When Royal Caribbean stated ‘We Build Incredible’, they weren’t joking around.  To say the Oasis of the Seas is a modern marvel is a complete understatement.

I’ve witnessed natural wonders of the world such as the Grand Canyon, and man-made wonders of the world such as the Great Wall of China. I’ve seen modern marvels like the Eiffel Tower and ancient Mayan ruins like Chitzen Itza.  I’ve been on dozens of cruise ships – everything from small tall ships under 300 people to mega-ships holding over 3500 people offering everything from surfing (Liberty of the Seas) to bowling (Norwegian Gem). I’ve even experienced dozens of resorts ranging from several thousand rooms like Atlantis in the Bahamas to intimate inns on the beach of Negril, Jamaica.

But, I’ve never witnessed anything like this.

I just boarded the ship yesterday for a 2 day pre-inaugural (most cruise lines let top producing travel agents and cruise line staff and families experience new ships before they’re open to the public). I got on the ship around 3pm yesterday, dropped my bags in my room and started to frantically explore the largest ship ever built.

To explain everything I’ve seen so far on Oasis would surely be a 100 page book. There’s just too much I’ve seen to even try to put down in writing. But, I will say this: I’ve been on board less than 24 hours and still haven’t seen everything I’ve wanted to see so far. During most of yesterday afternoon, I was too busy gawking at everything to keep moving to the next area of the ship.  Everything I saw was just that impressive. Then, last night after dinner, I was busy enjoying the wide range of onboard entertainment. My plan for today is to see everything I didn’t get a chance to see yesterday, so I’m sure I’ll have more to report by tomorrow when I get off the ship.

Here are the highlights what I’ve seen so far:

• Royal Promenade –  If you’ve been on a Radiance Class, Voyager Class, or Freedom Class of ships onboard Royal Caribbean in the past, you’ll be excited to know that the promenade on Oasis is double the width and is 2 stories high (the main promenade and a balcony area). Most people will agree it looks more like a fancy shopping mall now more than ever before with the exception of the next place I saw sitting in the middle...the Rising Tide Bar.
• Rising Tide Bar – in the middle of the promenade, there’s an oval-shaped bar that is like a slow moving elevator taking you up two decks. When the bar is on the higher decks, there’s a water show and waterfall going on underneath it. I had to experience this bar, so I got on at promenade level, ordered a glass champagne to toast the next 2 days, and got off 2 decks higher smack in the middle of another cruise industry first…Central Park.
• Central Park – when I heard this ship would have a ‘neighborhood’ called Central Park, I envisioned a patch of grass with a couple of trees and park benches. My vision was far from reality. This serene open to the sky area on the interior of the ship has hundreds of low-lying bushes, shrubs, and flowers not to mention the ground covering, ivy, trees, and walkways giving this area the feel of being a vacation from your vacation. There were plenty of people milling around during the day and eating at one of the several outdoor bistro-style restaurants surrounding Central Park. But, I also walked through later last night long when the majority of the passengers were either in bed or partying at one of several discos and clubs. Central Park at night is a great place to have a quiet, romantic evening (but you must know, there are balconies overlooking the park, so if you want a ‘private’ moment, you won’t get it here because there’s a chance someone may be watching).
• Sports Deck – I saw a few people with a wristband walking around and soon found out that it was for those who signed up for either the zipline or Flow-Rider (stationary surfing). I knew before I set foot on this ship that I wanted to do the zipline, so I made a B-line for the Sports Deck to discover a long line for those wanting to sign up (I’m scheduled for 2:40pm today, so stay tuned). Aside from the zipline, there’s a bar (no surprise there), two Flow-Riders, a full basketball court, a putting green, and 2 massive rock-walls .
• The Boardwalk – this is another ‘neighborhood’ unlike no other on any cruise ship. Complete with a carousel, photo-booth, candy store, hamburger joint (Johnny Rockets), and seafood café (Seafood Shack), the Boardwalk is definitely an area of the ship that kids ranging from 2-92 will surely enjoy. I haven’t ridden the carousel yet, but it’s in my plan for today. I almost started to get on it until I turned my head and noticed the next incredible feature of the ship at the end of the boardwalk.
• Aqua Theater – located at the end of the boardwalk is the Aqua Theater. Nothing was going on at the time I was there, but this is where there will be diving and water shows (similar to Cirque du Soleils’ show ‘O’ combined with the water dance-type show from the Bellagio in Las Vegas). It’s my understanding that this area will be a happening hot spot at night as well once the ship is open to the public. In the meantime, they were showing segments from yesterdays’ Good Morning America highlighting the ship on the 2 super-sized LCD screens on each side of the pool area.
• Entertainment Place –There’s a section of the ship that has several clubs and lounges near the theater, so you can just hop from one to another depending on what mood you’re in. I’m onboard with 300 other Cruise Planners franchise owners, so a good percentage of us met up in the disco/club, Blaze, to party the night away. The DJ was good and the drinks were flowing (it’s open bar on pre-inaugurals, so we’ve been drinking since we set foot onboard).   Also in Entertainment Place, there’s a Comedy Live (I heard the show was super-funny, so I’ll try catching it tonight) and Jazz on 4 (the band was superb).  I also went to the main theater which is steps away to catch the show of the night, Mosaic. This a capella group of 6 guys was phenomenal! Their use their voices to sound like any instrument along with singing. They sang a variety of music and made me want to look up their website to buy their CD.  I usually don’t bother going to the big shows while onboard a ship, so I’m glad I checked it out. It was well worth my time – I was truly impressed.
• Dazzles – after partying at the club, we headed to a supper-club lounge. The ambience here is completely adult urban chic… a perfect place to have a private party for a group of 50-200. I had stopped by here earlier in the evening and there was a live music and dancing – it was more of a romantic type of place and not so much the ‘club’ atmosphere. By the time I made it back here after the club, there were only a couple of people and a dj, so I’ll have to check it out tonight.
• The Solarium – all of the Cruise Planners agents had a private cocktail party here just before dinner, but I ended up here again after partying at the club Blaze since this turns into anther club, Twenty. They did a great job of transforming this open air space into a hip, South Beach-style party place with gogo dancers and everything. This area looks over the adult-only pool/serenity area (I didn’t see this during the day, so I’ll have to check it out today as well and report back).

That’s about all I remember so far. I still haven’t seen the spa, fitness center, or kids area (which I heard is completely out of this world).

To sum it up, Oasis of the Seas is so much more than a cruise ship. It’s truly a destination in and of itself, more than any other ship out there. You can probably sail on her for a week and not see everything onboard.

It’s truly a ship for everyone, especially for seasoned cruisers who think they’ve seen and done it all and for groups of all sizes. It’s even more perfect for people who claim they either don’t like cruises or have not interest in taking a cruise. This is the one ship that truly doesn’t feel like a ship at all.

Yes, the ship is the biggest ship ever built – it holds 5400 passengers double occupancy and weighing in at 220,000 tons. But, even though the ship itself if obviously massive, it doesn’t feel it once inside. There’s so much going on at any given time,  that passengers aren’t in the same area at the same time. There are even spaces like Central Park that are available to find a little quiet time.

But, enough of me going on and on about this ship. I have more to explore and will report again soon.

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