Disney Cruise Line Problems

[hopelea]

alwechsler.............I am cruising for the 1st time in October. I have been reading posts every day trying to learn as much as I can before I go. Reading yours has definately made me think about the children's areas. I have two dd's 9 & 7. I have instructed them, "when they get hungry, beep me" I told them that I would be right there to take them for food. I read a post about the food situation in there and realized that was one area I would have to take care of. I have very picky eaters.

I am so sorry it was not a magical time for you. I am putting so much of my time into planning this cruise, I am scared it won't be as perfect as I am hoping it will be!! It is a very expensive cruise. I could buy my DH a good used car for what we paid for this cruise. (which he needs really bad! ) For the $$ we are paying you expect the best.

Hope you recover soon!!

Hope

 

[eek40]

I am sorry alwechsler but I have to disagree with you here, while I expect a high level of service from everyone I encounter I think that Disney did offer you great compensation. Let me take this from a different viewpoint to explain. I worked for 4 + years for a Major Airlines Vacation company, and out of those 4 + all but 6 months were spent on a customer support desk, helping customers while on vacation, or before vacation. I cant believe how many things I have been told, how many times I was yelled at, how many names I was called even before I could begin to help people out. Now I wasnt there, so I dont know how you acted and wont presume to know how you presented your problems to staff. But its becoming increasingly difficult for anyone in customer service to make people happy due to the expectations customers have. I found as a csr(customer Service Rep) I was able to help customers that wanted to be helped, that were reasonable, calm, and nice. Also those that took responsiblity for their own mistakes/actions in the process. I also hold a degree in Early Childhood Developement and feel that the counselors are not responsible for your child not eating, should they have done more, maybe. The fact remains that this is the parents responsiblilty in the end. They are in fact responsible for a large number of children with varying needs/wants. And they do their best to handle all of those. But presented with a child that will not/or did not eat they are put beyond their abilities. There are many reasons for that, maybe the child doesnt like whats offered, maybe the child feels sea sick and forcing them to eat will cause illness, maybe the child has allergies.....I could go on and on. Once again this falls on the parent or realative of the child. I will be taking my nephew in Nov, and while I am confident in the counselors I will be making frequent trips to look in on him and make sure all is going well. I will respect their descisions. I will also tip them with gifts as their job is underpaid and over worked. As far as the issue with the t-shirts, I am sorry again but by sending your child to any daycare/camp/activity these things can happen, and I think that this is unreasonable of you to expect more than what they gave you. As for the ac in the room, I can understand your disappointment with this, but still feel like Disney was way more than fair, from all this I see it as you wanted (and I maybe very wrong here) a free trip. And nothing they could have done short of this was acceptable to you. I know I maybe flamed for saying that but I do feel that way. Your entitled to your feelings, as is everyone else. And I do hope that next vacation you have is better for you and yours.
Aimee

 

[musicgirl]

I agree that most people expect too much. We just got back from our cruise and had an awesome time.
When it comes to kids (my ds is 12 and I teach k-8) they react differently all the time. There is no telling how they will react to different situations. Remember, this is a club, not a daycare where the ratio is alot smaller. The situation of eating in the clubs is tricky. I know in lunch rooms at school, you don't see what or how much the kids eat. Some will not eat anything on a particular day. You all know that you can not force a child to eat. Someone mentioned that maybe the child was sea sick. The counselors do not know these children well enough to know if the child is sick, maybe they had food right before they went in and the child didn't want to eat at the scheduled time. My nephew was with us and when we ate at the lunch buffet all he wanted was a cookie and said there was nothing else he liked. Let's see there were chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers and all kinds of kid friendly foods. He was just being difficult. Can you imagine a kid who is thrown in a large group of kids and counselors (not babysitters) who don't know him? Just that can throw any kid no matter how sociable he/she usually is.
We go on the cruise as a family, it drives us crazy that our ds wants to go to the clubs all the time. But he is given limits and must do things with us such as meal times. You need some quiet time, I'll buy that. But you must consider how old the child is and leaving him/her in a club for extended amounts of time is unexcusable and selfish.

