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LIVE from the Wonder of the Seas 2022 WB Transatlantic Cruise and our 4 year journey to get on this TA!

Teeara

By Teeara,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Teeara "Live from...." Rare

Teeara

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So for those of you who know me here on Cruise Critic, I'm Theresa, also known as Teeara, also known as the keeper of the spreadsheets on our rollcall here on the WOTS 2022 WB TA.  Many of us were originally booked on the ill-fated Allure WB TA scheduled to set sail in October 2020 and had made our final payment and were excited about setting sail when Royal canceled the cruise thanks to Covid.  Grrr.....  So some of us agreed that the next time Allure opened up for booking a Fall TA again we would, too, since we had such a great roll call group going here on CC.  We figured that wouldn't be until 2025 when Allure would be due for her next dry dock.  Well imagine our surprise when Allure came up for another TA for this fall instead and was open for booking a year after they kicked us off of our canceled cruise.  Many of us immediately booked this cruise.  THEN we were in for yet another shock when it was announced that we weren't going to be on Allure after all.  That they were transfering all of us to the brand new Wonder of the Seas instead AND that we would keep the same rates we paid for Allure and in some instances our same cabins.  Some people, unfortunately, were not able to keep their same cabins since Wonder doesn't have the same categories of cabins (especially in the higher tiers) and they were bumped down to junior suites).  So some of us were over the moon and some of us were less than overjoyed.

 

Having said all of that, I just wanted to impart a bit of the backstory to some of the drama that so many of us have endured in order to reach today as we start our journeys to reach Barcelona and our ultimate destination, Wonder of the Seas.

 

This will be my ninth cruise with Royal Caribbean and after the second day at sea I will finally become a Diamond member (Woo Hoo!).  This will be my roommate Pam's fourth cruise and she will become an Emerald member during the cruise (Woo Hoo!).  We are staying in an Owner's Suite for this cruise and are very excited about it having only stayed in interior, balcony and junior suites before.  This will also be the first time we're staying on Deck 18, the highest deck ever for us.  My preference is for a lower deck (around 7) and aft.  On Wonder, all of the Owner's Suites are on Deck 18 so we don't have a choice as to deck location (and no, I'm not complaining and no, I won't give it up for you!).

 

Today is Wednesday, October 26th and it is our travel day.  So we flew from Boston to New York this morning.  The flight was a bit bumpy thanks to the storm off the Eastern Seaboard, but my SeaBands worked perfectly and I had no discomfort.  We have a 7.5 hour layover here at JFK until our flight leaves this evening to Barcelona.  I purchased a day pass for the Admiral's Club from American Airlines and it has been very nice so far.  We had a breakfast of eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit, yogurt, pound cake and cappuccino at Logan.  We'll have lunch here at JFK later on this afternoon.  Right now we're sitting next to the window watching them load planes.  We hope to be able to snag some showers later this afternoon before our flights, too.  It's first come first served.

 

So that's about it for now.  I plan on posting every day to let you know what's going on.  I'll post the Cruise Compass every day and share some photos as well.  I also plan on shooting a lot of video for my YouTube channel until after I return from the cruise.  If there's anything you would like to see please post it here and I'll see what I can include.  

 

So since today is travel day you might not hear from me again until tomorrow night (Thursday, October 27th), so here's what's on the agenda tomorrow.  We arrive in Barcelona around 6:45 a.m.  We're staying at Hotel Jazz near Plaza de Catalunya and will be hunting down someplace to have some breakfast.  We have a tour lined up at 12:30 at La Sagrada Familia, so we will be heading over there for that.  Once done, we will be heading to the Obama Gastropub near the Plaza de Catalunya (they have a pretty good American style menu and my roommate does best on travel days to stick to American style food) for an early dinner.  Then we'll head to the hotel and get settled for the night.  That will be when I check in with you again and give you the day's update.

 

For those of you who are on our sailing, I wish you safe travels and I can't wait to see you in Barcelona!

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Teeara "Live from...." Rare

Teeara

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48 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Wishing you a very enjoyable cruise, and, BTW, the b'fast at Jazz is amazing. I wouldn't hunt for any other one....

 

Also a very good ramen place just around the corner 🙂

I wasn’t sure if they would let us have breakfast there when we arrive since we aren’t technically checking in until after 3 pm.  Sure would be nice if we could.

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Teeara "Live from...." Rare

Teeara

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We skipped lunch at the Admiral’s Club.  It was horrible compared to Boston’s breakfast.  But the showers here at JFK were fantastic.  
 


 

 

 

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dani negreanu

dani negreanu

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41 minutes ago, Teeara said:

I wasn’t sure if they would let us have breakfast there when we arrive since we aren’t technically checking in until after 3 pm.  Sure would be nice if we could.

 

We checked in at 9am, just after debarking from our cruise. Asked if they have a room available at this early hour, and waited only 20 mins for a room to be ready. 

 

They were very accommodating at the reception. We preferred to go to La Boqueria for some pastries and then an early lunch, but during our 3 nights there we enjoyed a very copious and varied breakfast.

 

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mac_tlc "Live from...." Rare

mac_tlc

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We were on the Allure 2020 TA as well, and then the Harmony 2021— both Covid casualties ( one by Royal, one by us). Then decided to do the Brilliance TA for 2022, which we had to cancel for other reasons. Ugh. 
 

Let’s hope next years Edge repo has better luck.

 

Have a wonderful cruise..you have certainly waited long enough for it.

 

mac_tlc

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crzndeb

crzndeb

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2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

Wishing you a very enjoyable cruise, and, BTW, the b'fast at Jazz is amazing. I wouldn't hunt for any other one....

 

Also a very good ramen place just around the corner 🙂

I saw the Ramen place on my Google maps. I’m glad it’s good, because I love Ramen!!

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dani negreanu

dani negreanu

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57 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

I saw the Ramen place on my Google maps. I’m glad it’s good, because I love Ramen!!

 

Same here. I've checked the restaurants surrounding the hotel, and I was very happy to find the ramen place. We went there twice 😁

 

And one evening to Five Guys on Pl. de Catalunya.... for a fries fix 😉

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gbcruise

gbcruise

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Here in Barcelona waiting for all the WB TA cruisers to filter in. Crossing my fingers JFK sends you here after a dream filled flight. I know you are doing all sorts of things in Barcelona that we have done before and you are both in for a real treat! See you all soon. Its been a long several years to see each other face to face.

 

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

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8 hours ago, Teeara said:

Here’s our luggage.  We’re NOT light packers 😉😁

 

5F8CE011-A04D-4C1A-91CF-897E14DF99C0.jpeg

OMG girl!  That is more than twice what we brought for 4 weeks!  😉  

 

Have laundry drying over my head right now as I type during my insomnia.  😄 

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