Wonderland Questions

[chiguypaul]

I'll be on the Harmony in a few weeks and trying to figure out if Wonderland is worth the money. I tend not to splurge on speciality dining, but I think my kids, who has sophisticated palates, would enjoy the experience of Wonderland.

 

My biggest concern is that I would want to try as many of the items as possible with my family and it sounds like you're limited to what is brought out to you. Is that right?

 

Thanks,

Paul

[Ourusualbeach]

They will bring you tons of food. Don't worry about missing out on something. 

 

Just let them know. 

Edited December 9, 2018 by Ourusualbeach

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

They will bring you tons of food. Don't worry about missing out on something. 

 

Just let them know. 

 

Our waiter ordered for us. Said it was best to be surprised.  It was awful, we wont give them a second chance.

 

A couple of items were tasty, it's just the pompous experience that ruined the meal.

 

The entrees were really bad.  

[Iamcruzin]

My son experienced Wonderland on Anthem. He told me that the waitsaff  didn't even take an order. They just brought everything. If they saw that you liked something in particular they brought out a second helping without being asked. We don't normally book specialty restaurants but we are booking Wonderland even at the high price because It has entertainment value that you don't received in the other restaurants and it's something that you can't experience at home.

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Our waiter ordered for us. Said it was best to be surprised.  It was awful, we wont give them a second chance.

 

A couple of items were tasty, it's just the pompous experience that ruined the meal.

 

The entrees were really bad.  

In our case we loved it. Even my user picky 16yo daughter. 

 

I agree that it is one of those live it or hate it places. 

[John&LaLa]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

In our case we loved it. Even my user picky 16yo daughter. 

 

I agree that it is one of those live it or hate it places. 

 

Did you order what you wanted?

 

Did your waiter describe the dish? Ours really didn't want to explain the dish.  Really hung up on the surprise of the presentation.

 

Also, he 'interviewed' us to learn our likes and dislikes.  I told him I dont care for avocado.  Guess what, he brought the avocado cones. 

 

My advice to others is give it a try, just dont let the waiter control the process.

[Iamcruzin]

11 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

 

Also, he 'interviewed' us to learn our likes and dislikes.  I told him I dont care for avocado.  Guess what, he brought the avocado cones. 

 

 

If I didn't know better I would say that it was my mother who took your order.

[Ourusualbeach]

38 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Did you order what you wanted?

 

Did your waiter describe the dish? Ours really didn't want to explain the dish.  Really hung up on the surprise of the presentation.

 

Also, he 'interviewed' us to learn our likes and dislikes.  I told him I dont care for avocado.  Guess what, he brought the avocado cones. 

 

My advice to others is give it a try, just dont let the waiter control the process.

 

Sounds like our experience except he didn’t bring what we didn’t like.

[JAMESCC]

I was reluctant to try this, because it just seemed weird, but actually did it on our first night on Anthem. Ended up absolutely loving it. Found it fun, and different. It was a nice way to start our cruise. A fun food adventure to start our cruise. Our son was on 4 at the time so he has mac and cheese but mt wife and I had fun with it. Would definitely do it again.

[reallyitsmema]

2 hours ago, chiguypaul said:

I'll be on the Harmony in a few weeks and trying to figure out if Wonderland is worth the money. I tend not to splurge on speciality dining, but I think my kids, who has sophisticated palates, would enjoy the experience of Wonderland.

 

My biggest concern is that I would want to try as many of the items as possible with my family and it sounds like you're limited to what is brought out to you. Is that right?

 

Thanks,

Paul

 

We really thought it was worth the experience when we did it on Anthem.  We let our waiter choose our courses, he brought us 13 different items, to go with the theme.  He explained each item and how he suggested we should eat it.  Of the 13, we only didn't like one thing.  He brought 3 entrees, which was way too much for the two of us, but all 3 were excellent.

 

Don't let any of the opinions on here drive your decision.  Give it a shot and see what you think.  We are glad that we did it the way the waiter suggested, by now we would go back and order differently since we have tried most of the menu.  Some things were good, but I don't need to try them again, others, like the crab cones, I would prefer more than just the one.

[RadioPeri]

We generally don't splurge on specialty dining, but went to Wonderland on Harmony for a very special occasion. There were four of us, and we tried almost everything on the menu. Our server was fabulous, describing and explaining everything we had questions about, making some suggestions, and bringing us anything additional we enjoyed or wanted to try.

 

If the server is creating an experience you're not happy with, definitely feel free to take more charge. It's YOUR money and YOUR dinner, so you should have things the way YOU want them (within reason, of course).

