Disney Wonder

[otten]

That was crazy how we missed ports, never saw that coming, LOL
But we still had a good time. We enjoyed the extra day in the City.

Due to the current circumstances of you get off the ship in San Diego today you cannot get back on.

 

[lorimay]

Due to the current circumstances of you get off the ship in San Diego today you cannot get back on.

Yes, I'm aware of the situation in San Diego.
I was speaking of our Transatlantic cruise last September and how we missed our two Canada stops.

 

[o&smom]

Off the ship and waiting at the empty airport for our flight home. All the cast members on board were great. Little disappointed in how a few things were handled from Disney corporate.

 

[pjsmith67]

We are on the Wonder right now, getting off tomorrow. Our 10:30am flight tomorrow was cancelled but got a 9:15am flight but we'll have to hustle to make that one. Fortunately, the airport is only a 10 minute cab ride from here, assuming we will be able to get one.

Given the circumstances, I think the Wonder crew did an amazing job. We've already booked this cruise for next year.

 

[tutumomickey]

We missed both PV and CSL on our EBPC due to hurricane Palo and Odile. Although it was an amazing cruise, one of our favorites, we received no incentive on future cruise or refund.

 

[fishingfool999]

Hi Guys.....The Disney Wonder is docked at the Embarcadero in San Diego. She arrived Thursday morning and had some guests disembark. All other guests and some Cast Members disembarked on Friday. The local paper is reporting that the Wonder will be here until 19 April then she will leave for a Mexico cruise, maybe? There is one other cruise ship coming to San Diego this coming week then no other cruise ships will be allowed to dock here. Maybe that is why she is staying at the dock? Here is a screen shot of San Diego bay today. Enjoy.

 

[otten]

We missed both PV and CSL on our EBPC due to hurricane Palo and Odile. Although it was an amazing cruise, one of our favorites, we received no incentive on future cruise or refund.

I’m not saying the offer from Disney isn’t generous, it is. I think the difference though is that missing ports because of hurricanes and storms is a fairly common thing and Disney, along with the rest of the cruise industry is really hoping pandemic related cruise problems are a one time thing.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Here is a screen shot of San Diego bay today. Enjoy.

I finished up some work in SoCal and headed home yesterday. Got this pic on the rental car shuttle. Had flight delays but I got out. I know some folks that were on the cruise that we’re on my flight got stuck overnight.

 

[fishingfool999]

Looks like the Wonder left San Diego today around 5 pm. She is scheduled to return to San Diego 22 March 8 am. I will try to get screen shots of her returning in the morning.........

 

[fishingfool999]

Looks like the Wonder is returning back to the San Diego dock area this morning. Not sure why she left yesterday around 5 pm for an over night cruise out and then back? A beautiful sunny Spring
day here in San Diego. She will be docked around 9 am today.

 

[planecrazy63]

Looks like the Wonder is returning back to the San Diego dock area this morning. Not sure why she left yesterday around 5 pm for an over night cruise out and then back? A beautiful sunny Spring
day here in San Diego. She will be docked around 9 am today.View attachment 482740
View attachment 482741

She has to go out to see to process waste and sea water. Cruise ships just aren’t designed to sit in port and ports aren’t designed to handle them being there long term.
Feel bad for the wonder crew as they are the only shop on the pacific side - they are missing the crew rotation to castaway the other three are getting. They are all stuck onboard

 

[mab2012]

We missed both PV and CSL on our EBPC due to hurricane Palo and Odile. Although it was an amazing cruise, one of our favorites, we received no incentive on future cruise or refund.

