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On board the Oasis of the Seas: What's it like?
Okay. You know it's big. So let's set aside that superlative, even though it's absolutely true. The Oasis of the Seas is ginormous: the longest, the tallest, the widest.
More of interest is how it measures up as an experience. I'm writing this from the press lounge on Deck 4, which Royal Caribbean has set up for the journalists that it invited to test out its glorious new $1.4 billion mortgage-cum-cruise ship. When you're talking about 17 decks and 2,700 staterooms, you need a lot of time to nose around and even more time to process.
So far, though, this ship is astounding, partly because Royal Caribbean threw some of the old strictures overboard. It's no longer concerned about width restrictions -- the Oasis is too fat to ever go through the Panama Canal -- and once rules like those are jettisoned, new designs can sweep in.
The most obvious twist on this ship is its central atriums. Imagine a ship with the inside pretty much hollowed out from near the front all the way to to the stern, and then lined with interior cabins overlooking things like trees and a carnival-style carousel. That layout makes the Oasis entirely self-absorbed, like a floating mall or a resort on the waves. Almost nothing is geared toward drawing your attention to the water or to the ports you might pass, something that has already irked travel writers such as Arthur Frommer.
What's more, the Oasis is so large, with so much going on, that many passengers simply won't care about the ocean. It's a mere set piece, a picturesque backdrop to a week-long marathon of tropical cocktails, pizza bars, and souvenir shopping. That may not a quantum leap for travel, but it's definitely a leap for the cruise industry. Ports no longer matter. They're merely a place where a ship stops to pick up ice cream and shrimp cocktails.
A few thoughts about the on board experience:
* She's actually beautiful
How many times have we seen renderings of a ship that were nowhere as lovely as the reality? Somehow, in the telling, cruise ships tumble into tackiness. Somehow, the Oasis largely escapes that. Scalloped with swooping lines and theatrically lit with thousands of cobalt and scarlet lights, she's very much the theatrical display she was foretold to be in those dopey architectural promises. Maybe it's because she's new.
Also pleasing is the fact that it's very easy to get around the decks. On many ships, not every staircase leads to where you want to go, and you may have to loop around to get somewhere. Here, though, everything seems to connect logically, and there are plenty of elevators to service the hordes. It's a ship designed with passenger motion in mind, starting with the extraordinarily wide avenues. There's even an antique car parked in the middle of the Royal Promenade (the 4th-deck shopping mall), and barely anyone pays it mind.
Another much-needed addition: touch-screen boards near the elevator banks that tell passengers what's going on at every moment and give directions to their cabin from where they're standing. I wonder how long they're going to work properly.
One of the ship's most eye-catching features is the Rising Tide cocktail bar that slowly levitates and falls between three decks in the middle of the Promenade (acting as a de facto elevator to the open-air Central Park above). Most of the time, it's half-empty, not because it's a dull experience but because there's just so much else to see on board. When your levitating cocktail bar doesn't get much play, that's saying something.
* This time, the atriums aren't the ghetto
On other Royal Caribbean ships, the interior, atrium-facing staterooms are a mere novelty, or at best a consolation for not being able to afford an oceanview stateroom. Here, though, atrium rooms are so numerous that the old class system instantly grows less relevant. In fact, it's the repetitive honeycomb of countless atrium rooms, almost all of which have balconies overlooking the spectacle, that makes the atriums so astounding.
Gadling's cabin overlooks Central Park, an open-air atrium stocked with plants, trees, and adultish nightspots. It's quiet, but hardly isolated. (If you're thinking of booking an atrium cabin, in Central Park the airflow is a little stiff, while the Boardwalk has more glimpses of the sea, but it's noisy. Both areas are open to the natural sky.)
* Crowds will be an issue
This press sailing is only half full, which surely contributes to the general elation on this floating kingdom of amphitheatres and glassy man-made caverns. But when she takes on her full complement of 5,400 passengers, prepare for battle. Royal Caribbean is already warning guests to make advance reservations for everything they want to do, be it a show, a specialty restaurant, a comedy act, boogie boarding on one of the two FlowRider sheet-wave machines, or zip-lining high above the Boardwalk section at the stern.
I've already seen the effect on this half-full cruise. The churlish young ladies running the FlowRider kiosk, for example, allowed long sign-up lines to build before notifying the waiting group that there were no more slots available. Likewise, wait time for Johnny Rockets shot from zero minutes to 45 minutes between 11:30 and 11:40am. The mini-franchise has been such a success on other Royal Caribbean ships that you'd think the company would double the space given to it, but it didn't.
The atrium layout also means there's no top deck spanning the ship. Instead, there are two parallel areas over the cavern, and it's on those slivers of real estate the mail pools have been installed. The steel drum-type bands have to perform on a sky bridge linking the two areas. There seem to be plenty of deck chairs, but when things get busy on board, I wonder if there will be a scrum for pool access, especially since the quieter Serenity pool area, under a conservatory in the prow, can be oppressively hot when the sun shines
If you've even been on vacation to Disneyland, you're used to queuing up for every thrill. Cruise fans, though, may find that crowd overload runs counter to their aspirations for a relaxing time away from home.
