It's big, folks! HUGE! Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship, and we just returned from a 7-night cruise during it's inaugural season. To say it was amazing would be selling it short. The good news is we've decided that we like cruising. It's a hassle-free way to travel with the kids and offers a variety of entertainment and excursion options to suit every travelers' interests. The bad news is that we started with the grandest ship in the world and now feel it would be disappointing to downgrade!.JPG)
And, just so know, it's not really the size of the boat that mattered to us. We just couldn't believe all that she had to offer when it came to activities and entertainment. Even with 8 days, we weren't able to do it all! As a result, we have absolutely no option except to book another voyage, right? However, the decision isn't quite that simple. You see, this November, Royal Caribbean launches a new sister ship, The Allure of the Seas. She will be 109 feet longer and one can only imagine the grandeur at this point. So while I have no idea when, I'm certain another cruise is in our future. Baylor was beyond relieved to hear the news considering he missed out on the fun this time around.
Before I launch into a week's worth of tales from the high seas, allow me to set the stage with a "little" tour of the ship. I couldn't document it all, but these pictures will provide an overview and surely send you to your favorite travel website to investigate future sail dates. The boarding process was an absolute breeze. I'm sure it's no small feat loading 6,000 passengers all overly-eager to start their vacation in such a short window of time, but Royal Caribbean makes it look effortless. In fact, never once did we experience a wait to disembark or reboard. They've got the process down to an art.
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And, just so know, it's not really the size of the boat that mattered to us. We just couldn't believe all that she had to offer when it came to activities and entertainment. Even with 8 days, we weren't able to do it all! As a result, we have absolutely no option except to book another voyage, right? However, the decision isn't quite that simple. You see, this November, Royal Caribbean launches a new sister ship, The Allure of the Seas. She will be 109 feet longer and one can only imagine the grandeur at this point. So while I have no idea when, I'm certain another cruise is in our future. Baylor was beyond relieved to hear the news considering he missed out on the fun this time around.Before I launch into a week's worth of tales from the high seas, allow me to set the stage with a "little" tour of the ship. I couldn't document it all, but these pictures will provide an overview and surely send you to your favorite travel website to investigate future sail dates. The boarding process was an absolute breeze. I'm sure it's no small feat loading 6,000 passengers all overly-eager to start their vacation in such a short window of time, but Royal Caribbean makes it look effortless. In fact, never once did we experience a wait to disembark or reboard. They've got the process down to an art.You enter the ship through the gangway and are immediately ushered into the grand Royal Promenade that is lined with stores and restaurants. Oh, and the food is all FREE! Well, not free exactly. You did pay for it, and trust me, it wasn't cheap! But, it feels free at that moment. The drinks, however, are NOT. We paid a pretty penny for drinks throughout the week, but the fact that they were all adorned with tropical fruits and cute little umbrellas somehow made it all okay.
I didn't get a great picture of it, but the beams below are actually the supports for the Rising Tide Bar. It travels up and down between decks offering an areal view of the Promenade. They truly thought of everything!
After taking a moment to soak in the scene, we made our way to our cabins. Being cruise rookies, we were eager to see just how small the cabins are. I've always heard about the tight quarters and learning that the Oasis cabins are smaller than average, had me a bit worried. When we opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised. While far from spacious, it would certainly do for a week. There was plenty of storage for all of our things, and the amazing ocean view from our private balcony would only add to the experience.
We ditched our bags and headed back out to explore. The award-winning children's programming was what actually led us to book this cruise over the Disney cruise that we had originally investigated. So, we made our way to the Ocean Adventures children's area. The classrooms were impressive. I did make the unfortunate mistake of calling the rooms "classrooms" and that initially turned a few of the kids off to the idea of participating in the program. With a little reassurance that it would be more like camp, they were all back on board with the idea. Really though, who could resist the bright & colorful Crayola art studio...
our the wacky Science Lab?
And the last time I checked, classrooms didn't have Wii stations...
or sports zones...
or playgrounds! Baylor is going to love his play area on the next cruise.
From Adventure Ocean, we made our way to the main dining room...all THREE floors of it! We were assigned to the top floor because we selected the My Time Dining which allowed us to show up whenever we wanted as opposed to the other cruisers who were assigned a standing dinner reservation each evening. Honestly, I have no idea why you wouldn't choose the flexibility of My Time. It doesn't cost any more. You simply have to prepay your gratuities for the servers before boarding the ship as opposed to tipping them on the final night of the cruise. No big deal, and it certainly made sense to us since we had no idea what each day would hold when it came to activities. We didn't want to miss out on any of the fun because we had a mandatory dining time.
After seeing all the places where we could pack on the pounds, the group thought it might be wise to check out the gym where we could shed a few along the way. I confess, this was the one and only time that I visited the gym during the cruise. I brought all of the appropriate and necessary workout attire, but simply failed to ever find the motivation to put it on. I was far from inactive though. Let me assure of that point! I rarely used the elevators, choosing the stairs instead. There were 17 decks, people. That's exercise! And, I have no idea how many miles I logged walking all over the ship each day. Needless to say, I'm still avoiding my scale now that I've returned home. I'm giving all that "sodium" a little time to work it's way out of my system before I go scaring myself by stepping on the scale.
