billybob123

Unfortunately, you can't walk. The drawbridge has no pedestrian access. 

Late reply, but for others who are interested. There are shuttles to all the terminals from this location. I've taken it to CT10 across the bridge. They run a pretty efficient operation - they have a waiting room inside and the driver will come in to announce which terminal he or she is driving to. 

Also note that the Royal Caribbean terminal 1 is a 1/2 mile (800 m) walk if you can tolerate it and don't want to wait for a shuttle. If you drop your heavy luggage off before returning the car, it's doable if you are able to walk. The distance is about 3x the length of the Oasis class ships.

Someone helpfully posted a good view of 8103 on Youtube. 

I don't know if this link will work, but if not, just search YT for Virtuosa 8103. It appears to be a massive balcony!

Thanks for the review!

My son is much like yours - hockey loving, was in a camp the same week, even has the same backpack (Costco ftw) and one of the swimming shirts. I'm sure they would be fast friends. He's in his second year of atom, and frankly I just want evaluations to be done - only three more weeks of this. He really enjoys skating on the ship - even though he doesn't seem to notice if anyone else on the ice can skate, and endagers them routinely. I posted a video of him and his hockey playing buddies (from Ontario and Minnesota) nearly killing people out on the ice in my Oasis review from last year. Did you guys go skating, or do you ever go skating on board?

We are on Allure in March in neighbouring balconies deep back on the 12th deck. After the week, how did you guys find the walk back to your cabin? We were lucky on the Oasis to be right near the elevator lobby; this time we are way further back (1271x).

There is no military in Haiti. The national police (not "rent-a-cop") are at Labadee while ships are in port. If people would take the time to talk to them a lot would be clearer.

We were on March 26 and saw Poppy and Branch regularly. They popped (pun intended?) up in Central Park a few times and on the promenade at least once. Sorry for blur on the photo, phone camera doesn't work well on the promenade.

I forgot I had posted a few other videos from this cruise, for those that might be interested in watching. I was still getting used to the 'action' camera on a clamp on the balcony so the videos are a bit jerky. Labadee was hard with the glare from the sun.

Time lapses were taken with the Wimius faux-pro clamped onto the balcony. The rest were with my Axon 7 phone which is why focus is not great.

Clamp looked like so:

Departing Port Canaveral:

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Arriving into Labadee:

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Riding the Dragon's Tail - my son was holding the camera and doing a good job of it:

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(Warning: long and boring, poor focus) Arriving back to Port Canaveral at 5:00 am - yeah I was awake anyway!

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Leaving from the pre-booked shuttle pickup area on Cortrans (highly recommended). You can see the entrance to the garage and the way I would get into the drop off area. Also go past the Alamo rental place - I've never seen so many cars ready to rent...

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Hope these videos help people like others helped me!

Very helpful review, especially that cabin photo, we are on Oasis this summer too. Usually I book two connecting cabins for the extra space, plus it typically works out cheaper for the dates we can sail vs squeezing in to one, but I have wondered whether we could in fact still manage in one and still have space. My kids are 7 and 13 so sharing a sofabed isn't happening.

We did two connecting junior suites on Liberty last time - the price was ridiculously low for that. I looked into it for this cruise, but we managed upon the 'kids sail free' so it wound up approximately $300 Canadian (for the port charges) over what it would cost for just the two in one cabin.

That being said, if the cruise we booked onboard doesn't show up with kids sail free, I won't bother. It's about $6300 Canadian for four of us to cram into one cabin - not happening. It's marginally more expensive to book a separate inside cabin but even at that it's still too expensive for one week.

And my kids can barely stand sitting at the same table let alone the same bed. Hotel stays are always divided between mom and dad's beds! I know where you are coming from.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for the review. We're on Oasis in October with our 11 and 8 year old. We did Freedom two years ago, and I've been quite concerned that Oasis may just be too big for us. We will see. Did you experience excessive crowds in the Adventure Ocean program? Our kids love Adventure Ocean in the evenings, but my son can get overwhelmed with too many people.

The busiest night for my older son (same ages as your youngest) was sports night, and the AO staff said it was 56 kids out on the sports court. I'm assuming your cruise will have much fewer kids as this was a spring-break time cruise - all of Alberta (or at least it seemed that way) was on break, and the people we spoke to from Minnesota, Illinois and South Carolina told us their break was that week as well.

