Is Disney Wonder looking worn? Also, how sustainable is DCL?

[mercuryvenus]

Two questions from a DVC newbie and someone who is admittedly wary of cruises (primarily the environmental impact of them):

1. We're really interested in an Alaska cruise. However, I've read some reviews of people saying Disney Wonder is looking worn, as it's one of the oldest DCL ships. Is that true? Are there plans to refresh the ship?

2. The reason I'm willing to consider DCL is their seemingly stellar environmental record. Is it as good as it seems? The one potentially problematic area is their Caribbean footprint. I read about some local concern about the environmental impact of their new island. Has that borne out? I'm pretty willing to consider the Alaska and European itineraries, but am still on the fence about the Caribbean ones.

Thanks in advance for your honesty and experience in this!

 

[Aby]

We were on the Wonder in November for 14 days and we think she’s in great shape! She just had a good dry dock, and the new French Quarter Lounge and Cove Cafe look great. The Wonder is my favourite ship and I wouldn’t hesitate to sail on her any day!

Aby

 

[StarSeven7]

We just got off the Wonder a few weeks ago. It was our first cruise so I don't have anything to compare it to but I thought everything looked perfect! I didn't see a single thing in 7 days that looked worn out to me!!

 

[FightingIrishman]

We were on the Wonder for Alaska before the dry dock and it looked great even then. I wouldn't trade a nicer or newer ship from another cruise line versus a Disney cruise. Disney does a great job having a 20 year old ship constantly looking great and feeling up to date.

 

[yowcruiser]

Arguably, the Wonder is (still) in much better shape than the Magic. I actually found it to be somewhat in better shape than the Dream as well, which is a bit overdue for a drydock. As for the environmental footprint... this is a cruise line. As your research indicated, Disney truly try to do what they can to preserve the environment: 1st to develop boat paint that is less toxic to marine life, fireworks that turn into fish food when it comes in contact with water and no nightmare stories like Carnival for dumping "stuff" at sea. As for the new island, yes there are a few individuals who vehemently oppose it and are using the environment card, but as of now some of these things are still being assessed...

 

[CaseyCruiser]

We did a cruise on the Wonder in January and she looks great. Parts of the ship look new. We love the Disney Wonder.

 

[SamFaniam]

1. The Wonder is beautiful.

2. Disney, like many cruise companies, is taking steps to be More environmentally friendly. That being said, with the exception of jetting around the world in a private plane, I’m not sure there’s a vacation that’s less environmentally sound than cruising. You’ll have to decide whether the environmental trade-offs are worth it for your vacation.

 

[bcwife76]

The Wonder is our favourite ship, we LOVE her. She is not the oldest, the Magic actually is. We sailed on the Magic in October and found her to be looking well worn, we didn't think she looked as good as the Wonder.

 

[mercuryvenus]

Thanks, everyone!

Are you all using DVC points for these cruises? Seems like the points don't go that far on the cruises. My DREAM is to do a DVC member cruise ...

 

[Lynne M]

Are you all using DVC points for these cruises? Seems like the points don't go that far on the cruises. My DREAM is to do a DVC member cruise ...

Some members use their points for cruises, but I think those that do, do it indirectly - they rent out their points and use the proceeds to pay for the cruise. You'll come out significantly ahead that way. Some of the rental agencies (like dvcbyrequest.com) will handle the points rental and the cruise booking for you, which makes the process pretty smooth.

Also, not every sailing is available on points, and at least back in the day when I tried to book with points, there was a very long blackout period where they weren't taking points bookings at all. It's pretty much whatever DCL feels like making available to DVC. After multiple attempts over a few years, I stopped trying to book with points.

 

[MomOTwins]

Thanks, everyone!

Are you all using DVC points for these cruises? Seems like the points don't go that far on the cruises. My DREAM is to do a DVC member cruise ...

Using points to pay for a cruise is not a good value for your points.

 

[Intr3pid]

Both Magic and Wonder look great in their public areas, but you can tell their age by their staterooms - esp. the washrooms. The Disney cruise dry docks (read: refurbishments) don't touch the stateroom building materials. You might notice older tiles, some discolor, etc. - but this is true for most cruise ships from older vintage. An exception is Celebrity's newly refurbished ships where pretty much the entire staterooms have been redone.

