WOW!!! What a difference! Trip Report - Oasis of the Seas 6/6

Trip review 6/6 – 6/13 sailing on the Oasis of the Seas (this is my first trip review). First a little background of the group. The group consisted of four, my mom, sister, partner, and myself. This is my mom’s second cruise, my sister’s third cruise, and for my partner and I this is our 3rd cruise in 10 months…by January we will have been on 4 cruises during the course of a year. I think over all this is my 10th cruise. This is the second cruise with Royal Caribbean for my partner and me. Our first cruise with Royal was on Allure of the Seas in September 2014. We left that sailing kind of feeling indifferent about going on Royal again but we decided to give it another try. All I can say is WOW!! What a difference 10 months can make. It was like we were sailing with a completely different company. We had an amazing time! I cannot wait for the Oasis of the Seas to be home ported in Port Canaveral.

My partner and I live in Orlando so we drove down the day of to get to the port. It takes a little over three hours to get to the port but first we had to drop our dog Walter off at the Canine County Club in Orlando. If you live in Orlando I would highly recommend this facility. It is a cage free facility and they have great out door facilities. They also have webcams so you can check on your pets while you are away.

A few days before the trip I received an email from Royal Caribbean saying that we should get there around 2pm based on the floor that our cabin is on…I ignored that email. After parking our car at park’n go we arrived at the port around 11:45am.

Once we got to the terminal we got our sea pass cards and walked right on the ship. Now that we were on the ship it was time to check the items off my to-do list. This included making reservations at Chop’s, Sabor, Izumi Hibachi, and Giovanni’s Table. Looking into reserving a cabana, and changing a massage appointment that I had pre purchased.

I was able to get the dinning reservations at the times that I wanted with no problem. However, on this sailing they were not offering the bogo at Chop’s on the first night or half off on formal nights. They were only offering 25% off on the first night. I talked to an officer and they extended the discount to Giovanni’s Table. However, no discount was received for the ala cart places, Sabor and Izumi.

When I talked to the shore excursions desk all of the cabanas were booked. I asked to be placed on a waiting list. In the end we did not get a cabana.

I had pre-booked a couples massage for my partner and me for the third day but it was at a weird time so I wanted to change the time. I ended up changing it to the first day so I could take advantage of the day one special which was an extra 25 minutes.

After all of the to-do list items were completed I had decided that the best place to eat lunch on day one could be Solarium Bistro. The Solarium was an excellent choice. It was not busy at all. I did not want to start my vacation by fighting the crowds at Park Café.

It was then to time enjoy our first cruise ship drinks. We all had the premium package on this sailing so I wanted to make sure that we took full advantage. Our first drinks were margaritas from the bar at the boardwalk.

We walked around and explored the ship the rest of the day. My sister rode the zip line on day one. I never found the time to compete this activity.

We made our way back to the boardwalk for the sail away party.

After sail away it was time for our couple’s massage that was at 6pm on day one. This time worked for us because we didn’t have dinner till 8pm. Remember I received 25 free minutes for changing my booking to day one. This was a great value because we were only paying for the 60 minute rate. I would never pay an extra $100 for an extra 25 minutes.

Dinner that night was at Chop’s. The food we had was great and we ended that meal with a birthday celebration. It was my partner’s birthday a few days before we left on this cruise….and my mom’s birthday is later in the month.

We did not have any shows booked for day one. Overall we had a great first day with lots of WOW moments. Day two would be a day at sea.

Looking forward to hearing about the other speciality restaurants!

Awesome review so far, I love when people have a blast on their cruise.

Looking forward to hearing more.

I like the trip report so far. From your headline I'm interested in how this was different than previous RCL cruises? Better than before?

You guys are so cute- love your central park selfie! Glad you had a great time. Looking forward to more.

We woke up to cloudy skys and eventually it would end up raining. Overall this cruise had the worst weather out of any cruise I have ever been on. We had two days of rain, two days of sun, and the rest of the days were mostly cloudy. Even though the weather was so bad we still had a great time.

