Oil finishes can be lovely, but they aren't terribly durable. More durable than varnish? Not as far as I have seen. be prepared to re-oil frequently, and if you wait until it looks like it needs oil you have probably waited longer than is ideal, the danger being discoloration that won't go away. I was a Mad River Canoe dealer back in the days when they equipped their boats with oiled ash trim. They came in very rough because they only had time at the factory to apply two or three coats of oil (Watco, which is a very good oil/varnish/dryer mixture) before the boats shipped out. If the customer was willing to sand lightly and re-oil regularly (like monthly or better) for a year or two they would eventually wind up with a tough, elegant finish that was pretty much waterproof. On the other hand, if they did not re-oil, or only did it once a year or so, the trim remained rough and eventually started weathering badly.
So you can oil the cherry (Watco, Cetol, Deks Olje #1, Formby's Tung Oil, etc.) but do not consider it a "one and done" scenario, because nothing remotely close to that is going to happen. The good news is that most of them, once thoroughly dry, make a pretty good base for varnish when you get tired of messing with oil.