Today is Tuesday November 26th, day 3 of the cruise. We had to set our clocks forward one hour last night. Currently, I am currently sitting in the solarium writing this post. It is very relaxing! This morning we went to the gym, and then got coffee. I just finished reading a book I started on the plane on saturday. I have enoyed reading this week on my kindle.
We boarded the ship on Sunday in Port Canaveral at Terminal 1. We took lyft to the port around 10:30 am and dropped our luggage in the terminal. Boarding was very easy and everything flowed through the lines security, and check in really fast. We were on the ship within 10 minutes of getting dropped off. Some people got randomized to an expedited boarding line, but I think ours was just as fast without it.
Our muster station was deck 4 forward outside the diamond lounge. We went there and checked in to get the muster drill requirements out of the way first. We had already watched the safety videos in the app. I still so appreciate this simplified process for muster post pandemic.
Next we headed to playmakers on the boardwalk and found a table. Playmakers is a sports bar that also serves pub food and drinks. We have the unlimited dining package this week so playmakers is included for us. Generally Playmakers charges an extra fee, If you don’t have a dining package, there are many free venues to eat on board including the Park cafe and Sorrentos and the solarium if you want to avoid the embarkation day crow in the Windjammer buffet.
This is ony the second time we have purchased the unlimited specialty dining package. Typically we do a 3 night package on most cruises and still go to the main dining rooms on other nights. Any dining package, including 2-3 night packages give you the advantage of buying a bottle of wine at dinner for 40% off. This is a great way to supplement our free drinks we get for being loyalty status with Royal caribbean.
We were able to get the unlimited dining package on sail ahead of the cruise so we decided to purchase it for this cruise. It is more fun to have on the Oasis class ships because there a lot more choices of specialty dining restaraunts including our favorite restaurant, 150 Central Park. There are two restaurants on this ship we have not tried before, Giovanni’s wine bar and kitchen and the Mason Jar.
At Playmakers, we really like the buffalo chicken appetizer so we ordered that and split the truffle burger. Our rooms were ready at 1pm. It was nice to go to the cabin and get rid of our backpacks. Our luggage which we checked outside the cruise terminal was already in the all close to our cabins so we were able to unpack and put everything away. We are in a Central park balcony for this cruise which we have had once before on Harmony of the Seas. The cabin felt spaciious on this newer ship. Greg and I both appreciated that we both had outlets to charge things in the lamps on both sides of the bed. I have really enjoyed the central park balcony.
We can still go places if I want to see the ocean and it was fun to go sit at the Vue bar on the side of the ship for sailaway. We were lucky and got there early and got great seats by the window. It is a great new place to visit on this class of ships.
Dinner Sunday was a Giovanni’s so we didn’t want to be too full. For dinner we split the Caprese salad with burrata and the meatball. I ordered Ossobucco and Greg ordered the Filet. Both were good, I liked the Filet a little better, but enjoyed trying the Ossobucco. We got Tiramisu and Limencello for dessert.
After dinner was the Aqua show. We made reservations ahead for the 8:30 show which was spectacular. This is an all girls cast. We enjoyed it! We visited some of the bars, listened to music and called it an early night. We weren’t able to make it until midnight to see the baloon drop on the promenade.
Yesterday morning we woke up early at 6 am. Our goal is to go to the gym most days of the cruse so we got up and went first thing both yesterday and today! We enjoyed the ellipticals they have in the gym. It is on deck 6 forward on the Oasis class. Afterards, we stopped at the spa cafe to get coffee and then I took a shower and got ready for the day. At 10 am, we attended the Royal caribbean top tier event in the main theatre.
We had brunch reservations with the dining package at the Mason jar. I enjoyed the cornbread and pimento cheese appetizers. For my entree, I ordered the pimento cheese and spinach omelet.
Next we explored the promenade deck. We got a seat outside of the pub to watch the parade. Royal Caribbean does a good job with it’s parades and their are a lot of children and families on this Thanksgiving sailing. The parade on sea days is a popular event.
We relaxed in the cabin for a while yesterday afternoon and I made good progress on the book I am reading. We did Happy hour at Fresca Cantina in the aft of the ship and enjoyed trying some of their specialty margaritas. Dinner last night was at 150 central park. For an appetizer, I ordered the pork belly, and ordered the Lobster for my main course. i also really like the bread served at this restaurant. Greg got the scallops and the beef which he enjoyed. It was cooked perfectly! We got the fried cheesecake for dessert which is one of my favorite desserts!
Since we have the dining package, lunch today will be at Hooked seafood and dinner will be at CHOPS. Tonight is also formal night so we will go back to the cabin later this afternoon and get dressed up. Looking forward to another relaxing day! Tomorrow we are docked in St. Maarten. Stay tuned for more adventures duing this amazing holiday week on board Wonder of the Seas!