12/19 Wonder Report

[bpd528]

After 3 days at the AKL and WDW, spent a great time on the Wonder. This was our 4th DCL cruise, but first time on the Wonder. This was our $99.00 cruise from last January and we took our daughter and her friend for their College Graduation presents.

Overall the cruise was great, only a couple of "low" points. 1st our server team was not up to our past level of greatness. Don't remember their names, but they both were from Croatia(sp). Ali the head waiter was great, this was also our daughters birthday on this trip and he had the cake delivered and spent time every night at the table.

Now on to the good stuff. The Beach Blanket Buffet was great for lunch and breakfast, much better than the Magic. As for the serving and hand cleaning, we could get our own food, they gave out hand wipes at the door. The coffee station on deck 9 aft is much improved, more stations and selections. After boarding and sneaking off to our rooms, 5124 & 5126, went to lunch. Went down to the Cadi lounge for Palo ressies, did 8:00 on Nassau nite. Then went up to the Spa for ressies. I did the foot and ankle massage for right after the safety drill, after 3 days at WDW it was needed. I also scheduled the Wellness Massage on Nassau afternoon, very nice and relaxing. DW did her usual Spa Taster massage and a foot and ankle massage on Nassau afternoon. All done by 1:15pm and in the pool by 1:30pm.

The weather was great for the entire trip. Did not see any sickness other then sniffles and coughing. CC was a little breezy and water a little cool first thing in the morning. But by 1130 the water was calling my name at the adult beach, and once in the water it was great. DW did some snokling at the family beach and said the outer "reef" area was finally growing.

Thats all for now, enjoyed the Wonder but unless they change the duration (which was being discussed at the reception) we won't be back, much to spoiled by the 7 days. Overall it was a great trip and am looking forward to our next sailing.


Alan & Judy

 

[alexandrew]

Alan:

I enjoyed your trip report.

DW and I are going on our first wonder cruise on 1/9, after sailing on Magic 3 previous times...

What was your overall impression of the Wonder vs Magic pertaining to decor, service, food,condition of ship, etc?

 

[bpd528]

Overall the ship was in great shape. The biggest difference that we saw was in the entry and Tritons. The rooms were basically the same and the stairway pictures were mostly the same. The hallway outside of Shutters had some nice posters and items about movies.

The food at the buffet was much better than the Magic in Jan.02. Palo's food was great, but the service seemed off. Our server was good but I think that our server from the Magic spoiled us. The wine steward was great though, espically when he learned we were from the Napa Valley in Calif. But they did not clear all the tables after other diners left, leaving dishes and dirty table cloths on. As usual there were people not dressing up to the requested standard. Ali the manager of Palo's in Jan on the Magic was our head waiter for this trip. He was excellent, saw a lot of him!!!! We skipped AP for Palos. The new menu at PC was not as great as I'd hoped for, but was ok. We should have tried for 2 nights at Palos.

Of course with no brunch and less days at sea, this will probably be our last Wonder visit. But I can see why Barb enjoys the crew so much, very friendly and hopeful. The CM's at the adult pool were very busy, no diapers made it in and only 2 teens made it in before they were politely asked to leave (the kids were with their parents who choose to ignore the rules).

At the returnee's meet and great Capt. John was very friendly and talkative. Our group had the most repeat cruises for the Wonder, over 400, but has he said the Magic the week before had over 1,000 returnee's.

Enjoy your cruise, we are already missing our usual cruise time in January. Hope your weather was as good as our's.

Alan