11/14/09 - Special Western - 2 CC stops

[Hypermommy]

You know - we're planning on flying in Friday morning and going to MVMCP the night before the cruise. (Yes, I know, they haven't released dates yet, but this year there's one on the Friday's closest to our cruise dates - so I'm hopeful!) Would that be a good enough excuse to help get you convince KC to leave a little earlier?

Hmmmmmmmmm..... we had a bad experience at MVMCP before. It was rainy and cold and we were miserable and ended up leaving early. But it's definitely something to consider... definitely. Oh, KC........?

 

[MaryAz]

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party-right?? I am proud, if I figured that out all by myself!
We are flying in on fri and staying at the Carribean Beach Resort. I checked out the party online. I see that you have to buy tickets and park admission. A little out of our budget-oh well. Looks fun though.
Dancing nanas have moved back a page so here is more.

 

[mrp4352]

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party-right?? I am proud, if I figured that out all by myself!
We are flying in on fri and staying at the Carribean Beach Resort. I checked out the party online. I see that you have to buy tickets and park admission. A little out of our budget-oh well. Looks fun though.
Dancing nanas have moved back a page so here is more.

If you're going to the party, your admission to the park is included after 4pm. We're planning on arriving at the Magic Kingdom at 3:58 and making sad puppy dog eyes until they let us in on the party tickets. Then it's off to hit rides until it's time for the Christmas shows, fireworks and parade! Otherwise, it would be hard to convince my Mom and aunt that that money shouldn't be better spent on board for drinks with umbrellas in them!

 

[MaryAz]

Ok, that is better. Hmm, I have to check what time we get there etc. My plan is to keep the girls on Az time so being up later should not be a big problem. This would be really fun......

 

[Hypermommy]

If you're going to the party, your admission to the park is included after 4pm. We're planning on arriving at the Magic Kingdom at 3:58 and making sad puppy dog eyes until they let us in on the party tickets. Then it's off to hit rides until it's time for the Christmas shows, fireworks and parade! Otherwise, it would be hard to convince my Mom and aunt that that money shouldn't be better spent on board for drinks with umbrellas in them!

Sounds like a definite plan to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you stay at a Disney resort the night before the cruise are you then allowed to take Disney transportation and leave your car at the resort? If that's the case then we could actually save a bit of money on the resort which would help pay for the MVMCP tix (and yes, you got it exactly right, Mary!).

 

[mrp4352]

If you stay at a Disney resort the night before the cruise are you then allowed to take Disney transportation and leave your car at the resort? If that's the case then we could actually save a bit of money on the resort which would help pay for the MVMCP tix

I don't know - I know it's not a problem to book land and sea seperately and take the Disney cruise bus from WDW to the port and back again. Although the cost in transfers is probably more than what you'd pay to park your car at the port (but I can quickly forget I mentioned that part if it helps your fuzzy Disney math calculations).

And when you ride Disney's bus, you do get to watch that really cool video that's timed to give you your first really good look at the ship as it's saying "Any moment now, you'll get your first look at your home away from home..."


And for Min-MaryAz:

 

[Hypermommy]

And when you ride Disney's bus, you do get to watch that really cool video that's timed to give you your first really good look at the ship as it's saying "Any moment now, you'll get your first look at your home away from home..."

Oh, that would be sooooo coool!!! But then again, they probably don't get there at 9am like I'd want to, right?

Anyone else have stationary bananas? The bananas on my screen aren't dancing, not even off to the right when I'm typing a message. Everything else is still dancing.... think it's MiniMaryAz discrimination? If so, I wonder who I'm gonna have to go take down for messin' with my homegirl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MaryAz]

All the "nanas" are dancing over here. Believe you me, we had to check before bedtime. Mini says "thanks for having my back homes" She actually said "hypamommy"

 

[Hypermommy]

You just tell my little homegirl that hypamommy's gonna wrap her up in a big ol' hug in just about 13 months!!!!!!!!!! And her big sistah too, if she'll let me!!!!



And they're dancing again! Yippeeee!

 

[MaryAz]

You can hug all over both of them. They are both super affectionate. Each of them has to hug and say goodbye to EVERYONE at school, playgroup etc. They are both so excited about this cruise, talk about it eeryday!!


A friend asked "the bg one" where she got her Tink shirt she was wearing, she told her "you just go to Disney.com" I was so proud!!

 

[Hypermommy]

You can hug all over both of them. They are both super affectionate. Each of them has to hug and say goodbye to EVERYONE at school, playgroup etc. They are both so excited about this cruise, talk about it eeryday!!


A friend asked "the bg one" where she got her Tink shirt she was wearing, she told her "you just go to Disney.com" I was so proud!!

