Oasis Transatlantic Review 1/9/14-13/9/14

[Marley-Bop]

This was our 5th Royal Caribbean cruise and we (hubby and I) sailed with my sister and brother in law who were on their first cruise ever! - What a ship to pick for the first one :eek:

 

Embarkation was smooth and we were onboard at Fort Everglades by 12.15PM so made our way to sign up for the drinks package, check our dining table and sit up on on the pool deck sipping cocktails. We followed this with a quick lunch at the Windjammer and by then the cabins were ready so off we went to unpack.

 

This was now the time to wander round the ship and try and get our bearings and we were certainly wowed and thought we would never find our way around. Muster followed then a trip to the Champagne bar to meet our cruise buddies before getting ready for sail away and early dinner.

 

Sail away was a bit disappointing as I expected a party atmosphere as we set off on the first fare paying passenger cruise to Europe but it was a bit of a let down to be honest.

 

We had a great window view dining table on deck 4 Opus, looked after by Veronica and Marley and they made a great team. I must say that this cruise was the most I have ever seen of a Head Waiter who as a visible presence constantly checked by to make sure that all was well and have a chat about the day without being intrusive.

 

Our sea days were relaxing with the Ocean like a mill pond and the temperatures high enough to laze by the pool watching the world go by.

 

We booked a deck 9 balcony cabin, starboard, midship and were looked after well by Beverley who kept our room immaculate at all times.

 

The pre-boarding booking system for shows was awful and a lot of us that managed to pre-book online had our shows changed before boarding. We had four shows changed to day 10, all at the same time and all clashing with our early dining time so had to try and change them onboard but had no chance to go to the comedy show.

 

The food was good across the ship, drinks and drinks service was excellent and staff were on the whole friendly and happy. We didn't do any specialty restaurants and most of these never seemed busy while we were onboard.

 

Our first port of call was Malaga and we wandered around the port and into the town centre but after a few hours we got back onboard to enjoy the sunshine by the pool.

 

Disembarkation in Barcelona was fine, we took our own baggage off due to an early flight back to the UK and got a taxi costing 40 euros (including tip).

 

Overall we had a great time with family and friends onboard the biggest ship in the world BUT found myself comparing Oasis to the Indy (my favourite ship so far) and the Indy has my heart.

 

I found that the bigger ship loses that more personal touch and there are not so many places to sit in the evening and watch the Ocean. The Schooner bar has always been my favourite on Navigator and Indy but with no sea view and just a view into the promenade, it lost something in my opinion as did many other areas onboard.

 

I'm glad we sailed on the Oasis and it certainly has the WOW factor but would we do it again, I'm not sure.....

 

Happy to answer any questions and just to let you know that my sister and brother in law loved it and are already talking about booking their next cruise.

[cdwh1902]

Thanks Marley-Bop for your review - it was refreshing to hear constructive comments.

 

We are on the Allure's maiden TA voyage to Europe next April and it has the same itinerary. I was interested to read of the weather conditions in particular and understand some of your other comments re size of the ship etc.. This is the first time we have been on a ship this size, only because it matched perfectly with the dates for us, is the reason why we are going on it..

 

Cheers

Chris

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Gingerbint]

Saw the title, thought I'd pop by to see what you had to say as we're doing the TA the other way and then realised who it was!

 

Hello Angie!

Remember me? It's that rubbish bird who is crap at emails!

Hope Kev and you are well? Jon and I are looking forward to our upcoming trip but we also think we'll compare it to our Indy one too!

 

The Southampton boarders on our trip have had a mare trying to get anything booked as 'computer says no' as it doesn't recognised the ship has two boarding points - sounds like it may be a waste of time and phone calls if we all get on board to find our reservations changed :(

 

Re any questions - do you know if they serve Strongbow onboard? We're debating the drinks package for this trip.

Are there any 'must do' things not to be missed as well?

Did they have the Chef's Table?

 

Can't believe we so nearly could have had another crossing together! Ah well maybe another time on another ship..... there is still spaces left on our TA :rolleyes:

 

Jo x

Edited September 17, 2014 by Gingerbint

[emmy]

 

Sail away was a bit disappointing as I expected a party atmosphere as we set off on the first fare paying passenger cruise to Europe but it was a bit of a let down to be honest.

 

 

The Port Everglades webcam made your sail away special for those of us watching it LIVE.:) This is the edited recorded video but as you were sailing away that day they played 'Time to Say Goodbye' on the LIVE feed.

 

[Bosjoe]

Re any questions - do you know if they serve Strongbow onboard? We're debating the drinks package for this trip.

Are there any 'must do' things not to be missed as well?

Did they have the Chef's Table?

 

 

Yes they had Strongbow and Chef's Table during the crossing.

If you have never been on Oasis, do all the main shows. Watch out for show changes.

[mustgo]

We were also on the cruise. Maybe the sail away was not impressive in F.L., but we were wowed in Malaga by the huge crowd of people who came out to watch the ship sail away.

