TheHawk1

The seating area of El Loco Fresh on Wonder has been expanded from what's available on Symphony, which is great for having lunch. It is one of the better self-serve restaurants on board. The bar right beside it, Cantina Fresca, has the best frozen margaritas. Too bad this isn't available on Symphony.

Sorry, but this is just something foodies say to others who they consider to be less sophisticated. For example, there are lots of appetizers in Luminae where the description is either carpaccio or tartare. No matter how they try and dress it up, I’m not expanding my palette to eat anything raw. I sympathize with the OP, in that I’ve also perused the Luminae menu in advance of my upcoming first Retreat sailing on Edge and there are more dishes on the MDR menu that I would probably enjoy instead. I’m hoping the suite restaurant experience doesn’t turn out to be a disappointment.

Compared to the airplane you take to get your cruise, a paper pamphlet in your cabin every evening is hardly bad for the environment. I'd prefer they continue the paper format.

I was talking passengers only, not crew.

One other change I saw on Wonder which was not a positive. On other Oasis ships, the Library contained a couple of internet connected PC's, which passengers could use free of charge. They were very useful if you wanted to check on your flight home or your email, for those who don't have onboard internet. On Wonder, these have been removed and the Library is just a game room, nothing more. One more example of Royal taking away a free perk and pushing passengers into purchasing something for a fee, in this case their Voom service.

Just got off two weeks ago and was told by crew member that there were only 5,000 on board, which is approx 1,000 less than it can carry. It carries more passengers than other Oasis class ships. Pool area and restaurants seemed very busy with just this number of passengers, so would hate to see it at full capacity, which it was most of the summer from what I heard.

Oh please, all of this paper is completely recyclable. This is not saving the planet, only saving cruise lines money.

Was on the Wonder of the Seas two weeks ago when they announced this was the first cruise where they were going green with the electronic version of Compass. You download it from the app as a PDF, but then you have to spend time scrolling around the document (it's not page formatted) and zooming in to read it. It was horrible. I asked our attendant for the old paper copy and he happily obliged for the rest of the cruise. Not sure how long they will continue to provide hard copies, but this push by cruise lines to force you to use your phone for everything while on vacation is just plain annoying.

I’m booking a year out and still high prices even with many veranda cabins to choose from. However the itinerary on Reflection is much better than Edge or other sailings. May just have to grin and bear it. Doesn’t look like there will be any cruise bargains for awhile.

Our cruise a couple weeks back the CD told us this was the first time Wonder was going even more green and eliminating the paper compass. You have to download it off the app and then move it around on your screen to see the various sections. I tried one night of staring at my phone to see what was happening that evening and gave up. And no, I’m not technically challenged, I work in IT. I asked our attendant for paper copies for the rest of the cruise and he happily obliged. I’m tired of Royal pushing us to use our phones for everything while on vacation. Enough already.

Curious what you thought of the pricing for 2023 Med cruise compared to what you paid for your recent cruise? I was looking at Reflection for next September as well and thought the pricing seems to have increased quite a lot, especially with the change back to Cruise Only or All Inclusive options?

Agree with everything you said, except for Effectors 2. For me, it was just a cartoonish bore.

The people who book at the start of their cruise can be just as much of a no-show as those who previously booked weeks/months in advance. Hardly an argument for not going back to the way show bookings used to be handled.

What a relief that all the suite passengers will still be taken care of. Too bad for the rest of us.

I like to take the total price and calculate the per day cost, so that I'm comparing apples to apples on different deals. I was pricing out 2023 cruises based on the current "sale". Using the cruise only price, (no beverage package, no internet, but I included gratuities), a standard balcony cabin on an older S class ship is going for $750 CAD per day. I compare that to a cruise I just finished 2 weeks ago, on the brand new Royal Wonder of the Seas for a large balcony cabin, where my cost was only $600 per day. Cruising is definitely no longer the bargain vacation that it used to be.

Good to know that Royal is customer-focused as usual.

Curious about the cabins at the very end of the corridor, adjacent to the aft sunrise verandah cabins, eg. 8345. They have a larger balcony than a standard cabin, but are they as large the 1A cabins on the hump?

Good to know. As long as the 2017 updated included new beds, carpeting, etc., rather than just a coat of paint? I saw some earlier comments on here that the furnishings weren't that great. Apart from the lack of a revolutionized Retreat area, this would change my opinion on whether to choose her for a sailing or not. Thanks.

While I appreciate your comments, I'm having a hard time believing that a ship that's ten years old and has not had any major refurbishment is still in "great shape"? I was considering a cruise on the Reflection for the 2023 European season, but I'm not sure I want to pay the price they're charging for a ship that hasn't seen any upgrades. This would push me into choosing a newer E class ship, even if the itinerary is not as interesting.

One side of the deck is. The other side is just lounge chairs available for anyone to use them.

Any news on when Reflection might be getting its refurbishment? This would address a lot of the issues with the lack of a Retreat area. However, searched online and can't seem to find any definite dry dock date.

I was thinking the same thing. The most popular shows, ice skating and aqua theatre, don't require any speaking parts. This works well for the European cruise I was on, since a percentage of the passengers probably didn't speak English. I believe Royal saves money by not having to pay royalties on Broadway musicals if they create their own shows instead. Case in point, the Effectors II, which was the most juvenile thing I have ever seen on a cruise ship... no amount of special effects was going to save that hot mess.

Sounds a bit like you're making excuses for Royal. For years, since the introduction of Oasis, you could pre-book all your shows prior to sailing on the cruise planner, just like dining reservations. Shows get cancelled and re-scheduled all the time for a particular sailing, especially the Aqua shows due to weather. Even in pre-Covid times, the Entertainment team on board were able to manage the changes. Not sure what has changed now that they can no longer handle this approach?

No, but I could see it 😀. It's hard to miss right in the middle of the ship now.

Maybe square footage is smaller? But it certainly feels larger since you can walk around the two sides of the deck as well as the back for seating space.