Review of Oasis of the Seas- Feb 19th- Feb 26th

[disnemimi]

Thanks for the great review. We sail on the Oasis for the first time in June with 12 family members. Interested in the flow rider for the older grandkids. Do they have open time to do the flow rider, or do we need reservations for it? Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks, Karen

[jmabre]

Thanks for the great review. We sail on the Oasis for the first time in June with 12 family members. Interested in the flow rider for the older grandkids. Do they have open time to do the flow rider, or do we need reservations for it? Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks, Karen

 

 

 

They usually have open flow riding most days, usually for six to eight hours. In my experience, it was usually about a half an hour wait in between rides. There is always a couple people who are there all day long, perhaps hoping to catch on to the professional Flowrider tour if there is such a thing.

[ATG]

We are on Oasis now. This afternoon there were only 2 people using the stand up flowrider. So, the wait was minimal (neither lasted more than a minute). A few more on the other one, but no lines.

[plainjane_1]

Day 2 addendum

 

I forgot that Day 2 also had our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle. It was a lot more sit and not mingle than I expected. I thought people would be a bit more social, and I was looking forward to meeting a few of the people we had conversations with online. Not so much. After the raffle was over, most people just left. Also, there was probably only about 40 people there. It was a bit of letdown, as I had hoped to meet some others with kids, but my kids were the only kids there.

 

 

Thanks for the information. We are going in a couple of weeks and I thought about signing up for this function. I hoped we would be able to meet other families with kids (our daughter is 8), but you confirmed what I thought. I got the impression kids were reluctantly welcome. So we will give this a pass.

[jmabre]

Thanks for the information. We are going in a couple of weeks and I thought about signing up for this function. I hoped we would be able to meet other families with kids (our daughter is 8), but you confirmed what I thought. I got the impression kids were reluctantly welcome. So we will give this a pass.

 

 

You might want to try stating that on roll call and see if there is anyone else thinking the same as you. I think I would do that next time. I would just say that I have two kids and am looking to see if anyone else with kids is bringing them to the M&M to try and make some friends.

[jmabre]

Day 3-

 

After discussing with my wife last night, we think Day 3 inLabadee was our favorite day of the cruise. I started it out early with a run, at about 7:30am. For you runners, the track is nice aroundthat time, any later, it tends to get swamped with walkers, which I don?t mindexcept when they don?t look out for runners! I returned to the room by around 8am to see that our breakfast roomservice had arrived. I was veryimpressed with the room service breakfast. It was on time and hot when delivered, both times we ordered.

 

 

We grabbed breakfast and as we did, we re-listened to theRoyal Caribbean Blog Podcast about Labadee. If you are not familiar, look it up. It is a guy who is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean, and he does nicework. Anyway, he mentions how there arelots of different beaches on Labadee and how Columbus Cove is usually the bestone to go to, because it is the farthest. Also, there is boat that takes you from the departure dock, right overto the beach! So, after getting off theship at about 9am, we waited for the shuttle boat to come back and it took usright over to where we needed to go. Itis a very short boat ride (5 minutes) and it drops you right at Columbus Cove.

 

 

We got off that boat and headed over to the beach to findsome good spots under the palm trees. OnColumbus Cove, there are no beach umbrellas, but there are plenty of palm treesto camp out under. One of the localsoffers to get some beach chairs and set them up for you. Then you are expected to tip them, so don?tforget to bring a few bucks. SinceLabadee is a R/C island, the sea pass is accepted for things like bar purchaseswhile there. I do believe that there isa locally run flea market of sorts, that is also a cash transaction type ofmarket. So, if you are looking to buysome stuff souvenirs on the island, it is good to have some cash.

 

 

It is now about 9:30am and we have 10am Arawak Water ParkAdventure booked. The water park is inColumbus Cove, so it is very close to where we set up for the day. We headed over to get ready for our 10am ?11am window to open. It is good to headover early, because you do have to sign your life away on a waiver, and getwristbands from the shack near the water park. The staff manning the booth there moved at an ?island?s pace,? if youknow what I mean.

