Mediterranean Cruise On Wonder of the Seas

I love sailing with Royal Caribbean, and I love their Oasis class ships. The design of the ship featuring the boardwalk and central park areas are a favourite of mine. Wonder of the Seas had only been launched and I was really excited to experience sailing on the ship but also for my parents and children to experience cruising for the first time.

Sailing from Rome Our ship sailed from Civitavecchia port outside Rome, so we decided to take advantage of its proximity to Rome and fly out 2 nights before the cruise. We stayed in a lovely hotel near the Trevi fountain and took in as many sights as possible. I highly recommend if you have the time to add on some days to visit Rome either before or after your cruise, it is a fabulous city with so many things to do. The morning of the cruise our transfer picked us up from our hotel and drove us to Civitavecchia cruise terminal to check in and board our ship.

Embarkation The cruise terminal in Civitavecchia in Rome is similar to check in at an airport, we arrived around 11am and from taxi drop off to stepping onto the ship took about 20 minutes. Our rooms were ready straight away and we took time to explore the ship and headed to the Windjammer buffet for lunch.

Our Stateroom We booked an Ocean View Balcony Cabin that fits up to 4 people. Our room was spacious enough for all of us and included a king size bed and a pull-out sofa bed. I like to have a balcony cabin, I find it worth the extra cost when the kids are still at the age of needing a daytime nap, while they slept, I was able to have a lovely coffee and ocean views on my balcony. Any room on Wonder is great but I do recommend opting for the ocean view balcony cabin.

What we loved about the ship The ship is like a destination in itself, the sheer size of this ship is magnificent, its beautiful with loads to do and see on board. You walk onto the ship into the spacious royal promenade, and we spent the first couple of hours touring the ship getting familiar with all the different neighbourhoods. It’s hard to pick a favourite area but we spent most of our time by the pool or in the Boardwalk area, the kids loved the Carousel. Central Park is most beautiful at night and some of the best speciality restaurants are in Central Park, Chops Grille is one of the best steakhouse restaurants at sea.

We were a family of three generations in ages ranging from 2 – 56 and each of us loved the ship and the whole cruise holiday experience. My parents or children had never cruised before but felt right at home on Wonder of the seas. My dad was particularly impressed when the next morning we woke up already docked in Naples port and we never felt the ship move, he was amazed at how calm and comfortable cruising was. That is one of the most exciting things about a cruise holiday, you wake up somewhere new each day.

We all loved the food; entertainment and my kids in particular loved all the facilities onboard designed to keep the little sailors entertained. We spent a lot of time by the splash pools on the top deck or in the boardwalk area in the evenings, the mushroom climbing wall was a real hit with them both. The playground on the back of the ships top deck was one of our favourite places to hang out in the evening.

Music and entertainment are constant on this ship, and they had something to suit everyone. My sister and I had a great time in the Karaoke bar, the casino and nightclub one night where we stayed out well past midnight!!! If you love sports, Playmakers sports bar in the boardwalk area has over 30 tv’s showing all types of sports and live matches, they serve a delicious menu of finger food, perfect for watching your favourite football team.

Disembarkation in Barcelona Our sailing started in Rome and ended in Barcelona, on the morning of our last day we were off the ship by 8am and grabbed a taxi to Barcelona airport, disembarkation is easy and straightforward in Barcelona and the transfer time from the port to airport took 25 minutes.

I would highly recommend this ship, Wonder of the Seas is suitable for all ages and tastes, if you would like to chat more about Wonder or any of the Royal Caribbean's ships I would love to hear from you.