We started our day with breakfast at Park Café…we get up early normally by 6:00 so this is one of the few options open for early risers. I though my breakfast sandwich was good but it could have been warmer.

Today the crown and anchor reception was planned and the sexiest man contest was scheduled. Both of these activities were rescheduled to later in the cruise due to the rain.

We ended up playing a few games of trivia, ate lunch in the MDR, searched around for a few small wonders, and spent some time playing slots. I think we spend maybe $20.

The lunch in the MDR was good…I had the hamburger, my mom had the tutti salad, sister had chicken, and my partner had the enchilada…..I think next to this item it needs to say ONE enchilada…I don’t understand why they just don’t put two or three on the plate.

After lunch my sister and I went ice skating. I think the actual process of waiting in line and then getting the skates was longer than we actually skated for. I think we were maybe on the ice for 15 minutes. Ice skating is much more difficult that I remember it being when I was a kid. However, I’m glad we did it…we skated on the largest ship in the world in the middle of the ocean!

Around 3pm the rain stopped and we spent some time in the solarium for a little bit. After our time relaxing in the solarium we came inside and rode the rising tide bar. The operator let me press the start button on our ride up from the promenade.

Dinner tonight was at Giovanni’s Table. Again it was another great meal at a specialty restaurant. I had the filet. In my opinion the filet here is much better than the filet at Chop’s. I know the specialty restaurants have an up charge and some people refuse to pay it…but for me I will gladly pay the charge to get excellent food and service. At the end of this trip we decided that on our next cruise we will probably just eat at specialty restaurants every night.

We had Cat’s scheduled today but we ended up not going. Overall day two was another great success. So far this trip has been much better than our time on Allure of the Seas. We were greeted with a very clean stateroom, on Allure this was not the case. Encountered friendly staff, and found that there were numerous activities to do. At this point we are really enjoying our time on Oasis of the Seas…there is a clear difference between this trip and our trip just 10 months ago.

What were some of the specific challenges on Allure v. Oasis? You mentioned your stateroom cleanliness, and a BOGO offer at Chops, but what else?

We were on Oasis in 2013 and it was so amazing that we booked Allure with friends for next April. Would LOVE to hear your experience, and how the ship offerings differed specifically??

Subscribing as I'd love to hear more. Sounds like a great cruise so far despite the rain.

We will be on this in August. I'm very excited! It will be our first Royal Caribbean cruise and we are hoping it lives up to the hype. I am looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm wondering if we should cancel our reservations at Chops...

We will be on this in August. I'm very excited! It will be our first Royal Caribbean cruise and we are hoping it lives up to the hype. I am looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm wondering if we should cancel our reservations at Chops...

I would not cancel it....I still enjoyed Chops it was just not my favorite. We all said that our favorite place was Izumi Hibachi followed by Giovannis. Izumi Habachi only has 3 tables...seating for 24 total in the dining room. If you want to eat there make sure you make that reservation as soon as you get on board. They must have a waiting list because they called the morning of the reservation to confirm that we would be there.

Great review!

Great review so far!!

Thank you for sharing! Can't wait to read more.

This morning we was our first port of call, Labadee! We woke up to sunny skies so it was a great start to a beach day. This morning we had breakfast at Wipeout Café. Wipeout Café is the only place on the ship that has made to order omelets. These omelets and the other food items were hot and fresh…I think I had three omelets here during the course of the week. I love a good omelet!

After breakfast the welcome parade was happening!

My original plan for Labadee was that I wanted to get a cabana. Well that did not happen so instead we made our way to Columbus Cove. We got off the ship fairly early and the trams on the island were still getting out supplies so they were not available to passengers. We ended up walking from the ship to Columbus Cove…I would say it was maybe a 10 – 15 minute walk at a slow pace. If you have ever been to Disney’s Private Island, Castaway Cay, things are much closer together here. We are used to walking long distances at Castaway Cay so this walk was not nearly as bad.

