- Joined
- Jan 7, 2005
DW Karen and I recently completed our 11th Disney cruise on the Wonder and our first time in concierge. Hopefully this trip report can be helpful not just to those considering concierge but others also cruising on the Wonder from San Diego.
While the five-night cruise did eventually sell out apparently, with 900 children ages 0-6 aboard and nary a pre-teen or adolescent in sight, at the time of our booking, the premium for concierge was only about 25% over the cost of a verandah, so it seemed like the perfect timing to celebrate my birthday on the last day of the cruise.
Boarding: Having cruised five times from Port Canaveral, twice from Miami and San Pedro, and once from Seattle, this was our first Disney cruise out of San Diego. I guess I’ve gotten lazy about researching before cruises because I was utterly unprepared for the chaos of this city’s departure experience.
The best tip I can give San Diego cruisers is to pre-book your parking. I was naïve in thinking there would be a lot connected to the port because there wasn’t. Some last minute googling put as across the street at the Wyndham hotel’s lot. The helpful attendant asked if we had pre-paid for parking, which would have cost $25 per night instead of the regular nightly rate of $36. I explained that we had not, and he told me that if I paid in cash, either then or after the cruise, he would still let me pay $25 a night. While this seemed somewhat shady, I took advantage of his offer and used the ATM inside the hotel. Beware that the hotel lobby ATM charges $5.49 for the transaction. I paid the attendant the requested $125, and he gave me the validation tickets and said that he would be there upon our return and would keep an eye on the car, and he was.
Once we arrived at the port, it was pure chaos. There was a long line of passengers and only one DCL staff person to help direct the line, and her presence was only intermittent. There were porters to take luggage, but they were taking luggage from people who were joining the line as well people who were approaching the point in the line where passengers were directed to still more lines based on the arrival check-in time. Once I found a porter to take our luggage, I moved to the dedicated concierge line, where there was a sign saying to wait until being called. I was the only person in the concierge line, which was adjacent to the 11, 11:15, and 11:30 lines. After a few minutes when nobody was called, some people from the 11 line decided to enter the building for check-in, and I decided to follow them. This was the first port experience I’ve had where there was little-to-no organization and clearly understaffed.
Once in the building, I was asked to produce a ticket. I observed the staff member outside giving out tickets, but she had disappeared long before I joined the line. I explained that I didn’t have a ticket, and the staff member told me that I needed one to enter the building. I explained that there was no one there to give me a ticket, and she let me enter.
There was no dedicated concierge line, but we decided to go under the rope to ask a staff member if there was a concierge entrance. She had to ask someone herself, and we were then allowed to bypass the regular line and join a security line for concierge. The machine on this line was not working, so we were told to blend in with the front of one of the other lines for the X-ray machines, which felt somewhat awkward.
At that point, there was one, long line for check-in without having separate lines for Platinum, Gold, or concierge guests. What made the situation more confusing was that there was a dedicated concierge desk but no separate line for the desk. I decided again to go under the rope and wait behind the guests being helped at the concierge desk. At that point, a staff member asked if I was concierge and then directed me to the next open desk. As soon as we were checked in, it was only a minute or so before the first group was called, and concierge are all in group one. This worked out well, since this port does not have a dedicated concierge waiting area, so I didn’t feel I had missed anything by being directed to immediately enter the ship.
First lunch: It was 11:45 when we boarded, and Cabanas did not open until noon. We went to the concierge lounge, and one of the attendants directed us to Triton’s, where the concierge lunch took place. Karen had wanted the crab legs from Cabanas, but I thought it would be nice to see what the concierge lunch was like. The menu turned out to be identical to what is offered at Animator’s Palate except that there was a poached lobster salad and beef tenderloin entrée. The poached lobster salad consisted of the usual DCL salad with four, extremely thin slices of lobster. The beef tenderloin was nice but was similar to what was offered on many nights in the cruise.
