Neaxan

We spent a night at Beachside Hotel & Suites after our TA cruise and did like it. It's relatively inexpensive compared to most other options and offers free parking (important for us as we had a rental car). It's more a motel than a hotel so the rooms aren't fancy but it's only 0.1 mile to a public beach access, 0.2 to Ron Jons and next to a mini golf site. Breakfast is included and they have a nice pool.

My parents cruised through the Canal of Corinth about 20 years ago and say it's the most amazing cruise they ever had. It feels as if you could touch the walls (of course you can't). Their ship even had to drain all the pools to be able to pass through the canal because they'd have had too much draft.

I did the Royal Society of Puzzle on the Wonder TA. It's not a full escape room experience compared to other ships like Symphony, so it lacks the original decor and everything. But they have a game designed for the current state of the room that technically is an escape game. The room is prepared before you arrive, then you get instructions and have 50 minutes to solve it in a group of 6-12 people. You search for keys and clues and solve puzzles and riddles. So it may not look as cool as other Royal escape rooms but it's complimentary so there's that. We still had a lot of fun. Booking is via the daily planner in the app as soon as you're connected to the ship's wifi. If your group is smaller than the required minimum you'll be playing with strangers which adds to the fun.

There is a dedicated room but it hasn't been equipped yet. On the transatlantic you could still have an escape room experience there with keys, boxes, riddles and so on. It is called The Royal Society of Puzzles or the Royal Puzzle Society - something like that - and takes 50 minutes. You could reserve it in the app once connected to the ship's wifi in the daily planner and it was free of charge. Seeing that they most likely spent some money to get the game designed it's likely to stay as an offer as long as the room isn't furnished. We did the game on the TA and had a whole lot of fun, unfortunately we didn't solve the final riddle.

Interesting. I've only seen Port Canaveral for two immigrations after transatlantics and both times were a mess. At least with Symphony disembarkation was in Miami so we didn't have to drag around our luggage. We saw the huge traffic jam into the port when we left around 12.20 pm and thought it's always that bad. We even said we'll make sure to never embark there After the Symphony TA we did a caribbean cruise starting in Fort Lauderdale and that was really smooth.

From what I can gather from the FB group Port Canaveral usually uses facial recognition which should at least eliminate US citizens from the queue. Nobody knows exactly why they didn't use it for our cruise - maybe because we embarked in Europe? No facial recognition meant every passenger had to be interviewed by an Immigration agent. They also had problems with their system. It recognized me but not Michael - he had to do the whole nine yards including finger prints again. This seemed to happen to quite a few people. We were really happy to stay in Florida for the week, many people with same day flights were panicking. At least it was only inconvenient for us.

Day 15 – you know what this means – disembarkation. For breakfast we had the fruit from yesterday’s room service delivery. We had originally requested - and received – luggage tags for an 8 am disembarkation. We’d reserved our rental car for 10 am and thought this should work. I was under the impression that Port Canaveral couldn’t f*** up as bad as with the Symphony TA but boy was I wrong. At 9 am we had to vacate our cabin with the last time luggage tags being called about an hour ago. Royal Promenade was packed with people but Royal wasn’t allowed to let anyone off the ship… Hold a few thousand people hostage with no food and drinks (other than Iced Water) being available and see how the mood is – spoiler alert: not good. We were finally allowed to disembark at 10 am and were released into total mayhem. The port building was packed and there was absolutely no organisation to it. We managed to locate our luggage but were unsuccessful in finding the end of the queue for immigration. There were queues all around the terminal with no idea where it starts or ends so everybody just stood somewhere and hopped into anything that looked like a line. Port staff were of no help whatsoever as they were completely out of their depth. After standing in the „queue“ for about an hour they finally managed to bring some organisation into the mess and formed what really looked like a line. After another hour or so we finally made it through immigration - halleluja! Lucky we only had about 4000 passengers on the cruise - imagine this with 7000! At 12.30 pm we finally had our rental car – but only because we walked to the office. If we’d tried to get on the shuttle like everybody else we’d probably still be there 5 days later. We were off in the direction of St. Augustine, trying out the A1A (thanks for the recommendation btw). The weather was abysmal with torrential rain but I had one ray of sunshine – we went to Buc-ee’s This concludes my not so live blog. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long but live got in the way – as it does. We’re currently in Key West - sadly bad weather again today – and will fly home from MIA on Saturday. At least we really liked Florida so far, we’ll have to take the time to explore it with our RV in the future. No idea when our next cruise will be, we haven’t got much on our bucket list anymore. Maybe Hurtigruten‘s postal route and maybe a week on Icon if she comes to Europe. We will see.

