Oasis of the Seas Review - Eastern - November 27, 2016

[Kyndal93]

Hello all,

 

I just got back from my 7 day cruise aboard the Oasis today, and just wanted to say first, it was a great time. I just wanted to give y'all a short review with highlights on my experience.

 

Embarkation:

 

The embarkation process was very smooth and easy. We live about 45 minutes Port Canaveral, we left the house about 11:30 and opted to park at Park Port Canaveral (at the Radisson). We got there and we're aboard a shuttle to the port by 12:45. They were great as always and I would highly recommend them. There was a huge line at the terminal, but it moved rather quickly and were on board within 45 minutes.

 

The Ship:

 

Wow. What a beautiful ship. It was huge, but it wasn't hard to find your way around after a couple days. Central Park was Gorgeous, although I must admit I didn't spend much time there, only went there twice I think for Park Cafe and Rising Tide Bar. The Boardwalk was very cool, and enjoyed the atmosphere. Overall, I enjoyed the Promenade the most, and always found myself here for before dinner drinks with the family. The pool decks were great, and there were so many different pools and places to be, that it never felt packed.

 

The Room:

 

Room was small, especially with the sofa bed out and four people in it. But we didn't mind. Beds were very comfortable, and slept amazing on them. Bathroom was a tad bigger than I've experienced in other ships which was nice. We loved our Ocean View balcony, but unfortunately had many issues with our neighbors two doors down from us and wasn't able to utilize it as much as we would have liked. But more on that later. Our stateroom attendant, Corrine, was fantastic and hilarious, we really enjoyed her.

 

Service:

 

Service was great. Some of the best I've experienced on a cruise. Stateroom attendant was fantastic as stated before. Bartenders was quick and friendly. Majority of blackjack dealers were fun and personable, and remembered us and names from nights before. The only service that was slow and just okay was MDR, which was disappointing. We had to wait in long lines for Reservation Line, and then dinner always took forever.

 

Food:

 

The food was pretty good. MDR was the same as always, fancy food that is just okay. Park Cafe had a good roast beef sandwich. Windjammer was good for breakfast. Johnny Rockets was awesome for dinner, but not good for breakfast. Sabor was very yummy, I'd recommend the Barbocoa tacos, Polito quesadilla, and guacamole. The hotdogs were okay. Cups and Scoops had a great Cupcake Sunday. Did not try Chops, Giovanni's, Or Izumi.

 

Entertainment:

 

There were some really great shows on the Oasis. I enjoyed the Quest show, which my best friend participated in and he won 2nd place, it was hilarious. I also liked the Love and Marriage, Belly Flop Comp, Aqua Show and Comedy Show. I was disappointed with that there were many times throughout the day that it seemed nothing was going on, so I ended up at the casino, pool or back in the room. The casino was awesome, it was huge and had several $10 blackjack tables open, in case you got on a bad table. I also won 2nd place in the BJ tournament! My biggest complaint for the whole cruise was everything thing shut down and there was no one out on the ship but maybe 20 people after midnight. I for one am not used to this, and it was really disappointing going to the deck party or nightclub and it being almost empty.

 

Fellow Passengers:

 

That brings me to my next point. The average age on this ship seemed to be 75, literally. There were so many old people. And royal Caribbean catered to them as well. Everything closed by 1am, even when we had full tables at Blackjack. This also brings me back to our balcony situation. On the second night since everything was closed by 12, we were outside enjoying the view on our balcony and having a quiet conversation. Five minutes later, security pounds on the door saying we are being too loud and they got a complaint. This happened two night in a row, and we were not in the slightest being loud. My friend went and apologized to both our neighbors, but they said they didn't call. We found out it was our neighbors 2 doors down, with the scooter outside their door, figures. So we just decided to not go out on the balcony any longer except morning.

 

Ports of Call:

 

Did not get off the boat at Nassau, because I had been there multiple times and I honestly, I was a little hungover that day.

 

St. Thomas was beautiful. We decided to do a RC excursion, 2 Island Caribbean Fast Cat Snorkel and Beach Safari. It was one of the best excursions I've ever done, and I would highly recommend it. We boarded a catamaran with a fun lively crew and it was only half full. So we ended up having the entire back of the boat to ourselves, which was great. We snorkeled at Buck Island, and saw a couple sea turtles an colorful fish, but it wasn't very impressive. When we boarded back on the ship, we started drinking rum punch and they never let Or cups get empty. When we arrived at Honeymoon Beach at Water Island we swam ashore and ate a fantastic lunch. The burgers were sooo good! Then after an hour boarded the ship, drank more and partied back to the port.

