Customer Service on the Dream? (Sailing 4/15-4/18)

[drstrange]

Hi all! Long-time visitor, recent sign-up and first time poster. I just got off a 3-night sailing on the Dream and was pretty disappointed by the level of customer service from the kids club employees and the character handlers. This was our 9th cruise and I have never had a bad experience with any cast members onboard, but it seemed like many of the staff on the Dream seemed to be disinterested and downright rude. I am not sure if anyone else noticed this, but usually the kids club members are some of the nicest and best cast members, so I was downright shocked to encounter so much negativity on this cruise.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

what was the disappointment with regards to the character handlers if I may ask?

 

[shananigans]

Hi all! Long-time visitor, recent sign-up and first time poster. I just got off a 3-night sailing on the Dream and was pretty disappointed by the level of customer service from the kids club employees and the character handlers. This was our 9th cruise and I have never had a bad experience with any cast members onboard, but it seemed like many of the staff on the Dream seemed to be disinterested and downright rude. I am not sure if anyone else noticed this, but usually the kids club members are some of the nicest and best cast members, so I was downright shocked to encounter so much negativity on this cruise.

Hello! We sailed on the Dream in Oct 2021 and felt exactly the same! To the point where I was thinking maybe the Disney magic is gone? Then we sailed on Fantasy for spring break and it was magnificent! I am reallllllly bummed to hear that things have not seemed to change. Our waitstaff was really pushy about reviews and sometimes ignored our table. I was very underwhelmed by the service. We sail again on the Dream in May and this upcoming Oct and I hope they make some changes - we had horrible table locations - subpar service (other than our room steward). I have heard that they are going to take all CM with 5+ years service and place them on the Wish - which may mean newer CM on the other ships and hit or miss service.

 

[drstrange]

what was the disappointment with regards to the character handlers if I may ask?

Sure thing here is one example. On the final night, my two kids wanted to meet Mickey and Minnie. We waited and met Minnie at 9:30pm. We were told Mickey was going to be there at 10pm. So we waited around for 30 minutes. Then Goofy came by. One of the cast members said that there was a last minute change and that Mickey was going to be at the atrium. This was fine, as I understand last minute changes happen. We then went down to the atrium and asked a cast member where Mickey was going to be. The cast member said "Who told you Mickey was going to be here? They were wrong!" we then explained what happened and she said "They might have told you that, but I'm telling you he's not here." in a very condescending tone. No apology, no explanation, just that blunt comment and then she turned away.

 

[drstrange]

The latest saga here is that I put in a placeholder deposit on my phone as soon as I got onboard. For the duration of the cruise it kept saying that the placeholder was "pending". When I went to the guest services desk, the cast member dismissed me right away and said that it was "normal" and that I would hear something within 10 days. I explained that has never happened before and she said "That is standard". Needless to say, my TA called Disney and they said they had no record of the placeholder. I took a screenshot on my phone and sent it to my TA. Fingers crossed that it goes through. But once again, another example of BAD service on the Dream.