myacuna

When we went, there were some crafts and open hours in the kids club (we made turkey headbands for one), there’s an open play space inside (like a climbing area), an outdoor climbing area at the back of the ship, pretty sure the backlight puppet show (they all blend together), a diapered splash pad area, a potty trained splash pad area, the carousel on boardwalk, a climbing area on the boardwalk, and there was a little “carnival” one day on the boardwalk. Also my toddler (2 at the time) loved the aqua show.

We were on Wonder in November 2024 over Thanksgiving with a 2 year old (not potty trained at the time). The splash pad she was allowed in was smaller and right next to the bigger and better one that she wanted to go to. That age is just so hard. The nursery gave us I think 6-8 hours to start for booking, and then opened up more availability later in the cruise. We were generally able to get what we wanted but sometimes it was a game of frogger (ie we could get 8-10 pm one night). Availability will truly depend on how many kids are on the ship. FYI the kids clubs are 3-5 and 6-12. My 8 year old (at the time) was not a big fan of the 6-12 as he was a bit bullied by the 11-12 year olds.

Get in line early and have your times ready to book. On a Christmas cruise they will likely give you 6 hours to start and you can add more time day 2.

@death_star it was a regular sized one, which is what we’ve gotten on wonder too, though the mattress we got on wonder was comical and glad we brought the travel tri-fold. I’m not sure if she was moved up because there was space or if they recognized that she’d be better in the 3-5. She’s tall for her age and she was absolutely the youngest - but she fit right in. Helps to have a much older brother too.

My daughter is just shy of three (bday in mid December). We just got off Mariner this am so here are some things I found helpful! 1. she is still happily sleeping in a pack n play and I’m going to ride this wave as long as I can. I brought a tri-fold travel mattress for extra padding and a stretchy blackout shade and used their provided pnp. 2. we didn’t realize the room setup at the time but we were in 7610 (edge of the hump) which provided an amazing space between our curtain and the balcony. With the blackout shade she basically had her own room. Idk if this is manageable in the super hot months but she never seemed hot from the sun hitting the balcony doors at times. See photo. 3. while a stroller was necessary at times, it was a huge PITA. The smaller you can bring, the better. Leave the BOB at home. We had a simple umbrella stroller and even that was annoying. 4. on day one, I went and talked with AO. This was our big win here - I really didn’t want to deal with royal babies and tots if I didn’t have to. The stress of having to make reservations and not being guaranteed the hours we needed is not something I enjoy on vacation. I kindly asked if they would consider moving her to the 3-5 room, seeing as she’s fully potty trained and in a 3 year old room at preschool. The wonderful staff happily obliged after making sure she was truly potty trained, could use the potty on her own with no help, and could follow organized activities. This “trial” seems to be offered when asked for (they didn’t bat an eye and explained it to me so they definitely have a process in place) and she passed within the first hour of day one. —-> I offer this information because I’ve read all over these boards that it’s not possible to move from the nursery to AO. I went in hopeful but with no expectations and my daughter would have been fine either way, but when I say she had the most amazing time at “camp” with her “teachers”, I’m not exaggerating. 5. the staff was truly wonderful. We’ve sailed Mariner twice and love the size but we were just missing having a splash pad. Otherwise it was lovely.

This is the first Royal ship I can remember seeing this setup on. The others were 3-5, 6-8, 9-12... There were SO many kids in that room. No wonder my kiddo was overwhelmed.

@auntie.emily94 how do you get to the bridge view? I think my son would love that!

Just sailed Wonder with like 2000 kids under 18 - Not sure if this is specific to Wonder but they had 6-12 in one large room. My son (8) hated it and missed the themes and scheduled activities. He reported that the older kids were bullies and hogged the "good stuff". No reservations needed, no time limit for this room. We also have a toddler who used AO babies. That DOES require reservations and we were allotted 16 hours to start. After night one they allowed us to reserve additional time. We reserved as soon as they opened for registration, and I know people that were not able to get any evening slots.

10:30 am (Thanksgiving cruise). We arrived at 10:45 and the boarding signs were still showing Suites but quickly flipped to all boarding groups. No one checked our time. We scheduled 10:30.

I asked, I was kind to the agent, and they moved me...and this was very close to sailing so I was not stealing a cabin. So no, if Royal is willing to move me to a cabin in my category, I am going to allow them to do so.

I’m not switching categories. I’m just asking for a different room within my category so my location that I prefer may not be what somebody else prefers. As long as there’s cabins available in your category, you can move.

We always call and ask for OV Balcony GTY. We just sailed Wonder and did not like our chosen location - quick call fixed it (know your category, look at what is available in said category, and tell the person on the line exactly which room you want). We switched to a prime location for us at no cost.

We were not in a suite, but the soot definitely seemed worse after the speed up to San Juan. We didn’t have any issues at the place scape or mini golf area until the last few nights when it did ruin a couple of our outfits. I should’ve probably stopped at guest services to discuss but the lines were obviously very long due to the other issues.

i don’t see the extra charges on my receipt for the extra day of our beverage packages or WiFi. I’ll keep checking my statement though.

No. And only the nursery needs reservations. You have to go to book in person for your allotted hours.

Wonder set up starting on thanksgiving. It was lit up after I took this photo.

@Thisguylikestocruise yeah I think it was overall selection and maybe a little quality. Even in specialty - Giovanni’s, my husbands chicken was super dry…150 was good, hibachi was great, playmakers was a giant disappointment. oddly enough, my sons kid steak in MDR was spectacular. El loco Fresh was the best food we had (when it comes to complementary), and oddly enough, sorrentos was the best pizza we’ve had on the ships. my biggest food disappointment was the salad bar. So pared down now and it’s usually my choice for lunch but half the time it was lacking. luckily I don’t cruise for the food. I just noticed most meals were lackluster and I was just eating to make sure I didn’t pass out.

Easiest debark yet for us. Overall an amazing vacation. Wonder is beautiful and there was more than enough to do. Food was meh compared to other ships but I was glad to see they upgraded the mattresses to something not made of concrete.

We’ve had several alpha calls. It could have been a heart attack/stroke patient or it could have been the woman who fell and cracked her face open. In any case, I feel for the families who have had to deal. We’ve seen an ambulance at each of our ports. no update yet. Apparently the play scape was closed because all 5 engines were fired and there’s a ton of soot flying. The woman who fell was on the other side near the windjammer. I misspoke there. rumor has it arrival is 12-2:30. I’m sure we will update here as we get updates but right now it’s 11:00 ship time with no update.

I looked back at my chats and it was maybe closer to 12/12:30? I’m not too sure, the announcement was shortly after they witnessed the fall.

Apparently this incident took place near the play scape and it’s still close. The woman was cut off so clearly inebriated and fell up or down the stairs breaking her orbital bone.

Yeah the first 24 was rough. I was in the spa and we were rolling. I think because of the nature of the injury you are right. This is safer for the patient. I feel for them.

Close to the putt putt area. I can’t remember what time but it was the last alpha call (there’s sadly been several) I think maybe around 10ish?

We’re on the ship as well and our friends saw the patient fall. They need immediate emergency surgery which is probably why we’re hightailing it to PR. We’re rocking and rolling which is a bit rough. Hopefully we don’t high speed it the rest of this trip 🤢

@ATSEAMYLIFE you are not wrong, especially when it comes to her. I came to my senses and we are going to use a pack n play.