Tonight’s case features ordinary people looking to book a Category 7A Deluxe Oceanview with Navigator’s Verandah Staterooms aboard the Disney Wonder. Each one is searching for that vital clue to end a story that, so far, has no ending. Perhaps you can help. Join Me. You may be able to help solve a mystery.
The unexplained – Category 7A Deluxe Oceanview with Navigator’s Verandah Staterooms aboard the Disney Wonder seemingly vanished from existence following the 2019 Alaskan season. In mid-September, I started to received emails and direct messages on our social media platforms asking if I had any idea why the 7A staterooms below are unavailable to book starting September 30, 2019.
7A – Deluxe Oceanview with Navigators Verandah
Deck 5
5132 5134 5136 5138 5140 5632 5634 5636 5638 5640
Deck 6
6134 6136 6138 6140 6142 6634 6636 6638 6640 6642
Deck 7
7120 7122 7124 7126 7128 7620 7622 7624 7626 7628
Honestly, at first, I figured something was up with DCL’s website. Then, figured it could be related to the early 2020 itinerary release. I decided to hold off and see if the staterooms in the 7A category returned. The morning booking opened to Platinum Castaway Club members, the 7A staterooms were mysteriously missing on the Wonder. At this time, the 7A category staterooms remain available for all bookable sailings aboard the Disney Magic including the last bookable sailing on 3/28/2020.
You might be wondering how can I state that there are no 7As available on the wonder beginning 9/30/2020. Well, I checked for these staterooms one by one because I obviously do not value my time.
I went out on a limb and fell directly to the ground when I chose to inquire why the 7A navigator’s verandah staterooms on the on the Wonder are missing after the 2019 Alaskan season via DCL’s online chat. The online agent told me that availability on DCL’s cruise search provides the most up to date stateroom availability. If the room is not available online, then the rooms are already booked.
It is hard to argue with this logic, but the answer is somewhat alarming considering the responses I received to the following tweet.
Anyone booked in a 7A Navigator's Verandah on the Disney Wonder AFTER the 2019 Alaskan season?
— Scott Sanders (@TheDCLBlog) October 8, 2018
I did not receive a single reply saying they have 7A booked after September 2019. I went a step further looking at the Alaskan cruises for 2019 – each sailing had category 7A staterooms available.
Aside from a few New Orleans sailings and the Hawaiian cruises, it is impossible for me to believe each and every 7A stateroom is booked from late-September 2019 into May 2020.
At this point, it is fairly obvious that something is planned during the Disney Wonder’s 2019 dry dock, but I’d like to further my point. I worked with Len and David from TouringPlans.com to determine if and when the 7A rooms disappeared. Using data from Touring Plans’ DCL Fare Tracker, it appears the 7A category has not been bookable dating back to the previous itinerary release (Fall 2019) which started with the September 30th sailing on the Wonder from Vancouver to San Diego.
The spreadsheet below shows the 7A availability for each Disney Wonder sailing begins May 5, 2019, along with fare data from TouringPlans.com for 2 Adults. The 2 Adult average is a rough average for the sailing, I simply took the average of the high and low fare. Why? I’m not sure, but it seemed like a good idea to jot this down as I went.
You do not need to be a spreadsheet guru to see the point I am trying to make. Disney Cruise Line appears to be doing something with the 7A – Deluxe Oceanview with Navigator’s Verandah staterooms aboard the Disney Wonder during the 2019 dry dock.
Finally, DCL revealed plans to convert 12 category 4A staterooms on deck 8 to concierge level Category V rooms by the September 30, 2019 sailing on the Disney Wonder. September 30th, this is the first sailing after the 2019 dry dock. The missing 7A staterooms cannot be a coincidence. Looking at the fares in the spreadsheet above, it doesn’s make sense for DCL to convert staterooms to a public or non-revenue generating space. Additionally, the location of these rooms is not a logical area of the ship for anything other than staterooms.
I could see these staterooms becoming multi-deck loft suites or something even more over the top like Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate Family Suite. However, a more realistic option would be a reclassification of these staterooms with a remodel during dry dock that would encapsulate the Navigator’s Veranda to accommodate an additional passengers in these staterooms. If you look at the navigator’s verandah below, it would appear you could pop in a porthole, finish the wall and pop in a murphy bed to add additional guest capacity to the room.
Evidence suggests dry dock changes, but the trail of clues ran cold. Thus, leaving us with an unsolved mystery. I contacted DCL about the status of the 30, category 7A, Disney Wonder staterooms missing for 38 sailings beginning September 30, 2019, through May 8, 2020. Frankly, I do not expect to hear back on this based on the suspicion this has something to do with an unannounced dry dock enhancement. If I do receive a reply, I will update this post.
What can explain the vanishing 7A staterooms? Overactive Imagineering? A quest for more concierge level rooms? Or something more intangible, something wrong with DCL’s booking engine?
Are the Disney Wonder 7A staterooms gone for good after Alaska 2019? We cannot say yes, but we cannot say no.
For every mystery, someone somewhere knows the truth. Perhaps that someone is reading this blog post. Perhaps it’s you.
