Oasis Review- 1/4/2014- 1st Timers!

[DnA2010]

My first cruise and thus first review- thank you again CC members for all the valuable info on cruising/the Oasis.

 

Background information.

We were a group of 13- my inlaws (early/mid 60's) and their 4 children and their families.The kids are 2,9,9, and 12. Only my inlaws have cruised before (one cruise on Holland)

We had 5 rooms all on the 10th floor- 2 Central Park Balcony Cabins and 3 at the very front of the boat- the ones with the large windows that viewed the heli-pad.

 

 

Booking the cruise and flights:

I don't know much about this as it was booked thorugh a TA by my MIL.

 

Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale and transfers to the ship:

We had 2 nights at the Hampton Inn Ft Lauderdale Airport. The hotel is convenient to the port/aiport.

The room was alright, (some wear and tear), but the hotel has a nice pool area, pool was clean and warm for us (others from warmer areas thought it was a bit cold) We also had free breakfast which was nice. We used a shuttle service from the hotel to the ship (included in the hotel room rate) which was well organized.

There is not much close by other than a small shopping centre, more of a "locals" based area, but there was a great Thai restaurant and Cuban Cafe which we enjoyed.

 

Embarkation:

We left our hotel around 10:30/10:45am, and were on the boat by 1:00 pm. We found it a bit tricky trying to figure out where to leave our luggage and got stuck behind a large group who were just getting their tags. After we figured out how to bypass them, we were fine and waited very little after that. We walked right up to an agent for our Seapass cards, and after a group photo we went to the waiting area. We didn't wait very long before boarding. We ended up in Windjammers for lunch due to the size of our group and the kids being quite hungry it just worked. We got a nice corner by the windows.

 

Meet and Mingle:

We had signed up but never received an invite so did not attend.

 

Cabin:

We had a Central Park Balcony and were located on Deck 10, cabin 581. The cabin was just as we expected. We had the bed next to the closet- it was tight, but do-able. Our suitcases fit under the bed.

Our TV remote didn’t work, so we didn’t turn the TV on till around the 4/5th day when we figured we should check out our balance. We called maintenance and eventually someone came and fixed it. Other than that one time to check the balance we never turned it on, so can’t comment on the shows/movies etc on TV.

The bed was huge and very comfy! There was sufficient room in the closet and drawers for clothing and other items and the room was well-maintained by our cabin steward. We received 3 towel animals. We also liked the lights over the pictures in the room, which were handy when you didn’t want things too bright.

Our 9 year old slept on the fold out and had no issues.

 

We loved being on Central Park- we mainly used the patio in the evening, as we loved sitting outside listening to the music as there was piano/strings players- lovely to see the plants and stars. I’m sure we would like an ocean patio as well, but very much enjoyed the shade of being in the park. We saw a few people across the way once in a while, but never felt like they were staring at us etc. We never heard (or really saw) or neighbors on either side. We also loved being able to pop down to Park Cafe for a snack or the bar for a drink. We were right above Vintages.

 

The cabins at the front of the boat with the slanted windows were Huge! The 2 year old had lots of room to run around and play. My family members who had those rooms were very happy with them.

 

 

 

Got to get some work done now, will continue in a bit....

[shelpt]

Subscribing! Looking forward to the rest of your review. I cant read enough about Oasis!

[LBumb]

Great job

[DnA2010]

Activities:

Labadee:

For our group, MIL had splurged on 2 over-the-water cabanas at Nellies- we loved having these. We received our wristbands at the cabanas and had no issues with our large group. With our group it was great as people came and went as they wanted, thus the cabanas never felt crowded. Our attendant took us next door for the lunch at Barefoot Beach, he suggested we go over at about 11:15 which worked out great as we had just a couple of people in front of us in line. When we finished our bottled water, our attendant brought more, we were not charged. He had no problem using our drink cards. We had one drink card per family group. Weather was gorgeous and every had a great day. Did a bit of shopping, didn’t find the merchants too bad. The water was very salty but such a great temperature. I never actually asked, but from the pictures posted on here, we had numbers 2 and 3- we liked this as 2 had the easier entry into the water which my inlaws and the 2 year old and parents liked, but 3 had a nice deep entry ladder, fun for jumping off and onto the mats. We were given as many mats as we liked. We didn’t do the water park, zipline, coaster etc so can’t comment on those- the cabana and the lovely ocean right there was all we needed.

