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My (unbearably long) Review: Oasis 5/14-5/21


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Hi everyone ... sorry I'm a little late, but I thought that I would post my review for my most recent Oasis of the Seas cruise. I'm going to have post in parts due to time constraints and to make sure I cover what I want to, so please bear with me.

 

This will be half-review, half-trip narrative. I'm also going to try to include pictures, so I hope you enjoy.

 

About me

 

I always think that context is important for reviews as two people on the same ship and sailing could have vastly different experiences. With that being said, I'm a graduate student and a very experienced cruiser with most of my cruises coming on Royal Caribbean, though my last two have been on Celebrity (more on that later). This was my first cruise as a D+ cruiser. I cruised with my parents who are also very experienced cruisers though only (small jab in their direction) diamond members.

 

I'll admit that I was one of the very first Noots when that thread started way back when. However, I'm usually not one to refuse to try new things ... I just had to wait until the prices dropped a bit as the premium for Oasis class ships did not seem worth it to me based upon my cruising preferences. In the end, this sailing of the Oasis offered a very, very attractive price after military discount for a Boardwalk balcony and that was enough to get me onboard.

 

I will talk a little about various prices along the way as I think that people are interested in what things cost. Finding travel bargains/discounts is one of my hobbies.

 

Pre-cruise

 

Last year I flew in day-of for a few cruises and, while everything worked without a hitch, that still makes me a nervous wreck. Since this cruise was after the end of my spring semester, I was able to fly into Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise which, for me, is a much much much less stressful trip.

 

We started out too early in the morning and caught a 6:00 AM flight from Indianapolis to Atlanta on Delta. Then, with only a 50 minute layover, we were off to Fort Lauderdale. The flights went very smoothly and everything at that time in the morning was operating on time.

 

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IMG_0441 by cmong, on Flickr

 

Note: Not to shill for Delta or American Express, but if Delta generally has reasonable flights out of your area, you might look into the AMEX Skymiles card. Sure, it is $90 a year for the gold card, but you also get one free checked bag for every person on the reservation. For me and my parents, for example, that was $150 in bag fees waived for this single trip on what was the cheapest roundtrip option when I booked it. I hate bag fees, but I also hate the battle royale that is the current state of air travel when you have a roll aboard and want bin space.

 

After landing in Fort Lauderdale a little after 10:30 AM and collecting our bags, we took a taxi (about $20) to the Westin Beach Resort. I had won this hotel on Priceline for a $90 bid ($108 after taxes and fees). I would normally have gone for a cheaper room around the airport, but I knew we would have all day and instead wanted an area where I was pretty sure there would be things to do within walking distance.

 

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Westin Beach Resort by cmong, on Flickr

 

When we arrived at the Westin, I got in line behind a family trying to check-in early. They, as well, had booked on Priceline, though they were trying to wrangle special accommodations for multiple rooms. The general rule with Priceline, as the customer service rep was trying to politely state, was that you pretty much get what they have, with discount bookings not really getting the benefit of choosing the room type AND getting rooms together AND having a specific view. Thankfully a very nice counter employee (and I feel bad for forgetting his name) motioned me down to his desk and, while the other family was told nothing was available at that moment, managed to go ahead and get me a room with two beds that I could check into immediately.

 

The main benefit of the Westin Beach Resort is its location. Cross the street (very busy, but there is an elevated walk from the hotel) and you are on the beach. Go out to the sidewalk and walk to the left to go to more beach and some historical sites (but little else). To the right are most of the businesses, restaurants, and shops in the area. Most of the beach areas had showers or nozzles to for cleaning off sand or salt water.

 

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The biggest complaint I have about the Westin rooms is the nearly complete lack of privacy for the bathroom. Instead of a "standard" room with a bathroom separated by a door, the bathroom in this room had only a sliding, slatted door. To make matters worse, the main wall of the bathroom facing the room actually had a wooden, slatted window that could be opened. The only guess I have about this design is that, for rooms facing the ocean (as opposed to ours facing the roof next door), there could be an ocean breeze into the bathroom. However, in reality, you just have a bathroom that seems to to be completely a part of the main room ... I was with family, so it didn't really matter, but I'm guessing it would be less than ideal for a romantic get away.

 

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Lack of Privacy by cmong, on Flickr

 

Beyond the room, though, the hotel seemed fine. There was a decent outdoor pool and bar area. I was actually surprised how early it closed ... we were sitting outside having a chat and everything was closed down by 10 PM on a Friday night.

 

The next morning we headed to the hotel's Starbucks for breakfast items (but didn't buy coffee ... Starbucks coffee was available free in the room) and then strolled the beach a bit before getting ready to go to the ship. We arranged a private van with the front desk to take us to the port. It was $25, which I knew would be more than a cab, but it had plenty of room for us and our luggage and a personable driver.

 

At a little before 11, we were ready to head on over to Oasis ....

