Of all the trips we've taken, this was one of them.

Oasis of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

3.2 out of 5
Oasis of the Seas

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 23, 2018

Ship: Oasis of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Let me begin this review by stating that I am not a bitter person. An opinionated jerk with a bad attitude, maybe, but I’m not bitter. Oasis of the Seas The ship itself is extraordinary. It is HUGE, but it is manageable. Sadly, we left the ship without exploring all there is to see, but we were well occupied while there. With the exception of a couple of elevator buttons that did not work, the ship is well maintained and in tip-top condition. All of the crew that we met and dealt with were outstanding. No issues there at all. However, the overall experience was disappointing, and I do not think that it is due to having set our expectations too high. This was an expensive vacation, and I think Royal Caribbean made little effort to make this the cruise experience it should be. Let’s start with lack of information. The ONLY time we heard an announcement inside our stateroom was the safety drill instructions just after getting onboard. There was NEVER another announcement that we could hear from inside the room or while outside on the balcony. And, those that we DID hear while roaming the ship, were unintelligible due to a combination of choppy English and a less than up to par public address system. All elevator lobbies have an interactive display of current ship information and an interactive “you are here” that will guide you to where you need to go. Why can’t this also display current / recent announcements? Or, better yet, why isn’t the Royal Caribbean phone app used for displaying announcements in a text format? Honestly, I was wondering if being informed was an extra charge? Everywhere we turned, it seemed like there was something that “costs extra”, so was / is there also a charge for information while onboard? It seemed we were constantly running across something that having instructions for would have been nice. And please don’t tell me it was the onboard television network that had what we needed. For disembarking, we were instructed to tune into channel 37. When you get there, you get the video with the instructions and the cruise director is holding a different sheet of paper and telling us we were watching channel 41. So even this was out of date. It wasn’t until after we had waited in line on deck 5 to be seated for dinner that we were told “My Time” dining was on deck 3. Why isn’t something like that clearly noted somewhere? And since we’ve jumped to that subject, we told the sales rep with RC that we wanted reserved seating at a group table each night. That didn’t happen. Each night we were seated at a different 2-person table, different area of the main dining room…and, of course, with a different wait staff each night. So much for getting to know someone. And…we packed extra clothes because RC makes a big to-do about the dress code for the main dining room. No t-shirts, no shorts, no flip flops. Why wasn’t this enforced? Every night, including formal nights, there was a steady stream of classless guys in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops. RC seriously drops the ball by not enforcing the dress code. Why not hang a “Welcome to Carnival” sign at the entrance? As for the food in the main dining room, it is good. Not great, but good. It is an insult to be handed a menu with the limited choices and then at the bottom see “other options” that we can pay extra for. How deep is RC into the pockets of those specialty restaurants paying rent for space on that ship? It’s bad enough that half of the “Cruise Compass” is dedicated to pushing you toward eating at the high-priced venues, but to also have it shoved down your throat while eating in the main dining room? Show some class Royal Caribbean. Another totally classless act by RC is the “private” island of Labadee. So, this area is “owned” by Royal Caribbean and only Royal Caribbean vessels can dock there? And Royal Caribbean includes this as a stop on the cruise because it is such a special place and they want everyone to enjoy it…as long as you pay extra to do it. Not one “public” beach for passengers to go to and enjoy the sand and surf??? They ALL have a price tag. I don’t know how far you have to walk there to find a simple souvenir shop, but after walking as far as the coconut rum vendors in front of the “No Swimming” posted beach area, I was not willing to walk any farther. I turned around and went back to the ship. I guess my refrigerator will survive without a Labadee magnet. And you may notice I did not mention my wife as having gone onto Labadee with me. She had spent that morning seeing the doctor because of a sinus infection brought on by allergic reactions to something onboard combined with a reaction to the cigarette smoke ever present in the non-smoking side of the casino. The smell of the smoke hits you as soon as you exit the elevators. Even walking around from the port side of Studio B, it hits you when you enter the casino area. That is just wrong. If it can’t be filtered out through air exchangers, it needs to be banned. And I guess there is no point in mentioning those who smoked on the non-smoking side. Again, why doesn’t RC enforce the rules? Are they that afraid of offending someone by holding them to a standard? And finally (you probably thought I would never get here), kids with children who are not mature enough to be parents. One reason we opted for the late September sailing was our thinking that children would be in school. And based on the number of “packs” of pre-teen children that were running loose on board without supervision, It seems there were a lot of schools not in session. If you have unruly children and you don’t have the backbone to discipline them or keep them in line, go to Disney World or Universal. If you are going to sit in the main dining room and watch your children run around being disruptive, YOU are the problem, not them. Grow up and show some responsibility for yourself and your children, and at the very least, show some respect for the people around you. And before you think we had a miserable time, we didn’t. We met several really nice couples and made some friendships that I expect will be long lasting. We met a couple at the hotel before sailing and we palled around with them all week, having a great time. We saw the “Cats” production and it was a fantastic show (long, but really good) and also the ABBA tribute band, whose show was really well produced. We loved the ADULT ONLY solarium area. It would be nice if the pool there were bigger, but we had fun. And those Mimosa Happy Hours…Oh, Baby! The bar staff knew my name and only had to ask “How many?”. Those were awesome. And my wife left the casino with more money than she took in with her, so another big positive! This was just our second cruise in the twenty-four years we’ve been together, so we’re obviously not seasoned enough to know all the little secrets to making the experience better. But, we thought with it being Royal Caribbean, we wouldn’t have to be travel experts. We’ll know better the next time. Whether or not we will use RC again is up for debate.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

