All things Oasis of the Seas!!!!!

[Gatorman85]

Single digit days will be here soon. I am single dad with two sons 16 and 18.

Last year on Allure my oldest son won the Best of the Best on the boogie boarding Flowrider. Needless to say that is where they will spend most of their time. We didn't get to see all of Allure last year, just too much to do. So looking forward to a week on Oasis. Gotta love three sea days. My non cruiser friends all ask what ports we are going to visit. I tell em, they can just go the Carribean and drop anchor for all I care. Looking forward to the most aft balcony cabin on deck 13. NCCA hoops tournament in the ON AIR CLUB. The ON AIR CLUB is CRAZY on tourney nights. Just hope my Gators play well. We always are on a ship over spring break. The NCAA hoops tournament is always so much fun to watch with people from all over the country cheering on their favorite teams. If there is nothing going on in the Aqua Theater, they show the basketball on the two big screens on the back of the ship. What a back drop, the Carribean. Best place I have ever watched the tourney besides being there live.

OK, two weeks away, let's get this Roll Call going !!!!!! WOO HOO

__________________

Majesty of the Seas (inagural) 1992

Soverign of the Seas 1994

Carnival ? 1996

Navigator of the Seas 2003

Carnival Glory 2005

Carnival Liberty 2006

Legend of the Seas 2007

Radiance of the Seas 2007 Alaska Land-Sea Cruise Tour

Freedom of the Seas 2008

Independance of the Seas 4/4/09 Diamond level finally !!

Indy of the Seas 4/3/2010

Indy of the Seas Transatlantic 4-11-10

Allure of the Seas 3-20-11 Diamond Hump Cabin

Oasis of the Seas 3-17-12

[pinkrosesdeb]

Ok, so we did Allure and now are doing Oasis...never used the CL...please all you Diamond Plus & suite guests give us the inside info on how things work in the CL on this lovely lady! Deb

[cocoabreezy]

Hi everyone! I'm in charge of planning a senior trip for me and seven others! :eek: I know! A cruise is one of our top choices, and we have been really eyeing the Oasis class ships of Royal Caribbean. I was wondering- how much would the Aqua Suite (that holds up to 8 people) be total for 8 people for a cruise in the Summer? Have any of you ever been in that suite? Any reviews or cautions we should take when booking? We'd really like to all stay in the same room, if possible.

 

I've been on the Royal Caribbean Site many times- I'm sure they have a rate on there somewhere, I guess I'm just not very tech savvy!

 

Thanks :)

[johneeo]

Hi everyone! I'm in charge of planning a senior trip for me and seven others! :eek: I know! A cruise is one of our top choices, and we have been really eyeing the Oasis class ships of Royal Caribbean. I was wondering- how much would the Aqua Suite (that holds up to 8 people) be total for 8 people for a cruise in the Summer? Have any of you ever been in that suite? Any reviews or cautions we should take when booking? We'd really like to all stay in the same room, if possible.

 

I've been on the Royal Caribbean Site many times- I'm sure they have a rate on there somewhere, I guess I'm just not very tech savvy!

 

Thanks :)

 

You will not get rates for suites. You must call RCI on the phone, so I suggest you do that.

 

But 8 in one suite:eek: Something I would not recommend, but, price it out, then price out balconies for 2, etc. then make your decision.

[welshrich]

We sailed Oasis in October, loved every minute and only got off the ship once in St Martin to say we did get off her. Top tips I would give is to book first performances of production shows, then, if you want to see them again you can go in the standby line, we saw Hairspray twice this way, also, make the most of the dining room for lunch on sea days, its so much more relaxing, in fact, we preferred to eat at the park cafe for breakfast, dining room for lunch and windjammer for dinner.

[Familygoboston]

Unfortunately, suites are not priced like hotel rooms; hotels charge $X dollars for the room and you divide that among the people staying.

 

Instead the cruise suites are priced per person, with less for the 3rd and subsequent people. Unfortunately, the premium on suites for the first 2 really wipe out the rather modest savings for the 3rd and subsequent persons. ( and in fact usually cost more than the appropriate number of 2 person cabins)

 

Unless you specifically want the experience of the suite; you will be very unlikely to find it is a cost effective way to travel, and can actually be inconvenient for a large group, as many suites still only have 1 or 2 baths, and some folks will need to sleep on pull out couches (which means unless one person is paying the whole fare, it seems un "fair" to pay the same and have to sleep on a pull out in the living room:eek:)

 

You sound like you need a good travel agent to help you sort out your options (Try asking friends who cruise a lot who they use) Good luck!

[TXCruiseAdict]

I saw on an Allure thread that there are ipod docking stations and speakers in the cabins. Does Oasis have the same? Love reading all the reviews over tha last few months. Thanks to you all!

 

 

We didn't have one.

[PowMacP]

We have just booked our next cruise on the Oasis & look forward to it. It is encouraging to read good reviews from being on board from such a large ship. Sure will be different from Free Style Cruising though.

