Noob Cruiser - Some Questions

[pzoneplus]

Me [28M] and my brother [32M] had come coinciding time off work later this month so we decided to book a cruise last minute. One of the only cruises that worked for us was Oasis of the Seas - Western Caribbean. I got us a guaranteed oceanview balcony room because it was pretty cheap and because we weren't too picky about locations. Now here are my questions:

 

1. We just got assigned a room on the 10th deck. Really happy about the location, I was expecting deck 3! Now should I be excited or is there a chance that this could still change?

 

2. Our flight situation is pretty tight. On the itinerary it said that disembarkation was at 6:15 AM at Port Everglades. Our flight is scheduled for 10:45AM. Is it logistically possible to make it for our flight if we get up as early as possible and carry our own luggage (self disembark?) and be one of the first ones off the ship?

 

3. Are there any tips, recommendations, must-do's that you can give me regarding the ship (Oasis of the Seas) or the ports (Labadee, Falmouth, Cozumel)?

 

Thanks for the help guys!

[dreadpirate3]

Welcome to cruise critic and to cruising!

 

1. This sounds like a great location on the ship.

 

2. If you self-disembark, you can probably make it, but it will be tight.

 

3. If you look on this forum, you can see threads on each ship and the ports.

 

Bon voyage.

[Clarea]

... Now should I be excited or is there a chance that this could still change?...

While it's possible, it's very unlikely that they would change the stateroom.

[Biker19]

3. Are there any tips, recommendations, must-do's that you can give me regarding the ship (Oasis of the Seas) or the ports (Labadee, Falmouth, Cozumel)?

 

 

Be prepared for an alternate if the damage caused by the hurricane is not repaired by then.

[cb at sea]

Your flight time will be fine. the airport is only about 8 mins. away! Oasis, despite it's size, has disembarking down to a science!

[Ocean Boy]

I don't think you had to worry about getting an ocean view balcony cabin on deck 3.;):)

[Rewind]

1. Normally once they assign a cabin, that's the cabin that is yours. I wouldn't say it won't ever change, but I'd say 99% that you are staying there.

 

2. You can see the airport from the ship. Heck, when our plane landed and pulled up to the gate, it looked like we could have walked to the ship. As others have said, it's less than a 10 minute cab ride. You don't NEED to do the self-disembark, but I would try to aim for one of the first few groups of the regular disembarkers (your stateroom attendant will give you luggage tags on the last night and you can exchange them at guest services if you want to leave earlier).

 

3. Get ready for some walking - I was on the Allure, a sister ship of Oasis. The ship is huge and has so much to offer, you wouldn't get bored even if you never left the ship. Must do things on Oasis (and some of these need reservations, check online or right when you get onboard):

Go to the diving show! It's amazing and the tech used in the performance is original.

Go to the ice skating show! Always a good performance and impressive what they do on such a small rink.

Try out the Flow Rider. It's fun and great on a hot day.

 

Labadee - relaxing beach day. They have the longest zip line over water in the world. I haven't been on it yet, but it's on my list for the next time I am there. Word of warning in the shopping area - there is a "street" of vendors along a path that are extremely pushy. If you are not interested, don't make eye contact and keep walking or give a polite "no thank you". We did have luck with vendors inside a large building near the tram stop - they are very relaxed and not pushy there. The beach under the zip line is on the ocean side and has a bit choppier water but is quite large. There is another beach on the bay side that is much calmer, but I would also say is normally more crowded as more people want calmer water and you need to walk past the vendors to get there.

 

Falmouth - we booked a private excursion to Erie Blue Hole. They took us out on a bus to the falls where it is less crowded than Dunns River and beautiful. You can jump in the water, swing on ropes, etc. After about an hour, they start to drive back with a stop for included lunch of Jerk Chicken (the stop has free Wifi if you want to check in). It was a great time but you do spend a lot of it in a bus.

 

Cozumel - We did Chakanab and the Sea Lion encounter. As everyone else was doing the dolphin encounter, we had a private Sea Lion experience - it was just us two, the trainer, and the Sea Lion. Afterwards it was another day of relaxing on the beach with great views.

[Jenjer]

Your flight is fine. You should do self disembarkation if you can handle your luggage. No need to be the first ones off the ship, don't stress yourself out about getting in line at 5:30 to run or anything.

 

Go to park café for embarkation lunch the roast beef is amazing. Windjammer is crazy busy so your better off eating someplace else.

 

I would also recommend carrying on your swimsuits and sunblock. So after lunch while everyone is walking around the ship you can hit the flowriders. You will have plenty of time to explore the ship and your room later. Its your home for a week no need to see it all in the first hour.

 

You have picked a hard ship to top for your first cruise. both of you will have a amazing time.

[harleylady98]

You can check out your cabin at deckplangenius dot com. It gives you a really detailed outlook on cabins. You can find out what is above and below you, check it out!!! Good luck, have fun, and enjoy yourselves!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[39august]

We have flown out of FLL after cruises at 11 AM many times and never carried luggage off. Of course, you should definitely have early departure tags which can be obtained at Guest Services desk. Certainly, you can carry off if you wish.