PCC 3.0 ... Meh?

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I realize now that my original post should've just been this:

Had a great time on PCC3.0, though PCC2.0 is still my all-time favorite. What's your favorite podcast cruise and why?
 
columnwest said:
I thought people discussed more on discussion boards. Guess I was wrong.
(snip)


Sorry to everyone if I gave that impression. That was not the case. I thought if I balanced out negative comments with positive ones it would come out fairly neutral, but I guess nobody read the positive stuff. Again, sorry for any hurt feelings.

I have to say that while I wasn't on the PCC, and so can give no opinion in response to your opinion, I don't see where you've done anything wrong in your postings.

Honestly, the tone of some of the responders is the reason I am do hesitant to post anything even slightly negative or criticizing on the DIS. As much as enjoy the info I can get from the boards and the podcast, it appears that you must have joined in 2000 or have 20,000 posts before you're allowed to have any sort of negative opinion or experience. If not, apparently you are a lesser mortal who should keep their mouth shut.

Had I received a response like the ones above from a company I had employed, or might employ in the future, that would immediately cross them off my list. While you might not have paid anything extra for the PCC, you did have to book via DU, which put money in their bank. Next time, I suggest booking via DCL. We have always done so and have never had cause to regret it.

Negative feedback there might not always get pixie dust, but it also doesn't usually get thrown in your face.
 
Given the fact that I had orginally booked this cruise, then had to cancel, I can tell you that I would have (in a New York minute) have gladly traded places with you.

me too!
I was booked on it and had to move my reservation to october....
Actually, the original reservation was on PCC 1.0, then i had to move it to 2.0, then to 3.0 - now i'm going on the dream in october, but alas without any podcasters and very very few disers!! :sad: (getting myself to florida from the other side of the world isn't so easy - hopefully not-podcast 1.0 will work out!! :))
 
I guess I was approaching it like a good-natured debate the third season of Star Trek (the original series). Some episodes are good. Some are bad. On the whole, I liked Season 2 better. Discuss. I thought people discussed more on discussion boards. Guess I was wrong.



But the problem is, it is not this mega-company, faceless and seemingly impervious. This is the work of mainly 1-3 people. I think it is hard to compare when for 1-3 it is HIGHLY personal.
 


Had a great time on PCC3.0, though PCC2.0 is still my all-time favorite. What's your favorite podcast cruise and why?

That would be a very difficult choice for us.

Loved 1.0 because we met so many wonderful people - including you!

Loved 2.0 because there were so many of us on board - it seemed that everywhere you looked there was a DIS-er.

Loved 3.0 because we had Connor with us and we met more new people. (Slight downside, couldn't do all the DIS events but that isn't a complaint)

I guess if I had to pick, I'd go with 3.0, but wouldn't hesitate to relive 1.0 or 2.0 again. :scratchin
 
I think the only that could have made Podcast Cruise 3.0 better is if it had been 10 days instead of 5!!!

We made some great friendships with Disers that we met for the 1st time, and will continue those friendships. We enjoyed every Dis event that we attended, and were thrilled to have the opportunity to actually be part of Podcast, especially since we have been listening faithfully at home for 5 years!!!

I can't think of any other way to put it other than that was one of the best vacations we have ever had, and we hope to join another Podcast Cruise in the future.:thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
 
I realize now that my original post should've just been this:

Had a great time on PCC3.0, though PCC2.0 is still my all-time favorite. What's your favorite podcast cruise and why?

To answer my own question...

I think that PCC2.0 was my favorite because of the lineup of guests. Jodi Benson was amazing, and that concert went so incredibly far beyond my expectations. I was expecting more of a talk with a song or to maybe, but a full concert was pretty spectacular. The fact she sang a song to Pete's mom was really cool. It made me think about some experiences I could share with my mom. And getting to meet, ask questions of, and even have drinks with Bob Gurr (one of my all-time Imagineering idols) was beyond amazing. That's the kind of thing that I would never have dreamed of getting to do in a million years.

PCC1.0 is probably my next favorite. It was the first time, and it really felt like a grand adventure. Met so many great people and it was really the first time I ever felt part of a community where people weren't making fun of me for my love of Disney parks. It was cool to say "I really like the look of Tokyo Disney Sea" to someone and not have them go "Tokyo Disney what?" It was fun to just hang out, have some adult beverages, share Disney memories, and even get up and do kareoke for the first time in my life (my sincere aplogies to the memory of Bobby Darin).

