Keep reading bad Wonder reviews...worried!

[TinkLoverSam]

My DH and I cruised the Wonder for our first cruise in October. We had an AMAZING time, we are self proclaimed foodies and enjoyed every dish we had in the MDRs our table of 6 started sharing dishes early into the cruise and out of all the meals there was 1 pasta dish that we all thought was meh, not bad but not great. Palo was AWESOME we enjoyed both brunch and dinner there and second the ship beautiful, she didn't look old at all.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Remember that food is so subjective so what others like or dislike there are others who will disagree. I, for one, find the food just fine on all DCL ships. I've sailed on an older ship than the Wonder/Magic on HAL and that didn't change my opinion of that cruise. If you search out problems you will find them on any ship but why spoil your trip looking for them? Go with an open mind and don't worry what others have reported.

 

[vgiardini]

Thank you thank you everyone!! I'm officially excited after reading all of your posts

 

[Merryweather11]

We went on our first cruise back in January and were a little nervous because we had also read some negative things about the food and were a bit bit apprehensive about the Mexican ports, but we took a chance and had the time of our lives. Even being Disney resort veterans we were blown away by the level of service and the care everyone took to make sure we were having a good time. That was the best part of the trip for us--the wonderful crew.

The food was fine--didn't blow us away, but we went in with low expectations and were pretty pleased. Palo brunch was beautiful and we had sort of wished we had booked a dinner as well, but on the other hand we were happy being with our regular servers for dinner with the kids.

Our room was a little creaky when the seas were choppy--I have never been on another ship so I don't know how it would compare to a newer one. It never kept us awake and in fact grew to be a comforting sound.

We hope to take another cruise--just my husband and I--sometime and will definitely do the DCL.

 

[kendall]

We sailed the Wonder on Jan 29 this year. I think she is in terrific shape as DCL really pays attention to maintenance. Food is acceptable in the main dining room - pretty devoid of herbs and spices, so if you enjoy more flavorful meals let your servers know.... The most flavorful dish was a carribean jerk pork chop which DH said was best dish all week outside of Palo. Palo dinner was excellent! Expect breezy and cold on last sea day. First two sea days may be warm and gorgeous, or cold and breezy, it all depends on the weather! Ours were great and we were in the sun those two days!

 

[Amunet]

OP - I'm curious, what cruise did you choose?

DH and I are in your age range (Me 24, DH 26) and also have no kids. We are booked for the MR in April (22nd) and are excited! We've never been on a Disney Cruise either ^_^

Whatever you choose, I know it will be magical! ^_^

 

[TnRobin]

Remember that food is so subjective so what others like or dislike there are others who will disagree. I, for one, find the food just fine on all DCL ships.

This is so true. Just ask anyone what the best pizza is. Even the three members in my family can't agree on this. We can't even agree on the crust, let alone the toppings.

I am one that has no problem with the food on the cruise. Like anywhere, there are dishes that are not my favorite, and others that are MUST HAVE on every cruise (Chocolate Souffle)

 

[Doingitagain]

We love both the Magic and the Wonder. We did notice that when they were training staff for the Dream and Fantasy there was more turnover and new people getting trained, so service wasn't quite as good.

If you have any concerns, just politely bring them up and they will work to get them addressed...in the stateroom or in the dining rooms or any where on the ship.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I think we as guests should understand that there will be new CM's and the level of service might not be what we expect. I feel we should cut them some slack. It's a learning process whether it's DCL or not. Remember your first weeks on your new job?

 

[Doingitagain]

I think we as guests should understand that there will be new CM's and the level of service might not be what we expect. I feel we should cut them some slack. It's a learning process whether it's DCL or not. Remember your first weeks on your new job?

We did, that is why I said to politely mention if there is an issue. We just knew it would take a little longer than normal to dine and planned accordingly. We didn't make any unusual requests because we knew they had an awful lot to do.

 

[taaren]

We were on the Wonder last September right after they dry docked and it was beautiful.

As for creaking ... pretty much any ship on the Pacific is going to creak since the word "pacific" is a misnomer and it is a very rough ocean ... when they widen the Panama Canal enough to bring the Dream/Fantasy/newer ship out to the Pacific, the seas will be rough some of the time and the newest ship will creak just the same. Its an ocean issue, not a ship issue ... and there are choppier parts of the Pacific than others. Our only really bad day was south of Victoria but before we passed SF on our southbound Pacific Coast Repo on a stormy night. You should be fine on the MR cruises for the most part.

