Just off Wonder - a few thoughts

[LuCruise]

Sailing on Wonder in 2024.  Surprised at all the negative reviews.  Any positive comments?  It's still a Royal Oasis class so thinking we'll still be very happy.  My saddest thing is Royal not doing Broadway known shows anymore, plus having the same show as on Odyssey, but not a make or break thing.

(Staying in a regular balcony room so no suite benefits for us)

[Diver2014]

On 12/26/2022 at 8:21 AM, Beeline Cruiser said:

 

Seriously, isn't entertainment why people sail Royal?

We're on Wonder in two weeks.  Could care less about the entertainment except the ice shows are usually pretty good. 

[TheHawk1]

4 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Sailing on Wonder in 2024.  Surprised at all the negative reviews.  Any positive comments?  It's still a Royal Oasis class so thinking we'll still be very happy.  My saddest thing is Royal not doing Broadway known shows anymore, plus having the same show as on Odyssey, but not a make or break thing.

(Staying in a regular balcony room so no suite benefits for us)

I was on Wonder in September of this year and had a good time.  I agree with you about missing Royal's older Broadway shows. Although I didn't write a review of my cruise, I did summarize what I thought were pros/cons regarding Wonder compared to the other 4 Oasis ships I've been on.  See link below: 

 

 

[RG306]

5 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Sailing on Wonder in 2024.  Surprised at all the negative reviews.  Any positive comments?  It's still a Royal Oasis class so thinking we'll still be very happy.  My saddest thing is Royal not doing Broadway known shows anymore, plus having the same show as on Odyssey, but not a make or break thing.

(Staying in a regular balcony room so no suite benefits for us)

We sailed Wonder in September. The ice show was really well done, the highlight entertainment wise. We enjoyed the late night comedy and the aqua show was ok. I found effectors two to be just fine, the hubby hated it. I think part of the dissatisfaction with wonder is that it's supposed to be the biggest, newest i.e. best but it wasn't sheltered from the realities of this past year (staffing shortages, extended contracts, supply chain issues and it is noticeable). I will say we were very grateful to have had access to Coastal Kitchen, the service there was consistent and very good. The food for the most was excellent in CK and we cancelled speciality dining. The way I see it any day on vacation is better than a day at work so I will gladly go with the flow and make the best of it. No sense in complaining, we just adjusted and found what we liked. 🙂 

Edited December 31, 2022 by RG306

[LuCruise]

2 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

I was on Wonder in September of this year and had a good time.  I agree with you about missing Royal's older Broadway shows. Although I didn't write a review of my cruise, I did summarize what I thought were pros/cons regarding Wonder compared to the other 4 Oasis ships I've been on.  See link below: 

 

 

Thanks for the link to your comments.

[FloridaGram]

On 12/25/2022 at 6:43 PM, sonogal said:

We also just got off Wonder yesterday. This was my 10th RCL cruise and 20-something cruise overall. Food was definitely subpar to all previous RCL cruises, very disappointing.  Weirdly,  anything that was a cream or sauce was very runny. I love the bread pudding and vanilla sauce but it was like pouring water over the bread pudding.  We typically love main dining food but this was a disappointment for sure. Getting on Indy tomorrow so hoping it's better.  

 

Overall the shows were decent but not spectacular.  The ice show and comedians were excellent,  the rest so so. We were very disappointed to not have a Broadway show on board like the other ships do. The aquatheater show was great but had no theme so about halfway through,  it felt like there were just doing the same thing. The last 15 minutes were the best. The Effectors show was good but this was #2 and if you didn't see #1, which we didn't,  it was hard to know the underlying theme. 

 

I love Royal and will continue to sail them but I agree with the poster above,  won't be returning to Wonder. 

I agree with you about the sauces on the food, Overall we felt like the food was not as good as Carnival but I saw that people are complaining about food on their reviews there too. I think do to the high prices of food they are cutting back but as regular cruisers this is unacceptable to me.  We have 2 cruises booked but I am hesitant to book any more if this is how it is going to be.

We liked the Voices show very much and so it just depends on the person.  We were just on the ship Dec 11-18.  The Aquatheater show was not as good as I remember from the Allure and Harmony. To much weird dancing and light sabers. I am sure it appealed to younger people but it was just too much of the same thing for us. Effectors was weird too but I can tell they are appealing to a younger demographic. I did like the drones, that was an interesting technological event.

[budmeister]

On 12/26/2022 at 2:23 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

Just my opinion, but  Voices  was the worst show I have. seen on a  RCI ship law. . 

