This was our 5th Royal Caribbean Cruise and first on the Oasis Class (previous Adventure of the Seas (twice), Serenade of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas). We had been hesitant to go on this ship but our son (18) and our friend's daughter (17) we cruise with talked us into it. We were hesitant because of the limited itinerary (4 days at sea) and the size of ship/number of passengers, but we were won over pretty quickly.
All of our other cruises have been out of San Juan and this was from Ft. Lauderdale. While the pre-stays in San Juan may have been a little better this was great as well. We stayed at the AQUA Hotel and had a great time. I wrote a detailed review on that piece on trip advisor and will focus on the actual cruise on this review. The Embarkation process in Ft. Lauderdale was excellent. We were staying in a Junior Suite (and are Platinum C&A members) and our friends were in a balcony room and only Gold on C&A. When we arrived at the port we explained that we were traveling with friends and they let them come with us to the suite areas for entering the terminal and waiting (which by the way is preferred and better than the C&A levels - at least most of them) as an FYI. I have heard that they allow the same number of guests to go with a suite guest (we were 3 people and our friends were 3) and while we met that criteria, we didn't ask to confirm what they threshold is for that accommodation.
We arrived at the port at 10:15 and were walking on the ship at 1059am!! Were one of the first on the ship and went right to the pool deck after we got on. Very quiet at first as always, we got our spots/chairs and then took turns dining in the Solarium Café/Bistro which is very good (on the healthier side) and much more than other Solariums on our other RC Cruises. Bar service was open right away when we got on and our rooms were ready by 1pm which was the "promised" time. We spent the afternoon by the pools and explored the ship which was very big and impressive but as mentioned in many other posts we never felt overwhelmed other than a few mornings in the Windjammer.
Cabin was excellent - well located, very spacious and slightly oversized balcony
Excellent day at Mr. Sanchos'
No excursion in FLL
A LOT of Fun! Must do activity - worth the $$
Definitely use Ocho Rios Excursions and the Rose Hall Hilton is excellent!