Wonder of the Seas - Medical Diversion, delay

[Wheels87]

Just now, jrapps said:

Have you ever tried the UDP? While it is expensive, it (to us) is totally worth it. I feel the quality of food in MDR has slid a lot for years now. We used to be those people that could never imagine paying more for food, now we can't image doing the MDR ever again. Every meal on the Wonder was high quality, and most meals we were done in under 90 minutes. The Wonder was a great ship to do this on as there were so many upgrade restaurants, we never ate dinner in the same restaurant twice!

We will probably do that for our B2B in January, however, I found that with eight people, it was difficult to get a reservation. We booked 150 Central Park and had a great, albeit late, experience. The group at the only large table stayed for 3.5 hours and delayed us by 45 minutes past our 8:30 reservation. The staff was very apologetic and took 30% off the bill. In January, it will just be my wife and myself. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Wheels87

[jrapps]

Did anyone who came off the Wonder today actually get charged for day 8's Wi-Fi or drink packages? We kept our WIFI but never saw the charge, just wondering if they changed their mind on that one.

 

We also lucked out with the upscale dining and Day 8. They told us they'd charge us 50% of the on ship dining rate, but once we got the bill it was FAR less than I expected. That one could just be a YMMV situation with each server. 

[Oceansaway17]

38 minutes ago, Wheels87 said:

 

Yep, they had multiple lanes open. It was smooth as silk. 

 

I agree with everyone about the food...not as good as usual and everything was quite slow coming out of the kitchen.  My entire party was seated every night by 5:15 for dinner and two different times it took over 2 hours to finish. We are not slow eaters, either. They also left dirty dishes sitting in front of us for long periods of time. It was like the staff had way too many guests to look after. 

 

I'm hoping it improves with time. 

 

Brad

I enjoyed the food when I was on in April.  I did speciality a lot.  I found the layout of WJ odd compared to the other ships in the class.

 

well glad you are home.  I like Symphony of the seas a lot and will sail her a second time in the med next year.  toodles

[sjb317]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

Were your son and his husband parked at the port?  

No, we picked them up.  We got to the terminal at 715, there was no traffic around the terminals by Independence at that time and none when we left for the airport. 
 

There was a large bus parked by the exit that about a dozen people who came out ahead of our son got on but no lines at that time.

 

Sherri🙂

[lazydayz]

23 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

No, we picked them up.  We got to the terminal at 715, there was no traffic around the terminals by Independence at that time and none when we left for the airport. 
 

There was a large bus parked by the exit that about a dozen people who came out ahead of our son got on but no lines at that time.

 

Sherri🙂

 

Your son is lucky to have you!  I wished we had parked offsite.  It would have saved us at least an hour. 

[sharktums]

Wow, this thread got away from me a bit!

 

A few notes as I was the original poster...

 

- Multiple times the captain and cruise director reminded everyone that they would do this same diversion for you or your family members and I think that needs to be emphasized. 

 

- The captain DID keep us as updated as he could. I think it was quite clear when we left Puerto Rico after 9pm that we weren't really going to make it back Sunday.  Even if we had, there's no way they could have staffed up the port, dealt with luggage, refueling, resupplying, and boarding the next 6k people around midnight. It was a holiday weekend and I assume it took longer to get through all the red tape to figure out an exact plan. Not to mention Brilliance and Serenade were also having late arrival issues at this time. We kept joking the poor corporate intern who was left in charge over the Holiday weekend must be crying in a corner at HQ!

 

- We had a really nice, long conversation with the revenue manager Saturday night. Mostly to give him a break from getting yelled at but he had stories from guests that they had every right to be upset about. Someone had surgery scheduled for Monday, someone was doing a once in a lifetime Disney trip Sunday before flying home, there was a Universal marriage proposal supposed to happen, international guests were having a harder time getting flights home, etc.  There just wasn't a good solution for everyone and we all have to accept that.  Out of our group of seven, we had five that were excited, one that would get in trouble at work, and one teenager that burst into tears when the captain announced a Monday arrival as she had plans for Sunday. We all survived and have our RCCL official letter to give work and school to try and get an excuse!

 

- I was a bit surprised when they told us we'd have to pay extra for the 8th day of internet, food, and beverage packages but as it sat with us longer we all decided we were actually ok with this. I think we were mostly surprised just because most of the trip reports I read on here when something like this happens they all post that it's extended at no cost and that RCCL picks up the extra day of gratuities as well. 

