Have You Cruised with Kids on Oasis of the Seas in December?

[Katie is Crusin]

Hello All! We pushed back our February 2021 Eastern Caribbean Cruise to December 2021 celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We are super excited! Our kiddos (9 and 6) are coming and would love to hear about what the ships are like during the holidays. We’re going in early December on Oasis of the Seas. Is the ship decorated? Are there special holiday activities? How about for the kids? Any tips to make this as special and memorable would be greatly appreciated!! (Not to mention cruising in December tips!) Thank you   ️ 

[Neesa]

@Katie is Crusin How wonderful! Happy Anniversary, what an amazing milestone my heart loves hearing things like this! We sailed Thanksgiving on the Harmony in 2019 and I can tell it was joyous. The ship was not decorated for Christmas yet but they had the CD dressed like a turkey etc for the informational shows. The staff took great care to make sure our Holiday was outstanding. The other families and many were gigantic extended families, from babies to great grandparents sort of enjoyed each other as well as the ship. Even with so many families the ship was "calm" Our experience (3 of us, mom-dad-teenager) decided we would cruise every Thanksgiving moving forward if possible, that's how wonderful the experience was. What I am trying so hard to articulate is that the Thanksgiving sailing was extra special for not only the other passengers but the crew as well, this sailing was 7 nights. We brought some Holiday chocolates and extra cash for those crew members who went out of their way to make our Holiday special, and there were plenty of them. Maybe bring a little tree and some stockings for the kids inside the cabin, decorate the door with some Holiday & Happy Anniversary magnets and enjoy each other. There will be loads to do! Our door was decorated with Turkey's and a Holiday greeting, it made me smile every time I returned. 

*Just remember it is a little cooler this time of year so bring some sweaters for sail away or time on your balcony. We are from Florida so we thought the water at CoCo Cay was a bit cool for our comfort but we are spoiled. Enjoy, planning will be almost as much fun as the actual trip! I'm sure those who actually sailed for Christmas will chime in soon, take good care and LET.US.SAIL!!!!!

 

[twangster]

Welcome to the message boards!

Christmas decorations usually start going up at the tail end of U.S. Thanksgiving or the week after.  

This past year (2019) the tree went up the first week of December.

During this time they add a "Yuletide" channel on the TV system with a crackling fire.

Eventually the Gingerbread house display will arrive.

They also replace some sounds around the ship with Christmas music at times.  

There was a Santa parade that started on the Boardwalk to the Christmas tree in the Promenade followed by a chance to sit on Santa's lap.  

The bulk of the decorations will be found in the Promenade but it's hard to mistake it's Christmas time on board.

Christmas on board any Royal ship tends to be a magical time.

Note:  These pictures were taken over a three week span in the weeks before Christmas, I wasn't on the ship on the week that included Christmas Day.  The Santa parade was once per cruise.

[FManke]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

There was a Santa parade that started on the Boardwalk to the Christmas tree in the Promenade followed by a chance to sit on Santa's lap.  

 

Hey, what about Hanukkah Harry? 

[ScooterScott22]

We did the Oasis a few years ago when our son was 9 and that was about 3 weeks before Christmas.  The promenade is the main area that was decorated.  A few other spots had some decorations but overall it didn’t seem to be all that different.  There might have been a couple of holiday specific activities but with so much to do on an oasis class ship you have your choice to engage in them or not.  One nice thing was a picture from formal night by the tree became a Christmas card.