cmph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2016
- Messages
- 1,619
We just got home from our amazing cruise on the Wonder, and while I will never find the time for a real trip report, I figured I'd share a few things that were new/newish/different in case they help anyone planning for 2019.
Pre-cruise - stayed at Times Square Suites for 3 nights. I'd definitely stay there again. Our stay was a bit over $800 Canadian for a 1 bedroom plus a den (with a twin bed) and living room with sofa bed, so my kids had their own sleeping spaces. It had a full kitchen and laundry machines, which we used a bunch. The location is great, so easy to walk to many places, tons of dining, grocery stores, etc in the area. It was unseasonably warm, so I expected the lack of central AC to be an issue, but we had to turn down the window unit b/c we were freezing! No worries there.
Post-cruise - stayed one night at the Fairmont in the airport purely b/c we had an early morning flight. Well, it was worth it for the convenience, I guess. I can't believe I paid $400 for one night in a room with 2 queens compared to $800 for 3 nights at the Times Square for a large suite, but you pay for convenience. The restaurant was very good (albeit pricey) and the beds comfortable, but the hotel is old and needs some love. Paint is scratched up everywhere (door frames, furniture, you name it), the carpet is ripping apart even on the "deluxe" 13th floor, there are no solid doors in the bathroom area or bathroom fan (so, um, zero bathroom privacy), and our shower head actually fell off and broke. I'm sure the hotel was gorgeous like 10 years ago, but they don't appear to be updating it at all. And I'm not a picky person who goes looking for that. Kind of a head-scratcher, but I guess you can charge what you want when you're IN the airport.
Cruise itself:
-We had great service so I feel very badly for those who haven't had good service lately! Large family group from age 2 to 68, one adult with dietary needs; no issues. We upped our tips a good bit for our server Jojo b/c he was great. Club host was very entertaining, bar staff friendly as usual, really no complaints. Once again we were not burdened with numerous "excellent" speeches, just that one night at the end! Guess we have good luck in that regard.
-Still not thrilled with the show schedule, but it seems to be how DCL wants it now. We watched the solo acts in Azure, and it was fine, but with so much less space - it's hard to see how well that will work for the popular solo acts. They certainly love that "it's all about choices" bit, so get used to hearing that!
-We were on the Wonder shortly after the refurb and found Tiana's unbearably loud for dinner. Anyone who thought some of us were odd to complain about that - they have TOTALLY changed it. In the beginning, the band played nearly the entire dinner, even when you were ordering. Now, it's far more pleasant, with sporadic music instead. I have no idea when they stopped playing nearly constantly, but I'm glad they did! I wish I had known how different it would be in advance, b/c tbh, I was kind of dreading Tiana's beforehand.
Excursions: can't say this enough, book independently! Our private whale watching tour in Juneau was so worth the money, and pp was barely more than the larger boats full of people. And our ziplining tour in Skagway ended up being private, b/c our 5 person family group was it. Our excursion time was flanked by a couple of 20-person cruise groups. We got stuck behind the one, so we got to re-run a section of 3 ziplines until they were out of the way. We got a lot more for our money! And a driver who worked in WDW for 10 years and was thrilled to chat.
Any questions, let me know. I'm trying to keep to things I didn't necessarily read much about here but happy to answer anything!
Pre-cruise - stayed at Times Square Suites for 3 nights. I'd definitely stay there again. Our stay was a bit over $800 Canadian for a 1 bedroom plus a den (with a twin bed) and living room with sofa bed, so my kids had their own sleeping spaces. It had a full kitchen and laundry machines, which we used a bunch. The location is great, so easy to walk to many places, tons of dining, grocery stores, etc in the area. It was unseasonably warm, so I expected the lack of central AC to be an issue, but we had to turn down the window unit b/c we were freezing! No worries there.
Post-cruise - stayed one night at the Fairmont in the airport purely b/c we had an early morning flight. Well, it was worth it for the convenience, I guess. I can't believe I paid $400 for one night in a room with 2 queens compared to $800 for 3 nights at the Times Square for a large suite, but you pay for convenience. The restaurant was very good (albeit pricey) and the beds comfortable, but the hotel is old and needs some love. Paint is scratched up everywhere (door frames, furniture, you name it), the carpet is ripping apart even on the "deluxe" 13th floor, there are no solid doors in the bathroom area or bathroom fan (so, um, zero bathroom privacy), and our shower head actually fell off and broke. I'm sure the hotel was gorgeous like 10 years ago, but they don't appear to be updating it at all. And I'm not a picky person who goes looking for that. Kind of a head-scratcher, but I guess you can charge what you want when you're IN the airport.
Cruise itself:
-We had great service so I feel very badly for those who haven't had good service lately! Large family group from age 2 to 68, one adult with dietary needs; no issues. We upped our tips a good bit for our server Jojo b/c he was great. Club host was very entertaining, bar staff friendly as usual, really no complaints. Once again we were not burdened with numerous "excellent" speeches, just that one night at the end! Guess we have good luck in that regard.
-Still not thrilled with the show schedule, but it seems to be how DCL wants it now. We watched the solo acts in Azure, and it was fine, but with so much less space - it's hard to see how well that will work for the popular solo acts. They certainly love that "it's all about choices" bit, so get used to hearing that!
-We were on the Wonder shortly after the refurb and found Tiana's unbearably loud for dinner. Anyone who thought some of us were odd to complain about that - they have TOTALLY changed it. In the beginning, the band played nearly the entire dinner, even when you were ordering. Now, it's far more pleasant, with sporadic music instead. I have no idea when they stopped playing nearly constantly, but I'm glad they did! I wish I had known how different it would be in advance, b/c tbh, I was kind of dreading Tiana's beforehand.
Excursions: can't say this enough, book independently! Our private whale watching tour in Juneau was so worth the money, and pp was barely more than the larger boats full of people. And our ziplining tour in Skagway ended up being private, b/c our 5 person family group was it. Our excursion time was flanked by a couple of 20-person cruise groups. We got stuck behind the one, so we got to re-run a section of 3 ziplines until they were out of the way. We got a lot more for our money! And a driver who worked in WDW for 10 years and was thrilled to chat.
Any questions, let me know. I'm trying to keep to things I didn't necessarily read much about here but happy to answer anything!
Hilariously, the paperwork describing the room's inclusions guaranteed a 10am early arrival availability - and since they didn't let us have it until about 12:00, I'm guessing it was just sitting there waiting while they hoped to get someone to pay for an upgrade. Felt a little shady, but I guess they have to try. The non-wifi business amenities consisted of a folder with letterhead and envelopes. We did have a great view, at least! But my eyebrow was definitely raised by that upgrade nonsense.
