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Save/ShareThis December, Royal Caribbean debuts the largest cruise ship in the world, the Oasis of the Seas. We reported on the "gi-normous" (and very cool) ship last summer. At 220,000-tons, with 18 decks and seven distinct neighborhoods (including one with a zip line!), it'll be quite a sight.
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On its website, Royal Caribbean is offering interior cabins starting at $699 for the four-night cruise, $1,299 for the December 5 inaugural seven-night cruise, and $1,089 for other dates in December. Stops on the seven-night cruises include St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Nassau in the Bahamas.
I did a Kayak cruise search today to see if other booking sites could beat those prices. I didn't have any luck. But, booking agencies such as cruises.com, cruisesonly.com, and cruise411.com are offering bonuses like 10 percent off shore excursions for all bookings and a free spa treatment if you book a balcony cabin or above on the Oasis. And Travel Themes and Dreams, one of Budget Travel's favorite booking agencies, is offering balcony cabins for the December 12 cruise for $1,369 (the regular rate) but also throwing in a $100 shipboard credit.
There's a chance prices could come down as the dates get closer—after all, the ship can handle nearly 6,300 passengers. Keep watching Kayak, and be prepared to book at the last minute for great rates.
Want more? See the Washington Post's recent sneak peak of the Oasis of the Seas. Or you could visit the official site.
Port Report: Cruise Terminals Across the U.S.
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I booked a balcony room for the December 5th cruise. It originally was scheduled for Dec. 12th but Royal Caribbean called and changed the date to the 5th. I booked the cruise on the Royal Caribbean Web Site back in September of 2008. I have been offered no such deals or extras as I see on some of travel sites and I paid over $6000 for the trip. This also included airfare from Indiana. Any suggestions on who to approach to see if I could perhaps get some "perks" for being such an early bird in booking this?
Posted By Phil Hubartt on October 15, 2009, 11:59 PM
Phil... Royal Caribbean offers price protection if your cruise fare has indeed gone down. Contact your travel agent. Even if you have paid your final payment you should get an onboard credit.
If your travel agent won't do it for you - call the company directly and then get a new agent.
Posted By CruiseMates on October 16, 2009, 10:56 AM
While certainly intriguing technologically, I can't imagine a shipboard experience with 6,300 other passengers as being anything but completely removed from the one thing that makes me love cruising most...the sea.
Why have the mass market cruise lines gone so far to ruin the one element that they had over land based vacations?
When booking any Caribbean cruise, you can be sure I'll be paying attention to where this monstrous vessel and her upcoming sisters dock and make sure I don't arrive in any port aboard another ship at the same time. What a nightmare...
Posted By Scott MacDonald on October 19, 2009, 11:40 AM
We've been in Dubrovnik, Santorini and other very pretty, distinctive places when one of these sea-going monsters - Ogre of the Oceans or Adriatic Monstrosity maybe - put into port and disgorged thousands of noisy tourists who clogged the tiny streets and restaurants where we had had a quiet breakfast and talked with shop owners. The shipboard hordes made the places unlivable and we hopped a local bus to escape - a good idea at any time, really. By suppertime, the shipboard folk had gone back to their air-conditioned cabins, unlimited buffets and we were free to enjoy the evening. But the experience cured me of ever wanting to go on a cruise. And reading about this cruise liner on steroids reinforced that feeling. Never.
Posted By Bill Earls on October 19, 2009, 1:16 PM
I agree w/ Scott.....the solitude of the sea is my prime enjoyment on a cruise, but only the older ships, w/ their Promenade Deck - going ALL the way around outdoors-that I will even consider, today. And the sizes of the new ships - OMG! Why would anyone want to vacation w/ 6,000 strangers? Give me a ship w/ UNDER 2,000 passengers (even these seem crowded sometimes). It's so nice to be able to find an unoccupied nook on the ship.
Posted By joanne Moceri-Taveira on October 19, 2009, 5:17 PM