 

Jamaica:

We were going on a private horseback ride booked privately through Braco stables- the stables are about a 15 min drive away. Nice air-conditioned van. There was a bit of a miscommunication between the office and our guides, so our ride wasn’t quite as expected, we have horses and are horse people and ended up with the basic “tourist” ride but we still enjoyed our quiet time away from the people of the boat. I would recommend the company- the horses were well trained and healthy and the people working seemed happy as well. The ride does take you through some remote countryside which is nice to see, not just along a touristy area. I would for sure book the early ride as it did get quite hot. The one single guy on the cruise ventured out of the port area after we got back, and had a great time. He found a fellow who wasn’t hounding him endlessly and had him show him around.

 

Cozumel:

This port our group split up a bit- I can mostly comment on what my family did, but I did get some info at dinner from the rest of the group on their adventures.

My family (husband and our 9 year old daughter) did the Chankanaab Royal Dolphin swim booked privately. For the price that I would have paid booking us through Royal Caribbean, I was able to book the much better Royal Swim privately. We got off the boat pretty early, even though our swim time was not till 12 noon. We wanted to make sure the swim was on Cozumel time, not boat time. We wandered through the shop area and then got the tax to the park- set price of $11 I believe. The weather was rainy, but that worked for me, being a pale spotty Irish rooted person- we checked out the park first, doing the “nature walk”, crocs etc, and then headed for our swim. We never did get around to snorkeling, so I can’t comment what is was like, we meant to go after our swim, but never did. We checked in at 12, but didn’t end up heading out to the dolphin area till closer to 12:30- our group had 8 people in it, including our 9 year old and little girl who was maybe 5? We did our whole swim in the big area for those who have been there. Our trainer was Fernanda and she was wonderful! Our too dolphins were Atlas and Chuck (it wasn’t Chuck, but similar name which I can’t quite remember) They were great also. Although the swim states 40 min with the dolphins, we were much closer to an hour. I think because we seemed to be her last group, Fernanda was not rushing at all. We did all the tricks listed (kiss, dance, hug, handshake, hold, etc) and also had the pleasure of being pulled by the two as well as the foot push! Very cool and even the 5 year old was able to do the foot push. She had problems the first time they tried and instantly another trainer was there to hold her and help her get started. Even when the other guests were doing their one on one parts, Fernanda was sending the other dolphin to come visit and that. Very much enjoyed by us all. If you can look past the fact they are kept in captivity and accept it for what it is, it is a great experience. We also enjoyed a few manatee interaction which we got after our dolphin part which I didn’t think we got with our package. Afterwards we were so in awe of our great experience we decided to head back to the port area. We asked our taxi to drop us about half a mile up from the boat and enjoyed various Mexican cervezas, gotta love the complimentary chips with 4 salsas! Grabbed the geocache that was there and then walked back to the ship.

“Everyone Loves Rays” One of the other families in our group did this tour- they very much enjoyed it. From what I recall, they were given a taxi voucher to get to the site. They mentioned that due to the stormy night/very rainy morning, over half the people scheduled had cancelled, so it was busy at all. Due to the storm, they were told there was a chance that there might not be that many rays as apparently a section of the fencing had broken overnight- when they arrived they were told that rays had stayed put. They enjoyed their ray experience and also did some snorkeling at the location.

The rest of the group walked to the shopping area- got soaked, didn’t hear too much.

 

Ft Lauderdale:

Our flights were not till 6 in the evening, so we decided to book a day tour to use up the time/have somewhere to store our bags- we did the City Sightseeing Greater Miami from Port Everglades- we were to meet in Studio B at 7:30 but didn’t really head off till around 8- we picked up our bags, cleared customs (fast process!) and then brought them to the bus where they were stored underneath. This was as described- an enjoyable ride on a double-decker bus with an informative guide. When we arrived in Miami we had about an hour or so to walk around- we walked to the beach and then had lunch. The bus then went to Miami airport and those of us flying out of Ft Lauderdale where put on a coach bus to the airport there. Overall I would recommend if you have later flights.

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions regarding the above and I will do my best to answer.

[hollon]

Can you tell me what type of cabin (central park balcony?) w/ the large windows at the front of the ship and their cabin number? B/c some of my family members are in central park balconies. Thanks for the review :)

[DnA2010]

Hi there,

 

Our Central Park balconies were 10581 and 10577 and our cabins in the front with the big windows were 10508, 10506, and 10504.

[Alyrica]

Awesome information!

