You know you’re on a big ship when you spend a week exploring it and still don’t get to see everything.

A Sydney couple just back from a 7-day Caribbean cruise out of Florida on Royal Caribbean’s new super-jumbo liner Oasis of the Seas told their travel agent they’re sorry they didn’t book to go around again.

A week, they said, just wasn’t enough to check out all of the ship’s amazing range of entertainment options and other features.

Oasis of the Seas arrives at its home port, Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

Meg Hill, a director of big travel agency Cruise Express, said their reaction pretty much sums up the feedback she’s getting from other clients who’ve sailed on Oasis of the Seas in the four months since the world’s biggest liner was launched in a global blaze of publicity.

"I don’t see the Caribbean itself appealing to that many Australians", she says. "Oasis is going to be the destination".

Meg was one of a handful of Australians aboard the 6296-passenger vessel for a three-night pre-launch cruise late last year.

She had preconceived ideas about what a 225,000-ton behemoth catering largely to an American market would be like. But she came away feeling differently.

"I thought it would be very American - brash and loud", she says. "It isn’t like that. It’s really incredibly tasteful and stylish in so many areas".

She expected to be overcome by the size, too, but found the most noticeable aspect to be the width of the ship (it’s as wide as an aircraft carrier), rather than the height or length.

"I just doesn’t have the hugeness that I expected. Nor was there a sense of mixing with huge crowds.

"There were about 4600 passengers on the sailing and it felt no different to me than ships I’ve been on with about 2500 passengers.

On a ‘high’ all the time

An aerial view of the Central Park neighbourhood

"Oasis has so many ‘wow’ factors than you don’t notice people around you. You’re on a high the whole time".

The ship has seven distinct neighbourhoods, a world first for cruising.

The Central Park one, for instance, billed as the first real park at sea, has 12,000 trees, plants and flowers, hanging gardens falling six storeys, winding walkways and secluded benches and tables.

Eye-opening features of other neighbourhoods include a full-size fairground carousel, an amphitheatre around a pool which converts at night into a venue for spectacular aquatic entertainment, a street of shops (Royal Promenade), a vast entertainment area for younger passengers, and a ‘floating’ bar which rises and falls three storeys.

There are 37 bars throughout the ship and 20 places to dine or snack.

There are also 37 different grades of accommodation, including novel loft-style rooms.

Meg was impressed with the range of family rooms, including ones which sleep up to six, with double wardrobes and extra floor space.

"There are also inter-connecting cabins, so families really can travel as a group", she says.

Busy restaurants

The only time she noticed the crowds was when it came to dining.

"There are lots of options, from top-end to casual, but there’s only so much seating, particularly in speciality restaurants.

"A computerised system advises how busy each restaurant is, which in theory means you don’t have to walk a long way to a place you’ve chosen, only to find it full.

"But I still heard of people who couldn’t get in when they thought they would be able to.

Meg Hill on an Oasis of the Seas rock-climbing wall.

"I experienced the situation in its first days and things have probably improved since then".

She says that to beat the crowds it’s also "incredibly important" to book ahead for shows, particularly the exclusive-to-Oasis production of the award-winning Broadway musical ‘Hairspray’.

She has clients who’ve already made bookings and haven’t yet left Australia.

"If you don’t pre-book you end up on what is called stand-by, and that means you can miss out".

Meg accepts that a superliner like Oasis of the Seas is not for everyone.

"But there’s an element of our population which is looking for something new, something big, something spectacular and something very different. I think Oasis has all of that".