Oasis of the Seas, May 9th Western Route Full Review

[lubanskir07]

Oasis of the Seas Western Itinerary Review

 

A quick bit of information about the reviewers, I am Robert a 26-year-old Logistics Consultant, my travel companion was my wife Emma, a 24-year-old HR professional. This was our first real vacation that we “floated” the bill on since being married in late 2013. With that being said I believe I am entitled to my words.

 

We arrived in FLL, Friday May 8th around 1:00pm. We took a cab to Marriott’s Renaissance Hotel at the Port; the cab fare was $18.00. I am a Silver Elite member with Marriott, so I was not expecting much, other than free Wi-Fi during my stay. Upon check in I was given a suite on the Concierge Level on the top floor with great views of the Port, this was certainly a great perk for only paying the $129.00 advanced purchase rate. We had worked up an appetite and walked across the parking lot to the Bimini Boatyard for lunch. Having grown up in a coastal town, I understand charging a small premium for waterfront views, but this place took it over the edge. While the food was excellent, I believe a blackened fish sandwich should not cost $18. The rest of our afternoon was spent at the very nice resort style pool at the Renaissance. I cannot say enough good things about this hotel; it truly went above and beyond my highest expectations. As a boating enthusiast, I felt obligated to rent a boat and go around the ICW and canals in Fort Lauderdale, I believe this is a must do if you arrive early the day before a cruise. We opted for a quick dinner at Shula’s Burger, also across the parking lot from the Renaissance. Dinner was good, followed by an ice cream at Coldstone next door. Our vacation was off to a great start.

 

Saturday started earlier than wished for me, a super soft mattress kept me up most of the night, but I will not hold that against the hotel. I believe these things are a personal problem. The small bout of Insomnia did allow me to get a great shot of the Oasis pulling into the port around 5:00am. Another perk of the Renaissance is the Starbucks/Einstein Bagels across the parking lot, so I went out and brought breakfast back to the wife, who had no issues with insomnia.

 

Around 10:00am we went down stairs and took a cab to the terminal. The cab fare was $8.00, the hotel offered a shuttle for $6.00 per person, but you had to be in the lobby at a certain time to sign up. The cab was more economical and convenient. Another piece of information, for cruisers that may of left an item, there is a Walgreens across the street from the hotel.

 

We arrived at the Port around 10:30am ignoring the previous notices requesting us to arrive at 12:30pm. Again I chalked this up as personal problem and blamed my ignorance, while other older cruisers, were seen complaining about the waiting. This was the first of many occasions; we encountered whining and moaning from advanced tier (Emerald, Diamond and so on..) cruisers. There are things these statuses can grant, but they don’t put you above US Government Protocol, in this instance the Coast Guard Inspection.

 

We were on the ship a little after 11:45am, and went straight to sign up for the Premium Drink Package (I will share my thoughts on this later). Then it was on to the Park Café for lunch. It was the first and only line we experienced for dining all week. The Roast Beef sandwiches are as a good as advertised, but do try the other Panini sandwiches and salads. The rest of the afternoon was spent around the pool or on the Flowrider. We had dinner at Chops Grille the first night. It was a fantastic value, as we received 50% off. The food is by far the best on the ship, but the steak is not at the quality of a Del Frisco’s or Palm steak you would find in the states. After dinner we had reservations to see the Oasis of Dreams show in the AquaTheatre. I will say the performers are very talented, but the show was boring, with no plot. The night ended on a hot streak in the casino.

 

We decided in the end to downgrade and stay in the Central Park View stateroom. This was a very poor decision on my part. In my mind, when the ship is rocking, you need to be looking out at the ocean, and not at trees. The room itself was nice and spacious, the beds are very soft, I prefer a firmer mattress, but oh well.

 

We both decided to get the Premium Drink Package ($50 per day). This was the best decision we made the entire vacation. The total cost for two people for the whole cruise was $808.34. We figured the total price of our drinks had we paid for them without the package would be around $1400.00. Again we are a young couple just out of college and this may not be the best option for everyone. For those wondering this package includes all liquors, except for Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Grand Platinum Patron.

