danp2482

We've done a handful of them and we're from Massachusetts. My job is flexible but my wife works Mon-Fri. Her time off policies are pretty lenient though so taking a Friday off here and a Monday off there isn't an issue. Also, my MIL lives in just outside of Fort Lauderdale so we fly in Thursday, stay the night, down to Miami Friday for the 3 day and fly home Monday. They're nice little weekend getaways to fill the gaps between longer vacations! I will say, the 3 day is short, always wishing for one more day! Sometimes flying to FL and taking a weekend cruise would prove to be cheaper than going away to somewhere like New York for a weekend!

39 minutes ago, SoFlaCruzer said:

Enjoying the review. We board her in a few weeks for the TA to Barcelona! Got the dining package and we are foodies, so Wunderland certainly seems like a place to try more than once! 

It definitely is! After the second meal, we've basically had all the small plates except 2 and between the 2 of us we had 3 out of 5 main courses.

Day 4 St. Maarten

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4! Our first port day. Personally I like sea days better than port days. For me the ship is the destination but the ports are definitely a great bonus! We didn't have a shore excursion planned. The plan was to walk around the port area and then walk down to Great Bay Beach. Since we were getting off, we opted for an in room continental breakfast. We had picked a 7:00-7:30 drop off but it actually came at 6:50ish.

 

Might as well take advantage of that balcony!

 

 

After breakfast we headed down to the gangway and headed into the port area. In case anyone was wondering, there was a mention of bringing masks with you but once we got off the ship, masks were not required in the port area or any store/venue we went into. People wore them but they were not required inside or out.

 

We were in port with the Explorer of the Seas and a Celebrity ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked around the port area poking in and out of the duty free shops and then headed down to Great Bay Beach.

 

 

 

 

As we walked to Great Bay Beach. We knew we were heading there to just grab a few chairs and hang out on the beach for awhile. The walk was about 10-15 minutes from the port. Not bad at all! As we entered the boardwalk, we started getting asked if we needed chairs. The boardwalk of Great Bay is long and lined with restaurants and a few hotels. The water view looks back at where the cruise ships are docked. Sections of the beach have loungers and umbrellas set up. Who you deal with depends on where you want to sit and what kind of deal you want. Everyone is dealing. We settled for $15 for 2 padded loungers and an umbrella for the day with access to a bathroom. Other guys were offering drinks, loungers & umbrellas. it just depended on what you wanted to pay! We were happy with our spot and relaxed for the morning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up: Day 4 Continued

 

 

Day 3 Continued:

 

We hung out at the pool the rest of the afternoon and then headed down to get ready for dinner at Wonderland. On our way down I stopped by the Vue Bar.

 

My opinion on the due bar is that Royal kind of missed the mark on this. This was one of the more hyped venues when they launched the ship but to me it just kind of falls flat. To me it's a lime and coconut that hangs off the side of the ship, not a special venue. The theming flows more with the pool vibe, the cocktail menu is the same as the lime and coconut and other pool bars and the decor and furniture are more pool bar than cocktail lounge. I guess I was thinking they were trying to do something like celebrities magic carpet but that's definitely not what this is.

 

 

We headed downstairs and got ready for dinner. I took in the ambiance of the park when Nichole finished getting ready.

 

 

 

We headed to Wonderland and we were both a little apprehensive about dinner. If you're not familiar, Wonderland is creative cuisine that is themed from going down the Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole. This restaurant was highly recommended from our chefs table dining mates on our Odyssey cruise. The menu is a little scary but they said keep an open mind and just throw out your expectations of what things should look like or taste like. Here goes nothing!

 

The theming of the entire area and restaurant are awesome!

 

 

 

 

We were a bit early so we sat at the bar and had a drink. Wonderland has some fun themed drinks like the Cheshire Cat Cosmo, Down the Rabbit Hole or smoke rings!

 

 

 

Our table was ready and we headed further down the rabbit hole!

 

 

 

 

This restaurant is by far the prettiest on the entire ship! We were greeted by our server Teppan. Teppan was a server that made the experience! He was attentive, friendly and we really enjoyed his service. As I mentioned, the menu can be a bit intimidating. After we shared some dislikes, we let Teppan pick the small plates. Then we picked the main course but dessert is always a surprise!

 

I will not try to explain what everything was but I will say there is nothing that we didn't enjoy! Everything was delicious and the short rib main course was the best short rib I have ever had!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During our meal, the Mad Hatter stopped by and he was quite mad!!!

