Did not like the cruise (long) -- Aug. 22nd Wonder

[Jeannie]

... but we had a fabulous time!

My family went to the Goofy pool on the Nassau day. We had chairs overlooking it on deck 10. The pool was fairly full with adults standing in small groups and kids swimming back and forth. There were no teens jumping at all from about noon until 3:00 while we were there.

We also didn't have any problems with vanity storage in the bathroom - and this was traveling with two teenage daughters!!!

As for the dress code - My DH wore dress pants, a white shirt and tie, and DDs and I wore short dresses to Tritons. We did not see anyone wearing shorts during the late seating.

Our room host only came to make up the room in the morning, and for turndown at night. If she had been in there the way yours was, I would have been furious.

Jeannie

 

[Willowwind]

Magnetic, I was horrified to read your post. ESPECIALLY that your cabin steward didn't respect your privacy. I certianly hope that you write to Matt Ouimet expressing your concerns and disappointment. Without being informed of these situations, they can never be prperly taken care of.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Thanks for the trip report. Although we are preparing for our 3rd cruise (and our original 3 day was not as casual as they seem to have become) we always learn more. Thanks for the lemonade idea - I don't drink soda at all and this is a wonderful idea.

Sorry things didn't work out - the room steward thing is just weird and seems totally out of character.

And as others have noted cruising isn't for everyone.

Deb

 

[4-me]

Thanks for the information - I find it beneficial to read the good
and the bad. I have one question - you have to stand in line
to tip? What if you don't? I hate standing in lines and if I thought
it was going to be more than a couple minutes - I'd have to
remove myself from that line. Can you tip the individuals? Is
there any other way to do it? I can tell you know, I won't be
standing in a line to tip. I'd be happy to mail it in if there
wasn't another way onboard. That sounds very odd.

I've only been on one cruise and we tipped everyone the last
night. Our room was very small - and our bathroom door
wouldn't stay latched. In the middle of the night it would
start banging open and shut with the movement of the boat.
Finally one of us would get up (4 girls! Lots of stuff!) and put
something to block it.

 

[aprilgail2]

you do not have to stand in any lines to tip..just bring the cash with you and they give you the envelopes, you put the cash in adn give it to the people.....you would only have to stand in a line if you wanted to get vouchers to give them on your credit account...just bring cash and you will be fine....and actually I was at guest services a few times to pay off my bill in cash and there was nev er a line when I was there ....

 

[nativetxn]

I think all of us love parts of the cruise and dislike other parts Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

 

[Kelsie]

It does seem the cruise is not for everyone. A lot of the things you disliked are things I like about the cruise. I love the fact that I didn't have to worry about a thing in our cabin. I really didn't have anything to hide and she was such a wonderful person and anticipated our every need. We like the twin beds, my hubby twists and turns a lot and I loved that I didn't have to twist and turn along with him . I am not bothered with what people wear, I have to confess that I never once noticed it during my 7 day cruise.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[CRUELLACRAZY]

I am sorry you had a bad trip and that you will never take the Disney Cruise again I hope if you every want to take a cruise again, you try the Disney Cruise again. I am very sorry you had a bad experience Better luck next time

 

[bill kellum]

it would appear to me that they already dissappoved long before they first stepped onto the wonder.some people you can never please.if all you ever look for is the negative that is all you will find.

 

[Minus3077]

I am sorry that you didn't have a great experience on your cruise. I can relate a little to the incident of your stateroom host coming in at all times. One night I was lying in bed (au naturel) under the covers watching some tv. In comes the host to drop something on our table. He saw me and said he was sorry. It was a little weird.

But, all in all we had a great time on our Disney Magic trip this past October/2002. We were first timers also on a cruise and are now addicted to it! We are already planning another cruise next year.

I agree with you in that you should only tip for the service you get. All of our attendants were excellent and were compensated for it! In speaking with the waiters they said they don't get a salary, the tips are their money they make.

WE had the same problem as you with the "where do we put the suitcases"? WE put some clothes in the drawers and just shut the suitcase every morning before we left for the day. WE had an outside porthole cabin. Next time we would get one with the open veranda.

Maybe give it one more try with an outside room.

 

[Gillian]

We were in our cabin a fair amount of time, because of our 2 year old. I don't think our stateroom hostess ever bothered us when we were in there! Maybe she just wasn't very good? LOL!!

I tried to keep things in the drawers & out of the way, but I never noticed anything moved around. We are unpackers - within 10 minutes everything in the drawers & closet & the suitcases under the beds (you have to lift them up a bit). It's such a small space (compared to home or a hotel room) that I can't stand having "stuff" laying around. And I am not a neat person!

I think it is just too creepy that someone would come into your cabin while you were asleep & start cleaning. Did you write to DCL to let them know? I would have!

