua 80. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

3 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

 

 

Just curious, what is it about the Oasis that makes it your favorite of the class? I'm a HUGE fan of the Aqua Theater show, but overall, a couple of other O-class ships would probably be my favorites. Not that I would ever hesitate to book the Oasis, mind you! .

 

We think everything about “ o “ class ships are great but Oasis just shades for the Aqua show.

 

But absolutely love Central Park and the Trellis Bar especially early evening.

 

We enjoy the boardwalk the ice show plus Park Cafe and the Solarium Bistro enormously.

 

 

[Roybthered]

14 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

 

 

Just curious, what is it about the Oasis that makes it your favorite of the class? I'm a HUGE fan of the Aqua Theater show, but overall, a couple of other O-class ships would probably be my favorites. Not that I would ever hesitate to book the Oasis, mind you! 🙂 

Aqua show is just amazing, portside BBQ is a great venue to eat plus we love the boardwalk. Think we are a bit more limited due to being in the UK and would get on a lot more Oasis class ships if we lived over in the states, we did like Symphony with Hooked! 

[twangster]

I think every cruiser should experience Oasis class at least once in their cruising career.  

 

For more than a decade they were in a class by themselves because no one had a ship that came anywhere close to them.  Even now while some other lines have ventured into the mega ship arena, they did so by copying Oasis class.  There is a reason for that.  Oasis was the original game changer and still is.

 

You won't know if it's your thing, too big, too much to do, too many venues, too many people, etc. until you try it.  Each of us is different with different likes, dislikes, preferences, tolerances, etc. 

 

Try it and then you'll know if it's for you.  If it is there are many more in the class, each unique in their own ways.  If not, you tried it and now you know.

 

Don't listen to my opinion, you are not me.  Make your own opinion.

 

Edited Monday at 08:58 AM by twangster

[ocdb8r]

I'll just echo all the comments above.  We were on the Explorer of the Seas last month (a couple of classes smaller) and I couldn't believe how much more packed and cramped all the venues felt.  It is still a very good sized ship, but the Oasis and Icon class ships do a wonderful job of dispersing people throughout the ship.  It was frustrating as we'd like to do some more diverse itineraries (that the Oasis class ships just can't or don't do) but we really missed the diversity of options and dreaded dealing with certain things (like breakfast at the buffet where they had to make announcements about every 15 minutes encouraging people to leave as soon as they'd finished eating).

[Mapleleafforever]

Oasis is our favourite ship so far. 

[dragontrainer]

Heights bother me a lot.

 

I do not have meaningful issues with the Oasis class ships, and don't recall any significant issues with my first Oasis sailing.  For me the most likely places that I notice it are the areas around the elevators that have art/sculptures that hang down from many floors up.  As long as I don't stand right by the railing, I'm fine (in that area I'm worse looking up than down).

 

Being on the pool/sports decks (15/16) I don't notice any height issues looking out at the water.

 

I had to initially force myself to go on the zip line (it's maybe 10 seconds and goes over the boardwalk which is something like eight decks below, but the start to end drop is maybe 10 feet), but as hoped, doing it a number of times has taken away the height issues for that specific activity.

 

Based on my experience, any height issues I had were no different on an Oasis ship than any other cruise ship.  If you've been on other ships and been ok, I don't think the extra size/height of Oasis is going to be a vacation-defining problem for you.

[luckyinpa]

I dont think heights matters on a ship. deck 4 if you look down vs deck 17, its still a long way down!  everyones issue is different. i can go to the top of the empire state bldg no issue but to put my head over and look down. it's a bit weird. but if i walk across the glass Princess ship walkways. it's very freaky and an issue!  heck even one ship walking up and down glass steps can be an issue.  and i cant do the ropes courses on any ship even though you are barely 12 ft up.

 

but if youve been on any ship before and had no issues you wont on oasis.

 

the only crazy crowds i remember on oasis is if you show up late to  a trivia or something.

[Tatka]

Sailed twice and we think size is adequate to number of people

[Luckynana]

On 9/14/2024 at 8:51 AM, kayehall said:

Looking at the Oasis for 2026.  I like the itinerary but not sure I would like the size of the ship.  What are your thoughts?  Too many people?  Long lines?  Crowded venues?  But I would love to go back to RCCL.  Miss the Schooner Bar and Chops.  Hopefully they have remained what I have in my memories!!!  Also heights bother me a bit.  Looking at Deck 10 or 11.  Am I crazy?

I agree with everyone about loving the Oasis class ships, and the Oasis in general!  Give it a try, I bet you'll like it!!  I will comment about the Schooner Bar, though.  We have always loved the Schooner Bar on Royal's ships.  On this class of ship, the Schooner Bar, while still one of the best hangouts( in my opinion), is not as intimate as on the older ships.  Still great, though!!