Onboard Oasis of the Seas: Your Questions Answered

Last week, TravelPulse took part in a simulation cruise for Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. It was the first time the ship had sailed in 18 months. The excitement among crew members was palpable. Their passion shows in everything they do; you can tell they're so happy to be back to normal.

That "normal" is of course, a bit revised as we recover from the pandemic. There are new protocols in place, set by the CDC for all cruise lines. It's interesting to note that Royal Caribbean participated in developing the 74 recommendations submitted by the Healthy Sail Panel to the CDC in September 2020 in response to a request for public comment and those recommendations were adapted by the CDC for the industry.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas officially returns from Cape Liberty to the Bahamas on September 5. It is the largest ship to ever sail from the area. (Make sure you tell clients to watch as you sail under the Verazzano Bridge, it's so close it's a real thrill).

We asked for your questions and got the answers you wanted. Here's an overall look at what to expect on board Royal Caribbean.

All guests over the age of 12, must be fully vaccinated to be on board. To be considered fully vaccinated, a traveller must have received the same dose (no mixing brands), something that is in line with most cruise lines. All guests do also need to present a negative test to board. This can be antigen / the same one Canadians used for entry into the US, if it is taken 72 hours in advance.

When you arrive, the Wi-Fi at the terminal isn't the greatest, so make sure you have hard copies of your vaccination record and your negative test. You will need to show it with your passport at multiple stops, so keep it handy. (I kept mine in a folder in my laptop bag, so easy to pull out and present). Please also ensure you arrive at your scheduled time to avoid waiting in the terminal.

Nearly every entry point, whether it is at the terminal, or once you board or into a restaurant has mandatory sanitizing stations. An attendant is nearby and will remind you, very nicely, to sanitize before you continue your way.

In room circulation is very high. Normally, to conserve energy, air conditioning would shut off automatically when the cabin door was shut. With COVID however, they run continuously and circulate the air 15-20x per hour - or every 3-4 minutes.

Vaccinated travellers receive a blue bracelet to wear throughout the trip, which easily identifies who is vaccinated. Children under 12 are currently not eligible to receive the vaccine. The vaccinated only areas are basically restaurants and areas that children probably wouldn't want to hang out in anyway, but it does allow you to go mask-free. Which was great, for example, when we went to Jazz on 4 nightclub for live music.

Masks are required everywhere indoors, but not outside. There are signs on the doors that say "Mask Free Zone" which are the top decks by the pools, mini golf etc. But to go back inside to get to your room for example, you must wear a mask. In the Main Dining Room, you wear your mask to your table and then take it off and put it back on before you head back out to the main area.

Buffet restaurants are still operating, albeit it a little differently.

In Solarium Bistro and Windjammer buffets, the food is pre-served in little dishes which you can grab yourself, while there is an attendant at some of the stations to help with salads and soups for example. Drinks are not self-serve, and there will be an attendant waiting to pour you a water, juice or soda at the drink station.

Room Service is operational; however, staff are not allowed to enter guests' rooms to bring the tray inside. Instead, they bring their cart, knock on the door and then the guest carries the tray into the room.

In keeping with capacity limits, at all Royal Caribbean's pools, there are no more than 9 people allowed in one pool at the same time. You are allowed though to sit on the edge with a drink in hand and dangle your feet in the water. This might sound strict and a bit worse than it actually was, we found that guests generally wanted to help each other out and share pool time, so expect lots of "do you want to go in, because I'll jump out for a bit if you'd like" type offers.

Royal Caribbean has an onboard lab processing facility expect up to 2 hours for the results which is a hard copy that's left in your room. Guests should enquire at Guest Services the first day or so they're on the ship to arrange to book the test for return.