Disney Magic lack of "Pixie dust"

[hazelandannie]

I have read through this whole post this morning and many people have some quite valid comments re. the recent TA on the Magic. - except i would like to add the guy that really does seem to have a bee in his bonnet about people having CC lanyards and he doesnt! I didnt witness any snobbery when it came to who had what lanyard, in fact half the time i didnt even notice which ones people were wearing!!! If people are going to be rude, they will be whether they have a fancy lanyard or not (although it did make me laugh as these comments about the 'lanyard bragging' came from someone that in the weeks building up to the cruise on another thread had seemed to have been 'bragging' about their suite and various childcarers they were taking along with them for the trip!!!! )

Anyway back to the point. We went on this TA never having cruised before ever and we thoroughly enjoyed our time and would do another TA again for definite. I loved the ship and thought all of the main areas were kept constantly clean and especially loved spending time on deck 4!
I did however feel that our time had been made more special by the people that we met, the shows and the ports. We did have some disappointments about our room host, who quite honestly was next to useless, also a few other minor issues we felt a little let down by, including the food quality. I did email these couple of concerns to DCL but all i got back was a generic response about how they strive to offer exceptional service at all times.

We shared our servers with the Bear and his companions and yes whilst we do not know the whole story behind this charade, the novelty did wear off very quickly when each evening our servers were distracted so that they could go tend to Kirby!!

On the subject of the 'crazy lady' , well i heard her rants a couple of times and did wonder why someone that seemed to hate people, sea days and cruise food was on a Transatlantic cruise in the first place??

Finally i'd like to say , Pat i completely agree with you about your comments, especially the Cheese Soup incident. There were at least 5 tables that night that sent the soup back as it was inedible and far too salty. We ended up with the chef being sent to our table to explain that thats the way it should taste and if we drank beer it wouldnt be so salty!!!!

But all in all we had a fantastic first cruise, there were a few little disappointments, but wont stop us doing another TA in the future ahould there be one.

Long rant over
Annemarie

 

[Disneynut64]

This is atrocious behavior for ANYONE, regardless of who their daughter is, or the number of cruises they have taken. I am glad you finally had it out with her, she probably feeds on people who cave into her "elitist" ideals.

It should be noted that is women whose name was Susan had some developmental problems. I actually got to talk to her, and yes she did tell me that she hated the food and sea days but she knew alot of the crew and she got to see them on the magic. She originally did not have this cruise planned but had to have surgery so this is what was available. She also told me like many of you have voiced on how bad her service was. She complained that her server everynite still couldn't remember she liked sprite. I have read many post complaining about the staff, so how is she any different. Just saying. I knew as soon as heard her talk that she was developmentally challenged and had no inhibitions on voicing her opinion. The crew did an amazing job with Susan and were not offended by her outburst because they realized that her loudness was normal for her.

 

[MandyGirl]

I do think their customer service has slipped a bit, but it can certainly be brought back to par.

I think that was our biggest concern as well on the WBTA - the four separate issues that took multiple trips to Guest Services which should have easily been handled the first time with front-line Castmembers. I detailed each of them in our online survey along with solutions that were sensible and could have been provided on the initial visit.

