Review of Oasis of the Seas (July 14, 2012)

[Sgroi135]

My family and I were lucky enough to be aboard the Oasis of the Seas on the July 14th Departure. I would like to start off with a warning. I am going to speak my mind in regards to my review (this part will be at the end of the review), if you are offended in any way then keep your comments to yourself.

 

There were 8 of us on the cruise, My wife and I, my 2 daughters (6 & 9), My parents and my In-Laws.

 

My trip started off with a Flight with Jet Blue out of Newark, NJ on July 13 into Fort Lauderdale. Flight was great as JetBlue normally is.

 

We stayed in the Hampton Inn Plantation. The hotel is located about 15 mins from the airport/cruise terminal. I have stayed in many Hampton Inns and had no issues with this one. I chose this one, because of the lower cost than the other Hampton Inn. This one also had free shuttle service. We arrived at the airport and called them and the shuttle was there shortly thereafter. We dined that night at a restaurant called "2 Jays" was nice comfort food, I would recommend it to anyone. The hotel shuttle was also available to take us back and forth from the restaurant.

 

The next morning we got all ready to get to the terminal, we had a 11:00 appointment for the shuttle. I have to say that this is where RCI really does it right. We got to the cruise terminal at about 11:15 and I was totally amazed by the size of the ship! It was immense!!!!!

 

We parked and unloaded our luggage where a porter took them from us (they do expect tips, and are vocal about it). Since I wanted to make sure that I actually got my bags, I did tip a few bucks. We then entered the terminal where there were RCI employees all over the place guiding you through the area to your check in spot. We were on Deck 12 so that was the end of the check-in area. We were ushered right to an available representative and started the check-in process. Within 5 minutes all 8 of us were checked in. We then walked into an area where they took the first photo. I later realized that this photo was NECESSARY since this is the only place that they took your room card for a photo. It seems that facial recognition is used to have your photos assigned to your cabin. So within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal we were in the elevator going up to Central Park for the illustrious Roast Beef Sandwiches. I have to say they were amazing. We had to wait about 3 minutes online, but the food was great.

 

We then walked down the MDR and found our table on deck 3. We then went up to our room 12598. My parents were down the hall in 12566 and my in-laws were in 12568.

 

My cabin was a D1 Center hump cabin. Even with 4 of us in the room it was not that bad. I will never pay the extra money for the D1 class to only have a bigger balcony since there are only 2 chairs and a table (same as the other balconies). The other 2 cabins were D6's and were the exact same as mine other than the balcony.

 

I have to say that the cabins were extremely quiet! I never heard anything out in the hallways or in the cabins next to us. Like others have said that there is only 2 electric outlets located under the desk. I had brought a 1 to 4 cord with me to be able to plug in all the iPods and battery chargers. I did not have an issue getting it on to the ship. I know others have said it was hard to get power strips on-board. But this also did not look like a power strip and was packed in my camera bag.

 

We also registered the kids for the kids club. Later we had the muster drill. We were assigned to muster station D3 which was in Studio B (Ice Rink). Took a short period of time, and not a big deal.

 

We had the early dinner sitting (6pm) so it was about that time to get ready for dinner. I wore khaki type pants and a golf shirt for dinner. It was obvious that RCI does not enforce any of the dress codes. There were people there in shorts and tank tops. We were at table 321 which was next to the server station and next to a wall, it is hard to explain but it was a decent table since it was a quiter. Our servers were Freya and Julius. I have to say that they were one of the highlights of our trip!! We looked forward to dinner nightly. It is hard to explain how pleasant that they were, and it was sincere, or they are the best actors in the world. It seemed that they truly loved their jobs. After the first night, they knew exactly what everyone wanted and the rest of the nights we almost didn't have to order.

 

The food in the MDR is very good. I am not a food snob, but I do like good food. I really cannot say anything bad about the food, there was some that I did not like, but it was not because it was not good (quality), it was just that I didn't like preparation. I ordered 2 main course each night, so basically surf and turf for me every night.

 

We also saw the dive show (Oasis of Dreams). While the story-line was not the best, the diving and athleticism was outstanding. Couple of the divers dove from a platform that was very high. I was told by an employee that it is better to book the dive show the first or second night since the ocean is usually calmer in the beginning and they sometimes have to cancel it if the ocean is too rough on the way to St Thomas/St Maarten.

