Oasis of the Seas a Go-Pro Eastern Honeymoon

[jbr5049]

So we are a relatively young couple that got engaged on Grandeur of the Seas last year. We knew that we had to get out of the little ships and enjoy something of the big leagues for our Honeymoon, so Oasis of the seas was the obvious choice.

 

We sailed out of Fort Lauderdale on the Eastern Caribbean Route May 16th 2015.

 

We flew down the day before and enjoyed the pool and food at the Hilton Marina. (PHL - FLL was about 250$ a person) We got a free Suite upgrade which was nice, so about 250$ got us 400 + sq feet with a beautiful marina view. Had we been put on the other side of the hotel we would have been able to see Oasis the following morning. :roll eyes:

 

The pool isn't massive and the drink prices were a little expensive (Lunch and 2 drinks each was 80$ with tip) but for a quiet afternoon, this place is great.

 

 

 

There is a lot to do in the small area around the hotel, there are shops, eateries, but no beaches that we saw. The port is about 5 minutes away from the hotel and a 6$ per person shuttle from the hotel was well worth it.

[RadioRob]

Congrats on the marriage! Grandeur is a wonderful ship... my friends and I had a fantastic time aboard. We originally booked Grandeur as it was our first cruise and we wanted to do a smaller ship to get our feet wet so to speak. We ended up booking cruises on the Allure (another Oasis class ship) as well as the Anthem (Quantum class ship).

 

Hope you had a great time and that the honeymoon was a week to remember!

[jbr5049]

Day 1:

 

 

Check in was SOOOOOOOO easy. We showed up at 10:30 am (Ignoring our phone message asking us to show up at 1pm) and were seated in the "Prestigious" Gold waiting area about 10 minutes later. We sat there very excited reading over the day 1 cruise compass.

 

 

We were onboard around 11:00am, and immediately ran to the booze package signup area in the promenade. We were given 375 in OBC from our TA and wanted to use that to cover the $404 cost of the Premium Package. (My wife ordered hers ahead of time).

 

 

We spent the afternoon wandering the ship trying to get our bearings. Its a HUGE ship, but if you have ever been on a RC ship before it is all relatively similar. We had the understanding of the layout and decided to put the drink package to use!

Don't forget that the Premium Package included bottled water, on the first day we would EACH order a drink and a bottle of water, we had an empty backpack with us and were able to stock up.

 

Central Park

 

Boardwalk

 

Aqua Theater

[jbr5049]

Our muster location was in the Aqua Theater. It was painless... We arrived late as we always do and had to sit in the front in the "Splash Zone" Luckily we did not get wet during the safety briefing.

 

 

We did lunch in Sabor on the first day which was before the Muster Drill. The food here is DELICIOUS. It was completely empty and we received a lot of attention from our server. We did the table side Guac which was the best I had ever had. We both got quesadillas which were great. It was more than enough food when it is met with the specialty margaritas they make there. They are all covered in the drink package, so enjoy and drink up!!!

 

 

We had reservations for chops so we finally went back to the room to enjoy the balcony view. (Deck 9 Mid ship D1 I think)

 

 

Chops was excellent as always. Service was superb, portions were ample, and the food was excellent!

 

 

Oddly enough the Premium Package does NOT cover espresso, BUT it does cover espresso with alcohol in it. I wasn't going to argue...

 

 

After dinner we saw the Oasis of Dreams show. We were a little upset to find out that the show times had been bumped 30 minutes earlier than our reservations said the week prior. We stood in the back which wasn't ideal, but its vacation why stress the small stuff. It was an entertaining show, id see it again.

 

We headed to the casino for some Black Jack before going to bed.

[Cupcrazy]

Congratulations! Loving the pictures. Thanks for posting

[jbr5049]

Day 2: Nassau

 

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and an amazing view from our balcony. We had opted for room service and in a frenzy the night before thought mimosas would be a good idea. We didn't read the fine print realizing that the room service beverages are NOT included in the Packages. Therefore our two drinks cost us 24$ + tip to the room service attendant. Oh well lesson learned.

 

 

 

So I have some mixed feelings about Nassau. I have been to atlantis many times and love staying at that resort. The port however, I am not a big fan of. Although there is some nice shops in a 3x6 block area, we never have enjoyed the surrounding area. So we skipped getting off of the ship and instead did a couples massage. My complaint here was the hard push to upsell the services. We were immediately asked if we wanted to do the Hot Stones for 20$ extra each. After the massage (Which was lovely) we were handed a blank bill and asked to tip if we enjoyed our treatment. We had paid ahead of time and I asked if there was tip included when I paid online. They said yes, 18%. Had I not asked I would have given an additional tip not realizing we had already tipped. I said no thank you, and signed the bill and we ran out.