 

 

So, the water park. To start, is was lots of fun. Would I do it again, probably not. Did it once, on to something else. But I will say this. I did notneed to run and get cardio that morning, there is plenty of cardio to go aroundin the water park. It is a lot ofswimming in between toys, and it takes some upper body strength to pullyourself out of the water up onto said toys. So, if you are thinking about doing this, you probably should be inpretty good shape.

 

 

After the water park, we returned to our loungers and justhad a nice day at the beach. The boysplayed in the water, harvested a bunch of shells. My wife and I had a Labadoozie, the officialdrink of the island, and it was very good. We had ours with rum, we got the virgin version for the boys. They had nice buffet lunch set up at apavilion right by the beach, so at around noon, we headed over and had picnicstyle lunch (hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, fruits, cookies, etc).

 

 

Around 1:30pm or so, this golf cart starts buzzing around,and it starts pumping up some music. Outpops these two R/C employees who are creating a fun party atmosphere whileselling fresh coconuts that they cut open in front of you, have you drink outthe milk, then they refill them with rum. I have to say, it was an impulse purchase, and it didn?t taste nearly asgood as the Labadoozie, but it was an experience. I got a picture with me and the guy who wasbalancing a bottle of rum on his head while cutting the coconuts. Impressive!

 

 

We started to pack up for the ship around 2:30pm, and gotinto a very long tram line. Here iswhere it stinks to be at the farthest beach. That boat that brings you over to Columbus Cove, doesn?t run youback. You have to walk or take atram. After waiting for a while with nosuccess, we started hiking it back to the ship. Problem is, you have to walk right through the markets where everyone istrying to sell you. I probably said ?nothank you? about 10 times before we got to the next beach, and we just happenedto find a tram picking up there that we were able to sneak on. From there, we got back on the ship, and headedup to the room, where we regrouped for a busy night.

 

 

We had booked in advance tickets for the Oasis of Dreamsdiving show at 9:30pm this night. Thisis where the 8pm dining becomes tricky. Can you do it, most certainly, as they can bring out food as quickly asyou can shovel it down. But, since wehurry through most meals in normal life, I do not like being rushed throughmeals in vacation life.

 

 

Also, as we were back in the room looking through the day?sCompass, and we see that there is a Headliner show tonight as well. Here is the weird thing though. In the line item listing of time and events,it says Headliner Show- 8:30pm- Savannah Jack. In the longer write up section where it lists things to do, it discussedthe Headliner as being a Beatles cover band. We love the Beatles, so were super excited about going to see a Beatlescover band.

 

 

Now, we started shifting some plans around. Instead of going to the MDR for the night, weplanned on eating at the Windjammer early, around 7:00pm or so. The Windjammer was always busy whenever wewere there, but they always had plenty of food and it was good. We grabbed our dinner, everybody was able tofind something they liked, they had lots of great desserts, it was a nicedinner. Just lots of people everywherein there.

 

 

We headed down to pull off the rare entertainment doubleheader. Now, I?m not entirely sure ifyou need reservations for Headliner shows or not. We did have reservations for the Headlinershow the following night, but they scanned my Sea Pass and didn?t seem tocare. They usually only scanned one SeaPass per event per family, and honestly, I don?t think it makes a difference. If anyone was ever to call you out and sayyou don?t have reservations for this show, and you just played dumb, I don?tbelieve they would blink an eye. Theywould almost certainly tell you to just go ahead. Point is, if you want to go to a show, justgo, even if you don?t have reservations. Worst thing that can happen is that they say no.

 

 

Anyway, we got good seats, were very excited to hear someBeatles music, and then out comes Savannah Jack. Hmm, they don?t look like a Beatles coverband. And, they are not, not evenclose. What must have happened was thatthe Beatles cover band must have played the ship previously, and someone failedto update the Compass properly to reflect the new act, Savannah Jack. They were ok, but I was disappointed. We had to leave early anyway to catch theOasis of Dreams.

 

 

We left, went over to Oasis of Dreams, got one Sea Passscanned, and proceeded to find some good seats. The ship was now at sea, and it was swaying back and forth a bit,probably the most it did the whole trip. My thought was that we were not going to see the whole show (meaning thereally scary high dives), and it turns out, I was right. The show itself was a very good performance,one I would definitely recommend you go see. The story line was a bit confusing as it didn?t seem to follow throughwith an easily identifiable plot. Thereis a reason for that, and we figured it out the next night.

