Oasis of the Seas…Blog entry #4 (final)

It is now Sunday night, November 29th
Thanksgiving has come and gone. I’ve discussed the Oasis ship with many of my clients and these thoughts have come back to me time and time again. I’d like to share them with you now…
The Oasis is truly a different cruise ship than I have ever experienced before. It’s segment is the “mass market” which is to say, it’s size and features offer something for everyone. I dislike using that expression because I feel that if you’re going to throw your travel business to a professional agent, he or she should be willing voice their true opinion and not worry about offending someone. So I am willing to defend my use of the expression “offers something for everyone”.
By now, you have no doubt heard through various media, that the ship is big. The Oasis is big. What I find interesting though is that it is much wider (208 ft) and much taller (16 decks) than other large cruise ships (like the Carnival Dream and the Royal Caribbean Freedom Class ships). But, it is not that much longer. At 1,185 ft, it is only 75 feet longer that the previous RCCL Freedom class ships. In addition, the ship’s bottom sits down 30 ft in the water. This extra width and depth makes it naturally very stable. Previous hull designs came with extendable stabilizers to help achieve stability under power or in rough water. My guess is the additional drag really lowered fuel efficiency. The Oasis Captain mentioned that his ship is 30% more efficient. I’m only speculating here, but I bet, the lack of stabilizers has something to do with this improvement.
The Oasis sails with many more people aboard than any previous cruise ship ever built. But in the case of the Oasis, more people does not translate to more crowding. The reasons for this are many. The Oasis has 24 different types of cabins. For a single traveler on a budget, I recommend the 149 Sq Ft “Q” interior cabin. All cabins have flat screen televisions. This feature allowed RCCL to make the vanity in the room, 3-4 inches narrower. But, these few inches left our Superior Ocean View Balcony cabin (at 182 Sq Ft) feeling small even to me, (and I am a 5’ 6” tall). Out of 2700 cabins on board, roughly half of them are this category. If you think you need more space to be comfortable, the Junior Suite category has a generous 287 Sq Ft. My personal favorites were the padded “widow seat” cabins that looked out onto the Promenade or Central Park. These are 199 Sq Ft. and what’s cool is you can sit in the window and read a book or just relax while people watching. If you want an ocean view, I have to recommend the “slanted glass” ones in the front of the ship. They reminded me of when I stayed in the pyramid of the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas…you seem to get extra floor space even though the wall is slanted.
Another cool cabin is the Family Suite. You can have one on the interior, with an ocean view or with balcony. They all come with a king bed (that can be made into twins), a full size pull-out sofa, and a set of bunk beds (minimum of 5 people). Far and away however, I think the best cabins on the ship are the Aquatheater Suites. One whole side of the accommodation is glass and balcony. Your view is to the rear of the ship, the Boardwalk and the Aquatheater with it’s two huge viewing screens. You can be part of the action, without being down with the people.
The bottom line is, RCCL left more space on the ship for public areas. Having more public areas allowed RCCL to develop what they call the “neighborhood” concept. This concept separates people so you don’t get large crowds at any one venue. The neighborhoods each have a personality, and while you will no doubt take the first 2 days of your cruise vacation and see everything on board, you will eventually feel more comfortable in the neighborhood that suits your personality and you’ll probably stay there. This neighborhood concept is further enhanced by the fact that the ship has 24 restaurants. You can have breakfast lunch and dinner in a different restaurant everyday and never eat at the same place twice in a 7 day cruise. And they are spread out throughout the ship. Another cool feature of this ship is what I will call “electronic crowd control”. You can pre-book dinner reservations in the up-charge Specialty restaurants before you arrive on board. But this is not mandatory. The ship displays occupancy levels of the various restaurants so you know at a glance where to eat if you don’t want to wait. Same with the four main entertainment venues, Opal Theater, Studio B, Comedy Live, and the Aquatheater…you can book your entertainment online before boarding the ship. Your complete reservation profile is loaded onto your room key card and issued to you when you arrive for check in. Which by the way…took less than 15 minutes to complete!
I liked the Oasis ship. You’ll like it too. In fact, Royal Caribbean is banking on you’re liking it. On a 7 night Eastern or Western Caribbean cruise you will only hit 3 Ports of Call. This will give you more time on board to enjoy everything she has to offer.
P,S. I even heard crickets in the gardens of Central Park. Remember, you’re at sea!
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory sailed on the Oasis of the Seas on one of the new ship’s shakedown cruises Nov 20th to 22nd, 2009 For more complete information about Oasis or other RCCL ships, log onto www.RCCL.com or call the travel office at (303) 980-6483