We did get the opportunity to meet with Kristina, the concierge manager, who explained to us some benefits of concierge and gave us a hand-out with more information. Other than that, Karen regretted missing the crab legs from Cabanas, since unlike on the Dream, it turned out that they were not available every day for lunch.
Concierge stateroom: The stateroom was slightly larger than others but not so much that you would notice it. The only difference in the bathroom was that they included a loofa. The major difference in the stateroom was that there are two televisions, with a much larger one mounted facing the bed in addition to the small one facing the couch. Unfortunately, the selections are just as limited, rendering the nicer TV useless, for the most part. I understand that they only want to present Disney programming, but they could have provided at least recent selections from Disney + instead of the vintage selections. You can watch “Pollyanna” and the first “Parent Trap” but no “Andor,” “Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage,” or “Disenchanted,” which was only playing in the Buena Vista. Furthermore, for the price charged, I would have wanted Chromecast or something similar, but that would have required up-to-date WiFi, one of the most glaring examples of the ship’s need for updating. The new bath products are another example of Disney’s failure to justify their high prices. The lotion in particular was disappointing, barely thicker than water. All staterooms should be better equipped but especially concierge.
Concierge lounge: The concierge lounge consists of two indoor sitting rooms and a large outdoor seating area immediately above it, outside of the Vibe. The seating area is incredibly comfortable. Blankets, nicer towels, and even sunscreen is provided. What made this area really special is that it was seldom used by other guests.
There were various food offerings throughout the day, though we rarely partook of those, given the amount of food available throughout the ship. Its main selling point seemed to be the free alcohol available from 5-10. They served complimentary champagne on embarkation day, and they served alcoholic drinks for a charge until 5, but you had to wait until 5 if you wanted free drinks. As a result, Karen was offput by what she described as a cattle call that formed at 5. Compounding the long line, from her perspective, was the fact that the bar was understaffed, and some people’s drink requests took longer than others. She would have preferred if there were more concierge staff serving guests in line, some of whom could have offered beer or wine to those who weren’t waiting for mixed drinks, which would have further expedited the process.
Concierge guests: I witnessed a number of drunk concierge guests behaving badly. If you’ve had a few too many, please consider the performers when you choose to sit in the front row, dead center, promptly fall asleep, and begin snoring.
Dining rooms: Concierge guests are not typically seated with other guests in the dining rooms, which was nice for us, as we wanted a table for ourselves. I have described the dining room food as wedding food, what you might expect from a mid-tier hotel’s banquet rooms. Thankfully, there was Palo for food made-to-order, but in food quality in the dining room was hit-or-miss. The dreadful pirate’s night menu has yet to be updated; our head server playfully shamed us by reminding us that veteran cruisers in the know always book Palo for pirate’s night. Many of the regular menus had variations of different roasted meats with the same roast vegetables, which got a bit old. The soups tasted more watered down that I had remembered and no better than what they served at Souplantation.
Palo: We were fortunate that the Palo manager when we recently sailed on the TCM cruise and ate there every night was on the Wonder, having transferred from the Dream. He was able to squeeze us in for an extra brunch and assigned us Sylvester, the crème of the crème of servers. You cannot go wrong at Palo.
Shows: Outside of the enjoyment of the concierge lounge’s deck, the other concierge amenity that we used the most was the early admission to the Walt Disney Theatre. You meet at the Crown and Fin pub 35 minutes before showtime, and one of the concierge managers greets you to escort you into the side entrance. They also provide free popcorn and waters. Concierge guests tended to fill up the first few rows in the center section, and the crowds definitely poured in once the main doors were open. I was pretty surprised how popular the shows were; by 8:15, the theatre seemed at least 80% full. However, I noticed that there was still seating toward the front, especially on the sides, as people entering the theatre later after the doors were first opened didn’t seem to want to explore what was available in front but instead must have taken the first seats that they saw toward the middle or back.
