Disney Wonder Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I've only been on one other cruise (Carnival - Mexican Riviera) so that's all I have to compare it to, but here it goes!

FOOD - The food on Disney was not as good as the food on Carnival.  Our servers got frustrated that we ordered seconds of a dish.  On Carnival, you can order as much as you'd like.  One other small complaint was about eating vegan. We called Disney months before the cruise to let them know we were vegan.  Our servers didn't know what vegan was (despite our calling them) and it was two nights before they even offered to have the chef make a vegan dish for us.  It took about 90 minutes to get our dinner each night (after everyone at the table had already gotten dessert) so we were often the last ones to leave the dining area.  With 16 million vegans in the U.S., Disney should just plan for vegans on each cruise.  It's not that hard!  Next time we're just going to Beach Blanket buffet for each meal.  They always had something vegan, which we didn't discover until later in the cruise :(  The food in general was disappointing.  Again, Carnival did a much better job. 

ENTERTAINMENT - Disney did a great job with the shows.  Both young and old enjoyed the shows like Toy Story the Musical.  We LOVED the magician.  His name was Shawn Farquhar and he was a two-time world champion of magic.  We watched his "late night" show for the adults and love it.  He also did a family show which the kids loved.  We wish they would have had another magician or had him do a third show.  Everyone wanted to see more!  The only bad entertainment was a juggler names Mike Price.  He was...weird.  He did a cool LED ball sequence at the end, but other than that, people kept leaving during his show.  He was interesting.  The theaters were great, Disney even incorporates special effects like streamers and bubbles, which the audience really likes!

CABIN - I was extremely disappointed with the quality of the cabin (#1072).  It was dirty and in need of repair.  Carnival had much, much better rooms.  The closet was jimmy-rigged with a coat hanger, wallpaper was torn, fabric on the furniture was torn.  Carnival had a much better lit room, and it was much cleaner.  It didn't smell either.  No USB charging ports either (what is Disney thinking these days?)  They did have handy phones to keep in touch, which proved helpful throughout the ship. 

I don't want to review the ports, mostly because that has nothing to do with the cruise line.  The Caribbean is wonderful, we had a blast in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  My only complaint was that Disney chose to pull into Grand Cayman on a Sunday, when everything is closed.   Other ships (from what I understand) avoid it on Sunday since EVERYTHING is closed.  Even the grocery stores are closed.

The hot tubs in the adult area are INCREDIBLY tiny.  The luke-warm water was disappointing.  They only stayed open till 11 or 12pm too.  I wish there was more for adults to do on the cruise.  After hours, everything closes so by 10 or 11, there's pretty much nothing going on.  They do show some movies in the theaters on board the ship.

All in all, it was a decent cruise.  Not as good as Carnival, for the most part.  Disney is behind on technology (they charge crazy prices for wireless internet and don't have USB chargers in the rooms), the food left a lot to be desired, and the service was so-so.  Disney excelled at what they do best, entertainment, character visits, etc.  Hope this helps!

I was worried that the Wonder would be showing it’s age as we had previously cruised in Disney’s newer ships so we weren’t sure how they would compare. We were so surprised at how well the ship has been maintained although it should be no surprise. The crew is always cleaning and maintaining the ship, it was gorgeous. We enjoyed the family game shows and Andy was hysterical!

Loved sailing on the Wonder, especially with two stops at Castaway! Staff is great, the ship is clean and there’s plenty to do. I wish we could sail on her again however Disney has out priced us.

Excellent..

I have not cruised in quite a while but used to a lot, Disney was excellent, not one employee without a smile on their faces, cleaning, and everything done efficiently & effortlessly. Even the bathroom lady had a smile on her face. People, service, entertainment and food were all excellent. I would absolutely recommend Disney to anyone with children, my daughter had a great time aside from the weather not cooperating

We wanted to do a full transit of the Panama Canal and Disney was the only choice.  The entertainment was frequently Disney music (the Golden Mickey's, Toy Story, the Musical, Dreams) which is really well done but a little repetitive for me.  Kids had lots to choose from.  The trivia games for the adults were often Disney related and even their version of wheel of fortune was all related to Disney.  The Captain that did all. The lectures on the ship about the canal, land, people, ect of Panama was excellent.  The service was outstanding, food was good but Princess is better. We didn't like the assigned dining rooms and times but loved the servers and how much they spoiled us.  The room was very nice with the split bathroom and cute little bathtub.  

