Adult hot tubs now close at 10 pm?! Anyone else upset?!

[C6PT7]

YOU @mlayton14 have the ultimate power in this situation.

You can petition dcl to operate the pool time longer as I have, or you can chose not to cruise with them and take your money else where. YOU as the consumer have the power to withdraw your money from the dcl coffers if you wish to. That is the ultimate control you have over dcl. This isn't new news as magicimaginear posted this back in april. It hasn;t been sprung on you like as in last week. This information has been around for longer than 90 days!

I agree I would like the pooks open until at least midnight, but you have to understand the consequences without thinking them thru.

edit. pools, not pooks!

 

[C6PT7]

I have the opinion solely because I know I don't like overly long dining experiences. Just the way I am; short attention span and get antsy in restaurants, especially after the first round of food hits my stomach, especially if the restaurant is loud and crowded. I've read many, many stories of two-hour-plus MDR meals on DCL and other lines. No, this doesn't mean I don't enjoy food or don't enjoy life, I just enjoy it at a slightly faster pace. And yes, I am well aware of the limited dining options on DCL, especially on such a short cruise.

Thats cool! Ask to be seated alone and ask that your meals in the mdrs are sent out as quickly as possible! 2 hours is possible with problems in the kitchen, but not the usual from what i have read. 90 mins max is the most common. think about it this way, if dinner takes 2 hours, at 6:15pm dinner wouldn't finish until 8:15pm.
That goves the staff 15 minutes to change all of the linin, silverware, plates, clean up for the food on the floor from the kids throwing and being messy. I think that is the exception, not the rule in this case. And especially was;t when I cruised.

 

[perditax]

Thats cool! Ask to be seated alone and ask that your meals in the mdrs are sent out as quickly as possible! 2 hours is possible with problems in the kitchen, but not the usual from what i have read. 90 mins max is the most common. think about it this way, if dinner takes 2 hours, at 6:15pm dinner wouldn't finish until 8:15pm.
That goves the staff 15 minutes to change all of the linin, silverware, plates, clean up for the food on the floor from the kids throwing and being messy. I think that is the exception, not the rule in this case. And especially was;t when I cruised.

I hear you. I feel kind of weird asking them to move things as a quicker pace, and I'm still trying to figure out a diplomatic way to word the request. My dining companion (boyfriend) has the same restless reaction to being "trapped" in a dining venue for a long time. His Mom loves fondue, which is a three hour thing locally, so we have to ration that out to a few times a year.

That said, we have late seating, which in itself isn't a big deal (I think I prefer it), but in my experience if a kitchen is going to get "in the weeds" it'll happen in a later service.

(I didn't mean to derail this thread, I was just commiserating with another poster about MDR times. I know this is very much first world problems territory, but everyone has something that bothers them that may not bother other people, and vice versa. For example, deck chair hogging is never going to bother me because you won't catch me roasting in the sun for any amount of time. )

 

[C6PT7]

I hear you. I feel kind of weird asking them to move things as a quicker pace, and I'm still trying to figure out a diplomatic way to word the request. My dining companion (boyfriend) has the same restless reaction to being "trapped" in a dining venue for a long time. His Mom loves fondue, which is a three hour thing locally, so we have to ration that out to a few times a year.

That said, we have late seating, which in itself isn't a big deal (I think I prefer it), but in my experience if a kitchen is going to get "in the weeds" it'll happen in a later service.

(I didn't mean to derail this thread, I was just commiserating with another poster about MDR times. I know this is very much first world problems territory, but everyone has something that bothers them that may not bother other people, and vice versa. For example, deck chair hogging is never going to bother me because you won't catch me roasting in the sun for any amount of time. )

I would book Palo for a first or last night if you can in advance to take away one night, and then just say to your server we'd like our food as quickly as possible once we have finished our course. We wan't to discover the Disney magic." and leave it at that!
Discrete and they will know what others may mean by that.

 

[C6PT7]

There are a lot of parents aboard who need some mommy and daddy time while the kids are in the club, and they will accommodate you i'm sure! (not saying you need that time, but it is a discrete and used before

edit. I should have writen mommy and mommy and daddy and daddy time as well. Everyone needs a little alone time!

