Disaster on Wonder - My Report

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I agree it was all handled AWFULLY.
I can also agree that I'm pretty sure at that point I wouldn't be in complete control of myself and act like a perfect lady. I'm sure I would have been very upset, angry, and really close to going postal. So I'm sure I would have griped, complained, and at times it might have gotten pretty loud. I'm not known ANYWHERE for being the type to NOT speak my mind- especially if I feel I've been wronged in any way.

The only thing I probably wouldn't have done was scare other passengers with talk about the norwalk virus. THEY didn't cause all the problems and disappointment- and it might cause some of them to be frightened and worried that they or their children would get sick. I can understand that you didn't mean to do that though- many things are said in the heat of the moment when upset- and that was a pretty upsetting cruise there....

 

[kajohn]

Rosemary,

I'm so sorry to read what happened to you! I don't blame you one bit for any of your reactions, there is no way I could have gone through all that and not have lost it! I

I truly hope everything works out for you, and your medical test come out ok.

 

[brack]

I agree that this is a very sad story and some compensation is due if it is indeed as told. I do not agree that it takes a "saint" to be civil to cast members and fellow passengers.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Rosemary,

So sorry for your negative experience. I could hardly imagine what you went through. It reminds me of what 4nana went through a long time ago.

Oh my, just watching CC from the verandah would make me cry!

Is it just me or is any one else kind of 'concerned' about getting an upset stomach and the ramifications of such? I feel like I need to add to my huge packing list...a long list of pharmacy items to ensure clear sailings

A long story I'll make short --- I freaked out one time and got 'loud' and the person who was at the receiving end of it handled it so professionally. I ended up turning around and apologizing and through that conversation I learned a wonderful lesson! I was enlightened and thankful that this person took her time to 'share' with me.

But I'm still freaked out about getting sick on board

 

[rosemary123]

Brack,

Yes my report is indeed told as it happened and it must be lovely to be able to be a 'saint' and not react in a human way when things go terribly wrong. I was civil to the cast members for as long as I could be under the difficult circumstances, but their continuing catalogue of errors made it so difficult, the final 'blow' was when i collected the photographs from shutters and they were wrong. I reckon under the circumstances I did well to refrain from losing it until just an hour before we were kicked off the ship!!!!

I entrusted Disney with a big, one off event in our life and paid them $1000's of dollars for the privilege of them making a total hash of things.

This was not only a vow renewal but a special family vacation with us being return cruisers and taking first timers with us. My elderly parents accompanied us - we had two wheelchairs - we thought this would be the last time, at their age, they would be able to make such a journey, so it was kind of special in that way too - and indeed we had a scare when my father took ill on the plane with a suspected heart attack.

I hope you cruisin is better than the experience I had.

Rosemary

 

[snelsonbrown]

Dear Rosemary,
I sincerely say that I am so sorry so many things went wrong on your cruise - I can understand all of the fusterations and hope that it can be straighten out - do keep all the facts down and make sure all points are made - I sincerely hope that something will be done to make up for all the disappointments and most of all I am glad to hear that your dad is doing better ----I can understand also the importantance of the Captain's responsibilities - I believe that this should not be a part of the wedding package unless they get a "captain" character, but the monies it brings is, I guess, worth the risk of the captain having to be in other places - the weddings that are done by the other ships, is really nice and well put together - they are done by a local notary but those involved can add to their vows etc - the weddings are spaced over an hour apart so that all areas can be covered - the reasons I know this is due to the fact we do the flowers for the bridal parties -
Anyhow I wish you well and hope that you will be back to the states and next time it be a better experience.
Sincerely
Shirley

 

[rae519]

I vote to have Shirley do the ceremony - of course, that means we take her and Norm with us for it on the cruise, but hey, at least we would get her time!!!

Seriously, why couldn't a person just do it themselves with a few friends? It's a renewal not the marriage contract, and I bet friends would be more than willing to get involved.

I have been to a shipboard wedding (May 03) and it was glorious. You'd expect the same from a vow renewal.

Rae

 

[rosemary123]

Hi Rae

I totally agree, Shirley should do the ceremony!

