Oasis of the Seas Trip Report – January 23 – 30, 2010

[alphakitty]

Pre-cruise:

We stayed at the Hyatt Airport North in Fort Lauderdale for 2 days pre cruise. We really liked this hotel and the location. We were one block away from a shopping plaza, Harbor Shops had several restaurants including a Five Guys Burgers and a cool spot called Grumpy Gators with outside and inside dining. There is also a Publix Supermarket here. You can catch a free on Friday Sun Trolley at the Publix to take you to the beach too. Free airport shuttle and free shuttle to the cruise port along with free continental breakfast make the Hyatt a great bargain.

Embarkation on Saturday was a breeze. We took the free hotel shuttle around 10:30 AM to terminal 18, a beautiful terminal with plenty of seating and easy check in. We waited about 20 minutes and were on board before 11:30AM.

 

Our first impression was WOW! Oasis is truly an amazing ship. It struck me how beautiful she was. First thing we did was head up to the Sport deck to sign up for the Zipline. We had to wait until the desk opened at 12 noon. Once we were all signed up for that, we explored the ship.

She is truly amazing. Everywhere we turned there was another WOW, another thing to take your breath away. We loved the Boardwalk and Central Park, especially at night the best.

[alphakitty]

Our Cabin - 7266 Cat D8 Port Side

We really liked the location of this cabin. It is in the aft, just off the stairwell and elevator bank on deck 7, very convenient to many popular ship areas. One deck up was Central Park, the perfect place to stroll the length of the ship. We were only one deck down to the Boardwalk and Aqua Theater at the aft and two decks down to the dining room (also aft) and Royal Promenade access and the Cafe Promenade.

 

This was an ocean facing balcony with a beautiful view. Port side is especially nice for sail away in Fort Lauderdale. No noise issues, even with the stairs just outside the door.

 

There is a loveseat, vanity with lighted mirror and nice wide screen TV. Plugs are under the desk, not so easy to access as many have mentioned. There is also a plug behind the bed. That's helpful for those who sleep with machines.

Loved the bathroom nightlight....automatically the light dimmed, but did not shut off completely. No more blinding light in the middle of the night.

 

Another thing they finally got right is the bar in the shower. The men I talked to had no idea what it was for, but the ladies were very appreciative of finally being able to shave the legs in an easy fashion.

We found plenty of storage space in the closet and other shelving near the vanity. We put the small coffee table in the closet and this helped open up the room.

 

No clothesline in the shower, but there are 2 hooks in there and 2 hooks in the bathroom wall and also more hooks on the bathroom door.

 

 

[alphakitty]

Food:

We did My Time Dining which worked out great for us. We only waited on one evening for about 10 minutes. This was on “lobster” night. The food in the dining room was fine, nothing outstanding in my mind, but it was good.

We ate several times at the Park Café and really enjoyed the roast beef sandwiches everyone raves about. I also had a grilled cheese Panini which was good. I did not like the Cuban style Panini though because there were no pickles…it’s just not right without them. There were also good soups here…make your own salad bar. For breakfast, the English muffin/egg sandwiches were good and they had a bagel bar with lots of toppings.

Room service was prompt every time we used it. We had it for breakfast most times, but other times it was fine too.

We had a wonderful lunch at Giovanni’s table. Really liked the food here and the service was outstanding. The only complaint was there was too much food! You are offered an appetizer, soup, pasta dish, main dish and dessert. We booked this on our last day on the ship and by then we were tired of eating. Wish we’d have made our reservations earlier in the cruise for this one, we probably would have enjoyed it more then.

We ate at Johnny Rockets for breakfast one day. It was pretty good. We also enjoyed dinner at the Seafood Shack. We were not planning on eating here. We figured we get so much fresh seafood here in New England, that there was no way it could compare. We were pleasantly surprised. While I’ve heard of many service issues here, we did not experience any and it was quiet when we were there. There was a waitress from Johnny Rockets there helping serve too.

We really did not like the Windjammer. We only ate there once. I’m not a fan of buffet food anyway and the set up is confusing and seating is limited. Fortunately, there are so many other venues, that it was easy to avoid the Windjammer.

[alphakitty]

Shows:

We loved the Oasis of Dreams show in the Aqua Theater and the Come Fly With Me show. These two stand out to me. We missed Hairspray, but have seen it before locally. We enjoyed the parades and the late night disco party on the Promenade. The comedians were pretty good.

