Oasis of the Seas Eastern itinerary with kids Nov 14 - Nov 21st

Hey all! Not my first post, but my first review. This was our 3rd cruise on Royal. Our first was in 2005 on Voyager (Eastern). Life and kids happened so our second cruise was on Freedom last November (western itinerary) and we had soooo much fun we went on Oasis last week, Eastern Itinerary.

It was me, my husband and our 2 kids (10 and 4)

Boarding - no issues getting on the ship quickly or getting off. We arrived a bit later in FL flying from NC and were on board by 2-2:30 I believe. Our room was ready of course and luggage arrived at some point thereafter.

Room - We had a balcony room on Deck 12 (12662). Good storage areas all over. It was clean. Plenty of hangers to hang up clothing. We brought an over the door shoe organizer (you know with the pockets) and it was PERFECT for toiletries and free'd up space on the counters and such. We requested extra pillows at one point and they were received with no issues. The couch unfolds to turn into a bed. There is no mattress, it is the couch. It worked fine for the 2 kids. Every night when we went to dinner the cabin attendant set it all up for us.

Hopefully this picture works for others.

Get the pina colada in a pineapple. I had 2!

Ports of call - This itinerary was Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We've been to Nassau before in 2005 and wasn't impressed then and decided to only walk within the port, take some pictures and come back and that's what we did. The merchants are just very aggressive and I remember not feeling comfortable last time so with kids I didn't want to even explore.

St. Thomas we did a resort for a day on our own. No room for this one, but we went to the Marriott Morning Star Beach resort. We had an umbrella, 4 loungers and towels and could use the facilities. It was perfect. We spent about 4 hours there and took a cab back to the port.

St. Maarten we did the same thing, but also had a room. We did the Westin Dawn Beach. Fabulous property. We had loungers and the woman at the front desk gave us a voucher for a canopy on the beach to shield us from the sun. After a short dip in the ocean we spent the rest of the day at the pool. The water was a bit rougher here so we didn't spend as much time in the ocean as we had in St. Thomas. Had a delicious lunch at the pool bar and then went to the room to freshen up before taking a cab back to port. The room was very clean and spacious. The bathroom was huge! Huge walk in shower and a soaking tub, robes and comfortable space to relax before heading back to the ship. I highly recommend this resort for a day.

Westin Dawn Beach

We didn't do any RCCL excursions because my youngest is just too young for the ones we would've wanted to do.

Ship activities - loved the Aqua show. That was the only show we did. We didn't really have interest in others. We did a lot of the kid centric activities too. The kids had their faces painted (free, though a tip jar was there too) and had balloon animals made. The kids club had various family events and movies. We did a family game of Crazy tag which was a lot of fun. We did the open court volleyball since my daughter plays. My husband did the zip line a couple of times and my oldest and husband both did Flowrider. They've done it before on FOS too.

I used the gym. I go to a Crossfit gym at home so I had an idea of what to expect at the gym since i used it on Freedom too. Very happy to see that Oasis had a rower too. The gym is adequate. I do love the gym on Freedom more only for all the windows and light it gets. The gym on Oasis is above the casino so there is a slight smoke odor when you first walk in, but then isn't noticeable. Plenty of towels and everyone was friendly and not rude. Stairs from the gym lead down to the jogging track on Deck 5.

Food - I have zero issues with the food on the ship. I'm not a picky person, but live with picky eaters and all were accommodated easily. I did get a bit bored with the Windjammer food since it's the same day in and out for Breakfast (never really did lunch or dinner there). The chocolate frosted donuts were awesome. The staff helped find you a seat which was was helpful. We often had lunch from all different places usually going to Park Cafe to get a freshly prepared salad and the roast beef sandwich and then getting the pickier eaters some pizza or something at Sorrentos. We did the Wipe Out cafe for lunch one day too. MDR service was excellent. My son requires yogurt for dinner every night to take some pills and our waitstaff had it on the table waiting along with his apple juice.

Kids oriented stuff - Kids club is fantastic. My youngest would not go, but my oldest loved it and went pretty much every day and even did dinner with her group some evenings. They go to the windjammer for dinner. One evening she stayed past 10pm and so it's then $7/hr at that point for the later times. The kids club staff were great and they offered family activities everyday. They had a family festival on the boardwalk a few times with games, face painting and balloon animals (all free). The kids loved the carousel too. There is a play area within Adventure ocean for all kids up til 5 years old. This is a play area for the parents to stay and play with the kids. I often saw parents in there with their toddlers.

My favorite area on the ship was the sun deck which is deck 14 forward and then Deck 5 aft along the jogging track there are some chairs and you can sit there and relax watching the ocean. It's right behind the aqua theater.

We didn't find any issues with lengthy lines really. Occasionally at Park Cafe however it moved fast.

Elevators were generally quick though sometimes full so we'd use the stairs.

Hand sanitizer every where. :)

Pools - The kids whirlpool has an attendant. I didn't notice this on Freedom. I remember there being an incident with a child and the whirlpool so I guess they added an attendant. Kids need to be a certain height to go in alone otherwise an adult must join them.

The kids area was never too crowded and we never had issues with finding a chair either.

