Oasis April 2-9 2023 - a wonderful cruise!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Hello, all,

It's time for me to post some pics and observations of our Oasis cruise. 

There will be mostly food and menu pics and opinions, but I'll make sure to mention other things as well.

 

To start off, we had a wonderful cruise. I was afraid that Oasis would be even more tired looking than Allure, but found that Oasis is in great shape after being amped. Everything looked fresh and new, except for the sofa in our inside room. That was the only thing that was definitely showing its age.

 

We flew to MIA and stayed at the EB hotel the night before. A lot of people north of Atlanta had awful weather and a whole lot of flights were cancelled. Some didn't even make it to the ship.... We were lucky.

 

EB Hotel was wonderful and I heartily recommend it for those who are picky and want great customer service and new, well appointed rooms. We were thrilled with this hotel, its location, the customer service, and everything in between. It's right next to a Pollo Tropical and Burger King. It offers complementary bottled water and tea and coffee pods for a Keurig coffee maker in the room.

 

The room itself was gorgeous and spacious. And the bathroom has a motion activated night light!

 

Hotel shuttle came very quickly. The following morning we took an uber plus ($25) to the port.

 

I have never seen such a chaotic embarkation before.... Our boarding time was 11:30, and we showed up at exactly that time, only to find a queue of people stretching waaaaaaay out for this arrival time slot. It was crazy. We usually show up at our designated time and get in immediately (not any kind of a diamond or key or anything), so waiting in this long line was annoying. The lines for 12 pm, 12:30, and later arrivals were about 1/4 as long as ours.  By the time we made it to the terminal slowly shuffling forward, all the other lines were let in at the same time with us. What the heck?

 

After that, a long line split up into a whole bunch of shorter ones for check-in and xray machines, and it wasn't too bad after that.

 

We picked up a tumbler for my soda package and headed to the buffet. The WJ buffet was very basic, but satisfactory.

 

Our cabin was ready right after 1:30 pm, and our luggage was at the door a little while later. We had a regular inside cabin for 3, deck 8, forward, 8439.

 

 

double sleeper sofa:

 

To my surprise, Oasis had a built-in night light in the bathroom, which Allure didn't. It was very welcome. I brought our own, but we didn't need to use it.

 

Our attendant Ravi showed up right away and explained the once a day service. In practice, it was still 2 times a day, because he had to clean in the morning and then set the sofa bed up for us in the evening (when he also tidied up a bit). He left towel animals for us several times. Oh, he also gave me some more hangers since our cabin had very few of them in the closet.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Make sure to make all the possible show reservations in advance. Make the other ones as soon as you get onboard (like laser tag). Public skating was a bust - they scheduled the registration for it at 2:45 on skating days, but by 2 pm all the time slots were "sold out". Our kid didn't get to skate...

 

We went to the adult comedy on the first night, while our kid enjoyed laser tag galore over and over again. I didn't realize that the comedians change throughout the cruise since I was only able to make one reservation for one show. If you want to see other comedians, show up when they start letting people without reservations in.

 

The ice skating show was good, with the Sand Guy (during the Ice show) being the definite highlight of the show. I am not spoiling it for you. Show up and see for yourself.

 

Aqua80 was great.

 

I walked out of Cats about 30 minutes in. My boys stuck around (which surprised me because they don't even like musicals) for another 15-20 minutes until I came and got them. People were walking out  A LOT in the middle of the show. I must admit - it was boring, with every song sounding exactly like the one before it. I love musicals, I really do. But this one was boring.

I walked out of Cats to go see Queen Tribute at Schooners, but in my opinion, the guy wasn't very good. It's very subjective... So, I walked out of that as well.

 

The app doesn't show everything. We forgot to request the paper Compass....and missed some activities because of that. Not a big deal.

 

Bolero's is the worst venue for dance classes. It's packed, and the stage is tiny.

 

Maryna the guitar player was pretty good. We loved listening to her in the Central Park.

 

We didn't go to the Music Hall (unfortunately), and sometimes the entertainment greatly overlapped with our dinner time. This was very unfortunate.

 

I tried attending the guitar and vocal entertainment at the Atlas bar, but it was very loud for such a small venue, and I couldn't enjoy it. 

 

The ventriloquist show was superb!!!! We all loved it!

 

I forgot to snap a photo of the entertainment schedule.

[Oceansaway17]

I love the Oasis and will sail again in October out of NJ area.  I like the outside area in front of solarium.

