My First Ship Inpsection!

Well travelers, I have had a very exciting few days.  The last time I touched base with you guys, I had just met Capt. Stubing from TV's The Loveboat and while that was exciting, it wasn't actually my reason for coming to Ft. Lauderdale.  I came here with the intent of meeting more travel professionals, learning as much from them as possible and touring some magnificent ships.

The travel professionals have been met, knowledge was obtained and I have just spent the last three days visiting three ships that I had never been on before.  While I only had a few hours on board each of the ships, I saw enough to fill several blogs.  So prepare yourselves for information and photos.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas was my first ship inspection on Saturday.  I will tell you that I was pretty seriously rushed on it and therefore didn't get to see as much as I would have liked.  The rushing through the ship was not the fault of Royal Caribbean.  Unfortunately, I decided to pair myself with a lady who while lovely and very helpful, had no interest in seeing the ship that we were on.  Her biggest concern apparently was just getting to the end of the tour.  So she rushed me through everything so that we could hurry up and leave the ship and sit outside waiting for the rest of the travel agents to leisurely walk through and see all the points of interest on the ship.  In her defense, I am certain now that I know her better, I could have told her that it was a ship that I needed to slow down and see for my clients and she would have allowed me to take the lead slowing down our progress through the ship.

The travel agent who I spent my time with will be a great help to me going forward as I get more into the luxury market.  But currently, with most of my client base being more interested in the mass cruising market, it would have been beneficial to me to spend more time on one of the industry's largest and most sought after ships.  But since this was the first time that I actually successfully got on a ship inspection other than my seminar at sea on Vision of the Seas which I was on for 3 days, I was worried about getting separated from the group and doing something that I wasn't supposed to do, going somewhere I wasn't supposed to go or just being left on board and causing some kind of international CLIA incident when I was exposed as a stow away.  So I decided to stick with someone who I knew was a veteran.  Besides, she was really nice and I like her a lot.

By the time I got to the other two inspections I was a ship inspection veteran myself and could go out on my own.  So, you will get a lot more information from me in the next few blogs from my inspections of the Royal Princess and Holland America's Zuiderdam.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that both of these ships cater more to the type of cruising that I love.  I am a cruiser who craves luxury and traditional cruising and with both of these ships, we'll be leaning more toward traditional cruising. But let's start with Oasis.

Oasis of the Seas is the first of the Oasis class of ships from Royal Caribbean.  She came out in December of 2009 and carries a maximum capacity of 5,400 passengers and 2,180 crew members.  That's a ratio of about 2.5:1 passengers to crew which is pretty common on a mass market cruise ship.  The total number of guest cabins is 2,706. As you get more into the luxury brands the passenger to crew ratio goes down dramatically making it almost as though each passenger has their own crew member.  I mentioned maximum capacity because on these ships which are geared toward family cruising, you will see more cabins at full capacity than on ships aimed at a more leisure minded cruiser.  Her maximum speed is 22 knots (25 mph) and she got some enhancements in 2011.

A sign in the Promenade to aid you in finding your direction.  It's easy to get lost on this ship.

Mmmmm.... Cupcakes!

 As we boarded Oasis, we were running a little late.  We came on board into the Promenade where as you can see, I was able to snap a few photos.  Our tour guide took us immediately to Central Park and told us that we could take a few minutes to walk through it and then to meet in the dining room.  So, my friend and I ran through Central Park and then rushed down to the dining room.  But as we ran through Central Park I managed to snap a few shots of various seating areas and restaurants that open onto Central Park.  It was all very nice but a little smaller than I had thought from pictures I had seen.

But seriously, it's a cruise ship.  I don't know how big I was expecting it to be.  It is big enough to give you outdoor space and to feel like you are just in a crowded city park with no views of the water. There are many balconies that overlook Central Park.  If you are into green spaces, one of these balconies might be for you.

Several of the specialty restaurants have entrances that open onto Central Park to give them bistro feelings.  Additionally, a few of the bars and shops open onto Central Park.  It's a nice touch.

 I would imagine that these Central Park tables would be in high demand once the ship fills up.  When this photo was taken, they had just started letting people on board about an hour prior and you can see that already most tables are taken.  Below, you can see the entrance to Giovanni's which is one of the specialty restaurants with a nominal fee per guest for dining.  I'm not usually a specialty dining person on board ship because I like the dining room too much to skip a night there. But this might be nice if I could get an outside table.  I'm all about dining al fresco whenever possible.

 The outside entrance to Vintages (a wine bar) is pictured to the right.  It's one of my favorite on board places to visit in the evening and I just took a photo to point it out to my regular travel buddy.  That's all. :-)  Below is one last look at Central Park as we were walking back in doors to head to the dining room.  This kind of gives you an idea of how big it is.  As you can see, there is quite a bit of traffic out there even though the ship had only been boarding for about an hour.  I would assume that a day or so into the cruise when the novelty wears off, the traffic would lighten up a little in Central Park....  I assume.....