Day 14 is the last full day of the cruise – this time even with breakfast. Well, we did order room service continental breakfast and half the order was missing but as we ordered with empty stomachs the end result worked quite nicely with our after-Izumi-state. I’m hearing about the strangest complaints to the crew so I won’t be adding to their work load – we’ll just go with what we got. Which was still enough to save some fruit for tomorrow. This morning we’re in Nassau together with Freedom of the Seas. We had thought about visiting Atlantis but was all on board is already at 1.45 pm we didn’t want to pay the hefty price tag for the day passes. Royal’s excursion weren’t really to our liking – especially when comparing pricing to value – so we decided to spend our last morning in the pools and hot tubs. Michael finally managed to try all the slides while I went boiling in the hot tub. When the pool deck started seeing more traffic from returning passengers we decided to call it a day and went for showers and then to our last lunch at Playmakers. This time we had two of our favourites: Pile on Nachos with Pulled Pork and Playmaker’s Classic Burger. No pictures because you’ve already seen the show. After lunch we headed to the Aqua Theater for the dive exhibition. This „show“ is comparable to the Ice Showcase yesterday – you get to know the cast via interviews and they can show a few of their tricks. I’ll really miss my Aqua Theater Suite Balcony on deck 7. Now late afternoon, it was time to finalize all our packing so we could put out the luggage before dinner. It’s a mixed feeling this time as I’ll sure miss the ship but on the other hand I’m looking forward to an end to the ship’s movement Before dinner we had reservations for the final showing of the Ice Show – 365. While it was impressive, we felt it didn’t compare to Symphony’s ice show. This brings the final result to 2:2 comparing Wonder to Symphony. We prefered inTenSe to Hiro and Effectors II to Flight but Symphony scored on the ice show and with Hair Spray. Our final dinner was at Wonderland. We had all the good intentions going in of not eating too much because I had the Campfire Cookie on my mind for later but you know what they say about good intentions… Instead of sticking to an entree and be done with it our lovely server (who recognized us from our first two visits) made sure we did try most of the rest of the menu – including the Kid’s menu Today we had Wonton Soup, Sashimi of Red & White Tuna, Tomato Soup, our favourite Mad Hatter’s Purple Potted Shrimp, Halibut Cooked in Clear Paper, King of Hearts Royal Wonderland Burger (Kids) and Mad Hatter’s Crispy Mac & Cheese Fries (Kids). Oh my god, the latter were to die for! I don’t even like mac & cheese – quite the contrary – but this version was awesome. If it wasn’t so filling I’d have ordered another one. I was completely stuffed after this but Michael managed to order the Forbidden Apple for himself. Needless to say we didn’t make it to Playmaker’s for the Campfire Cookie – instead we went to bed early expecting a very tiring day tomorrow.

Day 13 started bright and early – possibly because we went to bed early yesterday. Again no breakfast today because we had speciality lunch and dinner on the cards. Instead we just got speciality coffee from Cafe Promenade and then went to hang out on the pool deck as the weather had greatly improved. This of course meant that many people had the same idea as us but Wonder handled the „crowds“ without a problem – you could always find loungers as well as space in the pools and hot tubs. Lunch was at Chops Grille which we really didn’t look forward to after the fiasco with the last dinner. We had contemplated to cancel the reservation but ultimately chose to give them another chance – and we’re glad we did! Food was improved and service was exceptional – in fact our waiter today was the best we had the whole cruise. No idea how he managed to work all his (really numerous) tables and still found the time to chat with everybody. Foodwise we had Wild Mushroom Soup, Charred Beef Carpaccio, Filet Mignon (this time medium as ordered), Chops Dry-Aged Steak Burger, Key Lime Meringue Pie, Red Velvet Cake and Warm Chocolate Cake. Glad I remembered Sweety’s preference for the Red Velvet as it was my favourite dessert. We spent the afternoon starting to arrange our packing. It’s not the last day of the cruise but it’s getting near now. And we wanted to organize our packing so that we’ll only use one piece of luggage on our Florida road trip – the rest can stay in the car. Provided we receive our rental car, we’ve heard some horror stories that due to Ian and now Nicole the rental agencies don’t have enough cars going around. Let’s hope we get lucky because I have no idea how we would manage to get to our hotels without a car. This evening started with entertainment – we went to the Ice Spectacular. This is not a normal show but similar to Spotlight Sowtime where the cast is introduced in short interviews with CD Mike and they then showcase a few of their tricks to music of their choice. Our CD being able to iceskate a bit was a nice touch. It’s a pity the show was only 30 minutes but we’ll be back tomorrow for the regular ice show. Dinner was at Izumi – but this time we managed ro really pace ourselves. We only had the Salmon Lovers Roll, Spicy Crispy Tuna Roll and had to again order the Izumi Ryu Futomaki Roll. After dinner was spent at Playmaker’s again.

