Sort of Oasis review, 5/15 sailing

[alfaeric]

My one post review of our recent sailing on the Oasis- I know there are a number of posters who were also on this trip, as well as some prior.  

 

This is our experience and my opinion.  SO YOU KNOW- we are Royal loyalists.  So much so that we became Pinnacle on this cruise- which was a reason for us to celebrate, among others.

 

The first other reason to celebrate- this was our return to cruising since Feb 2020.  The second- we both retired at the end of April- so this was a trip, not a vacation.

 

I'll go in order of experience....

 

We did our pre-cruise testing at a local health center- and the time spent away from people paid off- tested negative.  Whew.  But the test wasn't a big deal at all.

 

So that we can keep isolated, we chose to drive to the cruise- first time ever.  It's about 9 hours for us to get there, and we broke it into two- staying at a nice city in Pennsylvania on Friday night and in the Country Inn in Elizabeth Saturday.  The small town experience was really cool, so we are looking into driving to both Boston and Baltimore for future cruises.  (Actually, we've already planned a camping trip to Boston before and after a cruise later this year)   Having the time to do that is a real treat.

 

I posted before that it took about an hour from arriving at the port in our car to stepping on board- the car traffic really was slow- I think there was a lot more space to allow cars to unpack than they were allowing, but that half hour was what it was.  The second delay was choosing the wrong line for security.  Every single person had some kind of issue that honestly took another half hour.  Once past that, check in was fast, and we were right on the ship.  The delay meant that our cabin was open when we stepped on board- and since we carry on all of our luggage, we went straight to our cabin and unpacked.  Easy.

 

The E-Muster was next to finish.  We did most of the work as we prepared Sunday morning at the hotel, so all we needed to do was check in.  Done.

 

Then it was cruise on!

 

This was our 5th cruise on the Oasis, and 10th on an Oasis class.  So it was pretty familiar.  But seeing it all again was a real treat.  Central Park, Boardwalk, Promenade, Studio B, Costal Kitchen (we were in a suite)- we soaked it all in.

 

It's been many years since we went to 150, but we noticed that the menu was VERY changed from the previous trips, so we booked it for Sunday night.  Great choice, I must say.  Best meal we've had on a ship in some time.  So we changed a booking for Giovanni's to 150 later in the week.  I know it's expensive, but we found the value, for sure.  

 

The next day, we got our Pin, and then were invited to the Pin Lunch- which was so big we didn't have dinner.  What a luxury.  

 

Tuesday, lunch at JR's was so big that once again, we skipped dinner, LOL.  

 

W-F was at Coastal Kitchen, and it was good every evening.  Well, except for the pretty darned tasteless deserts.  But that was ok- we are not sweets people.

 

One positive note was that the servings were more appropriate for us- we rarely left food, and we were never stuffed.  I know others eat more, but getting extra orders is still possible, and eliminating waste for those of us who don't eat as much is a good thing.

 

Entertainment was pretty darned good- weighted down by Cats.  There was a pretty funny ventriloquist the opening night.  We didn't go to any other headliners, as I don't like Billy Idol.  Aqua 80 was a very new show to us, and we were lucky to see it's opening acts with this group- as they spent the first few days of the cruise practicing REALLY hard.  One of the benefits of having an open Aqua Theater is that you can watch them practice and rehearse.  So much work they had to do so that they were ready for Tuesday's opening show.  And what an amazing show- it was a mash up of a LOT of 80's music with dancing, diving, and syncro swimming.  Totally awesome show for us.  We were both able to recognize all of the songs- but I'm not great with titles, so I could not name them all.  The mash ups of some of the songs were pretty interesting, like Purple Rain, Every Breath You Take, and Careless Whisper....  Speaking of that mash up- it only lasted two days/4 shows before a communication issue meant the hoist system took out some major parts of the aerial- hope it's fixed for you as it was really cool.

 

The jazz club was really cool, BTW, but we didn't see the comedians in Blaze.

