We booked the Oasis TA the day it was released based on a previous cruise on its sister ship Allure and numerous TAs and RCCI, Celebrity, Azamara, Princess and others. The cruise was horribly mismanaged by RCI from day 1.
RCI originated this TA in both Rotterdam where Oasis was dry-docked for two weeks and from Southampton, both as originating ports. The Rotterdam-Southampton overnight leg was designed to showcase the ship to several thousand travel agents. About 880 paying passengers boarded Rotterdam and approximately 4,000 in Southampton. RCI IT was not set up to recognize passengers boarding in Southampton: no shows could be scheduled, no dining reservations made, and no shore excursions. Every contact with RCCL had to be telephonic, adding to much frustration by both the passenger and the representatives who never had the same story twice.
We scheduled the flight to London using Choice Air, which worked well and resulted in a good price compared to what the airlines wanted one-way. The five-night pre-cruise stay in London was perfect. We stayed at a small hotel in Kensington, the Ashburn, located a block-and-a-half distance from the Gloucester Road Underground station for 3 lines. We covered London using the bus, Underground, water bus, and train system.
JS 10236 is a great room and we obtained a wonderful price by booking through our travel agency and C&A on the first available day. The price for the cabin escalated at least 50 percent over the next several months. The Oasis class JS is a wonderful secret. Walk-in closet, relatively large bathroom compared to balcony cabins, and the “extra” wide space made the cabin very comfortable. The bed was excellent. JS 10236 is on the “bump-out” and has an extra deep balcony with two chairs, two chaise lounges and a table. Our cabin attendant was exceptional. Linens, bathrobes and towels were showing their age and were “thin.”