That's my girl! Sooooo smart!

Woo hooo!!! I've already got two girlfriends on the trip. 3 if you count mom! We'll have to spend a bit of time together with all of us just hanging out and doing girl things (something I almost never do because 1) I'm "mannish" according to my mom and 2) I live in a houseful of men) and then mom and I can relax with some adult girl time. Sound good?

 

[MaryAz]

When I first read your reply I thought "Hypermommy is bringing 2 girlfriends on the cruise, she will not have much time to spare" Then I realized who the "girlfriends" are We can totally do "girl stuff" Hang out with a princess or 2. And adult girl time is even better!! I think your mom should um well, not, I would not consider that a "nice" thing to say.
And you have sons. I used to work with teenagers with emotional and behavioral problems. It will be fun to interact with some who just like to eat and be kids.
Well,off to do fun emotion

 

[Fizzgig]

Yeah... sooooo... We're thinking about cancelling next year's double dip. It was that disappointing.

-Very little- was done for passengers. I was expecting a refreshed boat. Beyond less engine shimmy and the stabilizers working well (bearing in mind the seas never got over 8 feet, and mainly were 1-4 ft), passengers got stiffed HARD. Surfaces in the cabins were very worn and beyond the tv's, I saw squat for refreshing. Tiebacks were broken, drapery was missing, wood surfaces had veneer broken off, etc. The water in toilets, sinks, and pools was brown from sediment. I can no longer say with assurance that the tap is fine for making up baby bottles. Kids' counselors (specifically the lunch lady) were as surly as ever. Still have the pager system for kids.

Kiddo is three, turning 4. She was hurt twice accidentally by the counselors. One was a huge scrape on her back, another was a scrape on her forearm. No one said JACK to us about hurting her. Once, when I was checking her in halfway through the cruise, the counselor said she was involved in 2 fights and it was noted in her record. WTH??? You couldn't say anything when we came to GET her the night before? It got to the point where Fiona would cry when we took her to the Kids Club. Kid doesn't do that when she goes to day care here, and her story was (repeatedly) that the counselors were mean to her. After sitting with her at the club several times, I have to agree that some of the counselors ARE mean and need to go elsewhere for jobs. Some of the counselors were nice to me while I was calming Fiona down from being at the Kids Club and seemed to care about Fiona.

THE FREAKING MENUS were WELL USED. My menus were frequently tattered. Animator's Palette had changed pictures; Hades wasn't shown prominently on every wall. It was less Villains and more a variety of characters. No technology refreshing. The lights at Lumiere's kept flickering due to electrical problems. VERY annoying, and it happened multiple meals throughout the cruise.

Seriously... It was extremely poor show by DCL. Furniture wasn't touched in both of our cabins (Cat 5 and Cat 11). The mattresses were sagging, the sofa bed was downright uncomfortable (DH took a night on it), the little half moon chair was faded around the top, the grout in the shower wasn't even thoroughly cleaned and patched. None of the menus had changed since our May cruise. No chairs were changed in the adult pool area. Bring pillows from home, if you can. The linens were fine, the pillows deflated to flat.

The changes I noted: The Oceaneers Club check in desk was redone to be straight across, giving a bit more area to the kids that was completely unused. The TV system is VASTLY improved, but you still can't check your balance from the set. RFID for the kids was rumored to be happening in November (from the counselors at check-in). There was a waterfall coming from one of the hot tubs (the one that actually was hot).

The shore excursions were the same as the May cruise, so no changes there, except for the Pirate excursion getting cancelled 3 days before the cruise because the "pirate ship is in dry dock." There are multiple pirate ships, and we saw people getting tendered out to the lone Pirate ship.

Despite all the frustration with not getting a refreshed boat, the DCL personnel were overall wonderful and they really made the cruise lovely.

What questions do you have?

 

[Desi]

OHHH NOOOOOOOO!
I was so hoping you would come back raving about how wonderful it was.
My boy will be about the same as your daughter is now, when we go next year. And I'm afraid after waiting 20 years for this baby, my husband will not be very kind or understanding if his boy gets hurt. Esp. if we are not told about it. He's the kind of kid who if you hurt him once you can forget him having anything else to do with you. So I guess our dreams of having him love the club so much he doesn't want us to come get him is just that, a dream. dang, I wanted to go to Palo.
Do you think by our cruise next year all the "kinks" will be worked out. Or do you think this is just par for the course?
Surely DCL will hear of all the complaints & do something!
If I feel like I'm in a run down, nasty motel room for a week, I'm not going to be very happy. And at the prices we pay, we shouldn't be happy.
They do realize we can take our business elsewhere, for cheaper, I hope.