PCC3.0 was fun too. I've already mentioned why it isn't higher for me on the list. But, it was my first time on the Dream, and I really loved that ship and having the extra space to run around and explore. I even got to ride the Aquaduck a couple times, which was so much fun. We boggled at the odds of beng seated at dinner with two other people (Warren and Abby, both brilliant BTW) who were from the same town in the UK where we used to live! As previously mentioned, the stateroom tour was extremely cool, and probably the only time in my life I'm ever going to get a peek inside some of those higher room categories.
 


When I first read your post, shortly after it was put up, I must admit it stung a bit (okay a lot!). As one of the people that worked tirelessly before and during the cruise it felt like a punch in the gut. I assume that wasn't your intent and as much as it is your right to express your opinion, it is my right to feel how that opinion makes me feel. A lot of the sting for me came from your choice of words...the same words with hindsight you chose to remove.

I am sorry you felt like this cruise didn't live up to your expectations, I assure you none of us set out to disappoint anyone. Disappointment comes when expectations are not met...based on your comments below, your expectations for this cruise were not met. I believe some of those expectations came from your experience on 2.0, which was an amazing cruise. However, I also feel some of the responsibility for managing expectations falls on you. I do feel John tried to manage expectations early on by saying this was going to be a much more low key event.

After 2.0 we heard from many people that said it was too big a group, they had no face time with the Podcast Team and would prefer smaller events as opposed to the larger ones. Thus the reasoning behind 2 cruises for this year. Same number of people over 2 cruises, giving everyone a more personal experience. Two cruises means splitting the resources for each in half. These cruises do not make money for Dreams, in fact they cost money. You would think that DCL gives us a number of things for bringing on such a large group--they do not. Venues, drink coupons, tech people, etc, all paid for.

I think it will be easier if I comment on some of your points directly.



But, here are a few things I noticed. Not "good" or "bad" things per se, just different from the previous cruises.

- With a bigger ship and a smaller number of DISers, it felt less like we "owned" the cruise. On the previous cruises, it seemed like DISers were everywhere, especially with the PCC door magnets everwhere. This time, it felt like we were much more in the minority. For me, this definitely changed the "atmosphere" on the ship.
This is simple logistics. The Wonder holds around 2700 passengers, on 2.0 we had over 700 people sailing with us, and the ship wasn't filled to capacity on that sailing. We definitely represented a larger percentage of total guests. The Dream holds 4000 guests, I am told it was at capacity we were around 360. The owning of the ship feel was not going to happen (although a few of us owned Trivia!!!).

- On the previous trips, there seemed to be more evening and adult activites planned. Or, just more stuff planned in general. This time, the "official" activity list seemed pretty light. And, though I attended several of the talks with genuine personal interest, I thought it was a little disapponting that most of the daytime meets seemed to be centered around Dreams as a business rather than something more social.
I don't believe on 2.0 there were any official evening or adult activities planned (am I wrong on that?) DCL will simply not give us space during prime hours as they have other cruisers to keep busy as well. The activity list didn't feel light to those of us that attended everyone of them. I think we also have different defintions of light...yours is light as in missing grand gestures and Disney legends, but that was intentional. It was also verbalized on more than one occasion prior to sailing. We wanted to have more smaller low key activities that would give the Podcast Team more face time with our guests. Something we were told many didn't feel they got when everything happened as a large group. The only activity that could be seen as Dreams as a business was my talk on the first castaway day. You have been fortunate enough to be well travelled as have I. Many of our guests on these cruises are cruising for the first time ever. Based on previous cruises we realized there was a ot of confusion around rebooking and questions on cruising in general. Our intent was to inform, answer questions...and most of all to let people know that rebooking onboard is always a good idea if there is even a chance that will sail DCL in the future. Perhaps you could view Kevin's presentations as business, but really I feel it was more about Kevin sharing his passion for a product. No mention of the Silent Auction that raised a lot of money for GKTW?

- On the topic of on-board events... What ever happened to the "unofficial" events? I guess I'm guilty here as much as anyone, since there was nothing preventing me for organizing something. But, why again was there no West Coast meetup? I know Nancy said there was trouble getting it organized. I would've been happy just hanging out with other westcoasters at the Cove Cafe and sharing iPhone pics of Cars Land. Nothing fancy required. BTW, hats off to the folks who organized the stateroom crawl, which was one of the highights of my cruise. That Walt Disney Suite was amazing!
Again a logistics issue...half as many guests equals half as many people to plan unofficial events. As you said, you could have, why didn't you? My guess is like everyone else you are busy, didn't know where to start? Or for many, they are new to all of this, they didn't want to be over extended.

