Just left the Wonder, a little disappointed

[Coss]

I disembarked from the Wonder today, I was left a little disappointed in the whole experience. Perhaps it is because I had such a great time on the Magic a few months back, but I found the crew to be a little sloppy and a little disorganize to my liking. Here are couple things I experienced on the Wonder this trip that I didn't encounter in the past.

#1 No welcome gifts upon checking into the room, I have been on several cruises prior. I later learned that it was because my Castaway number was not entered into the system. It took TWO tries to get guest services to take care of it. The first time I went, the male castmember said he would take care of it. Of course nothing happened. I had to go back in the second time, but the second castmember took care of it very quickly.

#2 While the stateroom was clean, but I found the stateroom host to be a little sloppy. There were missing toiletry, missing toilet paper and even some left over candies that were left from the previous guests. Nice guy, but I expected a little more.

#3 I think there were two spots on the deck that were under "construction", it didn't bother me, but I didn't expect to see that on a Disney ship.

#4 The food servers were nice, but I thought they were a bit slow. It's probably not their fault as they had a lot of people to serve, but it was definitely slower than the time I was on the Magic or the Wonder before. It was the worst at Trident.

#5 I don't know if it has to do with the shorter trips, but I didn't feel the same energy from the kids club compare to the 7 day trip I took on the Magic.

#6 I was hoping for a little more activities during the morning/early afternoon, maybe I expected too much. I figured Ensenada isn't a popular spot, I was thinking they might add more activities on the ship. It didn't help that the middle pool had to be shut down during prime hours due to someone's accidental discharge, ruining another spot on the ship kids/adults can spend time in.

With everything said, I still prefer the Wonder/Magic over the Dream. I was just hoping for a little more heading in, but it was good fun nontheless. I might just throw all my money into the summer 7 day cruises instead of these short October ones.

 

[Shanti]

I disembarked from the Wonder today, I was left a little disappointed in the whole experience. Perhaps it is because I had such a great time on the Magic a few months back, but I found the crew to be a little sloppy and a little disorganize to my liking. Here are couple things I experienced on the Wonder this trip that I didn't encounter in the past.

#1 No welcome gifts upon checking into the room, I have been on several cruises prior. I later learned that it was because my Castaway number was not entered into the system. It took TWO tries to get guest services to take care of it. The first time I went, the male castmember said he would take care of it. Of course nothing happened. I had to go back in the second time, but the second castmember took care of it very quickly.

#2 While the stateroom was clean, but I found the stateroom host to be a little sloppy. There were missing toiletry, missing toilet paper and even some left over candies that were left from the previous guests. Nice guy, but I expected a little more.

#3 I think there were two spots on the deck that were under "construction", it didn't bother me, but I didn't expect to see that on a Disney ship.

#4 The food servers were nice, but I thought they were a bit slow. It's probably not their fault as they had a lot of people to serve, but it was definitely slower than the time I was on the Magic or the Wonder before. It was the worst at Trident.

#5 I don't know if it has to do with the shorter trips, but I didn't feel the same energy from the kids club compare to the 7 day trip I took on the Magic.

#6 I was hoping for a little more activities during the morning/early afternoon, maybe I expected too much. I figured Ensenada isn't a popular spot, I was thinking they might add more activities on the ship. It didn't help that the middle pool had to be shut down during prime hours due to someone's accidental discharge, ruining another spot on the ship kids/adults can spend time in.

With everything said, I still prefer the Wonder/Magic over the Dream. I was just hoping for a little more heading in, but it was good fun nontheless. I might just throw all my money into the summer 7 day cruises instead of these short October ones.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Another poster recently complained bitterly about loud construction on the Wonder during a recent cruise.

I have a suspicion that DCL puts its emphasis on the Wonder's much more expensive summer cruises to Alaska than it does on the more budget-friendly school session cruises...

 

[gatordoc]

Did an Alaska cruise on the Wonder this summer, and have to agree that we like the Magic better. Although our stateroom host on the Wonder was the best we've ever had!