 

St Maarten was also an island I had never been to before, so we booked an excursion through JunieJo tours to go to Orient Beach and Maho Beach. Besides our tour guide, who never stopped talking and relating everything fact about the island to money, it was a blast. Orient beach was very pretty and relaxing. And the planes were very cool at Maho, as well as Sunset Bar and Grill was a lot of fun.

 

Overall:

 

Me and my friends and family had a fantastic time, and will never forget it. The boat was nice and the ports were fun. But, it seemed that this was not my crowd. The amount of older folks was too much, and the fact that RC caters to them was irritating. I don't recall RC always being this way, but my next cruise will be through Carnival for this reason alone. I need party and casino til 4am and 24 hr pizza! [emoji12]

 

 

 

 

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[atnolan94]

Thanks for the review! Yes typically on a non-peak week like yours there are more elderly folks so they definitely are more catered to. I think if you did one in March or May-August the vibe would be different!!

[loudbmw]

We were on the same cruise and noticed the large number of older folks too. One plus, it meant for shorter lines on the Flowrider all week.

 

Lou

[island lady]

Enjoy your cruising on Carnival. You are right...more geared for the "party"

types. ;)

[smootsdce]

Hi Lou! Great to see you on here, this is Shane's (Flowrider) wife.

 

I agree with the OP about the age of the guests being considerably older than usual. With the number of walkers, wheelchairs, and scooters it felt like we were on a Princess cruise. In our survey, we did comment that it appears that the Oasis catered to the older age bracket, which is not their target age group.

 

We were frequently bored, and felt the ship was crowded.

 

I must say though...I still had a great time, and met incredible people. I will simply stick to the ships I prefer such as the Navigator and Freedom.

 

 

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[cruzin76]

Thanks for the review. I learn something every:)one I read

[ronandcarla]

And the very reason we like to cruise during later winter months when spring break is approaching is that the age group is considerably younger and brings much life to the atmosphere; and btw we are 69 and 61

[riclop]

Try Carnival in the spring.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

[TrojanUSC]

I've heard that the demographic on Oasis has been much older since going to Port Everglades.

[Clarea]

Interesting report, thanks.

[pedirn]

We were also on this cruise. A few observations.

 

1. Shorts were allowed in dining room at night. Not just the first night when people were waiting on luggage. It seemed one night almost ever other man was in shorts. Funny to see what some thought were "dress shorts".

 

2. Wheelchairs, Scooters and Walkers were allowed to clutter hallways. I realize that there are limited handicap cabins but it is my safety you are putting in jeopardy when you leave these items in the hallway. Blocks evacuation in an emergency, Cruiseline did not enforce clean hallway. Problem also added to by those who placed room service trays and plates outside door.

 

3. MTD was a cluster. If you book in the last few months prior to sailing there will be no reasonable dining times available to you. Or is this a ploy to get more into specialty restaurants ? Add in some dietary restrictions...well it was not a well run department.

 

4. Our balcony...11564...was unusable due to overhanging hot tubs. Water continually dripped/poured onto balcony leaving chairs and table wet. But booked a guarantee cabin so that's how the dice roll.

 

5. Shows in theater were better than others I have seen on other ships. Wish we could have seen comedian but that venue was just too small to allow all that wanted to enter.

 

Please don't think I am just being old and cranky. It was not our best cruise nor near the top of the list. But we met some really nice people and made new friends. Not sure if we will book this class of ship again. Were issues ship related or class/size of ship related?

[sunsetbeachgal]

We were on the Oasis the week before you and what a different crowd we had, kids, teens, literally by the thousands! But it was a holiday sailing.

 

I also have never seen so much S*** in the hallways as I have seen on this ship. Trays, dishes with uneaten food (yuk!), glasses, you name it. And all day long, not just in the morning or evening. In my many cruises on various lines including RCCL I have never seen anything that remotely resembled what I saw on the Oasis. I also do not think mobility devices should be permitted to be stored in the halls, the halls are not wide enough for this and I would think in an emergency situation this would be a huge hazard.

 

Thanks for your comments and review! We also loved the shows! While we had a great time with family, like you I would be unlikely too book this ship again.

Edited December 6, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[cruising twosome]

Thank you for the review. We sail on her in Feb.2017, looking forward to experiencing this size ship for the first time.

[thisislou]

We were on the Oasis the week before you and what a different crowd we had, kids, teens, literally by the thousands! But it was a holiday sailing.

 

I also have never seen so much S*** in the hallways as I have seen on this ship. Trays, dishes with uneaten food (yuk!), glasses, you name it. And all day long, not just in the morning or evening. In my many cruises on various lines including RCCL I have never seen anything that remotely resembled what I saw on the Oasis. I also do not think mobility devices should be permitted to be stored in the halls, the halls are not wide enough for this and I would think in an emergency situation this would be a huge hazard.

