What we LIKED and DISLIKED about Wonder of The Seas - Royal Caribbean Cruise Review!

foreign [Music] well welcome everyone to wonder of the Seas and we're going to give you our full rundown our pros and cons our review of the ship our tips and tricks as well we've just done a full week on here uh cruising down to the Caribbean we've experienced everything and we're going to give you it straight up what we've liked what we didn't like and again tips and tricks to help you out and enjoy your cruise here on Wander of the Seas currently the world's largest cruise ship as of May 2023 so let's jump right into it with some pros and cons so starting off with some pros I'm going to give a pro and then Laura will give us a pro as well I'm going to start off with the size of the ship there is lots to do various different activities whether it be for kids adults they've got it jam-packed on here the water slides pools normal slides the wave machine everything even down to the size of the spa is across two decks it's huge and that does tie in with the size of the ship you have got a lot to do a lot to keep you occupied various different restaurants to eat in as well that will be one of my other Pros your next Pro lore the size of this bedroom and the size of the bathroom we went on our first cruise with the Disney cruise and I walked into the bathroom and I was like I can't do nothing in here we ended up getting a spa package to get me showers in the spa because it was just so small but this bathroom's huge and you can have the door open and look out to see you can even do that and it's good you've got a massive couch you've got a table to do your makeup you've got plenty of wardrobe space the beds what size is it a king a Super King huge everything Master TV so it's a really nice place to just sit and chill in your room if you just need a bit of peace and quiet and just need to be on your own for a bit it's it's a great space it's modern as well you've got all your little USBS buying your bedside everything has a nice clean Sleek finish to it everything is brand new at the moment on this ship and I loved the color scheme of the room as well while we're on the topic of the rooms we've got a standard balcony Sea View room bear in mind there are two different balconies you can have a sea view on and you can have a Central Park if you want the CV one is my all preferred we love looking out at Sea yeah but I'll even love the color of the carpets with the blue throwing flowing through everything tied in very nicely and yeah I do think it's a good size for standard room it is a good good size very good size yeah as the next Pro I'm going to give is the amount of restaurants there are that are on board so you've got the likes of chopped grill which was meant to be absolutely fantastic we couldn't even get in there with a reservation you've got Johnny Rockets Burgers you've got Playmakers which do fantastic wings so many different options a lot of them are an up charge but you have got different options to have if you do get a bit fed up with the main dining room or the buffet or Windjammer you can go and pay for some other food and mix it up and get a bit of different quality as well yeah that was nice a pro for me was we've been on cruises where you could not get saved no matter how hard you tried yeah we've been on cruise where we've had the drinks packaged and it's like why have I got it because you can't even get saved this one the bars are fully stocked with enough people you never wait more than five minutes you've got people coming around to ask if you want drinks really easy to do so you never never without a drink when you are on drinks package or you're paying for your drinks so I've been buying like one cocktail a day yeah whether it's been in a saloon by the pool whatever and I've been getting just that one and it's never been hard to get so that's really good plus you can just get whatever you want and even a Wind Jammer they're coming around with them the free Waters and the free punch through punches seeing if you want any any so that's really good you're never ever without yeah the staff have been on the ball that brings us on to my next Pro as well my next plus and that is the solarium itself I really did enjoy that area it was a nice place to chill we found ourselves in there quite a lot I sat and did a lot of editing in there I loved the views out to the ocean the different style some beds you could have how relaxed the atmosphere was the there was music on but it was quiet and it was more like spa music so I really did like that Solarium I even enjoyed the solarium restaurant as well for the breakfast yeah we did enjoy that didn't we yeah that was a big plus for me we're gonna end up leading on to of the slight negatives now there is a few of them believe it or not with the size of the ship and how good of a time we've had there was a few things that I would watch out for and a few things to bear in mind first one for me is with the food although it was good we did find on this ship particularly compared to the one we did on Independence of the Seas we found the food variation wasn't very big this time it was a lot of the same stuff especially the desserts were quite underwhelming there wasn't much variation it was the same chocolate slice cake every time on the Windjammer the same cookies there wasn't a huge variation and I think the reason for that on this ship in particular is because they've got so many different restaurants that everyone wants to eat in chops Grill Playmakers so I think they keep the buffet quite standard because they know people are going to