Magic to The Med Report VERY LONG

[AuntyBrat]

Ok, here is my review:
Details: Laura & Jeannine 44 & 39 and holding. Third Disney cruise, second 14 days cruise with DCL. Pin Cruise and Panama Canal East bound are our previous cruises. Booked a Cat 12, free bump to a cat 9, upgraded at port to a cat 5. First cruise without our kids. This cruise only had at 60% capacity and only about 200 kids on board. The lack of people was evident but nice. This was a Trans Atlantic reposition cruise taking the Disney Magic to Barcelona Spain for it's summer season cruising the Med. It was a 14 day cruise, departing May 12, 2007 and returning by air on May 26. 2007. Departed Port Canaveral, with stops at Castaway Cay (DCL's private island), Canary Islands, Cadiz, Gibraltar, and Barcelona.
Wows- *****Having Shutters (ships photographers) go out with all the guided shore excursions. (they may have gone out with the 'on your own' excursions, but I wasn't on those, so could not say) They took great professional photos of anyone who wanted one at all the different stops and places. They actually saved a one excursions from being a total loss. Once they realized that you wanted them to take your picture, they did a good job of finding spots and getting great shots. They also did a fantastic job of trying to group all your shots from that day together, rather than all over the place on the boards. Made it much easier to find. We did not plan on buy many photos but ended up about $200 each on photos because they were so good. This is the first time DCL has done this and they plan on doing it in the future. This service exceeded out expectations. Include more money in your budget for this folks!!
***** Having DCL staff members go along on tours as assistant guides. They were dressed in golden mustard yellow shirts, and were great at helping to keep groups together. In my case, after my group left me, finding that shirt and staying with another group until we found mine was a real godsend! They were helpful and easy to spot. Totally hit the mark with this!
***** Fireworks show in Barcelona. We arrived the night before we were to enter the docks and they did a fireworks show that knocked everyone's socks off. We have been to Disneyland and Disney World and this show put them all to shame! The timing of the fireworks with the music on the ship. It gave us goosebumps. Also Shutters rented helicopters and took photos of the fireworks from the air. It was totally awe inspiring to see it in person and then get the photos of it. Barcelona television was also on hand and broadcast it live on their late night news.
The Good:
This cruise had a 90% repeat guest ration. So you had true DCL lovers on this cruise. There were the usual stupid people that you get anywhere, but, all in all, the folks were great.
Don 'Ducky' Williams was on board and did three adult/family shows and then several with the various kids groups. He was also on our dining rotation. A nicer man you could not want to meet. There was also a Park West auction of several of his personal pieces, and frankly, people went nuts. He offered personalize each piece for anyone who won. Also, on our last day we ran into him in line at guest services, because someone missed their signing with him, and he can down to sign it for them. What a true gentleman.
Signings: In the past signings with artists like Mr. Williams were a kind of free for all. This time, when you got your lithograph you also got an assigned date and time period for your deck. There were also limitation to how many pieces you could get signed. And guess what, they enforced it. We were on the first day of signing and people who tried to get in line early were turned away if they didn't have their card or if their card had another date/time. This made the lines move and didn't overwhelm the artist.
Mystery at Sea: We did the one on the Panama Canal crossing (East Bound) and while we enjoyed it, we were a little under whelmed. This one was a total turn around. It was clever and you had to pay attention. Only 5 people won, but everyone got a prize for playing (DCL Magnifying glass). Really nice job and kept out attention during those long sea days
When Mickey Dreams: This was the new Cirque style show that prem'Eared' on this voyage. Let me start by saying that I am not a big Cirque show type fan, and they were doing this on a ship that was in 20 foot swells and strong winds. That being said, they did a great job. Some small problems, but nothing to detract. No one we talked to hated in, and most people enjoyed it to loved it. Will be interesting to see it again on the West Bound Panama Cruise next year.
Cast Members: We found our previous stateroom hostess and we caught up with her. Also our previous dining room server recognized us on Castaway Cay and we saw them both several times through out our cruise. Alex in Palo's was wonderful and we asked for him each time we dined there. Our dining room server, assistant server and head server were all great, and really tried to help work out the food problems we had.
The Bad:
DCL really planned on good weather for this cruise, and mother nature did NOT cooperate. 6 days at sea with overcast conditions, rain, some thunderstorms, 13-20 foot rough seas and moderate gale force winds all worked at keeping people in their rooms on bonine and naps. I don't think anyone came back with a tan on this cruise. Because of the bad weather, it really took it's toll on planned activities on the deck. DCL could not control the weather, but they could have used better sense.
The Mouse 2.0 party was postponed one day and went ahead with the next. The weather was not that much better, but they held it outside anyway. Now here is a hint for all of you planning a BBQ and wondering if you should bring it in, if the wind is strong enough to blow the food off of your plate (not the plate,but the food it self) you should probably move it in. If it starts raining hard enough that you have to drag the costumed characters in before they become water logged, you should probably move it in. When people are riding boogie boards in the new 'wave pools' you should probably move it in. Same thing with the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party. When the table linens are blowing off and becoming water logged from the pool water sloshing out, you should probably NOT have it outside. They did go ahead with the fireworks and it seemed a little shorted, but that could have been a factor of the wind.
What is a cruise without a discussion about the food. On our two previous cruises, we ate like there was no tomorrow and enjoyed dang near every bite. Wonderful food that we could not get enough of. There was always something that sounded tasty on the menu and we looked forward to 2 nights with lobster, sadly, this was not to be on this cruise. Now, I am willing to admit that food is really an area where subjection comes into the mix. So let me tell you about our table mates. Don & Debbie were on their first Disney cruise, while Alan was on his 9th and Tyler on his 2nd. We were on our third. We also met people on the disboards and in the dining rooms who had all sorts of DCL food experience and without a doubt the rating on the food generally fell into the poor range. Including the deserts. Some nights were good, and I can only think of one that fell into the excellent category. At first we chalked it up to having late dining and getting warmed up, held over food. They we compared comments with early dining folks and nope, it was that bad for them too. Funky food stuffs that I was willing to try because, hey it was free and if I didn't like it, I could always order something else. Not good, to down right nasty tended to be the watch word. In fact, several people likened the appetizers to those that you can buy at Costco/Sam's Club that should have been deep fried but got microwaved to rubber instead. We finally gave up on most of the deserts since apparently they got a deal on dates and figs and we were not really into those. Most nights we just got bowls of mixed berries with whipped cream for desert. To give you an idea of how bad the food was, I lost weight on this cruise, and I went to dinner every night!!! We only got lobster on the last night and it was not great. They did do a much better job on beef for this cruise, however, you can only have a rib eye so many nights. Most of the fish was over cooked and the side dishes were rather bland. They still did killer risotto and on some nights that is all we had for dinner. Our servers and the Head Server really tried to make it work for us. However, they were stymied by the kitchen staff. As usually they got to know our likes and dislikes and tried to steer us to what we would enjoy. However, some nights, they could only recommend one thing, and even then, they knew we probably wouldn't like it. We got the same feedback from fellow cruisers. We tried to be excited about the menus and trying new things, but on more than one occasion we looked at the dinner menu and said, hmmm wonder if we can get into Palo's and we went there instead. On previous cruises it was a belly buster because we wanted to eat at both, sadly not this time.
Soda was another problem on this cruise. Apparently about 2 days out from Castaway Cay they realized they were going to run out the carbonation for the soda machines so they cut back on it dramatically. The results was 6 days of flat soda from all dispenser locations until we got to Cadiz. Your only alternative was to pay for a can at the bar, or do what we did and had a 12 pack delivered to our stateroom as part of a wine/gift package. When the shipboard doctor is recommending regular soda to help calm seasick stomachs and all you can get is flat, people were getting upset. Bad job DCL!!!
The Ugly:
With a returning guest ratio of 90% on this cruise, you would think that DCL would make sure they were running like a well oiled machine. WRONG!!!! Lots and lots of new cast members fresh from DCL's indoctrination camp, where the spam answer is always the right answer. Now, I realize that DCL has rules about LE merchandise and how it is distributed. Generally one per family/stateroom. In the past, we know this and have gone to guest services because we are two families in one stateroom, and after verifying this with guest services, there were not any problems further on. Housekeeping got two items for the room and everyone was happy, not this cruise. It was more like No Guest Services. Let me give you some examples:
On our first night we got one Castaway Club gift we went down to No Guest Services (NGS in future) to explain about being two separate families, both returning cruisers in the same stateroom. The only answer we got was one per stateroom, no matter what. After going around and around, we finally left and thought we will try this again later. Next day, new person and same ole same ole. We are getting really frustrated now. But we decided to head off to Castaway Cay, enjoy the day and deal with it before dinner.
Castaway Cay has a post office so you can send home cards with it's stamp. We arrived on a Sunday and shock of shocks, the post office was closed, with a sign to go to guest services. No problemo, we have bought stamps as guest services before. So we get in line and listen to the following conversation:
Guest "I need to buy stamps for my post cards"
NGS CM: 'The post office is on the island'
Guest 'I know but they are closed and had a sign saying to buy them here'
NGS CM 'You need to buy them on the island'
Guest 'But the post office is closed'
NGS CM 'Perhaps they are open now'
Guest 'They are closed all day Sunday'
NGS CM 'You will have to try the post office sir'
No, I am not kidding. Finally, a gal came out of the back to help us, and yes, she can sell us postage, and they have a system for it. We then tell her about the 3 other conversations going on down the way with the other CM. She walks down and starts straightening them out about the postage. So we take care of our stuff, and when we ask the CM what was going on, she tells us that she is the only experienced one, the other 5 GS CM are all new and this is their FIRST cruise!!! This was the case throughout the cruise. Brand new people on their first cruise, and man did it show. We asked again about our CC gift and she looked up our stateroom and could find nothing about it. She put in another request, but told us that she didn't see why there should be a problem.
Monday, first day at sea and after dinner we come back from dinner to find ONE commemorative book on the Trans Atlantic crossing. We called NGS again and got the parroted one per stateroom phrase and hung up. This was getting rediculous. We ran into our stateroom hostess friend again, and told her the problem. She said to ask for the NGS manager and tell her we were tired of wasting our precious vacation time having to deal with this. In a 48 hour period we had to make 6 trips to guest services about CC gifts, missing luggage, stateroom credit, etc... So we go down and ask for the manager. We got Nicole. And boy did Nicole get us. We went through the whole thing, and asked, how were we supposed to share this stuff? Mail it back and forth or cut it in half? Poor Nicole then said this has never happened before. Told her, yes it had, all the time and specifically on the PC cruises. Her answer was that she needed to research it and get back to us. (We found out she was brand new too...UGH) We eventually got 2 CC gifts and two of everything else after that but it was exhausting to have to spend so much time dealing with NGS.
Housekeeping- Our first cruise stateroom host was a ghost who kept our room spotless and totally organized. Our second cruise hostess was a doll who became our friend, and again, kept our room spotless and cleaned up after two tween girls. This time our hostess was brand new (shock!!) and did a fair to poor job. Did not dust, hung up dirty towels off the floor (how do I know? Because of the face makeup/lipstick left on it, from the toilet bathroom floor and seeing it in the shower bathroom), and since toilets on a cruise ship do not have a lot of water, they need to be cleaned frequently. Ours wasn't and we actually had toilet truffles growing. Same with the shower. Also, I understand that DCL went to larger spa bath products, but if I use the product up, throw the empties in the trash, why should I have to ask you to replace them? Shouldn't you have don't it on your own? Also, if there is only a square or two left on the roll of toilet paper, put a new one, don't make me do it. And we heard the same complaint from friends in concierge. And instead of apologizing for it, the housekeeping managers defended them or made excuses for them. Frankly, we felt like we got motel 6 service for a DCL price. Is DCL trying to lower expectations of their guests for the future? Also, most of the experienced cast members were getting off in Barcelona and starting their 8 weeks off before they would sign a new contract. Most of them did not know if they would be offered a contract because management has been playing fast and loose with them. They also know with their experience they could get jobs on any other cruiseline. Perhaps DCL is trying to get ready of their possibly more expensive experienced cast members to make room for cheaper newer cast members. Who knows, but the whole experience was a shock after our two previous cruises.
At breakfast of our last morning, we were all discussing our surveys and even Alan with 9 Disney cruises under his belt, said this was the first time he did not give excellent marks across the board and actually give many poor marks or wrote in that they needed a level lower than poor. We are currently already booked for the WB Panama Canal cruise for 2008 and rebooked on board, before things got worse and worse. However, we are seriously reconsidering this in the face of this cruise and how bad it was. I am waiting to hear from our friend to see what happened with the contract renewals for herself and other cast members. If they were not renewed, we will probably cancel everything, because the writing is on the wall that DCL is going into the toilet.
Excursions:
We have always booked our excursions through DCL. And we always got what was described in the write up, and even if we didn't like it, we got what we paid for. This cruise was a tad different for many reasons, so consider the following as a word of warning and/or advice:
Out of 3 all day and 1 half day excursion, we only had one full day excursion that was an absolute wreck and in our case it was the tour guides fault. Other people with different guides got the whole package, we didn't. This was in Seville and it was just awful, with that said, let me give you some things to keep in mind:
Age appropriateness: Lots of these excursions are all day (8 hours plus) and very historical in nature. They include longish bus rides, waiting in lines, listening to guides and the ability to be quite so other people can hear the guide. People took very young children on these tours and it ruined it for many of us, because small children tend to find all of the above BORING!!!! Also, the parents who tend to bring them along are oblivious to their little darlings not having indoor voices or jumping up and down on bus seats while it is moving. We brought this up with Heath the DCL excursions manager and told him they need to set some age minimums for some of these excursions.
---as a side note, DCL kids clubs were opened during excursion hours so parents could leave their kids on the ship while they went out. Too bad more people did not do this as everyone would have had a better time.
Activity level: The activity levels listed for the excursions were right on. If it says that you will have to stand and walk 3 miles over uneven surfaces and if you need to use a walker you probably should not go on that excursion. If it says that you can not take a stroller into places, like a cathedral or a palace you need to plan on carrying your child when they get tired! Oh, and double wide strollers for twins are definitely out of the question!!! The buses used required a big step up from the curb to the first step and then about 4-5 more up to get into the bus. Oh, and you have to take those same steps down to get off the bus. If you have physical limitations, believe what they tell you in the activity area, and do not book these excursions. Also, most of these areas are NOT handicap friendly and/or accessible. They are old historic places that will not be modified. The DCL descriptions made this clear,but apparently people did not believe this.
What to bring/wear: Water, snacks and sunscreen. Most of the time the weather at the coast where the ship docked was slightly overcast to down right cool and rainy. However, once you headed into the interior, in cleared up and got sunny and warm. So plan to dress in layers (short sleeve tee over a long sleeve tee was a good choice and an easy quick change in the bathroom) and even if it looks gloomy at the ship, put on the sunscreen before you leave. You will be happy you did later. Also, bring along water. Drinks and snacks were not easy to get since many places did not allow food or drinks inside, they didn't sell any. Coming back to the bus wasn't always an option either. So keep a bottle of water with you. Also pack snacks. Lunch usually wasn't until 2pm or 3pm. Even the adults get grouchy, so pack some snacks to keep the hunger at bay.
Time is Europe is not what it is in the USA or Canada. Most shops do not open until 10am and then they close from 1-3 or 2-4 for siestas. So getting off the boat first thing in the morning to hit the shops was not such a good idea on our one day with an afternoon tour. Book the morning half day and then leave the afternoon to have lunch in town and go treasure shopping.
Postage - We all love to send home postcards, but those stamps are a bit hard to find, and their post offices are only open from 10am to 2pm. Almost all tobacconists shops sell stamps in Spain. It is easy and convenient and the post office boxes are tall round safety yellow items that you find near the shops usually. A post card will run you .78 euros to mail home to the USA. Ask your tour guides or cab drivers if you are in other countries about their postage locations and box descriptions
Converting money- DO IT BEFORE YOU LEAVE!!!! While DCL offered US dollars to Euro conversion at the same rate we got at the bank, the amount you could get had a per day limit, it was only done during certain hours and the lines were long. Do yourself a favor and get what you need before you go. Also, they do NOT take US dollars in any of the shops we went to. Some people planned on hitting up local ATMs and getting cash that way or using a CC to make purchases. Most of the small shops don't take credit cards or have a minimum purchase limit. Also, the ATMs were not all that easy to find and you will have to deal with ATM and conversion fees.Just save yourself some hassle and do it before you go, you will thank me later. As for what to do with any left over Euro's? We used them to pay the gratuities to the staff. It worked out well. We figured out what we would have paid them in dollars and then converted it to Euros.
Buy stuff when you see it. If you see something you really like and it won't break the bank, go ahead and get it. Chances are if you are on a tour, you won't be back that way, and chances are you won't find it anywhere else. Don't regret not getting the perfect gift when you had a chance. Speaking of shopping, I normally find the discover shopping lectures and such, to kind of not worth my while. It was different for this trip. So watch the info on the TV channel and then go see the gal and get your map and discount cards. It saved us a bundle on the pearls we bought and got free shipping and insurance on the crystal I bought and had shipped home.
Potential rip offs. In the Barcelona port, UPS has a booth set up to ship things home, so you can avoid the over weight fees at the airport. Comparison: Shipping by UPS ran from $200 to $500 for a 6 pound box and 20 pound box. 10 pound overweight bag at airport fee was $25. You do the math.....and NO I am not kidding about the UPS rates. Apparently they required everything to be shipped by 2 day or overnight, which is why it was so expensive.

YMMV...

[granmaz]

Oh Laura.:sad2: I feel so sorry about your cruise and it was going to be so special. What on earth is going on?

I do hope everyone who feels the same writes to Disney as these things need to be addressed. This does not help you though.

[endkaos]

I just have to comment on thing in your report. Parents are encouraged to NOT to leave their kids in the club while they go on an excursion. They want you on the ship in case of an emergency with your children.

That said, I'm all for age limitations on excursions. On our first cruise, my boys were 5, 6 and 8. They did not belong on any excursion that exceeded 3 hours total. The next cruise, they were 8, 9, and 11. The excursion limit was now 4-5 hours. The Tumlin Tour was out, but Costa Maya was awesome.

We are on the WB Repo Cruise in 2008. The excursion limit will be 5-6 hours and age appropriate. DH is diving and myself and boys will be snorkeling. Their ages this time will be 11, 12 and 14.

I also want to Thank You for an awesome trip report. I hope Disney doesn't go down the toliet and takes to heart the surveys. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump ship to another cruise line yet.

[AuntyBrat]

I just have to comment on thing in your report. Parents are encouraged to NOT to leave their kids in the club while they go on an excursion. They want you on the ship in case of an emergency with your children.

That said, I'm all for age limitations on excursions. On our first cruise, my boys were 5, 6 and 8. They did not belong on any excursion that exceeded 3 hours total. The next cruise, they were 8, 9, and 11. The excursion limit was now 4-5 hours. The Tumlin Tour was out, but Costa Maya was awesome.

We are on the WB Repo Cruise in 2008. The excursion limit will be 5-6 hours and age appropriate. DH is diving and myself and boys will be snorkeling. Their ages this time will be 11, 12 and 14.

I also want to Thank You for an awesome trip report. I hope Disney doesn't go down the toliet and takes to heart the surveys. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump ship to another cruise line yet.

On this cruise, I heard many parents say that they kids club offered extended hours for the parents to go on excursions. They were supposed to leave all their tour info with the club and I know the DCL CMs on the tours were in touch with the ships because some of the tours did run quite late. Perhaps this was another one of the changes they put in place. I know I spoke with one woman who said she and her son were both happy he could stay in the kids club while she got to go visit cathedrals and the palace because he thought the whole thing would be boring. Since we didn't have any kids in the clubs, I can not say for sure.

