Does Dream feel really crowded?

[sanctumsolitude]

I wonder why they would be complaining about other passengers???

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it, so I am burying it in this thread as a compromise to myself.

Other passengers almost ruined the maiden voyage for me. My mother was assaulted on the deck near the mickey pool. A couple thought my mom had stolen some t-shirts from their stroller, and attempted to wrestle the supposedly stolen merchandise from my mom. My mom tried to flee but the couple pursued yelling at my parents and eventually grabbing and restraining my mom causing her quite a bit of pain (she had just had back surgery). A cast member had called security, and they began to tell everyone (including some cast members) that my parents were thieves and that the wife had seen my mother taking the shirts from their stroller.

Of course, they went to show the cast member where the t-shirts were stolen from when, wouldn't you know it, the shirts were sitting in the stroller, right where they left them.

However, my biggest complaint wasn't about the guests, but about the security staff who had somehow become convinced that my family somehow perpetrated the incident and treated my mother like a culprit, not like a victim. When my sister and I arrived on the scene, I found my mom crying and shaking - alone except for my Dad who was about as shocked as my Mom. I noticed four security officers standing about 20 feet away and went over to figure out what happened (my dad was not in a great state of mind either). The (assuming) head officer refused to talk to me saying they would only talk to my mother, not to me. They also accused me of "putting fuel on the fire" when I told them that they needed to send someone over to stay with my mom until this ordeal was over. My sister pleaded, saying that she was not okay and that she needed someone from Disney to ensure her that everything was okay and that she was safe (my mom was really shocked by the whole incident). He told us that my mom was okay and that we needed to leave.

All we were asking for was someone to show sympathy. Instead, it really seemed that they either thought we were guilty or they were trying to sweep it under the rug. One of them even admitted that they didn't think anything had happened until a witness stepped up to confirm that it was more intense than the perpetrators were trying to play it off as. My mom kept asking what she did wrong, and we couldn't convince her that she didn't do anything wrong since Disney treated her so poorly. She was crying, shaking, and in physical pain and security treated her like she should just toughen up.

I would later learn that he had told that his way of comforting my mom was to tell her that he was a police officer from New York City and that this was nothing. Her response was that she should feel a whole lot safer on the Dream than in New York City. He also laughed at her when she called it "assault".

I went straight to guest services after dealing with my mom (she refused to move from her seat, but we managed to get my whole family there to be with her). When I got in the guest services line, the hotel director was filtering guests in the guest services line to make sure that only those who actually needed to talk to guest services were waiting in line.

Once I started talking to the Hotel Director, he started to understand my perspective. Honestly, he seemed amazed by the conduct of the security team. Sure, they enforced the law, but they forgot completely about the guest who was assaulted. That being said, guest services handled my incident way better than the security staff did. I was able to talk to the head of guest services as well. He assured me that he received the report from the security officer and from the Hotel Director and had forwarded the information to the staff captain. This was not the way it was supposed to happen and frankly, treating my family the way they did was unacceptable.

It took about 24 hours before my mom would stop talking about the incident. Speaking to the guest services manager and the hotel director helped a lot. All Disney really had to do was listen, and no one wanted to.

 

[JsMom2]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it, so I am burying it in this thread as a compromise to myself.

Other passengers almost ruined the maiden voyage for me. My mother was assaulted on the deck near the mickey pool. A couple thought my mom had stolen some t-shirts from their stroller, and attempted to wrestle the supposedly stolen merchandise from my mom. My mom tried to flee but the couple pursued yelling at my parents and eventually grabbing and restraining my mom causing her quite a bit of pain (she had just had back surgery). A cast member had called security, and they began to tell everyone (including some cast members) that my parents were thieves and that the wife had seen my mother taking the shirts from their stroller.

Of course, they went to show the cast member where the t-shirts were stolen from when, wouldn't you know it, the shirts were sitting in the stroller, right where they left them.

