A Fellow passenger's Disney cruise with Whitney Houston

miatamel

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 20, 2005
http://www.toronto.com/article/713406

No commentary from me about Whitney Houston but I thought this was interesting that she once took a Disney cruise with her family and this fellow passenger's remembrance of that trip.

What struck me was that they would close down so many things to other passengers for just one passenger. I would be pretty upset about that, particularly if you couldn't get a ressie for Palo (or the spa) the whole trip because one person requested it.
 
http://www.toronto.com/article/713406

No commentary from me about Whitney Houston but I thought this was interesting that she once took a Disney cruise with her family and this fellow passenger's remembrance of that trip.

What struck me was that they would close down so many things to other passengers for just one passenger. I would be pretty upset about that, particularly if you couldn't get a ressie for Palo (or the spa) the whole trip because one person requested it.

That is a very sad story. :sad1:
Feelings toward Whitney Houston aside, I find it terribly rude that any celebrity would use their status to block other guests from the ships amenities. :sad2: I understand some special treatment so they are not mobbed by people asking for autographs but to shut down Palo is taking it too far.
 
Interesting article.

I have been on the same cruise as celebrities on at least 3 occasions and never experienced anything like this. Yes, I saw them occupy the private dining room in Palo, but any guest can do this with an appropriately sized group booked in advance.

I saw Roy Disney in Sessions almost nightly, enjoying quiet time with his family. He was staying in a cat 3 because by the time he decided to cruise, the cabin bearing his father's name had been sold to a guest. I suspect he could have displaced that guest and demanded the cabin, but that didn't square with the gentleman I saw. We never "bothered" him as I believed that this was a family vacation and he deserved privacy, but he was always gracious with people who approached him.

The other 2 celebs are not as well known (Broadway stars), and probably wouldn't have the money to buy out the spa for a morning or whatever. However, again, our interactions were amazing gracious and FUN. My family participated as teammates with one of them--the ACD later pulled me aside and mentioned that the celeb said it was the most fun he'd had on the ship.

OH--and I forgot...Charo was on our TA cruise with her 46 (no kidding) pieces of luggage. Other than the time she was on stage, she could have been any other guest.

I don't know how far DCL would go for a big enough celeb who had enough money to buy out a venue and enough of a big head to thing they deserved it. If the article is true, I hope they included a big staff tip in the spa charge!
 
Interesting article.

I have been on the same cruise as celebrities on at least 3 occasions and never experienced anything like this. Yes, I saw them occupy the private dining room in Palo, but any guest can do this with an appropriately sized group booked in advance.

I saw Roy Disney in Sessions almost nightly, enjoying quiet time with his family. He was staying in a cat 3 because by the time he decided to cruise, the cabin bearing his father's name had been sold to a guest. I suspect he could have displaced that guest and demanded the cabin, but that didn't square with the gentleman I saw. We never "bothered" him as I believed that this was a family vacation and he deserved privacy, but he was always gracious with people who approached him.

The other 2 celebs are not as well known (Broadway stars), and probably wouldn't have the money to buy out the spa for a morning or whatever. However, again, our interactions were amazing gracious and FUN. My family participated as teammates with one of them--the ACD later pulled me aside and mentioned that the celeb said it was the most fun he'd had on the ship.

OH--and I forgot...Charo was on our TA cruise with her 46 (no kidding) pieces of luggage. Other than the time she was on stage, she could have been any other guest.

I don't know how far DCL would go for a big enough celeb who had enough money to buy out a venue and enough of a big head to thing they deserved it. If the article is true, I hope they included a big staff tip in the spa charge!

That sucks! From what i heard the late princess Diana never went for that stuff. she would take her boys to local london resturants and the would waite thier trune. I belive she even repmained Harry for demaning speical treatments. I understand for security reasons there are some nut cases out there. But i know i would be upset if some celeb showed up on cruise and had the some of the ship closed. It's like when American's funniest viedo flims at wdw or disneyland they flime when the place closes at night. Also from what i heard Roy was a true gentlman and he loved his uncle and father.
 


That is a very sad story. :sad1:
Feelings toward Whitney Houston aside, I find it terribly rude that any celebrity would use their status to block other guests from the ships amenities. :sad2: I understand some special treatment so they are not mobbed by people asking for autographs but to shut down Palo is taking it too far.

We sailed the cruise right after that and in talking with different CM's onboard they said they were very difficult guests....very difficult.

MJ
 
Interesting article.


I don't know how far DCL would go for a big enough celeb who had enough money to buy out a venue and enough of a big head to thing they deserved it. If the article is true, I hope they included a big staff tip in the spa charge!

I wonder if she bought any products from the spa? :lmao:
kidding, the article says she was a no show.