Have you seen Cats? Worse than that?

[Cruising89143]

16 minutes ago, budmeister said:

Have you seen Cats? Worse than that?

That would have to be really bad……😳😳😳

[Norwich Cruiser]

23 minutes ago, budmeister said:

Have you seen Cats? Worse than that?

We all enjoyed Voices

[Ourusualbeach]

10 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Sailing on Wonder in 2024.  Surprised at all the negative reviews.  Any positive comments?  It's still a Royal Oasis class so thinking we'll still be very happy.  My saddest thing is Royal not doing Broadway known shows anymore, plus having the same show as on Odyssey, but not a make or break thing.

(Staying in a regular balcony room so no suite benefits for us)

Just spent a week on board and the bigest negative we had was the one flowrider.  The kids play are they put in place of the second flowrider was a ghost town everytime I walked by. 

 

Specialty restaurants were great other than the condescending waiter in 150 CP (food was great) enjoyed the shows, liked the WJ layout better.  Liked the Solarium better.

 

Didn't eat in tje MDR but cousins did.  CF the first 2 days but was good after that.  Staff were great.  Pizza at Giovannis was great.

 

Overall had a great time but would pick one of the other OA class ships only because of the 2 flowriders

[cruisecontrol27]

We’re sailing on Wonder on Jan 15 so this is all good to know ahead of time. I was actually really looking forward a lot to the entertainment, but as long as we ready our expectations I’m sure it’ll be fine.

 

We are stuck with a 5pm dinner time in MDR so most of the time we’ll probably explore other options like WJ or Solarium bistro on non-specialty dining days. My last cruise was on Freedom of the Seas in 2009 so this should be a big change. I do remember MDR food being pretty great. 

[LuCruise]

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Just spent a week on board and the bigest negative we had was the one flowrider.  The kids play are they put in place of the second flowrider was a ghost town everytime I walked by. 

 

Specialty restaurants were great other than the condescending waiter in 150 CP (food was great) enjoyed the shows, liked the WJ layout better.  Liked the Solarium better.

 

Didn't eat in tje MDR but cousins did.  CF the first 2 days but was good after that.  Staff were great.  Pizza at Giovannis was great.

 

Overall had a great time but would pick one of the other OA class ships only because of the 2 flowriders

Thanks for the comments.  Glad you still had a great time.  Our kids may go on the flowrider once or twice but not a huge deal for us having 1 vs 2.  But I can see it having long lines if just one with so many people on board so those that wanting to go more often, that it would be a negative.  Interesting the kids area was so empty.  

[chiguypaul]

On 12/26/2022 at 4:54 PM, GTO-Girl said:

we never used the Solarium on the other Oasis class ships because it was always so hot in there.  
 

The Wonder’s solarium felt great to us…..so sorry you didn’t enjoy it.

 

There is a separately thread now about the heat issue is the Wonder. I was just on the Wonder on the 12/31/22 and my wife and I found the heat unbearable. Very warm and stuffy during the day. It was hotter in the Solarium than outside of it. Usually the Solarium is our escape, but we had to escape the Solarium. 🙂

[chiguypaul]

On 1/1/2023 at 7:29 AM, LuCruise said:

Thanks for the comments.  Glad you still had a great time.  Our kids may go on the flowrider once or twice but not a huge deal for us having 1 vs 2.  But I can see it having long lines if just one with so many people on board so those that wanting to go more often, that it would be a negative.  Interesting the kids area was so empty.  

 

 

 As someone who has spent time on a lot of RCL Flowriders I'll tell you this. I have been on multiple Freedom, Oasis and Quantum class all during either Christmas and New Year's sailing, and regardless of the ship, and how many Flowriders, I find the lines are about the same regardless of any of those factors. Sea days always the worst.

 

[chiguypaul]

On 12/31/2022 at 11:27 PM, cruisecontrol27 said:

We’re sailing on Wonder on Jan 15 so this is all good to know ahead of time. I was actually really looking forward a lot to the entertainment, but as long as we ready our expectations I’m sure it’ll be fine.

 

We are stuck with a 5pm dinner time in MDR so most of the time we’ll probably explore other options like WJ or Solarium bistro on non-specialty dining days. My last cruise was on Freedom of the Seas in 2009 so this should be a big change. I do remember MDR food being pretty great. 

 

You're going to need to reset those expectations for dining in the MDR on Royal in 2023. 🙂 In our last 5 sailings the food in the MDR is about average with some nights barely hitting good. Just completed my 17th RCL cruise. MDR quality has dropped quite a bit over the years.