Royal Caribbean embraces barbecue for world’s largest cruise ship
Royal Caribbean got the barbecue memo and is bringing some southern sumptuousness to its new ship Wonder of the Seas set to spend time at both Port Everglades and Port Canaveral this year.
The new venue will be called The Mason Jar Southern Restaurant & Bar, and follows a trend that has seen large barbecue venues introduced on recent Norwegian and Carnival ships.
The line touted menu items coming to the new specialty restaurants include baked buttermilk biscuits, jalapeno cornbread, johnnycakes topped with barbecue pulled pork, sweet-tooth cinnamon rolls, fried green tomatoes, southern fried chicken, crab beignets with lump crab dip and shrimp and grits.
Desserts include an array of traditional pies as well as spiked floats and shakes. Those keen on more spirits can partake in more than a dozen American whiskeys among other traditional southern cocktails such as mint juleps and the Mississippi Moonlight, made with blackberry moonshine, blackberries and lemonade.
There will be as the restaurant name suggests, mason jars.
Serving brunch, dinner and latenight bites, the venue will feature family table dining and a bar with a stage for live music.
The move follows several smaller barbecue options from Carnival such as Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ that have evolved into the vast Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse | Brewhouse found first on Carnival Horizon in 2018, but also on Carnival Panorama, new ship Mardi Gras and this year’s Carnival Celebration. Norwegian Cruise Line introduced the first similar high-end barbecue venue when it
debuted Q-Texas Smokehouse on Norwegian Bliss in 2017, and then added to Norwegian Encore and Norwegian Joy.
Wonder of the Seas, which will inherit the title of world’s largest, will have more than 20 drinking and dining venues like the four other Oasis-class ships.
They include Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, adventurous dining option Wonderland, Asian venue Izumi, American steakhouse Chops Grille, American seasonal dishes at 150 Central Park, Johnny Rockets, Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, El Loco Fresh and Cantina Fresca.
The ship was originally tapped to debut in China, but COVID-19 shifted cruise line plans, and now Florida will get it first when it debuts out of Fort Lauderdale in March, then spends April-October in Europe sailing out of Barcelona and Rome, and then takes over duties at Port Canaveral for yearround service in November.
When in Florida, the ship will
sail seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries with stops as the line’s private island Perfect Day at CocoCay.
The ship comes in at 1,188 feet long, 217 feet wide with 18 decks and 2,867 staterooms. It debuts four years after Symphony of the Seas, the current record holder for world’s largest cruise ship. Each ship from 2008’s Oasis to 2009’s Allure of the Seas to 2016’s Harmony and then Symphony have been incrementally heavier in terms of gross tons so that they have been able to hold the moniker of world’s largest cruise ship.
Symphony’s size measures at 228,081 gross tons and has a maximum capacity of 6,680 guests with 2,200 crew. At double capacity, though, the guest count is 5,518 from 2,759 staterooms.
Wonder of the Seas will debut with a gross tonnage of 236,857 but have a 6,988-guest maximum capacity, the highest among all Oasis-class ships.
Wonder of the Seas was built at
the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and is undergoing final construction details ahead of its debut.
Unlike the other four ships in its class, Wonder of the Seas will add one more neighborhood among its design for a total of eight with the introduction of the Suite Class Neighborhood. In it, suite guests will find an elevated Suite Sun Deck with a plunge pool, bar and loungers. The neighborhood will be home to private dining experience Coastal Kitchen serving global dishes, plus the Suite Lounge. Dedicating a large space within the ship that’s exclusive to suite guests is a move similar to MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.
For everyone on board, a new bar called The Vue will offer panoramic vistas from above the pool deck, and at night feature a colorful mosaic canopy.
On the top deck will be a new Wonder Playscape, an open-air kids play area with slides, climbing walls, games, puzzles and an interactive mural activated by touch.
Similar to other Royal ships, the main pool deck will get the Caribbean feel overlay that includes the multi-story bar The Lime & Coconut. It will once again include the three waterslide of The Perfect Storm, a kids waterpark called Splashaway Bay and oodles of unique lounge spaces such as hammocks, in-pool loungers and mini covered casitas.
Like other Oasis-class ships, Wonder of the Seas will still feature the Central Park space in the interior, Boardwalk, Pool & Sports Zone, Entertainment Place, Royal Promenade, Vitality Spa & Fitness Center and Youth Zone. The ship will also have the popular Ultimate Abyss dry slide, zip line, AquaTheater, twin rock-climbing walls, carousel, FlowRider and ice skating rink.
Wonder of the Seas had its first steel cut in April 2019 with its keel-laying in October of that year. It was originally to have debuted this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed construction. The ship successfully completed sea trials in August.
It’s the third Oasis-class ship built at the shipyard, previously known as STX France. The first two ships were built at what was then STX Finland, now known as Meyer Turku.
Wonder of the Seas will hold the world’s largest cruise ship title until a sixth Oasis-class ship, also to be built at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, comes online in 2024.
The Oasis-class ships have a limited number of home ports, first using Port Everglades when Oasis of the Seas debuted, but now regularly sailing from PortMiami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral as well as from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey in 2020.