We started this cruise by staying at the Hilton Marina across from the cruiseship port the night before. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 11:30 and were in the Hilton pool at 12 pm relaxing and enjoying our vacation. The hotel was great and newly renovated. The pool was terrific and the pool bar/restaurant was great! The food, drinks and service were wonderful. The pina coladas were the best I've ever had! We took a taxi to dinner up the beach and spent $22, after dinner we took the water taxi for $8 and found we could have purchased water taxi "all day" tickets for $7 ea. Live and learn! The balcony off the room overlooked the port (which we found was less desireable than the marina view)and were able to watch the Oasis leave that night and see them arrive the next morning.

The embarkation was a breeze at 1130 am! On the ship in 15 mins, champagne in hand and overwhelmed by the beauty of the ship. We proceeded to he pool and changed into our suits and had the pool to ourselves for atleast 30 mins. Our room was ready at 1 pm.

Our cabin was on the "hump" with an angled cabin on the port side facing the front of the ship on deck 8 (8226, if my memory serves me right). The balcony was HUGE and the room was beautiful. We felt the storage was perfect and very creative, better than any ship we had been on with RC, Norweign, or Carnival. We found out at the end of the cruise that, yet again, we packed too many clothes. People are so right when they say "pack less clothes and bring more money". The bathroom was really nice and was on the larger size for cruiseship standards. The glass doors were a nice touch and the foot bar was great for shaving. The layout of the entire cabin was perfect. Our bed was closest to the bathroom and made it feel like the balcony was an extension of the sitting area. The sliding glass door was also nice. Read more