Are you like us seriously re-considering due to recent events?

[trishy]

Ok, reading through this thread I think I opened about a dozen posts to respond to, so instead I'm going to try to sum it all up in one without quoting.

First, to the OP, I honestly don't think you have anything to fear cruising with DCL after this past weekend. DCL is dealing with enormous backlash and bad PR due to the choices made to sail both ships into the storm, and it's only getting worse. I honestly believe they will learn a tough lesson from this and err on the side of extreme caution from here on out.

To all those who have had kind words and support for the passengers on the Fantasy and Dream, a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU. I was on the Dream, and I have followed the threads and seen the nastiness that caused the Fantasy thread to be closed. It's great to finally see posts from others (not on the ships) understanding our position. What we experienced WAS avoidable.

Most of us left the DIS for a closed group elsewhere to avoid the nastiness, and there we have been able to process and come to the conclusion that the one thing we want the most from DCL, we will most likely never receive - an acknowledgement that yes, it was avoidable, and they made a mistake.

And we fully understand why we will most likely never receive that - because an acceptance of responsibility would be an acceptance of liability.

Very well said - all of it!!

 

[su_A_ve]

So I take it you have no interest in taking their offer of a discount? I know Disney has alot of control but Mother Nature is not a woman even they have control over.

They don't have control over Mother nature, however they were in PLENTY control of the ship.

Delay a day or come back earlier. But don't put people in danger just to make in in time...

All airlines canceled prior to the storm. They didn't want stranded passengers somewhere else. Are they paying for it? Sure they are! But they learned from prior experiences - remember the 8hr fiasco JetBlue had to go thru? This time they were the first ones to announce no change fees until nov. 14th.

Sorry, but what DCL did was plain WRONG and should have not put their passengers in dangers.

 

[disney1990]

They don't have control over Mother nature, however they were in PLENTY control of the ship.

Delay a day or come back earlier. But don't put people in danger just to make in in time...

All airlines canceled prior to the storm. They didn't want stranded passengers somewhere else. Are they paying for it? Sure they are! But they learned from prior experiences - remember the 8hr fiasco JetBlue had to go thru? This time they were the first ones to announce no change fees until nov. 14th.

Sorry, but what DCL did was plain WRONG and should have not put their passengers in dangers.

As the Captain told us, the storm we sailed into turned out to be much worse that was predicted. Storms are unpredictable and the storm slowed down. I know that the Captain then slowed down, but it was already an issue by then. We gave sailed with Disney before and will sail with Disney again.

 

[disneyfan888]

Once again I would like to send my thoughts and prayers to all of those who were on the ships this past weekend. The experience must have been horrible and I too feel it could have been avoided. I am an avid Disney fanatic. I have had the privilege of sailing with Disney, we live in Orlando and moved here to be close to the magic, I got married in Disney World, Disney is my world. I am not justifying the actions made by DCL and no one can truly understand what people felt on the ships who were not on board or who have never experienced something similar. I admit that going through that experience for many may cause them to not even want to get on another boat again regardless of the company and that is understandable. I think Disney will learn from this because they take the feedback from the guests very seriously and whether or not they believe they did the right thing or not, I am almost certain that this type of incident will not happen again because it has shaken the confidence of many. I personally believe that their is no company that will take better care of their guests. They made a mistake and while I understand that safety is not an area where we want to allow human error, I know they will work even harder to make up for it. This type of situation can happen with any cruise line at any moment and I know Disney are the ones who fight for their customer service, that is why they are praised for it and that is why it is highly expected of them. So to answer the question, I will not stop sailing DCL. That I hope and wish nothing bad ever happens while on board, of course, I would hope and pray for nothing to happen regardless of who I am sailing with. In the end I know and trust that Disney is the safest way to go, not to mention the best. We have a cruise in summer with my sister and we set sail in 2 days on the Fantasy. While I am deeply saddened about the events that unfolded and agree that no one should have had to go through that. I know Disney will strive to make it right in the future and it will not stop us from sailing with them. My thoughts and blessings to everyone.

 

[su_A_ve]

They rushed the ships back to port to be on time. All other cruise lines had canceled or delayed.

They were voted No.1 this year - after this, it'll be hard to keep the record.

As far as sailing again, absolutely, and due to pricing I would also sail in August or November, knowing full well there would be a chance of a storm. But I would much rather be told the sailing is cut short or gets delayed, or even canceled than have to go thru this travesty.

Now, much of this is the captain's fault, however, how much pressure was he from DCL...

