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It's so hard to keep up while on board the ship!! Day 2: Palma de Mallorca One of the tricky things about Mediterranean cruises is that the excursions tend to leave somewhat early in the morning, which can make managing breakfast a bit challenging. We ordered Coastal Kitchen to our room, and ate while we prepared to leave the ship in Palma. We headed to the staging area in the Royal Theater and sat for really only about 15 minutes before our group was called to head to the bus. The Drach Caves were, by far, the most popular excursion at this stop. There were 4 buses filled with people heading that direction. The drive to the caves is exceptionally beautiful. Mallorca is a gorgeous island, and there is such an interesting combination of old and modern architecture and idyllic landscapes that it's hard to be too annoyed by the 75 minute bus ride each direction. In addition, our guide was great as well. He provided a great history lesson about the island and the city of Palma itself. He was high energy, and really just did an incredible job of setting expectations for everyone so we all knew exactly what to do throughout. If you haven't been to the Drach Caves before, you should know ahead of time that it is a timed, curated experience. They have groups leaving into the caves every hour or so, and the staff works to keep people moving along, so you don't really get a huge amount of time to just stand around. It's less cramped than the catacombs were, but still underground and still very damp. They are masterfully lit, as well, so you really get a great sense of the impressiveness of the stalactites and stalagmites that have formed inside this cave network over the last 25 million years ago or so. My particular favorite formations are these stalactites that almost look like sheets pouring down from the ceilings rather than the standard conical shape. It's really interesting, and I haven't seen that formation anywhere else before. After about 30 minutes or so, the group (which numbers a couple hundred), will arrive at a large amphitheater overlooking an underground lake. Once everyone is seated, they dim all the lights, and a small boat appears, lit all by itself, with a 4-piece string quartet who played the most beautiful classical pieces. The effect of the music echoing inside the caves and the only light coming from the boat (and two smaller support boats behind it) is really quite haunting. It creates a magnificent experience that I enjoyed a great deal. Once the performance is complete, you have the option to ride a boat to the end of the lake, or just walk across the bridge. I'm sure the boat ride was delightful, but that's the option everyone chose, and the line was pretty long. We decided to just hoof it (the walk to the end of the lake is maybe 100 yards), and I'm glad we did, because we arrived to the end about the same time as the second boat. It would have been 20 minutes waiting, I think, if we'd chosen the boat ride instead. Once we got upstairs we were feeling a bit peckish and spent a couple of Euros on some ice creams. The second part of this excursion isn't really all that exciting. 100 yards or so from the caves is a pearl factory (artificial pearls) and showroom. Obviously, this is their real 'moneymaker', but as I've mentioned before, we're not big shoppers, and the prices in these sorts of showrooms are pretty obscene for what you get. I think this part of the trip is really just to help people feel like they're getting value out of the time spent (who wants to ride for 2.5 hours for a 1 hour excursion?), so it's harmless, but we just didn't care for it that much. The ride back to the ship was pretty uneventful. I think I napped the whole way back. We returned to the ship to find snacks in our room (in true Star Class fashion), and I'll be honest, we pretty much lounged until dinner. The suite is so nice, that it's easy to just sit and relax and sip on a beer on the balcony. And, we needed to rest up, because, you know: Chef's Table. Chef's Table This was our second chef's table experience, having previously dined here on the Allure in August. There are a few key things that I liked that were different. First, round tables instead of the long table on the Allure. It felt more intimate, and made it much easier to chat with our tablemates, who all turned out to be wonderfully delightful people. A not-so-small part of what makes Chef's Table work is meeting new people, and we were not disappointed here! You can find the Chef's table menu online, so I won't go into all of the details here, but the experience is amazing. My favorite dish is, of course, the filet, but I will give an honorable mention to the scallop carpaccio as well. I'm not a scallop person, really, but this dish is quite delicate, perfectly sauced and just overall, really, really good. The chef (the youngest Chef's Table chef in the fleet at 25 years old) did an incredible job, and the sommelier was outstanding. We drank up all the wine and the dessert espresso martini, and we were feeling pretty good once we left to head to the theater for Tap Factory. Two notes: First, the lobster salad had a different preparation here than on Allure. I don't know why that is, but I preferred the version on the Allure. Second, there is some variation in the wine list from ship to ship and sailing to sailing based on availability. We didn't realize that, but one of our favorite wines from last time wasn't included this time around. Certainly, it wasn't the end of the world, and we enjoyed the wines paired with our meal quite a lot. Speaking of The World, I am now 3 for 3 on not finishing this incredibly delicious, decadent dessert. Whether you have it from Chef's Table or from Wonderland, you owe it to yourself to give a try at least once. Tap Factory One of my favorite parts of joining a new ship is the opportunity to see new shows and performances. While Wonder doesn't have a Broadway show like the other Oasis class ships, there are quite a few new shows to see. After Chef's table we made the long trek straight down the elevator to the Royal Theater. Marla saved us seats near the front, and we sat down for the show. I ordered a drink recommend to me by one of our new friends from Chef's Table, a BBC. A BBC is Bailey's, Banana and Coconut, and somehow not a drink I've encountered before. It's quite tasty, and a perfect drink to enjoy a show. The set of the show starts with several barrel drums on a scaffold, surrounding a drum set, so you know right from the beginning this won't be an ordinary tap dancing performance. And it wasn't! This show is so much fun. There is tap, of course, but also drums, acrobatics, and even a contortionist (wild!). We clapped and laughed along the whole time. These are the types of unique shows I really love on a cruise. It wouldn't have been out of place in Vegas, the performers are so talented. ----------- That wraps up day 2! Day 3 includes a much longer tour in Aix de Provence (docked in Marseilles), Hooked seafood restaurant and the adult comedy show. Thanks everyone for coming along for the ride. This is a bit more work than I expected, but I'm definitely enjoying getting it all out there.