[patsicruiser]

Alphakitty, This is great. Can't wait to see more. We want to

go on the Oasis this year. I wasn't sure about the D rooms but it

looks fine

[alphakitty]

Ports:

St. Thomas we booked a tour with Papa Bear, aka Air Force One and had a great time with him. He is a LOUD talker, that is for sure. He took us to The Great House & Botanical Gardens with great views and the new home of the World Famous Banana Daiquiri, which was delicious!

We stopped at other pretty vantage points along the way.

We then elected to be dropped off at Sapphire Beach where I snorkeled for a while. Snorkeling was pretty good, though it was a bit choppy that day. Papa Bear picked us back up at the beach and drove us back to the ship. This tour was a great value in my opinion for only $25 per person.

St. Martin – We booked with Captain Alan’s tours for a snorkel and mud bath. The seas were rough, so the itinerary changed, but we had a nice day. These are small boats. There were 6 of us which is nice. I prefer off the beaten path excursions on our own as opposed to a huge group and paying more with the cruise line. The snorkel spots were nice, but again, it was a choppy day and so visibility was not great. We snorkeled at the Tiki Hut with a sunken submarine, boat and cannon. Then we went to Happy Bay Beach for a mud bath that left your skin feeling so very nice. Lastly we snorkeled at Creole Rock which I loved. They did bring bread to feed the fish and I wasn’t too happy about that. I let my feelings be known. We were provided with transportation to and from the port and the cost was $80 per person for everything. There was beer, soda and water on the boat available included in the trip.

[alphakitty]

Nassau – We elected to stay on Oasis as it was our last day. We’ve been to Nassau many times and I’ve enjoyed it, but wanted to get the most of our last day on the ship. We enjoyed the beach pool and other spots that were otherwise often crowded.

Other random things –

We had a blast doing the Cupcake Cupboard cupcake decorating class. The cost was $17.25. We were also given a cute apron, chef’s hat and tote bag at the end of class and of course, our cupcakes. We made puppy dogs, the other class offered is a hamburger cupcake.

I took a water aerobics class offered each day in the Sports pool at 9:00 AM . The first class was fine with a good instructor. The second time, the instructor was really lacking any experience and admitted as much, so it wasn’t as good, but we managed.

We loved strolling through Central Park at night….or sitting quietly listening to the classical guitarist or violinist.

There was a strolling bagpiper around the ship quite often.

[juniorsmom]

You mentioned you went to the sports deck so sign up for the zip line, was there a line for that and did you have a good selection of times to pick from? I was wondering if we should go to the Park Cafe for lunch or sign up first on the first day.

Thanks

[juniorsmom]

love your pictures by the way.

[alphakitty]

We showed the AFC and NFC playoff games in several locations around the ship. The AFC game was shown in the Aqua Theater on the big screens and that was fun. It was also being shown in the On Air club.

I used the spa on one occasion to get a nail polish change. I feel they are way overpriced, cost me $19 and the next day it was peeling off. I wasn’t happy, but did not complain as I didn’t want to waste my time.

We had fun doing the Zipline. I didn’t put my feet down upon landing and really crashed into the stop. My own fault, but it sounded worse than it was. I only wish the ride was longer…it was over way too fast.

I just had to ride the carousel too, it was fun and colorful to see it at the beginning of the Boardwalk.

We attended Karaoke in the On Air club a couple of times, and I even sang for the first time ever! I don’t know where I got the nerve, but it was fun. It was a bit daunted by the singer before me…the lead singer from Hairspray! Just my luck. LOL

We loved all the artwork on the ship and finding the little “viewfinder” things everywhere.

We enjoyed the “wing walk” an evening or two for sunsets too. You can find the entrance on Deck 14 port side all the way to the front.

[alphakitty]

For anyone who thinks the ship is too crowded, think again. We were told there were 5900 passengers on our sailing and we never experienced a crowd, a wait for elevators or for restaurants. Even as shows let out, there was not a long wait for elevators. We had plenty of views of the sea from our ocean facing balcony, from the pool deck and the Solarium was just awesome.

We really loved our Oasis cruise and I would recommend this ship to anyone.

