Oasis of the Seas Trip Review w/ Lots of Pics and Commentary *May 28, 2016*

[birdlord]

Enjoying this review and following along. We were on Lady O last December and the pictures are making me miss it. We, too, missed the Rising Tide Bar though we kept saying we were going to do it. But I'll have my chance on Harmony this coming December.

[Singer4Him]

For my family of three, this will be our 7th cruise if I am doing the math correctly, and all of our previous cruises with the exception of this one plus one other on Princess, all of our cruises have been with Carnival and as such, you will see that I will be making quite a bit of comparisons between those two lines.

 

As you can see from my signature, all of our cruises have been with Carnival but we have fallen in love with the Oasis since reading several reviews and watching Periscopes. I'm excited to get to read your review and get your thoughts on the difference between the two lines.

[Cruisin' Along]

What a fun review! I'm enjoying my virtual cruise with you via your TR. I still have to wait over a year before our Oasis cruise. :eek:

[stleda124]

Following

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[perfect match]

I am really enjoying your review and pictures. Thank you very much for sharing. I can hardly wait until it is our turn on Oasis in November.

[cruzin76]

Hope you come back soon. Enjoying!:)

[btregoning]

We are on the Oasis in December for my DD's Sr. Trip. I look forward to reading your review.

[dizneefreak28]

Great review! One of my favorites! We are cruising on her in December. Reading your review is helping me get through the long wait!

[whitsmom]

Thanks for your review! Our Oasis cruise isn't until July 2017 so this is helping us plan. As my hubby says... I have lists for my lists!

[PTAngel]

Thanks for posting this review. We are boarding in September & March. I think of these reviews as my research. I read anything I can get my hands on. I'll be watching for the rest of your review.

[Pooh72]

After recovering from my cruise withdrawal; I finally decide to check out cruise critic. To my surprise what do I see??? You have started a review. I’m loving it!! (Sung like the McDonald’s Commercial)

[Crusin' from Fl]

subscribed

[clochette]

what a great review, love your story at the bar. We never had a chance to experience it, we needed more than 7 days on that ship, there is so much to do.

[seamagic]

Well, I typed a reply to post and hit one wrong key, and POOF it was gone. This one will be shorter, since I've lost my train of thought.

 

I'm loving your review, stories, and pics. Can't wait to see more!!

 

Thanks for the cabin pics. We've sailed the Oasis and Allure before, but on our July cruise we will be in a Boardwalk Balcony for the first time.

[oreomaximus]

Sorry about the long delay guys. Work got the best of me but I promise to put some extra footage in the review tonight for your reading enjoyment.

 

Now.....where were we?

[cruzin76]

On my way to scoop up the munchkin from Adventure Ocean I stopped by the casino and dropped in a few bucks. Didn't do too bad. :D:cool:;)

 

 

After collecting my winnings I headed up to Deck 14 to Adventure Ocean.

 

Let me stop right here and give the AO its just do. Even if you do not have kiddos (or at least ones young enough to visit the AO) you should still make time to stop by Deck 14 Forward to check out the awesome job that Royal has done in providing such an expansive and well thought out space for the kiddos. They have I think three separate areas for the different age groups along with a free play area for toddlers, a "private" arcade room, a private movie screening room and then other separate rooms for arts and crafts. They even had a build a bear machine (that cost extra $$ of course :mad::mad:).

 

At any rate, Amy has some special needs and sometimes requires additional patience and understanding from caregivers. You wouldn't know this unless I mentioned it specifically to you but she can literally run non-stop for like days and has trouble focusing sometimes. The gals in the AO did an awesome job keeping Amy entertained and I felt bad leaving her in there and would frequently drop in after dinner to pick her up only to have her run away from me because she wanted to stay. Needless to say they got some cash tips from us at the end of the cruise. Sorry I didn't take any pics of the outside area, pics of the actual facilities aren't allowed.

 

Could be wrong but I will say here. Lets get stated. Thanks!