Validating your Vax card can take a few days to a few weeks. I wouldn't worry at all about it as uploading it now, saves time at the port. And yes, you need to bring your ORIGINAL Vax cards with you for the cruise, regardless of if it's validated prior to the cruise or not. The check in agent may want to verify what you brought matches what you uploaded.

Top reason: being on the ocean for a week or more. Second reason: I am very organized, and a planner. I also do all the cooking at home. On a cruise, once I have preplanned, I have to make no decisions, wash no dishes, cook no meals, etc. They do it all for me. A land vacation typically is in a vacation rental, and there are beds to make, dishes to wash (from the meals eaten in), and beds to strip at the end. As much as I enjoy staying in vacation rentals, a cruise is the one vacation where I have absolutely no responsibilities to take care of once I get there. Third reason: everything, including entertainment, is in one ‘place’. We don’t even have to call an UBER to get back ‘home’ if we have a few drinks.

Day Four: Icy Strait Point I practically overslept again today. By the time I woke up, we were already in port. We had a quick breakfast then got all our layers and rain gear on since there was lots of wind and rain. We got off the ship and headed off to find another magnet after posting the blog. We didn’t find one immediately but what we did find was a free ride through a forest on a gondola. There was a giant gift shop there and another gondola you had to pay for to go up to the mountains. We opted for shopping instead of going up. There was a perfect magnet that matched the one we found in Juneau. We also got a deck of foil cards. It was still rainy and cold so instead of walking to Hoonah we started to head back to the ship. On the way we saw a whale come up for air. It was so magnificent and majestic. Even if you’re not paying for a whale watching tour, I definitely recommend being on the lookout for whales. We got lunch then walked around the ship a bit. We were going to go to a trivia but unlike most activities they started on time and we were late so we missed out. I went to the library and did the daily puzzle they had there then went looking for a book. Instead of finding a good book, I found a duck! There were these ladies in the library playing Kings in the Corner so I asked them to teach me how to play. They gladly did and we played a few games. One of the ladies told me that she and her daughter had been looking for a duck all cruise and couldn’t find any, so I gave her the one I found. I won two of the games we played then had to go back to the stateroom to read and write for a bit. Now it’s time for the duck of the day! I hid the blue duck named Dewey. My brother hid the yellow, Huey, and my dad hid the green, Luey. Duck Tales! Oh wait, this isn’t Disney. Oh well. We got all fancied up and went for pictures. Then we went to a magic comedy show with Bill Cook performing. He was amazing at magic and I couldn’t stop laughing. If you’re going on a cruise with him performing, go to the show. If not he was on Penn & Teller so you could look that up. It was the best show I’ve seen all cruise. We went to dinner a little rushed since the show ran over a bit but still got there on time. I had a fruit cup, lasagna, and vanilla ice cream. I know, a boring meal, but it was really good. After, I went to get my first souvenir. I love cruising and one piece of it I love is the towel animals they put in your room. We had stopped by the photo desk and found the perfect thing for me. It was a stuffed elephant that looked like a towel animal! Now I can feel like I’m on a cruise whenever I want. My brother and I went to Optix where it was very chaotic. There were super competitive people playing video games and foosball. We just sat in a quieter corner until most of them left. Then we chose to do a scavenger hunt since there was no activity planned. We won and got metal straws and a pop socket for a prize. Then we played Mario Kart and I got second in the first round. We couldn’t finish the game though since we had to be back to the room by 11 pm and went to sleep. Stay tuned for my Alaska Adventure!