• Four trips to GS to change Mixology DIS group from one day to next (from Group 1 to Group 2 since DIS had two groups) due to when DCL scheduled us for Princess Tea (was super hard to change from group of 50 to group of 27... told it was "full" at 27.... and we know of at least three families who had to do this since we received Princess Tea tickets on top of Mixology tickets, and were never told there was a second Tea they could schedule us into.... wait, we had kids onboard, guess we were not supposed to do a Mixology class with DIS group I guess)
• room steward could not get two empty wine glasses for room, we were told to go to GS, GS put it in computer, said they should be in our room by the time we got back, and they were still not there the next day (night!) so we just went to Preludes to ask EVERY time for new clean glasses (never had to do this on other lines - room steward would supply them when asked)
• No $399 CD delivered on last day, checked with Shutters 6:45 AM, and were told they had all been delivered. No, our's was not, even asked room steward if he noticed one. They had to talk to manager even though it was on our account we purchased it early in the cruise. We were told to come back after late breakfast on disembarkation day. Super glad we didn't have an early flight.
• Character Campout - picked up child but her bag had been obviously taken by another parent upon checkout having her main pairs of day/night shoes and clothes from previous evening; Oceaneer Club refused to send out text to "please check your bag" (like they did the 7:44AM text to participant families to come collect your child - would have been quick, easy, and unobtrusive); did not document in computer after we discovered that upon picking her up and searching all over (VERY surprised about that with Oceaneer Club), child not allowed in restaurants with no shoes (obviously), but we finally had to escalate to manager after visiting GS and Oceaneer Club multiple times throughout the day (they verify wristbands when leaving, but obviously forgot to verify the orange bag they gave each child with their name on it - and refused to check the loan bag still left that afternoon which was most likely the family that inadvertantly took our bag; after escalating, they sent a voicemail to families to thank them for a great thankout and to check bags for a child who "lost her shoes".... ummmm.... a parent picked up a completely wrong bag with wrong name and wrong cabin number on it..." (Yes, it was recovered within 30 minutes of the manager FINALLY sending a voicemail later that afternoon after we had been to both GS and OC multiple times - it's not like she left it somewhere, the Castmember said he had seen it right next to her mat earlier that morning - and obviously a mistake since they were all orange but labeled with first/last name and room number and they had one bag left)
• Each of these could have been easily handled on first visit. Our online survey to DCL detailed the instances with SOLUTIONS for the future. Seemingly "easy" solutions, but all four could not be handled by front-line personnel and each had to be escalated to someone behind the scenes, resulting in multiple trips to GS out of our vacation. Yes, I know it was 14 days, but it is still the principle of the matter. Our other 8 cruises on 3 other lines always had any issue resolved immediately, not strung out over days or having to "talk to a supervisor". And we are by far NOT high maintenance - happy to be healthy, together, and blessed to be on our dream vacation.

The kitchen being slow would make total sense, especially since we were the same dining rotation and a few tables over from you. Some nights not having beverages and appetizer until after our baby had already left for 9:00 nightly nursery reservation was disappointing (when we arrived by 8:30 each night), or not having our requested fruit plate/bowl and milk at table when arriving each night (we were usually told the fruit was not ready). Second week improved on that, but we just got to the point where we went to find something to feed her elsewhere on the ship prior to dinner since we could not rely on 30 minutes being ample time to feed her prior to her Flounders reservation each night. (Yes, we let our servers know on Night One that we had prebooked Flounders 9-11 each night, and requested fruit and whole milk to be there... as did the other two families at our table.... something that would have happened on the other lines we cruised on previously.) But what you said about the kitchen being slow would make sense now.

Luckily we had no issues with our cabin (deck 2 porthole), and felt the ship was in great shape for her age. We have cruised on one other ship that was older.

But like Pat, the Characters, Shutters photographers, Disney shows, Flounders staff, and plethora of activities onboard made this cruise special for the four of us. (Plus all our DIS friends and wonderful tablemates!!) I fully intended to pre-book a future cruise when we boarded, but DH would not let us. The issues with resolving the four items above on multiple trips to GS, our dining left something to be desired (as compared to our other eight 7-night cruises on Celebrity, HAL, and NCL - we even had children's pancakes in Lumiere's too hard to eat... twice... but those lobster tails were MASSIVE!), and the Disney price prompted him to that decision to not pre-book another cruise (even a dummy cruise). We finally came across one of those "fun" waiters we had read so much about around day 10 in Lumiere's, and had a couple more those last few days - totally made my girls smile. Will we be onboard again? Most likely if there is another transatlantic, but not a 7-day cruise. We cannot justify the markup on DCL versus other lines with same itinerary. But the price per day for the 14-day was definitely good, and the smiles on my childrens' faces with the characters made the MAGIC for us on the cruise. The shutters photographers knew our children's names, and one day I showed up with the older child for a pic with Goofy, who motioned "where is the baby" and gave me "sad face" when I said she was napping with Daddy. We LOVED those character interactions all over the ship. Nothing like watching a movie on Deck 9 prior to dinner, and Daisy popping up behind you to give kisses and take a pic.

