Inaugural Wonder (April) Hawaii Cruise - Observations And Juicy Rumors

[Shercara]

THANK YOU to all of the April Hawaii cruisers for your reports, tips, photos and suggestions - As an October Hawaii Cruiser, I've been waiting to hear all about your "WONDERFUL" trip, and I am so thankful you are taking the time to enlighten us with what is in store for us on our voyage.

I have to say - the rough seas, and cool temps are a little "off putting" though but any day on a DCL cruise is a good day - especially if I will be alone with my hubby celebrating our 30th Anniversary!!

Would love to hear more about port excursions - and if you used outside tours, DCL or rented a car and did it on your own.

I sure hope DCL extends the port times for us in October!! We honeymooned in Hawaii and are looking forward to visiting again!

Thanks again for your time and reports!

( or I should say Mahalo! )

Sherri

 

[SerbianPrincess]

The cruise was great! It was so nice to get to know the crew!! And huge kudos to each member of the staff. To those thinking about it go for it. Loved out Stateroom Host, Ron, who went above and beyond to take care of us. The shops were great, try to keep things fresh, Joyce, Oskana, Christian, Rebecca...

Loved the characters...lots of chances to meet them~Kudos to Shutters staff, it was great after a week they knew how to get a bigger smile out of my DS!! Loved them~

Christian and his team worked hard to keep everybody entertained during those rough sea days. And you had time to sit and watch the view!!!

The kids clubs were great, small number of kids meant more time from the counselors.

Can not say enough good stuff about our time on the Wonder!

 

[hptmnn]

Can you tell me what things were happing on board...how many formal/semi formal nights, when was pirate night, what shows were which nights. We've done an Oct. cruise in the past so I know there will be Halloween events also. Thank you for all your help!

 

[Empress Room]

Can you tell me what things were happing on board...how many formal/semi formal nights, when was pirate night, what shows were which nights. We've done an Oct. cruise in the past so I know there will be Halloween events also. Thank you for all your help!

Two formal and one semi-formal night. First formal was day 2. The second formal and semi-formal were during the second week. Pirate party was day 13.

All of the regular shows typically on the Wonder cycled through during the cruise. In addition, there were several comedians and magicians/mentalists, a Hawaiin singer and Hawaiin deck party performance, John Charles during the second week, a crew talent show on day 12 and several informational talks about Hawaii, its geography and culture. Don "Ducky" Williams was also on board and he gave several large drawing demonstrations, some more one-on-one drawing sessions and signing sessions too.

 

[aan1701]

I too was on this cruise. I must say it was truly amazing and I would do it again with out thinking twice about it. I will have to respectfully have to disagree about the food. I loved every item I had. Every piece of meat I ordered was cook to the way I like, and I am a steak guy. I think I had one every night. I had zero complaints about the food. I also did not notice the anything that had a maintance issues, except for the shattared glass at the cove. I was told that is a custom piece of glass so it takes time to order and get delivered. I truly had zero complaints from this cruise but one, I wished we did overnight in Honolulu. I would have loved to do some bar hopping in Waikiki. Still I think you gave a great review of the cruise, and I understand people will have a differance of opinion.

 

[wendyoconnor]

We heard the same rumor about the Magic (the Wonder wasn't mentioned) while on our Eastern Cruise in April on the Fantasy.

I think every crew member that I met on the Fantasy had been with Disney for a long time, many were from the Magic.

 

[CanadaKim]

The cruise was great! It was so nice to get to know the crew!! And huge kudos to each member of the staff. To those thinking about it go for it. Loved out Stateroom Host, Ron, who went above and beyond to take care of us. The shops were great, try to keep things fresh, Joyce, Oskana, Christian, Rebecca...

Loved the characters...lots of chances to meet them~Kudos to Shutters staff, it was great after a week they knew how to get a bigger smile out of my DS!! Loved them~

Christian and his team worked hard to keep everybody entertained during those rough sea days. And you had time to sit and watch the view!!!

The kids clubs were great, small number of kids meant more time from the counselors.

Can not say enough good stuff about our time on the Wonder!

Thank you! We're booked in October and I was getting a bit worried with three kids and reading about it being so cool and rough but I'm sure we'll have a great time. Kids don't notice it's cold, especially when there's a pool - even when their lips turn blue. Plus this gives us a chance to check out the ship and the kids clubs - this is our first Disney Cruise. I think I should probably pick up some sea sickness bands though just in case. Question - did you do any excursions with your son? Just wondering what's best to do with the kids on the islands with so much to do but so limited time.

 

[Empress Room]

I too was on this cruise. I must say it was truly amazing and I would do it again with out thinking twice about it. I will have to respectfully have to disagree about the food. I loved every item I had. Every piece of meat I ordered was cook to the way I like, and I am a steak guy. I think I had one every night. I had zero complaints about the food. I also did not notice the anything that had a maintance issues, except for the shattared glass at the cove. I was told that is a custom piece of glass so it takes time to order and get delivered. I truly had zero complaints from this cruise but one, I wished we did overnight in Honolulu. I would have loved to do some bar hopping in Waikiki. Still I think you gave a great review of the cruise, and I understand people will have a differance of opinion.