For me it is one that never let's my water glass go empty. I am on Wonder of the Seas and Joseph has been on point all week. He doesn't even let me get to half full.

Best quality is not asking me how my food is mid bite/chew.

I like it when an assistant waiter makes the waiter unnecessary.

I prefer cabins near elevators . As others have stated rarely any noise and I prefer a bit less walking

We often stay in staterooms near elevator banks, but rarely hear any noise.

I should note that we could easily have done all 5 towns, even with the hike. The hike took us 1 hour 30 minutes.

Manarola

More hike. We are approaching Vernazza. You would not get this view without doing the hike.

The trail. My wife actually wanted to do more than one of these hikes today. She changed her mind pretty quickly into this one. You can see where we started in Montessero.

I also agree with @HeWhoWaits. I just looked at my credit card statement. I had to laugh at how many refunds I had received from RCCL because of the things I had purchased and then canceled when I found a better deal. My husband almost had a heartache when he saw how long the list was. He thought those were all the items I had purchased, not realizing that some of the items were repeats. My advise: keep an eye for those discounts but go ahead and purchase them when you see them. You can always cancel and repurchase when the price goes down. WARNING: Don't go just by the % off. Sometimes RCCL will increase the price but then offer the item at a bigger discount - which may be the same or more than the old price/discount.

For me I love the safety that it offers. I grew up in the cornfield. Everyone knew everyone's business. Greatest country in the world (NOTE: This is not a political statement, it is a gratitude statement.) We don't worry about the food, the water, etc. When you travel you have to be mindful of how different other places are. I can not tell you how many times I was told not to drink the water in Mexico as a child - who never went to Mexico. A cruise offers lots of cool "make it easy" features. 1) You can always eat/drink on the boat! 2) visit like three countries on one trip. The travel between ports is very enjoyable! 3) unpack once, still visit three countries. For me is was a great way to introduce international travel to a lightweight. Now, I have been to Europe three times, two with a tour, once independent! Day bus trips to Canada, Three cruses later I have plenty of confidence in traveling. Cruising opened that door for me. At this point in my life all my vacations are Geocaching vacations. I'm trying to make finds in all the countries!

Seems like a good time to insert one of my favorite photos...

