Average - some highs and some lows

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 22

Review summary

My wife and I are seasoned cruisers and this was our first cruise back since the beginning of the pandemic. We knew ahead of time that cruising on the Oasis would mean many passengers and chances for crowds. We accepted this risk given that Royal Caribbean had instituted several safeguards. However starting with embarkation we found that Royal Caribbean did not follow through with many of the safety methods that they had expressed to us before the cruise. For example, we were given appointment times in order to avoid heavy crowd built up but these were not checked or followed through with and large crowds congregated at one time. We were recommended to wear masks within the embarkation terminal but very few people did and there was no encouragement for people to wear their masks even though we were in close proximity for an extended period of time. The organization of the crowd preboarding was very poor and did not seem well thought out and led to several people getting very irate. Once on board my wife and I observed reasonable safety measures to avoid exposure and try to stay in open areas and avoid lines and crowds. This was sometimes difficult to do on board a ship the size of the Oasis and with as many passengers on board. We found that even with reservations for dining, we were forced to wait on rather long lines in close proximity with other people. We agreed to take this cruise knowing ahead of time that we would have to deal with some of these issues. However despite the measures that we took, my wife turned positive for covid on the last day of the cruise. We were told to report to the medical facility for retesting and found that the care there was subpar. The nurse on call did not ask my wife any medical history questions involving her risk factors and did not even do basic measurement of vital signs. They simply repeated the test that we did on our own and came up with a different response. My wife did turn out to have covid and so their response was inaccurate. We did spend the last night and morning in quarantine until we could disembark. While we do not blame Royal Caribbean for my wife and then subsequently myself turning positive for covid, we feel that some of the procedures that they implemented were not followed as they should have been and the care that we got in the medical facility was not what I would call adequate. We went on this cruise in order to relax and unwind and within the limits that we placed on ourselves we actually did accomplish that and we do appreciate the service from the staff and the dining venues for a relaxing cruise. My recommendation for people who are looking to have a good cruising experience and a minimal risk of covid exposure would be to avoid the largest ships which are now back to almost full capacity. Despite their procedures to minimize exposures, I do not feel that having as many people in close proximity on a ship for many days at sea without a chance to decompress makes it almost impossible to accomplish this goal.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey

Disembarkation

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