 

[cyclenut]

Disney pulled the Wonder out of Southern California because it didn't feel it could continue to make money on the Mexico cruises any longer. They only do a few each year on both ends of Alaska. It's a guess, but I'd say they have some scheduled maintenance during these windows as access to labor and materials is going to be pretty easy compared to Alaska. I'm taking my first trip on the Magic almost a year from now and I'm looking forward to it. My wife will have sailed on every Disney ship by then and I'll only be missing the Dream. I've sailed the Wonder the most but favor the Fantasy.

 

[Trera]

This is too bad as we had two cruises on the Wonder earlier this year and we had a great experience both times. We also have a spring break cruise on the wonder next year.

 

[AZMermaid]

We were on the same cruise! While we didn't have any issues with hosts or gifts, I agree about the construction. It was surprising to have two large areas under major construction. I expect minor repairs for sure. But the all day, every day hammering, sawing, pounding etc was unexpected. Not to mention the congestion caused by blocking off the areas. We spent Ensenada day at the adult pool and chose to sit on the construction side vs the smoking area side. It didn't hugely impact our day.... but we noticed it. Our room was deck 8, slightly aft (8038) and we could hear it on our veranda (but not loudly).

 

[DizMagic]

The Wonder is also our least favorite ship. Which is horrible, because we love her itineraries. She just seems a little more worn and worse for wear, then even the Magic. Fantasy is still our favorite ship, but I get bored of the Eastern/Western Caribbean route. We have sailed all 4 of the "new" ships. Didn't get a chance to sail the Big Red Boat.

 

[bwvBound]

Hmmm. Thanks for the post, OP! We'll be boarding the Wonder in a few days. We were strongly disappointed by the Wonder in 2011 ... and had hoped that this trip would reset our memory a bit. I'm quite looking forward to Tiana's Place ... and hope it is included on our abbreviated rotation.

 

[JakeRambo]

We were on this cruise as well. We have done 3 prior Wonder 2 nighters out of San Diego Plus Alaska 2015. I felt the 2 night in May was awful, a ton of new crew and a lot of training going on, plus we were told a lot of the veterans were given the weekend off because of low passenger counts. So low expectations heading into this weekend...

Which I thought was outstanding. My wife and I felt like it was the best Wonder experience we’ve had outside of Alaska. Yes there was construction, but no guest areas were lost. Pizza was still available at Pete’s and the work in the Cove was not obstructive at all.

We did not do the MDRs or the kids clubs so can’t comment there. There were fewer activities than I would expect on Ensenada Day and in the mornings. I attributed some of that to the fact that they were staffing both HOTHS and Pirates activities. That seemed to stretch them thin.

The staff seemed much better than we experienced in May. I paid less on this cruise for a better room than I paid for the two night, so maybe they offered less. I’m not sure. Not our best cruise ever, but of our 9 definitely the best short cruise.

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

We were on the Wonder this past summer and didn't experience any of these problems. They must have saved the construction work to be done after the end of the Alaskan season. As far as the accident in the pool, that responsibility kind of falls on the parents. Children are not supposed to be in the pools with swim diapers on, but that doesn't mean that they should go in without them if not toilet trained. There is a splash zone for them. I guess on the Dream, the cast members are used to a quick turnaround of guests, but not so much on the Wonder. They know that you will be on and off quickly, which is not an excuse, just an observation. And the more you cruise, the more you notice the subtle differences, too. It's also good to fill out the comment card at the end of the cruise and let them know about your displeasure with each of these issues.

 

[Trera]

Hmmm. Thanks for the post, OP! We'll be boarding the Wonder in a few days. We were strongly disappointed by the Wonder in 2011 ... and had hoped that this trip would reset our memory a bit. I'm quite looking forward to Tiana's Place ... and hope it is included on our abbreviated rotation.

We think Tiana's place is our favorite restaurant of all the ships rotational dining choices. I much prefer the music and visit by Tiana to our table that sitting quietly at Triton's.

Enjoy the show.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

This is too bad as we had two cruises on the Wonder earlier this year and we had a great experience both times. We also have a spring break cruise on the wonder next year.