Know that cruising in general burns a lot of fuel and produces a lot of waste. Newer ships are more fuel efficient, but, hey, we are years (it not decades) away from one blessed by Musk. That said, if you feel you personally are more careful about the environment, pls come cruise and take the spot of someone who will never be. Disney stands head and shoulders above most on this test:
https://foe.org/cruise-report-card/

 

[bcwife76]

Thanks, everyone!

Are you all using DVC points for these cruises? Seems like the points don't go that far on the cruises. My DREAM is to do a DVC member cruise ...

We've only used our points to book a cruise once, for one of the 2019 DVC member cruises (used points for one adult, paid cash for the other 3 fares). As others have stated, it's not a great use of your points, but we had them to use

 

[Karin1984]

According to this article, Disney is the best, when it comes to sustainable cruises https://guidemeaway.com/5-most-sustainable-cruises/
But still, it's not the most sustainable vacation you can take.

 

[disdel]

We recently returned from back to back cruises on the WONDER. We had two different staterooms, an oceanview HA forward, then a Navigator's Verandah aft. We also visited a mid-ship verandah and a sideways inside. All four were in great shape. Our Navigator's, which was always an area where you could notice any signs of needed maintainence, was spotless. The outside stateroom had a single large porthole which did need its outside washed of salt. But we WERE the most forward spot (6000) where the window washer doesn't get to that often.
Nowhere did we sense anything being "worn". Pool areas were fine. Restaurants, bars, and WD theater ditto. Did not go in the Buena Vista Theater. Multiple times saw areas with the "FRESH VARNISH" signs.
No indication of any overall mechanical issues i.e. unexpected vibration etc. In fact, when the thrusters were being used for maneuvering, and given that we were first forward and then aft where they are most felt, felt smoother than other experiences.
The ship's whistle ("horn"), which, as far as I know, was not converted to the electronic version of the DREAM class, did have some issues, not always being able to complete the "When You Wish Upon A Star. . . ." sequence. It sounded "strangled". Occasionally you would hear a solitary or short series of blasts as it seemed they were working on it.


As far as environmental concerns, see various previous posters citations. On a practical and comparative basis, DCL is great. The Bahamian issues regarding Lighthouse Point on Eleuthera seem to be mostly negotiating points so that all sides come away happy. After over 20 years of Castaway Cay, I'm not aware of any true environmental mishaps or even accusations over DCL's operations there.

 

[disneylove69]

Was on the Wonder in Oct. Ship was fine. Some small issues such as the adult pool had rust and I fell in my room because the table to was held b 3 1/2 inch screws. The staff on the other hand was terrible. They hung in groups and talked ignoring guests, stood and watched a guest clean up a spill on the floor, dint smile, or stood holding and texting.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

As a retired naval officer, I always geek with the ship's officers when I can. Was fascinated when discussing their propulsion plant (electric drive), water reclamation (nearly 99%) and water production (very nearly 0 due to reclamation and topping off in port). The first 4 ships all use diesel fuel marine (of various refinements) for their generators, but that's all the fuel they burn (the 3 new ships will burn liquefied natural gas which burns much cleaner). On a destroyer (for example) there are seven diesel powered jet turbines (usually rolling between four and six) vs. the four diesel gennies on a DCL ship. In comparison, it's night and day. Granted, a destroyer can go twice as fast as the Wonder, but let's not quibble.

DCL holds their trash to dispose when in port and has a plastic waste processor to reduce their waste to 'bricks' of plastic that are offloaded when in port. Not sure if the plastic is recycled, but I hope so.

All this isn't truly sustainable, but is astounding to me the lengths they go to minimize (where possible) their impact.

 

[gilsan]

We were on the Wonder a couple of weeks ago and we were impressed with how good she looked. All the areas were clean and had a fresh smell. We were on the Magic in August and I realised how rundown the Magic was after being on the Wonder. In particular, the Crown and Fin was in much better than O'Gills. O'Gills was really musty smelling. It was enough of a difference that I think we will be looking at Alaska next year instead of Europe. Although the Magic is going into Dry Dock in September.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Was on the wonder earlier this month it looked amazing.

 

[Lilsia]

Disney does an incredible job of keeping the ships "ship shape". LOL Seriously, they have staff on board that are constantly working on something, be it re-staining the hand rails, or taking down sections of ceiling tiles and cleaning them. You will not find a cleaner, nicer ship that age IMO.