If you are lucky enough to go to an ASL performance, which on our cruise were the 8:30 performances, I can’t recommend them enough. I say performance because they are ASL interpreters are performers, not just interpreters. Watching a Deaf West performance, where characters are presented by both traditional actors and ASL performers, is extremely powerful, and Disney ASL performer Stephanie especially blew me away with her interpretation of the first verse of “Let It Go,” which, with no disrespect to the company, was geometrically more magical than anything going on onstage. I complimented her to one of the entertainment managers, and Stephanie came over to introduce herself to us before one of the shows. Disney can call their productions “Broadway-caliber” all they want, but the only times I’ve seen them reach actual Broadway standards is when we’ve been lucky enough to watch the ASL performances.
Other entertainment: There were no concierge benefits to the rest of the entertainment. I was disappointed by the limited movie selection, something that has definitely shrunk over the years, when the mix of old and newer films was not unique to outdoor screen selection. The theatres themselves have always been pretty uncomfortable for longer movies, and I couldn’t imagine watching Avatar in either of the two theatres, though it did play in both.
While I still lament the removal of the Route 66 theme that was removed some dry dock ago, the Cadillac Lounge remains the ultimate place on the ship to enjoy one of the musical acts. There were two pianists who played there, and a guitar-playing singer in the French Quarter lounge, but none of them wowed me like Josh Freilich, who for my wife and me, sets the gold standard for lounge entertainment, to the point where we gladly bypassed other entertainment options to see him perform in the Ooh La La lounge on the Fantasy. I understand that he is now on the Wonder, and I’d advise you not to miss one of his performances if he’s on one of your cruises.
Spa: The concierge can book spa appointments ahead of time, but since we are Platinum, I waited to book them myself, and subsequently changed the date, so that I could see the different appointment times and days when they were available. We’ve had the Couples’ Choice Villa Treatment on the Fantasy and Dream all in the last year, so we wanted to see how the experience would be different on a classic ship. The major difference is that on the Wonder, the villas are considerably smaller and enclosed, as opposed to the Fantasy and the Dream, where they are more spacious, with open-air verandahs. The Wonder villas also lack a bathroom, though they do have a shower. On the Fantasy and Dream, the masseuses leave the room during the couples’ relaxation time on the verandahs, whereas on the Wonder, they stay in the massage room behind closed partitions. For whatever reasons, the masseuses on the Wonder were considerably better than the ones on either the Fantasy or the Dream, though some the relaxation was undone by a spa product sales pitch at the end, which we were spared on the larger ships.
I was glad to be back on the Wonder, where I appreciate locker rooms so much more. It is an unfortunate trend of Disney’s to take away things that were formerly free to create spaces which can generate income. After the smaller locker rooms on the Dream-class ships, it was nice to relax in the large sauna on the Magic-class ships.
Port: Cabo is one of few ports that require tenders (although, with the English cruise director’s pronunciation, it came out sounding like “tinder”), and a concierge benefit is that you could go to the concierge lounge to receive express boarding. We stayed on the ship that day both because we’ve been to Cabo multiple times before but mainly because we wanted to enjoy the benefits of concierge on a day when presumably most people would be off the ship. It was definitely the highlight of the cruise for us to be able to sit the empty outdoor concierge deck on really comfortable, padded deck loungers and sofas, as if we were on some kind of private yacht and not an otherwise packed cruise ship. To me, that was completely worth the extra cost, though understandably, that extra cost would not have been affordable if our kids had joined us and if we were going during a peak period.
We did leave the ship on the Ensenada port day and took a disappointing walking tour which I reviewed here on TripAdvisor.
Disembarkation: The Magic Kingdom and Disneyland have their fireworks shows as their “Kiss Goodnight,” and concierge has its own version, where you report to the lounge; they hold an elevator for you to take you directly to the atrium; and one of the managers lifts the rope so that you can exit the ship without even a second of the painful lines created for most passengers. It’s a pretty ideal way to culminate all of the perks that concierge has afforded into one, grand send-off.