 

 

 

After the Oasis of Dreams, we had a long day, we headed upto bed. Everyone was tired. San Juan was on deck for Day 4 with a 1pmarrival. That was exciting for those ofus who like to watch the ship sail into port.

[jmabre]

Thanks for the information. We are going in a couple of weeks and I thought about signing up for this function. I hoped we would be able to meet other families with kids (our daughter is 8), but you confirmed what I thought. I got the impression kids were reluctantly welcome. So we will give this a pass.

 

Day 3-

 

After discussing with my wife last night, we think Day 3 inLabadee was our favorite day of the cruise. I started it out early with a run, at about 7:30am. For you runners, the track is nice aroundthat time, any later, it tends to get swamped with walkers, which I don?t mindexcept when they don?t look out for runners! I returned to the room by around 8am to see that our breakfast roomservice had arrived. I was veryimpressed with the room service breakfast. It was on time and hot when delivered, both times we ordered.

 

 

We grabbed breakfast and as we did, we re-listened to theRoyal Caribbean Blog Podcast about Labadee. If you are not familiar, look it up. It is a guy who is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean, and he does nicework. Anyway, he mentions how there arelots of different beaches on Labadee and how Columbus Cove is usually the bestone to go to, because it is the farthest. Also, there is boat that takes you from the departure dock, right overto the beach! So, after getting off theship at about 9am, we waited for the shuttle boat to come back and it took usright over to where we needed to go. Itis a very short boat ride (5 minutes) and it drops you right at Columbus Cove.

 

 

We got off that boat and headed over to the beach to findsome good spots under the palm trees. OnColumbus Cove, there are no beach umbrellas, but there are plenty of palm treesto camp out under. One of the localsoffers to get some beach chairs and set them up for you. Then you are expected to tip them, so don?tforget to bring a few bucks. SinceLabadee is a R/C island, the sea pass is accepted for things like bar purchaseswhile there. I do believe that there isa locally run flea market of sorts, that is also a cash transaction type ofmarket. So, if you are looking to buysome stuff souvenirs on the island, it is good to have some cash.

 

 

It is now about 9:30am and we have 10am Arawak Water ParkAdventure booked. The water park is inColumbus Cove, so it is very close to where we set up for the day. We headed over to get ready for our 10am ?11am window to open. It is good to headover early, because you do have to sign your life away on a waiver, and getwristbands from the shack near the water park. The staff manning the booth there moved at an ?island?s pace,? if youknow what I mean.

 

 

So, the water park. To start, is was lots of fun. Would I do it again, probably not. Did it once, on to something else. But I will say this. I did notneed to run and get cardio that morning, there is plenty of cardio to go aroundin the water park. It is a lot ofswimming in between toys, and it takes some upper body strength to pullyourself out of the water up onto said toys. So, if you are thinking about doing this, you probably should be inpretty good shape.

 

 

After the water park, we returned to our loungers and justhad a nice day at the beach. The boysplayed in the water, harvested a bunch of shells. My wife and I had a Labadoozie, the officialdrink of the island, and it was very good. We had ours with rum, we got the virgin version for the boys. They had nice buffet lunch set up at apavilion right by the beach, so at around noon, we headed over and had picnicstyle lunch (hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, fruits, cookies, etc).

 

 

Around 1:30pm or so, this golf cart starts buzzing around,and it starts pumping up some music. Outpops these two R/C employees who are creating a fun party atmosphere whileselling fresh coconuts that they cut open in front of you, have you drink outthe milk, then they refill them with rum. I have to say, it was an impulse purchase, and it didn?t taste nearly asgood as the Labadoozie, but it was an experience. I got a picture with me and the guy who wasbalancing a bottle of rum on his head while cutting the coconuts. Impressive!

 

 

We started to pack up for the ship around 2:30pm, and gotinto a very long tram line. Here iswhere it stinks to be at the farthest beach. That boat that brings you over to Columbus Cove, doesn?t run youback. You have to walk or take atram. After waiting for a while with nosuccess, we started hiking it back to the ship. Problem is, you have to walk right through the markets where everyone istrying to sell you. I probably said ?nothank you? about 10 times before we got to the next beach, and we just happenedto find a tram picking up there that we were able to sneak on. From there, we got back on the ship, and headedup to the room, where we regrouped for a busy night.