all these different restaurants these upcharge restaurants which works well for them as well of course people want to go and Peg and eat somewhere different but I would bear that in mind that when you pay to come on you are probably gonna want to and be tempted in or you're probably going to want to book some of these other restaurants we regret not getting in earlier and booking more in advance for chops Grill and a couple of the was because we did get a little bit fed up with the buffet was a little bit samey this this Cruise it was yeah it was especially especially for us we're not having we don't need that much variation food anyways maybe allergies and yeah there wasn't much chicken yeah until the sort of last day today there was a bit more chicken there was some skewers and chicken curries but the what I didn't see the the same variation that we saw on um Independence of the Seas on our last cruise but I do think that's down to the other restaurant so I would bear that in mind that when you book when you pay that price I would personally try and see it as you've booked a hotel you're going to be paying for some food on top you're going to be paying for drinks on top take that cruise price that you see on the website and I personally just try and see that as you've booked a hotel you then need to account for some money for food account for some money for the drinks even if it's soft drinks the only drinks you're gonna get are your free water your free juices uh any of the Cokes and things you need to pay for so that's how I would probably try and treat it in the future and make sure you get in there and Reserve at those restaurants early on yeah because they were all booked up when we got on board and now I can I can see why everyone's come on board and they they sort of see the buffet as a bit of a snack filler and their main thing is going out in the oven evening into Giovanni's Italian uh the one in Central Park they treat them as the dinners rarely yeah or you've got the main dining hall but we didn't really find ourselves in there very much no we didn't know no we didn't really find ourselves tempted too much by the menu but that's us personally you might love everything that's on the Windjammer you might love everything that's in the main restaurant that you get included but for me that's how I saw I saw as more of a treat it as you've booked your hotel there's snacks there if you want them and you know burgers and stuff on the Windjammer but rarely if you want to eat nice you want that fine dining you're going to pay to go in those upcharge restaurants definitely yeah the next thing that we struggled with a little bit with the screws that we did the seven nights was there was three sea days included for rules one or two sea days would have been enough for us Max 3C days did become a little bit monotonous for us and it did become a challenge especially so if you got up early and got your bed sale at nine o'clock in the morning you could have Prime place for your bed you've got your whole family for your beds but for us we didn't want to do that so by the time I came to get in the bed if you get one or two yeah it was the beds were filling up quickly we're on a very busy Cruise during graduation season so maybe when the ship's quiet it would be a bit easier but I found on the sea days the the Windjammer was rammed the wave machine was an hour Q the zip line was a half an hour queue the mini golf was just full everything was very very busy on those sea days and I did get a little bit fed up yeah I was fine because I can just lay around on it on a sunbed that's right and I just lounged around on the sunbed but it was in between two families and there was about that much space between each some bad someone sort of knocking elbows yeah so I was next six that's all you could get with by the time I come out to some bathe in those common areas in the solarium was a different story because it was a lot more spacious and a lot less people in there so it was it was nicer but it was covered yeah you are in um in that slight Dome coverage now that was the other little sort of sticky point for me on this trip I didn't quite understand the solarium concept because when we went in the first few days I loved the space I loved the atmosphere but it was really really warm like in a conservatory on a summer's day very hot but then on the day before yesterday we went in it was a really hot day outside and they had the air conditioning on in there and it was lovely and cool and I thought why well maybe the air conditioner hasn't been working for the rest of the trip but then again today they reverted back to not having the air con on so I didn't quite understand it it was like really really warm and stuffy and then on one day they had the aircon on and made it really comfortable but then they went right back to having it warm and stuffy again so the solarium space I think it was fantastically themed and everything but you're gonna have to bear in mind that it was humid warm and they didn't really have any ventilation I mentioned this in our ship tour I would love to see maybe a few little vents added in just have a little bit of little stuff pointing upwards so the winds went above yeah and it didn't actually hit you in the face so because it's just a bit of fresh air yeah it did feel a little bit stuffy in there at times but I didn't quite understand the having the aircon on one day and not on the others because it did get quite warm in there yeah well other than that great space so another little positive it's gonna be a bit of a mix this you are going to have some tips as well