Wonder - Deck 1 and 2 (Cat 10B or 10C)

[waudio1]

I need opinions. I'm looking at booking the Wonder to Alaska on June 3rd. It will be myself and my DH and two teen daughters. We have cruised on the Magic before but we had a veranda cabin.

I'm considering going 10B or 10C to save money (and use it on shore excursion). 10B and 10C are on Decks 1 and 2. What are the pros and cons of the lower decks? Also, is there any difference in the Deluxe Inside Cabins and Veranda Cabins (except the Veranda)? They look pretty much the same...

I'm having a hard time giving up the veranda but saving over $2000 is really appealing right now. I appreciate any help or insights.

[Aggiegrl]

Personally, I would choose 10B and not 10C. On the Magic this past week, the vibration in the back was very, very noticeable in the aft restaurants and in our deck 6 aft cabin (which rattled and creaked like crazy). DH and I discussed it, and we decided that we wouldn't ever do 10C aft cabins because of this. We actually decided on 10A, which is an obstructed view porthole on Deck 5. I just checked and 5520 is available on your sailing, so that might be a consideration for you as well. 10A looks to be $700 more than a 10C.

With older children, I wouldn't hesitate to drop the verandah. Your teenagers will remember taking really neat excursions and not sitting on the verandah drinking coffee or whatnot. They are also old enough to run up to Deck 4 and enjoy the view.

[PrincessShmoo]

Originally Posted by waudio1

I need opinions. I'm looking at booking the Wonder to Alaska on June 3rd. It will be myself and my DH and two teen daughters. We have cruised on the Magic before but we had a veranda cabin.

I'm considering going 10B or 10C to save money (and use it on shore excursion). 10B and 10C are on Decks 1 and 2. What are the pros and cons of the lower decks? Also, is there any difference in the Deluxe Inside Cabins and Veranda Cabins (except the Veranda)? They look pretty much the same...

I'm having a hard time giving up the veranda but saving over $2000 is really appealing right now. I appreciate any help or insights.

We've always been on deck 2 for both the Magic & Wonder (but in an oceanview - I like having the daylight). We find it very convenient to the tender lobby (one deck down), MDRs & shops (1 or 2 decks up), and when trying to catch an elevator up to the pool deck/buffet, it's a lot easier to get on at the lower decks than mid-level decks.

The room itself, I believe is really the same, but instead of the bed being in the forward/aft direction it's port/starboard.

The only times I've been on deck 1 were for distributing FE gifts, and once for a cabin crawl. I think it feels a bit like being in a basement.

[Justacruiser]

Let me start by saying that you will have about 20 hours of sunlight per day while up around Alaska. There should be whales for you to see during the cruise. This is one cruise I would definately have a verandah.

With more than two people in a room there is always down time while everyone gets ready. Balcany provides that space for you to enjoy. By the way, did I tell you that there will be whales and 20 hours of sunlight per day.

enjoy your cruise.

[waudio1]

Is 5520 a secret porthole room (obstructed view porthole)? I've heard you all talk about them but never really did the research to find out. So basically you get the view to the outside but you pay for an inside cabin. How much of a view is it? Worth the extra money?

[UmmGooD]

We stayed in connecting 10C rooms on Deck 2 on the Wonder in March. This was our first cruise so we really didn't know what we were missing and I was a bit nervous prior to the cruise wondering if I would regret our decision to not at least have a window. Here were my thoughts:

Pros:
1. With kids the inside rooms promote sleeping in. Our kids are young and if there is light in the room they wake up. So having no light in the room meant they were sleeping until about 9 on most days long after the sun came up. Score! This did make it hard to get to the buffet before they closed
2. The bed layout I think is better. You can barely get around the end of the bed so having it at the farthest point in the room was nice. Unlike previously mentioned both of our connecting rooms had the bed against the side wall and not the far wall. I was surprised when we first got there because I was expecting the bed to be against the far end wall.
3. We felt very little movement being low and in the back of the ship. We had some pretty rough waters coming back to L.A. from the MR and up in the front of the ship I could feel myself getting a little woozy and back in our rooms I felt hardly anything.
4. It was really easy with a stroller to get an elevator. We found that the people wanting to get on Deck 5 or so had to constantly wait for another elevator. We were always going between deck 9 or deck 2 with the stroller so we had no issues catching an elevator that was full in the AFT. Our two older kids who weren't in strollers would use the stairs to get up to the kids clubs as it wasn't that many flights.
5. Food was really close by only being up one deck or 2.