 

Poor Cats, it is time to send that show away and get something else.

I am looking forward to eating at the BBQ place and yes, it is extra money, but I have heard reports that it is worth it.

[smw621]

I was on the same cruise, we had a great time  and agree with embarkation, what a mess!  There was no direction at all until you made it inside. 
 

We were disappointed in the Windjammer. Basic explains it correctly, but the lines for breakfast were INSANE!!! we never waited in the line it was too much and not worth it. 

 

We tried staying for Cats but just couldn't do it. The performers were great, I just got lost in the story. 
 

i missed the paper Compass and never thought to ask for one. 
 

All in all we really enjoyed ourself. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I am looking forward to eating at the BBQ place and yes, it is extra money, but I have heard reports that it is worth it.

it was 100% worth it. We never do specialty dining but this was special, and all three of us wanted to try it, despite the extra cost. 🙂

 

Although kind of hard to find a time when you are actually hungry, between huge breakfasts and huge dinners. Most of the time we didn't even have lunch. We went to the Portside bbq on a sea day after purposefully having a small breakfast.

It was great! Pictured here are two combos, which came to $30 total including grats and which were shared by 3 people (one of whom is a preteen who eats like a bird, and two adults who eat like gluttons on their last day on Earth): 

 

the one at the top is $9.99 plus grats and included 2 sides, 1 dessert, and one choice of Chef's favorites. I chose smoked wings, coleslaw and fries, and brookies for dessert. We had a beloved dog named Brookie, so I would always choose a brookie over a banana pudding dessert. Our kid looooved the brookie. I thought it was good, especially if you like both cookies and brownies.

The wings were fantastic, and both sides were liked by all three of us. Fries were just regular fries, but I liked this coleslaw very much. You couldn't choose one of the Pitmaster Favorites (meats) as a part of the 2 or 3 item Signature combo described below. That's why I chose to have a separate entree, because I wanted the wings.

 

At the bottom you see a 3 Item Signature combo with St Louis style ribs, burnt ends and brisket, with 2 sides - mac and cheese and corn on the cob. My husband found the burnt ends to be too fatty, but the flavor was great. He hates fat on his food. I loved the ribs. Brisket was good. We all loved the corn, and mac and cheese was pretty good as well.  Also at the top you will find Portside Spiked Palmer, the cheapest alcoholic drink we found onboard. $11 before gratuities, $13 after. I didn't like it - it was not sweet enough for me.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

onto the MDR food - it was good. I was worried because of all the recent changes to the menu and MDR procedures, but it was for not. 🙂 The food quality was just fine by RCI standards, although there were definite changes such as fewer choices and disappearance of favorites.

 

Steaks were thinner.

 

We had MTD and really liked our team on the first night (table 120). They advised us that we could reserve the same table for the rest of the week, which we did upon exiting the MDR on the first night. Good thing we did because on most nights we simply bypassed the line and went directly to our table (if it was empty). On one of the nights early traditional diners showed up super late and were on their main courses at 7 pm.... We got a nearby table with the same waiting team, who as I said before was great (Bhaskar and Ayan).

 

During the first few nights they brought out one appetizer or entree at a time, but as the time went and they saw how fast we eat, they would sometimes bring a couple of them at a time.  Fine by us.  🙂

 

They had no problem accommodating my request to have absolutely no sauces with beef dishes. No au jus, no gravy, no peppercorn sauce. I am ok with herbed butter on my steaks, but nothing else. Only one steak arrived well done, whereas I always requested medium. I ate it anyway.

 

We also tried a whole bunch of Indian dishes, which we don't do ever. 🙂 We enjoyed all of them.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

First night dinner

 

We had the crispy crab cakes and spinach-artichoke dip (new):

 

 

The dip was wonderful. The crab cakes were as usual - pretty good.

 

 

Aromatic Chicken Saag was great (even for people who don't usually eat Indian food, like us):

 

 

Pan roasted fish file was ok.

 

 

 

Our kid ordered Spaghetti Marinara every day. It was great in his opinion.

 

The prime rib was fine: I order my beef dishes without any sauce/gracy/au jus.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

Second night 

 

 

We ordered carpaccio, polenta fries and arancini:

 

Carpaccio was very good, melted in your mouth:

 

Polenta fries were very hard, but tasted good with the sauce:

 

 

Arancini was good:

 

For main course we ordered NY strip steak which was good for those who are not into $50 steaks:

 

my husband liked the mushroom risotto, which was very small:

 

 

I didn't like it yet again.