After I found our perfect spot, under some palm trees to provide shade, I had the attendant setup four chairs for me. I tipped him $20. I also got a mat for $18 at this time so I could float around in the water. The water was a little cool but felt comfortable. We all had a few labadoozie’s while we were at the beach…in my opinion the labadoozie is one of the best frozen drinks that Royal Caribbean makes.

While we were at the beach we were greeted by a local dog.

At 11:30 lunch was setup and we ate as soon as the line opened to avoid any wait. The lunch here consisted of hotdogs, hamburgers, ribs, and fish, there were a few cold salads, and dessert items. Overall the lunch was good and I enjoyed it. By the time we finished eating there was a line of people waiting for food. Just a note Labadde is a port in Haiti that is secured by a large fence. At lunch you could see local residents from Hatti on the mountain with paper plates trying to get the attention of the passengers so they could try to get food from the passengers. I personally did not like seeing this…however I did not notice anyone giving the local residents food.

After lunch the beach at Columbus Cove was getting busy and we were done laying around so we made our way to the Dragon’s Tail coaster at Adrenaline Beach. We signed the waivers and paid for two cars as we rode two people per car. I think the price was $25.00 per car for two. We got our wrist bands and found a beach chair to put our items and made our way to the coaster. After a short wait in line for the coaster we were on the coaster. The coaster takes you all the way up to where the zip line loads and then you are off. The coaster provides great views of Labadee and I would probably do it again. The passenger is in complete control of the speed of the car on this type of coaster so you can go as fast or slow as you feel comfortable. I wish you could do it at least twice for $25 but that is not the case.

We headed back to the ship around 2:00 and the line for food was still very long at Adrenaline beach. In the end I am kind of glad that we did not get a cabana because I would have felt obligated to stay at the cabana till it was time for the ship to leave. It was very hot at this point in the day and I just wanted to be near some AC.

We spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool. It was a great afternoon at the pool since most of the passengers were off of the ship.

Tonight we had reservations for the aqua show and dining in the main dining room. In my opinion the main key to enjoying an Oasis class ship is RESERVATIONS!! If you do not do any pre-planning and not make any reservations you will be waiting in lots of lines. I hate waiting in line and think it could get frustrating to wait in multiple lines while on vacation…so do yourself a favor and make reservations in the online cruise planner.

The aqua show was great…it had lots of WOW moments. I think the show is slightly different than what we saw on the Allure of the Seas. Everyone in the group enjoyed the show.

After the show we went to the American Icon dining room. My time dining is the American Icon dining room. Once checking in we did not have to wait at all. The dining rooms all look great after the dry dock...they have a much more modern look to them. I found the wait staff to be a little slow and unorganized but the food was good. I had the lasagna…I highly recommend it.

After dinner we walked around for a little stroll and then headed to bed.

Our next day will be spent in Jamaica.

This is completely off topic, but I checked out your kennel in Orlando and all I can say is WOW! Wish we had something like this up in New Jersey for my girl. I guess since we don't have great weather all year round, the outside and pool areas would not get used as much and they'd need to have more indoor space for the bad months.

Loving your review.

This is completely off topic, but I checked out your kennel in Orlando and all I can say is WOW! Wish we had something like this up in New Jersey for my girl. I guess since we don't have great weather all year round, the outside and pool areas would not get used as much and they'd need to have more indoor space for the bad months.

 

Loving your review.

Thank you....it is a great facility. Our dog loves it there. Lots of coworkers take there dogs there while on vacation. I made the reservation a month in advance and was told that I got the last room.

This is completely off topic, but I checked out your kennel in Orlando and all I can say is WOW! Wish we had something like this up in New Jersey for my girl. I guess since we don't have great weather all year round, the outside and pool areas would not get used as much and they'd need to have more indoor space for the bad months.

 

Loving your review.