Aloha! Do you happen to remember the names of your servers in the MDR ? We will be on the Wonder next May and would like to know. Mahalo, Karen

 

[NancyIL]

I learned on my first Disney cruise (4-night Wonder in January 2008) that there aren't many scheduled onboard activities while the ship is in port or at Castaway Cay. Thank goodness for the movie theater!

 

[Trera]

The only event I try to schedule that day as getting off the boat and getting to our cabana as early as possible to enjoy a nice relaxing beach day!

 

[vakamalua]

Haven't been on the Wonder since the WBPC a few years ago but scheduled for one of the Southern Caribbean itineraries in January. The WBPC on the Wonder is one of our favorite cruises out of 30+ on many lines. On our Last Magic cruise in 2016, we felt that the service had slipped in all areas. Sorry you had issues and noisy construction with passengers aboard is inexcusable. We will never go on the Dream or Fantasy again (really disliked them) so let's hope the classics can keep up their level of service and maintenance or we'll be done with DCL.

 

[KashasMom]

Oh sorry to hear this! Seems to be a lot of issues with the Wonder lately. That's a shame since it's the last of the 4 we need to cruise. Won't do Alaska on her but was hoping to find something else. Have been on the Magic when things were looking pretty old so the fact that someone says the Wonder is worse is VERY scary. Fantasy is still my favorite - not a fan of the "old" ones so will try to find a quick and reasonable (haha) cruise on the Wonder.

 

[cmwade77]

Hmmm. Thanks for the post, OP! We'll be boarding the Wonder in a few days. We were strongly disappointed by the Wonder in 2011 ... and had hoped that this trip would reset our memory a bit. I'm quite looking forward to Tiana's Place ... and hope it is included on our abbreviated rotation.

We are leaving Sunday for the 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise. Honestly the Wonder was our first ship, so we have a soft spot for her, but if there is a lot of construction going on, you bet I will politely say something about it, especially if it impacts our trip, after all it wasn't that long ago that it was in dry dock and there really isn't an excuse for it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand if say a pipe bursts and they have to fix it and it takes a bit of construction to do it, but that doesn't sound like what is going on here.

As for the slow service, did you say anything? From what I saw on our last cruise, a lot of people are tending to want to take meals a bit slower than they used to and it seems the servers are adjusting accordingly, so if you want them to pick up the pace a little, you just have to ask.

For Castaway Cay gifts, either make sure you are logged in when making a reservation or use a travel agent that specializes in all things Disney to make sure it is done right.

And for the stateroom host there is no excuse for that, I would be saying something to either the host or guest services. Sorry, but a cruise ship is a place where housekeeping can't afford to be sloppy because of how quickly things can spread.

 

[bwvBound]

We are leaving Sunday for the 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise. Honestly the Wonder was our first ship, so we have a soft spot for her, but if there is a lot of construction going on, you bet I will politely say something about it, especially if it impacts our trip, after all it wasn't that long ago that it was in dry dock and there really isn't an excuse for it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand if say a pipe bursts and they have to fix it and it takes a bit of construction to do it, but that doesn't sound like what is going on here.

As for the slow service, did you say anything? From what I saw on our last cruise, a lot of people are tending to want to take meals a bit slower than they used to and it seems the servers are adjusting accordingly, so if you want them to pick up the pace a little, you just have to ask.

Um, perhaps you responded to the wrong post?
Hope you have a great cruise coming up!

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

Hi cmwade! I believe we sailed together some years ago! I read somewhere that they are making the upper level of Cove Café a concierge only area. Only the upper level, you still can get your lattes at the lower Cove Café. I am not 100% sure that this is true, however. Aloha, Karen

 

[cmwade77]

You do look familiar, were you on the cruise to No Where on of San Pedro? We also did a Mexican Riviera cruise that year as well, then we did the re-positioning from San Diego to Canada, then the inaugural Star Wars day at sea and then last year the Magic from NYC to Canada.

And yes, I have heard that too, my issue is more if there is a lot of noise, we go fro the cruise to be relaxing and enjoyable, jack hammering is not that and I would say something, again politely about it. Personally I don't drink coffee, so I am not worried about he lattes, but the noise is concerning.