CoffeeNoodle Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 I first fell in love with cruising as a child, and have rediscovered my passion for it in 2022 while sailing on Symphony with my husband. Both of us have also sailed on Wonder in January 2023, and this year the rest of my family has finally been convinced to go on a cruise with us - as long as I pick out the itinerary and select the ship. I'm between the 8 night Eastern Caribbean + Perfect Day itinerary on Oasis in mid-November, and the 7 night Eastern Caribbean + Perfect Day itinerary on Wonder at the end of October. Somehow the Wonder cruise is nearly $500 cheaper than Oasis for an oceanview balcony stateroom, midship on deck 8 (those of us that have sailed on Oasis before absolutely love Central Park). Only half of our group has been on Oasis class ships in the past, and I'd love to share the magic of Oasis with my dad and grandma. I'm the only one in the group that has sailed on both of them already, but I was last on Oasis in 2014, so it's hard to compare it to Wonder as that was nearly a decade ago and was before its amplification! Please let me know if you have any advice on whether Oasis or Wonder would be better for an active, multigenerational family that loves cruising, but in which only some of us have been on Oasis-class ships. We also don't have children, so this is a group consisting of adults in their 30s/mid 50s/mid 70s. Thank you so much in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 I'm Wonder's biggest fan and appreciate some of its unique features like Mason Jar (brunch), the re-designed WJ, the lack of a Broadway show (not my thing), etc. and I can appreciate the newness. That said, I was also just on Allure and had a great time on her too. I prefer Wonder for some of the aforementioned reasons but I don't think the difference is all that significant as far as an active multigenerational family enjoying one Oasis-class ship over another goes. If you all sailed both I'm sure you'd prefer one over the other but I'd be surprised if you said you had a MUCH better time on one vs. the other. I'd look at the differences that are important to your group (only you know that) and then factor in the price, itinerary, and extra day on Oasis of course. CoffeeNoodle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 I love Wonder and I really like Oasis. They are equal in the sense that they both have one specialty restaurant that I love, Mason jar on Wonder and Portside on Oasis. Wonder is newer and has better shows. However, I love longer cruises so an 8-day will always win out over a 7-day. CoffeeNoodle, OCSC Mike and WAAAYTOOO 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmattinson Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 I'd pick the cheaper one AFTER taking into account airfare and transportation costs - I don't know where each of those ships are leaving from but a sailing from Miami in spring and accounting for a day in advance hotel stay may wipe out the cost savings over same time from Galveston even though your transportation costs are higher due to airport distance. I'd consider: cruise fare airfare pre and/or post stay hotel expenses transportation from airport to hotel to cruise terminal time (if it takes you 5 hours to fly to one spot but only 3 to another, is that time difference worth the savings) With Oasis being amplified, you aren't far off from Wonder aside from newness and a couple of venues. I wouldn't hesitate on either of them. CoffeeNoodle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 Flip a coin. They're close enough to being the same thing for someone who hasn't been on either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crown&AnchorEsq Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 With its amplification, Oasis is pretty much the second newest Oasis class ship (after Wonder, third once Utopia shows up), at least in terms of theming and features. The only knock on Oasis would be the broadway show (Cats vs hairspray 10 years ago). The Aquatheather and Ice shows are solid. But oasis has things that even symphony does not (lime and the coconut theming topside is the primary thing that comes to mind). Wonder might be a bit shinier but Oasis has been well kept, pick the one that is cheaper/more convenient. One thing that might be worth checking, particularly if Cococay is expected to be a big part of your trip, check to see what other ship is going to be at Cococay when you are there. If you might be there with less of a crowd that can sometimes be better. jbrinkm and CoffeeNoodle 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK2793 Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 WONDER ……… both the child pool and the waters slides are now in the same area and that makes it much easier if you have kids of different ages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 Hi @CoffeeNoodle! We've sailed both recently (Oasis in late 2021 and Wonder twice last year) and absolutely loved both. I agree with all of the comments above. A couple of other very minor differences... Wonder has a "regular" Starbuck's full kiosk in the middle of the Royal Promenade too, but they also offer a basic Starbuck's menu (coffee/tea/cappuccino/Frappuccino, etc.) in the Cafe Promenade which is included in the beverage packages. My wife and I normally do not go to Starbuck's at home, but of course we took full advantage of our DBP on both sailings! Oasis has a real Escape room (Apollo 18), unlike Wonder which offers a lame puzzle break exercise in one of the rooms in Adventure Ocean (we booked it and immediately cancelled once we realized). Naturally, Wonder is completely new throughout. Oasis was amplified, but only the common areas really received an overhaul. The majority of the cabins have the same original decor/furniture which is somewhat dated and still slightly worn. They did repair/replace damaged carpet/furniture, etc. throughout, but it is dated. They did add additional cabins, but I believe they are suites in the forward of the ship below the bridge. We too love the midship Oceanview balconies on Deck 8! No cabins across the hall (back of the restaurants and shops in CP) and on the same deck as Central Park! Enjoyed one on that Oasis sailing in 2021 and booked another for our Allure sailing next year! Can't wait! CoffeeNoodle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 1 hour ago, JohnK6404 said: Wonder which offers a lame puzzle break exercise in one of the rooms in Adventure Ocean (we booked it and immediately cancelled once we realized). It's actually very challenging, fun, and best of all... FREE. For anyone unaware, it's a bunch of puzzles in an empty room b/c the original escape room (a real one) was meant for the Asian market since that's where Wonder was meant to be deployed before Covid re-routed it. They had to scrap the escape room and never bothered to re-do it for a North American audience. One of the math puzzles is especially challenging because, according to the crew member when we did it, "they do math differently in China." JohnK6404 and CoffeeNoodle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crown&AnchorEsq Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 On 2/17/2024 at 10:58 AM, JohnK6404 said: A couple of other very minor differences... Wonder has a "regular" Starbuck's full kiosk in the middle of the Royal Promenade too, Someone correct me if I am wrong (i admittedly don't order there) but I believe Oasis now has the kiosk on the promenade between Boleros and on the air. We also had a balcony stateroom with updated decor in May of 22, I do not believe it was a new room but it could have been. When we went on Oasis in December of 22 we were in an older decor room so who knows. I read somewhere that they were refreshing the staterooms as well but I cannot find it atm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 1 hour ago, Crown&AnchorEsq said: Someone correct me if I am wrong (i admittedly don't order there) but I believe Oasis now has the kiosk on the promenade between Boleros and on the air. I think they do (Oasis)... Funny, I did not take too many pictures of the Royal Promenade on that sailing. However, when we sailed in OCT 2021, the Starbuck's "basic" or limited menu was not available in the Cafe Promenade. I just watched a recent video of Allure last evening and they have added the Starbuck's menu (and they definitely have the kiosk), so possibly Oasis has added the limited menu as well (printed menu board not TV monitor). Main point is that you cannot use a beverage package at the branded kiosks (only charge to ship account or SB gift cards accepted), but you can use it in the Cafe Promenade for Starbuck's products on the ships that offer the limited menu. We rarely stop for Starbucks at home, but we do take advantage while onboard. OCSC Mike and CoffeeNoodle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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