Just like it’s sister ship, the magic, this ship is spectacular, I got to ride this about 5 yrs ago on a 2 week repositioning cruise and it was the perfect length. I got to see a wide array of things both at the port and on the ship. The food and entertainment was amazing and the free soda and ice cream was a nine yr olds dream, my only critique is that the cruise had to end.

Getting on the ship is always fun with our name announced in the atrium We enjoyed having lots to do on board Enrichment lectures, movies ,cooking demonstrations, wandering the decks and best of all sitting on the teak chairs on deck 4 watching for wildlife Due to the hurricane we missed two ports and went 8 days before touching land They went fast The staff kept us up to date on the storm and got us to safety with a change of course We felt safe the entire time The children are very happy to stay in their own zone and were happy all the time

We have been on a few cruises and being food lovers, we enjoy the wonderful meals that are served. This was our first Disney cruise. We were very disappointed with the Disney Wonder Alaskan cruise. The menus were great but the meals were not even close to other cruises. My husband even lost weight!! Other guest on the ship were talking about it and I see other reviews that mention meals not up to par. Very disappointed.

This was our first ever cruise. My husband, myself and my 6 year old daughter loved it, every aspect. Disney does a great job on every aspect.

Upon embarkation, we had some issues and about 6-8 Disney Cruise staff came by and were assisting us with our issue. The staff were amazing.

Although this is the oldest ship in Disney's fleet, it was impeccably clean and well maintained. The only way the 'age' of the ship showed was with the measly 2 outlets available to charge our many devices.

The food was great, the service was wonderful, the rooms were larger than I thought they'd be. I was surprised with how much storage it had: we were able to unpack all 3 of our suitcases and the closet had over a dozen hangers, which was great. The staff throughout the ship go above and beyond to please you and they are all great. The shows were really entertaining, both for the kids and adults. Don't miss the Hypnotist show (adult and kid versions) and don't miss 'Disney Dreams'... great show!!

For adults, make sure you go to Palo's adult dining. The meal is $25/person but it was the best meal we ever had... easily a $100/person meal at a fancy restaurant...

The princesses and Disney characters are often walking all over the ship... if you want to make sure to get pictures with all the princesses, you can certainly show up at the designated time in the lobby but you'll be waiting over an hour... we waited till the last day and waited a mere 20minutes to meet 5 princesses as everyone had already taken pictures with them earlier in the week.

Bring a wood picture frame or pillowcase onboard and drop it off at guest services. They will get all the princesses/Disney characters to sign them and give them back to you at the end of the cruise... least expensive but best souvenir you could ask for...

Getting off and on the ship took mere minutes, it was great. The ports were ok but the 'usual touristy-type town' with 25+ jewellery stores and made-in-china gift shops. Bring layers for the Tracy Fjords day of your trip, as it was really cold on deck... everyone had jackets/mittens and hats...

I'd do a Disney cruise again in a heartbeat!  

I looked for faults and never found any!

I want to start by stating that there were many GOOD and even GREAT aspects of this vacation.  However, the overall experience of the cruise left us feeling that we had made an error in choosing this for such a lengthy vacation.  From the weather (being so far south, it was miserably hot and humid throughout most of the cruise) to the aging of the ship (the Wonder is in dire need of an extensive overhaul- the cosmetic changes like modern bedding are not enough at this point) we were often somewhere between "really uncomfortable" and "completely miserable". Additionally, we found that more than two consecutive days at sea ended up being too much for us.  Talking with others aboard the ship, many shared the feeling.  By day 10, we heard more than just a few people saying that they were ready to get the vacation over with.

I know that the Disney folks have delayed an overdue update to this ship because it is their only vessel that can fit through the Panama Canal. Since the Wonder is used on the Pacific side for Alaskan cruises through the summer and then returns to the Atlantic for the remainder of the year, the ability to fit through that canal is important.  I get that.  HOWEVER, the creaking and groaning we heard all night is this poor, abused girl crying out for some major maintenance.  We sailed on both the Wonder and the Magic when they were new, so it was quite a shock to see how badly time has taken its toll on the Wonder.  