[oreomaximus]

I think it is high time we have a serious discussion about the culinary offerings aboard Ms. Oasis. This is also where you will see a pretty obvious comparison between ROYAL and CARNIVAL. The first night aboard the ship we elected to eat in the MDR but for this cruise we had also booked:

 

SABOR........IZUMI.....and CHOPS!!!!

 

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. :D

 

We expected the first night in the MDR to be somewhat chaotic and it wasn't that bad they just had our party of six seated with a party of three and then another couple which would have been fine if we were at a 12-seater but they had kind of pushed a bunch of 2 tops together which made absolutely no sense to me and made it just weird and awkward. Our waiter promised to fix it the next night and he did.

 

On to my review of the food. I'm giving you fair warning here that this review particular section of the review is about to turn very negative for about the next two hundred words or so so if you are a "glass half full", always see the silver lining, super optimistic type, you might want to keep scrolling! ;)

 

Here we go. The food was......

 

horrible. Seriously. At least on the first night. I didn't see anything particularly appealing on the menu, so I decided to play it safe and ordered a Caesar salad I believe it was, and the flat iron steak. It was THE worst steak I had ever had. It was cold, tough, lacked flavor and just tasted like complete and utter garbage. Sorry to be so blunt but to be fair I did warn you. Not to worry though as it would get much better throughout the cruise.

 

The waiter on the other hand was by far THE best waiter we had ever had on ANY cruise. It took me a while to figure out the hierarchy of the wait staff but our main guy was like the regular waiter and then we had an assistant waiter who really didn't do much other than fill our glasses, bring out bread and change out silverware, and then there was a "head waiter" dressed in a suit who also went over and beyond. Let me give you some examples:

 

I already told you that my Aunt Shell rides a scooter, right? Well most nights either he or the "main waiter" we will call him would jump on the scooter and ride it back to an area out of the way so we wouldn't have to find a place to "park" it that was out of the way. I personally think that between the two of them, they took times joyriding around the ship during the dinner but if they did, I won't tell. Second, and I've never seen this level of personal service on ANY ship, they would cut up my daughter's food for her every night on top of making sure they took her order no sooner than three minutes after we sat down. Then they would go down to the galley and bring it up within like 10 minutes I kid you not. My daughter was a happy camper which made Mommy's cruise.

 

I will let you sort out for yourself who took this picture. SMH

 

 

Now onto my personal comparison of the difference between Royal (at least the Oasis for reference) and Carnival. I have narrowed down my theory which can be explained on one sentence:

 

Royal wants its customers to pay for specialty dining. Plain and simple. So much so that I believe they purposefully neglect their "free" dining options such as the Windjammer. Case and point, on a Sea Day, try and eat in the windjammer at around 11am and see if the line doesn't stretch from starboard side of deck 15 to the port side of deck 15. And not to mention, have you ever heard of such foolishness as an annoying announcement in 10 different languages asking you to hurry up and eat and basically vacate the premises every fifteen minutes??!!!! Not cool, ROYAL!!! NOT COOL AT ALL!!! :mad::mad: In five cruises on CARNIVAL (twice on the Breeze during Spring Break) we never had to wait more than five minutes to find a table in the Lido and not to mention the offerings were probably 2-3x's as plentiful in my best estimation.

 

Now, be that as it may, we did, as I mentioned above have plans to visit three specialty restaurants so it didn't bother me as much but as far as free dining options, specifically the buffet and dining room (not counting service) CARNIVAL wins.

 

Next up: SABOR, Attack of the penguins, and more snarky comments.

[oreomaximus]

Don't ask me what time we woke up on Day 3 as I just remember it was a very long night.

 

Speaking of night, let me drop in a few pictures I took that night whilst I was exploring.

 

The kid's splash pad area at night -- and by the way, I don't know if it was a fluke but my daughter only got t enjoy this place once as nearly every time we went it was closed due to "a health hazard" which basically means somebody's baby kept pooping in the pool. Its all good though...she still had fun.

