If you like vacationing on cruise ships, and you live anywhere within driving distance of New York City...
You should be getting excited right about now for a cruise ship that’s going to be based in the New York area beginning a couple of months from now.
For the last several years, Anthem Of The Seas has been Royal Caribbean’s ship based in the New York area.
But Royal Caribbean is going to re-position Anthem to Europe...
And take the opportunity to bring one of the largest cruise ships in the world, Oasis Of The Seas, to the New York area.
And the best part of all is that Oasis Of The Seas recently completed a 165 million dollar renovation...
Bringing her closer to the state of the art of Royal Caribbean’s best new ships.
So if you live within driving distance of Oasis Of The Seas' new home port of Bayonne, New Jersey…
This is a cruise ship you should definitely consider booking a cruise on.
Oasis-class ships are the largest cruise ships in the world...
And that allows them to have some pretty great features that you just won’t find on smaller cruise ships…
Like Central Park, an oasis of greenery in the center of the ship.
You just don’t find this kind of place on most other cruise ships.
Walking through here is literally a breath of fresh air!
At the aft end of the ship is the Aqua Theater…
A venue unlike anything you’ll find on any other cruise ship.
Olympic-class divers and synchronized swimmers put on a show like you’ve never seen before.
Everything on Oasis Of The Seas is gigantic, because they have so much more available space than most other cruise ships…
So there are multiple swimming pools…
Gigantic hot tubs in numerous locations around the ship…
And plenty of places designed for specific age groups…
So kids have their own areas...
And adults have theirs.
No matter whether you’re travelling with kids and you want activities you can all share…
Or you’re looking for peace and quiet away from kids…
There are areas for each on Oasis Of The Seas.
That makes Oasis great for just about all kinds of cruisers, no matter the age...
And also perfect for multi-generation cruising...
Where Grandma and Grandpa, Mom & Dad, and all the kids...
Need things to keep them busy during the entire cruise.
Now I mentioned that Royal Caribbean recently spent 165 million dollars to modernize the ship.
That means Oasis Of The Seas now has almost all of the great new features that Royal Caribbean has rolled out on their newest ships over the last few years.
Like the tallest slide at Sea, the Ultimate Abyss.
And it’s not a water slide, so when you get to the bottom of the slide you don’t have to dry off or change clothes before you head out to do the next fun thing.
But if water slides are your thing, they have those too now on Oasis Of The Seas.
They call these slides The Perfect Storm and this is a guaranteed good time for all the thrill seekers in your family.
Splashaway Bay is the new kids water park that they added to Oasis Of The Seas.
Young kids are going to love this, and they’re going to want to spend a LOT of time here.
Another item that was added to Oasis Of The Seas during her recent 165 million dollar amplification was the Music Hall…
Something that up ‘til now you only found on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum-class ships.
It’s a fantastic venue for musical entertainment.
If you like spending time during a cruise watching a live rock band perform, you will love the music hall.
There’s a new karaoke venue called Spotlight Karaoke.
A lot of cruise ships put almost no effort or money in to karaoke…
But Royal Caribbean did it well with this new karaoke venue on Oasis Of The Seas.
And this really impressed me…
Escape rooms have been showing up on cruise ships over the last several years but Royal Caribbean went all out on theirs…
Building a replica of an Apollo launch control room.
And there are a series of challenges that you have to overcome to achieve a successful launch.
This makes all other escape rooms look boring by comparison!
Then the other thing I’m really impressed with on the newly renovated Oasis Of The Seas is several new casual dining options.
If you’ve watched my cruise ship videos over the years, you probably know I’m a really casual cruiser.
I hate to get dressed up for meals.
I’m looking for great casual dining options, and there are so many new good casual restaurants on Oasis Of The Seas now.
I’ve sailed on Oasis-class ships three different times now...
And I have to be honest and say that the dining options weren't a real good match for my preference for casual food in a casual setting when I’m on a cruise ship.
But now, it looks like I’d be a lot happier on Oasis Of The Seas after this recent amplification.
Look at these great casual dining options:
I’m really excited about a new barbecue joint called Portside BBQ.
This is the real deal... serving up authentic barbecue favorites, cooked slowly to perfection.
Look at that brisket!
I want some of that!
There’s also chicken, beef ribs, pulled pork, and even turkey legs.
Plus, sides like homestyle cornbread and mac & cheese.
Carnival Cruise Line has Guy Fieri’s barbecue joint now…
Norwegian Cruise Line has a barbecue joint called Q.
