Oasis of the Seas trip report
George Leppla
in, or hit the "next" key and move on.
As it turns out, I got two invitations to go on the Oasis of the Seas.
I belong to a travel agent consortium and they were combining their
yearly meeting with the first two day intro sailing departing on
November 20. I accepted this invitation although I wasn't sure I would
be able to go due to scheduling problems and frankly, I don't like
traveling so far just for a two day cruise. But then, this was the
OASIS and I really wanted to see her. Then... I got an invitation from
Royal Caribbean to go on the second two day cruise. Again, scheduling
problems.
Bottom line is that I was able to go but only at the last minute and
airfares were out of the question, so we had to drive. That added two
days to each end of the trip so we ended up doing the consortium
meetings and the original 2 night cruise and did not go on the second 2
night cruise. It worked out well.
I won't bore you with details of the consortium meetings but I did
manage to grab the ear of a few suppliers and have some interesting
talks. The rep from Viking River Cruise Lines took 8 of us to dinner at
the W hotel steakhouse... 954. It was excellent and I am very glad I
wasn't paying that bill. They had a Kobe Steak on the menu for $235.
We were a bit more restrained in our ordering.
Pier 18 - the new cruise terminal at Port Everglades is everything they
said it would be. Going through the doors, you can go left or right,
immediately through security. If I recall correctly, there are 6
security stations on each side. Once past Security, you are in the main
check-in area. The check-in desks are arranged in a "V" shape in the
center of the room and there are 45 stations on each side. Flat screen
TV monitors tell you which line to use, sorting people by which deck
their cabin is on. We were on Deck 12 and there were 6 station for that
deck. Once you go through the check-in procedure, you go up the
escalator or elevator to a waiting area (assuming the ship; is not ready
to board). There is seating there for 3000 people and a play area for
children and a lounge area for Suite passengers.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-003.html
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-005.html
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-008.html
At check-in, they take your photo right there so when you board the
ship, all you do is put your sail and sign card in the reader and go. A
LOT of the people working that day were new on the job.
The Oasis was late getting into the pier that morning because of
broadcasting for Good Morning America so we had to wait about an hour
and a half before boarding the ship.
Finally... we were among the first 50 people to board the Oasis of the
Seas. I am not going to describe the ship or the various rooms. There
have been a zillion conversations about this and another zillion
pictures. If you would like to see the photos I took, look at
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/index.html What I will try
to do is point out some new things, plusses and minuses and general
impressions.
This two night cruise was to be a "soft opening" for the ship. This is
where they operate at less then full capacity in an effort to get the
ship and crew up to speed. There were only 2800 invited guests on this
sailing so I felt pretty pleased to be a part of the first group.
Aside from travel agents, there were a few Crown and Anchor people
onboard. The criteria was that they had a minimum of 50 Royal Caribbean
cruises under their belt... and it was announced that one couple had 150
cruises.
Of course, being first has good points and bad. The good is that there
were only 2800 people on a ship that will hold over 6000. We never saw
a crowd, never waited in line for anything and since all the drinks were
free and the bar staff was at full level, we never waited for a drink.
I can only guess, but I don't think that this ship will feel crowded
with a full compliment of passengers. There was a whole LOT of empty
space with 2800 passengers..... it actually felt a bit strange at times.
I expected the Oasis to "feel" huge and I was pleasantly mistaken. The
concept of "neighborhoods" effectively creates smaller, self contained
areas of the ship that have their own distinct personality.
Surprisingly, the lounges and bars were pretty small, but there are a
LOT of them all over the ship.
Not everything on the ship was ready for us. The information manual in
each cabin... wasn't there yet. Cabin service consisted of making the
bed and changing towels, no ice service, no room service was available.
The photo shop wasn't operational yet. They were working on the Aqua
Theater.