 

You can also visit the venue before hand and speak with the maitre d' if you have any concerns. I'm sure they'll do their best to match you up with someone who can provide the atmosphere you're looking for!

 

We would definitely go again.

[PortSideCruzan]

2 hours ago, chiguypaul said:

 

My biggest concern is that I would want to try as many of the items as possible with my family and it sounds like you're limited to what is brought out to you. Is that right?

 

Thanks,

Paul

 

Hi Paul ☺️

 

My wife and I have been to Wonderland 4 times now. During our 1st meal there we allowed our server to order for us. Everything was terrific. However for the following 3 meals after that I simply mentioned to our servers that we've eaten here in the past & we took control of the menu. It's not an issue to order what you want. 

 

Have a wonderful sailing!

 

☺️

[asctony]

Have eaten in Wonderland just last month. This was our 4th time on HOTS and we enjoyed Wonderland on Anthem, too.

It is one of the best experiences we have had on any ship or Specialty Restaurant (SR.)

 

However, we have done only over 100 cruises. Not too many postings on CC as some others. LOL

 

Buy the BOGO for the first two nights online. That will cost you $40/person and you can pick any SR. They may assign you them, but as soon as you get on the ship, go to any SR and setup your own SR Reservations.

 

This BOGO is totally different from Diamond+ BOGO. This is much better as it is cheaper and you still get the same selection of menu and SR.

[vacationlover_mn]

We loved our waiter (Mr TA-Dah!) on Harmony.  He asked our dietary restrictions, then brought us what whatever.  We left stuffed!  Next time, on Symphony, we know what we don’t like, and will say- “we don’t want the deviled eggs or apple dessert”.  I’m sure it will go well 🙂. It was a super fun experience!

[Tljcruiser]

Another vote for yes! We thought it was super fun and the food was great!  We never got around to going on Anthem but made sure to go while on Harmony. On both ships they were selling on board at lower prices than available prior to the cruise. Wonderland waiters were walking around public areas drumming up business, I believe we ended up paying $30 each for my mother and me and $10 for my daughter who is 9. They brought her everything we had except for the main entree. We all loved everything with the exception of the tomato juice test tube thing. Our server was great, explained everything was very personable,  not at all stuffy.   My daughter still talks about it and wants to go back on every cruise that has a Wonderland.  I would not prebook though except maybe with a bogo or first night done right.  I would wait and see if they are discounting once on board.  I do think it is worth it, but getting a discount makes it that much better.  We occasionally do speciality dining but for the most part stick to the main dining room.  I would totally go back.  

[marci22]

Our waiter picked for us. It was meh. Used the bogo and if I had paid full price I would have been very diappointed.

[chiguypaul]

A number of you have referenced the BOGO. I don't see that in the cruise planner for my upcoming 12/30 Harmony cruise. So it must not be a current promotion. Some of you also mentioned getting the promotion on board. Given that I'm going during prime time week, what are the odds of getting a better rate on the ship? Some of you mentioned paying something like $30. Very helpful info so far given my lack of speciality dining experience.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, chiguypaul said:

A number of you have referenced the BOGO. I don't see that in the cruise planner for my upcoming 12/30 Harmony cruise. So it must not be a current promotion. Some of you also mentioned getting the promotion on board. Given that I'm going during prime time week, what are the odds of getting a better rate on the ship? Some of you mentioned paying something like $30. Very helpful info so far given my lack of speciality dining experience.

 

What dining packages are offered varies by ship and or sail date.

 

the only package offered for the holiday cruises was the ultimate dining package. 

[Ellaleah]

My sister and I loved Wonderland on the Ovation and thought the experience was well worth the money.  I highly recommend it.  I do remember that we chose the entrees.

[Norwich Cruiser]

We've dined at Wonderland on one occasion and found it not really to our liking.

Maybe an experience to do once but definitely wouldn't dine there again.

We much prefer 150 Central Park and Chops Grille.

[chiguypaul]

Is there any reason why we would want to reserve before the cruise for a week like New Year's? If we board on the first day should we be OK?

[Ourusualbeach]

If you want to ensure you get the date and time you want then I’d book it now.  If you have a bit of flexibility then you could wait to book on board.

[BigHouseFootball]

We did Wonderland on Anthem over the summer and it was amazing! 

 

Our waiter brought out our every single dish except for the entrees where we picked 3 dishes. 

 

I wouldnt say say that the food is exotic. It’s petty standard food just prepared and presented in a unique way. 

 

Go!! You’ll love it.