I returned from a 6-day Wonder cruise two days ago and thought I’d post random thoughts and observations.
First, in terms of comparisons to cruises pre-Covid.
First, in terms of comparisons to cruises pre-Covid.
- Capacity limits: The spaced seating in the theaters was very noticeable. Every other row was empty, and there were 2 seats between parties; capacity was probably 40% or less of what it might have been. Three big things I noticed:
- The venues filled up a lot more easily. We were blocked out of one movie showing early on (arrived about 5 minutes early, and they said it filled up about 20 minutes early – after that we made sure to arrive 20-30 minutes ahead of time). I know the two movies we saw filled to capacity, and the Walt Disney theater looked full on 2 of our 3 times we saw it.
- That said, once you were in the theater it was actually really nice to have all that room – no one right behind you, no one right in front of you, and plenty of space to either side. I really enjoyed actually watching the shows/movies this way!
- The lower crowd was actually really noticeable at the end, when people were clapping. Despite the enthusiastic response of the audience, it sounded much more muted than I’d have thought.
- Also, after the first show, the gift shops hit capacity limits, meaning there was a line to get in. So, maybe plan a different time.
- Dinner was a little weird compared to some past times. We had late dinner. For one, I’m pretty sure they were staggering arrival times in the same restaurant, as we saw people going in 30 minutes before our time, and we never had more than 1 other party arriving at the same time as us. There were people getting their second course at the time we were ordering; then, we were some of the last ones in the restaurant, but we never arrived late, and didn’t take too long with any course. Also, with about half the tables being empty, it sometimes made the room feel a lot emptier than I’d have guessed. Like with the theater, the emptier room sometimes made things different (fewer people to clap, etc.).
- I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were still doing many of the same dinner “shows”, such as the parade in Tiana’s place (but only the servers paraded – the guests could stand at their own seats, though).
- They replayed the main theater shows on 2 nights (Golden Mickeys, Frozen, and Dreams for us). But, they also had 2 variety acts that would do performances in Azure. So, we were able to see a “show” on 5 of our 6 days onboard. This was better than I had expected. For whatever reason (I think mainly because the app didn’t really “advertise” them), there were very few people who showed up for the variety acts.
- I mentioned this in another post, but the photography was basically the same as it has been, assuming it wasn’t with a character. Backdrops, lobby photos, and dinner photos were very similar to previous times (and you can remove your masks for them), and we got some good family pictures.
- Character interaction and photos were much more limited, since you couldn’t get close to them. However, there was also almost never a line to “meet” the characters (from a distance).
- Cabanas was more limited than it used to be, as others have noted, but we still repeatedly left having eaten more than we should have; we only managed to eat lunch there twice, and breakfast 4 times, though. Besides the 4 identical “stations”, there were also some items at the back, near the dessert area, and separate sections with pastries, fruit/seafood, and some more unusual dishes; the Indian food they had at one of those was actually really good.
- My daughter enjoyed the Edge a lot, and spent lots of time there. Evidently on the previous cruise it regularly reached capacity on sea days, but on ours, she never had trouble getting in.
- We didn’t miss the parties that much. The welcome dance thing with Mickey was fine for us as a replacement of the sail-away party. There was a pirate party of sorts in the dining room. The fireworks were still fun (but short, as always; done in 5 minutes).
- You aren’t required to wear a mask in the fitness center, and you don’t need an appointment. And, the center is pretty well-equipped, overall. The hours are limited in the evening, so if you are someone wanting to go late (it closed at 9), that’s not an option.
- The ice cream and drink stations were manned (though soft drinks were self-serve; just the coffee/hot chocolate/tea station was served). I had my own tumbler for soft drinks, and had no trouble using it there. Overall, we actually kind of liked this setup more than the previous one where kids would make a mess of the ice cream, though I think some cast members now know just how much Coke Zero I can drink in an evening…
- Overall, though, I didn’t think most of the Covid protocols on board were that intrusive. We’ve been living in a place where there have been few recent restrictions (few masks, etc.) and I thought I would find the restrictions intrusive, but they weren’t. It did take some time to get used to having to carry a mask around and remember to put on masks any time we went indoors.
- The excursions were interesting with the attempt to keep people in a “bubble” as we traveled. We did two excursions (Cozumel and Progreso), and we enjoyed both a lot. The two tours handled things rather differently. In Cozumel, we had to stick to our seats on the bus (with us having to give our cabin number on a chart and take a picture), though even for Progreso, everyone still sat in the same place, without being told to. The Progreso guide was quite strict about not interacting with those outside our group (to the point that we couldn’t stop at a souvenir stand, though a few people on the excursion did end up managing to buy something from people we passed), while on the Cozumel one, we were allowed a few minutes in a shop at one point (still mainly our group, but there were some other people in there).
- In Progreso, we really enjoyed the Chichen Itza and Cenote Swim excursion; it was the highlight of the whole trip for our family. For some of us, seeing Chichen Itza was a bucket-list thing (I’m really glad I’ve seen it), and all of us found the cenote swim to be really really cool.
- I did not like using the app for most things.
- It’s still clearly less useful than paper navigators for planning activities on a daily basis. Using it to look ahead a few days was good, though, since you could see what other chances there might be to see the same thing again.
- Some positives: I did like the lifeboat check-in process much more. It was also nice to be able to look at menus ahead of time (but, the servers also now expected us to have done so, it seemed). And, I liked being able to check the room folio on the app. You could use the app for tips, as well, so there was no need for cash except tips for excursions.
- The chat, which could have been a bonus of the app (and was useful overall), was not super reliable for us (some messages got delivered very late if the recipient didn’t have it open/wasn’t looking at it). I also tried using the chat 3 times to talk to guest services/port adventures. 2 of the 3 it was great. The other time, I waited in the queue (I started out fifth in line) and then once I was finally first in line, it suddenly changed and made me seventh in line! Very annoying.
- It was annoying to have my phone with me at all times, as well, but the fact that I had no internet access otherwise meant that it didn’t distract me, since nothing else really worked. My wife still got a bunch of push notifications, though.
- The 1820 society didn’t meet for the first two days, and then met basically once a day the last 4. My daughter only got to a couple of them, due to the schedule – I think she might have found it better if they had met earlier in the cruise.
- The quality of the shows was still very good, and the cast members were still very friendly. Everyone was super-happy and cheerful, even when telling us things like the movie was already full! I don’t know if it’s just that people have gotten better or what, but our Room Host was the best we’ve ever had at making towel animals!
- What’s up with the ice cream station only having chocolate and vanilla? I remember when they had other more interesting flavors mixed in, so this is kind of a disappointment.
- The on-demand TV used to be a feature of the cruise. Now it has less than Disney Plus. So, that’s kind of a difference, but it’s not that the cruise is worse, just that it hasn’t kept up.
- This was our family’s sixth cruise, and my seventh. We’ve been on all 4 ships, and left from 3 different ports. Somehow, Peter has been our Cruise Director for all but 1 of those!
- Overall – we still had a great time, and really enjoyed the cruise. We wouldn’t hesitate to go again, even with the new health and safety protocols.
