Questions concerning Wonder of the Seas.

[yancycruiser]

We are long-time cruisers and Diamond status on RCCL.   We will be traveling in January and have two questions:

1.  If you have cruised on other OASIS Class ships, did you find Wonder too crowded with children, noise level, etc. more than the other Oasis Class ships?

2.  Would we still enjoy WOS at our age 83 and 81; however, in very good health?

Thank you,

Yancy Cruiser

[truffles2]

Have you been on other Oasis class ships?  You dont mention it.

We have been on them all and Wonder is ok, but I will say that she is the least favorite of the five for me.

[Ourusualbeach]

43 minutes ago, yancycruiser said:

We are long-time cruisers and Diamond status on RCCL.   We will be traveling in January and have two questions:

1.  If you have cruised on other OASIS Class ships, did you find Wonder too crowded with children, noise level, etc. more than the other Oasis Class ships?

2.  Would we still enjoy WOS at our age 83 and 81; however, in very good health?

Thank you,

Yancy Cruiser

The WJ is much improved over the other OA class ships.

 

Cabins are noisier...just not as well insulated

[FlatFooted Freda]

We were on Wonder last January. We certainly enjoyed, but decided we were paying for a lot of bells and whistles we were too old to really enjoy. Will likely avoid the biggest, newest ship in the future unless itinerary dictates.

Do note, our late Jan sailing also was Yeshiva Week. That brought many kids, and some of the venues were closed off to us ( Solarium bistro). Also lost part of Windjammer to kosher food.  I thought the kids were very well behaved, but they are still just kids. A ship full of kids was not what we were  expecting on a late Jan cruise. We are planning a Jan cruise for next year, so I will first search which ships are offering Yeshiva Week cruises and likely avoid.

[Dewaldcruiser]

We were on the Wonder recently and did not find it overly crowded with children or otherwise.  As someone said earlier, the cabins seemed to be noisier than other Oasis class cabins.

 

I was disappointed that there was no Broadway type show on the Wonder.  That may or may not be an issue to you.  We enjoyed our cruise immensely on the Wonder no matter the small issues.

[lv2cruisgrl]

We are on Wonder now. We are 83, 73, 72, 67.  Wouldn't do her again. We prefer Celebrity. This ship is just too big, too many people, too noisy, food is not that great. They skimped on sound proofing as our cabin is noisy. We have done all the Oasis ships and more.  Bar service stinks, our room steward is wonderful. Shows are amazing.  This was our 42nd cruise with Royal. FYI...Formal night is a joke, it's mostly casual. 😕

Edited April 29, 2023 by lovrccl

[topanga49er]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The WJ is much improved over the other OA class ships.

 

Cabins are noisier...just not as well insulated

 

4 hours ago, yancycruiser said:

We are long-time cruisers and Diamond status on RCCL.   We will be traveling in January and have two questions:

1.  If you have cruised on other OASIS Class ships, did you find Wonder too crowded with children, noise level, etc. more than the other Oasis Class ships?

2.  Would we still enjoy WOS at our age 83 and 81; however, in very good health?

Thank you,

Yancy Cruiser

We just got off Wonder during spring break week and loved it.  Granted we had a suite and used the suite deck often, but it was amazing.  Have been on Oasis and Allure, and this just seemed a little bit more thought out.  After the day one craziness, it really didn't seem crowded at all, even on sea days.  No wait at bars, specialty restaurants not too busy and you could get into entertainment w/o reservations.  We are so excited for Icon, which will also have a lot of bells and whistles, but promises to be fantastic.  Have fun!

 

[Thisguylikestocruise]

5 hours ago, lovrccl said:

We are on Wonder now. We are 83, 73, 72, 67.  Wouldn't do her again. We prefer Celebrity. This ship is just too big, too many people, too noisy, food is not that great. They skimped on sound proofing as our cabin is noisy. We have done all the Oasis ships and more.  Bar service stinks, our room steward is wonderful. Shows are amazing.  This was our 42nd cruise with Royal. FYI...Formal night is a joke, it's mostly casual. 😕

 Surprised to hear you had poor bar service. I had the drink package on Wonder and it was excellent. Never had to wait, great drinks, friendly staff.

[yancycruiser]

Thanks everyone for all your feedback.   I should have mentioned that we have been on Oasis, Harmony, and Allure and enjoyed all three.

 

[Sunshine3601]

We have sailed many cruises in January on various ships and never experienced excessive children.  As others have said Yeshiva week, which is January 25, 2024 can be an exception.  

[PhillyFan33579]

I have been on Wonder three times this year and had a great experience every cruise. The service at the bars was outstanding and the food in the MDR and speciality restaurants was very good, with the exception of the Mason Jar, which I would not go to again. The only real issue we had was you have to make reservations for the comedy club as early as possible, since shows sellout quickly, which is a common problem on Oasis class ships. 

[Cruiscs]

On 4/29/2023 at 7:17 PM, truffles2 said:

Have you been on other Oasis class ships?  You dont mention it.