 

- Missing Coco on this trip wasn't a big deal for our group, but we felt really bad for a lot of the families, northerners, and people who haven't had a chance to visit yet.  We didn't expect to get anything for missing the port as we've only ever gotten taxes/fees back in the past so were very pleasantly surprised to get $200 for the miss. I do chalk that up to it being an expensive holiday sailing. It was kind of entertaining that this sailing went from 3 sea days to 5!

 

- Can we make 4:30am debarkation a permanent thing!?!?  Seriously! I mean, if you need to get 6k people off a ship clearly it helps to have more time to do it and there were a decent amount of crazy people up at that hour (including my group!) to get out of there and back to real life. 

 

- We did the UDP and all the specialty restaurants were great.  I do agree with others that there seemed to be less salad bar options in Windjammer and Park Cafe. I liked the new Windjammer and thought they did a good job with most of the food options in there. This was my first El Loco Fresh and I liked it a lot. So did everyone else on the boat as there were always long lines and missing food. 

 

Ok this was a lot...happy to answer any other specific questions and hopefully not start any more drama!

 

 

[jmklade]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:41 PM, Deez123 said:

 

Hahaha.  Yeah right.  I’ll just cancel my fight with 1 hr notice.   Try to find a flight thanksgiving weekend for the next day, pay 2x the original inflated cost.    Then I’ll just cancel the non refundable hotel reservation for tonight since less than 24 hr notice.   Then I’ll cancel my prepaid parking reservation too.   
 

After all that is done I’ll go on cruise critic and FB and sing praises of RCL for giving me 23 hrs notice and no assistance.  
 

At least those onboard are getting some assistance for fights.  I got nothing but a text message. 

Is it a major inconvenience, yes.  Please don't cruise or take any land based vacations if you can't handle unexpected things happening. It is life.  It stinks, but they were trying to help a fellow passenger survive.

[Mum2Mercury]

6 hours ago, lazydayz said:

That was not the case today.  On the Independence, it took us 1 hour and five minutes to get off the ship (left the cabin at 8:00; stood in line this entire time). 

I think 8:00 is kinda "prime time" for leaving.  Do you think the long wait was because you left at such a popular time, or did everyone end up waiting that long?  

6 hours ago, myacuna said:

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.

Since I eat low carb, I prefer a salad + piece of fish for lunch on a cruise, and -- yes -- I was a bit disappointed in the Windjammer's lunchtime salads (Explorer).  

I wish they'd bring back the Tutti Salad.  I honestly don't understand how that salad was SO DELICIOUS.

4 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

even with facial recognition they were really at the port that early.

This new facial recognition is fantastic.  And a little scary.  

4 hours ago, BND said:

They did say the seafood was pretty good.  

My goal onboard is to eat as much seafood as possible -- and, with the exception of the almond-topped cod, I was pleased.  

2 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Your son is lucky to have you!  I wished we had parked offsite.  It would have saved us at least an hour. 

How would you save time by parking offsite?  You'd still have to take a taxi or Uber through the insane terminal traffic.  Or am I missing something?  

54 minutes ago, sharktums said:

... Someone had surgery scheduled for Monday, someone was doing a once in a lifetime Disney trip Sunday before flying home, there was a Universal marriage proposal supposed to happen, international guests were having a harder time getting flights home, etc. ... 

 

... I was a bit surprised when they told us we'd have to pay extra for the 8th day of internet, food, and beverage packages ... 

 

... Can we make 4:30am debarkation a permanent thing!?!?  Seriously! I mean, if you need to get 6k people off a ship clearly it helps to have more time to do it and there were a decent amount of crazy people up at that hour (including my group!) to get out of there and back to real life ... 

Two logical things we all should be doing: 

- Don't plan something super-important (surgery, proposal) for the day after a cruise.  Even if things had gone perfectly, disembarkation is never a fun thing, and a travel day is tiring.  

- Bring extra medicines and an extra outfit of clothing.  

 

I'm not clear on what you're saying about extra charges: 

- Are you saying that everyone on the ship was charged for an extra day of food? 

- Or are you saying people who had "upgraded" options like the Ultimate Dining Package or the Deluxe Drink package paid for an extra day?  

- What about people who live "on the edge" and genuinely couldn't pay for these things?  I'm sure someone was in that situation. 

 

An early disembarkation sounds good for those who have a long drive, but it'd make the crew's turn-around day even more difficult than it already is.  

[jrapps]

2 hours ago, sharktums said:

Wow, this thread got away from me a bit!

 

A few notes as I was the original poster...