However, my biggest complaint wasn't about the guests, but about the security staff who had somehow become convinced that my family somehow perpetrated the incident and treated my mother like a culprit, not like a victim. When my sister and I arrived on the scene, I found my mom crying and shaking - alone except for my Dad who was about as shocked as my Mom. I noticed four security officers standing about 20 feet away and went over to figure out what happened (my dad was not in a great state of mind either). The (assuming) head officer refused to talk to me saying they would only talk to my mother, not to me. They also accused me of "putting fuel on the fire" when I told them that they needed to send someone over to stay with my mom until this ordeal was over. My sister pleaded, saying that she was not okay and that she needed someone from Disney to ensure her that everything was okay and that she was safe (my mom was really shocked by the whole incident). He told us that my mom was okay and that we needed to leave.

All we were asking for was someone to show sympathy. Instead, it really seemed that they either thought we were guilty or they were trying to sweep it under the rug. One of them even admitted that they didn't think anything had happened until a witness stepped up to confirm that it was more intense than the perpetrators were trying to play it off as. My mom kept asking what she did wrong, and we couldn't convince her that she didn't do anything wrong since Disney treated her so poorly. She was crying, shaking, and in physical pain and security treated her like she should just toughen up.

I would later learn that he had told that his way of comforting my mom was to tell her that he was a police officer from New York City and that this was nothing. Her response was that she should feel a whole lot safer on the Dream than in New York City. He also laughed at her when she called it "assault".

I went straight to guest services after dealing with my mom (she refused to move from her seat, but we managed to get my whole family there to be with her). When I got in the guest services line, the hotel director was filtering guests in the guest services line to make sure that only those who actually needed to talk to guest services were waiting in line.

Once I started talking to the Hotel Director, he started to understand my perspective. Honestly, he seemed amazed by the conduct of the security team. Sure, they enforced the law, but they forgot completely about the guest who was assaulted. That being said, guest services handled my incident way better than the security staff did. I was able to talk to the head of guest services as well. He assured me that he received the report from the security officer and from the Hotel Director and had forwarded the information to the staff captain. This was not the way it was supposed to happen and frankly, treating my family the way they did was unacceptable.

It took about 24 hours before my mom would stop talking about the incident. Speaking to the guest services manager and the hotel director helped a lot. All Disney really had to do was listen, and no one wanted to.

I'm so sorry this happened to your family! I agree that the only really negative thing about the cruise was that a small percentage of passengers were very inconsiderate, rude, greedy, need I go on??? I'm so happy that the hotel director took care of you. Can't say enough about the cast members!!

 

[catzle]

Wow, that's awful. So they let those people just walk away. They should be brought up on charges. Disney should also take some responsibility! What a shame, did they do anything for you?

 

[Mineu]

How awful for your family! I hope your Mom is ok now and has some happy memories of the trip besides this incident!

 

[sanctumsolitude]

Wow, that's awful. So they let those people just walk away. They should be brought up on charges. Disney should also take some responsibility! What a shame, did they do anything for you?

It took a bit. The rude security officer basically told us that Disney wasn't going to do anything to the couple (in fact, they let them walk away right past us - you better believe I was glaring at them). I was even told to stay away from them because they were worried about retaliation (which I must admit was a valid worry at the time). I asked about charges, but we were discouraged because it would be the Bahamian authorities.

Guest services eventually took responsibility and sent down a couple of Disney Dream blankets and a note from the rude security officer that said if we needed anything after the cruise ended to contact him. The note read like it was forcefully written which actually made us feel a bit better (someone somewhere understood our frustrations).

 

[JsMom2]

Someone asked about Castaway Cay. The expansion really made a difference. There were lots of empty lounge chairs all over the family beaches, and no lines for the barbecues.

 

[catzle]

Scary to think people could touch you and "attack" you and they have no recourse. I mean that's against the law to physically attack someone. And then for Disney to just let them go, scary!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Am I the only person reading this thread with their mouth hanging open in shock?

You paid MORE money then normal for this cruise and admit that service was worse then on other cruises and that is fine. When I pay more I expect more not less. Disney had lots of test cruises. They have no excuse.