coming in there our next recommendation and pro it was the shows I thought there was a great variation for families adults sort of for everyone sort of everyone's taste as well so you'd add like the water show which are spectacular and then you've had like the likes of the voices show which is a lot less showy and more about the just singing and enjoying this so you have the two two ice skating show was fantastic I thought there was really good variation and they went super quick shows either they did put quite a lot of time and effort into them they were pushing the boundaries on a lot of them as well you saw the stunts uh people diving off in the aqua show that is something very unique to Royal Caribbean you saw the ice show we saw the drones coming in on one of them as well that was really interesting the drones flying over the audience the really rare trying to push the boundaries for the shows which were all included and free for you to enjoy I hope all the cruise lines take notes of the boundaries that this Cruise Line has pushed and really up the game because again we've been on cruise and they're like oh my God what's this yeah some of them so it's need to up the game yeah so these have upped the game and it's amazing the amount of shoes that you get is amazing as well and there's only one show that's not suitable for children isn't there that's the adult show and you can't get in unless you're over 18 that was very good bit risque if you're easily offended be careful with that one but that was scored but again kids couldn't come in the other big recommendation for those shows is try and book them as early as you can on the app we struggled massively we could not get on the app and get any shows reserved we were all stressing over it we're here with the family we're all think we're going to be on different show times it's going to be a bit of a nightmare but we had a tip from some other people online some other forums that said as soon as you get on the ship try and get the earliest shot slot to get on board the ship and go straight to deck four go to the ticket box office and they will help you book your shows but getting there straight away if you want the early slots the late slots just let them know because the shows did fill in so that would be my big recommendation is to firstly try and get an early slot for boarding the minute you can check in online set a reminder on your phone the minute you can check in online and check in opens for your cruise get on there check in and pick the earliest slot that you can to get on board board the minute you're on board when you come on go straight down to deck four and go and get your show's book that you want if you haven't managed to get them done and the monster station is generally there as well so you can take off your master station as well stationed up and then once you've got your shows booked and your muscle station done you're free yeah so definitely recommend that do that that does lead us on to the app the app itself generally was okay but there is say definitely some glitches with it we found the messaging communication part of it very unreliable uh you'd send a message to a family member we're on Deck six comma meet us that family member wouldn't receive the message for an hour later we found it quite unreliable it wouldn't always ping your phone either when you did receive a message it was a bit glitchy a little bit slow as well so if you're planning on using that solely for communication with your family or friends be aware it can be a bit laggy it can be a bit slow we as a family all sort of agreed that in hindsight we should have gone old school and we should have brought a set of walkie-talkies now we see a lot of families on lot of especially American Cruisers views and walkie-talkies and never fails no it never fails them so if we were to do another cruise we probably would do walk it off because you can pay for the Wi-Fi package we're going to come on to that in a minute you can pay for the Wi-Fi but it's expensive if you wanted every family member to have it or someone from each cabin to have it it's going to add up your cheaper buying a set of walkie-talkies from Amazon and you can just radio in and find out where people are because it's a massive ship it's hard to plan where you're going to be you can get stuck in lifts for 15 minutes and then you're late and things like that so I'd probably recommend or if we did it again as a family we're a family of eight I would definitely say a set of walkie-talkies because the app for communication wasn't 100 however the app is a vital tool you will need it on your phone you'll need it to see what's going on each day and you can turn notifications on and reserve a space for like the free game shows a free um like in 15 minutes you've got this activity to do so and there was loads of activities as well yeah there was a lot going on yeah so you'll need that app it's pivotal it'll show you each day what's happening on the ship and if you like the look of something you can click it and it just adds it to your calendar and it'll remind you that you were interested in going to the art auction at three o'clock things like that and I'm gonna go on to the Wi-Fi since we've mentioned it I paid in advance for the Voom Wi-Fi package which is Elon musk's fancy satellite system Wi-Fi it's meant to be the quickest at Sea it is fast you can go on your Facebook all day long your Tick Tock you can watch YouTube Netflix it's very fast at downloading however if you want to upload it is very slow I was getting maximum 2 Meg upload on average it was about 1.4 Meg upload