 

My hubby and I did the Royal Dolphin Swim/ Manatee Interaction / Lunch through Carnival and LOVED it as well! Great memory! We lucked out because we were the only ones who booked that particular excursion so it was just us, the trainer and the dolphins.

[lovablekendra]

Did the big window cabins have balconies were they also Central Park?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Great review, thanks!!!

[DnA2010]

Did the big window cabins have balconies were they also Central Park?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

No- they are across the front of the ship- the slanted part that faces the heli-pad. They are just large windows, no balconies.

Edited January 15, 2014 by DnA2010

[bbethune9897]

Did you daughter go to the kids program? My son is 9 and we haven't sailed the Oasis yet, just wondering how he will like it! Thanks :)

[DnA2010]

Did you daughter go to the kids program? My son is 9 and we haven't sailed the Oasis yet, just wondering how he will like it! Thanks :)

 

 

She went in the evenings and quite enjoyed it. She usually went from 9ish till 11/11:30 depending on what we were doing the next day. She is a really good sleeper, the kind where the minute her head hits the pillow she is out, so we let her stay up and go to the club. She met some good friends and we would arrange to put the kids in. Lots of kids stay till 10 (free till then) and less stay after 10, but most nights there were around 7-10 staying.

[DnA2010]

Dining:

Our Opus Dining Room assignment was for My Time Dining with approx. the same time most nights 5:45/6pm- we had a 2 year old in our group so just could not push dining much later. This was a bit of a struggle for the rest of us who found it hard to drag ourselves away from the activities.

Our servers were Mischelle assisted by Leiman. We enjoyed them very much. It can’t be easy have a large table such as ours (13pp) as well as other tables to look after. We ate at the MDR all nights other than 1 when the grandparents took the kids and the adults went to dinner at Izumi.

Overall we thought the food was good. Some items were great and some were just all-right but overall meals were enjoyed. There was escargot one night, as well as lobster, rack of lamb. All of these were cooked well (lamb could have been cooked a bit less but was still nice) Enjoyed the bread selection as well as the cold fruit soups. Drink service was quite slow, and sometimes we would receive two glasses of wine if it happened to take a while. No issues with me ordering my wine with my starting martini.

Other Dining:

Park Café- Loved Park Café and loved being quite close to it. Salads were great, also enjoyed the Panini and proliferates. Enjoyed breakfast here most days.

Windjammers- Ate there only on the first day. We were in the first wave of people so no wait and not crowded. Everyone found food to their own liking.

Solarium Bistro- Had breakfast here one morning- enjoyed being able to get cottage cheese, granola with many toppings, that sort of thing. Kids are allowed for breakfast

Sorrentos- We did enjoy the pizza, but aren’t too picky about pizza. Due to the mass amounts they serve it was always fresh. Esepecially enjoyed the Mexican and Potato and chicken pizzas.

Cupcake Shop- Never bought any of the premade cupcakes but we did enjoy the cupcake class, our two 9 year old girls enjoyed doing the adult class

Character Breakfast- Great interaction with the characters, did not feel rushed at all. We had a reservation, but it was not checked. Seemed to have lots of room.

Izumi- Just alright. Service just o.k, rolls just o.k.

Johnny Rockets- Had a nice breakfast, enjoyed being outside on the boardwalk, good service.

Room Service- We ordered room service one morning, it arrived on time and the hot items were hot, everything present. Nice simple meal which we enjoyed on our balcony.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the excellent review!

[chee7]

Will be sailing on the oasis on april 26-may 3. This review helped a lot with some choices. Did you see any shows?

[DnA2010]

Ship entertainment coming soon! :)

[niceguy6505]

Thanks for the great review

[riclop]

Thanks for your observations.

[Nami]

Ft Lauderdale:

Our flights were not till 6 in the evening, so we decided to book a day tour to use up the time/have somewhere to store our bags- we did the City Sightseeing Greater Miami from Port Everglades- we were to meet in Studio B at 7:30 but didn’t really head off till around 8- we picked up our bags, cleared customs (fast process!) and then brought them to the bus where they were stored underneath. This was as described- an enjoyable ride on a double-decker bus with an informative guide. When we arrived in Miami we had about an hour or so to walk around- we walked to the beach and then had lunch. The bus then went to Miami airport and those of us flying out of Ft Lauderdale where put on a coach bus to the airport there. Overall I would recommend if you have later flights.

 

Would You please give me some more details about this tour?

Where in Miami was Your lunch-stop?

Did the bus made stops in other places?

What time did You arrived Miami Aiport?

