What follows is my review of our family's week onboard the Oasis of the Seas from January 15-22, 2011. In the months leading up to our cruise, this board was an invaluable resource that I used to effectively plan and achieve the best value for our time and money. Any time I had a question, a quick search produced the information I needed. My hope is that this review will, in some small way, add to the body of knowledge this site provides to its members and visitors.

Background: My wife and I are in our late 30s with two daughters, 11 and 9. I was fortunate enough to have cruised quite a bit as a child and a teenager and wanted to share the experience with my children, so we tried the Liberty of the Seas in 2009. We had such a great experience that we decided to give it another go on the Oasis of the Seas this year. I think the question on all of our minds was whether the size of the Oasis vs. the Liberty would add or detract from the overall cruise experience. My thoughts on that and more follow.

Embarkation: Since weather can be iffy this time of year in the mid-Atlantic, we chose to fly in the day before and stay at the Embassy Suites on 17th Street (given the traffic at FLL on Saturdays, this proved to be a good choice). We were at the port by about 10:30 and were greeted with no crowds, so we left our bags with a porter, went though security in two minutes, got registered in about 5 minutes, had our pictures taken, and before 11:00 were were resting comfortably in the suites area of the terminal. It was announced that the Oasis had sustained damage to the aft gangway that morning, so they were down to only one point of entry, but after waiting only about 30 minutes before we were called, we walked right on with no drama. It was probably the most painless boarding experience I've ever had in my life, which was welcome after the nightmare cattle herd we went though getting on the Liberty in Miami. I give RCI Fort Lauderdale an A. Read more