 

For the most part, this was a throw away itinerary.  We didn't get off the boat at Port Canaveral.  Just nothing there to do, and it was a really hot day.  Coco Cay was actually a perfect day- not a cloud in the sky all day.  So we spend all of the time at South Beach.  BTW, it's pretty funny how people bash the Perfect Day at Coco Cay having not been there after the change.  The old beach area is exactly the same as it ever was- layers of chairs in front of the snorkel area and the beach next to it, the rentals, etc.  The new over water cabanas then are there, and to the end of the beaches to the south is South Beach and then a end cove beach where there was just ONE couple lying out.  There are hardly any people down this area and it's super quiet.  Pretty awesome.  The water park area looks like a blast if that is your thing.  And the food is light years better than the old beach BBQ.

 

Nassau- we always go for a run.  It was hot, then it rained.  Which helps one cool down. But would suck if you were doing another beach day.  Oh well.  Sorry to see that our favorite harbor side restaurant was closed....  But life goes on.  Lots and lots of construction at the port, BTW.  

 

Speaking of running, Oasis class ships are the best ships for people who want to run.  The track is on Deck 5, covered all the way around, and is 2.4 laps per mile.  All of the other ships we've been on, the track was the most exposed top deck and the track was short- around the obstacle course of sunning people.

 

For the sea days, we just hung out and did whatever.  Not all activities were back going, but most of them appeared to be there.  Things are getting back to normal.  Enough people wore masks to not make anyone feel odd wearing one, and at the same time, you knew that everyone else on board was vaccinated (to a limit, of course) and tested negative to get on board.  We saw that numbers were going up here at home as well as in the New York area- but I honestly didn't see anyone get put into isolation.  We never felt anything the entire time, too.

 

BTW, Voom sucks.  We got the surf and stream package as part of the suite- and there were plenty of times it dropped the internet.  I had to stream the F1 qualifying at Spain, since ESPN decided to put in rock climbing instead of race coverage.  Managed to figure out what was going on, but it was off a lot, too.  Good thing I don't really use it.  

 

All in all, we had a great time- celebrating getting back on board, retiring, and our turning pinnacle.  Fun time, for sure.

[Sunshine3601]

Congratulations!   Overall sounds like you had a nice cruise for your first one back.   

[alfaeric]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Congratulations!   Overall sounds like you had a nice cruise for your first one back.   

From what we hear, we were really on time- the week before was horrible weather.  Other than it being cool as we left New York, the weather was amazing.

 

The number of really sunburned people was really high as we saw people leave CocoCay.  And we were one of them- even with good sunscreen.

[Merion_Mom]

Congratulations on reaching Pinnacle!

 

I am having a better internet experience than you did, apparently, since I am reading and responding to you with ease.  😄 

[alfaeric]

10 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

Congratulations on reaching Pinnacle!

 

I am having a better internet experience than you did, apparently, since I am reading and responding to you with ease.  😄 

I was trying to stream some video, which was problematic.  

 

Getting on this board was reasonably easy- although I did lose connection every once in a while on board.

 

The odd one was my main email- for some reason, it would not connect- I don't think it was a Voom issue, though.  

[cynt]

Congrats on reaching Pinnacle!!!  We board her in 12 days!! YAHOO!!!

 

Do you recall how much it cost for the Escape room?  Thanks. 

[alfaeric]

47 minutes ago, cynt said:

Congrats on reaching Pinnacle!!!  We board her in 12 days!! YAHOO!!!

 

Do you recall how much it cost for the Escape room?  Thanks. 

Sorry, I do not.  I saw it on the schedule a lot, but never looked into it.  

 

Have a great cruise!!!

[MarlenaBR]

Were there any theme nights?

[alfaeric]

10 minutes ago, MarlenaBR said:

Were there any theme nights?

Yes, there was at least a white night.  

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

On 5/24/2022 at 12:27 PM, cynt said:

Do you recall how much it cost for the Escape room?  Thanks. 

We were on this same sailing. The Escape room is $19.99 per person. Book this through the app as soon as you get on the ship. We waited until day 3 to decide if we wanted to do it and it was too late, all spots were booked