Non-Concierge-Impacted Topics
Deck 4: For me, there is no place better to jog than along deck 4 on a Disney ship. The problem with the Wonder, as opposed to the Fantasy and the Dream, is that on port days, they block off the end of the ship for mooring operations. Kristina suggested deck 10, which I tried on Ensenada day. Unfortunately, the yoga class cut me off at the pass as well. Morning joggers be warned.
DVC presentations: DVC has streamlined its members’ event so that the entire presentation is a Family Feud-style game based on answers given by visitors of the EPCOT lounge. They no longer give out hats or anything else when you check in, which they explain has been replaced by daily gifts you can receive by checking in at the kiosk. There is also no opportunity to win an onboard booking credit. Only the drinks remain, though they have added a character photo opp at the end. The first time I went to this on the Fantasy in August, the room was divided into teams, and the team captain got a gift. Not being a team captain, I can’t remember what it was. This time on the Wonder, there were no gifts for anyone, and the questions were the same. Rather than remove Lilo & Stitch as an answer to the question, Name a Pixar Movie, the one person who gave that response continues to be represented.
Trivia: We attended Disney Theme Park trivia and were surprised that almost all of the questions were the same as the session we attended on previous sailings. I mentioned this to Kristina, and she said that there is actually a large binder of questions, but lazy entertainment crew will choose the first ones. If you get asked about Disney World water ski shows, Madame Leota, and the names of the grinning ghosts, you know that a lazy entertainment crew member is leading the trivia session.
Final Thoughts: There are definitely people, including many who sailed on our cruise, who only book concierge and therefore obviously have the financial wherewithal to eliminate the cost-benefit analysis that is required for the rest of us. Hopefully I’ve described everything in this post that concierge offers which, as Johnny Olson said, “all this can be yours, if the price is right.” For this cruise, the price was right and hopefully will be right again, when we next choose an off-peak or less desirable cruise. Luckily, there were enough unpleasant or disappointing aspects that allayed my fear of missing concierge when we return to a regular stateroom. I won’t miss the loud drunks, occasionally condescending or intrusive managers, and Karen won’t miss the 5 PM cattle call. We’re still very much looking forward to returning the Wonder next March when she makes her way around Hawai’i.
While the five-night cruise did eventually sell out apparently, with 900 children ages 0-6 aboard and nary a pre-teen or adolescent in sight, at the time of our booking, the premium for concierge was only about 25% over the cost of a verandah, so it seemed like the perfect timing to celebrate my birthday on the last day of the cruise.
Boarding: Having cruised five times from Port Canaveral, twice from Miami and San Pedro, and once from Seattle, this was our first Disney cruise out of San Diego. I guess I’ve gotten lazy about researching before cruises because I was utterly unprepared for the chaos of this city’s departure experience.
The best tip I can give San Diego cruisers is to pre-book your parking. I was naïve in thinking there would be a lot connected to the port because there wasn’t. Some last minute googling put as across the street at the Wyndham hotel’s lot. The helpful attendant asked if we had pre-paid for parking, which would have cost $25 per night instead of the regular nightly rate of $36. I explained that we had not, and he told me that if I paid in cash, either then or after the cruise, he would still let me pay $25 a night. While this seemed somewhat shady, I took advantage of his offer and used the ATM inside the hotel. Beware that the hotel lobby ATM charges $5.49 for the transaction. I paid the attendant the requested $125, and he gave me the validation tickets and said that he would be there upon our return and would keep an eye on the car, and he was.
Once we arrived at the port, it was pure chaos. There was a long line of passengers and only one DCL staff person to help direct the line, and her presence was only intermittent. There were porters to take luggage, but they were taking luggage from people who were joining the line as well people who were approaching the point in the line where passengers were directed to still more lines based on the arrival check-in time. Once I found a porter to take our luggage, I moved to the dedicated concierge line, where there was a sign saying to wait until being called. I was the only person in the concierge line, which was adjacent to the 11, 11:15, and 11:30 lines. After a few minutes when nobody was called, some people from the 11 line decided to enter the building for check-in, and I decided to follow them. This was the first port experience I’ve had where there was little-to-no organization and clearly understaffed.
