Top 10 items to pack for a cruise on Oasis of the Seas

The top 10 items to pack for your Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas cruise!

Like many others who have cruised on Oasis of the Seas, I researched and purchased many items prior to my trip. Below are my picks for the most useful items I felt were needed. I’m not including the obvious items, like sunglasses, bathing suites, and suitcases but rather items that enhanced my trip and/or made my cruise more enjoyable!

1. Digital Camera – but not just any camera, a Point & Shoot compact digital camera with advanced features. You probably saw this one coming since this site focuses so much on travel pictures. For my trip on Oasis of the Seas, I packed two cameras; a digital compact camera and a digital SLR. My wife also brought along an additional camera, which I used often. My daily camera was the compact Canon PowerShot G16, it’s a very well constructed compact P&S digital camera with many features only found on digital SLR pro models. Its easy to operate for the average person but also gives advanced options for those who want to take pro-type images.

Here are a few sample pictures taken with the G Series camera: one, two and three. More than half of the pictures on this site were taken with a G Series camera. For a list of the three cameras I used during my trip and this site, take a look at my Best Travel Camera page.

2. Laptop sleeve – Be aware that the safe inside your stateroom is too small to fit anything larger than a small laptop. Storing it safely in your stateroom takes some planning. I purchased a laptop sleeve that fit like a glove and left the laptop case at home. While away from my stateroom I placed it in my suitcase between my clothes to hide it. Or better yet, I would simply take an iPad or other Tablet, that would fit perfectly in the safe with lots of room to spare.

3. Wrinkle Remover – Since Royal Caribbean does not allow nor provide an iron to be used in your stateroom, getting rid of wrinkles can cause a big problem, especially for those elegant nightly events! So besides packing your clothes very carefully, a travel size can of wrinkle remover was very helpful.

4. Insulated Water Bottle – Why a water bottle? If you don’t already know, you cannot take bottled water on-board Oasis of the Seas, they screen everything. Your only options are to buy bottled water packages that can run you about $4 per bottle if pre-purchased in bulk. But what people don’t know is that most of the restaurants on board have filtered water available at no charge (it’s a new ship so the filtering system is excellent). I could not tell the difference from the bottled and filtered water. For our day trips at the ports, I would make a quick stop at Sorrentos Pizzeria at the Promenade deck and fill up my insulated bottle with ice cold filtered water.

5. Formal Wear – Oasis of the Seas nightlife can be much more formal than other cruise ships. Although you are not required to attend these formal events, for the most part everyone on the ship will dress up on at least 2-3 nights during the cruise. Since the nightlife on Oasis can consist of Broadway shows, formal dinners and nightclubs, to be properly dressed men and woman should be prepared for everything. For men, be sure to take a formal tux or at least a nice suit. If taking a suit, also include a few shirts and ties so you can use it a few times in the week. For women, formal dresses or at least cocktail dresses are the norm during the evening. Take at least 3-4 dresses for those special nights!

6. Backpack – I found that the right backpack was crucial to keeping my expensive belongings safe while not bringing attention to its belongings, like my laptop and camera equipment. It was also useful for packing extra clothes for the first day on Oasis while our suitcases were being checked in. Your suitcases, if checked in at the terminal, will arrive at your stateroom later that night, so you need to pack your expensive belongings and anything you need separately. I used my backpack during our day at Magens Beach in St. Thomas. It easily kept my items dry, including my camera equipment.

7. Pelican Micro Case – Like most people, I like to take my iPod, iPhone or compact digital camera with me when I’m laying out at the pool, but keeping it all dry can be challenging. I found that for under $30 I could get this water-tight case and save hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of damage if my hi-tech toys got wet. I’ve used these a few times, including on Oasis of the Seas and found them to be priceless. On our day in St. Thomas, a few minutes before we left Magens Beach, we had a storm cloud pour down on us. We got soaked and if my iPod was not securely tucked away in this case, it would have been ruined. Worth the money!

8. Water Shoes – A third of my time was spent by the pools/beaches and these water shoes made it easy to walk without slipping at the pool or getting cut by reef/rock at the beaches. I started using these after my previous trip, where I cut my foot at the beach and got a staff infection ruining my entire vacation. This time on Oasis, I was not going to make the same mistake. Staying healthy and safe is crucial to having a fun time.

9. Antibacterial Moist Towelette – It’s important to get the cloth type as it’s more absorbent and needed for wiping down your stateroom once you arrive. I do this to kill any bacteria left on the phone, alarm, door handles, chairs, restroom, etc. A quick 5-minute wipe of your room can eliminate most germs that can ruin your vacation. Don’t think that the stateroom attendants who clean your room also disinfect it; they don’t.

10. Mini Surge Protector/Dual USB – For those of you that need to charge a camera battery, iPod/iPad/iPhone, or anything electrical, don’t worry, all Oasis staterooms have an outlet, but not too many in each room. Our Boardwalk Balcony Stateroom had an outlet under the desk, but only two. It was fine for my wife and I but if she was using the hair dryer, I had to alternate from charging my camera battery/iPod/laptop. Next time I’m taking a mini surge protector with a USB attachment so I can charge my USB devices without connecting them to my laptop.