The Oasis of the Seas library has been converted into a luxury watch shop, drawing complaints from guests who valued the space as one of the few quiet retreats on board. The change, reported by a passenger on Reddit, has reignited a wider debate about the slow disappearance of library rooms across the cruise industry.
The Reddit post described how the library door remained labelled as a free public library with nothing to indicate it had been permanently closed until a guest actually tried to enter. ‘I’ve really enjoyed the library as a quiet space to read or play a board game on various cruises. I was really disappointed to find it was turned into another luxury watch shop,’ the guest wrote. The post prompted dozens of responses, with opinion divided between passengers who mourned the loss and those who argued the space was seldom used.
Oasis of the Seas library closure part of a broader fleet trend
The Oasis of the Seas library removal is not an isolated decision. Reports online indicate that Royal Caribbean and other major cruise lines have been gradually phasing out dedicated library rooms since the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘take a book, leave a book’ exchange model that was once a fixture on cruise ships was largely abandoned during that period to reduce transmission risk, leaving many onboard collections depleted and the rooms themselves underused.
Royal Caribbean was approached by TheTravel for comment but did not respond in time for publication.
Oasis of the Seas still retains a card room that holds a modest selection of books and board games. However, the guest who flagged the library closure described that room as ‘very small, often completely packed, and loud’, a poor substitute, in their view, for what the library once offered.
Guests question the commercial trade-off
The conversion has been met with frustration from passengers who see it as symptomatic of a broader shift in onboard amenity strategy. Several responses to the Reddit thread were pointed. ‘Did they really need a third watch shop? Really??’ one commenter asked. Another wrote: ‘It seems any amenity they can turn into a revenue stream, they do. Disappointing. I enjoy board games and the library as well.’
Others focused on the impact on the overall experience. ‘Can’t make money off a game room and library. They forget about the cruising experience,’ one user noted. A further commenter expressed frustration at the erosion of informal social spaces: ‘I do hate how they are slowly getting rid of the library and game rooms. My wife and I like to bring smaller board/card games, and not having a great place to play at any time during the day sucks.’
The loss of the physical book-borrowing tradition drew its own following. ‘The library was one of the best places on a ship. I am saddened that many of the large ships have removed them or put a few books in the game room. I like the take a book, leave a book method. I still like holding and reading a real book, not on a tablet,’ one passenger wrote.
Not every respondent was critical. Some took the view that low footfall justifies repurposing the space. ‘Honestly not surprised, on most the ships I’ve been on [the library’s] been empty the entire time,’ one user commented. ‘I’d replace it with something else if I were them as well.’
A number of travellers in the thread pointed to Cunard as an alternative for those who place a premium on onboard reading spaces, describing the line as one known for having some of the largest and most elegant libraries at sea. For Royal Caribbean loyalists unwilling to switch lines, the practical upshot from the Oasis of the Seas library situation appears straightforward: bring your own books.