As for your AC, we were hardly in our rooms to notice. Maybe it didn't get fixed right away because they didn't have a part and had to wait. Just going to another room won't solve the problem if the ship is full.

Things are not going to be perfect no matter how much you pay. If you expect that, you must be disappointed no matter what you do and often.

 

[jordanyosh]

I am so sorry it was not a magical time for you. I am putting so much of my time into planning this cruise, I am scared it won't be as perfect as I am hoping it will be!! It is a very expensive cruise. I could buy my DH a good used car for what we paid for this cruise. (which he needs really bad! ) For the $$ we are paying you expect the best.

Hope you recover soon!!

Hope [/B][/QUOTE]

________________________________________________________________________________________________Just a warning about these forums. as you can see most people who come to these forums have been on DCL before and return multiple times. While you can gain wonderful insights and information, you receive it from folks who for the most part love Disney and their service. Therefore, the views posted here are usually pro-disney. (Myself included). We will tend to forgive lapses in service because the good far outweighs the bad. You,on the other hand, are setting very high expectations. No vacation is EVER perfect. If you go in with the expectation that things may happen;you may end up having a better time. Just roll with the punches and realize you are spending time with your family in an environment meant for you to enjoy yourselves regardless of external forces on your family such as messed up clothes or A/C. You are blessed with a wonderful family and you are going to have a great Disney vacation because you are sharing it with the ones you love

 

[Silentshot]

I would like to say ALL holidays are what you make of them. I have had just great times at all disney parks except one time in EuroDisney and that was because of lack of Training (I will not discuss that here). But a friend sent me a letter about her bad holiday and what she expected and got. In the end she looked back and just laughed at it and realised that we shoot for the moon when we go for disney we get half way there. We are a world that expects perfection and we do not live in a perfect world.

I am truely sorry for what happened to you and hope that you had some good times on the cruise. I have been to disney all over the world and Got married at disney and out of all these times I had one bad experience. Not BAD really. As for compensation I have never requst anything and hope what happened will never happen again. Disney/Hotel/Airline need to be informed and then fix the problem and that it does not happen to Joe Bloggs after me.

Just a quick thought for the day....

Thought the Day!

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who
were kids in the 50's, 60's, and 70's probably shouldn't have survived......

Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and
fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.

We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank
>fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we
>were
always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After
running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day And no one minded.

We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same
thing again.

We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we learned to get over it.

We walked to friend's homes.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an
explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.

(If you aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about
>us).

 

[tlens]

With our 3 Yo, we rarely left her more than an hour and a half at a time. Once she had a potty accident (waited too long and didn't quite make it). by the time we got there after the page, she was clean, dry and wearing a long t-shirt as a dress. According to the "rules", they shouldn't have helped her with anything.

We left her on CC for 4 hours. We checked periodically to ensure she was having fun, to ensure she had adequate sunscreen etc.) She told me she had a hotdog, corn on the cob etc..all the same things my husband and I had for lunch. If she ever had seemed that she was not having fun, we would have left with her. I would not have known if she was or not unless I made the effort to check.

I guess my question is, if you were having such a horrible experience with the kids clubs, why did you keep sending the child back? Did he WANT to go back? There were 2 times my dd didn't want to stay. Once we stayed with her so she could enjoy the "major event" that was going on and the other time, she left with us.

I'm not saying that you're experience didn't happen but just questioning if you put too many expectations on the club as a one-on-one babysitting service.

 

[jilljill]

alwechsler,
You said you have 7 YO twins, how did they like the club and how did they handle meal times?

 

[Fins2TheRight]

... the views posted here are usually pro-disney. (Myself included). We will tend to forgive lapses in service because the good far outweighs the bad.

This is true. The first evening of our cruise, I checked my 11 yo DS into the Oceaneer's Club. When we walked in, I was surprised to find a roundtable with about a dozen computers (all taken) and ONE Nintendo 64 that four different boys were playing as a group. My kid is like millions of boys his age who like to do one thing -- play with electronics. Nothing else, certainly not coloring, will do. I stood with him for a few minutes waiting for something to open up, but nothing did.