The following is from my teenage daughter who is doing this as both a summer project and a bit just for fun Pre-Cruise PostTomorrow my family and I will be leaving Florida to go on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas Alaska cruise! I’ve never been on a Royal Caribbean cruise or an Alaska cruise before, but I have been on quite a few Disney cruises in the Bahamas, Caribbean, and even the Panama Canal. This cruise was originally planned for 2020 but with COVID, it got pushed back a year, then another year. I’m just glad that it wasn’t canceled again, yet (I’m hoping I didn’t just jinx it), and I’m very excited to be cruising again!A little bit about myself: my name is Caitlyn and I’m 13 years old. Now you’re probably wondering why a teenager is taking the time to write a blog while cruising. There’s two reasons really. One, I love writing more than almost anything else. I even go to an arts school to major in creative writing. Two, I had started researching what there was to do on the ship. Thing is, all the information I could find was from an adult’s perspective. I could find advice on what club to go to once the kids were asleep, but couldn't find almost any information about activities for teenagers or specifics about the teen club Optix, other than it exists. So I said to myself: "Self, why don’t you help all the other teenagers going on this kind of cruise and write the info yourself?" And so that’s what I’m doing.I’ll be going on this cruise with my mom, dad, and my 15 year old brother, Jonathan. In my posts, most of the pictures will come from Jonathan. Sadly we can’t take our dog Coco, so we had to find people to take care of him. Luckily, we have good friends who offered to let him stay at their house so he isn’t lonely. I will miss him from the moment we leave till when we get back again.The toughest part about this cruise was probably the planning. Seven days to fill with excursions and the endless possibilities of what we could do. Needless to say it took a lot of planning, but I’m happy with the way it turned out. We’ll be doing a fun excursion at almost every port. There’s also a little bit of an adventure after the cruise before we go home too, but more on that later.Nope, I was wrong before, the toughest part was packing! Since I live in Florida, we have to fly to Vancouver to board the ship. We can only have four carry-ons (one per person) and we’re only checking two bags so we don’t have any space to spare. One way to save space was using these wonderful packing cubes that make everything seem to take less space… although, it can’t do anything to make these clunky hiking boots any smallerWe are nearly done packing already and somehow all of our clothes and shoes and cameras and everything fit into our suitcases. Now it’s just a matter of waking up tomorrow before the sun is up and fitting everything in the car… Wish us luck!Only one more day till we fly out and I think I might explode with excitement! I’m going to try my best to post every day, but we didn’t get the internet package, so I can only post at ports. If I miss a day, I’ll catch up later. I just can’t wait for seven days on the seas to the last frontier to see the beautiful scenery and run away from the Florida heat.Stay tuned in for my Alaska Adventure!

Just got back from our Brilliance of the Seas cruise from Ravenna, Italy. Great ship and crew. Here's a quick summary: Ravenna-Dubrovnik-sea day-Mykonos-Santorini (tender)-sea day-Split-Ravenna. Myself, wife, Daughter (22), Son (20). >We took our covid tests at 9:00 PM est about an hour before our flight to Venice but forgot to change our phones to UCT time. Thought I had wasted the tests but the emed report showed using UCT time anyway. Crisis averted. >Spent a day and half in Venice. Beautiful city even though it rained a lot. Doge's Palace is a must-see and walking the streets of Venice is a real pleasure. Great food and gelato. >Booked private transfer to Ravenna from Piazzale Roma using the water bus to meet our driver. No issues. >Arrived at Porto Corsini at 11:20 AM and were strongly encouraged to check in and board the ship even though our check in time was 12:30 pm. Eating lunch in the outside portion of the WJ at 11:35 am. >Bags were waiting outside our rooms by 1:30 pm. >Booked 2 Junior Suite cabins on deck 10 and they were spacious and very nice rooms. Covered Balcony was a plus. Rooms were 90 second walk up one flight of steps to WJ/Pool. >Cruise felt empty except on sea days-every pool chair was "hogged" and gym was packed solid. Lengthy wait to get in for My Time Dining the 3 nights we went. >The majority of cruisers appeared to be from the U.K. and we celebrated the Queen's Jubilee on our last sea day. >Able to attend my first Top Tier event, nice music, champagne, and a few words from the officers. Loyalty Ambassador said there were 550 C & A members onboard, majority were Gold. Top Cruiser had 1800+ points. We also received our first Glass Block the day after the Top Tier event (the ship on the block was Symphony!) >Captain sped up and we were able to port in Mykonos instead of using tenders. >We booked a Royal Excursion to Santorini and it worked out well. Other port days we booked our own excursions. >Entertainment was decent but limited compared to the Oasis class ships we had been on. Magician, Tenors, Dance Show, etc. The CD and AD did an outstanding job of keeping everyone entertained and the Centrum was hopping most nights. First cruise I've been on where they had difficulty finding enough couples for Love and Marriage. >Royal provided options for transportation back to Venice airport/city, and Ravenna train station. Let me know if you have any questions about Brilliance, the itinerary, or the transportation logistics of getting from Venice to Ravenna.