 

[perditax]

S

I would book Palo for a first or last night if you can in advance to take away one night, and then just say to your server we'd like our food as quickly as possible once we have finished our course. We wan't to discover the Disney magic." and leave it at that!
Discrete and they will know what others may mean by that.

Hah!

I hav Palo booked for Pirate night but I've been thinking of switching it to the final night.

 

[phinz]

I'm never in a hurry in the MDR. I have 22 more hours a day to experience everything else.

 

[LSUfan4444]

They closed at 11pm when we cruised in late June which wasn't terrible but 8 am opening was plain awful


http://www.disboards.com/threads/here-they-are-navigators-fantasy-7-day-itinerary-a.3423687/

 

[LSUfan4444]

I have 22 more hours a day to experience everything else.

I think thats kind of the point, you don't really have 22 more hours. On a sea day you're looking at maybe 10-13 hours of things being "open". Now you have to decide between character experiences, MDR, photo opps, shows, movies, pools, hot tub, etc. The bar are revenue streams, so they'll keep them open to funnel people there but it would be a nice option if there was more to do on the ships after say 10 pm.

 

[phinz]

I guess I'm strange. I don't have to be entertained by somebody else. I'm happy to plop my butt down on the verandah with a book, go to a movie (there have been 10:30-11:00 showings on my cruises), play shuffleboard, enjoy the fact that most everybody is asleep so I can get cool night pictures, watch people dance at the club, watch on-demand movies, etc. I've never had an issue. Then again, I couldn't care less about pools full of kid soup, hot tubs, character meet and greets, shopping, etc. I'm pretty sure that I can get plenty in from 7 am when the restaurants open to 12:30 when the last movie lets out. It's not unusual for me to be up until 3 am just messing around on the boat when it's quiet.

 

[mlayton14]

As above by Princess Shmoo, where will they sleep?
You are throwing around random figures of $5m per week without taking into operating costs. How much fuel does it take to do a 7 day cruise? How much is teh labor? How much does it cost to operate a ship per week and what is the profit and loss on a cruise exactly @mlayton14 and what is an acceptable profit margin?

Didn't consider sleeping space which could play into it, but seriously are you implying that their profitability would materially suffer to return back to longer operating hours at the pool/hot tubs?? How did they manage to swing it before?? Of course they have costs, but when you charge double in many cases of other similar cruise lines I think it's a safe assumption that they have healthy margins. if you charge premium you should deliver the extras that people expect, and this is a pretty cheap extra service people are upset about. As a customer you should be less of a cheerleader and more concerned with value from your purchase then where the crew will sleep or if DCL will take a .00025% hit to their profit margin.

 

[mlayton14]

YOU @mlayton14 have the ultimate power in this situation.

You can petition dcl to operate the pool time longer as I have, or you can chose not to cruise with them and take your money else where. YOU as the consumer have the power to withdraw your money from the dcl coffers if you wish to. That is the ultimate control you have over dcl. This isn't new news as magicimaginear posted this back in april. It hasn;t been sprung on you like as in last week. This information has been around for longer than 90 days!

I agree I would like the pooks open until at least midnight, but you have to understand the consequences without thinking them thru.

edit. pools, not pooks!

Oh, the consequences. Those serious consequences to DCL. See my cheerleader post above.

And thanks for the lecture on the power of the consumer, and here I thought I had no choice but to sail with DCL , now I know ! But seriously not everyone catches every piece of news as it happens, not like DCL actually informed their customers did they?

 

[over50visits]

Why eliminate any crew, why not add? For a ship that probably grosses $5m per week before any extra guest spending is paying the extra 1 or $2k to staff additional hours unreasonable? And why all of a sudden do they not have enough crew to start with ?

Easily done. There is room available in crew quarters, and somehow they managed to do this in the past. I hope it's not NCL-itis where some new bookkeeper has decided to start cutting corners! Could they get by with just one fewer painters on board? Sure, and would save that salary. Problem is once you start down that road it can become a death spiral. There's a reason DCL is more expensive than other mass market lines, and one of them used to include a hot tub open late at night.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Easily done. There is room available in crew quarters, and somehow they managed to do this in the past. I hope it's not NCL-itis where some new bookkeeper has decided to start cutting corners! Could they get by with just one fewer painters on board? Sure, and would save that salary. Problem is once you start down that road it can become a death spiral. There's a reason DCL is more expensive than other mass market lines, and one of them used to include a hot tub open late at night.

