Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas

Months ago, I (Mary) became intrigued by Royal Caribbean's new ship, the Oasis of the Seas as it was still being built in the shipyard. The concept drawings of the ship, with all its amenities and new concepts such as 'neighborhoods' onboard were so radically different from other cruise experiences that I couldn't help being excited by it.

And as time progressed, I saw that others were excited, too, with newscasts and YouTube videos showing the ship sailing under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark as it headed on its voyage to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (retracting smokestacks—how cool is that?) I remembered when my family went to San Francisco to see the magnificent Queen Mary II as she sailed (barely) under the Golden Gate Bridge, and marveled at the idea that the Oasis was 50% larger than the Queen Mary II! This ship had to be seen to be believed.

I have four children, ranging from age 12 to early 20's. They've had the privilege of sailing on cruise ships before, and have enjoyed it tremendously. But there's something exceptionally exciting for them about the Oasis other than sheer size. The idea of a zip line on a ship blows them away. They are excited about the two surf-simulator FlowRiders, being able to play minigolf, and, for my freestyle ice skating daughters, being able to skate while at sea in the Caribbean.

We weren't really planning on going on a cruise in January, but one day, I found myself playing a game of 'what if' as I looked at school vacation dates. When I checked, I found that we could book the last family stateroom with oceanview verandah that was available. The fact that this stateroom accommodated six people was astonishing to me; what a great option for larger families (like mine!).

As soon as my 89-year-old father heard we were going on a cruise, he said he wanted to go, too, and I booked him a stateroom with balcony overlooking the Central Park neighborhood of the ship. It will be so interesting to have an interior-facing balcony! My father uses a motorized scooter to get around, and it will come in very handy on such a large ship!

We have shore excursions and our FlowRider lessons set up, our online check-in is nearly complete, and I just received email notice from Royal Caribbean that our sailing is a month away! This spontaneous trip is our family's Christmas gift—thankfully, I don't have to try to figure out how to put such a large cruise ship under our tree! We will be sharing our multigenerational family's experience from the time we leave home until we arrive back again via blogs (www.mouseearsfun.com) and the MouseEarVacations Facebook page. With so much to see and experience, there will be a lot to share with you, which is so exciting!

Now, for those of you who can't wait for my reports, here is a short firsthand account from Char, who sailed on the inaugural just last month!