Once in the building, I was asked to produce a ticket. I observed the staff member outside giving out tickets, but she had disappeared long before I joined the line. I explained that I didn’t have a ticket, and the staff member told me that I needed one to enter the building. I explained that there was no one there to give me a ticket, and she let me enter.
There was no dedicated concierge line, but we decided to go under the rope to ask a staff member if there was a concierge entrance. She had to ask someone herself, and we were then allowed to bypass the regular line and join a security line for concierge. The machine on this line was not working, so we were told to blend in with the front of one of the other lines for the X-ray machines, which felt somewhat awkward.
At that point, there was one, long line for check-in without having separate lines for Platinum, Gold, or concierge guests. What made the situation more confusing was that there was a dedicated concierge desk but no separate line for the desk. I decided again to go under the rope and wait behind the guests being helped at the concierge desk. At that point, a staff member asked if I was concierge and then directed me to the next open desk. As soon as we were checked in, it was only a minute or so before the first group was called, and concierge are all in group one. This worked out well, since this port does not have a dedicated concierge waiting area, so I didn’t feel I had missed anything by being directed to immediately enter the ship.
First lunch: It was 11:45 when we boarded, and Cabanas did not open until noon. We went to the concierge lounge, and one of the attendants directed us to Triton’s, where the concierge lunch took place. Karen had wanted the crab legs from Cabanas, but I thought it would be nice to see what the concierge lunch was like. The menu turned out to be identical to what is offered at Animator’s Palate except that there was a poached lobster salad and beef tenderloin entrée. The poached lobster salad consisted of the usual DCL salad with four, extremely thin slices of lobster. The beef tenderloin was nice but was similar to what was offered on many nights in the cruise.
We did get the opportunity to meet with Kristina, the concierge manager, who explained to us some benefits of concierge and gave us a hand-out with more information. Other than that, Karen regretted missing the crab legs from Cabanas, since unlike on the Dream, it turned out that they were not available every day for lunch.
Concierge stateroom: The stateroom was slightly larger than others but not so much that you would notice it. The only difference in the bathroom was that they included a loofa. The major difference in the stateroom was that there are two televisions, with a much larger one mounted facing the bed in addition to the small one facing the couch. Unfortunately, the selections are just as limited, rendering the nicer TV useless, for the most part. I understand that they only want to present Disney programming, but they could have provided at least recent selections from Disney + instead of the vintage selections. You can watch “Pollyanna” and the first “Parent Trap” but no “Andor,” “Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage,” or “Disenchanted,” which was only playing in the Buena Vista. Furthermore, for the price charged, I would have wanted Chromecast or something similar, but that would have required up-to-date WiFi, one of the most glaring examples of the ship’s need for updating. The new bath products are another example of Disney’s failure to justify their high prices. The lotion in particular was disappointing, barely thicker than water. All staterooms should be better equipped but especially concierge.
Concierge lounge: The concierge lounge consists of two indoor sitting rooms and a large outdoor seating area immediately above it, outside of the Vibe. The seating area is incredibly comfortable. Blankets, nicer towels, and even sunscreen is provided. What made this area really special is that it was seldom used by other guests.
There were various food offerings throughout the day, though we rarely partook of those, given the amount of food available throughout the ship. Its main selling point seemed to be the free alcohol available from 5-10. They served complimentary champagne on embarkation day, and they served alcoholic drinks for a charge until 5, but you had to wait until 5 if you wanted free drinks. As a result, Karen was offput by what she described as a cattle call that formed at 5. Compounding the long line, from her perspective, was the fact that the bar was understaffed, and some people’s drink requests took longer than others. She would have preferred if there were more concierge staff serving guests in line, some of whom could have offered beer or wine to those who weren’t waiting for mixed drinks, which would have further expedited the process.
Concierge guests: I witnessed a number of drunk concierge guests behaving badly. If you’ve had a few too many, please consider the performers when you choose to sit in the front row, dead center, promptly fall asleep, and begin snoring.
