Just off the Wonder - Second RCL Cruise - Brief Review/Thoughts

[OCSC Mike]

25 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

Any plans to try Utopia? 

 

I had multiple plans... I had the inaugural plus 2nd sailing (B2B) placed on hold by my TA the night it went on sale. I really wanted to go on an inaugural, especially since it's out of PC and that may not happen again until who knows when? But the inflated price made that an easy cancel. I was willing to pay a little extra but those prices were nuts and, as mentioned, I'm frugal.

 

Plan B was a Utopia B2B during spring break 2025 (my wife is a teacher so we sail when school is out even though we have no kids). The price wasn't great but it wasn't too terrible. Then I had my TA price Wonder for the same week and it was over $700 less. My wife and I actually debated those two this morning for quite a while. For various reasons, we really did prefer the Utopia B2B, but in the end, the ships are nearly identical and while $700 won't mean a ton in the long run, I just couldn't do it. When you sail frugally, $700 is a significant chunk of an entire cruise price.

 

We'll see what the prices are when new itineraries are released in the fall.

 

BTW, wife and I both grew up in the Philly burbs and moved down here after college in 2000.

Edited July 12, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Why do you have buyers remorse?

Hefty price tag for 7 days. 

[Newcruiser215]

9 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I had multiple plans... I had the inaugural plus 2nd sailing (B2B) placed on hold by my TA the night it went on sale. I really wanted to go on an inaugural, especially since it's out of PC and that may not happen again until who knows when? But the inflated price made that an easy cancel. I was willing to pay a little extra but those prices were nuts and, as mentioned, I'm frugal.

 

Plan B was a Utopia B2B during spring break 2025 (my wife is a teacher so we sail when school is out even though we have no kids). The price wasn't great but it wasn't too terrible. Then I had my TA price Wonder for the same week and it was over $700 less. My wife and I actually debated those two this morning for quite a while. For various reasons, we really did prefer the Utopia B2B, but in the end, the ships are nearly identical and while $700 won't mean a ton in the long run, I just couldn't do it. When you sail frugally, $700 is a significant chunk of an entire cruise price.

 

We'll see what the prices are when new itineraries are released in the fall.

 

BTW, wife and I both grew up in the Philly burbs and moved down here after college in 2000.

I don't blame you. The Wonder still has that new ship smell on it so no need to pay the extra for Utopia. Plus, there doesn't seem to be much that's new about it. 

 

I was a little surprised they're doing these short itineraries for a new ship but I get it in terms of revenue. Disney is doing the same thing with their newest ship. 

 

My wife wants to move down to FL but, that's only because she wants to be closer to Disney. No thank you. I need to be able to watch the Eagles & Sixers at all times. 

[LisaLisa87]

Thanks for your review! We've been on several Oasis class ships, but not the newest two. I'd really like to try the Wonder at some point, but in the meantime we have one coming up on Harmony and -- like you -- are booked on Icon next year. I'm excited about that one but a little nervous about crowding in some of the cool new venues.

 

We love the Eastern Itinerary and have taken land trips to both St. Thomas and St. Maarten/St. Martin after having visited via cruise ship. After numerous visits to St. Thomas, Magens Bay is still our favorite beach. We generally avoid the crowds by walking way down the beach and just laying our towels on the sand. Obviously that won't work if you want/need lounge chairs and prefer to be close to the bar and restaurant! We typically just take turns walking down there to get drinks and pick up some food if we're hungry.

 

I was laughing about your steak frites "incident" at Orient Bay. I'm as surprised as you are since that's the French side of the island. We rented a house walking distance to Orient Bay 7 or 8 years ago and visited a number of the beach clubs. The food almost across the board was amazing. Not your average beach food for sure! Do the restaurants still give out flavored rum shots at the end of the meal? That was one of our favorite traditions.

 

Regarding poolside games/contests, there were several of them on our Oasis sailing earlier this year. Who doesn't love a good belly flop contest?!

[OCSC Mike]

13 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

I don't blame you. The Wonder still has that new ship smell on it so no need to pay the extra for Utopia. Plus, there doesn't seem to be much that's new about it.

 

No, they're very similar. We do love CocoCay though and mostly sail for the ship so a 3/4 B2B with 2 stops there is appealing (we did one last July). FRI-FRI also gives my wife the weekend off before she has to go back to work instead of getting back on Sunday but it's not a huge deal. Lastly, we have a small nitpick about when Wonder stops at CocoCay that week (it's day 7 instead of day 2 and 2 hours after another ship docks), but none of those things are really worth $700. We've never had a bad cruise.

 

19 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

My wife wants to move down to FL but, that's only because she wants to be closer to Disney. No thank you. I need to be able to watch the Eagles & Sixers at all times.

