First Time Cruisers - Oasis of the Seas - 12/5/15 - Western Caribbean

[Plunkebe]

Hi all. My husband and I are back from our first time ever cruising. We fell in love with it, and booked our next cruise while on board.

We are 40 years old, no children except our 2 precious dogs.

We took a flight into Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday morning. It was tough getting up for that 5:30am flight. Unfortunately, we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale by 9:00am. Long day ahead. We went ahead and put our luggage tags on our luggage while we sat there in the baggage claim of the airport. I had brought tape to make sure the tags wouldn't fall off or get torn off. I'm OCD like that.

The first glimpse of Oasis was awesome. I was so excited. We handed our bags off to a porter who let us know that he accepted tips. We had been prepared, and had cash in hand.

We didn't have to stand around outside for too long. They opened the doors and we separated into 2 lines for security. We encountered our first angry people in this line. The 2 older folks in front of us realized that people in wheelchairs didn't have to stand in the line with us. They, in fact, had their own security line. They began to ask for wheelchairs for themselves. They were told the wheelchairs were outside. This only made them angry. One of them said they would just be in pain and take pain pills. Ugh. Angry folk going on vacation.

Security was a breeze despite my husband having a crescent wrench in his backpack. It was found by security in Nashville when we left that morning, but after an extensive search, they said it was short enough and fine for him to carry. Well, he left it in his bag for port security. The man there had no sense of humor and ignored our telling him which pocket it was in. Whatever.. No biggie. He should learn to smile though. Crescent wrench continued onward to the boat. (I did tell him if he didn't put that in checked luggage on the way home, I was going to hurt him)

We got our Sea Pass cards. I was all giddy. Yay! Then that silly picture of us standing in front of a picture of the ship. We had been travelling since 5am. I can only imagine how bad that picture was.

Then we got to see the HUGE waiting room. Wow! Now, I've never cruised before, but I quickly figured out that they were lining us up for boarding based on class. And me having never cruised, was at the bottom of the line.

Around 11:40, I think, they started boarding the ship. They worked there way back to where we were.

And then it happened. There was a middle section right in front of us where people had been seated only like 15 minutes before they started boarding. The people seated in "no class" thought that it wasn't fair that these people were boarding first, so they started rushing the line. They were told repeatedly that these people were GOLD and we were nothing, so sit down. My husband and I just sat there laughing at people getting crazy about getting in line. We were all going to the same place! Adults going crazy. Oh. Angry Old People made a scene again too. The handicapped thing didn't work, so they became diabetic at that point and was demanding to be let in the line to board. The Royal Caribbean representative just said "Go.. Just go... Go".. I guess they had been harassing her for a while.

They had to call in reinforcements for all the ignorant people who decided to rush the line to get some order restored. And We all made it to the ship. I think people forgot they were on vacation here. It's vacation! First day of vacation!! Have some fun!!

We went to the Park Café for lunch. It was raining outside, so finding a place to sit was difficult. We had to stand there holding our food for a bit until a table opened up.

They came around at like 12:45 to tell us that our cabins were ready. Yippee!! Our cabin was on deck 8, so we were already close by.

We had a balcony cabin on the hump. It was wonderful. The balcony is a very nice size with 2 chairs and a table.

We had requested an egg crate foam thing for the bed which made it very comfy to sleep on. When I first saw the shower, I thought it looked tiny, but using it wasn't an issue at all. The toilet was weirder. It was like an airplane toilet when you flushed it. But oh how I loved that hot water in the shower. Wonderful!! Good water pressure too. No complaints. The room was nice and cool. I actually got cold the first night and requested a blanket.

Our cabin steward was great. He brought ice to our room twice a day. We had purchased a case of bottled water for our room so it was nice having that ice when we needed it. I have no complaints about weird smells or loud neighbors or people leaving their balcony lights on. Those are complaints I had read about on here before we cruised. I could hear my neighbors out on the balcony, but they were just folks enjoying themselves on vacation. How could I complain about that?

The only night we ate in a specialty restaurant was the first night. We ate hibachi at Izumi. We had the most entertaining cook. The food was great too. But there was SO much food.

Unfortunately, on day 2, I hurt my back. Not sure how I could throw out my back sitting in a deck chair reading a book, but I managed it. I wished I had a heating pad, but never thought to pack it. I did take a lot of ibuprofen. I was also more thankful for that really hot water in the shower. My husband would soak a towel in the hot water and lay it on my back and it helped. I ended up going to the spa and getting acupuncture hoping for some relief. It did get better as the week progressed, but it's been a week, and I still have some pain , and probably headed to my chiropractor tomorrow.

