Just back from WBPC Repo, great time but...

[MunFam]

Wow, really? I must have been completely drunk the whole time that was going on

Yeah, me too! I totally missed that!!!

 

[MunFam]

This was exactly our experience on the Wonder in September. If we were in our cabin he tried to skip our room by offering to just dropp off clean towels. We also speculated that the number of cabins each steward had to clean had increased.

We went 3 nights!! without fresh towels. She would come in to our room and leave a towel animal (and them because it was "shower now or never time" I would run up to the pool deck to get towels. She always took the old ones, but never left fresh ones. She also refused to refill our ice bucket and said to call room service. We ended up spending a lot of time a guest services between our SR host and our dining team.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Any chance your lack of service was due to the addition duties put upon the crews to avoid/clean/service the Noro virus?
They must have added duties to everyone and taken away time off to rest or shop for supplies that they needed.

 

[FigmentSpark]

While you obviously didn't tip her extra, did you change her tip downward for it? I'm not trying to be nosy, but it seems that poor service that ends up becoming self service shouldn't get much of a tip, if any.

 

[canyoncam]

I don't think anyone has mentioned yet that the Golden Mickey's was not done because they are both revamping it and the fact the entire talent crew was being replaced and the end of this cruise. I do not care for any of the entertainment myself (I cruise to set out on deck four as much as possible and that includes at night) but I feel that was a loss for the rest of the cruisers who do like the shows.

The rest of the tours being cancelled, and no crew talent show, were because of the NoroVirus. Yes a shame that happened before a 14 night cruise. But certainly not Disney's fault. at least the cruise was not cancelled as my friends was after a NoroVirus the previous cruise. And every person received a $25 credit, not much but also something that in no way was Disney obligated to provide. I cruised before 9-11 and was able to take a bridge tour. Do I blame Disney that I can no longer do that? It is just the way it is.

Parrot Cay late breakfast was utilized enough to be justified. I talked to at least two couples who used it every day. But yes it did overcrowd both Triton and Beach Blanket for lunch.

I don't care for the character breakfasts but agree that it was handled differently and not well advertised. 2015 it was your dining table guaranteed on a certain morning and your own waiters took care of you and reminded you. This year was ticketed, not advertised, and we only got reminded by our head waiter 2 days before scheduled. Ours assured us he would get us in even if we did not make it to get the tickets. I did not go so not sure if that was the case. However, I knew the ticketing of this event was becoming more common on all sailing that even offer it because of reading these boards. Sad to say you need to do so much research for a vacation, but Disney is not the only place you should do research for. I had to research my RCCL to find some great activities offered but not really advertised. And I work at a small ski resort with only a convenience store and am shocked at how many guests are both shocked and outraged we do not have a megastar for all their needs!

As for stateroom host. Mine was pleasant but quiet. Always late to my room which I visited often as I chose it for its convenient location. At least 5 times he was in my room as I came back from dinner. . And I asked for two things the very first time I saw him: ice every day and extra shampoo, which I received. He spoke much better English than I speak any other language. But I noticed as some have mentioned that he had more staterooms to take care of then I remember them being responsible for. Unfortunately I see this in many service industries and not just Disney.

the one thing I really don't understand is the classic movies. There were plenty of times to have more movies played without taking away the showings of Captain America and risk backlash from that.

Guest lecturers aren't why I book a cruise. If they are there, great, but I book for itinerary.

I was not disappointed with this cruise, though I admit it wasn't the same feeling as previous Disney cruises. I will probably wait to sail Disney again until the new ships.

 

[JanMW]

I think it was four different talks. One was more about the Panama Canal as he grew up in Panama, one was about the Three Caballeros Ride in Mexico and one about Mickeys Philharmagic. I think there was a fourth one, but I don't remember.

The Disney guest lecturer you are referring to was George Scribner.

 

[Hundredacre]

Speaking as somebody who has taken a WBPC cruise without a guest lecturer (a Disney one - as the OP is referring to) could you enlighten me as to how that would make the cruise so much better. Because the one in 2015 was pretty darn good, I am intrigued as to what a guest lecturer would have added. What exactly do they do in terms of 'lectures'?

For me when I go to places I like to learn about history or get a different perspective on the history, etc. On cruises that do not have a lot of ports but do have a lot of sea days, I think it is appropriate for dcl to have lectures on topics relevant to the cruise. The panama canal cruise cries out for this because there are so many things to discuss relating to the panama canal. Other cruise lines do this too. This is also great for teens who are generally very very interested in anything to do with the ship. Ours are.