I find it a little odd that a MAJOR celebrity would cruise DCL unless it was for publicity. I mean, don't these folks usually charter (or own) some large PRIVATE yacht to vacation on???
 
I wonder if she bought any products from the spa? :lmao:
kidding, the article says she was a no show.

I find it a little odd that a MAJOR celebrity would cruise DCL unless it was for publicity. I mean, don't these folks usually charter (or own) some large PRIVATE yacht to vacation on???

You would be surprised.....I am looking for the thread now about the celebs/past presidents that cruised DCL.

MJ
 


I can only think it was an unselfish vacation for her daughter. Maybe she wanted a Disney cruise?
Her and Bobby's behavior once aboard is subject to perception.

On the other hand, James Belushi was a gentleman and really nice, and didn't even complain when I hit him in the mouth with a green bullet microphone accidentally! Whooop's! lol!

Ex Techie :)
 
I wonder if she bought any products from the spa? :lmao:
kidding, the article says she was a no show.

I find it a little odd that a MAJOR celebrity would cruise DCL unless it was for publicity. I mean, don't these folks usually charter (or own) some large PRIVATE yacht to vacation on???

I'm sure they do but my guess on this one is the six year old was prime age for Disney and all its characters.
 
Wow....I'm definitely all for keeping this as normal as possible for all around, otherwise I wish celebs would opt for more private trips.

Mom encountered both Julie Andrews and Antonio Bandares on the same WDW trip one year. Neither demanding special attention. She actually sat at a table next to Julie Andews at California Grill and waited in line for a water slide at Blizzard Beach with Antonio Banderas.
 
We were on the Dream last January for a pre-MV cruise that had numerous celebrities. None seemed to have compared to this type of treatment, maybe some are just more down to Earth. Sad such things had to happen to normal guests on a Disney Cruise.
 
I wonder if she bought any products from the spa? :lmao:
kidding, the article says she was a no show.

I find it a little odd that a MAJOR celebrity would cruise DCL unless it was for publicity. I mean, don't these folks usually charter (or own) some large PRIVATE yacht to vacation on???

People love Disney. By no means do we have the money Whitney Houston had, but we do have a 40ft Sea Ray and summer home on the water, and we LOVE cruising DCL. I think their daughter must have wanted to go. My children LOVE DCL and they are on the water all the time.
 
Ugh. That article nauseates me.

Because of Houston? Nope.

Richard Ouzounian (the author) took a four day cruise TWELVE years ago. And he chooses to write about his observations from a few brief moments on a beach mere days after the subject of his rant dies?

Tacky.
Rude.
Unnecessary.

Maybe everything happened as he says. I doubt it, but okay, let's say it did.

His part about Castaway Cay is just ridiculous: "And as the 30 minutes dragged on, her voice got louder and louder, an instrument I had only heard before making melodious music now being used to chastise young Bobbi. We left before it got much worse, but it cast an unpleasant shadow on the day and, to tell the truth, on the whole trip."

Oh no! You mean you saw a parent on a Disney vacation who was disciplining their child? I have never seen that! Ever. Goodness, I've seen it more times than I can even begin to count. On a DCL ship, at DLR, at WDW, in DtD shops, everywhere. Like millions of others, she's a mother.

And then his closing (roll eyes): "And when the news broke on Sunday afternoon that Bobbi Kristina Brown, now 18, had been rushed to the hospital as well, I thought back to that day on the beach and wondered about the scars that a childhood filled with scenes like that might have caused."

Her mother died! Unexpectedly! She's 18!

You are seriously connecting her mother disciplining her on the beach 12 years ago to how she reacted to the sudden, highly-publicized death of her mother? Heck, I've got "scars" from childhood. I had "scenes like that" in my childhood. Luckily, I have never had someone who saw tiny glimpses of random minutes of a family vacation over a decade ago write about me or my family within days of a devastating loss.

Whitney Houston lived every minute of her life - even her private life - in the spotlight. Can't Richard Ouzounian let her die in peace? Apparently he cannot.

- Dreams
 
Ugh. That article nauseates me.

Because of Houston? Nope.

Richard Ouzounian (the author) took a four day cruise TWELVE years ago. And he chooses to write about his observations from a few brief moments on a beach mere days after the subject of his rant dies?

Tacky.
Rude.
Unnecessary.

Maybe everything happened as he says. I doubt it, but okay, let's say it did.

His part about Castaway Cay is just ridiculous: "And as the 30 minutes dragged on, her voice got louder and louder, an instrument I had only heard before making melodious music now being used to chastise young Bobbi. We left before it got much worse, but it cast an unpleasant shadow on the day and, to tell the truth, on the whole trip."