 

We also tried Lamb Kofta, which was beyond great. I guess I forgot to take a photo, but it was meatball shaped and super delish.

 

We had tiramisu for dessert: it was great.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Third night - France:

 

 

We ordered a caesar salad and the snails:

 

 

While I don't usually like escargot, I try it out of curiosity once on every cruise, if offered. I did like it more than Princess' escargot, which surprised me. I think it's because RCI's version was simple garlic and butter, and Princess version had lots of different spices which I didn't like.

 

 

Main courses:

I had a tenderloin, which was tender and great:

 

 

Hubs ordered the beef bourguinion, which he liked:

 

 

the seafood linguine was wonderful:

 

 

and so was Rogan Josh:

 

 

We were disappointed in the apple cobbler and the creme brulee, but liked the cappuccino cake.

 

DS got the cookies (great) and chocolate ice cream every day.

[RedSails1968]

I agree that the spinach and artichoke dip was very good. The mushroom risotto not so much. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

forgot to post the cappuccino cake pic:

 

[Leeba25]

Thanks for this review! I’m on the Oasis in 2 months so I’m following along. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Caribbean night:

 

 

Coconut shrimp was great!

 

 

I had a DOUBLE garlic tiger shrimp, and this time it was amazing! It wasn't amazing on the Allure. Our waiter very wisely requested double the shrimp and only a single side.

I also had the NY strip steak and it was good, as usual.

 

Hubs ordered the Caribbean chicken and it was great!

 

he also tried the tagliatelle pasta and liked it:

 

 

 

we all liked a fluffy and light pineapple cake:

not sure what's going on with the upside down pic. I even rotated it.

and DH also had a carrot cake: portions are tiny....

 

The kid had a brownie and liked it.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

The Taste of Mexico!

 

 

Instead of trying out the Taste of Mexico people seemed to dislike very much we wanted to try the Solarium bistro. I even made the reservations.... but hubs and kiddo vetoed my decision, so we went to the MDR again. 🙂

 

 

soooo, the corn cakes were NOT anything we expected. I guess we thought they'd be more like crab cakes, but made with corn. They were not. More like tiny pancakes. They were ok.

 

 

Hubs loved the poblano pepper soup, and I thought it was good, but a little too spicy for me personally:

 

 

I chose the enchilada and it was good and flavorful:

 

 

Kiddo once again chose spaghetti marinara. I swear - he ate nothing but baked potatoes and spaghetti on this cruise. 🙂 

 

 Hubs went with the butter chicken, which was great:

 

 

 

 

The desserts were good: 

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to post pictures and provide additional commentary. We have speculated about the menu changes but seeing is believing and you are giving your perceptions with reasoning and background.

 

👏 😋

[Katems75]

Yikes, I'm shocked at how TINY these portions all are!  😞

 

[LisaLisa87]

On 4/14/2023 at 12:28 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I have never seen such a chaotic embarkation before.... Our boarding time was 11:30, and we showed up at exactly that time, only to find a queue of people stretching waaaaaaay out for this arrival time slot. It was crazy. We usually show up at our designated time and get in immediately (not any kind of a diamond or key or anything), so waiting in this long line was annoying. The lines for 12 pm, 12:30, and later arrivals were about 1/4 as long as ours.  By the time we made it to the terminal slowly shuffling forward, all the other lines were let in at the same time with us. What the heck?

 

Oof. Our arrival time is 11:30am as well. I'm wondering whether the better strategy would be to show up early and be near the front of that line or to go a little later?

[NoShoes2]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:14 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it was 100% worth it. We never do specialty dining but this was special, and all three of us wanted to try it, despite the extra cost. 🙂

 

Although kind of hard to find a time when you are actually hungry, between huge breakfasts and huge dinners. Most of the time we didn't even have lunch. We went to the Portside bbq on a sea day after purposefully having a small breakfast.

It was great! Pictured here are two combos, which came to $30 total including grats and which were shared by 3 people (one of whom is a preteen who eats like a bird, and two adults who eat like gluttons on their last day on Earth): 

 

the one at the top is $9.99 plus grats and included 2 sides, 1 dessert, and one choice of Chef's favorites. I chose smoked wings, coleslaw and fries, and brookies for dessert. We had a beloved dog named Brookie, so I would always choose a brookie over a banana pudding dessert. Our kid looooved the brookie. I thought it was good, especially if you like both cookies and brownies.

