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LIVE REVIEW - OASIS TRANSATLANTIC with Pictures

Kcjarvis

By Kcjarvis,
in Royal Caribbean International

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steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

Posted
Posted

Welcome back home, Ken (and Paulette)!! Looking forward to meet you on the Allure!

 

Took my DH 2 hours to get through immigration (he opted for the sawgrass mills tours as his flight was not until 5 pm). He reported that immigration was super correct. And of course it´s been the first entry to the US for all European and other non US passengers. So all of them had to go through the regular procedure with photo and fingerprints. On a regular Caribbean run all non US passengers have gone through that procedure at the airport already and it´s just a returning with no new visa waiver or visa process. So on a regular run you only have to show your passport but no fingerprints or photos. That´s why it took much more time yesterday.

 

steamboats

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ILuvCruisin'

ILuvCruisin'

Posted
Posted (edited)
We went to the 2:30 performance of Cats

 

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At the intermission - The lead cat stayed on stage and allowed people to take pictures with him

 

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I will provide my Cats review in my upcoming cruise summary

 

 

Thanks so much for this wonderful review and these Cats pics are FANTASTIC! I just had to repost them. I can hardly wait to sail.

Edited by ILuvCruisin'
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tanzer22pilot

tanzer22pilot

Posted
Posted

If this was a disaster:

 

"We were on the Oasis last April, and the Allure last week. Loved the Oaais, not the Allure. There was no service in the Windjammer buffet, was totally disorganized. Bananas in a bowl by the ketchup and mayo, not with the other fruit. It was a disaster. I hope they do a better job in their new endeavor."

 

Pinkribbonlady

 

 

I can only imagine how she would have felt in Southampton.

 

d3435206ed56e54ce2b4cc6581c9699e_zps2dc0a06f.jpg

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The Big Booper

The Big Booper

Posted
Posted
Yorkvillain - WOW! I am getting the oddest looks at work LAUGHING my butt off and no one knows why I am losing it over here!

 

Bananas in a bowl next to the ketchup and Mayo is the name of my new band!!!![/quote]

 

Let's see who gets this reference -

 

"Two ladies in de shade of de Banana Tree"

 

Just popped into my head while looking this up.

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Kcjarvis

Kcjarvis

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In my previous reviews, I never would compare Oasis and Allure to the rest of the fleet because the level of service on the Flagships was always superior.

 

Sadly, this is no longer the case:

 

Cabin – The Crown Loft was amazing. There was an awful welding acidic burn smell in the hallway. The constant sawing and banging from the Coastal Kitchen and Royal Suite construction was annoying. This work should have been done in dry dock.

 

Captain – Captain Selvag did a great job navigating across the stormy Atlantic

 

Concierge – Rami & Israel were great. Rami has a great personality and is the perfect complement to Israel.

 

Premium Cruiser Amenities: Bottom line - if you pay for a suite, you should be rewarded with upgraded amenities. We love what RCCL is doing for their premium cruisers. We loved the Suite Lounge and the deck 17 Sun deck. The free drinks between 11 am and 8:30 pm are great.

 

Food – Subjective – Overall good. Bring back the real Mud Pie and the Vidalia onion tart!!!!!!

 

Suite attendant – Rohan and Asst Lionel were outstanding. They were friendly, efficient and always called us by name.

 

Bar service – Excellent in the Suite Lounge and in Dazzles during the Diamond cocktail hours.

 

Room Service – Poor – The food wasn't freshly cooked, made a few errors, on average took over 45 mins to deliver. Room Service was closed on the 1st night although the Compass said it was open 24 hours.

 

Internet Service – Very good for the old non O3b System - Excellent on laptop / Fair on Ipad. Skype video, and iMessage worked, Facetime didn’t.

 

CD – Drew Devine. Never saw him around the ship, but did a nice job with the Quest. Activities manager Michelle was excellent.

 

Entertainment – Comedy Show comedians were primarily UK focused with heavy accents. A number of people left during the performance. They should have had one UK and 1 American.

 

Cats – We love musicals and enjoyed Cats. I’m not sure it will appeal to the same number of people Hairspray did. At the 2:30 performance about 35% of the audience didn’t return after the intermission. The staging, choreography and singing were well done. I didn’t think the Glamour Cat pulled off the song Memories. Not even close to Elaine Paige and Betty Buckley – overall very good

 

Misc – No problems bringing on water or a power strip

 

I really wish Adam and Richard were on board to see the crowds of people lined up in Rotterdam and Vigo to see the Oasis. The energy exhibited by the onlookers was incredible; the energy exhibited by the guests was incredible. Unfortunately, the energy exhibited by the crew did not match the onlookers or guests. I blame headquarters & the ship board management. I understand being the 1st cruise after dry dock, I understand the weather on a Caribbean designed ship, I understand having 2500 demanding Diamond and above members on board. What I don’t understand is why RCCL didn’t bring their management oversight and best practices with them from Florida. The Southampton cruise planner IT issue was ridiculous. Where was management? 5000 people boarding and you put all of the seapass cards on 1 desk creating gridlock? Where was management? We waited 50 mins for breakfast in Chops because they ran out of eggs and had to go “downstairs” for more. So when you had 10 eggs left, why didn’t you send someone down to get more? Where was management? The bartender in the Solarium bar said the ship was out of Pinot Grigio, although every other bar had it. Another Bartender said, “He just doesn’t know how to get more from the store room.” Where was management? I wont ever rehash the Back to Back denied boarding fiasco.

I do admit these are all first world problem and we were one of the lucky ones. We had a great suite. We didn’t have long lines in Rotterdam, Southampton or Fort Lauderdale. We heard horror stories of having no hot water, no water, broken toilets, bad service, double booked rooms (Royal Suite included) and physical alterations. We didn’t have any of those issues and in the end we met some really great people.

 

Rating –

Overall we had a good time, but RCCL missed the mark on providing the WOW factor this Transatlantic “event” warranted. Score 80%

 

Shout outs – The Royal Suite Crew, Chiqui, Mick, Wendy & Tom, Emmy & Rick, Julie & Manny, Mindy & John, Karen & Bill, our neighbors Sherri & Raymond and an extra special shout out to David & Rodney. Thanks to Steamboats for helping me fill in some of the blanks.

 

Thanks for all of the kind words; it was a lot of fun doing this live.

 

This is Ken Jarvis and I approve this review.

 

p.s. no we aren't Mr & Mrs Smith :-)

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