Changes on Wonder of the Seas compared to other Oasis ships

[tustin3]

Thank you! Our next cruise.

[TheHawk1]

15 hours ago, little britain said:

Back OT:

 

 

The Mason Jar is the best bar on the ship. Fact. The band are superb. It needs to be bigger. The restaurant is empty every night and needs to be rethought if they are having MJ on Utopia or other ships. Europeans don’t go for the huge portions of heavy food they serve it seems, as apparently when in the USA the line to get into this restaurant is out of the door.

 

The Music Hall despite its name has all the ambiance of a dentist’s waiting room with the chairs in rows. At least cluster them around small tables…. MH works much better as a venue on Anthem. 

 

Effectors 2 is much better than Effectors 1.  Great aerial sequences. Like Flight. 

 

The 365 Ice show is the best on any RCI ship. Very pretty with great music. And Game of Thrones. 
 

Everything is very LOUD. 

Agree with everything you said, except for Effectors 2.  For me, it was just a cartoonish bore.

[Joseph2017China]

I believe with 5 Oasis ships, the need for design changes are important to cover, such things as weather.  You can't have all 5 ships in sunny and hot weather.  Wonder of the Seas was designed for colder areas, which I appreciate the variances.  Right now, some ships were left "stranded" since the Asian market is way behind the rest of the world, with the acceptance of Covid, is now a disease to live with.  They just started allowing ships to go to other countries.  It will be another year before we see the Asian markets open more fully.  We also seeing International travel rebounding slowly, which will now make ships like Wonder more attractive to others.  Don't be too surprised that when this ship, leaves Florida next, it does not return for a long time. 

[island lady]

15 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Our roll call had a couple of people who canceled due to the downgrade.  I think we got to keep our OS because we had deposited back in November 2019 for a family Thanksgiving cruise for 2020.  We all know how that turned out.  We kept getting rolled over to other dates and ships with finally ending up on Wonder.  It will be interesting to see how the location of the OS compare to the locations on Oasis and Allure.  I think it will much better because of the proximity to SL and CK.  

 

Indeed.  Just like the location of all the GS cabins are now on 17, all the OS cabins are on 18.  A true "Suites Neighborhood" set up.  Very convenient.  The new suites sun deck looks fabulous...beautiful bar up there as well.  

[island lady]

duplicate

Edited September 30, 2022 by island lady

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Joseph2017China said:

I believe with 5 Oasis ships, the need for design changes are important to cover, such things as weather.  You can't have all 5 ships in sunny and hot weather.  Wonder of the Seas was designed for colder areas, which I appreciate the variances.  Right now, some ships were left "stranded" since the Asian market is way behind the rest of the world, with the acceptance of Covid, is now a disease to live with.  They just started allowing ships to go to other countries.  It will be another year before we see the Asian markets open more fully.  We also seeing International travel rebounding slowly, which will now make ships like Wonder more attractive to others.  Don't be too surprised that when this ship, leaves Florida next, it does not return for a long time. 

 

Other than the climate controlled solarium, and that should work fine in hot weather, what else is designed for colder climate. Seems about the same as any other Oasis ship 🤔

 

And FWIW, with 5 Oasis ships, only 2 stay in FL during summer. NJ, TX, and Europe get the other 3. 

 

Of cours Icon, and Oasis 6 will further saturate, but Royal could easily keep 3 here during summer. And Australia could get a hand me down😉

Edited September 30, 2022 by John&LaLa

[little britain]

I have never seen such a total disregard for Dress your Best night as there was last night. Approximately 20% of the ship were dressed. If that.
Very strange as usually on European cruises the Spanish etc really get dressed up. Personally I blame the lack of a paper compass so it is trickier to read on a little phone. 
 