3 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

1 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 44

13 Comments

Patrick4    6 years ago

easy...take a highlighter and study the cruise compass, same as the announcements made lol. We swam free on Labadee all day. Don't do my time dining!

rgbenning    6 years ago

While I do not agree with many things in your review, l do understand it is how you feel about your cruise. I would like to thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review. I would like to see more individuals on this site take more time with reviews instead of useless one word or one line reviews or worse yet, just star reviews.

kknorr0320    6 years ago

The only beach that isn't free access on Labadee. Not sure where you went or what you tried to do but there's loungers and open spots everywhere.

Stephieg316    6 years ago

For My Time dining, we went and reserved our time and table on embarkation day. We had the same table at the same time every night

CVCruiser    6 years ago

Pretty much all of your complaints could have been solved with a few hrs spent researching the ship prior to your cruise.... everything is documented clearly as to which dining room is "My Time" dining, and that you dont get a reserved table each night. If you want that you select one of the dining times. As for Labadee, yep there is plenty of free beaches.. beautiful sand, and yep there is some walking.. and you walk by all the gift shops on your way. As for up charges.. EVERY cruiseline does that.. some worse than others. RC is by far not the worst. As for knowing what to do.. your daily cruise compass gives detailed times for everything on board... sounds like you let your lack of research and impatience get the best of you. Cruising may not be for you...

dixietino    6 years ago

I wish there were a dress code for NCL. T shirts, shorts and flip flops even in the Haven dining room are tolerated. It just isn’t that oppressive to wear a collared shirt and slacks.

jilesgulf    6 years ago

The floor that your restaurant is on is clearly noted on your seapass card. Example: Dining Room: Aquarius-Deck 5. You can go online & reserve a dining time for My Time Dining. If you can't figure out how to do that (I never can), you can call Royal Caribbean & tell them when you want it for each night. They'll even send you a hard copy of it. When we first board the ship we go to My Time Dining & make sure they are aware of our dining requests, such as being seated with other guests or just the two of you. After the first night if you like your waiters & the people you were seated with, you can request that you be seated at the same table. Just ask the person that checked you in when you entered the dining room. They'll do everything they can to make you happy. We always schedule our dining times around the shows we want to see at night. Allow about 2 hours between the dining & the show. I'm assuming you scheduled the show ahead of time. Only on the large ships do you have to schedule the shows. On the smaller ships (which I prefer) you don't have to do that. It took us several sailings to know that we needed to do these things. We learned by reading comments on Shipmate & talking with other passengers & also asking questions at Guest Services or calling Royal Caribbean. You have to learn the best way to do every new thing you try: a new car, flying, a new house or apartment, even a restaurant. Don't give up on Royal Caribbean. It'll be the same learning curve on another cruise line. Thanks for the honest review.

KofiNaija    6 years ago

Again. Fine review. On some points I have had different experiences. You did a great job at explaining what you encountered in an objective fashion. I also was unimpressed with Royals MTD and really think they can do better with the dress code in main dining room. It's actually getting worse because people have gotten the message that no one cares. They need to start sending out reminder emails before sailing and show blatant abusers to the buffet.

utbuggies    6 years ago

I have not done my time dining but from what I understand you are seated at what is available for that time slot. With traditional time dining you have one table with the same group of people each night.

funboomer47    6 years ago

All cruiselines are trying to sell you extras....not just RC. Read the reviews on other cruiselines and you will see that. You obviously did no research on your cruise or you would have seen that Labadee has several beaches and you can have a great day without spending money for extras. Again..read the reviews of Labadee and you will see that it is a favorite place with cruisers. You obviously didn't bother to read up in the port. I have been on many cruises with several different cruiselines and have never been able to hear the announcements in my cabin. They are always rather garbled. You are just a negative person.

RoyalCruzer    6 years ago

For the record announcements are not played in your stateroom as not to disturb people who are napping or not feeling well. Also the announcements are just there to assist people who have not read their cruise compass to inform them of upcoming activities. Glad you had a nice vacation.

KofiNaija    6 years ago

Good review

cruisellama    6 years ago

Thanks for the review - you took some time to recall and point out a lot of events both positive and negative.

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