We have been on them all and Wonder is ok, but I will say that she is the least favorite of the five for me.

Could you elaborate on that?

[CruisingWalter]

On 4/29/2023 at 12:37 PM, yancycruiser said:

We are long-time cruisers and Diamond status on RCCL.   We will be traveling in January and have two questions:

1.  If you have cruised on other OASIS Class ships, did you find Wonder too crowded with children, noise level, etc. more than the other Oasis Class ships?

2.  Would we still enjoy WOS at our age 83 and 81; however, in very good health?

Thank you,

Yancy Cruiser

 

Not sure it's worth paying a premium to be on the 'newest ship.'  We sailed Symphony last December and found it to be lovely. Great shows, some really good food and overall a great vibe. (food review here)

 

Wonder has the newest bells and whistles, but Symphony and the other Oasis class ships are pretty awesome in their own right and they don't have the premium price tag of Wonder. From those who have sailed many of the RCCL ships, Wonder is not their favorite. When it comes to Oasis Class, seems Symphony and Allure come up a lot and for the overall favorite ship, Odyssey comes up a lot. That's the next RCCL ship I'm planning to book. 

[cruisegirl1]

23 hours ago, yancycruiser said:

Thanks everyone for all your feedback.   I should have mentioned that we have been on Oasis, Harmony, and Allure and enjoyed all three.

 

We didn't find Wonder much different from the other O ships.  However the entertainment is geared towards family/children.  The special effects for the Effectors II are amazing, but the show is definitely for kids/families.    

 

We  were on for 2 weeks (over spring breaks) and enjoyed the cruises.  Line to get in to MTD was long even with a reservation.   The second week we had the dining package.  

M

 

[TheHawk1]

On 4/29/2023 at 1:22 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

The WJ is much improved over the other OA class ships.

 

Cabins are noisier...just not as well insulated

I've been on all 5 Oasis ships and now that you mention it, our cruise on Wonder last fall was the first time I've ever heard my next door neighbours talking (and talking) at all hours. I thought they were just particularly loud, but now that others have noticed, I'm glad I wasn't imagining it.

 

Other than the completely enclosed Solarium and the giant screen shining on Central Park area, which I was not a fan of, I thought the Wonder had several improvements over earlier Oasis class ships that should be a good reason to put it on your cruise list.

[Thisguylikestocruise]

7 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

I've been on all 5 Oasis ships and now that you mention it, our cruise on Wonder last fall was the first time I've ever heard my next door neighbours talking (and talking) at all hours. I thought they were just particularly loud, but now that others have noticed, I'm glad I wasn't imagining it.

 

Other than the completely enclosed Solarium and the giant screen shining on Central Park area, which I was not a fan of, I thought the Wonder had several improvements over earlier Oasis class ships that should be a good reason to put it on your cruise list.

I really liked the solarium. Many windows were open so there was a breeze. And it was protected from rain. There’s plenty of other areas on the ship that aren’t enclosed.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Thisguylikestocruise

[TheHawk1]

1 hour ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

I really liked the solarium. Many windows were open so there was a breeze. And it was protected from rain. There’s plenty of other areas on the ship that aren’t enclosed.

I was on the Wonder when it first started sailing last year, so perhaps the crew hadn't yet figured out how to open those windows.  It was so hot in there, I thought they were trying to grow some orchids.

[crewsweeper]

@yancycruiser

We too are above the "70 is the new 50" cohort.  We sailed the Wonder Easter week (2500 kiddos on board) and while the pooldecks were people jammed and the Solarium had its share of chairhogs. we didn't find most of the venues we frequented to be overly crowded.  You could still get into show once on board.  Benches for the Aqua Show and outdoor movies are very hard.  Not the padded individual seats like on other Oasis ships.  No Broadway shows. But Tap Factory 2.0 was good.  Aqua show mediocre (no real diving)  mainly enhanced synchronized swimming.  Ice show had some interesting sets.  Comedy club good for 1 viewing...same comedians every night, 150Central was best meal on ship.  We avoided the Windjammer and MDR.

 

We're back on in mid January, hoping for lesser crowds.

[LobsterStalker]

3 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

@yancycruiser

We too are above the "70 is the new 50" cohort.  We sailed the Wonder Easter week (2500 kiddos on board) and while the pooldecks were people jammed and the Solarium had its share of chairhogs. we didn't find most of the venues we frequented to be overly crowded.  You could still get into show once on board.  Benches for the Aqua Show and outdoor movies are very hard.  Not the padded individual seats like on other Oasis ships.  No Broadway shows. But Tap Factory 2.0 was good.  Aqua show mediocre (no real diving)  mainly enhanced synchronized swimming.  Ice show had some interesting sets.  Comedy club good for 1 viewing...same comedians every night, 150Central was best meal on ship.  We avoided the Windjammer and MDR.

 

We're back on in mid January, hoping for lesser crowds.

>>>>>>I'm skeptical 

 

Cheers