I visited Cinque Terre today from our stop at La Spezia. We took at taxi to the train station and then took the special train that runs both ways, and stops at each town. We elected to start at the farthest town (Monressero) and work our way back. It took less that 1 hr to get there. First of all, this place is beautiful. You really have to see it to believe it. We took a little time to explore the town and then started the hike from Montessero to Vernazza. This is a 2 mile hike but you need to be in pretty good shape to make it. It has over 500 steps up and the trail is rocky and narrow at times. I have no regrets about making the hike, but I am definitely feeling the effects. The views from the hike are spectacular. Vernazza was very crowded so we grabbed a quick panini lunch, and explored before taking the train to Manarola. In Manrola we again explored and had a Gelato break. We then elected to get back to the ship as this is our last day and we need to pack to get off in Rome tomorrow. I highly recommend this as an alternative to the 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive to Florence. It was fun and inexpensive. We had no issues with the train. I had read that it could be difficult to get on at times because of the crowds. Maybe it was because we started at the farthest town, but we never had a problem. I will post pictures in a follow up post.

No, it's the folks of South Florida who should say it's unfair for cruise ships to inundate our transportation network. It is undue burden for the residents here to have to deal with the traffic, congestion, and limiting of resources so that these cruise lines can make money on their ships that cost $1 B a piece. And; Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Virgin each one of you have just spent about $250 M a piece to build terminals in Miami for yourselves-- so there is plenty of money available. Port authorities, we want you to build ( entirely funded by the cruise lines) a zipline, ski lift gondola, Elon Musk magnetic underground train, a tram, a train, or dredge a canal so that the cruise lines can transport their passengers directly to and from FLL or MIA and not interfere with our community any longer. And Port Canaveral......you especially are in our crosshairs.

I made fun of them mercilessly in the 80’s when I was a kid. Now I know they are practical and as usual in life I have eaten my young words.

I’m currently on pacific explorer and we are doing the first Anchorage and tender in Australia since the lock downs. And what everyone says about P&O Australia is true ,what a wreck. Come on Ovation,give me Royal Caribbean any day.

Actually for that cabin there is a buffer space between the elevator and the cabin wall where you can go out and sit and enjoy the outside space of Central Park. Hardly anybody knows about it and you could use it almost anytime. It is at the end of the elevators and there is one on both sides. There is a little table and 2 chairs out there.

We sailed 5/29, on the Harmony and did not have any problems with staffing or delays. The MDR was great and our waiter, Rosario, was fantastic! Bar service was fast and all the staff that we encountered were very friendly! We had a great cruise!

heh... I have my Shore Excursions, dining and drink package booked for Dec 2022 and Dec 2023 already. I want to have my entertainment booked and done with ASAP. I want to have nothing left to do but get on the ship on sail day.

I have stayed in cabins near elevators and rarely hear any noise. Do not recommend the forward cabins. I prefer mid or aft cabins, and like the ones near elevators. Enjoy

As someone who likes water at dinner I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately on a recent oasis sailing it was like I was in a desert, my glass would be empty and when filled once it would remain empty until I could find the AW to request water. (Repeat, nightly) Thankfully this is not typical, but those who are first time cruisers would have a super negative impression.

We were going to use a private company, SAS Transportation, for $15/ea. How does that compare to the cost to book on the ship?

When we uploaded them 45 days out from last week's cruise on Harmony, it took about 15 days to be validated. My young nieces were waiting for their 2nd shots and had theirs uploaded closer to the sail date. They were validated in less than 24 hours. Short answer... don't worry about it. You have to show them at the cruise terminal anyway.

Vernazza

@TotalFascnation Yes, this ^^ is crucial! Never, ever pay any attention to the % off. It essentially means nothing. Look only at the bottom line.

Montessero. The hiking trail starts from the beach.

Don't freak out Bermudians are very friendly and helpful. As soon as you get of the ship there should be signs for the Horseshoe Bay shuttles (or you can ask anyone right there). The shuttle takes you right to the beach entrance and costs $7.00 per person each way and I think is cash only (US dollars are used in Bermuda). Once you get to Horseshoe Bay they have chair & umbrella rentals (not sure of the price and it might be cash only too) if you want or just bring your pool towels from the ship. There are also concession stands for food and drink (i would bring cash not sure if they credit cards) and also bathrooms to change out of your wet things. Just a friendly reminder that before you head back to the shuttle make sure that your bathing suits and/or clothing are dry and that your items are not covered in sand.

