Live from WOTS Eastern Caribbean 4-14-24

[Steelers0854]

DW and I are DINKS dangerously close to our 40s and we are embarking on just our second RCCL cruise ever.  Our first was about 6 years ago on the Oasis.  We chose this sailing for 2 main reasons, 1 we wanted to go to Coco Cay, and 2 we wanted to sail on the Wonder.  We do prefer the Eastern Caribbean to the West, and have done these islands a number of times already.  So, we are off to St Thomas and St Maarten!

 

DW has several food allergies, she cannot eat gluten, dairy or eggs.  On our first RCCL cruise we weren’t impressed with the MDR food but did enjoy the specialty restaurants.  We got a good deal on the Dining package and figured we would just do the specialty restaurants on this trip.

 

I tried to grab The Key for a descent price, but it never dipped below $36pp and the sold out about 3 weeks out from the cruise.  I was hoping we could be the first ones on to help secure favorable dining reservations, but we will have to see how it goes with out 11:30am boarding time.  We were able to get reservations for all the shows we wanted.

 

We also got what I felt was a good deal on the Beach Club on Coco Cay, so we are looking forward to enjoying that area and the wonderful lunch they serve over there.

 

Other than that we have no plans or goals other than to simply relax and enjoy the ship and not being at work.

 

As we typically do, we are traveling in the day before.  It’s always less stressful to get in the day before because we have encountered too many issues traveling over the years to chance missing the ship or stress about it.

 

While not convenient, we are Disney Vacation Club owners and were able to use our points and book a room at the Polynesian for our hotel.  I really wish WDW would offer a discounted ticket for just an evening entry.  I think they used to have this back in the day.  Would have been nice to jump over to a park while we are there, but the single day prices are crazy expensive especially given we wont have a full day there.

[Steelers0854]

Day 0

 

Travel into Orlando was uneventful. I do love flying in on JetBlue because their new terminal is amazing. It will make our 4 hour wait on the way home more bearable.

 

The weather is absolutely glorious!  It says 78 but it actually feels chilly in the shade with not a cloud in the sky.

 

Disneys Polynesian hotel is beautiful inside and whatever smell they pump into their lobby I want in my home!

 

 

 

 

We headed over to the Contemporary for a late lunch at Steakhouse 71. Their burger is the best on property and DW can eat the fries and they have GF Vegan bread for her club sandwich which is an absolute monster. When combined with the spicy vegan ranch it’s one of her favorites.

 

 

 

After lunch the plan is to head to Disney Springs for dessert and some walking around. DW can eat at Erin McKenna’s (everything is GF and Vegan) and Salt and Straw. I’m gonna swing in to Giddeons Bakehouse, the best chocolate chip cookie you’ll ever eat. Yes, it’s worth the wait in line. So it’s ice cream for now and baked treats for later!

 

 

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

16 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Giddeons Bakehouse

 

We don't go there often even though we live pretty close to Disney but now I want a cookie!

[Steelers0854]

Day 0 cont

 

The original plan was to do dinner at Disney Springs. But we ate lunch so late by the time we finished walking around we just headed back to the hotel, got to the room and settled in and relaxed on the huge balcony with a perfect view of the castle.

 

 

We joined the walk up wait list for Kona cafe and had dinner here.

 

We shared the wing appetizer. These are the same delicious wings from O’hana and they are safe for DW to eat. It’s also her favorite part of her O’hana meal so it works well. Another bonus about Disney is they have rolls that DW can eat and they are very good. I got their version of a King Hawaiian roll.

 

 

For dinner DW got the Asian airline chicken and I got the salmon. Both were excellent.

 

 

 

After dinner we lounged around before heading out to the lake to take up a spot to watch the fireworks from magic kingdom. One of the perks at this resort is they pipe in the fireworks music and you have a great view.

 

 

[perfect match]

I’m enjoying the little touch of Disney to start your trip, and looking forward to seeing Wonder through your eyes as we’ll be boarding her for our first time in September. We’ve enjoyed sailing on all of the other Oasis class sisters and love all of them so we’re looking forward to our time on Wonder. Our next up though is Allure at the end of this month. 

[StanleyandGus]

3 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Disneys Polynesian hotel is beautiful inside and whatever smell they pump into their lobby I want in my home!

Check out the gift shop- I got a candle that smells like the Boardwalk resort, so the Mouse has thought of that!

