CravingaCruise

Before we fell into the “suites trap” we always booked Deck 8-12 as well. Mid ship, good central to everything. 

Our Genie, Hannah 💜
Hannah has been a genie for a few years. She trained on Oasis with Israel (Izzy), the went to Ovation, and she has been on Wonder since the start. She is from the UK, and she was very organized, personable, and never appeared stressed or frazzled. 
Hannah was perfect for us this cruise. She arranged everything that we asked for, moved some things around at the last minute with no issues, and she was very attentive. We knew it was a good sign already when we boarded last Sunday and she sat with us in our room for about half and hour just chatting. Everything that we asked her for this week was done quickly and efficiently. 
Every day she met us at all venues and she not only walked us in, but she always took the time to chat. We treasured those chats and getting to know her more. She is definitely a bit more reserved than some of the other genies we have had, but we really enjoyed our week with Hannah. 
She is going home to the UK today and she will be back on Wonder some time in September. 
 

Since the suite talk is mostly over my head, lol (yes, I know, I was actually in a Wonder GS last month but that's an anomaly), I'll chime in here...
That's exactly why decks 9-11 are our preferred decks on Oasis class and where we'll be on the 4 Wonder cruises we have booked. I'm easily pleased and too busy enjoying my cruise to complain about much but the crowded elevators make my short list. Being able to walk both up or down to the locations we frequent without it feeling like a mountain hike solves that issue.

Star class on Wonder…
I feel like it is hard for me to analyze this one because there was only two of us this time. Everything is easier with two people.
Anyway, this has been a very positive star class experience on this ship. It has been pretty standard with other star sailings we have had since the pandemic restart. Priority lines on the Flowrider are a thing of the past, being replaced by a star session on one of the sea day mornings. Ours was at 9am this sailing. There is still priority for other activities. 
This sailing it did not seem as restrictive as star on Harmony a few months ago, but that could have been because we had 10 in the party instead of 2. 

The ATS…
As many of you know, this was our first time trying the ATS. We have long wondered about this room, many love it, and we were so thankful that we had the opportunity to try it. We were saying at dinner last night how grateful we were to get this Royal Up, as it allowed us the opportunity to fully experience all the venues on this ship, especially specialty. 
The room is great for families. Even if we had our girls with us, there would have been plenty of space. 6 would make it tight; and I would not recommend 8 in this cabin, even though it can hold 8 max. 
What others have said is true, the views make this room worth it. IMO, there is definitely no better views from any other  cabin on this class of ship. It is great for people watching as well, and the wrap around balcony gives you privacy if you so choose. 
The floor to ceiling windows in these ATS rooms on Wonder (and Symphony), eventually Utopia, are much better that the older ones on the first 3 OA class. It opens up the room more and the view is way better from the inside. 
The location of the ATS (Deck 8, 9, 10) allows you to use the stairs more easily. That came in handy this sailing because it was so hard to get an elevator. 

Downside of this room…
As @WAAAYTOOO has already mentioned, the bathrooms are not impressive at all compared to other star cabins. It is a bit of a walk, but we did not mind that at all. And of course, it lacks the “wow”‘factor of the lofts. 
The location of these cabins makes it a bit harder to hang out in the suites area. I found that we did not spend as much time there (lounge/sun deck) this week as we normally do. You also lose a bit of the exclusivity of being Sky or Star because the location is so far removed from those areas.
Our final thoughts, we are still #teamDeck17/18, however, given the right opportunity, depending on which ship, and price, we don’t mind this room as well, especially if we had the girls with us. 
 
 

Some final thoughts….
Wonder, the ship itself, is awesome! They took the best features from sister Oasis class ships and added some really nice additions to it. The ones that stand out the most to me are Deck 17/18 suites area and the Mason Jar. We really enjoyed this sailing. The service in all venues was a 10/10. Not really a single complaint on that front. 
Some things that we did not care for are complaints that others have already mentioned. Getting an elevator was terrible, they need to do a better job keeping the doors closed to Deck 17/18, and Wonder seems to draw a lot of kids (and remember that we normally sail this time of the year) and really large groups, so people need to parent their kids better, or Royal needs better security or something on Wonder.
This week we witnessed so many kids unsupervised, running crazy in the halls and elevators. There was even a group of young kids under 10 pretending they were the Tap Factory/Intense cast, doing all sorts of flips and maneuvers in the middle of the Bionic Bar (with no adult in sight). That is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Teens were rude to elderly people in the elevators, just not nice things to see from younger generations.

