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

[TravelBluebird]

I can’t fairly judge the sail away party because the weather was so fair.  Only about 20 cruisers were half-heartedly dancing with the people from the entertainment squad (was NOT the cruise director).

 

It’s a bit awkward for a deck party—the “stage” for the entertainment squad looks square onto the void that is in the middle of the ship for Central Park. Very far from  everyone, but there is also a big screen.

 

Found a sheltered area and danced with one older lady and 2 teen boys, and we were kind of it on our side. 

 

Then I nearly got blown away by the wind and we weren’t even out to sea yet! I bet we feel some good ship motion tonight.  I can already feel some decent ship motion in my room!

 

Off to wash my hair; wasn’t planning to but it did NOT survive the sail away party! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

I’m at 150 Central Park!  Beautiful restaurant.  Rain has stopped and that was my first walk through Central Park—lovely at night!

 

I’m having the Roasted Beet Salad, the Seared Honey Glazed Scallops and the Lamb Wellington.

 

More to follow but here are the scallops!  Served hot and excellent flavors!  I like them a tad more well done but DH would think they are perfect!

 

oh and there’s me dining.  These chairs are ENORMOUS I feel like a kid in a grown up chair!

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

I really like that the chairs are spaced like a land based restaurant.  Very private and quiet!

 

The restaurant is not full; reservations on first night should not be hard to get!

[TravelBluebird]

All the food was excellent! Here is the beet salad and the Lamb Wellington.  Mini cheese course and peanut butter and chocolate torte to follow (ss…I don’t ALWAYS eat healthy!

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Excellent meal! Not perfect, but excellent.

 

My very minor complaints:  Lamb was supposed to be medium rare and it was quite medium. 

 

Favorite dish of the night was the beet salad. Lamb was second and would have been first if cooked medium rare (gets a little gamey on the medium side).

 

Cheese course was served before the sweet desert. I know they do it that way in England, but not France, where I learned to love cheese courses. So I left my coffee to get cold (decaf or I’d be up all night) and the sorbet on the torte to melt.

 

One of the cheeses was WAY to strong. And I’m not talking about the blue or the camembert.  

 

It was a proper cheese course with a cheese cart and 6 cheeses and all the acompaniments, including pecans, honey, chutney, grapes, etc. Love to see this on a ship!

 

I had a reasonable priced Malbec for my 1 glass of alcohol today on my server’s recommendation ($10 a glass) and it was perfect with the lamb and the cheese.  Sabrina from Argentina was my waiter and I really felt well taken care of at dinner.

 

It was pouring again as I left the restaurant. I had to walk the length of Central Park; good thing Royal provided umbrellas! But that is my second pair of shoes now wet from water on the decks…I’m going to run out of shoes if this keeps up.  

 

On to the INTENSE show; don’t think I’ll get gambling in tonight because I intend to get off the ship as soon as possible in the morning to stake my place at the beach in CocoCay!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

‘2nd Aqua Show also rained out due to weather. I have some fine video of the water sloshing both sides of the pool before they cancelled; make up show on 5h night of cruse.

 

So was able to go to the party (it was a LONG party and actually didn’t get started until much later than the 10:45 listed in the app).  There was one of those long lines of people you could dance through (of course I did it—can’t complain there is no party if you won’t help MAKE the party).  There is tons of embarrassing video of that out there I am sure 😂

 

Then the usual line dances and Queen songs. Nice that the music was a live band (Sally’s Band, I think). Met some nice people and then the balloon drop was fun! Cruise Director Chris didn’t show up till near the end of the whole thing, right before the balloon drop, and I didn’t see a “fun squad” type of group out there, but fun was to be had—I never realized how LOUD a balloon drop is. Not when the balloons drop—when they POP!

 

It’s nearly 12:30; I’m headed to bed. Three photos (for now)—; I want to get up early for CocoCay tomorrow!  Night all! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Stormy Day at CocoCay!  Amazed caotain could get us to the port!

 

Every time I try to type something the wind kicks up OR it starts to rain.  Started at Chill Beach but WAY too windy.  Took the tram to South Beach—much better!

 

Had a dry cappuccino from Cafe Promenade—took 20 minutes to get—Starbucks had no line but I’m not paying for a Cappuccino on the Refreshment Package!  More espresso coffee stops would be nice.  Cappuccino was appropriately dry as requested and very good!

 

Have tried a non-alcoholic CoCo Loco—island signature drink—and had the very yummy funnel cake for breakfast.  Will grab a chicken sandwich for lunch!

