Cafeteria Food
Oasis of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 16, 2014
Ship: Oasis of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 10 years ago
Review summary
No matter how beautiful or modern a ship may be, which the Oasis of the Seas is, if the food experience is poor the trip is ruined. As a frequent cruiser, I would prefer an older ship with outstanding food. It was evident that a decision was made recently by corporate to cut costs. Based on past reviews, my wife and I looked forward to an excellent experience. The ship was impressive. The first night in the main dining room set the tone for the week. Food came out cool, not hot. Quality was what you would expect from a cafeteria, not the flagship of the fleet! Soups and sauces were "broken", flavorless and packaged. Fish dishes frozen, and tasted "fishy" and not fresh. Beef dishes had a strange texture and taste. Reminded me of my first taste of beef in a third world country. Desserts all had the same problem; hard textures, lack of richness and also not fresh. The next day looked forward to a good breakfast only to find no omelet station, trays of food piled high of flavorless scrambled eggs, and everything again lukewarm! We gave the dining room one more attempt that night only to find more of the same. We felt forced to eat the remainder of the nights in the specialty restaurants. Wonder if this is an intentional corporate decision to drive those with high expectations of food to have to pay $$ ? Specialty restaurants made the trip bearable with decent to good food. Our last cruise on Celebrity was an outstanding food experience. I regret not choosing it again!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
If you like good food and have to go on this ship, make reservations for the specialty restaurants.
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)
3 Comments
glomarrone 10 years ago
I agree with you about the same ports. I am really tired of going to Nassau & Freepot. Even Si. Maarten is getting old. Although I love St. Thomas, even the shopkeepers recognize me. The Carribean Islands are beautiful but I would love to go somewhere else from Port Canaveral. We have to drive to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami if we want something different - even then the choices are not too different.
glomarrone 10 years ago
We traveled with a party of four & we enjoyed the food in the MDR. Sorry that you had a bad experience. This is actually my favorite ship. I was amazed at how smoothly embarkation & disembarkation went at every single port. We also sailed with the Allure with the same experience. I really doubt that the ship would serve you food that was cold to deliberately make you visit the specialty restaurants. I hope that you have a better experience on a future cruise. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us. Gloria
CrusinTim 10 years ago
Great, concise review. I always enjoy reading a review that can get to the point without banter. You have touched on two points that I have always considered as to why I won't cruise on ships this big. When the Oasis was launched in 2008 boasting about how it holds 5400 passengers, that sent up a red flag for me. As a chef, I couldn't fathom feeding that many passengers a quality product. When I first began cruising back in 1990, there were no specialty restaurants. All passengers enjoyed their meals in the main dining room(s). Required attire was at least business casual and you would be refused entrance if you were under-dressed. It seems the cruise lines have pointed more towards their specialty dining options and concentrated less on their main dining rooms over the years for no other reason but to make more money. I find myself sticking to the 2000 to 3000 passenger ships. Thanks for the great review.