* She's not quite finished
There's scaffolding along the jogging track that loops around Deck 5. Some of the hot tubs, including one that juts dramatically over the ocean, are still dry. And two of the ship's signature productions, a pared-down version of Hairspray and the water-themed show at the after outdoor Aqua amphitheatre, aren't ready to be unveiled. If the ship's fantastic ice skating spectacular is any indication, though, Royal Caribbean hasn't cut corners to meet the note on this expensive vessel.
Now, I'm no cynic, but I do know when I'm out of my element. I was on the Carnival Dream last weekend, and I couldn't shake the feeling that it was what a New Jersey Housewife would look like if she were to become a ship: all shiny gold and bangles and cigarettes and beery midnights. Many journalists are the first to puncture holes in the latest hyped product, perhaps because they see it as a service to their readers.
But I have to say that I'm really loving this ship. The size of it, which enables many of its innovations, may ironically be its biggest drawback, and depending on how it absorbs a full house, its Achilles Heel. Still, if I were thinking of bringing my family on a cruise, having seen this wedding cake of a seagoing resort, as a safe place to take everyone off the leash and forget about reality, I'd look here first.
Filed under: North America, United States, Cruises, Caribbean
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
birdsNworms Nov 25th 2009 8:27PM
To be sure, the Oasis of the Seas is something to behold. It is grand, and it stands on its own as an architectural and maritime achievement. But, amid all the pre-inaugural buzz out there, I feel there exists a great dearth of real -- read that to mean not PR scripted and stuffed down the throat -- news about the ship and the actual circumstances surrounding the launch and viability of the product RCCL claims is a 'game changer'.
Apparently, the product the vast majority of non-paying travel agents and media assembled for these junket cruises prior to the December 1 inaugural saw was decidedly different from the one I was introduced to.
Not that I was not wowed. I was. Anyone should be, even the harshest critic. It is more that it seems the media, mostly consisting of bloggers and cruiseline oriented domain owners sprinkled with a small group of travel and business writers, were and are concerned with gaining future invitations to such events and perhaps -- in the desperate economic environment -- are even looking to RCCL as a future employer with their overtly effusive and criticism-lite coverage.
The fact that Royal Caribbean elected to charge for cupcakes and coffee ($8.27+ for a quad espresso) but to allow alcohol to flow free and liberally may also indicate something of a fix.
I was one of the first people to board Oasis after the ship was brought back to Port Everglades following the GMA broadcast on Friday, November 20. Before boarding, there were some pretty obvious hitches no one appears to have reported. Curiously so. (One, involving what appeared to be media as they had some expensive cameras in tow and I noted Kerry Sanders of NBC in the mix, was most troubling...but I am waiting on a friend at the CBS station in Miami to confirm what I saw and provide more specifics.)
Like, for example, parking. Upon arrival, in spite of most of the previous night's guests having been shuttled from the airport or local hotels, there was not a single space available in the one, remarkably small (given that this is the largest ship of its kind afloat) parking lot provided for Oasis guests. Given there were only 1,000 guests on this 'private concert with Rihanna' overnighter, and the ship holds 5400-6296 paying guests, this is a big hitch. Any overflow would be to parking, if available, shared with other cruiselines and a convention center. And involve transportation from one part of the port to the actual terminal.
Rimmed with curved black-spiked ironwork, it is rather unwelcoming and perplexing. Port Everglades is a secure facility -- no ID, not on a manifest, no entry. Inside, it is even less worthy of comment. Clearly, the budget for the required multilevel parking structure was nixed along with any creative whimsy for the terminal itself.
Boarding the ship, the first thing that hits you, in a nod to Arthur Frommer's criticism, is that you have no sense you have boarded a ship. To the contrary, you really do feel as though you've just left your car in the lot at your local mall and strolled -- albeit following a stressful two hour or so wait -- in.
This is a thread throughout the structure, as even the highly promoted loft suites feel entirely removed from the ocean. Inside, it seems more like being in a condo tower than being on a ship. And the most expensive cabin on the Oasis, flanked by these other suites, has a view of...the basketball courts. That 843 sq ft balcony is hardly a selling point given this entire lack of privacy and noisy element ringed with surveillance cameras. The ocean is so far away on the horizon it is a strain to even catch a glimpse beyond the uproar on the sports courts below.
Also, while very nice, it is far, far from being in the lead of what this segment of the market has available. And the loft concept leaves much to be desired -- namely, some privacy as the bedroom is open to below (no glass, not even a curtain to pull). According to the PR folks, it was designed with two couples in mind. When pushed, they insist it will only be sold to a maximum of four even when capacity is listed at six. Although, another common theme is that many cabins on the Oasis are capped at two passengers when on any other ship they would be quads or more.