Oh - the lanyard - first Disney cruise so we wore our DIS lanyard. I *needed* something to keep my KTTW card and receipts in each day, along with my 5- and 1-year olds' cards. Hubby usually just keeps them all in a pocket, but he actually used his DIS lanyard. He enjoyed meeting other DIS members walking around the ship although he has never read or posted on DIS (just got my daily summaries for the past year!!! LOL.)

 

[Iceman93]

Boy, people here sure are snarky about their lanyards!

Getting back to the point of the thread, it sounds like most everyone on the WBTA had a great time and found the ship, staff, and service anywhere from good to outstanding. I'm sure that every one of us could find a thing here or there to nitpick, and some people certainly did have real issues. But then it sounds like Disney came through and corrected them, which is another mark of a fine company.

 

[Webmiester]

Whenever I hear/read experiences like Mandy's above I really have to wonder...no pun intended.... Are we all on the same cruise line?

you say "not high maintenance" but everything i read screams of it.

We've taken many cruises on many cruise lines and have to say that other than the behavior of the guests, we have never had a problem even as small as this mentioned above.

As I had posted earlier on this thread, i really think it comes down to attitude and outlook. If you are Looking for something to be wrong you are going to find it anywhere you go. We prefer the finer things in life, i.e. Stay at the Ritz, vacation at The Greenbrier, etc and sure you can nit-pick stuff anywhere, trust me.

In the end these services are provided by human beings. We are not and never will be perfect. Add to that the fact that they are mostly from different cultures, typically places where even having 3 meals a day is a luxury. Now add the fact that we are at sea (wet carpet whining, really? You should try being in the navy) and that you are one of a couple thousand guests that they have to please and of course things will happen.

When these things happen you have to choose how you will view it. We choose to enjoy the fact that we are always greeted by smiling faces and taken care of, even if it isn't always exactly when or the way we wanted it.
Face it folks, my guess is that none of you reading this post have a butler, driver, gardener, cleaning staff and kitchen staff. So treat it like it is and enjoy the pampering. And above all treat the CMs the way you would want to be treated.
/text wall

 

[Iceman93]

Mandy, my post wasn't directed at you. I think we were posting at the same time. You're certainly not snarky about your lanyards--just practical, it seems to me. And it's too bad that it took several "touches" with guest services to get your concerns addressed. While each of them may have been small in isolation, I can see how the frustration could build over the course of the cruise. I'm sorry to hear it dampened your enjoyment!

That being said, I also agree with webmiester. I still think Disney does an excellent job overall.

 

[hazelandannie]

Webmeister- I'd just like to point out that I had the pleasure of meeting Mandy and her family and they were certainly anything but high maintenance. Her concerns were valid and yes things that could've easily been avoided. IMO if you're paying for a certain level of service (in this case Disney) then you should get exactly the service you're paying for, not slightly different depending on which cm you speak to, room host, servers etc

 

[Wadekind]

Now add the fact that we are at sea (wet carpet whining, really? You should try being in the navy) /text wall

Isn't the point of a Disney cruise NOT to be on a ship like the navy uses?

 

[dizzi]

we have cruised disney 4 times, there have always been good and bad experiences actually each time we have traveled with them.

We have cruised other companies and there have been both good and bad experiences with them as well, BUT with the "other" companies the Bad has far out weighed the good.

I guess it all depends on the vacation you are wanting versus the vacation you end up with and i would have to say, MOST OF THAT IS STATE OF MIND.

I had a very bad incident with the kids club in which it prompted me to cancel a cruise and wait until my daughter was old enough (in my opinion) to check herself out of the clubs. That was the worst, even though i coudl have let it ruin my vacation i did not we just changed our mindset and went on with it.

