Review: Oasis of the Seas with Royal Caribbean (June 6,2015 sailing) Part 1 - The Ship

This year I am turning 30 . . .ahhh!! So to celebrate in style (and forget that I will be an old fogey here very soon) this past week Eddie and I traveled through the Western Caribbean on Oasis of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. We had an absolute blast - It was a vacation of a lifetime. There were things we loved and things we hated and wayyyy more than anyone could ever see and know about the ship and ports so I decided to write up my own little review and give you all some insight of our past week.

PART 1: THE SHIP

This ship is HUGE - there was so much to do and see and even with 7 nights on the boat there was a ton that we missed. The biggest things that I wanted to do but never seemed to be dressed correctly to do when they were open was Rock Climbing (enter from Deck 6) - Zip Line (Deck 15) - and Ice Skating (Deck 4) . . . For all of these you need to be wearing closed toed shoes, socks (ice skating and zipline), and/or long pants (ice skating) most of the time during the day me and eddie were in our swim suits with flip flops and the one morning we were appropriately dressed (after our morning workout) none of them were open to try them out.

Here you can find my review of all the places we did experience working my way from the bottom up

American Icon Grill: We did My Time Dining and this was our Dining Room. With it just being the 2 of us My Time Dining was the best option. We loved not being on a set schedule and just showing up to dinner whenever we decided we wanted to (between 5:30 and 9:30) or some nights just skip it all together without having to tell anyone about it. I would definitely do my time dining again if it was the 2 of us maybe even 4 but with so many small tables and not as many big I feel like even with My Time dining you would have to make reservations for a bigger party which totally defeats the MY TIME part of My Time Dining

Opal Theater: We were only in this theater once. It was the last night and CATS was so bad that people were leaving during intermission they decided to cancel the last show and do a farewell family comedy show instead. The place is huge - we sat it the front right corner of the upper level and could see great so I'm not sure if there is a bad seat in the house.

Blaze: Dance Club: This was one of our favorite places to go at the end of the night. It normally opened up at 11PM and music and dancing went on until late (we usually left around 1:30am and the place was still popping) it definitely is a younger crowd with me and Eddie being some of the older people in there but was still a blast and a great place to dance to all kinds of hiphop - rap - latin style music. DJs Tony and Chris were some of Eddies Favorites

Studio B: We saw both the Frozen in Time Ice Show and Battle of Sexes in this theater. Again no bad seats in the house with us sitting on the top row (once in the back the other on the left side) and being able to see everything. We noticed during the ice show the little kids that sat in the front row on the sides toward the middle (2 kids/side) got to participate in one of the songs and during Battle of the Sexes the closer you are the more likely you get to be chosen for challenges but the back row had a bar top and the left side you are right next to the bar so unless we have kids anytime soon the back bar tops are where we would choose to sit!! (NOTE: the sections we were in were reserved for wheelchairs so you may have to move)

Comedy Live: Our comedians were amazing with the female being a lot funnier than the man but that is why he opened for her right? Lol The Host from the Cruise is also hilarious and started us off with quite a few laughs. The show is adults only and me and Eddie LOVED it! Not a show for anyone that gets easily offended and isn't up for some dirty comedy. But if your open and ready for a laugh it was a blast - Totally bummer it is the same show every night but with a line out the door and so many  people getting turned away it makes sense.

Royal Promenade: great place to go and walk around always something to do and see on this level

Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center: OMG the fitness center is HUGE I don't think I have ever seen a bigger gym on a boat . . . But then again I also have never been on such a big boat so it makes sense but WOW! Me and Eddie never had any issues finding a machine or equipment to use. Eddie paid $30 for a day pass to the steam room and saunas - in my option wasn't really worth it so I didn't get my own pass - Eddie tried to stay in there as long as he could doing each room and spent about 90 minutes total. If I remember correctly I think it was $200 for a weekly pass for a couple so $100 each

On Air Club: This is advertised as a Karaoke Bar but what people don't tell you is that its also a sports bar - on nights when the NBA finals were on Karaoke got canceled because the playoffs took priority - overall a pretty good place to grab a drink

Starbucks: There are 2 tips no one tells you about this place (1) they take Starbucks gift cards and (2) Pastries are FREE!!! - I didn’t learn about the last one until the last night when the trivia question on the morning show was "What can you get at the Starbucks on the ship you can't get on land?" - Answer: Free Pastries . . . . If I would have known this I would have ordered a few. . . LAME! Not sure if you have to buy a drink to get the free pastries or if you can just walk up and ask for one but in all reality are you going to go to Starbucks and not order a drink?

Boleros Lounge: I am disappointed that I didn't walk into this place earlier. It is a Latin Bar/Club and you will often see people salsa dancing here at night and they have the best COCONUT MOJITO you will ever try. It is so good I had 4 of them in a row - might have spaced them out a bit if I found this place sooner but I had to catch up for some lost time. They also have a full drink menu with tequila and cocktails you won't find at any other bar on the ship including some made with ILLEGAL Mezcal (I thought mezcal was legal in the states so not quite what is so illegal about it)

Globe and Atlas Pub: I really wanted to like this place but it was not my favorite at all. It’s a beer bar with tons of different beers and beer cocktails. I tried a few of the beer cocktails and didn't seem to like any of them - it was dark and dingy inside and not a welcoming feeling from this place at all.

