Disney Wonder

My wife got back yesterday from a five night cruise on this ship with her grand daughter and adult daughter. I didn't go, but rely on my wife's comments, as we are seasoned cruisers.They had a suite on this cruise. The activities were perfect for the six year old grand daughter. But there seemed to be few "special activities" geared to little boys. The food was better than she expected and the concierge service was better that she experienced on real lux lines. Oddly, there were no drink packages offered, but there was a separate open bar for suite guests. One thing that was a bit tacky were the tip envelopes on the bed on the last night, given the fact that the tips were pre-paid. Perhaps just an error. Grand daughter had the time of her life, and that is what this cruise was all about.

My wife got back yesterday from a five night cruise on this ship with her grand daughter and adult daughter. I didn't go, but rely on my wife's comments, as we are seasoned cruisers.They had a suite on this cruise. The activities were perfect for the six year old grand daughter. But there seemed to be few "special activities" geared to little boys. The food was better than she expected and the concierge service was better that she experienced on real lux lines. Oddly, there were no drink packages offered, but there was a separate open bar for suite guests. One thing that was a bit tacky were the tip envelopes on the bed on the last night, given the fact that the tips were pre-paid. Perhaps just an error. Grand daughter had the time of her life, and that is what this cruise was all about.

DCL doesn't have drink packages like other cruise lines. The closest is the wine package, or the beer mug.

While DCL does add gratuities automatically to the onboard account, they leave tips envelopes and a gratuity coupon sheet in guest rooms at the end of the cruise. As a nod to "that's how tipping used to be done onboard". You tear off the coupon and put in in the corresponding envelope to hand to your servers/room host.

Exactly as above--DCL doesn't sell drink packages. The soda is included in the cost of a cruise, they have a coffee "punch card," a beer "buy a mug, get a large for the price of a regular", and two different wine package options. Since they were in a suite, they also had complimentary alcohol during the "happy hour" periods in the suite as well as smoothies and virgin drinks during those times.

DCL handles tips differently than some other lines. If you do nothing, the suggested amount is added to your account. As above, you receive tip coupons along with the envelopes. The idea is that you place the coupon in the envelope and hand it to the appropriate individual. Whether you add any additional to the envelope is totally up to you; the coupon serves as a check and balance system for the crew. Unlike many other lines, DCL does not pool the suggested tips. The amount you charge is the amount that the individual who served you actually receives. DCL also does not increase the "suggested tips" in suites or concierge cabins. My person opinion is that the stateroom host in a suite deserves more than the standard as he/she is cleaning a larger area and often 2 full bathrooms.

Activities are stratifies by "suggested" ages, but any child is welcome to participate in any activity. There are no activities specified for girls or for boys.

moki'smommy,

You are correct that DCL does not specify activities for girls or for boys. But for grand daughter, they found activities where children dressed up like princesses and such in which boys wouldn't want to participate. Some of the parents of little boys complained there weren't sufficient activities that were geared toward boys. Few boys want to dress up like a princess! I looked over the activities myself, and couldn't find much geared to boys either. Wasn't a problem for my grand daughter (who isn't a boy). I just mentioned this so that parents of little boys might check the activities to ensure they are adequate for their little boys. On this cruise, activities geared for little girls were great, but some parents of little boys complained.

As far as the tip envelopes are concerned, we have cruised in MSC's Yacht Club, Celebrity's suite class, Regent, and Silversea. On all of these, tips were included in the fare, and no tip envelopes appeared. And that is why we thought it a bit strange on DCL. I know the "tip envelope" system is the "way it used to be done" on some cruise lines, but is being abandoned by most "due to popular demand".

moki'smommy,

 

You are correct that DCL does not specify activities for girls or for boys. But for grand daughter, they found activities where children dressed up like princesses and such in which boys wouldn't want to participate. Some of the parents of little boys complained there weren't sufficient activities that were geared toward boys. Few boys want to dress up like a princess! I looked over the activities myself, and couldn't find much geared to boys either. Wasn't a problem for my grand daughter (who isn't a boy). I just mentioned this so that parents of little boys might check the activities to ensure they are adequate for their little boys. On this cruise, activities geared for little girls were great, but some parents of little boys complained.