Perhaps this is a nod to some real crowd control issues the line has already confronted in the design phase.
Which is going to be a substantial issue. Many 'reviewers' have noted that with "3200 agents and media" aboard the ship did not feel crowded 'but dining options were still limited' by that capacity.
Well folks, the Oasis of the Seas has yet to ever see 3200 guests.That number was floated by the PR staff to give the invited agents and others the idea they could envision the ship adequately providing a premium product at capacity. After all, double the number onboard on November 20 and you've overshot capacity. On November 20-22, there was plenty of available space.
That is because every pre-inaugural cruise was intentionally capped at approximately 1000 invitees plus their guests and crew. Something only lower level crew members, think cabin attendants, were reluctantly offering to those who queried by way of cabin assignments/occupancy. A good, reliable indicator. Add in as many stowaways as you want, and you are still way short of the actual capacity required for RCCL's revenue modeling to work.
Having been on the ship for this time, that is a troubling indicator. It is also vexing that we initially missed the entire gym/spa area because in the ship's "Live the Oasis" tour book it was somehow omitted. (The reports about this area are dead-on. It is a sad statement when such an expensive ship has a facility so sterile, so crew-like to present to the guest...And watch-out for that glass staircase in the spa. Seriously.)
Then, you have the entertainment issue. Oasis is debuting a true, Broadway show in Hairspray. Did I miss this? No one has talked about the entertainment because it was largely absent on this 'showcase' cruise. IF you saw the two signature shows RCCL is promoting for this ship or the one in the AquaTheater, please let us know about them as entertainment is a pretty essential part of the cruise experience.
On Oasis, it was largely AWOL. Save for the skating show, a holdover from the Voyager and Freedom classes. Which Tom Scallen and Willy Bietak did a great job on given the limitations. But it is hardly new or can it be cited as an innovation -- that was ten years ago RCCL.
Even boarding the ship and walking around, there was an entire lack of music/entertainment beyond the physical diversions built into the ship -- think FlowRider, Zipline, Merry-Go-Round, etc. Sure, "Central Park" -- like the entire ship -- is impressive, but...well, every time I walked through it I saw glasses and beer bottles in the planters and heard agents (mind you, this was a free cruise) rumbling about how off the price-points were for their market. Bottom-line, it takes more than what was being presented.
Of which, I must comment that it was crazy to hear RCCL's PR folks pushing the add-ons considering the already exceptionally high buy-in price on the Oasis and the current economy. One would think that common sense would have had them telling these agents of all the many things that Royal Caribbean decided to include in that cost.
Internet, however, is another story, contrary to some reports here and on other websites. There are, indeed, two smallish Internet facilities that are part of the design [not there for press only] on decks 7 and 9 forward plus various clusters in the conference areas, teen area, and others. In addition to the in-room set-up and WiFi, there is enough when coupled with the obvious belief the target consumer of this product will travel with his/her/their own laptop. No revenue loss there.
I know many of the cruiseline's top executives and their PR staff have embraced the idea of this ship being a "resort at sea". Likening it to a family-friendly Las Vegas or even a floating Walt Disney World. Of course, this begs the obvious question: if you are looking for a Las Vegas or a WDW, why not simply go there and avoid the potential problems this new market -- first time cruisers -- required by Oasis might well encounter?
For those who want to be at sea, and want to know they are afloat, there are opportunities for this. The solarium for one is worth mentioning as is the small but stunning Viking Crown Lounge. If you want to feel like you are Jack's "king of the world", this ship will not disappoint.
That said, what is clear is that you actually have to search out these locations as otherwise it is difficult to know you are anywhere but at a very pricey resort on land with many, many add-on costs. And to have to search out locations to feel as though you are on a ship is, by any reasonable evaluation, a substantial failure in the product.
It has been reported, as stoked by RCCL itself, that you will pay a 144% premium to book the Oasis right now. If that were only the case. The truth: RCCL is demanding a quixotic 300%-plus cost factor over its own Freedom Class for similar sailing dates.
Now I certainly agree this ship should command a premium over its competitors, but that moves beyond such a thing. By any interpretation, it is gouging. If you include the competition other lines present, the premium jumps to over 400%. Astounding.
Again though, this is one impressive ship. One impressive feat. But can it float?
The ship may not be an evolution to a maturing market, or a revolutionary twist on that market. The Oasis -- and the Allure -- may as one reporter noted, and RCCL's PR lackeys stunningly linked to, be dinosaurs of an arrogant era where bigger is better and damn the consequences.
I just wonder, after being on a ship where no one was paying and the booze was flowing more than the FlowRiders, if it is viable...? Or, when all the buzz quiets after the christening on November 30, it will be only a matter of time before the government of Finland or a savvy investor takes ownership for pennies on the dollar?
That would be sad. But, seeing the poor show RCCL put on in reality and not as disseminated by those who wrote with any eye toward future invites and/or employment, I think heads should roll over this one.