[sandym718]

Following along because we'll be on Utopia and I've heard Wonder is the closest.  Your Poly pics are a pleasant surprise.  Our favorite Disney resort!  We first went in 2007 for a once-in-a-long-time splurge.  Well we fell in love and returned in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2018!  Been too long now, time for a return trip 

[Steelers0854]

8 hours ago, sandym718 said:

Following along because we'll be on Utopia and I've heard Wonder is the closest.  Your Poly pics are a pleasant surprise.  Our favorite Disney resort!  We first went in 2007 for a once-in-a-long-time splurge.  Well we fell in love and returned in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2018!  Been too long now, time for a return trip 

it is a great resort, proximity wise, having the monorail is great. The downside to our room location was that we heard the horn from the ferry at the TTC like we were riding it. lol. But we were so tired last night once we hit the pillow we didn’t hear it after that. 
 

our favorite is still Wilderness Lodge. That’s also our home resort. But you can’t beat the contemporary’s walk to MK or the Savannah at Animal Kingdom. So many wonderful resorts. It’s fun to stay at each of them. 

[Steelers0854]

It’s a gorgeous very chilly morning. Not a cloud in the sky!

 

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

It’s a gorgeous very chilly morning.

 

We're originally from Philly and embrace any cool weather we can get down here... have you spotted any shivering locals yet? 🤣

 

Happy cruise day! Looking forward to seeing Wonder through fresh eyes and can't wait to be back on her in 7 weeks!

Edited April 14 by OCSC Mike

[Steelers0854]

Day 1 Embarkation Day

 

It’s a crystal clear cold morning in Orlando. We started the day off with breakfast at Kona Cafe. DW heated a cinnamon roll she got last night from Erin McKennas and said it was good, more cake like than cinnamon roll, but that’s expected with GF vegan. She did get a side of sausage.

 

I had wanted to try the infamous Tonga Toast for a while and I tell you it lived up to the hype. Super crispy in the outside and fluffy on the inside. The banana filling was excellent. And of course we split a pot of pressed Kona coffee. Great start to the day.

 

 

We scheduled our Uber for 9:30. It should take just over an hour to get to the port which would put us there about 10:45. Our boarding time is 11:30 and we are hoping we can get onboard a little earlier. We will see how it works.

 

None of my upgrade bids were accepted. I got the emails this morning. I only bid aggressively on one of the suites. I think this cruise is fairly sold out so it’s not surprising.

 

It took us exactly an hour to reach the port. It took us another 10 min to get through port traffic to drop our bags. We entered the terminal at 10:40 and essentially never stopped walking. Feet on the deck at 10:55. Glorious embarkation process.

 

 

We headed to the desk on the promenade and booked our dining reservations. We didn’t have any issues getting every one we wanted but we like to eat early so the 5:30ish time slots were all available. We headed to Izumi to book habatchi and were able to do it for tonight. We are hoping DW can eat there. Our plan is to go back a little later and ask in advance of our reservation.

 

We acquired our coffee card and my soda cup from the coffee bar on the promenade. Pro Tip: IMO the coffee card isn’t worth it if you don’t like hot coffee and any iced coffee drink is going to take 2 punches. So you get max benefit from small hot coffee drinks. Disappointing in my opinion. When looking at the information in the app I feel it’s misleading as this isn’t listed when you purchase the card.

 

 

We didn’t want to explore too much with our backpacks so we grabbed a good people watching spot for a bit.

[GetToLivin]

Following along! I've only been on Allure and Harmony so I'm very curious about all things Wonder 🤩

[Old lady cruiser]

Thank you for doing this.  146 days to go!!

[OCSC Mike]

3 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

Following along! I've only been on Allure and Harmony so I'm very curious about all things Wonder 🤩

 

Since you seem to book suites, you'd likely love the suite neighborhood on Wonder. We were treated to a GS on Wonder last June. Everything is right there if you're in a GS or OS. We had the closest GS to the door to CK/SL... I could get to the SL bar in like 15 steps... it was glorious! And the suite sun deck is right above you and quite nice. No crossing the ship like on Harmony (the only other ship on which I've had a GS).

 

All that said, I recently went back in an interior and loved the ship just as much... just for different reasons. Can't wait to be back on her in June and July.

Edited April 14 by OCSC Mike

[Steelers0854]

Day 1 Embarkation cont

 

We were still full from lunch but wanted something. We swung into Izumi and they said GF wasn’t an issue. We will see later!

 

DW grabbed a salad. They only had creamy dressings, which is disappointing they didn’t have a vinegarette. But they did have oil and vinegar so atleast that was something. We did appreciate that the burgers were physically separate from the ones with cheese with different utensils so DW felt safe grabbing a patty.

 

The buffet is really nice and open. We didn’t have any issue finding a seat even at noon.