 

 

After an amazing meal, it was time for dessert! Nichole had the chocolate globe which is a chocolate globe, filled with peanut butter mouse and chocolate cake, melted with hot caramel. I had the forbidden apple which is an apple shaped blueberry and blackberry mouse with lime curd and coconut cake. Both were amazing!

 

 

 

We finished dinner and we were amazed! Amazed at the service and the food! Before we left, we changed one of our speciality dining reservations so we could come back. Getting a reservation wasn't an issue with some flexibility. We knew we'd be requesting Teppan again too!

 

After dinner we headed straight to the aqua theatre for iTense. Well some of iTense anyway. I guess the entire show is still being rehearsed but they did an aqua showcase showing us some of the show. It kind of baffled me why the entertainment wouldn't be ready with the launch of the ship. Reservations are required for the show and the middle was full by the time we got there which was about 15 mins before. There were still plenty of seats though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The elements of the show that we did see were amazing just like everything else we'd seen so far! There was tons of energy and the technology involved with this specific aqua theatre was awesome! I can only imaging what the full show will be like but it'll be awesome!  On a side note, I've heard from blogs and social media that the Wonder has issues in the aqua theatre with soot from the smoke stacks landing on the theatre seats. After the show we did notice small black spots all over my khaki pants. From what I've heard, many people have had clothes ruined, not sure if my pants are yet but something to be aware of. After the show we headed up to bed. Well actually I think it was just one more drink at Schooner then bed! First port day in the morning!

 

Next up Day 4: St. Maarten

 

 

 

Day 3: 2nd Sea Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our second sea day started much like the first! Another run on the running track! Although I absolutely hated dragging myself down there to do it, it felt good when we finished. Too bad I was putting way more calories in than I was burning!

 

After working out, we headed for breakfast! This morning we went to the Wind Jammer. The Wind Jammer on Wonder is like no other! It's the biggest Wind Jammer in the fleet! It has tons of seating and even a few areas that are more quiet than others. Its tough to tell but the Wind Jammer wraps around the entire aft deck on 15, with windows looking down into the boardwalk and out to sea!

 

As for the food, I've never had complaints about wind jammer food at all! The breakfast food is always good and there are tons of options from made to order omelets, French toast, fresh waffles, avocado toast, bacon, sausage, carved ham and tons more! Food was still served by crew which I actually like better and believe that won't be changing. You could tell protocols were lightened a little though with salt and pepper shakers on tables, self serve beverages and things like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished breakfast. We head back to the pool! As I mentioned, we planned to spend time at multiple pool areas throughout the trip but after seeing the chaos of day 2, a new plan was hatched. We knew our next sailing will have our little one with us and we'll be committed to splash away bay and the main pools so we decided that pool time would remain in the zen of the solarium. To keep it somewhat fresh, we sat in different locations of the solarium each day...yes its that big! On our way to the solarium I snapped a bunch of pool deck pics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then finally back to the Solarium for the rest of the morning. We scored one of the day beds this time!

 

 

 

We hung out in the solarium and relaxed for the rest of the morning and headed down to chops for lunch! I snapped a few atrium art pics on the way down!

 

 

 

Back to Central Park!

 

 

 

 

Chops is always up in the air for us! We've been on multiple Royal Caribbean sailings, eaten in lots of their specialty restaurants and have had mixed results when it comes to chops. Chops seems to be the only restaurant we ever have problems in and when we mentioned it to other frequent cruisers that we met, they felt the same way! The food is always good except for 1 time but its more the service. The service in chops is always either slow, stuffy or both! Unfortunately, our lunch here proved to be par for the course and the waiter just wasn't friendly. He definitely gave off a bothered by us vibe and the service again was a bit slow. Again, the food was great though! Nichole had the New York Steak Salad and I had the cesar salad with filet.

 

 

 

After lunch, we headed back to the pool!

 

Next Up: Day 3 Continued

 

 

Day 2 Continued:

 

After finishing up in the Solarium, we headed down to the room to get ready for the first formal night. We'd be dining at 150 Central Park this evening and had no issue getting a 7pm reservation. Just before dinner, we face timed our little girl back home. I thought it would be good to mention that we used the surf and stream package multiple times daily to video chat with our little one and never had any connectivity or lag issues.

 

We made it down to 150 central. It was pretty windy that evening but the ambiance of the park was still great. I love the lighting in there and seeing everyone dressed up, strolling through the park is nice. There was also a guitarist playing.

