Just back from Wonder of the Seas 4/23

[7680]

My husband and I cruised with our son (age 26), our daughter (turned 28 on the cruise) and her fiance (age 25). Husband and I prefer Celebrity for elevated level of service, ambiance and food quality. We have sailed on Freedom, Allure and Oasis in the past. We were expecting very long lines at every turn, no ability to get lounge chairs, lesser food quality and service. Other than a few instances, our waits were not bad at all, incl the elevators. Of course, drink service is mayhem on arrival day. We were always able to secure lounge chairs, especially in the Solarium. Enjoyed the peacefulness there, but it could get quite warm/hot. We had various arrival times (11:30,12:30 and 2:30) and were really concerned about our son being stuck outside while we were enjoying brunch at Mason Jar. I called RCCL so many times and begged for an earlier arrival time for him and offered to pay for the Key program. I voiced my concerns on the message boards and received about a 60/40 confidence that he would get on early. We all arrived at approx 10:20. It was not very busy at all. We all breezed right on board. All that concern for nothing. We were happy! You will want to immediately go to a specialty restaurant to make all of your specialty dining reservations. We were able to get everything that we wanted. We booked Mason Jar for noon that day. We did purchase the UDP and dined in a specialty restaurant every evening. Following, are some details.

Mason Jar-first meal (brunch) upon embarkation. We loved the food and the excellent service by Jaime. He was exceptional! We tried to get another brunch reservation later in the week but could not. Wish we would have made another upon boarding. One of our favorites of the week. Great biscuits, chicken and waffles, chicken sandwich. We also loved the band, bartenders and drink quality in the PM. Was fun to see MIchael join the band on Friends in Low Places. That song is still going thru my head!....and I am not a country fan. Delish espresso martini

Izumi Hibachi-food typical of any hibachi. Neil was fantastic and made it a really fun experience!

Chops x 2-my husband did not love his filet. I enjoyed the shrimp entree. The branzino was VERY thin. Did not like the crab cake. Loved all of the sides, particularly the tater tots. Enjoyed the goat cheese salad on both visits. Andre and Yulia both provided excellent service

Giovannis-the signature salad was wonderful. The pizza and pastas were good. Very nice service and a complementary shot of limoncello at the end. We sat in the outside area and there was live jazz in Central Park. Beautiful ambiance! 

Wonderland- one of our favorites....probably #1 dinner. The decor is phenomenal! Really cool. Loved all of the food and presentations. The jester was perfect, as was our server. Really wanted to try their signature cocktail, but they were out of ingredients

150 Central Park-celebrated our daughter's 28th on the 28th. Great service and enjoyed the food. They were out of the Seghesio Zin, which I was looking forward to. There is not a great chardonnay option in most of the venues (my husband and I both prefer oak). Most menus list the Mer Soleil Santa Lucia Highlands. We drink the one listed quite often. The bottle always presented was the "Silver" (not written on menu), which is an unoaked version.

Hooked-very good. Had the Messy Fish Sandwich. Lobster Roll (salad) was good....although the roll was nothing special. All enjoyed their meals. 

El Loco Fresh-pretty good/adequate

Park Cafe-good

Sorrentos-always appreciated and tasty!

Coffee better than I expected....much appreciated. Need more iced tea dispensers WITH lemon, straws (I realize that they don’t want plastic)

Schooner Bar always a fave. They did run out of espresso martinis one evening

Enjoyed the pools

The Ice Show was spectacular! The women in Intense are incredible athletes. Show went a bit too long and became somewhat redundant. Did not find the comediennes particularly funny (and not due to being offended in any way)

We had other shows booked but, sometimes, we just wanted to relax and not always be rushing to get somewhere. 

Coco Cay was perfection

There are LOTS of kids. I did enjoy watching them having the time of their lives. Ice cream cones all day, every day 

Live musicians all very good 

Room Service-ordered breakfast twice. Mistakes both times

Great gym which we used daily. Wish we would have figured out the texting ability via app before the end of the cruise. Very nice pools. 

Our stateroom attendant, Bren (106**, 106** and 106**) was professional and friendly. Husband and I had a Jr Suite. It was really nice and had a lovely body wash and body lotion. Also had a shampoo and conditioner. which my husband was happy with. I had taken my own. The young adults had balcony cabins. Only amenity was a 3-way body wash/shampoo/conditioner. 

Beds super comfortable 

Staff everywhere did a top-notch job. Always very pleasant, eager to help and wishing us a great day. We provided generous extra gratuities to all. Well-deserved! 

Would recommend bringing a thermal cup for cold drinks. Brought grape propel packets which were helpful for alcohol recovery! 

 

[Newcruiser215]

Do you feel the UDP was worth the price you paid? 

[OCSC Mike]

Thanks for sharing the review. 30 days out from our first time on Wonder.

[Cruise5life]

Good review.   Looks like you didn’t do that AquaShow???    
that was one of the best shows I’ve seen on a cruise ship. Hands down.  
 

we also enjoyed playmakers for some good snacks and beers.    
 

we had an amazing time on the Wonder.     
 

