ICEMANPAD
The Turkey Day Gang sails again.
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We are a Disney loving family of three (2 adults and a 16 year old DS) who recently sailed on the Oasis of the Seas December 19, 2015-December 26, 2015. Here is our brief comparison. Please feel free to ask any questions.
Unlike most of the other RCL ships, the entertainment on Oasis was actually worth viewing and comparable to Disney. We had previously been on Liberty of the Seas where the entertainment was awful other than the ice show. On Oasis, however, there were many high quality options. We saw the Broadway quality full length Cats, an amazing water show with Olympic level athletes, a spectacular ice show featuring stories by Hans Christian Anderson including Frozen and the Little Mermaid, an indoor musical aerial show and an extremely funny adult comedy show. We missed the headliner group show which was an a cappella boy group that had been on AGT, which we heard was generally well-liked. The one negative is that the shows are popular and advance reservations are helpful, though some standbys generally get seats. The shows are each repeated a few times during the week which helps with the standby situation.
The food was better than expected, after surviving Liberty's terrible main dining room, though this one depends heavily on one's individual preferences. Given the vast difference in price from Disney (see below), we planned on skipping main dining altogether and eating only at the specialty restaurants and in fact did so 6 nights out of 7. The Italian, Japanese (actual hibachi) and steak restaurants were excellent and there was an even more upscale restaurant (think Remy) that we skipped. These restaurants carry an upcharge of $30/35/40 per person, but again, given the overall price differential, were well worth it. The one time we tried main dining, we had a split opinion. Two out of three of us felt that it was comparable to DCL main dining with decent food, excellent service and even a parade and twirling napkins. It was wonderful that our DS who is 16 was able to dine with us in the specialty restaurants. We felt that the Italian restaurant was definitely on par with Palo.
There were many food options included in the cruise fare in addition to the main dining room. The standard buffet did not have as ample selection as Cabanas, but the quality of the food served was similar. There were several other included choices that were a cut above the Disney pool deck quick serve locations. The Solarium had a very healthy menu and beautiful location, the Park Cafe had very good made to order salads and freshly carved excellent roast beef sandwiches, the Wipe Out Café had freshly made omelets and a full breakfast and lunch buffet, Johnny Rockets had a no service charge breakfast with delicious French toast, made to order omelets and a full menu. There were 3 or 4 other alternatives that we did not have time to try including a pizza parlor and hot dog stand. Thus, overall we felt that the food quality and selection were on par or even better than the food quality and selection on DCL.
From an alcohol standpoint, it is hard to comment given Disney's recent policy change prohibiting passengers from bringing aboard unlimited alcohol. We avoided the pricey drink packages and instead each got a soda package which included use of several free style coke machines that had about 50 products each including many different sodas, ginger ale, Dasani water, fruit water and PowerAde. Also, soda service in the dining rooms and theaters was included. On Disney if you order a soda in the theaters there is an additional charge. We purchased one 10 drink punchcard for $79 which included any premium adult drinks of our choice. As a result, we saved approximately $2-$3 per drink.
The Oasis itself is a destination with three separate atriums, two of which are open air. The promenade runs between the two sets of elevator banks (12 per bank) with a height of 3 decks and immediately above is Central Park which is open air. Aft of the elevators on deck 6 is the open air Boardwalk and Aqua Theater. During the week movies were shown on big screens at the Aqua Theater. The seating was very comfortable. Deck 15 has 4 separate pool and water play areas, miniature golf and a large sports court separated by the open air atriums. There are no water slides on the Oasis, but there is zip lining and rock climbing. The new Harmony of the Seas (same class as Oasis) will have water slides. We felt that the Oasis and Fantasy are comparable in these areas.
Disney is always a leader in customer service. We have always had wonderful experiences with the cruise staff, stateroom attendants and dining room servers. We had read some negative reviews about customer service on the Oasis. We were surprised that the level of service was on par with DCL. The cruise staff, our stateroom attendant and all of the servers were incredible!! Our stateroom attendant, Simone, took excellent care of our cabin and was always friendly. We dined in many different venues and always had excellent servers who were friendly and attentive. The cruise director and staff were friendly and professional as well. As a result, from a service perspective the levels of service were comparable on the Oasis and DCL.