 

As far as the tip envelopes are concerned, we have cruised in MSC's Yacht Club, Celebrity's suite class, Regent, and Silversea. On all of these, tips were included in the fare, and no tip envelopes appeared. And that is why we thought it a bit strange on DCL. I know the "tip envelope" system is the "way it used to be done" on some cruise lines, but is being abandoned by most "due to popular demand".

Unlike most other cruise lines, the auto gratuity on DCL is just that tips that go directly to the person intended.

Some other cruise lines have a "Hotel Service Charge" that's automatically added, and in most cases cannot be reduced. On DCL gratuities can be reduced or removed as the passenger wishes. The auto-charge for gratuities is a courtesy.

I can see that boys don't want to dress up like princesses, but what about superheros? The Magic has "Marvel Academy" in the Oceaneer's Club, which is a huge hit with little boys and their dads. On most ships there is an area in the OC with computers, a place with slides and such, an area with tables and such things as coloring supplies, etc. We were sorry to see the Peter Pan ship area disappear during one of the dry docks, but this happens. I don't know whether it is still there, but there used to be an area with Legos and kinex building supplies. There are tons of things to do in the OC! There are many "rooms" within the Oceaneer's Club. Only one of those is devoted to dress up costumes.

I do see your point, but they need to look at the other areas. There's plenty to do!

Yes, that "superhero" event sounds great for boys. I could be wrong, but I don't think they had such an event on the 5 night cruise on the Wonder. And if they did, many parents of boys didn't know about it. But I totally agree -- that is a great event for boys.

I have a 7 year old boy and did the Wonder, December of 2016 and the Magic, February of 2018 and he had no problems finding things to do at the clubs. Actually, we couldn't get him to leave. (Wife and I got to do a lot more adult stuff)

What I was most disappointed with is all the stupid "open houses" during the last two days of the cruise. What's the point of those? If you haven't checked it out over the first couple of days of the cruise, are you really going to check it out the day or two before you leave and not utilized it?

 

What I was most disappointed with is all the stupid "open houses" during the last two days of the cruise. What's the point of those? If you haven't checked it out over the first couple of days of the cruise, are you really going to check it out the day or two before you leave and not utilized it?

The point of the open house is to allow a chance for parents to enjoy the space with their children, whether the children are of the designated age or not, to allow siblings of various ages to enjoy time together, to allow adults without children to see the space, and, as implied above, to "check it out" for kid drop off later in the week.

There are people who want to bring in a 2 year old to play (with parental supervision), or a 6 year old who wants to "show off" his space to his 13 year old sib. Those things don't change regardless of how far into the cruise people may be. Particularly because of the option for parents to play with their children or whatever age, there is at least an hour of open house time each day.

Kids who are dropped off are simply moved to the opposite area and may continue in "secure programming" during open house times. I realize that a 3 year old doesn't fit well in the Lab area, but parents do not have to remove kids during open house times. Secure programming continues. It is just part of DCL's effort to fit the needs of all families.

I have a 7 year old boy and did the Wonder, December of 2016 and the Magic, February of 2018 and he had no problems finding things to do at the clubs. Actually, we couldn't get him to leave. (Wife and I got to do a lot more adult stuff)

 

What I was most disappointed with is all the stupid "open houses" during the last two days of the cruise. What's the point of those? If you haven't checked it out over the first couple of days of the cruise, are you really going to check it out the day or two before you leave and not utilized it?

the open houses are also for children who won't stay in the clubs on their own..

it enables them to experience the club activities together with their parents..

there are two clubs for younger kids (non-teens)....

when one is having an open house, the other has regular activities (closed secured programming)...

personally, i think it was a great change.. (dcl didn't originally offer this)...

.

I’m going out of town for a bit so my husband thought it might be fun to take our six year old son on a cruise while I’m away. Are there many activities for parents and kids to do together? Most of what I’ve seen has been separate activities for adults and kids, which would leave them both alone.