On Sunday, November 22nd, I had the ultimate experience. Literally, one of a lifetime. I did not know what to expect, yet I was beyond excited. I was one of a select few that was invited to embark on an adventure that would bring on so many experiences on a new cruise ship called Oasis of the Seas. I have never been on a cruise ship before, yet have wondered about them, so when this invite came across, I was beyond thrilled, beyond ecstatic, ready to set sail!
Sunday:
Knowing I had a full Sunday ahead of me, I decided to get to bed early on Saturday. I had everything packed this evening, more than I really needed – but hey, better safe than sorry, right? I crashed around 6:00pm, had the alarm set for 2:00am. We are about an hour and a half away from the airport, so I really wanted to get out the door by 2:30, to make it to the airport, get parked at the airport, shuttle over and get checked in and through security. The good thing about being at the airport at 4:30 in the morning is you don’t have to fight massive traffic or a long security line. Surprised that I made it in a seat in the airport an hour and a half before my flight boarded. Rather too early than too late. I have never flown Delta and I have to say that it was a very pleasant experience.
Once I arrived in to Ft. Lauderdale, I was met by my friend, Melinda & Trisha. It was so awesome to see them! Can I just say that to get IN to a cruise port, there was more security check points than the Whitehouse. Ok so I never been to the White House, but there were at least 3 driving security check points, then we get on the boat to check IN to check in on the ship, and the security late couldn’t find Trisha’s name on the list. Great. I think after about 15 minutes, we asked her to look again… there it was. The lady was looking in the wrong alphabet section. Finally, we got to get through the x-ray check point, thank goodness I wasn’t frisked like I was on my flight, but after a few minutes, we got through and headed to our deck sector to get checked in and get out pass to our rooms and the boat. This was a pretty lengthy process, but overall, not too bad. The staff at the counter was very nice and a nice change of pace from the airport staff.
All checked in. YAY! So, we start heading up this monstrous ramp (which, by the way, I am starting a new workout routine today because this ramp almost beat breath out of me). We continue up the ramp for what seemed like miles, LOL, and finally got on the boat. I felt like a rat in a cheese maze, but hey – we were ON the boat finally. I have never been ON a cruise ship, or even in the same zip code as one, so I am sure that my jaw was dropped for the experience. Gorgeous! This boat is gorgeous! HUGE, and so beautiful! Melinda, Trisha and I separated and went to get freshened and unload our bags on our decks. (Mel & I were on 11 and Trisha was on 12). I was expecting a little-bitty-tiny-oh-so-tiny room, but our room was suprisingly a nice size. On the way up to our deck, we stopped in at the Media Room to get checked in and get my press badge. It was so fun to finally meet some staff from Weber Shandwick. I have worked with this firm for so long, so to finally put a face to the name was just so amazing!
All checked in with our map of the ship and itinerary for the next day, we headed to our room, and then decided to go find something to eat. Melinda and I ate on deck 15 where the main ‘buffet’ style dining room is. The food was good in there, but not great. I had something small. I believe it was roast or some type of brisket with gravy & mashed potatoes. There was (seriously) just about every venue of food you could imagine.
After we ate, we started to venture around, taking pictures and just soaking in the beauty of this ship.
Here is a video that Mel took to show you an overview of the center of the boat from the top deck (taken outside)
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And another video to show you a partial overview of the inside.
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We went to Deck 4 to have an overview of safety before we ported out to sea. This was pretty weird, to me. I am not sure if this is standard on all ships, or if it was because we were on such a short day and a half adventure, but everyone from the ship was in the main dining room on deck 4. It was pretty much us all standing, shoulder to shoulder in here while we listened to the captain give some safety information about the ship and our cruise while we watched a safety slideshow on big TV’s mounted in the walls. This was very interesting, but was probably something not-so-ordinary since we were on an Inaugural cruise at the time.
If you have a couple of minutes, here is a video that I took of us porting out. I had chills! This was such an amazing experience! If you look about halfway in the video, you will see lights flashing on and off, spotlights going off to show people’s excitement and support for Oasis of the Seas porting out. This was so cool!
Note: We are not actually going as fast in the video as it appears. I sped it up 200%. Overall, it took around 7 minutes to port out of this area.
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Sunday Night:
Party central is what the night life is like on Oasis of the Seas. Party… Central! Sooooooooo much fun! I was with Trisha, my pal Mel and myself and we walked around the ship – seriously …. No place had we gone to was the same at any given time to me. There were floors and floors of fun, food, drinks, amazing and fun people and did I mention decks and floors and elevators of fun? Everywhere we went, there was some new venture for us! I will just say that the night life on the boat is a blast! Here is a part of the 70’s escapade that goes on. We had so much fun dancing along and watching this show!
