3rd time on the Oasis..
Oasis of the Seas Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 14
Helpful Votes: 309
7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 30, 2022
Ship: Oasis of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 14548
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
This was another great cruise, even with the slight disappointment with service and food! Oasis is a beautiful ship... We were super excited to get back on the Oasis since it was updated (amped). It was a 3rd cruise on Oasis in total. We liked many of the improvements with the updating... Slides, and new Hot tubs on deck 16, El Loco Fresh, Port Side BBQ, colorful paint and lighting scheme, and new Aqua 80 show!! There are some misses as well... some really The new Solarium design makes it feel congested and ruins the ocean views forward. Many of the changes on deck 15 and 16 creates choke points, making harder to move around... even with only 2700 passengers on our cruise. They moved the pingpong tables to the waist by the aft elevator doors, which is impossible to play at sea due to the wind, and it chokes walking traffic. We hated the new deck 16 gazeebows... You have to pay extra for those, and NO ONE was renting them.. they take up deck space and ruin the open sight lines of deck 16, and do not match the ship design what so ever. We heard many people comment about how stupid they looked and in the way. 🙄 HUGE miss.... It was worth seeing the Oasis again, and experience the new features. Woild we book on the Oasis again? Likely not... but we still had a great cruise!! 🙂 Harmony is our favorite right now, with the Symphony #2. We are looking to book on the Wonder of the Seas, and see how we like it as the newest Oasis class. We shall see how it differs and compares.👍Embarkation
It was my first time leaving out of Miami. Though the initial process was fast and efficient (ie .. bag drop off, parking, security, and check-in).... The staff in the waiting area were the WORST! Zero direction, zero announcements, zero organization... They seems more interested in focusing on people wearing masks, than managing the crowd preparing to board the ship. We started boarding an hr late due to previous passengers not debarking quickly. Then once boarding was started, it was basically a free for all with zero attention as to who arrived first, crown-n-anchor status, nothing.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
This was my 8th Oasis class cruise (3 of which were 13 day transatlantic), it was my 3rd time on the Oasis, and Ive been on all four Oasis class ships... This was the first time I was disappointed in the food. There were still good meals, and a few note worthy dining staff... but as a whole? It paled in comparrison to previous Oasis class cruises!! The good: Port Side BBQ, and El Loco Fresh, and Park Cafe were AWESOME!! Staff and food were spot on!! The Bad: Everything else was hit or miss... and unfortunately mostly a miss. 🙄 MDR staff were ok.. generic. The food was "ok"... The Windjammer was just "ok".... and service was seriously lacking. Few of the staff seemed interested in helping or serving. I stood at the Omelet station for 5 min before a worker even turned around to take my order... and it was common for the servers at the food items to all be looking in one direction talking to each other, even though food is all around them, and passengers waiting to try and get an item. The same as staff would meander around aimlessly and not asking if they could get a drink, or refill, or clear a dirty plate. Which all of this is completely opposite of every other Oasis class cruise Ive been on!! Typically we would have multiple offers to ask if we needed anything even before we got seated.
Onboard Activities
As always... more activities than you could do in a week! 🙂
Entertainment
Everything was great..Except for Cats... which sucks and should be changed to ANY other show!!! 🤮🤮
Aqua 80 aqua theater show is BY FAR the best Aqua show out of all the Oasis class ships!!! It was good enough we loved it even the 3rd time we saw it!! 👍👍
Service and Staff
Over-all... The service and staff were good. But this was by far did not compare to the other 7x Oasis class cruises we have been on. All over the ship, the staff seemed disinterested, and not engauging. Maybe 30% were good/great... vs normally 90% are good/great! Multiple times we sat in the hot tub for an hr with zero staff asking if anyone wanted a drink... and this was all over decks 15, 16, and the Solarium. Which normally, they were constantly walking all over asking everyone if they wanted anything. Our room steward was nice enough. But we didnt even see him till the evening the 2nd day!! 😳 Crazy!! He never asked if we needed anything, and we were fine as we arent high maintenance. But like Ive said, they usually at least ask, and act like they want to help if needed.
Ship Quality
After cruising on many Carnival and NCL cruises, the Oasis was our first RCL cruise over 5 yrs ago. We were blown away and avid RCL cruisers ever since!! Weve been on the four current Oasis class ships and this is just my thoughts on how the Oasis compares to the other three... and the original Oasis. The new "Amped" Oasis has many pros... but also some misses vs the original design. As with all Oasis class ships, it is HUGE, yet easy to learn and handles large passenger counts easily. The Oasis class gives you so many options and allows you to cruise however you like to cruise! The new Amped features offer some good and bad. New food and activities options are good, as well as the new color and lighting schemes. The new Gazeebows are a big miss, as well as the new Solarium design. Not a fan of either. Plus the new pingpong table locations are horrid making it impossible to play at sea with any wind.
Cabin / Stateroom
The cabin was decent... The Oasis and Allure cabins are the old design and layout... its fine. I MUCH prefer the Harmony and Symphony cabins and bathrooms. Better layout and storage, and feel bigger.
Ship tip
Board the ship early, and explore the ship so you know where things are, and get your luggage put away before departure. That way you can really enjoy the pulling out process and the whole evening!! 👍
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Love St Marteen!! Beautiful island, and port location makes it easy walking diatance to a great beach and shopping area!!
Disembarkation
SUPER EASY!!! From the deady to disembark announcement to getting into our car in the parking terminal was a total of 7 minutes... only slowing our walk for the 5 seconds for facial recognition at customs. 👍