 

[gr8vthsfam]

Thank you OP for posting, and thank you to everyone who chimed in on the discussion. I have found the weather/meteorological information and other passengers reasoning of their decision to still cruise helpful in processing my own concerns.
I wanted to respond to one post, as I feel I have gained some clarity. Interestingly as I read what I had typed and then copied onto my clipboard so I could continue reading the remainder of the thread, my thoughts are similar to a poster a few posts back.

Just curious, what type of response did you expect less than a week after this happened?

Admittedly there is a difference between the response I sought (an acknowledgement of some sort of misstep which would mean- in my mind- that future situations like this therefore actually could be avoided - leading me to then 'feel' better) and the 'very typical corporate' response I got. Were my expectations too high? Well, considering the realities of many business models today and the fear of future litigation should anyone own up to a mistake, yes, my expectations were probably more wishful thinking in nature. Perhaps I am becoming 'old fashioned' and resistant to modern economic/litigious realities. I am just a person whose respect for others only increases when our humanness is demonstrated and learning/growth happens. Sadly, there are enough ‘me first’ people that it could mean economic ruin for many companies. Very sad.

I AM now more hopeful for DCL. Not that I wish them any corporate harm, but rather I already have trust that they actually listen to guests concerns. It sounds like many people have expressed those concerns and to be consistent with their reputation of excellent service, they will listen. I mean, hey, look what happened when they tried to change the BYO alcohol policy!!

Thanks for sharing everyone.

 

[Stephieann]

1st let me say i have not read all the responses so if i repeat something i am sorry!

I will not change my mind on DCL. I have cruised during a hurricane/tropical storm/tropical depression and i was very pleased how it was handled with DCL. We sat in port at Port Canaveral for an extra 12 hours when DCL decided not to slip out in a small window and await authorities report to see what the safety factor would be. During this small window to get out RC did go out...it could have been any company that was stuck out there in the weather!

Another time i was out during tropical weather, DCL found shelter by hiding behind one of the larger islands until the storm passed! I know our storms were not near as big as Sandy but they did do everything in their power to keep us safe.... I have full faith in DCL to keep me and my family safe!!!!!!

 

[SleepyDeb]

I am rethinking our Jan Fantasy cruise, although we will probably not cancel. The experience that those pax went through just reminded me of how "trapped" you are on a ship. Anything that goes wrong, there's no room to move out of the way. Weather, terrorist, epidemic, anything. You're on that ship for the duration. makes me a little nervous. I probably need to just stop thinking about that and I'll be excited about the trip again.

 

[kristof65]

No, it won't affect our decision. Our January cruise is still on. For two main reasons: One, I'm ex-navy. Based on videos, I've seen far worse on Navy ships. Two, in my experience, the company that has an issue like this, with a huge customer backlash, is also the company likely to be more conservative the next time the situation arises.

The companies that concern me are the ones who make the same mistakes over and over again. No branch of Disney has ever struck me as liking to repeat the same negative experience over and over again.

 

[sissy_ib]

Really, there are always going to be a few people who cancel after anything bad happens. I'm sure there were people who canceled trips on most or all lines after the Concordia disaster. There are people who swear they will never fly again after a crash, etc. I say do whatever you are comfortable with. If you want to cancel I think you should. Personally, this and a few other things have me not too happy with DCL. Our cruise is in two days so I will not be canceling but I think our next cruise will be on a different line unless we fall in to another great military deal like we got this time.

 

[realityland]

I was on the dream we left out Thursday and I expected rough seas. Got up Friday to beautiful weather then he took us right back into the storm. I watched the local Florida news Sunday when we got home and that explained all. If they had canceled the cruise they would have lost 11 million dollars. Oh and they act like their giving us a gift with -25% off our next 3 day cruise. Of course we had no port calls and the winds were at 65-70mph almost the whole time. Saturday night I was lifted and tossed across my stateroom several times. Why? Got a form letter saying they were sorry for my disappointing cruise but they would do nothing more then the 25% and at no time were we in danger blah blah blah easy for them to say they weren't there.

With all due respect, I would take whatever arbitrary dollar amount I saw on the news with a grain of salt. There are several local news outlets in FL that never miss a chance to Disney-bash. I am not a Disney apologist, just so you know. However, their overall point is valid. Should DCL have cancelled the cruise, they stood to lose a lot of money. The only circumstance where I can see a for-profit corporation canceling a cruise is if the Coast Guard will not clear the ship to sail.

Really sucks for those that had a miserable time, and paid a lot of money for it. You skrimp and save and plan for a trip like this. For some, it might be a once in a lifetime, or once in a long time chance to go on a Disney cruise. Total disappointment from start to finish.

