xSAILEDx Wonder of the Seas June 25- July 2, 2023 (7 night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day)

[Neesa]

This was booked day one of release, it was a sailing with friends. As time marched on we fully intended to cancel due to outstanding commitments. Fast forward, as we realize sailings for our family will be on hold for some time and final payment is around the corner, we decided to keep her. 

So, anyone else on this summer sailing?

 

[Cile]

We are sailing at that time. We are from Tampa . 

[Neesa]

@Cile Land O Lakes here, but we usually say Tampa as no one knows where it is! Have you been watching the price jumps? OMG, after final payment lots of available cabins, some over 30,000 for 2 people!! Yikes! See you onboard

[bklyngirly]

We are a group of 12 17 year olds and 6 moms and 1 dad coming straight out of Brooklyn NY. (YIKES) Surely you'll see us onboard! 

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, bklyngirly said:

We are a group of 12 17 year olds and 6 moms and 1 dad coming straight out of Brooklyn NY. (YIKES) Surely you'll see us onboard! 

That 1 dad is a BRAVE man !  LOL

[Cile]

On 4/5/2023 at 1:08 PM, Neesa said:

@Cile Land O La here, but we usually say Tampa as no one knows where it is! Have you been watching the price jumps? OMG, after final payment lots of available cabins, some over 30,000 for 2 people!! Yikes! See you onboard

We like to spend time in cabana I Coco Cay but prices for Cabana are sky high . It is getting way to expensive. I hope to see you onboard! 

[Neesa]

Well.....this just arrived! I know I have RUB issues, but it's a big no! I booked on day 1 so my pricing I felt for the CLS was fair/comfortable. After we decided to keep this sailing I thought I would throw my hat in the RUB ring. I won't bid on any cabin with just one bathroom and the others are just way out of my reach. Cabash would not be happy, oh well. First sailing ever I'm not bidding, I feel sulky.....it's a NO for me Dogg 

I'm sorry, I just can't get over those starting bids, yikes!!!!

 

 

[Neesa]

Happy check in day! I was fortunate enough to secure the 1030 slot. The shows are available to book but it's strange they display the times of the shows but will only allow you to book mostly the late shows. 2230 and later! Example, day 3 ice show 2030hrs & 2230hrs but only 2230 is available to book, do they hold back the early shows? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Hummmm, I Wonder if I should do a live blog????

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

Happy check in day! I was fortunate enough to secure the 1030 slot. The shows are available to book but it's strange they display the times of the shows but will only allow you to book mostly the late shows. 2230 and later! Example, day 3 ice show 2030hrs & 2230hrs but only 2230 is available to book, do they hold back the early shows? Inquiring minds want to know. 

That's a new one. I'm on Wonder 3 weeks before you. All shows opened up for us 30 days out around 6:30am et or so and all were available b/c I was the one frantically booking everything for my extended family of 8.

P.S. I only popped into your roll call b/c I started ours and haven't had a single response, lol. I'm just talking to myself over there.

[Neesa]

@OCSC Mike OMG, thanks so much you made me chuckle! I'll talk to you for sure!! 8 people? You are brave. I think since you explained your experience maybe the earlier shows will open at the 30 day mark. I look forward to hearing about your experiences on the ship. I'm nervous about so many people. Funny, I was going to book the one you are on but we were sailing with another family (teens were tight) and they begged us to change the date so they could make it, thus 06/25 not my choice!!! Fast forward our schedules and finances are challenging (college around the corner) we almost canceled; kids had a falling out and now the other family did cancel. 

Thanks for the 411! Did you RUB? Were your offerings ridiculously high like ours? I hope for you an amazing sailing!

Edited May 11, 2023 by Neesa
Aging? No amazing! Spell check mistake

[OCSC Mike]

34 minutes ago, Neesa said:

@OCSC Mike OMG, thanks so much you made me chuckle! I'll talk to you for sure!! 8 people? You are brave. I think since you explained your experience maybe the earlier shows will open at the 30 day mark. I look forward to hearing about your experiences on the ship. I'm nervous about so many people. Funny, I was going to book the one you are on but we were sailing with another family (teens were tight) and they begged us to change the date so they could make it, thus 06/25 not my choice!!! Fast forward our schedules and finances are challenging (college around the corner) we almost canceled; kids had a falling out and now the other family did cancel. 

Thanks for the 411! Did you RUB? Were your offerings ridiculously high like ours? I hope for you an aging sailing!

@Neesa Yeah, as much as I enjoy pre-booking rather than booking via the app on boarding day like RC was doing after the restart, this was a bit hectic. I knew the family wanted to eat in CK every night around 6 but we're ages 9-70+, lol, so 10pm and later shows are out (other than when we go to adult comedy with my BIL/SIL and my wife's parents take my young nieces back to the cabins). Fortunately I had a little blank chart ready to fill in and I'm a math/logic puzzle guy so I think I did a pretty good job. My sister-in-law did the planning last year but she had plenty of time to plan b/c of the booking onboard policy and having the show schedule sent from the suite concierge.