I don't know Detroit but it's a nice sunny day over here where you are returning.  Fingers crossed.

Nityam picked us up at 7:45am. From elevator to curb 10 minutes. Very smooth. 5 mins wait to catch Lyft. Now on the way to MCO. LyftXL is $115.78. Flight is on time at the moment, plane coming in from DTW is boarding 🤞

We started with some pretty good OBC 😉

This is awesome! I’ve never been so lucky to see a bill like this after 7 days.

Great live blog as always.  Thanks for taking us along.  You really make Wonder seems wonderful (couldn't resist 😄) so glad  and you both had an amazing anniversary cruise.  Safe, and uneventful flight home.

What a wonderful blog....again. Thank you so much for taking us with you. Have an uneventful and safe day of travel. I am so happy your trip on the Wonder was so joyful! Can't wait for your next adventure!!

Safe travels and praying for no disruptions! 

May you have a safe and peaceful journey home. Thank you for your reviews on Mason Jar.

Wishing you guys safe, uneventful travels home!
Thanks for sharing! I aspire to make my own future semi-live blogs more concise & less wordy like you & Neesa manage to do.

@Lovetocruise2002  YES please -safe UNREMARKABLE travels! I’m sure the girls will be so thrilled to have you home that they won’t take your social media privileges for posting a “cringey” hand heart picture😂. No more boudoir pics of you and Justin at least until the blog is complete🤣. Jk ☺️😛

Final onboard account:

This, combined with our $0.77 win from our casino free play and we walk off the ship $1.82 richer! Darn! We really need to keep our day jobs. 😂

Last night on board…dinner back at Giovanni’s. Already in food coma status, we stuck with our favourites tonight. Excellent dinner as with all meals on this ship. Not a single complaint. 

After dinner, we headed back to the room to pack. That is our routine, no packing until we’ve enjoyed our last dinner. Anyway, when we got back, Intense was going on again (must have been an additional show because it was not on the original line up of shows tonight). Hubby decided he wanted one more round from Sugar Beach and I watched Intense one last time from our balcony. 

Now packed and headed to bed. Praying that we have a boring, uneventful travel day tomorrow back home. 🤞
We already said our goodbyes to Hannah because she is leaving the ship tomorrow as well and the plan is that Nityam will walk us off. 

Thank you! And yes, we loved sailing with Ricky Matthews again. He is hilarious. Definitely one of the better CDs that Royal has. I will let you know all my final thoughts tomorrow. 😉

@Lovetocruise2002 i’m a little behind, but Happy Anniversary! Perfect timing for Royal Up, especially genie magic navigating this sort-of-a-different ship. There’s a lot about the Wonder that peaks my curiosity and as always your blog gives tons of insight. Now we know what happened to Ricky Matthews. He is HYPE+😀👏🏽👏🏽
Curious about the energy level on Wonder —in general.  Did you make any opinions or comparisons between the four Oasis Class ships and the Wonder? My guess is that this rendezvous on Wonder ATS won’t sway those of us with #teamdeck17 fever! With so many CK crew favorites transplanted on Wonder, maybe #teamdeck18 will also become a thing🤣. Btw, about deck 18… hmmm?

TRUFFLES 🤩😍🥰😎🤩
my one true love (besides cruising, of course!)

Exactly. It will be interesting to see which genies stay on Allure when she makes the switch to 3/4 night sailings 

Not only turnarounds but double communication and planning each week with new  families.  I agree there will be some new genies on  utopia.  We are booked in Star for the inaugural so we will see.

It’s going to be on Utopia too. I remember you said you booked that.

I am really beginning to see that 😂
I will let you know my final thoughts tomorrow 😉