 

 

Dallas. Mad I'm assuming because he has to wear that ridiculous lanyard.

 

 

Need I even explain why this picture is blurry?

 

 

The rest I took obviously.

 

Looking down into Central Park.

 

 

[oreomaximus]

So we went to Sabor for lunch, guys. It was REALLY good. It really was. I can tell you that the other reviewers are NOT exaggerating when they say the table side guacamole is excellent.

 

 

 

 

The only thing I was disappointed about was that they no longer have the $20 taste menu. Needless to say we just tried two smaller entrees as a result since we knew we would double back the the MDR.

 

 

 

 

[oreomaximus]

After we ate at Sabor we decided to go get lil Amy and take her to the pool for some fun.

 

She looked so cute in her bathing suit...we obviously didn't need to tell that since she automatically struck a pose and just assumed I knew to take the picture.

 

[oreomaximus]

Okay so I almost forgot about the penguins.

 

So my daughter is like the sweetest, most friendly, most talkative 4 year old ever. She will strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, regardless of what they look like or whether they entertain her or not. Now, she's really into right now, Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins, the Peanuts, Yo Gabba Gabba, Teen Titans Go, etc., etc. etc. So needless to say since she's pretty much fearless and will run screaming like a wild banshee if she sees one of her "characters" in person. Its a sight to see really. She goes absolutely berserk.

 

Case in point, we flew to LA a few weeks before the cruse to visit a sick relative and decided at the last minute to take her to Knotts Berry Farm since we are doing Disney next year. Her favorite "characters" from the Peanuts are Lucy and Peppermint Patty who for some reason she calls "Patty My Suga". Don't ask. Anyway, at one point we are watching one of the live performances and waiting for the characters to come out as they are being introduced....we are are the other side of the stage sitting on the bench and Amy is over on the other side where all the kids have gathered. They announce Lucy and she proceeds to climb.... up.... on..... the.... stage. I only got to take one picture of her before I realized she was about to get ON the stage and attack Lucy and had to run over to intervene. ....I bet have some pictures....

 

 

And then later when they were doing the meet-n-greet. There was a line but you know...Amy is like her Dad they think lines are for "other people"...lol.

 

 

SNOOPY!!!!

 

 

Okay I swear there's a reason I went all over the continental United States to tell you this story. The reason I am saying all of this is because never in all of the 4 years Amy has been on this earth has she ever, EVER been afraid or the slightest bit hesitant of any sort of "character" as you can see from her interactions at Knott's. That is until she saw these evil creatures:

 

 

So the picture above is actually during the parade but the event I am about to describe to you was quite random and completely unexpected and actually took place on deck 5, the Promenade Deck, Starboard side right in front of the rising tide bar and adjacent to the Champagne bar. Its a sort of open area -- its actually where you first board the ship I believe. But anyway, Amy and I were walking around doing our usual thing and exploring the ship while Daddy tested the limit of his drink pass, and all of a sudden, Amy let's go of my hand and takes off like Carl Lewis in the 100 meter dash. And when I say she took off like the Flash I mean this little girl was flying. I literally had to run a good 50 yards just to catch up with her partly because I was so stunned that she took off so abruptly. Usually if she tries that its just to go a short distance and before she gets too far I can grab her arm.

 

By the time I get a hold to her eyes are as big as saucers and even though I have her arm she's pulling my arm and saying, "no mommy, noooooo" I mean the child is almost in tears. I'm totally clueless and I'm like Amy what's wrong?So she's like, "Mommy pick me up." So I do and she's like looking over my shoulder and shaking her head. She communicates very well but because she is within the spectrum sometimes its hard for her to focus and tell me what's wrong so she wasn't able to tell me what had scared her.