Well darn! With that logic...if they close the hot tub at 10 pm we should be getting a reduced price on our cruise! *said with tongue in cheek* Seriously , I'm confused about all the fuss about hot tubs. I find them disgusting and not very relaxing since I'm from a hot climate. If an extra hour of it being closed will ruin your vacation...let Dcl know. I emailed them my concerns about smoking on verandas (along with many other people) and there was a policy change for the better.

 

[mcd2745]

What time do resort pools close? I guess I would assume that is the same time I would expect the ships pools to close too.

Don't get me started on that too.

I feel the same exact way with the WDW resort pools. They should only close briefly in the middle of the night for cleaning/maintenance. You should be able to enjoy them upon returning from the parks - even if you stay until closing.

 

[C6PT7]

Didn't consider sleeping space which could play into it, but seriously are you implying that their profitability would materially suffer to return back to longer operating hours at the pool/hot tubs?? How did they manage to swing it before?? Of course they have costs, but when you charge double in many cases of other similar cruise lines I think it's a safe assumption that they have healthy margins. if you charge premium you should deliver the extras that people expect, and this is a pretty cheap extra service people are upset about. As a customer you should be less of a cheerleader and more concerned with value from your purchase then where the crew will sleep or if DCL will take a .00025% hit to their profit margin.

I guess we have a difference of opinion as to our places.
I neither own nor run dcl. i am a customer. And as a customer I can voice my opinion on here and politely ask them via email or telephone to reconsider their decision. Which i have done.
Who knows why they have decided to cut the hours back? I doubt it is just to annoy people. Why did they have enough crew before and not now? Who knows? Have you asked dcl?
I am not a shareholder, so the profitability of dcl is none of my business as i see it. That leaves me with the choices i stated above, to contact them and voice my opinion, and if they do not listen, then i have the choice to take my dollars else where.
Ranting and accusing dcl of putting profits before happiness of there consumer serves no purpose unless you understand there situation and the reasons behind it, which none of us do as far as i know.
Feel free to call me a cheerleader, or worse. you are entitled to your opinion. I think maybe i have just thought about the conseqences, possible reasons and practicalities a little more than you have.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I feel the same exact way with the WDW resort pools. They should only close briefly in the middle of the night for cleaning/maintenance. You should be able to enjoy them upon returning from the parks - even if you stay until closing.

Completely agree.

 

[C6PT7]

Oh, the consequences. Those serious consequences to DCL. See my cheerleader post above.

And thanks for the lecture on the power of the consumer, and here I thought I had no choice but to sail with DCL , now I know ! But seriously not everyone catches every piece of news as it happens, not like DCL actually informed their customers did they?

not as far as i am aware. However i accept that any cruise line has the right to change anything about my cruise at any time, without notice. Ship, itinirary, shore excursions, operating hours. the list is endless.
You may not agree with that on a personal level, but you did agree to that when you booked your vacation with them. You either have to accpet that or you are setting yourself up for disapointment.

 

[C6PT7]

Easily done. There is room available in crew quarters, and somehow they managed to do this in the past. I hope it's not NCL-itis where some new bookkeeper has decided to start cutting corners! Could they get by with just one fewer painters on board? Sure, and would save that salary. Problem is once you start down that road it can become a death spiral. There's a reason DCL is more expensive than other mass market lines, and one of them used to include a hot tub open late at night.

interesting insider info there! May i ask how you know this to be true? Do you work for dcl?
I agree i hope it isn't just cut-backs to make more profit. i thought the reason dcl were more expensive was the disney brand?

edit. the disney brand, small fleet of ships so supply and demand. I never thought of the hot tubs or pools being open later than say carnival or rci as a reason.

 

[over50visits]

Well darn! With that logic...if they close the hot tub at 10 pm we should be getting a reduced price on our cruise! *said with tongue in cheek*

LOL!!!