It's a big ship but I didn't find it to be that large in comparison to Liberty - the neighbourhoods really make the ship divided into areas. The promenade is not as large and is more crowded during events compared to the Freedom class. I'm sure you guys will love Oasis. I hope you have a great cruise!

I speak with the HW and he's usually able to have it brought up to me from the crew dining. I'm never picky, will eat practically anything they offer, and they'll usually ask me if I want vegetarian or non-vegetarian, then it's a surprise each night.

Considering they have an Indian spread in the buffet each day, I'm sure you'll be able to get Indian to your heart's content in the MDR. Enjoy your cruise!

I think you were right in front of us on the shuttle! It was such a great cruise. I'm glad we all enjoyed it.

Did you have to sign up ahead of time for any specific activities offered in kids club?

They have some things like balloon twisting that have a maximum number of people that can attend, though I didn't attend these, don't don't know if there was a sign up list in advance. Other than those, it was all drop in and do.

Have a great cruise!

I missed the $5 'Internet thing' you referenced when talking about the M&M. Could you tell me more or point me to the right area?

It was during the super bowl cruise planner sale. Lasted a few days at that price. I gave the heads up in the M&M forum. I normally participate more on the M&M but this time I figured the kids would dominate my time (and they did)!

Check the planner regularly for your cruise, prices fluctuate wildly on everything.

Thanks for the great review! Did you happen to notice who was playing in the Schooner or Globe & Atlas?

Unfortunately, I don't remember names and don't have the compasses. The guy in the Globe and Atlas was a talented guitar player though - he played the solo from Sultans of Swing properly, he's gotta be good!

We had the streaming voom plan and it was pretty reliable. We watched a few hockey games over the connection, and it was mostly ok quality (similar to what I get at McDonalds or anywhere with free wifi). I uploaded one video to Youtube and that took forever. Uploads aren't fast, I guess? I didn't try again.

I was interested to read about the international food at the buffet. My wife is Filipina so we will enjoy it if the have Filipino staples such as adobo or pancit. (Anyone happen to remember what dishes are offered?) We also really enjoy Indian cuisine so that will be nice as well.

They had pork adobo every day I checked. I can't recall most of the other stuff. It all looked pretty good and it was never a busy station. If anyone is interested in Indian stuff, they always had a curried something or other on the buffet, and one night at the MDR they had Korma with Naan bread - which my son inhaled at least 4 pieces of. Who doesn't like Naan bread?

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. I appreciate people letting me know that anything I've written can help people with their cruise planning. I got so much assistance from reading reviews and comments. Glad to help if it does at all.

Thanks for the review and the heads up on drop off times. Maybe we should have a nice quiet lunch onshore before boarding. :)

It could be cruise-to-cruise variation. Honestly if we arrived at 12 instead of 11, we'd probably be on the ship at the same time without the waiting. Though each cruise is probably different and if I showed at 12, the jam would be then, and I'd wish I came at 11, I am also a true cheapskate and part of my penny-shaving ways is to avoid paying for food when the cruise includes that first-day lunch!

Thank you for the review. I was very excited to see that you were able to use the couch folded up as a bed. I am hoping that we can do this in our Boardwalk Balcony for our 6yo. There is so much more space in the room with the couch folded up.

Just ask the cabin attendant when you see him the first time. Ours just threw a few sheets on the couch. Our 8 year old would have fit fine, but he got the upper bunk (seniority matters sometimes!)

More things coming to mind. I saw a special on the TV on Thursday for 'remainder of the cruise' streaming voom for $50. It was in the messages screen with all the other crap they are trying to sell us.

Also as a guy who loves apple pie (who doesn't?) I was wary after trying the 'fruit pie' in the Foodjammer, which was bad crust with some spongy crap with two peach slices in it as filling. An insult to actual pie. (the fruit tarts were OK) Last night in the MDR, I finally gave in and got the apple pie a la mode for dessert. It's real apple pie, the kind I wish I had gotten every night. Next time.... Next time...

Also forgot to mention that the Windjammer had "themed" nights in port - jerk chicken and pork and rice and beans in Jamaica, taco station in Cozumel. Didn't go the Labadee night so I don't know if they had something there for that night or not. The jerk chicken wasn't great, and wasn't spicy at all. I wouldn't skip eating on shore if you're looking for a local taste.