[wahoo8897]

Can you tell us about the drink package? ( I believe you mentioned you purchased one). We are cruising next month and are wavering about the drink package,. Do they have a time limit per use, limit etc?

 

Thank you.

Wendi

[countess5]

We just came off Oasis on January 25th.

We were introduced to the drink packages last year on X Reflections. As I said after that cruise is that it is a no brainier!

 

It it hassle free, just hand a card and get them back. You get $10 per drink which covers every specialty drink and the drink of the day.

Having some Gin (Bombay) and tonics, l(Ask for large glasses for the ice) per day, some wine at dinner. (up to $12). We were on the Central Park level so on the way back to the room to get ready for dinner picked up a scotch and wine to sip while in the room. Sometimes going back for a second. :D You also get bottles of water (not Avian but bottled water while on the deck. We has a suite and the water in the room was $5 per bottle. Drink gets a little watered down get another.

 

Never was drunk nor woke up with a head,but enjoyed the ease and accessibility.

 

I have read where people say the waiters drag their feet when you order but never experienced that. Also we always had our loungers near the the Sky Bar so Michael and Rafael took good care of us.

 

You won't go wrong! Let me know if you have any other questions. ;)

[MANDMTRAVEL]

Dining:

Our Opus Dining Room assignment was for My Time Dining with approx. the same time most nights 5:45/6pm- we had a 2 year old in our group so just could not push dining much later. This was a bit of a struggle for the rest of us who found it hard to drag ourselves away from the activities.

Our servers were Mischelle assisted by Leiman. We enjoyed them very much. It can’t be easy have a large table such as ours (13pp) as well as other tables to look after. We ate at the MDR all nights other than 1 when the grandparents took the kids and the adults went to dinner at Izumi.

Overall we thought the food was good. Some items were great and some were just all-right but overall meals were enjoyed. There was escargot one night, as well as lobster, rack of lamb. All of these were cooked well (lamb could have been cooked a bit less but was still nice) Enjoyed the bread selection as well as the cold fruit soups. Drink service was quite slow, and sometimes we would receive two glasses of wine if it happened to take a while. No issues with me ordering my wine with my starting martini.

Other Dining:

Park Café- Loved Park Café and loved being quite close to it. Salads were great, also enjoyed the Panini and proliferates. Enjoyed breakfast here most days.

Windjammers- Ate there only on the first day. We were in the first wave of people so no wait and not crowded. Everyone found food to their own liking.

Solarium Bistro- Had breakfast here one morning- enjoyed being able to get cottage cheese, granola with many toppings, that sort of thing. Kids are allowed for breakfast

Sorrentos- We did enjoy the pizza, but aren’t too picky about pizza. Due to the mass amounts they serve it was always fresh. Esepecially enjoyed the Mexican and Potato and chicken pizzas.

Cupcake Shop- Never bought any of the premade cupcakes but we did enjoy the cupcake class, our two 9 year old girls enjoyed doing the adult class

Character Breakfast- Great interaction with the characters, did not feel rushed at all. We had a reservation, but it was not checked. Seemed to have lots of room.

Izumi- Just alright. Service just o.k, rolls just o.k.

Johnny Rockets- Had a nice breakfast, enjoyed being outside on the boardwalk, good service.

Room Service- We ordered room service one morning, it arrived on time and the hot items were hot, everything present. Nice simple meal which we enjoyed on our balcony.

HI, great review, how did you book my time dinning for 13 ppl? I've been reading online and they do not do it for groups over 10 ppl. We will be 12.

 

Thanks in advance,

[DnA2010]

HI, great review, how did you book my time dinning for 13 ppl? I've been reading online and they do not do it for groups over 10 ppl. We will be 12.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

Wow I didn't get the notifications for the previous posts, so my apologies to those whose questions I didn't get back to!

I will pick up this review again as it seems there is interest.

 

We had a reservation for 10 people and went and talked to the people at the entrance on the first day- they changed our reservation to 13 and the same table/servers were always ready for us.

[DnA2010]

Will be sailing on the oasis on april 26-may 3. This review helped a lot with some choices. Did you see any shows?

 

 

Hi there,

 

we saw most of the shows, I will do an entertainment write-up soon :)

[DnA2010]

Would You please give me some more details about this tour?

Where in Miami was Your lunch-stop?

Did the bus made stops in other places?

What time did You arrived Miami Aiport?

 

Hi there,

my apologies, but I don't remember where the lunch stop was- lunch was not included. No other stops. We were at the airport around 2 I believe- can't quite remember now.