 

I could give you plenty of reasons NOT to move here, lol, but I'll stick with Disney not being what it used to be. We live very close to the MK but haven't been to a park since before covid. We go to Disney Springs every once in a while to eat. There's actually a southern restaurant we like not all that dissimilar from Mason Jar (Art Smith's Homecomin') but they don't bring me 75% of the brunch menu for $21.99/person for some reason. 🤣

 

As for the Eagles and Sixers, there are ways you could watch but understood. I still root for all Philly teams (except in soccer since Orlando City joined MLS while I had been here for 15 years) but only watch every Eagles game. NBA season is so long that I just keep an eye on the Sixers until the playoffs, get disappointed, then wait for next year's playoffs.

[Newcruiser215]

4 hours ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Thanks for your review! We've been on several Oasis class ships, but not the newest two. I'd really like to try the Wonder at some point, but in the meantime we have one coming up on Harmony and -- like you -- are booked on Icon next year. I'm excited about that one but a little nervous about crowding in some of the cool new venues.

 

We love the Eastern Itinerary and have taken land trips to both St. Thomas and St. Maarten/St. Martin after having visited via cruise ship. After numerous visits to St. Thomas, Magens Bay is still our favorite beach. We generally avoid the crowds by walking way down the beach and just laying our towels on the sand. Obviously that won't work if you want/need lounge chairs and prefer to be close to the bar and restaurant! We typically just take turns walking down there to get drinks and pick up some food if we're hungry.

 

I was laughing about your steak frites "incident" at Orient Bay. I'm as surprised as you are since that's the French side of the island. We rented a house walking distance to Orient Bay 7 or 8 years ago and visited a number of the beach clubs. The food almost across the board was amazing. Not your average beach food for sure! Do the restaurants still give out flavored rum shots at the end of the meal? That was one of our favorite traditions.

 

Regarding poolside games/contests, there were several of them on our Oasis sailing earlier this year. Who doesn't love a good belly flop contest?!

We also love the Eastern itinerary, which is why I’m a little worried about our Icon sailing since we opted for the Western itinerary. We’re a little nervous about going to Mexico but I’m sure it’ll be fun. 
 

Our Orient beach excursion included unlimited rum punch so rum shots would’ve been overkill. 

[OCSC Mike]

46 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

We’re a little nervous about going to Mexico but I’m sure it’ll be fun. 

Don’t be nervous. Lots to do if you want or some great all inclusive beach resorts if you just want beach, food, & drink.

[Tree_skier]

5 hours ago, George C said:

The main problem with booking a suite is you don’t want to book anything else afterwards . Have done suites for about last 20 cruises. Mostly rccl and celebrity.

Last two cruises have been in suites, Oasis and Navigator... I'm heading back to balcony cabins for the next few unless a Royal up comes in for me.  I'm worried I've been spoiled.  

[cynt]

7 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

Oh, I have. Prices for a balcony & a suite aren't that far apart, which seems crazy to me. Here's an example. 

 

Those prices are crazy. I won't complain about my $3800 Jr suite on the Symphony Oct 2022.

 

I'm hoping they might send Icon to my home port Galveston one day. It looks amazing.  We finally got an Oasis class ship down here. 

Edited July 13, 2023 by cynt

[OCSC Mike]

51 minutes ago, cynt said:

I'm hoping they might send Icon to my home port Galveston one day.

So am I b/c I’m afraid it will wind up at PC and I’m not that interested. Rooting for ya!

[Another_Critic]

6 hours ago, George C said:

The main problem with booking a suite is you don’t want to book anything else afterwards . Have done suites for about last 20 cruises. Mostly rccl and celebrity.

No problem for me.

 

16 nights in 2-bedroom suite

next cruise - 5 nights in balcony

next cruise - 9 nights in oceanview (actually booked an inside GTY)

next cruise - 10 nights in inside

a couple more oceanviews

then mostly balconies

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

So am I b/c I’m afraid it will wind up at PC and I’m not that interested. Rooting for ya!

Not a fan of Icon? 

[OCSC Mike]

5 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

Not a fan of Icon? 

Not really. I’m a creature of habit & love Oasis class. Icon is a bit much for me & we have our routine. Not enough of the new stuff excites me to want to deal with trying something new (except some of the food of course). Told ya I’m boring, lol. Also, the prices… Wonder is bad enough.

 

If/when Icon (or a future Icon) winds up in PC, I’m sure we’ll sail it & once I learn the ship I’ll like it. I’m just content with Wonder/Utopia for now & won’t mind them staying here for a bit.

[Newcruiser215]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not really. I’m a creature of habit & love Oasis class. Icon is a bit much for me & we have our routine. Not enough of the new stuff excites me to want to deal with trying something new (except some of the food of course). Told ya I’m boring, lol. Also, the prices… Wonder is bad enough.

