WAAAYTOOO

We will be on this one, too !!  ...and we will be on a S2S on Utopia after this one with 1 day in between.  

Lol.  Um….no.  I think Mario is a few cruises ahead of us  😂😂🥰
….but we are very proud of the way we have fulfilled our “lifestyle” dream/plan to move to FL to cruise MORE.  It has truly worked out just the way we planned it. I documented the entire move in an old thread from 2020 but I don’t know how to copy the link so anyone that wants to read it will have to sleuth it out.  It’s entitled “House Recon”…something something…. 😵‍💫
Actually, there are 2 S2S following these 3 EX cruises.  We have 1 day in dry dock (4-28) then board FR for 4 days, then 2 days in dry dock followed by 7 nights on WN (5-5)….nearly 6 weeks of cruising ! Things slow down after that !

We will be on this one, too !!  ...and we will be on a S2S on Utopia after this one with 1 day in between.  

Instead of “Lifeguard” their shirts should say “Turd Hunter” on the back!

Totally agree, pretty much anything would be better than an interior room. The whole AC shutting off thing seems like it would get annoying though. 

Here we go again! Lots of first for us:
First cruise for our youngest daughter (will be 18 months at the time of the sailing) First cruise as a family of four (3 yo daughter will be on her second cruise) First cruise with our in-laws joining us. The four of us will be in a Ultra Spacious Oceanview cabin - chose this one in particular due to separate sleeping areas for both us and the girls (bunk beds) and the large living area. My in-laws have a Junior Suite (which will be nice for us to utilize their bath tub).
Excited for a family trip! Will largely be open-minded with minimal expectations and go-with-the-flow with whatever our children are good with doing. 
We really enjoyed Freedom last winter on a 3-day and are looking forward to having a full week this time. Just 90 days to go!

Wonder is oddly often alone on PDCC. I will be or have been alone there on 4 separate Wonder cruises spanning 14 months. When looking at the port schedule to pass the time (and because I'm a nerd), for the upcoming months it's alone every other week or so. Those other Mondays it's there with a Celebrity ship. By dumb luck, we managed to book the solo weeks (we enjoy spending the day there so it matters more to us obviously).
That is about the only negative I can think of to say about the ship, especially if you're on deck 17. It's less of an issue if you only have access to the commoner decks and don't mind taking the stairs. The elevators were unusually not that bad for us in March though and I have no idea why.
Sorry about all the snafus with the lack of computers, sea pass not working, etc. Hopefully your good luck will continue in the casino to offset this random bad luck with other stuff.
And needless to say, I'm glad you found a computer to keep the blog going.

Surprisingly, we are at PDCC alone.  I was certainly expecting another ship to be here as this is a "traditional" 7 night cruise, leaving port on Sunday.  To my surprise, nope.  Just us here.  I guess the new mix of shorter cruises has provided a schedule of PDCC stops that no longer revolve around Sat/Sun departures.  I suspect that this is no accident....I personally believe that the new shorter cruise schedule is designed to intentionally bring the ships to PDCC throughout the week.
Since we (or at least, I) will not be getting off today, it is a nice, quiet day onboard.  Dan had hinted that he might want to go snorkeling, but once I agreed to go with him to the Suites' Sun Deck, which we will do later this afternoon, I think he was appeased and so he may or may not go ashore.
After breakfast I agreed to go and play putt-putt with him.  This is NOT something that I actually enjoy, but he likes to pretend to play so I agreed.  It is, after all, his vacation, too !  🙃  I am a notorious putt-putt cheater and today was no different.  It is a fun course, though, and I had to admit (after it was over) that it wasn't all that bad.  Beware, if you play putt-putt on Wonder that the first "hole" has a treacherous starfish, which will devour your ball !  My shot went through, but Dan's got "lost" in the starfish.  I suspect that there is a bounty of balls in the belly of the starfish b/c there were only about 4 balls available when we started playing.  There are now 3.  I imagine the rest of them are forever lost in that treacherous starfish's belly !
The elevators continue to be the biggest headache on this sailing.  I ran into a new Pinn "friend" when I left the SL for the first time (more on my merry journey, later) and he said he'd been waiting for an elevator for 20 minutes !  Holy cow !  Now....this was right at the peak time for the hordes to be disembarking but still....that's a little ridiculous.  I left Dan in the SL where he was dutifully translating an investment document for one of his mining stocks (this is an obsession of his which I rarely discuss as it bores me to tears) from Danish to English.  
An elevator finally arrived and we both boarded.  My destination was deck 14 where I had been told by one of the Suites Concierges (I still do not know any of their names.  I need to get that info.) that there was a library on deck 14 where I could access laptops.  Well, guess what.  No, there isn't.  There IS a card room there, but no computers.  So, totally miffed, I reboarded one of the elevators (after a fairly lengthy wait) bound for deck 17 only to find that the Suites' access doors were now secured.  Now please understand....I do NOT mind that they are secured.   AaMoF, I think that they should be secured ALL the time, but now I was stranded outside, b/c my freaking SP card would not work to open the doors.  DRATS !  Luckily, there is a "call" button above the sensor, which I depressed, and was given access, remotely.  My first stop was to inform Dan that I had utterly failed in my computer quest and then I strolled over to the Concierge to register my gripes.  #1, why the F'K wasn't my card working to gain entrance, and #2, where are the F'N computers !  His answer to #1 was...I will check into it.  I'm not sure what will or can be done.  I guess time will tell on that one.  Actually, I have -0- confidence that anything will change.  That's ok.  As to #2, he quickly informed me that there were NO [public] computers on this ship, save the 2 in the Crown Lounge.  Just about that time, the Concierge who had provided me with bogus gauge, showed up and was embarrassed that he didn't know that the computers had been removed on Wonder.  He apologized profusely, while backing up.  I guess he thought I might make a "move" on him.  HA !  I may have a "mouth" on me at times, but I am not a threat !  LOL   He had recently moved over from Harmony, where (apparently) they still had the computer area.  I guess we both learned something, today !
So.....I rested up for my long journey forward, to the CL, then set out once again, on my quest to find a laptop.  Eureka !  I finally got to the 'puters and here I sit, pecking away.

