Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International
Ever since taking my first cruise on the Freedom of the Seas back in March 2009, I have become a big fan of Royal Caribbean Cruises. I have been lucky enough to cruise with them 6 times since then, on board the Freedom Of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas and the Oasis Of the Seas.
The Oasis of the Seas was Launched December 2009 becoming the largest ship in the world. They then Launched the Allure of the Seas one year later in December 2010 which was inches bigger than the Oasis, making the Allure the largest ship in the world and the Oasis second largest.
I was lucky enough to cruise on the Oasis in May 2010 in the Caribbean. We embarked our cruise in Fort Lauderdale which was an absolute breeze. There was no long queues to check in or at security, everything ran very smoothly and embarkation seemed quicker than I have experienced on smaller ships. This was quite surprising as there was nearly 2,000 more passengers than on something like the Freedom of the Seas.
Upon embarking the ship, you enter into the Royal Promenade where you are greeted by the sound of the 'Shooting Fountains' and the smell of freshly made cakes and sandwiches. The 'Rising Tide Bar' is a small bar that moves between the Royal Promenade and Central Park and this is always up on central park for the embarkation period, so guests can view the shooting fountains that are located beneath the bar.
Like most people, I like to have a dabble in the Casino whilst I am away on Holiday and I was blown away by the scale of the casino on board the Oasis. There are lots of slot machines and plenty of tables to cater for the 5,400 passenger capacity.
I was quite worried about the sun bed situation on board, as I was presuming it would be extremely difficult to locate a free sun bed on days at sea, when the pool deck is at its busiest. How wrong was I - I had no problem at all on all 4 sea days, and as always Royal Caribbean had their fantastic entertainment staff to keep us entertained all day long.
The speciality restaurants on board are brilliant! I recommend the Sea Food Shack located on the Board Walk for any sea food lovers out there. For a $10 surcharge, it is simply fantastic! Also, the famous Chops Grille is located in Central Park, be sure to check it out. This is slightly more expensive than the Sea Food Shack, but if you fancy that special meal with a loved one or friend, then this is the place to go.
On board the Oasis they have plenty of things to do for all ages, including free activities such as:
* Two Flowriders
* Mini Golf Course
* Zip Line
* Table Tennis
* Basketball/Soccer
* Ice Skating
* Boardwalk Carousel
* Boardwalk - Aqua Theatre - Big Screen and Shows
* Central Park - with 4,000 live plants on board, you would really think you were in the real place.
Around 6pm each evening, they play a 'Dive-in' Movie on the pool side Big screen. They play classic movies such as Grease and new movies such as Harry Potter. They do have the on board cinema so you catch a film there if you prefer.
Dream Works is on board this ship, I got to have some great pictures with some of the characters from Madagascar and Shrek.
Shows on board are as brilliant as ever, they put on a show stopping performance each night, showing most shows twice nightly.
Be sure to get involved in the Party Night they have on board. It was British Themed last time I was on board. This consists of the staff dressing up in Big red and white wigs with music from some brilliant English Artists such as the Beetles, Queen, Rod Stewart, and much more. The entire Royal Promenade becomes a big party place for all on board. This is filmed and shown on the RCTV (Royal Caribbean Television) on board the ships so be sure to practise those dancing moves before filming!!
I enjoyed this ship very much, so much so, I went back and cruised the Oasis in May 2011.
I am yet to try the Allure of the Seas which I am booked on for August 2014. Keep an eye out on my blog as I will blog my experience on the Allure.
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