Wonder of the Seas Live Blog – Day 4 – San Juan

Today is the fourth day of Wonder of the Seas’ maiden voyage. I (Jenna) are supporting Matt’s live blog for the rest of the cruise, and look forward to continuing to learn about the ship and the ports of call throughout the week.

I started my morning by finishing our comprehensive Wonder of the Seas ship tour. Have you seen yet? Be sure to check it out on our YouTube channel for an in-depth tour and ship guide.

Today’s breakfast was a highly anticipated event: brunch at The Mason Jar. I had enjoyed dinner at the Mason Jar earlier in the sail, but the brunch menu was something I was really looking forward to trying.

Before eating, I attended a cocktail demo where we got to learn about the full list of new cocktails available at the Mason Jar.

A wide selection of new cocktails are available, from Mississippi Moonlight to PB&J Old Fashioned and Mint Julep. The menu also includes a few dessert cocktails, like the All Shook-Up milkshake with peanut butter whiskey and banana cream rum, and ice cream and soda floats. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic floats are available.

The brunch menu is divided into savory and sweet options, and each meal begins with an appetizer of Jalapeño cornbread and Pimento cheese and Saltines.

My first thought when our brunch entrees were brought to the table was WOW! I ordered the Red Velvet pancakes topped with cream cheese frosting. Other table members ordered Meemaw’s Fried Chicken N’ Waffles and the Sweet-Tooth Cinnamon Roll.

I enjoyed my dinner at the Mason Jar, but since I really like breakfast food, brunch has definitely been a highlight of my cruise so far.

I watched Wonder of the Seas sail to San Juan while visiting the Suite neighborhood. We arrived in Puerto Rico at 1pm and the boat didn’t leave until 9pm. It was my first time spending an evening at the port, so I was excited to explore the city day and night.

After catching up on work, we disembarked from the ship around 4 p.m. As we walked down the pier, a reader from the Royal Caribbean Blog came up to us and said we had to try the pastries from the baker at the end of the pier. He sells homemade pastries out of the back of his car, and the guava and cheese pastry was a great pick-me-up before exploring San Juan.

Although I have been to San Juan before, I had never been here for a cruise and was pleased to find out how convenient it is as a cruise port. Wonder of the Seas was moored in the heart of Old San Juan, so the entire historic area is within easy walking distance.

The breezy afternoon weather was perfect for strolling and we spent time strolling the colorful cobbled streets of the town.

As the sun approached, we grabbed a drink and walked along the sidewalk toward El Morro, a historic citadel on the edge of Old San Juan. El Morro is surrounded by spacious greenery, which makes for pleasant people watching.

We continued our walk along Paseo de la Princesa, a waterfront promenade that borders the historic walls once used to protect the city.

As the sun set, we walked to La Factoría, a local restaurant and bar in Old San Juan. This unassuming place in a corner with no signage turned out to be a great choice for dinner and drinks.

The menu focuses more on small bites than large entrees, and we enjoyed the fish tacos and almojábanas, a type of cheese bread found throughout Latin America.

It was nice to be able to spend an evening in port rather than on the boat. Since it’s not very common on cruise itineraries, I enjoyed dining at a local spot and wandering the city streets at night.

Back on board, I went to the AquaTheater for the inTENse showcase. This is AquaTheater’s first show with an all-female cast. While the full show itself isn’t ready yet (the cast just boarded a few weeks ago), a showcase is underway this week featuring bits and pieces from the show.

When we left San Juan the seas were quite choppy so the presentation was cut short to a brief segment. What I saw, however, was spectacular, so I’m excited to see the rest of the showcase later this week. Our show reservations have been automatically moved to Thursday evening, when we should encounter better weather conditions.

I called him one night after the AquaTheater performance to rest for a full day at sea tomorrow.

Spurious observations

In the Royal Promenade today were some of the sets from Anchor Aweigh, an upcoming parade on the Royal Promenade. Although the parade isn’t ready for this week yet, it looks like it will be an interesting thing to see on future crossings.