It's funny that you mention having steak every night and really liking it. Of all of the meals I had in the regular dining rooms, the Yachtsman Steakhouse NY Strip was the best meal I had - and I agree that it was cooked very well.

Unfortunately, our table found that the other selections just were not as good as previous DCL cruises. Again, everyone's preferences are different, but the Hawaiian menus left much to be desired in our opinion and the other non-steak entrees weren't as good as in the past.

Have you cruised on the Wonder before? We definitely noticed a difference between this time and our previous ones and last one in January, 2011. It just did not live up to the high standards we have come to expect - both in food quality and the various maintenance issues we noticed (I think this was our 9th cruise on the Wonder since 1999, so we have a fairly large body of work to compare).

In any event, I wholeheartedly agree with you that it was a very enjoyable 15-night "advdenture" that we are glad we were able to experience. Not sure we would be quite as enthusiastic about jumping aboard to cross the Pacific again, but part of that is that we have come to really, really like the Caribbean and all of its ports. Glad you had a wonderful time!

 

[aan1701]

It's funny that you mention having steak every night and really liking it. Of all of the meals I had in the regular dining rooms, the Yachtsman Steakhouse NY Strip was the best meal I had - and I agree that it was cooked very well.

Unfortunately, our table found that the other selections just were not as good as previous DCL cruises. Again, everyone's preferences are different, but the Hawaiian menus left much to be desired in our opinion and the other non-steak entrees weren't as good as in the past.

Have you cruised on the Wonder before? We definitely noticed a difference between this time and our previous ones and last one in January, 2011. It just did not live up to the high standards we have come to expect - both in food quality and the various maintenance issues we noticed (I think this was our 9th cruise on the Wonder since 1999, so we have a fairly large body of work to compare).

In any event, I wholeheartedly agree with you that it was a very enjoyable 15-night "advdenture" that we are glad we were able to experience. Not sure we would be quite as enthusiastic about jumping aboard to cross the Pacific again, but part of that is that we have come to really, really like the Caribbean and all of its ports. Glad you had a wonderful time!

I have been on the Wonder before. As a matter of fact I now have 48 nights in her over 5 cruises. See food is really subjective as our table of 13 had zero problems. Our favorate item of the whole cruise came from one of the Hawaiian menus. It was the popcorn fried shrimp. I don't know what made that so good, but after thst night and like 4 orders of the dish for all of us, we got plates of it every night the rest of the cruise. Stil it is food and it is one of the most subjective things out there. Here is the important part, looks like we had a great time, and that's what matters.

 

[dutchpeter]

Thanks for all the reports. Nice to read them when you know you've got all of that still ahead of you.

When did you guys hear about the port times? You had a lot more hours to spend ashore then it says in the DCL information.

Would be great to know well in advance since we'll be renting a car on a couple of the islands.

 

[Empress Room]

Thanks for all the reports. Nice to read them when you know you've got all of that still ahead of you.

When did you guys hear about the port times? You had a lot more hours to spend ashore then it says in the DCL information.

Would be great to know well in advance since we'll be renting a car on a couple of the islands.

The port times were updated on DCL under the Activities section after you log in. Having said that, I think that they also were modified once on board, so check the Navigators.

 

[AZMouseFan]

We were also on this cruise and I have one quick comment to add on the lava flow into the ocean. Our Park guide told us that at this time no lava is flowing so we wouldn't have seen anything from the ocean even if we sailed that direction. I did add to my comment card that it would be good to sail past the lava flow when it is active, to sail past the Na Pali coast since we left in the daylight and to have an overnight in Honolulu. We did have a long port day in Honolulu but it didn't matter too much since our rental car had to be returned by 7 to get a ride back to the ship by shuttle.
Sorry, my quick comment got long
We did love the cruise and felt we were very well cared for.

 

[SerbianPrincess]

Thank you! We're booked in October and I was getting a bit worried with three kids and reading about it being so cool and rough but I'm sure we'll have a great time. Kids don't notice it's cold, especially when there's a pool - even when their lips turn blue. Plus this gives us a chance to check out the ship and the kids clubs - this is our first Disney Cruise. I think I should probably pick up some sea sickness bands though just in case. Question - did you do any excursions with your son? Just wondering what's best to do with the kids on the islands with so much to do but so limited time.

I tried some excursions-the main problem is they start too early and go to slow for his attention span. His fav day was on Oahu, where I rented a car, bought some cheap beach toys and let him play on the beach, with no group to follow. He is nine so let me know if you have any further questions and I am happy to answer

 

[Goldeelox9]

We are renting a car in each port. I really hope they extend the time on each island.

