Neaxan

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 🤣







 

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 😂

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!

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 🤣







 

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 😂

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 🤣







 

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.

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 🤣







 

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.

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 🤣







 

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 🤣







 

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.

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

I need to try that campfire cookie. It looks amazing. Unfortunately I never got round to it on Odyssey and Anthem doesn't have a Playmakers. 😕

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 😂

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 😂

Apparently the Diamond (+) crew is used to having designated overflow DLs to "socialize" - or maybe they just want to be separate from us unworthy peasants 🤣

With the vouchers, the whole ship becomes a spillover diamond lounge.  I can't see the issue.
The DL on Wonder is very small anyway.  I never saw more than a few people in it on our cruise in June.  Most of those were getting coffee in the AM.

I’m a fairly new diamond member. I’m fine as long as you give me my four free drinks. Give them to me anywhere. Just give them to me. 

😂😂😂

Due to some technical difficulties (and a lot of sleep deprivation) I’m a bit behind on the live portion of the blog. But we’re now in Palma de Mallorca and I have some time to catch up.
 
Saturday was as long and relentless as imagined. We had an early start at 5.45 am to walk the dog and round up the cats. After dropping off the cats we had some time to cuddle with Ronnie until we had to drop him off at the kennels. Back home we did make final preparations for our house and finished packing. We took our Covid tests at 2 pm and received the results 20 minutes later while we were already on the motorway. I have never felt soooo positive about being negative 😊
 
As this Saturday was the first day of the Bavarian autumn school holidays, we arrived at the airport very early (4.30 pm). Unfortunately, check in only opened at 6.30 pm. If you ever use Munich airport, try to take an airline that uses terminal 2 because terminal 1 doesn’t have anything to offer pre-security. We were lucky to find some seats. Post-security there is only one restaurant and it was nearly sold out – not too nice if you’re starving. Boarding was delayed by 20 minutes because the plane arrived late – but hey, at least it was there. We had booked the two seats in front of the emergency exit to not have to cuddle with strangers but were forced to give up our seats because they had additional crew on the flight that needed these seats. Due to this „inconvenience“ they switched us to a row with 3 seats where we could leave the middle seat empty – I count that as an upgrade 😉
 
European airports currently have a lot of problems with getting the luggage to its destination, so we were really happy that all our suitcases arrived with us in Barcelona. We did crosspack, but I prefer having everything I planned with. On this cruise are quite a few people who have arrived in Europe days or even a week in advance and their luggage is still lost who knows where.
 
Due to a late shuttle to the hotel and a waaay too looong queue at the reception we finally made it to our room after 1 am. No pictures of the hotel (Alexandre Frontair Congress) as it is really nothing to write home about – we chose it solely for convenience – being near the airport and offering a complimentary shuttle to the hotel. If you’re still on the fence about how cheap it is… this is the hotel that Royal booked for their incoming new crew for Wonder. We met a few guys in the shuttle who will be starting their contract with Royal on this transatlantic and the hotel had a looooong list of crew for Wonder that would be checking in that day – were talking at least a hundred people. I really felt sorry for the guys as they also got their room around 1 am and their shuttle to Wonder was 6.30 am. At least we would get a few more hours of sleep with our 10 am boarding time. But Sunday is a tale for another entry as we’re now off to lunch 😇