[Marley-Bop]

Saw the title, thought I'd pop by to see what you had to say as we're doing the TA the other way and then realised who it was!

 

Hello Angie!

Remember me? It's that rubbish bird who is crap at emails!

Hope Kev and you are well? Jon and I are looking forward to our upcoming trip but we also think we'll compare it to our Indy one too!

 

The Southampton boarders on our trip have had a mare trying to get anything booked as 'computer says no' as it doesn't recognised the ship has two boarding points - sounds like it may be a waste of time and phone calls if we all get on board to find our reservations changed :(

 

Re any questions - do you know if they serve Strongbow onboard? We're debating the drinks package for this trip.

Are there any 'must do' things not to be missed as well?

Did they have the Chef's Table?

 

Can't believe we so nearly could have had another crossing together! Ah well maybe another time on another ship..... there is still spaces left on our TA :rolleyes:

 

Jo x

 

Hi Jo

 

Lovely to hear from you :D

 

Cant believe you are doing the reverse Oasis TA - If only we had more holiday and more money eh.

 

As far as the drink package goes, we more than got our moneys worth with so many sea days and glad you had a reply about the strongbow as my PC has been down all week.

 

Do not miss the Headliner show with the 60's tribute group if they are onboard (I dont recall their name), they were AMAZING! best show during the sailing. They played at Elton Johns wedding and had a standing ovation at the end of their show.

 

The CD (Drew Devine) and his assistant were OK but then as you know, we are huge Joff Eaton/Graham Seymour fans so I think its just an "across the pond" humour thing.

 

Captain Tryms 12 o clock messages are legendary, listen out for "For Sure" as im sure you'll hear that many times.

 

Im sure you will both enjoy the Oasis and I hope you have better luck with the progressive quiz.....we came last! LOL X

 

Hope we get the chance to cruise together sometime soon, send our love to Jon too.

 

Angie & Kev XX

[Marley-Bop]

The Port Everglades webcam made your sail away special for those of us watching it LIVE.:) This is the edited recorded video but as you were sailing away that day they played 'Time to Say Goodbye' on the LIVE feed.

 

 

Thanks Emmy

 

That was lovely, I don't know what I was expecting onboard but it was just a standard sailway.

 

Angie

[Marley-Bop]

Thanks Marley-Bop for your review - it was refreshing to hear constructive comments.

 

We are on the Allure's maiden TA voyage to Europe next April and it has the same itinerary. I was interested to read of the weather conditions in particular and understand some of your other comments re size of the ship etc.. This is the first time we have been on a ship this size, only because it matched perfectly with the dates for us, is the reason why we are going on it..

 

Cheers

Chris

 

Hi Chris

 

Im sure you will have an amazing time, we thought we would never be able to find our way around but once you settle in, its not too bad to navigate.

 

The best thing was I was expecting everywhere to be crowded and queuing but other than sailaway and the usual day 1 lunch in the Windjammer, the ship never seemed overcrowded and we always found sunbeds no matter what time of day it was.

 

Have a great cruise - Angie

Edited September 20, 2014 by Marley-Bop

[Marley-Bop]

We were also on the cruise. Maybe the sail away was not impressive in F.L., but we were wowed in Malaga by the huge crowd of people who came out to watch the ship sail away.

 

Hi Mustgo

 

Malaga was brilliant wasn't it, so many people came out to see the Oasis :)

 

Angie

[rkacruiser]

Thank you for your thoughts about this unique cruise. Quite interesting.

[Gingerbint]

Hi Jo

 

Lovely to hear from you :D

 

Cant believe you are doing the reverse Oasis TA - If only we had more holiday and more money eh.

 

Do not miss the Headliner show with the 60's tribute group if they are onboard (I dont recall their name), they were AMAZING! best show during the sailing. They played at Elton Johns wedding and had a standing ovation at the end of their show

 

I have managed to book us a show for each night of the cruise - whether they are still there on boarding we shall have to see! Will ensure we make that one and Come Fly with Me we have our first night and that seems a not to be missed!

 

The CD (Drew Devine) and his assistant were OK but then as you know, we are huge Joff Eaton/Graham Seymour fans so I think its just an "across the pond" humour thing.

 

We are looking forward to doing the Anthem next July as Joff will be the CD on there once Indy goes

 

Captain Tryms 12 o clock messages are legendary, listen out for "For Sure" as im sure you'll hear that many times.

 

Will do!

 

Im sure you will both enjoy the Oasis and I hope you have better luck with the progressive quiz.....we came last! LOL X

 

Our Roll call has been super active and there are several of us on there looking to team up - I'll let you know how we do! Good to know there will be a progressive one on the trip. But not a 'Joff keyring' at the end! :rolleyes:

 

Hope we get the chance to cruise together sometime soon, send our love to Jon too.

 

 

Angie & Kev XX

 

Will do, I said I'd commented on your post. You can see from my tickers where we're off to - maybe see you on one of them :D

xx

[UNV-IT!!!]

Can't wait I'll be bringing her home next month.