John and Janet Matthews
Itinerary:
Eastern Caribbean
Sailing Date: April 10th, 2010
Age: 70's
Occupation: Retired
Number of Cruises: 26+
Finally, it is time to start
our vacation on Oasis! We started our trip from Austin, TX
on Jet Blue to Ft. Lauderdale. Jet Blue has a direct flight
from Austin to Ft. Lauderdale.
I had a
wheelchair with me and I use a cane so this is convenient.
From the airport to Embassy Suites and to the ship in Ft.
Lauderdale it was $12.10. Embassy Suites is handicapped
friendly and the rooms are always clean and all the staff is
very helpful. It’s also a plus that they have a full
breakfast buffet in the morning. The concierge at Embassy
Suites got us transportation to Oasis of the Seas.
The terminal was very organized and very thorough. This was
surprising for so many passengers. There was a special place
for boarding wheelchair passengers as well. Everything was
orderly and nicely done. RCI provides “pushers” to the ship
(assistance to the ship) which was great as John had his
hands full! Once inside the Oasis you notice the lobby and
it’s quite impressive. You are allowed on the ship early but
must wait till 1:00 pm to go to your room. There is food
available everywhere if you are hungry.
Our cabin was #12170
handicapped. Our cabin had a balcony, small but okay, with
two chairs and a table. Our cabin was supposed to sleep
three, but not comfortably, but for two people its fine. The
rooms are smaller. Since we enjoy the sea we use our balcony
and watch some TV in the evening. RCI has definitely cut
back on storage space in the bathroom vanity and there is
very little closet space for hanging clothes as well. There
is only one chair and it makes into a single bed, usually
there are two chairs in the room with a small sofa. This
makes it difficult if you choose room service which we did
the first morning. The room service was prompt and delicious
this was a nice plus. John walked and I used my electric
scooter that I rented from Care Vacations around Oasis to
familiarize ourselves on locations and etc., after
breakfast.
The ship is truly amazing. We found so many nice places to
sit, eat and in general enjoy ourselves. We ate lunch and
breakfast at the Park Café in Central Park and the
sandwiches are absolutely delicious! There are a lot of
things growing in Central Park and if you have allergies
(which a lot of people do) you can have watery eyes and
sneeze. Park Café is handicapped friendly and you can eat
inside or outside. We went to the Boardwalk and all I can
say is WOW! This is great. A lot of fun everywhere. The
carousel is amazing and John rode the merry go round and I
took pictures. Johnny Rockets is on the Boardwalk and
breakfast is complimentary with several choices and you can
eat inside or out. The servers dance and sing and they were
fun to watch. Since we are from the 50’s generation we
really enjoyed Johnny Rockets. We unexpectedly had the
opportunity to run into Shrek, the Cat and Fiona now this
was fun stuff. My hubby took my picture with Fiona. There is
also a donut shop (my weakness) on the Boardwalk and its all
complimentary and they are yummy. We can highly recommend
the Seafood Shack we ate their twice ($8.95) it is amazing
all the food you get. It’s also fun to sit and watch on the
Boardwalk while you eat and its wheelchair accessible as
well. To the right of the Seafood Shack is the aqua theater
and the zip line.
As you can probably tell, I was very impressed with the
Board Walk.
The Windjammer has cut back on food choices I guess the
recession is affecting cruising but we did have a full ship.
Several people commented on the Windjammer not being up to
speed especially at breakfast. The egg station was a
disaster. A lot of over easy eggs came out hard as a rock.
The cook seemed overwhelmed. We did not go to the Windjammer
much at all with so many other places to choose from.
Chops is very different as it has an uptown, upscale
restaurant flavor located in Central Park. I really missed
the windows and seeing the ocean. I guess I personally
prefer the Freedom class ship for Chops. No complaints on
the food it was still excellent along with the service. This
is just a personal choice on my part. I like the ocean.
Sorrento’s pizza is freshly made and you can even, on
request, order a pizza of your choice with lots of toppings
to choose from. Sorrento’s is on the Promenade and it’s
delicious.