I've read many different stories about shows opening up at all different times but never one like yours. I'd keep checking frequently if your schedule allows.

Sorry to hear about all the stuff you went through with the other family and the kids. Hopefully you can put all that behind you and enjoy the cruise!

Don't be nervous about that many people. My wife is a teacher so we sail almost exclusively in the summer with full ships and lots of kids. It's never bothered us but we're used to it and don't have kids of our own so when it's just us, we tend to hang out in areas kids wouldn't. It's not really to avoid them, we just prefer the Solarium to the main pool (I need shade not sun), we don't need to go on water slides, we don't spend a ton of time on the Boardwalk, etc. Other than the main pool area, Oasis class is so big and spread out that it really doesn't feel insanely crowded, even at full capacity.

We joked about Royaling Up to get away from the rest of the family but if you saw over in my roll call, we have 3 GS's right next to one another so it was never really an option. But yes, the prices were up there. The price my FIL paid for the GS's was high enough to begin with. Your CLS looks amazing. I've seen videos; that's as close as I'll get. We had an amazing time last May on Harmony in a GS for the first time, loved the perks even more than the room (CK, SL, sun deck, etc.), but we're very frugal when it's just us. We stopped getting balconies a while ago when we realized we barely used them and are perfectly content with an interior. We'd rather spend the extra money on excursions or another cruise. Everyone has their preferences.

Apologies for how long-winded this was. I get that way on forums but this was pretty long even for me.

 

[Neesa]

This will be super insightful comparing the two sailings with the same itinerary weeks apart. 

We need 2 bathrooms with a teenage daughter....her lotions and potions need their own space, ugh! Just much more comfortable. I booked this CLS on release day so I did feel the price was fair. Cabin has gone way up since then. 

3 GS are cool, opening all those balconies up super cool. I laughed with your RUB comment, we were invited on a family sailing an overlaping week..  so maybe this date was supposed to happen. I'm sure I would be "hiding" in the Diamond lounge the entire sailing, lol! 

I'm thinking when I receive the concierge email if I can't secure some earlier show times I will respectfully ask if they can reserve us the earlier times. 

We are going to Nachi Cocum I'm Cozumel for the first time as everyone on this site raves about it! We have cococay club day passes we purchased last black Friday sale...the cabanas for the 3 of us are to pricey, I just can't do it. A party like yours makes so much more sense. 

There is nothing wrong with frugal...honestly most things frugal I enjoy that much more as I don't feel "cheated"

You are going to have the best time!!

[OCSC Mike]

19 minutes ago, Neesa said:

3 GS are cool, opening all those balconies up super cool.

Realizing that our nieces could just let themselves into our cabin from the balcony last year was also super cool, before we found the extra deadbolt type lock.

27 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I'm thinking when I receive the concierge email if I can't secure some earlier show times I will respectfully ask if they can reserve us the earlier times. 

We were able to move some stuff around even once on board that way. I'm sure you'll be fine.

28 minutes ago, Neesa said:

We are going to Nachi Cocum I'm Cozumel for the first time as everyone on this site raves about it! We have cococay club day passes we purchased last black Friday sale...the cabanas for the 3 of us are to pricey, I just can't do it. A party like yours makes so much more sense.

We're mostly staying on the ship besides Cococay. The OTW cabana we had last year was amazing and I'm sure this one will be great too. And the beach club food is very good. That said, I'm just as happy stuffing myself with tacos, chicken sandwiches, and funnel cake while sitting by the Oasis pool there without spending a penny besides tipping for my D drinks, lol. We went to CocoCay twice in 7 days in July and once in November. I'm not even a big beach/pool person but we love it there.

The rest of the family is pretty content to just enjoy the suite neighborhood and ship amenities so we're saving excursions for when we do Western again (tentatively June 2024). We haven't made it to Nachi Cocum yet either but that's the plan for Cozumel next time. I'm sure it's great! We did a small all-inclusive beach club in Costa Maya in 2019 (Nohoch Kay) and had a good time. Unfortunately we couldn't dock in Roatan b/c of high winds and that really put a damper on that cruise. We had never been there before (still haven't) and had a private tour all planned out to see a bunch of stuff. My wife even collected a large duffel bag of school supplies to donate to a local school in the tour operator's hometown (one of our planned stops). She wanted to see monkeys and hold a sloth of course but we enjoy seeing some of the non-touristy areas in certain ports. So that will also be on the next trip there.

