I have to be honest with you. I use to think a family cruise was the worst vacation idea ever. As a long time cruiser, I didn’t think that cruises had a lot to offer young kids. Here’s the thing, not all cruise ships are created equal. Based on my experience of cruising with many different companies throughout the years, I was worried that my kids wouldn’t enjoy the trip and therefore I wouldn’t enjoy it either. What I didn’t know was that one of our favorite companies released a new fleet of ships, the Oasis Class, since we last cruised. After a little persuasion by my in-laws, we decided to take our 3 young girls on a 7-day cruise on the Oasis of the Seas and it ending up being the best decision ever.
I’m not too proud to say I was so wrong with my previous assumption, and to my defense, the information I had was kind of correct. The problem was I had never cruised on any of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships and I had no way of knowing that these ships were innovative to new heights. Better than I could have ever imagined. Cruising on the Oasis of the Seas was the perfect family vacation and here is why.
Adventure ocean
I am going to get right to my most important reason first. There is no denying that I attribute the success of our 7 day family cruise to this one thing because of the sheer importance of making this an enjoyable vacation for our whole family. Adventure Ocean is an award winning kids program that is FREE! YES FREE! Almost immediately after boarding our family cruise we decided to check out Royal Caribbean’s Adventure Ocean program. We knew that if the girls liked it, and wanted to stay, Scott and I could have some much needed adult time. Not only did the girls (and my nephew) love Adventure Ocean, they begged to go back each and every day. The staff was fantastic, the girls left excited and engaged, and the hubby and I enjoyed quiet dinners almost every night of our cruise. Overall Adventure Ocean was a dream and one of the main reasons we think Royal Caribbean has created a ship that that is perfect for families.
Endless Fun
From parades, to face painting, to dance parties to belly flop contests. There was never a dull moment aboard the Oasis of the Seas. Even aside from the entertainment programming (which most ships have), this ship has so much more to offer. With its 7 neighborhoods, there is something on the ship for everyone. What makes it a perfect family cruise is how many parts of the ship were geared towards kids. With the carousel on the boardwalk, to the all kids section of the pool deck, my kids never had a dull moment.
Food
I am sure you have heard that food on the Royal Caribbean ships is amazing. Yes, this is so true. But what I was surprised to find was that my kids loved the food equally as much as I did. With instant pizza, almost 24 hours a day and a buffet at every corner my kids were so happy. And can we talk about how they made themselves very familiar with the unlimited self serve ice cream machine?!?! Ya, that was a hit for sure. My girls even enjoyed going to formal dinners. My oldest, who has the adventurous palate, tried escargot and oysters. She probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so on any other trip. We have always been impressed with the caliber of Royal Caribbean’s cuisine but seeing how much our kids enjoyed it made us appreciate it that much more.
Effortless
Guys, being a parent is hard, and a lot of work. So why not choose a vacation where someone waits on your every hand and foot. I am not exaggerating, cruising on Oasis of the Seas made my life so easy. I got on board, I didn’t have to cook, I didn’t have to buckle anyone in a car seat to go anywhere, I had free babysitters who actually played with my kids, I walked into my stateroom each day to see my bed made and the room tidied up. I am telling you, I totally underestimated how much I would love this and I got used to it really quick. It was basically a shock to my system when we got home and I had to actually cook my family a meal. ;)
Adventures
We love to travel. If you have read my other posts you know we have taken our kids to some pretty cool places. We love exploring the world but it is a lot of work. Imagine a trip with multiple destinations. That means packing/repacking, transfers, flights, new accommodations, all the hustle basically. But when you cruise you don’t have to worry about any of that. On our 7 night cruise on Oasis of the Seas we went to 3 ports of call; Jamaica, Mexico, and Haiti. I get to give my girls the culture and diversity of each place without the hassle.
7 Neighborhoods on the Oasis Class Ship
I really don’t know how I am going to sum up how incredible the Oasis of the Seas really is in this one post. I was in complete awe with all this ship had to offer. The Oasis Class ships have some of the largest ships in the world and the way each ship is divided up into neighborhoods makes it extremely easy to navigate and I believe its the reason I never felt it was overcrowded. Some of our favorite areas for the family were the boardwalk with the carousel and arcade, the pool deck with kids pool, and the entertainment neighborhood where we would watch shows and go ice skating. Each ship in the Oasis Class is a bit different ( you can read about our trip on the Symphony here) but they all use the neighborhood idea to create destinations around the ship to appeal to different guests’ needs.
In case you didn’t know this already, we LOVED our cruise. We left with so many incredible memories and we couldn’t stop talking about our trip for weeks after.
We learned so much from this cruise, including what to pack to make it a successful trip. Read more about my ultimate cruise packing list with some pretty interesting hacks here.
If you are a first-time cruiser be sure to check out my post on some of the most common mistakes first time cruisers make.
If you take anything from this post I hope that it is this: make sure you really look into the ship you decide to cruise on when taking a family cruise, especially with young kids. I truly believe that Oasis of the Seas, and all it had to offer my family, made this trip one of the best vacations we ever had.
The Oasis Class ships include the Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, and the biggest Symphony of the Seas. In 2019 the Oasis will make its way to Europe (which sounds awesome) but if you are looking for a Caribbean vacation then the other 3 in the class are what you need.
Watch a family video we create for our girls so they could remember this wonderful vacation.
Have you ever cruised on Royal Caribbeans Oasis of the Seas? What did you like or dislike about the experience? I would love to hear your experiences in the comments below.
If this post was helpful and you think it could help others, could you please share it? A Pin, Tweet, or simple links share helps me create the best possible content for you!!
Want to read more about our family adventures? CLICK HERE