 

We enjoyed laying out by the pool all day. We tipped in cash each time our pool server came by, so we had amazing service the remainder of the trip. They would bring buckets of ice for each beer which I loved!

 

 

After a morning and afternoon of drinking we decided to give up our pool chairs to partake in some of the free activities onboard.

 

Minigolf was fun (Beverages not included you do have to bring your own like I did)

 

 

No one was riding the carousel, so hey why not. Giraffe Selfie!

 

 

Tonight was the only night we ate in the MDR. Not because we are Snooty, but because we wanted to celebrate. In the past we saw a marked difference between MDR and the Premium restaurants, Oasis was no difference. The MDR food was much better than that on the Enchantment, but was not of the same caliber of that in the premium dining venues. Service was good, but it was a bustling room of activity, we were both happy we only ate in there Night 2. Deck 4 had a waiting room for MTD, there was a bartender who was funny and friendly. He knew his art and made waiting for our table painless.

 

[jbr5049]

Day 3: SEA DAY!

 

We got up EARLY to get our day started. We did breakfast on the balcony, this time no mimosas. You are pretty limited in your choices as to what you get. Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Toast, Cereal, Granola, Fruit, Etc... The food was hit or miss, but it was nice to wake up to the courtesy call that they were coming to your room to deliver. We tipped each delivery, but since it was a different person delivering every morning we didn't see any difference in service or food quality.

 

We were out on the deck by 7:30 and claimed our chairs. By 9am it was pretty much full. We did not see attendants clearing off personal items on empty chairs, but we did see them managing the little children running and playing on the rock dividers. Some parents were too busy I guess to watch them :rolleyes: .

 

We continued to tip 1-2$ per round and had amazing service all day. If you have the premium package, little known fact... When you order a margarita at the bar, they automatically make you a "Well" drink. If you order a Patron perfect margarita, you get a top shelf margarita. Do your research if you have the package and don't be afraid to ask for better liquors in your beverages! Be sure to tip for the extra service though if you feel so inclined.

 

 

Im sorry I didn't take more pictures during the day, but at one point I just left my go-pro in the bag and proceed to sleep in the sun with my wife.

 

We slept and drank most of the day and got ready for dinner. We were doing the hibachi experience at Izumi and were very excited since we heard wonderful things about it.

 

Before dinner we decided to have another drink in the central park. This is such a beautiful space, I highly recommend spending some time here just relaxing, listening to the birds, and watching the people shuffle about.

 

 

Izumi Hibachi was just like a land based hibachi. You pick your protein, 1 or 2 (For an extra charge) and you are offered white, fried, or lemon noodles. You start with Miso soup or a ginger salad. The show was at a much slower pace than at land based hibachi restaurants. the chef was entertaining, skilled, and made great food. They had a large amount of Saki they offer in the beginning, but none were included in the packages. You do start with edamame as well!

 

 

I chose beer throughout the meal, and we were joined with some fun table mates. You sit 8 to a table, and don't plan on going here if you aren't looking to interact or have fun.

 

 

I think we went to a show after this... or we might have gambled... hmm at some point we did go to bed, that I am 100% sure of.

[jbr5049]

Day 4: St Thomas

 

We had a Pirate Ship Turtle adventure in the afternoon, so we had a later than usual, We slept in until around 8 am and had breakfast on the balcony again.

 

We took our time and strolled up to the top deck to watch the ship pass into the Port.

 

 

 

We drank and laid in the sun until around 11:30am. We got off the ship and wandered around in the shops at the port. There wasn't too much here to write about. Some basic stores selling jewelry, watches, etc... some places to eat and buy "Local" handicrafts. Nothing in our opinion worth buying, so we held onto our cash.

 

 

There are IGUANAS everywhere on the rocks sunning themselves. I wasn't brave enough to grab one, so instead I took a number of shots of them.

 

 

The pirate ship was little and we had a large group with us. There was enough room to walk around and have your own space, but not enough room to spray on your sun tan lotion without feeling like a jerk.

 

 

The ride out was peaceful and they went over the do's and dont's of snorkeling.

 

[Newtoncruise]

Great review......were all photos with the go pro?

[jbr5049]

We got into the water and were pretty disappointed. The area we were in was pretty much grass and sand at the bottom of the water. There were literally no fish. We swam away from the group and started exploring ourselves. Almost instantly we started to see Sea Turtles!

 

They were massive and very docile. They would eat at the bottom for a few minutes, slowly swim to the top for air and then drop back down and repeat. We watched them for about 45 minutes before we were called back to the boat. We must have seen 15+ turtles.

 

 

I look miserable but had a lot of fun.

 

 

The ride back was interesting to say the least. The plan was to Sail back, which in the beginning was nice. They raised the masts and handed out VERY generously poured drinks. A few minutes into the sail home, the sky rained down with quite a fury. With nowhere to hide, your best bet was to cover your drink and to deal with it.

