I had been pestering my husband, Daniel, for ages that we should try a cruise for one of our upcoming holidays, and with Cruising With Jane McDonald on Sky Q frequently watched, I really needed to scratch this itch.
I had always been in awe of the size of some of the ships and wanted to start with a bang size wise, so eventually after much pestering we ended up booked into a Junior Suite on Royal Caribbean’s incredible Oasis Of The Seas for a cruise round the Western Mediterranean leaving from Barcelona.
I had tried to plan as much as I could for this as I did feel out of my depth (sorry) with what we needed to get organised. Should I be booking the dining package? Drinks package? Were the shore excursions worth it? What is this about hiding rubber ducks around a ship?
But thankfully after a few posts on my own instagram and advice from my followers and more than a few texts to Scott and Tom with benign questions, I felt we were about ready for what would suit us.
Drinks package was booked as I tend to view the cocktail menu as a challenge, and a couple of speciality restaurants for a couple of evenings.
We left the UK a few days before the cruise and enjoyed a very nice few days in Sitges with a day trip into Barcelona to see Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece of a basilica, but in true the whole time there I was just thinking about the cruise, would we love it? Daniel was definitely more hesitant than I was and wasn’t really mentioning his thoughts on it. Were we going to spend the whole week in our cabin in the bathroom with sea sickness? Was the food really as good as everyone says?
Embarkation day came on a sunny Sunday in September but in truth the excitement was just overtaken with stress, I was so worried we’d miss our boarding time, lose our luggage and how would we deal with living with 6000 other guests and nearly 2000 staff for a week?
My first sight however of Oasis seemed to just melt all these cares away. The size of her was mind-boggling but at the same time comforting and I couldn’t wait to get on and explore.
On finding our cabin and most importantly seeing our lovely balcony my excitement was just growing and I couldn’t wait for sail away in a couple of hours time but we were now worried that only one of our cases had been delivered! A few chats with our incredible room attendant who very quickly introduced himself ended with the idea we go into the lower part of the ship to security as it may have been impounded. Now I’d known not to take anything electrical from the tips my instagram followers had given me so I was a bit concerned as to what I had missed. The truth was a pair of fabric scissors in my husband’s luggage brought along for his new hobby of cutting up as many T shirts as he can find! After our first small telling off by security we were ensured they would be kept for us and we could claim them back when we disembark the following week.
Luggage all now delivered to the room and our amazing walk in closet slowly being filled up we ventured up on to deck (with our drinks package/sea pass cards!) to watch the sail away. First Aperol spritz of the trip delivered to my hand in next to no time with such a friendly smile like I was a regular guest. I knew I was going to love this.
To be honest I drank that way too fast in excitement but soon had another thrust into my hand by the same waiter who just seemed so happy to try and make us as relaxed as possible as I kept telling everyone we met it was our first cruise and apologies for not knowing how things worked.
Around 30 mins late that evening we started backing out of Barcelona harbour just as a Virgin ship was leaving too and soon we were on our way for the first short hop to Palma in Majorca.
I awoke the next morning like a kid on Xmas day and I couldn’t wait to see what view greeted us from our balcony, which in this case was the most gorgeous sunrise over Palma harbour as we made our entrance. This would turn out to be the major highlight of the holiday for me (and therefore a lack of sleep!); jumping out of bed as soon as I awoke to go see what my view was going to be that day.
This I think is the best part of cruising and the endorphins that gave me every morning, really was a highlight for both of us. Dan soon was joining me early morning on the balcony to greet the day and each day his smile seemed to grow bigger. I think I was winning him over to cruising.
Our first excursion was a beautiful (if strenuous) kayaking trip around the western coast of Majorca, I think my shoulders are still sore now but this was just the tonic we needed on the trip, we hadn’t really wanted to see anymore cathedrals and Dan was adamant he was saving the best in Rome for me later in the week so this just felt something much more rewarding for the day.
With our phones securely covered in water proof bags we facetimed my parents from a cove in Majorca as we had promised them and especially my Dad who is suffering with cancer that we would show them as much of the trip as we could, the smile on my Dad’s face as we explained where we were was one of the best things I’d seen from him in a while, and despite bemused looks from the other kayakers I was so happy we got to do this.