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Monday:
Let’s just say that I had a bit of a sea sickness spell this day. It didn’t hit me until I went down to sit in a meeting about the Culinary overview.
Learn about the more than 24 dining options onboard Oasis of the Seas and meet Keriann Von Raesfeld, internationally acclaimed culinary talent and chef de cuisine of 150 Central Park
I learned how they prepare meals, how much food the boat is able to handle, so much info, but I had to leave too soon because I was getting a bit.. let’s just say, uneasy. Thank goodness for Dramamine! I spent a good part of the day (ok, all morning!) sick, but once the Dramamine kicked in, I was good to go to another overview for the family sector of the boat. On our way to check out the Family Amenities, I looked out and saw this.
I thought it was pretty neat to see this!
Family Amenities and Youth Program
Hear all about the award-winning Adventure Ocean program, which offers a jam-packed menu of activities and adventures for infants (6 months and up), kids, tweens and teens
I am BEYOND impressed and excited about this area of the boat. My mouth was dropped the entire time and in awe at all that Oasis of the Seas has to offer for not only couples looking to have a getaway, but for families to enjoy a FAMILY VACATION together.
There are shows for kids, shows for families, an entire deck of things for every age from 6 months through teenagers. There are rooms for care providers to watch babies through teens.
I want to say that I counted around 30 Wii’s for kids to play, countless books, a ‘Mocktail Bar’ for the teens, cribs for babies, toys and sooo much more! Fisher-Price and Crayola are huge sponsors for this area, so the kids are supplied with Fisher-Price computers, toys, Crayola art products – everything the kids need to keep busy and have fun!
Just from this tour, I can tell you that being a parent with 2 small kids, I can definitely see us taking a family cruise on Oasis in the future. The Family Amenities and Youth Program is amazing. Simply AMAZING! The shows for kids and families, the events that kids have and the fact that you can all go on a cruise together and mom & dad can still ‘go out on a date’ while the Family Amenities and care providers can watch your kids are all main key points for any person, couple, family or friends groups to go on a cruise.
To show you how family oriented Oasis of the Seas is, here’s a video walk through of a Family Suite.
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On the boat, there is gorgeous carousel. There is a display that shows how each horse is hand crafted. Amazing beauty!
I was also giggly to see that the Oasis is the ONLY cruise ship to have a Coach store on board. I even asked the salesman in the store ‘How many Coach bags did you sell today?” Hs answer: 25! 
Monday Night:
After we had a great dinner with everyone, Mel & I ventured around to see what was happening. We saw the Flo-Rida (water ‘ride’ that you balance yourself on a surfboard and surf!) No, we didn’t do this one. I am not that brave just yet. I am more than impressed with the staff – they were on this like they were born on it!
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The Oasis also has a miniature golf course!
We were able to check out an awesome show preformed by Mosaic! (Mosaic is an all vocal band *no instruments* that was from America’s Got Talent, Show 10)
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Amazing show! Funny, the vocal talents had me in tears (seriously!) and all around an amazing show!
Tuesday:
Sad to say that when we woke up on Tuesday morning, we were already back at port. The cruise on Oasis was short, but very sweet. The experience that I had on the ship was very nice, but the ship is far too big to experience it in just 2 short days. Mel, Trisha and I got up, packed and met in the buffet area for breakfast. When I say buffet, I mean BUFFET! There was everything from fruit, hot breakfast cooked items, cereal, you name it – it was there!
After having this opportunity, do I see myself going on a family cruise in the future? Absolutely!! I will be sure to take Dramamine before I get on the boat next time. The Oasis of the Seas has anything, for anyone! Shows. Childcare. Family events. Dancing. Dining. Swimming. You name it – it is probably on this ship! With a ship this large, who needs land? This is a fantastic cruise line to take for a family vacation, a couple getaway or any ocassion!
I welcome you to view all of my pictures on FlickR here.
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For more information, please visit www.oasisoftheseas.com
Mommy Goggles Review Policy: Thank you so much to Weber Shandwick and to Oasis of the Seas for the amazing opportunity to fly to Ft. Lauderdale for this once in a lifetime event! The featured trip for this write up was provided to me, at no cost, by the Oasis of the Seas and representing PR agency, Weber Shandwick. I do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products or events. All opinions expressed are my own.
About Tanya