And I’m glad to see that Royal Caribbean recognized the trend and joined in with their Portside barbecue.
Oasis of the Seas also now has Royal Caribbean’s new casual Mexican restaurant called El Loco Fresh...
They’ve rolled it out on several of their newest ships, and newly renovated ships over the last few years...
And now Oasis Of The Seas has it.
El Loco Fresh is open for lunch and dinner, serving tacos, nachos, burritos, quesadillas…
It’s a fiesta of flavor from south of the border!
I’ve been saying for about 20 years now that cruise ships catering to American passengers need to offer more Mexican food…
It’s good to see Royal Caribbean figured it out.
There’s also Royal Caribbean’s sports bar, called Playmakers.
Enjoy watching the game on the wall of televisions, have a beer, or a burger, or some wings.
It's casual cruising… the way I like to spend a vacation!
Out by the pool, you’ll find the Lime And Coconut.
This is something that’s been a big hit on a couple of other newly renovated Royal Caribbean ships.
It’s a great place to have drinks out by the pool.
Also a good place to visit at sunset.
I’m glad to see it on Oasis Of The Seas now.
If you have a sweet tooth… you’re going to love Sugar Beach!
This is the place for not just all sorts of candy, but ice cream, too.
If you’re a coffee drinker, they’ve got you covered with a Starbucks onboard…
And when you’re ready to hit the hard stuff…
Why not have a drink that was mixed up by a bionic bartender?!?!
OK! Hang on for just a second, and I’ll be right back with more… after this.
Royal Caribbean also spent a ton of money improving their onboard facilities for children on Oasis Of The Seas.
No matter what age your kids are, from 6 months on up…
Royal Caribbean’s got something designed just for them.
This is the area for kids up to 3 years old…
There’s a completely different program and facility for 3 to 5 year olds…
Young kids are going to love the Adventure Ocean Theater.
Older kids will be able to enjoy Adventure Ocean Workshop…
Adventure Ocean Hangout…
And Adventure Ocean Arena…
Three new facilities added during the recent renovation.
All this was added to a variety of features that were already on board such as...
Two Flowrider surf simulators...
A classic Carousel in the Boardwalk neighborhood...
And an ice skating rink with shows by Olympic-class skaters.
And by the way, at certain times during the cruise, they cover the ice...
And that ice skating rink gets converted to a gigantic laser tag arena!
They’ve also made some big improvements to Royal Caribbean’s smartphone app.
You can use the app to unlock your stateroom door...
And to control your stateroom television.
By the way, many Oasis Of The Seas sailings visit Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, Coco Cay.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so...
You probably have heard about the amazing waterpark they built at Coco Cay.
But did you know that a few months ago, they finally completed the last phase of construction at Coco Cay?
And this may just be my favorite part!
Coco Beach Club with overwater bungalows that you can rent for the day…
An infinity pool overlooking the beach…
And somewhat more affordable beach bungalows.
The waterslides at Coco Cay look great.
The big freshwater pool called Oasis Lagoon looks great…
But I’m saving up my money for an epic day at one of those overwater bungalows!
That looks like my idea of a perfect day at Coco Cay.
So, if you like cruise ships and you live within driving distance of Bayonne, New Jersey…
That’s right across the way from New York City, and overlooking the Statue Of Liberty…
Or even if don’t live within driving distance…
Think about flying on United Airlines to the Newark Liberty International airport…
To catch a cruise on Oasis Of The Seas.
Suddenly she’s kind of a big deal again… after a 165 million dollar renovation a few months ago.
What would you think about coming along with me on a Caribbean cruise in the Spring of 2021?
When I’ll be sailing on Carnival’s next new ship… the Mardi Gras!
We’re doing a group cruise on the Mardi Gras.
So, if you’re a fan of my videos and you think it would be fun to go on a cruise with me…
Head on over to my web site at JimZim.net for more details…
On that upcoming group cruise to the Caribbean.
And no matter what kind of cruise you’re interested in taking…
I’d like to suggest that you do something that I didn’t figure out until somewhere around my 40th cruise…
Use a travel agent rather than booking directly through the cruise line.
This turns out to be better in quite a few ways.
And I have a great Travel Agent who you are welcome to use, too.
Her name is Caitlin Gallagher.
Visit her web site or just send her an email telling her about what cruise you’re interested in.
It’s better to have a Travel Agent on your side than trying to deal with the cruise lines on your own.
I’m Jim Zim. Thanks for watching!