 

 

Dinner at 150 park was delicious and the service was great as well although the server wasn't extremely memorable, he took great care of us! We've eaten dinner at 150 Central Park 3 times now and always enjoyed it but I do wish the old menu concept still existed. It used to be a multi course dinner chosen by the chef and would change half way through the cruise. It was similar to the chefs table concept although that menu doesn't change.

 

I started off with the seared honey glazed scallops and Nichole had the roasted spiced pumpkin bisque.

 

 

 

Then we both had lobster Thermidor with cognac cream & tarragon.

 

 

The lobster was delicious! Cooked very well. Not fishy or chewy. The only gripe I had was I wish it was a bit bigger portion!

 

We finished by sharing the fried cheesecake! It was one of the best desserts we had on the ship!

 

 

After dinner, we still had some time before the show of the night "Voices" started so we headed to Schooner bar to have a drink and listen to Andy C the piano player! I snapped a pic of the promenade on the way. The lighting in there is awesome!

 

 

Schooner bar!

 

 

 

When we sat at Schooner bar, this was the first night we met Lennora! She was an amazing bartender and we loved spending time at her bar. Lennora is in her 22nd year with Royal! We ended up calling her the genie of martinis! By the end of the cruise we ended up at schooner a lot just to laugh with Lennora and drink her delicious drinks!

 

 

We finished a few martinis and then headed to the main theater for "Voices"! 

 

Voices was a pretty interesting production! It was an acappella show but half the cast was prerecorded elements and half was signing live. They were all very talented but the lead female vocalist blew me away! The show was different but very entertaining! Don't miss this one either!

 

 

 

 

After the show, we decided to call it a night! We headed to our room where we were met by this guy!

 

 

Next up Day 3: 2nd Sea Day

Day 2: First Sea Day

 

 

 

 

 

We awoke on the first sea day and started the day like many other sea days. We caught a quick workout. Trust me, it is the last thing I wanted to be doing but I figured I had to do something to offset all the food and drinks! The fitness centers on Oasis class ships are pretty great actually. Although they're down on deck 6, (I know many prefer the fitness center to have sweeping views) they're pretty expansive with a wide range of cardio and weight equipment. The fitness center on Wonder even had Peloton bikes, although there were only 4 and proved to be quite popular so I never did get to try one! The fitness center and spa also has vitality cafe which offers fresh juices, smoothies and healthy bites. We made it a habit to grab a juice after our workouts. One deck down is the running/jogging track which is actually very nice. Unlike ships that have the jogging track around the upper deck of the pool, on Wonder and Oasis class ships, the track goes around deck 5 completely. The only reason anyone is down there is to walk or run so its a bit easier to maneuver people if you're running. 

 

After our workout, we headed to the park cafe for breakfast. I always enjoy the offerings at park cafe but I must say, I think Cafe 270 on Odyssey may have Park Cafe beat. Cafe 270 has specialty coffees and many more offerings although I enjoy the ambiance of park cafe better!

 

We finished up breakfast and went to the Solarium to spend a full day in that adult only oasis! It was probably around 8:30 or 9:00 when we got to the Solarium and there were tons of open chairs. All but one daybed was taken. We grabbed a few prime loungers on the bottom deck.

 

 

 

 

This would be the first time we would notice how bad chair hogging would get in the Solarium! The daybed next to us had towels down marking it taken but we didn't see the people for 3 hours or so. When they did come, they'd stay about 45 minutes and then leave for an hour. I think in total they spent about 2 hours in the bed but held it for 8 hours. We witnessed that happen multiple times during the week. I by no means expect someone to have to sit in their lounger for 8 straight hours (by all means, go get lunch, snacks, coffee, go to trivia for 30 mins, whatever) but if you're claiming a spot, be there more than you're not. The solarium had such great seating options with beds, couches and padded loungers but it was definitely very competitive to get one. I won't say the chair hogging was bad all week but we noticed it quite a bit in the mornings.

 

We hung out in the solarium till lunch and we headed down to Giovani's kitchen. I told you we were there often! For lunch we had the meat plank again, I also ordered the giant meatball, Nichole had the Giovani's house salad and we shared the Mama Italia pizza which is absolutely amazing. I could've sworn I got pictures of all of it but I guess not. Either that or I have lost some pictures. Lunch was delicious as usual and Bruno our server took great care of us!

