Warning! This is a long review! Being a 7 day cruise, it needs to be! As this was my 10th cruise, with 8 of those being on RCCL ships, I am familiar with the brand and have enjoyed each cruise. It was with high expectations to be sailing on the current biggest ship in the world. My wife and I with 9 other guests took the Valentine cruise onthe Oasis out of Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived the night before and stayed at the Ramada hotel near the port, not the best of hotels, but I must say the bed was heavenly! It was perfect timing for us New Yorkers to go, the weather was -5 below and we got a massive snow storm with over 2 feet of accumulation in one day. The shuttle to the port was nice and driving up to the massive ship was exciting, the luggage drop off was smooth and we were through check in and security in less than 30 minutes. It's always the best moment for me to step onto a cruise ship for the first time. Like a kid on Christmas day, I am in awe with the spectacle of these amazing " cities on water ", with my first impression being a view of the promenade deck and the fountain under the Rising Tide bar. As you can tell, I have a lot of pluses for my review, unlike some of the reviews I read before booking this ship.

My wife and I like to check our room out first and then explore the rest of the ship. We met our steward on deck 7, our balcony room, facing the ocean. Oneal Orr was our room attendant and he was very gracious and personable. Our room was spotless and very comfortable ( for a cruise ship, of course ) and the bed was excellent. You could tell right away that Oasis was different than any other ship. The design architecture is unique and contemporary, accentuating form and function. I liked the layout of the room but you may find it difficult to store your belongings, like dirty clothes, as they do not have much shelving space. As my wife would say, "they haven't figured out how to make use of the space they have". I can't say much more about the room, if you've been on a cruise ship, you know exactly what your getting into, it's not the Ritz Carlton unless you step up to the royal suites. So, on with the ship.

Next stop was lunch, you know, gotta get your monies worth right..lol.. So off to the windjammer on 15. My wife and I are avid stair users so don't expect much input on the elevators. The few times I used them was due to tearing my calve muscle in the gym on one of the cruise days. Elevators were unpredictable at times but did the job when you had to go from dinner on deck 3 to the decks on 16-17. I never had a problem with the windjammer, my wife and mother on the other hand were never fond of going there. Trying to find tables to sit at, especially with over 6,000 passengers is not a good time. Also, it usually means dealing with people who act like they won't see food till they get back home a week later! I didn't experience too much bumper car interaction there this time. The ship has decided to preseat guests now, with a line to accommodate the 6k+ people on board. Now that the ship has 20 different places to eat, I find the windjammer my last resort place to get food, only because the ambience in the other locations is more appealing. The food is plentiful and varied, but when my feet stick to the floor trying to get around, that turns me off, and other more frequented areas are dirty, It loses that desirabilty factor. Hint to staff, clean the floor, you have too many careless people spilling God knows what. Read more