OCSC Mike

The unfortunate "benefit" of Wonder... the door to the suite neighborhood is rarely closed so you can walk right in... along with anyone else on the entire ship. Ask @Neesa

There is likely Covid on every cruise. Define "outbreak."

Yes, that’s him.

We have one similar restaurant in Disney Springs (Art Smith’s Homecomin’) with excellent chicken n biscuits & sides like mac n cheese (maybe make hubby take you there if he needs another Star Wars fix). We also have a good bbq place with a few Orlando locations (one by us). We have nothing like the Mason Jar brunch though.

You phrased that like you’re only allowed to choose one lunch venue. Bizarre.

As someone without kids… Solarium, food, solarium, food… excursions they wouldn’t like… solarium, food, solarium, food. And I presume you could drink more without them if so inclined.

Since you can get literally any cabin on the ship, yes, someone has had what they felt was an awful location and someone has been beyond thrilled. I have booked many interior GTY's b/c, as mentioned above, we don't care about our cabin and aren't super picky about our location. That said, also be aware that once officially assigned a cabin, you can switch to any other available cabin in the exact same category for free (assuming you booked from the US). I no longer book these for various reasons but when I did I probably switched cabins nearly every cruise.

Still the case as of last month and I still don't understand why it's not written anywhere. One can also get free Truly, hard cider, soda, and bottled water if so inclined.

Happy Anniversary and many more! Our 21st was a few days before our June cruise. Next June it's the day before we leave. Obviously we should have waited a week to get married.

I could respond to a lot of what you wrote but since I'm long-winded, I'll just point out how much I love this, lol. You should see the planning that goes into my schedule b/c my wife is so picky and we don't do a ton of specialty dining. It's a big logic puzzle... no special dinner after CocoCay b/c we stuff ourselves there, no special dinner after Mason Jar brunch for the same reason, MDR is only an option if there's an entree my wife will tolerate (we don't even really like the MDR but with early seating we can always check out WJ after and/or grab some pizza), we started having Playmakers for dinner once per cruise so have to see where that fits, we have an excursion after docking in St. Thomas at 12:30pm in March so no MDR that night b/c we won't be back in time... you get the idea. I already have tentative plans for out next 3 cruises even though they're not til March-July.

My CK experience is limited but fwiw, I found it to be MUCH better than the MDR and not quite as good as the specialty restaurants we like but, as Matt mentioned, it's also included. We just ate in CK all 7 nights on Wonder last month (extended family's preference) and every meal was good... some were excellent (like night one filet mignon). The service we received was also the best we have ever encountered but that will of course vary from crew to crew.

Don't think so. On day 1 or 2 each D+ member can book a specialty dinner (not sure about lunch) and you only pay for one person out of two. Even though it reads like you have to actually eat on night 1 or 2, many D+ members have told me you just have to book it then but you can pick any night you want to eat. Only catch is you have to pay full price on board and it will be subject to availability but that's obviously still worth it. If you're a couple, you each get one "coupon" just like you each get two days of internet, so a couple could book two separate BOGO dinners. Found this from an article Matt wrote last September...

In the app (not the website), when working normally, you can grab arrival times and do nothing else until much later. The website asks for the other info. When we sail as an extended family, my SIL and I are usually up at midnight grabbing the earliest arrival time for the family and then each part of the family enters their own info whenever.

Haven't encountered that yet. Is it random or based on certain ports/ships?

I didn't want to know either; it was all my wife's idea, lol. It was a huge splurge for us as a one time special trip (our standard vacation is driving an hour to PC for a 7-night cruise in an interior). That said, I've been thanking her for it ever since. It was absolutely amazing and I wouldn't go back without a land portion... although we wouldn't have to do everything again so I'm sure we could make it a bit less pricey... but it will be expensive no matter what.

I thought you could use BOGO for any dinner except like hibachi or Chef's Table.

