Review from Oasis 10/8

First time on an Oasis class ship and it won't be the last!! We are a couple in late our 40's, mid 50's, and we cruise on average twice a year. We live in NC so it's about an 8 hour drive to Port Canaveral. We left on Saturday morning and had booked a hotel in Jacksonville so that we could watch some football that afternoon. This also meant only about a two hour drive down the next morning.

EMBARKATION

We parked at Park Port Canaveral which is undergoing some expansion but was nonetheless as efficient as always. It was $59.49 for the week which is a steal compared to parking on site at the port. After a brief wait for a shuttle we boarded and were on the 5 or so minute ride to the port. We arrived at the port at about 11am and once there walked to the check in desk and were told that Platinum members had already boarded so we could go straight onto the ship. From when we were dropped by the shuttle to when we boarded the ship may have been 15 minutes, most of that walking. Never have had an embarkation go that quickly.

SHIP

Boarded the ship and WOW! Yep, it's been a while since I've been on a ship with a real WOW factor but this ship definitely has it. Every corner we turned brought a new surprise. It really is a stunning ship and we were surprised with how easy it was to navigate around after only a short time aboard. I also found it comfortable all week, never too cold. LOVED Central Park and only comment there would be that I wish they would play music there in the evenings when the duo is not playing, Really adds to the atmosphere.

CABIN

We spent some time just exploring and getting some drinks and lunch, then went to our cabin at 1. It was a beautiful cabin, very restful decor. Two chairs and a large table on the deep balcony and more storage in the room than we could fill. I immediately checked the bed and realized that it was pretty darn hard. When we met our room stewardess she said she would do what she could and suffice it to say that RCCL really impresssed me with their service on this matter. Apparently they are new mattresses so they have not been broken in yet. We also asked our stewardess about possibly cleaning our balcony glass as it was pretty salty. She said they would do it sometime during the week. However when we came back to the room later we saw that she had cleaned it and indeed kept it cleaned all week. I loved that you heard next to no announcements in the cabin.

SHOWS

We went to pretty much all the shows except the comedy shows. Stopped in briefly at CATS. The sets and costumes are amazing, I just don't love that show, sorry. Come Fly With Me was the other theater production show and while it was good, my husband and I both found it confusing. Same for the Oasis of Dreams show at the Aquatheater. A great show, just a bit disjointed and confusing. This one was rescheduled twice due to illness of one of the divers, they ended up having three shows the last day out. I find it a bit hard to believe that they wouldn't have some kind of back up and that one person could totally derail a show. The shows we liked the best were the ice skating show and the Headliner. The skating show was FANTASTIC! I would have loved to have gone back to see that one a second time. The Headliner was an Acapella group called Edge Effect. They were semi finalists on America's Got Talent and it's easy to see why. They were also a tremendously enjoyable show. All the shows had great seating.

FOOD

We thought the food onboard was excellent. We did not go to any of the specialty restaurants. We did go to Solarium Bistro one night for dinner, the main dining room the other nights with the exception of the last night. In all cases there was a great variety of food, it was always hot and fresh. Standouts for me were the short ribs (heaven), the french onion soup (salty one night, fantastic all others) and one of the best chocolate chip cookies I've had on board a ship. You also get two lobster tails when ordering lobster on the last formal night. For the first time ever in 40+ cruises, we went to the Windjammer for dinner on the last night. OMG. They had a seafood buffet that night that was amazing.

MISCELLANEOUS

Staff for the most part was very friendly. bar service was hit or miss, out by the pools was faster for us than inside for the most part, which was surprising.

My husband went to the gym every day and said that it was the most equipment he's ever seen in a ship's gym, although most of the recumbent bikes were non-functional. He said things were kept very clean and the one class he did go to (Fab Abs) was well done.

Went to Quest and it was great. I do wish they would mix up the items a bit so that people who cruise RCCL more often don't show up with half the items in tow.

At the On Air bar where they have the ship stats info scrolling out front constantly I noticed that two of the six godmother's names are misspelled. I went to Guest Services to let them know but by the time we left it still hadn't been corrected. Petty and minor, yes, unless you are one of those godmothers! ;)

Debarkation was great. We did self debark, were walking off the ship at 6:45. We did have a slight holdup at one point, don't know why, but then was quick through security and onto the shuttle bus back to Park Port Canaveral.

Overall we loved everything and definitely want to check out the Allure, Harmony, then Ovation and Anthem.

Thank you so much for the review and so glad you had a nice time! We agree, nothing like the Oasis class ships, the best ships! We do have a few questions one I ask everybody when they get back:

1- What cabin did you have?

2- Did you find your cabin not to get as cool as you like during the nighttime?

3- I wonder whether all cabin mattresses were replaced or just the ones that needed replacement? Honestly, I rather have a new hard mattress than a saggy one, that sure will kill my back lol

Thanks for the review. We're boarding Oasis for the first time on Nov 19th. Really looking forward to it.

We were also very pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety of dinner selections in Windjammer.

Thanks for the review. We're boarding Oasis for the first time on Nov 19th. Really looking forward to it.

So are we. Looking forward to a Thanksgiving cruise.

Thank you so much for the review and so glad you had a nice time! We agree, nothing like the Oasis class ships, the best ships! We do have a few questions one I ask everybody when they get back:

 

1- What cabin did you have? We were in 7548, Balcony. Loved the room, great location for everything except dining rooms and since we only went there once a day it was not a problem.