[MCourtney]

Thank you! I thought about switching our Sept. cruise to yours, and after reading the report, glad we didn't. Will you please post about the crew's contracts as soon as you know? Fingers crossed DCL mgmt will renew... you can get bad service anywhere so why pay the DCL premium for it? :scared1:

[Babs417]

Boy do I hope things get better:confused3

[LiserAnn]

Gosh Laura-I hope they get their act together by our Panama Canal cruise. The bad parts sounded really BAD! I'm really sorry!!!

[taysmom]

Thanks for the trip report laura. I hope they work everything out before we board. I'd hate to think our first disney cruise is our last!
Additional conversion question:
Do you know how DCL converted. Did you have to use an ATM card, cash or your CC and if your cc, was it a cash advance?

See ya on the PC Repo next year.

Steph

[jlawall]

Thanks for sharing all of this with us!!

[cruiseletters]

Thanks Laura for your very interesting report. We have also in the past gotten great service from DCL. We will be on the return repo from the med this aug. and hope that they will have gotten their act together. I'm so glad that you filled out the comment cards, hopefully DCL reads these and takes them seriously, there is just to much competition out there in the cruise industry to not listen to guests. As far as the food in the dining rooms, was it that you didn't like that kind of dish or was it prepared badly? I know when you said that the desserts used alot of figs and dates thats very mediterranean. I'm just wondering if they switched to a mediterranean type of menu that people just didn't like? The comments about the euros was very helpful as well.:confused3 Robin

[marlaymike]

Hope everything is better on the 06/06 cruise!

[Tink rules]

Something tells me that DCL will be getting ALOT of letters, emails, etc from disappointed cruisers this time around.

Its too bad that what could have been a really unique cruise turned out to be an experiment in new staffing.

I wonder why so many of the CM's changed out. Probably the contracts... maybe some of them didn't want to do the transatlantic.

It's sad to see the service etc. go down so fast... DCL cannot afford for this to happen. It's like booking the Grand Floridian and ending up at the local Motel outside the main gate.

It will be interesting to see what the 1st Med cruise turns out like.

[sarasotamom]

First of all, I find your complaining a bit over the top. If I paid for a category 12 and was given a FREE category 5, I would be appreciative!!!! You should have researched Europe's weather before you left...Everyone who has been to Europe before knows that the weather is not good in May.. It is cold, dreary. and rainy...Ireland, Scotland, and UK are rainy even in June and July. The nights are very cool even then. As for Italy, the weather is cool in May, and by the end of June and July it is hot and humid...This is from a girl from Florida, that is used to the high humidity...The Italians do not bathe as frequently as we do, and shaving and deodorant is an option, so be ready for some nasty body odor reaking from the people.
Also Europe is much more expensive than the US. Last year the Euro was worth 1.31 dollars and the pound was like a 1.75 compared to the dollar. This makes it more expensive just in the conversions. Please people be ready for the sticker shock. If you eat at McDonalds, a Happy Meal is like $10 in Italy and you will pay 25 cents for every pack of ketchup. When my son went there in 2003, we had to keep putting more money on his debit card because of these high prices. Then the Euro was 1.25 US dollars.
As far as new cast members , I find this amazing. You would think that the current cast members would love to stay on for a new iteniary.
We went on a 4-day cruise at the end of March and we had the same experience with our roonm steward. I had to ask for new soap. shampioo, and conditioner. The soap one really had me boogled, as we had our own shampoo. I had to ask him for bath soap. We just thought it was the Wonder and vowed to only go on the Magic from now on. Now I don't know.
Anyway, there is no excuse for the food....Our food was awesome on our last cruise...And as far as the soda machine goes, that was totally there fault!!!

P.S....If you cancel your Eastbound Panama Cruise let me know...we are dying to book one...We are currently booked for the Thanksgiving 2008 double dip...We are dying for a western or east bound Panamal Cruise...

[Tink rules]

First of all, I find your complaining a bit over the top. If I paid for a category 12 and was given a FREE category 5, I would be appreciative!!!! You should have researched Europe's weather before you left...Everyone who has been to Europe before knows that the weather is not good in May.. It is cold, dreary. and rainy...Ireland, Scotland, and UK are rainy even in June and July. The nights are very cool even then. As for Italy, the weather is cool in May, and by the end of June and July it is hot and humid...This is from a girl from Florida, that is used to the high humidity...The Italians do not bathe as frequently as we do, and shaving and deodorant is an option, so be ready for some nasty body odor reaking from the people.
Also Europe is much more expensive than the US. Last year the Euro was worth 1.31 dollars and the pound was like a 1.75 compared to the dollar. This makes it more expensive just in the conversions. Please people be ready for the sticker shock. If you eat at McDonalds, a Happy Meal is like $10 in Italy and you will pay 25 cents for every pack of ketchup. When my son went there in 2003, we had to keep putting more money on his debit card because of these high prices. Then the Euro was 1.25 US dollars.
As far as new cast members , I find this amazing. You would think that the current cast members would love to stay on for a new iteniary.
We went on a 4-day cruise at the end of March and we had the same experience with our roonm steward. I had to ask for new soap. shampioo, and conditioner. The soap one really had me boogled, as we had our own shampoo. I had to ask him for bath soap. We just thought it was the Wonder and vowed to only go on the Magic from now on. Now I don't know.
Anyway, there is no excuse for the food....Our food was awesome on our last cruise...And as far as the soda machine goes, that was totally there fault!!!

P.S....If you cancel your Eastbound Panama Cruise let me know...we are dying to book one...We are currently booked for the Thanksgiving 2008 double dip...We are dying for a western or east bound Panamal Cruise...


You were on a 4 day cruise... they were on for 14... stuck in the middle of the Atlantic.

It seems like Disney tried to do this without planning very well and if they are doing contract negotiations and lost alot of their CM's that were reliable and knew their jobs inside and out (which I imagine is what you experienced when you went - very much like alot of other cruisers...) then you didn't get Disney's standard.

I heard that Tom McAlpin is in Barcelona - I'm sure he's hearing alot from the people who cruised - especially since it was mostly repeat cruisers.

Also... one thing to remember... there are ALOT of travel agents on the first Med cruise. If it's not a good experience, DCL is only stabbing themselves in the heart of it's good reputation.

I hope it goes back to the good service they are known for...

BTW.. I think she PAID for the upgrade at the port... everyone else was getting upgraded from their original because of all the vacancies...

[LiserAnn]

First of all, I find your complaining a bit over the top. If I paid for a category 12 and was given a FREE category 5, I would be appreciative!!!!

Ummm...she said that she was upgraded to a 9 by DCL and upgraded at the port to a 5...when you upgrade at the port, you pay for it...it's not free. And just because you're upgraded for free, doesn't mean you should be happy with miserable food, etc. Also, Laura's going on the Westbound PC cruise, not the EB...

[cruiseletters]

There is just know excuse for poor quality service on these trips, that is one of the reasons my family pay a higher price for a DCL cruise. Disney has always been synonimous with a very quality product whatever it is and this should be know exception IMHO.:confused3 Robin

[sarasotamom]

Sorry my bad!!! About the upgrade and the west vs. east Panama Canal...I did not mean to sound mean but your reply definitely was..All I wanted to say is for all The Mediterranean Cruisers - is to research before going...You will find it very expensive once you are off the ship...And the weather is generally dreary, cool. and rainy in May and the beginning of June..End of June to August will be very hot in Italy...You must plan for this, since you can not have bare shoulders or wear shorts to be allowed in many of the cathedrals...It is a different cultue, and if you have bare shoulders or shorts on you will not be able to enter these places..Even though you have paid in full!!!!
Also from experience, watch out for gypsies, I know you all are laughing, but they are very active In Rome...They will have babies and act friendly but they will rob you!!!!This is the way they make their living and they are very good at it...We have been there 3 times and each time people have been taken advantage of by them...Just be careful, is all I am trying to say...
As for the service, no they and noone else deserves this. I was just surprised that so many castmembers did not sign on for the Med. cruises because I have been reading how they are so excited about the new Med. cruises.
Sorry if I came out being sarcastic, it is not what I intended.

[LITTLEKID58]

Txs for the TR

[DCL Repeaters]

Had a lengthy conversation with a server on the Magic late last year. The server had been on the Magic many years and we'd become quite friendly. The server wasn't sure they would renew their contract for the Med cruises because of tip issues. Servers were trying to get DCL to automatically add tips to guests accounts to ensure they would get something since Europeans aren't accustomed to tipping what would seem extra to them at the end of a cruise. Maybe this is the reason why some of the experieced servers left DCL.

[JeannieH]

It would seem to me that many of the repo cruisers did not do their homework before travelling. Congrats to Sarasotamom - you hit the nail on the head!

For your information - MOST of the CMs did NOT leave the ship in Barcelona. Some had finished their contracts a while ago, but opted to work across the Atlantic to save flying home from Florida to their homes in Europe and Asia. Most of the crew will be returning CM's, who have had their vacation. Those who are first-time employees need consideration - not retribution. Its tough working those long hours - maybe 1000s of miles from home. The comments about the CM's were exagerated.

We have both family and friends working aboard the ship, and it is obvious that some guests were complaining about things that were just not anything to do with Disney. They may "recommend" trips in ports, but unless they are Disney organized, then you have no room to complain to Disney. It is also worth noting that some Disboarders seem to think its their rite to demand better service than other cruisers............it is not. Please treat the CM's with the respect they deserve. Should you have a complaint, then speak to the appropriate people. Do not voice your opinions on here afterwards, unless you made the right approaches during your vacation.

As for the cost of things in Europe - well, you only have to check on the internet to find the prices. For those who have travelled there before, you will appreciate that it is quite different from USA. Restaurant prices ARE more expensive, but hey..........you've just spent 14days EATING yourselves silly aboard!:laughing: Why spend all your time eating in port? Most of the sightseeing can be done walking.

Yes, children will find some of the historical sights boring. However, it is educational and should be made a fun thing. Gosh, how lucky are they to have had the chance to travel abroad at their age. Babies and toddlers can be hard work - but this trip was never going to be a trip for tiny tots.

Please, make the most of your experience aboard - but try to keep the gripes small. Yes, it does cost a small fortune to cruise with Disney - but they try their utmost to make it a vacation to remember. Dont beat yourselves up over the small problems - you will just ruin your trip. Europe is lovely if you've taken the time to learn something about the area and take notice of especially the history. Besides, you are honoured to be aboard the best ship in the world!:cool1:

[lillygator]

thanks for the info, we were originally booked on this but when I priced airfare I quickly switched it~!!


sarasota mom, are you here in Sarasota? We live just off the south bridge to Siesta.

[nzdisneymom]

OP - Thanks for writing up your trip report and sharing your perspective. We had originally thought about booking the June 16th sailing but opted for the July 18th one instead for a variety of reasons, including giving DCL time to get the kinks worked out for their new itinerary.

[DMMarla07860]

Thanks for taking the time to share the report.There is no excuse for poor quality service. But even if I had poor quality service, I would just be glad I was on vacation and not home working every day and going to classes and being bored all day long.

[Jeff Spencer]

To the OP, thanks for the trip report. :thumbsup2

To JeannieH, you can't be serious. People pay thousands of dollars for what might be a once in a lifetime trip and your suggestion to them is try to keep their gripes small? It seems to me your ties to the crew might be skewing your perspective. On the ship, it is the crew and staff who are paid by the guests to make their cruise a special one. It is NOT the job of guests to make the staff happy by NOT complaining about poor service/poor food. On new crew members you say they need consideration not retribution. Why? It is up to Disney to ensure their ship is staffed by trained and qualified cast members that are properly supervised by experienced staff. It is most definitely NOT the job of guests to train / break in the newbies.

I hope every person on the repo cruise who did not get the service they paid for filled out the comment cards, visited Guest Services and held back on the tips so Disney gets the message loud and clear that subpar service is absolutely NOT acceptable.

[cruisinluver]

Thank you for posting such a balanced and well written review.

[ragdoll]

Wow, I am so sorry that you didn't have the magical experience that we have all come to love and expect from DCL. I found many of the things that you wrote about to be true on our Double Dip last Sept. I wrote DCL a long letter listing all of the cost cutting cutbacks that I noticed. Please write to DCL about your poor experience. We are paying a premium price to cruise DCL and should recieve premium service.

[JeannieH]

As usual, the point has been completely missed: of course, everyone is entitled to complain about things that Disney or other cruise-lines fail to provide aboard one of their ships - providing they are valid points - and the complaint is directed to the right people. Sadly though, some guests take it upon themselves to make a "mountain out of a molehill". We had people on our cruises who continually complained about everyone and everything - making life tough for fellow travellers and the crew.

Certainly, Ive seen the "other side of the coin" - and have heard many of the "complaints" lodged. Less than 25% of them were rectifiable. Of course, having paid out a great deal of money for a vacation, you are entitled to receive the best possible treatment - and hopefully have experiences of a lifetime in various ports. Disney are NOT able to change the sea conditions, weather and historical sights that may not be quite what some people were expecting. Thankfully, most guests are very kind and polite........sadly, some are not. We made the best of things that didnt quite go according to plan.............just as we do in life. Manners cost nothing: but unfortunately some folk leave them at home when they cruise.:coffee:

[jlawall]

Had a lengthy conversation with a server on the Magic late last year. The server had been on the Magic many years and we'd become quite friendly. The server wasn't sure they would renew their contract for the Med cruises because of tip issues. Servers were trying to get DCL to automatically add tips to guests accounts to ensure they would get something since Europeans aren't accustomed to tipping what would seem extra to them at the end of a cruise. Maybe this is the reason why some of the experieced servers left DCL.I think that is a good idea.

[ssnyder]

Laura,

I'm so sorry you had so many problems. I guess I didn't have the same experiences as you - except for the food - I also thought the food was tasteless most of the time.

I had an excellent stateroom host. My bathroom was always spotless and I always had clean towels. It seemed that he was always working, but everytime he saw me coming down the hall, he would stop whatever he was doing and go unlock my door and hold the door open for me. He was always double checking that everything was alright. This was also my third cruise and he was definitely the best of my stateroom hosts. I think there is always the luck of the draw when it comes to the hosts and the servers. Some are definitely better than others.

I frequently had to stop by guest services and I had absolutely no problems with them. They were always very helpful. I was also amazed about the lack of lines. My other cruises it seems like there was frequently a line, but not this cruise.

I also had problems getting my castaway club gift, because my castaway club number had not ended up in their records. My stateroom host explained the process to me though and why it would take a couple of days for me to get it. I had to notify guest services and they then notify to manager of the stateroom hosts (I don't remember their title). They then have to check their records and make sure that the information was correct and verify I had not received my gift yet. I can see that they couldn't just take my word for it. (As it was explained to me, this is not something that is handled by guest services.) They then would inform the stateroom host at the next afternoon meeting and he could then deliver it the next day. This process took two days, but that was not a problem for me as I had no need for a travel wallet in the middle of the Atlantic.

Food was really my only complaint. Instead of putting the sauces on the food they would decorate the plate with a tiny portion that wouldn't even flavor a single bite. For the most part I enjoyed the appetizers and desserts though. Also lunches in Lumineres were pretty good.

[gismo1554]

Ok, here is my review:
The Bad:
DCL really planned on good weather for this cruise, and mother nature did NOT cooperate. 6 days at sea with overcast conditions, rain, some thunderstorms, 13-20 foot rough seas and moderate gale force winds all worked at keeping people in their rooms on bonine and naps. I don't think anyone came back with a tan on this cruise. Because of the bad weather, it really took it's toll on planned activities on the deck. DCL could not control the weather, but they could have used better sense.
The Mouse 2.0 party was postponed one day and went ahead with the next. The weather was not that much better, but they held it outside anyway. Now here is a hint for all of you planning a BBQ and wondering if you should bring it in, if the wind is strong enough to blow the food off of your plate (not the plate,but the food it self) you should probably move it in. If it starts raining hard enough that you have to drag the costumed characters in before they become water logged, you should probably move it in. When people are riding boogie boards in the new 'wave pools' you should probably move it in. Same thing with the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party. When the table linens are blowing off and becoming water logged from the pool water sloshing out, you should probably NOT have it outside. They did go ahead with the fireworks and it seemed a little shorted, but that could have been a factor of the wind.
.......We only got lobster on the last night and it was not great. They did do a much better job on beef for this cruise, however, you can only have a rib eye so many nights.



I have to admit I was one of the few that came back with a tan because I burnt the day of the mouse 2O party watching hunchback of notre damn on deck. I agree the weather wasn't brilliant but that's the risk you take I suppose.

On the note of lobster I think it was on one of the first menus as well but can't be sure.

As said before I guess I was a lucky one who had a fab stateroom host and had no problems with customer service but I guess its just luck at the end of the day who you run in to.

The only problem I had was with Palos as the service was awful (we had our plates taken away before we had finished eating) and we have since complained about it (didn't on the boat as it was the last but one day and the desk was heaving). Definately not worth going to afternoon tea!

[crzy4magic]

Thanks to the OP for your posting - it is very interesting to see the DCL took actions to avoid problems that they had encountered on the Westbound Panama Canal cruise on this cruise, and those actions appeared to have worked, but were not prepared for a completely different set of new issues that cropped up on this cruise. As happened with the West Coast and Panama Canal cruises 2 years ago, I expect there will be a few deviations from the service we all have come to love DCL for, but by the second Med cruise all the kinks will be worked out.

[AuntyBrat]

First of all, I find your complaining a bit over the top. If I paid for a category 12 and was given a FREE category 5, I would be appreciative!!!! You should have researched Europe's weather before you left...Everyone who has been to Europe before knows that the weather is not good in May.. It is cold, dreary. and rainy...Ireland, Scotland, and UK are rainy even in June and July. The nights are very cool even then. As for Italy, the weather is cool in May, and by the end of June and July it is hot and humid...This is from a girl from Florida, that is used to the high humidity...The Italians do not bathe as frequently as we do, and shaving and deodorant is an option, so be ready for some nasty body odor reaking from the people.
Also Europe is much more expensive than the US. Last year the Euro was worth 1.31 dollars and the pound was like a 1.75 compared to the dollar. This makes it more expensive just in the conversions. Please people be ready for the sticker shock. If you eat at McDonalds, a Happy Meal is like $10 in Italy and you will pay 25 cents for every pack of ketchup. When my son went there in 2003, we had to keep putting more money on his debit card because of these high prices. Then the Euro was 1.25 US dollars.
As far as new cast members , I find this amazing. You would think that the current cast members would love to stay on for a new iteniary.
We went on a 4-day cruise at the end of March and we had the same experience with our roonm steward. I had to ask for new soap. shampioo, and conditioner. The soap one really had me boogled, as we had our own shampoo. I had to ask him for bath soap. We just thought it was the Wonder and vowed to only go on the Magic from now on. Now I don't know.
Anyway, there is no excuse for the food....Our food was awesome on our last cruise...And as far as the soda machine goes, that was totally there fault!!!

P.S....If you cancel your Eastbound Panama Cruise let me know...we are dying to book one...We are currently booked for the Thanksgiving 2008 double dip...We are dying for a western or east bound Panamal Cruise...

First of all, I did pay to upgrade to the cat 5, it was not free.

I don't recall complaining about the weather, I had a really good idea that the weather would not be ideal. If you read the review carefully, my comments were about DCL not taking the weather into account when they scheduled deck parties and other activities. That was a mistake on their part.

