A few changes on Disney Wonder

[mcd2745]

I would prefer they add the extra performances after second seating dinner (show before dinner is just backwards to me). However, I assume there wouldn't be too many others in the the theater with me.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Our December cruise on the Wonder did not have any repeat shows, but did have Pirates IN the Caribbean at 7:30 PM. It was a bit of a rush to go from show to deck party to late dining, but we didn't mind. The biggest issue was having a five-year-old who sobbed through the final 20 minutes of Coco and then trying to get her to perk up for the party.

 

[mareed]

If they're going to do repeat stage shows, they should add a daily matinee rather than a repeat for the evening show, IMO. I prefer having new main stage entertainment of some sort every evening, whether it be a stage show, a movie or an entertainer.

Yes, I immediately made that suggestion of having a matinee to the cruise director during my discussion and she said there were crew scheduling issues with that option (but didn't get into specifics).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes, I immediately made that suggestion of having a matinee to the cruise director during my discussion and she said there were crew scheduling issues with that option (but didn't get into specifics).

Well, then, adding a 3rd (late) show after second dinner would be the next compromise.

 

[Pens Fan]

I was on this Wonder cruise where Natalie (cruise director) said they were testing the duplicate shows for the 3 Broadway shows (Golden Mickeys, Frozen, Dreams) for the first time. She said it was because there wasn't enough capacity in the Walt Disney Theatre for everyone to see the performance with just 2 shows.

This confuses me. I'm not discounting that she told you that, just questioning the truthfulness of what she said. We have never had any trouble finding a seat in the theater for the shows, and we aren't the type to show up 30 minutes in advance. We usually slip in 5 or 10 minutes before hand and always find a good seat. I know that in the past when they offered a newer show or if they were showing a movie that they anticipated being popular in the WD Theater, they would offer a matinee to accommodate the crowds. If theater capacity was actually an issue, I think we'd have been reading about it on these boards for years, and we haven't.

I think it's more of a staffing issue, rather than a theater issue. It's not as if the WD Theater suddenly shrank.

 

[AquaDame]

Our December cruise on the Wonder did not have any repeat shows, but did have Pirates IN the Caribbean at 7:30 PM. It was a bit of a rush to go from show to deck party to late dining, but we didn't mind. The biggest issue was having a five-year-old who sobbed through the final 20 minutes of Coco and then trying to get her to perk up for the party.

Oh, that reminded me.. what happens to the buffet in Cabanas when the pirates in the caribbean festivities are so early? Do they still do it even though half the people are still full from dinner and the other half are heading TO dinner? Or do they scrap it?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oh, that reminded me.. what happens to the buffet in Cabanas when the pirates in the caribbean festivities are so early? Do they still do it even though half the people are still full from dinner and the other half are heading TO dinner? Or do they scrap it?

I believe the buffet would still be after the late dinner seating. In the past, they've closed one side of Cabanas for dinner (only seating on one side), and that side was the one set up for the pirate buffet later.

 

[gotomu212]

I was on the Fantasy when they did the double shows and wanted to share that they did NOT sacrifice on varieties- in fact it was the opposite. During the shows they ALSO had variety acts in the club at the same time. For people who have seen the shows multiple cruises there was actually other things to see and enjoy if you didn’t want to see the shows this cruise which we really liked.

The other thing we liked and talked to the CD was that the variety shows during the other shows were a little more interactive.

We have started to dislike cruising multiple times because we felt like there weren’t a lot of options and we were paying a lot for repeat shows and repeat menus. it was see the WD act, go to the trivia/game/then go to dinner/followed by adult show. This last trip we had multiple options before dining between the game or variety or WD show.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

During the shows they ALSO had variety acts in the club at the same time.

But here's the issue, the club isn't as large as the theater. If someone has seen the show in the WDT and wants to see the individual entertainers on a night that's a repeat show there, you have to get to the club really early to get any kind of a decent seat there for the shows there.

And, what about kids? Mostly they don't want to see the individual entertainers, but you're going to take up space (in a limited venue) with your child so you can see the entertainer and not the production show?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I was on the Fantasy when they did the double shows and wanted to share that they did NOT sacrifice on varieties- in fact it was the opposite. During the shows they ALSO had variety acts in the club at the same time. For people who have seen the shows multiple cruises there was actually other things to see and enjoy if you didn’t want to see the shows this cruise which we really liked.

The other thing we liked and talked to the CD was that the variety shows during the other shows were a little more interactive.

We have started to dislike cruising multiple times because we felt like there weren’t a lot of options and we were paying a lot for repeat shows and repeat menus. it was see the WD act, go to the trivia/game/then go to dinner/followed by adult show. This last trip we had multiple options before dining between the game or variety or WD show.

Ok...thanks for posting. We will see how we like things NEXT WEEK!

 

[mareed]

I was on the Fantasy when they did the double shows and wanted to share that they did NOT sacrifice on varieties- in fact it was the opposite. During the shows they ALSO had variety acts in the club at the same time. For people who have seen the shows multiple cruises there was actually other things to see and enjoy if you didn’t want to see the shows this cruise which we really liked.

The other thing we liked and talked to the CD was that the variety shows during the other shows were a little more interactive.

We have started to dislike cruising multiple times because we felt like there weren’t a lot of options and we were paying a lot for repeat shows and repeat menus. it was see the WD act, go to the trivia/game/then go to dinner/followed by adult show. This last trip we had multiple options before dining between the game or variety or WD show.