 

 

We wandered around this deck for a bit. It’s a cool layout. Holy hell is the Solarium HOT!  I had seen people posting about this before. Yikes. The food in the solarium bistro today was a carbon copy of the buffet. Hope that changes after today. 🤞

 

 

 

Before we knew it our room was ready a few minutes before 1pm. We booked an ocean view balcony for this trip. The room is beautiful and it feels huge. We always stay in a balcony but this room feels really big. Also love the balcony furniture with the foot stools. Great touch.

 

 

 

We wandered around after our bags got delivered (around 2pm).

 

 

 

here are the brunch and dinner menus for Mason Jar. For some reason these aren’t available in the app. 
 

 

 

We are fresh off a Virgin Voyages cruise. I’ll tell you 2 things I miss already. No kids and no announcements lol. I feel like every 15 min they come on with some kind of announcement.

[sandym718]

8 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

it is a great resort, proximity wise, having the monorail is great. The downside to our room location was that we heard the horn from the ferry at the TTC like we were riding it. lol. But we were so tired last night once we hit the pillow we didn’t hear it after that. 
 

our favorite is still Wilderness Lodge. That’s also our home resort. But you can’t beat the contemporary’s walk to MK or the Savannah at Animal Kingdom. So many wonderful resorts. It’s fun to stay at each of them. 

We used to stay in Tokelau before it became DVC and yep could hear the ferry horn, but as you said...slept right through it.

 

Great reports so far!! 

 

I'd love to hear about any fairly quiet sunning spots you find/see on Wonder.  We loved, loved, loved the open air front deck of the Solarium on Oasis and that was pretty much our spot for the week.  I know Wonder, and Utopia, have closed Solariums which is disappointing to me.  Probably a great spot in the evening or if we need a break from the sun, but I'd like to find a similar quiet space when I want sun.  Love kids, but we're empty nesters now and I like to read my book without them running all over lol 

 

[OCSC Mike]

9 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Mason Jar

 

We don't do a ton of specialty but MJ brunch is currently my favorite specialty meal. Some good drinks at the bar too, which is very popular at night when the country band is playing.

 

11 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

The buffet is really nice and open. We didn’t have any issue finding a seat even at noon.

 

Yep, they designed it really well.

 

12 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

The food in the solarium bistro today was a carbon copy of the buffet. Hope that changes after today.

 

I don't mean to be negative but it's usually very similar. One thing I kept grabbing there that I never saw in the WJ for breakfast were little pre-made smoothies. Sometimes I pour 2-3 into one of the larger plastic water cups with a couple ice cubes to go.

[Steelers0854]

26 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

One thing I kept grabbing there that I never saw in the WJ for breakfast were little pre-made smoothies. Sometimes I pour 2-3 into one of the larger plastic water cups with a couple ice cubes to go

great tip!  I’ll keep my eye out!

 

37 minutes ago, sandym718 said:

 

I'd love to hear about any fairly quiet sunning spots you find/see on Wonder.

we will be on the hunt!

[bambam2972]

Thanks for the posts! I'm following along, waiting for June to get here. 😄

[Steelers0854]

Day 1 Embarkation cont

 

We left at 4:30 and I checked the WiFi as we were leaving, not terrible speeds but not great. We will see how it holds up as we progress.

 

 

 

Dinner came quickly, at 5:30 for us. There are only 3 tables of 8 here. So I can see why reservations fill fast. Here is the menu. There is a $15pp upcharge If you have the dining package.

 

 

 

We informed our server of DWs allergies and it wasn’t an issue. Her salad was a little sad, it came with just oil and vinegar. It would be nice if they had a vinaigrette option. Hers was made in the back and came out just before we got our rice. So it was good timing. She said it was one of the better cruise ship dinners she has had. Very flavorful and well seasoned and nothing was dry.

 

 

 

 

You are allowed to mix and match items, you don’t have to stick to the combos they have for you. So I got the filet and lobster. This is an incredible deal, even with the upcharge. You get an entire lobster tail and probably a 6 ounce filet. It was excellent.

 

 

 

 

For dessert I got the sesame balls. DW got fruit and it was her favorites so she was thrilled. We didn’t expect anything given the no notice and what they have on the menu.

 

 

 

I really do feel this is worth it. It’s dinner and a show and even if it’s $69 I think for what you get it’s a winner. Definitely beats the Pants off Gunbae on Virgin.

 

After dinner we walked around and enjoyed some guitar music in Central Park.

 

 

[TwoMisfits]

10 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Day 1 Embarkation cont

 

We left at 4:30 and I checked the WiFi as we were leaving, not terrible speeds but not great. We will see how it holds up as we progress.

 

 

 

Dinner came quickly, at 5:30 for us. There are only 3 tables of 8 here. So I can see why reservations fill fast. Here is the menu. There is a $15pp upcharge If you have the dining package.

