Oasis 12-7/12-14 - Good, and a bit disappointing.

[Dave85]

I couldn't agree more about the Oasis Diamond Concierge. We also attended the Blaze cocktail hour every night, and were completely ignored. She was there some of the time, but always paying attention to the same few people and ignoring the rest.

On other ships they have always made it a point to circulate among the guests, and sometimes to leave a message on the cabin voicemail letting us know about the next day's events. Nothing from Ms. Fernandez but the first day letter in the room. Disappointing.

 

We received very poor service and a subpar attitude from that same Diamond Concierge on Oasis in November of 2010... I popped over to the Current Concierge thread to make sure it was the same "Ms. Fernandez" and indeed it was. Same deal on that cruise too, she doted over a few older affluent looking guests the entire time and ignored everyone else. I assumed I got poor service from her because of my age (DW and I are in our 20s) but it seems that lots of people of all ages receive poor service from her. Not acceptable. She was in their CL until recently and seems to have recently returned to the DL.

 

OP should have received the Diamond pins in the stateroom as most others do and there was no excuse for OP to receive an attitude when OP inquired.

[Dave85]

Thank you for all the comments.

 

Just to clarify, at no point did I suggest that I expected a lot of fanfare, and to have our new status announced to the masses! All I expected was a hello from the concierge and a congrats as the guy handed me the pins. Seriously, it would have taken zero effort on his part, and it is the concierge's JOB to introduce herself!

 

 

Understood OP, and you're right. A good DC does rounds to greet guests and make sure everything is going smoothly with their vacation. Obviously if there are a lot of people s/he cannot get around to everyone every night, but the lack of effort is unacceptable. We actually had an outstanding DC our second time on Oasis who sadly doesn't seem to be in the position anymore and the difference was striking! A little effort goes a long way...

Edited December 15, 2013 by Dave85

[cruisinfanatic]

Thank you for all the comments.

 

Just to clarify, at no point did I suggest that I expected a lot of fanfare, and to have our new status announced to the masses! All I expected was a hello from the concierge and a congrats as the guy handed me the pins. Seriously, it would have taken zero effort on his part, and it is the concierge's JOB to introduce herself!

 

Don't know how you'd expect the concierge to know who you are. No one gets what you expected

[MEGADAN]

"No matter which level a customer reaches, and no matter where that is in the "big scheme of things", it should represent a loyal customer to RCL, and as such I don't think your expectation that a C & A rep would realize this, and have been trained enough to know to make each recipient feel special, if just for a fleeting moment, is unrealistic. Your 15 cruises may not represent much in the "grand scheme of things" for RCI's total revenue, but it certainly represents a good bit of money you have spent with them, and a little bit of acknowledgement is always appreciated."

 

We will be on Oasis in July 2014, it will be our 18th cruise and our 6th with RCCL. We just returned from our 6th cruise on Disney, a Thanksgiving cruise. They gave us so many gifts and cards and lanyards that we had to buy another suitcase at Target to fly home. They made us feel special all 7 days.

I'm not expecting anything special for my 6th Royal cruise but I certainly agree with all the posters, that Diamond is special.

Furthermore, it is not about the status but how their employees are trained and how they treat customers. Anyone of them could have said something nice. It is all about the little things.

[Dave85]

Don't know how you'd expect the concierge to know who you are. No one gets what you expected

 

Re-read what you quoted... that's not even close to what the OP said.

[ariawoman]

Thank you for all the comments.

 

Just to clarify, at no point did I suggest that I expected a lot of fanfare, and to have our new status announced to the masses! All I expected was a hello from the concierge and a congrats as the guy handed me the pins. Seriously, it would have taken zero effort on his part, and it is the concierge's JOB to introduce herself!

 

We did the shows a second time by standing in the standby line. They let us in about 10 minutes prior to the show. The seats that were left were mostly off to the side, but that was fine, and we enjoyed seeing the shows from a different angle.

 

Yes, the master power switch on Oasis class kills the air conditioning too!

 

Well no wonder we were always hot! DAMN! Now I feel like an idiot!

[ariawoman]

Don't kick yourself too hard...but yes, the "master switch" also switches off the air conditioning!

 

I think I just broke my leg....whilest kicking myself (and shoveling snow).

 

I can't believe it! Guess I should have asked instead of just assuming the ship had a weird quirk. Turns out we were the quirk. lol

[cruisinfanatic]

Re-read what you quoted... that's not even close to what the OP said.

OP says "A congrats from the concierge as he handed me the diamond pin" is what I was referring. How is my reply wrong?

[Dave85]

OP says "A congrats from the concierge as he handed me the diamond pin" is what I was referring. How is my reply wrong?

 

Thank you for all the comments.

 

Just to clarify, at no point did I suggest that I expected a lot of fanfare, and to have our new status announced to the masses! All I expected was a hello from the concierge and a congrats as the guy handed me the pins. Seriously, it would have taken zero effort on his part, and it is the concierge's JOB to introduce herself!

