When I was first invited out for the pre-inaugural (and review) celebration of the Oasis of the Seas, I can admit I hesitated for two reasons. The first being in may I took a miserable cruise where I vowed to never set foot on a ship again and the second being why would I fly all the way out to only spend a day and a half there?

What could they possibly offer me but a headache of travel along the way?

I am in no way denying that I didn’t have some headache of travel. I spent an extra 30 minutes on the runway during the flight out of Mobile.

Just sitting….at 6am.

As soon as we made it to Atlanta, we spent 45 more minutes on the run way sitting. The weather pattern was bad and once one plane gets behind in Atlanta, its all down hill. The pilot cracked a joke about 30 minutes into sitting there and asked us how the flight was so far. Don’t even ask me how long it took to get home.

Once we got to to Ft. Lauderdale, I realized my bags weren’t so lucky and I had to wait for another flight to come in and bring them. Which honestly was better then the woman in front of me that was close to having a mental breakdown over her bags. Apparently hers were checked in and made it to the terminal, which means someone actually stole hers off the conveyer belt. She damn near threatened bodily harm to the ticket agent. It was funny and sad at the same time.

I figured if anyone ever steals my bags they will be sorely disappointed with the mismatching socks and probably return them.

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Most below was written via the boat on monday and therefore will read like I am on the boat.

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Right now its 330 on Monday and I am sitting in my not-so-quiet room and glad I made the leap of faith to check out what the largest ship of the world was going to be boasting to its soon to be clients.

Aside from the incredible wow factor that takes you over the minute you step on this over billion dollar ship, when you break down the nitty gritty of the Oasis it all starts to come together like a finely tuned piano.

I was personally most impressed with the care and details into making the ship spectacular. I have taken over 300 photos and around every corner is in in-the-raw photo opp. Surprisingly this ship is beyond family friendly and has daily family activities, teen centers and food areas, child programs, a carousal, kid pools, and little extras like an ice cream, doughnut and cupcake shop.  When I go on vacation, I don’t really want to bring my child (is that bad to say) so I didn’t spend as much time as some of the other bloggers exploring the kid areas. I am sure they will bring a lot more to the table then I can. I will update that once they publish their posts. I did notice all the adults playing with all the kid stuff, so I figured overall its pretty fun.

Last night after my trip to the spa, I went out with Tanya and her friend Melinda and Kate and her DH met up with us at the hip hopping club BLAZE. There were lots of (older) ladies dancing with the half naked younger gay men. It was HYSTERICAL. The entire boat is filled with travel agents and press and by the end of the day everyone was ready to be served free alcohol and dance their booties off to Jay Seans “Down”,. I think Tanya filmed 30 minutes of blackmail footage that will be appearing on a youtube near you.

Aside from one couple that didn’t care to take it back to their room and instead gave the entire place a, ahem, “show”, the night was a massive success and I imagine more than just I left with feet aching at 1am.

Today was filled with more press junkets and the facts about the boat are impressive:

• It’s the largest cruise ship at sea
• First ship to feature 7 neighborhoods
• Original, hand carved carousel
• First ever beach pool where guests can wade into the water or sit in chairs in the water
• Longest Jogging track at sea
• Central Park has 12,175 plants and 56 trees
• Its larger then the Eiffel tower, Chrysler building and is equal to 3.5 football fields
• It can hold 6,296 guests

All that being said and all the facts aside, the truth is this boat rides more like a city then a cruise boat. It’s the perfect vacation where you feel like you are on vacation and not just waiting to reach the next destination port. I imagine there will be families that wont ever leave the boat at all.

With a 2 level spa that even does botox, salon, restaurants you can book for private dinners, a casino, amphitheater, and even big screens to watch football on on Sundays, you may forget you are at sea entirely. Almost all the online amenities are included. The flow-rider, the zip line, the rock wall, the comedy show, the main shows…all of it. Its a nonstop party!

The last real thing I wanted to mention are the rooms. Instead of just sea facing, the rooms also have 600 interior facing rooms where you can embrace the hustle and bustle of the day, the nightlife, or the restaurants right from your own private balcony. I can even see the entire show in the amphitheater right from the privacy of my room. For me, I could hear the nightlife from my room and its not quite like a hotel you can call down and ask them to quiet down. If you are looking for complete seclusion, better opt for something more private like a view of the sea.

My very minor and unworthy complaints are:

• 1) The outlets were mega hard to find. They are under the desk.
• 2) The pillows have this kind of  plastic around them on the inside that crinkle when you roll. It feels like grandmas house.
• 3) The walking…oh goodness. If you forget something in your room, you might as well leave it. That’s not really a complaint, that’s an observation. The boat is massive. Bring comfortable shoes.
• 4) For a boat as big as the Titanic, I did not find Leo on board. I shall not give up hope!
• 5) Dinner was a tad chaotic. I think they are still working out the logistics.

Out of 5 stars

• Atmosphere: 5 stars
• Stuff to do on the boat: 5 stars
• Food: 4.5 stars (hey, food can ALWAYS be improved)
• Spa: 6 stars. Really, that lady was awesome. *lisa marie*
• Pool and Jacuzzi: 5 stars
• Service: Fabulous!!! (Shout out to Double D’s!)

Flat out, in my best Zoolander, “This boat is ridiculously good looking”.

The only problem is that once you get on, you will NEVER ride another cruise again as long as you shall live.Its like marrying the rich guy first when you should do that the 2nd time around.

I feel pretty sorry for Carnival right now.

~Trisha

P.S. Keep checking back. I have over 300 photos and ask i shrink them, ill be loading them.