 

Day 2 we were at Sea. We started with breakfast at the Windjammer, it was your typical mass produced food quality. We opted for other breakfast venues the rest of the week. I will circle back on this later, but the servers/attendants at the Windjammer during breakfast were great. We did come back and have lunch here later in the afternoon and the food quality was much better. Besides our two meals at the Windjammer our day was spent around the pool. We ate dinner at Izumi, and really enjoyed the Sushi. After dinner we saw the Ice Show. Again the performers are very talented; this show is easier to follow along because it is broken down into short sequences. After the show we watched Karaoke, which was both impressive and hysterical at the same time.

 

Going back to the Windjammer. There was never a problem finding something decent to eat. The mass-produced foods (eggs, bacon in the morning, hamburgers, hot dogs during lunch) lacked quality and were avoided all week. Service was the bigger question involving the Windjammer. Service was outstanding for Breakfast/Lunch shifts. During the evening hours it was by far the worst customer service I experienced on the ship. Tables were left dirty, it was impossible to get a drink, and they were generally rude. Over the course of the week; we went to the Windjammer a total of three times. This was a more of a testament to the other options on board.

 

On Day 2, I had my one and only experience with Guest Services. The horror stories that are generally associated with Guest Services cannot be blamed on the people working behind the desks. From what I saw the blame would be on fellow passengers, most elderly, that were unable to figure out the newer technology. For instance I had a lady in front of me making dinner reservations. This could have been done close to 5 other ways, including picking up the stateroom phone and hitting the Dining Reservation button, not much technology in that. Another cruiser was breaking a $100 bill so they could go play in the casino, geezz. For those that care my issue was that my SeaPass card was taken in the “Gale” force winds right off the boat; YES this was pretty stupid on my part. This issue was taken care of quickly and without any questions from the staff.

 

On Day 3, we were docked in Labadee. Here I was planning to rent a jet ski through RCI. Unfortunately I found it was a Jet Ski tour and not just free roam on a jet ski, and decided to just go to the beach with my wife. The beaches on the bay side were nice and calm, while the beach on the ocean side (where the zipline goes over) is choppy and could be treacherous for poor swimmers. We stayed on the beach for about 3 hours and enjoyed a fair share of Labadoozies before heading back to the boat where we had lunch.

 

Only one small issue with Labadee, but could be a bigger issue if people are bothered by these types of things. The onboard staff really tells you to only bring your seapass card off the boat; most people listen to this and only bring their seapass card. The issue is the men who are on the beach setting up chairs, will demand a tip from you for putting chairs on the beach.

 

A few thoughts run through your head:

One, this is a private island ran by Royal Caribbean, you do not tip the pool staff for putting chairs out on the ship. It should be the same on the beach.

Two, I would of tipped if I was told by the cruise staff to please bring money to tip the shore staff.

Three, once back on board, I was told that the staff on shore is not allowed to ask for tips.

 

The rest of day 3, was spent on a somewhat empty boat. We have a beach house and are at the beach about half of the year, so a day at the beach is not really a big thing for us.

Day 3 was our first experience in the Main Dining room with MTD. We had a great experience with this program. I think it helped we only had a party of 2. We ended up having the same servers each night for the rest of the cruise. I told them we would come back at the same time each night if they kept us a table next to the window. Sure enough this was the case the remainder of the cruise. Our servers were Francisco and Ben, who were both amazing, they would consistently go above and beyond for us.

 

Day 4, was in Falmouth Jamaica. Not much to do in this port. We did walk around the port area and had a Red Stripe. We were probably in the port area for no longer than 45 minutes and saw everything. The rest of the day was spent on the ship. There were more people that stayed on the ship in Falmouth than when we were in Labadee. That evening we watched the headliner show; besides the comedy show this was the best show on the ship.

 

Day 5, was a day at Sea. This was your typical day at sea. We spent most of the day at the pool and pool bars. We did play trivia today, and it was great. I consider myself a trivia buff, but was completely outclassed on the ship. We enjoyed another great meal in the main dining room. We could say not enough positive things about our waiters Ben and Francisco. We finished the night with cocktails in Dazzles. This was the case most nights due to the close proximity to our cabin.