I am surprised how quiet and empty the CK was this morning for breakfast.  I guess lots of folks are getting off today (PDCC).  It’s nice to have a “new” breakfast menu.  We’d been eating at Giovanni’s and/or Chops for over a month now and those menus never changed.  While the CK breakfast menu isn’t really that much different, it IS different in a few minor ways.  Dan was so excited to be able to get his flatbread eggs !  It’s kinda like breakfast pizza with an egg on top.  It’s actually better than it sounds !

Surprisingly, we are at PDCC alone.  I was certainly expecting another ship to be here as this is a "traditional" 7 night cruise, leaving port on Sunday.  To my surprise, nope.  Just us here.  I guess the new mix of shorter cruises has provided a schedule of PDCC stops that no longer revolve around Sat/Sun departures.  I suspect that this is no accident....I personally believe that the new shorter cruise schedule is designed to intentionally bring the ships to PDCC throughout the week.
Since we (or at least, I) will not be getting off today, it is a nice, quiet day onboard.  Dan had hinted that he might want to go snorkeling, but once I agreed to go with him to the Suites' Sun Deck, which we will do later this afternoon, I think he was appeased and so he may or may not go ashore.
After breakfast I agreed to go and play putt-putt with him.  This is NOT something that I actually enjoy, but he likes to pretend to play so I agreed.  It is, after all, his vacation, too !  🙃  I am a notorious putt-putt cheater and today was no different.  It is a fun course, though, and I had to admit (after it was over) that it wasn't all that bad.  Beware, if you play putt-putt on Wonder that the first "hole" has a treacherous starfish, which will devour your ball !  My shot went through, but Dan's got "lost" in the starfish.  I suspect that there is a bounty of balls in the belly of the starfish b/c there were only about 4 balls available when we started playing.  There are now 3.  I imagine the rest of them are forever lost in that treacherous starfish's belly !
The elevators continue to be the biggest headache on this sailing.  I ran into a new Pinn "friend" when I left the SL for the first time (more on my merry journey, later) and he said he'd been waiting for an elevator for 20 minutes !  Holy cow !  Now....this was right at the peak time for the hordes to be disembarking but still....that's a little ridiculous.  I left Dan in the SL where he was dutifully translating an investment document for one of his mining stocks (this is an obsession of his which I rarely discuss as it bores me to tears) from Danish to English.  
An elevator finally arrived and we both boarded.  My destination was deck 14 where I had been told by one of the Suites Concierges (I still do not know any of their names.  I need to get that info.) that there was a library on deck 14 where I could access laptops.  Well, guess what.  No, there isn't.  There IS a card room there, but no computers.  So, totally miffed, I reboarded one of the elevators (after a fairly lengthy wait) bound for deck 17 only to find that the Suites' access doors were now secured.  Now please understand....I do NOT mind that they are secured.   AaMoF, I think that they should be secured ALL the time, but now I was stranded outside, b/c my freaking SP card would not work to open the doors.  DRATS !  Luckily, there is a "call" button above the sensor, which I depressed, and was given access, remotely.  My first stop was to inform Dan that I had utterly failed in my computer quest and then I strolled over to the Concierge to register my gripes.  #1, why the F'K wasn't my card working to gain entrance, and #2, where are the F'N computers !  His answer to #1 was...I will check into it.  I'm not sure what will or can be done.  I guess time will tell on that one.  Actually, I have -0- confidence that anything will change.  That's ok.  As to #2, he quickly informed me that there were NO [public] computers on this ship, save the 2 in the Crown Lounge.  Just about that time, the Concierge who had provided me with bogus gauge, showed up and was embarrassed that he didn't know that the computers had been removed on Wonder.  He apologized profusely, while backing up.  I guess he thought I might make a "move" on him.  HA !  I may have a "mouth" on me at times, but I am not a threat !  LOL   He had recently moved over from Harmony, where (apparently) they still had the computer area.  I guess we both learned something, today !
So.....I rested up for my long journey forward, to the CL, then set out once again, on my quest to find a laptop.  Eureka !  I finally got to the 'puters and here I sit, pecking away.

