Oasis of the Seas - April 2017

This was my wife's and my 2nd cruise on Royal Caribbean with the 1st being on the Freedom of the Seas.  The ship is huge and there must have been about 5000 guests on board.  We drove to Port Canaveral and stayed overnight at the Radisson at the Port on a 1 night Stay, Eat and Cruise package the night before the cruise and that worked out well.  We were able to leave our car there for the week as part of our package, and a shuttle van took us over to the ship around 10 AM on the day of the cruise.  We were able to board the ship at 11:30 AM so some of the first ones on.  I'd say the hotel deal was just as easy as if we had parked at the dock minus the parking fee. 

The food, service and amenities were outstanding. We did the My Time dining each night, and the food and service were outstanding. We booked our times before we cruised and we were seated at the exact time we were scheduled without any delay.  The buffet, Windjammer, was usually busy although we could get a table even at the busiest times without a problem.  The variety of foods at the buffet was good considering it's made in large quantities.  We at breakfast and lunch in there and we were always able to find something decent to eat. It had lots of fruits, vegetables, meats, and some specialties such as Indian and Chinese food which was very good.  

We also booked out excursions when we booked the cruise.  We were disappointed when 2 out of our 3 were cancelled.  One was cancelled before we left and the other was cancelled when we were on the ship. Not really a big deal but my wife and I poured through and picked out the ones we thought were the best only to have them cancelled.  We had booked them through RC since they were the preferred activities.  I think RC needs to look more closely at the reasons for the cancellations since if we had kids, they would have been really disappointed.  We stopped at Nassau and did the glass bottom boat. It was ok, nothing special.  In St. Thomas we took at shuttle taxi for $4 per person to downtown where the shopping was. After all we heard about the great prices on jewelry, we didn't think anything was a bargain... except the liquor which was really cheap.  In St. Maarten we did the catamaran and snorkeling ride and that was good.  We went to a cove around the corner from the ship where they had a sunken helicopter, small submarine and a small ship. We saw lots of fish and the guide was very friendly and accommodating. We took a brief ride after the snorkeling toward the airport then returned back to the dock. There are some shops very close to the ship where my wife bought a bracelet at a decent price.  The sales woman was wonderful. 

Overall, the cruise was good.  Lots of things to do on it if you like to be active or sit around and relax if that suits you.  It takes some getting acquainted with the ship and how to get from point A to B since it's so large. The show CATS and Come Fly With Me were excellent and we'd recommend them. The ice skating show was also worth the time.  We'd recommend Royal Caribbean and the Oasis of the Seas as a great way to spend a week's vacation. We would also recommend having some backups of your excursions should any of them get cancelled.