Aug 14 Magic - Unhappy w/ Changes?

[mmouse37]

It does not take a hurricane to divert from a certain port. In January of last year we sailed on the Western and could not anchor off Grand Cayman due to winds....we skipped Grand Cayman completely and headed straight to Cozumel. Spent the day as sea and got to Cozumel at midnight. The ship stayed docked all night and the next day in Cozumel. We had a great time.

I was amazed at the amount of people who were sreaming at the Guest Service people demanding to know why we could not get to Grand Cayman.....the ship printed up new Navigators within an hour of the announced change and they added more activities and tried to make the situation better. People were still very upset and could not grasp that the Grand Cayman Port Authority did not allow ships to anchor. The reason was it was too windy and wavy for tenders to be safe....folks were blaming DCL.

DCL automatically refunded everyone's excursion money for any that were booked for Grand Cayman.

MJ

 

[natdencro]

Sadly, some people will spend their whole lives finding things to complain about. Ask any CM, and they will have had guests moaning about things which are quite beyond their capabilities to change. Personally, I dont know why some people choose Disney holidays, because they are NEVER going to be happy! What sad lives they must lead. Thank goodness these "miseries" are few and far between, and 99% guests are just lovely. Nat

 

[figment52]

Originally posted by allears
Are you really serious? I don't believe they take changing itineraires lightly. Did you ask while you were on board why the change. I think most of us would assume that either the weather was still a concern for the captain, as tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes are noturiously erratic. Or perhaps the government at Grand Cayman wasn't prepared to receive ships again.

Consider yourself fortuneate that you got to go some place with out a hurricane. Friends of ours were in Jamaca during Charely, while they were unharmmed they spent the day couped up inside, no chance for the island to change course to look for the sun.

We're cruising in 5 weeks, still the height of hurricane season. We all are aware that for many reasons the ship may change it's course. I put my trust in the captain and the crew to do what is best for everyone's safety (which may include avoiding rough seas) and to keep the trip enjoyable. So will I be a bit disappointed if we miss a port, sure, but better that than the whole trip.

I couldn't have said it any better

 

[wink]

Amazing. Didn't you read your documents before your boarded? They have the right to change/skip ports as necessary. If you want to be sure to visit Grand Caymen, book a LAND vacation!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Funny thing about hurricanes--they have no contract. They show up where they want went they want. And they can change their mind at the last minute just b/c they want to and they don't have to confirm with anyone.

That is what Charley did--in less than 2 hours, that hurricane went from a 2 to a 4 and took a little right hand 100+ mile detour into Punta Gorda. And all of Tampa was evacuated to Orlando--and boy were they in for a shock when the hurricane came straight for them when 48 hours prior they thought their homes were in harm's way.

If you want to be the captain of your own ship and keep your schedule as is--then go buy your own yacht and do as you must.

It does dampen the mood when plans change...but hurricane forecasts are simply highly highly educated guesses on what a tropical system of any kind will do. Sounds like your captain went with the information he had and according to the weather reports before Earl dissipated--he was heading straight for Mexico by way of the carribean islands. Once you are off ship, the captain can't call you if it is determined that an early departure is necessary (like those people who missed the cruise due to Charley when the ships had to leave port 2 hours early). There is no 100% way to define precisely what these weather systems will do--and when they do not go as expected, the weatherman, NHC or in this case the captain are to blame.

So put it into perspective--Lots of peoples plans were screwed up by Hurricane Charley--their career plans, housing plans, vacation plans, even evacuation plans--plans of all kinds. Let's be thankful that the only plans Earl messed up were a change in Port of Call at your inconvenience.

All the more reason to hop on a cruise ship again!

 

[dtuleya]

I'd just be glad they didn't cancel my cruise all together. I think looking at any video from the devastation that Charley caused would make me thankful that I was able to be on a DCL cruise ship, safe and sound, and not in a mobile home in Punta Gorda.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

We caught the tail end of the late hurricane last December on our 11/29/03 Eastern sailing, there were 26 ft waves......be glad that you had calm seas.......between the wind and the rocking there were some people that had a miserable couple of days.....My DW for one...........

 

[Rate Queen]

I agree Any cruise is better than no cruise. Having weathered Charley on land here in Naples, I can heartily say I would have rather been on the Magic at sea or at any port!

 

[NancyDVC]

Great Captain!
One of my coworkers was on a cruise (not DCL) last summer to GC and Cozumel. Hurricane warnings were up and their stay at GC was shortened as well as their stay at Cozumel. The hurricane kept changing course as their captain tried to stay away from it. She said that the storm seemed to follow them! Sort of like their own personal 'black cloud'. They had rough seas almost the entire time.
At the end of a trip to WDW we were at MCO waiting for our plane. All the flights into the Northeast were first delayed then finally cancelled due to very severe weather. I remember people screaming at the Delta folks. One of the supervisors said "Waht is wrong with these people. I certainly wouldn't want to fly into NYC with 70 MPH winds!!!!!" We were safe and sound on the ground and these people wanted to fly into a gale!
On my Magic cruise in just over 2 weeks I certainly hope that the captain is just as careful. I don't care where we go as long as I'm on the Magic!

 

[cjsmith]

Originally posted by Lisa loves Pooh
Funny thing about hurricanes--they have no contract. They show up where they want went they want. And they can change their mind at the last minute just b/c they want to and they don't have to confirm with anyone.