We can have a good time never leaving the ship (besides Cococay), especially with a suite on Wonder, but it's time for some excursions after this, lol. I just finished booking Eastern on Wonder for next Spring Break. I used someone from MEI for the first time and he had a much better rate than I could get myself. My wife likes snorkeling and I'm OK with it when paired with a boat that serves food and drinks (noticing a trend yet?) so I'm just finalizing stuff like that for St. Martin and/or St. Thomas.

 

[Neesa]

Sounds like you have a terrific plan. We are staying on the ship in Costa Maya for the reasons you state, to enjoy the ship while most are off exploring. We also feel of course we trust the food and drinks quality more so on the ship then off. We are looking forward to the Coco Cay Beach Club as well, we really enjoy the private Islands experience. I believe the Adventure of the Seas will be joining us on the Island that day so at least she is a bit smaller then another Oasis class ship. It takes away from the experience when the Island is covered in bodies, so in that case we get off the ship super early to find a nice "home base" if we don't have the Beach Club access. Next year our final sailing for at least 4 years will be a Southern Carribbean. Then we pause until we get a handle on college & "kicking the birdie from the nest"  At that point God willing we will start sailing again....

We didn't purchase a drinks package because the vouchers are usually enough, plus the suites lounge beverages (is it an 11-11 type situation for water & soda?) and honestly I'm pretty bored of the UDP restaurant offerings so Coastal Kitchen here we come. I of course am bringing & hiding ducks on this sailing but like you we will enjoy the suites neighborhood and the Solarium...I do love the fact that Coco Cay is on the second day of the sailing. I do wish we would be stopping at Labadee also but again like you we are there for the ship! 

 

[OCSC Mike]

Lots of similarities here...

We have one specific home base that we always grab at Cococay. Think we've been in that spot ever since our first visit. It wasn't until our most recent trip that we took a walk in the morning (after securing out home base) b/c my wife didn't feel like snorkeling and found a short nature walk way out by South Beach. Nothing overly exciting other than a rooster who wasn't happy to see us based on the noises he was making, lol.

We haven't been to Labadee in forever. I've seen one or two itineraries that do go to both there and Cococay but they're not that common and might have been 5-night cruises or something. I could definitely see doing something like that.

SL is 11-11 beer, wine, hard seltzer, soda, water. Then every night is a 3-hour open bar happy hour from like 4:30-7:30 with the snacks/appetizers. I tend to head there around the start of happy hour and just have my snacks and drinks until dinner. My wife mostly uses her vouchers for virgin drinks and even then doesn't always use all 4 and I'm not a huge drinker so we've never gotten the DBP. Definitely no need for it with the suite perks. We'll be 7 points away from D+ after this cruise, then it's 10 vouchers and I'll have to make sure to drink more.

The only specialty restaurant we're going to is Mason Jar for brunch just b/c it's unique to Wonder and the menu looked good. Also, my SIL booked it without really asking anyone but me so no one had much say in it, lol. We'll pop into Playmakers but that's not exactly specialty. We had burgers for dinner there multiple times on Independence and loved them. I'm a big fan of a couple drinks there too and my BIL has never been on a ship with one so he definitely wants to go.

The whole college thing must be a big change. I can't relate of course but totally makes sense that you'd want to hit pause until you see what things are like.

[Neesa]

@OCSC Mike thanks for opineing on being the only ship at Coco Cay. I went to the port schedule and checked our sailing again, I thought the Adventure was joining us but I was wrong....we too are the only ship on the Island 6/26! The last time we experienced this it was right out of the shut down. Looking forward to it even more now!

Ugh our Adventure sailing 2024 has us there with the Icon, need to reconsider this one!

* they aren't even selling beach club passes just cabanas to the tune of 3,999 or 3,699 no thanks!

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Neesa
Added pic

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

thanks for opineing on being the only ship at Coco Cay. I went to the port schedule and checked our sailing again, I thought the Adventure was joining us but I was wrong....we too are the only ship on the Island 6/26! The last time we experienced this it was right out of the shut down. Looking forward to it even more now!

Ugh our Adventure sailing 2024 has us there with the Icon, need to reconsider this one!

* they aren't even selling beach club passes just cabanas to the tune of 3,999 or 3,699 no thanks!

@Neesa

That's good (alone)!

That's less good (Icon).

And cabanas are nuts now. Our OTW cabana last May (booked by my FIL in 2021) was only $1599 I think. We have a beach club cabana on Monday that I think was $1999 when he booked this cruise a year ago.

The beach club passes will be close to $300pp if they re-appear. If someone values the beach club that much, that's up to them. My wife and I have been to CocoCay 4 times without spending a dime (besides tipping for D drinks) and loved every trip.

[Neesa]

40 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

@Neesa

 

The beach club passes will be close to $300pp if they re-appear. If someone values the beach club that much, that's up to them. My wife and I have been to CocoCay 4 times without spending a dime (besides tipping for D drinks) and loved every trip.