 

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Touch the water by cmong, on Flickr

5762302489

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Looking forward to your review...I enjoy your insights here on CC about bargains and deals, so I'm sure I'll appreciate your review...I am a frugal New Englander afterall!;) Same here about the waiting on Oasis; we usually sail the 3rd oldest ship as it is often so reasonable:D but the early booking rate on board for Oasis in early Dec was too good to pass up.

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I was on the same Oasis cruise and stayed at the same Westin post cruise. That louvered door in the picture is right next to the bed. Not only was it really close to the bed but the person using the bathroom was illuminated by lighting in a very interesting way.:p We had such a laugh thinking that some poor honeymooners would book this room and really really rethink their future!

 

Also, during our stay there was some sort of faith based marriage encounter seminar at the hotel. You should have heard the fight coming from the room next door! We had to go to the front desk about it. Uggh! The desk clerk rolled his eyes when he found out the couple in that room were part of that group.:rolleyes:

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Great so far' date=' love reading reviews in such detail. Your pics are wonderful. Anyway, when you booked on PL, did you put in the Resort option or 4 or 5 star, to get the Westin as one of the possibilities?

 

Sue[/quote']

 

Hi Sue ... the Westin was a 4-star hotel in the Fort Lauderdal Beach area.

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Check-in

 

Upon arrival, we dropped our bags with a porter and headed into the terminal. The first stop was the security line which was somewhat managed by an employee directing people to the shortest line. Once through that, we entered the check-in room which has been divided so that half of the decks are on the left side of the room and some are on the right side of the room. Slightly different from other embarkation ports is that there was not a single line for suite/C&A priority ... instead, there was several lines depending on the deck.

 

Check-in was itself was fairly standard though, in this terminal, embarkation photos were taken at the counter instead of right before boarding the ship. Checked-in and with SeaPass in hand, we headed towards the escalator and, after a check from the RCI employee, we were directed to the right escalator which seemed to be seats for suite/C&A guests. Other general boading guests were being directed to the left escalator to join boarding groups. It turned out that there was a coast guard drill being conducted this morning, so boarding was to be delayed. The terminal seemed to have plenty of seats. On our side, there were long lines of seats behind signs designating each row for specific levels of C&A membership. We found the D+ line eventually (as no one was there to direct us at first) then sat around waiting for the boarding announcement. There were several announcements in the terminal apologizing for the delay, but at least over in the D+ line, everyone pretty much understood that a delay is the possibility you always face when you try to get onboard as soon as possible.

 

Finally we were allowed to board though we were told to be mindful that the drill was still ongoing. There were two doors for boarding and while most people took the closest one, we went to the furthest for a much shorter line onto the ship.

 

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Boardwalk by cmong, on Flickr

 

Embarkation activities

 

Having read about embarkation feeling a bit crowded, I made the decision to forgo the traditional stop at the Windjammer and instead head to the Park Cafe. In this way, not only did we very quickly get to see one of the neighborhoods I was most looking forward to, but I also really wanted to try out one of those "famous" roast beef sandwiches.

 

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Central Park by cmong, on Flickr

 

It turns out that this was a very good idea. We were one of the first 10 people to arrive at the Park Cafe and by the time I had gotten my sandwiches and chips (actual bagged, branded chips), all of the outside seating was being reserved and the inside was filling up fast. In fact, by the time my parents arrived with their food, the line was out the door and just about every table was either occupied or being reserved. I was slightly worried at this point ... 20 minutes on the ship and I was already in an area overflowing with people with others hovering while I was eating.

 

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Park Cafe by cmong, on Flickr

 

After lunch, it was time to explore the ship. No doubt about it ... the ship is an amazing feat of engineering. All of the neighborhoods were impressive in their own way. The Royal Promenade is much expanded over anything I have ever seen from the Voyager class, but it was crazy crowded as it is also the embarkation area.

 

 

Boardwalk is probably the most visually impressive to me as it boasts a brand new style of area (not found on ship or in land resorts) and also has a view off of the back. I also really enjoyed the entrance with various stages of carved carousel horses.

 

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Boardwalk by cmong, on Flickr

 

Cabins were ready at 1:00 even though we were warned they might be delayed because of the drill.

 

 

Note: We did pop up to see the Windjammer early in the afternoon. This was a mistake. It was so overflowing with people that claustrophobia set in almost immediately. It was seriously a madhouse and I can now completely understand the reason past-Oasis cruisers talk about finding alternative options for dining on embarkation day.

 

The muster drill was fairly typical, though our station was in dining room which had a lot of video screens available for viewing a video. I think the video idea is a very good one as it cut down on the amount of time needed for multiple language directions. We arrived right as the alarm started sounding and found ourselves at the very back of the dining room area without a place to sit. I guess if you want a chair, get there early.

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Great job on the review Chris! Your pictures are great! I would love to do a review, but I probably should have made day by day notes and I didn't so I don't think my review would be very good.

 

It was great to meet you!