The cabin looks typical, but the doors to the cabin open outward into
the hallway instead of inward into the cabin. The shower has a movable
European shower head, but you can not adjust the height of the shower
head, it is in a fixed position. They do not have a clothes dryer cord
in the shower, they have two hooks. They do have shelves and drawers in
the bathroom, but of course they are small. They have a couple of
outlets in the cabin, but they are located under the desk, which will
make it hard for the handicapped or elderly people to reach. I don't
know what they were thinking when they designed this but it stinks.
Bring a 3-way plug and an extension cord or a power strip.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-214.html
Dinner the first night was a mess. There was only one seating at 7:30
and dinner took almost 3 hours. I think this was he first full-scale
seating they attempted and it showed. As we left the dining room, one
service area looked like a bomb zone... a far cry from the neat and
efficient stations you are used to seeing. The second night.... MUCH
better! Service was almost as good as you would expect from a seasoned
crew. Things like this do not bother me. I know how hard it is to get
any new business up to full working speed, and a cruise ship isn't any
exception.
INNOVATIONS: Sail and Sign Cards - Your Sail and Sign card takes on
a whole new importance on the Oasis of the Seas. Before your even leave
home, you can make reservations for shows and dinner reservations
online. You aren't issued any tickets.... you just show up when you are
supposed to and ship's crew with hand held scanners scan your card and
confirm your reservation. Very simple, very fast, nothing to it.
All the muster stations for safety drill are in lounges. When you
arrive, your card is scanned. You do not have to bring your life vest
to the safety drill, in fact, there weren't any life vests in our cabin.
They are all stored at the muster stations. Also, your muster station
location is printed on your Sail and Sign card. This is the most
pleasant way to do a safety drill that I have ever seen.
You can also use your sail and sign card to purchase wine from a vending
machine that is outside the dining room.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-125.html
Also, on your Sign and Sail card is a number for your photos. Our
number was 6-44 (tower #4, slot #44) You go to the photo shop, find
your tower and slot number and your photos will be there in a folder.
You find them instantly, no more looking through hundreds of photos for
yours.
INNOVATIONS - Interactive Information Displays. Near many of the
elevators is a touch screen, interactive monitor display. On it, you
can see on a deck plan where you are and touch the location of any venue
on the ship and it will map directions telling you how to get there.
You can enter your stateroom number and it will map out how you should
get there.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-069.html
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-070.html
You can pull up the daily schedule.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-065.html
You can check out how busy various restaurants are! Really... you can
look at a graphic display that shows the occupancy level of every
restaurant on the ship at that moment.
INNOVATIONS - It appears that you will be able to access the internet on
your TV in your cabin. This looks like the system already in place in a
lot of hotels,,, the keyboards were in the cabins but the system was not
operational yet. Add to that the WiFi capabilities of the ship and the
internet "cafe" is almost unnecessary. Royal Caribbean is thinking that
way, because the internet room is tiny, out of the way and has only 5
stations.
The big ship is even more impressive because of small things. I was
very happy and surprised with the amount of small details that I found
in the design of the ship. There are small details on light fixtures,
signs hidden in amongst the plants telling you what they are.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-152.html
There are numerous hand-washing stations located outside of most of the
eating venues and they are pretty attractive.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-165.html
Small wonders... a number of displays that you view through special
telescopic viewers. These are scattered throughout the ship; and are
very interesting.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-122.html
The Solarium is 2-stories tall with plenty of rattan chairs and
ottomans, plus they have chaise lounges and those big, round seats tjat
are big enough for two people, like they had on the Solstice. The
Solarium has its own eating area, with turkey bacon, turkey sausage,
grilled vegetables, and layered fruit/yogurt cups.
Disappointments..... I have only two. I had expected to see a show at
the Aqua Theater and didn't. They had it operational for the Good
Morning America taping, but they drained the pool and there were a lot
of construction-type people working on and in it both days. I also
wanted to see the show "Hairspray" which Royal Caribbean has been
touting... but they didn't run that while we were onboard either.
If you hung in there through all this, there is one more photo I would
like you to see.