I started to get a bid peeved because, just like everyone else on these boards, I want my kid to have fun. He's a good kid who rarely complains. They did a "switch" a few minutes later where the kid who wants to play on a computer is responsible to approach someone who is currently playing, tap him on the shoulder, and ask to use the computer. My kid is a bit shy, so he didn't want to ask someone, but a kid happened to get up so he took his spot.

I asked if he wanted to stay, and he did. I told him if he wanted me to come and get him, just page me and I'd be there within minutes. I left a bit upset at the time thinking they didn't plan well for the number of kids that would be on the ship.

My DW and I discussed this when I got back to the room. She offered that there would be no way to have enough computers for everyone at peak periods (true). She also said that maybe this was DCL's way of saying the kids need to get out and enjoy the ship, not sit in front of a stupid Nintendo for the whole cruise. Another good point. I hate it when she's right.

So, moral of the story, even though I was a bit upset because MY KID didn't get what he wanted, I just let it go and still had a great time. And my kid sure didn't let that tarnish the rest of the cruise -- he wants to go back next summer (as we all do).

(Although come on ... ONE Nintendo 64 for the whole Lab does seem to be a bit inadequate... MHO).

 

[gassmandy]

very unfortunate...........just one thing I noticed. You're 4 year old was famished from not eating and didn't have the ability to ask for food (I thought food was one of the first things in life kids learn to ask for--my 10 week old has no problem letting me know when she's hungry)--yet was able to request ice for an "injury" sustained in the kids club. Wow!

 

[ThreeCircles]

Originally posted by alwechsler
Thanks and I so glad that some people are seeing how I feel! I think Disney's attitude is that they really do not care if they lose a customer.

I don't think that this statement could be further from the truth. Having sailed on DCL three times I have seen nothing but outstanding service. And, having been an annual passholder to Walt Disney World, I can say the same about the resort.

I believe that Disney does everything that they can to ensure their guests have a great vacation. And I stress, they do everything they *can*.

Some guests seem to believe that they are entitled to some compensation from Disney because something goes wrong in their vacation. For example, I've often spent rainy days at the parks. Sometimes it's a drizzle and sometimes it's a downpour. Personally, I love the parks when its raining out and never hesitate to get wet. However, I can tell you some stories of rude guests screaming (literally) at Disney Cast Members for refunds on tickets because the rain "ruined their day."

This is inexcusable. Disney, for all of their corporate pull and wealth, cannot control the weather. Thankfully, Disney absolutely stands firm on their decision to NOT refund tickets for rainy days. This is Florida, by the way.

Anyway, to make my point, I don't think that Disney takes a "we don't care attitude" towards guest service. They do, thankfully, set boundaries for themselves.

 

[tracejmc]

That is all really too bad about your experience. On the other side of the spectrum our Land and Sea Vacation in November of 2002 was SO incredible we are going back for a Western Car. cruise in March of 2004. First, were called a month before and told we were given a complimentary upgrade to a suite. I am a very particular person and the Disney Ship and customer service was second to none. We saw an awful lot of people having as much fun as we were. I would not trust my 9 year old to eat enough food from 10am to 4pm on his own. He gets so busy having fun you almost have to force him to eat. Also, my boys go through new clothes like there is no tomorrow so it is hard for me to understand how upset you were about the marker ruined clothes. All three of my sons had brand new shirts on when they took the bikes on Castaway Cay. The path was very muddy in spots and completely ruined their brand new (first time worn) shirts. I never gave it a second thought because I didn't want to let it ruin my day let alone my whole vacation. A cold cabin would be hard to deal with but did you try leaving your verandah door open more often? Indoor areas are often cold and I get cold very easily so I try to remember a sweatshirt or sweater. I am very sorry to hear about your negative experience. Good luck with your future travel. I hope you can have a fun family vacation sometime soon!

 

[alwechsler]

I am not saying that alll of Disney doesn't seem to care. I am saying the attitude that I personally experiienced on this trip.

