Wonder of the seas Mediterranean live blog! 22nd May - 29th May 2022. Come cruise with us!

[Albert_Park]

 

We’re cruising in July (our first one) so looking forward to hearing about your experiences in particular shore excursions.

[Cruisingcouple22]

14 hours ago, little britain said:

I will also be boarding tomorrow so will be travelling along. I may chip in with a few comments if you don’t mind? 
We are flying out first thing tomorrow on first EJ from LGW. Always adds a frisson of excitement flying out the day of….

Feel free to join in, the more the merrier!

 

And surely with the “fun” of the testing there’s been enough excitement to last a lifetime! 

[Cruisingcouple22]

Coming through Barcelona airport yesterday was one of the smoothest processes ever! I think we may have been the only plane there as there was no queue for passport control, the checks on our vaccine passport took seconds and luggage came quickly too. From the plane touching down to getting in a taxi was about 30 minutes! 
 

we saw a couple of what we think are cruise ships as we came into land, couldn’t quite make out what they were though. Any guesses?

 

 

 

Our hotel was about a 15 minute drive away and we caught a taxi. We had a momentary panic as we pulled up to the hotel that we didn’t have any euros, but fortunately they accept cards, just not American Express.

 

We are staying in the Grums hotel and spa and are really happy with it! We have an attic room, which comes with a nice terrace and breakfast included. Also on arrival we were given 2 free welcome drinks in the bar which was a lovely touch. Reception staff were fantastic and it only took minutes to finish checking in. The room is huge and whilst minimalist I really like it. There’s a kettle and all kinds of bathroom amenities, including a comb if you forget yours! There are also robes and slippers to relax in. 

 

 

 

 

By the time we had checked in and got to the room it was about 9pm so we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. They had an extensive menu with some traditional Spanish dishes and some more international food. We were both feeling tired and not adventurous so went for the burger, one with bacon and cheese and the other with goats cheese. The food was very good, the lettuce fresh and the burger cooked perfectly. The service was very relaxed, took about half and hour for the food to arrive despite there being only two other small groups in the restaurant, so just be prepared if you are in a rush. The staff were very friendly but there were a couple of minor issues, such as a lot of the drinks menu wasn’t available, the wrong drinks got bought out the first time and the table next to us got the wrong meal brought out. Overall it was a nice start to the holiday

 

This morning we are having a lazy start, breakfast on the terrace and then a quick trip to the thermal spa which is included with the room. I’m actually writing this update from our loungers just as the sun is peeling over onto our terrace. 

 

 

We had a couple of issues with room service delivery, the menu in the room was incorrect so we got the wrong one delivered and they tried to charge us despite it being included in the room. The lady who delivered it was very apologetic though and explained the restaurant is run separately to the hotel and they haven’t updated their menu but she will let them know about the issue. Could not fault the hotel’s service. When the food arrived it was very tasty and there was a lot of it, It should have been €15 which I think  is a good price for the amount of food you get. And the patties were delicious! 

 

 

Right, we are off for our spa time now. Next update will include what you are all here for, I promise. Wonder of the seas!! 

[jimbri]

Have a great time!

[little britain]

We flew in this morning, plane landed 10;50 and we were checked in at the port by 11;50.  
 

At the airport there was a short line for passport inspection, we now get a stamp in our passports too ( benefit of Brexit…!!), scanned my Covid confirmation on the Spain app, suitcases waiting for us on the conveyor belt; into a cab and straight up the port. It’s €39 set fare. 

The port experience was far better than a month ago when I boarded Voyager- then the line stretched round the block. They still were not checking arrival appointment times, and everyone was in one line ( apart from suites, pinnacles and the Key). 
 

The ship is beyond wow! It’s incredible. Viewing the art 🖼 work could keep me busy for the week! 

 

Rumour is there is 3800 on this week - I’ll verify that later. 

The blue ones turn your tongue, and lips blue…. Avoid unless you want to look like a Smurf . 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by little britain

[Norwich Cruiser]

9 minutes ago, little britain said:

We flew in this morning, plane landed 10;50 and we were checked in at the port by 11;50.  
 

At the airport there was a short line for passport inspection, we now get a stamp in our passports too ( benefit of Brexit…!!), scanned my Covid confirmation on the Spain app, suitcases waiting for us on the conveyor belt; into a cab and straight up the port. It’s €39 set fare. 

