OCSC Mike

This. They're way too similar to sail one over the other and give up 2 days. For the sake of the question... I prefer Freedom b/c it has El Loco Fresh.

Correct. It goes by whoever has more points. If you have different point totals, you will each see the higher total when either of you log into the app/website but behind the scenes, you each have your own point total. Hope that made sense. I see my wife's D+ point total in my account but I'm individually nowhere near 180 pts b/c I married into a chunk of points (she sailed with her family as a kid, I didn't cruise until my honeymoon).

No such thing as a boring itinerary to us. We're happy to be on any Oasis class ship (especially Wonder) and enjoy CocoCay so we don't even look at the ports. OK, I look at them after the fact, but we'd go anywhere during our usual sailing times and then decide on excursions once I know where we're going. We have what many would consider an awful itinerary booked for 3X in the future... Utopia B2B's just so we can go to CocoCay twice and otherwise not leave the ship... but we did one before and it works for us. It also helps offset rising cruise costs and Utopia inflation by not spending a penny on excursions (other than tipping on voucher drinks while on CocoCay).

I like this answer. I don't see myself ever sailing solo for various reasons but I've wondered how much I'd enjoy it, hypothetically. I'm confident I wouldn't hate it but my wife and I are on the same page as far as routine goes and it's so laid back to begin with that it might go from relaxing to boring if I were to do it alone. Plus I need her picture-taking skills for my live blogs, lol, b/c mine are lacking.

Under the Entertainment tab in the cruise planner on the website. You can also use the app but I much prefer the website. You probably don't have to start looking until early July but ya never know.

It was 60 days out for my July 14th Wonder sailing (and 50 for my June Wonder). It seems they are releasing entertainment reservations much earlier now.

That routine is long gone for several ships. My July 14th Wonder sailing opened 60 days out in mid-May. It seems that roughly 60 days may be the new norm (for Wonder at least).

Or Spotlight Karaoke. I'm Wonder's biggest fan but turning On-Air into Spotlight was a big miss, IMO. Unless it's during a port day, just about any event held there (trivia or karaoke) is overcrowded. It's totally worth it to add to my highlighter and key chain collection though!

I am about to sail Wonder for the 3rd time in the summer (plus once during spring break) when the ship is completely full with lots of kids. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds like you think it is. There is so much to do in so many different areas that Oasis class ships handle all those people very well. The pools will be crowded, the WJ will be crowded at peak hours, but things are so spread out and many people (like us) have no interest in the activities you mentioned that it's really not bad at all in our experience. You should have no problem booking any dining you want (Hibachi is the only one that I've read can be a bit difficult b/c of the limited space/seatings). I am sailing in 18 days and can still book pretty much anything. They also hold plenty of reservations back for booking onboard (for people who book dining packages or want to use their D+ BOGO deals). Some people even feel that Oasis class does a better job with crowds than Freedom class (I've had no significant issues on either). If you haven't yet, I suggest finding a nice long YouTube tour of Wonder to get an idea of where everything is. Hope this helps alleviate some of your concerns.

As mentioned, you can't use it until you check in at 45 days out and have your set sail pass. Once you do, here it is... Bar Code Trick Method 1. If you have an Apple device, add your set sail pass to your Apple wallet. Numbers will now appear under your bar code. The numbers after the dash represent your cabin. Method 2. Scan the bar code with a QR scanner from another device and that should also show you the numbers. NOTE: If you see "GTY" instead of numbers, you truly haven't been assigned yet. One tip off is that if you don't see a muster station on your set sail pass then you almost definitely don't have an assignment yet.

This is why I chose to just do it onboard (as it was intended to be used) on my first D+ cruise earlier this month. The last thing I want to do DURING my cruise is deal with stuff. Others will feel differently and that's cool too. Whatever works for ya! We always board early, I was 2nd in line behind someone at a promenade dining kiosk, only had to wait a bit b/c the person in front of me was taking a while booking UDP meals. Once it was my turn, booked the one BOGO we wanted in less than 5 minutes and went off to have lunch, no issues.

You can call and pay for an upgrade.

Reservations can open at any time. It was 60 days out in mid-May for my July 14th sailing & 50 days out for my June 2nd sailing. Effectors 2, Voices, Ice show (365), Aqua show (InTENse), and adult comedy can all be booked. And for some reason they made the adult comedy show that’s always on the last night in the mail theater available for separate reservations for my July sailing. It never had reservations before nor have I seen it remotely full. Is there one? Sort of. Is it good? I enjoyed it, especially because it was free, but others may not. Here’s the deal… Wonder was meant to go to Asia but Covid changed that so they had to scrap the escape room as it was designed for China. So what is left is a room in the front of Adventure Ocean with bare walls and some pretty difficult puzzles on tables around the room. You can reserve it when entertainment opens and, as mentioned, it’s free… so I’d give it a shot. Just understand it’s not a true escape room.

Maybe not then. There was no bird cage at Manawakie, just a couple macaws outside. You could hold the birds first, then the sloths, then the monkey cage. And those monkeys weren't violent at all, they were adorable and just jumped all over the place (including onto my shoulder) before moving on. They did try to pickpocket people though and one really liked my wife's Apple watch, lol.

GS's are in the suite neighborhood just outside the SL/CK and right below the suite sun deck... that's the MUCH BETTER location in my book. It's likely just the supply & demand algorithm.

Thanks for letting us know how we should all spend OUR money.

Possibly Manawakie? We went there earlier this month as part of a private tour. Was there a brief speech at the beginning telling you about some history of the island? That was my only excursion on Roatan and we pretty much never book excursions through RC anymore so I don't have any other recommendations, sorry. If you change your mind and want another private independent tour I do have an excellent recommendation for that.

Unfortunately that's a common issue on many ships and can vary from cabin to cabin. One very nice feature of Wonder and newer ships is that every cabin has its own WAP so the reception is excellent.

Yep, thanks, I just like taking care of as many mundane tasks pre-cruise as I can.

Same here. My trip to the bank for a large stack of singles specifically for voucher drinks has become a nice pre-cruise tradition and lets me know it's getting close. On family cruises, my young nieces love carrying a few bucks around to tip on their own (virgin) voucher drinks for whatever reason since they like ordering the drinks themselves.

Wasn't that something the bartender who did the Reddit AMA mentioned or am I misremembering?

Agreed. Sadly I’m not a whiskey drinker but love the Mississippi Moonlight. The adult root beer float with absolut vanilla & Kahlua is good too if you wanna be a big kid.

Agree 100% about the subjective part. Never tried Wonderland but I love Mason Jar brunch (haven’t had dinner) and it is a favorite amongst the frequent cruisers with whom I interact.

Some have even sailed with an old hold and their actual booking when they asked their TA to change something. I forget the details but it was mildly confusing at first.

No problem. Food is a huge part of my cruise-enjoyment so I can totally relate to the questions. Steak & lobster are great and on the rare occasion I have been treated to a beach club cabana on family cruises I enjoyed them... but we normally do CocoCay for free and I am very happy eating snack shack and chill grill food so I get not wanting to miss it (especially the funnel cake for dessert; that was the only part of the beach club menu we found underwhelming).