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

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, vacationlover_mn said:

We lucked out and got a good price on Wonder (I booked it pretty much as soon as reservations opened up)

 

That's great! I only recently began booking farther out. Before prices went nuts, I used to get good last minute deals for the summer (when we're able to sail and flexible since we live an hour from PC).

 

Once I saw that wasn't going to work anymore, I pivoted to TA group rates and I'm pretty happy with the Wonder prices I got having only booked over the past few months mostly for March-July 2024. They're only interiors and some, like next spring break, are like $1800 higher if I mock book via the RC website. Craziness.

[Newcruiser215]

4 hours ago, CutiePie10 said:

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

You’re welcome. Thanks for reading. 

[Newcruiser215]

5 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

@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.

How was your main dining room experience in April? 

[ocean sounds]

Thanks for your review!

[dmrrn73]

8 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

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". 

OMG who says that ?!? 

 

Nice review, I read and enjoyed your Symphony review as well, we are booked on a Mediterranean cruise on her for our 20th anniversary in October 

 

PS I am originally from Philly too. Left the area in 2002 but still have family there so I get back to visit here and there. 

[dmrrn73]

8 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

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". 

sorry duplicate post

Edited July 14, 2023 by dmrrn73

[Newcruiser215]

12 minutes ago, dmrrn73 said:

OMG who says that ?!? 

 

Nice review, I read and enjoyed your Symphony review as well, we are booked on a Mediterranean cruise on her for our 20th anniversary in October 

 

PS I am originally from Philly too. Left the area in 2002 but still have family there so I get back to visit here and there. 

That’s exactly what my wife said. 
 

Thank you for reading. We loved Symphony. Early congrats on your anniversary!

[Newcruiser215]

19 minutes ago, ocean sounds said:

Thanks for your review!

No problem. Thanks for reading!

[RobInMN]

8 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

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". 

 

43 minutes ago, dmrrn73 said:

OMG who says that ?!? 

 

At least it's implied that they are a parent the other weeks. That's more than I can say for a large portion of the population.

 

[dmrrn73]

33 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

 

 

At least it's implied that they are a parent the other weeks. That's more than I can say for a large portion of the population.

 

All too true

[BecciBoo]

Excellent review, you covered everything well....thanks!

[BecciBoo]

On 7/12/2023 at 3:05 PM, OCSC Mike said:

When you sail frugally, $700 is a significant chunk of an entire cruise price.

Ditto, that always settles it for us.  Soooo wanted to book her but you're right, just nothing justifies it for us.  And we haven't even done Wonder yet.  ICON is now out of reach so I'm so glad I got ours in October our cabin is already $800 more per person!!!!!!!.  Forget the Inaugural, guess we're just not destined to do one...ever.  It is what it is.

Edited July 14, 2023 by BecciBoo

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Ditto, that always settles it for us.  Soooo wanted to book her but you're right, just nothing justifies it for us.  And we haven't even done Wonder yet.  ICON is now out of reach so I'm so glad I got ours in October our cabin is already $800 more per person!!!!!!!.  Forget the Inaugural, guess we're just not destined to do one...ever.  It is what it is.

 

Wonder was only tolerable to me b/c TA group rates weren't "terrible" and I just had to accept that everything costs more. I also can't put an exact $ amount on it, but since PC is an hour drive for us, we place quite a bit of value on the convenience factor (then there are real world savings like gas, your time, etc.). Forget that we never fly (for which I'm very thankful), I won't even drive to South Florida, lol.

 

All that said, if I compare the prices I got to the current website prices (apples and oranges of course), the differences are mind boggling.

 

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

Excellent review, you covered everything well....thanks!

Thank you!! 

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

Ditto, that always settles it for us.  Soooo wanted to book her but you're right, just nothing justifies it for us.  And we haven't even done Wonder yet.  ICON is now out of reach so I'm so glad I got ours in October our cabin is already $800 more per person!!!!!!!.  Forget the Inaugural, guess we're just not destined to do one...ever.  It is what it is.

We thought about changing our Icon sailing to another week but fares have gone up so much that we just couldn't do it. Same room category a week later is $8000 more.  

[crewsweeper]

17 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

How was your main dining room experience in April? 

We didn't eat in the MDR, except for 1 breakfast, which was good.  UDP plus Solarium and Park Cafe.

[BecciBoo]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I won't even drive to South Florida, lol.

We're on the Arkansas/Missouri border LOL but at least we can fly free with our AMEX pts.  Otherwise, we'd be one and done with Either Galveston or NOLA.  One of these days we say we're gonna camp on the way down to Florida but the daylight is burning.....

Edited July 14, 2023 by BecciBoo

[Newcruiser215]

9 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

We didn't eat in the MDR, except for 1 breakfast, which was good.  UDP plus Solarium and Park Cafe.

Was the Solarium open for lunch during your cruise? 

[crewsweeper]

19 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

Was the Solarium open for lunch during your cruise? 

Yes. 