 

[MunFam]

Any chance your lack of service was due to the addition duties put upon the crews to avoid/clean/service the Noro virus?
They must have added duties to everyone and taken away time off to rest or shop for supplies that they needed.

I sailed in 2015. No Noro on that cruise or any before it.

 

[MunFam]

While you obviously didn't tip her extra, did you change her tip downward for it? I'm not trying to be nosy, but it seems that poor service that ends up becoming self service shouldn't get much of a tip, if any.

I can't remember what we left...I think we did $2 per day total....which is what I leave for a regular hotel maid...she did not "earn" any extra for going above and beyond. On the last day she had the balls to ask me to leave her top reviews on her review. Oh...and she did not leave us bandannas on Pirate Night, so we went to guest services and asked about them. They gave them to us. The next day, she showed up at our door, THREW them at me, said "here" and walked off without eye contact. THAT was when we went to guest services to complain about the lack of towels, shampoos, ice, etc. She also left us a "toilet with turds on it". I was supposed to be the crest of Arendale, but it looked like a toilet and all the chocolates were turds. I saw 20+ other pics from other rooms and ours looked nothing like it. She also would go in to our room and use the house phone to chat with other housekeepers elsewhere on the ship. A few times, we came back and she was on our pone cleaning another person's room. The 3rd time it happened, we locked the phones in the safe!

I do not know who does the pressing, but I sent a brand new, tags still on it, formal dress to be steamed. It came back unwearable. It had beautiful gathers on the front and a draped neckline. It was hanging in one giant drape at the crotch area. I am still mad at myself for not complaining about that.

 

[MHag]

This makes me sad. We had our best servers ever and best room host (except for concierge) on our WBPC last year on the Wonder.

Who was your Concierge last year on the Wonder that you didn't care for and may I ask why? We are sailing in June. Thank you!

 

[FigmentSpark]

I can't remember what we left...I think we did $2 per day total....which is what I leave for a regular hotel maid...she did not "earn" any extra for going above and beyond. On the last day she had the balls to ask me to leave her top reviews on her review. Oh...and she did not leave us bandannas on Pirate Night, so we went to guest services and asked about them. They gave them to us. The next day, she showed up at our door, THREW them at me, said "here" and walked off without eye contact. THAT was when we went to guest services to complain about the lack of towels, shampoos, ice, etc. She also left us a "toilet with turds on it". I was supposed to be the crest of Arendale, but it looked like a toilet and all the chocolates were turds. I saw 20+ other pics from other rooms and ours looked nothing like it. She also would go in to our room and use the house phone to chat with other housekeepers elsewhere on the ship. A few times, we came back and she was on our pone cleaning another person's room. The 3rd time it happened, we locked the phones in the safe!

I do not know who does the pressing, but I sent a brand new, tags still on it, formal dress to be steamed. It came back unwearable. It had beautiful gathers on the front and a draped neckline. It was hanging in one giant drape at the crotch area. I am still mad at myself for not complaining about that.

That's pretty unacceptable. Indeed, a complaint would not have been out of place.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Ok, so Captain Puckett was on this year's WBPC? We really enjoyed his talks and meeting him.

We were on a partial crossing of the PC this January with Princess, and the talks on the PC were not nearly as interesting as Captain Puckett's were.

 

[terrybsw]

I'm curious what all your thoughts are on this. Do you think this is a DCL issue or could some of this just be poor management/oversight on the Wonder? I ask because we sailed Wonder in March and it felt like a completely different cruise line. Not what we had experienced on our previous Disney cruises on Magic and Fantasy at all. We're still a little baffled by it. You know when you go to a chain restaurant and most of them are very similar but sometimes you come across one that is falling apart or not being managed well? That's kind of the feeling we got while on board (ok, "falling apart" is a bit dramatic, but you get the idea) and I have to be honest, when we heard the Wonder had the Noro outbreak, we weren't surprised and we would have been shocked had it been one of the other ships because we always saw someone cleaning the walls, railings, elevator buttons throughout our other cruises and didn't see this once while we were on Wonder. Maybe my sailing was a fluke but comments I've heard in recent months from others make me wonder if many of these issues are Wonder specific? If so, I think this is a recent down turn because many have commented that they received better, more personal service on Wonder in the past.

As for the Golden Mickeys, there was a number of technical problems when we went to it in March (audio/visual issues) so maybe they pulled it because of that?