speed so for me I tried to upload some YouTube videos no chance it'll upload you know your Instagram posts and things but if you're planning on doing anything that involves uploading it's not quick at all and I did speak to the lady at the desk and she said that's the max that we get but in terms of download it was pretty good you do get it cheaper if you book it in advance and pay for it in advance before you get on the cruise so if you're interested in the Wi-Fi buy it in advance you can do it on your account it's slightly cheaper than buying it on board I think my sister ended up getting it on board I think she's paid about 50 more than me and but it is good you can watch your stuff on it especially if you've got kids you can you know stick the iPad on and put whatever Netflix show they like on and things like that the other thing to note with the Wi-Fi is if you've got say Laura here or one of my family members wanted to jump on the Wi-Fi every every day or every couple of days just to check their emails you can switch your accounts out from different devices so I've paid for one Wi-Fi package but I can log in and out of that Wi-Fi package so I can log out of it on my phone here and I can go on to my vlogging phone and log into it and it'll just log me out with the other one once you've paid for one package you've got that package you can log into any device with it but you can only do one device at a time so it's not worth getting someone in your family a Wi-Fi package if they're just gonna pop on because they can just log into your account on their phone yeah so every couple of days Laura uses my account logs in on a phone checks of emails checks their whatsapps and then logs back out and I log back in so you can switch in and out which saves money don't think you're going to have an account for every device or if you're happy sharing and doing a little bit of logging in and out which takes a couple of seconds you can save and just have one account for the Wi-Fi yeah to shift as a whole was really really good it was a it's a great shift there's loads of activities on it loads of up charges that you can do on the ship that you didn't even know like death cupcake decorate I didn't even know the Advent until I came on the ship so there's laser tag everything that you can think of the stuff to do so you can really get up at eight in the morning go the Wind Jammer and then have something set for all day one thing an hour it showed you away certain bands are playing with what music they were playing everything like that it was you could do anything you wanted really on this ship there was a lot and I would definitely say as well although the ship is Big it's the biggest in the world at the moment it was very easy to find your way around oh yeah we've been on smaller older ships that were more complex it's very very simple once you've been on here for a day you will easily find your way around if you struggle you've got the touch screens which you can you can even put in your room number and it'll tell you how to get back to your room very easy to navigate on every uh floor as well you have the big ship layout which is very good for the mind it does ingrain it into your head in the end of what is where on which deck and you do end up learning it quite quickly so although it's very big it probably looks very intimidating when you see the pictures and the videos you see the tours and you're like I'm never gonna remember where anything is it's a lot easier once you're on board you will find your way around the first day you get on will be a bit hectic but after that you'll soon start to learn your way around the ship take your time keep looking at the map and the little directions and you will easily work it out it's on every single lift shaft as well as what is on each deck it's dead easy to look okay there's a spa deck six click the button down on the touch screens you can say where you are and then go find this so find my room to say go flip down to levels take a left and go up yeah there is a directional feature on that which is nice this is really good so if you get really really lost and you're feeling bad assassin someone you can just go on that click find this fan Studio be fine the Promenade and it'll tell you how to find it as well yeah my other little tips that I would give make sure you bring some little bits of washing powder and things if you want to wash any clothes or swimming trunks or things just put it in the shower with you when you have a shower wash it through you've got Hangers On the little room sides here and also if you have got a balcony whether it be a sea view one or the Park View one you can hang your stuff out there it does dry very quickly especially the ocean view ones because you've got that breeze uh constantly drying your clothes so don't forget to bring a little bit of washing powder and things like that you've even got a little Lan in the bathroom and a shower as well yeah to hang stuff up so that will dry but it is quick I'm shoving on the balcony we found uh don't forget you will have gratuities added on to anything that you buy on board whether it's a massage a drink food whatever you buy on board there will be gratuities added on I mean even the robotic opportunities yes even the robotic cocktail maker got a gratuity so bear that in mind it does add up there is of course the gratuities each day as well per person per person they were 16 per person the gratuities for seven days they start going onto your account the minute you start each day the minute they you know you start they will start appearing on the app on your account feature