Royal Caribbean Oasis Of The Seas Cruises Reviews
Thursday 9th Feb 2012
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Oasis Of The Seas Ticks All The Boxes
Oasis of the Seas ticks all the boxes |
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Reviewed By: Rush, Spalding on 28th Feb 2010
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| Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Oasis of the Seas |
Sailed:
January,
2010 |
| Destination:
Caribbean
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Age: 65+ |
| Cabin: Balcony |
Occasion: Birthday |
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Oasis ticks all the boxes
Having been on the Independence of the Seas, and the Voyager before that, I thought Oasis of the Seas was taking the "big ship" theme too far. How wrong can you be? Yes it's a floating resort, but one that should satisfy all cruise passengers however different their tastes. At first glance it looks like a big noisy holiday camp, but there are many quiet spots and elegant places to enjoy. Getting on board with 6,000 passengers was something I was worried about, but we were actually looking for some lunch on board just over ten minutes after walking into the terminal at Fort Lauderdale. I think it's a record for us. With only a week's cruise this is definitely a holiday where the ship is the destination even more than the ports of call. Highlight of course is the much praised Central Park which runs through the centre of the ship. Mature trees and thousands of beautiful plants make this literally an oasis, although I wouldn't care to be in one of the cabins overlooking this or the Boardwalk, another area open to the sky. Our cabin was on the outside, with a balcony overlooking the sea. It's nice to see the sea occasionally on a cruise! The Boardwalk contains Johnny Rocket's (you can get a great breakfast there and be entertained by the waiters) and from here you can enjoy the wake, my favourite view, beyond the fantastic Aqua Theatre. Also on the boardwalk is a traditional carousel, and my favourite piece of art on the ship, an installation showing the different stages in the making of a galloper (the horse on the carousel) from blocks of wood to the finished painted article. Really superb. There's all sorts of hidden art on the Oasis, and you can take an art tour to have it pointed out, including an enormous solid bronze sculpture of a pair of entwined trees in the middle of the Grand Promenade. I had walked past several times without noticing this piece of art, for which the deck had to be specially reinforced because of the weight. All this in the middle of the usual razamatazz makes it really special.
But to get back to what people want to hear, the cabin was as spacious as we expect on a Royal Caribbean ship, and service both cabin and restaurant excellent. On this ship, for the Captain's cocktail party, they have gone one better than the Independence where the Captain descends on a bridge to address the crowd; on the Oasis a huge globe opens and a platform slowly unfolds over our heads. Spectacular. There are plenty of eating places to cater for all tastes so we tended to avoid the enormous Windjammer in favour of the small cafe in Central Park for lunch. The formal restaurant is enormous, overwhelming, but we enjoyed a meal at the Italian restaurant, sitting outside under the stars - Central Park again -with a violinist to help the atmosphere along. There's a nominal surcharge of 15 dollars a head for this, but well worth it, even though they did forget my birthday cake!
The Aqua show and the ice show are just fantastic (we saw the ice show twice). I was a bit disappointed by the production show in the magnificent theatre. The main attraction was Hairspray which we didn't want to see, having already seen it, but the second production show had too much aerial work for my liking, people rising in the air every few minutes, rather than traditional musical theatre. But what wonderful value for money, all this entertainment plus visiting three Caribbean islands for a fleeting glimpse of real life.
The solarium was the only part of the ship which didn't come up to expectation. There was much too much passing traffic, and far too much noise. Compared with the solarium on other ships this wasn't exactly peaceful, plus the fact that the sun loungers in the solarium were the hardest and most uncomfortable I have ever come across.
All in all, splendid value for money and an experience of a lifetime. But don't make them any larger please!
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| Quality of Food |  |
| good quality food, most evenings ate in main restaurant, enormous but well managed. Breakfast in Johnny Rockets and lunch usually in Central Park cafe. | | Entertainment | |
| The aqua show is unique and spectacular, unbelievable, and the ice show terrific. Disappointed in the main production show. Comedians in the comedy venue too American for our liking | | Shore Excursions | n/a |
| | Staff | |
| All the staff were attentive, courteous and helpful | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| The children were certainly enjoying themselves as we could see | | Onboard Activities | |
| | Cabins | |
| | Overall Rating | |
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