 

We walk over to the Promenade Cafe to get her some MUD CAKES and she eventually calms down. After a few minutes, we walk out and go back towards the boardwalk when she attempts to pull away and run again. I'm like what is wrong with you. This time, she points over to where a photographer is taking pictures of kids with none other than the penguins from Madagascar. I'm thinking to myself she can't be scared of these things so I grab her hand and lead her around the back of the glass staircase that goes up to deck 6 near the entrance to the boardwalk and walk over where the photographer is.

 

At that moment, some other kids are leaving and the photog asks me if I want to take a picture I'm like sure. Meanwhile Amy has her head like between my legs -- okay that's not the best description but you get what I mean. I'm like Amy come on its the Penguins lets go take a picture. She's just shaking her head. So I pick her up and walk over closer thinking well if we get closer and she can see they're just "characters" she will be okay.

 

Wrong. The stupid penguin reaches out to touch her and she Amy starts shrieking like some sort of hyena. In my peripheral vision I can see the people at the rising tide bar all turning their heads in unison to see what the hell is making that noise. At that point I know I've failed as a mother and I just want to escape with my child in tow to the cabin. But nooooooo the other stupid penguin comes over to what.....help? No, dummy you're making it worse. Now I have Amy in my arms (who is mind you over 4 feet tall and 50 pounds) kicking, flailing and screaming. Then I start screaming for them to "get away", "just get away" because if I try and move with her having a freak out we might both end up on the floor.

 

Can you imagine the scene? I just know people were thinking, "look at that drunk ass woman and she obviously let's her child some of what she was having."

 

My husband had a good laugh when I relayed the story to him later but payback is a you know what and it would be sweet. Needless to say I was mortified and let Amy eat 6 different flavors of ice cream at Ben and Jerry's to make up for my poor parenting decision in hopes that she won't be traumatized for the rest of her life. :(

[oreomaximus]

As in, here is some useful advice, not the monetary kind.

 

Everybody on Royal Caribbean will tell you that Sorrento's Pizza is some of THE worst pizza at sea. Take my word for it when I tell you that they are partly correct BUT my husband discovered that you can actually make your pizza to order and instead of having to settle for the dry, cardboard and thin layer of cheese they serve to the masses, take 15 minutes and MAKE YOUR OWN. After he figured that out we ate it at least once a day and it was great especially since it was hot.

 

You're welcome.

 

Does this not look tasty? MMmmmmm

 

[oreomaximus]

So that night we reservations in the Opal Theater to see the Headliner, I believe his name was Tony Tillman or Paul Tillman or something like that. I told you I tend to be bad with names sometimes. At any rate, this guy starts off kind of....interesting for lack of a better description. I honestly thought he was a comedian. But he was more like an entertainer of sorts. And entertain he did. After the first couple of awkward minutes -- and again I think it was because we had all been expecting to see a comedian and were confused, it became evident that we were seeing something special. This guy is really talented. He dances, tells jokes, gives some history lessons, sings classic rock, r&b, country, pop, soul. And of course he picked on the younger generations music choices I think he even did some Beyonce at some point. At any rate, don't miss this show. At the end he did a tribute to Prince that made me cry as he was my all time favorite performer. Do not miss this guy if he's on your cruise.

 

 

 

 

These three sitting up top waiting for the show to start.

 

 

Oh, oh, oh how could I forget. Insert gripe here.

 

I could not believe that after all the money Royal charges you to get on their ship that they had the audacity to CHARGE FOR POPCORN TO WATCH THE SHOW!!!! THAT'S RIGHT, THEY CHARGE $2.50 FOR POPCORN. I ALMOST BLEW A GASKET.

 

PREPARE YOURSELVES. :p

[oreomaximus]

So remember when I told you we had the best service ever in the MDR? Well apparently we were the best guests they've ever had (must have been that $200 cash tip we left them, lol) look what we found in our rooms one evening.

 

 

 

 

Coming up...day 4 -- St. Thomas.

[Lady_831]

Awww....Poor Amy!!! I don't blame her, those penguins scare me too!!!!

 

Loving the review!