I also did not mention the cost of things at all. You have brought that up. I brought up converting your money over before you go to save time on the ship. I knew that the dollar was worth less than the Euro, and even less than the Pound when we were in Gibraltar.

As for cast members staying on with a new itenerary, that is not always their choice and has to do when their contract expires.

As for flaming me and my over the top complaining, you were not there, you did not experience it, and as always, YMMV.

Laura

[hopemax]

We had a fabulous dining room service team. Our room steward was fine, although I did send DH to him a couple times for more conditioner. No complaints about the cleanliness of the room. We had 2 brunches, one tea and one dinner at Palo, and had a different server each time. Alexander from Croatia was by far the best of the bunch. Palo was the one place my drink was not refilled promptly, which was discouraging.

I didn't expect fantastic food on DCL, as I was disappointed with it on our first cruise. It was actually a little better than I expected (except the desserts). There was a lobster dish the first night, on the "Let the Magic Begin" menu, and sliced lobster on the "Farewell to the Caribbean menu," as well as the Captain's Gala. My lobster that day was fabulous, so I wonder if was dependent on how and when it came out of the kitchen.

Aye! the kitchen problems. Our head server did not come to our table the first night, and on the second night he apologized citing "kitchen problems." Soon we got to experience first hand these problems, days 3 and 4, were so bad, that we didn't get our entrees until after a bunch of tables had already finished their entire meal. And dessert was very rushed because they were trying to get setup for the second seating. It did get better as the days went on, but you could tell everyone was frustrated by the speed the food was coming out. Our server did his best to make sure his orders went in quickly. And souffle night he was excited to let us know that he was first in line.

We did experience frustrations with guest services, and I know the staff can't control the weather, but they can help with the communication. One day, they cancelled a bunch of stuff and then rushed a mini-navigator out to the staterooms so people would know what was still schedulded. Then later there was another weather problem. I guess there was an announcement over the loudspeaker that stuff had gotten cancelled, but we were sleeping in our room and didn't hear it. Later we went up to Deck 9 to watch one of the Pirates movies on the Ariel View. It didn't start when it was supposed to. 15 minutes passes, and nothing. There were lots of people waiting, and finally someone went to track someone down. There was one guy who got on the radio, disappeared, came back, was on the radio some more, and finally someone in a suit showed up, and a half hour later the movie finally started. I'm guessing they thought the movie was cancelled, but since not all areas can hear the announcements, a lot of people didn't know. That is a situation that could have been helped by making another mini-navigator, or having a sign posted that tonight's movie has been canceled.

We were still quite satisfied with our vacation, but if we had paid a non-discounted rate, or had a less wonderful dining room team, our satisfaction levels would have been very different. I still have a hard time recommending a Disney cruise vs one of the other lines like RCCL.

[happyfeet]

First of all, I find your complaining a bit over the top. If I paid for a category 12 and was given a FREE category 5, I would be appreciative!!!! You should have researched Europe's weather before you left...Everyone who has been to Europe before knows that the weather is not good in May.. It is cold, dreary. and rainy...Ireland, Scotland, and UK are rainy even in June and July. The nights are very cool even then. As for Italy, the weather is cool in May, and by the end of June and July it is hot and humid...This is from a girl from Florida, that is used to the high humidity...The Italians do not bathe as frequently as we do, and shaving and deodorant is an option, so be ready for some nasty body odor reaking from the people.
Also Europe is much more expensive than the US. Last year the Euro was worth 1.31 dollars and the pound was like a 1.75 compared to the dollar. This makes it more expensive just in the conversions. Please people be ready for the sticker shock. If you eat at McDonalds, a Happy Meal is like $10 in Italy and you will pay 25 cents for every pack of ketchup. When my son went there in 2003, we had to keep putting more money on his debit card because of these high prices. Then the Euro was 1.25 US dollars.
As far as new cast members , I find this amazing. You would think that the current cast members would love to stay on for a new iteniary.
We went on a 4-day cruise at the end of March and we had the same experience with our roonm steward. I had to ask for new soap. shampioo, and conditioner. The soap one really had me boogled, as we had our own shampoo. I had to ask him for bath soap. We just thought it was the Wonder and vowed to only go on the Magic from now on. Now I don't know.
Anyway, there is no excuse for the food....Our food was awesome on our last cruise...And as far as the soda machine goes, that was totally there fault!!!

P.S....If you cancel your Eastbound Panama Cruise let me know...we are dying to book one...We are currently booked for the Thanksgiving 2008 double dip...We are dying for a western or east bound Panamal Cruise...

:scared1:

[AuntyBrat]

On the tips:

Based on previous cruises I had budgeted to pay much higher tips to all involved, because we have always gotten much better than average service. Even though our stateroom hostess was lacking in our opinion, she still got the minimum amount. As for the folks in the dining room, they did not control the kitchen, or the cooking of the food. They were fabulous and got much higher than average tips. Even the head server as he was constantly communicating with us and trying to get the problems in the kitchen resolved. There really seemed to be a disconnect or some other problem with the kitchen and the servers not being on the same team, and it seemed that the problem was with the kitchens not wanting to play. We also ran into a problem where the descriptions on the menu and the actual food were not the same on several items on different menus. I know the menus were printed in advance and that sometimes they have to make changes based on product availability, but the kitchen was not communicating with the the servers and with all the new items, the servers didn't always know what something was supposed to look like. When we asked, they would go and check and find out that the kitchen changed the item but didn't tell them. Again, I do not fault the servers, but the kitchen was having issues.

As for Alex in Palo's he was the bomb. We had him for all our meals and he was top notch. He is also one of the folks who was going home in Barcelona.

[hopemax]

Aside from the group getting off now, there is another chunk that is getting off on June 19th. I'm beginning to wonder who's going to be left to staff the ship!

[AuntyBrat]

Aside from the group getting off now, there is another chunk that is getting off on June 19th. I'm beginning to wonder who's going to be left to staff the ship!

Well, if you get enough disboarders, they could probably run most of it...:rotfl:

[kidcoos3]

First of all, I did pay to upgrade to the cat 5, it was not free.

I don't recall complaining about the weather, I had a really good idea that the weather would not be ideal. If you read the review carefully, my comments were about DCL not taking the weather into account when they scheduled deck parties and other activities. That was a mistake on their part.

I also did not mention the cost of things at all. You have brought that up. I brought up converting your money over before you go to save time on the ship. I knew that the dollar was worth less than the Euro, and even less than the Pound when we were in Gibraltar.

As for cast members staying on with a new itenerary, that is not always their choice and has to do when their contract expires.

As for flaming me and my over the top complaining, you were not there, you did not experience it, and as always, YMMV.

Laura

I really appreciate the candor in your trip report. Hopefully DCL will get the kinks worked out - but at least we know what to watch out for.

[Tiggersk82]

Wow, I had a completely different experience on the trans-atlantic cruise. My family found most of the dinners to be amazing! The dinners weren't as good when we had it sent up to our stateroom, but that's because they weren't hot anymore. Our room steward (Ike) was awesome, friendly, and even wanted to teach my sister and I how to make towel animals. I can't really comment on Guest Services, because our concierge team was very attentive and took care of everything for us. Overall, this was definitely the most magical of the seven cruises my family and I have been on, and I'd be hard-pressed to find anything negative to say about it.

[granmaz]

Well, if you get enough disboarders, they could probably run most of it...:rotfl:

That could be true!!:lmao:

[DizzneyDAnn]

Odd that we were on the same cruise and yet I had the experience of a lifetime. It was posted in our very lengthy thread that the temps might be cold, that Europe was expensive... I think the food was fine, the Cm's were super. The cruisers were great and cheery and there was a real sense of community. I didn't think most were sick in their cabins. Those with illness issues had a patch behind their ears. The excursions were so cool. I cried repeatedly the last day at the thought the cruise of a lifetime was over. "Only had lobster once?" And you need it more than once during a two week period? How about the crab, the lamb, the fine beef, the salmon, chicken wellington, etc...more than enough variety for the two weeks. I', sorry you had such a rough time. For me, the experience was nothing less than wonderful, magical, spectacular, fabulous, life changing.

[Tink rules]

Whoa!!!!

Isn't that like the inmates running the assylum????? :lmao:

We'd have the whole place painted lime green!!!

[professorandmom]

Well, if you get enough disboarders, they could probably run most of it...:rotfl:

I suspect most of us would not be adequate in roll-reversal mode...especially if a family in tuxedo t's decided not to tip at all

Barb

[sandyneck]

Just wanted to add my family to the ones who had a magical vacation. We had a wonderful room steward who even gave us flowers for our anniversary! He also went out of his way to find me a bathrobe when I asked if there was any possibility of getting one. Our servers, Ivo and Jonathan were top-notch-Ivo had been on the Wonder for over 7 years and decided to switch over to the Med cruise. He was excellent. We never had any trouble with slow service and he always went out of his way to get us whatever we needed or wanted. Please remember, the crew is not one of Disney's animatronic displays. This was the first 14 day cruise for them also. They were working long hard hours. With so many sea days, they never got a break when cruisers would normally be in port.
Also, all of us were so excited to be on the "first" Disney cruise to the Med. I for one, know how firsts of anything are. They are exciting and once in a lifetimes, but the kinks have also not been all worked out. New menus, new shows, etc, are bound to have a few problems. I thought Disney was awesome to change the entire day time dining schedule when they realized most of us were sleeping until noon. They added the buffett in Parrot Cay until 2pm and served breakfast and lunch at the same time. I was very impressed with that. They could have stuck to the same schedule and too bad if you didn't get out of bed, not their problem. And what about the beyond belief fireworks put on at a cost of who knows what in Barcelona? Incredible. I am sure we all had suggestions on how things could have been done or scheduled better, and I am sorry some did not think the cruise was up to par, but we had a wonderful time and did not let any minor things bother us. pixiedust:

[DMMarla07860]

some post said it was the first 14 day cruise, for disney it wasn't the first one ever but that does make a good point, after about 8 days of food on a ship I think I might get sick of food lol, at home I don't get all that stuff so I could eat it every day lol. if my dad could get off so 14 or 15 or so days to do the trip in august he said we would have done it because really compared to the last trip it isn't that expensive he said. darn it I want to do that

[ssnyder]

I did hear some inside information on what was causing the kitchen problems and consequently frustrating the servers. Apparently the kitchen staff is split to handle the kids vs adult menus. With there being such a small percentage of kids on this cruise, the staff that handles the kids stuff was standing around twiddling their thumbs, which the other team was frantically trying to get everything out to the adults. To compensate, individuals were pulled off the kids line and placed on the adults line with no prior experience on that line. This was a large part of the problem and shouldn't be a problem for the rest of the cruises where the adults/kids ratio should be more balanced.

I also felt sorry for the CM's that had to work so many straight days without any shore time. The only time I had a problem with the servers was during lunch on the first port after the crossing. Those that were serving lunch were those that were stuck on board for another two days and the low moral definitely showed. I did notice that by the end of lunch they were making the best of it and cheering up a bit. It really does help to talk to the CM's and find out what's going on! A little understanding goes a long ways towards making things better for all concerned.

[jlawall]

I really appreciate the candor in your trip report. Hopefully DCL will get the kinks worked out - but at least we know what to watch out for.
I agree!

[woody73]

Thanks Laura for the report. DCL should have done better.

Woody

[cruiseletters]

Thanks Laura for your candor.:thumbsup2 Robin

[been2marceline]

We had numerous issues with our EB Panama Canal Cruise in August of 2005. We were in a Cat 3 and had concierge service and we STILL had some really interesting issues!

First, we spent hours trying to book our excursions, etc. online, only to have multiple issues. We called and were told by DCL when we called about our excursions and Palo/Spa visits that they had encountered issues with their website and that everything that we needed would be arranged by our concierge when we boarded the ship. We boarded the ship and went to the lounge where concierge would work with us. When we mentioned what had been said via DCL phone help, our concierge basically said that it was not true and they would see what they could do to get us a few of our requests! Not too happy with that one!! After DH turned red and just about burst a gasket, we did get what we wanted and where "at peace" with our concierge team (great couple of gals, Connie and Sonia).

Next, our concierge had informed us that we would have a "pin order form" in our room guide book, DCL's way of fixing the issues with pin lines on the WB cruise. We couldn't find ours, in anything. In addition, our luggage had arrived very late, so we were still unpacking when I called our concierge to let them know that we did not have it. They sent the head of housekeeping to bring us one. Instead, she came and basically accused us of hiding it!! She wanted to look through everything that we had in our room!! After both DH and I lividly told her that we did not have it and had never seen it, she told us we would get one "soon". Needless to say, our concierge gals got an earfull about that one! They delivered one to us the next day.

The next issue that first night was that the hide-a-bed in the living room, that we opened up for DD was "soaked" in some sort of red juice. It had never been remade!! It was late and it took almost an hour for them to come and fix the problem! While we were waiting we got ready to get in our own bed and found that it didn't have a top sheet or a bottom sheet, just a plushy comforter. Very nice, but sheets would have been nice. When we mentioned it to the housekeeping person that fixed the hide-a-bed, he said that beds below cat 3 had top and bottom sheets, but our bed just had the "nice" comforter!! He didn't know why!

These may seem trivial, but when your tired and have paid for a Cat 3 (no upgrade, we paid for it from the get go!) you do expect that things should be "good to go".

We were also diverted from Cabo San Lucas because of Hurricane Hillary and they pulled into Manzanillo instead. DCL pulled together some alternate destinations to do on your own. We walked out of the ship and boarded a DCL approved Taxi. Unfortunately this one had a broken windshield that seemed like it would fall into me. The Polizia thought the same as they pulled the guy over and told him he needed to take us to our destination and then put his Taxi out of commission! BUT, we never made it, as our drive got lost and after driving around in the humidity (no air) he took us back to the ship!! It wasn't even a scenic drive, it was all in the industrial area!!!

We arrived back at the ship we let concierge know about the "approved taxi's" and our completley wasted morning. They arrived with roses for our room and appologies, but DH was fuming! He had not slept well in the oddly made bed for two nights and was just DONE!! They said that they would send someone to properly make the bed, they agreed that it seemed that it was oddly made. THEN the "lovely" head of housekeeping came to see what was "wrong" with the bed! She felt that there was nothing to change!! Talk about fuel to the fire! After she left, I told Connie and Sonia that if we saw this woman and her attitude again, I would not be responsilbe for DH's actions!! The bed was remade shortly thereafter! She really needs a course in "the customer is always right"!!

We had several other really bizarre issues the first few days, but they are minor and would have seemed even smaller without the other strange issues.

All of these issues happened in the first 3 days of our 14 day cruise and the rest of the trip was really magical!! We had GREAT meals, especially our brunch, tea and 2 dinners in Palo. We had Marco each time and he is fantastic!!

We had very nice Servers, though our beverage gal was new, she was so nice. Our Room Steward was very nice too, but also seemed new. He was very attentive to us and took care of all of our needs.

Sonja and Connie were awesome and dealt with all of our Issues with smiles and supreme customer service.

That's why we are doing the WB Panema Canal Cruise next May! Even with issues, it was a great trip.

OK, glad I got that off my chest, it's been brewing for almost 2 years and I guess I need to "share" it with our DIS friends!!

Karen

[granmaz]

Oooh, Karen!!!:sad2:

I have so pursuaded John to do this next Panama Canal cruise - he doesn't really want to cruise at all!

I know there are always small problems, but some of these seem completely unnacceptable. For goodness sake we are the ones paying, and paying quite a lot, for good service - the crew are supposed to be working to make things great for us. Ok, we can feel sorry for them etc, but in the end......!

I am a little worried now.

[rikimuk]

I was on this boat and Im sorry but I think I must have been on another boat reading your comments. I had the most amazing time of my life on this cruise even with the bad weather. The food was amazing, the staff could not do enough for you and the entertainment was second to none. I stayed out in the rain for the mouse 2 o party and had an excellent time. I was impressed that the staff wanted to carry on regardless of the weather to try and give the people remaining a good time.

As someone who has worked in the hospitality industry I know you cant please everyone all of the time but I honestly feel that Disney did their best. They choose the best time of year for transatlantic crossings and have no control over the bad weather on the trip over which was unusual. The weather in Europe though is normal for the time of year and to be expected.

The new staff were amazing as far as I could see and there was not alot that could be done as lots of people resigned before leaving as they didnt want to do the med because of the loss of tips (due to the extra tax). I know a number of bar staff quit at the end of the cruise because of how much money they have lost in tips.

I dont know about the stateroom gifts as it says everywhere that its one per stateroom so I guess that they will change that in certain situations but the likelyhood was the new staff only saw the rule about one per state room and can only go with what they know.

That being said an opinion is personnal and this is just mine. I have to say though that every person I spoke to on the boat and off it had nothing but praise for the cruise and the staff so I dont think this is the view of the majority. Unfortunatly one bad experience can ruin everything even if the rest of it is good.

On a side note we had afternoon tea at Palos and I thought the service was dreadful. Our server was the rudess man I have ever met and he was clearing our plates away before we had finished our food. I believe Alex was our server (I may be wrong) so obviously we must have had him at a bad day but I will NOT be going back there again.

Lindsay

[rikimuk]

Odd that we were on the same cruise and yet I had the experience of a lifetime. It was posted in our very lengthy thread that the temps might be cold, that Europe was expensive... I think the food was fine, the Cm's were super. The cruisers were great and cheery and there was a real sense of community. I didn't think most were sick in their cabins. Those with illness issues had a patch behind their ears. The excursions were so cool. I cried repeatedly the last day at the thought the cruise of a lifetime was over. "Only had lobster once?" And you need it more than once during a two week period? How about the crab, the lamb, the fine beef, the salmon, chicken wellington, etc...more than enough variety for the two weeks. I', sorry you had such a rough time. For me, the experience was nothing less than wonderful, magical, spectacular, fabulous, life changing.

Totally agree with you. Life changing is what I thought as well hence why I have booked on the next one. My husband however was bored but then he did nothing all day so its not surprising lol.

Im glad it was not just me who thought I was on a different cruise lol.

Lindsay

[kaseyC]

AuntyBrat, thank you for your review. Hopefully, DCL will work out the kinks.

I would like to say that I am amazed at the number of posters flaming you for your INDIVIDUAL experiences and PERSONAL perceptions of your trip. I appreciate your candor.

[kidcoos3]

The new staff were amazing as far as I could see and there was not alot that could be done as lots of people resigned before leaving as they didnt want to do the med because of the loss of tips (due to the extra tax). I know a number of bar staff quit at the end of the cruise because of how much money they have lost in tips.

Lindsay

Could you explain teh "loss of tips (due to the extra tax). I was under the impression that tips would be the same as a usual cruise.

AuntyBrat, thank you for your review. Hopefully, DCL will work out the kinks.

I would like to say that I am amazed at the number of posters flaming you for your INDIVIDUAL experiences and PERSONAL perceptions of your trip. I appreciate your candor.

Ditto

[disneyjunkie]

AuntyBrat, thank you for your review. Hopefully, DCL will work out the kinks.

I would like to say that I am amazed at the number of posters flaming you for your INDIVIDUAL experiences and PERSONAL perceptions of your trip. I appreciate your candor.

I have to agree. I feel sorry for the OP. Just because some had an awesome trip, doesn't mean that everyone did.

As someone who has never cruised, I appreciate hearing both the good and the bad.

From what I've read, I know that we'll have a blast next year. The trip may not be perfect, but it beats being at home.