Interestingly you comment about friends etc doing the renewal. This is what I originally wanted to do. I do know the Cruise line hires out rooms for corporate meetings/ventures etc, and I asked if we could hire a room and 'do it ourselves', as you say vow renewal is not a legally bound contract, but unfortunately they were not willing to allow us to hire a room. I wonder if I had told them I just wanted to hire it for a private party - which in effect - it would have been just that, they would of let me have a room

I dearly wanted to have a slide show, showing pictures of 'The Way we Were', pictures of our early days, marriage and the arrival of the children etc. I could have one at a cost - we had to supply our own lap top computer and then pay them - wait for it - another $750 for their technician to run it. I said my son was more than capable of running it, but, no it wasn't allowed, perhaps it was to do with health and safety, but then again, if that was the reason, they wouldn't have requested we supply our own lap top. I reckon they just want to get as much money out of you as they can. I wonder if the corporate affairs on board have to pay for DCL technicians to run any pictorial displays.

I understand there was a group of, I am not 100% sure whether it was 350 or 550 people, I think Brent said 550, on board at the same time as us who were attending a corporate function, and he was responsible for the too.


Rosemary

 

[Dreamer04]

Rosemary, I just had to post again. I am so sorry for the way things went during your cruise. I am also disappointed in the way some of us have responded to your troubles.

I think you handled things as best you could, under the circumstances.

I hope Disney does right by you. In any case, I think you should try to do it again. Maybe not Disney, maybe not a cruise-but I think you make a new memory of your vow renewals.

I was relieved to read that your Dad is okay. I am keeping you in my prayers, hoping that everything else turns out okay. I know what it's like to wait for test results.

With everything you've been going through, the cruise that should have been a pleasure-turned into a horror. You deserve better.

Take care of yourself,
Ursula

 

[RAV]

Rosemary,

So sorry to hear of your disappointing Disney Cruise. Problems may arise but it is the way they are handled that makes all the difference. I hope that you receive a prompt response and something is done to make you feel better.

P.S. eek40 - It always makes me laugh when people like your self express their opinions as if they are law. Who knew that the disboards had appointed a judge to access the behavior of others.

 

[bemily]

Hi Rosemary and All,

I thought I would throw my two cents in as well..

Rosemary, I am so sorry for the way this all worked out for you, considering all the time planning, organizing, etc, (not to mention money!) involved. Your expectations were so high, that it probably made the disappointment even worse.

And I think to the ones that criticizing on how you handled some things..they need to walk in your shoes..You were very honest in your report and your disappointment comes through your words...

I am glad your father is doing better now and I hope you get am response from Disney soon..

Sherry

 

[The4OfUs]

Originally posted by RAV

P.S. eek40 - It always makes me laugh when people like your self express their opinions as if they are law. Who knew that the disboards had appointed a judge to access the behavior of others.

eek40's comments did not come across to me as "the law" - but maybe it's 6 yrs in a customer service role, plus years before that in food service/waitressing and at the front desk of a hotel, where I quickly learned what it felt like to be on the receiving end of such actions, and never do it, because believe me when I say it does NOT help, it only puts the person on the other end on the defensive, instead of MAKING them help, like some seem to think it does.

I agree with eek40 that Rosemary's comments to other passengers only served to try to make HER feel better by making others uncomfortable and upset. Do I understand why, with all the stress and upset? Sure. Not an excuse, but we're all human.

Does Rosemary have a right to be upset, heck, downright POSTAL as others have said? Without a single solitary doubt she does. Disney, or any company that makes such a mess of a trip with such promise, with such emotions attached due to the renewal, the family, etc, should be held above and beyond accountable. And Rosemary's reactions to the staff members, while not what I would do myself, but certainly what my husband would do, were in the realm of acceptable, because when push comes to shove, those people ARE the company, they are the representatives and they are paid to deal with this. Personally, I'd have gone to the top as quickly as possible and gone off on THEM in an office, or something - not only will you have a better chance of getting some action, you'll also earn the respect of those in lesser positions by showing them that you understand that they themselves have no direct power to fix what is going on...therefore they'll more than likely to ensure you have any little kindnesses they can think of, as well as quicker access to those that DO have the power to do something. Make me WANT to help you, use sympathy and empathy instead of comments designed to incite concern and anger and upset in others, you'll get farther, I've found.

