You’ll see it long before you get to the pier, and except for the cluster of funnels on the stern, it won’t look like a ship—more like a high-rise office building lying on it’s side. But it’s only partly an illusion; the Oasis Of The Seas bears about as much resemblance to a ship as does the Jolly Green Giant to your uncle Milton. With sister ships Allure Of The Seas and Harmony Of The Seas, the Oasis can lay claim to being one of the three biggest cruise ships in existence. Our cruise on the Oasis in February 2017 was eye-opening in a lot of ways. Here are just a few.

EMBARKATION: Getting on (and off) the Oasis is no problem; the ship has an entire boarding facility serving it and the lines move pretty quickly. The ship however lives at Port Canaveral, so if you're not driving there you'll probably fly to Orlando and take a van to the ship. Not a problem but the van ride is $75 for each person (round trip) and the waiting at the Orlando airport can be tedious. We flew in in the morning and boarded the ship that afternoon but it would have been better to have flown in the day before.

COST: Cruising on the Oasis is not cheap. The Oasis, along with the Allure and the Harmony, are considered by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) to be a “premium” ship and is priced accordingly. Expect to pay one-third to one-half again as much, if not more, for a ticket on the Oasis as you would for the exact same cruise on one of RCCL’s smaller ships. And that holds true for drinks as well as in the restaurants NOT included in your ticket price. One drink anywhere on the ship’s two dozen or so bars will set you back $8, $9 or more, and with tip (tips can be paid in advance but we found early on that adding a $1 tip on the first drink guarantees prompt service later on) drinking can become spendy in a hurry. Read more