I know a lot of people ask for reviews from RCI..especially in comparison to DCL. We were on the Oasis of the Seas for Thanksgiving. It was me, DH, my parents and our 5 kids (DS 13, DD 12, DD 10, and twin DD's 3). All of us have cruise many times so we are familiar with how things work. We've cruised Carnival, DCL and RCI (Explorer, Independence, Liberty and now Oasis).
First, and most important, we had a great vacation. We rebooked on the Allure for April 2012. We were going to look into doing the Allure in August, but we decided to wait the 1 yr plus, because I don't think RCI is great (compared to DCL) with toddlers/young preschoolers. In April 2012, our twins will be very close to 5 yrs old.
ROOMS: We had connecting staterooms. One of our rooms was a regular inside room and the connecting room had a Promenade view. This room was slightly larger and we really liked the extra space. It's amazing how a small difference in sq footage can make sure a big difference in space. I think the biggest point that I want to make here...RCI was not cheaper than DCL. I see so many people say how they saved by going on RCI over DCL but that has never really been the case for us. Maybe because we are forced to go at peak times. One thing that is a little less convenient on Oasis, than on DCL...no midship elevators. So you often have to walk the length of the ship to get where you are going. On the plus side...I love their Royal Promenade so I usually went to deck 5 and walked through the Promenade to get where I was going (often grabbing pizza or a hot chocolate on my way).
FOOD: I was disappointed in most of the food this time. Some items were great, but many were not very good at all. In past RCI cruises, we enjoyed their lunch buffets, but not this time. On the plus side, Oasis has some wonderful off-the-beaten-path food options. Central Park had a place that had amazing salads and the best roast beef sandwhiches that we had ever eaten. My kids loved the donut shop. The ice cream place, while not free, was great. Our dining experience was shaky this trip. First...they split all 3 of our staterooms up to 3 seperate tables. The way they divided us, my table was about 3 tables away from my husband's table and my parents were behing him (with another couple). Obviously, this was not going to work. It took the head of the dining room 3 nights to get us settled in to a table together. When you have little kids, this is a royal pest. As was the case on a couple of our other RCI cruises, our dining team was not very personable. In my opinion, RCI does not do a great job with young guests in the dining room. There are only glasses..no kid cups and no lids. They have kid menues (same every night) but they do not have crayons. One of my 3 yr old's was very recently put on a more restrictive diet. When I asked my server if they had any gluten free pasta, he looked at me like I had 2 heads. he was not happy to go find out for me...eventually, I was told that they had gluten free rice pasta that they could dig up for my daughter on the following night. We never did get that rice pasta.
KIDS: My son was in the tween club. It is probably the most involved he has ever been with the clubs. He enjoyed it. We kept my 12 yr old down with her 10 yr old sister. We knew they would stick together if they checked out and my 12 yr old really wanted to stay down and do more activities (rather than hang out). They enjoyed the clubs at night but didn't spend a lot of time there during the day. This was not necessarily because they did not like the clubs...it was more due to the fact that there was so much for them to enjoy on the ship. This ship rocks for tweens. My kids loved the zip line, rock climbing, mini golf and especially the Flowrider. We even did a family private lesson on the Flowrider (myself included) and it was a big highlight of our trip. My tweens/teen were in heaven on this ship. My little ones are definitely better off on DCL. They did like the carousel. They had activities on the Boardwalk. The twins enjoyed the activities but they were just a touch young. They also enjoyed getting donuts. We had some issues with the clubs for 3-5 yr olds. Being a young 3, the twins weren't as good at staying tuned in to the activities and the councelors were actually a bit annoyed at them for it. Also, my one DD is lactose intollerant. When I registered the twins, I was wrongly told that I could send this DD in a pull up if she went for a meal (to ease my fear that they would feed her something she shouldn't have). She is fully potty trained. It turns out pull ups are strictly forbidden. Well, they never marked the allergy on her record. The one time I sent her to lunch with them (in a pull up...only time she ever wore a pull up all week), she ended up having an accident. First of all, they marked the wrong twin as having had an accident and gave her a "strike." Then they were extremely rude about the pull up (which I had been wrongly told was ok). As I said, this was the only time my DD wore one all week. Well, they told me, "We will have to personally check her to make sure she isn't in a pull up whenever you drop her off now." This was before I realized they marked the wrong twin as having had the accident so I was confused...because Bailey did not have a pull up. Then I figured out they had the wrong kid, so I reminded them of Taylor's GI problems with her allergy. They had to go dig up her registration form because nobody entered the info. So, I asked what they fed her for lunch. They assured me that she ate no dairy. They were even sure that everything she ate was fine because, get this, they asked my 10 yr old daughter if it was ok for her to eat this and that. Seriously...they counted on a 10 yr old. I made sure Taylor was not given food by the club for the rest of the week. Ultimately, the twins had fun in the clubs and we made it through the week.
SHOWS/Entertainment. We loved the trivia. We enjoyed Hairspray, the ice show and the aquatheater show. We also had a great time in the casino.
Like I said, we had a great trip and we look forward to being on the Allure in 2012. Our next cruise in the Disney Dream. I know this will be a better fit for my preschoolers. My older 3 have always loved DCL, but I have to admit I am a little nervous now. They had so many options on The Oasis of the Seas. I hope DCL didn't drop the ball when it comes to entertaining tweens/teens.