Also keep in mind that some of the big, online agencies do not participate in RoyalUp, so if RU is something that you want to have as an option, be aware of which big agencies have excluded themselves from this program.

Thanks! yes, it was definitely fun, and yeah my dad didn't realize that tiramisu was mostly raw egg although I had a feeling, it was a good time!

We are getting close, folks!
Have been doing a lot of research to hopefully make the most of being on a new class for the first time. We've made a to-do list of everything we're hoping to experience - our biggest takeaway has been that we'll want to arrive early to venues (especially Dueling Pianos), which is also going to mean probably waking up early some day to do some things before crowds arrive or wait until off-peak times. 
Also we Royal Uped from a Spacious Interior to a Infinite Balcony. Should be an interesting experience!

If you see us in the garage leaving as your are arriving, yell a passing hello.    I will use two of our Diamond Plus free internet days as the end of the cruise, but will post lightly till I get back home on Monday,  Will still be a few days before I post here on on CC. 

This will be the 1st time we don't get a drink package in years. I have been a big beer drinker, but have had to basically quit, due to health issues. Hopefully those can get resolved. I have had after effects of having Covid and pneumonia. So we are thinking the drink package won't be worth it. Subject to change if I can learn to like wine. 🙂 

BIG NEWS! we get to add "visit the next cruise desk" to my embarkation day agenda. Last night I somehow convinced Mr. Reg to book a Symphony 7 Night Bahamas and Perfect Day out of NJ. Don't ask me how, don't ask me why, just ask me when, lol. I think it's because when pricing a 5-day Disney trip vs. a 4 night Utopia cruise vs not flying anywhere and doing 7 nights on Symphony, the money spoke for itself! I'm letting my Disney AP lapse since I don't anticipate being able to go much over the next year (I logged 17 days on my current AP but my circumstances, sadly, are changing). I still need to look a little closely at when the current promotion expires and if a different promotion takes effect on Sunday and if it's better or not as great. If it's not as great, getting $100 or whatever in onboard credit (that's usually what you get for a balcony) and a reduce deposit at Next Cruise is not really worth waiting for and I'll just ask my TA to book it before we go. We are looking at September 22-29, so I know it's a bit of a calculated risk weather wise with hurricane season but honestly we aren't in it for the itinerary as we've done it before and been to Perfect Day twice. It's all about that ship for me. Do they still give a gift for booking at Next Cruise on embarkation day?
Anyway, back to the cruise at hand (one cruise at a time, as my TA likes to say!). We are t-minus 6 days! The packing has started, the last minute bookings have been made, planning for pre-embarkation brunch in Vancouver is solidified, and the weather is looking pretty ok for traveling on Saturday (so far). Photos of packing and suitcases and backpacks, etc. to come later this week. Of course our daughter is moving out of college early now so she needs allllll the suitcases 🤪 and I told her she must empty our brand new one no later than Thursday. Mama needs to get packin!

The benefit for booking with a GOOD travel agent is that you have one person dedicated to your trip.  My TA can make suggestions for sailings, look for group rates, check for price drops, and, most importantly, take care of a problem should one arise.  And they do.  My last problem would have taken me 3+ days of being on the phone to take care of.  But my TA took care of it, solving the problem and saving me probably dozens of hours on the phone.  I know nothing about Direct Cruises, but I would never book through somewhere like Costco, Cruise.com, etc. They are often left out of things like Royal Up and other promotions AND I love that I have someone that I can email/phone or text whenever I have a question or problem.  A good cruise TA will not charge for their services, as they all get a commission from the cruiseline.  Some take their commission AND charge customers a fee (I'm looking at you, Travel Leaders), so know what the policy is before you work with someone.
Many of us use MEI Travel (a sponsor of this blog, but more importantly, some of the nicest, incredibly talented TAs you'll ever find).  If you go to the home page of this blog, there's a big yellow form you can fill out and someone from MEI will contact you.  But if you don't want to go that route, just be sure  you know what you're paying for when you find someone.    Good luck!
  

Logged into my account (on the Desk top). All my cruises are showing. When I try to access the cruise planner I get re-directed to sign in again. 
Used Safari and Chrome and got same result. Just curious if others are having this issue.  

Assuming grats are not included on the Chops + 1, it's cheaper to get the 3- night package on my other one too. 😂

Could be a glimpse of things to come. The other prices might not be updated to reflect where prices might be soon. 

It's not for mine but it's close. Everything is more expensive on Wonder I guess.

I didn't even notice that. The 3 night package is cheaper for me, too.

On one of mine it's cheaper to buy the 3-night package. 😂

That’s more expensive than individually booking Chops and any other specialty dinner at the usual pre-cruise price. 🙃