 

Thanks for your comments and review! We also loved the shows! While we had a great time with family, like you I would be unlikely too book this ship again.

 

We also were on this cruise. As far as food in the hallways… This was the first time we had the problem. I had a late plate from the Windjammer and left the plate on my counter. The room steward put the plate outside my door when the room was cleaned. It sat there for also 20 hours. When I complained I was told that it was room services job to clean them – not the room person. After many calls and going up the latter – it was taken away… new policy?

[pedirn]

We also were on this cruise. As far as food in the hallways… This was the first time we had the problem. I had a late plate from the Windjammer and left the plate on my counter. The room steward put the plate outside my door when the room was cleaned. It sat there for also 20 hours. When I complained I was told that it was room services job to clean them – not the room person. After many calls and going up the latter – it was taken away… new policy?

 

Now this is funny. I actually witnessed our room steward take our room service tray out of our room and to a room off the hallway.

[troykahack]

Hello all,

 

I just got back from my 7 day cruise aboard the Oasis today, and just wanted to say first, it was a great time. I just wanted to give y'all a short review with highlights on my experience.

 

Embarkation:

 

The embarkation process was very smooth and easy. We live about 45 minutes Port Canaveral, we left the house about 11:30 and opted to park at Park Port Canaveral (at the Radisson). We got there and we're aboard a shuttle to the port by 12:45. They were great as always and I would highly recommend them. There was a huge line at the terminal, but it moved rather quickly and were on board within 45 minutes.

 

The Ship:

 

Wow. What a beautiful ship. It was huge, but it wasn't hard to find your way around after a couple days. Central Park was Gorgeous, although I must admit I didn't spend much time there, only went there twice I think for Park Cafe and Rising Tide Bar. The Boardwalk was very cool, and enjoyed the atmosphere. Overall, I enjoyed the Promenade the most, and always found myself here for before dinner drinks with the family. The pool decks were great, and there were so many different pools and places to be, that it never felt packed.

 

The Room:

 

Room was small, especially with the sofa bed out and four people in it. But we didn't mind. Beds were very comfortable, and slept amazing on them. Bathroom was a tad bigger than I've experienced in other ships which was nice. We loved our Ocean View balcony, but unfortunately had many issues with our neighbors two doors down from us and wasn't able to utilize it as much as we would have liked. But more on that later. Our stateroom attendant, Corrine, was fantastic and hilarious, we really enjoyed her.

 

Service:

 

Service was great. Some of the best I've experienced on a cruise. Stateroom attendant was fantastic as stated before. Bartenders was quick and friendly. Majority of blackjack dealers were fun and personable, and remembered us and names from nights before. The only service that was slow and just okay was MDR, which was disappointing. We had to wait in long lines for Reservation Line, and then dinner always took forever.

 

Food:

 

The food was pretty good. MDR was the same as always, fancy food that is just okay. Park Cafe had a good roast beef sandwich. Windjammer was good for breakfast. Johnny Rockets was awesome for dinner, but not good for breakfast. Sabor was very yummy, I'd recommend the Barbocoa tacos, Polito quesadilla, and guacamole. The hotdogs were okay. Cups and Scoops had a great Cupcake Sunday. Did not try Chops, Giovanni's, Or Izumi.

 

Entertainment:

 

There were some really great shows on the Oasis. I enjoyed the Quest show, which my best friend participated in and he won 2nd place, it was hilarious. I also liked the Love and Marriage, Belly Flop Comp, Aqua Show and Comedy Show. I was disappointed with that there were many times throughout the day that it seemed nothing was going on, so I ended up at the casino, pool or back in the room. The casino was awesome, it was huge and had several $10 blackjack tables open, in case you got on a bad table. I also won 2nd place in the BJ tournament! My biggest complaint for the whole cruise was everything thing shut down and there was no one out on the ship but maybe 20 people after midnight. I for one am not used to this, and it was really disappointing going to the deck party or nightclub and it being almost empty.

 

Fellow Passengers:

 

That brings me to my next point. The average age on this ship seemed to be 75, literally. There were so many old people. And royal Caribbean catered to them as well. Everything closed by 1am, even when we had full tables at Blackjack. This also brings me back to our balcony situation. On the second night since everything was closed by 12, we were outside enjoying the view on our balcony and having a quiet conversation. Five minutes later, security pounds on the door saying we are being too loud and they got a complaint. This happened two night in a row, and we were not in the slightest being loud. My friend went and apologized to both our neighbors, but they said they didn't call. We found out it was our neighbors 2 doors down, with the scooter outside their door, figures. So we just decided to not go out on the balcony any longer except morning.

