one of the best family vacations we ever took!

Oasis of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

kval08648

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Fort Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 07, 2016

Ship: Oasis of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 14709

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This review is for the Oasis of the Seas from May 2016. There were three travelers - mom (me), dad and son (3 1/2 years old).

The ship is huge and amazing! Based on the number of people on the ship, I expected everything to be crowded and to have long lines everywhere... much to my surprise and delight, there were hardly ever any wait times for the things we wanted to do and the only "crowded" places were the promenade and pools on days "at sea"... but even with the crowds you could still navigate around and find seats at one of the pool areas (maybe not your 1st choice seat, but you could find something that worked).

I put a lot of research, planning and budgeting into this trip (both the cruise itself and the various excursion options) and it was all time and money well spent! I read a lot of reviews and blogs before I booked and used the RC Cruise Planner website frequently to book dining reservations, show reservations and activities (DreamWorks character breakfasts, cupcake decorating class, etc.).

This was one of the best vacations we took as a family and I can even say that this was better than the Disney Dream cruise we took last May (2015). We did WAY more on this ship in 2 days than we did during our entire Disney cruise! Granted, the wow factor of the shows/entertainment is better on Disney... but the enjoyability factor is much higher on this ship. You can actually see things and do things without having tons and tons of crowds of people everywhere you turn!

See more detailed review of each category and port below.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Windjammer buffet for breakfast and lunch most days - always easy to find a table and lots of food choices, something for everyone. Johnny Rockets breakfast was good and a nice change of pace from the buffet. Park Café sandwiches for lunch one day were great - the roast beef sandwiches are as good as all the reviews say they are! Sabor - went for the guacamole and was not disappointed! Really, really good! Chops Grille - had a voucher for a free upgrade dinner and chose this place. It was just OK... nothing to rave about but not bad either. American Icon (main dining room) - for my time dining dinners. The food is great and don't be shy about asking for multiple apps or entrees or even desserts! My bf even tried escargot and liked it!!! I loved the dessert soufflés! We had two soda packages and frequently used the Coke machines in Windjammer and the Arcade (24/7) to fill our cups! In the main dining room the servers even gave our son his own soda even tho he techinically didn't have a soda package - that was very thoughtful!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

DreamWorks Experience was great! Lots of opportunities to meet the characters at breakfasts, photo ops, etc. and the parade on the last day was short but awesome!! Zip Lining was excellent! I was terrified but it was pretty cool!!! Ice Skating was a bit crowded but fun for my son's first time on the ice! Carousel was lots of fun - we were on it like 25+ times and never had to wait in line! Cupcake Decorating Class (upcharge) was fun, we all really enjoyed this it was a good change of pace!

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Oasis of Dreams aqua show was great - saw it several times from our balcony. Come Fly With Me was very impressive - almost Cirque de Soleil quality. Frozen in Time ice skating show was entertaining - our son loved it!

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Didn't drop our son off but did go use the open play area (for kids up to 5 years old) a few times and it had tons of toys to play with and we also participated in a family art class, which was fun!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

We had THE BEST staff in the main dining room - Yatin, Menino and all the other servers in our area were EXCELLENT! Very attentive, personable and helpful! Even did magic tricks each night, which our son loved!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The ship is BIG be prepared to do a lot of walking! Lots of reviews complain about the elevators - yes, they are crowded at typical busy times but 9 times out of 10 you don't have to wait more than a minute. Just be patient!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

We enjoyed the Boardwalk Balcony. 90% of the time its not noisy... when the aqua show is going on you will hear it and one night they had a dance party until 11pm on the boardwalk... other than that its just fine. You get to see the aqua theater from your balcony and you can see the ocean too!

Ship tip

Do your research! Read reviews and blogs and use the RC Cruise Planner. Be prepared and have all your reservations and you will have a great time!

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Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

stayed at the Residence Inn (Dania Beach) for one night before the cruise

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Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

5 out of 5

head over to the Columbus Cove beach for soft sand and calm, crystal clear blue water! be prepared for aggressive vendors if you want to buy anything

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Falmouth, Jamaica

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Playa Mia was great - recommend for families with small kids because of the large splash area. Consider booking on your own vs. with RC to have more flexibility.

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Traveler Photos

4 Comments

dmintb 8 years ago

The shows are not extra $. Reservations open up about 90 days before your sail date.

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mztracee 8 years ago

No i haven't. I'm going to look at them on my off day and figure out which ones we will attend

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bennbilly 8 years ago

We're booked for 2017, can hardly wait! Is there a charge for any of the shows? Did you make reservations for your shows before your cruise?

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mztracee 8 years ago

I've done the same things you did with planning this birthday cruise for me. This will be my 1st time on a ship of this size but my 2nd cruise. I was kind of holding off because of some of the reviews but decided to go forward with it. So I'm praying all goes well. So far what I'm reading it sounds like it's going to be a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing

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