 

[DMMarla07860]

I will say I don't feel as bad for anyone who was on the Dream or Fantasy right now. After hearing about all the stuff here in NJ and NYC a really bad night on a ship seems like heaven

 

[mmouse37]

I have had on and off power for the last few days due to Sandy so I know I missed a bunch of stuff going on in the world.

So, what is the huge backlash and negative PR that Disney is getting? I know about the closed Fantasy thread, and CNN Ireport (which is a not an actual news report but a personal report, correct?) and I know many people contacted DCL about what happened. But other than that what is the backlash? I have not seen anything on the news about this. Other than the people that were affected personally and the people on this board how many people would even really know about this to change their opinion of DCL?

Generally just curious if I missed some news coverage of the Dream/Fantasy and what happened on those two cruises that would lead to a mass of people changing their opinion of DCL.

MJ

 

[DisneyOHFan]

I have had on and off power for the last few days due to Sandy so I know I missed a bunch of stuff going on in the world.

So, what is the huge backlash and negative PR that Disney is getting? I know about the closed Fantasy thread, and CNN Ireport (which is a not an actual news report but a personal report, correct?) and I know many people contacted DCL about what happened. But other than that what is the backlash? I have not seen anything on the news about this. Other than the people that were affected personally and the people on this board how many people would even really know about this to change their opinion of DCL?

Generally just curious if I missed some news coverage of the Dream/Fantasy and what happened on those two cruises that would lead to a mass of people changing their opinion of DCL.

MJ

MJ - hopefully you will have power permanently soon. Sorry you guys were impacted.

But, reading through this thread is actually refreshing after all the bashing threads. It seems like there are just a few making negative comments and the majority are still very supportive of Disney and don't plan on changing their future cruising plans.

 

[realityland]

I have had on and off power for the last few days due to Sandy so I know I missed a bunch of stuff going on in the world.

So, what is the huge backlash and negative PR that Disney is getting? I know about the closed Fantasy thread, and CNN Ireport (which is a not an actual news report but a personal report, correct?) and I know many people contacted DCL about what happened. But other than that what is the backlash? I have not seen anything on the news about this. Other than the people that were affected personally and the people on this board how many people would even really know about this to change their opinion of DCL?

Generally just curious if I missed some news coverage of the Dream/Fantasy and what happened on those two cruises that would lead to a mass of people changing their opinion of DCL.

MJ

Small chance that the news may have picked something up under different circumstances. Doubtful that anything else could possibly penetrate the Sandy coverage.

 

[NancyIL]

I will say I don't feel as bad for anyone who was on the Dream or Fantasy right now. After hearing about all the stuff here in NJ and NYC a really bad night on a ship seems like heaven

One can always find someone whose situation is worse, but that doesn't minimize what the folks on DCL's ships went through. I truly doubt anyone on those ships thought, This must be heaven compared to what the east coast is going to get!

MJ - hopefully you will have power permanently soon. Sorry you guys were impacted.

But, reading through this thread is actually refreshing after all the bashing threads. It seems like there are just a few making negative comments and the majority are still very supportive of Disney and don't plan on changing their future cruising plans.

Seems to me most of the "bashing" was directed against the people who sailed on the affected cruises, and was done by the Disney supporters!

I am not changing my cruising plans, because I have no cruises booked during hurricane season. While I won't cancel my 2 upcoming Disney cruises, DCL's actions during Sandy certainly don't make me more likely to book future cruises with them.

 

[RoraBorieAlice]

I've got an extra room

It's 72 miles. We get to WDW in 1 hr & Port Canaveral in 2 hours.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

14 Miles from the Gates here
Best choice I ever made was leaving NH for Florida in 1999~~

 

[sissy_ib]

I will say I don't feel as bad for anyone who was on the Dream or Fantasy right now. After hearing about all the stuff here in NJ and NYC a really bad night on a ship seems like heaven

There is always a worse situation. I'm sure something horrible is happening to a small child in Africa this second. But that does not take away from others. What are we supposed to do? Search the world for the person who has it the worst and only feel bad for them? I have room in my heart for compassion for multiple people and multiple situations. I don't rank my feelings and tell people "I only feel a little bad for you because someone else has it really bad!"

 

[disneyfan888]

There is always a worse situation. I'm sure something horrible is happening to a small child in Africa this second. But that does not take away from others. What are we supposed to do? Search the world for the person who has it the worst and only feel bad for them? I have room in my heart for compassion for multiple people and multiple situations. I don't rank my feelings and tell people "I only feel a little bad for you because someone else has it really bad!"

Very well said!
By the way we leave in 2 days for our cruise, but on the Fantasy.
I hope you have a lovely time

 

[Summerl30]

No. I always thought would never cruise the caribbean during hurricane season on any line. This confirmed my original thoughts.