 

If/when Icon (or a future Icon) winds up in PC, I’m sure we’ll sail it & once I learn the ship I’ll like it. I’m just content with Wonder/Utopia for now & won’t mind them staying here for a bit.

I am a fan of anything new so I jumped on it the day it went on sale, but there is a part of me that wonders if it'll live up to the hype. It looks like Wonder on steroids and I'm not sure if that's a good thing. 

[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks for the review!  Can’t wait to check her out in 2025 🙂

[BobNoxious]

In the Solarium area, is there anywhere for direct sun (like the front sun deck on Oasis) or is it all enclosed in glass?

Edited July 13, 2023 by BobNoxious

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

I am a fan of anything new so I jumped on it the day it went on sale, but there is a part of me that wonders if it'll live up to the hype. It looks like Wonder on steroids and I'm not sure if that's a good thing. 

 

If you like new stuff, don't blame ya for going for it... and only one way to find out about the hype.

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, BobNoxious said:

In the Solarium area, is there anywhere for direct sun (like the front sun deck on Oasis) or is it all enclosed in glass?

 

Entirely enclosed since it was originally designed to go to China.

[Newcruiser215]

4 minutes ago, BobNoxious said:

In the Solarium area, is there anywhere for direct sun (like the front sun deck on Oasis) or is it all enclosed in glass?

Fully enclosed in glass. 

[Newcruiser215]

18 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

Thanks for the review!  Can’t wait to check her out in 2025 🙂

Thanks for reading!

[thjeepster]

We were on the same sailing as you for this wonder cruise. 
 

I agree with you on everything. 
 

we have been on all of the sister ships and most are the same layout. 
love wonder with the nice smell and feel. 
 

I feel like they needed to clean the hallways more often because seems like plates and things were left out in the hallway for around 10 hours a night before they picked them up.

 

Loved the ice show and aqua theater. 
since we had the last room on deck 10 we were able to watch the aqua theater multiple times. And we were able to watch the performers party since that was their final show together as a group. And we watched the new performers practicing for the following Sunday first show after we got off. 
 

kids were not supervised and caused lots of issues especially late night. RCCL needs to enforce the curfew better. And parents need to be more responsible. 
 

can’t wait for our next cruise. The ignagural sailing of Icon!! 
 

 

[Newcruiser215]

31 minutes ago, thjeepster said:

We were on the same sailing as you for this wonder cruise. 
 

I agree with you on everything. 
 

we have been on all of the sister ships and most are the same layout. 
love wonder with the nice smell and feel. 
 

I feel like they needed to clean the hallways more often because seems like plates and things were left out in the hallway for around 10 hours a night before they picked them up.

 

Loved the ice show and aqua theater. 
since we had the last room on deck 10 we were able to watch the aqua theater multiple times. And we were able to watch the performers party since that was their final show together as a group. And we watched the new performers practicing for the following Sunday first show after we got off. 
 

kids were not supervised and caused lots of issues especially late night. RCCL needs to enforce the curfew better. And parents need to be more responsible. 
 

can’t wait for our next cruise. The ignagural sailing of Icon!! 
 

 

I definitely know what you mean about the hallways. One night we walked past of plate of pizza on the floor and it was still there the following morning. I was surprised. 

 

Also agree about kids. I understand it's a vacation for the parents too but it was bad. We were on the elevator with two ladies and one says "where's your daughter?", the friends response was "I don't know and I don't care. I'm not being a parent this week". 

 

What was your best dish & worst dish? Did anything surprise you? 

[crewsweeper]

@Newcruiser215  Thanks for your review. On our cruise in April, during spring break, pool decks were jammed but we always found seating in the Solarium. Never had an issue with elevators, especially the forward elevators, and we were on deck 10.  Agree on WiFi quality.

Suggest that next time you board the Wonder, hit Mason Jar for brunch on embarkation day, but we found dinner not that great.  Giovanni's Kitchen didn't impress us either, and DW loved Giovanni's table on other Oasis class ships.  Hooked is better for lunch than dinner, except for the oyster shooters, but you can just sit at the bar for those.

[CutiePie10]

Thank you for your review!  We'll be on Wonder in a few weeks.  Looking forward to it for sure!

[vacationlover_mn]

7 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not really. I’m a creature of habit & love Oasis class. Icon is a bit much for me & we have our routine. Not enough of the new stuff excites me to want to deal with trying something new (except some of the food of course). Told ya I’m boring, lol. Also, the prices… Wonder is bad enough.

 

If/when Icon (or a future Icon) winds up in PC, I’m sure we’ll sail it & once I learn the ship I’ll like it. I’m just content with Wonder/Utopia for now & won’t mind them staying here for a bit.

We lucked out and got a good price on Wonder (I booked it pretty much as soon as reservations opened up)… but, the prices on Icon… Woofta!!!  I love trying new ships, but man, that is a little pricey for us (especially now that we are spoiled by suites).