That is what Charley did--in less than 2 hours, that hurricane went from a 2 to a 4 and took a little right hand 100+ mile detour into Punta Gorda. And all of Tampa was evacuated to Orlando--and boy were they in for a shock when the hurricane came straight for them when 48 hours prior they thought their homes were in harm's way.


All the more reason to hop on a cruise ship again!

Isn't that the truth. We had about 1.5 hours notice that the hurricane had turned towards us and that we had to get everything ready. It was only by the grace of God that it took another skip and missed hitting us in Naples and Fort Myers like it was supposed to. We still saw enough though and watching the local news for days of the devastation alittle further north was heartwrenching.

 

[cjsmith]

Originally posted by Rate Queen
I agree Any cruise is better than no cruise. Having weathered Charley on land here in Naples, I can heartily say I would have rather been on the Magic at sea or at any port!

Hey Rate Queen, a fellow Neopolitan! Where are you in Naples?

 

[allears]

Wow, I guess we're all pretty agreed here. I wonder what the original poster is thinking now. I think we more carefully scruitinized (spelling) the safety issue and come to an accord that it was a good enough reason to change course.

 

[amgpmg]

I cruise in less than three weeks on the Western and while I would be disappointed if we missed a port, I would be thankful that the captain had our safety as his number 1 priority. I would much rather spend time on the ship having a good time than being sick in the large swells that come with a hurricane.

Kathy

 

[drclaws]

I feel rather vindicated by everyone's posts after I was "dissed" (as opposed to DIS'ed) by the OP for bring up the safety issue! Yeesh!

 

[mickey minder]

We were on the Western in Jan. 2004. We stopped at GC and a few tenders got off. You could see them bouncing wildly in the water. The harbor master ordered no more tendering. The captain decided to try the other side of the island. CMs told us that they had never had to do this before, but there was very clearly a plan. DCL did an excellent job of moving all the excusion pick up points to a dock - more like a hunk of concrete jutting out in the water - and making sure that everyone was able to get to the city and back to the ship. The water got rougher that afternoon when we were returning. I was terrified for my daughter who was recovering from foot surgery. She is so afraid of going back on a tender. The tender would rise several feet above the platform where you step on to the ship and would then sink several feet below. Easily, one could have fallen and been crushed between the tender and the ship. Several CM's were on hand to basically grab people and pull them on and off the tender. There was just no way to be gentle with it, you had to go with force when the tender was close to the level of the platform. I basically caught my daughter as she was flung off the tender. The CM's were as careful as possible. I was very impressed with the way they handled a very dangerous situation. We enjoyed the sub ride in GC, but would gladly have missed it if we had known that the water was still that rough on the other side. I am glad that the captain has the authority to make on the spot decisions and is looking out for our safety.

 

[allears]

Totally vindicated drclaws! I thought your reply was rather curtly dismissed. Many of us here are becoming experts and taking cruises, not running them. I'll leave that up the pros anytime, espceially when safety is an issue!

 

[RJake1]

I can't believe so many of you have misread my post.

First, I said I AGREE with decision to avoid GC on Tuesday and go to Cozumel. I know all about tenders, wind strength on Tropical Waves, the contractual provisions, etc.

My question was why didn't ship go to GC the NEXT day instead of heading to Nassau?

I watched CNN, checked tropical weather on internet while onboard, and I saw that Earl had veered SW toward So.America and that would've allowed sailing to GC.

THERE WAS NO APPARENT SAFETY ISSUE FOR WEDS!!!

So why did the western cruise go to Nassau when it could've continued on to GC?

Please...no more "I had it worse" stories. That's beside the point.

Thanks.

 

[JenKatt]

Originally posted by RJake1
I can't believe so many of you have misread my post.

First, I said I AGREE with decision to avoid GC on Tuesday and go to Cozumel. I know all about tenders, wind strength on Tropical Waves, the contractual provisions, etc.

My question was why didn't ship go to GC the NEXT day instead of heading to Nassau?

I watched CNN, checked tropical weather on internet while onboard, and I saw that Earl had veered SW toward So.America and that would've allowed sailing to GC.

THERE WAS NO APPARENT SAFETY ISSUE FOR WEDS!!!

So why did the western cruise go to Nassau when it could've continued on to GC?

Please...no more "I had it worse" stories. That's beside the point.

Thanks.

Because they couldn't? To many boats already in GC? GC decided that the seas were still too rough and said no tendering? The point is, GET OVER IT! If you are so upset about this, complain to DCL and demand your money back. I haven't seen so much whining by a grown up in a long time

 

[allears]

THERE WAS NO APPARENT SAFETY ISSUE FOR WEDS!!!.

Apparently there were! I guess the captain should have checked in with you first, since their sophisticated equipment and reports from the ports in question, couldn't have had more accurate information. I believe one of your fellow passagners already posted on here that the guests received a notice from the captain citing the fact that tendering was going to be too dangerous to make going to GC worth it. Isn't that reason enough. Or do you think there is some conspiracy between Nassau and Disney.

I think we all sympathize with missing a destination that you looked forward to. But to get so bent about something out of everyone's control is just a tad unreasonable.

 

[allears]

JenKatt

Here, here!!!