We’re sticking with brunch for now but plan to go there on all 4 of our currently booked future Wonder cruises. We’ll turn D+ after the next one so perhaps we’ll try dinner with a BOGO after that. The issue is my picky wife won’t eat a lot of the dinner items that she can’t already get at brunch so it would be for me… which is OK too. Great service for us last month as well. I appreciate when the server encourages you to try the whole menu, lol. She was also super nice & took my 9 year old niece up to the band to make a request.

Sounds very similar to the company we used… Alaska Collection by Pursuit. Definitely not cheap but they own/partner with lodges & hotels throughout Alaska (including the Denali Backcountry Lodge at the very back of the park), they arranged all our train tickets as we took the train all the way from Fairbanks to Seward, set up excursions like driving to the Arctic circle & flying back, flying around Denali, a glacier hike, etc. And our planner there truly worked with my wife for a full year revising & revising this very special trip. Could not recommend them more.

@Lovetocruise2002 Glad you guys enjoyed Mason Jar. I was discussing it “across the street” & several people said they didn’t enjoy dinner there so I was beginning to think maybe the brunch was good but not dinner since we only had brunch (and loved it of course). I had the blackberry moonshine lemonade, seemed like an 11am-acceptable drink, lol, and most of their other signature drinks are bourbon-based which isn’t my thing. I tried one (with a D voucher ofc) but couldn’t get past the bourbon. I love the “let’s order dinner items” strategy. That’s something my food-based logical brain would do. Cant wait to read your review of brunch. I’m still trying to figure out how much I can order without wasting food or being ridiculous when it’s just 2 of us. Trying most of the menu as a party of 8 was a lot easier. I can eat quite a bit but everyone has their limits, lol. How were the crab beignets? Dunno if you noticed, but they do a late night snack menu 2-3 times per week with limited offerings & that was one item on it I would consider trying since it’s not on the brunch menu. Last suggestion… since you didn’t like the Oreos, try the Go Bananas dessert with brunch... it was very good, wife loved it.

They were able to enter passport info. Can’t do that if check-in hasn’t opened. Sounds like yet another IT glitch. To the OP, just keep checking. Usually you’d want to just grab your arrival time via the app & then do the rest later via either method. Putting in passport info is only something you’d generally do first if using the website b/c it doesn’t let you grab your arrival time without other info like the app.

Try it night one. Not only is the filet excellent but it will give you an idea of what it’s like and why you should eat there every night they let you over the MDR.

Never sailed Quantum class nor seen connected rooms like that. That's a very unique layout. Maybe that's why everyone gets suite status?

Not sure how the balcony group got suite status but I wold at least try to eat in CK a few times (especially night one for filet). You have to go there and ask about availability. It's not guaranteed for JS guests but if there's room you can make dinner reservations there. Not sure what your current dinner plans are but CK is much better than the MDR IMO.

We went there several years ago after booking a last minute cruise and a couple of more popular/well-known all-inclusive beach clubs were sold out. We absolutely loved it! It looked more like a small hole in the wall type place but the drinks were good and the food was even better. After having some standard Mexican fare, I was chatting with the manager (I think) and he started asking about what I liked to eat. I eat anything and everything but I said seafood b/c I don't eat it a lot (wife is very picky) and I was looking at the ocean at the time. He asked about shrimp and garlic, so I said sure, and he said he'd have the chef make me something off the menu. It was some sort of simple garlic shrimp and rice dish but it was amazing. We spent the day chilling under our palapas, occasionally going in the ocean, and drinking tamarind margaritas (I think that's what they were). I also remember a dog that seemingly lived there napping under my lounger for at least an hour, lol. I'd love to go back but every Western Caribbean itinerary I wind up on leaves Costa Maya at like 2pm and I just wouldn't want to have to leave so early. Someday...

That's all that matters. I dunno if people want to hear about the 8X per day I have a meal or snack when I cruise but that's what I share if I blog, lol.