 

photos in next post

 

 

 

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

had the very yummy funnel cake for breakfast

 

That's more like it. 😋

 

I know you're not there to eat like I do but there are some good food options (including some healthy stuff like fruit & salad) at Skipper's Grill and Chill Grill (identical food). I'm usually there for the taco bar.

 

That said, the chicken sandwich and funnel cake are probably my favorite included items at CocoCay.

[JessyCruises]

Looking forward to your live!  We will be on the wonder for 2 weeks later this month.  How are you finding the wifi?  We had nothing but issues with it in March and are hoping they have fixed it.

 

Are you booked through a casino comp of some kind?  If so, you might have drinks covered in the casino.

[chill6x6]

Hi,

 

I am enjoying your live review! I'm one of those that cruises on most cruise lines but mostly Royal and NCL. I DO have two CCL cruses booked!

 

Have a great cruise!

[TravelBluebird]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

That's more like it. 😋

 

I know you're not there to eat like I do but there are some good food options (including some healthy stuff like fruit & salad) at Skipper's Grill and Chill Grill (identical food). I'm usually there for the taco bar.

 

That said, the chicken sandwich and funnel cake are probably my favorite included items at CocoCay.

 

Since I had to flee Chill Beach due to the wind, I ended up on South Beach and had exactly that—after the funnel cake for breakfast, I had the chicken sandwich for lunch! Both quite good.  

Then I walked it off getting photos of the ship and back in Chill Beach area. 9.000 steps so far. Not too shabby; I was over 15,000 yesterday.

 

Had to come back, All that wind is exhausting.  Rain turned into sprinkles, but only a couple fleeting signs of the sun.  Going to try to post a short movie after this to show you the wind as I was on the pier back to the ship. Ship is moving even though we don’t leave till 3:30! 

 

Still had lots of fun without the sun since I do enjoy weather BUT I didn’t get that soul-filling sun with turquoise blue waters I was hoping for.

 

The weather was not hot at all due to the cloud cover, but that made the water feel wonderful; pleasingly warm.

[TravelBluebird]

 

Chill Beach above; Non-Alcoholid Coco Loco below

 

Funnel Cake!

 

 South Beach

 

 Beautiful Wonder

 

Yellow Flag Day

 

Empty chairs

Edited October 2, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

 

27 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

Looking forward to your live!  We will be on the wonder for 2 weeks later this month.  How are you finding the wifi?  We had nothing but issues with it in March and are hoping they have fixed it.

 

Are you booked through a casino comp of some kind?  If so, you might have drinks covered in the casino.

 

@JessyCruises Thank you!  Two weeks—B2B?  

 

WiFi is sometimes blazing (like right now) or very hard to use (last night after the Welcome Party; on CocoCay).  So still spotty BUT mostly working. When its working well I can stream videos no problem!

 

No casino comp; I get great casino offers from Carnival, but this is my first Wonder one. I might have asked to see if they could match status, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the casino a ton for my first Royal trip.

[TravelBluebird]

12 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

Hi,

 

I am enjoying your live review! I'm one of those that cruises on most cruise lines but mostly Royal and NCL. I DO have two CCL cruses booked!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

@chill6x6 Thank you!  Which CCL cruises did you book? My favorite CCL ships right now are the Mardi Gras and Venezia, and I’m booked in Celebration later this year, and Jubilee early next year.

[TravelBluebird]

21 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Get to the Solarium, all covered and rainless and great spot for sailaway

 @BecciBoo Missed this yesterday BUT I’m heading to the Solarium after my shower! Don’t want to go on deck and get blown away! 

[firefly333]

Just now, TravelBluebird said:

 

@chill6x6 Thank you!  Which CCL cruises did you book? My favorite CCL ships right now are the Mardi Gras and Venezia, and I’m booked in Celebration later this year, and Jubilee early next year.

I saw your review of Venezia. Since 3 other regulars also did a live from the same cruise, you probably didnt get as many eyes as normal. 

 

I felt it took 2 weeks on a oasis cruise to see and do everything I wanted. I love the funnel cake at coco cay. And the chicken sandwich.

 

Dont forget Johnny rockets for breakfast. Free. I like solarium for breakfast because of the view and its quiet.

[TravelBluebird]

21 hours ago, fla33023 said:

21 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

I don't think any line does a sail-a-way party like Carnival. Royal's is more like a nice gathering! lol

 

@fla33023 😂 A nice gathering with 10 of your crazy friends dancing in the corner! (I may resemble that remark).

[TravelBluebird]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

I saw your review of Venezia. Since 3 other regulars also did a live from the same cruise, you probably didnt get as many eyes as normal. 