The only thing that would have me change to a different company is the snorkeling on Castaway Cay in my opinion is not good in any ay shape or form, and if i take a cruise for snorkeling i would go with someone different.

 

[granmaz]

We were on this cruise. It was a good cruise and we enjoyed it. But, there were issues that we came across, some the same dining room ones that have been mentioned and others not mentioned. No point mentioning them.

I wore our Dis group lanyard. On our first cruise I thought I would find them so annoying but the convenience of having the key card, Cove Cafe card etc in the plastic holder there instead of dropping out of my pocket won me over. If we don't get a Dis group lanyard I will wear my CC one even though it isn't as comfortable. If I have a Dis group one we refuse our CC ones. I never saw any pretentious behaviour at all within CC lanyard wearing people. I think it is normal to ask others how many cruises they have been on and chat about them. I always hope to hear from others who have cruised on other cruise lines and of their experiences.

I did see the bear. I wasn't in the same dining room so can't comment there. I just thought how odd to be carting a huge thing round like that, but that is up to them. As long as it doesn't interfere with others' enjoyment and attention from the crew that is!

Mandy is a such a lovely lady and in no way high maintenance. She had her issues onboard as did others. Some were dealt with satisfactorily and some not. To belittle people because they did have issues is rather insulting.

 

[PFlamingo]

Finally i'd like to say , Pat i completely agree with you about your comments, especially the Cheese Soup incident. There were at least 5 tables that night that sent the soup back as it was inedible and far too salty. We ended up with the chef being sent to our table to explain that thats the way it should taste and if we drank beer it wouldnt be so salty!!!!

Okay, that's just wrong!! I cannot believe any chef worth his/her salt (get it? "salt?" ) would offer such a lame excuse for such bad food. It wasn't just salty, either. I've cooked with everything from Velveeta to high-end cheeses, and that was made with Velveeta (last time I looked, Velveeta wasn't Canadian cheddar). It also tasted more of chicken broth than cheese. One would have to drink a lot of beer to make that stuff taste good.

BTW, I'm one of those people who goes out of her way to compliment the chef and service people at restaurants. So I don't think of myself as a "complainer." I can think of 4 times in my life when I've sent food back to a kitchen or complained about a meal. Two of those times were on this cruise. I can't tell you how many times I've asked for a manager to compliment the staff at a restaurant. My feeling is, they always hear about the problems and rarely hear compliments, so I give them, liberally.

To illustrate what I expect from Disney, we were having dinner at Narcoossee's a couple of years ago, and I ordered lobster. It was really bad - so overcooked it was difficult to cut. I was almost embarrassed to mention it to our waiter, but he was so nice about it and brought another perfectly cooked lobster within a few minutes. Had the chef come out and tried to tell me that was the way it was supposed to be cooked, I think I would have walked out and never returned.

The kitchen being slow would make total sense, especially since we were the same dining rotation and a few tables over from you. Some nights not having beverages and appetizer until after our baby had already left for 9:00 nightly nursery reservation was disappointing (when we arrived by 8:30 each night), or not having our requested fruit plate/bowl and milk at table when arriving each night (we were usually told the fruit was not ready). Second week improved on that, but we just got to the point where we went to find something to feed her elsewhere on the ship prior to dinner since we could not rely on 30 minutes being ample time to feed her prior to her Flounders reservation each night. (Yes, we let our servers know on Night One that we had prebooked Flounders 9-11 each night, and requested fruit and whole milk to be there... as did the other two families at our table.... something that would have happened on the other lines we cruised on previously.) But what you said about the kitchen being slow would make sense now.

Mandy, I had no idea you had problems with the kids' food! See, that's what I mean about DCL service slipping. They are well-known for having what you want, when you want it, and knowing what you need/request after a couple of nights. They advertise this. The fruit wasn't ready?? Are you kidding??? There was fruit all over the ship. How difficult is it to put together a fruit plate?? And before anyone jumps on me about how difficult it is to be in food service -- I've done it. I've worked for a caterer for events up to 500 people, and I've been the caterer for events of 30-50 people. No, it's not easy work. But when your customer has told you they want a fruit plate each night, you have the fruit plate ready, on time, each night. Again, they advertise the "dine and play" option for parents. If they can't do it, they shouldn't be offering it. It's that simple.