 

Day 2 we stopped in the Bahamas, and we just went out and shopped for a bit. I have to say that the Bahamas is a waste of time in my opinion, we are there for just a short period of time. It seemed that the only area to go to was Atlantis.

 

My wife and I left the kids with the grandparents and went to Chops for dinner. It was definitely worth the cover charge the food was great and the atmosphere was wonderful. I would definitely eat there again! Each of the kids stayed overnight with a set of grandparents. Their room steward was great (I almost wanted to tip him, and he was not my steward). He set up the couch for the kids to sleep on with a sheet, blanket, and pillow. (those cabins were duals)

 

My wife and I then went to see the comedy show, we enjoyed it very much.

 

Day 3 was a day at sea. All the women went to see Hairspray, they said that it was very good. I visited the casino (I will talk more about that later). We also explored the ship just walking around. Seemed like the ship never ended.

 

Day 4 was at St Thomas. We went to Coral World (My daughter and I each have saltwater fish tanks so we wanted to go there). The transportation there was $11 a person. It is not that big of an attraction. There was a charge of $19 per person to enter. But there were some nice things. After Coral World we went to the beach right next door. We got there early so there was plenty of room. We were with my parents and it was hot so we did not plan to stay that long. They charge $5 per chair and $10 per umbrella for use all day. We just opted to sit under a tree for shade. There were lots of people snorkeling there. I grabbed a set of goggles (our own) and looked under water and there were hundreds and hundreds of fish waist deep in the water. We were given a dog biscuit by another person on the beach. When you held it under the water you were swarmed by the fish trying to get at the biscuit. It was great my girls loved it. So as a tip, take some dog biscuits with you to the beach to feed the fish.

 

Later that night on the ship we went to see the Headliner show, it was Abbacadabra. I was not really impressed with it. My little one fell asleep so we left about 20 minutes into the show.

 

Day 5 was St Maarten. I had arranged a tour through Bernard's Tours at $40 per person. Since there was 8 of us we got our own van. It was a very informative tour taking us through the Dutch and French part of the island. We also made multiple stops, like at the iguana pool, some photo spots, beach where the planes land over the beach. We did not do any swimming on this stop. We also went and did some shopping. It did get a little boring at times but I enjoyed it.

 

We saw the Ice Show that night, it was pretty good. We got there very early so we had any seat that we wanted. We notice that there were a couple seats labeled "Children Only". So the girls took them, front row. I assumed that there would be some sort of interaction with the show. When the ugly duckling part of the show came on, the kids were taken onto the ice in swans and pushed around. The kids had fun.

 

Day 6 was a day at sea. We did rock climbing and walked and explored the ship. I can't say again how big this ship is! We saw "Come Fly with Me" that night, it was an aerial show that was amazing! I recommend seeing it.

 

Day 7 was at sea again. That morning we went to Johnny Rockets for Breakfast (complimentary for breakfast). I have to say it was the best breakfast that we had!! I guess since it was more cooked to order in a smaller kitchen. If we return I will eat there daily! We did some more rock climbing and also the zip line!!

 

Day 8 was the end :(

We did the luggage valet since we had a late flight out of Fort Lauderdale. We didn't want to have to deal with the luggage. Getting off the ship was just as easy as getting on. Since we did not have a real disembarking time, we left when we wanted to.

 

My kids did swim but we went when the pools were empty, either in port (when we returned to the ship) or at night after our dinner seating. The pools were very nice at these times.

 

On the sea days the pools were swamped and we did not even attempt to get near them.

 

I have to say that we enjoyed almost every part of the cruise! I can probably count on one hand for when I passed and employee and they did not greet me.

 

The size of the ship is the best part. While it was a long walk sometimes. As other people say it was NEVER crowded (other than the pools). Barely any wait times for anything. RCI did a great job designing the ship to keep people spread out.

 

I did visit the casino daily. It seemed pretty busy for the most part. There is a smoking section and a non-smoking section separated by the bar in the middle. I was happy to say that the dealers knew what they were doing. The last cruise I went on, the dealers were sub-par. I play craps for the most part and it was obvious that the dealers were pretty good when they knew how to pay out 8 people in a very timely fashion.

 

My kids did try the Kid's club. The would have been separated in age group, so we bumped by older daughter down, since she just turned 9 anyway. Well we went back an hour later to check on them, and they begged to leave. They said that it was babyish. No we could have had my older daughter check out the older group, but she did not want to. My younger daughter (6yo) said "Guess what daddy, we learned the spiders make webs". It was obvious that they did not want to go back. Now maybe my kids are more mature than their age, but I cannot really give a good review of the kids club other than that since the kids didn't go back.