On the Wonder last week, 2 of the variety acts had matinee performances (during the same time as Mixology that we really wanted to do, so we could only choose to go to 1), and the other 2 variety acts had their shows in the smaller venue at the same time as Disney's musicals so only a small portion of people fit in there, and view is not great for many. They were broadcasting in the Pub for overflow seating, which is totally unacceptable to me - they should schedule in the larger venue so everyone who wants to can see the variety acts! We attended the 2nd showing of 2 of Disney's featured shows (Frozen & Dreams) and they were half-full at best and audience participation and response wasn't at the usual level.

 

[mareed]

This confuses me. I'm not discounting that she told you that, just questioning the truthfulness of what she said. We have never had any trouble finding a seat in the theater for the shows, and we aren't the type to show up 30 minutes in advance. We usually slip in 5 or 10 minutes before hand and always find a good seat. I know that in the past when they offered a newer show or if they were showing a movie that they anticipated being popular in the WD Theater, they would offer a matinee to accommodate the crowds. If theater capacity was actually an issue, I think we'd have been reading about it on these boards for years, and we haven't.

I think it's more of a staffing issue, rather than a theater issue. It's not as if the WD Theater suddenly shrank.

Frozen on the Wonder is the only show where I've seen that there might be issue with having a seat for everyone who wants to see it, and I suspect it could be that way on other ships for the newest show. Offering a matinee for this show only seems to be the obvious solution, but for some reason that's not possible, so perhaps only offer that one show on 2 nights and leave the others on one night, and have the featured variety acts in the large theatre on some of the nights at least!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Frozen on the Wonder is the only show where I've seen that there might be issue with having a seat for everyone who wants to see it, and I suspect it could be that way on other ships for the newest show. Offering a matinee for this show only seems to be the obvious solution, but for some reason that's not possible, so perhaps only offer that one show on 2 nights and leave the others on one night, and have the featured variety acts in the large theatre on some of the nights at least!

Another good option!

 

[abuck75]

Another change I’m not fond of is no paper navigator the night before.

Seem to be driving all to the app. I get it but both concierge lounge and guest services didn’t have tonight. I must be old fashion because I liked to circle my list for Santa in the Montgomery Ward’s catalog.

That said, we are having a lovely trip.

 

[lklgoodman]

Another change I’m not fond of is no paper navigator the night before.

Seem to be driving all to the app. I get it but both concierge lounge and guest services didn’t have tonight. I must be old fashion because I liked to circle my list for Santa in the Montgomery Ward’s catalog.

That said, we are having a lovely trip.

We set sail on the Wonder this Sunday. I won't like the no paper navigator either. We put our phones in the safe and keep them there until we disembark. I have no interest in the app. I plan on asking our cabin host for the paper navigator when we first meet, hope we are able to get it each night.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Would like paper navigator, did get used to the much smaller version.

I miss things sometimes on the app.

 

[mareed]

Another change I’m not fond of is no paper navigator the night before.

Seem to be driving all to the app. I get it but both concierge lounge and guest services didn’t have tonight. I must be old fashion because I liked to circle my list for Santa in the Montgomery Ward’s catalog.

That said, we are having a lovely trip.

abuck75, Is this from you on the current Wonder cruise that departed Feb. 25? The previous week's wonder cruise sill had the 1 page Navigator that was passed out in cabin each night and available at guest services. Have they now totally eliminated the paper navigator as of this week? I sure hope not! While the duplicate shows 2 nights in a row meant you really needed to look ahead in the app if you wanted to try to see all of the featured performers, I still used the paper one to highlight and pull out during the day.

 

[steph12]

I believe the buffet would still be after the late dinner seating. In the past, they've closed one side of Cabanas for dinner (only seating on one side), and that side was the one set up for the pirate buffet later.

If you look at past navigators, when they do the early pirate show there is NO buffet on pirates night. They did this on the Magic and we were so disappointed!

 

[gotomu212]

But here's the issue, the club isn't as large as the theater. If someone has seen the show in the WDT and wants to see the individual entertainers on a night that's a repeat show there, you have to get to the club really early to get any kind of a decent seat there for the shows there.

And, what about kids? Mostly they don't want to see the individual entertainers, but you're going to take up space (in a limited venue) with your child so you can see the entertainer and not the production show?

That just wasn’t our experience (not saying your point couldn’t be valid but that’s not what happened on our cruise). The clubs had plenty of seating for the showtime variety acts to the point that people were walking in and getting seats after it started. The adult only shows were full but not the duplicate showtimes.

As far as kids- our 10 year old and our adjacent table (quasi table mates) kid loved it. As I said the variety acts were a lot more interactive than the normal WD variety acts can be. Buckets and Boards even did a workshop just for the kids during one of the duplicate show days where all the kids got to come on stage.

Everyone has different likes but the kids in our extended family have always preferred the magicians/ventriloquist/hypnotist over the Broadway shows so I don’t know if it’s fair to say most kids don’t like them and would be taking up an empty seat (wouldn’t you just let your kid go to the kids club if they didn’t like the show for the night anyway?).

It’s not going to be for everyone but I’m really glad we got to give it a try because we really liked it (and I was nervous when I heard about it the first time)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you look at past navigators, when they do the early pirate show there is NO buffet on pirates night. They did this on the Magic and we were so disappointed!

Disney Magic Navigator Dec 14, 2016: Pirates in the Caribbean Part at 7:30pm. Cabanas Pirate Buffet 10:15-11:00 pm

So they did used to do it. But seems to have been eliminated on those cruises. Sad.

Question, if the Pirate party was at 7:30 were the fireworks early also?