You make such a good point I hadn't considered. I have generally always breezed by with a polite "no thank you" but after reading your post, wish I had stopped each and every time! And if they ever allow me to cruise again, I'm stopping and getting that picture!

I used Viator for several tours in Rome. They are a clearinghouse for several local your companies. You get a good idea of what tours are available and at what prices. One thing to note is the size of the tour, you will get more our of a private or small group tour, but it will cost more. For me, the extra expense was worth it.

We also purchased the passport holders with the Covid card window. When we get to the port we put our setsail passes and Covid test in the center...Makes check-in sooo much smoother and faster.

On our last cruise a Large family in line (right in front of us) waited till it was their turn to start searching for paperwork. Needless to say it took them forever to get it all together. There are only 4 things you will need to check in. 1. Passport or certified birth certificate with picture ID. 2. SetSail pass (it is better and faster to have a printed copy instead of off your phone) 3. Original Vaxx card. 4 Proof of negative covid test. (again it is better and faster to have a printed copy. Use the one on your phone as the back up) Paperclip or attach these together in some way for each individual

If you want to waste/spend a few bucks, Amazon sells passport holders that have a slot for your passport on one side and a window for vax card on the other. Wife wanted a 2 pack and they were cheap but of course a paperclip works just fine. We then stuck our other documents like printed covid test and set sail pass in the middle since we find print outs are faster than going through your phone. Made for a nice little document folder.

YMMV. Sometimes you get the price you placed in the cart, other times you do not. This is why it's best to purchase at a price you deem acceptable. If it gets better, you can cancel and rebook. If it goes up, you're protected. If you change your mind, just cancel and take the refund.

They pile that ship High and deep!

Lavender Vodka Martini: 2 generous oz. Vodka (I personally like Tito’s) 1 oz. Monin lavender syrup (buy it on Amazon) 1 oz. Sour mix (some brands call it whiskey sour mix). If you have “sweet and sour” mix just do 1/2 oz. Shake over ice and try not to drink too many of these! Some people garnish with a lime wedge or a mint leaf, but I don’t think either detract from or enhance the flavor. Feel free to tweak the proportions to your liking! This version is sweet but not super sweet.

agree with JC Pats. you MUST bring the original vax card with you. They have them uploaded to validate and save time at the pier, however sometimes the pier system goes down and they will most definitely need the original then . The past number of cruises I have done this year they have asked to see the original card (even though the system was working). I have mine paperclipped into the back of my passport so I can easily find/access it. I also do this with the rest of my family members and their vax cards.

Cringeworthy: I tried a speedo once and got advice as to not embarrass myself or wife. Friends told me to strategically place a Potato in my speedo before I go out on deck. I was getting looks from everyone and thought I was magnificent until my wife told me I should have put the Potato in the front.