It wasn't just a couple of missed ports. Our tablemates actually didn't get to do ANY of their planned excursions. Their Cozumel excursion was cancelled due to high wind, in Cayman their cab driver refused to take them to the turtle farm because smoke from a landfill fire was wreaking havoc with traffic all along 7-mile beach, and the other three ports were cancelled. In addition:

• High winds and very rough seas on the Atlantic side and also north of Puerto Vallarta.
• Unable to swap out entertainers in Cartegena as planned. The entertainment crew did the best they could, which was pretty good under the circumstances, but definitely not what was promised or expected.
• High sanitation levels for 8 days, meaning passengers could not serve their own drinks, ice cream, food at the buffet, or anything else.
• Several onboard activities were also cancelled due to the sanitation measures, including pin trading and kids' sleepover.
• Many people spent the last couple of days worrying about when, how, or if they would get home, especially those of us who had to cross international borders. I spent several hours on the phone rebooking cancelled flights (more than once) and cancelling other plans as a result (hotels, car rentals).
• Ten consecutive full days on the ship. Yes, there were activities planned, but for most people trivia and crafts do become a little repetitive by day ten.
• DCL made a deliberate decision to skip the Mexican ports. The ports were open. We could have stopped. I'm not saying it was the wrong choice. Most people would probably agree that it was the right thing to do. But it was within their control.
• By the end of the cruise some food items were running out: bananas, blueberries, milk, certain types of tea, and romaine lettuce, to name a few. Not that anyone was going hungry, of course. There seemed to be plenty of ice cream.

Much of this was not DCL's fault, and taken individually, most of the issues were not a big deal. But it was by no means a "normal" cruise, or even a normal weather-impacted cruise.

I also think DCL is anticipating an extremely difficult environment over the next couple of years, so offering a big discount on cruises that will probably be tough to fill anyway isn't really a big sacrifice. I expect many of those cruises will see heavy GTY discounts close to sailing, so to some extent this is just providing the discount up front.

Even so, until those last two port stops were cancelled, I expected nothing, and thought maybe we would get 25% if the ports were skipped. So 40% was beyond my expectations, but I'm happy to take it. And like others, I think the crew onboard did an awesome job keeping things as normal as possible. I'd like to try the Panama Canal crossing again sometime for the full experience, but it won't be anytime soon. Two weeks off around this time of year are hard to come by.

 

[o&smom]

It wasn't just a couple of missed ports. Our tablemates actually didn't get to do ANY of their planned excursions. Their Cozumel excursion was cancelled due to high wind, in Cayman their cab driver refused to take them to the turtle farm because smoke from a landfill fire was wreaking havoc with traffic all along 7-mile beach, and the other three ports were cancelled. In addition:

• High winds and very rough seas on the Atlantic side and also north of Puerto Vallarta.
• Unable to swap out entertainers in Cartegena as planned. The entertainment crew did the best they could, which was pretty good under the circumstances, but definitely not what was promised or expected.
• High sanitation levels for 8 days, meaning passengers could not serve their own drinks, ice cream, food at the buffet, or anything else.
• Several onboard activities were also cancelled due to the sanitation measures, including pin trading and kids' sleepover.
• Many people spent the last couple of days worrying about when, how, or if they would get home, especially those of us who had to cross international borders. I spent several hours on the phone rebooking cancelled flights (more than once) and cancelling other plans as a result (hotels, car rentals).
• Ten consecutive full days on the ship. Yes, there were activities planned, but for most people trivia and crafts do become a little repetitive by day ten.
• DCL made a deliberate decision to skip the Mexican ports. The ports were open. We could have stopped. I'm not saying it was the wrong choice. Most people would probably agree that it was the right thing to do. But it was within their control.
• By the end of the cruise some food items were running out: bananas, blueberries, milk, certain types of tea, and romaine lettuce, to name a few. Not that anyone was going hungry, of course. There seemed to be plenty of ice cream.

Much of this was not DCL's fault, and taken individually, most of the issues were not a big deal. But it was by no means a "normal" cruise, or even a normal weather-impacted cruise.

I also think DCL is anticipating an extremely difficult environment over the next couple of years, so offering a big discount on cruises that will probably be tough to fill anyway isn't really a big sacrifice. I expect many of those cruises will see heavy GTY discounts close to sailing, so to some extent this is just providing the discount up front.

Even so, until those last two port stops were cancelled, I expected nothing, and thought maybe we would get 25% if the ports were skipped. So 40% was beyond my expectations, but I'm happy to take it. And like others, I think the crew onboard did an awesome job keeping things as normal as possible. I'd like to try the Panama Canal crossing again sometime for the full experience, but it won't be anytime soon. Two weeks off around this time of year are hard to come by.