 

 

 

We informed our server of DWs allergies and it wasn’t an issue. Her salad was a little sad, it came with just oil and vinegar. It would be nice if they had a vinaigrette option. Hers was made in the back and came out just before we got our rice. So it was good timing. She said it was one of the better cruise ship dinners she has had. Very flavorful and well seasoned and nothing was dry.

 

 

 

 

You are allowed to mix and match items, you don’t have to stick to the combos they have for you. So I got the filet and lobster. This is an incredible deal, even with the upcharge. You get an entire lobster tail and probably a 6 ounce filet. It was excellent.

 

 

 

 

For dessert I got the sesame balls. DW got fruit and it was her favorites so she was thrilled. We didn’t expect anything given the no notice and what they have on the menu.

 

 

 

I really do feel this is worth it. It’s dinner and a show and even if it’s $69 I think for what you get it’s a winner. Definitely beats the Pants off Gunbae on Virgin.

 

After dinner we walked around and enjoyed some guitar music in Central Park.

 

 

 

Thank you for posting your wife's dairy allergies meals.  This will help me a lot next month!

 

Bummer that Izumi didn't have sorbet to go with the berries.

Edited April 14 by TwoMisfits

[Steelers0854]

A beautiful way to end the day. Cruise Compass for today and tomorrow are attached. 
 

Day 1 & 2.pdf

[Steelers0854]

Day 2 Coco Cay

 

 

 

We had 1 mission today. Be one of the first off and secure a good spot at the beach club. We got downstairs at about 7:45 and a few minutes before 8 the line was moving. Having never been here before we didn’t realize what a short walk it was and so we rode the tram. No big deal it was quick and easy and we were one of the first 10 people in.

 

 

 

 

 

We got very lucky, we grabbed one of the very few large loungers by the pool. These things are soooo comfortable. It’s worth hustling off the ship to snag one of these.

 

 

We paid $220pp for the beach club. I’m on team worth it. For what we got, the food, the floating mats, quiet atmosphere and not a hoard of people. I’m all in. I’ve paid far more for excursions and gotten much less.

 

We got a delicious coconut lime non alcoholic welcome drink. It was delicious. I would have paid for another but they said they couldn’t do that. SMH. Seems kinda silly. We had absolutely beautiful weather. High of 75, a cool breeze all day, and a few clouds in the sky.  Couldn’t have been better!

 

 

 

 

When you walk in to the beach club on your right when you walk in make your lunch reservation. They have slots based on the ship you’re on. We got 11:45. The beach club is beautiful. The bathrooms are very nice, it’s quiet, they have vibey music in the background but nothing loud or that stands out. The pool is great, service was outstanding. Always someone walking around asking if you needed anything. Towels were provided so no needing to wait in line and give your first born in exchange for one.

 

 

Before we knew it, it was lunch. You get a Bento box with all the appetizers. They brought DW bread that was safe to eat and the hummus and babaganoush was safe. DW doesn’t do seafood (preference) but the shrimp and ceviche would nah e been fine as well. The appetizers were good. Solid. Nothing to write home about.

 

 

The main course is where they knock it out of the park. DW got the filet (no modifications) and I got the surf and turf. It’s not on the menu but there are no issues ordering it. You get a half a lobster, 1 claw and what I’m guessing was a 6 ounce filet. It was amazing. Everything from the potatoes to the vegetables and the meat. All outstanding. And our server was fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

Some fun facts we learned from our server. He was from India and is on a 5 month contract. 600 people live on the island full time. The ship only sends some crew to supplement the front part of the island. He said about 70% of the staff were bahamanian and they work 2 month contracts.

 

After lunch we lounged around for a bit before calling it quits, visiting some other parts of the island before heading back to the ship. All aboard was at 3:30 and we got on at 2:30.

 

 

 

We certainly had a Perfect Day at CoCo Cay. I think the only other private island we have been to that gives it a run for its money is Disneys Castaway Cay.

[Steelers0854]

I figured now is a good time to test the internet given everyone is back onboard. Even though WiFi and your internet plan works ashore just fine. Still holding at an ok speed but nothing great. 
 

 

[LisaLisa87]

I'm enjoying your Wonder trip report with a side of Disney! We'll be on Wonder for the first time in January (way too far off). Your photos are fantastic, and I'm loving all the food pics. We'll be visiting the Beach Club for the first time in January, and I can't wait! The price dipped to $152/person last week and I pulled the trigger. I agree with you about Castaway Cay. It has always been our favorite, but Coco Cay has really grown on us!

 

We'll have the same itinerary in January, so I'm interested in seeing how you choose to spend your time in port. We've taken land trips to both St. Thomas and St. Maarten, so it's getting harder to come up with new and different things to do!