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ShipsRoyal CaribbeanWonder of the Seas Review: Royal Caribbean's Newest and Largest Cruise Ship

Wonder of the Seas Review: Royal Caribbean’s Newest and Largest Cruise Ship

Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Wonder of the Seas, is the largest cruise ship ever built and the cruise line’s fifth Oasis class vessel.  The ship is six times larger than the Titanic and carries up to 9,300 passengers and crew members.

I recently had the opportunity to sail on the maiden voyage as guest of Royal Caribbean to check out everything that this new cruise ship has to offer.  What is on the world’s largest cruise ship? A few things that you’ll find on this ship are:

  • Eight different neighborhoods
  • Over 20 dining options
  • Ice skating rink
  • Theatre and Aqua Theatre
  • Pool deck with waterslides and three pools
  • Park with real trees and plants
  • Robot bartenders
  • Bar that rises three decks
  • Casino
  • 10 story slide
  • Carousel
  • Zip line
  • Mini-golf course
  • Two rock climbing walls
  • Flowrider
  • View Prices on Cruises on Wonder of the Seas

What were my initial thoughts after walking off the ship at the end of the week?  This just might be the perfect cruise ship for families and for those who want the mega cruise experience.

Here are my thoughts and review of Wonder of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship.

Embarkation/Debarkation – This is one area where Royal Caribbean really stands out from other cruise lines. Embarkation was a total breeze, even though over 4,000 passengers were boarding the ship that day.  Since I had an early flight into FLL, I arrived a bit early at the terminal. Because of that, there was maybe a 10 minute wait after checking in before I could board Wonder of the Seas.

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As long as you complete the check-in process through Royal Caribbean’s App, you should breeze right through embarkation.

Debarkation was quicker than ever and I carried all my luggage off myself. I think I went from ship to curb in around 5 minutes.  I literally never stopped walking from the time I scanned my card to get off the ship until I was outside the terminal. The new machines that scan your face for customs have really eliminated most lines when getting off the ship.

Cabin – I stayed in an oceanview balcony cabin on Deck 6. I loved the number of power outlets the cabin had including on each side of the bed. Overall, the cabin had everything that I needed for a week long cruise and I had zero complaints about it. It was clean, comfortable, and roomy (for a cruise ship cabin).

You can watch a short two minute video tour of my cabin below:

Crew – On every maiden voyage, there are always a few hiccups since the staff is on a brand new cruise ship. However, I can’t say enough good things about the staff on Wonder of the Seas.  Several of them remembered my name from day 1 and I was always greeted with a friendly smile and hello.

Restaurants/Food – The world’s largest cruise ship comes with a plethora of dining options. You can find the world’s largest Windjammer buffet and a nice variety of complimentary and specialty dining options. There are places to eat all around the ship.

One new restaurant that Royal Caribbean added on Wonder of the Seas is The Mason Jar Southern Restaurant.  I tried out this new dining hotspot for brunch and it was my favorite meal of the cruise since I love southern and comfort food.  You can see photos and the brunch menu below.  Everyone at our table was raving about it.




There is also Chops Grille (steakhouse), Hooked (seafood), Izumi Sushi and Teppanyaki, Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen, Wonderland (truly unique dining experience), and 150 Central Park. I ate at 150 Central Park on the first night of the cruise and it’s the ship’s upscale specialty restaurant.  I thought the food was good but the portions were a bit small for the extra price. I did love the setting in Central Park though.

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Ship – Yes, Wonder of the Seas is the largest cruise ship ever built.  We sailed at around 75% capacity and the ship never even came close to feeling like I was crowded.  I have sailed on Oasis class ships before at full capacity and always felt the same way.  Even though the ship carries over 6,000 passengers, there are so many public places that you never really feel crowded unless a show was just getting out.

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Family Area – Royal Caribbean added something that I’ve never before seen on a cruise ship. In the place of one of the Flowriders, they have a new family playground where parents can play with their kids.  This is an unsupervised area but something I would really enjoy if I cruised with my family.