Day 12 was exceptionally unspectacular. We didn’t have anything planned other than dinner and pool time didn’t really work out due to rain – caused by Nicole? Who knows… We had toyed with the idea of trying to get into Mason Jar brunch but this morning we were still too full from yesterday to even attempt breakfast or brunch. Instead we had a slow day in the cabin and went to Playmaker‘s for lunch. The venue was a zoo so getting our order (Truffle Burger and Onion Rings) took about an hour. Not a problem for us, this gave us more time to try and empty Wonder of Angry Orchard cider Sorry, no pics - just imagine a burger with fries and a tower of onion rings. The afternoon was again mostly spent in the cabin until it was time for dinner at Mason Jar. This time we tried Blueberry Johnnycakes, Crab Beignets, Shrimp N‘ Grits, Southern Burger, Gone Bananas and Warm Bread Pudding. We did spill dinner down with some more Angry Orchard and went to bed early.

Day 11 – surprise, surprise – another sea day. We finally made it to Johnny Rockets for breakfast and only had to wait for 5 minutes. Most likely because we were quite early today – all those time changes are wreaking havoc on our sleep cycles. Maybe we’re getting old? Because I can’t remember these problems from the Symphony TA – or is the fact that I don’t remember another sign that we’re getting old? Anyways, for breakfast we had Cheesy Bacon Lovers, The Works and Buttermilk Pancakes. The morning was spent on the pool deck – the pools are even open. I’m still waiting for Royal’s new claim „the biggest wave pool at sea“ because Wonder was moving A LOT and the water from the pools was sloshing all over the place. No idea why the pools were drained before, I’m pretty sure the waves weren’t that bad then. On the plus side: the sports pool is quite empty when the waves are that bad Maybe Nicole is to blame for the weather? Really hoping she’ll be mild on Florida as we’ve already had to switch around our Florida plans due to Ian – our hotel on Sanibel Island just isn’t there anymore. After exhausting ourselves on the pool deck we had lunch at Playmakers. The food is always amazing, I’d only wish for more comfortable seating. The high chairs are just not made for somebody my size. After the last debacle with the waaaaytooo big portions today we were able to pace ourselves. Or so we thought… we shared a Playmaker’s Classic Burger which is one of the better ones on the ship. Well and then Michael thought he had some space left for the Touchdown Sundae… Don’t let yourself be fooled, this is way more icecream than it looks. This consequently lead to another bout of food coma. Good thing dinner will be in 150 CP, they tend to have smaller portions. But before we went to dinner, we finally had The Effectors II: Crash ‚n‘ Burn on our list. This show has been switched around the calendar quite a few times but it was soooo worth it. We were really impressed with Flight on Symphony but this show is even better. My only critique: Crash and Burn should win And maybe get everything working properly. In the middle of Captain Viz‘ song the stage suddenly went dark and we were informed that they had to stop the show due to technical difficulties. Solving this took maybe 10 minutes and then they restarted Captain Viz‘ song. I’m glad we didn’t leave the theatre and patiently waited around, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the rest of the show. So what comes after entertainment? Dinner of course… and we were still full from lunch. It’s a pity you can’t really appreciate the food after so many speciality dinners and lunches – I’m even starting to look forward to going back to my normal lower carb diet once I’m home. At 150 CP weh ad Braised Short Rib, Roastbeef Tenderloin (originally ordered for 1 but you know Royal’s waitstaff…), Cauliflower Steak, Fried Cheesecake and Hazelnut Passion Fruit Bar. Well, we went into dinner with a food coma and came out even worse for wear. Time to go to bed!

