Just getting off the Wonder...

[mevelandry]

We noticed that with our stateroom host on the Wonder vs Dream too....we saw her once or twice...on the Dream we saw Rian off and on all day and he made sure to call out to us/check on us any time he saw us come in/out of room on Dream. So we were a little surprised to have the opposite on the Wonder.

Same for us. We saw Santosh and Bart a lot on the Dream.

 

[monarchsfan16]

That's really too bad. We were on the Wonder just about a year ago (on the norovirus cruise). We had an amazing stateroom host (Sentana) who was greeting us by name in the hallway anytime he saw us, beginning the first night, and always wanted to know how we were doing and if we were enjoying ourselves. I, admittedly, did not study the quiet cove area, or even spend much time there (norovirus outbreak...I wanted nothing to do with people soup), but the ship had minimal noticeable issues. I noticed a small amount of rust on our verandah, but know that salt is unkind to metal, and it was a SMALL amount, in an area that did not impact me at all (near the floor). Beyond that the ship looked great. So it's too bad that so many issues have apparently popped up in a year.

That being said, I'm still beyond excited for next year's cruise on the Magic.

 

[Brooklynhw]

This all makes me a little nervous. I will be on the Wonder in September. I've sailed Magic and Fantasy, loved them both. This will be my first time on Wonder.

 

[cruiser21]

This all makes me a little nervous. I will be on the Wonder in September. I've sailed Magic and Fantasy, loved them both. This will be my first time on Wonder.

I've been on the Wonder 5 times. It's in a lot better shape then the Magic. It was even before the rehab. If you like the Magic. You will like the Wonder.

 

[Brooklynhw]

I've been on the Wonder 5 times. It's in a lot better shape then the Magic. It was even before the rehab. If you like the Magic. You will like the Wonder.

Thanks for that !! It made me feel a little more at ease.

 

[cruiser21]

Thanks for that !! It made me feel a little more at ease.

I will be on the Wonder in September too. Are you going to Alaska or Mexico? I've been on all ships multiple times. The Wonder is my favorite ship out of all of them. It has a lot to do with the fantastic staff. Tiana's is a great addition. It's a lot of fun you will love it. Azure the adult lounge is beautiful after the rehab. Like the Magic it's an older ship, but well maintained. I think some people expect it too look like the Fantasy or Dream and are disappointed. My house is 21 years old. I paint, repair, replace, clean and so on, but it's never going to look like a new house again.

 

[BartmanLA]

We were on the Wonder for the Westbound Panama Canal Cruise, and while there are some spots the OP mentioned that were apparent, the vast majority of the ship was sparkling and fresh, we last sailed on the Wonder in 2015 for a 5 Night Western Caribbean cruise and could definitely see how much the ship needed a refit. Fast forward to our WBPC trip and there were many spaces on the ship that were obviously redone and fresh. I honestly don't think you realize with the ships sailing 24/7 day in day out every year between overhauls how you expect a massive ship to retain a "brand new" appearance. And sure there were a few glitches on the trip, Deck 2 had some flooding and they had to relocate some passengers. But over all the ship is maintained at a level that is far superior I think than other cruise lines. The exterior deck areas like the Quiet Cove pool are subject to deterioration by the elements moreso than the interior of the ship, as well as the "wear & tear" of the passengers. I observed the crew constantly doing maintenance on the exterior decks, in fact one day they were sanding and re varnishing the railings all around Quiet Cove. Salt water, salt air, sunlight, are all going to have an impact on areas of the ship that aren't as well protected as interior spaces. And the fact the the Wonder is a "Classic" ship that I believe has much more wood exposed on the upper decks any "wear" has to be expected.

 

[mevelandry]

This all makes me a little nervous. I will be on the Wonder in September. I've sailed Magic and Fantasy, loved them both. This will be my first time on Wonder.

What makes you nervous?

 

[mevelandry]

I will be on the Wonder in September too. Are you going to Alaska or Mexico? I've been on all ships multiple times. The Wonder is my favorite ship out of all of them. It has a lot to do with the fantastic staff. Tiana's is a great addition. It's a lot of fun you will love it. Azure the adult lounge is beautiful after the rehab. Like the Magic it's an older ship, but well maintained. I think some people expect it too look like the Fantasy or Dream and are disappointed. My house is 21 years old. I paint, repair, replace, clean and so on, but it's never going to look like a new house again.

Exactly.

My house is from 1934. We have been refurbishing (aka tearing walls and carpet and floors) for the last two years and right now, it looks like a crack house. LOL

 

[mevelandry]

We were on the Wonder for the Westbound Panama Canal Cruise, and while there are some spots the OP mentioned that were apparent, the vast majority of the ship was sparkling and fresh, we last sailed on the Wonder in 2015 for a 5 Night Western Caribbean cruise and could definitely see how much the ship needed a refit. Fast forward to our WBPC trip and there were many spaces on the ship that were obviously redone and fresh. I honestly don't think you realize with the ships sailing 24/7 day in day out every year between overhauls how you expect a massive ship to retain a "brand new" appearance. And sure there were a few glitches on the trip, Deck 2 had some flooding and they had to relocate some passengers. But over all the ship is maintained at a level that is far superior I think than other cruise lines. The exterior deck areas like the Quiet Cove pool are subject to deterioration by the elements moreso than the interior of the ship, as well as the "wear & tear" of the passengers. I observed the crew constantly doing maintenance on the exterior decks, in fact one day they were sanding and re varnishing the railings all around Quiet Cove. Salt water, salt air, sunlight, are all going to have an impact on areas of the ship that aren't as well protected as interior spaces. And the fact the the Wonder is a "Classic" ship that I believe has much more wood exposed on the upper decks any "wear" has to be expected.