AuntyBrat and everyone else, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us.:thumbsup2

[cmash95]

i believe i read in one of the live trip reports that DCL was working on a new menu designed just for mediteranean. I believe that is why there were lots of dishes with fruits and dates. Since this was the first time Disney has ever sailed across the atlantic or the mediteranean, there are bound to be a few snags. I do hope that our westbound repo doesn't have quite so many problems but then the magic has sailed through the canal before. T
Thank you for your report, I enjoyed it and will take both the good and the bad into consideration.

[gismo1554]

Could you explain teh "loss of tips (due to the extra tax). I was under the impression that tips would be the same as a usual cruise.


I can explain this one. In the Med they are adding tax on to alcohol so the bar tenders were expecting tips to fall because people wont be giving extra on top of the 15% grat because they know that there is also this extra tax making the prices higher anyway. Hope this makes sense?

[AuntyBrat]

I can explain this one. In the Med they are adding tax on to alcohol so the bar tenders were expecting tips to fall because people wont be giving extra on top of the 15% grat because they know that there is also this extra tax making the prices higher anyway. Hope this makes sense?

I don't recall seeing that on my bar reciepts in any of the ports. I generally order the drink of the day or a drink off of the menu, which were usually $4.95 plus the 15% tip. I did not see any additional tax, but perhaps that is something that started after our cruise ended and they were only in the Med?

[gismo1554]

I don't recall seeing that on my bar reciepts in any of the ports. I generally order the drink of the day or a drink off of the menu, which were usually $4.95 plus the 15% tip. I did not see any additional tax, but perhaps that is something that started after our cruise ended and they were only in the Med?

They were only adding it on to the med cruises not the transatlantic. They were changing the menus in the bars to reflect this when we got off our cruise. I think DCL were covering the extra tax in the ports for our cruise as they didn't want to upset people by changing the rules in the middle of the cruise. I can't remember how much they said the extra tax was going to be but it was being added from last Saturday so I'm sure someone will post shortly to let people know the exact amount.

[AuntyBrat]

AuntyBrat, thank you for your review. Hopefully, DCL will work out the kinks.

I would like to say that I am amazed at the number of posters flaming you for your INDIVIDUAL experiences and PERSONAL perceptions of your trip. I appreciate your candor.

Thanks to all of you for your support on my review. I know that some people on the first WB Panama cruise got flamed for bad experiences they had by those who thought the cruise was perfect. I believe that the whole idea of reviews is to point out what went well and what didn't. That way you have an idea of what to expect and can plan accordingly. I know when I read reviews by people who claim everything was awful and/or everything was perfect are not as helpful as the ones who give you THEIR perceptions of what they enjoyed and what they didn't. The reason I pointed out the items I did is because they were such a variance from the standard we had experienced on our previous Disney cruises. Hence the term YMMV....if you had a great stateroom host/hostess I don't think you would complain about dirty towels being rehung. If you hadn't had much better food on previous cruises, you probably wouldn't have thought it was not up to standards. There were somethings that were just great and some things that were not. Look at how much the criticism of the West Bound Panama Repo resolved issues and made the East Bound Repo darn near perfect (at least in MY opinion). Would I take this cruise again? You bet, in fact I was pricing out doing the WB Repo to bring it back, but I want to bring my daughter and it totally conflicts with the first two weeks of school. So I will go back, hopefully with DCL, and enjoy the ports again.

Oh, and I am NOT canceling my WB PC repo....I am already counting down to that!!!

[disneymom7851]

You have got to be kidding. Would you have Disboarders also performing all the shows, leading all the games, cooking, serving, cleaning, etc.

Maybe your expectations were a little too high. The only positive comment you made was about Shutters. surely there was something else that was worth it.

[DizzneyDAnn]

I just want to say that I spoke up and said the cruise was wonderful FOR ME because I was starting to see posts where people were grateful they were not on it. I did not want our cruise to get the reputation for being the cruise from he--. Of course everyone has a different opinion and this is the forum to post these opinions. No cruiser is the same, and no cruise experience is ever the same, not even for people in the same cabin--I had more fun than my husband, but he chose to work.

I really am defending the cruise, because I loved it, loved the crews staff and our server and host--all worked SO hard on those long sea days and I cried to leave them. They magnigfied their jobs. I don't want anyone to feel relieved about not going on the cruise or worry about their next cruise. DCL does a good job. They exceeded our expectations.

As for Laura, she is a very nice person, and I enjoyed the few times I spoke with her. I am so sorry she was disappointed and did not have the magical experience most of us had.

[DMMarla07860]

after reading all the reviews both negative and great, I still wish I was on that cruise, but work got in the way

[hopemax]

They were only adding it on to the med cruises not the transatlantic. They were changing the menus in the bars to reflect this when we got off our cruise. I think DCL were covering the extra tax in the ports for our cruise as they didn't want to upset people by changing the rules in the middle of the cruise. I can't remember how much they said the extra tax was going to be but it was being added from last Saturday so I'm sure someone will post shortly to let people know the exact amount.

I am assuming this is due to the cruise being entirely within the European Union. I noticed in the stateroom book that for the Med cruises the onboard stores also have to include the VAT, and there were instructions on how US citizens can get it back. Something we didn't have to worry about either.

[Empress Room]

At breakfast of our last morning, we were all discussing our surveys and even Alan with 9 Disney cruises under his belt, said this was the first time he did not give excellent marks across the board and actually give many poor marks or wrote in that they needed a level lower than poor. We are currently already booked for the WB Panama Canal cruise for 2008 and rebooked on board, before things got worse and worse. However, we are seriously reconsidering this in the face of this cruise and how bad it was. I am waiting to hear from our friend to see what happened with the contract renewals for herself and other cast members. If they were not renewed, we will probably cancel everything, because the writing is on the wall that DCL is going into the toilet.




. Would I take this cruise again? You bet, in
fact I was pricing out doing the WB Repo to bring it back, but I want to bring my daughter and it totally conflicts with the first two weeks of school. So I will go back, hopefully with DCL, and enjoy the ports again.

Oh, and I am NOT canceling my WB PC repo....I am already counting down to that!!!

AuntyBrat,

I must say, I am pretty curious concerning your change of heart with respect to your original trip report. Your original trip report was quite critical, and, as noted above, you and your traveling party felt that many categories warranted a "poor" on the survey, that things got "worse and worse," and that you were likely to cancel your next DCL cruise because "DCL is going into the toilet."

Suddenly, however, your most recent post appears as close to a complete 180 as possible: you indicate that you will cruise DCL again and are "already counting down to that!!!" What is the reason behind your most recent thinking? Did you believe that, upon reflection, you were too harsh with your original criticisms? Was the cruise actually better than your original review (or at least attributable to circumstances beyond DCL's control - e.g. the weather and rough seas) - or was it simply to deflect a portion of the criticism you received from other posters? The sudden change of opinion between and among these posts takes away a substantial portion of their impact, IMHO.

I am curious since I have often considered 14-day DCL cruises in general and the repositioning ones in particular and my own experience on nine previous DCL cruises (with some of the same CMs you mention) has been nothing short of memorable and spectacular. Thanks for your thoughts.

[DizzneyDAnn]

I risk speaking for Laura, but perhaps the negatives and difficulties did not outweigh the positives. There were just so many positives. Laura?

[cruisinluver]

:confused3 :confused3 :confused3 :confused3

I am wondering why people feel the need to dismiss a negative review and make the OP feel that she has done something wrong by posting about it. If people have their own reviews perhaps they ought to post their own review threads about their trip. And I really don't understand how anyone who wasn't even on the cruise can say how the trip was for another person.

It is a shame that the DCL cheerleaders feel the need to devalue someone's personal feelings and perceptions about the OP's trip.

:confused3 :confused3 :confused3 :confused3

[kaseyC]

:confused3 :confused3 :confused3 :confused3

I am wondering why people feel the need to dismiss a negative review and make the OP feel that she has done something wrong by posting about it. If people have their own reviews perhaps they ought to post their own review threads about their trip. And I really don't understand how anyone who wasn't even on the cruise can say how the trip was for another person.

It is a shame that the DCL cheerleaders feel the need to devalue someone's personal feelings and perceptions about the OP's trip.

:confused3 :confused3 :confused3 :confused3

Unfortunately, this seems to be the way of the Dis lately. If you don't drink the kool-aid, you better watch out because you are going to flamed.:rolleyes:

I cannot understand how anyone can attack anothers personal trip report!!:confused3

[lillygator]

sometimes it seems many cannot handle negative views of Disney in general....but everyone has a DIFFERENT cruise experience. Our last cruise was 12/06 and after reading several of my DIS mates trip reports, they seemed to be on a different cruise all together. Some were DCL issues, some could not be helped.

I think those who search out and review their vacations have a bit of a higher expectation, especially when it comes to DCL - as many of you repeat cruisers know, it is normally a terrific experience. I think AuntyBrat simply wanted everyone to know that not every time you go to guest services, or anyone or department for that matter, will they know the answer or bend over backwards to be helpful.

I know myself we have three fantastic cruises under our belt....were there negatives? Sure, but just like AB, we are continuing to cruise DCL for now because the good outweighs the bad.

[Disney Lover Linda]

I can explain this one. In the Med they are adding tax on to alcohol so the bar tenders were expecting tips to fall because people wont be giving extra on top of the 15% grat because they know that there is also this extra tax making the prices higher anyway. Hope this makes sense?

Another reason my be that the CM's thought more Europeans would be cruising and from everything I've read about Spain, France & Italy they tip at a much lower % there. The quide books they Europeans feel American overtip.

[LiserAnn]

Suddenly, however, your most recent post appears as close to a complete 180 as possible: you indicate that you will cruise DCL again and are "already counting down to that!!!" What is the reason behind your most recent thinking?

It's not always about the cruise...sometimes it's about the people and she knows that her friends on the WB would be so disappointed that she didn't come....and there's such a great group of us sailing on the WB how could she not go?! :rotfl: :lmao: :thumbsup2 (just adding some humor to what's becoming a hot thread)...........

[ssnyder]

I am wondering why people feel the need to dismiss a negative review and make the OP feel that she has done something wrong by posting about it. If people have their own reviews perhaps they ought to post their own review threads about their trip. And I really don't understand how anyone who wasn't even on the cruise can say how the trip was for another person.

It is a shame that the DCL cheerleaders feel the need to devalue someone's personal feelings and perceptions about the OP's trip.
I don't think any of Laura's fellow cruisers were "dismissing" her negative points. We were certainly concerned that she had some negative experiences. And BTW, she is not "the OP" to us. She is our friend. I dined with her, played games with her, laughed with her, and cruised with her for 14 days. But that is only a small part of our relationship. We spent several months chatting before the cruise, worried along with her over her friend's passport, felt her frustration during the school play that she was doing costumes for, enjoyed her funny stories. When we said that we were so sorry that she didn't have as good an experience as we did, we really meant that we were sorry.

Laura - you are a wonderful, funny, and resourceful person. I look forward to sailing with you again on the WB PC. And I'm especially glad to hear that you are looking forward to it. :yay:

[katypop]

Unfortunately, this seems to be the way of the Dis lately. If you don't drink the kool-aid, you better watch out because you are going to flamed.:rolleyes:

I cannot understand how anyone can attack anothers personal trip report!!:confused3

It's not always about the cruise...sometimes it's about the people and she knows that her friends on the WB would be so disappointed that she didn't come....and there's such a great group of us sailing on the WB how could she not go?! :rotfl: :lmao: :thumbsup2 (just adding some humor to what's becoming a hot thread)...........

Yes, I'm glad you're still joining us on the WB Auntybrat, I'm looking forward to meeting you:goodvibes I have never taken a cruise, DCL or other, and really appreciated your honesty.Reports like yours help me to put everything into perspective, I think that sometimes if you wish for perfection, you can be dissappointed in even the little things that can and do go wrong on any vacation. I'm sorry that everything wasn't perfect, but thank you for reporting the good and the bad. I can hardly wait until next May:cloud9:
Kathe

[Tink rules]

The OP's TR simply tells what she experience. Others may have had a different experience.

Disney isn't perfect - although most of us think they are darn close.

Everyonce in a while, they blink and don't plan things out very well - I'm sure this happens at events and vacations at WDW as well... But the only way they will learn and fix it is if someone speaks up. I let them know if something has happened on any of my trips - both good and bad.

The problem is... Disney set the standards high. They do this with the quality of their products - from entertainment to hospitality.

& sometimes when there is a bump in the system - it shows.

I'm sure that they have taken notes and if they do this again - and they will... they will learn.

[AuntyBrat]

AuntyBrat,

I must say, I am pretty curious concerning your change of heart with respect to your original trip report. Your original trip report was quite critical, and, as noted above, you and your traveling party felt that many categories warranted a "poor" on the survey, that things got "worse and worse," and that you were likely to cancel your next DCL cruise because "DCL is going into the toilet."

Suddenly, however, your most recent post appears as close to a complete 180 as possible: you indicate that you will cruise DCL again and are "already counting down to that!!!" What is the reason behind your most recent thinking? Did you believe that, upon reflection, you were too harsh with your original criticisms? Was the cruise actually better than your original review (or at least attributable to circumstances beyond DCL's control - e.g. the weather and rough seas) - or was it simply to deflect a portion of the criticism you received from other posters? The sudden change of opinion between and among these posts takes away a substantial portion of their impact, IMHO.

I am curious since I have often considered 14-day DCL cruises in general and the repositioning ones in particular and my own experience on nine previous DCL cruises (with some of the same CMs you mention) has been nothing short of memorable and spectacular. Thanks for your thoughts.

I risk speaking for Laura, but perhaps the negatives and difficulties did not outweigh the positives. There were just so many positives. Laura?

First of all, I stand by my original review and thoughts. I was very disappointed in some areas, and if I experience the same thing on my next Disney cruise, I will be disappointed again. I have drafted a letter to Tom McAlpin with my observations and it goes in the snail mail tomorrow. I am looking forward to the other reviews from the Med cruises and the WB TransAtlantic to see if some of the issues got resolved. It is partly why I am keeping my WB PC cruise and have not canceled it. If we had gone based only on the first WB Repo PC cruise we would have run to the hills and canceled our EB Repo cruise, but we had faith based on other Disney experiences (both good and horrifically bad) that:

1 - When Disney blows it, then tend to fix it, because they do not want to hear about it again. They want to hear how much better or awesome it was.

2 - Disney doesn't usually make the same mistakes twice.

With that being said, time will tell if the issues get fixed or if they continue.

As for your comments on the great CMs I mentioned by name, I mentioned them because they were great. The one's that were not great, I did not mention by name. I have their names and will provide them to DCL if asked.

And while everyone has noted the negatives, very few have mentioned the Wows and the good. They are at the top and the first things I mentioned.

As for the weather being out of DCL control, my only comment on the weather was what appeared to be the foolishness of holding the postponed deck party outdoors with the howling wind and cloud bursts instead of moving it inside. No where in my review did I say I disliked the cruise due to the weather.

DeeAnn - You hit it on the head. The negatives and difficulties did not outweight how fabulous the ports themselves were. It is the reason that we are looking forward to the PC Repo cruise.

However, if reviews from the Disboards and other locations show that things are not getting fixed or that DCL is trying to lower our expectations and still charge a premium price, I will simply vote with my dollar and shop somewhere else. Just like ALL of us do for lots of things we buy. Remember DCL is a business selling a product and services. There is a reason they ask for your comments at the end of the cruise.

[woody73]

We had numerous issues with our EB Panama Canal Cruise in August of 2005. . .
We did as well, particularly with our servers.

Woody

[rikimuk]

[QUOTE=kidcoos3;18918327]Could you explain teh "loss of tips (due to the extra tax). I was under the impression that tips would be the same as a usual cruise.


According to the bar staff we spoke to because of the number of stops, only 50% capacity on the boat and the added tax on alcohol once in the med people were not either using the bar or tipping extra on top of the standard that is already on the bill. Most of them rely on the tips to bump up their wages and thats now not happening. On the transatlantic crossing the bad weather was to blame for the pool staff loosing money. I must say the bars were empty most of the time I was there apart from the last night (Im not including Rockin Bar D just sessions and diversions).

Lindsay

[rikimuk]

I don't recall seeing that on my bar reciepts in any of the ports. I generally order the drink of the day or a drink off of the menu, which were usually $4.95 plus the 15% tip. I did not see any additional tax, but perhaps that is something that started after our cruise ended and they were only in the Med?

Yes they were at the start of the cruise going to add it half way through our trip but I believe they relented for fear of an unproar. The new tax was then added for the people who got on the boat in Barcellona as we got off. It will be interesting to see if its still on the prices when we return in August!

Lindsay

[rikimuk]

I just want to say that I spoke up and said the cruise was wonderful FOR ME because I was starting to see posts where people were grateful they were not on it. I did not want our cruise to get the reputation for being the cruise from he--. Of course everyone has a different opinion and this is the forum to post these opinions. No cruiser is the same, and no cruise experience is ever the same, not even for people in the same cabin--I had more fun than my husband, but he chose to work.

I really am defending the cruise, because I loved it, loved the crews staff and our server and host--all worked SO hard on those long sea days and I cried to leave them. They magnigfied their jobs. I don't want anyone to feel relieved about not going on the cruise or worry about their next cruise. DCL does a good job. They exceeded our expectations.

As for Laura, she is a very nice person, and I enjoyed the few times I spoke with her. I am so sorry she was disappointed and did not have the magical experience most of us had.

I totally agree. I only spoke up because this seemed to be a very negative view forming about the cruise and for alot of us it wasnt like that.

I loved the cruise (cant you guess) but my husband hated it. Not because of bad service but he was bored (dont ask me how thats possible when there is so much to do but hes a man). Everyones opinion and experience is different but I didnt want the people who were not there to read this thread and think we all hated it when not everyone felt that way.

Lindsay

[rikimuk]

I am assuming this is due to the cruise being entirely within the European Union. I noticed in the stateroom book that for the Med cruises the onboard stores also have to include the VAT, and there were instructions on how US citizens can get it back. Something we didn't have to worry about either.

There are also now new rules for the number of hours the crew are legally allowed to work without a break and the length of time they have to break and that was causing nightmares for the dining room staff. They now have to have much longer break times which is causing problems for the dining rotations.

Lindsay

[LITTLEKID58]

:goodvibes

[gismo1554]

There are also now new rules for the number of hours the crew are legally allowed to work without a break and the length of time they have to break and that was causing nightmares for the dining room staff. They now have to have much longer break times which is causing problems for the dining rotations.

Lindsay

Wasn't it something like outside the EU they have to have a 6 hour break a day but inside they have to have a 10? It was a really big difference I know and a lot of the servers were working over their times because of dinner service running over and then having to do breakfast the next day.

[Jeff Spencer]

...
I loved the cruise (cant you guess) but my husband hated it. Not because of bad service but he was bored (dont ask me how thats possible when there is so much to do but hes a man)...
Lindsay

Hey! Don't go hating on us men! :lmao:

[gailadams_uk]

I too had a magical time on the cruise. Lots to do, good company etc.
However also agree there were teething problems that Disney will hopefully iron out.

Dining room - on the last 4 or 5 days the meal times took longer and longer to arrive - our server kept having to apologise for problems in the kitchen. On the night in Barcelona I left after the entree to ensure I saw the fireworks. It didn't help that one family arrived late on several occassions. However, saying that, on our table of 5 the adults, those ordering childrens meals seemed to get theirs OK.
Despite the problems with meals I must say that our servers were wonderful and would have no hesitation to ask for them again.
(I cannot say the same about the head server though - we barely saw him).