One last look at the Coach Store in Central Park for the girls.

After rushing through Central Park we ran to the dining room and found our group.  We were served a very nice lunch in which I chose the Smoked Fish Tapenade, the Grilled New York Strip Steak and naturally, I went ahead and ate the Chocolate Cherry Cake for dessert.  I think, after this week, that most travel agents must be much more demanding than me because I heard a few complaints about the food while I couldn't find anything in the world wrong with mine.  Let's face it, if you can manage to complain about the ice in the iced tea, you are pretty much going to complain about everything and I can't take anything you say as a real problem.  Ice is ice.  Just shut up and deal with the coldness and hardness of it.

Smoked Fish Tapenade

Grilled NY Strip Steak

Chocolate Cherry Cake

Following lunch we still had time and the person that my friend had decided we should follow was guiding people up to the Boardwalk so against my friends judgement we were able to go up there for a few minutes.  The other travel agents complained about the number of people on board.  Really???!??!!?  It's a ship that holds more than 5,000 passengers.  The whole idea is that it carries a LOT of people.  If you decide to book on the ship, chances are you know that going in.  If you don't you either A) have a crappy travel agent or B) have no travel agent and booked your vacation on line.  If your answer is B and you are unhappy with the result, then perhaps you will remember for the next time that cruises cost the same amount whether you book them yourself or through a travel professional.  If your answer is A, my phone number is 469-828-0254 any my email is smeyers@placesuwillgo.com. Don't hesitate to call or email.

On the Boardwalk, we were able to see the carousel, the pool that houses the water shows and various other venues that are draws for Oasis and her sister ship, Allure. Oasis and Allure each have 2 rock climbing walls and 2 FloRiders.  There is nothing special about the fact that there are two of each of those things. You just have to keep in mind that there are twice as many people on board, so they need two of each just to keep up with the demand.

Under the blue cover is a pool that is used for water and diving shows.

The balconies looking into the Boardwalk area and over the water show pool can be premium staterooms. Unfortunately, we didn't get into any of the cabins so I can't tell you about what they were like.  I would assume that they worked on some serious sound proofing for these cabins since the boardwalk seemed to be one of the more highly trafficked areas and with a zipline going through it and so on, there could be some very loud noises to keep you up if you are the type who is early to bed.  But if you are the early to bed type, you might opt for an ocean balcony rather than a Boardwalk or Central Park balcony.

Following our run through the Boardwalk, we rushed downstairs to the area where we were supposed to depart and wait for the bus.  But on the way, we walked past my favorite place on any Royal Caribbean ship, the Champagne Bar so I forced my new friend to stop while I took a couple of photos to remember it by. Sometimes you just have to put your foot down and in this instance I would not take "no" for an answer. (You're welcome Jenny Stankus....)

All in all, it was a lovely ship.  If you are thinking about sailing her, you should keep in mind that she is BIG. She carries a LOT of people and although they try to minimize how full it feels on board by breaking areas up and creating lots of outdoor space no matter how you cut it you are just one of 5,000+ passengers.  They will do what they can to make you feel special.  But there are only so many ways to make 5,000+ people all feel special at the same time.

Strange how everybody on the carousel was late 40's and older....

I am sad to say that there was no time for us to look at cabins on board Oasis.  But I do have some stock photos of the cabins that I can send to you if you are interested. If you have kids, you will never hear those dreaded words, Mom, there's nothing to do! while on board.  Royal Caribbean is my pick for best family cruiseline available. If you are traveling without kids, but like adventure Royal Caribbean is also for you. I would call Royal Caribbean a moderately priced cruiseline and terrific for 30 to 50 year olds. As far as Oasis Class ships go, they are going to be the higher priced ships within the RCI brand simply because they are more sought after than some of the other ships in the fleet.  They also sail great itineraries.  So again, that makes them a little more expensive.

Quantum, RCI's newest ship comes out in November.  They will have even more adventures available than the Oasis class ships have including skydiving, bumper cars and a glass enclosed capsule that will take you up several hundred feet over the water for a birds eye view.  Quantum will sail out of Bayonne, NJ which is the cruise harbor that services New York.  If you want to spend a few days in New York shopping, sight seeing and going to a few shows, then board a cruise ship for some R&R to recover from the madness of Manhattan this will be the trip for you. Quantum is going to be the polar opposite of Oasis carrying only about 3500 passengers.  So a cruise on board her will be the perfect way to recover from 2 or 3 days in Manhattan.

With a fleet of 22 ships ranging in size from 1,800 passenger vessels to over 5,000 there is something for everyone at Royal Caribbean.  Tomorrow, we'll spend some time on Royal Princess, which is currently the newest ship in the Princess fleet.  Have a great Tuesday!