 

 

We had booked in advance tickets for the Oasis of Dreamsdiving show at 9:30pm this night. Thisis where the 8pm dining becomes tricky. Can you do it, most certainly, as they can bring out food as quickly asyou can shovel it down. But, since wehurry through most meals in normal life, I do not like being rushed throughmeals in vacation life.

 

 

Also, as we were back in the room looking through the day?sCompass, and we see that there is a Headliner show tonight as well. Here is the weird thing though. In the line item listing of time and events,it says Headliner Show- 8:30pm- Savannah Jack. In the longer write up section where it lists things to do, it discussedthe Headliner as being a Beatles cover band. We love the Beatles, so were super excited about going to see a Beatlescover band.

 

 

Now, we started shifting some plans around. Instead of going to the MDR for the night, weplanned on eating at the Windjammer early, around 7:00pm or so. The Windjammer was always busy whenever wewere there, but they always had plenty of food and it was good. We grabbed our dinner, everybody was able tofind something they liked, they had lots of great desserts, it was a nicedinner. Just lots of people everywherein there.

 

 

We headed down to pull off the rare entertainment doubleheader. Now, I?m not entirely sure ifyou need reservations for Headliner shows or not. We did have reservations for the Headlinershow the following night, but they scanned my Sea Pass and didn?t seem tocare. They usually only scanned one SeaPass per event per family, and honestly, I don?t think it makes a difference. If anyone was ever to call you out and sayyou don?t have reservations for this show, and you just played dumb, I don?tbelieve they would blink an eye. Theywould almost certainly tell you to just go ahead. Point is, if you want to go to a show, justgo, even if you don?t have reservations. Worst thing that can happen is that they say no.

 

 

Anyway, we got good seats, were very excited to hear someBeatles music, and then out comes Savannah Jack. Hmm, they don?t look like a Beatles coverband. And, they are not, not evenclose. What must have happened was thatthe Beatles cover band must have played the ship previously, and someone failedto update the Compass properly to reflect the new act, Savannah Jack. They were ok, but I was disappointed. We had to leave early anyway to catch theOasis of Dreams.

 

 

We left, went over to Oasis of Dreams, got one Sea Passscanned, and proceeded to find some good seats. The ship was now at sea, and it was swaying back and forth a bit,probably the most it did the whole trip. My thought was that we were not going to see the whole show (meaning thereally scary high dives), and it turns out, I was right. The show itself was a very good performance,one I would definitely recommend you go see. The story line was a bit confusing as it didn?t seem to follow throughwith an easily identifiable plot. Thereis a reason for that, and we figured it out the next night.

 

 

 

After the Oasis of Dreams, we had a long day, we headed upto bed. Everyone was tired. San Juan was on deck for Day 4 with a 1pmarrival. That was exciting for those ofus who like to watch the ship sail into port.

 

 

Just noticed that typing in Word and pasting over makes some things run together. I won't do this in the future. Sorry.

[starrcards]

Thanks for the information. We are going in a couple of weeks and I thought about signing up for this function. I hoped we would be able to meet other families with kids (our daughter is 8), but you confirmed what I thought. I got the impression kids were reluctantly welcome. So we will give this a pass.

 

 

Not Oasis but on our Jewel cruise last week, my son made about a half dozen new friends at Adventure Ocean. We found that a much better way for them to make friends than the meet and mingle.

[bulldogmommy]

Great review, enjoying your adventure....

 

From a Royal Veteran...

[noleguy84]

Just noticed that typing in Word and pasting over makes some things run together. I won't do this in the future. Sorry.

 

 

Copy and paste it into Notepad then copy/paste it here - it will strip the Word coding. Side note - loving the review, we are headed on the Oasis in May with our two nieces about the same age as your's.

[SilkySal]

You might want to try stating that on roll call and see if there is anyone else thinking the same as you. I think I would do that next time. I would just say that I have two kids and am looking to see if anyone else with kids is bringing them to the M&M to try and make some friends.