 

 

A simple misunderstanding: The D concierge (Charmaine Fernandez) wasn't a guy, OP referred to the guy in the Loyalty Ambassador's office who:

 

...simply shoved them in my hand without even looking at me.

 

I think expecting a simple, friendly "hello" from the DC and a simple "congratulations" from the guy in the LA's office handing over the pin is a reasonable expectation of the crew on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Dave85

[tarajean1962]

Wow! Why do these threads always turn ugly?:(. The OP gave a basically very nice review with their honest opinions and a very real disappointment of the DL and Loyalty Ambassador services. I thought it was pretty clear that they had a great time but were just a bit disappointed in the reception of their excitement of being Diamond.

 

We are very much excited about becoming Diamond members and although we don't expect anyone on the cruise to bow down to us, I think it is very reasonable to expect a little fanfare from the people whose job it is to do so.:). We never even got Emerald pins and have been Emerald for the last couple of cruises. Obviously, that hasn't deterred us from cruising, but it would have been nice to get those pins. We love the loyalty program at RCCL, but what's wrong with expecting a little recognition for your loyalty? I guess my point is we are so quick to judge where others come from and insert our own point of view.

 

 

Tara

[iluvcruzin]

DH and I just got home from our December 7-14th Oasis of the Seas cruise.

 

We were on this cruise as well. First time on the Oasis.

 

Our Embarkment went fast because we waited until noon to board. No line at all. I guess you had someone new.

 

The ship was fine. Some areas showed signs of wear like the solarium pool area.

 

We had cabin 14278 which was an OV balcony with the supports for deck 15. Although we couldn't see much to the left, it didn't really bother us. Actually having the side support and the large overhang provided ample shade. It also was great at those times when it was windy. Whereas others had issues with the wind and couldn't use their balcony, ours was fine. We were also close to the elevator and stairs. One thing to note about the AC - Ours shut off at times too. It went off every time the balcony door was opened. They must have a sensor.

 

We did anytime on deck 5. The casino was very smoky in the evening. To the point that I had to leave our friends who were gambling because it bothered me. Daytime it was not bad. No smoke made it to deck 5 but imagine it wouldn't have been pleasant for those dining on deck 3 second seating. Food was good in the dining room. We ate at the Windjammer 2 nights. Not so good. It was like a cattle call at 6:15pm when they opened up. It is the smallest Windjammer on any ship I've been on. The food is fair. I think they set it up like this so that people go to the specialty restaurants. Breakfast at the Wipe Out was good. It may be the only place to get an omelet besides the dinning room. We tried Johnny Rockets for breakfast once. That was good.

 

Internet - was fast using my smartphone. I didn't use it until day 6 and I had to call IT support to get the free diamond access code.

 

Shows were good. We saw Frozen in Time, Hairspray, Headliner Ronn Lucas, Oasis of Dreams (this one skipped our assigned time and watched it from deck 11 aft port) and the Comedy Show.

 

Pins are usually delivered to the cabin but not everyone knows that. They can be obtained from the C&A Loyalty desk. It would not have come from the Diamond Concierge. I agree she (Charmaine Fernandes) was not friendly. I didn't go to Blaze for cocktails but did go to the diamond lounge a few times for coffee. I tried to ask a question about show tickets and she definitely didn't want to be interrupted from her internet surfing (I could see what she was doing). She just shrugged her shoulders and made no eye contact.

 

I thought the ship overall was nice as far as all the different neighborhoods. The shows were good. I didn't care for the crowds of people in the promenade and sometimes the elevator waits. The amount of scheduled activities were less than most ships I've been on. I had done this route many times and was a tad disappointed in the lack of activities on port days. If one reading this thinks they will be staying onboard on those days hoping to enjoy the ship and do things like zip-line, flow-rider etc.. forget it.

 

We had a good time. Would I book the Oasis again? Only if there was a big discounted special. I can say I tried it but I'm a bigger fan of the smaller ships.

Edited December 16, 2013 by iluvcruzin

[Dave85]

We were on this cruise as well. First time on the Oasis.

 

. . .

 

Pins are usually delivered to the cabin but not everyone knows that. They can be obtained from the C&A Loyalty desk. It would not have come from the Diamond Concierge. I agree she (Charmaine Fernandes) was not friendly. I didn't go to Blaze for cocktails but did go to the diamond lounge a few times for coffee. I tried to ask a question about show tickets and she definitely didn't want to be interrupted from her internet surfing (I could see what she was doing). She just shrugged her shoulders and made no eye contact.

 

 

Sorry to hear you had that experience, that's entirely unacceptable. If she's unwilling to provide even minimally competent service to the guests she's being paid to serve or do her job at all, she should be reassigned or removed from the position. That is definitely not in keeping with the standards RCI sets for its employees.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Dave85

[marci22]

We usually have the concierge get our internet credits applied.

 

If the concierge ignored you, I hope that you did not tip them. They are supposed to be helpful.