Rosemary, please don't take this as me not being sympathetic to your plight...you had a horrible experience and I can't imagine what could possibly be done to smooth it over, but i hope they do it and more - memories are irreplacable and they, knowingly or not, destroyed some of yours. I'm so sorry to hear how bad it went, but also glad to hear your father is better, I hope he continues down the road to good health.

I just felt eek40's words were read wrong, something that is common on the internet, and while I realize mine might be too, I guess my only point is that I agree with eek40 in that things could have been handled differently. Easy to say sitting at my computer not having gone through it, I know, but the people at the other end of our complaints are never paid to take verbal abuse, no matter what people may think, and scaring other passengers (as I would have been scared for my kids) didn't accomplish anything, did it?

 

[eek40]

Originally posted by rosemary123
Aimee

Yes you are entitled to your opinion, but if you had just spent $1000 on the vow renewal, $1000 plus on dresses/suits, plus extras for flowers etc and then just paid an additional $499 for the photographs that were wrong - you would be angry too - if you weren't you must be a saint!

The above costs did not include the cost of the cruise - that was extra!

You were lucky you were too ill to want to stay in your cabin - I felt fine and had to look at Castaway Cay from the verandah (thank goodness for the verandah).

The staff that came into my room were the regular cleaning staff, concierge, Brent, not as you state - all from the medical centre and specialised!!

I know that room service is not available on the day of disembarkation - so why was I told to go back to my room for breakfast?

I know all about immigration needing to be complete before disembarkation - but it was their law/rules not to come out the cabin for 48 hours that they insisted I stuck too?

Why did I contact the Health Centre? - I am currently undergoing tests for cancer of the bowel (do not have the results yet) - so my fears were heightened when I awoke with diarrhea and I felt I was entitled to some medical care.

Do you think I enjoyed telling people I was infecting the ship (which I wasn't)? I was not screaming as you put it but yes I was angry and raised my voice, once or twice!

......................perhaps it was you who infected the ship and it was your bugs that made me sick!!


I knew before I posted that people would not read this correctly and to be honest am not surprised one bit. Rosemary....if you go back and read what I wrote you will note that I agree 100% with all that went wrong on the vow renewal. And I agree that at the VERY least you are owed an explaination of the events. I also agree 100% with the shutters episode. I believe that there is a lot more to the story than people are either not seeing, or that they are not speaking up. I have found on these boards it begins with the first response to your post. If it is met with support then that tends to follow...if it is met with questions or disagreement it tends to follow that path.

I am only speaking "law" as someone pointed out when I refer to the medical policies on board. I asked a lot of questions on board of staff. I will not argue about the staff that cleaned your room, because I stated the truth. I wont debate it in any way.

Let me clarify about us being so sick....I actually was fine on the second day....and watched many things from my verhanda in tears wishing I could be a part of it. But my nephew was very ill with a fever of 104.5, and I knew he had to stay in bed. I also saw castaway from the verhanda in tears. I think that you are missing that I have stated that I am in complete understanding of the disappointment you had. I felt the same way. I also had spent a lot of money on my cruise....and was also on a special event that I was unable to attend.

I still stand my ground on behavior here. If you didnt enjoy telling people that you had the norwalk virus, and walking around telling people that you were infecting the ship why did you? I still dont understand that. Interesting that you say I gave you "the bug" you have stated over and over that you didnt have "the bug" so I dont see the point, other than to attack me. Since I caught the virus on board, and as soon as any symtoms started I remained in the cabin I would hope that the risk to others would have been low. However I cant say that someone didnt get sick also, but someone before our cruise had the norwalk which infected us. Rather than blame I chose to make the best out of any situation. I encourage anyone that feels ill contacts the medical center, or to not travel.

