Best Cruise Yet!
Oasis of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 59
7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 22, 2017
Ship: Oasis of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9534
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
We will definitely be sailing on Oasis again in the future. Other than our issues with the photo CD we ordered, we didn't have a single problem. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and cannot wait to get back on Oasis.Embarkation
Embarkation was a breeze. I am pretty sure this was the fastest we've gotten on a ship ever. We had our 18 month old with us so we decided to air on the side of caution and park in the cruise terminal parking garage so we didn't have to fuss with shuttles and all that nonsense. From the time we parked our car, to the time we set foot on the ship, it was MAYBE thirty minutes. It was super quick and easy!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Prior to setting sail I read A LOT of reviews on the ship. The majority of them were decent, but there were an overwhelming number of people complaining about the food. I never had an issue with the food. The food in the main dining room was stellar. Not once did I ever leave dinner feeling unsatisfied or like it could have been better. The food in the Windjammer was just as I would expect for the Windjammer. It's a buffet, not a five star restaurant. There was always a good variety of things to try and it never took us too long to find a table. Definitely go early though! If you wait too long, you'll end up in line for a bit. Sabor, the Mexican restaurant was amazing! The hot dog place on the Boardwalk was great too!
Onboard Activities
My sister and husband loved the rock climbing walls. We didn't use the fitness center but my husband did utilize the running track and was pleased with it. The reason for only four stars - the pool situation. As a mother of an 18 month old who LOVES the water, it was a little disappointing to be confined to one TINY area on the boat. I understand their concern with the swim diapers being unsanitary...but come on...we all know kids and even some adults are going to pee in the other pools...why not give the littler kids a bigger area to swim and play. My son still had a blast in the tiny little area he had, but it would have been a little better not being stuck to that one area.
Entertainment
I didn't see Cats but my friend that went didn't love it. I did see the ice show and loved it. My 18 month old loved it too. We had a blast at the Oktoberfest themed party at the Irish Pub on board. It was a blast. My group also went to the night club (Blaze?) after the Oktoberfest party. It took a bit to get people warmed up to the dance floor but eventually people got out there and it was a good time.
Children's Programs
I loved that we had the option to take our son to a safe place if we chose to use the service. My friend that sailed with us used the service and loved it. We personally didn't use the daycare portion of the kid entertainment but they did have an area for "free play" where I could go in a sit with him as he played. It was a nice option to have him burn off some energy.
Service and Staff
The service we received on this ship was unlike any other service we've had. Every single person went out of their way for whatever we needed. Our dining staff, Catherine, Nomer and Dymitro were literally the best cruise waiters we've ever had. By the second day my son was in love with our head waitress Catherine and wanted her to hold him and give him all of her attention. She'd take him out of his high chair and walk around with him and show him off to other tables. Nomer and Dymitro had milk, fruit and a high chair waiting for us by the second or third night and always got my son's food out first since he'd get rowdy waiting for it. If I could just take them from ship to ship with me, I'd be in Heaven.
Ship Quality
For the number of people coming and going, the ship was always super clean and we never really had any issues. Of course I always just quickly wiped down the high chairs and tables where my son sat as a force of habit but we never had any cleanliness issues.
Cabin / Stateroom
We all know that cruise cabins are small...it's just something to be expected. In my room there was me and my husband, my sister who slept in the upper berth, and my son who slept in a pack n play. While I wish we had more room, we definitely made it work. Our cabin stewardess was great. She kept everything in order and even the few times we left our pajamas or random items laying on our bed, she would fold them and leave them in an orderly fashion on the bed or night stand. She ALWAYS folded my son's blankets in his pack n play and ALWAYS set his stuffed fox that we brought somewhere new in the room so we'd come in at night and find "Mr. Fox" waiting for us in a new place and a new towel animal.
Ports of call
Port Canaveral is always pretty. We didn't do an excursion but the area is always enjoyable and easy to get around.
Thumbs Up
6
My husband and I have been to Nassau numerous times before. I don't love going through the straw market but if you like shopping for little nick nacks to take home, then definitely don't pass it up. The only thing I really look forward to in Nassau is Senior Frogs.
Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)
This stop reminded me a lot of CocoCay. It was very relaxing but still a ton of stuff to do. You felt like you were somewhere exotic, without having to get too far into the "real life" of the country. Next time we'll definitely get the floating mats and take the relaxation to the next level. My favorite thing is that the cruiseline photographers will wade out into the water and get pictures of you or bring you drinks.
This stop wasn't my favorite, but with that being said, we didn't do anything here. We walked around in the front portion where all the shops and very few places to eat were and that was it. There were so few food choices and so many people that we just went back to the ship to eat lunch. I did enjoy looking at all of the hand carved trinkets but again, that's really all there was to do without going on an excursion. I definitely suggest doing a cruise hosted excursion too. Next time we find ourselves there, we'll definitely be doing the Dunn River Falls excursion.
Disembarkation
The hiccups we had in our disembarkation were due to the photo lab and not the actually process of disembarkation. They told us that the self service process would start by 6:45 and by 6:30 or so, people were already starting to leave the ship. It was well organized and a quick process. We got held up by the lack of communication going on with the photo lab staff but once we got our issues squared away, it was a breeze. Even customs was super quick.