- A lot of folks I met from the previous cruises were absent from this one. I'm looking at you Todd, Lauren and Jeri, Frank, Heather and Anna (among others). I missed you guys and gals; it wasn't the same without you. Hope to see you on a future trip.
Some of these people are on 4.0, but again you knew who was cruising long ago. This was an expectation that should have been managed.

- I really enjoyed the presentation from Kevin and Jody. However, after the last cruise with Charlie Ridgeway, Bob Gurr and Jody Benson.... I mean, man, that's a hard lineup to top. Still... I have to be honest I was hoping for Marty Sklar or Dave Smith or Tony Baxter. It's hard not to make the comparison... Kevin and Jody are brilliant, but it wasn't as exciting for me as the lineup of Disney Legends we had last time.
Admittedly I knew very little about Kevin and Jody or their work prior to them being announced as guests. I was in awe of their presentation and found them fascinating. Wasn't it clear quite some time ago that those you mentioned were not sailing? Did you not believe us? I do feel this is an expectation that also should have been managed prior to sailing.

- The Podcast recording seemed a little rushed to me. Maybe it was due to the smaller stage or having to fit in the DL recording as well (though I enjoyed finally seeing what everyone looks like). There didn't seem to be as much playful banter as in years past, and the "giveaway" portion at the end seemed shorter than last time with the "favorite things" motif. A friend's mom who was sitting next to me was hoping that an iPad would be among the items, but the prizes were gift cards and $6000K trips. Granted, I am fully aware that they don't have to give anything away at all. But, I thought there was less variety in this year's items. Personally, I think I'd rather see more smaller prizes than fewer big-ticket ones, since that would give more people a chance at winning something without having to spend more on prizes. And, I have never been a fan of gift-cards in general, though I know they make for more practical prizes. On the plus side though, I thought it was a very nice gesture on Pete's part to honor the prize to the girl who was not present due to her family's medical emergency.
Your comments here have been softened so I will soften my response...surely you know that this can sound nothing less than ungrateful? I don't have a number of how many people were in that theater but I am guessing it was under 300....I don't know of anywhere else where you are given those odds of winning not one but 2 vacations. I am also sure those that received the $100 gift card appreciated it!

Every time we do one of these events, we learn things that we carry forward to the next one. I will say through all of the events I have been involved with one thing I know for sure....you can't make all of the people happy all of the time!
 
Every time we do one of these events, we learn things that we carry forward to the next one. I will say through all of the events I have been involved with one thing I know for sure....you can't make all of the people happy all of the time!

Thank you Tracey for taking the time to respond to my actual points (instead of just attacking the messenger, as others have done). I actually agree with a lot of what you say. A lot of my reaction just comes down to my own (admittedly inflated) expectations.

For the record, I was happy with the cruise. I said that over and over again in my original post, though nobody seemed to notice. I also said some very nice complimentary things about the cruise, and John, and some of the the on-board events, which people also seemed not to notice. There were just a few things I thought were not as good as I hoped.

I think if a customer says "You know, I thought this aspect of my trip was a little weak or cheesy or unimaginitive" the proper reaction should be "Tell me how we can improve things for next time." Or, "Sorry you feel that, but here's why we did it that way." Not sarcastic remarks like, "Wow, makes me feel glad I put all that work in." or "Well, you try doing it yourself, I dare you." or "You paid for a cruise, you got a cruise," or "It was free so you have no right to complain."

My post was not directed at any individual. It was about my general cruise experience. Several of my points had nothing to do with the DIS-organzied parts of the cruise. Saying "I missed hanging out with some of my friends," for example, does not mean "I hold the DIS resposible for my friends not being there." That would be crazy. And yet, somehow Kevin thinks I was complaining to him about "the right people" not being on board. I mean, seriously?

Somebody else posted that the type of reactions I've received made them feel unwelcome on the boards and unlikely to post in the future. I have to say that I can understand their feelings. If nobody is supposed to say anything even remotely critical about the DIS or the events, even when balanced by a lot of positive comments as well, then what kind of community are we making here?
 
Somebody else posted that the type of reactions I've received made them feel unwelcome on the boards and unlikely to post in the future. I have to say that I can understand their feelings. If nobody is supposed to say anything even remotely critical about the DIS or the events, even when balanced by a lot of positive comments as well, then what kind of community are we making here?

Hi Chris,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Despite the areas that you felt could have improved, I am glad to hear that you had a wonderful vacation. I know I didn't get to do half of what I wanted to on the ship, but there's always next time! :thumbsup2

It seems as if this thread has run its course so I'm going to close it at this time. If you should have any other concerns related to your personal experience, feel free to contact Dreams directly.

See you on the boards!
 
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