Review: Wonder of the Seas
Ship: Wonder of the Seas
Class: Oasis Class
Sailing Dates: July 6-13, 2025
Home Port: Cape Canaveral (Orlando), FL
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean International
Wonder of the Seas, the 5th vessel in the award-winning Oasis Class from Royal Caribbean, was absolutely a wonder in the cruising world! Marking my 10th cruise overall, I booked this cruise for one specific reason: my 32nd birthday! Yes, July 9th happened to be during the week of the cruise, stopping in St. Thomas for the day. Spending my birthday on my favorite cruise line, favorite class of ships while sharing it with one of my best friends? Hell yeah!
Besides dealing with a migraine on the second night (went to bed around 8:30pm), my time spent onboard Wonder of the Seas was incredible. In January of 2024, the same friend and I sailed on the 4th Oasis Class ship, Symphony of the Seas, on an eight-night cruise to the Southern Caribbean. At that time, I though Symphony was the peak of her class: design tweaks to existing spaces, quality of the food, décor and friendliest crew ever. However, my opinion hasn’t changed…mostly. In my humble honesty, Symphony and Wonder might just be at a tie for defining the class that changed the cruise industry forever all the way back in 2009 with the old faithful Oasis of the Seas.
What makes Wonder so great? Is it the new designs of the solarium, the Crown, the 8th neighborhood Suite Sundeck (I’ve never booked a suite on a ship), a larger, relocated Windjammer café on a lower deck encompassing the Boardwalk? All of the above, plus the crew and food! If only all the Oasis ships had Izumi In The Park, a walk-up sushi window only on Utopia of the Seas, and all the Icon Class ships.
There is one restaurant on this cruise we did not enjoy as much: Hooked Seafood, located above the Solarium Bistro. On paper, sounds delicious right? New England-style feel offering countless seafood dishes. Reality? Our meals tasted…okay. Fresh? No. Cold? No, but not warm, either. Felt like leftovers from the previous night. Not to mention the lack of flavor and plate appeal. I do not recommend Hooked Seafood.
Another restaurant worth talking about is The Mason Jar, southern cuisine only found on three ships: Wonder, Utopia, and the recently amplified Allure of the Seas. Unlike the leftover seafood joint mentioned previously, The Mason Jar delivered beyond expectations, primarily for my best friend who had not eaten here before. It completely slipped my mind how large the serving portions are for all the plates: appetizers, main entrees and dessert. Other than this, the cuisine was very tasty, filled with complimenting flavors, plate appeal, and definitely was all served hot and fresh, no leftover vibes. Standout meals: Ceasar salad, chicken sandwich, and fried Oreos for dessert! Yum!
Given this was my birthday cruise, I booked a sight-seeing excursion on my birthday on the island of St. Thomas, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Our tour was riding in an open-air bus with a roof thank goodness, due to the high humidity and temperatures of the Caribbean this time of the year. Next time, I’m packing my portable neck fan. The wind cooled us down a little, so we were not miserable. We experienced breath-taking views of the island and Atlantic ocean from various heights on the island’s mountains, including an area where you could spot the British Virgin Islands with the assistance of an informational diagram of that particular spot in the Caribbean. I highly recommend The Panoramic St. Thomas Island Tour, booked through the cruise line!
Returning to the ship and showering, we dined at the famous Chops Grille for my birthday dinner, located in my all-time favorite neighborhood of the ship: Central Park. My wagyu six-ounce filet, paired with sauteed mushrooms and fancy steak sauce was heaven to my taste buds. Never a dull meal at Chops. Treating myself with dessert, the Red Velvet cake is a great selection, along with the New York Cheesecake my friend devoured in a matter of seconds. A perfect meal to an amazing birthday. Still can’t believe I’m in my 30s.
I can’t end this review without mentioning one, crazy night onboard in the Studio B ice rink venue: The Quest; an adult-only game which was…insane! As an autistic person, the game was riveting yet overstimulating simultaneously, due to all the crowd screaming mostly. Yet, the game was so entertaining I was actually having a great time. My friend volunteered as one of the team captains for our section, so I also stayed for moral support! He owned his role and should be team captain again for the next cruise Quest game show. No spoilers of the show of course, not going to ruin the experience so go watch it, as it’s free, as they also require you to tap your Sea Pass in order to enter, verifying you are over 18.
Retiring to the cabin after the game show, I stayed there to recharge and recover from being overstimulated by the deafening screaming of the crowd interactions. Speaking of, the cabins on Wonder are the best in the class. As someone who has cruised on Oasis ships time and time again, these cabins on Wonder have been tweaked just enough to provide more living space while not sacrificing storage. Our configuration had the bed next to the balcony and the sofa closest to the entry door (the ideal layout if you ask me). The bathroom is your typical Royal cabin bathroom, complete with tube shower. The highlight of our cabin was the fact our balcony overlooked Central Park. We sat out there on most nights listening to the peaceful life music played in the park all the way down on deck eight from deck 12. Tip: do not book a cabin on deck 14, as you will be directly below the pool deck, too noisy.
Another fun, last note. We docked next to Celebrity Beyond, twice! Once in St. Thomas and the second in St. Maartin. I found this amusing for two reasons. Last year when I sailed on the Beyond for the first time on Celebrity Cruises, we docked next to Wonder of the Seas at Perfect Day at CocoCay (pronounced Key). It just so happens my next cruise in October will be back on the Celebrity Beyond, a trip I booked a couple of months before my birthday cruise! Looking forward to trying Celebrity for a second time!
All in all, I highly recommend Wonder of the Seas, a beautiful ship which is in fact, a wonder in the cruise industry!
Written by: William Spencer
P.S. We were on one of the last seven night sailings, as Wonder has recently begun 3 and 4 night sailings…bummer. (Wonder is now sailing out of Miami)