 

 

We made it back safe and sound!

 

 

Once we got off the boat the clouds disappeared and the sun took over. So much for good luck.

 

 

We had a later dinner that night so we got ready for dinner, grabbed a drink, went back to the room and watched the sail away from our balcony. It was beautiful, and reinforced our need to book Balconies only moving forward.

 

[jbr5049]

We had some time before dinner and went to play blackjack. There was a guy absolutely hammered betting 300$ a hand. He had about 1,500$ when we sat down and when we left he had upwards of $4,000. We didn't do so bad ourselves!

 

 

We did also use our free slot pull, I didn't win anything, but my Wife won a T-Shirt. She very nicely gave it to me, which I have added into my shirt rotation.

 

We had dinner at Giovanni's which was absolutely AMAZING. I didn't take may photos, and the ones I took turned out blurry. The food in here was the best that I have ever eaten on a ship. We started with salad and the anti-pasta which was a wonderful mixture of cured meats and olives.

 

The entire was fabulous, I wish I could remember what it was...

 

 

Our waiter was kind enough to take our photo for us. Notice the espresso? There is booze in there which for some reason made it free !!!

 

 

We saw the ice show after dinner which was pretty good. The sand projection story was the highlight.

Edited June 28, 2015 by jbr5049

[jbr5049]

Great review......were all photos with the go pro?

 

GO-Pro Hero 4 Silver Edition. Shoots up to 4k video @ 15 fps and does 12 megapixel shots.

[jbr5049]

I like gambling: Craps, Blackjack and Roulette being my usual favorites, but when I saw this machine I knew I had to play.

 

It is the most frustrating, exhilarating experience ever at a dollar a turn. I got the wads picked up a few times, only to be flung casually away by the claw. In the end I spent about 35$ on this machine, not winning a single time. I would have kept playing, but my wife was tired and bored of watching.

 

[jbr5049]

Day 5 St Maarten

 

We had the Beach Rendezvous scheduled for today. We started off with the quintessential balcony breakfast. It was decent food, but a nice way to start any day. We took our time getting off the boat and wandered around town briefly. At 8am nothing had opened so we aimlessly walked in the compound. There wasn't too much to look at, but it was a clean safe area. This view is from the dock area, and the stores are on the right.

 

 

We had to wait for what felt like forever to get on the bus for the Beach Rendezvous.

 

 

There were over 100 people for this excursion, and they started off by letting us know there was a lot of seaweed on the beach the day prior. They let us know that if we didn't want to continue with the excursion they would refund our money and we didn't have to continue :confused:. We said oh well lets go!

 

The bus ride was about 30 minutes and it takes you through both sides of the island through some pretty scenic places. You arrive at the beach which is public and get your own chair. If you want to keep the umbrella its 3$, they are very quick to remove the umbrella if uninterested.

 

Immediately after we got settled locals swarmed our area selling shirts, dolls, hats, necklaces, and massages. They went away with a friendly "No thank you", but there were a lot of locals selling things.

 

 

The beach was clean and the water was warm. If you walk in any direction you see all the other businesses renting chairs and selling beer 2$ each. They all take US currency and everyone was friendly. Be aware this is a nearly nude beach with some topless ladies. If you keep walking to the end of the beach there is a nudist resort where folks are completely nude. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

 

We wandered around and then were called in for the buffet breakfast included with the excursion. The food was plentiful, but you only get to walk through once, so folks really piled up their plates, and in my mind this created more waste. You also were given one alcoholic drink which was a nice touch.

 

 

We had a few hours at the beach and then were shuttled back to the ship. We wandered around the port a little before walking back on the ship. I will say this area had the cheapest booze with Johnny walker Blue selling for under 200$ a bottle.

 

[Mr. Bungle]

So...

 

Most people would take a photo of the 'day of the week' in the elevator to keep track of what day it is...

 

I am cracking up at the 'finger-method'... took me a second time through to figure out what was up.

[jbr5049]

 

Dinner tonight was in Sabor, so once we were back on the ship we wandered about on the top deck and laid out in the sun for a little while.

 

We went back to the room for sail away and got some more nice shots of the area as we left.

 

 

Sabor for dinner was wonderful, just like lunch on day 1. The food was excellent, and our server was very friendly. We did the Table side GUAC with margaritas on the side. We had quesadillas as well. Note the blurry photo, it might also resemble my vision at that time as well. :D

 

 

We had come fly with me booked for that night. It was ok. We left about 15 minutes in because it just wasn't our cup of tea.

 

We went into the casino and did very well playing blackjack together.

 

 

Sorry for the blurry shot, again I think this mirrors my vision at that point in the night...