 

[mausmu]

All these problems just seem a little strange. I have been on 2 cruises, a 4 day and a 7 day. We have never had any of these things happen. We rarely saw our steward but the room was always ready for us no matter what point in the day it was. You must have spent all your time in your room. I just can't believe that all these things could happen in 3 days. sorry. I agree with Bill. Some people can't be pleased.

 

[dianedisney]

So sorry to hear you had a bad experience with DCL. I have never taken the 3 or 4 day cruise myself on DCL only 7nt. I have however taken a couple 4 day cruises with Carnival and that cured me of taking those. To me, the perfect vacation, is to cruise. I love being waited on hand and foot and being on a 7nt cruise is to me totally different from the shorter cruises. Last time I cruised on Disney the rules of the ship were strickly enforced. For example: Pools, parents in kids pool were kicked out and teens in adult pool kicked out. Several times I noticed minors in the adult areas of the ship and they were asked to leave. I loved having ice in my room without having to ask, our room steward bent over backwards for my friend and I. He even dug up some "Disney" bathrobes for us to wear since we forgot to pack some. We hated to return them but we did.

Sounds like you had a "Murphys Law" cruise, but please don't write off DCL. I am a travel agent and have cruised on many cruise lines. DCL was tops in my opinion. If you feel brave you may want to try a 7nt cruise and compare. Either way....I hope your next vacation is a wonderful experience for you all.

Have a Disney Day!!!

 

[Magnetic]

>>it would appear to me that they already dissappoved long before they first stepped onto the wonder.some people you can never please.if all you ever look for is the negative that is all you will find.<<

I'm sorry that it appears that way to you -- if we disapproved of a cruise before taking it, why on earth would we have paid the money to try it? We were VERY excited about the cruise, loved the video we received in the mail before taking the trip -- but the cruise just did not live up to what we expected. We would have been upset if these things happened at -any- resort, cruise or not.

We love Disney, we love staying in Disney World resorts -- this was my 8th or 9th trip there in my life -- but there were just too many issues and problems for us to enjoy the cruise.

 

[cookie2001]

We didn't really like our cruise when we went in the Spring of 2001 either. I've decided that we are not really cruise people. I didn't mind the size of the rooms but I did mind the crowds of people everywhere. I thought it would be relaxing but with all the people it was not relaxing at all. Our waiter was not all that good either and from what I have read here I think that makes a big difference. He didn't know much about kids and one night brought my 3year old an Mickey Bar with out asking me. Besides the fact that she hadn't eaten much of her regular food, she dripped the ice cream all over herself. Needless to say he wasn't very attentive.

Besides that we had bad luck with rough seas and rain the whole day we were in Nassau. On the good side both of my kids loved the kid's clubs and never wanted to leave. So all in all, for the money, we decided we would rather stay at Walt Disney World.

The funny thing is that with having a just 3 year old we thought that we would love the cruise and just tolerate the parks but it was opposite.

So now we know. It was an expensive lesson.

 

[Monsterboo]

I'm sorry I'm a little confused.

You say things like

One thing that irritated us though was that many people did not follow the dress code recommendations

but then turn around and say

DH commented that since they were breaking the rules, we should try to take DD with us to the Quiet Pool, as it seemed a lesser infraction

So it's ok for you to go against the rules?

 

[Magnetic]

Is it okay for everyone else to break them by not following the dress code, constantly jumping in the pool, etc?

Relax. It was just a comment my husband made. We did not break the rules and actually do it.

Look, I didn't come here to get flamed by everyone. Not everyone likes the cruise, and it's simply not possible for -everyone- to have a spectacular time. Unfortunately we truly did have a Murphy's Law trip.

 

[ike]

I am sorry you had a disappointing experience. We are going in Feb & are staying in Cat 11, Deck 6. Do you remember the room number you had? I hope we don't get the same state host!

Also thanks for the lemonade tip. That sounds great, but are documents we received said the complimentary room service does not include drinks. Hopefully, they won't charge.

 

[Magnetic]

>Do you remember the room number you had?<

It was 6613.

>Also thanks for the lemonade tip. That sounds great, but are documents we received said the complimentary room service does not include drinks. Hopefully, they won't charge.<

Ours said that too, but we never got charged for lemonade. I know others have posted here on the DIS that they've ordered lemonade too without a charge. Good luck!

 

[SeattleMark]

Okay, so I'm confused. You say the tipping was mandatory, but you also said that they gave you envelopes to put the tips in a give to the appropriate people.

How can this possibly be mandatory then? Why couldn't you put a lesser amount (or nothing) in the envelope?

That's the way it's always worked on the other cruise lines I've been on, so perhaps this is different somehow.

Thanks,

Mark