# Pictures from our sailing on Royal Caribbeans Oasis of the Sea's



## dougp26364 (Feb 4, 2010)

For those who may be interested in cruising. We recently completed a sailing on Royal Caribbeans newest ship Oasis of the Sea's. At 220,000 gross tons and with a capacity to hold 6,295 passengers if every berth if filled (5,400 if just double occupancy in every stateroom), it's the largest cruise ship afloat. It's quite an impressive ship to say the least.

At any rate, I finally organized my Webshots photo album of the ship. There are over 250 photo's on this album and, I didn't even get shots inside all the restaurants, bars, shops and venues onboard. A week truely is not enough time to spend on this monster of a ship that's more like a floating resort than a cruise ship.

For those interested, you can view our Webshots album by clicking the photo below or, if that doesn't work, you can click the link in my signature below and select the photo album for Oasis of the Sea's.


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## Rose Pink (Feb 5, 2010)

Did it feel crowded with that many people?  Your photos don't show crowds and it looks rather pleasant in that regard.  I hate large crowds and waiting in lines.  This looks like a nice ship--lots to do and minimal crowds.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 5, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> Did it feel crowded with that many people?  Your photos don't show crowds and it looks rather pleasant in that regard.  I hate large crowds and waiting in lines.  This looks like a nice ship--lots to do and minimal crowds.



The ship is so large that the crowds are very well disbursed around the ship. Shows on this ship require reservations (no charge, just reservations), which keeps everyone from trying to see the same show at the same time. There are times like when there are parades or them parties that it gets very crowded, but we stay away from those types of activities. There are touch screens all over the ship where you can even check to see what restaurants are busy and what restaurant are almost empty. We never really fealt that the ship had nearly 6,000 passengers and over 2,400 crew members. It such a great ship that we've booked Oasis's sister ship Allure (inagural sailing this December) for January of next year.


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## Rose Pink (Feb 5, 2010)

We'd like to include cruise vacations in the future.  This is one I will keep an eye on.  Thanks for posting!


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## dougp26364 (Feb 5, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> We'd like to include cruise vacations in the future.  This is one I will keep an eye on.  Thanks for posting!



To be honest, we sailed this ship only to sail the ship. We weren't thrilled about the ports as we'd done them before on a cruise. We really didn't think we'd like it but, by the end of the week, we fell in love with it. It's really more of a resort vacation than a cruise vacation. 

While I'm sure we'll do other cruise vacations again, this ship is a great winter resort style vacation for the cold winter months. It really is a different type of cruise vacation and one that we were totally surprised at how much we enjoyed it.


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## Rose Pink (Feb 5, 2010)

Which do you think is better?  A balcony over the interior or exterior of the ship?  DH likes to stare at the ocean so I'm thinking we may need to spring for an outside cabin.  Would the interior cabins' views be similar to an Embassy Suites Hotel?  I could live with that if I am looking a foliage and gardens.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 5, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> Which do you think is better?  A balcony over the interior or exterior of the ship?  DH likes to stare at the ocean so I'm thinking we may need to spring for an outside cabin.  Would the interior cabins' views be similar to an Embassy Suites Hotel?  I could live with that if I am looking a foliage and gardens.



After having tried the inside balcony once I can honestly say I don't think we'll ever do that again. While it's a nice cabin and has a nice view, you really don't feel like your on a ship at all. With this large ship, there are only views of the ocean if you have an outside stateroom/balcony or are on one of the top decks. We couldn't even tell when we were in port without turning the interactive TV on to the Bridgecam channel or walking up to one of the pool decks.

A nice compromise might be one of the Boardwalk balcony's. You don't have a direct view of the ocean but, you can see the ocean and ships wake from the balcony by looking back towards the aft end. We did not choose this location for fear of noise (kid central). However, those we spoke with who were in Boardwalk balcony cabins said they pretty much shut it down by 11:00 PM and things were quite at night.

Our stateroom reminded me of our stay at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which would be very similar to an Embassy Suite's hotel as far as an interior view.


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## Elli (Feb 11, 2010)

Hi, Doug, we just returned from our Panama Canal Cruise with Coral Princess.

Your pictures of the Oasis are great. I like to do a lot of walking, and the Royal Promenade, Board Walk, Central Park, etc., are good areas.

You probably remember that my sister and I were on the Voyager of the Seas, Med. Cruise, same as your itinerary, where you posted pictures as well.  Comparing the Coral and Voyager, for a lot of sea days, which this one had, I would prefer a larger ship.  I am still interested in a smaller ship for Europe river cruises, but on the Oasis you could spent a lot of time on the ship without getting off at ports - there just seems sooo much to do.

Elli


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## Transit (Feb 11, 2010)

Great Photos.I love the way your albums are so organized.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 11, 2010)

Elli said:


> Hi, Doug, we just returned from our Panama Canal Cruise with Coral Princess.
> 
> Your pictures of the Oasis are great. I like to do a lot of walking, and the Royal Promenade, Board Walk, Central Park, etc., are good areas.
> 
> ...



In some cases, bigger isn't better. Normally we sail for the itenerary and when that's the case, this ship obviously won't work. Oasis and Allure are so large that, at this point, there are only 6 ports they can get into. RCCL even had to create a port in Falmouth Jamacia because the other two couldn't be modified to hold them. 