Our room host was not as attentive as previous hosts - We had toiletries on the first day, then after several days of none I asked for some every day. This was a bit hit and miss, some days we did, some we didn't, and the last few days we didn't get any.

Also on the 2nd night I stood on a pin, which I discovered was a foot from the dressing table stool. I gave it to the room host who said he would get the chair repaired. Several days later I then spoke to the head of housekeeping, showed her the chair and was again told it would be repaired (I was worried more would come off). The stool was never replaced or repaired. The pin made my toe bleed, but luckily I had antiseptic to use. I was in pain for the rest of the evening and had to hoble around (it happened as I was getting ready to go to tea). I was just glad a child had not stepped on it.

Palo afternoon tea was also a disappointment. (as RIKIMUK and GISMO1554 have already stated).
Our server offered us scones as we were sitting down (no time to try the sandwiches), then while we were still eating the cakes started taking our plates away (I held onto mine).
Trifle was definately not an "english trife". We were also not offered anymore water, or tea. Grand Floridian resorts afternoon tea is sooo much better.

Both the pin incident and the disappointment with Palos was recorded on my comment card. I still tipped my servers extra as the problems with meals was not down to them.

Disney could do nothing about the weather (It was just like being at home), and the Disney organised excursions I went on were well worth the money (2 in Gibraltar, one in Barcelona).

Overall a great trip, and I would not hesitate to do this cruise again.

Gail (mother of RIKIMUK and GISMO1554)

[rikimuk]

Hey! Don't go hating on us men! :lmao:

Sorry Jeff lol. No men hating here just a typical moaning husband for me (yes I know they dont all moan but mine does lol)

[seaulater]

Odd that we were on the same cruise and yet I had the experience of a lifetime. It was posted in our very lengthy thread that the temps might be cold, that Europe was expensive... I think the food was fine, the Cm's were super. The cruisers were great and cheery and there was a real sense of community. I didn't think most were sick in their cabins. Those with illness issues had a patch behind their ears. The excursions were so cool. I cried repeatedly the last day at the thought the cruise of a lifetime was over. "Only had lobster once?" And you need it more than once during a two week period? How about the crab, the lamb, the fine beef, the salmon, chicken wellington, etc...more than enough variety for the two weeks. I', sorry you had such a rough time. For me, the experience was nothing less than wonderful, magical, spectacular, fabulous, life changing.

We had an awesome experience also. The few inconveniences we had, we were open minded, and worked it out. And we met many new disboard friends that we will cruise with again.

I will write a trip report when I get a chance. The weather was an issue, but I think Rachel (Cruise Director) did an awesome job of planning alternate activities and getting changes made to the day's itineraries.

[seaulater]

I am assuming this is due to the cruise being entirely within the European Union. I noticed in the stateroom book that for the Med cruises the onboard stores also have to include the VAT, and there were instructions on how US citizens can get it back. Something we didn't have to worry about either.

On the EB Med we did not get charged the VAT at all because we stopped at Castaway Cay. That is what I was told by Leah at Guest Services. The rest of the cruises in the Med get the VAT taxes on everything they purchase on the ship. However, you fill out a form to get back the VAT tax. That is what I was told.

[disneymom7851]

I think open minded is the key word. Try to remember that Cast Members had just as rough a waters as everyone else, but I to keep doing their jobs in spite of that. They had to clean, cook, serve and performers had to perform. My daughter is a performing cast member on this cruise and she felt pretty rocky most days also. I just think trip reports should give positive and negative, not just be a place to gripe because things don't go your way completely.

[disneymom7851]

I think the other issue is inexperienced European travelers. Research should be done by everyone and realize that things aren't the same as US travel. The reason the world hates us is we thing OUR way is the only way and everything else we complain about

[BethA]

I think the CMs who you have direct contact with can often change your experience.

We have cruised on another line and had what we perceived as a so so cruise and others lived it--veryone is different.

I am wonderiing about the CC gift though. We have cruised in a cat 1 where we had different families and only received one gift. We asked if we could get another and were told one per cabin and let it go. Often grandparents or aunts or friends share a cabin and many rooms have different families and a rule must be established, so I don't see this as the big negative you displayed it to be. No you cna't cut it in half or share, but to me one per cabin is one per cabin and we have never pressed the issue.

Sorry you didn't have a good time

[gismo1554]

I think the CMs who you have direct contact with can often change your experience.

We have cruised on another line and had what we perceived as a so so cruise and others lived it--veryone is different.

I am wonderiing about the CC gift though. We have cruised in a cat 1 where we had different families and only received one gift. We asked if we could get another and were told one per cabin and let it go. Often grandparents or aunts or friends share a cabin and many rooms have different families and a rule must be established, so I don't see this as the big negative you displayed it to be. No you cna't cut it in half or share, but to me one per cabin is one per cabin and we have never pressed the issue.

Sorry you didn't have a good time

Yeah we contacted DCL today and they said the rule is one per stateroom not one per party so therefore you are only meant to get one. The old gift was better because at least with the bag there were multiple items in one place but the new gift can't really be split up. Not sure if the Magic's new gift is just for the med due to luggage issues or not but I think that's why.

[DizzneyDAnn]

Well said. Iknow Oscar of the cruise staff was sicker than just about anyone on the boat. I can't imagine the stress of working with everyone on the boat for 6 days straight. At least on other cruises, people get off the boat at least every other day and the staff can breathe a sigh of relief for a few hours.

[LITTLEKID58]

Tfs

[lillygator]

OP, did you have two seperate reservations for the same room or were you both on one? (I am not sure how that type of booking process works)

[arlenesp]

I have been reading all the reports since waving the Magic off on the 12th. Since this was the first venture across the Atlantic, I think everyone hoped it would be smooth sailing but unfortunately the weather didn't allow for such. Those are the things that you cannot control. But if your perception of the service given to you was not up to Disney Standards, I would hope it would be addressed as soon as possible.For those of you,I hope they really go over the comment cards.For the most part, it seemed everyone had a great time and I was happy to read the daily reports. Anytime something is new, there are bound to be bumps.

There was an article in the Orlando Sentinel a week before the cruise where Tom McAlpin was speaking about how they took the new cms from Europe to Pt Canaveral, and were giving them the training to do the job the Disney Way. Maybe they should have been shadowing on the Magics last 7 day to see how it was to be done? Wonder if it would have helped?

I remember the reports from the first WBPC in 2005 and how differently things were done on the EB.I hope my cruise goes as smoothly but one never knows. :thumbsup2

[gottaluvdisney]

I think the CMs who you have direct contact with can often change your experience.

We have cruised on another line and had what we perceived as a so so cruise and others lived it--veryone is different.

I am wonderiing about the CC gift though. We have cruised in a cat 1 where we had different families and only received one gift. We asked if we could get another and were told one per cabin and let it go. Often grandparents or aunts or friends share a cabin and many rooms have different families and a rule must be established, so I don't see this as the big negative you displayed it to be. No you cna't cut it in half or share, but to me one per cabin is one per cabin and we have never pressed the issue.

Sorry you didn't have a good time


I always like to hear the bad with the good. It sounds like you did have a good time. One thing that you wrote the most about was the CC gift. Just sounds like you fueled your own fire by going to guest services so much over the gift that was one per room. I agree with letting it go - have one family take the book and one family take the other gift. Sharing. I traveled with my parents and we just agreed who would take which gift. (that was the Aug PC cruise in 2005)

Please don't get all upset over the negative remarks here. Just as you have your own opinion, so do others. They may not agree, but it is nice for everyone to be able to share their different views.

[NHdisneylover]

Oh Laura,

I am so sorry you had so many bad experiences on board. Like some others of our fellow travelrs said much of your commentary made me feel that we were on the same cruise but different ships. You poor thing, what a disapointmnet that must have been.

We had a fantastic vacation and wish we could do it all over again (inlcuding have all our DISboard friends back on board with us).

Our experience with the food was different than yours. We thought it was about the same as the other 4 DCL cruises we have taken. The exception to that was the new flavours of the Med. menu which was terrible. I am picky anyway, but even my husband who will eat just about anythign tried multiple entrees and couldn't stand any (and he works/travels in Europe frequently and likes the local food). My in-laws LOVED the food and felt it was better than their two previous DCL trips. I know my daughter had lobster 3 nights (two servings each time). One particular serving was not very good (other one same night was) and seafood can vary like that (we live in New England and the lobster wasn't quite as good as the totally fresh stuff at home, but was close). Also big hits at our table (none of this being anything I eat--like I said I am picky) were scallops (on many nights), fillet minon (again multiple nights) and crab.

We had a great stateroom host, but like you (and others now have said) we had to ASK for tolietries to be repalced. This was annoying, but I get the impression it is some new (and hopefully shortlived) DCL policy. The ctruise was 14 nights. We had 4 in our cabin. Both my daughter and I have LONG, THICK hair. If we washed our hair daily we would have easily gone through a bottle of shampoo and conditioner every day or so. We do not hoard and bring home extras. We used only frou bottles of each, but had to ask for every single replacemnet (even bars of soap). I agree this is a yucky policy and needs to stop. I will be mentioning it in my mostly very complimentary letter to DCL. But, for us, it was a minor glitch given how lovely our host kept everything, how quickly our room was turned around, etc.

Crew--we found most of the cerw to be outstanding. The cruise staff was totally amazing (the best we have ever had) as were our servers and our stateroom host. My letter to DCL will have more names listed than ever before (all good). Multiple staff members sent us and our kids persaonl notes (just to be awesome, not to recitfy any problems) and we hated to leave them and cried when Michael left the ship a day early to fly back to the Wonder (our son said "Micahel is equal to Keyon" which is true and a HUGE complimnet from our family). I do have to agree with you about Guest Services though. Every time we dealt with them they were at the least unhelpful and often downright rude and mean (weird because we didn't even have any complaints, and were just doing basic easy stuff).

I hope your next trip is as Magical as it should be for you. And Luara, we miss you on the main thread.

[disneymom7851]

Hadley

Thanks for the good report. And Thanks for nice about Michael. He is my daughters boyfriend and I have never met him but they met on the ship. She is still on the Magic but flying home on the 6th. Glad to hear he did such a great job

[Basketchaser]

I had no problem getting duplicate books, posters, etc that were delivered to our room. I jsut asked our cleaning lady each time and the same day or the following day it would be in the room. Since the family I was traveling with and myself did not live in the same household we certainly wanted our own stuff to take home. As far as the food...it was OK, but not above and beyond what I had expected. It wasn't necessarly bad...but it was OK. With two weeks on the ship, the breakfast buffets got kind of boring with the same old foods every day. Over all, I would do it again in a heartbeat! I am not an avid cruiser like some, but I was thrilled with the over-all cruise.

[gismo1554]

Oh Laura,
We had a great stateroom host, but like you (and others now have said) we had to ASK for tolietries to be repalced. This was annoying, but I get the impression it is some new (and hopefully shortlived) DCL policy. The ctruise was 14 nights. We had 4 in our cabin. Both my daughter and I have LONG, THICK hair. If we washed our hair daily we would have easily gone through a bottle of shampoo and conditioner every day or so. We do not hoard and bring home extras. We used only frou bottles of each, but had to ask for every single replacemnet (even bars of soap). I agree this is a yucky policy and needs to stop. I will be mentioning it in my mostly very complimentary letter to DCL. But, for us, it was a minor glitch given how lovely our host kept everything, how quickly our room was turned around, etc.


I think because of the fact that the toiletries are larger they only leave them on the first day but I asked for them the second day to be left every day and my stateroom host actually left me two sets a day which was nice. I think as long as you say can we have them every day they give them but if you just say can we have some more they just give you one. My mothers host only gave her a couple. As I was on my own 2 lots a day was a little excessive but it made great gifts for when I got home!

[Basketchaser]

I can't imagine asking every time you needed shampoo, etc! That stinks! As huge as Disney is, there should never be a question of leaving soap, etc EVERY day! Come to think about it...we did not get a new bar of soap each day or even every other! I noticed that the soap was down to nothing before they gave us a new bar! We brought our own shampoo so that's why we didn't notice anything but the bar soap. Hopefully they correct this issue soon!

[Lizdisdog]

Some of you guys really amaze me - all you can do is MOAN:confused3

I was on the crossing - well I thought I was, but having read your report, I can't believe we were both in the same place. Agreed, weather wasn't brilliant but DCL really can't do a lot about that and I understand that even Florida had an unusually cooler couple of weeks than normal then, this is always the risk you take. As for some of your other moans, all the crew members we met, which over the course of two weeks was quite a few, were as charming and helpful as ever as well as great fun.:banana: The food was different, you went to The Med and that was the idea behind a lot of the menus - if you don't like something different - why do it:confused:

Everyone I travelled with had a great time and would like to offer DCL a big THANK YOU for giving us such a great opportunity to do something different, and to all the CM's you looked after us so well and made it such a memorable and enjoyable trip.:dance3:

[Scoobypop]

Hadley

Thanks for the good report. And Thanks for nice about Michael. He is my daughters boyfriend and I have never met him but they met on the ship. She is still on the Magic but flying home on the 6th. Glad to hear he did such a great job


Ditto Hadley for us. We LOVED Michael, and called him the "Keyon of the Transatlantic" since we thought he was equally as good!!

Also, had the most incredible, amazing experience of my life. It was our third Disney cruise. I don't believe we've just been lucky every time, but we have NEVER had a single unpleasant moment on any cruise we've taken. Having cruised one other line before Disney, we wouldn't even consider another cruise line (unless it was The Queen Mary or something on an around the world 180 cruise!) It was depressing to leave the ship. Hadley said on the main Med thread she wished we could have just turned the ship around and done another 14 nights back home. Same here.

Honestly, we didn't really even notice "bad" weather. The pool (The Adult pool anyway) was always a blast no matter what the weather was. Then again, Rob and I are always the type no matter what the weather or circumstances are, we make our own fun so perhaps I didn't notice unfortunate weather or bad sea conditions.

I just wanted to throw my two cents in because as DizzneyDAnn said, just didn't want the cruise to get that reputation and it seemed like there were comments from many people basing opinions and considerations on the report. THAT being said, I completely agree that trip reports are people's own individual experiences and can be valuable resources, and Laura clearly stated the YVMM (I don't know if I got that right, I don't know what that means :) ) several times, so I hope she doesn't take much more heat for her criticism. Before our first cruise, we became familiar with Cruisecritic.com and made it a point to read as many bad things as we could. That way we could go in with some expectations of, "Well, if this is the worst thing they have to say, and it DOES happen, then we can live with that", etc.

Honestly, we had an awesome awesome trip. Service for us was, as always, far outmatched by most other companies I can think of. This coming from someone who works at Bellagio in Las Vegas, a hotel with a reputation for having impeccable guest service standards. Disney always impresses me. Things couldn't have been better for us, the food, the weather, the ship, the ports of call, the staff.

Great sailings to all! :cool1:
Chris

[NHdisneylover]

Ditto Hadley for us. We LOVED Michael, and called him the "Keyon of the Transatlantic" since we thought he was equally as good!!

Also, had the most incredible, amazing experience of my life. It was our third Disney cruise. I don't believe we've just been lucky every time, but we have NEVER had a single unpleasant moment on any cruise we've taken. Having cruised one other line before Disney, we wouldn't even consider another cruise line (unless it was The Queen Mary or something on an around the world 180 cruise!) It was depressing to leave the ship. Hadley said on the main Med thread she wished we could have just turned the ship around and done another 14 nights back home. Same here.

Honestly, we didn't really even notice "bad" weather. The pool (The Adult pool anyway) was always a blast no matter what the weather was. Then again, Rob and I are always the type no matter what the weather or circumstances are, we make our own fun so perhaps I didn't notice unfortunate weather or bad sea conditions.

I just wanted to throw my two cents in because as DizzneyDAnn said, just didn't want the cruise to get that reputation and it seemed like there were comments from many people basing opinions and considerations on the report. THAT being said, I completely agree that trip reports are people's own individual experiences and can be valuable resources, and Laura clearly stated the YVMM (I don't know if I got that right, I don't know what that means :) ) several times, so I hope she doesn't take much more heat for her criticism. Before our first cruise, we became familiar with Cruisecritic.com and made it a point to read as many bad things as we could. That way we could go in with some expectations of, "Well, if this is the worst thing they have to say, and it DOES happen, then we can live with that", etc.

Honestly, we had an awesome awesome trip. Service for us was, as always, far outmatched by most other companies I can think of. This coming from someone who works at Bellagio in Las Vegas, a hotel with a reputation for having impeccable guest service standards. Disney always impresses me. Things couldn't have been better for us, the food, the weather, the ship, the ports of call, the staff.

Great sailings to all! :cool1:
Chris


We think so much alike:rotfl: Rio has been saying "Michael is eqaul to Keyon" which as you KNOW is high praise indeed! Hmm, I wonder if we cold luck into them BOTH on the Double Dip!

[LindaBabe]

Laura clearly stated the YVMM (I don't know if I got that right, I don't know what that means :) ) several times, so I hope she doesn't take much more heat for her criticism. Chris


:) It's YMMV and it means "your mileage may vary" meaning other people may (and clearly DID, in this case) have different experiences.

I thought the original report was very well balanced and excellent. Good show, Laura, for being brave enough to post it!:goodvibes

[NHdisneylover]

:) It's YMMV and it means "your mileage may vary" meaning other people may (and clearly DID, in this case) have different experiences.

I thought the original report was very well balanced and excellent. Good show, Laura, for being brave enough to post it!:goodvibes

I agree it was fair and totally represented what Laura felt and experienced. I hope I did not imply otherwise.

[disneymom7851]

Well I am feeling really good about Michael. Guess my daughter has good taste after all. We mothers never know when they are grown if they listened along the way.

I will certainly share with him all the good wishes and appreciation for his efforts. My daughter comes home from Barcelona today and we are excited to see her. She is going to Florida at the end of the month to see Michael on the Wonder. I will keep everyone posted if he is doing double dips.

[NHdisneylover]

How exciting for you to have your little girl home today (they are always our little girls right?). Enjoy your time together.

The Double Dip we are talking about isn't until September 2008. But we are hoping it works out and we see Michael on that one.

[been2marceline]

I think open minded is the key word. Try to remember that Cast Members had just as rough a waters as everyone else, but I to keep doing their jobs in spite of that. They had to clean, cook, serve and performers had to perform. My daughter is a performing cast member on this cruise and she felt pretty rocky most days also. I just think trip reports should give positive and negative, not just be a place to gripe because things don't go your way completely.

Perhaps you have money to throw away on being "open minded" when it comes to poor service but we, and most likely Auntie Brat and others, don't.

I can't think of any circumstance where I would feel that poor service of any kind is acceptable, regardless of the weather.

In addition, the price for a stateroom is "per person" not "per family" and should be kept in mind when people are traveling together spending the same amount for their trip. An extra gift is a very small price to pay for DCL to continue the good relationship that they have with their cruisers.

None of her comments had anything to do with the "peformers", you obviously are a bit prejudiced in your relationship with this particular cruise. We were in rough weather for the EB Panama Repo cruise and the entertainers were amazing. Never missed a beat, even with the tale end of a hurricane tossing the ship!! You have every right to be proud of your DD, but don't be blind to other issues and other peoples personal experiences.

You might want to read her trip report again, slowly, carefully and then respond, or not...

[been2marceline]

I think the other issue is inexperienced European travelers. Research should be done by everyone and realize that things aren't the same as US travel. The reason the world hates us is we thing OUR way is the only way and everything else we complain about

I wasn't aware that the world Hates us, perhaps it is only your experience.

[gismo1554]

Perhaps you have money to throw away on being "open minded" when it comes to poor service but we, and most likely Auntie Brat and others, don't.