We visited Labadee on the Oasis. In our opinion, we prefer Castaway Cay. However, Labadee was a nice experience as well. Our son rode the Dragon Coaster and enjoyed it. The buffet was fine, but did not include as many choices as the buffet on Castaway Cay. All drink packages were honored on Labadee.
Check in, embarkation and debarkation were comparable between the Oasis and Disney. Everything was very organized. We checked in at 11 am and were on board the Oasis by 11:30 am. The only difference was that there was no name announcement as you entered the Oasis. We left the Oasis at 8:30 am and had our luggage, went through customs and was in our car parked right outside of the terminal by 9:00 am.
The main difference is the price. We paid $3500 for a guaranty on an outside veranda (noting there are interior facing verandas on the three atriums). We were assigned cabin 6276 which was essentially a just behind midship cabin with Plexiglas veranda and no obstructions. Originally on the Fantasy we had booked a Cat 7 cabin with an obstructed veranda for $8500. Even adding $1000.00 for the specialty dining and soda packages, it was a far better value for the week. We cancelled our reservation on the Fantasy and booked on the Oasis shortly before the pif date.
We re-booked on the new Harmony (the Oasis is moving to Port Canaveral to compete with Disney in October 2016) for Spring break in 2017 in the same category cabin for $4100 less a $400 credit for a $3700 net. And the deposit was (for real) $100. The same outside veranda on DCL for that week was $7100/$7500 depending on the ship (Magic/Fantasy) and the deposit would have been about $1300. We compared prices before we rebooked. The internet was excellent on the Oasis.
Thus, while we love Disney, we really wish they would remain price competitive. We are platinum on Disney, many year annual passholders, DVC owners and even got married at the wedding pavilion/ Grand Floridian. We have a solid group of friends, some of whom were on Oasis with us, from the Disney cruises who regrettably are looking for alternatives due to prices. The reality is that the competition is catching up in terms of shows, overall customer service, food quality and even in the area of characters (Oasis has the Madagascar characters). We really hope that the folks at Disney start taking notice that their pricing has become an issue for many of its most loyal customers.
Unlike most of the other RCL ships, the entertainment on Oasis was actually worth viewing and comparable to Disney. We had previously been on Liberty of the Seas where the entertainment was awful other than the ice show. On Oasis, however, there were many high quality options. We saw the Broadway quality full length Cats, an amazing water show with Olympic level athletes, a spectacular ice show featuring stories by Hans Christian Anderson including Frozen and the Little Mermaid, an indoor musical aerial show and an extremely funny adult comedy show. We missed the headliner group show which was an a cappella boy group that had been on AGT, which we heard was generally well-liked. The one negative is that the shows are popular and advance reservations are helpful, though some standbys generally get seats. The shows are each repeated a few times during the week which helps with the standby situation.
The food was better than expected, after surviving Liberty's terrible main dining room, though this one depends heavily on one's individual preferences. Given the vast difference in price from Disney (see below), we planned on skipping main dining altogether and eating only at the specialty restaurants and in fact did so 6 nights out of 7. The Italian, Japanese (actual hibachi) and steak restaurants were excellent and there was an even more upscale restaurant (think Remy) that we skipped. These restaurants carry an upcharge of $30/35/40 per person, but again, given the overall price differential, were well worth it. The one time we tried main dining, we had a split opinion. Two out of three of us felt that it was comparable to DCL main dining with decent food, excellent service and even a parade and twirling napkins. It was wonderful that our DS who is 16 was able to dine with us in the specialty restaurants. We felt that the Italian restaurant was definitely on par with Palo.
There were many food options included in the cruise fare in addition to the main dining room. The standard buffet did not have as ample selection as Cabanas, but the quality of the food served was similar. There were several other included choices that were a cut above the Disney pool deck quick serve locations. The Solarium had a very healthy menu and beautiful location, the Park Cafe had very good made to order salads and freshly carved excellent roast beef sandwiches, the Wipe Out Café had freshly made omelets and a full breakfast and lunch buffet, Johnny Rockets had a no service charge breakfast with delicious French toast, made to order omelets and a full menu. There were 3 or 4 other alternatives that we did not have time to try including a pizza parlor and hot dog stand. Thus, overall we felt that the food quality and selection were on par or even better than the food quality and selection on DCL.
