Back from the 9/7 Cruise.

[mostyn17]

I will post my pictures in a few days. I met a few members onboard.

THe trip was very hectic and the trip to the port was HORRIBLE! 4 hours and 20 minutes in a bus! Getting lost, and many other adventures! lol

Over all it was a nice cruise, we just didn't like the 4 day. But that was something they coulden't help.

If anyone has any questions, i'll be more then happy to answer them.

We stayed in the Cat. 3 suite. (the bigger one in the middle of the ship) It was great! Tons of storage! Lots of room!

Ok...ask away!

Travis

 

[selvey]

Hey there,
We "finally" got home around 6 last night and I am so glad to be here. I am wondering if I saw you guys. We were on the busride also and I am in total agreement - it was definitely hectic.
Being our first cruise with Disney (or ever), I am thinking at this point, after all we have been through, we won't be cruising with Disney again. Nothing to do with the cancellation of 3 nights, but just the fact that nothing, and I definitely mean nothing (and no one - customer service, DCL at the hotel, transportation, etc.) was organized.
I could go on and on, but you were there so I guess you know what I mean.
However, the food was great!! I didn't feel like I got to relax since it was a 4-night (3 day) and we wanted to get everything in that we had planned for the 7 night. Oh well. Hope you guys had fun.
Karen

 

[allears]

Selvey, I would like to very much encourage you to give DCL another chance in the future. Under normal circumstances, at their homeport and without much of the state being decimated by two hurricanes, Disney is incredibly organized. We are sailing (fingers crossed) in two weeks on our 4th Disney cruise. One of the things we love is just how efficient things run, again under normal circumstances.

Trips to the port, check in, boarding, etc are usually smooth as glass. I can only imagine the disarray everything was in as a result of the storms and the amount of stress it put on you travelers. Just keep in mind the totally new and challenging position all of the businesses in Florida were forced to deal with. I frankly surprised they were able to do as well as they did. I keep wondering where they got the gas for the buses; how they were still able to get supplies to the ships and find enough people to work to even make skeleton staffs. I sure there were many people who work in the support businesses of cruise companies, like baggage handlers, as well as some Disney cast members no doubt evacuated their homes and even left the state. That then certainly puts a crimp in the labor force.

I’m sure it was a huge learning experience for all concerned. I’m glad once you were on board the cruise itself was good, though short. 4 days sure isn’t enough, especially when you were doing all of your planning for 7. One thing is for sure in our family; we will try never to book a cruise during hurricane season again. Hopefully ours won’t be impacted by any storms, but the stress is too much. This wasn’t our first choice, but circumstances landed us on this date. Like the savings but not the risks.

We’ll look forward to your trip report, and again, think about giving Disney a chance to show you just how good they are.

 

[selvey]

Allears,
We have heard the same (also from the family we traveled with) about trying again. We'll see. And, if we do, it will definitely not be during hurricane season. We just had to go this past week due to work vacation so we were stuck. Trust me, until you have been through it, you can't imagine. Of course, we know this was vacation and not our "homes and lives" that were affected by this hurricane so we are considering ourselves lucky.
And trust me, DCL was NOT organized at all as far as contacting the cruisers (never called us once), customer service had all kinds of different answers (after sitting on hold for 2 hours wondering what was up), etc. The list goes on and trust me, anyone that was an original Magic cruiser this past week knows what I'm talking about.
I have always heard only great things about DCL and I am hoping that this "FIRST EXPERIENCE FOR DCL PERSONNEL" has enlightened them so they will handle the next time a lot better.

 

[allears]

Oh believe me, I can kind of imagine how difficult this was. And you cetainly didn't sound you were comparing your experience to the losses people in the path of these storms suffered. And the fact is, these trips are a big investment and as in your case, can't always be re-scheduled.

I do think Disney and the other companies will probably use this as a big learning tool. I know that communication down from the top to the front lines of any large company are not always the best, and in a crisis situation rumors run just as rampent in the company as they do out here. Faced with that, most likely staffing shortages and each CM's personal stress about their homes etc, I think DCL and probably the other lines were facing a loosing battle in the customer service area. Being in customer service myself, I just shutter to think of the volume of calls they were receiving from distressed travelers. I would bet they had all the good intentions in the world of contacting passengers individually in a timely manner, I just don't think that was realistic and they should have probably faced that.

Once again I campaign for giving them another go. I have only cruised with Disney, because they have each time met or exceeded my fairly high expectations. And I'm sure some of the lines do things as well and maybe in some areas better. I just hope that folks give Disney a bit of slack through this, the same as we would expect if we were in a crisis situation at our jobs and the world was clammoring at our doors.

Gee, you would think I have stock in the company or are married to the president's daughter. I guess I'm just a die-hard Disney fan. So far they have been one of the few companies I've delt with that truly seems to try and live the vision of it's founder.