 

 

 

We headed back to the solarium to finish out the day. I will say this, on our way to the solarium we stopped by the main pool deck to check out where we'd go for sea day 2. As I mentioned, we wanted to spend time around each area. When we got up to the deck it was crazy busy! Don't get me wrong, I don't mind crazy busy at all. In fact, I like it! It makes for good people watching and entertainment! It was quite different from the zen atmosphere of the Solarium though!

 

Next up: Day 2 Continued

 

 

 

 

58 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

Thanks for the review.  Just wondering have read elsewhere that you can see and hear the big movie screen while in Central Park, is that true?

Gracie, thanks for following! See the post above!

2 hours ago, CaptainBazz said:

Great review so far...we are on the Wonder on Friday and are in cabin 11207. I presume the layout will be the same. How was the noise level from the movies on deck 15?

Awesome! We enjoyed the location! I was going to cover it later on but I probably should've said something about it when I was covering the room! We were concerned about the noise as well. We had seen a few reviews and blogs mention that the noise did take away from the ambiance of Central Park at night. No one mentioned if it actually affected the rooms as well. I am guessing they got a lot of complaints. It seemed like a combination of things was done to correct it. The sound from the pool deck both music and movies was turned down and movies were only shown at 5pm no longer shown at 10pm like previous sailings.

1 hour ago, shilu said:

Thanks for the great review. Did you manage to get a reservation for the ice show quite easily?

Thanks for following! Yes! We were able to make all of our show/entertainment reservations when we got onboard and didn't have any issues. We stuck to our times though and didn't try to change anything so I'm not sure how it was later in the sailing.

2 hours ago, JoeyJoeJoe said:

Really loving the review so far. My wife and I are on board on the 8th of April. My question is the UDP is sold out online but I want to try out all the restaurants! Did you notice if they were selling it on board and the cost? Thanks

Thank you for following along! If UDP is sold out online, it probably won't be available for sale on board either. This was the first cruise in a long time that I did not see servers from the specialties trying to sell reservations or UDP when we boarded. A suggestion would be to pick a few specialties that you're really interested in and book single reservations before you board. If for some reason you end up getting UDP on board, they'll refund the single reservations.

Day 1 continued:

 

We got our swim suits on and headed to the Solarium! We didn't know it yet but we'd end up spending quite a bit of time here throughout the week! Our plan was to make it around to all the pools but the solarium on the Wonder is amazing. It is completely enclosed and Royal has perfected the indoor pool concept. It had great climate control, wasn't humid and didn't wreak of chlorine. It was an Oasis on the Wonder!

 

 

 

In addition to just having a tranquil feel, the furniture created a very upscale vibe. There were numerous couches and daybeds around. Those couches and beds were first come first serve but you had to be up pretty early to get one, even on port days! The entire area had a very expansive and open feel!

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see there is an infinity pool that steps down into multiple reflection pools that offer in water setting and loungers. 

 

We spent the rest of our afternoon here including sail away! Speaking of sail away...

 

 

That is a view from one of the daybeds!

 

After finishing out the sail away and afternoon in the solarium, we headed downstairs to get cleaned up for dinner at Giovani's Kitchen.

 

We ended up at Giovani's Kitchen quite a few times throughout the trip! We live in the northeast and the Italian food here is some of the best but Giovani's kitchen does a great job competing with it! The Giovani's Kitchen on Wonder offers an added benefit, outdoor seating in the park!

 

 

We started the meal off with the Meat and Cheese plank and Giovani's house salad (swore I snapped a picture). The meat plank is always amazing.

 

Nichole ordered the pasta carbonara and I had the chicken fettuccini alfredo.

 

 

 

We finished with the Tiramisu and the chocolate ravioli. Nichole loved the Tiramisu, I thought the chocolate ravioli was a bit rich but I still enjoyed some of it!

 

 

 

After we finished dinner, we headed to Schooner bar for a drink! We spend a lot of time in Schooner Bar regardless of what ship we're on. In this case, we knew the piano player was going to be Andy C. We'd seen him on Freedom back in November and he is amazing. Extremely talented and goes way beyond the typical piano man/piano bar music! If he is on a sailing you're on, don't miss him!

 

 

After Schooner, we headed down to studio B for 365 which is the ice show. This show was the first of many entertainment options that blew us away! The entertainment on the Odyssey was ok but I never felt blown away or wowed by anything, this ship would be different. In the interest of wanting you to see and live the show for yourself, I usually only grab a few quick shots to give the idea of the ambiance.

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned, 365 was a great show! Talented performers and awesome technology really made this something to see. Another thing I found out was that they have a fraction of their props, like 5-10%. I can't imagine what this looks like fully complete!