Jess
First, and most important, we had a great vacation. We rebooked on the Allure for April 2012. We were going to look into doing the Allure in August, but we decided to wait the 1 yr plus, because I don't think RCI is great (compared to DCL) with toddlers/young preschoolers. In April 2012, our twins will be very close to 5 yrs old.
ROOMS: We had connecting staterooms. One of our rooms was a regular inside room and the connecting room had a Promenade view. This room was slightly larger and we really liked the extra space. It's amazing how a small difference in sq footage can make sure a big difference in space. I think the biggest point that I want to make here...RCI was not cheaper than DCL. I see so many people say how they saved by going on RCI over DCL but that has never really been the case for us. Maybe because we are forced to go at peak times. One thing that is a little less convenient on Oasis, than on DCL...no midship elevators. So you often have to walk the length of the ship to get where you are going. On the plus side...I love their Royal Promenade so I usually went to deck 5 and walked through the Promenade to get where I was going (often grabbing pizza or a hot chocolate on my way).
FOOD: I was disappointed in most of the food this time. Some items were great, but many were not very good at all. In past RCI cruises, we enjoyed their lunch buffets, but not this time. On the plus side, Oasis has some wonderful off-the-beaten-path food options. Central Park had a place that had amazing salads and the best roast beef sandwhiches that we had ever eaten. My kids loved the donut shop. The ice cream place, while not free, was great. Our dining experience was shaky this trip. First...they split all 3 of our staterooms up to 3 seperate tables. The way they divided us, my table was about 3 tables away from my husband's table and my parents were behing him (with another couple). Obviously, this was not going to work. It took the head of the dining room 3 nights to get us settled in to a table together. When you have little kids, this is a royal pest. As was the case on a couple of our other RCI cruises, our dining team was not very personable. In my opinion, RCI does not do a great job with young guests in the dining room. There are only glasses..no kid cups and no lids. They have kid menues (same every night) but they do not have crayons. One of my 3 yr old's was very recently put on a more restrictive diet. When I asked my server if they had any gluten free pasta, he looked at me like I had 2 heads. he was not happy to go find out for me...eventually, I was told that they had gluten free rice pasta that they could dig up for my daughter on the following night. We never did get that rice pasta.
KIDS: My son was in the tween club. It is probably the most involved he has ever been with the clubs. He enjoyed it. We kept my 12 yr old down with her 10 yr old sister. We knew they would stick together if they checked out and my 12 yr old really wanted to stay down and do more activities (rather than hang out). They enjoyed the clubs at night but didn't spend a lot of time there during the day. This was not necessarily because they did not like the clubs...it was more due to the fact that there was so much for them to enjoy on the ship. This ship rocks for tweens. My kids loved the zip line, rock climbing, mini golf and especially the Flowrider. We even did a family private lesson on the Flowrider (myself included) and it was a big highlight of our trip. My tweens/teen were in heaven on this ship. My little ones are definitely better off on DCL. They did like the carousel. They had activities on the Boardwalk. The twins enjoyed the activities but they were just a touch young. They also enjoyed getting donuts. We had some issues with the clubs for 3-5 yr olds. Being a young 3, the twins weren't as good at staying tuned in to the activities and the councelors were actually a bit annoyed at them for it. Also, my one DD is lactose intollerant. When I registered the twins, I was wrongly told that I could send this DD in a pull up if she went for a meal (to ease my fear that they would feed her something she shouldn't have). She is fully potty trained. It turns out pull ups are strictly forbidden. Well, they never marked the allergy on her record. The one time I sent her to lunch with them (in a pull up...only time she ever wore a pull up all week), she ended up having an accident. First of all, they marked the wrong twin as having had an accident and gave her a "strike." Then they were extremely rude about the pull up (which I had been wrongly told was ok). As I said, this was the only time my DD wore one all week. Well, they told me, "We will have to personally check her to make sure she isn't in a pull up whenever you drop her off now." This was before I realized they marked the wrong twin as having had the accident so I was confused...because Bailey did not have a pull up. Then I figured out they had the wrong kid, so I reminded them of Taylor's GI problems with her allergy. They had to go dig up her registration form because nobody entered the info. So, I asked what they fed her for lunch. They assured me that she ate no dairy. They were even sure that everything she ate was fine because, get this, they asked my 10 yr old daughter if it was ok for her to eat this and that. Seriously...they counted on a 10 yr old. I made sure Taylor was not given food by the club for the rest of the week. Ultimately, the twins had fun in the clubs and we made it through the week.
SHOWS/Entertainment. We loved the trivia. We enjoyed Hairspray, the ice show and the aquatheater show. We also had a great time in the casino.
Like I said, we had a great trip and we look forward to being on the Allure in 2012. Our next cruise in the Disney Dream. I know this will be a better fit for my preschoolers. My older 3 have always loved DCL, but I have to admit I am a little nervous now. They had so many options on The Oasis of the Seas. I hope DCL didn't drop the ball when it comes to entertaining tweens/teens.
Jess
I forget how spoiled we are living in Florida!!
That's why we really don't have much of a choice other than to fly. By the time we add 5 airfares to our trip, transfers and a hotel night the night before, we want to know that we will enjoy our trip.
As you can tell, we're not much into risk taking!
My in-laws booked the cruise first, but after seeing the price and itinerary, we invited ourselves along! 
Transatlantics are usually a great deal - if you can stand 5-7 sea days in a row. I would book another TA cruise if it had a really great itinerary.
