Something for Everyone on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas

In July 2023, I boarded the Oasis of the Seas with my immediate family of four, my husband and two sons (eight and 10), along with my husband's entire family, all 32 of us! We drove up from Annapolis, Maryland, but most of our family is based in New Jersey, so being able to cruise out of Bayonne, New Jersey, was extremely convenient. Check-in was a pretty easy process and soon enough we were onboard one of Royal Caribbean’s largest ships. Our family had two staterooms, a Balcony Stateroom and an interior stateroom across the hall. The rooms were spacious and had plenty of room for storage. Once we were settled in, it was time to explore the ship!

First things first, finding something to eat. We headed to deck 16 and checked out the buffet, Windjammer Landing. We were always able to find something that everyone enjoyed at Windjammer, there were a variety of cuisines from around the world, all of the basics and lots of yummy desserts. We enjoyed breakfast here most days, and lunch on a few days.

Up next, we checked out some of the many activities offered around the ship. First up was checking out the FlowRider. Royal Caribbean prides itself on having the most Flow Riders at sea, and Oasis boasts two of them. The lines get long towards the end of the cruise, so I highly recommend heading there on the first day to maximize your time on the boogie board. After drying off from the FlowRider, it was time to get down to deck six to do some rock climbing over the boardwalk. The fastest way to get there? The Ultimate Abyss. This dual 216-foot slide plunges you in the dark 10 stories from deck 16 to deck six and was a favorite experience for both kids and adults.

For dinner each night, our large group stuck to one of the three main dining rooms on Oasis. The Menu changed nightly, and the food was excellent. Oasis also boasts several specialty dining options, including Izumi, 150 Central Park and Chops Grill.

After dinner, we generally headed to one of the many shows offered on Oasis. The family favorite for us was the amazing Aqua 80 show held outside in the Aqua Theater on the back of the ship. A combination of diving, dancing and amazing 80s music, it was packed every night it was offered. Another favorite was Frozen in Time, the ice show offered on board. Not only did we get to see Olympic level ice skating, but on one of the sea days we were able to ice skate at sea!

With three days at sea, there was no shortage of things to do, our crew was often found on the pool deck, which boasted three pools plus an amazing water park area. Once we had too much sun, there always seemed to be a trivia, bingo, or a scavenger hunt to participate in. A favorite for the 13 kids in our group was seeing how many pieces of pizza they could eat at Sorrento's or how many ice cream cones they could have by the pool throughout the week. During a Q&A with the ship leadership at the end of week, we learned Sorrento's makes up to 25,000 pizzas each cruise!

We also had three port days, Port Canaveral where we explored the Kennedy Space Center, Nassau where we chartered our own snorkeling and fishing boat and the family favorite, Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean’s own private island. Coco Cay is an amazing island, offering beautiful beaches, a water park, the largest pool in the Bahamas and amazing food.

Overall, we loved our multi-generational cruise on Oasis of the Seas and can’t wait for the next adventure!

While Oasis of the Seas was based out of Bayonne New Jersey in 2023, she moved to Miami for the winter of 2024 and will be taking over the Mediterranean in the summer of 2024. If you are looking for a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Bayonne, Anthem of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas will be based in Bayonne. This ship truly has something for everyone, reach out and let me help you plan your next cruise!

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on travel by cruise. In need of further inspiration? Check out Sharon Iannone's trip report, Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas: Setting Sail on a Journey of Fun and Adventure.