Dining rooms: Concierge guests are not typically seated with other guests in the dining rooms, which was nice for us, as we wanted a table for ourselves. I have described the dining room food as wedding food, what you might expect from a mid-tier hotel’s banquet rooms. Thankfully, there was Palo for food made-to-order, but in food quality in the dining room was hit-or-miss. The dreadful pirate’s night menu has yet to be updated; our head server playfully shamed us by reminding us that veteran cruisers in the know always book Palo for pirate’s night. Many of the regular menus had variations of different roasted meats with the same roast vegetables, which got a bit old. The soups tasted more watered down that I had remembered and no better than what they served at Souplantation.
Palo: We were fortunate that the Palo manager when we recently sailed on the TCM cruise and ate there every night was on the Wonder, having transferred from the Dream. He was able to squeeze us in for an extra brunch and assigned us Sylvester, the crème of the crème of servers. You cannot go wrong at Palo.
Shows: Outside of the enjoyment of the concierge lounge’s deck, the other concierge amenity that we used the most was the early admission to the Walt Disney Theatre. You meet at the Crown and Fin pub 35 minutes before showtime, and one of the concierge managers greets you to escort you into the side entrance. They also provide free popcorn and waters. Concierge guests tended to fill up the first few rows in the center section, and the crowds definitely poured in once the main doors were open. I was pretty surprised how popular the shows were; by 8:15, the theatre seemed at least 80% full. However, I noticed that there was still seating toward the front, especially on the sides, as people entering the theatre later after the doors were first opened didn’t seem to want to explore what was available in front but instead must have taken the first seats that they saw toward the middle or back.
If you are lucky enough to go to an ASL performance, which on our cruise were the 8:30 performances, I can’t recommend them enough. I say performance because they are ASL interpreters are performers, not just interpreters. Watching a Deaf West performance, where characters are presented by both traditional actors and ASL performers, is extremely powerful, and Disney ASL performer Stephanie especially blew me away with her interpretation of the first verse of “Let It Go,” which, with no disrespect to the company, was geometrically more magical than anything going on onstage. I complimented her to one of the entertainment managers, and Stephanie came over to introduce herself to us before one of the shows. Disney can call their productions “Broadway-caliber” all they want, but the only times I’ve seen them reach actual Broadway standards is when we’ve been lucky enough to watch the ASL performances.
Other entertainment: There were no concierge benefits to the rest of the entertainment. I was disappointed by the limited movie selection, something that has definitely shrunk over the years, when the mix of old and newer films was not unique to outdoor screen selection. The theatres themselves have always been pretty uncomfortable for longer movies, and I couldn’t imagine watching Avatar in either of the two theatres, though it did play in both.
While I still lament the removal of the Route 66 theme that was removed some dry dock ago, the Cadillac Lounge remains the ultimate place on the ship to enjoy one of the musical acts. There were two pianists who played there, and a guitar-playing singer in the French Quarter lounge, but none of them wowed me like Josh Freilich, who for my wife and me, sets the gold standard for lounge entertainment, to the point where we gladly bypassed other entertainment options to see him perform in the Ooh La La lounge on the Fantasy. I understand that he is now on the Wonder, and I’d advise you not to miss one of his performances if he’s on one of your cruises.
Spa: The concierge can book spa appointments ahead of time, but since we are Platinum, I waited to book them myself, and subsequently changed the date, so that I could see the different appointment times and days when they were available. We’ve had the Couples’ Choice Villa Treatment on the Fantasy and Dream all in the last year, so we wanted to see how the experience would be different on a classic ship. The major difference is that on the Wonder, the villas are considerably smaller and enclosed, as opposed to the Fantasy and the Dream, where they are more spacious, with open-air verandahs. The Wonder villas also lack a bathroom, though they do have a shower. On the Fantasy and Dream, the masseuses leave the room during the couples’ relaxation time on the verandahs, whereas on the Wonder, they stay in the massage room behind closed partitions. For whatever reasons, the masseuses on the Wonder were considerably better than the ones on either the Fantasy or the Dream, though some the relaxation was undone by a spa product sales pitch at the end, which we were spared on the larger ships.