 

Ports of Call:

 

Did not get off the boat at Nassau, because I had been there multiple times and I honestly, I was a little hungover that day.

 

St. Thomas was beautiful. We decided to do a RC excursion, 2 Island Caribbean Fast Cat Snorkel and Beach Safari. It was one of the best excursions I've ever done, and I would highly recommend it. We boarded a catamaran with a fun lively crew and it was only half full. So we ended up having the entire back of the boat to ourselves, which was great. We snorkeled at Buck Island, and saw a couple sea turtles an colorful fish, but it wasn't very impressive. When we boarded back on the ship, we started drinking rum punch and they never let Or cups get empty. When we arrived at Honeymoon Beach at Water Island we swam ashore and ate a fantastic lunch. The burgers were sooo good! Then after an hour boarded the ship, drank more and partied back to the port.

 

St Maarten was also an island I had never been to before, so we booked an excursion through JunieJo tours to go to Orient Beach and Maho Beach. Besides our tour guide, who never stopped talking and relating everything fact about the island to money, it was a blast. Orient beach was very pretty and relaxing. And the planes were very cool at Maho, as well as Sunset Bar and Grill was a lot of fun.

 

Overall:

 

Me and my friends and family had a fantastic time, and will never forget it. The boat was nice and the ports were fun. But, it seemed that this was not my crowd. The amount of older folks was too much, and the fact that RC caters to them was irritating. I don't recall RC always being this way, but my next cruise will be through Carnival for this reason alone. I need party and casino til 4am and 24 hr pizza! [emoji12]

 

 

 

 

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On Serenade last two weeks, so few in the Casino that they closed at 11 one night and 12 another. We were playing craps with a full table (nothing else going on) and they actually did me a favor that night by shutting down early. Otherwise, closing was around 1am.

[pinkandgreenmom]

We were on this cruise as well. We are in our mid 40s and were surprised by the age of fellow passengers. We went to a dancing party one night at Blaze around midnight and there was no one dancing. We watched people our age and younger come in, survey the deadness of the scene, shake their heads and walk out.

 

We only ate dinner in the MDR the first night. We had reservations for MTD and were seated within 5 minutes of arriving, but it was just such a mess down there in the hallway and with people all over complaining about how long it took to get seated (our tablemates without reservations waited over an hour and a half) that we just didn't want to be bothered again. Plus the food was just average so we didn't feel like we were missing anything.

 

Our best meals were Sabor (guacamole and chicken quesadillas) and Giovanni. The worst was our ice cold breakfast at Johnny Rockets, and my raw filet at Chops (ordered medium, came out cold and raw in the inside). They "fixed" my filet by searing it so the outside was burnt but the inside was still blood red.

 

Other than that, we had a wonderful time. We drank in almost every bar and service was great. Lots of servers walking around in the Solarium, too. The diving show, ABBA, and flying show were amazing. We were scheduled for Cats the last day but it was cancelled due to cast injuries.

 

We talked to some people who were on Navigator when we were in St. Maarten. They had similar complaints about the quality of the food as we were hearing from passengers on Oasis.

[smootsdce]

We were on this cruise as well. We are in our mid 40s and were surprised by the age of fellow passengers. We went to a dancing party one night at Blaze around midnight and there was no one dancing. We watched people our age and younger come in, survey the deadness of the scene, shake their heads and walk out.

 

We only ate dinner in the MDR the first night. We had reservations for MTD and were seated within 5 minutes of arriving, but it was just such a mess down there in the hallway and with people all over complaining about how long it took to get seated (our tablemates without reservations waited over an hour and a half) that we just didn't want to be bothered again. Plus the food was just average so we didn't feel like we were missing anything.

 

Our best meals were Sabor (guacamole and chicken quesadillas) and Giovanni. The worst was our ice cold breakfast at Johnny Rockets, and my raw filet at Chops (ordered medium, came out cold and raw in the inside). They "fixed" my filet by searing it so the outside was burnt but the inside was still blood red.

 

Other than that, we had a wonderful time. We drank in almost every bar and service was great. Lots of servers walking around in the Solarium, too. The diving show, ABBA, and flying show were amazing. We were scheduled for Cats the last day but it was cancelled due to cast injuries.

 

We talked to some people who were on Navigator when we were in St. Maarten. They had similar complaints about the quality of the food as we were hearing from passengers on Oasis.

No, say it isn't so!!! Don't tell me my beloved Navigator is having issues. You are hurting my heart. :(

 

That was my first RCI cruise and I LOVED it... have been anxious to go on it again, but hasn't lined up until this coming March.