I can't think of any circumstance where I would feel that poor service of any kind is acceptable, regardless of the weather.

In addition, the price for a stateroom is "per person" not "per family" and should be kept in mind when people are traveling together spending the same amount for their trip. An extra gift is a very small price to pay for DCL to continue the good relationship that they have with their cruisers.

None of her comments had anything to do with the "peformers", you obviously are a bit prejudiced in your relationship with this particular cruise. We were in rough weather for the EB Panama Repo cruise and the entertainers were amazing. Never missed a beat, even with the tale end of a hurricane tossing the ship!! You have every right to be proud of your DD, but don't be blind to other issues and other peoples personal experiences.

You might want to read her trip report again, slowly, carefully and then respond, or not...


Sorry but I just wanted to add something here! I don't think that the person was saying bad service should be accepted I think they were saying you had to accept that the staff experienced what we experienced! The rocking of the boat upset everybody on there and I think they were just saying you had to give some leyway. I don't think they were excusing bad manners I think they were just giving a reason as to why the service had been a lower standard than it would have been in calm waters. I agree that we are spending money on it but I also think that blaming people because they had difficulties because of the bad weather is unfair!

As for the gift just to point out DCL policy does state one per stateroom and it is not the CM's fault if they follow the rules. Yes fair enough as a gesture DCL should allow 2 gifts for those rooms that have 2 families but then that isn't down to the CM either its DCL's policy! Castaway gifts are a bonus not a right and as far as I'm concerned you should appreciate free gifts and not moan about not getting two but this is my honest opinion and not a critism on anyone who feels differently.

All in all I think AuntyBrats review is accurate for what she felt but I feel that other people have different opinions to this and therefore posted them on this thread to give a balanced view as I think everyone had a different cruise. Personally I loved everything on the cruise except Palos which I found very disapointing. Again this differs to AuntyBrats experience but then I guess we had an off day too. Alex our server (I think) was rude and took plates off us before we had even finished eating but that was my only complaint about the entire cruise. The kitchen was slow I admit but our servers kept us informed and I accepted that it wasn't their fault that there were problems elsewhere.

[Jeff Spencer]

...Alex our server (I think) was rude and took plates off us before we had even finished eating but that was my only complaint about the entire cruise.

Why would people allow their plates to be taken away before they are finished eating? An "Excuse me, I'm not finished." would have taken care of it nicely. :)

Also, no, it is not up to the guest to give the staff "leeway", regardless of the sea states. Cruises encounter rough seas frequently and it is reasonable for the guest to expect the cruise line staff to perform their duties as they should.

Regarding the Castaway Club gift, so what. Too much effort on Disney's part not to give one and too much consternation on the guest's part to get another. Life's too short to expend energy on trivial things like that.

[gismo1554]

Why would people allow their plates to be taken away before they are finished eating? An "Excuse me, I'm not finished." would have taken care of it nicely. :)

Also, no, it is not up to the guest to give the staff "leeway", regardless of the sea states. Cruises encounter rough seas frequently and it is reasonable for the guest to expect the cruise line staff to perform their duties as they should.

Regarding the Castaway Club gift, so what. Too much effort on Disney's part not to give one and too much consternation on the guest's part to get another. Life's too short to expend energy on trivial things like that.

We didn't let him take the one plate. My sister was so stunned that hers was gone before she had a chance. My mother held on to hers. My sister had the last of her scone in her hand at the time so there was no point getting the plate back it was just rude to take it.

I still think you do have to give them some leeway in my opinion. The seas were alot rougher than they had expected and they aren't robots they are humans just like anyone else. I'm not saying that they should be able to get away with being rude I'm just saying I would give leeway. I agree that cruises do experience rough seas a lot but that doesn't mean staff dont get affected by them and in mho I think that you should give leeway but as said before this is my opinion that's all!

[YenSid1222]

Perhaps you have money to throw away on being "open minded" when it comes to poor service but we, and most likely Auntie Brat and others, don't.

I can't think of any circumstance where I would feel that poor service of any kind is acceptable, regardless of the weather.

In addition, the price for a stateroom is "per person" not "per family" and should be kept in mind when people are traveling together spending the same amount for their trip. An extra gift is a very small price to pay for DCL to continue the good relationship that they have with their cruisers.

None of her comments had anything to do with the "peformers", you obviously are a bit prejudiced in your relationship with this particular cruise. We were in rough weather for the EB Panama Repo cruise and the entertainers were amazing. Never missed a beat, even with the tale end of a hurricane tossing the ship!! You have every right to be proud of your DD, but don't be blind to other issues and other peoples personal experiences.

You might want to read her trip report again, slowly, carefully and then respond, or not...


Umm.....wow...just read the report and you can see the closed mindedness (yes I read it slowly). I could tell right away that she was going to have a bad experience. The cast are PEOPLE...and if on the first moment of the cruise you treat them like junk...guess what? You will NOT (nor should you be) treated well for the cruise. I do not have "money to throw away" but I do know when you go in treating them good, you get treated good in return. This is a prime example of why DISboard people get a bad reputation among cast members.

Also, your definition of the price is flawed. It is not based solely per person. I usually travel alone, and so far I have never just been able to pay half of the room rate (listed at double occupancy).

Go in with unreal expectations and you are certain to be DISappointed.

[jeff fujimoto]

This is my first post on this site. After reading Auntie Brat's post, I thought I would share some of my feelings about this cruise since we were on board also. This represented the seventh DCL cruise for myself and family. We number four people (myself, wife and two daughters - age 19 and 16).We were in a catagory 3 stateroom.

First, I would say that this was an outstanding cruise overall - even comparing it to previous Disney cruises. The service was above expectations. In particular, concierge service was absolutely outstanding. The quality of the food was also outstanding, in my opinion, compared to previous cruises. As far as the little extras go, I think some of the expectations are too high. A reality check is in order. We should consider being grateful for one gift per stateroom - afterall, they are gifts and not something promised or expected. Even having paid for a suite during this trip, I was pleasantly surprised by the many gifts and was not left wanting for more.

Second, obviously Disney cannot control the weather or wave conditions on the Atlantic. I would say that the numerous activities (including deck parties, BBQS, and shows) were staged very successfully even though weather and sea conditions were limiting factors. I would congratulate them on a job well done. Again, the numerous BBQS went beyond expectation in terms of decorations and the food offered. I find it difficult to believe that we were on the same cruise and had such different experiences

Third, we went on one to two shore excursions at each port. We thoroughly enjoyed them. Yes, some of them were long and not suitable for small children. Most required considerable walking. However, the presence of Disney cast members and photographers for each group gave the excursions the added Disney touch. This is a grand way to gain some knowledge of the country with the assurance of Disney quality. The only shore excursion I would not repeat was the Beach Day on Tenerife Island. This was the best lunch (off ship) but sitting around on the beach was soso - being from California.

Proof is in the pudding, and we have booked a Panama Canal cruise for May next year. I think this argues loudest for our satisfaction as a family, with the Disney Cruise Line. Indeed, I don't think we would be cruising if not for the fact that this is a Disney ship. My only complaint is the limited number of Catagory 2 and 3 staterooms. Regards and happy cruising. Jeff

[YenSid1222]

I wasn't aware that the world Hates us, perhaps it is only your experience.


Wow again. You are something. Just read the news. Americans are notorious for being obnoxious traveling abroad. I lived in France for a year and a half and was embarrassed many times. Also, the fact of how much some of the world hates us should be noted on 9/11...maybe you forgot while complaining about not being treated like a queen?


And I happen to know that Disneymom has traveled extensively around the world and does not warrant your rant. So you get mine instead.

[gismo1554]

First, I would say that this was an outstanding cruise overall - even comparing it to previous Disney cruises. The service was above expectations. In particular, concierge service was absolutely outstanding. The quality of the food was also outstanding, in my opinion, compared to previous cruises. As far as the little extras go, I think some of the expectations are too high. A reality check is in order. We should consider being grateful for one gift per stateroom - afterall, they are gifts and not something promised or expected. Even having paid for a suite during this trip, I was pleasantly surprised by the many gifts and was not left wanting for more.


Thanks Jeff for saying this as I'm glad I'm not the only person that feels this way.

[woody73]

This is my first post on this site. After reading Auntie Brat's post, I thought I would share some of my feelings about this cruise since we were on board also.

. . . First, I would say that this was an outstanding cruise overall . . .
YMMV.

[Jeff Spencer]

Yensid I see you're one of those people that obviously can't accept people having a different opinion than you. YOU are something...perhaps if you behaved better while you were in France you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself. :lmao:

[Kissimmee]

Odd that we were on the same cruise and yet I had the experience of a lifetime. It was posted in our very lengthy thread that the temps might be cold, that Europe was expensive... I think the food was fine, the Cm's were super. The cruisers were great and cheery and there was a real sense of community. I didn't think most were sick in their cabins. Those with illness issues had a patch behind their ears. The excursions were so cool. I cried repeatedly the last day at the thought the cruise of a lifetime was over. "Only had lobster once?" And you need it more than once during a two week period? How about the crab, the lamb, the fine beef, the salmon, chicken wellington, etc...more than enough variety for the two weeks. I', sorry you had such a rough time. For me, the experience was nothing less than wonderful, magical, spectacular, fabulous, life changing.

I second that. The Trans Atlantic was a delight. The only exception was the dreadful Internet service. Unfortunately the Following Med cruise was not such a delight.

[been2marceline]

Wow again. You are something. Just read the news. Americans are notorious for being obnoxious traveling abroad. I lived in France for a year and a half and was embarrassed many times. Also, the fact of how much some of the world hates us should be noted on 9/11...maybe you forgot while complaining about not being treated like a queen?


And I happen to know that Disneymom has traveled extensively around the world and does not warrant your rant. So you get mine instead.

Thanks!

[been2marceline]

Yensid I see you're one of those people that obviously can't accept people having a different opinion than you. YOU are something...perhaps if you behaved better while you were in France you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself. :lmao:

Thanks, Jeff - I would rather reply to this, an open minded qoute, rather than the other...

I too have traveled extensively and have never felt hated or "grouped" in a feeling of hatred by just being an American.

I certainly would not forget 9/11, having lost someone that I know from that horrible tragedy. The world embraced us, they did not shun us after that terrible day. It was only through other POLITICAL tragedies that there has been any ill will, and again, it is purely POLITICAL.

If anyone (and I'm sure we know who I mean) has felt any discomfort (hatred) perhaps the ugly American is staring at them in the mirror.

That said...

I was purely coming to Aunty Brat's defense and the defense of being a well traveled AMERICAN. I certainly do understand other's opinions and I did not respond to anyone elses trip report, only to those that felt it necessary to disavow Aunty Brat's report.

I also have NEVER treated anyone in an unkind way and have always felt that "what goes around comes around" and "It's easier to get by with sugar than with vinegar." I certainly have never treated anyone like "junk", nor would I.

I also expect good service and reward good service. And if the service is not good or is not to my expectations, (not over-expectations I might add) then I also make sure that information is shared with the proper people.

I expect that these are just normal or commen sense actions for those that are "well traveled".

[seaulater]

This is my first post on this site. After reading Auntie Brat's post, I thought I would share some of my feelings about this cruise since we were on board also. This represented the seventh DCL cruise for myself and family. We number four people (myself, wife and two daughters - age 19 and 16).We were in a catagory 3 stateroom.

First, I would say that this was an outstanding cruise overall - even comparing it to previous Disney cruises. The service was above expectations. In particular, concierge service was absolutely outstanding. The quality of the food was also outstanding, in my opinion, compared to previous cruises. As far as the little extras go, I think some of the expectations are too high. A reality check is in order. We should consider being grateful for one gift per stateroom - afterall, they are gifts and not something promised or expected. Even having paid for a suite during this trip, I was pleasantly surprised by the many gifts and was not left wanting for more.

Second, obviously Disney cannot control the weather or wave conditions on the Atlantic. I would say that the numerous activities (including deck parties, BBQS, and shows) were staged very successfully even though weather and sea conditions were limiting factors. I would congratulate them on a job well done. Again, the numerous BBQS went beyond expectation in terms of decorations and the food offered. I find it difficult to believe that we were on the same cruise and had such different experiences

Third, we went on one to two shore excursions at each port. We thoroughly enjoyed them. Yes, some of them were long and not suitable for small children. Most required considerable walking. However, the presence of Disney cast members and photographers for each group gave the excursions the added Disney touch. This is a grand way to gain some knowledge of the country with the assurance of Disney quality. The only shore excursion I would not repeat was the Beach Day on Tenerife Island. This was the best lunch (off ship) but sitting around on the beach was soso - being from California.

Proof is in the pudding, and we have booked a Panama Canal cruise for May next year. I think this argues loudest for our satisfaction as a family, with the Disney Cruise Line. Indeed, I don't think we would be cruising if not for the fact that this is a Disney ship. My only complaint is the limited number of Catagory 2 and 3 staterooms. Regards and happy cruising. Jeff

DITTO!

Look forward to cruising with you in May, 2008 for the PC Cruise!

[Tink rules]

I second that. The Trans Atlantic was a delight. The only exception was the dreadful Internet service. Unfortunately the Following Med cruise was not such a delight.


So... what happened on the Med cruise???

If you've posted elsewhere, can you please give the link?

[BobandLee]

Note:I am not flaming Laura or anyone else.....

I second that. The Trans Atlantic was a delight. The only exception was the dreadful Internet service. Unfortunately the Following Med cruise was not such a delight.

I third that. The TransAtlantic was a delight. The internet was slow. Better than dial-up, but slow. HOWEVER, you could do it in your cabin.:thumbsup2

Details.
O.K. here goes. The ships crew that we dealt with were great. Especially the dining staff. I really appreciated that the assistant sever remembered each evening to bring coffee to another diser and myself.

The food. (remember this is coming from a no taste Neanderthal that could live on cheeseburgers and/or coney dogs).
I thought the food was excellent. That includes the appetizers, soup/salad, entrée and dessert.
Only complaint over the 14 dinners we had was the chocolate slipper dessert. Not like in the past.

Liked all the shows. Thought that the Mickey Dreams was a bit loud and a bit busy. But I think that DCL learned from the PC repo fiascos of Bob Sagat and the BumbleSquats.

There were some miss-steps on the excursions. Not exactly as adverstised, but since this was the first time DCL had been there, it was not entirely all their fault.

Never had any trouble converting travelers checks to Euros. Just a short wait in line. Lucky I guess.

Overall, I thought things went well. Could they have been better? Sure.
Would we do the cruise again. Yep! In a heartbeat.

I had not planned on mentioning this, but after being back two weeks, it still bugs me. I think it is an example of folks thinking that since they "paid so much" for the cruise, it gives them an excuse to be rude.
I am used to a little rudeness like line jumping, elevator rushing and such. But one afternoon on deck 9 took the cake.
There was a woman and her 3 kids. They had their drinks from the drink station, ice cream and sandwhiches and fries from Plutos. They proceeded to waste much more of the food than they ate. The food was on the deck, the table and the chairs. I believe that there were a couple of stomped catsup packages also. Then they made a big joke about not cleaning it up since they were on a cruise.:sad2:

Love those dancing nanners Kissimmee.

[auntsue1]

I won't pretend to know the lady's circumstances for why she & her family did that but.... Just because your on a cruise you don't have to act like a slob. :sad2:

[been2marceline]

I won't pretend to know the lady's circumstances for why she & her family did that but.... Just because your on a cruise you don't have to act like a slob. :sad2:

Can't agree more! Even though I am a "Queen" to some, I am always cleaning up after others and I am always appauled at poor manners and the waste of food and other items!

I usually get asked if I "work" at most places that I am frequenting, as I am usually the one straightening, cleaning, or re-merchandising.

Such "Queen" demeanor, don't you think?

[DizzneyDAnn]

Wasn't me! I wasted NO FOOD. YUM YUM YUM It's all in my TUM TUM TUM (or maybe my bumm, bumm, bumm!):lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[DizzneyDAnn]

For those of you who do not think that we should have given the staff a break, I just say I disagree. You have NO IDEA, unless you cruised with us, HOW rocky it was.

I too have sailed around a hurricane--that was nothing compared to the relentless day and night, for 6 days plus one (between Teneriffe and Cadiz--the worst in my opinion) rocking of this boat. Perhaps there have been rockier cruises--I cannot judge that, but surely not for the length of time of this cruise. There were no ports to break it up.

I really did like the rocking, but it was hard on the body. I gained NO WEIGHT :) and ate everything in sightpopcorn:: . I know of some who lost weight, inspite of a chocolate soufle obsession.

Some Cruise staff were on meds for sea sickness. :sick: Of course you all pull together in this situation. They were serving us, and very well, but an occassional glitch is forgivable! I felt we were all in it together:grouphug: , crew and cruisers, as far as dealing with the rocking. The sharing of that experience with staff and cruisers just made the cruise for me.:cloud9:

[woody73]

. . . There was a woman and her 3 kids. They had their drinks from the drink station, ice cream and sandwhiches and fries from Plutos. They proceeded to waste much more of the food than they ate. The food was on the deck, the table and the chairs. I believe that there were a couple of stomped catsup packages also. . .
Some people should just stay home.

Woody

[gismo1554]

For those of you who do not think that we should have given the staff a break, I just say I disagree. You have NO IDEA, unless you cruised with us, HOW rocky it was.

Some Cruise staff were on meds for sea sickness. :sick: Of course you all pull together in this situation. They were serving us, and very well, but an occassional glitch is forgivable! I felt we were all in it together:grouphug: , crew and cruisers, as far as dealing with the rocking. The sharing of that experience with staff and cruisers just made the cruise for me.:cloud9:

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! I think the circumstances were exceptional a little disruption should have been expected that's all. People are people and they react in different ways.

[YenSid1222]

Yensid I see you're one of those people that obviously can't accept people having a different opinion than you. YOU are something...perhaps if you behaved better while you were in France you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself. :lmao:


You are so funny. Believe me, I have never made as much as an *** of myself as all of you on this board.

If you cannot give a person (specifically a cast member) a break during the roughest seas the Magic probably ever saw, then I cannot comment on your arrogance and you did not nor do you deserve good service. If I knew the person serving me was having to wade through water in their living quarters, I am human enough to give them a break. Of course, I do not make an *** of myself and my servers, hosts, etc. all love us and we end up with getting lots of attention and get to hear the stories of people like you. That makes me :rotfl2:

[DizzneyDAnn]

Oh my goodness, this is the second time I've heard of water. Were we taking on water? Did some staff have water in their living areas???

[Jeff Spencer]

For those of you who do not think that we should have given the staff a break, I just say I disagree.

I have no problem with you or anyone else having that opinion. We as reasonable people should feel free to express our thoughts, experiences and opinions on this board. That's what it's here for right? We should be able to agree to disagree and move on. :) :thumbsup2

The only problem I have is when others attack people who express opinions that are different from theirs as if it is impossible for other people to have different experiences on the same ship. We all know that it is entirely possible, in fact it's probable, that not everyone will have the same on-board experience. As someone else pointed out, each guest's experience is significantly influenced by the Disney cast/crew they personally interact with. It's a fact that there are great cabin stewards and those that are not so great. The same is true for wait staff in the dining rooms, staff at Guest Services, etc. The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong when it comes to trip reports and personal cruise experiences.