 

[jmcdonnell04]

I wonder why they would be complaining about other passengers???

The MV was full of platinum and gold Castaway Club members that knew more about DCL than many of the new crew. The passengers love Disney and wanted the souvenirs to prove it so yes, the shops were crowded to get the MV merchandise right away. Stuff literally flew off the shelves in a couple of minutes.

Some passengers got carried away and began stealing. I heard an elevator was out of service due to the removal of a Mickey head. I heard that dozens of butter knives shaped as paint brushes were taken from Animator's Palate on the first night.

Some passengers feel entitled and began to act like the seagulls from Finding Nemo -- Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine

 

[catzle]

Wow! Nuts, I can't believe people would act like this. Remind me to NEVER to take a 1st cruise like that. Man, I hope that feeling of whatever happened this past cruise does not continue all the time.

 

[Momtotwogirls]

That is terrible! I hope your Mom is okay. I can't believe the security officers acted like that. That couple should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[jmcdonnell04]

When you increase the number of passengers, you increase the number of un-normal passengers.......

The cruise was great. We were given lots of MV stuff from Disney --champagne flutes, lithograph, hard cover book about the making of the Dream, MV menus from each of the restaurants, commenorative coin.

Toward the end of the cruise, our dining table began playing the "let's run to Guest Services to complain about silly things" game.

 

[Fawn]

I am speechless! You expect to meet this kind of ignorance in life...but at Disney?

I can't believe they wouldn't let you be with our Mom...immediately! I can't believe they let the people who assaulted her to get away with it. I really can't believe that they encouraged you to not take it any further.

This should never have happened. I've never been one to complain about little stuff or to look for a "reward" for a problem. But seriously...you should have gotten a free cruise over this one...not that I'd take it if I'd been through something about that!

Disgraceful!

 

[ktjl92]

this pretty much sums it up on how we feel.

us too! We had a fabulous time. Sure, they need to work out a few things, but it was a wonderful time overall

Meeting up with the Magic at CC and having a horn war (really, with 7 tunes on the Dream it was more like a horn massacre) was a treat as well.

 

[Patricia1]

Thank you Poohmomof5... DH was wondering, read him your report and he was encouraged (and also said DUH)

 

[JsMom2]

The MV was full of platinum and gold Castaway Club members that knew more about DCL than many of the new crew. The passengers love Disney and wanted the souvenirs to prove it so yes, the shops were crowded to get the MV merchandise right away. Stuff literally flew off the shelves in a couple of minutes.

Some passengers got carried away and began stealing. I heard an elevator was out of service due to the removal of a Mickey head. I heard that dozens of butter knives shaped as paint brushes were taken from Animator's Palate on the first night.

Some passengers feel entitled and began to act like the seagulls from Finding Nemo -- Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine

Yes, I will never forget the lady I saw pushing everyone out of the way (kids included) so she could be the first person in line for Mickey Mouse at "'Til we Meet Again."

And lets not forget those who saw the MV as an investment. There was one lady who went into the shop as soon as it opened, bought as many MV tshirts as she could, and then she and her hubby were literally scalping them in the hallways onboard!

I overheard another lady in the shop openly talking about how she bought shirts "to sell."

The free champagne glasses we got at Sailaway were on EBay within a few hours of leaving Port Canaveral. And the DB purse debacle of 2011...wow! They limited the purses to 2 of each style per person. So some families went in there and literally bought 8 purses per person, and then started selling them on Ebay!

I loved all the commemorative gifts we got from DCL, and can not understand why this wasn't enough for some people! But everything that wasn't tied down was up for grabs. Our Do Not Disturb sign disappeared after the first night. Our room attendant told us that people were "collecting them!" On the last night I decided not to put our suitcases out, as I wouldnt' have been surprised if someone had stolen our luggage just to try to find our Ducky litho. As one lady summed up, "there are some real nutjobs on this ship!"