Sailing either Oasis or Allure would be similar to wanting to go on an all inclusive vaction. The ship is the destination but, you do get to enjoy three different ports. I initially thought there was no way a cruise ship could pack enough stuff on it to keep me entertained for so many sea days but, RCCL proved me wrong. There was enough for us to do to keep us active and entertained. Of course we also take time out to relax while on vacation so it wasn't as if we wanted to run 24/7.

There are plenty of places to walk and to relax on this ship. Each with a unique atmosphere. Presonally I really enjoy centeral park. It's open to the sky, there are live plants all around you and it's mostly a relaxing atmosphere. There are options in Central park to sit and read/relax, a couple of bars and several restaurant choices from free to extra cost. Two restaurants in Central Park, Park Cafe and Giovani's Table, serve lunch.

This ship also offers more options for breakfast than any other ship we've been on. There's the traditional buffet, the main dining room with menu service or a small buffet, Solarium Bistro (healthy selections buffet), Park Cafe , the Donut Shop, Cafe Promanade, Mondo Coffee Bar, Johnny Rockets (traditional items with table side menu service) and room service. Each is unique and offers something different from snacks to a full menu with table side service. 

This class of ship is truely an experience in itself and is unique in the world of cruising. But like I said, it has limited ports of call. I know that we'll still sail on the smaller ships because we love so many of the more interesting ports around the world. With these two ships, the ship is the vacation. It's a completely different experience from anything we've done prior and, it's our only reason for visiting caribbean ports on a cruise vacation.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 11, 2010)

Transit said:


> Great Photos.I love the way your albums are so organized.



Thank you. 

It's taken me a couple of years to finally get them organized in a way that works for me. This past year I decided that I'd try to put our timeshare and cruise ship albums in a chronological order. That way people could easily see that some albums are a few years old and, I'm not putting three or four albums of resorts we visit every year right next to each other. It also helps remind me of how long it's been between trips to particular resorts or destinations.  

The only issue I have with my organization is that I have the destination albums at the end. That means they're on the second page of albums and could get overlooked. But I'm happier with our Timeshare albums first, cruise albums second and everything else at the end. It seems to flow better for me when showing people either our timeshares, cruise ships or destinations. 

I'll always leave the newer albums at the top for a few weeks before placing them in their respecitive sections. That way anyone wanting to view the new albums can find them easily for the first 30 days. After that they'll scroll through to find what they're looking for.

I plan on putting up a small album from our ports on our last cruise. We really didn't get off the ship much except to shop so there won't be that many pictures. Heck, we didn't even get off the ship in Nassua, so it will probably be a very small album.


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## pianodinosaur (Feb 11, 2010)

dougp26364 said:


> For those who may be interested in cruising. We recently completed a sailing on Royal Caribbeans newest ship Oasis of the Sea's. At 220,000 gross tons and with a capacity to hold 6,295 passengers if every berth if filled (5,400 if just double occupancy in every stateroom), it's the largest cruise ship afloat. It's quite an impressive ship to say the least.
> 
> At any rate, I finally organized my Webshots photo album of the ship. There are over 250 photo's on this album and, I didn't even get shots inside all the restaurants, bars, shops and venues onboard. A week truely is not enough time to spend on this monster of a ship that's more like a floating resort than a cruise ship.
> 
> For those interested, you can view our Webshots album by clicking the photo below or, if that doesn't work, you can click the link in my signature below and select the photo album for Oasis of the Sea's.



Doug26364:

I loved your photos.   We were on Brilliance of the Sea last year for a 10 day Spain-Canary Island cruise and had a great time.  We will be on a 10 day Caribbean cruise starting in April 2010 on Holland America's Noordam.


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## Moosie (Feb 11, 2010)

It may seem a bit trite, but whe you were at seem did people complain about being able to sit poolside? I haven't looked at their website for awhile so don't remember where things are.

I know many people could care less, like my husband, but always like to be able to enjoy that when on a cruise, have only been on 3, but on my last two it has been an issue. One time I had to just put my towel down and lie, lay(or whatever the proper grammar) is wherever I could find son sun on the pool deck.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 11, 2010)

Moosie said:


> It may seem a bit trite, but whe you were at seem did people complain about being able to sit poolside?  I haven't looked at their website for awhile so don't remember where things are.
> 
> I know many people could care less, like my husband, but always like to be able to enjoy that when on a cruise, have only been on 3, but on my last two it has been an issue.  One time I had to just put my towel down and lie, lay(or whatever the proper grammer) is wherever I could find son sun on the pool deck.



If you have to be pool side it will always be a problem. Just like shoreline there's always only going to be so many pool side loungers. There are plenty of lounge chairs around the ship where a person can get some sun but, there's only so many around each pool and this ship holds 5,200 passengers when all staterooms are double occupancy and over 6,000 when every berth is filled.


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## sumlo (Feb 12, 2010)

Thank you very much for sharing these wonderful pictures. I would also love to make a cruise in the Caribbean. Actually I am planning to do this soon. The Oasis of the Sea looks amazing. Hopefully I can also make a cruise with the Oasis of the Sea.


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