 

[mickey minder]

mostyn17. Hope you enjoyed your cat 3. I have heard different answers regarding the ability to order from the Palo menu for room service. Do you recall if there was a Palo menu in your room. It does not seem fair that the cat 1 and 2 can order from Palo and cat 3 can not. You are paying the same rate, square footage wise, as the larger suites and it doesn't seem fair to penalize someone just because they are traveling with a smaller party and don't need the larger room. Not meaning to start a disagreement, just curious. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[allears]

I'm not sure that the cruise rates translate dollar for dollar to square footage. I'm pretty sure there is more to the pricing than that. And not everyone that has a Cat 2 or 2 sail with a larger party, so lucky ducks might ramble around them as just a couple.

We just found out we were upgraded to a Cat 3 and a fellow Diser has given us lots of information regarding the perks of suites. She mentioned Palo and how she doesn't think you can order from their menu. The reasoning she gave was that there are 18 Cat 3s, vs 2 each of 1 and 2. I guess the risk of having a majority of those suites order on the same night would back things up considerably in Palo. As she put it, Disney has to draw the line somewhere.

I'd have to agree. Some times you just have to rely on the company to know what works best logistically. That being said, I would not be at all surprised if previous Cat 3 guests have ordered from Palo. Depending on how tight you are with the conceierge team, I bet they would pull a few strings.

 

[selvey]

Allears,
You are among the many many other DCL customers that sing their praises all the time. We truly have only heard wonderful things about DCL.
I guess the other thing that got my goat was that even though they gave us 50% off another cruise (excludes holidays - but should not), they only gave us a $200 onboard credit. Well, the cruisers for the Wonder also got a $200 credit but were only scheduled for a 4 night cruise to start. I really felt like ours should have been more.
I appreciate your post(s) and when I finally calm down, I will start my letter to DCL which we were all told to do when we returned home.

 

[allears]

I think writing a letter is a great idea, especially after calming down. I admit that a couple of the things I've read about the company deciding to do or not do have puzzled me and I haven't agreed with everything. Plus, I have thus far not been directly affected, we may even get to go to Castaway Cay. And I know if I was in the situation, I too might have a few observations to make.

As a manger myself, sometimes you make decisions on the fly, or higher management does and you don't agree with them. Also somethings seem like a good idea in the thick of things, but when looked at in the "light of day" end up being down right stupid. I think Disney and DCL take very, very seriously the feedback from their patrons. I believe that well thought out, objective observations, impressions and suggestions will go along way to helping them cope with other off the wall situations in the future. And hopefully they will respond in a manner that will help restore some of your confidence. At least I hope they do, I don't like my pixie dust colored world shaken too much!

 

[QueenTrident]

How was DCL staff once you were on board and out of port? I know it was hell getting there and getting on board, but was it better once the actual cruise began?

Also, re: your comments about a 4 day being too short...is that because you had planned on a 7 day or do you think that any 4 day would be too short? (I'm trying to decide between the two now).

I hope you do give DCL another try - I loved our cruise in January and it was much more organized that the Carnival cruise I had been on years ago.

I'll be interested in reading your thoughts in the next few days, as you get some distance from the situation.

 

[selvey]

The funny thing now is that I was so proud of myself for not freaking out when the first news came of the "maybe shortened cruise" and was actually pretty calm for the next several days following. But then, it all broke loose because we couldn't get any answers from anyone and I can't stand chaos which is exactly what happened. I really felt sorry for the people with flights (not knowing when to come, if they could, etc.).

What DCL should have done is just made a decision to cancel everything for the week. On one day - off the next - on again, etc. was just too much for the cruisers. What got me was the customer service lady that was telling a cruiser that they should have called them to see what was going on (they were flying in from Korea).

If those people who stayed on the cruise for the extra 3 days thought they were in a mess -hahaha.
Oh well, enough moaning - I'm home, I'm happy to be home and I will definitely write my letter when calm so that maybe it will help DCL better their process for the next time.
Hope you have a wonderful cruise and hopefully all the hurricanes are out of the way!

 

[selvey]

QueenTrident,
Yes, I said the 4 day was too short because we had planned on the 7 day. We only had 1 day for an excursion (which also had to be replanned because it wasn't the original place we were supposed to go). Then, the 2 days on the ship weren't that good because of the weather. The first day we had 1/2 day of good weather and then it rained some. The 2nd day was so windy (and the ocean was rough because of the hurricane) that they moved most all activities inside. So, we never really had any good time on the ship outside. We didn't get to go to Castaway either and there is so much to do and we only had 2 days to get it all in.
Onboard - the staff is great and the food is great. The kids had a good time but also said they didn't have enough of it. So, my suggestion is to do the 7-night. That way, if you want to do all the stuff and also have relaxation time, you can do it all.
Hope you have fun.
Karen

 

[allears]

I'm with selvey, queentrident, our first was a 4 day, good introduction, but just not enough time. I think you get to have a lot of fun on a 4 day, but you missed the relaxation, take it easy time of the 7 day. We were hooked after our first 7 day, now that doesn't seem like enough time. Would love to be able to afford a back to back or one of the re-po cruises.

I would be really bummed to have the 7 nights of fun I had carefully planned cut to 4. I think I'd still be standing on deck trying to figure out which way to turn. And once again, I keep my fingers crossed that from your lips selvey to God's ears, that the storms stay away for the next few weeks.