 

Here is the part that I disliked about the cruise!!!

THE OTHER PASSENGERS!!

It seemed that the Spanish Speaking passengers were just downright rude!

Pushing into elevators, cutting into lines, being loud (unnecessarily) and letting their kids run loose!! Seemed like the parents just sat back and let their kids run around with no supervision. This is just one example that drove me nuts!!! One group of 4 boys were just out of control every time we saw them. The smallest child was literally pulling his brother around by his ears. That same child then started to chase another passenger around screaming in his face and spitting at him. His mother would pick him up, move 10 feet and put him down. The child would then start to chase the other kid again. These same kids were at breakfast one morning and the collected all the silverware on the table and were stabbing each other with them. The waitress had to actually say something to the parents to now allow the kids to stab each other, and if they were going to play with anything it should be spoons.

 

Just seemed that some passengers do not have any respect for other people, and treated the ship as if it was their own.

 

Besides the other passengers, I cannot really say anything bad about this cruise!!!

[janetz]

Great review. We loved the Oasis. Now you have to book the Allure! :D

Edited July 24, 2012 by janetz

[lrn2cruise]

Thanks for your review! I hope to get on Oasis/Allure someday!

 

Comment:Please do not be judgemental of what people wear in the MDR on the 1st night. Our luggage was not in our cabin by our 6pm dinner. We had swam all day and been to Muster Drill on Deck 4 in the heat. Our waiter said to come on in to eat. I was so embarrased, but if we do not have our luggage ever again, we will hit WJ and call it a night.

 

As far as the Families from Mexico, I think any kids from any country can get unruly. I live in South Texas and I see many families from Mexico at the beaches here in Texas, etc. Many of the rich Mexican famlies have maids and the maids take care of the kids. So maybe the maid didnt make the cruise with the family?????? I have a Mexican family that live a couple house down from me and yes, they have a maid(from Mexico). The maid takes on a lot of the child care. Not to make excuses, but many times the parents stay up all hours of the night, sleep really late, lay out and smoke, while the maid does the work.

 

When we were on FOS the kids all played on the elevators. Pushed all the buttons. It really didnt bug me. They are kids. They were upsupervised too. They were a friendly bunch and we would just chat with them, then move on

[dacsmom]

Thanks for your review. We are thinking of going to Coral World and Coki Beach also. Would you do these again? I like the idea of swimming with sea lions and turtles.

[toxicfairy]

Good HONEST review! Your only complaint was our only complaint on our last cruise which was on the Navigator of the seas.

We are doing Oasis in August 2013.

Was the Hotel that you stayed at the only one by that name in that area?? You mentioned others and I want to make sure I look at the correct one. Thank you!

[Sgroi135]

Thanks for your review! I hope to get on Oasis/Allure someday!

 

Comment:Please do not be judgemental of what people wear in the MDR on the 1st night. Our luggage was not in our cabin by our 6pm dinner. We had swam all day and been to Muster Drill on Deck 4 in the heat. Our waiter said to come on in to eat. I was so embarrased, but if we do not have our luggage ever again, we will hit WJ and call it a night.

 

As far as the Families from Mexico, I think any kids from any country can get unruly. I live in South Texas and I see many families from Mexico at the beaches here in Texas, etc. Many of the rich Mexican famlies have maids and the maids take care of the kids. So maybe the maid didnt make the cruise with the family?????? I have a Mexican family that live a couple house down from me and yes, they have a maid(from Mexico). The maid takes on a lot of the child care. Not to make excuses, but many times the parents stay up all hours of the night, sleep really late, lay out and smoke, while the maid does the work.

 

When we were on FOS the kids all played on the elevators. Pushed all the buttons. It really didnt bug me. They are kids. They were upsupervised too. They were a friendly bunch and we would just chat with them, then move on

 

It was not just on the first night, I can totally understand the first night, not having your luggage. But it seemed that every night there were people way under dressed. Even on the formal night there were people there in SHORTS!

 

The Spanish speaking people did not seem Mexican. They seemed South American. It did annoy me a bit, i guess since I make sure that my kids are behaved. My kids are not total angels by any means, but in public they know how to act.

 

Thanks for your review. We are thinking of going to Coral World and Coki Beach also. Would you do these again? I like the idea of swimming with sea lions and turtles.