I participated in the treasure hunt for the Nations Race.    

That was so fun.
I meet people from all over the world.  Over 65 nations.     
And yes. I Won.      Lolol.   The prize was lame.  

But the opportunity to chat with so many crew members was awesome.  
Even meet some Olympic swimmers and ncaa medal winners.   
and everyone was so friendly.    

[cynt]

Thanks for the review. 

[OCSC Mike]

How does ordering brunch at Mason Jar work? One entree plus a dessert per person? More than one?

 

My SIL just booked it for our family cruise next month so naturally I need to spend 30 days preparing my order. 😁

[nasa1974]

Was on the Oasis in March. Thought all the music was way too loud. Did enjoy the Aqua Show despite the music. Will be on the Wonder February 2025.Looking forward to reading reviews.

[7680]

Def feel that the UDP was well worth the price

“Intense” was the Aqua show 

Forgot to mention that we did do Playmakers. Great TVs. Awesome onion rings. The bar food was ok 

As I recall, we ordered whatever we wished at Mason Jar. 
Hope you all enjoy Wonder. I’m sure you will! 😊

[PhillyFan33579]

12 hours ago, 7680 said:

Def feel that the UDP was well worth the price

“Intense” was the Aqua show 

Forgot to mention that we did do Playmakers. Great TVs. Awesome onion rings. The bar food was ok 

As I recall, we ordered whatever we wished at Mason Jar. 
Hope you all enjoy Wonder. I’m sure you will! 😊

Is the Aqua show still all females? They emphasized that the three times I was on Wonder in December, January and February. 

[7680]

Yep, all females. When we were at Coco Cay, we had loungers near the far end of the South Beach area. Some of the ship’s entertainers were there. They tied a strap/bungee type tightrope between two trees and provided fun entertainment for us on their off time. Guess they just can’t get enough practice in haha.  Very personable as well. Amazing shape some of them are in! 

[7680]

Another comment re Mason Jar order (haha…..keep working on that list! 😁)

Many places, the servers WANT to bring you extra things. A few also provided my husband and I free drinks, even though we didn’t have the drink pkg (3 adults kids did… and our daughter def didn’t drink her (our : ) moneys worth, so we probably deserved them anyway lol. I can’t imagine that during any of our specialty restaurants, the servers wouldn’t have brought us anything that we asked for….and then some 

[crewsweeper]

Glad to hear that overall you had a great cruise.  We were on deck 10 2 weeks prior to you.  2300 + kiddos on board that week.  We had UDP.  Ate at the mason jar for brunch on embarkation day, no reservations.  While the bar is great in the PM, the food was not. Brunch the better deal.  I think we drank your Zin in 150. Sorry about that.  Really nice wine.

[splashsmom]

18 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

How does ordering brunch at Mason Jar work? One entree plus a dessert per person? More than one?

 

My SIL just booked it for our family cruise next month so naturally I need to spend 30 days preparing my order. 😁

We were on this cruise, as well.  Great review from 7680.

 

OCSC Mike - I believe we exchanged some foodie comments regarding Playmakers on another ship.  I agree with 7680 that the onion rings were very good at Playmakers (if they serve them when they are at least warm), as were the jalapeno poppers and the famous Campfire cookie.  Nachos were lacking.  Bar service was very good.  In fact, we found bar service to be very good around the ship.

 

We also ate at Mason Jar for brunch on embarkation day, and I agree with 7680 that you can plan out your menu exactly as you would like.  If I recall correctly, we had 3 entree-type dishes to share between the two of us, no hesitation from the crew.  Great experience.

 

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, splashsmom said:

I believe we exchanged some foodie comments regarding Playmakers on another ship.

 

Very possible. My wife I ate there on Indy in both July and October. We enjoyed the burgers and garlic parm fries and the onion rings. I'm also a big fan of their Goalpost Margarita and "The Pitch". Not sure if we'll eat a full meal there this time since it's a family cruise in suites but I'll definitely stop in for a few drinks and possible a snack or two.

 

Thanks for reiterating the Mason Jar info. 75% of that menu looks good to me so happy to hear we can just order a bunch of stuff for the table (there will be 8 of us). Unfortunately we have to skip a couple items b/c my young niece has severe nut allergies... which just means as long as we like it, my wife and I will have to go back for the cinnamon bun and peanut butter stuffed french toast next trip. 😁 We're in the middle of planning another Wonder cruise for March.

[7680]

Son and husband also have nut allergies! Always a concern 

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, 7680 said:

Son and husband also have nut allergies! Always a concern 

 

I've cruised with my niece twice, as recently as last May, and Royal has always done a great job taking care of her. The bigger issue might be that she only eats like 5 things, lol.

 

We'll see if Mason Jar can make that cinnamon roll without the nuts (for me, not her). Seems like a doable request but you never know how pre-prepared some items are.

Edited May 6, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[7680]

Every venue seemed to be cognizant of our nut allergy concern 👍