Oasis of the Seas Review
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We sailed on the Oasis of the Seas 7 nights - March 5-12, 2017. We flew into Orlando Airport the night before and made arrangements with the GoPortCanaveral for their Fly/Snooze/Cruise package where they pick you up from the airport, take you to a local hotel, shuttle you to Port Canaveral for the cruise, and shuttle you back to the airport for 1 reasonable fee. We stayed at the LaQuinta which was not updated inside or as clean as it should have been. But it was a safe place to stay and served our needs.
Boarding the ship was easy. The baggage handlers took our luggage when we arrived at the port to take to our rooms. Once inside the port you will stop at one of the 'check-in stations', depending on what floor you have been pre-assigned, and submit the credit card you will use for all charges you incur aboard ship. They'll take your photo for your seapass card purposes. You will use this seapass card for everything on the ship (your stateroom key, boarding, going off the ship for the island stops, purchases, getting into the shows on the ship, etc.) I recommend you take a photo of your seapass card (front & back) when you receive it, just to keep in case you are one of the few who happen to lose it on an island stop. The photo you took of your seapass card may help you get back on board ship, if you happen to lose it.
As soon as you board, take your carry-on to your room and then go have lunch. Free breakfast (until 10:30am), lunch (until 3:30pm) dinner (I believe starts at 5:30pm) is available at the Windjammer Restaurant (Flr 16) or the Park Cafe (Flr 8). Windjammer is buffet style and I recommend as soon as you enter, grab a pre-wrapped silverware/napkin bundle for each of you and look for a spare table..set your silverware down to hold your table, to go find food you want to eat!.....tables fill up fast. Their soups are great and a nice variety of both hot & cold foods, make your own salads, etc. for lunch. The Windjammer is also open for dinner if you do not choose to east at the Dining Room. I recommend eating in the Dining Room (Flr 5, 4, 3) each night for their gourmet food. There are chef recommended specials for each night, as well as standard choices for each day if you don't want to try something new. The Escargot is fantastic. The presentation of the food and quality is great. Lobster Tail dinners are on Thursday night. The Park Cafe (lunch) is make-your-own-salad, pre-made sandwiches, fruit cups and hot roast beef specialty sandwiches with au jus (wonderful)! Also they have fresh bakery items to choose from with 2 choices of soup of the day. The Solarium Cafe (Flr 15) has a healthy choices menu for breakfast (turkey sausage, etc.) Free 24-hr pizza is available on Deck 5 at Sorento's pizza.. I didn't care much for the thin crust pizza ..they only offered cheese/ cheese & pepperoni/ hawaiian. They serve it by the slice. Free mini sandwiches/cookies also are available on Deck 5 at the Promenade Cafe. If you happen to miss breakfast cut-off, or lunch cut-off time, or even dinner cut-off time, you can always get pizza or mini-sandwiches on Deck 5 at either of these two cafes. There are 2 formal nights during the 7 night cruise. You can choose to wear fancy & formal or a regular dress. Some people wear sequins & tuxes...we chose not to dress up fancy but wore dress & dress pants/shirt. The rest of the nights were casual dress in the dining room. The other free restaurants are always casual. There are specialty restaurants located on other floors of the ship where you will be charged for the meals....these are top of the line gourmet food (steaks, Italian, or Izumi Restaurant for sushi specialties. However, the free dining places offered (that is included in your cruise price) are a great choice if you don't want to spend extra money on dining.
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
Upon entering stateroom with Ocean View/balcony, there were 2 single beds pushed together to make 1 double bed. The balcony had a small round table with 2 chairs. Our stateroom also had 1 chair - no couch, and 2 side tables. The room was perfect for 2 people...not too much room to move around. Luggage can be stored under the bed for more open space. Plenty of hangars in closet. Room safe...you set your own 4-digit pin. The room temperature was great....air conditioning shut off when you have your balcony door open. Plenty of hot water, good water pressure in shower. They supplied shampoo and hair dryer. Small room refrigerator was not very cold. A good tip would be to ask room attendant for an ice bucket and fill with ice and keep in the refrigerator to "up the cold factor", if you keep any bottles of soda or water in refrigerator. The TV's about a 35" screen with remote are interactive. You can view your account at any time for charges to your account, watch CNN, or TBS, Cartoons, also channels in French, Spanish, German, etc. Also check for any messages from the cruise lines with specials. The phone in the room is your only clock. It is set to "ship time". Synch your watch with "ship time" if going off to an island stop...some islands are 1 hr difference...so you get back to ship on time (ship time).
Mandatory Gratuities are paid separately from the cruise price. We pre-paid our gratuities before departure ($13.50 each day, per person). These are split between waiters/room attendant. They leave small envelopes in your room if you want to tip 'extra', for above & beyond service to individuals and you can deposit those envelopes in a special mailbox at the Front Desk before you get off the ship at cruise end.
Port Reviews
Port Canaveral (Orlando)
Not too much variety of shopping at the port area.
Nassau
Not very much shopping variety available at the Nassau port shopping area.
St. Maarten
The variety of stores were great. The beach in Phillipsburg was excellent.