DVC has ruined me

[jockotaco]

Just off a 4 day disney dream cruise followed by three days at Vero. Almost disowned my family in our stateroom. Once again love them after stretching out in our 1br villa.

 

[Iceman93]

Sounds like you had too small of a cabin on the cruise. They have suites too, you know!

 

[taaren]

Lol I feel ya, OP.

This is one of the reasons I like cruising first and DVC after. Going from that tiny cabin to a big villa seems so much nicer than the other way around! The good news is on a cruise we never seem to be in the cabin other than to shower/change/sleep there's just too much to do on the ship!

 

[ludari]

Just off a 4 day disney dream cruise followed by three days at Vero. Almost disowned my family in our stateroom. Once again love them after stretching out in our 1br villa.

I've seen this happen before when I cruised with my friends and their family on a 14-day transatlantic Disney cruise. Lucky for me I had my own stateroom while the four of them shared.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just off a 4 day disney dream cruise followed by three days at Vero. Almost disowned my family in our stateroom. Once again love them after stretching out in our 1br villa.

Ain't that the truth! In our case there's just two people, but a couple years ago, we spent a week in a studio (what was I thinking?) and by the end of the week, I was almost ready to kill DH-or at least throw him and the TV set off the balcony. For some reason we never fight when we stay in a 1 BR.

 

[darkwing818]

Just off a 4 day disney dream cruise followed by three days at Vero. Almost disowned my family in our stateroom. Once again love them after stretching out in our 1br villa.

Next time you cruise on the Dream or the Fantasy, try going for a 1 bedroom in concierge.

 

[SFlaDisneyfans]

I've seen this happen before when I cruised with my friends and their family on a 14-day transatlantic Disney cruise. Lucky for me I had my own stateroom while the four of them shared.

We have looked into the trans Atlantic cruise. We wonder if two weeks on board would be overkill. How did you enjoy it?

 

[smcabee]

It ruined me as well. It turned me into a cheap *&^. I cant stand paying for a hotel. When I look at going to other locals where I would actually have to spend $$ for a hotel, I get ill thinking about how ridiculous $150-$200/night just for a room is. Yes I know I spent a good chunk of money for my initial buy in and yes I know I pay annual fees for maintenance but I hem/haw around anywhere I have to pay for a room anymore. Guess WDW is in my plans for the considerable future until I get over this.

 

[bbn1122]

Next time you cruise on the Dream or the Fantasy, try going for a 1 bedroom in concierge.

Concierge and suites are nice but you have to have the money.....they are very expensive.

DCL cabins are large for cruise standards. If you get a family stateroom with veranda it makes much more comfy for a family of 4 or 5.

But oh....a 1 bedroom villa...the reason we bought DVC....space and breakfast and lunch in our villa,.....love it...

Hoping to get into Vero next August.

 

[jockotaco]

I think we're going to stay on land for a while. Keeping my fingers crossed I can get Aulani at 7 months out. Just decided to cancel my grand cal thanksgiving reservation so I can bank and go with a larger unit.

 

[crisi]

The only time we have cabin issues on the cruise is when we are all trying to dress for dinner - we have to take shifts.

Other than that, no one is in the room at the same time other than to sleep.

 

[melissac]

When we have cruised with kids I have been able to get a balcony for Mom and Dad and across hall(inside room) for about 200-400 more. Now my kids where 10 and 14 when we started cruising so if you had little ones this would not work.

Reason we bought DVC is because of 4 people in 1 room does not work for us. Even when we go on vacations outside of DVC we do a condo or 2 hotel rooms. Yes it is a little more but that is how we budget.

 

[jockotaco]

I find that even 2 hotel rooms aren't the same. The kitchen is a deal maker for me. I love to get up, make a cup of coffee and just relax. Come back after a long morning and stretch out on a sofa while I get ready for the afternoon. I would prefer a 1 BR DVC room over 2 connecting rooms for my family of 5. Keep in mind my kids are 9, 6 and 2. I'm guessing soon well be looking more at 2 BR units.

 

[bwvBound]

Ah, this post sounds a bit like our experience following the Disney Wonder, April 2011. We had two connecting cabins with my parents on the Wonder's northbound Pacific respositioning and hated every minute of the trip (it was, essentially, the trip from h-e-double-toothpicks). We debarked and thought to end the trip returning home early ... but continued on with several days of 2BR timeshare at Worldmark Leavenworth. The timeshare stay was marvelous and "saved the trip." We came home feeling like we had truly enjoyed our vacation.

In all, timeshares have spoiled us big time and we've known that since mid-2000. Lucky us!

 

[lilpooh108]

Ah, this post sounds a bit like our experience following the Disney Wonder, April 2011. We had two connecting cabins with my parents on the Wonder's northbound Pacific respositioning and hated every minute of the trip (it was, essentially, the trip from h-e-double-toothpicks).

