The Oasis has the "WOW:

"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , George Leppla
wrote:

No one at Royal Caribbean is going to tell you those numbers.... and
frankly, what does it matter? They built a ship, they have a marketing
plan that 1) involves ramping up capacity and 2) tries to avoid
discounting.

And part of that marketing plan is to get Travel Agents and people like
Gadget onboard the free pre-inaugurals cruises who will come back
positive about the ship and sell the cabins. I think the pre-inaugurals
are good marketing.

As far as avoiding discounting I think the price has to come down. I
want to sail on Oasis but I am going to wait until the price comes
down. It is too high for what you get. I understand the food was not
that good and there were lines at some venues to get in.

From what I have heard about the bookings so far Royal a scuttle I have
heard is that Oasis has not attracted new customers. People have booked
Oasis instead of Freedom class or Solstice. Bookings on those have gone
down.

--
Charles

I think George made the comment first about it being a mistake not bringing
in the Oasis to NYC first to really get the marketing machine in motion. I
still think that's the case. They missed a big opportunity to ratchet up
the interest many times over. Not only is NY the big apple (marketing,
media, etc.)... it would be a second place generating interest. The ship
would have always generated interest in Florida (her home port). Interest
in NYC with all the media coverage would have been incremental (over and
above). Instead of Gadget in Florida (excluding TA's who were always going
to go on her first), you could have had dozens of us in the NYC area talking
about the ship, after having actually been on it. I think they "missed the
boat" so to speak.

Plus discontinuing the Royal Champions, and losing all the internet
discussion they provided hurt RCI with this introduction. We had 10 times
the discussion when a bunch of us went on LibertyOTS for her pre-inaugural,
and she was the seventh in an existing class (if you count her as a
stretched version of Voyager - which she really is).

Will I go on Oasis? Sure, at some point. But not until the prices come
down - at least that's the "plan". I think they will. And if not for a
while, I can wait. Supply and demand will have to have an impact
eventually. Especially after Allure comes out. Rolls Royce can restrict
the number of cars they make to keep prices up. But Oasis is already built.
You can't now make less of her. And Rolls Royce is a superior product.
Royal Caribbean isn't a superior product (it simply isn't Silversea, Crystal
or Regent). Airlines can idle a few planes to keep prices up. But does it
make sense to keep a big chunk of the ship idle? They would miss the on
board revenue as well. And on board revenue with Oasis could be even more
per person than on other ships.

Plus... she's still a Royal Caribbean ship. With typical Royal Caribbean
food and service. And while service is decent, RCI food is typically lousy.
Has been for 15 years. If I'm going to pay a lot extra, would I rather be
on Crystal or Regent instead? If I pick Oasis, after the "wow" factor, I'm
still sending back rubbery steaks or lousy seafood.

It will be interesting to see how their strategy plays out.

--Tom

Speaking of food on the Oasis... we were on for two nights and in the
dining room, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

First night, I ordered the steak. Absolutely horrible... the worst
steak I have ever had on any cruise ship.

Second night... I ordered the Rack of Lamb. Freaking excellent! I
mean, really, really good. Three people at our table had it and all of
us were very happy with our choice.

Becca had the salmon the first night and codfish the second night and
both were very good.

Conclusion - Royal Caribbean still needs help when it comes to making
steaks.

Buffet was good... typical RCL buffet which is better than average. The
Pizza place has an area where they will custom build you a pizza... was
very popular. We had one slice of their regular pizza and it was good.

--

George Leppla

Countryside Travel http://www.CruiseMaster.com
Blog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CruiseMaster

"Seehorse Video" wrote in message
...

Seems pretty obvious they're just adjusting the spin so they will look
good whatever happens. Actually, they should be pleased from the
preponderance of good comments from our regulars who were impressed with
the test cruise.

Harry Cooper

Susette said there were a number of things she was NOT impressed with.

1. The food. There were less "normal" items on the menu, and many more
really weird spicy vegetarian items, like if they think people from India
are going to fill this ship (or maybe an executive chef is from India and
that's what he things people want). Portions were noticeably smaller, and
the food wasn't as good as normal RCI food (which is typically pretty bad).
She said it's like they're trying to force you to the extra cost
restaurants. She wanted eggs benedict in the dining room for breakfast, but
SORRY... not on the menu.

