Just back from the Oasis - Sept 16 - September 23 (Grand Suite - 11654)

[Dahlia11]

Parking,luggage drop off, and embarkation processing at PC was quick, easy and welldone. Suite pax were sent to a dedicatedwaiting area with snacks and cold drinks. Around 11AM we were asked to getready to board. We were part of a group in the queue following 100 pluspassengers who had sailed on the Oasis the week before (back to back). So upthe gangway we went towards deck 5 - in 90 degree temperatures and stopped -and waited and waited and waited. Seemsthere was something wrong with the back to back passengers sea pass cards andthey couldn't get past security and get on the ship until they sorted that out.Bad start!

 

 

Debarkationfor suite passengers was quick and painless. We met in the Champaign Bar at7:45AM, followed our two Concierges off the ship, zipped through customs, foundour luggage in a special area, found aporter, found our car and were on the road back home by 8:30 AM. Good finish!

 

 

What weliked: The CoastalKitchen/Suite Lounge: The wait staff managers and the two concierges wereexcellent. The food and service was very good - although the day to day menudidn't seem to change . Our cabin and our cabin attendant were great. Lotsof room, lots storage space, and close to the elevators. Quiet! Small continental breakfast in the roombefore a hot breakfast in the Coastal Kitchen. The Ice Show (Frozen in Time)was outstanding. Sorrento's Pizza, Sabor chips and guacamole with margaritas,Chops for lunch and the Dog House were also very good.

 

 

What wethought was OK:Drink package bar service was OK but often slow. Not enough bar tenders ortoo many waiting or both. The paperwork processfrom bar to bar was different. Some bars would slide your card and be done withit. Other bars would take your card, enter numbers on a screen, print receiptsand give them to you to sign and give us an opportunity to give an extra tip. We visited the American Icon Grill oncefor lobster and prime rip and were seated at a table for ten. Good food but waytoo much going on for us. It was noisy, chef's parading around the room,singing, music etc. Oasis of Dreams and Cats were veryprofessionally done but not our cup of tea. Screaming children during Catsdidn't help. The on board All-Access tour was OK but we (and several others on ourtour) thought it was over priced. My wife wanted to go so I went with her. Be prepared for steep upand down narrow stairs.

 

 

What wedidn't like: There were on and off plumbing/water problems throughout much ofthe ship. Water was shut off for four hours early one morning for maintenance. Thewomen's side public bathrooms were shut down with problems on at least three decksearly one evening for an hour or so. From the American Icon Grill, my wife electedto visit our cabin on deck 11 to use a bathroom. Cats was cancelled one night becauseof malfunctioning equipment in the theater. Come fly with me was cancelledtwice for the same reason, including the one we wanted to see. Friends we metsaid water dripped from the ceiling near them during a show they went to. With6500 plus passengers the 24 passenger elevators were challenged. Many (includingus) got on going up so they would have a place to go down - and vice versa. Ourelevator stopped once between decks and a man on the elevator jumped and itbegan to move again. He said it happened before to him. Early on the last daywe noticed a broken empty elevator stuckon deck 17 with a crew member standing close by. We also noticed the Carousel was closed forsome time waiting for repair parts to be flown in. We didn't like the long walkfrom the ship to the water taxi at St. Marteen. When returning we noticed therewere golf carts available to get a ride to the ship. We heard on the closecircuit TV that they were having difficulty with oneor more of the ship's printers and were waiting on repairparts - slowing down the printing of photos. With a deluxe drink package, JohnnyRockets milkshakes were not free unless food was ordered.

 

 

PS: The things we didn't like didn't come close tospoiling the week. We had a great time, met some great people and will cruisewith RCI again - but not on the Oasis any time soon. We heard that she is scheduled for dry docklate next year. Maybe after that?

[luvthabeach]

We were on the same cruise and totally agree with what you said. We have cruised with Royal 12 times and this was probably the worst. The food in the Windjammer at lunch and dinner was horrible. The food in the MDR wasn’t much better. My husband ordered turkey and dressing the last night and had bones in it. I was disappointed about Come Fly With Me being canceled. The water issue didn’t bother us too much except we had to be careful in the public bathrooms because the water was scalding hot. Service was good, bar service was slow and our room attendant was great. We did enjoy the ports and that was the only thing that saved our cruise from being a bad vacation. Also, we always spend our sea days in the Solarium, just to have some quiet time away from all the kids and activities. However, this week seemed like the Solarium was the party place. Extremely loud and not like on our past ships. The first day, a volleyball game in the pool with 2 small volleyballs kept me and a lot of people around us from using the pool. It is not my idea of relaxing to be dodging balls in the pool. Just way too many people in that small pool for that. We did get the soda package and 75% of the time, there wasn’t any ice in the machines. Several times, there was no soda. It just seems like things aren’t kept up like they used to be.

Edited September 24, 2018 by luvthabeach

[George C]

Surprised that there were that many children , really looking forward to costal kitchen for the first time , sailing in 2 months in our first owners suite , loved our last cruise it was a celebrity charter that was adults only , repeating on that next year.

[Dahlia11]

Lots and lots of children of all ages including the very young being carted around by tired looking moms and dads. We had a couple of owners suites down the hall from us that we peaked into. Very very nice!

[JaniceB]

Thank you for the review. I have one question do you get any gifts with the all-access tour?

[Dahlia11]

Yes. We were able to keep the lanyard/plastic card saying "all access ships tour" they gave us before we started. And when it was done we were given a cheap "how to tie knots" manual with a short piece of thin rope. We tossed both.

[JaniceB]

I thought maybe you got a picture but I guess knot, lol