Wonder of the Seas: What entertainment and shows are on the world’s biggest cruise ship?

Royal Caribbean cruise line has become well known for its spectacular and lavish entertainment offerings over the years as its strives to be the biggest and the best.

And the biggest is certainly what new cruise ship Wonder of the Seas is – it’s a whopping 362m long – that’s nearly four Big Bens – and 64m wide – the equivalent of roughly three cricket pitches!

The entertainment is just as staggering – Royal Caribbean has all but gone, if you’ll forgive the pun, overboard, in a good way.

On this latest ship there are four brand new jaw-dropping productions featured across the four signature and high-tech “stages,” air, ice, stage and water.

Incredibly, Royal Caribbean’s amusement arm is one of the biggest entertainment machines in the world. The popular brand auditions over 27,000 people every year for entertainment roles on its ships!

Wonder of the Seas alone boasts the talent of more than 100 world-class performers and technicians. Check out what amazing sights and sounds you can expect from these guys onboard, they’re pretty (wait for it) wonderful…

Wonder of the Seas entertainment & shows

Move over Jason Momoa, the acquawomen are here

Sisters are well and truly doin’ it for themselves in inTENse – an athletic show at the AquaTheater starring an all-female cast. The troupe showcases incredible feats of athleticism in this one-of-a-kind, open-air amphitheatre, home to the deepest pool at sea. Talk about making a splash (sorry).

Expect Olympic-level dives from as high as 55 feet, slacklining acts, tumbling and aerial acrobatics to a backdrop of inspiring lighting and sound. No, you won’t leave disappointed by this energetic, high-octane performance, yes, you might depart depressed that you can’t even do a proper handstand. Have a beer to make yourself feel better; hey, you can always try a tumble turn in the pool tomorrow.

The Sound of Music (at sea with no Alps)

Voices: An Intimate Performance on a Grand Scale is an all-new style of musical production. Held in the Royal Theater, the Wonder of the Seas show brings together the 21st-century world of virtual communication with the vivid power of live performances. Expect music, singing and dancing. Don’t expect Julie Andrews.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!

Well technically it’s not Superman, but Royal Caribbean does have its very own quartet of superheroes dubbed The Effectors – Captain Viz, Lume, Pixel and Reverb – for this dramatic slice of Wonder of the Seas entertainment.

See them for yourself in the Royal Theater as the four engage in a high-tech battle with archnemesis Crash and his new sidekick Burn. OK so they can’t fly unaided, teleport or grow spiderwebs from their fingers but they can bring together raw artistic talent, performance skills and the unlimited power of creativity to wow their audiences. Nice one.

According to the cruise line, The Effectors II: Crash ‘n’ Burn features trailblazing applications of autonomous technology pioneered by Royal Caribbean. We’ll bet you two mojitos that good conquers evil in the end.

Dancing on ice but all year round

We all know that seasons change (hooray, summer is finally here! Bother, where’s the factor 50?) but have you ever seen this told through the artistic movement of champion ice skaters? We thought not.

This novel show, called 365: The Seasons on Ice, takes place in Studio B, a multipurpose studio complex. Watch fall change to winter in the venue as performers embody the flow of time complemented by innovative projection mapping, colorful lighting and images, and sound. Hugely impressive but probably not one worth replicating at home. Spray-on snow and bits of cotton wool to the soundtrack of Mariah just won’t cut it.

A pool party can’t solve everything, but it’s a good start

OK, so this is more low key but it does involve active drinking which is always fun. The Lime & Coconut bars on the pool deck offer Caribbean music, DJs and surprise performances throughout the day so soak up that vacation feeling and shake that booty; it’s not just the pro dancers that should hog all the attention.

Do rock the boat

Take in live performances at the Music Hall every night. Look forward to tribute bands, a jazz ensemble and the Royal Caribbean house band, to name a few acts, and pop those dancing shoes on.

They see me rollin’

A live pianist onboard Wonder of the Seas quite literally rolls with the homies in this act. The Stowaway Piano is a Royal Caribbean fan-favourite and sees the piano moving around the ship striking up new and exciting takes on classic tunes.

Eat, drink and be merry

A selection of venues onboard offer live music so you’ll never be far from a knees-up thanks to Wonder of the Seas entertainment even if you don’t fancy an all-out show. There’s live country music at The Mason Jar Southern Restaurant & Bar, a six-piece band playing salsa, cumbia, merengue, samba and more at Boleros Lounge, acoustic performances at English pub, Cask & Clipper and piano performers in the signature Schooner Bar.

Tell you what, you don’t get anything anywhere near as exciting as all this in one Big Ben, never mind four. And don’t get us started on cricket pitches…