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/magcover.html
Getting off the ship Sunday morning was easy. They cleared the ship at
7:20 and we walked off. Since it was a two night cruise to nowhere, we
only had a couple of light bags and there was no Customs to deal with.
We were on the road by 7:35 and had an uneventful trip home.
--
George Leppla
Countryside Travel http://www.CruiseMaster.com
Blog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CruiseMaster
Tom K
"George Leppla" <geo...@cruisemaster.com> wrote in message
news:hem9u...@news5.newsguy.com...
>
> The Solarium is 2-stories tall with plenty of rattan chairs and ottomans,
> plus they have chaise lounges and those big, round seats tjat are big
> enough for two people, like they had on the Solstice. The Solarium has
> its own eating area, with turkey bacon, turkey sausage, grilled
> vegetables, and layered fruit/yogurt cups.
>
Was the solarium completely enclosed? Or was it like on the Voyager class
where it's covered but not enclosed?
--Tom
George Leppla
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-057.html
http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/photos/oasis/oasis-060.html
Partially enclosed. Solid windows from floor to ceiling all the way
around, but parts of the ceiling are open.
Jr
I imagine it was a great cruise considering it was about 46.6% capacity.
I wonder what the reports will be like when they have around 6,000
passengers.
Ermalee McCauley
Nice review, George, and you're looking pretty nifty on that magazine cover.
Ermalee
Joseph Coulter
<geo...@cruisemaster.com> wrote:
>This promises to be long.... so grab a beverage or your choice and dig
>in, or hit the "next" key and move on.
>
George, We couldn't make it ( Actually just felt overwhelmed with
Thanksgiving and turning around to drive 5 hours to FLL) So you have
provided the next best thing to being there. Thank you!
I am not sure that I will find myself there any day soon, but I have
clients who will probably love it!
Joseph Coulter
Joseph Coulter Cruises and Vacations
www.josephcoulter.com
frijoli
Joseph Coulter, what's going on with your website? <ost of
it isn't working for me. I get the 404 error
Joseph Coulter
It is under construction but the main page works for me in Firefox and
IE. I appreciate the feedback however. you might try
http://downunderanswers.josephcoulter.com just for kicks!
Again thank you for the heads up.
frijoli
> On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:45:40 -0500, frijoli <c...@dud.gov> wrote:
>
>>
>>> www.josephcoulter.com
>> Joseph Coulter, what's going on with your website? <ost of
>> it isn't working for me. I get the 404 error
> It is under construction but the main page works for me in Firefox and
> IE. I appreciate the feedback however. you might try
> http://downunderanswers.josephcoulter.com just for kicks!
>
that doesn't work either
did you mean, http://adventuresdownunder.josephcoulter.com
Jeff Gersten
On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:45:40 -0500, frijoli <c...@dud.gov> wrote:
>>Joseph Coulter, what's going on with your
>>website? <ost of it isn't working for me. I get
>>the 404 error
>It is under construction but the main page
>works for me in Firefox and IE. I appreciate
>the feedback however. you might try
>http://downunderanswers.josephcoulter.com
>just for kicks!
I can get on both those sites easily. And that's with a webtv.
Joseph Coulter
>Joseph Coulter wrote:
>> On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:45:40 -0500, frijoli <c...@dud.gov> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>> www.josephcoulter.com
>>> Joseph Coulter, what's going on with your website? <ost of
>>> it isn't working for me. I get the 404 error
>> It is under construction but the main page works for me in Firefox and
>> IE. I appreciate the feedback however. you might try
m just for kicks!
>>
>
>
>that doesn't work either
>
>
>did you mean, http://adventuresdownunder.josephcoulter.com
OH DEAR!! this is not my day. But thanks I note that several of the
links that "should" work aren't giving good url pointers so it is time
to clear out all the links and start over with them.
frijoli
finished as Joseph said, which is what I was trying to
figure out. The other was the incorrect address Joseph
posted, so no you didn't get on that one. :)
There is some cool stuff on this one though:
http://adventuresdownunder.josephcoulter.com
Clay
Jean O'Boyle
> or hit the "next" key and move on.
