LIVE! First Time Royal Cruiser In Wonder-land Oct 1-8th Let’s Cruise!

[gambler]

following along. Have a safe trip.

[Eastern flygirl]

Hi TravelBluebird—I am enjoying your blog and appreciate all your effort,  

I will be boarding the Wonder tomorrow and now that I have a picture of you, I will definitely be keeping a lookout out for you.  I am solo and the only place I know I will be is an early stop for coffee in the DL.  Have a great cruise.

Jane

[TravelBluebird]

46 minutes ago, Eastern flygirl said:

i TravelBluebird—I am enjoying your blog and appreciate all your effort,  

I will be boarding the Wonder tomorrow and now that I have a picture of you, I will definitely be keeping a lookout out for you.  I am solo and the only place I know I will be is an early stop for coffee in the DL.  Have a great cruise.

Jane

@Eastern flygirl That is wonderful, please look for me!  I also don’t have a schedule yet, other than some show reservations.  
 

See you on board!

[TravelBluebird]

Free Delta WiFi working!  
 

Why  do they shut the lights on ALL flights now?  I hate sitting in the dark on a plane with the windows closed unless it’s a night flight.

[TravelBluebird]

 

 

In Orlando!

 

In Uber to PortCanaveral hotel only $52 so not bad—but then I could get an Uber X Toyota Corolla since just me.  Lovely driver Ruby and great air conditioning.  Only 7 minute wait.

 

Baggage took forever—the Belt got stuck.  photo is the giant Orlando line up for TSA security.  Always so long!

so happy to be here!  Beautiful  weather—83, warm,  of hot, partly cloudy.  Maybe a few showers later.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[MrsKnuts2]

Following!  Looking forward to your Live review.

I'll be traveling solo next year as my DH passed earlier this year.

 

[TravelBluebird]

Got to the hotel and checked in to see the Mardi Gras from Fishlips. 

 

Didn’t feel like fighting the crowd, and I’m pretty tired from not sleeping last night. so decided to get Eggplant Parmesan delivered from Papa Vito’s—fast, tasty, and not too expensive ($18.95 for the Eggplant Parmesan, dinner salad and a side of spaghetti).  No delivery fee. Was better last time I got it; this time they rolled the eggplant which I don’t like. But still good.

 

Going to work on a video of the hotel I’m at.  For security reasons, not going to tell you all about the hotel till tomorrow, but I’m quite pleased with it.

 

And the hotel has the SEC Network so I can watch the Vols game at 7, so all is good!

 

Reserved the hotel shuttle to the port for tomorrow—$10, Really the same price as getting an Uber; possibly more expensive, BUT worth it so I don’t have to scramble for an Uber in the morning.

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

5 minutes ago, MrsKnuts2 said:

Following!  Looking forward to your Live review.

I'll be traveling solo next year as my DH passed earlier this year.

 

@MrsKnuts2 I’m so sorry about your DH’s passing. But great that you are still going to travel.  Solo is totally new for me; don’t really know what to expect.  Well, for cruise travel.  I’ve traveled to many conferences and work things solo, but that so different. Glad to have you following along!

[Hogladyrider]

@TravelBluebird glad you made it to your hotel, chill evening sounds right up our alley as well.

 

I love eggplant parm but NOT rolled, what's up with that anyway, forget the "fancy presentation" just give it to me flat!

 

Have a nice evening!

[Spinelli1107]

Rolled would be eggplant rollatini, no?

personally I enjoy them both but if I order one and get the other I’d be disappointed too as they are entirely different in my opinion….

hope you enjoy a nice relaxing evening as we all wait in anticipation for you to board the Wonder!

If it’s not too much to ask, would you be so kind as to post pictures of the daily newsletters each day with the goings ons around the ship?

[TravelBluebird]

14 minutes ago, Spinelli1107 said:

Rolled would be eggplant rollatini, no?

personally I enjoy them both but if I order one and get the other I’d be disappointed too as they are entirely different in my opinion….

hope you enjoy a nice relaxing evening as we all wait in anticipation for you to board the Wonder!

If it’s not too much to ask, would you be so kind as to post pictures of the daily newsletters each day with the goings ons around the ship?

 

@Spinelli1107 Yes, that exactly—rollatini not parmesan! I way prefer the parmesan; the eggplant is in larger pieces and not as dry.  They do have an extensive menu; if I ever use them again I’ll have to branch out.

 

And no trouble at all; I will post the Daily Newsletters here! What do they call them on Royal? They are the Fun Times on Carnival.

[OCSC Mike]

16 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

What do they call them on Royal?

