Oasis of the Seas Review

Oasis of the Seas is a Gem-outstanding if you are on a gluten-free diet

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Oasis of the Seas
User Avatar
Travlmom59
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: May 2015
Cabin: Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Large Balcony

We travelled with three of our adult children on this trip. I like to call Royal Caribbean directly to book our cruises with their cruise planners. This way I can receive any answers to questions directly from Royal Caribbean instead of going through a travel agent. Booking airfare on our own is often cheaper than going through the cruise line for airfare, but if booked through the cruise line, Royal Caribbean takes cares of rerouting if necessary when airlines change flights. In our case, it worked to our advantage this time when American Airlines changed our early afternoon return flight to an early morning flight which would have been impossible to meet. Royal Caribbean took care of booking us onto a different return flight with a time that worked with the ship's disembarkation schedule.

We have traveled over 90 nights on cruises, 85 of which have been with Royal Caribbean. We always travel to the port of embarkation the day before sailing so that we can arrive at the ship rested and ready to have fun. We have found it easier, and often cheaper, to book our own hotel in the port city and take a hotel shuttle to the ship. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida Comfort Suites Airport and Port has a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. A sign-up sheet is put out on the front desk at 3 pm for a shuttle to the port the next day. Cost is $6 one-way per person to the port in May 2015. We find it is easiest to book transportation to the airport after the cruise through Royal Caribbean.

This was our first sailing on an Oasis class ship and it may spoil us for sailing on smaller ships. It is a huge beautiful ship with many more activities and entertainment/meal venues than smaller ships. Our embarkation went smoothly. Our setsail pass had a printed arrival time of 12:30-3:30, but we arrived at noon to short lines to get onto the ship. Venues were open to sign up for internet, shore excursions, and drink packages but we always sign up for shore excursion and drink packages before cruising to avoid lines. Oasis of the Seas has ship-wide Wi-Fi so keeping in touch with travel companions via text messaging on our phones is easy onboard. So much better than our old method of communicating via walkie-talkie. Internet sign-up must be done on board. My tip is to wait until the first full day to purchase an internet package to save a day's fees. Staterooms opened at 1 pm. The ship had 6400 passengers on our sailing but didn't seem crowded. There were so many places for people to spread out. Our favorite place to relax was the solarium on deck 16.

Cabin Review

Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Large Balcony

Cabin D1

Our cabin was class D1, with a larger balcony. We had three balcony staterooms together so had the cabin steward removed the partitions between the rooms to make one larger balcony where we enjoyed the sail-aways at each port and a relaxing time star-gazing each evening before turning in for the night. As well as a larger balcony, it seemed as if our cabin was a little larger than other balcony cabins. The couch seemed longer with more space on either end of it. The bed was comfortable, but the pillows were a little firm. The bathroom also didn't seem as compact as other ship's balcony room bathrooms.

Port Reviews

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Embarkation was smooth because we arrived early at a point when lines were short. Disembarkation took a very long time. We were delayed an hour getting off the ship due to a delay in customs clearance for the ship. It was very easy to locate our luggage but the the customs lines were long. You could use more customs agents to speed up the process.

Labadee

We spent the day relaxing on the beach and playing in the water. We have been to Labadee before so did not do any shore excursions this trip. Food at lunch is just so-so on the island.

Falmouth

This port seemed safer that Ocho Rios or Montego Bay where we have docked before, but it also made for longer bus rides to shore excursions so we decided not to do any here.

5 Helpful Votes
previous reviewnext review

Find an Oasis of the Seas Cruise from $269

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.