Seriously? Why? I'm really curious to know. I have the transatlantic planned next year...

 

[bwvBound]

Seriously? Why? I'm really curious to know. I have the transatlantic planned next year...

Background: My husband and I had completed many wonderful cruises shared with my parents and other adult couples. We've sailed different lines (NCL, Holland, Celebrity) and most of these were long trips (10-12 nights). In most cases, the destinations were the highlight, such as Northern European capitals or Holy Lands. In some, the ship was the highlight for a TransAtlantic or Panama Canal crossing. The April 2011 trip was my parent's second Disney sailing and our third. We had sailed the DCL Magic's Return Panama Crossing in Aug 2005 together as a foursome.

The April 2011 journey was a northbound Pacific Coastal as the Wonder transitioned to her first season in Alaska.

• The onboarding process was delayed by many hours due to computer issues. The staff on the pier had NO IDEA what to do during the computer outage and held us "captive" standing in long lines. Unlike other cruise lines, they neglected to pass out water or refreshments and gave zero direction other than, "We are still waiting on our computers." This was a bad start ...
• The Wonder herself was tired and worn. She looked due for a major refurb. It was downright trashy.
• The Wonder's staff were scared silly. For many, this was their first trip to Alaska and they were far outside their comfort zone. They were whining to the guests of their fears and were asking guests to purchase warm-weather gear for them when we visited ports along the route.
• The experienced staff had been pulled off the Wonder to train up on the new ship (Fantasy?). The remaining staff were either new to their jobs or the "dregs" from prior crews. They were a sorry bunch.
• Our room attendant could never figure out our timing. He walked into the cabin once when I was dressing (he hadn't knocked??) and then never returned. Gladly it was a fairly short cruise -- but the cabin was not properly attended.
• The food was habitually overcooked. Even at Triton's! We were weary by the time we got our Triton's rotation and ordered the pasta figuring they couldn't mess up pasta ... we were wrong. It was inedible.

It was basically a lousy cruise. (We'd heard people talk about "a bad cruise" but had never experienced one before this one. Hopefully this notion is a "once and done!" experience.)

 

[lilpooh108]

[*]The Wonder herself was tired and worn. She looked due for a major refurb. It was downright trashy.

Wow! That sounds horrible! But for some reason I thought she *had* a dry dock right before that cruise (or was it right after) for them to add Outlook Cafe for the Alaska cruises?

My parents went the same year in July and they had a good time. We went in 2012 to Alaska on the Wonder and had a very good cruise, but our wait staff was NOT up to snuff (like at all). My best friend just returned and said that the ship looked tired. I'm going on the same cruise you did -- the Pacific Coast repo in May and then maybe the EBTA after that (we booked super early so the pricing is great).

Are you going to try DCL again?

 

[bwvBound]

Wow! That sounds horrible! But for some reason I thought she *had* a dry dock right before that cruise (or was it right after) for them to add Outlook Cafe for the Alaska cruises?

Interesting! So I went for a quick search on dry dock schedules and found other related news: the ship had lost a staff member about a month prior to our cruise. The staff seemed to think, based on informal interviews, that Disney knew more about the situation than had been shared. Indeed, losing a staff member can shake up the crew. I wonder if they received appropriate counseling?

Are you going to try DCL again?

I dunno. Our DCL pattern shows long gaps between sailings (Magic '98, Magic '05 and Wonder '11). We won't be due again until 2017 or 2018?

We booked the Spring 2011 trip in Oct 2009 based on a great early-booking rate. I recall my boss laughing when I handed in my vacation request, "Do you think any of us will still be here in 2011??" I sure wish I could rewind back to that day.

 

[lilpooh108]

Interesting! So I went for a quick search on dry dock schedules and found other related news: the ship had lost a staff member about a month prior to our cruise. The staff seemed to think, based on informal interviews, that Disney knew more about the situation than had been shared. Indeed, losing a staff member can shake up the crew. I wonder if they received appropriate counseling?

Oh......I remember that incident now. It was very very sad. We were just on the Wonder a few months before that and it really touched me.

 

[taaren]

Wow! That sounds horrible! But for some reason I thought she *had* a dry dock right before that cruise (or was it right after) for them to add Outlook Cafe for the Alaska cruises?

My first DCL cruise was the Southbound Repo for the Wonder in September 2011, and it was immediately after the drydock. So, she was due from the sounds of it. BWVbound's cruise (and your folks') would have been just a few sailings previous to the dry dock.
I also remember reading about that missing crew member. That must have been rough for them. Perhaps they changed the crew before my sailing as well? They seemed very fresh and enthusiastic. But perhaps they were just happy to be leaving Alaska ...