And please don't misconstrue this for bashing DCL or even the Wonder. We had some positive experiences as well, like the best head server in the MDR we've ever had and I absolutely adored one of the baristas in the Cove. We enjoyed our time, it was just very different.

I "wondered" the same thing. We have cruised Disney the last 4 yrs for Spring Break. This year on the Wonder I was surprised and disappointed. The ship was not as clean...spills, food and garbage left on pool deck tables in the Cove for hours. Spa service stank...they sold us Rainforest room passes when it was flooded and a guy with a shop vac came in. I left and came back. Soaking wet towels on the floor. Music was so loud ( I think to cover up the thundering hooves from the deck above. Staff taking a break in the locker room. The upper level of the Cafe Cove had a broken window and warped flooring. Cove staff much less friendly. Our serving team and hostess were lovely. It just had a different feel and not up to Disney standards at all. We booked Alaska for 2017, but unless she. Dry docks, I am cancelling. I am hoping the crew changes as well.

 

[Jennifer777]

I "wondered" the same thing. We have cruised Disney the last 4 yrs for Spring Break. This year on the Wonder I was surprised and disappointed. The ship was not as clean...spills, food and garbage left on pool deck tables in the Cove for hours. Spa service stank...they sold us Rainforest room passes when it was flooded and a guy with a shop vac came in. I left and came back. Soaking wet towels on the floor. Music was so loud ( I think to cover up the thundering hooves from the deck above. Staff taking a break in the locker room. The upper level of the Cafe Cove had a broken window and warped flooring. Cove staff much less friendly. Our serving team and hostess were lovely. It just had a different feel and not up to Disney standards at all. We booked Alaska for 2017, but unless she. Dry docks, I am cancelling. I am hoping the crew changes as well.

This is very similar to what we experienced in early March. We wiped down tables as best we could when we wanted a table by the pool. They were dirty most of the afternoon. Our room sometimes wasn't serviced until very late in the afternoon and even when it was, we didn't start receiving navigators until we went to GS half way through the cruise. Dinner took 1.5+ hours at night. Very different than what we experienced on Magic and Fantasy and it appeared they were either poorly trained/managed or incredibly short staffed. I also wondered if maybe, since she was going into dry dock and many of the CMs were talking about having received notice that they would be done for at least 2 months after the EBPC this fall, that maybe this impacted their effort or morale? All speculation but there's no doubt things were off.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Wow, I'm just shocked! I was on the Wonder for almost two weeks in late Jan/early Feb and it was exceptional. Great serving team, great housekeeping, great staff all around. So sorry to hear what is happening to her.

 

[aan1701]

Ok thought I would give my two cents. I have been on everyone of DCL's WBPC. While this years was not the best once, I have to keep in perpesctive what happens on the cruise right before this one. That being said I had only two complaints. The first being no free soda between midnight and 6AM for the first week or so. They had a sign saying you can purchase thru room service. Come on DCL just say between those hours everyone in the room can have two free cans. Not that hard. The second was that Mark and Rodi show. Vegas lounge act as best. Had to be a fill in at the last minute because of the fact of no crew talent show. Yes it was happening until Noro broke out as one of the bartenders I know, his roommate was selected to preform. Given the challenge of this cruise,I thought they did a fantastic job. I found out from someone I know shoreside who will remain anonymous for obvious reasons, the reason Karl Holtz was there was he lead a negotiating team with the CDC to let us sail. The CDC at first did not want to let the ship leave Miami in 5/1. So for this cruise I am cutting a lot of slack to DCL. I am really looking forward to next years WBPC in Wonder 2.0.

 

[mom4fun]

All I have to say is that I'm so glad I did this cruise in 2015. I know there are always exceptions to people's experiences but we had a pretty close to perfect cruise. We had those brand new refurbished rooms that just made everything feel so nice. The shows and acts were so exceptional and all of the extras like character breakfast, Ariel's tea, desert buffet, frozen activities with freezing the night away deck party and buffet, classic movies in the morning, Panama Canal crossing and outdoor barbecue with all day activities, galley tours and really interesting ports. I had only one disappointment, we didn't get to stop in Puerto Vallarta, understandably, due to violence happening there. I thought they should have done more activities that day. We had excellent wait staff and room steward. That cruise was on the top of my favorite cruises and we have been on other cruise lines and it was our 5th Disney cruise. We were on the Magic last month for an Eastern Caribbean cruise and although it was nice, it did not even come close, to living up to our WBPC.