The hot tubs have sensors that if you hold your hand over it then it will stop the jets and if you put your hand back over it the jets will turn on. Occasionally a child would sit on it or touch it and turn the jets on and off. Just an FYI :)

Great cruise and great trip. Not sure I'd do Oasis again unless there was a fantastic deal, but we wanted to check it out.

I had the Royal Replenish package and got lattes constantly at Cafe Promenade, cappuccino in the MDR after dinner and I think you can get latte's in the Park Cafe as well. I also was able to get a protein shake in the Vitality spa area with the RR package. I did use Starbucks once and used my gold card. It was $6.20 for a venti peppermint mocha.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. Glad you had a great vacation.

Sounds like a great family cruise. I love how family centred Royal us. Saw some of your responses (to my posts) on the family board so it's great to hear feedback from others traveling with kids. Didn't realize the kids club has activities for parents with the kids.

My older one is a picky eater too. Where did you find the best lunch places for them? (we'll be on Allure but very similar).

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a great cruise.

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. Glad you had a great vacation.

You're welcome and thanks for reading!

Sounds like a great family cruise. I love how family centred Royal us. Saw some of your responses (to my posts) on the family board so it's great to hear feedback from others traveling with kids. Didn't realize the kids club has activities for parents with the kids.

 

My older one is a picky eater too. Where did you find the best lunch places for them? (we'll be on Allure but very similar).

 

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a great cruise.

I am glad I could help. I don't have anything to compare it to, but RCCL has been great for us since we all like so many different things that it works.

For lunch we usually got the kids pizza at Sorrento's. We tried the grilled cheese panini in Park Cafe and neither of my kids liked it. I tried it and it was fine so it may depend on your child. it did have 3 cheeses so maybe that's why. You can also order room service for free. We ordered some cookies one day and I got a fruit and cheese plate. There is also a hot dog stand on the boardwalk. My husband will eat hot dogs, but not the kids. Windjammer always has a good selection (burgers, fries, cold cuts and hot dishes too), but wipe out cafe has similar stuff plus pizza. it's aft of the ship near the sports court. Both kids and my husband are picky. In the MDR my daughter usually got mac and cheese and the tomato and cheese sandwich. Both kids loved the rolls with dinner. My son is a little less picky and will eat grilled chicken and the chicken soup and always fries. Ha! You can get lunch in the Solarium Bistro as well (free..dinner is a charge), but I didn't see anything there my kids would eat. Also the MDR does lunch on At sea days, but we never checked it out. Cafe promenade has turkey sandwiches and others (ham, muffelatta sandwich).

You're welcome and thanks for reading!

 

 

 

I am glad I could help. I don't have anything to compare it to, but RCCL has been great for us since we all like so many different things that it works.

 

For lunch we usually got the kids pizza at Sorrento's. We tried the grilled cheese panini in Park Cafe and neither of my kids liked it. I tried it and it was fine so it may depend on your child. it did have 3 cheeses so maybe that's why. You can also order room service for free. We ordered some cookies one day and I got a fruit and cheese plate. There is also a hot dog stand on the boardwalk. My husband will eat hot dogs, but not the kids. Windjammer always has a good selection (burgers, fries, cold cuts and hot dishes too), but wipe out cafe has similar stuff plus pizza. it's aft of the ship near the sports court. Both kids and my husband are picky. In the MDR my daughter usually got mac and cheese and the tomato and cheese sandwich. Both kids loved the rolls with dinner. My son is a little less picky and will eat grilled chicken and the chicken soup and always fries. Ha! You can get lunch in the Solarium Bistro as well (free..dinner is a charge), but I didn't see anything there my kids would eat. Also the MDR does lunch on At sea days, but we never checked it out. Cafe promenade has turkey sandwiches and others (ham, muffelatta sandwich).

Thank so much for the quick feedback. Good that you can get "kid food" all over. MDR sounds like a great option on sea days as well as the pizza at Sorrentos. You always hear good things about Park Café so funny that they can mess up 'grilled cheese' (as its probably mostly kids that order that).

Too bad about Solarium Bistro lunch as I was hoping to try it sometime. I can see us grabbing things from various places (if not too far away).

Solarium Bistro definitely had things I'd enjoy like brown rice, quinoa, etc, but wasn't in the mood to deal with it with the others. Definitely check it out. Try the roast beef sandwich in Park Cafe. That was my favorite and they have soup too! Bagels and stuff in the morning.

Thanks for the review! I see that you guys did the resorts for a day on St Maarten and St Thomas. How did you book it? We were thinking about doing the one in St. Maarten because it looks neat and we've never been to a swim up bar before! I've seen some stuff about resortforaday.com but we were trying to figure out if it was easier to try to book something through the hotels directly.

Solarium Bistro definitely had things I'd enjoy like brown rice, quinoa, etc, but wasn't in the mood to deal with it with the others. Definitely check it out. Try the roast beef sandwich in Park Cafe. That was my favorite and they have soup too! Bagels and stuff in the morning.

Love quinoa. Sounds like a good lunch place too...especially when indulging other times during the day.

Have heard about the "famous" roast beef at Park Café . I don't eat meat myself but DH will love that. Will definitely mention it to him.