Oasis of the Seas Review

By Susette

On November 26, 2009, my Significant Other, Bob, and I flew to Ft Lauderdale, to go on the Oasis of the Seas on 27 November to 29 November. We took a flawless transfer to the airport for the quick 8 minute or so ride to the pier. When arriving at the Pier there she was: Big and Beautiful- Some crazy TA’s on our bus saying “Oh, she’s not big at all.” They need glasses! She was a beauty; look at all those balcony staterooms! Getting onto the ship was easy enough. Suites have their own check in - no more diamond check in like the old days, however there were so many stations to check in and it will be very easy- they take your picture right there at check in and hand you your cards. Our guy was having some issues with his computer but this was the exception not the norm; others zoomed through. We got our picture taken and then went onto the ship. This is where I felt the hugeness: going up this pretty steep-at -the-end ramp, then from the moment you are greeted “Welcome Aboard”, you know there is a WOW factor coming and it sure is! WOW WOW WOW!. You enter into the Royal Promenade and Guest Services, Cupcake Place, Fountains, Sorrento’s and the beauty of the Promenade feeling double in width to the Voyager class hits you. Your eyes can not believe what you’re taking in.

Rooms were not ready so up to Windjammer is always what we do. It is very nicely appointed in a classier style; it was the typical Windjammer Buffet. This cruise had many Free things normal sailings do not have due to it being a TA sailing. Wine and beer was being served and the wait staff in Windjammer were wonderful. Next to Windjammer is Izumi Sushi bar and hot rocks cooking Asian food, a very nice a pay per piece ` la Carte - not yet opened. We ate Lunch which was a great Fish and Chips, and a variety of other things and a lot of Vegetarian and Indian food as well.  This is pretty much the Windjammer food of all their ships.

After lunch we went to drop off the suitcase in the Room. We had an Oceanview Veranda Deck 7 near an elevator, THANK GOODNESS. It was beautifully appointed but those pillows were quite rough for me because they had a heavy Plastic pillowcase. I think needed to just be broken in! We had a large sofa and a 32 inch TV and the bathroom was typical with a few different things. The sink was small and shallow oval. I was not so sure about it but it worked for this smooth sailing cruise. The shower, Hmmm… when you’re short and enjoy that adjustable shower head. And now it’s gone; that was disappointing. But they did put a rod about 6 inches  about 5 inches or so from the floor so you can shave your legs or wash your feet  easier, so that was good. (At least we think that is what it was for! LOL) Some things like the sink, the countertop, and the night stands are miniaturized, but functional.

We went to some other Staterooms so I will tell about them now. First, my opinion is that RCCL knows how to do suites; they do not hold a candle to Carnival. Again, this is my Opinion. The one that was an OMG were the Royal Loft rooms; a multi floor room with living room and bedroom downstairs, and bathroom and an upstairs loft with a screen for projection TV which was Very Big; it faces the water with floor to ceiling windows - and a bathroom that was unreal, with a Jacuzzi tub for 2 maybe even 3! The Downstairs Deck was a wrap-around with a wet bar and hot tub and dining table and another table and chairs and chaise lounges. You could put 40 people on this deck! At $24k OFF SEASON for 4 not sure I would want to part with the bucks though, but It was incredible. Another wow room was the aqua suites: WOW It has a huge balcony, you can put a lot of people out there and these rooms sleep 12 very lovely.  We saw the Family Rooms with Bunk Beds and a living area and a Queen Bed and these were nice. But why did they not make the Bathroom a bit larger, or put a tub in them? When you are taking a family and have little ones you might to want to give them a bath. But again, my opinion here.

Inside rooms were very nice and nice size for the MNL categories Q was about 20 sq. ft. smaller. Boardwalk and Central Park rooms- these were nice and nice sized balcony, but in selling them, they need to be sold to the correct folks. If they do not like noise and want privacy these DEFINITLY are not for them. In talking to other TA’s that had them, not any of them thought they were great. You will hear the Bells of the carousel and the people congregating, and the shows at aqua theatre go until about midnight. I spoke with a woman, who had a Central Park room, which I thought would be nice. She said she heard noise until 5 am and then it started again at 7 am. She said you could not really sit on the Balcony with coffee in your nightie in the morning as the people walking by or across from you can see you, and she felt she needed to keep the drapes closed. We heard this from several folks. I myself do not care who sees me so it would not bother me BUT you might not want that. The clanging of the bells and noise that came with Boardwalk, it would have me pulling my hair out, thinking I was sleeping on the Boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ! So for those who like it and dont mind its perfect, but give me the ocean view balcony first.

If you have any questions on the different cabins let me know. I DO feel you should try and get a cabin near an elevator or amidships between 2 elevators because it is easier getting to places.

Shows- Tremendous! RCCL knows entertainment. You need to preregister because this is put on your seapass - I know people think it is a pain but if you want to see the shows register. Of course we had 2 days to see almost a weeks worth of shows! So it would be better on a 7 night cruise.

Ice show - FROZEN IN TIME- was a play on Hans Christian Andderson and was wonderful especially the girl who does the sand art SHE wowed us all! The skaters were terrific. (We noticed behind the walls walking out this is where they store the life jackets)

Comedy Show - Just great!  Some bad sight lines. But there were 3 Comedians; the black guy had us laughing so hard we were falling out of our seats. He has toured for a while with Johnny Mathis- we also saw him in the Schooner ball schmoozing with people and he sang a few songs. He was great.