It took us until Day 10 but we finally had enough room for a real breakfast. We’d planned to go to Johnny Rockets but after seeing the queue we quickly rerouted to the MDR. Guess this will be the only time we’re in the MDR this cruise. Ok, we were here for the Muster Drill but that’s it. We started the day with Breakfast Burrito, Market Vegetable Breakfast Bowl and shared Banana Pancakes. Having breakfast meant skipping lunch – I’m pretty sure we won’t be booking the UDP again. Just way too much food and we didn’t even always get a lunch reservation. Most of the day was again spent either on the pool or in the cabin. All this relaxation makes for a boring blog but we really needed the opportunity to switch off. The time zone switches are also taking a toll on us this cruise – maybe because we both still have a bit of a cold or even a light form of seasickness. Wonder is moving much more than Symphony was – no idea why as I thought she’s more or less the same than her older sister. I haven’t felt a 100 percent since this cruise started so I’m napping way more than I’m used to. Hey, at least the cabin upgrade really paid for itself, we’ve never spent so much time in our cabin. This evening’s entertainment was Spotlight Showtime – Beyond Broadway. This is a special show to fill up the entertainment calendar for this longer cruise and you won’t get it on 7 night sailings – or that’s what our CD Mike said. In this show you get to know the vocal cast for the Theatre. They’re interviewed by the CD and each present their favourite broadway song. The show has a bit of an improvised feeling to it, but we really enjoyed it. It was far better than yesterday’s Voices. You can never go wrong with Broadway songs. Dinner brought us back to Hooked. With skipping lunch Michael was getting ambitious and opted for two appetizers – he didn’t even regret it later We had Maryland Crab Cake, Ceviche (the spicy version), Clam & Crab Chowder, Surf & Turf, Messy Fish Sandwich, Coconut Cream Pie and Cherry Pie. They give you a bib for the Sandwich, but I could’ve made better use of it for the Chowder

Definetely do it when you get the chance - but make sure you come hungry

Day 9 brings the last Sudoku Challenge for this cruise. As per usual (mostly), Michael won this round and received Royal highlighters for his effort. Now the morning trivia crowd can have Schooner to themselves. We spent the morning in the Solarium Pool and hot tubs as the main pools are still dry. Rumour has it they will be filled during the day but even so, we’ll let them warm up for a day or two. Being able to cool off is nice and all that, but we wouldn’t want to overdo it For lunch we scored a reservation in Hooked. Well, theoretically… because it never showed up in the app although it was confirmed twice by Hooked staff. When we showed up for our reservation they suddenly didn’t have us in the system anymore. Strange, but they thankfully still seated us. We had Drunken Mussels, Baked Oysters (once and never again ), Maryland Clam Strip Sandwich, Maine Lobster Roll, Lemon Tart and Decadent Chocolate Brownie. Be careful, the latter realy is decadent and can put you in a chocolate food coma on its own. But the best part of the menu were the crisps - it's a pity you only get them for lunch. Unfortunately the afternoon was mostly spent in the cabin still trying unsuccessfully to sleep off my cold. This evening’s entertainment was the Signature Production Voices – completely a capella although part of the voices is prerecorded. Sadly, this show didn’t do much for us, it’s the least impressive we’ve seen on Royal. We’d very much prefer another Broadway show but it is what it is. Dinner brought us back to Giovanni’s (again). This time we shared the Italian Stromboli appetizer and had Osso Buco, Chicken Parmigiana, Chocolate Ravioli and Mamma’s Tiramisu. We went to bed with a few drinks.

Day 8 seems to be the first day with no lunch planned. About time, too. Food coma is a real thing even though we haven’t had any real breakfast yet. No Sudoku Challenge today, so we just had a morning speciality coffee and Michael went to Laser Tag. We spent the morning at the pool deck and playing table tennis. Emphasis on pool DECK, currently all pools are drained with the exception of the Solarium Pool. Maintenance on one main pool had already started on day 6 and as they’re not working on the other pools my guess is they were drained because of the ship’s motion but who knows. We still had an enjoyable morning. When we eventually got hungry we tried the Royal Kummelweck and a hot dog, followed by dessert at Playmaker’s. Wow, the Campfire Cookie is really amazing but very rich. The afternoon was spent around the ship as we had no real plans apart from dinner. We’d initially booked today’s matinee of the Effectors II, but this has been postponed again, this time due to the ship’s movement. Guess you gotta go with the flow Dinner brought us to The Mason Jar for the first time. They were really having a hard time with not even half the tables filled but other than that dinner was enjoyable. We had Pimento Cheese, Charred Watermelon Salad, Smoky Deviled Eggs, Southern Burger, a mix of all available meats (Chicken, Ribs and Beef Brisket), Maple-candied Bacon Ice Cream and Twice-Fried Oreos. I even tried my first float (Floatin‘ on Sunshine) but it’s not really my thing. While we were there, we also tried the PBJ Old Fashioned, while the drink was nice I have no idea why people eat PBJ sandwiches, maybe you have to be American to understand this? I'll add this to my list of American things I don't like... which now contains PBJ, floats, mac & cheese, root beer and jerky. We'll see what I can add in the future