Solarium – The Solarium at the front of the ship quickly became my one of my favorite spots on board. I really love how Royal Caribbean completely enclosed this area so you can enjoy it no matter what the weather is.  They can heat it when it’s cool and turn the air conditioning on when sailing to the Caribbean in the summer months.

The Solarium also has a large hot tub with glass walls overlooking the ship.  I mean, how cool is this?

Boardwalk/Central Park – If you have never sailed on one of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class cruise ships, there are two areas of the ship that are unlike anything else offered at sea.

Central Park is located on Deck 8 midship and is full of real trees and plants. There are several restaurants and shops in this area.  This is quickly became my favorite area of the ship at night and it felt like I wasn’t even on a cruise ship. It was so peaceful, it’s the perfect area to sit back and enjoy a drink or to enjoy one of the ship’s specialty dining options.

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Boardwalk is located at the aft on Wonder of the Seas and has all the vibes of Coney Island.  There’s a carousel, huge sports bar, a Johnny Rockets, candy store, hot dog stand, and the Aqua Theatre.

View Prices on Cruises on Wonder of the Seas

The Aqua Theatre offers unique water, light, and diving shows.  It’s really incredible the shows that Royal Caribbean puts on in this area and something you won’t find on any other class of cruise ship in the world.

Entertainment – Royal Caribbean offers shows in three different parts of the ship.  They have the standard main theatre shows, ice skating shows in Studio B (Yes, there’s an ice skating rink on board), and in the Aqua Theatre.  They also brought on several comedians throughout the cruise.

There really is something for everyone including laser tag.

Itinerary – Our cruise left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and visited San Juan, Nassau, and the cruise line’s two private cruise ports/islands, Labadee and CocoCay.  Having a cruise that visited both Labadee and CocoCay was really nice.

I did the zipline on Labadee and it was the highlight of my day.  It’s the longest over the water zipline in the world and I can’t wait to do it again on my next visit there.

You can watch a video of me going down the zipline below.

Tips

Here are a few tips that I want to share with you that I learned after my week onboard Wonder of the Seas.

If you have a beverage package, Starbucks is not included with it. However, you can get a specialty coffee at Cafe Promenade that is included in the beverage packages (deluxe and refreshment). They even use Starbucks coffee beans and you can get cappuccinos, mochas, lattes etc.

I discovered the Park Cafe for breakfast near the end of the cruise and I wish I had found it earlier.

The Bionic Bar, robots that make drinks, has a nice selection of non-alcoholic drinks that you can order.

The WiFi was good, it did go out a few times for a couple minutes but I was able to work all week on it without any problems.

Royal Caribbean added a TV screen on the pool deck for the first time on an Oasis class ship.  The best spot to watch the TV is by the Astronaut.

Speaking of Astronauts, there are three of them around the ship.  I hope you have fun trying to find them on your cruise.

Since the ship was originally scheduled to sail in Asia, there is a Karaoke room that was a lot of fun at night.

In the spa, there is a juice bar that is included with beverage packages.

At night, there is live music all around the ship including at Boleros, Schooner Bar, Mason Jar, Central Park, and Music Hall.

I loved Wonder of the Seas so much, I am looking at booking my family on the ship sometime this year. As I said earlier, it’s pretty much the perfect cruise ship for families.

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Ben Souza
Ben Souza
Ben is a world traveler who has visited 40+ countries, taken over 70 cruises, and flown nearly one million miles. He is one of USA TODAY's experts for their 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. His writings have appeared and been cited in various media outlets such as Yahoo News, MSN, NPR, Drudge Report, CNN, Fox, and ABC News. Ben currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Follow Ben on Instagram. Visit Ben Souza on Linkedin. You may email Ben at [email protected].
ShipsRoyal CaribbeanWonder of the Seas Review: Royal Caribbean's Newest and Largest Cruise Ship
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