good way to track what you've spent though that little account feature on there really good because you have to you just have to go to the desk or just put on a limit on your card and then run a Disney you'll put a 200 limit on your card so once you hit that you have to go to the desk pay it get it redone and on this one it's just you've already added in your cards so you just click on the Apple oh my God you know what the kids might be spending you can keep a good eye on it but yeah bear in mind account for those gratuities account for spending money on drinks and account for spending money on restaurants if you don't fantastic well account for it because it can add up the other thing I would recommend if you can in terms of departing the ship when you've finished your cruise we have gone for the earliest departure slot and we've also opted to take the luggage off ourselves if you can handle it if you've not brought too much luggage and you feel like you can take your own suitcases down and off the ship I would recommend doing that it's a lot less aggravation a lot less stress a lot less waiting around you've got to wait for your luggage to come off the other end and put it outside your door for it to be collected Etc we've opted we're just going to take our big case and our couple of little cases we're going to walk them off the ship ourselves we've got them nothing else to do we'll go through our passport control and straight off in the car and away we go I personally I like to get up and off the ship uh there's not much Point hanging around you can of course have your breakfast if you fancy it I think we're parsley breakfast buffeted out we're just ready to get all the nice bowl of cereal yeah as nice as the buffer is but you do get Buffet downs I'm sure a lot of people agree in the comments so we're looking forward to just getting off nice and quickly but I think that's probably everything I'll finish the video and I'll think of other things but I think we've covered most of it just prepare for those unexpected costs be prepared to spend a little bit more and bear in mind that any activity that you go to as well a lot of it they will try and upsell a little bit that's how cruise ships work so you know come down to the arcs auction you can have a free champagne that's great but when you get there obviously you're going to be trying to be sucked into buying some artwork which there was some nice artwork that I was tempted to get yes but that's how cruise ships work every cruise ship does the same the other massive credit I'll give to Royal Caribbean is they don't constantly hop down the tanoi at you they're not we've been on other cruises uh one that begins with c and my word every 10 minutes they were on the tannoy come and do this on this deck come and spend your money here come and do this Bingo there's this on this deck we still know that lady's name we could still here yeah we can all still hear because it was literally every 15 minutes yeah it was just constant come and do this come and do that here they just leave you to it if you don't check the app and see what's going on then that's up to you you won't do anything they have normally one announcement each day letting you know where we're docking um and all the little bits that are going on lots of things that I got on board yeah and stuff like that but other than that yeah it's just one little announcement and that's it but yeah we've done all the cruises whether on that tunnel all the time trying to get you to do things Royal Caribbean to be fair they just leave you to it if you want to find things on the app to do go and do it they trust that their product is good enough and that their things and their bars and their activities are good enough that you'll want to go and do them yourselves or the quick tip I nearly forgot is the uh if you want to do the wave machine yeah you should definitely try and do it early if you can as soon as it opens however we have found if you don't mind getting wet at night they have an evening session from half nine until half ten and it is dead let's go to that one yeah the young Lads who've been on that safe machine the whole holiday the whole Crews have been waking up because you can wake up levels and get extra wristbands each time so yeah if you can get on the Boogie Board yourself you get an extra wristband if you can stand don't be getting extra wristband so you'll find that those people only and it's not really people who like us too just messing around so beginners can go and you can go and do your beginner's little session but it's empty very quiet you don't get sunburned so if you're interested in that if you really want to do it go to those evening sessions it'll be empty of a daytime at like 10 11 o'clock it was very busy it was about a 45 minute wait today up to an hour uh in the sun in the heat you can't leave the line it does get busy so that was the other little recommendation I would say is that going those the pools are open as well late as well so if you want a bit of a a wet evening go and do the wave machine uh go and have a little game of mini golf go in the solarium sit in some of the hot tubs till late on and have a bit of a different night other than getting dressed up and going for dinner so again you're like a great thing about this Cruise you can get dressed up go the restaurant take all your pictures have a nice cocktail or you can sit on a pool all night yeah it just does anything for everyone the only one thing that the whole family have all agreed on yes that we've all really struggled with maybe that's because we're British we're European