Just before dinner that evening the Captain came on the PA to explain about some inclement weather we were expecting for our overnight and sea day on our way to La Spezia in Italy; our second port of call.
I awoke the next morning to the feeling of a slight rocking in my bed. This must be the wind we had been warned about I thought. But once again I jumped out of bed to see what I could see from the balcony. Upon being greeted by a gust of wind as I opened the balcony door I could see waves cresting around us but the ship didn’t seem to be moving as much as I thought it should be. This again was where the sheer size of Oasis was helping us (with no doubt some help under the water from the stabilisers). After videos filmed pretending to be that viral storm weather report from Irish TV we decided a visit to the gym was necessary as already I felt my calorie intake was more akin to Xmas than September.
Our first sea in the end was quite a productive one, the waves and swell of the ship seemed to discourage most people from the pool deck so we were able to try out all those activities which would likely be rammed later in the week on our second sea day. Water slides. Done. Carpet slide. Done. Brunch and Bloody Marys. Done. Broadway taster show. Done. Laser Tag. Done; although my level of competitiveness surprised a lot of the other guests taking part!
That evening on our sea day was another highlight of the trip with the Aqua 80s show in the diving pool at the back of the ship. The rain was continuing that evening but the staff on Oasis were as always so well prepared for the weather and towels were very handily handed out pre show. A now rather uniformly dressed audience of blue pool towels (with cocktails in hand) were treated to one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life. A mix of diving, dancing, tightropes and synchronised swimming all set to an incredible 80s soundtrack which truly will be one of the highlights of any trips I’ve been on. The show had to be slightly cut short due to the swell of the ship but we left so exhilarated the weather had become forgotten quickly.
The next three mornings involved always a change of scenery from my balcony and my daily routine of jumping out of bed to the balcony was now a total tradition. Three ports were visited; La Spezia, Civitavecchia and Naples, where I was very annoyed with myself for a little lie in as if I had been out of bed a mere 20 minutes earlier I would have been greeted with sunrise behind Mt Vesuvius. We took the train the first two days to see the sights of Pisa and Rome and I’d booked a tour to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii from Naples.
The ship also had the little things down for each shore day, where towels could be taken off the ship for the day and a soft drinks stand by the gangway to take water and sodas off with you using your beverage package. These little touches made the shore days easier for all.
I adored our days in Rome and Naples, so many sights I had wanted to see my entire life, but my feet were definitely getting ruined day by day with this hasty speed we had to work our way through the shore destinations, but each day seemed to just whet our appetite more to come back to these places for a weekend trip.
In truth though each day I couldn’t wait to get back on the ship as it was just feeling like home now and I couldn’t wait to try whichever restaurant we had booked that evening. The sushi restaurant booked one night was another highlight of the trip and our table was overflowing with extra dishes we had ordered as we couldnt decide on just a few. We had made a nice circle of friends too who we would join for both pre and post dinner drinks as we all shared our adventures of the day.
Our final sea day on the way back to Barcelona was already feeling a little final and I was wondering at this point could we just hide somewhere on the ship and go round the Mediterranean for another week. But I already knew we would be cruising again soon. Leaving the ship the next day really was tinged with sadness, I felt like I had been on the ship way longer than a week and that many staff had become friends, plus back home in Manchester I wouldn’t be able to take a gin to the pool deck and watch those incredible sunsets either. Genuinely not far!
Overall we loved our first cruising experience and already researching for the second! Highlights of the trip were those morning balcony views, the food both the availability of it and the quality in many of the restaurants, the entertainment really was class and not what I had expected for a cruise ship too. Visiting Rome and Pompeii too were my favourite shore days and places I had wanted to see for ages.
My only negatives from the week would be the lifts on the ship (generally always very busy with the amount of people onboard) and also being forced to use plastic plates and glasses in the buffet which I felt cheapened the experience.
The Oasis Of The Seas really is an incredible piece of engineering and I have felt so lucky that my first cruise was onboard her. Holidays on dry land will be given way for more cruises in the future no doubt. Where should we visit next?
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