I kept thanking the folks in the shops everytime I went in. I can't believe how polite they were in the face of the rudeness they had to put up with! I just felt so bad for them, and so ashamed that for many of them it was their introduction to DCL guests.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

The MV was full of platinum and gold Castaway Club members that knew more about DCL than many of the new crew. The passengers love Disney and wanted the souvenirs to prove it so yes, the shops were crowded to get the MV merchandise right away. Stuff literally flew off the shelves in a couple of minutes.

Some passengers got carried away and began stealing. I heard an elevator was out of service due to the removal of a Mickey head. I heard that dozens of butter knives shaped as paint brushes were taken from Animator's Palate on the first night.

Some passengers feel entitled and began to act like the seagulls from Finding Nemo -- Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine

Wow.
Bad enough they bought up the stores- but they started ripping things off everywhere else? Horrible.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it, so I am burying it in this thread as a compromise to myself.

Other passengers almost ruined the maiden voyage for me. My mother was assaulted on the deck near the mickey pool. A couple thought my mom had stolen some t-shirts from their stroller, and attempted to wrestle the supposedly stolen merchandise from my mom. My mom tried to flee but the couple pursued yelling at my parents and eventually grabbing and restraining my mom causing her quite a bit of pain (she had just had back surgery). A cast member had called security, and they began to tell everyone (including some cast members) that my parents were thieves and that the wife had seen my mother taking the shirts from their stroller.

Of course, they went to show the cast member where the t-shirts were stolen from when, wouldn't you know it, the shirts were sitting in the stroller, right where they left them.

However, my biggest complaint wasn't about the guests, but about the security staff who had somehow become convinced that my family somehow perpetrated the incident and treated my mother like a culprit, not like a victim. When my sister and I arrived on the scene, I found my mom crying and shaking - alone except for my Dad who was about as shocked as my Mom. I noticed four security officers standing about 20 feet away and went over to figure out what happened (my dad was not in a great state of mind either). The (assuming) head officer refused to talk to me saying they would only talk to my mother, not to me. They also accused me of "putting fuel on the fire" when I told them that they needed to send someone over to stay with my mom until this ordeal was over. My sister pleaded, saying that she was not okay and that she needed someone from Disney to ensure her that everything was okay and that she was safe (my mom was really shocked by the whole incident). He told us that my mom was okay and that we needed to leave.

All we were asking for was someone to show sympathy. Instead, it really seemed that they either thought we were guilty or they were trying to sweep it under the rug. One of them even admitted that they didn't think anything had happened until a witness stepped up to confirm that it was more intense than the perpetrators were trying to play it off as. My mom kept asking what she did wrong, and we couldn't convince her that she didn't do anything wrong since Disney treated her so poorly. She was crying, shaking, and in physical pain and security treated her like she should just toughen up.

I would later learn that he had told that his way of comforting my mom was to tell her that he was a police officer from New York City and that this was nothing. Her response was that she should feel a whole lot safer on the Dream than in New York City. He also laughed at her when she called it "assault".

I went straight to guest services after dealing with my mom (she refused to move from her seat, but we managed to get my whole family there to be with her). When I got in the guest services line, the hotel director was filtering guests in the guest services line to make sure that only those who actually needed to talk to guest services were waiting in line.

Once I started talking to the Hotel Director, he started to understand my perspective. Honestly, he seemed amazed by the conduct of the security team. Sure, they enforced the law, but they forgot completely about the guest who was assaulted. That being said, guest services handled my incident way better than the security staff did. I was able to talk to the head of guest services as well. He assured me that he received the report from the security officer and from the Hotel Director and had forwarded the information to the staff captain. This was not the way it was supposed to happen and frankly, treating my family the way they did was unacceptable.

It took about 24 hours before my mom would stop talking about the incident. Speaking to the guest services manager and the hotel director helped a lot. All Disney really had to do was listen, and no one wanted to.

It took a bit. The rude security officer basically told us that Disney wasn't going to do anything to the couple (in fact, they let them walk away right past us - you better believe I was glaring at them). I was even told to stay away from them because they were worried about retaliation (which I must admit was a valid worry at the time). I asked about charges, but we were discouraged because it would be the Bahamian authorities.