[el_elmaliante]

This will be my first cruise, im excited its on Oasis of the seas since I've heard great things about it. It's the eastern caribbean itinerary.

Am going solo since I seem to only have broke/cheap friends and family (sad truth), but that's a different subject.

I have so many questions if anyone can answer....

--Should I book my excursions ahead or wait til I get onboard? I wanna do everything under the sun but I also dont wanna get stuck on one excursion later finding out there are better ones once at the different ports. On the other end, I dont wanna find out scuba or dolphin encounters are sold out!

--How much tip $ should I bring? Im a good tipper, and have pre paid gratuities so how should I budget that in?

Thanks

[Archaegeo]

If you have already prepaid gratuities, then you dont need to bring extra.

 

15% is added at each bar/restaurant you visit that has a charge.

 

Now lots of people will bring some spare 20, 10, 5, 1s to tip for extra good service.

 

Also, you might need "tip" fare on excursions for a good guide at the end of the tour, your call of course.

[ComeSailWithME]

Sailed the Oasis in October 2010 with 3 other couples and it was the trip of a lifetime! I will try and post as much as I remember. Here is my review and blow-by-blow. We were a group of 4 couple - 3 of us married and one dating, all in our late 20s (sorta, we were celebrating my husband his buddy's 30th birthdays on this cruise)

 

Embarkation Day: We were through checkin within minutes and only waited about 10 minutes before they let us on board around 11:30. Stepping onto the ship, my jaw hit the floor! It was just so grand beautiful. We did some walking around, were the first ones to ride the carousel! Headed up to the windjammer for lunch, which was a bit of a mistake.. we spent a good 10-15 minutes trying to find a table to accommodate the 8 of us with carry-on luggage. Had we known about it sooner, we would have headed to the Park Cafe instead.

 

Our room was ready right on 1 pm on the nose, so we were able to drop off our carry-ons and change into swim suits to hit the pool. Watched us pull out of port under the aqua theatre on the aft deck. We had dinner in the main dining room that night, saw Oasis of Dreams that night. DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW! It was so incredible, I was whistled and cheering VERY loudly.

 

First day at sea, we had breakfast at Johnny Rocket's, outside seating. It was VERY slow. Took an hour for 4 people to have eggs and pancakes. Our friends went right after us, sat inside and were done in 20 minutes. We hit the pool, which was not crowded at all and lounged away. Had snacks at wipe out cafe - pizza, hot dogs, ice cream. Spent part of the afternoon in On-Air for a Rock Band tournament followed by karoke, while one of the couples caught Hairspray (they raved). We moved over to Globe & Atlas to watch some football and walked into a crowd of Steelers fans with ONE Ravens Fan who was getting flamed. Had a BLAST cheering for the Ravens with her! It was formal night, so we headed over to Central Park and took our own formal photos which would have worked better if it wasn't so windy! Followed by the late comedy show. Very funny and then ran into the comedians in the nightclub afterward. Stopped back in globe & atlas to watch the tail end of the Bears game and ended the night in the casino. Very nice that is separated smoking and non-smoking sections.

 

Labadee- Room Service breakfast on our balcony, beautiful scenery! Got off the ship in 10 minutes, grabbing a $4 liter bottle of ice cold water on our way out. Explored the pier, dragons point, had lunch in the buffet (delicious jerk chicken!), not too crowded at all! Our excursion was the Island Rum Rendevous. We are booze cruise people and this was not the type of boat I was expecting, but it accommodated everyone nicely. The cruise to the first stop was quiet, enjoying the view of the glorious Oasis and all her grandeur. We stopped at a sand bar where they let out rafts, noodles and threw around a football. The Rum punch was flowing and the staff got in the water with the pitcher to fill everyone up! Next stop was more of a small beach, one small table with souvenirs, again with the rafts and punch.. TONS of conch shells here! Party on the way back with good music and the captain letting some of us "drive" :)

 

Stumbled back on the ship to hang out in the cantilevered whirlpools before heading back to our room for a nap. Dinner in the windjammer since we missed our friends for dinner and didn't feel like dealing with the MDR. Watched the love and marriage show in the Opal Theater and then casino and nightclub again.

 

Day at Sea - Breakfast in the solarium bistro - was alright. Hung out by the pool all morning and we caught the "international sexy man competition" on the lido deck, back to the boardwalk for lunch at seafood shack (skip this.. it is nothing but fried dough & bad service!) before watching the belly flop competition. Dinner in the MDR that night, just us two, and we didn't even have to wait! Met up with our friends in the casino for a bit before heading to wait in line for the Quest. Ended up being a team leader and had a riot! Do not miss this hilarious participation show. Made some friends and went back to the nightclub until it was nearly closed. Grabbed some sorrento's on the way back to our room and enjoyed it on our balcony.

