Oasis of the Seas
WOW! All of the pre-launch
buzz about the Oasis of the Seas did not prepare me for the
reality that it presented. I have always enjoyed smaller
ships personally, but the Oasis won me over with its unique
and interesting layout, separate neighborhoods and
technology.
The New Oasis Terminal
This ship is HUGE! So I
expected that there would also be logistical problems while
boarding, on the ship and disembarking. Royal Caribbean had
great insight into the potential problems and have resolved
them quite nicely.
Overview of the New Oasis
Cruise Terminal
Royal Caribbean has broken
the boarding process into two groups with two separate
terminals. Since they have been boarding groups of
passengers in the 2,500 range for years, they thought, "we
can easily do this". and they were right. The boarding
process is quick and easy. Depending on which deck your
cabin is on, that is the terminal you would check in at.
The Oasis of the Seas Touch
Screen Navigation
The next thing that I
thought of was "how in the world is anyone going to find
their way around the ship?" Anyone that has cruised large
ships know of the difficulty some people have in getting
oriented. The Oasis features touch screen navigation that
will map you from where you are to where you want to go.
This is such a cool feature! Shortly, the Oasis will also
rent iPhone look-a-likes that also have this feature on
them. These touch screen navigation systems make it easy to
find out where you want to go and exactly how to do it.
There is also a "find my room" function so that you can
simply enter your cabin number and it will map a route out
for you to find it. Way cool!
One of the Towers in Focus,
the Oasis' Photo Gallery
Another issue that I could
not understand how it could be handled was the photo
gallery. I just couldn't imagine 5,400 people trying to find
their photos in what would have to be dozens of photo racks.
The Oasis uses a unique system that makes tons of sense.
Right on the SeaPass card you are assigned a tower number
and a folio number. All of your photos are put into your
folio so that all you have to do is go to your tower, open
your folio and pick your photographs that you want to
purchase. This makes it really easy to decide which ones to
buy at (or near) the end of the cruise. Brilliant!
A Walk in Central Park at
Night
The Oasis of the Seas is so
large and so diverse that the only way to review the ship is
to do it deck by deck. I have used a good number of pictures
to help you understand what the ship is like, as there is
nothing else like it in the world. It is almost twice as
wide as most large ships and this is what allows it to offer
so many different venues.
Looking up Boardwalk
The amazing thing about the
Oasis is its diverse nature. With seven different
"neighborhoods" it offers something for everyone. And, while
one would expect large venues to accommodate the crowd, just
the opposite is true. Many of the venues are quite intimate,
as we will see.
Golf, Surfing, Zip Lining
and More
The main thing about the
Oasis of the Seas is that it has something to offer
everyone. Joanie and I fell in love with Vintages and could
easily spend everyday in Vintages and then dinner in one of
the alternative restaurants and the evening in either the
Jazz on 4 or Comedy Live entertainment venues. We wouldn't
even have to get off the ship and we could have a great
cruise. So, without much further introduction here is a
pictorial review of the Oasis of the Seas. All decks are
from aft to forward
Deck
17 - Viking Crown Lounge, Pinnacle Lounge,
Pinnacle Chapel and the forward Sun Deck
Deck
16 - Windjammer Marketplace, Azumi Asian
Cuisine, Mast Bar, Sky Bar, Views of the Pools, Sun Area and
Solarium Bar
Deck
15 - Flow Riders and Wipe Out Bar (these are
actually on deck 16, but since you have to go on deck 15 to
get to them I included them here.) Zip Line, Sports Court,
Oasis Dunes (golf Course) Table Tennis courts, Wipe Out
Cafe, The Living Room (and all of the Adventure Ocean
Children's Program rooms) H2O Zone, Sports Pool, Pool Bars,
Beach Pool, Main Pool, Various Jacuzzis and the Solarium
(pools, Jacuzzis and Bistro
Decks 14 to 9 - (14)
Adventure Ocean Youth Zone, The Card Room, cabins (12 & 11)
The Library. Concierge Lounge, cabins (10 & 9) Cabins,
Dazzles
Deck 8 - Dazzles, Central Park, Chops Grille, Rising Tide Bar (High
Tide) 150 Central Park, Trellis Bar, Park Cafe, Giovani's
Table, Vintages, Various Shops
Deck 7 - Rock
Climbing Walls, Cabins
Deck 6 - Aqua
Theater, Rock Climbing Walls, The Boardwalk, Johnny Rockets,
Seafood Shack, Various Shops, The Promenade, Focus Photo
Gallery, Adventures with RCI, The Schooner Bar, Vitality at
Sea, Vitality Cafe, Vitality Salon, Vitality Spa, Vitality
Fitness Center, Vitality Jogging Track
Deck 5 - Opus Dining
Room, Champagne Bar, Rising Tide Bar (Low Tide) Cafe
Promenade, Sorrento's Pizza, Mondo Coffee Bar, On Air,
Boleros, Various Shops, Opal Theater
Deck 4 - Opus Dining
Room, Casino Royale, Studio B, Comedy Live, Jazz on 4,
Blaze, Opal Theater
Deck 3 - Conference
Center