We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Windjammer mostly. I see so many people complaining about the food. I thought it was fine. It's a buffet. It's food. It's fine. We ate in the main dining room 2 nights. I loved that the portions were small. Who wants to come back from a cruise and find that you have gained weight from eating too much? Not me.

The shows we saw: Oasis of Dreams, Come Fly With Me... missed the comedy show I had reservations for the second night because of my back. The other shows were good though.

Funniest moment: The purse sale... That was hilarious seeing grown people go crazy for purses on sale. It was insane. I wish I had a video of it.

 

We did go to the casino. We would each take $20 when we would go. There is a strong smoke smell in there. It's not like Vegas where they pump all the oxygen in and the smoke out. But it's not something I couldn't deal with.

 

I LOVE the hand sanitizing everywhere. I work at a hospital, so we do the hand hygiene thing all the time. But man.. They give hospitals a run for their money in diligence in making sure people are washing hands. I think it's a great thing, and I applaud them. I think I will probably be even more diligent myself with hand hygiene than I already was before because of doing it so much on the ship.

 

Complaint: This is my observation and my personal experience. I'm not saying this to start an argument or offend anyone. But jeez. The complainers on the ship. And there were a few we came in contact with. The people who always wanted to tell you "This is my last time with Royal Caribbean"...and every complaint they have. And it was always older folks. Again.. You are on vacation... I'm on vacation. I don't want to hear you complaining on my vacation. I'm enjoying myself.. Go to your room and sulk or something.. Don't trap me in the elevator or in line for guest services and tell me your every problem with the ship.. Find another way to vacation if you are so miserable.

 

Positive: I love that people at the pool are completely comfortable with walking around in swimsuits despite what their body might look like. No one cares. No one is judging. Or if they are, they are very stealth about it. For the first time in years, I wore a swimsuit with no cover up in public. I got in the pool. I got in the hot tub. I enjoyed myself and didn't feel self conscious. People just enjoyed themselves. I had ready so many complaints about the pool and finding chairs. Yes. People save chairs. But there are a lot of chairs. I never had a problem finding a chair. It might not be right in front of the main pool, but I could find a place to sit. In the sun or in the shade. We hung out at the main pool or beach pool. The water was freezing the first few days.

 

Excursions:

We rode the coaster in Haiti. That was fun. We did ziplining in Jamaica. That was scary. They don't tell you that you have to repel twice during the trip. And one of the guides was trying to get me to pay him $20 for nothing. He said he was taking care of me (I'm afraid of heights) and was asking me every time I came near him to give him $20. That was slightly uncomfortable. We didn't do an excursion in Cozumel. We got off the boat for a bit and got some ibuprofen, and then came back on..

 

Final thoughts:

People panic about elevators. Like every one is the last elevator to ever come to that floor. I missed my floor a couple of times when I got trapped in the back. People will cram on an elevator. We took the stairs a lot. But when my back was hurting, it wasn't an option.

 

I loved it. I loved cruising. I loved this ship. There was lots to do. I read some books. We had a relaxing time. We just completely embraced being on vacation. We didn't buy the internet package. So we were completely unplugged for 7 nights. It was great.

 

And we booked another cruise for next year. And I will spend the next 12 months planning it, I guess.

[Clarea]

... The complainers on the ship. And there were a few we came in contact with. The people who always wanted to tell you "This is my last time with Royal Caribbean"...and every complaint they have. And it was always older folks. Again.. You are on vacation...

Some people do seem to lose perspective.

 

Thanks for the review, enjoyed reading the point of view from a first timer.:)

[cincicruisers]

Glad you had a great first cruise. It does become addictive. Thanks for posting your review.

[reallyhooked]

Thanks for making me laugh. Glad you enjoyed your 1st cruise.

[jmf123]

Thank you for the candid review of your first cruise- on the Oasis! It was a pleasure to read about your experience, and I see many cruises in your future! :)

[catr13]

Thanks for your review!! So looking forwards to sailing her next month!!

[spazzyjanet]

Ah, yes- complainers. I still remember happily sitting and playing cards in the card room on one of our first Carnival cruises and listening to a group of older people (also playing cards) complain for 40 minutes straight before finally leaving. My favorite quote from them- "these people (other passengers) just don't get it. They don't know what a good cruise is- they don't know any better.."

