Horrible Food/Nightmare Excursion Dragged Down this Cruise

The Food- 
The food in the main dining areas has sunk below Carnival and Norwegian.  It's like RCCL is forcing us to go to a specialty restaurant to get a quality meal.  The steaks in the main dining halls are so over processed they do not bleed when they are cut even when ordered at medium rare.  I had a steak that was the color of a pale pork chop.  It was red on the inside but didn't have any juice in it at all.  We hated the menu.  HATED IT.  Even with the processed steaks that I hated were better than the other selections and I was forced to order it even after complaining about it.  The at sea breakfasts in the main dining hall was really disappointing compared to the last visit on the Oasis 2 years ago.  Cost savings is killing the quality and choices.  The Windjammer is the worst buffet on the seas.  US Navy food is better.  The employees at the Windjammer stand over the children in an intimidating way and I watched an employee shame a kid for accidentally dropping a piece of beef on the floor.  If he did that to my child it would have went to the Captain of the ship. It was that disturbing watching a grown man humiliate a kid for an accident. The Solarium which claims to be the "Healthy" option had the same breakfast  buffet crap as the rest of the ship.  They had a few health food items but the majority of the items were the same. The bacon is so salty it felt like I swallowed a mouthful of salt water. Healthy choice??   Park Café,  the hot dog stand on the Boardwalk, and Sorrento’s were the only complimentary bright spots.  Towards the end of the cruise, however, the breakfast sandwiches at Park Café were getting served cold because of over preparing but the roast beef sandwich at lunch was excellent.  The hot dogs and sausage were 100% better than last cruise and this time the buns were fresh.  The free pizza improved a lot over the previous cruise.  The best food items on the ship are the fast food places.  The food quality destroyed the vacation.

The hostesses (male and female) in the main dining halls are condescending and act like you're getting a thousand dollar meal.  It's laughable and disappointing at the same time.  It’s laughable because the food is horrible and sad because RCCL used to be so much better.

   Many guests don't want to dress up for formal night.  From what I can see is when you get served "Golden Coral" quality food you want to wear shorts and a t-shirt to dinner.  Years ago we selected Royal over other cruise lines because of the food.  This trip the vacation was almost destroyed by the disgusting food.

We did the "First Night Done Right" and went to Chops Grille.  The service, appetizers and desserts were incredible. Get the sea scallops appetizer and you won't be disappointed.  However, I make a better NY Strip at home.  Still the steak was 100% better than the steak in the main dining hall.

After spending all this money for a vacation, all my 3 kids said every day was "we have such better food at home".  Maybe a new meat supplier?  Maybe they should just get some Trader Joe's frozen meals to up the quality a bit too.

The Cabin-  We had a superior family ocean view w balcony room on the 6th floor aft which was described to us as big enough for 5 people.  We lived out of our suit cases under the bed because there isn't enough shelf room for 5 people's socks and underpants.  We lived like sardines but the ocean view was great.  The 6th floor aft is close to all the food and activities which is very important on a ship that holds over 6,000 people.  It was also very quite because the Boardwalk closes early.  The room was cleaned twice a day and we always had clean towels.  

Entertainment-  
"Cats" was on the ship 2 years ago and is still the main attraction.  I had seen it on Broadway many years ago and wasn't in the mood to see it for a 3rd time.  I wish they would change the entertainment a little more for frequent (or kind of frequent) cruisers.  The water show  I had seen last time on the Oasis 2 years ago.  If it was changed at all it wasn't as good as it was last time.  The show with the guy with an umbrella was also the same show as 2 years ago.  Entertainment basically was a rerun of 2 years ago.  RCCL is in a rut.  

Also, last cruise we did not see the show at the skating rink but we did this trip.  The show was very entertaining but it’s nothing I would rush out to see again. I would highly recommend seeing it, once. 

The entertainment highlight- We learned how to make sushi at Izumi.  That was the best entertainment we had on the ship.  After making the sushi you get to eat it.  It’s available on 2 days during the cruise

Service-  
We had some of the best waiters and waitresses that we ever had on a ship.  Unfortunately, we received the excellent service after complaining about the poor quality food.  Great service does not conquer garbage on a plate.  One of the waiters was so tired of hearing about the bad steaks he asked me to explain it to several supervisors.  He said he was frustrated by the upset guests.