>
Hi George,
I opened this up on Thanksgiving morning and after reading the first
sentence, decided to wait until after Thanksgiving to be able to really take
my time reading it, so now I am back... WOW! She is a huge vessel and I
sort of have reservations about boarding her when she is to full capacity as
some of your pictures on the promenade looked a bit crowded already! I
really like the photos being taken when boarding...Also the multiple use of
the sail and sign cards.. What neat looking outside balconies facing the
Central Park plus the interactive info at the elevators. That should help
one not to get lost when on that size of a ship! I was curious, they had the
hand washing stations but there were no towels nearby...Did they have any
hand sanitizing stations through out the ship? Not too fond of the square
sinks in the men's room as they probably are the same in the Ladies'
rooms...just not a design I care for...but who cares it is not where I will
live! <g>. Disappointed about the non-movable shower head as I like to be
able to adjust that and the lack of a clothes line and placement of
electrical outlets. Makes one wonder why change things that work nicely
before. ;-)
One other thing...having a sandy beach is going to mean sand in the
elevators and about the ship; not to mention that it will require quite a
bit of clean up time.
Also, I wonder how long all that greenery on the ship is going to last...a
lot of upkeep there, especially that high wall. They were tearing up the
real grass that had died on the golf greens the day before we were to
disembark on the Solstice and it seems that would have been a lot easier to
maintain then all the trees and plants all over the Oasis.
I am really looking forward to our cruise on the Oasis with your group in
October; the size of this ship was something I don't usually prefer, but I'm
still curious about her and want to have taken her at least once!
Thanks for the great photos and very thorough review...Nice cover shot! You
look "smashing!"
--Jean
Ermalee McCauley
This page worked for me, plus the home page, about us page, and contact
us page.
Ermalee
frijoli
not working, not all.
Tom K
"Jean O'Boyle" <job...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:hev3qd$894$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
> I am really looking forward to our cruise on the Oasis with your group in
> October; the size of this ship was something I don't usually prefer, but
> I'm still curious about her and want to have taken her at least once!
> Thanks for the great photos and very thorough review...Nice cover shot!
> You look "smashing!"
>
> --Jean
I talked to Suzy today after she got off Oasis. One thing she said that
could turn out a bit problematic is access to shows. She said that since
you have to pre-reserve for the shows, everyone who enters a show has to be
scanned in with their access card... so entrance to shows takes forever and
the build up of people outside the show events is horrible. Sounds like an
idea that has implications they may never have thought of.
--Tom
Jean O'Boyle
"Tom K" <tkan...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:4b1344d5$0$22521$607e...@cv.net...
You're right, Tom...I remember all the people waiting outside for the Ice
Shows...as the doors opened, everyone rushed in. Scanning the your sail and
card before entering is going to be quite a problem. They may have to
re-think that one or open the doors at least a half hour earlier may be one
solution.
--Jean
Becca
> You're right, Tom...I remember all the people waiting outside for the Ice
> Shows...as the doors opened, everyone rushed in. Scanning the your sail and
> card before entering is going to be quite a problem. They may have to
> re-think that one or open the doors at least a half hour earlier may be one
> solution.
>
> --Jean
We arrived at the 6:00 ice show about 15 minutes early and the doors
were already open. On the other ships, the doors did not open until
6:00 on the nose. I have a feeling, this is why they are opening the
doors early. They had at least 6 people with hand held scanners who
were waiting at the doors. It went just as fast as when they looked at
your printed ticket. All you have to do is hold up your card.
We arrived at the showroom lounge, the comedy club and the ice show
early, and we never had to wait. The ship was only half full, though.
If you arrive late, that might be different, you may have to wait. The
comedy club was standing room only and it was packed, people were
standing in the back of the room.