[Plunkebe]

I thought it was funny that women came into the Relaxation Room in the spa and started spewing the negative. One lady jumped in with her complaints about people not dressing up enough. Who even cares what other people wear on their vacation? This lady, I guess. It didn't affect any of my meals when someone was wearing shorts to dinner. It still tasted like food. I still ate dessert. The cruise was still fun. Well, it was for those of us embracing vacation and not worried about what others were wearing.

[Plunkebe]

Nah. There were some great people on the cruise, young and old. I think people need to just embrace the vacation. Remember they are on vacation. Maybe the complainers need a break from cruising to get back to that point where they just enjoy it again.

[kennyken14]

That was an awesome review and the best mentality to have while on a cruise or any vacation for that matter. If you go into something looking for a problem you will find it. If you really put into perspective the sheer volume of people they are handling every week cruise ships really are amazing in their overall quality and customer service in my opinion. Are there some ebbs and flows? Sure. But as you said you are on vacation so smile and enjoy the precious little time away from the daily grind

[lauraodonnell86]

LOVED your review!! Sometimes it seems like you can't get away from the negativity on the ship AND on here (Cruise Critic)! Was a breath of fresh air to hear how much you loved it! I cruised for my first time in 2009 and haven't stopped! Hubby and I are going on our first back to back cruise this coming January! I have been planning since we booked it on a cruise last January! Looking forward to it is one of the best parts about the cruise! :o:D

[maryjaden]

Loved reading your positive review. Everyone should have your "vacation" attitude!

[Plunkebe]

LOVED your review!! Sometimes it seems like you can't get away from the negativity on the ship AND on here (Cruise Critic)! Was a breath of fresh air to hear how much you loved it! I cruised for my first time in 2009 and haven't stopped! Hubby and I are going on our first back to back cruise this coming January! I have been planning since we booked it on a cruise last January! Looking forward to it is one of the best parts about the cruise! :o:D

 

Oh my goodness. My husband started talking about doing a back to back cruise probably on day 4. I hope you write a review so I can see how it is. He spent a lot of time in the hot tub talking to people about cruising. I too love knowing that we have a cruise already planned for next December. Usually we come back from a vacation without anything else planned and it's sad. But knowing that I'm about 360 days I will be back on a boat is exciting. Lol.

Okay. We might be sneaking in a shorter cruise in a few months. Not sure either of us can wait 12 months.

[lauraodonnell86]

Oh my goodness. My husband started talking about doing a back to back cruise probably on day 4. I hope you write a review so I can see how it is. He spent a lot of time in the hot tub talking to people about cruising. I too love knowing that we have a cruise already planned for next December. Usually we come back from a vacation without anything else planned and it's sad. But knowing that I'm about 360 days I will be back on a boat is exciting. Lol.

Okay. We might be sneaking in a shorter cruise in a few months. Not sure either of us can wait 12 months.

 

I've never done a review before but I've LOVED reading other's reviews recently so I think I will have to! Maybe I can even figure out how to put up all the fancy pics :) We did a 4 night cruise this last May with family to the Bahamas and it was a great "in between" cruise to hold us over until January! We love hanging out in the hot tub and meeting new people!

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks for the positive review. Sorry to read about your back. What ship did you book for your next one and I bet you won't be able to wait for another year. :)

[Plunkebe]

Thanks for the positive review. Sorry to read about your back. What ship did you book for your next one and I bet you won't be able to wait for another year. :)

 

 

We booked on Harmony on Dec 10. Eastern Caribbean. It truly didn't feel like there were over 5,000 people on that ship.

I've been looking for a shorter cruise to do maybe in July for our anniversary. I've drank the Kool Aid. Im part of the cult now. Haha

[Plunkebe]

I've never done a review before but I've LOVED reading other's reviews recently so I think I will have to! Maybe I can even figure out how to put up all the fancy pics :) We did a 4 night cruise this last May with family to the Bahamas and it was a great "in between" cruise to hold us over until January! We love hanging out in the hot tub and meeting new people!

 

 

I too enjoyed reading other reviews. I wanted to make sure I didn't offend anyone or start any arguments. That seems to happen on here sometimes if someone takes something the wrong way. I tried to carefully plan my words.

We didn't buy the Internet package so I forgot to carry my phone most of the time. So we don't have tons of pictures. I think I need to get an actual camera before the next one. Oh wait. I will post one picture. This was us in Labadee. I had a huge smile despite injured back. Haha. [ATTACH]371154[/ATTACH

[lauraodonnell86]

I too enjoyed reading other reviews. I wanted to make sure I didn't offend anyone or start any arguments. That seems to happen on here sometimes if someone takes something the wrong way. I tried to carefully plan my words.

