Just off Oasis April1-8, 2018

[HeatherLynne]

I love reading reviews of the ship and cruiser's experiences, so I thought I'd chime in with mine. ;) We're (Me, hubs, kids 11 and 12) just off the Oasis spring break sailing. Had a blast! I'll give you the quickest version of info and if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

 

Arrival: We flew in the night before and since I booked way too late, we ended up staying at the Doubletree near the airport. The hotel was very close, very clean and comfortable, and the breakfast was tasty! Also, you can't beat warm cookies at check in!

 

Shuttle to port: We used the one that Doubletree uses (AA Access). We were told pickup in the morning was 11. We asked for earlier since it's a long drive to the port and we were anxious to get onboard. Check in confirmed a 10am pickup instead. That morning we were in the lobby by 9:30. After 10 we inquired about our shuttle only to be told it had already come and gone. They did send another in about 15 minutes minutes so we ended up leaving the hotel around 10:30. We then stopped at 4 other hotels and arrived at the pier after 1.5-2 hours. We were nervous about the return trip that we'd already paid for, but the return was flawless and fast.

 

Embarkation: Was slower than our previous experience on NCL out of Miami, but still pretty efficient. The security line was a bit long but after that the process moved quicker.

 

Room: We had an ocean view forward balcony on 9 and loved it! If you like an ocean view while cruising, I would recommend going for it. The room was tight with 4 of us in it. Definitely felt more cramped than the mini suite we had on NCL Escape. Not nearly enough storage, but we like being cozy and were comfortable for the week. There were not that many places to just sit and watch the ocean because of the style of the neighborhoods and because the decks by the pool were incredibly busy, so I really liked having our own balcony to use whenever we wanted.

 

I didn't stay in the central park or boardwalk view balcony room, but I know it would not have been for me. Boardwalk was very noisy. Central park was quiet and very pretty. However, both areas of balconies seemed far too out in the open for me to feel like I had any place to sit and relax. I rarely saw anyone actually using those balconies.

 

Neighborhoods: Neighborhoods are all really cute and functional. However, I did feel a little like I could've been sitting in a mall somewhere, not on a cruise.

 

Food: Everything we ate was great! We enjoyed breakfast in MDR both buffet and a la carte style. Windjammer was also good for a quick breakfast. We didn't eat there for dinner and only once for lunch. We only liked windjammer at breakfast. Lunches we mostly ate at Central Park Cafe. They made great salads and yummy sandwiches. Dinners at MDR were great. Service was most great. Chop was fantastic food and service but pricey. Izumi hibachi style was a great. We have these places where we live but the one of the ship was tastier and a better show. Solarium Bistro was also delicious and we ate there twice for dinner. I would recommend booking dinners in advance of sailing if you are able. The one night we didn't have booked, we ended up eating at 9, which was late but still fine with us.

 

Enterainment: Frozen was awesome! Better than expected honestly. Fly With Me and Oasis Dreams were both amazing! The story for Oasis Dreams was a little vague but we all loved the diving! Splish Splash Comedy show was also really fun! The headliner show Impact was ok. The guys are talented but it was too long for little variety. We did not see Cats but heard it was good. Family Comedy show on Sat evening was really funny. We all enjoyed it. It was super busy so go early.

 

Drink package: I bought the deluxe package for myself and hubs when it was on sale buy one get one 50% off. So I think it was somewhere around $750 total for the two of us. We kept track of what we drank for the week, because we're weird that way, lol. Between martinis and margaritas for us, virgin drinks for the kids, and bottled water all, we figure we would have spent somewhere around $850 +. So it was worth it for us, but not if we weren't also buying the virgin drinks for the kids.

 

Ports: Labadee was really fun and beautiful. There was a lot to do for the adventurous and lots of ocean and sand for the less adventurous. The food was okay, but go to the buffet early as it gets VERY busy. The "labradoozie" was delicious if you like slushy drinks. We got ours in pineapples which was expensive but so good and the kids loved eating the leftover fresh pineapple (1 plastic cup filled from each pineapple.) We also paid for the Floating water park. It was so, so fun! Hubs was able to do all obstacles. There was only 1 I couldn't do. Kids were unstoppable! If you have little kids, I would suggest going with them. The lifeguards looked like they were asleep and the obstacles were big. You do wear a life vest so you're probably safe. And I would recommend aqua socks for climbing. We did not zip line. It looked like fun but over quickly for the price.

 

Jamaica, we did the Zip Lining, Water Tubing, and Adventure Falls. The excursion time was changed without notice so check your tickets in advance. We pretty much had to ask to do everything and be proactive as it seemed very chaotic and no one seemed to know what you were there to do. Zip lining was fun and the lines were fast. I think there were 6. Water tubing was just ok. Sort of fun, sort of boring. We didn't eat the food so can't comment on it. The falls were man made but the kids didn't care and had fun playing and swimming. Getting back on a bus to come back to port was chaotic and stressful but we made it. The port area had good shopping and we very much enjoyed nachos and drinks at Margaritaville before getting back on the boat!

 

Cozumel we stayed in the port area. Shopping was fine. It was enough for the kids to get some souvenirs. We're not fans of Mexico so staying in port was enough for us. The rest of the day we enjoyed the pool onboard!

 

Disembarkation: We did the luggage valet which cost $25 per person but they checked us into our flight, printed off our boarding passes and luggage tags. We tagged bags the night before, left them out like everyone else, and saw them again at our final destination. At the airport, we were able to skip the check in lines and go straight through security. Awesome! Customs was slow walking off the ship at about 8, but I heard they were short staffed that morning, so maybe it's normally faster.

 

Overall: A really great cruise experience that we all enjoyed! I would book it again or on a similar ship. Very compatible experience to our NCL Escape cruise.

[paper1122]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review! DW and I embark in a little over a week and cannot wait to experience Oasis.

Did you ever have trouble with long waits to get drinks? Did you get anything that they charged you above and beyond the drink package?

[HeatherLynne]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review! DW and I embark in a little over a week and cannot wait to experience Oasis.

Did you ever have trouble with long waits to get drinks? Did you get anything that they charged you above and beyond the drink package?

 

The bars by the pool had a bit of a wait if the pools were busy. Same with if you ordered from your deck chair. But otherwise it was a reasonable time.

 

Most drinks seemed to be in the $8-13 range, which were all covered with the deluxe drink package. My husband found a whiskey drink (on the rocks or martini style) called the Gentleman's Sidecar that was $15 so we were charged an additional $2 every time he ordered one, but we deemed them worthy since they were delicious. I also highly recommend the Washington Apple if you like whiskey and fruit together. So good.

 

Enjoy your cruise! You're going to love it!!

[JaniceB]

Thanks for the review. Did your kids do anything with the kids club? I am taking my two grandkids (same age) on the Oasis so interested to hear.

[HeatherLynne]

Thanks for the review. Did your kids do anything with the kids club? I am taking my two grandkids (same age) on the Oasis so interested to hear.

 

My kids were not interested in the kid's club at all since they would be in different age groups. We didn't even check it out.

[VillaHappy]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review! DW and I embark in a little over a week and cannot wait to experience Oasis.

Did you ever have trouble with long waits to get drinks? Did you get anything that they charged you above and beyond the drink package?

 

The OP was on a Spring Break cruise.

The Oasis sailing I was on, in mid March, there was no lines for drinks.