I agree with you. I just wanted to present a realistic review. Like any other cruise lines, the Disney ships --especially the older-- can show some wear and tear... (because I mostly hear the opposite).

For the price they ask, and because of the recent dry dock, I was expecting the Quiet Cove to look better...

That did not prevent us from having a wonderful time over there.

But I would be lying if I did not say that the non-DCL cruises (more affordable) that we did/are about to do offer a better value in our eyes now.

Especially since we have that "been there, done that" feeling about the Mouse (after 10 times in WDW and 3 DCL cruises). We are two childfree adults so we don't have any need for kids club...

Also, we definitely enjoyed the comedy shows and musical revue (Vrooom) from the Carnival Victory more than any of the shows we saw on the Disney Dream and Wonder.

 

[KdKyA]

We sailed Apr. 16th this year and everything OP mentioned we noticed too. The cosmetic stuff didn't bother me too much, it's an older ship. What did bother me and made me nauseous and gag several times was the sewage smell the first couple of days. Good freaking night, The entire forward section of the ship smelled like a sewer factory. I dropped by guest services and asked them about it and they acted like they didn't realize it, yeah, how could you not. I was trying to deliver FE gifts and had to keep stepping outside because the smell was overpowering.Most people were either at the show or dinner but the few in the halls kept covering their noses.
The entire 4 night cruise, they were doing welding/grinding work in the smoke stacks. It was ridiculously loud. They cancelled the part of the show where Mickey zip lines across with was kind of a disappointment, but understandable with the work being done. The pools were all closed during Nassau day up until 1pm. That was annoying. We decided to stay on the ship that day to use the pools and then didn't get the chance. The aqua lab was closed almost the entire trip, in fact, I only saw it up and running one time.
We loved our cruise, but will stick with the Dream and Fantasy. I kept hearing and reading about people saying how the Wonder was less crowded because there aren't as many people. I felt it was the opposite. The space is smaller, so proportionately, it is the same as the bigger ships when you factor size to passenger ratio. It felt more crowded in the lobby because the area is considerably smaller and felt more closed in. The elevators, wow, I was taken aback by those for sure, they were so small!!!
Don't get me wrong, the trip was great, and a lot of that stuff we dealt with was probably just more specific to that sailing (closed pools- they were not closed for poop either, metal work in the smokestacks, closed aqua lab). Hopefully the sewage smell thing can get figured out, that's the thing that stood out to me the most.

 

[mevelandry]

We sailed Apr. 16th this year and everything OP mentioned we noticed too. The cosmetic stuff didn't bother me too much, it's an older ship. What did bother me and made me nauseous and gag several times was the sewage smell the first couple of days. Good freaking night, The entire forward section of the ship smelled like a sewer factory. I dropped by guest services and asked them about it and they acted like they didn't realize it, yeah, how could you not. I was trying to deliver FE gifts and had to keep stepping outside because the smell was overpowering.Most people were either at the show or dinner but the few in the halls kept covering their noses.
The entire 4 night cruise, they were doing welding/grinding work in the smoke stacks. It was ridiculously loud. They cancelled the part of the show where Mickey zip lines across with was kind of a disappointment, but understandable with the work being done. The pools were all closed during Nassau day up until 1pm. That was annoying. We decided to stay on the ship that day to use the pools and then didn't get the chance. The aqua lab was closed almost the entire trip, in fact, I only saw it up and running one time.
We loved our cruise, but will stick with the Dream and Fantasy. I kept hearing and reading about people saying how the Wonder was less crowded because there aren't as many people. I felt it was the opposite. The space is smaller, so proportionately, it is the same as the bigger ships when you factor size to passenger ratio. It felt more crowded in the lobby because the area is considerably smaller and felt more closed in. The elevators, wow, I was taken aback by those for sure, they were so small!!!
Don't get me wrong, the trip was great, and a lot of that stuff we dealt with was probably just more specific to that sailing (closed pools- they were not closed for poop either, metal work in the smokestacks, closed aqua lab). Hopefully the sewage smell thing can get figured out, that's the thing that stood out to me the most.

Wow... I feel very sorry you had such a bad experience on the Wonder. We got off the ship on April 9th so it wasn't a long time after us.

The Dream is my favorite ship out of the two.

 

[Brooklynhw]

I will be on the Wonder in September too. Are you going to Alaska or Mexico? I've been on all ships multiple times. The Wonder is my favorite ship out of all of them. It has a lot to do with the fantastic staff. Tiana's is a great addition. It's a lot of fun you will love it. Azure the adult lounge is beautiful after the rehab. Like the Magic it's an older ship, but well maintained. I think some people expect it too look like the Fantasy or Dream and are disappointed. My house is 21 years old. I paint, repair, replace, clean and so on, but it's never going to look like a new house again.

I'm going to Mexico. September 17th.

 

[mevelandry]

I just added a detail I just remembered:

On the first night at turndown service, for mysterious reasons, ou host did the sofa bed as well, as if we were three in the room. Which is kinda weird. Maybe my princess gathering ticket mislead him?