[LobsterStalker]

On 7/14/2023 at 10:09 AM, OCSC Mike said:

 

Wonder was only tolerable to me b/c TA group rates weren't "terrible" and I just had to accept that everything costs more. I also can't put an exact $ amount on it, but since PC is an hour drive for us, we place quite a bit of value on the convenience factor (then there are real world savings like gas, your time, etc.). Forget that we never fly (for which I'm very thankful), I won't even drive to South Florida, lol.

 

All that said, if I compare the prices I got to the current website prices (apples and oranges of course), the differences are mind boggling.

 

We never thought we would sail Wonder for likely a couple more years due to pricing. Had never been on the newest and shiniest model . Got home from Symphony last October and found a surprisingly good price for an interior on Wonder for March , thought about it for about 11 and 1/2 minutes and jumped on it.

I'm thinkin the way things are goin now we definitely won't be on the newest/shiniest model again for quite some time !

Freedom/Harmony upcoming for this fall.

The hour drive makes me very envious ! 

 

Cheers

[Newcruiser215]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:09 AM, OCSC Mike said:

 

Wonder was only tolerable to me b/c TA group rates weren't "terrible" and I just had to accept that everything costs more. I also can't put an exact $ amount on it, but since PC is an hour drive for us, we place quite a bit of value on the convenience factor (then there are real world savings like gas, your time, etc.). Forget that we never fly (for which I'm very thankful), I won't even drive to South Florida, lol.

 

All that said, if I compare the prices I got to the current website prices (apples and oranges of course), the differences are mind boggling.

 

Was Oasis considered "expensive" when it first went on sale? Anyone remember? 

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

Was Oasis considered "expensive" when it first went on sale? Anyone remember? 

 

I was booking relatively last minute until this year so I wouldn't know. Surely someone else will.

[xxbrowns]

Thanks for the review. We just got off Wonder yesterday and it amazed me that beforehand, I read that the ship never felt crowded. Our experience was it ALWAYS felt crowded everywhere, except when getting up early in the morning. The pools were shoulder to shoulder people, the elevators were crowded most of the time and people squeezed in already full elevators, the windjammer was always hard to find a table (nothing new). Somebody earlier asked about poolside games, I heard an announcement about the sexiest man game, I thought they announced it being at the aqua pool. I didn't go check it out. The main pools were way too crowded for those types of activities. We enjoyed our cruise nevertheless but that was our experience about the ship. We also had the same experience that others mention with teens running wild, x100 worse on the last night. It really was out of hand and something needs to be done. I was surprised that there were kids in the Solarium Bistro, since the Solarium is over 16. I didn't look at any official word about the Bistro being over 16 only, but I was surprised that it would be any different.

 

We stopped at Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We did the Beach Club at Coco Cay, which we always love, Saffire beach, on our own, at St. Thomas and Mullet Bay at St. Maarten through the ship. All were awesome and we made great memories at each port.

 

Don't get me wrong, we didn't let any of the negatives affect our vacation, however, for the price, I do not think it was worth the very high price tag for this ship.

[OCSC Mike]

23 minutes ago, xxbrowns said:

I didn't look at any official word about the Bistro being over 16 only, but I was surprised that it would be any different.

Kids are allowed to eat there, just not lounge in the Solarium itself.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the negative aspects you experienced.

[Newcruiser215]

3 hours ago, xxbrowns said:

Thanks for the review. We just got off Wonder yesterday and it amazed me that beforehand, I read that the ship never felt crowded. Our experience was it ALWAYS felt crowded everywhere, except when getting up early in the morning. The pools were shoulder to shoulder people, the elevators were crowded most of the time and people squeezed in already full elevators, the windjammer was always hard to find a table (nothing new). Somebody earlier asked about poolside games, I heard an announcement about the sexiest man game, I thought they announced it being at the aqua pool. I didn't go check it out. The main pools were way too crowded for those types of activities. We enjoyed our cruise nevertheless but that was our experience about the ship. We also had the same experience that others mention with teens running wild, x100 worse on the last night. It really was out of hand and something needs to be done. I was surprised that there were kids in the Solarium Bistro, since the Solarium is over 16. I didn't look at any official word about the Bistro being over 16 only, but I was surprised that it would be any different.

 

We stopped at Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We did the Beach Club at Coco Cay, which we always love, Saffire beach, on our own, at St. Thomas and Mullet Bay at St. Maarten through the ship. All were awesome and we made great memories at each port.

 

Don't get me wrong, we didn't let any of the negatives affect our vacation, however, for the price, I do not think it was worth the very high price tag for this ship.

We were in the Solarium one afternoon, sitting in the water and sitting across from us were 3 young girls and I made the comment to my wife that there was no way they were 16. They were sitting quietly reading a book but clearly the staff doesn’t seem to enforce the age restriction. 
 

We did Coco beach club last year and besides the food, we enjoyed it. We couldn’t justify the cost of doing it again this year. 
 

What did you think about the food onboard?

Edited July 17, 2023 by Newcruiser215