The port experience was far better than a month ago when I boarded Voyager- then the line stretched round the block. They still were not checking arrival appointment times, and everyone was in one line ( apart from suites, pinnacles and the Key). 
 

The ship is beyond wow! It’s incredible. Viewing the art 🖼 work could keep me busy for the week! 

 

Rumour is there is 3800 on this week - I’ll verify that later. 

The blue ones turn your tongue, and lips blue…. Avoid unless you want to look like a Smurf . 

 

 

That’s brilliant timings.

 

Will be following we’re onboard soon.

 

If you grab a minute can you please try and find out when Effectors2 starts.

 

Thank you.

 

Have a great cruise.

[TRUEBLUE66]

The two ships you photographed were the MSC Meraviglia and I think the Disney Magic. The MSC one lost power yesterday whilst trying to dock (has just returned from drydock in Valetta) and held up others including the Vision, whilst tugs had to tow it. Lots of very stressed cruisers running with luggage for taxis to the airport when we finally docked over an hour late!😱

[seeyakids]

We will be on 10/30 WOS TA. Bar question.....my wife enjoys a good gimlet if they use Rose's Lime mix rather than their home made sour mix (sorry, RCI that is not a gimlet). Does anyone currently on board know if they have and use Rose's? We just got off IOS and there was none to be had.

thx 

[trotzoll]

Have a great time, all! We can't wait to board in just a little over two weeks, and looking forward to living vicariously though you now! Thank you for posting the show schedule. I was able to download the PDF and already printed it.

[mchin]

Have a great time and thanks for sharing your experiences with us.  We are sailing on Wonder in a Grand Suite next month, June 19 from Barcelona.  Glad to hear the arrival process at the airport is smooth.  Will be staying in Barcelona for three days pre-cruise so looking forward to exploring the city before the ship! 

[CubedTofu]

Amazing!! Thank you for all the information.

 

I LOVE THE PHOTOS - your room looks so spacious. Very excited for you! Have a safe trip and the best time!

[kelbob]

13 hours ago, Cruisingcouple22 said:

Coming through Barcelona airport yesterday was one of the smoothest processes ever! I think we may have been the only plane there as there was no queue for passport control, the checks on our vaccine passport took seconds and luggage came quickly too. From the plane touching down to getting in a taxi was about 30 minutes! 
 

we saw a couple of what we think are cruise ships as we came into land, couldn’t quite make out what they were though. Any guesses?

 

 

 

Our hotel was about a 15 minute drive away and we caught a taxi. We had a momentary panic as we pulled up to the hotel that we didn’t have any euros, but fortunately they accept cards, just not American Express.

 

We are staying in the Grums hotel and spa and are really happy with it! We have an attic room, which comes with a nice terrace and breakfast included. Also on arrival we were given 2 free welcome drinks in the bar which was a lovely touch. Reception staff were fantastic and it only took minutes to finish checking in. The room is huge and whilst minimalist I really like it. There’s a kettle and all kinds of bathroom amenities, including a comb if you forget yours! There are also robes and slippers to relax in. 

 

 

 

 

By the time we had checked in and got to the room it was about 9pm so we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. They had an extensive menu with some traditional Spanish dishes and some more international food. We were both feeling tired and not adventurous so went for the burger, one with bacon and cheese and the other with goats cheese. The food was very good, the lettuce fresh and the burger cooked perfectly. The service was very relaxed, took about half and hour for the food to arrive despite there being only two other small groups in the restaurant, so just be prepared if you are in a rush. The staff were very friendly but there were a couple of minor issues, such as a lot of the drinks menu wasn’t available, the wrong drinks got bought out the first time and the table next to us got the wrong meal brought out. Overall it was a nice start to the holiday

 

This morning we are having a lazy start, breakfast on the terrace and then a quick trip to the thermal spa which is included with the room. I’m actually writing this update from our loungers just as the sun is peeling over onto our terrace. 

 

 

We had a couple of issues with room service delivery, the menu in the room was incorrect so we got the wrong one delivered and they tried to charge us despite it being included in the room. The lady who delivered it was very apologetic though and explained the restaurant is run separately to the hotel and they haven’t updated their menu but she will let them know about the issue. Could not fault the hotel’s service. When the food arrived it was very tasty and there was a lot of it, It should have been €15 which I think  is a good price for the amount of food you get. And the patties were delicious! 