 

After the show, we headed up to bed for the night or did we go to Schooner? Can't recall! 

 

Next up Day 2: First Sea Day

 

 

 

Day 1 Continued:

 

We got down to our room. Room #10207 Central Park balcony. This would be our third Central Park balcony on our third Oasis Class ship.

 

 

First impressions of the room. We liked it! It was modern and we liked how it was configured. The bed was by the bathroom. Not sure if it alternates like on other ships.

 

 

Balcony View

 

 

 

 

Waiting for us in the room was also our Emerald Pins!

 

 

Since our luggage had already arrived, we decided to unpack. Once we finished up, we headed out to explore and do our E muster!

 

After finishing E muster, we headed out around the ship exploring. Here are some shots of different areas of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made a special point to check out splash away bay. Having a toddler and knowing shell be cruising with us much more, we always have preplanning on the mind. This ships splash away bay is much more impressive that the Odyssey! Granted it is also much bigger but other ships of Odyssey's size have something similar. Not sure what they were thinking with Odyssey.

 

 

 

 

As you can see from some of the pictures. Cruising is slowly approaching a sense of normalcy again. The promenade was packed! We were lucky enough to have an 85 degree embarkation day! Sure beats the 58 from January! After we finished up exploring, we went down to grab our suits. We planned on spending the rest of the afternoon by the pool.

 

Next Up: Day 1 continued

Day 1 Continued:

 

After the first shot, we headed up to Mason Jar for brunch. This was the first sailing that Mason Jar was open for Brunch on embarkation day! Mason Jar got a lot of hype from the bloggers and vloggers. We were excited to see if the hype was genuine!

 

When we got to Mason Jar, there was a table set up with samples of many of the menu items and some of the drinks as well. The space is great and very well themed! The staff was really welcoming as well!

 

 

 

 

 

Our server came over and took our "medicine" order. We recognized him right away! His name was Jaime and he had been our server at Jamies Italian on Navigator. He made that experience amazing and we pumped to see him. He recognized us right away too! Jaime took great care of us and just like at Jamies Italian, he made this experience awesome as well. We would be back on night 4 and requested he be our server again!

 

We started with a Southern Belle and a Pretty as Peach Tea!

 

For food we had Charred Watermelon salad, Stuffed French Toast, Blueberry Johnny Cakes and Fried Chicken and Waffles. The food was all very good but the stuffed French Toast was absolutely amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

After an amazing brunch, we looked forward to what the dinner at Mason Jar would be like! It is certainly living up to the hype!

 

We finished up and headed out to the bar area which is also an awesome space. I think I have a picture for later on in the review. There is a live country band that plays every night and the drink menu is heavily bourbon themed. If you're a bourbon drinker, the bourbon selection up in Mason Jar is more robust than anywhere else on the ship. While in the bar we met the bartender perfectionist Charlene! She was great and made us many great cocktails throughout the trip! Her mint julep was delicious! For some reason all my drink pics are posting sideways so I'll try and figure out how to fix it!

 

With lunch and cocktails done. Rooms were ready so we head down to drop off our carry on bag.

 

Next up: Day 1 Continued

 

 

Day 1: Embarkation Day!

 

Waking up on embarkation is always exciting! We had an 11am arrival for the port.

 

 

 

 

 

We aimed at getting to the port between 10:45-11:00 and we were right on the nose. A few times during the week leading up we got messages about sticking to your assigned boarding time. Not sure if it says it in the computer when they check you in but no one ever asked and it wasn't like Miami with the separate lines.

 

Check in was a breeze and before we knew it we were upstairs waiting to board. I attempted to get on the ships wifi prior to boarding because I was trying to lock down our specialty dining reservations. That was the one thing I was stressed about. In the past it has never been an issue because we're pretty flexible but I knew the UDP, Chops + 1 and 3 night specialty had all sold out. Cruisers on the previous weeks used the term oversold when talking about the UDP and stated getting reservations was slim pickings. I wasn't able to get on the wifi though so we figured we'd just do it on the ship.

 

In less that 15 mins of waiting it was time for our row to board! After checking in, the terminal agents seat everyone by rows and when boarding begins, they bring up one row at a time. We checked in at the gangway and were welcomed aboard the biggest cruise ship at sea! Much less stressful than our previous check in with our daughter!

 

Welcome aboard!!