2. Boardwalk and Central Park facing balconies were VERY noisy all night
long. She talked with one person who had one. They said the noise didn't
die down till 5:00 am, and started back up at 7:00 am. They got almost no
sleep. That AIN'T good.

Just as a starting point... if the food sucks and I'm not getting any
sleep... THAT'S not my idea of a good vacation.

--Tom

"Charles" wrote in message
d...

But then again, you never like any ship's food.

Not true at all.

I have liked the food on most ships. Out of 32 cruises there were only
two where the food was not very good. I am easy to please.

He is... I can vouch for that. Give him a steak and he's happy. I'M the
one that's much more fussy. But I have a grill in my back yard. I can hit
Wegman's and cook a steak anytime I want. So I like to try to eat a lot of
fish while on ships (also to avoid adding pounds)... and it's with seafood
that you separate the good stuff from the junkers very quickly.

--Tom

On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:22:57 -0500, "Tom K"
wrote:

There were less "normal" items on the menu,

Hi Tom,

FWIW, on these special sailings, they usually do not offer the
standard menus that they offer on revenue sailings. They are usually
a limited version of the revenue sailing menus.
--
Ray Goldenberg 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
Lighthouse Travel http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lighthousetravl
Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ray.goldenberg

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Speaking of food on the Oasis... we were on for two nights and in the
dining room, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

First night, I ordered the steak. Absolutely horrible... the worst steak
I have ever had on any cruise ship.

Second night... I ordered the Rack of Lamb. Freaking excellent! I mean,
really, really good. Three people at our table had it and all of us were
very happy with our choice.

Becca had the salmon the first night and codfish the second night and both
were very good.

Conclusion - Royal Caribbean still needs help when it comes to making
steaks.


Royal Caribbean needs a lot of help with ALL their food. But you don't go
on their ships for food. You go for the "wow" factor of the ships. It's a
ship to bring kids on. Until they put Explorer in NJ (replacing the Zenith
to Bermuda) and the Vikings went on RCI, there was a several year gap when I
totally gave up on Royal Caribbean.

Susette said the food was pretty bad.

--Tom

"Ray Goldenberg" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:22:57 -0500, "Tom K"
wrote:

There were less "normal" items on the menu,

Hi Tom,

FWIW, on these special sailings, they usually do not offer the
standard menus that they offer on revenue sailings. They are usually
a limited version of the revenue sailing menus.
--

On Liberty, they had regular menu's for our pre inaugural. Granted only 2
days worth, but still a full menu for those 2 given days. We had 4-5 or so
entrees to pick from and all were "normal". And later that year, once we
sailed on her for a full week, those 2 menus were repeated at some point
during the week.

From what Sue said, it sounded like they were taking the menu's in a
different direction.

--Tom

George Leppla wrote:

The only way you are going to know that is if someone at RCL says
something like "We are going to run 85% occupancy for the first two
sailings, then 90% for the next two, then 95% for the next two and then
100%.

No one at Royal Caribbean is going to tell you those numbers.... and
frankly, what does it matter? T


People are curious, it doesn't have to matter from your
perspective. It matters to someone for their own reasons
which is why they asked, and if the answer is known let it
be said.

In this case it appears the answer isn't known by anyone
other than RCI that can say for sure.

Clay

peter wrote:
On 11/30/09 2:56 PM, in article
, "Charles"
wrote:


As far as avoiding discounting I think the price has to come down.

As far as avoiding discounting, you want them to give you a discount. You
don't say.

I
want to sail on Oasis but I am going to wait until the price comes
down.

And then, when you're ready to book .... all cabins are sold out. You've
been had. A victim of yield management. Another reason to complain. Life
doesn't treat you right, does it?


It is too high for what you get.

You have no way of knowing.
I understand the food was not
that good
But then again, you never like any ship's food.


and there were lines at some venues to get in.

That's because people liked the food so much.
From what I have heard about the bookings so far Royal a scuttle I have
heard is that Oasis has not attracted new customers. People have booked
Oasis instead of Freedom class or Solstice. Bookings on those have gone
down.
All bookings have come down, but sure, some regular cruisers can't be on two
ships at the same time.


Good Post Peter!

In article , frijoli
trolled:

Good Post Peter!

From one troll to another.....

--
Charles