2- Did you find your cabin not to get as cool as you like during the nighttime? It did seem through the week that there were inconsistencies about cabin temperature.

3- I wonder whether all cabin mattresses were replaced or just the ones that needed replacement? Honestly, I rather have a new hard mattress than a saggy one, that sure will kill my back lol

Thanks so much for the review, we have a bit of a wait, we don't sail until 10/7/2018. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. 1)Did you book early and if you did when did they open the reservations for the shows? 2) Did you book the aqua show on the first night and when they cancelled the show did you automatically get rebooked for a later show? 3) How did they fix the bed to make it more comfortable? 4) Where did you eat when you got on the ship and was it busy? Sorry I am asking so many questions, my family is going on the cruise and there is 35 of us. They are looking to me for answers because I have cruised before. Thanks for your time in responding.

Thank you

Thanks so much for the review, we have a bit of a wait, we don't sail until 10/7/2018. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.

1)Did you book early and if you did when did they open the reservations for the shows?

I can't remember exactly but believe it was either 90 or 60 days out.

2) Did you book the aqua show on the first night and when they cancelled the show did you automatically get rebooked for a later show?

We booked the show for early in the cruise and found out it was cancelled when we went to the theater. They automatically rescheduled us for another day and this time we checked our tv for messages only to find out it had been cancelled yet again. The third try was the charm and it worked out that time. I do wish there was a way to leave messages on your phone about show changes so that you didn't have to check the tv ahead of time.

3) How did they fix the bed to make it more comfortable?

The first night they had put extra blankets underneath and when the deck supervisor called I told him that while not perfect it was nonetheless improved. We came back to the room later to find that they had changed the mattresses out! Now THAT'S service!! I imagine they don't want this to get out to too many people or it will become a problem but I was really impressed with how far they went to secure my satisfaction.

4) Where did you eat when you got on the ship and was it busy?

We tried going to the Windjammer but it was SLAMMED (it was during breakfast the first day as well). We then went to the Solarium Bistro. That ended up being a good breakfast option for us for many mornings.

 

Sorry I am asking so many questions, my family is going on the cruise and there is 35 of us. They are looking to me for answers because I have cruised before. Thanks for your time in responding.

Happy to help, hope you have a fantastic time!!

I also had a great time on the Oasis sailing on 9/24, but I felt like the shows were pretty "meh".

They also seemed to close the pools pretty early, is that a new thing?

I also had a great time on the Oasis sailing on 9/24, but I felt like the shows were pretty "meh".

 

They also seemed to close the pools pretty early, is that a new thing?

Since Royal has added lifeguards to the pools, they generally close around 11pm. Hot tubs are still open late.

Thank you so much for the review and so glad you had a nice time! We agree, nothing like the Oasis class ships, the best ships! We do have a few questions one I ask everybody when they get back:

 

1- What cabin did you have? 11645 (Central Park balcony)

2- Did you find your cabin not to get as cool as you like during the nighttime? Yes - we turned the AC down all the way at night and sometimes still felt it was a bit warm when we woke up in the middle of the night.

3- I wonder whether all cabin mattresses were replaced or just the ones that needed replacement? Honestly, I rather have a new hard mattress than a saggy one, that sure will kill my back lol Our mattress was firm but not uncomfortable.

We also were on the October 8 sailing and really enjoyed the cruise.

Thanks so much for the review, we have a bit of a wait, we don't sail until 10/7/2018. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. 1)Did you book early and if you did when did they open the reservations for the shows? We booked just over 180 days out. Entertainment opened on July 3 (based on my e-mail confirmation). 2) Did you book the aqua show on the first night and when they cancelled the show did you automatically get rebooked for a later show? We were booked for Day 2, which I think was the first night it was to be shown. We were rebooked automatically for Day 4, then when that was cancelled, again rebooked automatically for the first show on Day 7. We just kept checking our schedule on the TV. 3) How did they fix the bed to make it more comfortable? N/A for us. 4) Where did you eat when you got on the ship and was it busy? We got on rather late (after 2) and we had already had lunch, so we were busy making spa reservations and such instead of getting something to eat. Sorry I am asking so many questions, my family is going on the cruise and there is 35 of us. They are looking to me for answers because I have cruised before. Thanks for your time in responding.

Reservations for various things seemed to be released in dribs and drabs. I kept checking the website and the roll call obsessively.

Thanks for the review. We're boarding Oasis for the first time on Nov 19th. Really looking forward to it.

We are heading out on the 19th too. CANNOT. WAIT!

Thank you for your review!:)

Can you tell us all about the Seafood Buffet?

Was it advertised in the cruise compass?

What dishes do you remember?

What was your itinerary?

Did you do any Shore Excursions?

Thank you in advance.

Thanks for your review. <br><br>We have cruised with Carnival 17 times. We are about to book this

cruise for our first cruise with RC. On Carnival the pizza parlor is

open 24 hours, are food options available late night? For formal nights

for men, is a shirt and tie acceptable, or is a jacket required? For

dinner on non-formal nights in the dining room is a nice golf shirt and

dress knee length shorts acceptable for men? I've read several posts

about changes to the dress code.

Happy to help, hope you have a fantastic time!!

Thanks for the quick response. Wow that is awesome they change out the mattress, now that's good service.