 

[Desi]

I just had a thought!
With all the HOOP-LA surrounding the new ships/ports/announcements, ect. Do you think DCL was just putting as little money as possible in the Magic so that all their money & resources will go into the new ships and all that goes with that?
Because they will make a lot more money selling those ships right now.
Just a thought.

 

[Fizzgig]

I just had a thought!
With all the HOOP-LA surrounding the new ships/ports/announcements, ect. Do you think DCL was just putting as little money as possible in the Magic so that all their money & resources will go into the new ships and all that goes with that?
Because they will make a lot more money selling those ships right now.
Just a thought.

That thought crossed my mind, I have to admit. Our kids club experience was so much worse than the May cruise it was shocking.

I'm still deciding on whether I want to cancel our reservations for this cruise. I'm really torn by how little was invested in the passenger experience, and how poorly supervised the Oceaneer's Club was. We spend a good bit of time in our rooms (Fiona still needs a nap, and the Verandah rooms are the amount of space we need), so those not being taken care of is a big issue. Fiona actually crying about going into the Kids club... That's a biggie. That kid loved the Kids club at times, and she definitely loved the Kids Club on the May cruise. However, even on the good days, that place is overstimulating.

For example, I was sitting with her at her lunch table in the Club after getting paged because she was upset. For "quiet time," some genius counselor put on Brother Bear. In case you haven't seen this movie, it starts out with a freakin' long drawn out bear attack. Um... yeah, that was pretty dumb of someone! Let's frighten the 3-4 year olds right before we have them lay down and be quiet! After the bear attack sequence, when the main character's brother is killed, THEN some counselor got the common sense to swap over to old cartoons. I just sat with Fiona and kept her attention, talking her through what she saw. While I was sitting there, I was observing the interactions between the counselors and the kids. The lunch lady was yelling at the kids to finish eating, lay down, etc. The comment that really got me was her line, "You need to eat a lot because some of you are going to be here for a LONG time!" and then she made a big deal of getting more food for the kids! She took plates of food or juice boxes before the kids finished, including MY KID. I politely asked her for more sandwiches and another juice box, and she just shoved the food down on the table without any manners or even caring.

Oh, and the "food"? Small triangles of white bread with a slice of American cheese or sandwich meat, no condiments. Small pieces of fruit. Apple juice boxes. Potato chips. That was all that they fed the kids, for any lunch.

Yeah... so... I'll see. Some of those issues I can work around.

 

[Fizzgig]

Ok, after talking to my mom, I just emailed my TAs and cancelled for this cruise.

I hope you guys have a Magical cruise, and DCL listens to all the constructive criticism and gets their act together! They have 13 months to make things better!

 

[binky1]

Ohhh FIZZGIG,
I'm SO sorry to hear about your experience. And considering that you have cruised DCL before, you had something to compare it too. After reading on the main board about other children getting hurt, I am also concerned. I don't think I'll be cancelling however (since it took all my persuasive powers to get my DH to agree to this one).

Here's hoping that they remove the surly CMs from the kids' clubs. And I hope that you do write a letter of suggestions (I like that word better than complaints) so that maybe DCL will become more aware of the situation and hopefully make some changes.

to Fiona - I hope she wants to cruise again - I'll have 2 pals for her if she does!!

 

[mousemom11]

Pssst. If any of you want to change to a Cat 3, 8086 is now available. We had it booked, but downgraded to a Cat 5 late yesterday.

 

[Hypermommy]

When I first read your reply I thought "Hypermommy is bringing 2 girlfriends on the cruise, she will not have much time to spare" Then I realized who the "girlfriends" are We can totally do "girl stuff" Hang out with a princess or 2. And adult girl time is even better!! I think your mom should um well, not, I would not consider that a "nice" thing to say.
And you have sons. I used to work with teenagers with emotional and behavioral problems. It will be fun to interact with some who just like to eat and be kids.
Well,off to do fun emotion

Actually, Mom's right. I never really have gotten over being a tomboy. Which was what made the last cruise all the wierder becuase I was really having a good time looking for just the right dress and everything! And this time I'm gonna be thinner so I'll have fun looking for a bathing suit and all. And since I can wait until the end of summer to buy one (and get it cheap) it's gonna be GREAT!

Ok, after talking to my mom, I just emailed my TAs and cancelled for this cruise.

I am soooooooooooooooooo sorry to hear about your experience. Wow, it doesn't even sound like the same ship that I was on last April. But then again, I don't have little ones and I understand completely that you have to be exceedingly careful with the folks that are around them. That's a bummer about the staff... you'd think Disney would have much better staff, especially for their youngest guests. Ugh!