 

[vgiardini]

OP - I'm curious, what cruise did you choose?

DH and I are in your age range (Me 24, DH 26) and also have no kids. We are booked for the MR in April (22nd) and are excited! We've never been on a Disney Cruise either ^_^

Whatever you choose, I know it will be magical! ^_^

We chose MR!! Booking tonight... so we'll be cruising together. Still have to work out details like excursions and where we'll be staying the night before (flying in from NY and the earliest flight gets in at 11am so we'll have to get a hotel for saturday )

Nervous/excited butterflies. Friend me on FB! This board confuses me a little with all the acronyms DH DCL FE ahhhhhh!!!

 

[Chilly]

We chose MR!! Booking tonight... so we'll be cruising together. Still have to work out details like excursions and where we'll be staying the night before (flying in from NY and the earliest flight gets in at 11am so we'll have to get a hotel for saturday )

Nervous/excited butterflies. Friend me on FB! This board confuses me a little with all the acronyms DH DCL FE ahhhhhh!!!

DH is Darling (or Disney) Husband

DCL is Disney Crusie Line

FE is Fish Extender

Any others you want to know

 

[PixieMom712]

We chose MR!! Booking tonight... so we'll be cruising together. Still have to work out details like excursions and where we'll be staying the night before (flying in from NY and the earliest flight gets in at 11am so we'll have to get a hotel for saturday )

Nervous/excited butterflies. Friend me on FB! This board confuses me a little with all the acronyms DH DCL FE ahhhhhh!!!

I've only been on DISboards about a week - it all starts making sense pretty quickly . Check out this link. It has a ton of FAQs and some acronyms listed as well. DS is dear (or Disney) son, DD is dear daughter, MDR is main dining room (aka the assigned dining room on your dinner rotation) - I don't think those are listed!

 

[richmo]

The thing about reviews is you'll find everything from very positive to very negative about anything you pick.

My 2 cents: we've been on the Wonder twice in the last two years and absolutely loved it!

 

[cdunn03]

We were on the Wonder in Feb and we have a great vacation!! Would recommend it for everyone.. The days leaving and coming back to LA were chilly but don't let that stop you!! There is so many things to do!

 

[Russgirl204]

We have sailed on the Wonder twice and we are sailing once again this coming Sunday for the 7-night MR, we love the ship very cozy and just WONDERful. We too sail with no children but we just love the Disney experience. We are sailing the Wonder again in Oct. up the Pacific coast and the Fantasy in June 2013 so we really enjoy the Disney experience as a couple without children. We also feel the food is good but not great but there is plenty of all kinds so there is always something we find that we enjoy.

 

[kventventx]

I have many food allergies so I never expect food to be great. However, I was very pleased and surprised when we sailed on the Magic last year. The chefs, serving staff, and head waiter went above and beyond to make sure that I like the food I was being served. They did it for our whole table. So, if something isn't to your liking tell them. They will bring you something else. We had so much fun just enjoying the meal with our table mates that it really made the cruise for us. We liked it so much that we booked the Wonder sailing in April. We are traveling without kids and request the later seating. Normally we eat earlier but really like being able to enjoy the meal and not have to rush through it. You'll have a great time.

 

[Trekker]

Here is a really good LIST of Acronyms used on the DISboards!

 

[cyclenut]

I found them on non Disney boards (general travel/cruise boards)... that's why I questioned them because sometimes "disney people" see things differently

If you have read CruiseCritic then you will probably get a more unbiased view of things from people that cruise a lot of different lines. There is a DCL board there, but it the fans over there are not as hard core Disney/DCL as they are here.

That said, food reivews are highly subjective. We were recently on the Wonder and were not impressed with the dining service, but the food was good. The only thing we didn't like was the food with the character breakfast. It was not good at all. Cold, unimaginative and tasteless.

We found the food in the MDR to be very good, but then again, we enjoy the Blue Bayou in Disneyland and a lot of people complain about that too. I'd say the food on DCL is just a little bit better than BB at DLR and there are more options over the course of the cruise.

Palo is outstanding. Can't say enough good things about it! Everything from the food to the service to the atmosphere.

As for the ship, the Wonder is amazing. We're sailing her again this September. How is that for an endorsement?

As for the itinerary, I think you should choose the 7-day as you will get much more out of the cruise than the shorter 4-5 days versions. Our first cruise ever was a 4-day and we wanted more. Our second cruise was a 5-day repo cruise and we really enjoyed it. The 7-day seemed to be about right. We still wanted more but were also glad to be home. Just the right balance ... for us.