 

- Multiple times the captain and cruise director reminded everyone that they would do this same diversion for you or your family members and I think that needs to be emphasized. 

 

- The captain DID keep us as updated as he could. I think it was quite clear when we left Puerto Rico after 9pm that we weren't really going to make it back Sunday.  Even if we had, there's no way they could have staffed up the port, dealt with luggage, refueling, resupplying, and boarding the next 6k people around midnight. It was a holiday weekend and I assume it took longer to get through all the red tape to figure out an exact plan. Not to mention Brilliance and Serenade were also having late arrival issues at this time. We kept joking the poor corporate intern who was left in charge over the Holiday weekend must be crying in a corner at HQ!

 

- We had a really nice, long conversation with the revenue manager Saturday night. Mostly to give him a break from getting yelled at but he had stories from guests that they had every right to be upset about. Someone had surgery scheduled for Monday, someone was doing a once in a lifetime Disney trip Sunday before flying home, there was a Universal marriage proposal supposed to happen, international guests were having a harder time getting flights home, etc.  There just wasn't a good solution for everyone and we all have to accept that.  Out of our group of seven, we had five that were excited, one that would get in trouble at work, and one teenager that burst into tears when the captain announced a Monday arrival as she had plans for Sunday. We all survived and have our RCCL official letter to give work and school to try and get an excuse!

 

- I was a bit surprised when they told us we'd have to pay extra for the 8th day of internet, food, and beverage packages but as it sat with us longer we all decided we were actually ok with this. I think we were mostly surprised just because most of the trip reports I read on here when something like this happens they all post that it's extended at no cost and that RCCL picks up the extra day of gratuities as well. 

 

- Missing Coco on this trip wasn't a big deal for our group, but we felt really bad for a lot of the families, northerners, and people who haven't had a chance to visit yet.  We didn't expect to get anything for missing the port as we've only ever gotten taxes/fees back in the past so were very pleasantly surprised to get $200 for the miss. I do chalk that up to it being an expensive holiday sailing. It was kind of entertaining that this sailing went from 3 sea days to 5!

 

- Can we make 4:30am debarkation a permanent thing!?!?  Seriously! I mean, if you need to get 6k people off a ship clearly it helps to have more time to do it and there were a decent amount of crazy people up at that hour (including my group!) to get out of there and back to real life. 

 

- We did the UDP and all the specialty restaurants were great.  I do agree with others that there seemed to be less salad bar options in Windjammer and Park Cafe. I liked the new Windjammer and thought they did a good job with most of the food options in there. This was my first El Loco Fresh and I liked it a lot. So did everyone else on the boat as there were always long lines and missing food. 

 

Ok this was a lot...happy to answer any other specific questions and hopefully not start any more drama!

 

 

Very well said.

 

Have you taken a look at your folio yet to see what extra things you were charged for? It seems we were charged for the 8th day of gratuities, but that's it. No extra charge for drink package or Wi-Fi made it onto our bill.

[sharktums]

^^Our letter said we would be charged for an extra day (at a discount) of any internet, drink, or dining packages.  Normal food and all activities were included.

 

^I'm still waiting for the folio email, when we left this morning we still didn't have our bill on our door. Saw some of the room stewards putting them up as we left. 

[Jimbo]

13 hours ago, jrapps said:

Debarking was literally the smoothest I've ever seen. When they called our number we got an empty elevator straight down the deck 5 and within 30 seconds we were off the ship. For everyone who complains that Oasis class ships are too large and too crowded has obviously he never seen what royal can do with a smooth debarcation process.

 

Overall we had an amazing time on this trip. Overall the entertainment was good although we have seen better. The food was very very good, but we did upgraded dining and never set foot in the main dining room one time on the entire voyage.

 

For all the people who complained about this and that, we had an amazing vacation. 

Most likely because a lot walked off the ship before you left since  some passengers started to get off at 4am which never happens like that.

12 hours ago, BND said:

We just got off Jewel 9 days ago from a b2b.  The beef isn't great, especially the strip steak but other items weren't great either.  My DH was very disappointed the first night he ordered the Apple Blossom Tart.  It's now basically apple pie with none of the taste of the tart.   Mozz sticks were sometimes mozz, sometimes an unidentified cheese.  As Jewel had just come from Europe, they had English Sausages that they called hot dogs and the hamburgers were very thin.  The only thing I heard people praise the entire 13 days was the seafood.  Quality has gone way down, even since our July cruise on EN.   I've seen some of the same complaints about other ships so it's definitely a supplier issue which they need to fix.