 

 

Right, we are off for our spa time now. Next update will include what you are all here for, I promise. Wonder of the seas!! 

Hi, what time did you land? I’ll be flying into Barcelona next Saturday at 8:30pm. I’ve seen pics online of people queuing for three hours. 

Do we need to submit any covid documentation online before travelling to Barcelona Airport? I’ve looked at their government website and I’m a little bit confused. From what I understand we just need our proof of vaccine which we show at the airport or am I wrong? 
Thank you 😊 

[little britain]

6 hours ago, kelbob said:

Hi, what time did you land? I’ll be flying into Barcelona next Saturday at 8:30pm. I’ve seen pics online of people queuing for three hours. 

Do we need to submit any covid documentation online before travelling to Barcelona Airport? I’ve looked at their government website and I’m a little bit confused. From what I understand we just need our proof of vaccine which we show at the airport or am I wrong? 
Thank you 😊 

We landed 10:45. 
Those who landed later said there was a queue. I guess it depends on how many planes come in…. It’s a busy airport. 
 

I completed https://www.spth.gob.es/ and got the QR code which is the only thing I showed. Was not asked for proof of vaccine as well.  I also flew into BCN last month - asked for QR code only then too. 

Edited May 23, 2022 by little britain

[Cruisingcouple22]

On 5/18/2022 at 4:49 PM, lovesickmelodyx said:

Wonderful! Hope you have a great trip. I look forward to reading your updates. Could you keep your cruise compasses and upload them after your trip? I would love to see them, we’re sailing in July.

Here is day one for you 

[Cruisingcouple22]

On 5/21/2022 at 5:17 PM, sowhat said:

On Wonder now,     

 no announcements from captain for the last  week or more.
Staff  captain  making  all announcements
Asked why,  informed Captain is resting
Alot of  other crew members  are resting as well ??
 

We’ve had a couple of announcements from the captain so far so seems he is feeling better 👍 

[Cruisingcouple22]

12 hours ago, seeyakids said:

We will be on 10/30 WOS TA. Bar question.....my wife enjoys a good gimlet if they use Rose's Lime mix rather than their home made sour mix (sorry, RCI that is not a gimlet). Does anyone currently on board know if they have and use Rose's? We just got off IOS and there was none to be had.

thx 

I’ll see if we can find out 👍 

[Cruisingcouple22]

14 hours ago, little britain said:

We flew in this morning, plane landed 10;50 and we were checked in at the port by 11;50.  
 

At the airport there was a short line for passport inspection, we now get a stamp in our passports too ( benefit of Brexit…!!), scanned my Covid confirmation on the Spain app, suitcases waiting for us on the conveyor belt; into a cab and straight up the port. It’s €39 set fare. 

The port experience was far better than a month ago when I boarded Voyager- then the line stretched round the block. They still were not checking arrival appointment times, and everyone was in one line ( apart from suites, pinnacles and the Key). 
 

The ship is beyond wow! It’s incredible. Viewing the art 🖼 work could keep me busy for the week! 

 

Rumour is there is 3800 on this week - I’ll verify that later. 

The blue ones turn your tongue, and lips blue…. Avoid unless you want to look like a Smurf . 

 

 

Ahh, we missed heading to windjammer yesterday, those cakes look amazing! 

[Cruisingcouple22]

7 hours ago, kelbob said:

Hi, what time did you land? I’ll be flying into Barcelona next Saturday at 8:30pm. I’ve seen pics online of people queuing for three hours. 

Do we need to submit any covid documentation online before travelling to Barcelona Airport? I’ve looked at their government website and I’m a little bit confused. From what I understand we just need our proof of vaccine which we show at the airport or am I wrong? 
Thank you 😊 

So we landed at about 7:40pm on Saturday. Didn’t have to upload anything for the flight, just showed vaccine certificate at check in then again just after landing in Barcelona. Really was a smooth process for us

[Cruisingcouple22]

Wow, what a ship! I’m sure there are a number of “Wonder” based puns I could make right now but I can’t think of any good ones! Feel free to share yours though. 

We got to the port about 1210 and there was a substantial queue for check in, but fortunately the suites line was super quick and we were on the ship in 10 minutes.