No Chefs Amenity has been delivered (yet) and it’s the last night tonight.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by little britain

[Norwich Cruiser]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

I have never seen such a total disregard for Dress your Best night as there was last night. Approximately 20% of the ship were dressed. If that.
Very strange as usually on European cruises the Spanish etc really get dressed up. Personally I blame the lack of a paper compass so it is trickier to read on a little phone. 
 

No Chefs Amenity has been delivered (yet) and it’s the last night tonight.

 

 

The same on our August cruise Dress your Best was really not much different to any other night.

 

This was plainly obvious as there was really never a wait for folks to have any cruise photos done normally quite a wait.

 

Think we may got four cookies for our chefs amenity if indeed that’s what it was.

 

Safe flight home.

[little britain]

2 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

The same on our August cruise Dress your Best was really not much different to any other night.

 

This was plainly obvious as there was really never a wait for folks to have any cruise photos done normally quite a wait.

 

Think we may got four cookies for our chefs amenity if indeed that’s what it was.

 

Safe flight home.

I received my cookies on arrival but not the plate of cakes / chocolate strawberries or canapés that you usually get on formal night.  Fewer calories I guess! 
I’m sure I got them on my last Wonder cruise in May and I got them on Anthem

last month 

[darthvadrouw]

7 hours ago, little britain said:

I have never seen such a total disregard for Dress your Best night as there was last night. Approximately 20% of the ship were dressed. If that.
Very strange as usually on European cruises the Spanish etc really get dressed up. Personally I blame the lack of a paper compass so it is trickier to read on a little phone. 
 

No Chefs Amenity has been delivered (yet) and it’s the last night tonight.

 

 

It was the same on Odyssey a couple of weeks ago. Barely anyone dressed up. 
For some reason White Night was well observed.

[island lady]

Just a plate of leftover cookies for us as well on Harmony a week ago when we checked into our cabin.  Then nothing the rest of the week.  Normally we get another plate of goodies...but not that cruise.  No biggie...so many food options around the ship.  Won't go hungry.  😉  

[little britain]

Friends on last week b2b got the canapés. 
 
As you say no biggie; but the welcome back letter specifically states “the chefs choice gift/amenity have officially made a comeback”! 

[LuCruise]

On 9/29/2022 at 6:58 PM, little britain said:

Back OT:

 

 

The Mason Jar is the best bar on the ship. Fact. The band are superb. It needs to be bigger. The restaurant is empty every night and needs to be rethought if they are having MJ on Utopia or other ships. Europeans don’t go for the huge portions of heavy food they serve it seems, as apparently when in the USA the line to get into this restaurant is out of the door.

 

The Music Hall despite its name has all the ambiance of a dentist’s waiting room with the chairs in rows. At least cluster them around small tables…. MH works much better as a venue on Anthem. 

 

Effectors 2 is much better than Effectors 1.  Great aerial sequences. Like Flight. 

 

The 365 Ice show is the best on any RCI ship. Very pretty with great music. And Game of Thrones. 
 

Everything is very LOUD. 

Which ship has Effectors 1 vs Effectors 2?

We have both Odyssey and Wonder booked and I believe that they both have Effectors show.  Anyone know if these are the same show?  Or as per above 1 vs 2?

[little britain]

42 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

Which ship has Effectors 1 vs Effectors 2?

We have both Odyssey and Wonder booked and I believe that they both have Effectors show.  Anyone know if these are the same show?  Or as per above 1 vs 2?

No they are not the same show. E2 is on Wonder and is the sequel show to E1 on Odyssey. They do a short summary of what has happened in E1 at the start of E2. 

Edited October 1, 2022 by little britain

[TheHawk1]

9 hours ago, little britain said:

Personally I blame the lack of a paper compass so it is trickier to read on a little phone. 

Our cruise a couple weeks back the CD told us this was the first time Wonder was going even more green and eliminating the paper compass. You have to download it off the app and then move it around on your screen to see the various sections. I tried one night of staring at my phone to see what was happening that evening and gave up. And no, I’m not technically challenged, I work in IT. I asked our attendant for paper copies for the rest of the cruise and he happily obliged. I’m tired of Royal pushing us to use our phones for everything while on vacation. Enough already.