I think that you have had a lot of horrible things happen all at once....and I feel so bad for you with the problems with your colon, and your Father. I know this contributed to your anger. I wish good thoughts for you. And I hope that you can read this and see that while I dont agree with you on the way you handled the situation that I agreed with you on the majority of the problems you had. Best wishes to you.

Aimee

 

[Grumbo]

Rosemary:
As many have expressed and I agree, the treatment from Disney was totally unacceptable. Telling people you had Norwalk and may be infecting them may in retrospect be "wrong" in some people's minds but heck I think at that point where they'd pick and choose when, and where you can and can't go if it is easier for DCL I'd probably been going nuts with them.
Rosemary keep us informed on what if any satisfaction you get from Disney.
IMHO I think with everything that occurred you handled it well.
Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[LisaR]

Originally posted by eek40
[BLet me clarify about us being so sick....I actually was fine on the second day....and watched many things from my verhanda in tears wishing I could be a part of it. But my nephew was very ill with a fever of 104.5, and I knew he had to stay in bed. I also saw castaway from the verhanda in tears. I think that you are missing that I have stated that I am in complete understanding of the disappointment you had. I felt the same way. I also had spent a lot of money on my cruise....and was also on a special event that I was unable to attend.

Aimee [/B]

The point is, you started out with a fever and so did your nephew. It was obvious you were both sick. The OP did not have a fever or vomitting. She went to the bathroom a few times and reported it due to other medical problems. I could possibly understand a 24 hour quaranteen but when she was fine and nobody else in her party had any symptoms, I would think they would set her free.

Lisa

 

[Jillpie]

I too want to know how they can possibly KEEP you in your room? This isn't a jail cell. Somebody please clear this up for me. There is no way, under your circumstances of knowing you weren't ill, that I would have stayed in my room. I'm not saying you were wrong to do so, its just what I would have done. So what happens, do they put you in handcuffs or something if you venture out. I would have been beyond livid after paying so much money.

And why do people( in general), go to the medical center for a stomach virus anyway? I have always been the type that lets things work its way through so to speak. I don't understand what they expect them to do there? I guess if you haven't brought your own antacid perhaps...but for pete's sake, confine you like you are a prisoner? No way.

 

[Keggy]

justmestace - You are the first person I have ever heard say something positive about Cathy Ingle from Fairy Tale Weddings. She was AWFUL in the planning of our DCL wedding. She was unreachable, condecending, rude, and was not knowledgeable in regards to the DCL weddings or how the cruise ship runs. We got the impression she couldn't wait to hand us off to the cruise line. I have known three other people to get married on the cruise, the last being this November and they all share my sentiments regarding Cathy.

Thank god for our cruise wedding planner, Maria. She was absolutely out of this world. She even cried at our ceremony! Her attentiveness was amazing. I had forgotten to send my dress to get steamed and she was able to come into the cabin and get it and send it off for me. I didn't even realize it until she delievered the dress back. She was such a huge help. I can imagine how awful it would have been to not have someone who was as top notch as she was.

I would have been outraged by being stuck in my room if I did not have the symptoms.

I am surprised that the Captain goes to the Vow renewal as he does not come to the wedding ceremonies. For my place settings, I actually did them myself. I guess I didn't realize I could have had them do it! Hopefully the cruise line will come through for you. I will keep my fingers crossed!

Kelly

 

[rosemary123]

Just heard from Disney and will have to wait 2 - 3 weeks for their response!

Kelly, I am glad that I am not the only one who didn't think that Cathy Ingles was upto her job - I agree with all that you say about her, and I am pleased your wedding went well.

Rosemary

 

[wovenwonder]

Originally posted by rosemary123
Just heard from Disney and will have to wait 2 - 3 weeks for their response!

Kelly, I am glad that I am not the only one who didn't think that Cathy Ingles was upto her job - I agree with all that you say about her, and I am pleased your wedding went well.

Rosemary

Be sure to let DCL know that apx 50,000 of your 'closest board friends' are waiting to hear their response as well.

 

[rosemary123]

No worries!

My 'closest board friends' will be the first to know what Disney say in their reply.


Rosemary