The fact that you had problems at dinner, too, considering we had different servers, reinforces my idea that something was wrong in the kitchen. Annmarie's interaction with the chef pretty much confirms it.

Webmeister- I'd just like to point out that I had the pleasure of meeting Mandy and her family and they were certainly anything but high maintenance. Her concerns were valid and yes things that could've easily been avoided. IMO if you're paying for a certain level of service (in this case Disney) then you should get exactly the service you're paying for, not slightly different depending on which cm you speak to, room host, servers etc

Agreed!!

Webmeister - I wasn't trying to nit-pick. I was pointing out what I think are valid problems with the service on the ship. I was satisfied with the way things were resolved (with the exception of the few food issues I encountered). My point was, I shouldn't have had to complain about them in the first place, especially the room issues. In my life, I've stayed everywhere from National Park campgrounds with "pit" toilets (in a tent camper, not an RV - my parents' idea of "fun") to 5-star hotels. When I stay at a campground, I expect a campground experience - cooking on a grill, funky bathrooms, and when I stay at a 5-star, I expect, well, a 5-star experience. No, I don't expect the staff to say "how high," when I say "jump." I do expect the room to be clean and the items I've asked for to be there within a reasonable time - anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours depending on what, when, and where I've requested. And I don't expect to have to argue with Guest Services the way Mandy did, or have my intelligence insulted (drink beer with it - it'll taste fine) like Annmarie did. Not at Disney, where they are know for exceptional customer service. I don't think anything any of us asked for was in any way unreasonable. I've seen unreasonable people all over DCL and WDW, so I try really hard not to act like them.

If I had signed up to join the Navy, I would expect a Navy experience. But last time I looked, DCL wasn't part of the Navy. We, too, enjoy the "finer things," but we can't afford them very often. So when we book something that is billed as the equivalent of a deluxe resort experience, that's what we expect. We've stayed at several deluxe resorts at WDW and have always had excellent service. We've eaten everywhere from a popcorn stand to the Signature restaurants at WDW, and with the exception of the aforementioned lobster, the food has been excellent, as has the service. The service on the Wonder both times was outstanding. Of course, it's possible that we "peasants" expect too much for our money and should stick with Motel 6 and Mickey-D's.

 

[grits98]

I didn't think Mandy and her family were being "high-maintenance" at all!!! It sounds to me like there were some valid concerns and frustrations that DCL should rectify! As much as we all pay for these vacations, there should be a certain level of customer service provided. When a kids' club requires a certain protocol so that a child's belongings are not lost/stolen but it fails to follow that protocol, then that club should take responsibility for the failure and it should attempt to rectify the situation immediately. I cannot believe anyone could disagree with that. Maybe I just have a weird issue with expecting that the kids' clubs not give my children's things to other people...

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I just hate reading the phrase "I expect". Maybe that is the problem...."expect". I think people set their expectations way too high.

 

[Webmiester]

Webmeister- I'd just like to point out that I had the pleasure of meeting Mandy and her family and they were certainly anything but high maintenance. Her concerns were valid and yes things that could've easily been avoided. IMO if you're paying for a certain level of service (in this case Disney) then you should get exactly the service you're paying for, not slightly different depending on which cm you speak to, room host, servers etc

Ok so my comments were not directed at Her specifically, point is i didn't
Read any complaints that were worth writing home about. I also really have to wonder...are we just that lucky? I mean we've gone on a lot of cruises on several lines and i can't think of a single incident that wasnt related to another guest. As a matter of fact, when describing the litle differences between dis and other lines i mention things like the time the laundry room was out of soap (or the machine wasn't working don't recall). It was like 1am and i called GS. They sent someone down right away and they gave everyone there free soap and stuff. It is like that for every little thing I can remember.

This thread is about losing the magic... Unless it has all happened since last Sept... I just have to say, "I haven't seen it.".