Was there with you. Glad you made it home.

 

[North of Mouse]

Friends of ours have been in contact since leaving the Wonder Friday and in their words "it was a WONDERFUL cruise with no complaints" Disney did what they could and went beyond with the situation at hand - it was not a 'normal' cruise, but some things were out of their hands, even as the things we all are facing the world over. We heard they were not allowed to dock at some ports, but not the fault of Disney.

 

[o&smom]

Friends of ours have been in contact since leaving the Wonder Friday and in their words "it was a WONDERFUL cruise with no complaints" Disney did what they could and went beyond with the situation at hand - it was not a 'normal' cruise, but some things were out of their hands, even as the things we all are facing the world over. We heard they were not allowed to dock at some ports, but not the fault of Disney.

No fault of Disney, but choice made by Disney to not port in Puerto Vallarta or Cabo. We enjoyed our cruise, but it was unsettling in many ways; one of which was Disney’s choice to force people to cruise or lose all their money. People had been reaching out to Disney about this for the week or two ahead of the cruise, since other cruise lines were offering options of cancellations or postponement. I believe this policy was changed on March 8 and we embarked on March 6. We had very much been looking forward to this cruise since booking opening day. I think we still would have gone if given an option, but it was definitely an interesting situation to be in. By the end of the cruise, we all felt so safe there and not too excited to leave and re-enter the craziness of life.

 

[North of Mouse]

By the end of the cruise, we all felt so safe there and not too excited to leave and re-enter the craziness of life.

Almost exact words, and definitely same sentiment made by our good friends. Things had changed so much since they left.

 

[gometros]

It's a 14 day cruise and they only got 2 port stops on day 3 and 4. 9 days at sea. They also had a medical emergency and rough seas early on. No entertainer swap as cartegena wouldn't let them dock. Sounds like lots of issues, although I'm sure the crew stepped up with extra activities and made the best of the situation.

Saying the crew stepped up is an understatement. Let's talk safety first. By Panama Canal day, they stopped allowing self service at Cabanas, the drink stations and Eye-Scream. Items that were frequently touched, such as salt and pepper shakers were removed from tables and packets, that were handed out like the drinks used instead. To reduce incidental contact, the servers working the deck 9 drink station would place the drink on a table for the guest to then pick up.

For entertainment, Jon Armstrong and VoicePlay were supposed to disembark in Cartagena and John Charles and the other entertainment were supposed to come on. Even with the medical emergency, we were originally going to make a brief stop to make those exchanges, but then Colombia closed the port. CD Ashley Long and ACD Mike Gibbons and the rest of the entertainment staff did a yeoman's job of coming up with alternative entertainment, including a musical review by the cast, a talent show bu the crew and an extra showing of Onward! Leslie Iwerks and Jon Armstrong picked up the slack with extra presentations and performances.

I can only say that this cruise proved why I love DCL so much. They really went above and beyond i making us feel safe and have a good time despite the constant changes we encountered.

 

[gometros]

Off the ship and waiting at the empty airport for our flight home. All the cast members on board were great. Little disappointed in how a few things were handled from Disney corporate.

I'm curious what you thought was mishandled?

 

[gometros]

No fault of Disney, but choice made by Disney to not port in Puerto Vallarta or Cabo. We enjoyed our cruise, but it was unsettling in many ways; one of which was Disney’s choice to force people to cruise or lose all their money. People had been reaching out to Disney about this for the week or two ahead of the cruise, since other cruise lines were offering options of cancellations or postponement. I believe this policy was changed on March 8 and we embarked on March 6. We had very much been looking forward to this cruise since booking opening day. I think we still would have gone if given an option, but it was definitely an interesting situation to be in. By the end of the cruise, we all felt so safe there and not too excited to leave and re-enter the craziness of life.

Captain Henry said the reason the decision was made was because so many of the tour vendor stopped operating. I think it was the right decision.