 

 

Plainjane, I agree with jmabre that you should sign up for the M&M Anyway! We have been to great ones and not so great ones. It just depends on how social people want to be! Besides, you may win a great prize!

[jmabre]

Copy and paste it into Notepad then copy/paste it here - it will strip the Word coding. Side note - loving the review, we are headed on the Oasis in May with our two nieces about the same age as your's.

 

 

Thank you, will do that. Enjoy your trip! My boys had a lot of fun!

[Dixie1337]

Copy and paste it into Notepad then copy/paste it here - it will strip the Word coding. Side note - loving the review, we are headed on the Oasis in May with our two nieces about the same age as your's.

 

Or just write it in notepad :)

[jmabre]

Another note on specialty restaurants. For some reason, when you book them, they don't show up on your calendar that you can access through your stateroom television. Even under the section titled Specialty Dining/Reservations. So, when you do book them, always double check with the restaurant itself some other time during the cruise. For example, when on Day 1 I went and booked three different restaurants for three different nights on the cruise, I double checked with Giovanni's Table on Day 3 just to confirm timing for our Day 4 reservation. The time was correct, but it turns out that they did not add my 2 kids to the reservation during the initial booking.

 

Again, for being a mega operation, controlling billions in capital tied up in very beautiful cruise ships, the tech available to crew and passengers is embarrassing. How about an app R/C? Supposedly one is in development.

[ljmandelbaum]

Again, for being a mega operation, controlling billions in capital tied up in very beautiful cruise ships, the tech available to crew and passengers is embarrassing. How about an app R/C? Supposedly one is in development.

 

 

they have an app for Anthem and Harmony. It lets you see your calendar of booked stuff, you can save activities off the planner but only for people in your cabin. Everyone has their own color block. If you booked a show in advance you can see it.

[jmabre]

Day 4-

 

On day 4, we had a first for me on a cruise, we were arriving at a port midday. Our arrival time into San Juan was 1pm, so that was kind of cool, being able to watch the ship come into port during the waking hours. My FIL was back after a 2 day absence, and it was good to see him up and about. Again, I got up early, got 7.2 laps or 3 miles on the track done before breakfast. The wife and kids hit the Park Cafe and I met up with them soon after.

 

Since we had a long morning before we reached port, we went up to the pool to hang and swim. The pool water was chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind. The pools never seemed overcrowded, but they definitely had their share of people up there. My boys would alternate between pool time and the hot tub. One thing that really bugged me about the pools....the music. Now, as I said, I'm 42 and white, can't dance a lick. But the music at the pools was....uninspiring. Nothing remotely party like. More like one step up above waiting room music. Something with a beat and good time behind it would have been welcome. But, I honestly can't remember ever hearing a song in the pool area that made me sit and take notice. I just filled out the R/C survey yesterday, and I forget to mention this point. But I did follow up with customer service via email. I think I heard one Bob Marley song on that ship. I hear more than that in a week on Buffalo radio stations. I'll even allow Pitbull...for cruise and good time purposes. Bon Jovi and Suzanne Vega is what I got instead.

 

We went up to our stateroom after lunch (grabbed a sandwich or something that day) and we watched the ship pull into San Juan. I thought that was really cool. We went past the fort and pulled in next to a MSC ship already docked. We did not book any shore excursions in San Juan. My wife and I have been there twice before. The shore excursions didn't seem too exciting. We thought we would freelance a bit. A word on freelancing, it is hard with 2 kids to walk around a city that gets a bit dicey in areas, without a real goal or plan. We walked up the north shore, walked along the coast, ended up at the fort, but did not go in. Then, we just headed back to the ship. All in all, it was about 2 hours, nothing really memorable. My boys did find one street vendor selling shark teeth necklaces, so they thought was great. We are now the proud owners of two MORE shark teeth necklaces.