Isn't the point of a Disney cruise NOT to be on a ship like the navy uses?

Well of course, silly... But if you are on a ship that has to serve many purposes sand it rains, please expect some water to get inside. Especially with the always present handful of selfish, inconsiderate guests that exist in any large group who leave doors open or prop them open and track stuff inside.

I guess in summary, we must be the luckiest little group of cruisers around. personally i still think it has more to do with our outlook and attitude than the Disney experience itself.

EDIT: I want to be sure to apologize to Mandy. I in no way meant to pick on your post... It was just the most recent example to which I could refer..... Sorry!

 

[Webmiester]

I just hate reading the phrase "I expect". Maybe that is the problem...."expect". I think people set their expectations way too high.

A lot more succinct than i am able to say it, but yes...exactly.

 

[MandyGirl]

It was not the issue, but rather how many trips and front staff having to escalate to a supervisor it took to resolve. Rather small issues, but to resolve them was the tough part.

There were just things we felt could have been handled on the initial request that were seemingly "easy" to handle on other lines. Getting wine glasses for the room? Not getting the $399 CD but having to go through a manager to get it? A bag taken from the overnight campout which could have been handled with a simple text that had just gone out to the families that participated like the pick-up text? (No shoes - could not enter dining areas.... resorted to pool shoes... but nobody could help it seemed...) But each issue took at least four attempts in person to handle (seriously?!?) and had someone just said "you have to go find wine glasses yourself on Disney" that would have been a whole lot easier then getting the run-around.

I didn't even mention coordinating our DIS PJ breakfast (spoke with someone up front at Lumiere's, had to go to Guest Services, they had to get back to me... just not a simple task when notifying them we'd have a large group at a certain time to give forewarning of large group during normal dining hours) and I guess I could mention no lobster tails cut from shell first formal night at our table (accusomted to that on other cruiselines), but I'm a big girl and can do that myself. Heck, I spent two weeks in Colorado this summer, half of which in a tent with no electricity, so I guess I could have been boiling my own water to cook the lobsters on the cruise. Which those were HUGE by the way! And I did appreciate the follow-up phonecall from the Oceaneer's Club manager the night of Tortola to make sure the cruise was going well, although at 9:45 PM to our stateroom phone on the one night of the cruise we all four went to bed early could have been maybe a little earlier (I don't even call out at home after 9:00, but I do realize the Disney staff never sleeps.)

But to reiterate, it was not the issue, but rather how many trips and front staff having to escalate to a supervisor it took to resolve. We had more trips to GS services this cruise than our previous 8 cruises combined. In fact, I don't think we have ever had to go to GS about anything except to pre-request a meeting place for our cruise wedding - and that was handled on that first trip by front-line personnel on that cruiseline. If big issues, understandable to have to escalate, but it just seemed the normal process was not where frontline CMs could handle them, especially after the absolutely wonderful things I have read about DCL the past year. Even moreso when other DIS members would share they asked for wine glasses and received them from their stateroom host, but we had to go through Guest Services (per stateroom host) and follow-up and eventually go get them ourselves (and if wanting clean ones, go get them again ourselves). On previous cruises, the stateroom host just kept them supplied as part of the daily routine. Luckily we figured out how to get them on DCL. Had we known to just go to a bar, fine, but I had never done that on other lines. Learning curve on how to cruise Disney.

For a cruiseline that caters to families / children (in reviews we have read), we (and the other two families at our table) were really surprised how hard it was to get a fruit plate and milk for the under-age-two children at night so they could be fed prior to 9:00 nursery reservations. Waiting 30 minutes for appetizers and beverages was just not the norm we had been accustomed to on other lines. By week two, it was better, but yes, maybe I did have my expectations too high to have a pre-requested fruit plate and milk within the first half-hour of dining on a cruiseline that is supposed to be #1 for children/families. I just couldn't imagine the wait had there been 2700 onboard vs just 1800. I think back to our first Celebrity cruise, table of 10 adults, and one couple always had crumbled bleu cheese upon arrival, and our normal beverages were already there on the table. Disney could really score some points with doing something like that, which is why I had not thought I was being "high maintenance" asking for fruit plate and milk for our 15 month old (along with the other two families doing the same thing) so that we could meet the 9:00 nursery reservation.

