Oasis of the Seas Review
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We are experienced cruisers- 5+ on RCCL, 3 on Celebrity, 4 on Princess, 3 on Carnival. BE CAREFUL before you choose to book a cruise on this ship. It is not a typical cruise experience, and I would NOT recommend it for newer cruisers! You already know that this ship is big- they say the largest in the world (though its sister ship, the Allure is slightly larger). The overwhelming size brings a few perks but more disadvantages for you as a cruise passenger. It is something to see once, if you do a lot of cruising and want to try something different. But this size ship is overwhelming- in fact so much so, that RCCL decided to make their next class of ships SMALLER. Our cruise had over 6,000 passengers and 2,100 crew- which is great for cruise line revenue, not so much for the people who such a small part of such a larger herd. And the crew said it is always full- they appear to fill it with family and friends of the crew, much like airlines allow their families to sometimes fill unused seats. So don't think you can easily find a "good time" to take a trip on this ship.
Now for specifics- this ship cannot pull into just any port- it is a monster. And many ports don't want it- their infrastructure simply cannot handle 6,000 people plus more from other ships overrunning their little port towns. So RCCL limits the stops on these monster ships, in our case to a beach peninsula on the side of Haiti (which was nicer than it sounds), along with a stop in Jamaica that is at a remote, RCCL built pier at least a 90 minute drive to anything that will set you back $150 cab fare, plus tip. Even the stop in Cozumel dumps passengers 3-4 miles from the cruise port, south of town- though that stop only sets you back $20 RT to town, if you're not doing an excursion. They are taking the Oasis into drydock in England in December 2014- its now five years old- then are going to try mediterranean cruises. Why in the world would somebody book a trip to the mediterranean in anything but a smaller ship? There won't be many good port choices there, though they say a few are being built for them.
Anyhow- a few of the features on this ship are very nice- including the central park, which is very well done, rarely crowded and a pleasant place to relax, even though once in there, you cannot tell that you're out on the ocean. Same goes for the main promenade- it looks like the inside of any suburban shopping mall. It has a Starbucks, which is cool, but that forces you to pay for Starbucks, since they have no to-go coffee cups anywhere else on the ship. The casino and the gym are largest you'll ever find on a ship, as is the pub, the theater and the pool areas. If you're a sunbather, you will appreciate the many different areas and levels where you can always find a deck chair, and this is the first ship I've ever been on where they actually clear off chairs after about 30 minutes, where so many selfish passengers like to throw towels and and a paperback onto 3 or 4 for their whole family at 9am to save them for their one hour trip to the pool after lunch. You can get a pair of deck lounges even on sea days at almost any time. Same with the gym- no problem getting a treadmill or elipitical- though the gym has the nasty habit of endlessly blasting their sales pitches for arthritis creams and the like, loudly over all the overhead speakers throughout the gym while you're trying to get in your zone and workout- even turning up my ipod/iphone music to full volume could not drown that nuisance noise out.
Cabin Review
Do not be afraid to get a room near the elevators- it rarely causes noise since they designed them- two banks of 8, in just two places on this huge ship- to be past the stairs and around a corner from the room deck hallways. You don't want to pick a room way down a hallway, or worse, toward the aft or bow of the ship, you'll constantly be walking halls the length of a football field. There seemed little advantage to going upward when you choose a cabin (i.e., 12th or 14th floor)- except for the pool decks and the buffet, you'll constantly be having to go many floors down to get to where most spend their time. Decks 7 and 9 were obviously the easiest, and actually priced lower- a great value. Forget the suites at the aft of the ship- not the typical quiet, fantails as found on most ships- they overlook a pool that is for cast only, with occasional activities while at sea in which they spend several hours shouting through microphones trying to separate as many people as they can from the rest of the crowd- the belly flop contests almost sounded like spring break in Daytona Beach. Clearly not worth the $$$$$ or so they're charging, unless it doesn't matter to you or you just have to have the extra space and spend a lot of time in your cabin. Most rooms with balconies have a balcony divider that can be open to visit with your group next door- you don't need connecting rooms, I'd think, unless you have very young children. The rooms overlooking the central park or boardwalk are novel, probably better than the lightless inside cabins, but not much- and on our cruise they were asking the same price as an oceanview room, so not a good choice from the looks of it. From our oceanview cabin, we enjoyed views of Cuba and the other islands in the stop- which more often than not docked on the Starboard (vs. Port) side- you never know- this ship navigates as well going backwards as it does forwards.