Oasis 1/24/15 review

[shoylman]

Review of Oasis of the Sea 1/24/15 to 1/31/15 (7 Day) Eastern Caribbean

 

Left from Pompano Beach, Florida.

 

Parked at Park & Go near Port. $54.00 online prepaid rate. VERY nice service. They handled bags and off loaded at the port baggage stewards. On return short wait for bus and then delivery right to car. Couldn't have been nicer.

 

Arrived at Park and Go at 12:10 PM and was on the ship by 12:30 PM. There was no line to check in at ship. Walked straight up to agent.

 

Baggage was at cabin after the 4:00 PM "muster drill".

 

Our cabin was inside with central park view. Deck 9, Cabin 9249. This cabin was about 5 cabins from the aft stairway. Very easy walk down to dining rooms, central park on deck 8 and walked down long corridor to front of the ship and then down to the shows/casino. Also can walk down to 9 deck from pools easily. Elevators were crowded and waits sometimes long, but being able to walk one way was nice.

 

Room was plenty spacious for us (196 sq. ft.). Closet big enough, enough hangers, 3 electrical plugs at the makeup area. small couch and window seat. Bed was comfortable and had the egg shell topper.

 

Great room steward, Shella. Happy all the time and filled our needs for extra towels and robes with no problems.

 

We carried on (2) bottles of wine and took to dinner 1st night and they stored for us and retrieved each night. NO CORKAGE fee! I think you could bring on (2) bottles per person no problem. Also had some cokes and small bottled waters in carry on which was great having in our cabin. There was enough room in the refrigerator to store our cokes and waters.

 

We had MTD, but had reserved 6:00 PM in advance through the RC call in. Never a problem and no wait. Looked like persons without a specific time also got in quickly. Food was good and some nights very good. Did not eat at any specialty restaurants, but other passengers seemed to enjoy. There were some specials for the specialty restaurants like the 1st night it was 2 for 1 at Chops. With My Time Dining, even though you have a reservations for a specific time, you do not sit at the same table nor have the same waiters or table mates every evening. You are asked if you would like to "share" a table which we did and we usually sat at a table of 8.

 

There were plenty of eating venues on the ship. We ate breakfast at the Solarium, the dining room, Johnny Rockets and the Wipe Out Cafe in the Sports Area. The Dining room has ordered meals or small buffet-All about the same. Had lunch at the Park Cafe (roast beef) in Central Park area, Promenade Cafe on deck 6, main dining (very good) and the windjammer buffet. Next time I would go to the Main Dining Room for more lunches and skip the Windjammer buffet.

 

The ship was easy for us to get around and even though it is huge it did not seem crowded. Went to all the shows-make your reservations on line as soon as you can. If you need to book or change a show, go to deck 4 Studio B as soon as you get on and make/change your show reservations.

 

All shows were good. We watched Cats in 2 sittings leaving at the intermission the first time and then going back the last sea day after intermission for the 2nd act. Cats was well done, but the story is too much to follow. The Oasis Dreams (Aqua Theatre) is a must see, Frozen (ice show) is great, and Come Fly with Me is quite enjoyable. You should get to the theaters or other venues about 30 minutes prior to showtime as they fill up fast. We always had great seats but we were always 30 minutes early.

 

The cruise makeup tended toward more retired passengers, very few children (not Spring Break) and teens and few young couples.

 

We did not have any trouble finding chairs even on sea days, although the weather wasn't that nice so maybe the crowds were down. There are many chairs around the ship. We spent most of the time at the Solarium going there for breakfast and then finding 4 chairs together. A little hassle, but if you stay friendly and are willing to movie a few chairs around you will be "ok".

 

We took the water taxi to Atlantis in Nassau; waste of time and energy as you can't get into anything but the casino area without a $15.00 per person charge. Did a snorkel excursion at St. Thomas which was nice enough; great crew of (4) young people. Snorkel was just "ok" and the beach after was not so good. It was the Fast Cat excursion -- should have spent more time snorkeling and less time at the rocky bottom beach area.

 

At St. Marteen our friends did the Rino rider which was rough but fun with a mediocre beach at the end. We went into town at St. Marteen and just wandered around for a couple hours.

 

If I were to book again we would shop in St. Thomas and do a snorkel excursion at St. Marteen.

 

All of the crew seem happy and helpful. Our only complaint was the picture taking by the staff was right in the walkways to dinner or on stairs blocking traffic flow.

 

On disembarkation we were 9:30 AM and had our luggage and were outside by 10:15 AM. Seemed like a long wait, but only 45 minutes on the clock.

 

Of the 6 or 7 cruises we have taken this was the best overall. Some of the upside could be the other couple we were with were fun and we enjoyed their company and laughs.

 

I will not be checking the post for comments too often, but if you have a specific question you can email me at stevehoylman@yahoo.com. We have a condo near the port and MIGHT be able to answer a question about the area.

[mj]

Thanks for sharing your review on Lady O.

Edited February 1, 2015 by mj

[Aussie Jeep]

Thanks for the review. How was the noise on your Balcony? I am on deck 10 just above where you were on the opposite side in about 7 weeks.

[shoylman]

No noise in the cabin. We were near a night club and when the door shut it was quite