 

[Empress Room]

We are renting a car in each port. I really hope they extend the time on each island.

If you get off the ship as soon as it is cleared at each island, even if the port times are not extended, you can visit many sites, but you really need a plan beforehand. If you are simply renting and then "exploring" without a set plan of attack, the times in the port may seem short and you may leave underwhelmed.

 

[TDC Nala]

Personally I thought the food was better than on the Panama cruise in 2011. I missed most of the Hawaiian menus though (port or Palo). They were cooking the fish properly. I don't order steak. I think I ordered meat once.

Had an Ipod clock in the room. It worked, but could not be set and would not play the Ipod. I had speakers though, and a portable alarm clock.

without fighting the crowds.

I was on deck for the pirate party. There was no crowd. There were a number of guests there but I would not have called it crowded.

 

[Lexa]

Personally I thought the food was better than on the Panama cruise in 2011. I missed most of the Hawaiian menus though (port or Palo). They were cooking the fish properly. I don't order steak. I think I ordered meat once.

Had an Ipod clock in the room. It worked, but could not be set and would not play the Ipod. I had speakers though, and a portable alarm clock.



I was on deck for the pirate party. There was no crowd. There were a number of guests there but I would not have called it crowded.

We were by the stage and it was not too bad with the crowd, we saw everything and it was great spot for fireworks too.

 

[Empress Room]

Personally I thought the food was better than on the Panama cruise in 2011. I missed most of the Hawaiian menus though (port or Palo). They were cooking the fish properly. I don't order steak. I think I ordered meat once.

Missing some of the Hawaiin menus could affect your perception (of course, eating at Palo does as well)! We did think that the food/entrees from the "regular" rotational menus was executed better than the Hawaiin ones; however, we unfortunately found that the quality overall slipped rather badly from Panama. I do know that food is subjective, but we were hearing complaints from other guests on the cruise too. (Although completely rude and over-the-top, a large table seated by us complained to the Head Server that if the food did not improve, they would insist that the chefs prepare Spam for them - and they promptly produced several cans on their table, as Hawaii is apparently the number one per capita consumer of Spam and they purchased quantities while on shore!) Unbelievable.

I agree on the Pirate Party crowds. No more or less than other cruises and there was plenty of room on the decks (albeit a bit chilly).

 

[BoosGram]

We were also on this cruise. I agree w/almost all of the OP's assessments.

The food was anywhere from excellent (Palo brunch), to very good (Beef Wellington), to downright poor (Triton's brunch where our friends were served crab claws sticking up in a glass in their shells and I was served cold, curled-up pancakes that I couldn't even cut w/a knife...no exaggeration). Sadly, most of it was only in the good-to-OK range, at least for our table, and pretty darned disappointing given our previous cruises. I am hopeful that will change with staff experience.

The entertainment was terrific. Mike Super was SUPER; I'd love to see him on any cruise. The Tihati performers were also very good. We liked John Charles, too. And we enjoyed more new movies than we have seen in a long time (because of the cool, windy weather, the indoor venues were well populated).

We didn't suffer from the high seas like some, but we always take Bonine during any cruise.

My best piece of advice is bring some warmer clothes. I packed for Hawaii and didn't account for the weather in the middle of the Pacific Ocean very well; shorts are not sufficient!

All in all, though, we loved the cruise.

 

[SanDiegoSteph]

If you get off the ship as soon as it is cleared at each island, even if the port times are not extended, you can visit many sites, but you really need a plan beforehand. If you are simply renting and then "exploring" without a set plan of attack, the times in the port may seem short and you may leave underwhelmed.

As my trip report kind of describes (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2928769), I got off the ship almost immediately in each port to pick up our rental car. Now, granted, I came back to the port then to get my family rather than having them take the shuttles with me so that took longer than it would for most people.

I also had a VERY detailed plan for each island, but only SuperMom could have ever actually done it the way I laid it out (no food breaks, no bathroom breaks, no extended photo stops and at least 5 "top ten" places to stop and explore). So, I discovered VERY quickly that realistically you can only go see a couple of things on each island and really enjoy them and still take care of all your "essential needs."

I thus agree with Empress Room that my port experiences were a bit "underwhelming." Granted I was toting along a DS(5) and DFIL/DMIL (77), so "putter" was our motto (sigh) and I DEFINITELY think had it just been my DH and myself we would have had a far more memorable time on the islands in terms of what we could do (zip lining; hiking; ocean kayaking; caving). But, this trip was all about family for us. We'll do the more note-worthy adventure trip in a couple of years when the ILs can no longer travel with us.

My suggestion to folks considering "doing it on their own" is to look at the DCL offerings and try to replicate them to some degree and to expect the same length of time to complete them. Add in a few things that you think you'd like to do and subtract those you wouldn't and you'll probably have a GREAT time. I also can't rave about the "Revealed" tour guide book series enough.

Hope that helps!