[been2marceline]

I have no problem with you or anyone else having that opinion. We as reasonable people should feel free to express our thoughts, experiences and opinions on this board. That's what it's here for right? We should be able to agree to disagree and move on. :) :thumbsup2

The only problem I have is when others attack people who express opinions that are different from theirs as if it is impossible for other people to have different experiences on the same ship. We all know that it is entirely possible, in fact it's probable, that not everyone will have the same on-board experience. As someone else pointed out, each guest's experience is significantly influenced by the Disney cast/crew they personally interact with. It's a fact that there are great cabin stewards and those that are not so great. The same is true for wait staff in the dining rooms, staff at Guest Services, etc. The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong when it comes to trip reports and personal cruise experiences.

Thanks Jeff!!

Well said/put, I agree!! (No disagreeing here!)

[woody73]

. . . The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong when it comes to trip reports and personal cruise experiences.
I think if everyone was as open-minded, more people would post trip reports -- good and bad.

Woody

[gismo1554]

I have no problem with you or anyone else having that opinion. We as reasonable people should feel free to express our thoughts, experiences and opinions on this board. That's what it's here for right? We should be able to agree to disagree and move on. :) :thumbsup2

The only problem I have is when others attack people who express opinions that are different from theirs as if it is impossible for other people to have different experiences on the same ship. We all know that it is entirely possible, in fact it's probable, that not everyone will have the same on-board experience. As someone else pointed out, each guest's experience is significantly influenced by the Disney cast/crew they personally interact with. It's a fact that there are great cabin stewards and those that are not so great. The same is true for wait staff in the dining rooms, staff at Guest Services, etc. The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong when it comes to trip reports and personal cruise experiences.

I think alot of people posted their opinions on here because of the fact that this was giving a single view of the experience and I don't think anyone has actually turned around and said 'that didn't happen' I think they are just trying to show that everyone has a different experience. That was my motivation for putting something on here anyway! I still stand by my point that you have to give people a bit of leniancy to staff because of the weather but I'm not in any way saying that other people didn't have bad service. I personally didn't experience any from our actual servers or stateroom host just from the staff at Palo's! I'm sure others had a different experience.

[RhondaInMA]

Just recently cruised Disney.. 4 day in May 2007. This was our 6th Disney Cruise. I do agree that the service has changed as well as the cruisers. It's not what it used to be. However, we made the best of it and enjoyed our vacation. I never expected more. I accepted... but will definitely take this into consideration for future cruises.
We are booked on the May 3, 2008 Disney Magic in the Walt Suite and at this time I am not looking forward to the trip. Hopefully 10 months from now I will feel differently. To cancel this booked trip would mean we would lose our $3000 deposit because it's the suite. So... we will cruise Disney one last time... and maybe in the future the new ships will offer something different.

[holidayfanatic]

I have not read every entry on this thread but there is a lot of generalisation going on. As someone else has said, everyone is entitled to their opinions but our experience (as 1st timers on the first Med cruise but we are Disney veterans) was that the experience was fantastic. Yes there were a lot of new CMs but we never found anyone who was unwilling to help in anything we asked about. Service was exceptional and you should not worry about your cruise. We also enjoyed the food and the whole experience so much that we are likely to now do the trip back across to Florida in August.

With regard to the generalisation, Europe is not always cold, wet and miserable in May June & July and in fact I am sending this from my garden in Northern England at 10pm and the temperature is currently 20 degrees (was 26 earlier today). This is fairly regular for UK at this time of the year. Again not everyone in Europe (whatever country they are from) shys away from washing. You will find that people are like that in any country. We could quite easily say that about the abundant and rather larger people we encounter in Florida but we dont because we know that every nation has it's fair share of these problems. Lets keep these generalisations away from the forums!

[disneymom7851]

Thanks for having a good attitude and I am glad you had a good time on the cruise. This thread has really been a lot of negative comments that had no place on the thread

[gismo1554]

I have not read every entry on this thread but there is a lot of generalisation going on. As someone else has said, everyone is entitled to their opinions but our experience (as 1st timers on the first Med cruise but we are Disney veterans) was that the experience was fantastic. Yes there were a lot of new CMs but we never found anyone who was unwilling to help in anything we asked about. Service was exceptional and you should not worry about your cruise. We also enjoyed the food and the whole experience so much that we are likely to now do the trip back across to Florida in August.

With regard to the generalisation, Europe is not always cold, wet and miserable in May June & July and in fact I am sending this from my garden in Northern England at 10pm and the temperature is currently 20 degrees (was 26 earlier today). This is fairly regular for UK at this time of the year. Again not everyone in Europe (whatever country they are from) shys away from washing. You will find that people are like that in any country. We could quite easily say that about the abundant and rather larger people we encounter in Florida but we dont because we know that every nation has it's fair share of these problems. Lets keep these generalisations away from the forums!

I agree. By the way there's a few of us on the Bringing home the magic post inthe cruise meet that went on the EB and have booked the return leg so if you do book it then come over and join us.

[milestogo]

Hi guys, Laura, I'm so sorry that you had such a bad time. I had no idea when I saw you that you were having a tough trip. Like Hadley and Chris it is like we were on a different ship. We had unbelievable service, food to die for (our table ordered multiples of everything), loved the fun weather. Didn't have one bad experience with kids misbehaving. Loved meeting everyone, the shows, the presentations etc. Although did have minor frustration with guest services, but they made good on it. I hope it doesn't sour you on cruising and that you have a better experience next time. I was surprised how many people liked it enough to book the return in August. Good luck, Kelly

PS: hey Sarah, say hi to Lidsay (my UK girls)

[gismo1554]

Hi guys, Laura, I'm so sorry that you had such a bad time. I had no idea when I saw you that you were having a tough trip. Like Hadley and Chris it is like we were on a different ship. We had unbelievable service, food to die for (our table ordered multiples of everything), loved the fun weather. Didn't have one bad experience with kids misbehaving. Loved meeting everyone, the shows, the presentations etc. Although did have minor frustration with guest services, but they made good on it. I hope it doesn't sour you on cruising and that you have a better experience next time. I was surprised how many people liked it enough to book the return in August. Good luck, Kelly

PS: hey Sarah, say hi to Lidsay (my UK girls)

Hiya Will do hone :)

[rikimuk]

Just recently cruised Disney.. 4 day in May 2007. This was our 6th Disney Cruise. I do agree that the service has changed as well as the cruisers. It's not what it used to be. However, we made the best of it and enjoyed our vacation. I never expected more. I accepted... but will definitely take this into consideration for future cruises.
We are booked on the May 3, 2008 Disney Magic in the Walt Suite and at this time I am not looking forward to the trip. Hopefully 10 months from now I will feel differently. To cancel this booked trip would mean we would lose our $3000 deposit because it's the suite. So... we will cruise Disney one last time... and maybe in the future the new ships will offer something different.

Im so jealous you have the Walt Suite can i come?????? Im really small and very quiet!!!!

Lindsay

:love:

[rikimuk]

Hi guys, Laura, I'm so sorry that you had such a bad time. I had no idea when I saw you that you were having a tough trip. Like Hadley and Chris it is like we were on a different ship. We had unbelievable service, food to die for (our table ordered multiples of everything), loved the fun weather. Didn't have one bad experience with kids misbehaving. Loved meeting everyone, the shows, the presentations etc. Although did have minor frustration with guest services, but they made good on it. I hope it doesn't sour you on cruising and that you have a better experience next time. I was surprised how many people liked it enough to book the return in August. Good luck, Kelly

PS: hey Sarah, say hi to Lidsay (my UK girls)


Hey Kelly,

Its Lindsay your UK girl here saying hi back. Me and Sarah have booked the return trip and can not wait. We are so excited I think work will end up paying for us to go just to shut us up and get rid of us lol.

Lindsay

[AuntyBrat]

For those of you who supported my right to post my opinion, Thank You!!:grouphug:

For those of you who felt you had the right to flame me and imply things that I never wrote, I could care less.

One of the questions we had was whether DCL was going to be letting some of their expereinced cast members go, possibly to save money. Well, we have heard from a couple of our friends/cast members who have been with DCL since the beginning, and they were not offered new contracts. And they know of others who were not offered new contracts.

Also, as a couple of other people have stated, the service some people are experiencing is not the same level as it was.

[cquick]

We were also on that cruise with you. I just want to say that anyone who posts on this board is allowed their own opinion, so if readers don't agree with the starter of the thread they can say so.

Anyway, We had a great time! It was very exciting to have such wild weather......just think what the original sailors had to go through!

I think the CM's doing the entertaining did a superb job with all the rockin and rolling! I am actually surprised they didn't cancel more of the shows, just for the CM's safety sake.

I really liked the new addition of the wave pool to the Magic!

Of course, it helps that nobody inour family is bothered by seasickness. The first few days we just slept in, it was so comfy!

I do think that DCL should have cancelled the outdoor buffet the night of the Pirate Night ( I mean moved it inside).

If anyone is still reading this thread, we loved our servers and we were going to get our assistant server's email, but we forgot. He was Dragon and he was from Croatia. He was so wonderful to us! It was like having a new friend. And they always remembered what Patrick wanted, and had his "naked" iceburg salad ready for the ranch dressing!

We were on Carnival Freedom the 2 weeks after the Trans Atlantic, and Disney's food was MUCH BETTER! and it was always warm. I actually had my favorite appetiser at Lumiere's for lunch! Pancetta wrapped broiled shrimp! mmmmmmm!

I can see where the problem in the new menu is, I think it's because they wanted to bring more of the Mediterranean flavors.....olives, fruit sauces, etc.

We could NEVER eat the lat night buffets anyway! Too much to eat at dinner!

I always felt sorry for our room hostess, we slept late, so she had to do our room last, then Patrick took a nap in the afternoon, and after that she cleaned up again, then while we were at supper, she turned down the bed! Great service!

Connie

[cquick]

OH! btw, I overpacked again! Sent home a whole suitcase with our son, Michael, and we should have taken HALF the clothes we did for the guys! ( I wore ALL my stuff):rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[RJAYL]

OH! btw, I overpacked again! Sent home a whole suitcase with our son, Michael, and we should have taken HALF the clothes we did for the guys! ( I wore ALL my stuff):rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

You must be related to My Wife!:lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Guys Packing List 1 Jacket, chinos, shorts, bathing suit, bunch of shirts assorted & underwear & socks! THATS IT!:lmao: :cool1: :banana: :woohoo:

[Scoobypop]

I don't really know any cast members of DCL personally, so the statement I am making in NO WAY is implying anything about AuntyBrat's friends, but:

Just because someone is with a company since the start doesn't necessarily mean their contract should be renewed automatically. Just because it isn't renewed doesn't mean a company is simply trying to save money. I speak from personal experience when I say I wish most companies had contracts because many, MANY people I work with have no business working at a high end hotel with supposedly world renowned customer service. I'm sure at the beginning, 1998 when the hotel opened (same as the cruise ship), they were good employees. Doesn't mean they still are.

Just some other stuff to consider besides the fact that Disney is trying to save money. Again, perhaps they ARE, I don't know. Just throwing another viewpoint in there. Perhaps the employees contracts that weren't renewed weren't up to par.:cool2:

[DizzneyDAnn]

Also, have you ever really seen an old CM on the boat? Except for the Captain, I think everyone was younger than my 43 years. I think that many Cm's are not offered a job when they get to be a certain age. The ship IS registered in the Bahamas and this is an entertainment company, which unfortunately as far as employment goes prefers youthful exuberance. Older people are relegated to the "old-sea dog" check-in caste. I would LOVE to be on the cruise staff. I would NEVER be given a job. That ship (pun intended) has sailed.



Even Chris and Rob, with all their talent as masseuses, were probably hired in LV because of their extreme good looks and youthful appearance. That's the way the entertainment world works.

[CACruisin']

I really liked the new addition of the wave pool to the Magic!

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: One of DD's favorites too!

I'm sorry Laura that you did not have the trip you hoped for. Certainly everyone has different experiences.

Luckily for us, it really was a trip of a lifetime. It was everything I had imagined and so much more! I agree with all of your WOW's and Good's. It really was wonderful to see the ship photographers at the top of the Rock, and I was really impressed with how organized DCL was with the pins and the signing's.

As for your Bad's and Uglies, it seems to me most of them are really not DCL issues, but more about cultural differences.
FOOD: We loved the food, but then we really like Med type foods. I often ordered an appetizer and two soups along with entree and I loved the different desserts. Of course, I'm not a big cake fan and that seemed to be the predominant item on my past two DCL cruises. On several occasions, DD11 and DD13 weren't sure what to have so our server would bring small portions of two entree's. I don't think there was a single thing they didn't like. I agree the risotto was to die for! I would have liked to see more pasta type itens on the menu also. One night the kitchen staff was definitely having some difficulty with the new menus. Service was very slow throughout the restaurant and the description did not always match the plate. However, this was really an isolated incident for us. I'm not a big soda drinker, so I can't comment about the carbonation issues. The kids didn't complain about it though.
Guest Services: We did have to visit Guest Services several times, but found them to be helpful and went out of their way on more than one occasion to make the trip more magical. I would agree that I did notice a lot of new/green staff in Guest Services with "canned" answers. However, I found that they were more than happy to confer with a supervisor if they weren't sure about an answer or asked them to inquire further.
LE Merchandise: I understand the issue of two families in one stateroom, however, it is DCL's stated policy of one gift per stateroom. The fact that you have had exceptions to this policy in the past, does not entitle anyone to exceptions now or in the future, JMHO.
Cast Members: Our Host was experienced. He was fine and efficient, not over the top. Our servers were also all experienced and had been with DCL for 1-9 years. Our assistant server was not good. His contract is up in September, and quite frankly I would hope he is not asked back. We said as much to our head server. I did give the service team an excellent rating however. Our server did double duty to cover for the ***'t server, and I did not feel it was fair to penalize the whole team with a less than excellent rating. Surprisingly on this cruise, not once did we get the "excellent" speech:rotfl2: . All of the other CM's we dealt with throughout the ship in the shops, kids clubs, in elevators and hallways were always friendly and helpful.
Excursions:
Yes, some tours may be boring for young children, and also some adults. Boredom and bad behavior are not restricted by age. (Digressing slightly, the one and only negative experience I had on the cruise involved rudeness and bad behavior from a group adult women on the chocolate buffet night.) DCL did have age guidelines on the excursions however - a lot were for 5 and up. Having travelled extensively, both domestic and internationally, with my children from birth, the experiences for them have been unmatched. I do choose our activities carefully and plan for "the boring times" aka bring sketch books and colored pencils to draw something in the cathedral. We also do a lot of touring "on our own" so we can go at our own pace and not have to be on a group time schedule. Others may not be comfortable doing that.
Physical limitations: As you stated DCL was pretty clear about activity level, steps, etc. If people chose to do the excursion anyway, how is that an "Ugly" for DCL? It seems to me they did a reasonable job identifying the requirements.
European Time: We actually found the opposite to be true regarding scheduling. We would have breakfast then go into town. We would then spend the afternoon, when places were closed, back onboard ship at the pool or catching a movie. Booking a DCL excursion in the morning would mean you would be trying to go into town in the afternoon when everything, including most cafe's are closed.:confused3
ATM's: I'd recommend having a little bit of Euro's to have on hand (either from home or guest services) for the first port, however ATM's were not difficult to find and easy to use. Based on my own experience and that of friends/relatives/collegues that travel internationally, ATM's give the best exchange rate. Now if you are taking mostly DCL excursions and will not have time to go into town on your own for an ATM then it would be better to have Euros ahead of time. No, US dollars are generally not accepted in Europe. Nor are Euro's/Canadian dollars/pesos accepted in the US.

This is not intended as a flame of any kind. Everyone has their own experiences. Ours were wonderful. I'm sorry Laura's were not what she had hoped for. As she stated - YMMV.

[cquick]

You must be related to My Wife!:lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Guys Packing List 1 Jacket, chinos, shorts, bathing suit, bunch of shirts assorted & underwear & socks! THATS IT!:lmao: :cool1: :banana: :woohoo:
Yeah! It turned out that I packed extra T shirts and shorts for the guys and Chuck already had put in more than enough! Oh, well, we will go with your packling list nest time ( for the guys! ) I am sticking with my plan of putting everything I own in a suitcase!

[CACruisin']

Oh, well, we will go with your packling list nest time ( for the guys! ) I am sticking with my plan of putting everything I own in a suitcase!
:rotfl2: :rotfl2: I think I did end up bringing just about every pair of shoes I own except my Ugg boots!:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[RJAYL]

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: I think I did end up bringing just about every pair of shoes I own except my Ugg boots!:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

What no Ugg's:lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Ladies do not be discouraged we are leaving Tuesday my Wife has 5 Soft sided large duffle type bags with wheels for the 6 of us!

Myself, DW, DS14, DD12, DD6, DD3 I will be lucky to take up half of a bag!:rotfl2:

In a couple of years I am going to take my oldest 2 & do a 3 week Rick Steves tour as suggested with only a knapsack!:thumbsup2

[CACruisin']

What no Ugg's:lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Ladies do not be discouraged we are leaving Tuesday my Wife has 5 Soft sided large duffle type bags with wheels for the 6 of us!

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: The Uggs were bulky and was reasonably sure I wouldn't need them on the cruise (but they would have come in handy watching POC2 on the big screen that one night!:rotfl2: )

The irony is our family of 5 usually travels in 3-5 carry-on roller type bags, even for trips of 10 days or more. But with cruises ... all bets are off! :rotfl2:

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
Someone once told me to put all the clothes you decide to take on your bed then put all your spending money there too. Finally you should pack half the clothes and double the money...:rotfl2:

Mick.

:cool2:

[memarmay]

I just read this thread for the first time. My family was on the 1st Med Cruise. We were also on the first Mexican cruise. We had a fabulous time. our party was DH, DD(28),DGD(6) and me. Everything was as expected...wondeful. from our servers, Dennis and Ati, who fell in love with DGD and she misses them so, to our stateroom host, Laurel who was so attentive to all of us...esp DGD. Yep, she's a charmer. We were part of a larger group of 14, 13 adults and 1 child. We had a wonderful time at meals...she was raised around a bunch of adults and knows how to act at restaurants and when with adults...and loved the kids club. The food that we ate was very good. yep, very mediterranean but yummy. I know there was one night that nothing looked good to me. We had had a delightful and filling lunch on our tour and I really wasn't hungry. Dennis was worried that something was wrong. He then gave me a couple of suggestions that weren't on the menu and he hit something. It was great.
Our excursions were nice...would have appreciated more than 10 min shopping in Rome, but we did quite fine for ourselves...power shoppers. DD and DGD went on different excursions, more enjoyable for her, and they were happy. We did lots of homework prior to this trip...lots of $$ spent and we wanted to make the most of it...and we did. Between her pix and ours we have a wonderful memory of this trip.
Biggest shortcoming...not DCL fault...at Pompeii, a very young boy launched a decent sized rock and hit DD in the head, breaking skin and drawing blood. Her suggestion to them...sign him up for baseball...he's got a great arm!!! Now THAT'S making the most of a nasty situation!
NOt everyone can have the perfect trip every time...BA lost our luggage, bumped us from a flight loosing our transfer from BCN to the hotel, scattered us all over the plane on our return flight,,,they did fix that..they really were a nightmare. I am so sorry that some had a less than optimal trip, but at least you hung in there, let them know what needs fixing (which is what they want) and passed on info to others so that perhaps they can have a different experience. Good and bad are nice to hear....experience...what you get when you don't get what you want. And I've had LOTS of experience!
Mari

[scrapycruiser]

:cheer2: Mari...THANKS ! It's refreshing to read a positive report !!
What tours did you take ? Where were you able to shop ? What was shopping like on the ship ? I'm looking forward to seeing alot of history but did wonder...is there time to buy souvenirs and gifts for the family back home ?:confused3

[holidayfanatic]

: Where were you able to shop ? What was shopping like on the ship ? I'm looking forward to seeing alot of history but did wonder...is there time to buy souvenirs and gifts for the family back home ?:confused3


Hi

We were on the first Med cruise and I can't help with the DCL excursions, as we did our own thing but with regards to the shopping on the ship, I can help!

