We had a fantastic time aboard Oasis of the Seas. As first time cruisers, we had done our research and read reviews, studied deck plans, planned excursions and other activities ahead of time. We didn't want to go unprepared!
We flew down from NY to Fort Lauderdale early that morning, August 11th, and arrived at the airport around 9:30AM. Royal Caribbean actually provides a transport service from the airport to the terminal that you can sign up for, which costs about $18/person. We were actually told it would be cheaper to take a taxi, which is what we ended up doing. It was a short, easy ride from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport to the pier terminal, and came to $18 total for two people. All we had to do was tell the taxi driver to go to pier 18.
We arrived at the terminal around 10:30AM, and were immediately greeted. They checked in our luggage at the curb, and after walking through security we checked in at the terminal. Since we were there early it was fairly empty, with some of the agents still filing in. We waited in line for a bit, though, even though there was no one in front of us, as the gold members of the Crown and Anchor Society (those who have sailed before on RCCL) who were waiting on the other lines were given preference.