[jbr5049]

So...

 

Most people would take a photo of the 'day of the week' in the elevator to keep track of what day it is...

 

I am cracking up at the 'finger-method'... took me a second time through to figure out what was up.

 

We did this on the enchantment to keep track of drinks, this was our method to figure out if the drink package was worth it. Its much easier to remember to take a photo with a drink than to pull our a piece of paper.

 

It makes it easy to sort through photos as well!

[Mr. Bungle]

We did this on the enchantment to keep track of drinks, this was our method to figure out if the drink package was worth it. Its much easier to remember to take a photo with a drink than to pull our a piece of paper.

 

It makes it easy to sort through photos as well!

 

 

I've got the drink package on my OTS sailing in Jan 16'... I'm gonna need more fingers...

[jbr5049]

I've got the drink package on my OTS sailing in Jan 16'... I'm gonna need more fingers...

 

You'll see day 6 and 7 that we turn the fingers sideways for 6 and 7.

 

1 sideways = 6

2 sideways = 7

 

and so forth!

[Mr. Bungle]

Why is it when I do that, people look at me funny.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dolphin27502]

I love this review, clever and positive if when you don't particularly care for something. Thanks for sharing, makes me want to wish my summer away for my first time sailing on Oasis in October!! :D

[jbr5049]

Day 6: At SEA!

 

So we did the balcony breakfast yet again and wandered up to the top deck to lounge and drink. Again we had singles left so we tipped and received exclusive attention from our servers. Honestly we would tip 1-2$ per round and found our servers were bringing us 2 drinks each at a time as a thank you. This is wonderful until you start feeling dizzy. Then you take a nap in the sun drink some water and rebound. This was a common theme until we decided to get changed and ready for dinner.

 

We did do lunch at the Wind Jammer, and I happened to find a friend of the avian variety. I hope I don't get in trouble for touching art...

 

 

Dinner tonight was at 150 central, and I was VERY excited for the meal. So we got ready and sat again in the Central Park to relax, unwind, enjoy the sun, and wait until dinner.

 

 

 

[jbr5049]

SO 150 Central... I have to honestly state I was disappointed with the meal. I was not impressed with the taste, but was impressed with the presentation. Our server scratched his head after each course wondering why I had not finished. I really thought the protein was over cooked and under seasoned.

 

I did start with the cucumber martini which I know is a staple.

 

 

It was good, but quite full of cucumber essence, it was a little too much for me and I didn't even finish it!

 

Interestingly enough they do have 6 different salts onboard, these are from vast regions of the world and are quite tasty. Please stay away from the India "Egg" Salt. It has quite the sulfuric taste and is slightly repulsive.

 

 

Unfortunately I did not take photos of the entire meal, just the appetizer. It was well presented and tasty, the protein in the entree however (tuna) was overcooked and bland. I did not take a photo of it.

 

 

We snuck out of 150 with a Blah sense and found a secret balcony overlooking central park. I did have to manually unlock the sliding glass door... but we won't tell the captain about that will we?

 

 

It was a beautiful night and it was a shame we didn't enjoy dinner as much as I feel we should have. We called it an early night and went to bed.

[jbr5049]

Day 7: AT SEA

 

So this was very similar to day 6. We spent the day with friends in the same area of the top deck. We ate breakfast in the room and then quickly ran up to the top deck to get our spots. We relaxed and spent the remaining 1$ bills on tips to the bar servers. Again, we enjoyed the service and found that a 2$ tip means we get double the drinks at once, and that beers and waters were brought in tubs with ice. Very much a nice notation.

 

The sea was calm and the weather was beautiful.

 

We grabbed some drinks and just relaxed watching the ocean go by and trying to hold onto the last hours of our vacation together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprise Surprise, We decided to do Sabor for dinner again. We had reservations to IZUMI, but decided we would go with what we knew and were able to be fit in for a seating there. Food was excellent yet again, and the drinks were fabulous. We loved our final dinner on the ship, and wandered around a bit before going back to the room and packing for the unfortunate forced removal from the ship the following morning

 

[jbr5049]

Disembarkation:

 

Such a sad day to leave a beautiful ship. We ate in park cafe in central park as we didn't have a pressing need to rush off the ship (1pm flight out). Food was delicious and we dragged our feet lounging in central park before exiting the ship. Customs took about 45 minutes from when we entered the gangway until we were actually cleared.

 

We took a taxi back to the airport (10 minutes and about 20$) where we ate lunch and waited for our flight. To add insult to injury Oasis is visible from the waiting area for the flight, so thoughts of delusion ran through my mind of how much would I have to pay to get right back on there, and what would work say if i requested another week away. Unfortunately we did not act on these impulses and disheartened we boarded the flight back to Philly.