 

It's called the Cruise Compass on Royal but if you want paper copies you have to request them from your stateroom attendant. Since the info is all in the app now, you don't get them by default on most ships anymore. There is also a chance you will be told they don't have the paper copies and to use the app.

 

You also may or may not be able to get them from guest services.

Edited September 30, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[TravelBluebird]

51 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@TravelBluebird glad you made it to your hotel, chill evening sounds right up our alley as well.

 

I love eggplant parm but NOT rolled, what's up with that anyway, forget the "fancy presentation" just give it to me flat!

 

Have a nice evening!

 

@Hogladyrider Sometimes you just need to know when to have down time!  I needed some tonight.

 

Right, rolled is just not what I wanted. My Italian grandmother would never serve it to me like that! 

 

You have a nice evening too!

[TravelBluebird]

4 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

It's called the Cruise Compass on Royal but if you want paper copies you have to request them from your stateroom attendant. Since the info is all in the app now, you don't get them by default on most ships anymore. There is also a chance you will be told they don't have the paper copies and to use the app.

 

You also may or may not be able to get them from guest services.

 

Thanks for the info @OCSC Mike!  I will definitely want the hard copies of the Cruise Compass. The app doesn’t do you much good when you get home and are trying to remember what happened and when.

 

Carnival just recently brought back paper copies to the room, and I realized how much I missed them.  I like to curl up with the paper copy before bedtime and figure out the next day!

 

I hope they have them available on Wonder.

[OCSC Mike]

2 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

I will definitely want the hard copies of the Cruise Compass.

One more thing to try if you can’t get paper copies. Once onboard & connected to the ship wifi, use this link…

 

https://minio.rccl.com/compass/cruisecompass.pdf

 

That should give you the daily Cruise Compass in PDF form and you can save them.

[TravelBluebird]

Just now, OCSC Mike said:

One more thing to try if you can’t get paper copies. Once onboard & connected to the ship wifi, use this link…

 

https://minio.rccl.com/compass/cruisecompass.pdf

 

That should give you the daily Cruise Compass in PDF form and you can save them.

 That is very helpful @OCSC Mike; if I can’t get the paper copies, a saved PDF will let me print them later and also share them. Thank you!

[BecciBoo]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Thanks for the info @OCSC Mike!  I will definitely want the hard copies of the Cruise Compass. The app doesn’t do you much good when you get home and are trying to remember what happened and when.

 

Carnival just recently brought back paper copies to the room, and I realized how much I missed them.  I like to curl up with the paper copy before bedtime and figure out the next day!

 

I hope they have them available on Wonder.

They were in our Allure cabin a couple weeks back, big surprise.

[Tazzybear14]

I will be watching your post all week as my husband and I sail on the Wonder next Sunday.  We fly in on Saturday from Iowa and we are very excited.  This will be our 18th cruise and everytime I am just as excited as the first.

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

They were in our Allure cabin a couple weeks back, big surprise.

@BecciBoo that is a good sign! I hope they are back fleet wide and we have them on Wonder!

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, Tazzybear14 said:

I will be watching your post all week as my husband and I sail on the Wonder next Sunday.  We fly in on Saturday from Iowa and we are very excited.  This will be our 18th cruise and everytime I am just as excited as the first.

Thanks for following @Tazzybear14! I’ll be getting off as you are getting on (I’m sure I guess who will have the sad face).  I’m just like you; no matter how many cruises I’ve been on, I’m just like a big, excited kid on boarding day!  

[TravelBluebird]

Well I got my video ALMOST done. Hope to finish it over coffee in the morning.

 

Trying to head to bed a little early; I think I’m tired enough!  See y’all in the morning!

 

[TravelBluebird]

IT’S CRUISE DAY!

 

Woke up to some thunder and pouring rain; last night the weather people said it would be over by noon; now the forecast is not so sure. Oh well, it is Florida!  Oh wait….just got a FLOOD WARNING  until around noon.  Hope that doesn't’ complicate getting to the ship. Also, seas in the port area predicted to be 5 to 8 feet and occasionally to 9!

 

Slept well; very comfy bed and pillows here. I stayed last night at the TownPlace Suites Port Canaveral//Coco Beach. More on the hotel later; very convenient, and one of my favorites here.

 

Got a quick breakfast at the hotel; I’d show you a photo but it was literally 2 hash browns, a coffee and one of those 1/2 yogurts that they like at hotel breakfasts to save money. Saving my calories for the ship!

 

 

[Hogladyrider]

@TravelBluebird....Happy CRUISE Day!

[Vibe]

@TravelBluebird  Have a great cruise. Thanks for sharing your experience.  I will be sailing on the Wonder in a few weeks.

[TravelBluebird]

Thank you @Hogladyrider and @Vibe!  Heading down shortly to catch the shuttle to the port!!