 

[shelbell77]

Who was your Concierge last year on the Wonder that you didn't care for and may I ask why? We are sailing in June. Thank you!

We didn't have concierge on the wonder. I think my statement was unclear. The only time we had a better room host than on WBPC was when we sailed concierge on a different trip on the fantasy. All our servers and hosts on the wonder were amazing. That's why it makes me sad people are experiencing something else now.

 

[JanDave]

Thought I would post my thoughts about this year's wbpc sailing. We sailed on last year's wbpc, which, for us, was the best DCL cruise we experienced. This cruise had lots of positives, but we noticed issues that made us think differently. We had no issues with our stateroom, stateroom host and dining room servers. (We requested our server.) The DCL crew members we encountered throughout the cruise were amazing!

We received a voicemail message from DCL the evening before boarding regarding the Noro issue and the CDC involvement. I thought we would receive a second message telling us not to arrive until mid to late afternoon due to the time needed for cleaning and the CDC involvement. The port was chaotic for hours with the arrival of all passengers. DCL handed out warm bottles of water and snacks, cookies, crackers, etc. It made me wonder why DCL didn't send out messages about arriving later. After reading aan1701's comment about Karl Holz, it has me thinking that we were part of Karl Holz's negotiations with the CDC. How could the CDC delay the cruise with all passengers in port?!

Our room steward told my DH that he had 20 rooms to clean. Past stateroom hosts have told us they cleaned 16 - 18 rooms. I also noticed what seemed to be fewer servers and assistant servers. I know there were fewer passengers, however, our server had 16 guests at late seating. I heard many complaints from other cruisers regarding service in the dining rooms. We met two first time DCL cruisers whose server told them that he is '"the best server on the Wonder". Really? This server did not impress these two new DCL cruisers!

More than a few cruisers had stateroom issues, which DCL did not correct in a timely fashion. Consistent complaints I heard were staterooms on deck two. After complaining about the odors in a deck two stateroom, two cruisers were moved to another stateroom for one night, then eventually moved to another deck.

The entertainment was not up to par or consistent with last year's wbpc cruise, except for Kissy Simmons, Wayne Cotter, and John Charles, among a few others. I was told by an officer that John Charles was a last minute add on. This officer suggested that John Charles be added as there were so many repeat guests and there was not a strong line up of entertainment. Instead of a crew talent show in the WDW theater, on three nights, crew members (two each night) performed in the Promenade Lounge which was called a "cabaret". Different. Performers were good. The venue was lacking in seating availability. At one performance, I had a seat where I could not see the performers and I could not move my chair to see them!

As many cruisers commented, DCL needs to tweak the Panama Canal itineraries. For example, a stop at CC, Key West, etc. would be well received.

I noticed the Navigator viewed on the App did not match the paper Navigator. For those relying only on the App, they may have missed events. An example of this was the Wayne Cotter adult show which did not appear on my App.

We had a great cruise - we were on vacation aboard the Wonder for 14 days! We have cruised this itinerary twice, however, we will use our cruise/travel fund for other DCL itineraries and other cruise lines. We are trying out two other cruise lines in the next two years. I agree, these cruise lines are not DCL, but I'll be on vacation aboard a ship!

 

[dclpluto]

I will add IMO the characters did a very great job probably the best in my 18 DCL cruises. I guess they had plenty of time to be out since they didn't have many shows for the Walt Disney performers.

Brett the adult entertainment guy was great hopefully he will become cruise director one day. He was a cruise director for holland America.

Who was the assistant cruise director I heard his name was Scott but never seen him. How strange for a 14 night cruise.

As someone else said John Charles wasn't scheduled to be on the cruise. So that was a surprise and a plus. Great performance like always. He did a extra long show for adults the last night of the cruise. Lasted about an hour. Think DCL might of asked him to put on a long show.

As someone wrote they were giving out drinks and snacks on embarkation day since we had a long wait. I didn't see none of it. Didn't know they were handing anything out. I'm sure it went very fast.

on the last day of the cruise they were handing out free alcohol drinks on deck 9.

My head server was great but I seen it where some of the head servers are terrible. One day for lunch three head servers are standing around talking in beach blanket where clearly things needed to be done. Either tell someone to do it or do it yourself just get it done.

The ports were weak as people said but we knew that ahead of time.

Had a great time got 14 nights for about the same price as 7 nights on the fantasy so you take the good with the bad I guess. Will definitely book the wonder again but they need some changes.