Oh no! You mean you saw a parent on a Disney vacation who was disciplining their child? I have never seen that! Ever. Goodness, I've seen it more times than I can even begin to count. On a DCL ship, at DLR, at WDW, in DtD shops, everywhere. Like millions of others, she's a mother.

And then his closing (roll eyes): "And when the news broke on Sunday afternoon that Bobbi Kristina Brown, now 18, had been rushed to the hospital as well, I thought back to that day on the beach and wondered about the scars that a childhood filled with scenes like that might have caused."

Her mother died! Unexpectedly! She's 18!

You are seriously connecting her mother disciplining her on the beach 12 years ago to how she reacted to the sudden, highly-publicized death of her mother? Heck, I've got "scars" from childhood. I had "scenes like that" in my childhood. Luckily, I have never had someone who saw tiny glimpses of random minutes of a family vacation over a decade ago write about me or my family within days of a devastating loss.

Whitney Houston lived every minute of her life - even her private life - in the spotlight. Can't Richard Ouzounian let her die in peace? Apparently he cannot.

- Dreams

I remember watching a few episodes of their ill fated reality show, which left enough of an impression on me that I tend to beleive the writers impression of both Bobby and Whitney as accurate.

I hardly doubt that someone recollecting a brief accounted with her 12 years ago will have her rolling over in her grave- given the speculations that surround her death.

Maybe you are the only one who is completely unaware of her and Bobby's long history of drug use and other turbulent behavior, but my guess is that is what the writer is referring to when suggesting Bobbi had a scarred childhood.

While you might be of the persuasion about letting someone rest in peace, I am of the opinion that I don't need to romanticize someones chaotic life and premature death.
 
Ugh. That article nauseates me.

Because of Houston? Nope.

Richard Ouzounian (the author) took a four day cruise TWELVE years ago. And he chooses to write about his observations from a few brief moments on a beach mere days after the subject of his rant dies?

Tacky.
Rude.
Unnecessary.

Maybe everything happened as he says. I doubt it, but okay, let's say it did.

His part about Castaway Cay is just ridiculous: "And as the 30 minutes dragged on, her voice got louder and louder, an instrument I had only heard before making melodious music now being used to chastise young Bobbi. We left before it got much worse, but it cast an unpleasant shadow on the day and, to tell the truth, on the whole trip."

Oh no! You mean you saw a parent on a Disney vacation who was disciplining their child? I have never seen that! Ever. Goodness, I've seen it more times than I can even begin to count. On a DCL ship, at DLR, at WDW, in DtD shops, everywhere. Like millions of others, she's a mother.

And then his closing (roll eyes): "And when the news broke on Sunday afternoon that Bobbi Kristina Brown, now 18, had been rushed to the hospital as well, I thought back to that day on the beach and wondered about the scars that a childhood filled with scenes like that might have caused."

Her mother died! Unexpectedly! She's 18!

You are seriously connecting her mother disciplining her on the beach 12 years ago to how she reacted to the sudden, highly-publicized death of her mother? Heck, I've got "scars" from childhood. I had "scenes like that" in my childhood. Luckily, I have never had someone who saw tiny glimpses of random minutes of a family vacation over a decade ago write about me or my family within days of a devastating loss.

Whitney Houston lived every minute of her life - even her private life - in the spotlight. Can't Richard Ouzounian let her die in peace? Apparently he cannot.

- Dreams

I second your sentiment this is exactly what irked me about the article and the post and why I didn't respond upon first reading it...I didn't want to give this thread any meat! Ugh....sigh....I just did! RIP Whitney may you finally find your peace from the demons that haunted your earthly life! :sad1:
 
...
Maybe you are the only one who is completely unaware of her and Bobby's long history of drug use and other turbulent behavior...
Nope, I'm aware. Well, I'm aware of what we have been told and shown by the media. I am also aware that is not necessarily an accurate representation. I am aware, though, of what we as fans have seen publicly.

While you might be of the persuasion about letting someone rest in peace, I am of the opinion that I don't need to romanticize someones chaotic life and premature death.
I completely agree with you about not romanticizing someone else's life or death. I also do not belief in capitalizing on someone else's death mere days after their passing to write my opinion of them based on VERY brief passings during a vacation I took 12 years prior.

- Dreams
 
I understand the need to gossip about someone who was so talented and in the public eye. She has passed and gone to God now. Rest in peace.
 
Wow this writer earned himself the title of Gawker's worst Whitney Houston memories on the web and he SO deserves it.He's a pompous jerk:eek:As Gawker writes, many writers were smart and informative in their memories of Ms. Houston..others, like this guy made it all about him. Let the woman and her amazing talent RIP. She lived in Mendham,NJ for several years ( a town near me) while her daughter was little and no one said a bad word about her.

http://gawker.com/5884721/the-worst-remembrances-of-whitney-houston-on-the-internet
 

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