Becca
Becca
> I am really looking forward to our cruise on the Oasis with your group in
> October; the size of this ship was something I don't usually prefer, but I'm
> still curious about her and want to have taken her at least once!
> Thanks for the great photos and very thorough review...Nice cover shot! You
> look "smashing!"
>
> --Jean
The Oasis is 1184 ft long and the Freedom is 1112 feet long, so the
difference in the length of the ships is not that much. There is a
difference in the width, though. The Oasis is a big ship, but it did
not feel massive in size, like I thought it would. I am very excited
about going back.
Becca
George Leppla
> I opened this up on Thanksgiving morning and after reading the first
> sentence, decided to wait until after Thanksgiving to be able to really take
> my time reading it, so now I am back... WOW! She is a huge vessel and I
> sort of have reservations about boarding her when she is to full capacity as
> some of your pictures on the promenade looked a bit crowded already! I
> really like the photos being taken when boarding...Also the multiple use of
> the sail and sign cards.. What neat looking outside balconies facing the
> Central Park plus the interactive info at the elevators. That should help
> one not to get lost when on that size of a ship! I was curious, they had the
> hand washing stations but there were no towels nearby...Did they have any
> hand sanitizing stations through out the ship?
There were hand sanitizers all over the place. The hand washing
stations had paper towel dispensers.
> Disappointed about the non-movable shower head as I like to be
> able to adjust that and the lack of a clothes line and placement of
> electrical outlets. Makes one wonder why change things that work nicely
> before. ;-)
The showe head is on a hose. The mounting bracket is not moveable, but
the head itself is hand-held.
> Also, I wonder how long all that greenery on the ship is going to last...a
> lot of upkeep there, especially that high wall. They were tearing up the
> real grass that had died on the golf greens the day before we were to
> disembark on the Solstice and it seems that would have been a lot easier to
> maintain then all the trees and plants all over the Oasis.
The problem with the grass on the Solstice was that people walk on it...
that created wht wear factor. Nothing like this at all on the Oasis....
the plants are just for show. It willt ake a lot of watering and
maintenance, but I'm thinking it might work.
I liked the Oasis a lot more than I thought I would. It didn't "feel"
huge, although it certainly is.
Bill
You probably also didn't have people trying to get into a show
they didn't have reservations for. That will probably mess up
the line while they try to tell them that they cannot enter.
Even the most clueless person will acknowledge that the time on
a printed ticket doesn't match the show they are trying to get
into. Try to tell people that their card doesn't say they are
allowed into the show they're trying to enter.
Bill
Joseph Coulter
wrote:
>
>You probably also didn't have people trying to get into a show
>they didn't have reservations for. That will probably mess up
>the line while they try to tell them that they cannot enter.
>Even the most clueless person will acknowledge that the time on
>a printed ticket doesn't match the show they are trying to get
>into. Try to tell people that their card doesn't say they are
>allowed into the show they're trying to enter.
>
>Bill
I am sure that cruise staff are already dreading this. Even with
tickets onthe Independence and Freedom for the ice shows there were
exceptioins (suite guests) and people who were sure that their status
(as ?) would let them in. Staff are supposed to be polite etc but rude
people still hold up the line and make it bad for all and the advance
reservations on the sand s card will only cause more arguments (must
be a mistake . . .)
On a side note I understand that the two day cruise last weekend
didn't disembark untill almost 10am. Anyone know why?
George Leppla
The one night sailing getting back to port on Friday, 11/20 didn't get
back until 10AM because Good Morning America was broadcasting from the
ship and they wanted shots of the ship moving into the channel... rather
than being tied up at the pier.
That's what we were told, anyway.
Joseph Coulter
All I know is that I was going to be on that cruise (11-30 debark) and
was glad I didn't have to listen to all the early flight people going
nuts as to how they were going to rebook on the busiest air day of the
year. . .
Dillon Pyron
1) lips moving
2) teeth not moving
1+2 = ?
