The wonders of world’s biggest ship - Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas

To give a sense of her scale she is five times the size of, and over twice as long as, the Titanic.

Stepping up the gangway onto the Royal Promenade on deck five, we made our way to a roomy State Cabin on the ninth deck near the stern on the starboard side of the vessel. We were soon tacking for Cuba under the power of four bow thrusters of 7,500 horse power each. As a cruise first-timer I would spend the next day and half at sea getting my bearings.

This colossal vessel can accommodate up to 6,988 guests and 2,300 crew. Though the passenger numbers did not run to that capacity when we sailed, the ship was full of loyal customers relieved that the pall of the pandemic had lifted and they could put to sea again on their favourite cruise line.

During the voyage I caught up with Nick Weir, who will be best known to most readers as the man who took over from our own Roy Walker as the host of ITV’s Catchphrase, in 2000. Mr. Weir is now senior vice president of Entertainment at Royal Caribbean.

He said he was thrilled to be at sea on Wonder after what has been a trying two years.

“It’s a mix of personal relief and professional relief. I am a member of society and I’m as worried about things as much as the next person. So definitely, personally, the fact that we are back in business and rocking and rolling on Wonder is a beautiful thing,” he said.

Like everyone at Royal Caribbean, Mr Weir has supreme faith in the product. Wonder of the Seas is an investment of circa $1billion and was constructed, programmed and recruited for in the midst of a global pandemic. He is proud of what has been achieved.

“If you come to Royal first you cannot go anywhere else. You can do it the other way round.

“We’ll welcome people from other cruise lines because we know we are going to blow their socks off, but if you come to Royal first you are stuck with us because no-one can deliver the level of a vacation experience that we can. It’s just a fact.”

IN PICTURES: Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas - the world’s largest ship

Listening to the Country Crew Trio banging out Willie Nelson, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash numbers in the ship’s southern-themed bourbon bar of an evening I confided to Joe from Georgia that it was my first cruise. “You picked the best one,” he reckoned.

I grew to learn he was probably right as I explored the bewildering array of activities, eateries, bars, entertainment options and many other attractions on board this floating pleasure dome.

When invited to review Wonder I’ll admit the ports of call of Labadie, Haiti, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Nassau in the Bahamas, were more of a draw than the idea of the cruise ship itself.

Yet with eight different neighbourhoods, a pool deck with four different pools, a zip line, a rock climbing wall, football courts, a jogging track, several slides, 20 different dining options, at least a dozen bars, a casino, a karaoke centre, a central park and garden, a boardwalk, a surf machine and numerous top quality theatre spaces, it was hard not to get happily lost on this city at sea.

Sailing within swimming distance of the Sabana-Camagüey islands on the north Cuban coast we steamed on towards Cap-Haïtien, arriving at Royal Carribean’s private resort at Labadie shortly after dawn on the Sunday morning.

Disembarking passengers were greeted by the sounds and sights of méringue and traditional Haitian drumming and dance before they set off to explore the tropical paradise thereabouts.

The more adventurous braved the Dragon’s Breath zip line which runs precipitously from a bluff several hundred metres above Labadie and offers breathtaking views of the beach and bay.

There is also the Dragon Coaster, a partly self-controlled rollercoaster featuring cars with their own braking mechanisms which will appeal to those in search of adrenalin-propulsing thrills.

Gérard, a local tour guide, offers a more sedate experience.

He took guests on a fascinating walking tour of the area, describing some of the local lore and history. This includes an account of the glorious Haitian revolution when slaves rebelled and overthrew their bonds and French colonial rule.

The revolt was led by Jean-Jacques Dessaline in the early 1800s. Dessaline was born about 30 kilometres south of Labadie. Gérard also explained how the old vodou rites are still very much adhered to, particularly among the elder generation in Cap-Haitien.

He told of a vodou deity or lwa which takes the form of a snake and is still invoked by locals at a headland at the resort. Fascinating altogether.

It should be stressed, however, that this was not Haiti proper. Most governments still advise against all travel to the country following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last July. It’s perfectly safe though. The resort is tightly secured and cruise line guests are not permitted to leave.

We bade farewell to Haiti mid-afternoon and sailed east along the north coast of Hispaniola. I watched the lights of the Dominican Republic as we cruised by from my State Cabin balcony. Next stop Puerto Rico.

After an enjoyable evening spent in Boleros, one of the ship’s many watering holes, listening to Travesia, its Latin house band, blasting out classic salsa, cumbia and rumba we arrived in San Juan. The ship’s berth was perfect, only a few minutes from the old town around which we had the whole day to wander.

Dandering down the Paseo de la Princesa and around by the city walls we turned right into the old town through the Puerta de San Juan. Old San Juan gives the traveller a real sense of why Cuba and Puerto Rico are sometimes referred to as sister islands.

The Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista, the second-oldest in the Americas in which are interred the remains of Ponce de León who founded the city in the 1500s, is a must-see.

Down at the Plaza de Armas you can admire the beautiful Casa Alcaldía de San Juan, the city hall which was built in the Spanish colonial-style in the 1600s and 1700s.

Unfortunately, La Fortaleza, the former governors’ residence, was not accessible when we visited, nor had we time to visit San Felipe del Morro Castle, an old battery on the far northwestern tip of the isle of San Juan, though we had had a perfect view of the fortification when we sailed into the city earlier in the day.

The march around the town had fairly whetted the appetite and thus we adjourned to Barrachina a famous bar and restaurant where it is reputed traditional Spanish bartender Don Ramon Portas Mingot invented the Piña Colada in 1963.

The place specialises in Puerto Rican and Iberian cuisine. I attempted the shrimp sautéed in alioli and the grouper fritters, breaded with coconut and served with pico de gallo and tartar sauce.

Fully sated we stopped at some of the lively hostelries around the north of the old town for a bit of beer shopping before heading back to Wonder of the Seas for the next leg of the voyage.

Having reached the eastern limit of the Greater Antilles it was time to turn round and make the lengthy trip back up towards the Bahamas.

*The voyage continues next week......