Headliner Entertainment - Just great! Remember the show RCCl had a lot called RAIN, A Tribute to the Beatles? This one had ABBA cadabra-fabulous tribute show of ABBA this is not a permanent show but wow it was terrific with lots of singing of songs we know.

Hairspray - Wonderful full show with delightful cast. The one Mama could surely sing. Very entertaining.

AQUA THEATRE - They are still tweaking this one, and it was a stop and start show at this time WHICH will not be when it opened on 1 December. They had glitches with the 9:30 show which made the 11 pm show backed up this is where problems came - getting the people OUT of the show and then getting the 11 pm people into the show was a bit of a pandemonium. There was no way they could scan the Seapass cards, and they could not really hold the crowds back, so they just let you go in without scanning. It all worked out however there were people who could not get a seat so they need to figure that area out especially when it’s a full ship. Again, they will repeat this show a few times so crowd control should be better. This show was phenomenal- if you have ever heard of or seen Cirque de Soliel “O” this is what it reminded me off, a watery stage that changed from water to stage in a flash and they have scuba divers under the water giving the cast air. YOU JUST NEED TO SEE THIS ONE: divers and action continuous!. After the show, which got a standing ovation, they did a fountain fantasy show, actually two because they played a Christmas show for us too; this is dancing fountains with music and it is a beautiful sight.

Dining- Central Park has many of the more upscale restaurants so bring a lot of Moolah with you! Our first meal in Dining room was very good; I HAD FILET OF BEEF WHICH WAS DONE TO PERFECTION. The escargot was good as always. RCCL has great escargot. Our service throughout was not good. But I will give benefit of the doubt to learning. Our waiter was constantly being corrected which I think frazzled him a lot but we waited 15 minutes at a table for only 2 to get our order taken. And then it was more waiting.  He was nice, just not tuned at all. He did more scraping of plates and busy work which was kind of odd. We had to skip dessert because we did not want to be late for a show. The next night I thought the dinner was not good BUT our waiter and assistant were WONDERFUL. There just were not great choices for my palate. I do not eat Lamb or Duck, and Cod fish was the fish and tortellini was the other thing. I had that and if they had a different sauce it would have been better. Who would put Bleu Cheese sauce on Tortellini? It was not good and portions were small too Bob ordered a chicken breast on the alternative selection, it was ok. Clam Chowder was great. And the family style Spinach and fresh Mozzarella salad was very good.  I can not even remember dessert so I guess it was ok.

One dining issue we had is we wanted Lunch at  the Seafood shack and we got in line a long line, and when we got towards the front the employee told us it was a 2 hour at least wait and they were out of beepers. Could this be because it was free? THIS place was always crowded; we did not wait though that was way to long. Had a nice menu though.

Did I tell you about the wonderful Cupcakes? $2.50 and well worth it. I had a Turtle Cupcake and it was so yummy! There are like 12 different kinds, like Root Beer, Bubblegum, Red Velvet, Carrot, Strawberry Shortcake etc.

Sorrento’s - Build your own Pizza was delish! They only have Pizza now, not like the Freedom Class where they had a bakery and lite bites.

Promenade Cafi has those things. There is the Globe and Atlas Pub, lots of fountains on the Promenade, and you can pick up Rising Tide Bar here, which we did several times to go up to Central Park.  This was a neat bar, it only had coke and Champagne but I think they were working the kinks out of this too.

Children’s area - Just wonderful; what kid would want to come back to their room! They even had a Science Lab! This area was still “Moving in”. Lots of boxes to be unpacked. They had a room with all those battery operated Barbies and Jeep type kid cars; like 6 of them you can ride around in. So COOL! They also had an adult Craft room for scrap booking and jewelry making. Free of charge, although they did have some fancier things you could spend a few bucks for. Finally a room to do this popular event and not in a Theatre.

The pool area was very; nice lots of pools and Hot tubs - but the spectacular part in my opinion is the Solarium. This is their best so far, tranquil with the constant sound of water flowing. And a good for you Bistro too. Free by day pay by night. Boleros is also now on the Promenade, The shops seemed limited. Oh, for the Ladies there is a Coach store in Central Park!

Debarkation was easy- But it is the old way of a warehouse with LED NUMBERS AND you search for your bags. We were all carry on so can not comment on that.

In a nutshell to sum up:  The Oasis of the Seas- a Definite WOW of a ship. IS Bigger Better? Not necessarily so. This ship really, in my opinion, is not for an older clientele. A lot of Razzamatazz and choices, and a lot of things that you may want to experience will be at a cost. SURE a “regular Cruise” has a buffet and dining room so you can go there, true, but let’s hope the food will be good, the food to me was disappointing in the Dining room. And, if you wiggle something in front of someone of course they want it! This is one of those ships. Like taking the kids to the Boardwalk. Bring a pocket full of cash with you. This ship is a beautiful piece of art and will make cruising again different. As did the Voyager class, RCCL has a way with ship building like no other. It’s beautiful and Fun but I think I need to step back and wait and see how it all works out with a FULL ship and the bugs worked out. The Pricing needs to be a bit lowered so that many more people can experience it and see for themselves. Two of these ships are again in my opinion quite enough. I did enjoy this ship... But it’s not something I would want not to do every year. It’s an anomaly; something different and exciting. But it is not for everyone. Any questions just ask.