Sorrento's Pizzeria: This place was great because it was open till 3AM but seriously the pizza was not that good. However that didn't ever stop me and Eddie from stopping here at 2 AM for a snack before bed

Café Promenade: This place was open 24/7 which was awesome but me and eddie never found anything here that really tasted good. They have Sandwiches and Dessert and nothing else And FYI the signs says salad they aren't salads they are sandwiches (probably should have realized this when they are displayed in a bread roll but I wasn't the only one surprised so at least it wasn't just me)

Rising Tide Bar: I have never felt sicker than when I was in the this Bar. To give them credit I was a few drinks deep by the time we boarded but I couldn't even order a drink people I felt like I was going to puke the whole time

Champagne Bar: If your husband likes whiskey/scotch/bourbon/cognac  DO NOT let him in this bar. Yes I know that it is a champagne bar but this is also the one place on the ship that they serve the most expensive cognac by the shot including Louis XIII de Remy Martin which goes for $150 per shot - I thought I was going to spend a lot of time here. They have great champagne and champagne cocktails made with one of my favorite (Domaine Chandon) but Eddie was too tempted by the expensive bottles behind the bar after he bought a shot of the Louis I had to make sure we avoided the place so he wouldn't be tempted to buy another

Schooner Bar : Went in once on the first day and never went back. It is kind of hidden and not really a place you walk by

Boardwalk Dog House: This was Eddies favorite place to grab a snack. I think he ate more hotdogs this trip than he did hamburgers. 5 or 6 different options of dogs that each come with their own special bun (but you can mix and match). Always a quick and easy grab and go snack.

Johnny Rockets® : Another one of Eddies favorite. Probably one of the best Burgers and fries on the ship.  It ended up being $6 each after added gratuity. They serve the fries and onion rings before your burger but we were able to get another serving once the burgers came. Not sure if you can get more than one burger or not but the fries and onion rings seemed to be unlimited. All Drinks including milk shakes are a separate charge. We got beer and were able to use our drink package for it

Sabor Taquería and Tequila Bar: I tried ALMOST all of the margaritas here . . .I love avocado but just couldn't get myself to order an Avocado Margarita. It tried both spicy margaritas and they just weren't my thing. It was like you were drinking a bowl of salsa. Probably would have been great if we ordered food too but alone wasn't my style. The Grand Margarita is a pinky/ orange color and was probably my favorite and if you just want a regular green Margarita the perfect margarita is what you want. Don't let the orange juice in the description fool you it doesn't add any different flavor at all.  Eddie's tip here was to order a shot of tequila with your margarita because they were too weak for him.

Sabor Bar: Easy to Access Bar but a lot of the bartenders are too slow - you can order all the Sabor Margaritas here too

AquaTheater: If you're looking for a water show review you're in the wrong place because we didn't watch them - what we did see here was the NBA Finals and Movies after dark. Great place to watch something on the big screen.

Vintages -Wine Bar: This place is amazing and all the bartenders are awesome and so knowledgeable on all the wines that they serve. We had the premium drink package so we would sit in here and do our own little wine tasting working our way through the red and white menus. We did learn that some of our favorite wines here were out of our package price point but you do get to subtract $12 from the price which makes it better - for example one of our favorites we found was $13 so it ended up being $1/ glass for us. I really don't get why most people don't come in here it was one of my favorites for sure

Park Café: Best Sandwiches on the ship - breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This was my go to when I wanted a sandwich and also the only place on the ship where you can find packaged food for FREE. Daily we stocked up on chips and cereal to use as late night snacks back in the room.

Secret Balcony on Deck 14: Sitting in the solarium one afternoon we noticed a deck below us with no one on it. After a little searching we found it! You enter through the room hallway on the left side of the 14th floor

Solarium : This place says it is Adult only with no one under 16 allowed but there were always kids in here. If you can get a big round seat by the window they are super comfy but are often always taken. Only time we got one of these chairs was in the middle of the night when we were wondering around

Wipe Out Café: Quick and Easy place to get Hamburgers, Hot Dogs,, and Pizza if your hangout on the sports side of the deck. They have a ice cream machine but never had cones while I was in there

Oasis Dunes - Mini Golf: Fun little mini golf course. Think it was about 9 holes. Took less than 30 minutes to get around the course with the 2 of us

Windjammer Marketplace: It’s a buffet - enough said

Flowrider® : One of my favorite day time activities was watching people wipe out on the flowrider! Just make sure you are on the stand up side and not the boogie board side

Room Service: You order this from the TV in your room - whether you are ordering breakfast for tomorrow or any other time of day. The Breakfast was worse than the windjammer in my opinion and not quite sure why everyone loves the Honey Sting Chicken so much it's just fried chicken with a side of ranch and sweet potato fries . . . .the sweet potato fries were the better part of the meal in my opinion