 

Do not expect much from Coral World. I did watch some people swimming in the turtle pool. Seemed interesting. You can also do the underwater scuba thing with the helmets there. But we only went in to see the fish and corals. I have to say that I have nicer corals in my tank at home though. Coki beach was very cool. My kids loved that part. I would go back there, but get there early. It looked like another wave of people came later on, and it got crowded. So if you are early you will be fine, and make sure you bring goggles and dog biscuits!!!

 

Good HONEST review! Your only complaint was our only complaint on our last cruise which was on the Navigator of the seas.

We are doing Oasis in August 2013.

Was the Hotel that you stayed at the only one by that name in that area?? You mentioned others and I want to make sure I look at the correct one. Thank you!

 

Yes there is more than on Hampton Inn. There is also the North Airport Hampton I believe. It was definitely more per night and no shuttles.

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hampton-inn-ft-lauderdale-plantation-FLLPTHX/index.html

is the one that we stayed at!

[Pancake16]

Yes there is more than on Hampton Inn. There is also the North Airport Hampton I believe. It was definitely more per night and no shuttles.

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hampton-inn-ft-lauderdale-plantation-FLLPTHX/index.html

is the one that we stayed at!

 

 

We are scheduled to stay at the Hampton Airport North Cruise Port in Sept. They DO have free shuttle for airport and port. It received good reviews and with DH hotel points making our cost FREE, can't beat it!:D

[Sgroi135]

Yes there is more than on Hampton Inn. There is also the North Airport Hampton I believe. It was definitely more per night and no shuttles.

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hampton-inn-ft-lauderdale-plantation-FLLPTHX/index.html

is the one that we stayed at!

 

 

We are scheduled to stay at the Hampton Airport North Cruise Port in Sept. They DO have free shuttle for airport and port. It received good reviews and with DH hotel points making our cost FREE, can't beat it!:D

 

Free is great!!! I did not know they also had free shuttle. When I researched it never came up as free.

 

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[Pancake16]

We are scheduled to stay at the Hampton Airport North Cruise Port in Sept. They DO have free shuttle for airport and port. It received good reviews and with DH hotel points making our cost FREE, can't beat it!:D

 

Free is great!!! I did not know they also had free shuttle. When I researched it never came up as free.

 

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

You got me all nervous!:eek: Had to go look again. Yep. Complimentary!

 

Welcome to our Hampton Inn Ft. Lauderdale Airport North Cruise Port hotel. Our convenient Fort Lauderdale hotel offers an ideal location near Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) and only two miles to the Port Everglades cruise terminals. Whether you’re catching a flight or setting sail, our Fort Lauderdale, FL hotel makes life easier with a free 24-hour shuttle service to and from the Fort Lauderdale airport and free shuttle to the Port Everglades cruise port.

[mkmom514]

We are scheduled to stay at the Hampton Airport North Cruise Port in Sept. They DO have free shuttle for airport and port. It received good reviews and with DH hotel points making our cost FREE, can't beat it!:D

 

We're staying at this same hotel before our Oasis cruise for the same reasons...free shuttle and DH hotel points.

[ACruiserinFL]

I saw those boys and they were AWFUL!! We took our 11 and 15 yr old kids so I definitely wasn't in an anti-kid mode but holy cow, those boys were obnoxious. They were running on the pool decks and they must have been near our room because more than once we were on the same elevator as them and they pushed EVERY button. Some of the people who were going to get stuck going to each floor got really ticked off. They behaved that way even in front of their parents too!

 

Luckily, those type of people made up for a very small percentage of the passengers. Most of the time it didn't feel too busy which always surprises me. Definitely don't feel bad about being annoyed by those kids, they were abnormally wild

[Sgroi135]

I saw those boys and they were AWFUL!! We took our 11 and 15 yr old kids so I definitely wasn't in an anti-kid mode but holy cow, those boys were obnoxious. They were running on the pool decks and they must have been near our room because more than once we were on the same elevator as them and they pushed EVERY button. Some of the people who were going to get stuck going to each floor got really ticked off. They behaved that way even in front of their parents too!