Marseille

Boarding Day! Finally, the day to board the Wonder of the Seas arrived. But, we did have one last stop in Barcelona first, due to our train issues. We had intended to visit Casa Batllo in the evening, with the light show and rooftop bar included, but alas, that was not to be. Instead, we opted for the early-bird special to be one of the first few people inside for the day. The house itself was only a couple of blocks away from our hotel, so it was a quick walk, and we arrived shortly before the doors open. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but you really can see Gaudi's inspiration from nature in all of his work. It's very clue that he considered God to be the ultimate designer and took his cues from what he perceived as the pinnacle of those designs. Nature is embedded in every element of this house, from the visions of bone and water on the facade, all the way to the way he designed the airflow inside the house itself. The tour of the house is a great experience, and surprisingly high-tech. The tablets they provide you not only contain a fully narrated (and scored) audio-guide, but they also have AR (augmented reality) views of each of the rooms, decorated in the way they might have been when the original owners lived there, as well as a bit of magic as the rooms come to life on the screen. Although the guide is excellent, my one criticism is that several of the audio sections are really long - upwards of 5 minutes in some cases. I don't really mind a bit of audio narration, but the length of these bits didn't really seem to match the size of the house, so there were several times when we would be finished taking in the details of a room, but be stuck waiting for the narration to finish before we moved on. There is an immersive digital experience right at the very end that I thought was a lot of fun. It's only 3 minutes, but you stand in a room that is completely covered with screens (literally all the walls, ceiling and floor) while they play a video of extrapolations from Gaudi's work that was created with machine learning and AI. It's sensational, and just gives the technology aspect of the whole tour a little notch upwards. After the house, we returned to the hotel, finished packing and grabbed a cab to the cruise terminal!! The Terminal Every cruise terminal is different. And Barcelona is no exception. Marla had provided instructions for us to go to Terminal C, which would have been a good idea even if we hadn't been Star Class, as there were just fewer people there overall (and I heard from a few folks that was the case throughout the day). We arrived at about 10:20 - 40 minutes or so ahead of our scheduled boarding time and headed over to the Star Class banner. Different from our last experience in Orlando, there isn't really a dedicated 'port genie' to help with the process. Most of the first steps are handled by the bag porters themselves. They tagged our bags with the star class tags and walked us right over to the check-in desk, where I experienced the absolute shortest check-in I've ever had. Beginning to end, including verifying passports, vaccine cards, covid tests and taking our pictures it took about 4 minutes. There were several other Star Class families who also arrived a bit early (official boarding was at 11), and while we waited for an escort to the ship, that group started to pile up a bit. Eventually, a staff member arrived and we made the hike up to the ship! We expected to meet Marla when we arrived on board ship, but unfortunately, that was not to be the case. We were instead greeted by Claudio, who let us know that due to all of the star class guests arriving sort of all at once, they needed to take folks to their cabins as they arrived, regardless of who their genie is. We learned later that a part of this is also due to the fact that Israel, one of the other genies on board, had taken ill, and his rooms distributed among the other genies at the last moment. As you might imagine, being a genie is already hard work, and having an extra room or two suddenly added to your list can make things pretty challenging! Claudio walked us to the elevator, up to the 12th deck and then down the long hallway to the AquaTheater suites. He ran through the typical first day information and then we had a chance to check out the suite. One of the reasons I was happy to have this room (instead of the Grand Suite we had originally been transferred to) is that we just had a 2BR ATS experience last summer with 6 people, and this really worked out well just for the two of us. The room is gorgeous (as is everything on the ship!) and we fell in love with it immediately. Again. Marla had, of course, provided us with small snacks and a few drinks (yay mango margarita!), so we set up shop on the deck and drank our first drinks aboard Wonder of the Seas. We didn't take too long to enjoy them, though, as we already had reservations for the newest restaurant in the fleet: The Mason Jar! The Mason Jar is just a delightful restaurant. The ambience is great. Our server was terrific, and the food and drinks were delicious. We had a bit of jalapeno biscuit to start with and then ordered our mains for brunch: chicken and waffles for me and the stuffed french toast for Ashley. They were every bit as delectable as I had hoped. After the main bit of our meal, we also split an order of red velvet pancakes because I just had to try them. And oh my. They were yummy! We will have to go back to the bar at some point, but we did managed to try four (2 each) of their signature cocktails: - Mississippi Moonlight (the only drink not made with bourbon!) - Southern Belle (my favorite so far) - PB&J Old Fashioned - Pretty as a Peach Tea The cocktails are all creative and clever and, of course, quite good. After brunch, we headed back to the room to change into swimsuits and ventured up to the new suite sun deck - which I loved. It's quiet and calm. It has a great bar and plenty of seating. As of this post, we've been up there twice, and it hasn't felt the least bit crowded either time. In any case, we sat in the loungers in the wading pool for about an hour or so (maybe an hour and a half), and let our food digest and our worries and anxiety of missed trains and sore feet melt away in the mediterranean sun. We headed back to the suite to continue relaxing, unpacked and just generally lounged a bit between then and dinner. I had momentary bit of panic when I realized that my only remaining clean button-up shirt was heavily wrinkled, but Marla had Alexis (our room attendant) rush to have it pressed in time for our dinner reservation. Trust me when I say there is very little that a royal genie cannot make happen for you on your cruise! Dinner was, naturally, Coastal Kitchen, in the time honored tradition of 1st night Filet Mignon. Dinner was excellent as always, and I still maintain that the CK filet is the best in the fleet. (Although - spoilers - the preparation we got for Chef's Table put it into the running again after a narrow miss at Chef's Table on Allure last summer). We also, naturally, split all three daily desserts, which in hindsight we probably should have just had delivered to the room for later. Dinner was pretty late in the evening, so we returned to the room to get ready to watch the brand new Aquatheater performance, inTENse. Marla had drinks delivered to us right before, and of course we got to watch the whole performance from our balcony. I won't spoil the show, but I will say that this performance is, and it's not close, the absolutely best aquatheater show I have seen to date. The energy, intensity and just overall bravado of the performance is absolutely top-notch. There is a slack-line trampoline sequence in the middle that will leave your jaw on the floor, and the aerialist is just outstanding. 7/5 stars, would see again, and probably will, on this very cruise. And that brings us the end of our first day about Wonder of the Seas! Stay tuned for tomorrow's update: The Drach Caves in Mallorca, Chef's Table and Tap Factory!