Yes, it may be my bad luck that we happened to get a room with a bad air conditioner....but it was not. like bad weather. It could have been fixed! The attempts made were quick attempts and then there were days between the next attempt...no one said we can't get a part.

I have never had any problem with any where else that I have been with Disney. I love Disney too, but that does not mean that they are perfect. I am disappointed!

For the person who asked before. My 7 year olds like some of the program, but for a large extent of it ...they were bored. Ffor the number of kids that there were...there were not always enough pieces of equipment (like the video games and computers). My kids usually moaned when I said we were going to go the program. It was not the reaction I expected.

As for the comment about the clothes...the kids program does have and use smocks, but they claim they never thought of them for using fabric markers (which never come out). If I take them out on a bike path...then I dress them appropriately. My children do not ruin most of their clothes. Again, I am more upset about the nonsense. I did not ask them to replace the shirts. They volunteered to clean them and said they could get the marker out. Once the went through that whole charade with me....then they could atleast have replaced them on board or could have been upfront with me...rather than throw them in the lost and found.

I am not upset that my child did not eat. I am upset that they didn't know if he had or not and that he was in that condition and no one noticed! If he had passed out...he could have hit his head or been injured in some way. Then because they did not notice, the would have said that it was all of a sudden. He is 4 years old...not what most of you would consider an older child and they have a responsibility!

I did not expect it is be a babysitting service. I expected them to have things to do (activities) and to be safe. In spite of the people here saying so...I did not put them in the program all of the time....just sometimes.

I did not intend this posting to become a session where so many of you would find it necessary to attack me. I am not selfish for putting them in the program as someone had said. I dedicate my whole life to them and if I do not renew...then I will have the energy for all I do. This was the only vacation that I could afford (for times and money reasons) this year. The purpose of this post was to discuss real problems that people had since I can not be the only one who ever had an problems on the Disney Cruise Line.

This situation with the food occured the second day (sunday) on the ship and I do not know if he asked for food or not. He might have fiigured that they would only give him the same food as before or he might have been too shy to ask since it was all new. For the record, if he had asked....they would not have dropped everything and give him food. They only would have paged me if he specifically said they he wanted to leave.

 

[tchoney]

Given the many problems you seem to have encountered, I understand your being a little upset.

I have been on a Disney Cruise with my family. For us, it was just that, a Family Vacation. My son had the option of going into the childrens clubs at which time, we told him that meal times were for family time and that we would all eat together as a family. After touring the facilities, although very nice; we decided that the clubs were not a place for him. They are very strict with age groups and my son was a very mature 6 year old. He chose to stay with my husband and I. We played ping pong and basketball, went swimming and just hung out at the pool. I believe that people look for more than the kids clubs can offer or are there to offer. They are not a baby sitting service. They are a kids club. A place for your kid to go be entertained. Unfortunately, they are crowed. I think, however, that the employees, do the best with what they have to work with. As far as the problems you encountered with the marker on the clothing... Kids with be kids. As 7 years old, I would think they would know better than to color on their clothing anyway.

As far as the air conditioner breaking, I do think that is a problem that should have been addressed immediately. The toilet/sink/shower in our room was leaking and it only took 1 call and it was fixed immediately. I would say that your situation is definetly an isolated one.

The pool situation is concerning. There are many serious illnesses and diseases that can come with dirty water. My son would not have been permitted to swim in that water until the problem was fixed. Of all of your problems, this is just nasty. Unfortunately, parents that do not teach their children to get out of the pool to urinate or parents that allow their unpotty trained children in the pool without protection are the real ones at fault. Disney should have addressed this problem and fixed it immediately.

As far as a written apology in the Navigator. I just don't think that is necessary. I have not seen the particular movie that you mention, but I cannot imagine my son being traumatized by a PG movie. Maybe your children are feeding off of your response to the entire situation.

I really think that you have made many of the problems larger than they are. The compensation that you recieved was fair for the "problems" that you encountered.

 

[noseybuddy]

Well alwechsler, it looks like it's only you and me who see what the problem is. Lack of respect for people. See it more and more everyday. I don't think it was so much that you wanted to be compensated for the problems, it was that you wanted to be treated like they cared about your problems. People are just not seeing this.