I was glad to be back on the Wonder, where I appreciate locker rooms so much more. It is an unfortunate trend of Disney’s to take away things that were formerly free to create spaces which can generate income. After the smaller locker rooms on the Dream-class ships, it was nice to relax in the large sauna on the Magic-class ships.
Port: Cabo is one of few ports that require tenders (although, with the English cruise director’s pronunciation, it came out sounding like “tinder”), and a concierge benefit is that you could go to the concierge lounge to receive express boarding. We stayed on the ship that day both because we’ve been to Cabo multiple times before but mainly because we wanted to enjoy the benefits of concierge on a day when presumably most people would be off the ship. It was definitely the highlight of the cruise for us to be able to sit the empty outdoor concierge deck on really comfortable, padded deck loungers and sofas, as if we were on some kind of private yacht and not an otherwise packed cruise ship. To me, that was completely worth the extra cost, though understandably, that extra cost would not have been affordable if our kids had joined us and if we were going during a peak period.
We did leave the ship on the Ensenada port day and took a disappointing walking tour which I reviewed here on TripAdvisor.
Disembarkation: The Magic Kingdom and Disneyland have their fireworks shows as their “Kiss Goodnight,” and concierge has its own version, where you report to the lounge; they hold an elevator for you to take you directly to the atrium; and one of the managers lifts the rope so that you can exit the ship without even a second of the painful lines created for most passengers. It’s a pretty ideal way to culminate all of the perks that concierge has afforded into one, grand send-off.
Non-Concierge-Impacted Topics
Deck 4: For me, there is no place better to jog than along deck 4 on a Disney ship. The problem with the Wonder, as opposed to the Fantasy and the Dream, is that on port days, they block off the end of the ship for mooring operations. Kristina suggested deck 10, which I tried on Ensenada day. Unfortunately, the yoga class cut me off at the pass as well. Morning joggers be warned.
DVC presentations: DVC has streamlined its members’ event so that the entire presentation is a Family Feud-style game based on answers given by visitors of the EPCOT lounge. They no longer give out hats or anything else when you check in, which they explain has been replaced by daily gifts you can receive by checking in at the kiosk. There is also no opportunity to win an onboard booking credit. Only the drinks remain, though they have added a character photo opp at the end. The first time I went to this on the Fantasy in August, the room was divided into teams, and the team captain got a gift. Not being a team captain, I can’t remember what it was. This time on the Wonder, there were no gifts for anyone, and the questions were the same. Rather than remove Lilo & Stitch as an answer to the question, Name a Pixar Movie, the one person who gave that response continues to be represented.
Trivia: We attended Disney Theme Park trivia and were surprised that almost all of the questions were the same as the session we attended on previous sailings. I mentioned this to Kristina, and she said that there is actually a large binder of questions, but lazy entertainment crew will choose the first ones. If you get asked about Disney World water ski shows, Madame Leota, and the names of the grinning ghosts, you know that a lazy entertainment crew member is leading the trivia session.
Final Thoughts: There are definitely people, including many who sailed on our cruise, who only book concierge and therefore obviously have the financial wherewithal to eliminate the cost-benefit analysis that is required for the rest of us. Hopefully I’ve described everything in this post that concierge offers which, as Johnny Olson said, “all this can be yours, if the price is right.” For this cruise, the price was right and hopefully will be right again, when we next choose an off-peak or less desirable cruise. Luckily, there were enough unpleasant or disappointing aspects that allayed my fear of missing concierge when we return to a regular stateroom. I won’t miss the loud drunks, occasionally condescending or intrusive managers, and Karen won’t miss the 5 PM cattle call. We’re still very much looking forward to returning the Wonder next March when she makes her way around Hawai’i.
Enjoy your next cruise!
