ChrisinCT

Just did the Behind the Scenes tour on Oasis. I took a ton of pictures! Really enjoyed the bridge and engineering. It is something to do once.

Just got off the Oasis two weeks ago... As far as the beverage package, for several months prior to our sailing, the price never dropped below $55. You will get emails saying its on sale, but when you go into Cruise Planner, it would say $55 pre cruise deal. We ended up paying for it, but did not get our moneys worth. It is a convenience, but next cruise we will probably just go a la carte or buy the 10 drink punch card. The dining options are endless! Giovanni's Table is a really nice venue and has some incredible italian entrees. The Filet there is possibly better than Chops. I would definitely recommend it! If you are staying in Port Canaveral pre cruise, I recommend lodging at the Homewood Suites. I have stayed there as well as the Radisson and Residence Inn, and Homewood Suites tops them. For dinner, I recommend Grills Seafood at the Port. It is on the water, has live music and great food.

I have had it both ways. Typically on Royal Caribbean, you stay on "ships time" which is the time zone based on the departure port. On Disney, it changed when the ship crossed the time zones. That was a pain because one night you may have gone forward and then the next night you have to go back. When I cruise, I wear a cheap waterproof watch so that I always know what time it is. You will find that your phone, smartwatches will change based on their GPS location.

We just got off our second cruise on Oasis. One of my wife's "complaints" is the availability of "good seafood" on cruise ships. We are from New England where seafood restaurants are everywhere. We were looking at Harmony for our next cruise for a variety of reasons...discussion for another day, but now that we see that Symphony will have Hooked on Seafood, we will wait a little longer and take our next cruise on Symphony.

Just discovered this site today and quickly registered...seems like good stuff! My first cruise was on RCI on the Nordic Empress, now Empress of the Seas in 2004. We then went on two DCL cruises on the Disney Magic in 2006 and 2009. Last year, we cruised on Oasis of the Seas and are going again in October on Oasis. I can summarize my experiences as follows. Nordic Empress--Great time, cheap cruise, wish I paid more for more entertainment/food options onboard Disney Magic--More options than Nordic Empress, great service, food was better in 2006 than 2009, quite costly overall Oasis of the Seas--Perfect blend of everything! Plenty of Wow factor, lots to do, food and entertainment options are endless, good bang for the buck. In my opinion the overall experience on the newer vessels in the RCI fleet give much more bang for the buck than DCL.