 

Costa Maya - A very hungover bunch, 6 of us made it up and about right as Johnny Rockets switched to lunch. Burgers, onion rings, lots of ranch dipping sauce and milkshakes were a good hangover cure. Our friends had a snorkeling excursion so we took our time getting off the ship since we had no plans other than to hang out in the public pool at the pier. The pier is so long, there is actually a trolley to take you from each end. This is a new stop and I was not too impressed, granted they had be hit by some bad weather and the devastation was clear, the pier was nothing special. There was a large (cold) saltwater public pool with large swim up bar. We hung out there for most of our time, taking breaks to walk around to the shops in the circle. Your standard island souvenir fare can be found here. Our friends excursion was canceled due to high winds so they were waiting for us with reserved beach chairs. Back on the ship, we had reservations at Izumi. We had everything (sushi & hot rock dinner) between the 8 of us, including a great bottle of sake and loved it. The 70s dance party was that night so we caught that while headed to see the Love & Marriage show before headed to the casino for the night.

 

Cozumel - Breakfast in the MDR was great, and we headed out for the day. We took a cab to Playa Planacar and spent the day basking in the sun. The guys took out the snorkel gear to head to the little floating raft. Cabbed it back, did a short round of shopping on our way back to the ship for a late lunch (my husband ate 3 roast beef sandwiches in the Park Cafe!) and beach bag drop off. Back out onto the pier for an afternoon spent conga lining with yard stick drinks in hand and a balloon hat at Senor Frogs. It was formal night #2 but we weren't interested, so we headed to the deserted pool deck to hang out in the hot tubs (the cantilevered whirlpools were being cleaned) in the main pool area and then into the solarium while we decided what we wanted to do for dinner. We decided to go back to the room to shower and change and decided on meeting up in the WJ. Some people retired back to the room and we made our rounds in the promenade.

 

Last day at Sea :( - Breakfast at Park Cafe and some time at the pool for us, while our friends did the zip line, flow rider and putt putt, before heading out for an afternoon of shows - Come Fly with Me (great show) & Frozen in Time (bring a sweater). We called Izumi between shows and was able to make a reservation for when Frozen in Time let out. Enjoyed a window seat, just the two of us, and watched the sun set. Met back up with the group for the farewall parade in the promenade (a madhouse, get their early to find a seat, if you wish) and then walking around to take in the ship one last time. We were the very last ones to ride the Rising Tide Bar. Grabbed some last slices of pizza and went back to our room late and watched the ship pull into port from our balcony.

 

Other comments: We booked everything ahead of time with the exception of the final night at Izumi. The champagne bar was always dead. Boleros got very crowded at night when the dancing begun, on-air was a good spot to catch activities or a game, Globe & Atlas was a great spot to meet people and watch football, the nightclub was never very crowded but they did play pretty good music and took our requests. Our friends ate at Giovanni's for lunch and said it was pretty good. No one did any other restaurants that weren't mentioned. Wish I would have had tapas and a glass of wine in Vintages and had lunch at Giovanni's.

 

The ship never felt crowded unless you were waiting to get in or out of a show, or on the craps tables. There really is something for everyone on this ship.

 

We sail the Allure next with our (will be) 13 month old son, it will be a new type of adventure!

 

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions :)

[Familygoboston]

This will be my first cruise, im excited its on Oasis of the seas since I've heard great things about it. It's the eastern caribbean itinerary.

Am going solo since I seem to only have broke/cheap friends and family (sad truth), but that's a different subject.

I have so many questions if anyone can answer....

--Should I book my excursions ahead or wait til I get onboard? I wanna do everything under the sun but I also dont wanna get stuck on one excursion later finding out there are better ones once at the different ports. On the other end, I dont wanna find out scuba or dolphin encounters are sold out!

--How much tip $ should I bring? Im a good tipper, and have pre paid gratuities so how should I budget that in?

Thanks

 

Here is my advice for planning Shore Excursions...

 

-On the website, go to the Port of Call and look over the whole list of trips available.

 

-write down all the ones that appeal to you; some things to look for ( how much time is spent on a bus "getting there", are drinks included, and does that matter to you, do some tours offer more than one experience, for instance a sightseeing tour followed by snorkeling and kayaking. These can sometimes try to do too much at once, but also if it's your first time in a place, it allows you to sample a lot of things in the port.)

 

-Once you have your list of potential trips go to the Port Boards on CC and research each port of call. You can do a search with the name of the tour or just the word (snorkle). Once you start reading you will learn which tours are recommended, have good guides and even some private tours that offer the same experience for less money.

 

-Then you can either book what interests you on RCL or privately. I do book active excursions early; dolphin swims and boat snorkle or scuba tours have limited space and it can fill up! It's not like a sightseeing bus tour where they just add another bus; those can often be booked on the ship the night before! If you book and change your mind, the RCL cancellation policies are very generous; you probably have until the day before(but check, rarely, certain tours have different policies)

 

Do bring a few single to tip your tour operator and drivers/captains. It is considered good form to do that unless they really messed up!

 

Have a good time...and enjoy your cruise!