 

So, I must have missed it, but what time is Wonder due to leave today?

Be very glad then you aren't taking that World Cruise next December 2023, who knows by then what the food will be like  by that time on Serenade. The bad food could get really bad when being on board for 9 months.

Maybe as long as the Booze hold outs, maybe most people won't complain about the food. Probably what Royal is hoping.

[myacuna]

6 hours ago, jrapps said:

Did anyone who came off the Wonder today actually get charged for day 8's Wi-Fi or drink packages? We kept our WIFI but never saw the charge, just wondering if they changed their mind on that one.

 

We also lucked out with the upscale dining and Day 8. They told us they'd charge us 50% of the on ship dining rate, but once we got the bill it was FAR less than I expected. That one could just be a YMMV situation with each server. 

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.

[Spurschick]

14 hours ago, BND said:

We just got off Jewel 9 days ago from a b2b.  The beef isn't great, especially the strip steak but other items weren't great either.  My DH was very disappointed the first night he ordered the Apple Blossom Tart.  It's now basically apple pie with none of the taste of the tart.   Mozz sticks were sometimes mozz, sometimes an unidentified cheese.  As Jewel had just come from Europe, they had English Sausages that they called hot dogs and the hamburgers were very thin.  The only thing I heard people praise the entire 13 days was the seafood.  Quality has gone way down, even since our July cruise on EN.   I've seen some of the same complaints about other ships so it's definitely a supplier issue which they need to fix.

 

So, I must have missed it, but what time is Wonder due to leave today?

I’m sorry but English sausages are nothing like hot dogs. Not even closely resembling a hot dog.  Even when I have cruised from Uk I have only ever seen them served for breakfast and never advertised as hot dogs. ( I appreciate it’s not you calling them hot dogs but what you said they were advertised as )

Edited November 29, 2022 by Spurschick

[Spurschick]

11 hours ago, Club33 said:

Well because the Wish, Independence and Wonder are all here right now. It’s going to take an hour to go 3 miles to get to the terminal. So an hour and half drive is almost three hours now. 

I have been out of Pc several times when there has been way more than 3 ships in and it certainly doesn’t add an hour to go 3 miles. I have i4 Disney traffic to contend with and it’s never taken me more than an hr from home, and never ever experienced traffic and congestion at the port even with the wish, carnival , Harmony, MSc big ships all in.

[jenushkask8s]

14 hours ago, jrapps said:

Did anyone who came off the Wonder today actually get charged for day 8's Wi-Fi or drink packages?

Wifi, no charge for us. We had canceled the drink package for day 8 because we wouldn't drink $57 worth in 1 day and the print out left at our door yesterday morning did not have a charge for the drink package on it. However, the emailed statement that we received yesterday afternoon DID have a charge for the drink package. 😡

 

We're flying home today so I'm going to have to call them about that tomorrow. 

Edited November 29, 2022 by jenushkask8s

[jrapps]

1 hour ago, jenushkask8s said:

Wifi, no charge for us. We had canceled the drink package for day 8 because we wouldn't drink $57 worth in 1 day and the print out left at our door yesterday morning did not have a charge for the drink package on it. However, the emailed statement that we received yesterday afternoon DID have a charge for the drink package. 😡

 

We're flying home today so I'm going to have to call them about that tomorrow. 

Consistently Inconsistent!

[ggo85]

IMO, RCCL should have comped the extra day of beverage packages, internet, etc.  For those who budgeted a cruise, having another $100 or more per person added when it's was outside of their (the passengers') control doesn't seem fair.  It will be interesting to see if, in the end, RCCL actually does charge for the extra day on packages. 

 

I'm more OK with passengers paying the extra day of gratuities since these go to the crew (at least in theory), not the cruise line.  The crew won't make up that difference from the next cruise, so they just lose out.  

 

I fully agree with not scheduling anything super important on the day immediately after a cruise . . . or not scheduling a cruise right before something really important.  

 

Finally, for those who missed a day . . . it's unfortunate but what is RCCL going to do?  They can't give you back that day or extend your cruise.  It's really about the amount of comp.  Consider this . . . with the Norwegian Dream collision in 1999, most people taking the next cruise were on overnight flights from the US (to England).  Only upon landing did they learn that their cruise was canceled.  So, they're in England with no cruise, no hotel booked, and (in those days) no smart phones to sort it all out.  One day of a Caribbean cruise is a nuisance but not a disaster.