From an alcohol standpoint, it is hard to comment given Disney's recent policy change prohibiting passengers from bringing aboard unlimited alcohol. We avoided the pricey drink packages and instead each got a soda package which included use of several free style coke machines that had about 50 products each including many different sodas, ginger ale, Dasani water, fruit water and PowerAde. Also, soda service in the dining rooms and theaters was included. On Disney if you order a soda in the theaters there is an additional charge. We purchased one 10 drink punchcard for $79 which included any premium adult drinks of our choice. As a result, we saved approximately $2-$3 per drink.
The Oasis itself is a destination with three separate atriums, two of which are open air. The promenade runs between the two sets of elevator banks (12 per bank) with a height of 3 decks and immediately above is Central Park which is open air. Aft of the elevators on deck 6 is the open air Boardwalk and Aqua Theater. During the week movies were shown on big screens at the Aqua Theater. The seating was very comfortable. Deck 15 has 4 separate pool and water play areas, miniature golf and a large sports court separated by the open air atriums. There are no water slides on the Oasis, but there is zip lining and rock climbing. The new Harmony of the Seas (same class as Oasis) will have water slides. We felt that the Oasis and Fantasy are comparable in these areas.
Disney is always a leader in customer service. We have always had wonderful experiences with the cruise staff, stateroom attendants and dining room servers. We had read some negative reviews about customer service on the Oasis. We were surprised that the level of service was on par with DCL. The cruise staff, our stateroom attendant and all of the servers were incredible!! Our stateroom attendant, Simone, took excellent care of our cabin and was always friendly. We dined in many different venues and always had excellent servers who were friendly and attentive. The cruise director and staff were friendly and professional as well. As a result, from a service perspective the levels of service were comparable on the Oasis and DCL.
We visited Labadee on the Oasis. In our opinion, we prefer Castaway Cay. However, Labadee was a nice experience as well. Our son rode the Dragon Coaster and enjoyed it. The buffet was fine, but did not include as many choices as the buffet on Castaway Cay. All drink packages were honored on Labadee.
Check in, embarkation and debarkation were comparable between the Oasis and Disney. Everything was very organized. We checked in at 11 am and were on board the Oasis by 11:30 am. The only difference was that there was no name announcement as you entered the Oasis. We left the Oasis at 8:30 am and had our luggage, went through customs and was in our car parked right outside of the terminal by 9:00 am.
The main difference is the price. We paid $3500 for a guaranty on an outside veranda (noting there are interior facing verandas on the three atriums). We were assigned cabin 6276 which was essentially a just behind midship cabin with Plexiglas veranda and no obstructions. Originally on the Fantasy we had booked a Cat 7 cabin with an obstructed veranda for $8500. Even adding $1000.00 for the specialty dining and soda packages, it was a far better value for the week. We cancelled our reservation on the Fantasy and booked on the Oasis shortly before the pif date.
We re-booked on the new Harmony (the Oasis is moving to Port Canaveral to compete with Disney in October 2016) for Spring break in 2017 in the same category cabin for $4100 less a $400 credit for a $3700 net. And the deposit was (for real) $100. The same outside veranda on DCL for that week was $7100/$7500 depending on the ship (Magic/Fantasy) and the deposit would have been about $1300. We compared prices before we rebooked. The internet was excellent on the Oasis.
Thus, while we love Disney, we really wish they would remain price competitive. We are platinum on Disney, many year annual passholders, DVC owners and even got married at the wedding pavilion/ Grand Floridian. We have a solid group of friends, some of whom were on Oasis with us, from the Disney cruises who regrettably are looking for alternatives due to prices. The reality is that the competition is catching up in terms of shows, overall customer service, food quality and even in the area of characters (Oasis has the Madagascar characters). We really hope that the folks at Disney start taking notice that their pricing has become an issue for many of its most loyal customers.