Guest services eventually took responsibility and sent down a couple of Disney Dream blankets and a note from the rude security officer that said if we needed anything after the cruise ended to contact him. The note read like it was forcefully written which actually made us feel a bit better (someone somewhere understood our frustrations).

OMG
What the what the what?!? What is going on with security? I don't understand this. I mean the people started a ruckus when they already had their own belongings and were mistaken- your mother WAS assaulted and was highly upset and this is how security responds? It's worse in New York? I'd have responded well guess what buddy, I'm not in New York so your argument is INVALID.
(btw I could not agree more with your mother. I definitely think it's completely reasonable to feel like you'd be safer on Dream than walking the streets in NY city or something. geesh)

Laughed at her when she called it assault? Wow. You'd think a NY police officer would know the definition of the word assault. Perhaps he was fibbing about that.... to sound tougher or something. geesh

told you to leave? eventually was able to get family to her? are you kiddng me?

I'm glad it was eventually handled in a better manner by other staff members/etc. but seriously- this concerns me about security.. they aren't doing their job if this is how they react to a situation like this Instead of being concerned about the assault that took place- and how upset a guest is because of the assault- they are concerned about the ones who assaulted your mother who are concerned about retaliation???? What a world we live in...sigh

(I'm concerned about this discouraging due to bahamian authorities... does this mean that anything goes on the ship because people can get away with anything they want rather than dealing with bahamian authorities? I'm not saying in this case it was something to push that far, but how far does it go before they want to "mess with" bahamian authorities? hmm)

I hope your mom is okay. You mentioned recently having back surgery... they could have seriously injured her and they SHOULD HAVE made sure the other party involved realized how serious their actions were and how they could have very well injured someone and that it WAS assault, whether charges brought against them or not. Now they are going to think they are justified in this behavior just because they THINK someone took their belongings? wow

 

[stitchlovestink]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it, so I am burying it in this thread as a compromise to myself.

Other passengers almost ruined the maiden voyage for me. My mother was assaulted on the deck near the mickey pool. A couple thought my mom had stolen some t-shirts from their stroller, and attempted to wrestle the supposedly stolen merchandise from my mom. My mom tried to flee but the couple pursued yelling at my parents and eventually grabbing and restraining my mom causing her quite a bit of pain (she had just had back surgery). A cast member had called security, and they began to tell everyone (including some cast members) that my parents were thieves and that the wife had seen my mother taking the shirts from their stroller.

Of course, they went to show the cast member where the t-shirts were stolen from when, wouldn't you know it, the shirts were sitting in the stroller, right where they left them.

However, my biggest complaint wasn't about the guests, but about the security staff who had somehow become convinced that my family somehow perpetrated the incident and treated my mother like a culprit, not like a victim. When my sister and I arrived on the scene, I found my mom crying and shaking - alone except for my Dad who was about as shocked as my Mom. I noticed four security officers standing about 20 feet away and went over to figure out what happened (my dad was not in a great state of mind either). The (assuming) head officer refused to talk to me saying they would only talk to my mother, not to me. They also accused me of "putting fuel on the fire" when I told them that they needed to send someone over to stay with my mom until this ordeal was over. My sister pleaded, saying that she was not okay and that she needed someone from Disney to ensure her that everything was okay and that she was safe (my mom was really shocked by the whole incident). He told us that my mom was okay and that we needed to leave.

All we were asking for was someone to show sympathy. Instead, it really seemed that they either thought we were guilty or they were trying to sweep it under the rug. One of them even admitted that they didn't think anything had happened until a witness stepped up to confirm that it was more intense than the perpetrators were trying to play it off as. My mom kept asking what she did wrong, and we couldn't convince her that she didn't do anything wrong since Disney treated her so poorly. She was crying, shaking, and in physical pain and security treated her like she should just toughen up.

I would later learn that he had told that his way of comforting my mom was to tell her that he was a police officer from New York City and that this was nothing. Her response was that she should feel a whole lot safer on the Dream than in New York City. He also laughed at her when she called it "assault".

