Oasis of the Seas Day #1 | Embarkation
It’s cruise day! Join us as we set sail on one of the largest cruise ships in the world – the Oasis of the Seas! This will be our first cruise since February 2020 and we will be making stops at Nassau, Bahamas, CocoCay Bahamas, Labadee, Haiti, and Falmouth, Jamaica.
Royal Caribbean notified us that our scheduled boarding time was bumped back to 11:30am, due to a Coast Guard inspection. We arrived at the terminal at 10:30am and quickly made it through security. We did have to wait in a holding room but boarded the ship shortly after 11:00am. Royal really has this process nailed. It was so smooth.
It was a rainy start to our cruise, as it was raining as we boarded the ship. We noticed the luggage below as it was getting soaked. We were hoping that ours wasn’t going to get too wet! We boarded on Deck 5, but not through the Royal Promenade, which we found interesting. On our last cruises on the Oasis Class Ships, we always boarded on the Royal Promenade. It kind of made it a “wow” moment. Not sure if this was just a temporary change on the Oasis of the Seas or if this was how they did it on this ship.
For this cruise, I challenged my family to the “No Elevator Challenge!” You’ll have to stay tuned to see who made it to the end of cruise without taking any elevators!
After boarding, we went up to get our first taste of cruise food at the one and only Windjammer Buffet! The Windjammer did not disappoint! We enjoyed the array of food from the Burger of the Day to Mac and Cheese, Fruit, and Dessert. We were onboard early enough where the buffet wasn’t overly crowded.
After lunch, we made a quick stop at Adventure Ocean to register the kids. This was the first time we had seen the newly revamped Adventure Ocean. They had a really nice space for AO Juniors (3–5-year-olds) with a pirate ship and slide and Hangout (6–12-year-olds) with interactive screens and a workshop area for art and science experiments. It looked like a lot of fun and the kids were looking forward to checking it out later on our cruise.
Next up was our Muster Station. We made the trip back down to Deck 5, where we had to check into our Muster Station. This was our first time running through the Muster Drill like this. Before boarding, we watched a brief safety video. Once onboard all we needed to do was find our Muster Station and they would mark us as complete. Everyone on board must complete this prior to leaving the port.
Our rooms were ready at 1:00pm. We were on Deck 12, with an Adjoining Ocean View Balcony. With 5 of us cruising this time around, we needed the extra space. The rooms were nice and spacious. It was an added bonus to have double the balcony space and 2 bathrooms!
The rain stopped in the early afternoon, and we decided to head up to the pool deck for a bit. Kenzie enjoyed a couple trips down the waterslides. Our first drink of the cruise – a Virgin Miami Vice. Leah and I purchased the Refreshment Package during a Black Friday Sale, which enabled us to buy as many mocktails, coffees, fresh squeezed juice, smoothies, and soda as we’d like. If you want an alcoholic drink with this package, you will simply pay for it.
We then decided to head down to the room to see if our luggage had arrived. We were in luck! Some of our clothing was wet from the rainy departure, but we unpacked what was dry and laid out what was wet. We all got ready for dinner before heading up to the Sailaway Party on the Pool Deck. I went to the Lime and Coconut Bar and grabbed their signature Lime and Coconut and a Caribbean Mule to enjoy during the sail away. Both drinks were tasty, and we enjoyed the views of Miami as the crew played some great tunes as we left the Miami Cruise Port.
Next up – dinner at the Main Dining Room! We reserved the Early Dining time for the entire cruise, which was at 5:00pm every night. To our surprise, we were actually put at a table next to a window, which provided a great view! We met our waitress, Ariza, and assistant waiter, Errol. We could tell that we were going to love them for the cruise. They were so friendly and great with the kids! Now, a big part of any vacation we go on is the food! We will have a list of what we ate each day and a rating of each item, so be sure to watch for those and check them out.
Steven ordered the Crispy Crab Cake, Fish Filet, and the Key Lime Pie.
Leah ordered the Ceasar Salad, New York Strip, and the Royal Cheesecake.
Maddie ordered the New York Strip and Chocolate Ice Cream.
Kenzie went with the Ceasar Salad, Crab Cake, New York Strip, and Ice Cream.
Amelia ordered the Fruit, Mac and Cheese, and Ice Cream.
Our first dinner at the MDR on the Oasis of the Seas was great!
Now, just a quick side note, we are going to be posting a Daily Tracker at the end of each blog. It will highlight our Favorite Bite to Eat, Favorite Beverage, Favorite Activity, # of Ice Cream Cones, and # Pieces of Pizza that we had that day.
Our entertainment for this evening was the Ice Skating Show, “Frozen in Time.” The show didn’t start until 8:00pm, so we decided to head up to the Boardwalk for a quick ride on the Merry Go Round. I’m telling you, these kids could ride this thing for hours! Regalia Fine Jewelry was also having a Free Ropes Bracelet Giveaway. You can collect these free bracelets each day throughout the cruise. The kids wanted to collect them, so Leah stopped at Regalia before we went down to Studio B.
We had reservations for the Ice Show, but were not required to scan our cards upon entering Studio B. There were plenty of seats open when we arrived. I ordered a Blueberry Nojito (non-alcholic) and Leah ordered a Virgin Miami Vice. Again, both drinks were great!
“Frozen in Time” was amazing. We will say that the storyline was a bit hard to follow, but it amazes me how this cast is performing a show on a moving cruise ship! The kids also really seemed to enjoy this show.
Once the show was over, we went back up the Royal Promenade on Deck 5 and made a stop at Sorrento’s for some pizza! The only other plans we had for the night was the Balloon Drop, but that wasn’t until 12:00am! We all went back to the room for a short while. Leah, Amelia, and Kenzie made it to 11:00pm before they decided to call it a night – so close! Maddie and I went back down to the Promenade and enjoyed the Balloon Drop at midnight. It was so cool and a great way to kick-off the cruise!
Tomorrow we are at our first port, Nassau, Bahamas! We have never been to Nassau before and just plan to check out the shops at the newly renovated port.
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