 

Day 6 was probably the best day of our cruise. Our day was spent in Cozumel. We had pre-planned doing a beach day while in Cozumel, we were torn between three options. Nachi Croom, Mr. Sancho’s, and the Playa Mia offered through Royal Caribbean. We chose Mr. Sancho’s and it was by the far the best option. The price was $50 per person and included everything, except for a $10 taxi there and back. Mr. Sancho’s had great food, drinks, and the service was outstanding. Servers would follow you around the facility making sure you had everything that you needed. We knew we had made the right decision when we saw the Activities staff from the boat at Mr. Sancho’s. This is a rowdy time that does not need to missed. Upon arrival back on Oasis we went back to the cabin and passed out. I made it out later that night and burned some money in the Casino. One note this was the one-day we lost money on the drink package. I had about 3 mixed drinks, 1 beer, and a couple diet cokes. My wife had 4 diet cokes and a glass of wine.

 

Day 7 was our last day and was spent at sea. Our day followed the same script as the other sea days. I believed we played another round of trivia. We investigated booking another cruise while on the boat, but there really is no added value. While they offer you OBC on your current cruise, you are buying your next cruise at full price.

 

Another highlight of the cruise was disembarkation, odd right? I was amazed with how smooth the process was. We chose the self-disembarkation because we thought we had an “early” flight leaving FLL at 10:45am. We were lined up downstairs at 6:00am, and curbside at the port at 6:20am. We were at the Delta check-in counter at 6:45am, and were placed on a 7:00am flight to ATL. We were back in Charlotte, NC at our house at 11:15am. Plus we had seats together in the exit row on both flights, and were not separated, best/luckiest-flying experience of my life.

 

I know it took a while to complete, but I had a busy Month of work. I am happy to say we also have booked our next cruise for late November on the Navigator out of FLL. We were lucky enough to secure cabin 1390 on the back of the ship, and are really looking forward to this experience.

 

I know this is a very general review, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me.

[riclop]

Thanks for the great review.

[Donna_In_India]

Thanks for sharing. Just wondering what other places you're recommend for breakfast/lunch.

[BillOh]

On Day 3, we were docked in Labadee. Here I was planning to rent a jet ski through RCI. Unfortunately I found it was a Jet Ski tour and not just free roam on a jet ski, and decided to just go to the beach with my wife. The beaches on the bay side were nice and calm, while the beach on the ocean side (where the zipline goes over) is choppy and could be treacherous for poor swimmers. We stayed on the beach for about 3 hours and enjoyed a fair share of Labadoozies before heading back to the boat where we had lunch.

 

Only one small issue with Labadee, but could be a bigger issue if people are bothered by these types of things. The onboard staff really tells you to only bring your seapass card off the boat; most people listen to this and only bring their seapass card. The issue is the men who are on the beach setting up chairs, will demand a tip from you for putting chairs on the beach.

 

A few thoughts run through your head:

One, this is a private island ran by Royal Caribbean, you do not tip the pool staff for putting chairs out on the ship. It should be the same on the beach.

Two, I would of tipped if I was told by the cruise staff to please bring money to tip the shore staff..

 

In 3 visits I've never heard the crew say this, however, I've been around this cruise line long enough to know consistency is not their strong point fleet wide. This might have been an area that the roll call for your cruise may have helped you out. With regard to the jet ski tour, a lot of people get dissapointed when they find that out. However there is a lot of places around the area the coral is very close to the surface and I'm sure there would be a lot of wrecked equipment if people went on their own.

 

 

If you ever make it to Coco Cay, they do the same thing, but its a lot more wide open and you get to go further and around a couple of islands, but its still a tour.

[BillOh]

We investigated booking another cruise while on the boat, but there really is no added value. While they offer you OBC on your current cruise, you are buying your next cruise at full price. .

 

I have to disagree with this statement. You're buying your next cruise at the best price that rep can find at that time. I suppose the skill of these Loyalty Reps may vary somewhat, it helps to go in armed with knowledge of what you want, but the statement above can't be stated as a 100% fact.

[alocsin]

Thank you for the review, particularly the price specifics.

 

I'm assuming that most of the time at port was spent waiting for your group to be called to embark after you checked in.

 

Do you remember how long check-in itself took?

[Nado44]

Great all-around review and a nice balance of both the positives and negatives.

 

I'd be curious to know your preferred dining venues for breakfast other than the Windjammer.

[TheBuick]

Enjoyed your review -- thanks!

[jigger]

Great review !