Cons:
1. As stated earlier there was vibration when pulling into port. We didn't notice much else except for those times. PV and L.A. were the only two ports that the ship had to dock so we only had 2 times we had an early morning vibration problem. The rest of the times we stopped were tenders so we didn't notice anything.
2. We were partially under Parrot Cay and sometimes we could hear them moving chairs. It wasn't that big of a deal and it was very faint but we were not directly under the restaurant dining area like one room away.
3. I did miss being able to look out a window. With that said there were plenty of opportunity to go up on deck and enjoy the view so if you can save a bunch by staying in an interior I don't think this would be a major issue. We have really little kids and spent nap times in there so it would have been nice to go outside. We did have connecting cabins so the kids would sleep in one while we could watch TV in the other.

For our next cruise we are booked in a cat 4 for our family of 5 instead of 2 interiors because the savings were not there and I wanted to try a verandah. Now that our son is going to be 2 years old instead of 3 months old on the next cruise I think we'll probably have even less time in the room but I am still looking forward to trying a verandah.

[Aggiegrl]

Originally Posted by waudio1

Is 5520 a secret porthole room (obstructed view porthole)? I've heard you all talk about them but never really did the research to find out. So basically you get the view to the outside but you pay for an inside cabin. How much of a view is it? Worth the extra money?

Yes, it is. 5520/5020 are also the secret portholes that do not connect and have the least obstructed views. They are categorized as 10A, so they are the same as the deluxe insides on deck 7.

Worth it is probably relative. Since we have small children, we prefer the couch/pullman bed to be near the back wall/window instead of the door for adults coming and going. 10A is the cheapest room option with that arrangement on Disney ships. Deck 5 is also a good place for us since it is close to the kids areas, deck 4 outside area, and theater. We are generally inside or balcony people. We have never booked an oceanview room on any cruise line until we booked these rooms for the fall.

Google "secret porthole rooms disney wonder" and the first link that comes up has pictures of the windows/view. I can't post the link because that site is blocked on the DIs. The 5520 picture is obviously looking down while the 5020 picture is looking more straight out.

[ItAllStrtdWAMouse]

Originally Posted by waudio1

I need opinions. I'm looking at booking the Wonder to Alaska on June 3rd. It will be myself and my DH and two teen daughters. We have cruised on the Magic before but we had a veranda cabin.

I'm considering going 10B or 10C to save money (and use it on shore excursion). 10B and 10C are on Decks 1 and 2. What are the pros and cons of the lower decks? Also, is there any difference in the Deluxe Inside Cabins and Veranda Cabins (except the Veranda)? They look pretty much the same...

I'm having a hard time giving up the veranda but saving over $2000 is really appealing right now. I appreciate any help or insights.

We are on that cruise. Hope you join us! We booked a veranda so we can sit and watch with some wind protection.

[MPS516]

We did Alaska in a Deck 2 Oceanview, it was great. When we were in the Tracy Arm everyone was up on deck to see everything, not many people using their verandas. We hung out on Deck 4 where very few people were, crossed at elevator lobbies when we wanted to see the other side, remember one way in and one way out. What one side sees on the way in the other sees on the way out. While outside sitting, watching the scenery, wales, eagles and goats, it gets chilly, they had every blanket handed out.

[Aggiegrl]

Double check your prices. The secret porthole cabins I had booked were $10 more than a deck 2 midship oceanview and $90 more than a deck 2 aft oceanview.