 

Michelle & Dan

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SO far so GOOD!

 

LOVE the detailing you give!

 

DO you have any pictures of inside of the port? Were the lines crazy long?

 

 

Are you asking about the terminal in Fort Lauderdale? If so ... sorry, no pictures there. I've been yelled at so many times about taking pictures in the terminal (which is a customs-secured area) that I didn't think about it and am not sure if it is allowed or not.

 

As for the lines in the terminal, they were not bad at all. Probably the biggest bottle-neck were the security lines (as they always are) because they were making people remove belts, etc ... but even then, it was only a few minutes. Once you are in the check-in area, there is a huge amount of counter space and plenty of agents for the process.

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Ports: Labadee

 

Our first stop on this Western Caribbean cruise was RCI's private portion of Haiti. This was about my fourth stop in Labadee, though it was my first visit since the major renovation project and building of the pier. As could be expected, the pier makes this call much more inviting as the tender process is always a choke point, not matter how well it runs.

 

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Oasis in Labadee 3 by cmong, on Flickr

 

I'll very freely admit that I spent little time ashore for this stop. It was an oppressive day ... I'm not sure what the heat and humidity index was, but at least in my opinion, it was not a pleasant outside environment. I walked off the ship, spent a few minutes on land, and then headed back pretty quickly.

 

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Oasis in Labadee 1 by cmong, on Flickr

 

In terms of updates, it is obvious a lot of work has been done to make Labadee more accessible. Of course, in turn, it has also made it a little less "authentic." What I mean by this is that areas that used to be rocky trails now are widened paths, and what were once rugged views of the ship how have walls and railings. Not a huge deal, and obviously a lot of work, but it makes the place have a more "product" feel than it once did. In my very brief time, I also did not see any place that I thought would be a very nice beach. Most of the areas looked rocky and not ideal for wading or swimming. I did not venture into the craft market this time, nor did I partake of the food offerings, so I cannot comment on those items.

 

Bridge Tour

 

On the first sea day (the day before arrival in Labadee), I received a card inviting me to special tours offered to Diamond Plus members. I signed up for all three, and later received separate invitations. The first tour was the bridge tour, which was offered with very little advance notice the very next morning while the ship was docked in Labadee. There were several different "flights" of guests, and I was assigned to the 9:30 one. We met on the forward section of deck 12 (I think) and signed in. When ready, we were escorted into the restricted hallway before the bridge and then wanded by security. After that, we made our way to the bridge and our host (I forget his name but he was an officer's apprentice from Canada) detailed the controls and operations of the ship.

 

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Oasis Bridge by cmong, on Flickr

 

This was a very in-depth overview of controls and functionality that I found fascinating. I was surprised that photos were allowed, though video was forbidden. I hadn't planned on being able to take pictures (I don't believe there was indication one way or another on the invite), but thankfully I had brought my iPhone along just in case.

 

What struck me the most about the bridge of Oasis was the sheer amount of empty space. I guess this demonstrates the power and efficiency of the computer equipment onboard ... basically it only occupied spaces on the wings and in the center.

 

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Empty Oasis Bridge by cmong, on Flickr

 

We were also given the option to sit in in the jump seat and take the "wheel" if we so chose ... not quite the image of a ship's wheel that you might have in your mind.

 

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Oasis wheel by cmong, on Flickr

 

I will say that for the entire visit we were given an amazing amount of information and access, though two security guards were ever present watching the group.

 

Sail-away on the helipad

 

I had read that Oasis offered a nice sail-away celebration on the helipad for Diamond and above C&A members and was somewhat surprised when I received an invitation and my parents did not. As it turned out, at least for this sailing, the celebration was for suite guests and Diamond Plus members only. There was champagne and punch available, but otherwise, the main draw was visiting the helipad as it is not usually accessible on this ship (unlike other RCI ships with helipads). The gathering itself was fairly mundane (especially by myself), though the hotel director (I think) made a speech about the special offering "not available to the masses" and then we were asked to wave our hands in the air to signal the bridge to blow the horn. It was a bit cheesy but fun.

 

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Silentbob007, enjoying your review very much. We are long time diamond plus members too. We are going on the Oasis in Oct. for the first time of this class ship. Curious to hear what

your thoughts are about the Concierge lounge? We always enjoy going in there or a diamond club for drinks before our late seating dinner. Did you have a lot diamond and diamond plus members on board your sailing? We just came off the Navigator transatlantic with over 900 diamond and diamond plus on board. Fairly common for long transatlantic cruises. It was our tenth crossing. Again thanks for your fine review and photos. John

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Slightly different from other embarkation ports is that there was not a single line for suite/C&A priority ... instead, there was several lines depending on the deck.

 

Suite guests actually have their own outside entrance for boarding and their own security check. I had an upgrade to a Grand Suite on the April 30 sailing on the Oasis and from curbside through security and check-in and on to waiting area probably took me five minutes.

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