Oasis of the Seas New Year's Eve Week 2013-2014

[KDvacation]

We cruised Oasis of the Seas 12/28/13-1/4/14 in Boardwalk Balcony Cabins 8723 and 8725 for 5 people.

 

Here’s my thoughts on our awesome trip!

 

Arrived Thursday, 12/26 at FLL. We stayed 2 nights at Crowne Plaza Fort Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port. The hotel has a free shuttle from FLL to hotel. Shuttle service was prompt. Hotel is nice, but there is nothing within walking distance. There is a Hertz office on site and we rented a mini-van. Over our 2 night stay, we had several meals at Kiki’s which was overpriced, but good. We tried to go to many other restaurants, but the crowds were overwhelming due to holiday crowds. On Friday, we went to Everglades Holiday Park. It was fun and we did see “stars” from Gator Boys series. We also took the Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk Boat tour of the Intracostal Waterways. We wanted a tour versus DIY water taxi ride. But many people were happy with water taxi.

 

On Friday, we received emails and texts from RCCL about delayed embarkation for Saturday due to enhanced cleaning procedures triggered by guest GI illnesses. So we requested late check-out at our hotel and were the only people on the shuttle service to Port at 1:30 p.m. No traffic. No crowds at port. It was really fast. It was also really nice to have lunch at our hotel and not fight the Saturday embarkation lunch crowds on the ship.

 

Oasis of the Seas is stunning and beautiful. Pictures do not do it justice! Our cabins were ready by 2:30 p.m. and we were among the first people to have all our luggage. Maybe last luggage loaded is the first onboard. BTW the ship was so clean and spotless. All week long there was a big cleaning presence on the ship due to threat of Norovirus.

 

Our cabins 8723 and 8725 had great views of the aqua deck, jumbo-tron screens and pretty good view of the ocean. However, the boardwalk is very loud. Noise was a constant even with balcony doors shut. We had a great time, but did not anticipate so much noise from the boardwalk.

 

The ship was decorated for Christmas with trees, garland and special lighting. There were New Year’s Eve celebrations on board, but the main venue was Promenade. MDR had a special New Year’s Eve menu with lobster so we had 2 nights with lobster in MDR at no extra charge.

 

We had dinner at Giovanni’s and Chops. Both were excellent. The other nights were in the MDR. Overall MDR food was o.k. to good. We had to re-order to replace a couple of bad choices that we ordered (salad, shrimp, tomato, etc.). Lots of Lamb, Mushrooms and Seafood which we were not interested in at all. MDR service was good, but tended to be slow. We learned to ask or server specifically for faster service and it happened. I ate GF and had special diet GF noted on my reservation. At some dining venues, GF was no big deal. Others needed to check that I had reserved GF. I didn’t understand why the policy varied, but it all worked out for me. MDR needed me to pre-order my meals to expedite GF service.

 

We enjoyed the ports and booked all our excursions through RCCL: Nassau- Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter, St Thomas-St. John Beach and Snorkel Tour, St. Maarten-Rhino Riders. All of our excursions rate late. The port on St. Thomas for Oasis is very disappointing. If you want to see St. Thomas and shop, make transportation arrangements. Also, most of St. Maarten was closed due to New Year’s Eve was our port day. A few shops near the St. Maarten port were open.

 

Approximately ½ of the passengers were not from the US. Lots of passengers from Mexico, Brazil and Europe. Announcements were lengthy and repeated in at least 6 languages. The non-US passengers tended to prefer late night dining and entertainment. So it significantly shifted crowds to later times. We benefitted from this because it really dispersed crowds. Another observation was a lot of people complained about ill behaved kids. IMO the kids were fine, but there really were lots of kids cruising over the holiday.

 

On board entertainment was good. We had reservations for shows.

We did so much on board. Johnny Rockets, Ice Cream, Cupcakes, Bingo, Shopping, Rising Tide Bar. My 11 YO enjoyed the kids club for a couple events. He would have been happy to spend more time there, but we were busy. We had a few cocktails over the course of the cruise, but no drink package. It was a better value for us to pay as we went. Cocktails were all very strong. Our theory was the RCCL liquor supplier must be cheaper than the mixers.

 

Disembarkation was slow. The entire boat was held up for some reason. I think the delay was about an hour. My recollection was the earliest walk-off should have been 6:15, but the ship announced 1st off at 7:30. We got off at 9:00 and it took us about an hour to wait in line, collect our luggage and exit thru customs.

 

We took the free shuttle to Pier 66 Avis car rental. Our flight was not until 6:45 p.m. It was cool and overcast so we went to Sawgrass Mills (instead of beach) and had lunch and saw a movie. Our return flight was cancelled at 5:30 p.m. due to polar vortex storm. We were delayed until Wednesday getting back to Chicago area. It was a tough way to end such a nice trip.

 

Let me know if you have questions, I’ll try to share what our experience was.

[kruzerci]

Glad you had a good cruise. Thanks for posting. We were onboard right before you were and had a fantastic cruise, as well.

 

I wonder if the approximately 50% international guests is normal on Oasis and Allure. I have always noticed that it was much more international sailing from Miami and Fort Lauderdale compared to New Orleans and Port Canaveral, but it was predominately Europeans and South Americans on our cruise. Not a problem, but it seemed like I heard just as much Spanish on the ship as English :).

[Mouse's Shadow]

Thanks for the information. A year from now it will be my turn on Allure. I love hearing everyone's experiences. I'm glad you had a good trip.

[willing292]

Where does the ship dock in st. Thomas?

[kruzerci]

Where does the ship dock in st. Thomas?

 

She docks in Crown Bay, not Havensight where most ships dock.

[drarill]

Happy you had a great cruise. Thanks for sharing your cruise with us!

[willing292]

Thanks.

[SimplyTravel5]

We will be in those same two cabins on a sailing here shortly. We will have an eight month old with us. Would you recommend I bring a sound machine or something to drown out the noise during nap time? Any other tips or info on those cabins? Thanks!!!!

[KDvacation]

I think a sound machine would make a big difference and is a really good idea. Has RCCL confirmed that a portable crib will fit in room? We had one room set with one bed for 2 people; the other room was set up with individual beds for our 3 kids (2 beds and convertible couch). The room steward had to put one of the chairs on the balcony because it didn't fit with the 3 bed configuration. Balcony divider can be opened to make one large balcony. Non Oasis specific advice (we cruised on RCCL with our now 11 year old, when he was 1. Bring/pack a small umbrella stroller, small baby toys for the room, baby food, diapers, baby wipes, babywash, sunscreen. If using formula, get the baby used to powdered formula (easy to travel with). Oasis has a baby/toddler toy room that parents can go to with their child(ren). It was near kids club. Bring cleaning wipes with bleach for your cabins. Our ship had noro outbreak. We did not get sick. But I did learn that the cleaning wipes I packed were bleach-free and therefore not effective on noro. For cruises, I pack wipes and air freshner because I like to be able to clean up any mishaps without waiting until the cabin steward is available. On DCL Magic, one of our kids got sea sick the first night. There was no one from housekeeping "on duty" to help clean up and I didn't have anything with me. It was an unpleasant night, but not an emergency. I'd just prefer to bring my own supplies. You will have a great trip. I have no regrets about travelling with a 1 year old in 2003.