I am a true Disney Fan, but the last two times I have gone to Disney I have seen a difference. The parks are not as clean, even the hotels are not as clean. I check into the Grand Floridian last August and my room was dirty. Open food laying around, crumbs everywhere, clothes left behind, etc. The room hadn't even been cleaned. Yes mistakes happen. Check into another room and I thought it should have been cleaner but I stayed. So during my week stay there I decided to leave the maid some tests. She failed every one. Looks like the only thing she did was make the bed and deliver new towels. I'm talking about leaving a tissue on the floor and it was never picked up in 7 days.

Also, used to be that you would never come across a grumpy cast member. Believe me, we all have our bad days, but the last two times that I visited Disney I ran into several grumpy non-caring, I'm doing you a favor cast members.

I miss the old Disney! Clean parks and nice cast members!

 

[jordanyosh]

While some of the posts have not been very nice, I believe most are empathetic to the problems that you had. Yet, you choose to say that people are attacking you and what happened to you. Many people who have posted here and have been willing to offer suggestions that would help you understand what happened to you. Yet , again and again you only want to talk about your problems and how you were unfairly dealt with. Most posters here have said how sorry they were about your experiences. Yet, not once have you offered a word of thanks to all of us who have tried to lend a listening ear and some advice for future interactions. You haven't posted anything positive about your trip. Nothing about the time with your family;nothing about the food; nothing about the weather. Did this lack of caring get you so worked up that it ruined your vacation? Well, everyone has choices to make and you made yours when you decided to let someone take control over whether you had a good vacation or not. Stop trying to put the blame on Disney or now the well-intentioned posters here. You have no one else to blame but yourself

 

[alwechsler]

I actually did thank someone who supported me...I am only responding to what people have said and some of them have been doing so in not thje nicest way...

I think you all have your own view. This was not the point of this post in the first place...

It WAS SO I COULD SEE IF OTHERS HAD ISSUES AND SO THOSE GOING MIGHT KNOW SOME OF THE DOWN SIDES AND THINGS THAT THEY COULD LOOK FOR.

 

[dianedisney]

alwechsler...
When you have a horrible vacation experience it can really be a total let down. I think all of us have had some sort of vacation nightmares. So in that context we have compassion for you. But if you go to a Rock Solid Republican who salutes the Red White and Blue and tell them Bush sucks you are going to get some negative feed back. It is the same with Rock Solid Disney Fans. And I am not ashamed to say I am one of them. Maybe if you went to a Cruise Critic Board or some board more neutral but ragging on Disney to a Disney Board is not the common sense thing to do, sorry.
I have had horrible vacations, you are not alone in that area. It is frustrating to spend all that time and money and feel you have been cheated. But you get up, pull yourself together and don't make the mistake twice. Maybe another cruise line would be more in your taste and that is great, to each their own.
Here is hoping your next vacation is a GREAT one!!!

 

[nicurnc]

alwechsler,
I think dianedisney made a good suggestion to you about the CruiseCritic board.
I understand your frustration in not being able to find what you were looking for here. But most of the posters to this thread either have not had problems with DCL, or at least have not had problems they found they could not overlook.
Cruise@ddicts is another forum that discuuses cruises in general, maybe you would find others sharing your opinion there

Again, I am sorry your families vacation did not live up to your expectations. I hope there were some aspects of the cruise that had some of the "Magic" in them

Loretta

 

[rose102798]

Too shy to ask for more food? Not too shy to ask for ice-pack (at 4 years old)?

Panic attack at the violence of the movie, or your reaction to the violence?

Standing looking disoriented, could it be that he is only four years old, (is "shy"), and has been left alone with a group full of strangers for 6 hours without even a visit from his parents?

Just silly little thoughts that occurred to me while I was reading these threads.

P.S. (Do your trips to restaurants typically end with a visit from the MOD (manager on duty))? (once again -- just a silly little thought).

 

[tchoney]

I completely agree! In her post, she sounded almost impossible to please and extremely difficult to get along with. Thanks for pointing out some of the obvious.