The wings were fantastic, and both sides were liked by all three of us. Fries were just regular fries, but I liked this coleslaw very much. You couldn't choose one of the Pitmaster Favorites (meats) as a part of the 2 or 3 item Signature combo described below. That's why I chose to have a separate entree, because I wanted the wings.

 

At the bottom you see a 3 Item Signature combo with St Louis style ribs, burnt ends and brisket, with 2 sides - mac and cheese and corn on the cob. My husband found the burnt ends to be too fatty, but the flavor was great. He hates fat on his food. I loved the ribs. Brisket was good. We all loved the corn, and mac and cheese was pretty good as well.  Also at the top you will find Portside Spiked Palmer, the cheapest alcoholic drink we found onboard. $11 before gratuities, $13 after. I didn't like it - it was not sweet enough for me.

We ate there twice during our last cruise!

[parrotfeathers]

The meals look very tasty!  Size looks okay to me.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, LisaLisa87 said:

 

Oof. Our arrival time is 11:30am as well. I'm wondering whether the better strategy would be to show up early and be near the front of that line or to go a little later?

I think - show up on time, so you are not standing in that long line even longer.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Thank you for taking the time and effort to post pictures and provide additional commentary. We have speculated about the menu changes but seeing is believing and you are giving your perceptions with reasoning and background.

 

👏 😋

thank you, yes, I am comparing the food to our June 2022 Allure cruise and Nov 2021 Harmony sailing. Some items are the same, some are new, and overall MDR food (and only MDR food) was pretty good. Some items are gone or offered on a limited basis (like the daily favorites). Some dishes were better than on our Allure sailing. We were somewhat disappointed in food on the Allure overall because some of our favorite dishes compared unfavorably to the good old times (literally 7 months prior). But at least there were not cutbacks at other venues. There were definite cutbacks on this sailing...

But overall, MDR food was as expected, good quality and quantity, with some pleasant surprises and some "meh...." reactions.

[jbrinkm]

Thanks for your review! We were on Allure during the exact same dates, with the same meals in the same order, so it is really interesting to compare!

 

On 4/14/2023 at 12:42 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Bolero's is the worst venue for dance classes. It's packed, and the stage is tiny.

 

Absolutely!!! We were trying to move some chairs that were next to the dance floor in the back in order to make space and I hurt my toe pretty badly - just NOT enough room. They should clear more space if they are going to do it there, or have the leader back where the band would go, so people could spill out a little towards the promenade and spread out. 

 

On 4/17/2023 at 11:42 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

We were disappointed in the apple cobbler and the creme brulee, but liked the cappuccino cake.

 

I had very similar opinions about the food as yours. My apple cobbler tasted rancid - I could only take two bites (one I didn't like and the second to make sure). It was also offered later in WJ (we needed a supplemental dinner after French night, that was our worst & also it was formal night). My husband tried some there and said the same thing. Desserts went from inedible (cobbler, fruit bar, trifle) to fantastic (warm cookie, choc cherry tart). 

Edited April 18, 2023 by jbrinkm

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I have more!!! 

We were in a hurry to see Cats later that night, so we asked our waiters to speed up the service. They happily obliged, despite it being a formal and very busy night. They brought all of the entrees at the same time. We didn't have time to try the Indian dish this time - I am sure we would have liked it.

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a pic of the menu that night, so you get to enjoy screen prints from my phone instead:

 

 

 

 

We started off with a fruit salad for DS ( he ordered one with every meal):

 

and a delicious citrus, avocado and melon salad for me: 

 

DH had an onion tart as usual and liked it as much as usual:

 

Cheese tortellini were once again a HUGE hit with our family, just like last time: the sauce is super rich and delicious! Both our son and I ordered one.

 

 

Surprisingly, DS expressed a wish to try a lobster, so I ordered one for him and one for myself. Unsurprisingly, he changed his mind the moment he saw it brought out. He doesn't even like shrimp, so... 

Everyone probably thought that I wanted both lobsters for myself - no, not really. One is enough for me. 🙂 It was good - for someone who doesn't really care for them but usually orders them because they are fancy food.

 

The desserts were good, especially the chocolate cake and the strawberry cake:

 

 

 

[Katems75]

You can get fruit cup each night even though it's not on the menu?