 

 

When we got on board, we logged into the ships wifi and attempted to snag dining reservations. Every time I selected a reservation it wanted to charge me for the booking. We had the UDP and I couldn't figure out how to get past it so instead of getting frustrated, we just went up to Central Park to go to a specialty restaurant to book our reservations. The stress of needing to get things booked was something I would've preferred not to have to deal with as we embarked. I would've liked to take it all in instead of rushing to get reservations made but after the reports from the previous weeks, we didn't want to take any chances. When we got upstairs to Central Park, it looked as if everyone had the same idea! All 3 specialties had lines waiting to book out reservations. I waited in one and Nichole waited in a different one. She won the race and we got things taken care of. We were some of the first people on the ship so I hoped it wouldn't be an issue and I was right. We managed to get the reservations important to us booked and the ones we were flexible on we just moved around a bit. That being said, dining times were right around when we wanted and we got all the restaurants we wanted too. One thing I will say is that the app does not show all the availability. Even when trying to book from the app, there were limited times but when speaking with the hostess, she had way more availability!

 

Now that the reservations were taking care of! Time to relax! Central Park is one of my favorite places on Oasis Class ships!

 

 

 

We stopped by trellis bar for our traditional first drink which is always a shot!

 

 

Next up: Day 1 Continued

 

Day 0: Travel Day

 

We were really excited! Of course we're excited but the excitement was different this time. Typically when your leading up to a cruise we build our own excitement, reading about the ship, watching vlogs and whatnot but two weeks leading up to our sailing were the first 2 cruises on the Wonder so there were a lot of Cruise Bloggers and Vloggers posting all kinds of content about the ship and their cruises. It built the excitement even more! Additionally, even though we've cruised since the restart, this was our first 7 day cruise, just the 2 of us in 3 years!

 

Per the usual, we'd be heading down to Florida the day before sailing. We've only done 1 cruise where we traveled on embarkation day and Nichole swore never to do it again. Not because anything really bad happened but even on the first flight out at 6am I was a nervous wreck that something would happen and the ship would leave without us. If you've followed along on any other reviews, you know that my MIL lives in Coral Springs just outside Fort Lauderdale. The plan was to fly down to FLL and stay there the night before.

 

The process actually started the day before when we took our required covid tests. For a few sailings now we've used the Emed home covid tests through Royal Caribbean. They've worked out great and are much more affordable than the urgent care options around us. With 2 negative tests we were good to go!

 

We made it to FLL without issue. The airport was crazy hectic when we deplaned (spring break time)! We collected our baggage and FIL was nice enough to pick us up. It was an afternoon flight into the evening so we were spent. We got to bed early knowing that tomorrow was embarkation day!

 

Next Up Day 1: Embarkation Day

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone! If you've read any of my other reviews, you can just skip to the last 2 paragraphs! If not, please read on and thank your for taking the time to join along in the review of our adventure!

 

I have used many reviews here to gather information about certain ships, certain cruises and get excited for upcoming cruises of my own. I have written a few other reviews and really enjoyed reliving my vacation here! I also really enjoyed the dialog with other forum members and being to provide information as well as help you all get excited for a cruise you might have coming up! The enjoyment I get from writing the reviews helped me decide to write reviews after as many cruises as I can.

 

If you haven't read any of the other reviews,  let me give you a bit of background! If you have followed along before, feel free to skip to the next post! DW (Nichole) and I have been really fortunate to have completed 15 cruises! We also have a 3 year old daughter and she completed her first sailing on Odyssey of the Seas in January of 2022. She is also constantly asking when she gets to go on a "BIG SHIP" again. Nichole and I both work hard but love to vacation and try to do it as much as we can! (Always have to have something to look forward to!) Our vacation tastes range from numerous Vegas and Disney trips (both world and land) and multiple cruises. People frequently comment on the fact that we travel to repeat destinations or same style vacations but I guess when you know what you like, you just keep going back for more. I can imagine that I'm amongst like minded individuals here!

 

In 2014, we decided that we were going to give cruising a try. We had always been interested in trying it out and seeing all the new entertainment and offerings of modern ships continued to build our interest. Not knowing if we would enjoy it and both of us being worried that Nichole may have some some sea sickness issues, we chose a 4 day cruise. Not only did we love it, but 4 days was not long enough and we found ourselves booking another cruise. The rest is history and as I've mentioned, we've been fortunate enough to complete 15 cruises across 3 cruise lines. We've landed on Royal Caribbean for our last 10 and currently really enjoy RCI and their fleet of ships.