Enough about the indoors! Let's move on the really impressive stuff. Like Central Park for instance. Yes, the ship has it's own Central Park located in the center of the ship that is modeled after parks in major cities around the country. The park is located on Deck 8, just outside of our cabin doors. It was an ideal setting to start and end each day, our own little oasis of greenery at sea.
At the rear of the ship on Deck 6, you'll find the Boardwalk complete with carousel, two climbing walls, and the Aqua Theatre where you can watch the Oasis of Dreams diving show. A must see, if you ask our group! Several stories up, on Deck 16, you can experience an adrenaline rush as you ride the zipline several stories above the Boardwalk. And, you thought I was exaggerating when I said this ship has it all!
We saved the best for last, the pool and sports decks! These areas are where we spent the majority of our time. Pools, spas, the H2O Kids' Zone, the lazy river, and areas to engage in every sport imaginable. Why would you leave?!
I'm sure you thought that last question was meant to be rhetorical, but I do actually have an answer. You leave because after your 1-hour Flowrider surf and boogie board lesson, you are too exhausted to do anything except retire to your comfortable cabin and listen to the sound of the ship cutting her way across the Atlantic on the way to a tropical island that is no less than post card perfection. Do you hate me yet?
I didn't get a great picture of it, but the beams below are actually the supports for the Rising Tide Bar. It travels up and down between decks offering an areal view of the Promenade. They truly thought of everything!After taking a moment to soak in the scene, we made our way to our cabins. Being cruise rookies, we were eager to see just how small the cabins are. I've always heard about the tight quarters and learning that the Oasis cabins are smaller than average, had me a bit worried. When we opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised. While far from spacious, it would certainly do for a week. There was plenty of storage for all of our things, and the amazing ocean view from our private balcony would only add to the experience.We ditched our bags and headed back out to explore. The award-winning children's programming was what actually led us to book this cruise over the Disney cruise that we had originally investigated. So, we made our way to the Ocean Adventures children's area. The classrooms were impressive. I did make the unfortunate mistake of calling the rooms "classrooms" and that initially turned a few of the kids off to the idea of participating in the program. With a little reassurance that it would be more like camp, they were all back on board with the idea. Really though, who could resist the bright & colorful Crayola art studio...our the wacky Science Lab?And the last time I checked, classrooms didn't have Wii stations...or sports zones...or playgrounds! Baylor is going to love his play area on the next cruise.From Adventure Ocean, we made our way to the main dining room...all THREE floors of it! We were assigned to the top floor because we selected the My Time Dining which allowed us to show up whenever we wanted as opposed to the other cruisers who were assigned a standing dinner reservation each evening. Honestly, I have no idea why you wouldn't choose the flexibility of My Time. It doesn't cost any more. You simply have to prepay your gratuities for the servers before boarding the ship as opposed to tipping them on the final night of the cruise. No big deal, and it certainly made sense to us since we had no idea what each day would hold when it came to activities. We didn't want to miss out on any of the fun because we had a mandatory dining time.After seeing all the places where we could pack on the pounds, the group thought it might be wise to check out the gym where we could shed a few along the way. I confess, this was the one and only time that I visited the gym during the cruise. I brought all of the appropriate and necessary workout attire, but simply failed to ever find the motivation to put it on. I was far from inactive though. Let me assure of that point! I rarely used the elevators, choosing the stairs instead. There were 17 decks, people. That's exercise! And, I have no idea how many miles I logged walking all over the ship each day. Needless to say, I'm still avoiding my scale now that I've returned home. I'm giving all that "sodium" a little time to work it's way out of my system before I go scaring myself by stepping on the scale.Enough about the indoors! Let's move on the really impressive stuff. Like Central Park for instance. Yes, the ship has it's own Central Park located in the center of the ship that is modeled after parks in major cities around the country. The park is located on Deck 8, just outside of our cabin doors. It was an ideal setting to start and end each day, our own little oasis of greenery at sea.At the rear of the ship on Deck 6, you'll find the Boardwalk complete with carousel, two climbing walls, and the Aqua Theatre where you can watch the Oasis of Dreams diving show. A must see, if you ask our group! Several stories up, on Deck 16, you can experience an adrenaline rush as you ride the zipline several stories above the Boardwalk. And, you thought I was exaggerating when I said this ship has it all!We saved the best for last, the pool and sports decks! These areas are where we spent the majority of our time. Pools, spas, the H2O Kids' Zone, the lazy river, and areas to engage in every sport imaginable. Why would you leave?!I'm sure you thought that last question was meant to be rhetorical, but I do actually have an answer. You leave because after your 1-hour Flowrider surf and boogie board lesson, you are too exhausted to do anything except retire to your comfortable cabin and listen to the sound of the ship cutting her way across the Atlantic on the way to a tropical island that is no less than post card perfection. Do you hate me yet?
1 comment:
zipline!
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