 

I felt it took 2 weeks on a oasis cruise to see and do everything I wanted. I love the funnel cake at coco cay. And the chicken sandwich.

 

Dont forget Johnny rockets for breakfast. Free. I like solarium for breakfast because of the view and its quiet.

 

@firefly333  There were 3 others doing lives from Venezia; I always chug along doing my thing and am always grateful for whoever wants to follow along.  

 

There is SO much to do. It is a little overwhelming; definitely a small floating city!  I want to do some deck tours for my YouTube channel and I don’t know where to start!

 

Thank you for those suggestions re Johnny Rockets and Solarium for breakfast. Do they have espresso coffees there?

[TravelBluebird]

21 hours ago, Donsyb said:

We are staying at that hotel before our cruise in December - any tips?

 

@Donsyb I don’t have any big room tips as the rooms are all so similar.  but—

 

1. If you want to take the hotel shuttle to your cruise, book it the second you get to the hotel as it can book up.  $10 per person; mine was completely full.  I believe Coco Beach Shuttles run them. You can also shuttle BACK to the hotel after the cruise; I may do that sometime if I have a late flight home.

 

2. Check the prices for your room even after booking—when I first looked at TownPlace Suites for my cruise, it was almost $300 a night, so I booked Courtyard by the airport; under $200.  Later, the room rate for TownPlace was only $170 a night, so I  booked them instead. For Spring Break last year it was nearly $400 a room (!) 

[chill6x6]

11 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

@chill6x6 Thank you!  Which CCL cruises did you book? My favorite CCL ships right now are the Mardi Gras and Venezia, and I’m booked in Celebration later this year, and Jubilee early next year.

Miracle to Panama Canal and Jubilee! Both out of Galveston might I add! I haven't been on a Carnival ship since 2014.  

 

I may have to do a "Royal cruiser does CCL" live review LOL.

[JessyCruises]

12 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

 

@JessyCruises Thank you!  Two weeks—B2B?  

 

WiFi is sometimes blazing (like right now) or very hard to use (last night after the Welcome Party; on CocoCay).  So still spotty BUT mostly working. When its working well I can stream videos no problem!

 

No casino comp; I get great casino offers from Carnival, but this is my first Wonder one. I might have asked to see if they could match status, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the casino a ton for my first Royal trip.

 

Yes we are on a B2B on Wonder then have a night on land then board Allure on 10/30 for a 4 night.  We are from Atlantic Canada so we like to clump our cruises together to save on travel costs.

 

I hope you enjoy Royal as much as we do!  I have sailed Carnival a few times, but not for several years.  Once we reach Pinnacle on RCL we are probably going to branch out and try a few different lines that have given us casino offers.  Seems to be a waste of points for us to do it before 🙂

 

 

[TravelBluebird]

2 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

Miracle to Panama Canal and Jubilee! Both out of Galveston might I add! I haven't been on a Carnival ship since 2014.  

 

I may have to do a "Royal cruiser does CCL" live review LOL.

 

@chill6x6 Oh nice—Panama Canal; I really have to try that again sometime. I’ll be on the Jubilee on March 1!  

 

And you SHOULD do a “Royal Cruiser Does CCL” live; I’d totally read that! 💕

[TravelBluebird]

4 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

Yes we are on a B2B on Wonder then have a night on land then board Allure on 10/30 for a 4 night.  We are from Atlantic Canada so we like to clump our cruises together to save on travel costs.

 

I hope you enjoy Royal as much as we do!  I have sailed Carnival a few times, but not for several years.  Once we reach Pinnacle on RCL we are probably going to branch out and try a few different lines that have given us casino offers.  Seems to be a waste of points for us to do it before 🙂

 

@JessyCruises I understand about saving on travel costs; we won’t do anything less than 7 days, even coming from where we are (Tennessee).

 

So far I am having a lovely time!  I also understand about getting your points//casino comps on one line…that is how Carnival got me for so long!  There is something nice about familiarity with a line (it feels like home) but adventuring to other lines is exciting.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

we won’t do anything less than 7 days, even coming from where we are (Tennessee).

 

It's an easy hour drive for me to PC and even I only do less than 7 under special circumstances (like squeezing in a shorter cruise while school is in session since my is a teacher)... they're just too darn short, lol.

[TravelBluebird]

24 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

It's an easy hour drive for me to PC and even I only do less than 7 under special circumstances (like squeezing in a shorter cruise while school is in session since my is a teacher)... they're just too darn short, lol.

@OCSC Mike I know! 7 days and you blink and it’s over as it is!

Edited October 2, 2023 by TravelBluebird