I have been following this thread since Day One and hesitated posting for fear of getting flamed. After seeing PFlamingo hit the nail on the head with two issues on her post (guest services and slow kitchen) I decided to reply to share she was not the only one who observed such issues on the WBTA. Of course, this was my first Disney cruise as stated previously, so I only had Celebrity, HAL and Norwegian to compare our experiences to. Of the four lines we have now cruised, we would definitely NOT hesitate to book any of the four again, but when comparing itinerary, price, previous experiences... DH did not want to do a dummy booking (and we can drive to Galveston! but have never cruised out of Texas as those are usually to our least favorite ports). But as I stated previously, we had MANY WONDERFUL things about this cruise, and yes, I was in tears the last 3 days knowing we were disembarking soon. I was just chiming in with PFlamingo to share she was not the only one who noticed issues with slow kitchen or guest services. We cannot say enough high remarks about the Characters, Shutters photographers, Disney shows, Flounders staff, and plethora of activities onboard made this cruise special for the four of us. (Plus all our DIS friends and wonderful tablemates!!) Our two negatives we experienced were those other two things that happened to occur multiple times for us. Our glass is still half full.

 

[grits98]

I just hate reading the phrase "I expect". Maybe that is the problem...."expect". I think people set their expectations way too high.

I can understand that. I actually struggled a little with that word when I was typing my comment, but every other word I could think of to put in there seemed to be way too strong!

 

[PFlamingo]

I guess in summary, we must be the luckiest little group of cruisers around. personally i still think it has more to do with our outlook and attitude than the Disney experience itself.

Okay, so I guess I just have a bad attitude because I "expect" them to provide what they advertise.

I don't think my expectations are unrealistic. I do believe I mentioned that I love DCL and WDW. They pride themselves on providing a better experience and customer service than everyone else. Wasn't that why Walt built Disneyland in the first place? Wasn't that what he expected from everything produced from his studios?

If the quality is not up to what they are known for, they need to hear about it and fix it. That's all. I would expect (oops, there's that word again) the same from any company that presumes to offer the level of service that Disney offers.

I don't think of this as slamming Disney. On the contrary, I consider it constructive criticism. I don't think anyone has complained about anything that is out of the control of DCL. And I don't think any of it is something that Walt would brush off and attribute to people being whiners. I think those are exactly the kinds of things he would want to know about and correct to keep his "product" at the top of the industry.

Okay, bring it on for assuming to know what Walt wanted. I've known a lot of people who worked for Disney and even worked at WDW myself (admittedly only for one Christmas season). I know the standards the employees were held to, and it all came back to Walt's vision. We were reminded of the importance of the quality of the "show" every day, and excellence was expected.

 

[MandyGirl]

EDIT: I want to be sure to apologize to Mandy. I in no way meant to pick on your post... It was just the most recent example to which I could refer..... Sorry!

Thanks! I should have read this before replying. But seriously, I'm happy wherever we are, but those little things that could have so easily been resolved with frontline CMs just really surprised us they couldn't. Just give me a healthy husband and two healthy daughters, and my life is complete. A vacation is just the icing on the cake.

 

[granmaz]

I just hate reading the phrase "I expect". Maybe that is the problem...."expect". I think people set their expectations way too high.

I think I understand what you are saying and I am not having a go at you at all. But I think we should have high expectations for what DCL should offer and I think they would want that too if all that speel about filling in the comment card at the end of the cruise is anything to go by. After all it does cost a lot of money.

I would say for our first 6 cruises, and all but 1 has been long, we had nothing at all to complain about, just wonderful service, food, everything, and just amazing experiences, and I said so. It is just these last 2 that have thrown up a few problems. So why is it wrong now we have had some issues to expect us to just accept it and not try to inform DCL and actually hope that theta address them.