This was our first cruise on a large (Oasis-class) ship....and our last. It lacks the intimacy of the Freedom class ships. The staff seemed overwhelmed, maybe because of the number of passengers. As stated earlier, the food really lacked!!! Usually it's a highlight for us. We generally try a little of everything. On this trip it was a struggle to find anything worth eating from the menu.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We qualified for expedited arrival which made embarkation a breeze! We were onboard within 30 minutes of arriving at port. Amazing!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
This area as our biggest complaint. The food was mediocre, at best. Getting into the main dining room was a nightmare! You HAD to have reservations with My-Time dining which kind of defeats the purpose of having My-Time dining, doesn't it? Most of the time reservations weren't available which meant you had to stand in the no reservations line with 100 other people. That made for some extremely unhappy folks!!! There was yelling and aggravation. Not understanding how it all worked, we were given three different answers to the same question by three different staff members. If we were stuck in a line, staff would take the opportunity to offer a "deal" to one of the specialty restaurants. In order to be able to eat (other than at the Windjammer) prior to a show, you had to choose a specialty restaurant and pay a ridiculous amount of money for a mediocre dinner. The dining room and specialty restaurant staff all seemed "frazzled" - as if they were understaffed. Even the Windjammer food was just "okay." The whole dining experience was a letdown.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We were pleasantly surprised at the number of seats available onboard considering the number of passengers. The only "activity" we participated in was the zip line. It took us 3 days to look into it. We just assumed we'd have to pay extra for it. When we found out it was free, we took advantage of it. Fun!!!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The highlight of the entire cruise was the entertainment. The shows in the Royal Theatre were top-notch!! The Aqua Theatre show was amazing!!!!
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The only reason I am giving this area 4 stars is because of our room steward. Vicente was wonderful to us. When he found out we had c-pap machines, he brought us a jug of distilled water! That has never happened. He was always, kind, courteous and enjoyed having conversations with us. We never had the same staff member twice anywhere else, but I can tell you there were two occasions where we were not treated well. At CocoCay, one staff member yelled at me because I came too close to the invisible line on the dock and might have stepped outside the "sails." Yelled.at.me!!! On another occasion, we went to the Solarium Café at dinner time because we couldn't get into the Main Dining Room (see previous answer). There may have been 10 other people in the Café and probably 15 tables available. When he asked if we had reservations, we said no, and he said, "I'll let you in this one time, but from now on make reservations." Extremely rude.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Prior to taking this cruise I was tentative about being onboard a ship with 5,000+ passengers. I was completely surprised at how "uncrowded" it seemed. The ship is so large and has so many things to do and places to go you don't even realize you're sharing it with that many people.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
There was plenty of closet and drawer space and room to move around. I also was pleased with the bathroom size and new showers.
Ship tip
Make reservations for dinner EARLY in your planning. Also make reservations for any and all shows you "might" want to see. You can always cancel them, but if you don't reserve, you likely won't get in after the fact.
It was "okay." We should have gotten a cab and asked them to take us to the other side of the island. The shopping area at the port is crazy!!! Everything is overpriced and people are so pushy! We needed some ibuprofen. At the port for a small bottle, the price was $10. We found a grocery store and for the same bottle we paid $1.35.
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