I went straight to guest services after dealing with my mom (she refused to move from her seat, but we managed to get my whole family there to be with her). When I got in the guest services line, the hotel director was filtering guests in the guest services line to make sure that only those who actually needed to talk to guest services were waiting in line.

Once I started talking to the Hotel Director, he started to understand my perspective. Honestly, he seemed amazed by the conduct of the security team. Sure, they enforced the law, but they forgot completely about the guest who was assaulted. That being said, guest services handled my incident way better than the security staff did. I was able to talk to the head of guest services as well. He assured me that he received the report from the security officer and from the Hotel Director and had forwarded the information to the staff captain. This was not the way it was supposed to happen and frankly, treating my family the way they did was unacceptable.

It took about 24 hours before my mom would stop talking about the incident. Speaking to the guest services manager and the hotel director helped a lot. All Disney really had to do was listen, and no one wanted to.

Oh Dear!! My heart just breaks reading this story and hearing about how your poor mother was treated!!! I hope that she was able to enjoy other parts of your trip.

So did they say exactly why they recommended not reporting this incident to the Bahamian authorities? Is this not assault under their jurisdiction? I would've had to contemplate that matter long and hard before deciding not to attempt to press charges. Basically, they found your poor mother guilty based on the other person's word. And then once the 'evidence' was found in the bottom of their stroller, no apology from ANYONE!! Completely Crazy!!!
I hope your mom is okay and that they didn't cause any damage to her back. Back surgeries are NO fun! Hugs to your mom...

 

[KS929]

Yes, I will never forget the lady I saw pushing everyone out of the way (kids included) so she could be the first person in line for Mickey Mouse at "'Til we Meet Again."

And lets not forget those who saw the MV as an investment. There was one lady who went into the shop as soon as it opened, bought as many MV tshirts as she could, and then she and her hubby were literally scalping them in the hallways onboard!

I overheard another lady in the shop openly talking about how she bought shirts "to sell."

The free champagne glasses we got at Sailaway were on EBay within a few hours of leaving Port Canaveral. And the DB purse debacle of 2011...wow! They limited the purses to 2 of each style per person. So some families went in there and literally bought 8 purses per person, and then started selling them on Ebay!

I loved all the commemorative gifts we got from DCL, and can not understand why this wasn't enough for some people! But everything that wasn't tied down was up for grabs. Our Do Not Disturb sign disappeared after the first night. Our room attendant told us that people were "collecting them!" On the last night I decided not to put our suitcases out, as I wouldnt' have been surprised if someone had stolen our luggage just to try to find our Ducky litho. As one lady summed up, "there are some real nutjobs on this ship!"

I kept thanking the folks in the shops everytime I went in. I can't believe how polite they were in the face of the rudeness they had to put up with! I just felt so bad for them, and so ashamed that for many of them it was their introduction to DCL guests.

LOL! Yeah people will sell anything for money! Like that one weird person who's selling a Maiden Voyage Personal Navigator on eBay!

 

[cats mom]

So sorry to hear about what happened to your mom sanctumsolitude.

LOL! Yeah people will sell anything for money! Like that one weird person who's selling a Maiden Voyage Personal Navigator on eBay!

A navigator? The listing I saw was a quantity auction with "more than 10 available" The seller also had listings for multiple maiden voyage lithographs, pins, vinylmation figures, D&B bags, etc, etc.

I'm not as anti ebay as many here seem to be. After all, I buy and sell there.

But in my mind bringing home your own navigator and deciding to see if you can get a few bucks for it is different than scooping up stacks and stacks of them just to sell. The scalping taking place onboard is nuts! And people stealing things... well, that's terrible!


Now getting back on topic...

I've been curious about possible crowding on CC too. But I'm wondering if the maiden voyage was a good indicator?

With such a high proportion of repeat cruisers, I wouldn't be surprised if many of them decided to stay onboard and explore the ship rather than getting off. Just a thought.