Wonder of the Seas Inaugural Cruise Live! | Day 4 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wonder of the Seas pulled into San Juan, Puerto Rico with some fan fare!
Breakfast at Cafes
My team decided to split up and went to different cafes for breakfast.
I kicked off the day with breakfast at the Park Cafe located within Central Park and they offered several types of quick bites like the Royal Caribbean classic Egg Muffin and Burritos. You could choose to dine indoors or outdoors along the park. Alfresco is now made easy with electric heaters above the seating area that could be switched on when it's cold out. Being scared of the heat, I decided to dine indoors instead. However, we noticed that the indoor seating was cramped and did not allow for much space to walk within the cafe. This could probably be easily fixed by shifting the furniture around.
Table service is now available at the cafes. Once you order your food, the crew will give you a number which you bring back to your table, which they will use to locate you and bring you your meal.
My team member decided to try out the Cafe Promenade instead. One thing good about the Cafe Promenade is that it offers food and drinks 24 hours a day. So for cruisers who want to sleep in from the night before, this is a great place to get a bite or a coffee whatever time you wake up at if the windjammer is closing. Cafe Promenade also serves basic items from the Starbucks menu. They mainly serve confectionary cakes, pastries, savoury light bites and coffee and tea.
World Premiere of “Opening Night” with Nick Weir
We received an invitation for “Opening Night” a few days ago, a documentary of how Royal Caribbean installed ‘Effectors’, one of their technology-filled production shows, onto Odyssey of the Seas in the middle of the pandemic. Nick Weir, Senior Vice President of Entertainment for Royal Caribbean was around to host the event, and introduced us to Royal Caribbean’s very own superhero franchise.
Amongst the many things he shared many things during the session, it mainly surrounded the experiences the team and cast members had to go through to operate during the pandemic. An example he mentioned was the strict regulations Singapore imposed on entertainment on cruises, and how they had to custom design face masks for their cast members back in December 2020.
The 38-minute documentary showed the avenues cast and team members had to go through to install the technologically advanced production onto the brand new Odyssey. It includes the technical challenges the team faced, hardship the cast members went through and the story behind the creation of ‘Effectors’.
However, what was interesting to us was that there was zero mention of Spectrum of the Seas, which was actually the first ship that featured ‘Effectors’ back in 2018. Probably the forgotten child in the fleet.
We also got a preview of the drones used in the Effectors production. They had to create an indoor positioning system just for them.
Effectors II will be available onboard Wonder of the Seas only later in the year.
Brunch at The Mason’s Jar
After the premier, we had the opportunity to try out Mason Jar for the second time this cruise, this time for brunch. We’ve heard a lot of talk about the differing offerings Mason’s Jar has for brunch and dinner. The brunch menu offered a refreshing twist on several southern classic dishes and recipes. We opted for the classic Chicken and Waffles, Southern Breakfast and Spinach and pimento cheese omelette.
There were many other options on the menu that we did not have the chance to try, so we highly recommend you to try both brunch and dinner at the Mason’s Jar if you are sailing onboard Wonder anytime soon.
Shore time!
Our arrival into San Juan was timely, with the ship arriving pier-side exactly at 1pm, and we were cleared 30 minutes later. Arriving into San Juan was a breathtaking experience, sailing directly toward the city and port passing by the old historic monument San Felipe del Morro Castle. Our arrival into the pier was also met with some fanfare as a water salute greeted our arrival into the pier.
San Juan was an hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time, which is the time zone the ship was on. However, it was interesting to see that we did not do a ship-wide ‘time travel’ to match the local time zone, which is what Royal Caribbean usually does. Everyone was reminded every step along the way to remember the difference.
As San Juan is pretty strict with their COVID health protocols, we were asked to bring along our vaccination records and wear a mask on the pier. We were also required to bring along a government issued photo identification along with our SeaPass cards to return to ship.
After we brought everything, we walked off the gangway and took a quick stroll to Fort Castillo San Cristobal. It provided picturesque views of the city, as well as of our ship. But do take note, the walk involves a steep incline to reach the fort. The entrance fee was USD$10 and was only payable via credit or debit, so make sure you bring one with you!
We returned back to the ship after a quick shopping stop. At the terminal, as expected, we needed to show a photo ID and our SeaPass cards before entering the pier. Apart from your IC for Singaporeans, the digital ID in your SingPass will work just fine. We do not recommend bringing your physical passport off, just in case you lose it ashore.
Dinner at Wonderland
Our dinner is the true definition of a Singaporean slang, “same same, but different”. Having dined at Wonderland on a few ships before, there were no significant changes in the menu, and the quality of food was consistent. However, the presence of ‘Mad Hatter’ brought the dining experience to a whole new level.
He kept us feeling welcomed and was in character throughout our time there. We did notice him doubling up as a waiter at some point in time, but he was mostly walking around welcoming and interacting with guests.
We followed our waiter’s recommendations and she curated the meal for us, with the exception of our mains, in which we chose the braised beef, Chicken & egg and Branzino.
Quick observation: While using the restroom in Wonderland, the water temperature of the sink was burning hot. I almost got scalded and immediately went to inform the host before someone got hurt. Another one of those ‘new ship things’.
Generally it was a good dinner at Wonderland and lived up to our expectations.
Production Show: Voices
Voices is one of the production shows onboard Wonder of the Seas that had been specially put together by recruiting the best 6 singers and dancers of Royal Caribbean’s entertainment repertoire. This show is a fully acapella produced show combining the digital age of ‘zoom’ technology during the pandemic with the authentic voices of the singers and additional cast members, with the majority of the construction and planning of the ship taking place during the pandemic. The acts were a mixture of time pieces from the 50’s, 70’s and 80’s ranging all the way to modern day pop songs, featuring bands such as the Beatles, Journey, U2 and more. All background instrumentals were created with vocal instrumentation.
As today was the opening show, there are still some technical lapses that were spotted by the audience. Additionally, we thought that the pre-show audio track was rather eerie and unfitting for the theme of the show. It almost seemed as though we were waiting in line at a haunted house with that kind of ambient sounds with low voices chanting over the speakers.
Tomorrow is Day 5 and we are at sea! We will arrive in Nassau, Bahamas on the following day.
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