We didn't buy the Internet package so I forgot to carry my phone most of the time. So we don't have tons of pictures. I think I need to get an actual camera before the next one. Oh wait. I will post one picture. This was us in Labadee. I had a huge smile despite injured back. Haha. [ATTACH]371154[/ATTACH

 

Such a cute pic of you guys! I have a soft spot in my heart for Haiti because I sponsor a little boy there and have gone on 2 missions trips there. I wish we could visit Labadee although I'm sure it's much different than what I've seen of Haiti! We are in the teens of our countdown today - 19! Woo-hoo!

[Deanman]

I love your writing style! This was a very fun review to read!

[bradleyk]

I loved your review and your attitude! I wish I found more people like you on our next cruise

[lmares1968]

Thanks for your review!! So looking forwards to sailing her next month!!

 

We'll be on the same sailing! I have two more weeks of work before vacation starts and I have checked out mentally. My mind is already on vacation.:D

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Keith

[birdlord]

Hi, We were on this cruise too! Also in our 40s with no kids except 2 darling doggies. Would have loved to meet you! Glad you had a nice time. We were good about tuning out any negative. Instead, I made it a point to take sound bites from others and store them away for future use. One favorite was, "Shhh....Howard [or whatever name] you don't have to be the floor show." Little things like that keep a smile on my face for the rest of the day. I think our week was a good week. I honestly didn't hear much complaining except for people who didn't want to do a lot of walking.

[birdlord]

We booked on Harmony on Dec 10. Eastern Caribbean. It truly didn't feel like there were over 5,000 people on that ship.

I've been looking for a shorter cruise to do maybe in July for our anniversary. I've drank the Kool Aid. Im part of the cult now. Haha

 

And now this is way too much coincidence - we are the same sailing for next year, too!

[ALSEAU]

Ah, yes- complainers. I still remember happily sitting and playing cards in the card room on one of our first Carnival cruises and listening to a group of older people (also playing cards) complain for 40 minutes straight before finally leaving. My favorite quote from them- "these people (other passengers) just don't get it. They don't know what a good cruise is- they don't know any better.."

 

Moral of the story: Old people shouldn't cruise.

 

Since I consider myself now one of those older people (73 Yrs) I feel compelled to shine some wisdom on you young whipper snappers.

 

When my wife dragged me on our first 4 days cruise I was convinced it was going to be boring. We were in our 40's. This was one time in my life that I was wrong. We enjoyed it some much we invited another couple to go with us on our nest cruise.

 

Different ship an embarkation point. Secretly DW and I complained about this experience having some shortcomings from our first cruise. On the bright side there were some things better. At the end of the cruise our companions said that was their best vacation ever.

 

So we both booked another cruise and invited another couple to join us. Another different ship and embarkation point. This cruise also had some differences. Now that we had experiences cruisers with us we had someone to share our complaints with. After our 3rd day of making comparisons and complaining our new cruisers looked at us in astonishments and practically yelled "what are you complaining about this is our best vacation ever".

 

The moral of this story is that even though cruises are mostly the same there are differences. A cruise experience is even different doing the same ship and itinerary. From year to year the major cruise lines have been evolving and trying to find ways to live within an affordable budget. Service has declined and food quality and quantity have taken a hit. Stateroom attendant have to clean more rooms and assistant waiters take care of more tables. MDR evening menus have fewer choices and meals are served in smaller portions. If you need more you only have to ask and they are happy to accommodate. The point being that one thing constant in the cruise industry is change. What at one time was considered a mega ship is now described as a mid-size ship.

 

Our major complaints now is rude people and children running wild on a ship. This is one thing that hasn't changed over the years. After over 45 cruises there have obviously been some frustrating moments but nothing of a game changer nature to create a turn off from cruising.

 

There are things I miss. MDR had free coke. When many of the dishes served in the specialty restaurants were on the MDR menu at least one night. MDR had dress up theme nights (western, 50's & 60's) Waiters changed outfits for Italy or Greece or American nights. When on formal night 75 % of the men wore Tux and all the women were in evening gowns. Flaming Cherries Jubilee and sparkling Bake Alaska. (Thank goodness for new smart fire prevention policies).

 

What I don't miss is smoking in the MDR and other public rooms on board the ships. Even on small ships having difficulty navigating to get to fore and aft.