 

We headed straight to shore excursions to see if they had any spots open for the Caves of Drach and they did. The man helpfully pointed out that you could book it via the app (which I had completely missed when checking earlier) and it took seconds to do from there. Really quick and easy process. We then went to check that all our dining reservations were in place and headed to the boardwalk and Playmakers to enjoy the sun and have a well deserved first drink of the holiday.
I don’t think i have mentioned before, but this is our first cruise as diamond members and we are going to make the most of the 4(!) free drinks we get each day. I’m going to try and keep a running total going to remind myself that it is worthwhile being loyal to Royal 🙂 

After our first drink we took a bit of a tour around the ship, walking through the solarium and enjoying the grass statues, having a look around the pool deck and stopping in El Loco fresh for some delicious tortillas and nachos.

backgammon in Central Park!

cantilevered hot tub. Just the one now with the Vue bar replacing the one on the other side

Giraffe!

We headed to the rising tide bar for free frink number two (saving of $42 so far for those counting.) We had a brief stop off at the loyalty desk and then headed to the spa raffle. We didn’t win, but the team at the spa were really funny, especially the manager, Boris. We are planning on using the thermal suite on the sea day so we’ll let you know how that goes. 

 

[Cruisingcouple22]

suite sun deck was very quiet

With dinner not until half 7 we planned to make use of the warm weather, and what are normally quieter pool times, to go and relax in the suite hot tub. It was a bit disappointing initially. It looks a lot older than the few months that it actually is, with the paint on the seats coming off on your hands, and rust in various areas.

 

It also took us a while to find it, but there is a hidden button which turns on the bubbles which greatly improved the situation. The style of the pool is very nice though, the curved seat looking out over the side of the ship will be a great place to catch sunsets and sailaways.

 

After some very ncie relaxing on the mostly empty suite deck we headed back to the room to catch sailaway and get ready for dinner. 

spot to watch people enjoying their water slide

 

The wraparound balcony is truly incredible on these Aquatheatre suites, and i feel so lucky than we have been able to stay in one. The suite itself is bigger than our first one bedroom flat we lived in for two years! We met our stateroom attendant, Christopher, and he was very friendly and helpful.

 

Our balcony was a great place to watch sailaway, as we had to reverse a long way before turning around to head out to sea. It always amazes me the skill the captain and  crew have at piloting such an enormous vessel. I’ve taken a timelapse video which i will try to upload, not sure if it will work though.

[Cruisingcouple22]

 

 

 

 

Wraparound balcony photos! 

[Cruisingcouple22]

Then it was off to dinner at Izumi. This is one of our favourite places to eat on a Royal ship and the food did not disappoint!

With the dining package you each get to have one small plate, two large and a dessert. And that is way more food than anyone would be able to eat! We ended up passing on the deserts because we could not fit a single bit more in. We ate: 

Crispy rice spicy tuna

Crispy philly and Champagne lobster roll

Baked snow crab and salmon dynamite roll

Izumi Ryu futomaki roll

It was all delicious but very filling. I had a she’s a Geisha cocktail which was a lovely fruity complement to the salty and spicy sushi. After dinner we checked out one of the new bars (and restaurants) on wonder, Mason Jar.

 

 

The bar was empty when we got there at about 2045 and we snagged two rocking chairs by the window to enjoy the sunset.

There were some clouds that had something to say about the whole of the sunset, but it was still a blissfully relaxing place to sit. I had the PB&J old fashioned and it was very tasty, a change of pace from the sweeter i had earlier.

[Cruisingcouple22]

Too soon it was time for our ice show reservation, so we swung by Cafe Promenade to grab some coffee to keep us warm near the ice rink. We managed to get some good seats arriving 15 minutes for the show, but when the standby lines were let in there was not a seat free so make sure to arrive a  little early. And this show was brilliant, you do not want to miss it! The skaters are so talented, doing flips and handstands on the ice and some amazingly coordinated spins. There was an arialist in there too and the projections on the ice added an extra dimension to the show. Definitely try to see this when you are onboard. I’m glad we saw it on the first night as we may try to catch it again later on in the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that is all for the first day of the cruise. It was time for bed as we had a 0800 meeting time for our excursion. Hope you are all having a good time and i’ll see you tomorrow!

 

[Cruisingcouple22]

 

 

Sail away from Barcelona

[Norwich Cruiser]

Following along.

 

Excellent photos and review.