Oasis Of The Seas Review

[melly424]

We just got off of the Oasis for the Eastern Caribbean sailing. This was my first time with Royal Caribbean. Previously I have sailed on the Carnival Valor (2006) and a Carnival and Costa cruise in the 1980's. So, although I am a relatively new cruiser, I think I can offer some valuable advice. LOL!

 

We left Port Everglades on Saturday, March 24th right at 5:00 P.M. I highly recommend everyone ordering a waive of their sailaway. We did not order it but ha family members watching the sailaway and they called us as we went by the webcam. They sent us a picture o ourselves waving to the camera. I am hoping to get a video of it when we get home.

 

The first day we ate at The Windjammer for lunch and dinner. Mainly for convenience. Food was pretty good. Certainly not dining room style, but good. I guess it depends on your preference of food. Ibwould compare it to A Golden Corral type restaurant with more choices.

 

I have tried to upload some pictures but all of my pictures on my phone are apparently too big for this forum. I will resize the when I get home.

 

On that note I will hold off on more

comments until I can fix the pictures. I am sure you woul rather see pictures than read my comments!

[roe2ship]

I'll be looking forward to your comments and pictures.;) I watched your sailaway last week.

 

What time did you board the ship? And what time did you have lunch at the Windjammer? Crowded??

[melly424]

We arrived at the terminal at 11ish and were on board by 11:30. We ate at Windjammer right away and it wasn't too crowded. Found a table right away. After eating we went up on deck and changed into our swim gear. We couldn't get to our rooms until exactly 1 o'clock. Stateroom hallways were barricaded until then. I advise bringing swimwear on your carry on luggage to pass time if you arrive early.

[melly424]

I think I might haw figured out the picture issue. Not sure though. Going to try to upload a few.

[melly424]

The above picture was taken where we entered the ship. It was on level5 by the fountain.

[melly424]

These are pictures taken in Windjammer and also of one of the pools on deck 15. I think it is the "Main Pool", but not sure.

[vivavegas]

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[melly424]

The next thing I will write about is the awesome exercise room on the Oasis. Feel free to skip ahead if this isn't your thing! LOL! My husband personally thought I was nuts to get up everyday and workout. But, it is my "thing" . To begin with, this exercise room has any equipment you can imagine. There are treadmills, elipticals, stationary bikes ( recumbent and regular), spin bikes, weight lifting machines and rowing machines. I know there are more things but I can think of them now. And to top it off there is a jogging track that goes around the ship. It takes 2.4 laps to equal 1 mile. I could go on and on, but I'll stop. Just trust me, if you workout, this is the exercise room for you!

[AlaskaGolden]

Thank you for the review!

 

What kind of camera were you using? Were all of these taken with your phone? If so, what make / model?

[melly424]

Of the ones I posted, they were taken with my iPhone 3GS. I haven't seen them on a computer yet so not sure of the quality. We took more pictures with our Canon Rebel and my daighter's Nikon Coolpix but I don't have them uploaded yet.

[Familygoboston]

We just got off of the Oasis for the Eastern Caribbean sailing. This was my first time with Royal Caribbean. Previously I have sailed on the Carnival Valor (2006) and a Carnival and Costa cruise in the 1980's. So, although I am a relatively new cruiser, I think I can offer some valuable advice. LOL!!

oh yes, yes you can!:D Sometimes we more experienced cruisers suffer from "Stockholm syndrome" , where the captive begins to agree with and like their captor. We know what we know, but we might not see what is possible or how things work through the eyes of a newer cruiser;)

So I'm looking forward to your review...I find a new prospective refreshing!

[swedish1]

The next thing I will write about is the awesome exercise room on the Oasis. Feel free to skip ahead if this isn't your thing! LOL! My husband personally thought I was nuts to get up everyday and workout. But, it is my "thing" . To begin with, this exercise room has any equipment you can imagine. There are treadmills, elipticals, stationary bikes ( recumbent and regular), spin bikes, weight lifting machines and rowing machines. I know there are more things but I can think of them now. And to top it off there is a jogging track that goes around the ship. It takes 2.4 laps to equal 1 mile. I could go on and on, but I'll stop. Just trust me, if you workout, this is the exercise room for you!

Love the track on the Oasis as well. Ran a 5k on the track every morning last week.......needed to!:)

[roe2ship]

The next thing I will write about is the awesome exercise room on the Oasis. Feel free to skip ahead if this isn't your thing! LOL! My husband personally thought I was nuts to get up everyday and workout. But, it is my "thing" . To begin with, this exercise room has any equipment you can imagine. There are treadmills, elipticals, stationary bikes ( recumbent and regular), spin bikes, weight lifting machines and rowing machines. I know there are more things but I can think of them now. And to top it off there is a jogging track that goes around the ship. It takes 2.4 laps to equal 1 mile. I could go on and on, but I'll stop. Just trust me, if you workout, this is the exercise room for you!

This is wonderful news! I think I am going to enjoy the track also....I am not that fond of the track on other ships in between the lounge chairs on the pool decks. And on sea days sometimes it's just too windy trying to run. Does the track on Oasis get any breeze?? From pictures...it looks as there are certain areas that open up in between the lifeboats.

[swedish1]

This is wonderful news! I think I am going to enjoy the track also....I am not that fond of the track on other ships in between the lounge chairs on the pool decks. And on sea days sometimes it's just too windy trying to run. Does the track on Oasis get any breeze?? From pictures...it looks as there are certain areas that open up in between the lifeboats.

Always a little breeze on sea days but on port days can be very still unless you like to run early in the morning as the ship is arriving to a port. Running early in the morning on the ship is always best because then you have the rest of the day to do what you want.

[roe2ship]

Always a little breeze on sea days but on port days can be very still unless you like to run early in the morning as the ship is arriving to a port. Running early in the morning on the ship is always best because then you have the rest of the day to do what you want.

Thanks! That's exactly what we do...I love the signs that are there too...some motivation to help you keep going and going! I'm so excited~:D

[melly424]

Ther is one side that is kind of like a wind tunnel, but not too bad . DH said ibis the starboard side of the ship. There were only two days I would have classified it as very windy, but you were still able to use the track. They just had the doors locked I that side of of the ship when it was rough out.

[melly424]

Our first stop was Nassau. We didn't do much here except for walk around town for a bit. On our last cruise we went over to The Atlantis, but we really got a bad impression due to the treatment of cruisers. They basically only want you in their casino! There are several excursions you can take. A friend of mine did the dolphin excursion in Nassau last year and loved it.

 

My daughter had her hair braided in Nassau. If you choose to do this, absolutely do not pay the price they quote. I was first told I woul be $3 per braid with her think hair would cost $100. I told her I was not going to pay that price. She then asked me what I wanted to pay. I told her no more than $40 and she agreed to that price if I left her a "nice tip". I gave her a ten dollar tip so I ended up paying $50. That was what I was prepared to pay in the beginning. I can't imagine how many people pay full price.

 

Other than hair braiding, we just walked around town. Going to go to the straw market, but couldn't find it. Does anyone know if it still exists? It was there in 2006. DH was losing patience so we just headed back to the ship to hang out.

[PhhSC]

Thanks for the info on the track! Looking forward to spending some time on track and in the exercise room. Sailing soon!

[melly424]

Well, since I am home now, I am going to try to be a bit more organized. I was working on this review on my home in the car to "kill time", but as I look back, it isn't too organized and that drives me crazy.

 

We began our trip by meeting my in-laws in Destin, Florida and then driving to Fort Lauderdale on the 23rd. Because I am a well-known "tight wad", I found us an inexpensive hotel in Hollywood, Florida. (The rest of the family stayed at the Marriott north of us) We stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites and honestly, it wasn't too bad. It was very clean, but a bit outdated. It had a very nice swimming pool and lounge area as well. We arrived after dark and it did seem a bit shady, even to me. I didn't like the parking because it was right off of the street. But all was well the next morning. I think I would stay there again, but not sure if the rest of the family would join me! LOL! Here is a picture of the pool area.

[cruzgurlny]

Our first stop was Nassau. We didn't do much here except for walk around town for a bit. On our last cruise we went over to The Atlantis, but we really got a bad impression due to the treatment of cruisers. They basically only want you in their casino! There are several excursions you can take. A friend of mine did the dolphin excursion in Nassau last year and loved it.

 

My daughter had her hair braided in Nassau. If you choose to do this, absolutely do not pay the price they quote. I was first told I woul be $3 per braid with her think hair would cost $100. I told her I was not going to pay that price. She then asked me what I wanted to pay. I told her no more than $40 and she agreed to that price if I left her a "nice tip". I gave her a ten dollar tip so I ended up paying $50. That was what I was prepared to pay in the beginning. I can't imagine how many people pay full price.

 

Other than hair braiding, we just walked around town. Going to go to the straw market, but couldn't find it. Does anyone know if it still exists? It was there in 2006. DH was losing patience so we just headed back to the ship to hang out.

 

I was in Nassau last Sept and the straw market was destroyed by hurricane Irene:eek: We were also unable to visit it:(

[melly424]

I decided to add a couple of more pictures in the above post. I posted the picture of the "spacious" breakfast area (note sarcasm) and also picture of DH barricading door. No, he didn't keep it like that. It was just for the pictures sake!

[shonandsuzie]

I decided to add a couple of more pictures in the above post. I posted the picture of the "spacious" breakfast area (note sarcasm) and also picture of DH barricading door. No, he didn't keep it like that. It was just for the pictures sake!

:D I thought that looked like a barricade but thought I must be seeing it wrong! Lol.

 

Thanks for sharing. :)

[melly424]

I was in Nassau last Sept and the straw market was destroyed by hurricane Irene:eek: We were also unable to visit it:(

 

Thanks for the update! I was sure I was going crazy and just didn't see the signs! Too bad it was destroyed though.

[melly424]

We parked our car at the Park And Go facility near the cruise port. I highly recommend this place as long as you don't mind your car being in a parking lot. It seems well guarded and we had no problems with our car while it was there. The shuttle picks you up right at your car and delivers you to the cruise port. I would estimate that it took about a half hour from the time we arrived at the Park and Go to get to the cruise port. Maybe a few minutes longer, but not much. The total cost for the week was about $65. I had to shop around for that rate. I think there are three different web pages for the Park and Go, all offering different rates at different times. I found a rate of $7.99 per day + tax. We also tipped the shuttle bus driver for putting our luggage on and off of the shuttle.

 

Once we arrived at the cruiseport, we stood in line for a bit to get our Sea Pass cards. Make sure you have your passports or picture IDs ready. This process took about fifteen minutes. We then got our "Welcome To The Oasis" picture taken and went to the waiting area to board the ship. We waited about fifteen minutes before going on board. I didn't think that was too bad. I am still amazed at how fast they shuttle 6,000+ people onto a ship that quickly!

 

We arrived on the ship on Deck 5 and looked around for a few minutes. We then headed to the Windjammer to eat lunch since our rooms wouldn't be ready for a couple of hours. Keep this in mind when deciding what to carry onboard with you. I brought a bag that had bathing suits in it. With three kids, I knew they would want to get in the pool. After eating lunch, we headed up to deck 15 to hang out by the pool. We tried to get to our room early, but that was a no go. The hallways were blocked off with a sign saying to come back at 1:00. It was worth a try!

 

We headed to our room (3606) about 1:15. This is one of the family rooms that will sleep five people. Many people on Cruise Critic said I was nuts to try to get all five of us in a room, but it worked out and no one killed each other. It was surprising how well we all did get along in such small quarters! LOL! The room consisted of a King size bed with a pull out couch. There was also a Pullman bed on top. The kids alternated sleeping on the couch and Pullman. One thing I was surprised about was the quality of the mattresses and bedding. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate it as a 5! The pillows were awful. If you have room, you might want to bring some pillows from home. When we sailed on the Carnival Valor in 2006, we remember wanting to purchase their bedding (it was for sale) because it was sooooo nice and comfy! Royal Caribbean did not take that route! I wouldn't even try to steal one of those pillows! Ha! The mattresses were pretty good, but nothing to brag about! Our cabin steward was Jackson from Jamaica. Super nice guy!

 

One thing I do recommend bringing is an over the door shoe holder to hold all of your toiletries. I use the ultimate cruise packing list from google (there are several) which includes a lot of little things that could come in handy. The shoe holder is an awesome way to store things. Our cabin steward loved it because it freed up the counters in the bathroom. Nothing falls off onto the floor and it is reachable from the shower. I think mine cost $10 at K-Mart.

 

Well, that's all for now. Here are some pictures from day one.

[jules1962]

Mel's sister-in-law chiming in. We were on the cruise with them. I was very impressed with how quickly we were able to board the ship. We took our hotel shuttle to the port as we had flown down and didn't have a car. We had the 1130 shuttle and were on board and eating lunch by 1230ish. We had to wait at hotel until 1145 for 2 people who never showed up for shuttle.

 

We also ate lunch in the Windjammer. It was not hard to find a table and the food was ok. We sailed on Mariner in 2006 and I thought the food on it was a bit better than Oasis. Maybe because they are cooking for so many more people? It was what I expected for being at sea with 6000 others.

 

It's funny because I loved the mattress! I slept so good on it. Maybe it is because our mattress at home needs replaced but I slept great all week! The pillows were not great but were not an issue for us.

 

We were in cabin 12662 and I loved the location. There was just my husband and I and we brought no extra storage stuff. There was plenty of shelves, cabinets for the two of us. We had a cabin with the bed by the closet. I am still not sure why people are so concerned about that. We had no issues and I was really glad we had the setup we did. I loved the couch and vanity by the balcony!

 

I will try to keep up with Mel as she reports.