they're obviously appealing to an American Market massively and they're doing a good job at it but we found there was just no quiet space on the ship everywhere had music playing or a band playing or some activity going on there is no quiet bar or quiet space where you can just sit and people are talking and that's it everywhere we've been is always gonna have music playing even the solarium it's quiet but again there's music playing everywhere you go you're gonna have especially on that deck five very busy and chaotic at night time very loud with the band up above you then you go to the Promenade you've got again music playing in players in the air Playmakers you've got a lot of the time the music from the aqua theater competing with that you've got music in Johnny Rockets you'll sit inside in Johnny Rockets to escape the music of the aqua theater and the Zumba class that's going on but then they've got their own music going on so you've got both set a music happening and I think after like four days on the ship you can get a bit like I just I just need somewhere that's quiet that's what we all struggled with we were all just like where can we go that's quiet and we can sit and just have a chat as a family and that we could not find anywhere there was nowhere that you could go there's the cards room but you're not allowed to talk that's for you know very quietly playing card games there was the Diamond Lounge which was for Diamond members only which we're not part of other than that there was no quiet Lounge no quiet areas it is a very busy sort of hectic music Atmosphere but I know that's what Americans love so they're not going to cater for a probably us Brits who want that quiet space because the majority want that you know get up way music's on I mean even entering the buffet Windjammer at half six in the morning and they're like blasting out Jessie J and you're like walking in to wash your hands and it's like walking in and they have it loud It's quite full-on and but I think that's their Vibe they I think maybe the Americans love walking out and bang theirs music and we're into the atmosphere and but for me I'm like I just want a bit of Peace for half an hour while I wake up yeah so that was the main downside of the cruise for us and the ship there was just not enough quiet spaces and then the quiet space there was there was still music on and as we mentioned earlier it was extremely warm and humid in that Solarium yeah but that is going to be it from us I'm sure I'll probably think of some more but I think I've run through absolutely everything that I remembered to go through with you if you've been on the ship before please let us know your thoughts in the comments I'm sure anyone who's coming on board will want to read through your comments people have been on the ship the same as us let us know your pros and cons did you agree with our cons did you agree with our Pros I'm sure some of you will disagree and say oh no I love the music on board or we'd love to know your thoughts down in the comments and I'm sure future Cruisers will love to go through the comments section of this video yeah if you've got any hints that we've missed definitely definitely I'm sure there will be I'm sure some of you will have some Royal Caribbean inside the tips that we've completely missed yeah so do let us know it's all just to help people out who are going to be coming on at wonder of the Seas and potentially other Oasis class ships they're all very similar in theory there's a lot of tips that would apply to all Royal Caribbean Cruisers the likes of checking in early and getting on board as early as you can so let me know your thoughts down below we have got a full ship tour of Wonder of the Seas which I'll link in the description and pop up on the screen that you can click we've done a full tour and we've also got other Cruise Vlogs from each day we've done and so they are also on the channel in a playlist I'll leave those in the description as well you can watch our stop uh at a couple of other different places including perfect day at CoCo K yeah there's another one if you want to watch that Vlog there's a few tips in there again get yourself off on those Cruise stops as early as you can be ready to get off the ship if it says that they dock and the Gang weighs down at eight o'clock be ready for half seven because every stop that we did they let people off early yes definitely but thank you very much for watching hit the Thumbs Up Hit the thumbs down whichever you feel best and make sure you do subscribe it's completely free there is various cruise videos on there including our cruise Vlogs from Independence of the Seas around the Bahamas as well smaller different ship do check those out but thank you very much for watching we're gonna jump into bed now and see where we are and we're just coming up to uh West Palm Beach West Palm Beach area so that'll be us docking tomorrow in Port Canaveral and finishing our seven day cruise thank you very much and that cruise on bye guys

Channel: The Knightstrider

Views: 23,766

Keywords: Wonder of the seas, Royal caribbean, Royal caribbean cruise, Royal caribbean oasis class ship, Wonder of the seas tour, Wonder of the seas review, The KnightStrider, Royal caribbean review, Royal caribbean cruise review, Cruiseship review, Wonder of the seas restaurants, Wonder of the seas entertainment, royal caribbean experience, wonder of the seas bad, best things to do on royal caribbean, wonder of the seas zipline, wonder of the seas flow rider

Id: eHq5Li4w3e8

Length: 32min 42sec (1962 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 23 2023