 

With San Juan in the books, we had an early dinner planned. This was the night we booked Giovanni's Table at 6:00pm. My in laws had reservations for the 7:30 Oasis of Dreams show. We headed up to Giovanni's and had an excellent meal. It was just a little loud in there. They had a violinist and cello playing out front, which made table conversation a bit difficult to hear. Our waiter was Leroy, and he was pretty good. I started with an Antipasti which was very good. My filet of sol for dinner was very good, and they pasta that came along served family style was excellent. We chose the mushroom risotto (big risotto fans, not big mushroom fans) which was great and crab stuffed ravioli that was also excellent. For dessert, I had the best tiramisu that I have ever had in my life. Big finish! Again, I can't believe how much I enjoyed the specialty restaurants.

 

After dinner, we had no plans, so we thought we would wander around the ship a bit, looking for something to do. Guess where we ended up? Back at the Oasis of Dreams show. Why? Well, we kind of thought we had some unfinished business with that show, and guess what, we were right! The interesting thing about the show this time was that we were docked. We were not leaving Puerto Rico until 9pm. The ship wasn't moving. The first 40 minutes of the show was exactly the same as the night before. But, there was an additional 2 acts that took place after that. We got to see the super high dives, and we actually saw and ending to the show that made a bit more sense. Lesson there is that if you don't see the way up there high dives, you haven't seen the whole show. Plan accordingly.

 

After the show concluded, everyone went up top to watch us depart Puerto Rico. We played some mini golf under the lights, played some ping pong and just goofed around a bit. On the way back to the room, we passed by Dazzles and they had a brass band playing. Since my son plays Sax, we stopped and listened for a while before heading to bed. We had a big day coming up, we were heading to St. Maarten to do one of the things we were most excited about, The Race, Royal Caribbean's play on The Amazing Race, to take place onshore.

[DrD]

Thanks for the review, I'm going in 25 days and a wake up.

[Amycakes17]

Thank you so much for the review!

 

When we rented from Avis, my husband dropped us off at the pier (Disney cruise) with the luggage and went back to drop off the car. He was forever getting back to us on the shuttle. It is good to hear that he could walk to the pier from National. I will keep that in mind when booking a rental car.

 

We were thinking about doing the race in St. Maarten... can't wait to hear about your experience!

 

Also, do you think booking a walking tour would be the answer for San Juan rather than trying to attempt on our own? We are torn between the horseback riding and just walking around the city. Both are appealing.

 

Again, thanks for the info :)

[kba1988]

Awesome review so far. We are sailing Oasis in September and are gleaning as much information beforehand as we can!!

[jmabre]

Thank you so much for the review!

 

When we rented from Avis, my husband dropped us off at the pier (Disney cruise) with the luggage and went back to drop off the car. He was forever getting back to us on the shuttle. It is good to hear that he could walk to the pier from National. I will keep that in mind when booking a rental car.

 

We were thinking about doing the race in St. Maarten... can't wait to hear about your experience!

 

Also, do you think booking a walking tour would be the answer for San Juan rather than trying to attempt on our own? We are torn between the horseback riding and just walking around the city. Both are appealing.

 

Again, thanks for the info :)

 

 

I think a walking tour would be fun. We saw a couple and heard a few things they were saying. I would do that, one even said they were stopping at a restaurant to try some authentic Puerto Rican street food. Horses on the beach sounds fun as well.

[TonyL128]

Good thought. It was my first M&M, and it was more like let's see what we can win and leave party then anything else. A bar setting would be more conducive to fun and chatting. Name tags would also help.

 

 

 

We were at the M&M and we stayed and chatted with another couple while everyone left.

 

 

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[TonyL128]

Old San Juan is an easy self guided walking tour. Look into Trip Advisors on things to do, the two forts, El Morro and San Cristobal, are must see sites, but they closes at 5PM. Yelp has a lot of reviews for San Juan and it will help in finding a great place to eat local food.

 

In the three trips we've been in San Juan, we have never felt unsafe even at night. On the contrary, we find the people there to be warm, friendly and honest.

 

 

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[jenndon2]

Hi- did you notice if it's ok to wear " nice" jeans in specialty restaurants? Thanks !

 

 

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[TonyL128]

Hi- did you notice if it's ok to wear " nice" jeans in specialty restaurants? Thanks !

 

 

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It's perfectly fine, but you may want to dress up for 150 Central Park.

 

 

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[jenndon2]

Thanks so much

 

 

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