Wonder of the Seas in Saint Thomas

Everyone has their own idea of the best and worst features found on ships that they’ve sailed on. Those opinions are as varied as the passengers themselves so what one person thinks is a ship’s best feature another might consider the worst. These are the things I liked and didn’t like about Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas.

Hits

This ship class has the best cruise ship track ever. Often tracks on cruise ships aren’t much more than a painted line running a short distance through a crowded area on the top deck, exposed to the elements with no shade or shelter. A huge improvement over that is when the ship has a promenade deck that extends around the entire ship, which is a far better place for a run or walk than those useless top deck “tracks.” Even better on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships, the outside promenade not only runs completely around the ship, but is actually set up to be a track – even with separate lanes marked walk and run.

best cruise ship track ever

The dining room had a great head waiter. We were on My Time Dining so we did not have a set time, table, or waiter, but since we had dietary considerations the head waiter said to ask for his section and personally took care of our meals.

gluten and lactose free fried chicken dinner on Wonder of the Seas

It’s a big ship, but was divided into distinctive neighborhoods each with their own different vibe and offering of things to do. Some areas are typical to what can be found on other ships, but places like Central Park and the Boardwalk are quite unique to Royal’s Oasis and Icon class ships.

adults only solarium

The adults-only solarium is a great hangout, and a great alternative to outside deck chairs for people who want a place to relax out of the sun, wind, or weather. This glassed-in area has its own hot tubs, bar, towel station, and even a little restaurant as well as rows of deck chairs. It was our favorite hang-out spot.

window and balcony cabins above Central Park

Most ships have inside cabins and outside cabins, but this one has inside cabins with a view. Most also have balconies, though there are some with windows instead. These cabins mainly overlook either Central Park or the Boardwalk, which are interior areas that are open to the sky. There are also a few cabins with windows overlooking the Royal Promenade, an interior area of shops and eateries resembling a city street. We had a balcony cabin in Central Park, which has gardens with real live plants. We actually used this balcony more than we ever have oceanside ones as it was more sheltered. It almost always had at least some shade, and never got wet beyond the railing even when it rained.

Central Park view balcony on the Wonder

Our cabin came with an attentive steward who was prompt with cleanings and happy to assist if anything else was needed like a bucket of ice or on arrival a bathrobe. The cabin shower had a clothesline, which I normally wouldn’t even mention since that is standard on most cruise ships. I thought they all had one until sailing on Symphony of the Seas, where there was none to be found in our cabin. I was glad to see that Wonder did have it since it is the same ship class and a newer ship meaning they have not eliminated those from their ships entirely.

Central Park view cabin on Wonder of the Seas

Our cabin also had 3 Outlets and 6 USB ports, which is a great improvement over some of the older ships that have one outlet and no USB ports. It also had lots of storage space and plenty of hangers without having to ask the steward for more. We got some loyalty perks even though our tier in Royal isn’t all that high although I did still have to ask for a bathrobe even though my current loyalty point level is supposed to include one. It was already available for the asking when I was at lower levels so that particular perk didn’t really help any. At least there were a few others.

Golden Room tiny non-smoking casino

There was a tiny little non-smoking casino called the Golden Room. Since there was nothing advertising what it was and it only ever said Golden Room on deck plans a lot of people probably never even knew it existed since you had to wander in to find out what it was. It was just slot machines and a few table games, but at least it was there. They probably would have got more business on the table games if they lowered the minimum bet to something reasonable as they were ridiculously high – and the tables were empty when we were there, though there were people using slot machines.

zip line

There are lots of fun things to do onboard. This ship definitely has more than most when it comes to things to do. It has a zipline, rock climbing walls, mini-golf, waterslides, a flowrider, play areas for small kids, 10-deck dry slides, a carousel, and of course all the things ships normally have like pools, hot tubs, arcades, daily activities, shows, and kids clubs. Also pong-pong tables and shuffleboard. And not to forget the aforementioned track as well as a gym and spa.

pizza at Sorrentos

There are a lot of different places to eat scattered about the ship, and quite a few of them don’t cost anything extra.

