OASIS of the Seas Review, Nov. 13, 2016

[Gator83]

I just returned from sailing Oasis of the Seas to Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and here is my review.

 

Entertainment was fantastic: Ice Show, Aqua Show, Comedy Aqua Show, CATS, Headliner (Finis Henderson), and Comedian (AJ Jamal) were all very good. This is where I think Royal excels. But, why do they have to put The Quest show at 11:00pm? Absurd….didn’t make it to it this time as there was nothing that I wanted to do prior to it, so I just went back to my cabin.

 

Food was average everywhere other than Giovanni's, which was great (even the hot dog wasn’t that good). I didn’t like the new menu changes in the MDR …...didn’t like most of the choices. Lobster was under cooked. Smoked Salmon only one day in the MDR for breakfast…..I thought I could get it every day. I thought the service was a bit off in the MDR because the servers were reaching across the table to serve and fill water glasses and were not delivering plates and taking plates from the correct sides all the time; I know this is picky but it is a dining room and the service should be correct. The waiter and assistant waiter were very pleasant and tried their best other than what I stated above. There was a very long line to get into the MDR on the first formal night and this was with a reservation (My Time Dining) and lines to get into the MDR for breakfast. I have never had lines like that before.

Roast Beef sandwich in Park Café was good as always but the paninis and wraps just didn’t taste good. Didn’t try Sorrento’s because I usually think the pizza is awful. Went to Giavanni’s twice…it was fantastic. Service the first night was very slow but service the second time, for lunch, was excellent.

 

My inside cabin (7402) was a bit of a pain as the bed was way too close to the closet so it was inconvenient and the end of the bed was way too close to the wall which made it very hard to get through and extremely hard to get luggage to the other side of the bed. Cabin steward was friendly and we had no problems with him.

 

The ship was in better condition than I expected with only a little bit of wear and it was always clean.

 

FYI.....You cannot use your Starbucks rewards at the Starbucks on the ship but you can use your Starbucks card.

 

There were so many sales in the Royal Promenade that it became a problem to walk through the area. These sales need to stop….such a pain and putting them in the daily planner takes up so much room it is hard to find the real events that are going on.

 

Speaking of events…….there are a lot of them that you have to pay for and not as many included ones like in the past.

 

I did excursions on my own so I can’t comment on any of Royal’s excursions.

 

Disembarkation had long lines to get through customs and there was a long line on embarkation day.

 

The cruise director and activities manager were great (Drew Devine and Margot).

 

There were more people with scooters than I have seen in the past on Royal.

 

The ship did not feel crowded (other than during all the sales) except for a few times trying to get elevators.

 

Most people were friendly except for some lady that decided to stand right in front of me at the last minute at the parade. I guess she didn't notice the big camera I had and that I was going to take pictures. I told her she could not stand there and she wasn't happy about it.

 

Overall it was a great time but not liking most of the food choices and the quality of the food makes me want to go with another line next time.

I have been on Princess, Holland and Royal and will probably go back to Princess for my next cruise or try Celebrity or even Oceania if I can get a good deal. I am not going to stick with one company, I am going to find the best deal and try different lines even though I do like Royal and would suggest to others to travel with them.

 

Feel free to ask questions.

[pinkandgreenmom]

Thank you for the review. We leave Sunday. I had been wondering how smooth (or not) check in/embarkation was with this new move to Port Canaveral. I am also now debating adding more nights at Giovanni, since that seems to be where people consistently say the food is good.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

[Nursejai]

Did you have a chance to try Chops ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[molsonschooner]

What events did you have to pay for?

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[pinecrest6]

Do you remember the charge for lunch at Givannis?

[Kyndal93]

Nice review. Glad to hear you had a great time! I'll be on the Oasis this Sunday on the Eastern.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Gator83]

Did you have a chance to try Chops ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

No...did not try Chops.

[Gator83]

What events did you have to pay for?

 

I remember there is a cost for Yoga, How to make Sushi, a seminar/tasting for beer....the issue here is that it is a very small taste of different beers. I can't remember what other ones had a cost.

 

I remember from other cruise lines that they had a galley tour, fruit carving demonstrations, ice carving demonstrations, etc. and there wasn't anything like this.

 

There was a back stage tour that was free and the most interesting part was the ability to ask questions of the performers.

[Gator83]

Do you remember the charge for lunch at Givannis?

 

 

Giovanni's was $19 for lunch.

[easyboy]

Thanks for your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[jstcruizin]

What events did you have to pay for?

 

I'm curious about this too as I was on the same cruise and I didn't see any events you had to pay for

[WNYer]

Thanks for the review. What time did you arrive at the port for embarkation?

[BillOh]

The Quest at 11:30 discourages people from bringing kids.

[Gator83]

Thanks for the review. What time did you arrive at the port for embarkation?

 

 

 

We got to the port between 11:15 and 11:30am.

[JMCruiser111]

Thanks for the review. What time did you finish disembarkation? Did you do self-assist?

 

Thanks!

[dapfla]

Curious to know how long it took to get off the ship in St Thomas.

Thanks!

[EatonDoolittle]

Curious to know how long it took to get off the ship in St Thomas.

Thanks!

 

I was on this sailing as well, and my notes reminded me that we were almost a half hour late docking here. Once docked, the ship has the exit strategy worked out pretty well - you use your own gangway, and that avoids some of the bottle neck.

 

If you are thinking of a private excursion, this info is important, and I did not know ahead of time:

This ship, for some reason, does NOT change to local time. A first for me in 35+ cruises on various lines.

 

So, if the ship schedule says you will be in STT from 11A to 7P, it is actually 12 noon to 8P local time.

 

I had a 9:30 meet time the next day in St Maarten some distance away from the pier area for a sailing charter.

By the schedule I had plenty of time (8AM arrival).

Without a ship time change, we actually docked @ 9AM local.

Fortunately, I pay attention, even on vacation, and once I realized there was no time change, I notified the tour operator, and made sure I was in line to be the first one off the ship the next morning.

 

The taxi gods were smiling (not always the case in St Maarten), and I made it to my excursion in time, but if I had not paid attention, I would have never made the excursion.

 

This is during the time when there is NO Daylight Saving Time in the US. Someone else will have to comment, if needed, about what happens during DST.

[dapfla]

Thanks for the reply. We are sailing March 5th so it will still be eastern standard time.

We are organizing a private sailing charter, so I will contact the captain to better coordinate. Thanks again for your valuable insight.