[little britain]

On 9/27/2022 at 5:09 PM, island lady said:

Do you recall if Wonder has bottled water...or those awful cans?   Thanks in advance.  🙂 

It’s the cans. Current stock is San Benedetto. It tastes ok. 

[LuCruise]

7 minutes ago, little britain said:

No they are not the same show. E2 is the following up show to E1. They do a short summary of what has happened in E1 at the start of E2. 

 

Thanks for explaining.  Was a bit surprised when I learned that both ships have the same headliner.

[island lady]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

It’s the cans. Current stock is San Benedetto. It tastes ok. 

 

Thanks!  Someone else told me that as well, of which I saw on cruise planner too...but was hoping it was listed wrong.  Drats, don't like the cans...can't reseal them.  Guess I could buy a case and then put the water in reusable bottle...but might still taste like "can".  😛

[CanHardlyWait4NextYear]

18 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Thanks!  Someone else told me that as well, of which I saw on cruise planner too...but was hoping it was listed wrong.  Drats, don't like the cans...can't reseal them.  Guess I could buy a case and then put the water in reusable bottle...but might still taste like "can".  😛

I've read repeatedly this depends on departure port and supply availability.

[island lady]

2 hours ago, CanHardlyWait4NextYear said:

I've read repeatedly this depends on departure port and supply availability.

 

Barcelona

[Russ Lomas]

On 9/27/2022 at 5:38 PM, nferr said:

 I hated the enclosed solarium on the Anthem. Just feels like you're sitting in a humid glasshouse. Spent maybe 15 minutes in there my entire 11 night cruise. A lot of people seemed to love it though.

They must have figure out the temperature issue in the Solarium on the Odyssey.  It was an absolutely beautiful area.  A few times, a bit too cool in March in the Caribbean, actually.  Wish the beautiful tiered pools in there were a bit warmer.

[Oceansaway17]

On 9/25/2022 at 7:35 PM, Tee & Chilli said:

Another poster recently said the windjammer is smaller. Perhaps the lay out feels different.

it felt small to me.  I did not like the layout and no view in the back area,   I did not think they needed a bunch of sofas in the entrance either.  

[Oceansaway17]

11 hours ago, little britain said:

I received my cookies on arrival but not the plate of cakes / chocolate strawberries or canapés that you usually get on formal night.  Fewer calories I guess! 
I’m sure I got them on my last Wonder cruise in May and I got them on Anthem

last month 

I got cookies and then a couple of days either I got some fruit.

I also had to ask for a c/a free robe to use.

also on ADV OTS, only place I got choc covered strawberries was in the diamond lounge at 5pm

 

All ships seem to be stingy with cookies.  I was told the supply chain is still an issue as the cookies are only baked on board from the dough they get.

[TheHawk1]

One other change I saw on Wonder which was not a positive.  On other Oasis ships, the Library contained a couple of internet connected PC's, which passengers could use free of charge.  They were very useful if you wanted to check on your flight home or your email, for those who don't have onboard internet.

 

On Wonder, these have been removed and the Library is just a game room, nothing more.  One more example of Royal taking away a free perk and pushing passengers into purchasing something for a fee, in this case their Voom service.

[SherriZ366]

On 9/27/2022 at 6:32 PM, DeputyDawg46 said:

Been on the WoS three time to include a TA.  One thing I did not like was the bathroom entry door has magnetic closure thus making a sound when closing and it sort of grabs the door to shut it.  Could wake anyone else in the cabin at night with the popping sound. Frist cruise I fixed it by taping soft ear plugs to it.  By the next cruise I went and bought those small felt pads with peel off sticky backs.  Handed them out to the crew who could not thank me enough since they have roommates that may work opposite hours and the noise shutting the bathroom door was annoying. 

Great suggestion.  Just put it on my packing list.