Janet - I live in NJ and we use Camp Bow Wow in Cherry Hill which has never really disappointed us. They are a franchise so there may be on in your neck of the woods? There's also a more local doggie day camp/boarding place even closer to us now, but I hesitate to change up what I already know, although I do have some time to check it out in person.

Today we woke up and had breakfast in the main dining room…I had an omelet it was good, but not nearly as good as the omelets that are made to order at Wipeout Café. We pulled up to the port around 10:30am. This port is one of the nicest ports I have ever been to the Caribbean. Apparently the port was built in partnership with Jamaica and Royal Caribbean in 2009. The port is very clean and has been very well maintained.

For today I had setup a private tour with a company called Travel around Jamaica Tours. I had arranged a private tour to take us to Columbus Cove, and to Ocho Rios to tour the Coyaba River Garden and Museum. The driver was waiting for us when we got off the ship and we were on our way. The car was safe/clean and drinks were provided. The driver did a great job of getting us to our locations and the garden was very nice once we arrived. The guide at the garden was very informative about all of the plants and flowers.

The garden had multiple tropical plants and birds.

My only complaint about this activity has nothing to do with the activity itself but the amount of time it took to get there. I wish I would have done research regarding the distance to Ocho Rios from the port…I think it took about 1.5 hours each way. If I would have done this research I probably would have tried to find activities in Montego Bay to be closer to the ship. A lot of the ship excursions are in Ocho Rios so if you sign up for them be prepared to spend some time in a bus getting to your excursion.

Once we finally got back to the port around 3pm we had some nachos at Margaritaville…they were excellent! We ended our time in port by shopping for some Hearts on Fire diamonds. My mom has been wanting a pair of these earrings for some time. This seemed like a good time to buy them since they were tax and duty free…she also received a discount of about $500 off the retail price.

After we got back on the ship I ended up taking a nap and my sister ended up climbing the rock wall.

We had reservations tonight at Sabor. We started our meal with the table side guacamole and the margaritas. The table side guacamole was excellent! My plan here was that we would all get the tasting menu; however, due to still being a little full from our afternoon snack at Margaritaville we just ordered items off of the menu. All of the food was very good but to be honest I like the style of the Mexican food at Rita’s Cantina better. On Allure of the Seas we went to the Fiesta at Rita’s Cantina and LOVED it. I love Mexican/tex-mex food we go to a place here in Orlando every Friday. The food at Sabor is a little bit more refined than your average Mexican/tex-mex restaurant. However, the food was great…it just wasn’t my favorite. The food here is also very inexpensive.

After dinner we went to the love and marriage show and then went to bed.

At the end of day four we are still loving our time on the Oasis of the Seas and we started talking about what our next trip with Royal Caribbean would be. Last year around day four I was ready to get off the ship and wasn’t sure I would sail with Royal Caribbean again. Last year’s trip just wasn’t living up to the standards that we had come to expect while cruising. Again the majority of our cruises have been with Disney Cruise Line.

Our next day would be a day at sea!

I hope everyone is enjoying the trip report.

Loving your review, thanks for taking the time

thanks great review so far. we are going on the Oasis in January and it is fun to read all about it

thanks great review so far. we are going on the Oasis in January and it is fun to read all about it

Glad you are enjoying the review.

What were some of the specific challenges on Allure v. Oasis? You mentioned your stateroom cleanliness, and a BOGO offer at Chops, but what else?

 

We were on Oasis in 2013 and it was so amazing that we booked Allure with friends for next April. Would LOVE to hear your experience, and how the ship offerings differed specifically??

On that note, you might have to do some reading. I've been on Allure twice, and looking forward to Oasis next year. Oasis has undergone changes making the comparison a little different, but Allure just underwent changes too. Have to keep reading cruise critic. Not sure if I will go on Harmony before returning to Allure. 2018 will tell.

Thank you so much for posting your review! DD & I will be sailing on Oasis next April. Love your pictures!

Oasis looks like an amazing ship! Looking forward to reading more. :D