[alphakitty]

You mentioned you went to the sports deck so sign up for the zip line, was there a line for that and did you have a good selection of times to pick from? I was wondering if we should go to the Park Cafe for lunch or sign up first on the first day.

Thanks

 

You could sign up in the On Air club at what they called "Oasis 360" when first boarding. We heard afterward that this was an easier option. We went right up to the Sports Deck at the Zipline, but had to wait for it to open at noon. THere was plenty of availablity when we signed up. I would sign up on the first day though as I heard it was well booked.

[alphakitty]

love your pictures by the way.

 

Thank you :)

 

All my photos, along with a couple of videos from our Zipline rides, are here on Photobucket:

 

http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b276/alphakitty/Oasis%20of%20the%20Seas%20Cruise%20January%202010/?start=all

[juniorsmom]

thanks for your help, I just can't wait.:D

[MickeyB426]

Excellent review. LOVE the pictures. Looking at all of them on the photobucket website right now - being 10 days away from sailing, it can't come soon enough!

 

 

Thanks again!

[alphakitty]

Glad you are enjoying them....I know how you feel Mike. I couldn't get enough before our Oasis cruise. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more. You're gonna love it! :)

[retnuh281]

Now thats what I call a review. Thanks for sharing.

[tropiclvrs]

Thanks so much for your review and beautiful pictures. Appreciate the time you took to put it together...

 

I was wondering how you liked the location of the MTD tables. Were they stuck back in a corner somewhere or did they have them in a pretty good location? Also, if we want to make reservations, do they put any restrictions on you as to what time you can book? On our Mariner cruise this past summer they wouldn't let us book between 6:45 - 7:30. Strange....

[alphakitty]

Thanks so much for your review and beautiful pictures. Appreciate the time you took to put it together...

 

I was wondering how you liked the location of the MTD tables. Were they stuck back in a corner somewhere or did they have them in a pretty good location? Also, if we want to make reservations, do they put any restrictions on you as to what time you can book? On our Mariner cruise this past summer they wouldn't let us book between 6:45 - 7:30. Strange....

 

They use the whole of Deck 5 for MTD. No problems with locations, we had several great locations. We didn't make any reservations, we walked in each night around 7-7:30. We waited one night, about 10 min for a table. This was "lobster" night, so it's popular.

[alphakitty]

Thanks so much for your review and beautiful pictures. Appreciate the time you took to put it together...

 

I was wondering how you liked the location of the MTD tables. Were they stuck back in a corner somewhere or did they have them in a pretty good location? Also, if we want to make reservations, do they put any restrictions on you as to what time you can book? On our Mariner cruise this past summer they wouldn't let us book between 6:45 - 7:30. Strange....

 

double post sorry!

[tropiclvrs]

Thanks! Sounds like MTD is a big success if they are dedicating all of level 5 to it. We enjoyed it when we were on Mariner since we were with our two young children and the length of the meal was somewhat customized to us.

[smoochie]

You got some really great pictures!! I haven't even had time to upload mine yet! Work is already killing me!! It was great meeting you on the ship and doing the cabin crawl with you guys!! Take care!!

[bragstarr]

Huh? No mention of your Cruise Critic meeting, group and the wonderful people you met on board? Sure, my cupcake gets more air time than I do.

[Cruising89143]

Ports:

 

St. Thomas we booked a tour with Papa Bear, aka Air Force One and had a great time with him. He is a LOUD talker, that is for sure. He took us to The Great House & Botanical Gardens with great views and the new home of the World Famous Banana Daiquiri, which was delicious!

 

 

 

We stopped at other pretty vantage points along the way.

 

 

.

 

Love that photo. I really missed not docking at Havensight and taking the tram up to Paradise Point this time.

[alphakitty]

Huh? No mention of your Cruise Critic meeting, group and the wonderful people you met on board? Sure, my cupcake gets more air time than I do.

 

LOL ut oh! I'm in trouble now. Mea culpa!!!!

 

I did a general report. If you think about it, you may realize why too. ;)

 

But not to leave out anything:

 

We did a great cabin crawl with others on the roll call. That was fun. I met lots of great people on board. The most fabulous person was bragstarr aka Robin. :D

 

Seriously, meeting others (really, especially YOU Robin), from the roll call really did make the cruise much more fun!