Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas – family-friendly holiday cruise review

Look, there's no two ways about it, cabins onboard are going to be compact, especially if there's more than two of you in there. We travelled with a two year old and so had a cot in our cabin.Having said that, it was a lot more spacious than we thought it'd be, with a bed that could easily have slept three, a big sofa and huge TV. The latter has two channels of cartoons in English plus adult channels (not that kind), which was a #parenting relief.We were all charmed by the ingenious nooks and crannies used to store the essentials of ship life, and the actually-quite-roomy fridge is a nice touch.The bathroom was far more generous than we'd imagined too, with an actual shower rather than a wet room. And our stateroom (what cabins are called in ship-speak, landlubbers) attendant was a total delight, putting up and taking down the cot each day and making rabbits out of towels to thrill our toddler.

How big do you think the ship is? OK, it's bigger. Bigger again. BIGGER still. We heard a rumour it's longer than the Shard is tall. Yep, it's that big.There are 2743 cabins, which results in a large number of different nationalities on board (all announcements were in English and Spanish on our trip), and a vibrant atmosphere.The size of the ship also means there are a heck of a lot of facilities, including a rock climbing wall, zip wire, large gym and jogging track, mini golf and even an ice rink. You heard.

There is SO MUCH to do on board. Stretch, yoga and zumba classes if you're feeling active. Plus table tennis competitions and a basketball court, or a serene spa, salon and hairdesser's if that's more your holiday vibe. There's also a casino, quizzes, line-dancing, and a wealth of shows including Cats, magicians, an ice show, and aerial acrobatics. Seriously, we barely needed the cartoons in the stateroom.You can download the Royal Caribbean app that lets you keep track of everything that catches your fancy in a calendar with alerts. Very handy. Plus a cruise compass delivered to your door each day telling you what's on as well as essentials such as when the ship leaves port and the day's weather.

Hats off, there's a lot for little holidayers to do on board. Our toddler loved the brightly decorated splash pool that comes with water canons. There's also a pool with a current that was a hoot. Kids need to be potty trained to use the pools as swimming nappies aren't allowed though, so bare that in mind.We also made use of the toy lending library, the play room and nursery - the latter is charged at a very reasonable $6/8 per hour, depending on the time of day. Our little one requested visits there which was a bit embarrassing but we're glad he enjoyed it.

Put it this way: pack elasticated pants. There's so much food available, and so many places to get it.Many of our breakfasts and lunches were centred around Windjammer Marketplace, a buffet restaurant that offers everything from curry to carbonara for lunch, with eggs, cereals, pastries and glorious fresh fruit on offer at breakfast.Then there's Sorrento's that gives out pizza by the slice until 3am, ice cream available on deck, free cakes and candy-floss on sea days. We ate it ALL and we regret nothing. At night, we went to the main, American Icon restaurant that serves an a la carte menu in a vast, glamorous, space. Service was lovely and the staff, in fact all staff on board, were brilliant with our toddler.

If you got bored (HOW?) with the vast array of dining options, were celebrating something special or just, like us, need to try out everything on offer, you could opt for speciality dinning for an additional charge.We went to Giovanni's table, a fun, Italian place, and 150 Park Avenue that we absolutely loved. The food there matched that of the best restaurants we went to before we had a two year old in tow, and they were unfazed by us having a little one with us. Vegetarians take note: a dish being marked as vegetarian means there's an option for it to be served that way, not that the dish comes meat-free.

We went on two, Pisa city sights, and pizza making in Sorrento. Both were fun but, a word of caution, both were over an hour's drive from the ship and neither coach had a working toilet. The coach driver gamely stopped at the side of the road when our little one needed to go, mind. On days we didn't have a tour booked, we hopped off the ship and took the cruise-provided bus to the nearest beach for some old fashioned bucket and spade fun. Delightful.