I'm thinking the same, beach club pass prices are going to be insane. The Icon being there makes it more desirable due to the crowds. We booked our cabin day 1, amazing price so I'm thinking unless we are there first Icon will take over the island.  We might just stay on the ship in the Solarium for the most relaxing as well as cost effective day. 

Have a fantastic sailing! 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Neesa
Added thought

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I'm thinking the same, beach club pass prices are going to be insane. The Icon being there makes it more desirable due to the crowds. We booked our cabin day 1, amazing price so I'm thinking unless we are there first Icon will take over the island.  We might just stay on the ship in the Solarium for the most relaxing as well as cost effective day.

I couldn't pass up the food on CocoCay no matter what, lol. I'd go without a lounger... I'd just walk back and forth between a snack shack and a grill alternating between chicken sandwiches and tacos... then eat a funnel cake on my way back to the ship.

If staying on the ship is more appealing, that's fine too. We aren't planning to get off much other than CocoCay next week do to family preferences... and since we're in a GS (which you know is extremely rare for us), I think we'll be OK. We already have excursions in mind for the next 2 cruises.

9 minutes ago, Neesa said:

Have a fantastic sailing! 

Thanks, we will!

[MarvinS]

On 3/6/2023 at 8:30 AM, Neesa said:

This was booked day one of release, it was a sailing with friends. As time marched on we fully intended to cancel due to outstanding commitments. Fast forward, as we realize sailings for our family will be on hold for some time and final payment is around the corner, we decided to keep her. 

So, anyone else on this summer sailing?

 

Hi there!  We are also on this 6/25 sailing on Wonder.  It just dawned on my today that I never signed up on the roll call for this sailing. 

We are a group of 8 (wife and I, three adult kids + 1 significant other, and my in-laws) in 3 nearby oceanview balcony rooms and one Central Park balcony.  We booked this as soon as bookings became available.

I also agree that the current prices on Cococay stuff is crazy!  I got great deals on Black Friday sales on the water park for the kids, but wasn't going to spend the kind of money they want for the cabanas!  Doing mock bookings now, the rooms are double what I booked at, and even the Royal Up minimums are way up there!  We all want to stay close together, so will not be bidding on any RU's.

I was able to easily book all of our entertainment reservations when they became available (it was around 50 days out on 5/5) and was able to book either early or late shows with no problem.

We're all looking forward to getting out of town (we live in Alaska) and feeling some warm Caribbean weather!

[Neesa]

@MarvinS We were sailing with our cruise buddies but they ultimately canceled. Kids were friends now not so much, so......(teenagers) 

I was pretty unsuccessful booking entertainment, almost all very late shows only available I'm hoping to rectify once onboard. One reservation (the aquashow) would only allow me to book myself and hubby, kiddo no, no matter how I tried.

I too was lucky enough to secure the Beach Club day pass at Coco Cay @ Black Fridays sale price and can't fathom paying the prices now, not for 3 of us. 

Wishing for you safe and drama free travel down here to Florida, sounds like an amazing vacation you have planned. I'll be hiding ducks so keep a look out. 

We love the Oasis class ships, first time on the Wonder. 

[LORI C]

We are on Wonder June 11-18, party of 12, kids, grandkids. We are from Venice, Fl.

[MarvinS]

2 hours ago, Neesa said:

@MarvinS We were sailing with our cruise buddies but they ultimately canceled. Kids were friends now not so much, so......(teenagers) 

I was pretty unsuccessful booking entertainment, almost all very late shows only available I'm hoping to rectify once onboard. One reservation (the aquashow) would only allow me to book myself and hubby, kiddo no, no matter how I tried.

I too was lucky enough to secure the Beach Club day pass at Coco Cay @ Black Fridays sale price and can't fathom paying the prices now, not for 3 of us. 

Wishing for you safe and drama free travel down here to Florida, sounds like an amazing vacation you have planned. I'll be hiding ducks so keep a look out. 

We love the Oasis class ships, first time on the Wonder. 

Thank you for the well wishes!  What helps is that I have a conference I attend for work the week prior in Orlando, so at least my employer pays my way to Florida and back!  Bonus is being able to tag on a couple of weeks of vacation after the conference!

This will be our first time on Wonder.  Most of my group have already been on Oasis (pre-amplification) & Harmony, so am familiar with the Oasis class.  Looking forward to see the new bells and whistles on Wonder.

My wife and I will also be on Ovation this October 2023 (Vancouver to Hawaii) and also a S2S in Europe in late May 2024 (Anthem & Oasis), along with Icon (booked the day it became available) for Oct 2024, so am also looking forward to these cruises, too!

[Christo]

My wife and I will be on this cruise. Driving down from Atlanta, GA