overpriced
Disney Wonder Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
5 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 20, 2015
Ship: Disney Wonder
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 7565
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
Their just weren't any WOW moments on this cruise. For more then a balcony cabin on a seven day cruise, I got to enjoy A SMALL interior cabin for five days. I compare this to the two other cruises my family has been on. We crammed four family members into a cabin that should only be for two. Sleeping arrangements were ok for two adults and two children. However, getting dressed, and ready for the day seemed to be a challenge, with the available floorspace, roughly the same size as your average household bathroom. Next the limited availability of characters, even on the last night of the cruise you were standing in line for 30-45mins to get an autograph and picture with a character. So if you enjoy standing in line ALL cruise and not enjoying the rest of the ship and Sun this cruise is for you. The food was good, the shows were Disney quality, and the kids zone/lab was great the actually did some educational things. Overall this cruise was just "ok". This rating was confirmed when my 6 year old said to me on the last day of the cruise. "Really, Dad that's it. It's over. This cruise was too short, and really wasn't that much fun.". The sad thing is he didn't even know how much we paid for it. If you are are Disney people you are going too love it just because it's Disney, other then that your paying WAY too much for an average cruise.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ports of call
Castaway Cay (Disney Private Island)
5 Comments
JusMe 9 years ago
I think it was Monarch of the Sea that had 115 SQ Ft interior cabins.... they were so small the head of the bed was the back wall, the foot of the bed was the wall to the shower. The TV was mounted to the shower wall. Now that was small.
Dennis107 9 years ago
Interior cabins on the Wonder are 184 square feet, fairly large for an interior and comparable to staterooms with balconies on newer ships. On the NCL Breakaway, for example, an interior is 151 square feet and a cabin with a balcony is 205 square feet (and that number includes a 30 square foot balcony). When Disney launched the Dream and Fantasy they kept the original stateroom dimensions while other cruise lines were shrinking them on their newer builds (a notable exception is Carnival). You do, however, pay a premium when taking a Disney cruise.
As for character experiences they're frequent but during peak hours (typically around dinner) the lines can be fairly lengthy. Characters also tend to wander around the ship unexpectedly (my daughter once passed Belle and she sat down and read to her).
There's a lot to do on a Disney cruise but like a trip to Disney it takes a bit of planning to ensure that you get the maximum bang for your buck.
glomarrone 9 years ago
Atleast your enjoyed the food and the shows. It is too bad that the lines were so long. It is hard enough for adults to wait on a long line but twice as hard for kids with their short attention span.
JusMe 9 years ago
Thanks for your review, nice to see that you did a balanced review giving good ratings for the good things. I guess the lines for the characters on the ship is like the lines at the parks for the good rides.
I have done 3 people in a cabin before and can not imagine 4 in a cabin. Did you do a inside or the Deluxe inside with the split bath ? Traveling with 4 I could see how the Deluxe with split bath would be of help.
We had taken my 6 year old niece on RCCL and she loved it. Granted no Disney characters, but she loved it. The kids department was great and kept her happy giving us adults ability to go to the shows.
It is a shame since Disney is about twice the price of other cruise lines, but it is a premium line.
CrusinTim 9 years ago
So sad your 6yr old didn't enjoy the cruise and you didn't as well. With Disney cruises, your paying for the name, the icon, the theme. And it sounds to me like they fell short for your cruise. Such a shame to pay the extra compared to what you would have paid for a cruise on another line and not get what you expected. Maybe next time, try Norwegian for their themed "Nickelodeon" cruises for kids. May have more success there.