 

How we ended up on this sailing is kind of funny!  We had been following the Wonder and knew it was being built for the Chinese cruise market and didn't expect to see it in the U.S. for many years. I'll never forget the day that Royal announced that they were moving it to Florida. The way it was playing out was that it was here for 2 months, back to the Med for the summer and then over to China. At that time we had no idea that they would choose to bring it back to port Canaveral. In the moment we thought we had a short window to see a brand new ship that we may not get a chance to see again for some time. We had an 8 night on Odyssey scheduled for the end of January which had been moved multiple times due to covid but this was a rare opportunity (at least we thought!). I laughed, looked at Nichole and said "are we going on wonder too?", she laughed back saying "we are now"! We don't really subscribe to the whole idea of "being some of the first" but we were excited! We had never been on a brand new ship before!

17 hours ago, sergel02 said:

I am there today.

 

Currently everyone is supposed to wear masks while off the ship and in port. I think technically you can take them off outdoors but overall you’re supposed to wear them regardless of vaccination status.

 

Of course a lot of tourists weren’t following those rules. I’d say maybe 50%. A couple locals weren’t either to be fair, but mostly everyone was. I saw some people denied entry into shops because they weren’t wearing a mask.

Thank you! Just to clarify, you're saying mostly everyone was wearing masks? Even outside?

23 minutes ago, Abr155 said:

No apologies necessary, it was my fault! Thank you so so much for responding! So helpful, and we booked 🙂

Great! We enjoyed sailing on the Getaway! It’s a great ship!

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Rumor #1

 

They were practicing the promenade parade which includes a pirate ship that fires a smoke cannon and makes a bang.  They are supposed to disable sensors for the parade but apparently did not.  
 

Just a rumor, take it for what it’s worth.  

What you’re describing is a deluge sprinkler system. “Fire alarms go off and sprinklers activate.” That type of system isn’t common in an area that can suffer damages due to water if there is a false alarm. Typically there are triggers other than smoke detectors that activate the sprinklers usually a heat activated device so minor smoke doesn’t literally cause the flood gates to open! That being said, if it is a deluge system, what your describing could absolutely happen. Not very familiar with the fire suppression systems on ships.

On 3/2/2022 at 8:38 AM, Abr155 said:

So happy I found this review! We sailed on Anthem in 2019 which sounds fairly similar to Odyssey.  I just booked a NCL cruise for February 2024 (long way away, I know, but wanted to make sure DD was potty trained).  DD will be just over 3.5 at the time of the cruise (exactly how old was Lily?), so reading about your sweet Lily's time on board was very helpful.  We are booked on a 10 day out of NYC (4 total sea days, 2 at beginning with Bermuda in between and 2 back to back on way home). Stops include: Bermuda, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Puerto Plata DR, & Turks & Caicos.  My question will all be toddler specific haha

 

1. We also booked a balcony. Sounds like DD was comfortable on the convertible couch? Did opening and closing balcony doors while she was sleeping wake her?

2. Did she nap everyday?

3. How much did you rely on other adults in your party to help with DD - we are going just us 3, so no extra hands?

4. COVID restrictions aside (hope is everything will be "normal" by 2024), would you have been comfortable taking her to specialty restaurants?

5. Saw where you did Adventure Ocean for at least one later night dinner - how did that work? We'd likely use NCLs Splash Academy a few times for some mommy / daddy dinner dates? Did she play the whole time, or fall asleep?

6. You mentioned grabbing cocktails after dinner and shows, was DD with you, i.e. are little ones allows in/near bars?

7. Did you bring umbrella stroller for walking around ship/ports? Any other "must have" items?

8. I assume in 2 years time my DD will have used a shower, lol, currently still baths.  Did DD have any problems with the shower?

9. Did she need booster seat at restaurants (do they even have them lol)?

10. Can you give typical sea day schedule for DD?

11. Any problems with DD getting motion sick? 

Sorry for bombarding you 🙂

 

Hello! Thanks for following along! I wasn't quoted so I just happened to sea this! (See what I did) Sorry for the delay. I'd be happy to answer questions. Lilly was just about 3.5 when we sailed, although we booked it before she was potty trained, we lucked out by her being potty trained before the sailing. I don't think the experience would've been as positive if she wasn't.

 

1. We also booked a balcony. Sounds like DD was comfortable on the convertible couch? Did opening and closing balcony doors while she was sleeping wake her?

 

She slept like a rock everynight! Could’ve been from the full days of fun but we also threw routine to the wind and kept her up way past her bedtime some nights. We were worried about the balcony door too but it didn’t seem to bother her.