 

I hope it's just the time of year.

 

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[cruisegirl1]

Thank you for the review. We are sailing Oasis on your same itinerary shortly. We've had an opportunity to cruise several times each year and find lots of variation in demographics from cruise to cruise, even on the same ship.

Thanks,

M

[Ken Greco]

I agree that RCCL caters to a much older crowd in the off season. Your other option is to go in high season but then again you deal with massive amount of kids. RCCL is pushing large family groups with heavy discounts that brings kids, parents, grandparents and those dreaded scooters. Been on Carnival and they do cater to a "party" crowd. Now out of Port Canaveral the retirement communities like Lake Aston is a short drive away. Try a cruise out of the NY area, I being one of them love to "party". Celebrity cruise line part of RCCL caters to more of an upscale group of cruisers; I am not sure what is the age group or the "party" status.

[smootsdce]

I agree that RCCL caters to a much older crowd in the off season. Your other option is to go in high season but then again you deal with massive amount of kids. RCCL is pushing large family groups with heavy discounts that brings kids, parents, grandparents and those dreaded scooters. Been on Carnival and they do cater to a "party" crowd. Now out of Port Canaveral the retirement communities like Lake Aston is a short drive away. Try a cruise out of the NY area, I being one of them love to "party". Celebrity cruise line part of RCCL caters to more of an upscale group of cruisers; I am not sure what is the age group or the "party" status.

There were two buses from The Villages there. [emoji4]

 

Having said that, I met many wonderful people from those communities. This sounds horrible, but I was really surprised by how late some of those folks were up! They attended the Quest, the late night comedy show, and other events.

 

I think early dining was a big issue for many and that was probably health related. While many of these folks might be old/older... there is a reason they are on RCI and not on Holland or Princess. I think they like the dynamic/edgy shows.

 

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[cruzin76]

There were two buses from The Villages there. [emoji4]

 

Having said that, I met many wonderful people from those communities. This sounds horrible, but I was really surprised by how late some of those folks were up! They attended the Quest, the late night comedy show, and other events.

 

I think early dining was a big issue for many and that was probably health related. While many of these folks might be old/older... there is a reason they are on RCI and not on Holland or Princess. I think they like the dynamic/edgy shows.

 

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Love your closing sentence. We are in our early 60's. We are not ready for those rest home boats yet. :D Did have a great cruise on Hal 8 years ago:). Was glad they had a movie theater and great popcorn to keep us up.

Edited December 7, 2016 by cruzin76

[orkaren]

I agree that RCCL caters to a much older crowd in the off season. Your other option is to go in high season but then again you deal with massive amount of kids. RCCL is pushing large family groups with heavy discounts that brings kids, parents, grandparents and those dreaded scooters. Been on Carnival and they do cater to a "party" crowd. Now out of Port Canaveral the retirement communities like Lake Aston is a short drive away. Try a cruise out of the NY area, I being one of them love to "party". Celebrity cruise line part of RCCL caters to more of an upscale group of cruisers; I am not sure what is the age group or the "party" status.

 

 

Sorry you have an issue with the "dreaded" scooters. My husband is not a senior citizen but does have a progressive degenerative neurological condition that requires him to use a scooter or wheelchair to go anywhere. He would much prefer not to need a scooter but unfortunately has lost his ability to walk. Please don't judge or complain about items people might need to have a little fun in their lives.

[Snit13]

Sorry you have an issue with the "dreaded" scooters. My husband is not a senior citizen but does have a progressive degenerative neurological condition that requires him to use a scooter or wheelchair to go anywhere. He would much prefer not to need a scooter but unfortunately has lost his ability to walk. Please don't judge or complain about items people might need to have a little fun in their lives.

 

I believe you are missing the point. The cabin doors are not wide enough to accomodate most scooters and when they are parked in the hallways they are a safety hazard for all on that deck who may need to pass by or God forbid, evacuate ship.

 

Both my DH and I have mobility issues and scooters parked in the hallways are a hinderance for us when we need to walk by. I still can get by with a cane but do not need obstructions in my walkway which might cause me to fall and injure myself. I do however require a scooter at grocery store or when shopping at WalMart so I do understand.

 

Not your fault in my opinion but the fault of the cruise line that did not plan and provide a place for scooter parking.

 

We live near The Villages and many if not most who live there are party people and proud of it. Just because we are no longer "spring chickens" doesn't mean we want to sit in the corner and dry up. We can eat, drink, hoot and holler with the best of you, but may need to sit down to do it. Your time will come, hopefully not to soon.