Wonder of the Seas docked in St Thomas

They get people on and off the ship quickly and efficiently in ports in spite of it being such a large ship.

ice show

In addition to the regular sort of cruise ship theater shows, this ship also has an ice skating area where they have an ice show, and an AquaTheater with a water show. The ice and water shows are definitely worth watching.

Misses

Although it was the Port Canaveral’s fault rather than the ship’s, the initial boarding on this ship was our worst cruise ship boarding experience ever. It was extremely disorganized with early arrivals shuffled off to the side rather than being allowed into the already marked and set up, but empty lines while people who came later were allowed to line up first. Even later arrivals were allowed to board right away while people who had already waited hours stood in unmoving lines marked for long-since-past boarding times watching people who had just got there go by with nobody even checking what their scheduled boarding time was.

buffet on Wonder of the Seas

Every Royal ship we have been on prior to this one had an entire section of gluten-free food in the buffet. This ship had no gluten free section in the buffet at all and not a lot of gluten-free items available there either. The buffet usually only had 1 gluten free dessert offering, which was also sugar free and covered in dairy. A lot of people with gluten issues also have problems with dairy, but sugar-free is mostly a whole different segment of the population and artificial sweeteners are a problem for some people with other food sensitivities. As far as gluten-free food goes, this ship was a disappointment all around. While Symphony had made all sorts of special desserts for us in the dining room, always had several gluten-free options in the promenade café, and a whole gluten-free section in the buffet, Wonder had no gluten-free items in the café and though they did make gluten-free dinners in the dining room, the chef would not make any gluten-free desserts.

dining room

Although the ship had a 3-deck dining room, there was no dining space reserved for My Time dining. Instead they had an early seating in the dining room where My Time dining took place so though it was said to start at 6:30, the reservations they recommended making were not available before 8pm. It turned out best not to make reservations at all. Going down early enough to snag a table that someone in the early seating didn’t show up for that night worked out best.

Internet was way too expensive.  We normally get an internet package so we can keep in contact with our housesitter and whoever is taking care of our businesses while we are away, but the price on this ship was so ridiculously high we just had to wait until we were in port to make contact.

good thing I brought my own shampoo & conditioner

Luckily I always bring some shampoo and conditioner because you never know what you will find onboard. Sometimes they have decent bath products and sometimes they don’t. This one had all-in-one shampoo/body wash and no conditioner. There was also no kleen-x box dispenser in the bathroom. This was the first ship we’ve been on that did not provide tissues.

Prices onboard were expensive for pretty much anything.

Smoking was allowed in the main casino. It was a plus that they tried to contain it with doors, but a definite miss because the doors that were supposed to contain the smoke within the casino were way too sensitive. They opened every time anyone walked past them whether that person was inside or outside of the casino, even if they didn’t get anywhere close to the door. Since those doors were next to elevators and the closest bathroom to the dining room they spent more time open than shut when a lot of people were coming and going from meals, letting out a big cloud of toxic smoke each time they opened. Some outside doors on the ship had to be touched to open, which is what the casino doors needed to prevent that problem.

beach pool

Typical of all cruise ships, there are signs saying that reserving deck chairs is not allowed and that items left unattended will be picked up, yet if you actually want to use a one more deck chairs are occupied by towels than people. Some of those towels stay there all day without a person ever coming along to actually use the chair, yet nobody from the crew ever picks them up. On this ship they didn’t even seem to pick up used glasses and things around the chairs more than once every few hours. The glasses were all over the floor next to and under the chairs because there were no little tables between deck chairs for placing drink cups.

Dining room menus did not have the usual markings indicating gluten or dairy free, healthy, or vegetarian items that are normally there on cruise ship menus regardless of which ship or cruise line you are sailing with. Royal Caribbean is usually one of the best when it comes to providing alternative options so this ship was pretty disappointing in the food department after the standards set by our previous cruises on Royal Caribbean. Hopefully that was due to whoever was chef on the Wonder at the time of our sailing and not a lowering of Royal Caribbean’s standards.

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