>
>George Leppla
>
>Countryside Travel http://www.CruiseMaster.com
>Blog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/
>Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CruiseMaster
--
- dillon I am not invalid
Money can't buy happiness.
But you can rent it.
Dillon Pyron
>On Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:01:31 -0500, Bill <bill...@prodigy.net>
>wrote:
>
>>
>
>>You probably also didn't have people trying to get into a show
>>they didn't have reservations for. That will probably mess up
>>the line while they try to tell them that they cannot enter.
>>Even the most clueless person will acknowledge that the time on
>>a printed ticket doesn't match the show they are trying to get
>>into. Try to tell people that their card doesn't say they are
>>allowed into the show they're trying to enter.
>>
>>Bill
>I am sure that cruise staff are already dreading this. Even with
>tickets onthe Independence and Freedom for the ice shows there were
>exceptioins (suite guests) and people who were sure that their status
>(as ?)
ME! Didn't we learn this at a very young age? I am the center of the
universe.
I actually heard a guy at one of the "any time" (whatever RCI calls
it, too many names) that "I'm a gold member and they should treat me
better than that!" I guess they made him wait. Everybody at our
table was at least gold and one couple was diamond platinum and also
some high level on Princess.
>would let them in. Staff are supposed to be polite etc but rude
>people still hold up the line and make it bad for all and the advance
>reservations on the sand s card will only cause more arguments (must
>be a mistake . . .)
What would be nice would be a small, well secured, printer in each
room that would print tickets. The staff would still scan the cards,
but the tickets (okay, call them reminders, maybe print everything for
the next day or something) would be for the guest. The rooms are so
wired that this wouldn't be a problem other than the logisitcs of
installing them in 9,000,000 staterooms.
>
>On a side note I understand that the two day cruise last weekend
>didn't disembark untill almost 10am. Anyone know why?
>
>Joseph Coulter
>Joseph Coulter Cruises and Vacations
>www.josephcoulter.com
frijoli
I am liking th sound of these really big ships less and
less. Is this waiting and ticketing thing like this on the
Voyager/Explorer ships as well? Or are they just big enough
to not really have this issue?
Clay
Surfer E2468
her,did not like her at all,and we talked to a lot of people on princess
that said they will never cruise on her.
cruise lover(~~~~~)
.
Rosalie B.
>>> On Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:01:31 -0500, Bill <bill...@prodigy.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> You probably also didn't have people trying to get into a show
>>>> they didn't have reservations for. That will probably mess up
>>>> the line while they try to tell them that they cannot enter.
>>>> Even the most clueless person will acknowledge that the time on
>>>> a printed ticket doesn't match the show they are trying to get
>>>> into. Try to tell people that their card doesn't say they are
>>>> allowed into the show they're trying to enter.
>>>>
>
>I am liking th sound of these really big ships less and
>less. Is this waiting and ticketing thing like this on the
>Voyager/Explorer ships as well? Or are they just big enough
>to not really have this issue?
>
The venues for the shows do not hold everyone on the ship. Which
makes sense because if they did, it would be half empty most of the
time. It is when EVERYONE wants to see a show or something at the
same time that you get the problem. And I would think it would be
worse on the bigger ships.
Bill
> Saw the OASIS when we cruised out of florida, and NO WAY will we book on
> her,did not like her at all,and we talked to a lot of people on princess
> that said they will never cruise on her.
With all due respect, I would expect that they were not
targeting Oasis at folks of your age and I suspect that you were
talking to similar people on Princess. I believe you don't even
like ships like Explorer or Liberty, so Oasis is even worse so
far as you're concerned. My kids (18 and 22) would love to go on
Oasis, as would my wife and myself.
Bill
Dillon Pyron
I seem to remember "them" telling "us" that this procedure was being
evluated for Freedom and Voyager class, also.
>
>Clay
--
- dillon I am not invalid
I love my country, It's my government I fear.
Hey, turnabout's fair play.