I do feel your pain selvey. I am a retentive planner and the kind of chaos brought on by Frances would have made me bonkers. I do think DCL was caught between a rock and a hard place. Since stupid hurricanes tend to change course at the last minute or do some other equally frustrating thing, like slow down and stop, it makes planning around them really hard. I'm sure there are people under the current circumstances that would have been extremely unhappy to have even a shortened cruise cancelled. And what would the out cry have been like if they cancelled and then the storm moved off or away quicker and the skys had cleared. Some may say, oh well, those are the breaks. Others would have been storming the castle in anger over the rash decsions to cancel. I'm just glad I can quarterback from here and not the actual live game.

You're feed back and that of others should go along way toward helping DCL and others formulate some policies to address hairy circumstances like this. By making those views known to them, at least the fight will not have been in vain.

 

[selvey]

allears - you would have died if you had heard this one woman - she was yelling and screaming and sooooooo ugly to one of the crew members that the poor girl was in tears (and it wasn't even her fault). A few people (cruisers) stepped up and told the lady that she needed to calm down and be quiet. Yea for them!!

 

[FL_Librarian]

I felt sorry for the woman who books future cruises, I think her name is Donna. So many people were yelling at her she burst into tears and didn't return during her scheduled time. From that point, they would not book future cruises and told everyone to call once they received their discount vouchers.

 

[CM_Mom]

I know it won't happen but since I have a call center background, I'd love to see the stats for their normal call volume and what it jumped to during the Frances challenges.

I HAVE worked in a call center (not Disney) during a serious customer service crisis and during that time we had every person from the director down who could hold a phone answering them and people working overtime and we still had wait times of over 1 hour. If we had ALSO been trying to make outbound calls to over 1500 people at the same time - and coordinate between the inbound and outbound, I can't imaging what we would have done.

It just takes a few wrong keystrokes or a slight lapse in attention and someone is shown as having been contacted when they weren't or a name is skipped on a list.

I also vote for giving Disney another chance.

 

[inkkognito]

I was not very happy with the confusion surrounding our 9/9 cruise (got lots of misinformation when calling beforehand and would have gotten to the port very late if we hadn't driven), but that is definitely not the norm for DCL. We have sailed every hurricane season since 1998, and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. I was not a happy camper the day before our cruise, but once we got on the ship it was the same old wonderful experience that I know and love. Actually, our embarkation experience wasn't too bad, either, but we did not take the bus. I was so glad to see they had brought the crew from Port Canaveral to Port Everglades, but I really felt sorry for them working under difficult conditions. Just be assured that this is NOT the norm for DCL! I am still miffed about being given misinformation and not being allowed to cancel, but it definitely will not keep me from my future Disney cruises.
Barb

 

[allears]

Wow, that's just not neccessary! The front line people don't make the decisions. Another thing to remember, and this was just talked about on another thread. A lot of the CMs on board the ships have family and homes on the islands being devestated by these storms and yet they have to try and put the needs of vacationers first.

I commned you selvey, for you demeanor over this. Yours has been one of the more rational posts that has dealt with this nightmare situation. A situation that covered over two weeks and several DCL sailings.

Of course everyone has a right to their opinion and feelings. That doesn't give us license to berate people who don't deserve it, just becasue they are in the service industry and can't really fight back. I truly enjoy working with my customers and the public in general, but situations like you described are the kind that really make you consider at the very least a career change and at worst questioning God's rationale for creating human beings.

 

[musicgirl]

Just a few thoughts of my own on the situation, maybe I don't have the right, but.......

Personally, I think they should have just cancelled the 7 night. It would have made it easier for them and everyone. I can not imagine trying to move the debarkation/embarkation staff to another place. It would be hard enough with time, no bad weather, etc. But I think it must have been a near miracle to pull that together.

Again, they could have gone the easier route, but it sounds like DCL simply didn't want to disappoint people who were already disappointed. They were put in a very difficult position. Had they cancelled, I'm sure they would have gotten lots of "flames" like they did over the cancelled cruise due to the flu.

Hopefully, this was an eye opener about what to do in the future. Knowing how difficult it was this time, maybe they will be able to make better judgement calls later!!

I think they probably did the best that they could. And if you stop to think what they accomplished (even as crazy as it was), you would see that they did it for the cruisers.

JMHO, Lorie

 

[musicgirl]

selvey, I'm sorry that it was all that you expected. But just another quick thought. Imagine if you were having guests staying in your home and a hurricane hit. You still wanted to host these guest, so you moved as much as you could to a different home, hours away. You didn't know what the timing was going to be like due to the weather, so you had to go with the flow.

I don't think I would be very organized either and I'm the person who has a list of what and where the items in my over the door shoe hanger go!!!

I can not imagine that you would think they could be organized with such short notice. If it had been me, I would have been thankful that they tried so hard to get me on that cruise no matter how hectic.

I hope that you will re-think your decision because you will be missing out on the most incredible vacation.

And definitely don't book during hurricane season. We go in June and pay the higher fares due to our vacation schedule, to avoid flu season and the chance for bad weather is significantly less. I am also thinking about winter and flights being cancelled on our end.
JMHO, Lorie