A quick video of the kids skating:

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A time-lapse I made pulling into Falmouth from the balcony - using my Wimius Faux-Pro. Did the job.

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I have a similar video for Labadee, but it's not as good because of glare. I may upload it to Youtube. I didn't get one into Cozumel because we got there before sunup. Similarly to arriving in Port Canaveral. It was fun to watch from the balcony though.

Overall impressions: Did we enjoy the cruise? Yes. Indeed, to the point that we booked for the same ship, Eastern route, same time next year! Of course the price is out of hand at the moment, it will have to come down at least 50% or cancel it, we will. Onboard, we didn’t experience the hard sells that others have mentioned on Cruise Critic – however I did see it occurring to others. Perhaps we did not strike the sales people as approachable? I saw it happening in the Windjammer and I just ignored the people when they walked table to table. Rude? Probably, but I knew what was on the way, and I’d rather ignore them and be rude than be forced to be more rude to them when they talk to me. I had one bad experience with a very rude waiter in the Schooner bar when I forgot something on the table. Otherwise the staff were all very friendly and seemingly happy. It’s hard to think of any major negatives for the cruise – but one large one was the chaos in the dropoff area at around 11:00 am on embarkation day at Port Canaveral. Next time I’ll come earlier or later – when the Uber car dropped me off at 12:10 or so, the turn in lane and baggage dropoff lane were both deserted. Passengers were all very friendly and happy. The route we took from Florida to Haiti went out east of the Bahamas into the open ocean rather than south into the Caribbean between Florida/Cuba and the Bahamas – I’m not sure why but the seas were pretty rough all day on Monday. The kids playing soccer and gagaball in Adventure Ocean had a tough time because of how much the ship was moving up there. I feel badly that I didn’t really participate much in the M&M thread, though we did go to the party. I feel like I did my part giving people the $5 internet heads up?

Disembarkation – we had an 11:20 flight to catch at MCO, so we did express disembarkation. We had two large roller bags, two carry-on size, the kids’ luggage, and two booster seats bungeed to the carry on. Wasn’t that bad at all – I would do it again with that amount of luggage. We got in line at 6:45 or so, having taken the elevator down to deck 5 and were lined up in the entryway to Silk restaurant. The line exited the ship at the doors across from the Promenade café or so. I watched us pull into port, and it appeared people started leaving the ship by 6:15 – take note if you have an early flight. When I went down about 15 minutes later, there was a tiny line and it was moving rapidly. At 6:45 when we left, we stood in line there, not moving due to what was announced as a backup at Customs, for about 10 minutes. The line started moving soon afterwards and we were through Customs and onto the 8:15 Cortrans shuttle at 7:45 or so. Cortrans did a great job, the Beachline was closed in both directions at highway 520 and the first exit after I-95 because of a bush fire. The driver and owner riding with us kept us up to date. We wound up driving ‘around’ it on a different route and made it to the airport in plenty of time. I’d take them again, though there were other shuttles (Cocoa Beach and TravelLynx) that left before ours. Our flight wound up being delayed (crew rest issues) to the point that our connection was pooched, so we were rerouted to the non-stop to Calgary that left five hours later. Of course our baggage wasn’t removed so we were two days at home without our stuff, including the booster seats! The non-stop was great, as I didn’t book it due to the cost being $1000 pp one-way – so we got the flight I wanted without paying that massive premium! We ran into several families we knew from hockey on the plane, which was great to pass some of the time.

Ports: Labadee – I woke up early to watch us pull into port. What a spectacular port. We went to Columbus Cove for swimming and fun; I bought the ‘all-day pass’ for the alpine coaster during the “Super Bowl” planner sale – so I think it was on the order of $30 CAD. I wanted to buy it for my son rather than me as two people can ride in each cart, but you can only buy for the “driver” (12+) and get an armband for both driver and passenger. We rode it 7 or 8 times before the line got long and then returned at the end of the day and rode another 7 or 8 times. With brakes, and without brakes – it’s a rough ride when you go fast sitting in the back seat – the seat is a metal frame and rams against your back when you go hard around the corners. I would recommend the coaster if you get a discount like we did. Columbus cove was great, lots of space even though it was full of people – and the water is calm and the scenery incredible. The BBQ pavilion is right behind the beach. I met a policeman from Haiti while I was at the lunch and I talked to him about life in Haiti – it’s as bad as we all hear. It’s really heartbreaking to hear how hard their lives are, especially after the 2011 earthquake. He was genuinely a great person who worked hard simply so he can afford to pay for his sister and brothers to go to school and his parents to rebuild their lives. We have so much and they have so little. It’s humbling. Please have a friendly smile and hello for the local staff and police when you are there. We had to walk through the much-discussed market between Columbus Cove and the coaster – friendly people that are just trying to make a living in a very hard country.

