New To Everything

EekaMonkey

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Hey everyone!

I'm new to this forum, new to cruising with Royal Caribbean, and have only cruised once with Disney. I have a cruise coming up in a few weeks with my DH and LO, and I need some advice.

Background
Cruising on Oasis of the Seas
Central Park balcony stateroom
LO will be 1 year old at time of cruising
We're hitting up Universal Studios post-cruise

Room
How big are the balcony rooms? We're going to need a pack n' play for LO to sleep in, and I'm planning on taking an umbrella for hitting up the parks afterward. How much room does that leave us? Is there storage under the bed?

Nursery
We have one excursion planned during our cruise, and we plan on putting LO into the nursery on board the ship. How likely is it to fill up? Should booking that be the first thing we do when we board?

Library
We learned there's a library on board the ship that's supposed to have books and games. Does anyone know what kind of games they have? And are you allowed to check them out, or do they have to stay in the library?

General Advice
I tend to overthink things in trying to be prepared. Our last cruise was 4 years ago and I worry I'm forgetting about something. Any additional advice you have would be much appreciated!

Thank you!
 
I have a recap of Harmony from last year and am in the middle of my write up for Allure from last week (links in my signature). This might help you out a bit.

Balcony rooms are listed at 182 sq ft. My brother has a 1yo that slept in a pack and play. They basically put it up against the sofa and it left a lot of space for them.

You can easily store 3 or 4 full size suitcases under the bed. If you’re bringing an umbrella stroller it probably fits best down there.

The games vary a bit by ship. You’ll likely find cards, chess and checkers, and maybe some rummy or mah Jong tiles if you’re lucky. I think you’d be better off bringing your own games if this isn’t your cup of tea. If it’s for you and your SO then something like Sushi Go or Monopoly Deal might be good to bring.

Some General advice:
- Don’t overpack for you and your SO. Count off 7 days of clothes (not including your airplane wear) and that should be the MAXIMUM amount of clothes you bring,
- Bring swim diapers so your child can use the splash area.
 
I have a recap of Harmony from last year and am in the middle of my write up for Allure from last week (links in my signature). This might help you out a bit.

Balcony rooms are listed at 182 sq ft. My brother has a 1yo that slept in a pack and play. They basically put it up against the sofa and it left a lot of space for them.

You can easily store 3 or 4 full size suitcases under the bed. If you’re bringing an umbrella stroller it probably fits best down there.

The games vary a bit by ship. You’ll likely find cards, chess and checkers, and maybe some rummy or mah Jong tiles if you’re lucky. I think you’d be better off bringing your own games if this isn’t your cup of tea. If it’s for you and your SO then something like Sushi Go or Monopoly Deal might be good to bring.

Some General advice:
- Don’t overpack for you and your SO. Count off 7 days of clothes (not including your airplane wear) and that should be the MAXIMUM amount of clothes you bring,
- Bring swim diapers so your child can use the splash area.
Thanks for replying! That's exactly what I wanted to know. And I'll check out your trip reports. Thank you for pointing those out to me.
 
To add to Star's good advice...book your shows as soon as reservations open up if you haven't done so already. Your child can stay in the nursery, although it's possible to bring him/her to the aqua show and maybe the ice skating show. You can go as casual as you want - no need to bring a lot of clothes. The splash area on the Oasis is great - lots of fun. If you plan to eat breakfast at the buffet get there before nine otherwise you'll encounter big lines. There are other options for breakfast though. You won't go hungry. If your child likes characters sign up for the Madagascar chocolate breakfast.
 


To add to Star's good advice...book your shows as soon as reservations open up if you haven't done so already. Your child can stay in the nursery, although it's possible to bring him/her to the aqua show and maybe the ice skating show. You can go as casual as you want - no need to bring a lot of clothes. The splash area on the Oasis is great - lots of fun. If you plan to eat breakfast at the buffet get there before nine otherwise you'll encounter big lines. There are other options for breakfast though. You won't go hungry. If your child likes characters sign up for the Madagascar chocolate breakfast.
Thanks for the advice! When do reservations typically open up for the shows? Is that something I do on the cruise planner or something I do on the ship? We definitely want to see the aqua show.
 
Thanks for the advice! When do reservations typically open up for the shows? Is that something I do on the cruise planner or something I do on the ship? We definitely want to see the aqua show.

I think it's 90 days prior. If your cruise is in a few weeks, you should be able to book now (yes, on the cruise planner). If everything is full you can trying booking as soon as you board. In worst case there is a standby line (for the aqua show you can actually see from the area behind the seats).
 
Show booking is roughly 60-90 days out. There's no real pattern as to when, exactly, it shows up.

If you have "traditional" dining (5:30 or 8pm seating) allow 2 hours for your meal. You can ask them to go a little faster if you'd like.

If you have "My Time" dining and haven't booked that yet (you can also do that online), book your shows first, and try to work your dining around them.
 


We sailed the Oasis for the first time a few weeks ago. Previously we sailed Disney and Holland. On both we had large rooms with a balcony (Holland room was huge as was the balcony). When we got in our room on Oasis, my dd (16) said "where's the rest of it?". Much smaller than how it looks in pictures. And we had a large ocean view balcony (not by our definition :-)) but it worked for the three of us. Our dd used the pull out sofa for the bed and when it was out there is no room to walk. I climbed on her bed to get to the balcony in the morning to look out (she was not happy when I did this). We moved the small tables around and that gave us a little more room. Lots of stuff went under the bed.

But the shower in the bathroom is very small. The water pressure was great but seriously my elbows were bruised from where I kept hitting the grab bar in it. I don't know how I would give a child a shower in it. So good luck :).

We didn't go to the library until the last night and that was just to see it so can't tell you much about it.

The Oasis is very overwhelming when you first board. It is probably the only time I knew there were 6,600 people on it. With all the planning and research I did, it all went out the window when faced with that crowd. Once we got in our room and got our bearings (and able to breathe) we felt a lot better.

We had my time dining but never made reservations and generally went around 5:30 - 6:00. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a table. Our cruise was sold out but I didn't have any problems making reservations for shows and it was less than 90 days out when I made them (I think it was in July when I realized I needed to reserve shows - never had to do that on Holland or Disney).

It is a beautiful ship and you will have a great time!
 
Our dd used the pull out sofa for the bed and when it was out there is no room to walk. I climbed on her bed to get to the balcony in the morning to look out (she was not happy when I did this).
For the OP, I've attached a picture to illustrate the space between the sofa and desk when it's pulled out. It's a little hard to see but there is a 12-18" gap that you can *slowly and carefully* navigate through. The "butt scoot" method works best I think (reduces the chances of an accident). But with a 1yo and a playard, this will not be a concern.

But the shower in the bathroom is very small. The water pressure was great but seriously my elbows were bruised from where I kept hitting the grab bar in it. I don't know how I would give a child a shower in it. So good luck :).
A few ways I can think of.

- If they can stand, have them stand in the shower, you stand outside the stall (there's no chance that even a parent and tot can fit in there together) and use the head in hand-held mode. This may get the whole bathroom wet (especially if you're my wife), but the kid will be (mostly) clean.
- You could bring aboard your own toddler bath tub/seat/thingie. If you're driving, this might be a good option. In a pinch one of those plastic storage boxes from Walmart can work as a small bathtub

The Oasis is very overwhelming when you first board. It is probably the only time I knew there were 6,600 people on it. With all the planning and research I did, it all went out the window when faced with that crowd. Once we got in our room and got our bearings (and able to breathe) we felt a lot better.
I agree with this. The size of the ship is something that's hard to reconcile the first time you get on an Oasis class.
 

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