 

Luckily, those type of people made up for a very small percentage of the passengers. Most of the time it didn't feel too busy which always surprises me. Definitely don't feel bad about being annoyed by those kids, they were abnormally wild

 

With 6300 guests on the ship, you knew exactly what 4 I was talking about... :)

[Sgroi135]

Here are a few pics... I will try to get more up later on...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[curtsfan]

Thanks for the review!!!we are booked on the Oasis in October. I will keep in mind what you said about booking the water show earlier in the week. I also wanted to point out that some people are not dressed up the first night, because they may not have had their luggage delivered before dinner.

I also agree with you about children that have no supervision aboard ship. We recently sailed with Carnival nd had some major problems with kids. We had kids jumping into the pool over our heads as we sat on the edge of the pool. We saw parents who's children were too small to swim in the pool, sent to swim in the hot tub. One day the hot tub had to close because one of these children had a bowel movement in it!!!! Yet the same parents sent the child into the other hot tub after changing him. The mother sat there eating an ice cream as her older son jumped from the hot tub into the pool. When I complained to the bartender, he said that he couldn't say anything, that security had to be called.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ...

[lindy sails]

We were on the Allure July 1 and experienced the same with rude Spanish speaking families and I'll behaved kids. The Hampton you stayed at did they provide shuttle service to the port? We've

Stayed at the Hampton at Citi center and they don't pick up at the

Airport. Thanks for the

Great review. We loved the Allure.

Lindy

[Sgroi135]

We were on the Allure July 1 and experienced the same with rude Spanish speaking families and I'll behaved kids. The Hampton you stayed at did they provide shuttle service to the port? We've

Stayed at the Hampton at Citi center and they don't pick up at the

Airport. Thanks for the

Great review. We loved the Allure.

Lindy

 

Yes the Hampton that We stayed at, had free shuttle.. From the Airport, to the cruise terminal, and also to and from dinner.

[Sgroi135]

Thanks for the review!!!we are booked on the Oasis in October. I will keep in mind what you said about booking the water show earlier in the week. I also wanted to point out that some people are not dressed up the first night, because they may not have had their luggage delivered before dinner.

I also agree with you about children that have no supervision aboard ship. We recently sailed with Carnival nd had some major problems with kids. We had kids jumping into the pool over our heads as we sat on the edge of the pool. We saw parents who's children were too small to swim in the pool, sent to swim in the hot tub. One day the hot tub had to close because one of these children had a bowel movement in it!!!! Yet the same parents sent the child into the other hot tub after changing him. The mother sat there eating an ice cream as her older son jumped from the hot tub into the pool. When I complained to the bartender, he said that he couldn't say anything, that security had to be called.

 

I cannot believe that parents do not supervise their own children. My kids were never out of my sight.

 

I know about the first night with the dress in the dining room, but it seemed that all week people were not dressed. Even on the formal night one family was in shorts and t-shirts.

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Great review, thanks for sharing!!! We still have a long time to wait before we sail on the Oasis - these reviews help to pass the time.

[cedarpointscott4]

Glad you posted some pics....I'm in 12598 on the ONE TIME ONLY 5-Night Halloween Cruise in October 2014....I'm not going to like the size of the stateroom since I usually only sail in a JR SUITE (Double Points..Triple if you sail single) but not willing to pay almost a $1000 more for it on OASIS....lol I have to disagree with ya on the balcony part though...lol I always book an AFT JR SUITE to get a HUGE Balcony...but on Oasis will have to settle for a HUMP since there are no AFT cabins...lol Little hint....if you have tipped VERY WELL the first day they will bring you chase loungers also. I just got off LIBERTY of the SEAS Saturday.....and WOW...the spanish and french people were HORRIFIC....cutting in line...being overly loud....just down right RUDE!!!!

Edited December 23, 2013 by cedarpointscott4

[Yorkvillain]

Glad you posted some pics....I'm in 12598 on the ONE TIME ONLY 5-Night Halloween Cruise in October 2014....I'm not going to like the size of the stateroom since I usually only sail in a JR SUITE (Double Points..Triple if you sail single) but not willing to pay almost a $1000 more for it on OASIS....lol I have to disagree with ya on the balcony part though...lol I always book an AFT JR SUITE to get a HUGE Balcony...but on Oasis will have to settle for a HUMP since there are no AFT cabins...lol Little hint....if you have tipped VERY WELL the first day they will bring you chase loungers also. I just got off LIBERTY of the SEAS Saturday.....and WOW...the spanish and french people were HORRIFIC....cutting in line...being overly loud....just down right RUDE!!!!

 

Did you know that this review was almost a year and a half ago? I'm just letting you know in case the OP Never responds.