Falmouth – we had no plans and were burned out from the entire day in Labadee before, so we went into the port and town just to look. Not much to report, but we bought some toys for my kids, and a Usain Bolt shirt for my son. He idolizes runners and to know that UB grew up just up the hill was a great experience for my son.

Cozumel – went to Playa Mia. We took the cruise excursion as above due to the “Super Bowl” sale on the cruise planner, price was ~$30 USD per person which was cheaper than taking a cab and paying admission. We did the basic trip (no food or drinks) as the ship fed us well enough we could get by with $20 for snacks. Our gathering time was at 9:45 for a 10 am departure (ship time, 9 am local time) in the middle of the pier shopping area (right after the security check). We were sniffed by the customs dog to ensure we didn’t take food off the ship, if anyone is curious about that. The deluxe trip left at 9 am (ship time) and their tour left Playa Mia an hour earlier than us. We had a great time on shore, we have been there before but this time was even better. My son did the waterslides (as did I, foolishly!) and loved them, my daughter loved the kids pool/waterpark – she was tall enough at 4 to ride the big water slides but couldn’t swim so she couldn’t ride the slides. We swam out to the floating aquapark, which was exhausting getting to and playing on. It’s deceivingly far out from shore, and very hard to even crawl along. The excursion left at 1:45 local time (2:45 ship time) – which meant after driving there, we had four hours there, which was plenty. They announce the buses are leaving over the loudspeakers so you won’t miss the bus! The excursion listed a maximum height of 72 inches when we booked, which I am 2+ inches over; I don’t know why but perhaps the buses were so cramped? I was never measured and several other people on the bus were my height or so as well. At dropoff, my son (the Slurpee aficionado) and I ran across the street to the 7-11, and got the Mexican Slurpee alternative “Frozt” – was $1 USD. They accepted US $ at the 7-11 and they had liquor behind the counter – which I should have bought. It was more expensive on the pier. My son said the “Frozt” was better than the Slurpees at home (again, are things on vacation better because it’s vacation?) – but we couldn’t bring it through the security checkpoint on the pier.

Entertainment: We made reservations in advance for several shows – Oasis of Dreams, Come Fly with Me, Cats, Frozen in Time. We didn’t go to Cats – I abhor musicals and anything with singing and dancing, so this wasn’t really up my alley. I thought my daughter and her mom would go, but I guess that 2+ hours for a 4 year old aren’t happening. I went to the Come Fly With Me – it was great, even though it had singing and dancing. The aerialists are incredible. Oasis of Dreams was good – and the kids liked it, especially how they splashed people on purpose, including people outside the splash zone. My daughter liked the ice show, my son was kind of bored. We all liked the sand artist during the show, that was really neat! I went to part of the headliner showtime (the Elton John guy) which wasn’t really all that great. Amusing but again, not up my alley. I went to the 18+ comedian showtime in the main theatre, and I didn’t find them all that funny, though like the food, finding comedy funny or not is subjective. Your mileage may vary. We attended several trivia games, including the progressive trivia which we missed the second sea day and our score reflected it! I managed to win one trivia, I can’t remember what the prize was, I think it was a pen and a blinky wand thing for my kids. Luisa “from Mexico” from the cruise staff ran most of the trivia, and she was fantastic. I think she’s moved to a different ship – but if she’s on your ship, please attend the events she does. Her stories are hilarious. The Aquatheatre had movies playing – they played Moana, Lala Land (ugh, more singing and dancing), and the NCAA tournament final four semi-finals on Saturday night. The Adventure Ocean theatre had ‘family’ movies – Secret Life of Pets, Moana, Storks, and others I can’t remember, on sea days.

Saturday

Kids menu. My son had a rotating order - steak, burger, spaghetti with no sauce. My daughter was more random. They both seemed to like everything.

Trying to post menus, including the kids menu. Apologies for the crappy photos. Most of these were taken as an afterthought - and you can tell by the poor lighting, blur, and tablecloths and such in the photos!

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday