8/18 Wonder: The good, the bad and the NOISY

[Spud]

My family (me, DH, DD11 and DS8) just returned from the 8/18 Wonder and had a great time overall with one rather large exception.

The good things:
-Avis car rental was a piece of cake, easy pick-up at MCO and drop-off at the Radisson in the port. DH was able to drop us off right at the terminal and I was able to get us checked in and in line before he returned. The reverse trip was easy as well.
-Embarkation was so simple. Thanks to these boards I had all my documents ready, so check in took about 2 minutes. Once we were on board, we had time for lunch and then got in line for Palo reservations. We were there about 15 minutes early and third in line.
-DD and DS really enjoyed the whole thing. They liked seeing the characters, the activities at the Oceaneer’s Lab, the movies and the shows.
-We even liked Nassau. After reading the bad comments here, I was prepared for the worst, but I really didn’t think it was that bad. We did a little shopping and DD had her hair braided. In the afternoon, DH and DD did the Dolphin swim. DD loved it. DH thought it was just okay.
-I liked the whole dining experience. We had the late seating at 7:45 which worked out perfectly. Our server, Kayhen, was a lot of fun.

The bad things:
-At the show and dinner the first night, the ship seemed to be rocking a lot. All four of us felt a little sick, but we kept ourselves busy after dinner and felt much better.
- DD got very bad rope burn on her hands from the play set at Castaway Cay. And she wasn’t the only one, we ran into two others at the first aid station with the same problem.
-The snorkeling at CC was pretty poor. I wouldn’t waste time doing that again.
-The NOISE in our room. I knew that our stateroom (2632) was on Dave’s noisy room list, but I never expected it to be as bad as it was. This room is located right next to one of those grey spaces on the map. I swear the crew was running a power sander in there or something. It was so loud. Also, we had a lot of engine noise. I could have dealt with all of that, but there was one other type of noise I never expected. From midnight to 2:00 a.m. on both Monday and Tuesday nights, there was some sort of party beneath us. The music made our whole room vibrate. The first night, I thought it was the deck party running late, but when it happened the second night, I knew it was something else. DH went out to investigate and discovered the only place he could hear this noise was in our room. Guest services came to investigate and did apologize, but really offered no solutions (a different stateroom on deck one or ear plugs). I was really disappointed, because we were exhausted for the rest of the cruise. We were thinking of rebooking while on board, but this changed our minds.

 

[Mjasp]

So what was going on? Seems the noise was coming from deck one, correct? Did you ever find out?

 

[Hopkins]

I guess we are in the minority because I like Nassau, too. It's not that bad. We've done the Dolphin Swim, carriage ride, shopping in the downtown area, and the Atlantis. Sorry about your stateroom.

Thanks for sharing your trip.
Tina

 

[lzj21428]

We were on the same cruise as you were, staterooms 7580 and 7582. We had such a great time, I can barely put it into words. I did notice the boat rocking slightly the first night, but we were not bothered by it that much. I'm sorry that you had to be uncomfortable in your stateroom with all the noise. Did you ever find out what was causing it? My understanding was the cruise was booked, so maybe that is why they couldn't move you to another room. Hope you will take another cruise on the wonder and have a better stateroom experience.

Nina

 

[Spud]

I'm sorry that you had to be uncomfortable in your stateroom with all the noise. Did you ever find out what was causing it?

Guest services at first tried to tell us it was engine noise (which it obviously wasn't) but eventually admitted it was "a crew activity". It's pretty ironic that the people who were supposed to make our cruise special, actually ruined it.
I really did love the ship, the activities, the food, etc. I was just too tired on the last two days to really enjoy them.

 

[Denine]

If I remember correctly, the crew has their own nightclub. I don't know where it is located, maybe under your cabin? That may explain the music and party sounds.

 

[SomePixiedust]

[QUOTE:Guest services at first tried to tell
us it was engine noise (which it obviously
wasn't) but eventually admitted it was "a
crew activity".]

We were on the same cruise. We had friends in the same area as you on the ship. They also said there was a lot of noise one night. We later found out that Disney gave the CMs a "Vaccination Party------come get your shots" as compensation for missing their day off in Port Canaveral. All CMs were required to stay on board on Sunday to get immunizations due to the Measle situation. Too bad it had to affect guests.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I am sorry to hear about the noise problem you had Where can I find "Dave's noisy room list?? We are sailing in July. We are in the very front of the ship as DS needs a handicapped room but the couple we are staying with are NOT and I would like to point them in the right direction to find out about thier room. ( I don't know their #) Thank you in advance for any info