Anyone else taking a ribbing for booking a DCL vacation?

[lodgelady]

I have learned a lesson about the power of the media!
My DBIL teased us about our cruise plans! He was under the impression that almost everyone cruising on DCL recently came home sick!
When I set him straight about the actual numbers and told him about how Disney was handling it, he was impressed.
However, now instead of getting "oohs and aahs from people when I tell them of my cruise plans, I get " I hope you don't get sick"!!! That takes some of the shine off of it.... I'm confident that it will be OK by the time we go anyway.

 

[inkkognito]

Same here, and it drives me crazy!
Of course, everyone at work and most of our acquaintances think that we're crazy already because of all the DCL cruising we do, even when there is no controversy.
Oh well, at least for once they're not mixing it up with the Big Red Boat.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Buschfan]

I don't think it is just DCL. We are going on the Norwegian Majesty in 3 weeks and my family and people at work are teasing us about going on a cruise. I did talk a co-worker into booking on our sailing, so not everyone is being scared away.

 

[Michelle]

Oh we heard PLENTY being on the first cruise after the ship was taken offline for a week!

But you just rest assured they will be singing a different tune after you come home and tell them what a FABULOUS time you had on your cruise!

 

[sandygirl]

I've heard some flack about our plans for the 1/04/03 cruise. I refuse to crawl into bed and hide under the covers because the world isn't perfect. I will take ordinary precautions and dance myself silly at the SailAway Party.

 

[inkkognito]

Amen, Sandygirl!
Hubby is packing lots of Immodium, just in case. Even if the worst happens, it couldn't be much worse than the time I drank the water at Xcaret when we were on Voyager of the Seas. I learned why they call it Montezuma's REVENGE!!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[MarkRG]

I fully intend to rub it in the faces of anyone who does when we get back!

 

[mmouse37]

Unfortunately that is all I hear these days as well...."going on Disney Cruise...that is the sick ship, right" or "why are you cruising, won't you get sick? I hate it.

Even the local news was reporting about two hospitals on Long Island New York being infected with the "cruise ship virus". How misleading is that to people. Now folks are going to think that someone from a recent cruise brought it into the hospital and started speading it when it is probably the other way around.

I hate the media sometimes.!!!!!

MJ

 

[buzz5985]

I heard on Paul Harvey's report that the Bush Family is on the 3 day Wonder Cruise after Christmas. Gee, if it's OK for the parents, brother etc., of the First Family.....

There are also reports of the "Norwalk Virus" in Nursing homes in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

 

[Gillian]

Yep, the Big Red Boat comments have stopped, but the sick ship ones won't! We know better

The problem is, I'm trying to get friends & family to join in the fun & they're a little scared.

 

[disny4ever]

I wish I had a cruise planned so I was getting a bunch of grief.
Unfortunately I will have to dream of future cruises to come.

Take it all with a grain of salt....laugh in their face and say
" I'm taking a Disney cruise and your not" and then give them the rassssberry !!!!!

Have a great cruise.

 

[My~Rumbly~Tumbly]

I definitively heard lots and lots of those comments- 'are you crazy'. I found myself in defense of the cruise industry a lot. I had to point out the numbers. I would often say, 'in a community of 3600 during cold and flu season, wouldn't you expect at least 300 people to be ill'. It always seemed to work. Most would say, 'I would expect more'. After sailing the Wonder December 1st, I could also add that Disney did everything in their power to keep the ship clean and sanitized. The rest was up to the passengers and we all know how some don't think it's necessary to wash their hands.

 

[chrissyk]

Buschfan, you are going on a cruise on the Norweigan Majesty in a few weeks?!! Have you ever been on this boat before? This is the boat that cruises from Boston to Bermuda in the warmer months up here...my husband and I had the misfortune of wasting $3K on a cruise on this boat this past Sept. Feel free to PM me if you want details, but the basic problems were:

1) The boat was dated, and our cabin was downright dilapidated!
2) The food was absolutely inedible
3) There was no real "entertainment" to speak of other than bingo (that you had to pay $29 to play!)
4) Either the stabilizers weren't working or there were no stabilizers...the ship bounced all over the place for the entire "cruise" part of the trip. This was so bad that the pools were drained and stayed empty during the "cruise" days (which was 2 days there and 2 days back!)
5) The water in both hottubs was BRIGHT yellow...didn't matter, though, because they were so small that only a few people could actually fit in them anyways

Norwegian was apparently sold to a new parent company 3 years or so ago, and their service has gone downhill since. I guess that this was "common knowledge" amongst regular cruisers, but this was our first (and last!) cruise, and we had no idea what we were in for BTW, the Norwegian Majesty is NOTHING like the pictures of the newer cruise ships (including DCL ships) that I've seen!

 

[Buschfan]

A little off-topic here, but yes I know the ship is not new at 10 years old. I have read good reviews about the ship on cruisecritic though. Cabins are tiny at 105 sq ft for minimum insides and outsides. She is very conservative on the inside and that is what I like. I have sailed the Norway when she was 35 years old and it was one of my favorite cruises. I am one of the few who prefer ships that are 'broken-in' I guess. I always like the smaller size of the older ships as there is more of a connection to the sea. There are no stabilizers on the Majesty from reading up on her. Bermuda cruises can really be rough on any ship. We have had good luck with Norwegian on our previous 4 cruises with them. I am sorry you had a bad experience though. Both of us are sailing for $450 total for an outside 4 nighter, so I really am not expecting the amenities of a newer and more expensive ship.

 

[lodgelady]

UNBELIEVABLE:
I was in a buffet line yesterday along with my DSIL . We were talking about our New Years excercise resolutions (as we were loading our plates, of course ).
DSIL said, in a rather loud voice, " you are going to want to be in good shape for your cruise".
A woman standing next to us overheard us and asked what cruise we were taking. I said DCL, and she got a worried look on her face and said "I hope you don't get sick"!!!!!
At that point I found myself making a defense of our choice, and added that the last cruise only 25 out of 3,000 got the virus. She said " that is 25 too many" as if it was the ships' fault!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We have had a few of these comments, but we just tell them we are going on the weight watchers cruise!
Robin M.

 

[chrissyk]

Buschfan, you got a good deal for $450 pp! I just wanted to make sure that you knew that the Majesty is NOTHING like the DCL ships or any of the newer cruise ships. DH and I also read up on the great reviews on the Majesty on cruisecritic, so we certainly weren't expecting the experience we had. Sheesh, for 3K we could have booked a nice DCL cruise!! The people on cruisecritic seemed very pro-cruising, and I did not see any posts that truly described the state of the ship and the yucky food on the ship. Your cruise may be better if there are more frequent stops at different ports. For us, it took 2 days to get to Bermuda and 2 days back, so that's a lot of time on a rocking ship with bad food

 

[Buschfan]

Actually it is $450 for both of us, not pp. I admit I am cheap...

 

[chrissyk]

Wow, $450 for both of you IS a good deal! Hey, I admit that I'm cheap too...it still stings that we paid 3K for our cruise, LOL For $450 total, I would have found the cruise more enjoyable...there's nothing like getting a "deal" Have fun!! Oh, and avoid the "cold soups" at all costs...can you say "melted ice cream"?!!!