Well, we made it. The captain must have been on island time, because his idea of a few minutes was closer to 45. The 2 hour delay put us in Anchorage around 9:30pm. By the time we got our luggage and caught an Uber to the hotel it was so late none of us really wanted anything big to eat, so it was sandwiches from the hotel lobby. Uber XL was easy to get and was less than $20 and 10 minutes to the hotel. We got to bed about 11pm local time which felt like 2am Texas time. Here are a few pictures of the room and lobby at the Embassy Suites.

Day Three: Juneau I slept in so much today, to around 8 am. Once we got up and ready for the day, we had a quick breakfast. The plan after that was to go swimming, rock climbing, and then play mini golf, but it was too cold and windy to do any of that. So my parents headed off to scrapbooking. I didn’t want to go with them so I went to Optix and played another game of foosball. I lost and no one wanted a rematch so my brother and I went to hide the duck of the day! Today’s duck was Seńior Quacks. My brother hid the duck today in his favorite place, a bush. Good luck finding him. Hint: he’s blue. I got bored just sitting in the room afterwards so I went back to Optix and played a game of twister and won! I played foosball and yet again lost. I’m trying to get better at it but I’m not sure how well that’s working out. There was a paper airplane competition that I attended thinking it’d just be fun and I wouldn’t win anything other than a keychain if I did end up winning. There were three rounds. The first was distance on floor level. I passed that easily. The second was distance over a longer distance and you had to make it to the other balcony. I almost missed it but made it and moved on to third, test of height. My plane wasn’t designed for height so I missed, but I still got third place, and I got not only a keychain, but a medal too. We had a quick lunch at Windjammer, then went on shore to Juneau. We canoed on Mendenhall Lake and got really close to the glacier. I even touched a big chunk of ice with my oar. It was really great, but was also little cold. If you do that excursion I definitely recommend layers and the outer layer being water resistant or quick dry. We shopped for a bit and found our magnet for Juneau. My family travels a lot and everywhere we go we get a magnet from there to put on our giant magnet boards at home. We boarded the boat right before we pulled out of dock. Since we were cutting it so close, we had to rush to dinner with all our stuff. At dinner for the past few days, we’ve had a table for eight and no table mates so half the table is empty. Finally, three people joined us. They seemed pretty nice and were very friendly and talkative. For dinner I had Caesar Salad, Pork Chop, and Mississippi Mudpie. All of them were amazing, but there was a bit too much fat and bones in the pork than I’d like. My brother and I went to Optix again after dinner and played the Logo Quiz. We got 48 out of 50 of them right. We also played foosball but didn’t have the time to finish the game. Below is the schedule for Optix today. They never have times on them but the first one always starts at 9 pm and the last ends at 12 am. Usually they each last half an hour to an hour. Then we went to a comedy show with Alvin Williams performing. He was hilarious and his show was family friendly and slightly interactive. We had a crowd that was quieter and smaller so he kept making jokes on how we were so quiet. Overall I totally recommend going to his show. We went back to the stateroom and as always, I fell right asleep. Stay tuned for my Alaska Adventure!

Yeah, like Rated PG says, don't waste that Euro outlet. Get one of these(3 USB chargers), really work well.