The Solarium Bistro was the
best find of our trip. Healthy, absolutely delicious food
plus a lovely atmosphere in the evening. There is a small
charge but very reasonable. Several of the senior officers
from the ship were eating here this particular evening as
well. We were surprised here as you are surrounded by glass
and you can see the ocean. We did not find the Solarium
Bistro till our last night but understand from others it’s
quite nice during the day as well. The waiter parked my
scooter.
The one restaurant that is not wheelchair friendly is
Giovanni’s Table. We looked everywhere for a ramp but we
only found stairs. There were several people checking out
the Oasis to see how handicapped friendly it was and they
said the same thing. I was surprised at how many travel
agents were on board this trip checking Oasis out for their
clients. There are no signs indicating there are ramps
available for the handicapped so you do have to search them
out. This is constructive criticism here. There were a lot
of flowers and bushes in front of the ramps and most ramps
were on the side not in front.
The Café Promenade serves excellent coffee (free) unless you
want a specialty coffee (comparable prices) and they have
nice little sandwiches and goodies and is open 24 hours.
It’s a great place to people watch as well. By the way, the
Promenade is huge.
Lot’s to do and see. The Rising Tide Bar was directly across
from Café Promenade.
Hairspray is excellent. We made our reservation before we
left home so we could get the time slot we wanted. John and
I went to the afternoon show and there are places for
wheelchairs and electric scooters. There was a standing
ovation for the show. The show was nicely done and a great
way to spend an afternoon.
The ice skating show was full of talent. Again, RCI had
places for wheelchair and electric scooters. The costumes
were beautiful. There was a guest “sand” artist that was
amazing and she received a standing ovation along with the
skaters.
I am not a big gambler but it was fun playing the penny
slots and there were lots of them. At one point we worked
our penny into $25.00 and then promptly lost it all. It was
fun. One side of the casino was smoking and the other side
non-smoking. The casino is huge.
Since we are Diamond member’s we went to the Diamond Lounge
often and saw an old friend (Ricardo) from Independence of
the Seas. The Diamond Lounge is quite nice on Oasis.
We were surprised that you do feel motion and we had some
choppy windy weather from St. Marteen to Nassau. Our first
stop was St. Thomas and we were berthed at Crown Bay. Since
we had been here a few year’s ago it was nice to see that it
has grown with more shops and stores. We made a nice
purchase at Cardow’s. It is very clean and safe.
There were 5 ships in St. Marteen, an extremely crowded and
a busy day. We found some nice bargains in the shops. We did
not go into town and we spent our money at the shops at the
pier. We always stop at Kay’s Family Jewelry. We find that
St. Marteen has even better prices on jewelry than St.
Thomas. We have been to the Caribbean many times and just
wanted to relax.
There were 4 ships in Nassau and it was very windy. I felt
safe as there was police on every corner. We did our stop at
Hard Rock to purchase t-shirts and hat pins. I rode my
scooter right off the ship and into town. Not a problem. Not
all of the shops in town are scooter friendly (steps) but
the shop clerks will come to the door or you can do like I
did and send my hubby in to look around.
We received three towel animals for the cruise and our room
steward kept the room very clean. For the first time we did
not receive a Crown and Anchor thank you gift. Many of the
cruisers commented on this. It’s not a biggie but it’s
really noticed.
There were a lot of international travelers on this cruise
and were being affected by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Many upset and stranded people. People were hurrying around
to find accommodations at hotels in the area until they
could resume their travel.
The wheelchair assistance off the ship was total chaos and
RCI needs to improve on this.
RCI needs more personnel dedicated to this part of their
program. Whoever made the biggest fuss and complained the
loudest were taken off the ship first and no order
whatsoever. The lady in charge was in tears. Would I travel
on a ship this size again? Yes, but with reservations. Oasis
is not for everyone. I am sure a lot of the problems have
already been addressed. I am looking forward to our Freedom
of the Seas cruise this fall.