A few of the employees on the Flow-Rider are on power trips with the kids.  They help some and give others a single turn.  A very tall and thin employee told a kid he could only have one 60 second or so run because he was trying to move the long line only to spend 5 minutes teaching another kid how to do a trick a few minutes later.   It wasn’t a race issue because they were all Caucasian but it wasn’t right for what ever reason.

Ports- 
-Nassau, Bahamas-  We did the Sting Ray Encounter.  It's located on the Sandals Resort and the employees are very nice.  They calmed the kids and encouraged them to handle the rays.  You cannot bring a camera so you are almost forced to pay close to $100.- for the pictures of the excursion.  Beautiful  water to enjoy for an hour after the rays.  Bring your own snorkel or rent it on the beach.

St. Thomas-  Did the BOSS underwater scooter for the kids.   On the boat we were given a brief that said that the guys working there would be happy to help the women shower off after they got out of the salt water.  The also stated if the boat sank that if they woman wanted to be saved not having clothing may help them get saved faster.  They also stated smoking was permitted on the boat.  As we were heading to the site several people started getting sea sick but that did not stop the crew from smoking.  I felt like I was back in a 1970’s blue collar New Jersey locker room.  The best part of the excursion was the snorkeling.   However, they do not warn you about the “Fire Coral” on the rocks where they tell you to snorkel.  My wife had a wave push her into some and her stomach and thighs were completely raw from the venom.  She was in so much pain I had to swim her back to the boat.  I’ve never seen her in so much pain.  If you’re unaware of it please Google it to see how serious this stuff is and can be.   The guys working on the boat laughed and sprayed her with Windex.  Their idea of customer service was telling her to “Get on her big girl underpants and get back in the water” when it was her time to go on the scooter.  That is what they said to her word for word.  The BOSS scooter riding time was a joke.  It was about 20 minutes of riding around an all sand area.  It was an underwater desert so you couldn’t run a scooter into any rocks.  The area was also completely void of any sea life except when the opened a bag of food and a few schools of common fish swarmed around you.  That only happens when the scooter is stopped and makes you feel like you’re surrounded by fish.  The scooter was slow and boring but at least I tried something new.  As far as my wife’s Fire Coral burns they basically told her there was nothing other than the Windex or ammonia to put on it.  9 days later she still has pain and discomfort from the coral.  Upon arriving back to the Oasis I went to medical and was told they didn’t have anything to treat fire coral because it was against International  Law to have ammonia on board.  A few days later we talked to the Padi Dive Store and they told us we should have used vinegar.   Vinegar the 1st or 2nd day would have helped her.  A day later we went to the shore excursion desk and she told us that she would give us 20% off the excursion because of the horrible experience.  She mistakenly only refunded my wife and I’s trip and forgot to discount our 3 kids.  I guess I was wrong to expect anything else.  Horrible excursion and clueless Oasis medical staff.  

The shopping around the port is a joke.  It’s dirty and low class.

St Maarten-  We did the Snuba trip and enjoyed it.  You take a 10 minute boat ride to an area with a few man made reefs to snuba and snorkel on in shallow water.   The area was very crowded because it seemed like all the snorkeling, snuba and diving tours went to the same location.  We have a group of 5 and the snuba groups are broken into groups of 4.  The first 2 groups going out  had 2 groups of 4 going out.  We were told they would tr to have us go at the same time at least because we couldn’t go together.  Apparently it was too difficult or confusing  for them to allow our family to go out at the same time so we couldn’t all snorkel together which is the point of a family vacation.  They said they would try to send ou out at the same time but it didn’t happen.  My wife was still suffering the severe effects of the Fire Coral and had trouble breathing at the end of the snuba dive.  It was good but could have been much more enjoyable if we had been able to at least snorkel together at the same time.

Overall if you’ve been on the Oasis within the last 2 years expect it to be a rerun entertainment wise.  The food quality has fallen off a cliff and the employees are even tired about hearing it.  We had already scheduled a cruise for next summer before taking this one and we are now looking at other options.