If you have any information about this unsolved mystery case let us know in the comments below, or send us an email using the link at the top of the page if you prefer to remain anonymous.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Case of the Missing Disney Wonder 7A Deluxe Oceanview with Navigator’s Verandah Staterooms. What do you think will happen to these rooms? What do you want to happen to the 7A staterooms?
Are any of the adjacent rooms (eg 7118) available? I’m wondering if they are converting these to 1 BR suites, or similar? I would think that a 2W dry dock is not sufficient time to do much structural work (creation of double decker suites)
Just a guess, but I think they are going to close them off and make Deluxe Family Oceanview Rooms (porthole) that hold 5 people. They have catagory 8 on the Dream and Fantasy and none on the Magic and Wonder.
Just off the Disney Magic this morning. I inquired and was given the standard they are all booked – the first rooms to sell out. Yet no one has a reservation for one that I can find. It has to be a downgrade change of category, otherwise, why not let people book and “receive an upgrade” like they did with the prior concierge conversions?
I laughed out loud at “I obviously do not value my time.” I am sure that whatever DCL is doing with those rooms, it is in their best interest of making more money! Isn’t that why they would convert more rooms to concierge? To charge more? I have never stayed in a 7A but I know people love that room category. But if Disney can convert it to a different category and charge more, then there you go. Sadly. But I guess we’ll have to see once the mystery is solved.
Scott,
The biggest wildcard in this mystery is the two week dry dock time. Unless they throw people out of their rooms on the last Alaska cruise, there’s not much significant they could do in that time frame. Even enclosing with a port hole would be no small task.
We have two 7A cabins booked in early April 2019 out of San Diego so I can poke around and see if I can find any answers.
If the mystery isn’t solved by April 2019, then Chris you should ask your cabin attendant. Tell him/her that the 7A rooms all appear to be missing from future booking options and you are wondering if that means that they won’t be offering those rooms in the future. They may not have known before but they might be able to find out while you are sailing on that cruise, Chris. If I were that attendant and a guest told me that a bunch of rooms wouldn’t be sold, I’d want to find out what might eat into my future income potential.
Unfortunately even if you work for DCL you will never know what’s going. Not until dry dock anyways.
I have one of these rooms booked late August 2019. Perhaps I will get some detail then.
Probably getting upgraded in space and price for the 1%. Disney isn’t for kids anymore, just wealthy scum.
I really have no insight to add, but just wanted to say that I think this is my favorite post by you EVER!
Thanks Lynette.
I hope they don’t get rid of the Navigators. I actually love this category on the Magic and Wonder. It’s so unique.
That we would be a shame if they got rid of them We had one on our trip to Alaska and it was ideal for the weather we had. It gives you extra shelter from the rain and cold weather that happens more often than not on an Alaskan cruise. Thoroughly enjoyed it at Tracy Arm in particular.
What about the four Category 7A staterooms that have the regular plexiglass veranda? Seems like it would take more work to convert those into porthole staterooms.
Do those staterooms show up in some other category? Is there a way to book by stateroom and not by category, to see if they’re reclassified?
John,
I spent way too much time searching for the rooms for sailings after dry dock.
We’re on the Wonder for the Vancouver to SD repositioning cruise right after dry dock. And our room is 7618 which is next to 7620. Someone remind me to take pics when we get closer.
I bet they are converting them to 6A and some to Handicap Accessible since they have so few
Handicap cabins.
Rumor is more concierge rooms from what I have heard from people I know.
I just booked 5140 7A for WBPC
We just booked 6136 for the WBPC while we were on the Fantasy
Hi Ken, see this follow-up post.
Just a heads up! I was able to book a Cat 7A room on the Wonder for the 2020 NOLA WBPC cruise! Looks like they just released the rooms within the past hour!
I just booked a 7A 5140 on the WBPC 3/2020…saved almost $600 from the 5146 room I had.
I’m looking into a Cat 9A Accessible for an Alaskan itinerary the summer of 2020. The entire summer of HA 9As are “sold out”. Do you really think that is possible? Or could this be phase two of your mystery?
Oh, and this was from the second day of booking when Gold CC members are able to book.
I just booked Cat 7A 7620 for 3/2020
I just booked 7128 on Wonder for 12/15/2020 sailing
I have a 7A room 5138 for a November cruise on wonder ?♀️
Was there ever a determination on what happened here? We just booked a 7A on the Wonder for 5/2021 and it appears that the rooms are not only “still there” but no different than they ever were.
Was it possible that Disney was waiting for the Dry Dock to evaluate some possible changes that ended up not being feasible?
What about the possibility that they chose an arbitrary date and simply didn’t offer the 7A rooms at initial offering for the cruise? Since these are less expensive room options and popular, DCL could have been “forcing” early bookings into more expensive rooms. That would not only put more money into their coiffers on Day 1, but it would also help raise the cabin costs for those cheaper cabins when they WERE released.
Didn’t hear anything. I still suspect, there were dry dock plans that got scrapped.
Don’t know if this solves the mystery, but we booked room 7620 in 2020 for sailing to Alaska in May of 2021. The cruise was cancelled because of covid. We had the opportunity to reschedule our cruise to 2022 in Mar 2021. Maybe the rooms were seen as unavailable when the booking window opened up because there were others like us that had to reschedule the cruises that were cancelled.