The merchandise was sourced very well I thought. I've travelled quite a bit to Spain, France and Italy and what they sold on board was typical of what you could buy in those destinations, so don't worry if you don't always get a chance to buy ashore as you'll still be able to buy authentic items aboard. Price wise seemed fine to me. I bought a lovely piece of Lladro (Spanish porcelain) as a gift for my Mum, as she's a collecter. They also had some beautiful Lalique pieces that I liked and I'm sorry now I didn't buy a gorgeous Christian Lacroix silk scarf! They had a good selection of Murano glass jewellery with some items very inexpensive (pendants on leather tie strands for around $22 - great for gifts for older teens/young women).

They carried such a wide range and changed it often, I really enjoyed shopping in there. The Mediterranean ceramics were very authentic (I should know as I have a ton of them bought over a 20 year period from my travels to Spain).

One tip, when you see that Bijoux Terner table selling Pashminas for $10, grab one (all the colours, but black seemed to sell out fast). I only saw the 'table' in their once as it was a special promotion. On the same table was pretty handbags (purses), cuff links, ties etc.

Happy shopping everyone!!:goodvibes

[been2marceline]

Hi,
Someone once told me to put all the clothes you decide to take on your bed then put all your spending money there too. Finally you should pack half the clothes and double the money...:rotfl2:

Mick.

:cool2:

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[been2marceline]

Hi

We were on the first Med cruise and I can't help with the DCL excursions, as we did our own thing but with regards to the shopping on the ship, I can help!

The merchandise was sourced very well I thought. I've travelled quite a bit to Spain, France and Italy and what they sold on board was typical of what you could buy in those destinations, so don't worry if you don't always get a chance to buy ashore as you'll still be able to buy authentic items aboard. Price wise seemed fine to me. I bought a lovely piece of Lladro (Spanish porcelain) as a gift for my Mum, as she's a collecter. They also had some beautiful Lalique pieces that I liked and I'm sorry now I didn't buy a gorgeous Christian Lacroix silk scarf! They had a good selection of Murano glass jewellery with some items very inexpensive (pendants on leather tie strands for around $22 - great for gifts for older teens/young women).

They carried such a wide range and changed it often, I really enjoyed shopping in there. The Mediterranean ceramics were very authentic (I should know as I have a ton of them bought over a 20 year period from my travels to Spain).

One tip, when you see that Bijoux Terner table selling Pashminas for $10, grab one (all the colours, but black seemed to sell out fast). I only saw the 'table' in their once as it was a special promotion. On the same table was pretty handbags (purses), cuff links, ties etc.

Happy shopping everyone!!:goodvibes

Love the shopping update!

We have always LOVED (TOO MUCH) the shopping on the ship! They really make it interesting every day and every port!!

I would have loved the Murano Necklaces!!

Karen

[scrapycruiser]

Were there any leather products on board? We are not going to Florence and didn't know if we could get these things in Naples or Rome ???:confused3

[been2marceline]

Were there any leather products on board? We are not going to Florence and didn't know if we could get these things in Naples or Rome ???:confused3

Was in Rome several years ago and the leather products were fabulous!!

As were, of course, THE SHOES!!! Bought a bag just to bring home the shoes, sweaters, and leather items!

Enjoy!

[woody73]

Was in Rome several years ago and the leather products were fabulous!!

As were, of course, THE SHOES!!! Bought a bag just to bring home the shoes, sweaters, and leather items!
We were in Venice in '05 and Rome in '06. Mrs. Woody loved the shoe stores!

Any coincidence that Italy is shaped like a boot?

Woody

[tink&cinderella]

I thought this was a trip report thread..... So what happened on the rest of the cruise, the ports, etc.....

I am on the return trip and welcome ALL opinions, ideas and experiences.

That must be because we are CANADIAN!! :rotfl2: Just Kidding!!!

Would love to hear more about the trip Laura and all the other's who have chimed in with their partial reports. This has turned into a different thread - Could we get back on topic...PLEASE???!!

Tink&Cinderella

[NHdisneylover]

I thought this was a trip report thread..... So what happened on the rest of the cruise, the ports, etc.....

I am on the return trip and welcome ALL opinions, ideas and experiences.

That must be because we are CANADIAN!! :rotfl2: Just Kidding!!!

Would love to hear more about the trip Laura and all the other's who have chimed in with their partial reports. This has turned into a different thread - Could we get back on topic...PLEASE???!!

Tink&Cinderella
You can click on the link in my signature for my FULL trip report (I am still working on it but there is a fair amount so far).

[dukenukkem]

We are a family of 3, our son is 9, and have made 5 DCL cruises so far. We are scheduled to sail 08-08 for the final 10-day Med cruise, and, we are also booked for the repo cruise back to back on 08-18. After reading so many negative reviews for the EB TransAtlantic cruise, My wife and I are seriously reconsidering our choices. We have a Cat-1 for the 10-day cruise and a Cat-3 for the Crossing. You were one of a few people that seemed to think the repo cruise was worth taking of all the reviews I've read.

Did you feel the T/A cruise was too long? Did your family feel trapped when bad weather or seas set in? Was the food and service as bad as other cruisers would have us believe? Did you feel bored since your family has taken other recent Disney cruises, or were there enough new activities to make the voyage pleasant for the whole family.

TIA,

Dennis

[NHdisneylover]

We are a family of 3, our son is 9, and have made 5 DCL cruises so far. We are scheduled to sail 08-08 for the final 10-day Med cruise, and, we are also booked for the repo cruise back to back on 08-18. After reading so many negative reviews for the EB TransAtlantic cruise, My wife and I are seriously reconsidering our choices. We have a Cat-1 for the 10-day cruise and a Cat-3 for the Crossing. You were one of a few people that seemed to think the repo cruise was worth taking of all the reviews I've read.

Did you feel the T/A cruise was too long? Did your family feel trapped when bad weather or seas set in? Was the food and service as bad as other cruisers would have us believe? Did you feel bored since your family has taken other recent Disney cruises, or were there enough new activities to make the voyage pleasant for the whole family.

TIA,

Dennis


I am not sure if this comment was directed at me or not. First, if you read through this entire thread you will see comments from three people who had mostly negative comments. They are the OP and:

hopemax (who still said she was "quite satisfied" with the trip but might have been unhappy if it were full fare--post 33)


gismo1554 (whose comments are actually more neutral than negative).

MANY of us who feel this was a FANTASTIC cruise. Those of us who loved this voyage heavily outweigh those who did not enjoy the cruise. In addition to me, others who commented positivly on this thread alone are:

ssnyder

DizzneyDAnn

rikimuk

gailadams_uk

seaulater

Scoobypop

jeff fujimoto

Kissimmee

BobandLee

milestogo

cquick

CACruisin'

So that is 13 of us who posted rave reviews. And three who had complaints (and two of those were pretty nuetral). Better than four to one for the cruise (and I kNOW many people loved the crusie but did not post on this thread). I have not seen other negative reviews. My TR (see link in signature) has lots of info on specifics. Also, the navigators have been psoted if you want to see all the activites that were available (we were busy all the time). You can always pop onto our meet thread (still going strong) and ask over there if we liked the cruise.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1064911
I bet you'd get inundated with "we want to go agains" Actaully a few lucky people did book the return and are going again.


Specifically:

"Did you feel the T/A cruise was too long?
NO! We ALL four (kids ages 8 and 10) would have happily stayed on for another two weeks or more. We HATED to get off.

Did your family feel trapped when bad weather or seas set in? Again, no. There was plenty do do inside. The crew added tons of activities when the weather made the pools unusable. We expected possible poor weather and packed appropriately Was the food and service as bad as other cruisers would have us believe? ABOSLUTELY NOT! We felt the food was very comparable to that on our previous DCL trips. There was lobster at least three times and fresh fruit and fizzy soda throughout--big Coke addict here. Everything was tasty. We had THE BEST service we have ever had and that is saying a lot. Guest Servoces was the one wink link and even there it was more newness/ not knowing than anything. Our steward, dining room servers and the cruise staff were all amazing.Did you feel bored since your family has taken other recent Disney cruises, or were there enough new activities to make the voyage pleasant for the whole family. Plenty of new activites (and DIS stuff). I only read half a book on the entire voyage. Again, check the posted navigators or my TR

If you do want to cancel, I am sure someone on the wiatlist will be thrilled to get your suites and I feel you will miss out on the best that DCL has to offer.

[Scoobypop]

We are a family of 3, our son is 9, and have made 5 DCL cruises so far. We are scheduled to sail 08-08 for the final 10-day Med cruise, and, we are also booked for the repo cruise back to back on 08-18. After reading so many negative reviews for the EB TransAtlantic cruise, My wife and I are seriously reconsidering our choices. We have a Cat-1 for the 10-day cruise and a Cat-3 for the Crossing. You were one of a few people that seemed to think the repo cruise was worth taking of all the reviews I've read.

Did you feel the T/A cruise was too long? Did your family feel trapped when bad weather or seas set in? Was the food and service as bad as other cruisers would have us believe? Did you feel bored since your family has taken other recent Disney cruises, or were there enough new activities to make the voyage pleasant for the whole family.

TIA,

Dennis

Hi Dennis,
Well, Hadley already spoke up and I don't have much to add that she didn't already articulate beautifully. I might have missed it, but I personally didn't see "so many bad reviews". I saw the OP's, and personally, I would disregard the bulk of it. I mean come on, things like: How dare Disney uphold their policy and only give one gift per stateroom?! That seemed to be a huge deal to the orignal poster, but consider this. Hadley for instance has been on numerous cruises, with her husband and 2 children, all in one cabin. That would make ALL four in her family Castaway Club members, being repeat cruisers all. When they check into their cabin, there are not FOUR Castaway Club gifts--there is ONE per cabin. For the OP to get so angry and upset that they only got one gift even though there were two families in the cabin--get real. It's policy. Shame on Disney for upholding their policy, right!? It's because of people like her that Disney cast members cringe when they hear you are a Diser. In my humble opinion, and "YMMV", I would accept the policy, and either a) get my OWN cabin and not share with another family, or b) just buy the book they were giving since it was for sale in the gift shop.

The food? Amazing, as always.

Bad weather? Well, I posted it several times, and I guess I have to say again, "Where was I? What cruise was I on?" I LOVED the weather, I LOVED the feeling of the ocean and the ship at sea. We were in the MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC. I couldn't imagine the weather really being any better for the location we were at! No matter how cool or breezy, the pool was always heated to perfection and a BLAST! As Hadley said, check out our main Med thread that is still going strong--you will see PLENTY of us that had a blast in the pool every single day. Besides, I see you are from Vegas. Well, I am here right now as well, since I live here, and I would imagine some cooler, breezier sea days would be most welcome in the middle of August. It was 118 degrees here today, as you well know!

Bored? Well, I suppose if you're the type to get "bored" you may find the sea days long and uneventful. For my party, as usual, there were not enough hours in the day. We found ourselves double, triple, and once quadruple booked for activities, having to narrow and choose which one we wanted at the time, then RUSH to the next.

Too long? It's funny I actually cried on my way home from work today thinking how much I miss my vacation from almost two months ago. As Hadley said, I would bet you money that MOST of us wish we could have turned the ship around and done another 14 days back home.

Anyway, as this thread started with, "YMMV". I'd give anything to be on the August repo, unfortunately, I can't afford it or the time off work. If you do go, please post so we can see your experience. Have a blast!
Chris

[seaulater]

Hi Dennis,
Well, Hadley already spoke up and I don't have much to add that she didn't already articulate beautifully. I might have missed it, but I personally didn't see "so many bad reviews". I saw the OP's, and personally, I would disregard the bulk of it. I mean come on, things like: How dare Disney uphold their policy and only give one gift per stateroom?! That seemed to be a huge deal to the orignal poster, but consider this. Hadley for instance has been on numerous cruises, with her husband and 2 children, all in one cabin. That would make ALL four in her family Castaway Club members, being repeat cruisers all. When they check into their cabin, there are not FOUR Castaway Club gifts--there is ONE per cabin. For the OP to get so angry and upset that they only got one gift even though there were two families in the cabin--get real. It's policy. Shame on Disney for upholding their policy, right!? It's because of people like her that Disney cast members cringe when they hear you are a Diser. In my humble opinion, and "YMMV", I would accept the policy, and either a) get my OWN cabin and not share with another family, or b) just buy the book they were giving since it was for sale in the gift shop.

The food? Amazing, as always.

Bad weather? Well, I posted it several times, and I guess I have to say again, "Where was I? What cruise was I on?" I LOVED the weather, I LOVED the feeling of the ocean and the ship at sea. We were in the MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC. I couldn't imagine the weather really being any better for the location we were at! No matter how cool or breezy, the pool was always heated to perfection and a BLAST! As Hadley said, check out our main Med thread that is still going strong--you will see PLENTY of us that had a blast in the pool every single day. Besides, I see you are from Vegas. Well, I am here right now as well, since I live here, and I would imagine some cooler, breezier sea days would be most welcome in the middle of August. It was 118 degrees here today, as you well know!

Bored? Well, I suppose if you're the type to get "bored" you may find the sea days long and uneventful. For my party, as usual, there were not enough hours in the day. We found ourselves double, triple, and once quadruple booked for activities, having to narrow and choose which one we wanted at the time, then RUSH to the next.

Too long? It's funny I actually cried on my way home from work today thinking how much I miss my vacation from almost two months ago. As Hadley said, I would bet you money that MOST of us wish we could have turned the ship around and done another 14 days back home.

Anyway, as this thread started with, "YMMV". I'd give anything to be on the August repo, unfortunately, I can't afford it or the time off work. If you do go, please post so we can see your experience. Have a blast!
Chris

Ditto!

My husband Robert, and our friend Adrienne had a blast in the adult pool going across the Atlantic. We headed to the pool every day! The only negative I have is that we lost an hour every single night. The added plus of the westbound is you get 6 more hours than we did! (Oh and we got the firsts of everything!).

I have been on 12 Disney cruises. Love everyone. My husband, daughter and I are headed to Ireland next week for a couple of days, and then headed to Barcelona to get on the Magic for 10 more "magical" nights of cruising through the Med. I wish I had more vacation time so I could take another two weeks in August to bring her back. I would rebook in a second if I could!

[rikimuk]

We are a family of 3, our son is 9, and have made 5 DCL cruises so far. We are scheduled to sail 08-08 for the final 10-day Med cruise, and, we are also booked for the repo cruise back to back on 08-18. After reading so many negative reviews for the EB TransAtlantic cruise, My wife and I are seriously reconsidering our choices. We have a Cat-1 for the 10-day cruise and a Cat-3 for the Crossing. You were one of a few people that seemed to think the repo cruise was worth taking of all the reviews I've read.

Did you feel the T/A cruise was too long? Did your family feel trapped when bad weather or seas set in? Was the food and service as bad as other cruisers would have us believe? Did you feel bored since your family has taken other recent Disney cruises, or were there enough new activities to make the voyage pleasant for the whole family.

TIA,

Dennis


Dennis

Put it this way. Whilst on the first T/A cruise myself and my sister booked to go on the return journey next month and we can neither afford it or the time off but who cares!!!! LOL.

As I have said on here there are alot of people from the first cruise who loved it not hated it believe me as there are quite a few of us who are doing the return leg of the trip.

In answer to your questions:


Did you feel the T/A cruise was too long? No way. I never wanted to get off. Seriously all I can say is this for me was a trip of a lifetime and I never expected to feel that way especially since I didnt initally want to go on the cruise. When we started stopping at ports I didnt want to get off the boat and resented the fact that I did.

Did your family feel trapped when bad weather or seas set in? Not at all. Disney did everything possible to arrange other events to keep people busy even though the weather was bad. Also myself and my sister still went and used the hot tub even on the bad weather days. (We did get some funny looks though). I only really had one sick day and even then sitting in the middle of the boat drinking Ginger Ale seemed to sort that out.

Was the food and service as bad as other cruisers would have us believe? No the food was amazing. (Hence why Im now on a diet). The bad weather days did bring some problems for the serving staff because people were getting sick so at times it was a bit slow but you cant expect perfect all the time. That being said the meals were amazing and as normal they could not do enough for you. The only reason I can think for people not liking the food is when we got to the med the menus became more med orientated which people are not used to I guess so maybe wouldnt enjoy as much but I loved it. Plus if you dont like a meal they will bring you another so just reorder lol!!!My servers Deepak and Putu were amazing and I have requested them again on this cruise.

Did you feel bored since your family has taken other recent Disney cruises, or were there enough new activities to make the voyage pleasant for the whole family. Bored???? I dont know how anyone can be bored on a cruise as there is so much to do. Even on the port days if you stayed on the boat there were things happening. We ended up playing scrabble with Simone (Sorry not sure on the spelling) on one of our last port days. It was great fun especially as none of us could spell. I honestly dont know how people can be bored unless they choose not to partake in anything.


Anything else you would like to know feel free to ask.

Lindsay

[milestogo]

I have exactly the same answers. Bored? I was on the ship for 25 days and wasn't bored for one second. Didn't have time to read the 3 books I brought and didn't open my psych class that I was supposed to work on once! There was so much to do.

An interesting point on the weather: on our side of the ship (Starboard) we didn't open up our balcony nearly as much as the port side folks did because the windy spray was hitting us harder - and we still loved the balcony! :love: I loved not getting sunburned!!!

[TDC Nala]

I can explain this one. In the Med they are adding tax on to alcohol so the bar tenders were expecting tips to fall because people wont be giving extra on top of the 15% grat because they know that there is also this extra tax making the prices higher anyway. Hope this makes sense?

There was a 15% auto grat plus the 7% VAT on drinks.

It's customary to add some to the auto grat because it just isn't enough. I guess it's thought the addition of the VAT might cut down on the incentive for guests to add to the automatic gratuity.

[TDC Nala]

I think the CMs who you have direct contact with can often change your experience.

We have cruised on another line and had what we perceived as a so so cruise and others lived it--veryone is different.

I am wonderiing about the CC gift though. We have cruised in a cat 1 where we had different families and only received one gift. We asked if we could get another and were told one per cabin and let it go. Often grandparents or aunts or friends share a cabin and many rooms have different families and a rule must be established, so I don't see this as the big negative you displayed it to be. No you cna't cut it in half or share, but to me one per cabin is one per cabin and we have never pressed the issue.

Sorry you didn't have a good time

I travel with friends and on the PC westbound repo last year, my friend and I did ask, and got two of everything. But we had to ask, it wasn't automatic.

On the med cruise we got one CC gift, a travel wallet. I ended up winning a travel wallet from DVC, so we didn't try asking for another one; I really don't need two travel wallets. My stateroom host urged me to ask, though.

[dukenukkem]

First, thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. I wasn't actually refering to Hadley or to this thread specifically. This thread seemed most active with pasengers from the first repo cruise, so I posted my question here. I guess we detected some undertones of dissatisfaction from the reports we'd read in different places around the Boards.

Scoobypop is absolutely correct, since we are both in Las Vegas where it is 110 degrees each and every day - Any cool sea breeze in August is a good cool sea breeze. Thank you for the much-needed 'Reality Check'. LOL

I really am looking forward to 24 days aboard the Magic!

Dennis