I will give DCL credit for doing its best in the way of general maintence and overall cleanliness.  This ship is infinitely better in those departments than we recently experienced on a newer ship of a different cruise line.  Most carpets appear to be plush, I never saw a bit of rust which is due to the constant upkeep through cleaning and painting, and the housekeeping staff does an outstanding job both in the cabins and in the public areas.  TVs have been updated to flat screens, bed linens and bathroom amenities are like a modern upscale hotel.  A new chair was delivered to our cabin on the second or third day- which was great because I could not sit on the built in sofa that converts to a bed because it was so dilapidated your rear-end sinks way down. (Maybe from years of being used as a mini trampoline by children expending "sugar high" energy?) And I couldn't get a good push up from the arm because it was so loose it would have fallen off if not for the wall next to it containing the Murphy bed! We tried converting it to the bed to improve the seating options, but the bed proved too high to sit on for long because my feet were off the floor.

Another area needing major improvement is the regular dining. (This does not include Palo or the Beach Blanket Buffet)  The food options were vast, but the execution was always off.  Having worked in the hospitality field and in food service, I know serving a quality meal to a large quantity of people quickly is a daunting task.  It takes careful attention by management and plenty of training for the service staff.  Meals were not served quickly, in fact the wait was horrible to the point that we knew the second seating folks were waiting for us to clear out before dessert orders were taken.  While dining in the three main dining rooms, our food was only hot when it came off of the buffet in Parrot Cay.  Even at breakfast and lunch where the orders went into the kitchen at a more reasonable pace, all food arrived at the table room temperature.  Fruit & juices were not chilled.  Milk was not cold.  Waffles, eggs, potatoes, burgers, etc. were never hot and usually not even what one could call warm.  Ice cream sundaes (offered most days) were melted.

What I believe has happened is this: in order to accommodate the larger number of guest who want early dining as opposed to later dining, DCL has placed more tables into each of the three main/rotating restaurants. I say this because each venue is VERY crowded during early service, to the point it is difficult for even the wait staff to navigate.  Yet at the late service I frequently saw only two or three people at most of the tables for eight or ten. Now there is too large of a demand on the wait staff and the kitchen's ability to handle so many orders without resorting to precooking, preplating and then reheating meals. The end result is overcooked meats and seafood, limp pastas, tough bread, soggy vegetables, dried cakes, and the dreaded "melted sundaes", not to mention the cranky children and the long wait between each course. Despite discussing this with both the head server and the kitchen manager, this remained a problem for the entire 15 nights we were aboard. Most of our dining companions eventually gave up and dined either at Palo or at the upstairs buffet (which at dinner was actually seated service most nights) where hot food was actually served hot.

I would like to end on a positive note, so I am going to say how pleased we were to find a wide variety of activities aboard the ship on most days. What made me even happier was that almost all of them were included at no additional charge.  Our recent cruise on another line had been a non-stop barrage of attempts to get more money disguised as "activities". Learn to Relax with Yoga-- a pitch to sell DVDs. How To Detox and Feel Great was actually selling subscriptions for supplements.  Weight Loss Secrets-- available in the book for only $19.95 after you listen to a presentation on why you should lose weight.  And of course, the daily Money Saving Seminar given by a shopping expert to guide you to the best places to spend money in the next port.  Disney actually had fun, entertaining activities for all ages and some just for adults. The two minor problems I had with the Disney activities:

1.) Often I wanted to attend two that were offered at the same time and

2.) The cooking classes were always packed.

Finally, I must praise Palo. The food was always fantastic. The service was impeccable both for brunch and at dinner. Ambiance was relaxing and the desire to please meant they not only would do their utmost to accommodate any request, they also went above and beyond to ensure we left each time with a smile on our face and feeling welcome to return.  Dragan, DCL is very fortunate to have you.

Relaxing cruse or keep physically active if you want to. Most elementary school kids and up can manage the ship on their own with the clubs and minimal parental supervision.

They really took care of my family and our dietary needs in gourmet style!  Breakfast and lunch were good, but dinner was fantastic!  There were plenty of activities, the ship was clean, the staff was wonderful. 

The ship was very clean and well maintained and all working parts functioned as expected.

The staff went above and beyond to make sure everything was clean and perfect.

It was my first cruise, and my overall experience was great.

Great Cruise Love the sea days Great shows and act Great Crew

Had an outstanding four night cruise on the Disney Wonder. This was our second Disney Cruise and we were not disappointed. Immpecable service, our room was serviced twice a day, and friendly staff throughout. I was impressed with the cleanliness of the ship and the attentive crew personnel that was keeping it clean. We had a ball, and I would highly recommend the Disney Wonder !!!!

We had a great time at the ports and the ship. We were going to go on her again in 2020 but they had to cancel it due to the pandemic. All of the staff was nice and the ship was good in condition. The only thing that was bad about it is that the food was not that good. Anyways We had a good time.