Royal Caribbean International, Wonder of the Seas, Mediterranean Review

The Wonder of the Seas is a beautiful ship and sets the bar high for other ships - we loved so many elements of it however it is not without its faults - biggest issue from our viewpoint was the sofa bed in the family cabin - with small children we like to sit on the balcony with a drink once they are asleep however the cabin layout makes it virtually impossible as the sofa bed completely blocks all access to the balcony once it is open so the only option is to walk across the bed itself and risk waking sleeping children. it also blocks the fridge and the drawers making getting ready in the morning difficult- MSC use collapsible bunk beds which are far more practical! Having not cruised with RCL since having children what took us by surprise was the price of everything - particularly compared to other cruise lines - drinks packages were far too expensive to justify for light drinkers like us but individual prices were extortionate. The excursion prices were the same - no reduction for children so a day trip to Rome with RCL would have cost almost $1000 - we did it on the train for €27 for all of us and in Italy children under 12 have free entry virtually everywhere! We did prebuy the soda package which was worth it and the photo package which was also good - definitely prebuy anything as it is a genuine saving against on board prices - soda pack cost £8 pre buy against $15 dollars on board. There were reduced numbers on board so queuing for things was not too bad and we got into all the shows we wanted easily - not sure how it would be with full capacity! we saw both the best show and the worst show we have seen over 50+ cruises - the best was the water show absolutely fantastic and the worst was the Tap Factory which was boring and monotonous and featured a sickening contortionist which caused many to walk out! Overall we loved the ship, the crew were lovely and we had fantastic service but it would have to be an incredibly good deal to get us back with RCL due to the very high prices and all the extras once on board.