 

2. Did she nap everyday?

 

She didn’t nap every day. We gauged if she needed a nap based on her behavior, attitude and if she asked to nap or said she was tired. Thats pretty much how we are at home now too.

 

3. How much did you rely on other adults in your party to help with DD - we are going just us 3, so no extra hands?

 

Funny story about that! This trip was booked as a family vacation with my MIL and her Husband for that very reason! Leading up to the trip MIL said she’d be happy to take the little one off our hands for us to have mom and dad time on the ship. We said “absolutely! We’ll take you up on that!” She even mentioned it on embarkation day. Not sure if she was saying it to make herself feel good or what but it never happened. It was like we were on 2 different vacations. There were days we barely saw them! Which made things more difficult because the little one couldn’t understand why they weren’t around. Once we realized we weren’t getting help, we adjusted our expectations and still had a great time!

 

4. COVID restrictions aside (hope is everything will be "normal" by 2024), would you have been comfortable taking her to specialty restaurants?

 

I think this is a question about behavior but I’m not sure if I’m reading it correctly. We didn’t do any specialties but I would’ve if we wanted to. We just stayed in the MDR and her behavior was amazing. That being said, if we had specialties booked and I thought her attitude or behavior was going to disrupt others experiences then I would cancel the specialty and dining room and figure something else out.

 

 

5. Saw where you did Adventure Ocean for at least one later night dinner - how did that work? We'd likely use NCLs Splash Academy a few times for some mommy / daddy dinner dates? Did she play the whole time, or fall asleep?

 

The one time she did the entire “block” in adventure ocean, we went to the chefs table. When we went to pick her up at 10pm, she was exhausted but still awake. She seemed to enjoy it but I think she was bummed at the lack of kids (100 total for sailing in all age groups). They were still in a reservation mode as well, although due to the low census, we didn’t need them. She asked to go back a few times but we didn’t want her to miss out on the pool and after we took her to one of the shows, thats what she wanted to do in the evenings.

 

6. You mentioned grabbing cocktails after dinner and shows, was DD with you, i.e. are little ones allows in/near bars?

 

Every ship has a different layout and venues do as well. We were limited to which venues we could be in due to her vaccination status. Schooner bar on Odyssey had some high tops and table along the wall of the entrance. We’d sit at those tables so we were at schooner but just barely. That being said, even if we were there, it wasn’t past 8:30-09:00

 

7. Did you bring umbrella stroller for walking around ship/ports? Any other "must have" items?

 

We didn’t bring a stroller of any type! At this point she is so mobile that all she wants to do is walk/run around on her own. I think she was carried maybe 5 times the whole trip. We were also in the stage where we were not allowed to just walk freely around ports. The one time we got off we did our excursion and got right back on. That being said, if we were allowed to move freely, I wouldn’t have done it differently.

 

8. I assume in 2 years time my DD will have used a shower, lol, currently still baths.  Did DD have any problems with the shower?

 

No issues with the shower! She had showered before the trip and in fact takes more showers than baths at home now.

 

9. Did she need booster seat at restaurants (do they even have them lol)?

 

They have boosters and high chairs but she didn’t need them and she is small for her age.

 

10. Can you give typical sea day schedule for DD?

 

Just as the review said. Wake up, breakfast, pool, lunch, pool, nap (if needed), pool, get ready for dinner. There was obviously exploring and whatnot but you get the gist.

 

11. Any problems with DD getting motion sick? 

 

No issues with motion sickness at all and there was some significant movement the first 2 nights.

 

 

Hi everyone! I have a question about specialty restaurants and the UDP. Does Royal have some formula to save some tables for those that purchased UDP? Looking at our upcoming cruise, there are limited reservations left for cash bookings. Is it going to be slim pickings when we board?

13 hours ago, twangster said:

UDP appears to be oversold.  Just met someone who has UDP and couldn’t get into any venue until day 7.   She canceled it.  

Great review so far! Thanks for the live! It’s been a long time since I’ve followed one so close. Definitely building excitement for our upcoming sailing! Your pictures are awesome too!

 

Did she elaborate on the situation? We’re there absolutely no reservations or was she looking for specific things and not flexible? Just trying to set our own expectations. Thanks! Looking forward to the rest!

Hi everyone! Just wondering what type of health protocols are still in place for St. Thomas. Sailing there in a few weeks and don't know what to expect. Not sure the stuff I've found is most recent. Has anyone been recently?

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

The West Deck Beach Bar at Governors Beach. 

Thank you!!