It's very sad to see people on this board post such negative attitudes towards those sharing their experiences on this cruise. It makes me heart-sick that these same people claim to be Disney fans. Come on people, have some compassion for other people's feelings.
I was on this cruise. And it was my first cruise, ever. I was with my sister and a friend who have cruised many times before, although never on Disney. This was a cruise that my sister and I saved for three years for. It was supposed to be a tribute to our parents, who both died about three years ago. A closure of sorts, since it was our loving parents who gave us the love of Disney.
The cruise, crew, ship and experience was amazing. Until Friday. Now I love Disney. Truly. But they dropped the ball on this, in my opinion. I was very sad to not get to go to
Castaway Cay, but completely understood and trusted the crew to do what was needed for safety. However, their release that the guests got "another sunny day at sea" story is ridiculous. It was choppy, windy, rainy, and cold all day friday. They passed out blankets, for crying out loud, not towels. Thegusts were as high as in the 70's a few times when we checked the tv on the bridge report channel. Now the captain did come over a couple times to tell people to be careful walking about the ship. That was really about all that was said throughout the day. Most decks were closed. All the chairs and loungers were stacked and tarped and roped. I think the last outside deck to be closed was deck four. There was no information on tv or anywhere on what the actual hurricane was doing, where it was or where we were in relation to it. It did show our route on the bridge report, but nothing really about the hurricane.
Alot of people were feeling sick. We met quite a few that evening who were trying to find a place to be that wasn't so rocky, and looking for sea-sickness pills. The bathrooms had barf-bags in them and the stores had sea-bands and bonine (didn't the rest of the week). At dinner (we had late seating) it was obvious how many people were missing. Even two of our table mates had to leave during the meal. There was glass breaking all over the restaurant. The servers were really having a rough time. But they were very professional, and really were trying to keep moral up.
Although none of us were sick, we decided to head back to our cabin. As we went through the adult pool area (cove pool) it was finally closed. Earlier in the day we watched people slosh from side to side in it, wondering why they didn't close it then. We went to bed around 11pm with the ship rocking, shuddering, and moving continuously. We couldn't go on the verandah due to the winds and rain.
Then about 1am we were awakend to violent tossing. We couldn't even hang onto the bed. Things were falling off all the shelves, desk, bathroom shelves, and closets. We could hear things being tossed and people shouting. Then the ship listed hard to the left and came back up and went way over to the right. It literally felt like we were going to go over. At this point my sister called the desk asking for an update on the weather and the storm. She was told "it is a bit windy". Yes, that is what she was told. Really? She told them that was NOT good enough. That we needed information, and soon. Right after that the captain came on in the rooms, telling us to "stay in our staterooms" and that was that. And I can tell you, his voice cracked a little when he was saying it. At this point we were really scared.
Now my sister had been on a cruise once in a storm before, and she said it was never anything like we were experiencing. We all thought we would be "ok" or at least prayed it to be so, but it was still very, very scary. Mostly because we just didn't know for sure how bad or not bad it was, because information was not coming like it should have. Finally, the captain came back on and said the ship was handling the storm as expected. He did say it was a little more than they anticipated, but that we weren't in immediate danger. (could have fooled us!!). We felt better after this, but it was a long time coming that we were reassurred of our safety.
Now, I know Captain Tom had more to do than tell us about what was going on. But I am not so stupid to think that he could have had someone from the crew (perhaps the cruise director?) keep us more updated on what was happening. Even just putting it on the bridge report channel would have been helpful!
The ship rocked horribly until after four or so in the morning. We pretty much fell asleep exhausted only to wake up and be told to go to breakfast at 7:30 am. We did, and then were told to go back to our staterooms. They weren't sure if we would dock because of the continued winds. Finally, we were told if we had flights before noon to rebook. Our flight was at 2pm so we waited. Then no information was given. We watched a tug boat help us dock. Finally about 11am we took our suitcases and went down to the atrium. Where apparentenly EVERY person on that ship went. It was body to body. And all tense and sea-sick and tired. We stood in there for over an hour while no annoucements were made. Once in a while a crew member in white would make their way through and people would stop them and ask about what was going on. We learned that we were "waiting for customs" to clear the ship. Now this was not announced overhead, just passed along guest to guest. Of course it was useless trying to get to guest services, it was swamped with people trying to get help changing flights.
Eventually, they said people with "luggage" could go out. They opened the doors and we took off right as they were announcing we could get a 25% discount for another cruise. Are you kidding????? Luckily, we were close to the doors. And luckily we had a towncar waiting (thank God for Kenny from Florida Tours) and because he was right there to get us, and drove like a mad-man, we made our flight. (we tipped him well, too).
Now, I am not telling this because I want something. I don't need compensated. It was a lovely cruise until the last day and a half. But I really think they should buck-up and tell the truth, too. Although, yes, we ended up getting back safe, the ship was NOT sound. That ship got battered. I saw it first hand. We did not have a "sunny" extra day at sea. Didn't happen. I do NOT blame Disney for the weather. I do not feel I deserve anything for how it ended. But they COULD HAVE HANDLED IT ALOT BETTER. And that is what upsets me. I expect alot more of Disney. Which is why I go to Disney. I trust them. My glasses are a little less rose colored now.
and now I want to nix it! I would rather rebook for an Alaska 2014 cruise, but DH is now the one saying no, he want so keep what we have.
