Fantasy Itinerary Change - Advice Requested

[MickeyD]

I hope you don't fall off your high horse and hurt yourself. A disney cruise is very expensive and a once in a lifetime vacation for most people. I don't blame anyone for being upset at not getting the vacation they planned on and expected. If it were me I'd be expecting more compensation than $25 for lunch. Getting mad at people for being upset and expecting everyone to have the same attitude as you just smacks of privilege. It's a lot easier to roll with the punches when you've taken seven disney cruises.

I am not on a high horse, or speaking from privilege. I am speaking from the standpoint of a person that lost a lot this year and realize that life is too short to sweat the small stuff. I am sorry for you that you feel $25 isn't enough to compensate. And I don't know how my taking (it's actually 8 DCL cruises now) makes any difference on how I view things? there are people on this board that have taken FAR more than myself and would agree that people tend to fret over the smallest issues. What makes anyone think that just because they spend X amount on a vacation (and, yes, Disney is expensive) it gives them a right to expect perfect everything? I sincerely did not mean to come across haughty, I am just trying to have people see that sometimes it isn't about the money spent, or the ports we went to, but about those moments spent with family and the smiles and the week without phones! You never know when family will no longer be there.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I was going to stay quiet, but this is really making me mad. We were on this cruise as well, and yes, we were disappointed by the first day--but big flipping deal! You missed ONE party people! With a 70% chance that they were going to CANCEL this cruise, we are darn lucky to have sailed at all! Disney didn't owe us anything, yet they chose to give each person $25. For those of you sailing with numerous kids, that adds up quickly! The staff was simply awesome and did what they could to make that first day fun and seamless for everyone. The fact that there were "glitches" throughout the cruise--like Enchanted Garden losing power every night we were there--was simply an excuse for us to laugh again. It is all about attitude. We were bummed to not got to Tortola and we had a great excursion planned there, but it is what it is and we then chose to stay on the ship in San Juan (been there before and it was HOT and HUMID) and you know what? We had a great day, as a family and loved the mostly empty ship. Again, attitude. People and their entitled attitude of "Disney owes us more because we were inconvenienced" is such a sad testament to our society anymore. Sorry you missed your first day Navigator, and your excursions were messed up, and you didn't get to dance with Mickey and the gang leaving Port Canaveral, but you DID get to sail and we had fabulous weather, calm seas, and nice port stops. (and this is not necessarily directed at the OP, but all the people on this cruise with the entitled attitude)

Well said.

I totally agree with the "it's all about attitude". Especially when traveling.

You can set up your plans for trips, but most times, some things are not going to go as planned. How you react can make or break the trip.

 

[bbel]

I was going to stay quiet, but this is really making me mad. We were on this cruise as well, and yes, we were disappointed by the first day--but big flipping deal! You missed ONE party people! With a 70% chance that they were going to CANCEL this cruise, we are darn lucky to have sailed at all! Disney didn't owe us anything, yet they chose to give each person $25. For those of you sailing with numerous kids, that adds up quickly! The staff was simply awesome and did what they could to make that first day fun and seamless for everyone. The fact that there were "glitches" throughout the cruise--like Enchanted Garden losing power every night we were there--was simply an excuse for us to laugh again. It is all about attitude. We were bummed to not got to Tortola and we had a great excursion planned there, but it is what it is and we then chose to stay on the ship in San Juan (been there before and it was HOT and HUMID) and you know what? We had a great day, as a family and loved the mostly empty ship. Again, attitude. People and their entitled attitude of "Disney owes us more because we were inconvenienced" is such a sad testament to our society anymore. Sorry you missed your first day Navigator, and your excursions were messed up, and you didn't get to dance with Mickey and the gang leaving Port Canaveral, but you DID get to sail and we had fabulous weather, calm seas, and nice port stops. (and this is not necessarily directed at the OP, but all the people on this cruise with the entitled attitude)

This!
Thank you!

You're not on 'your high horse', you're realistic!
Thank you for understanding that while Disney may strive to be the most magical company, at the end of the day its run by humans, and personally, I've never met a perfect human.
Thank you for enjoying the time you did have and being able to look back at laugh at it, and take away and remember the good memories and not dwell on a hic-up that a year from now isn't really going to effect anyone...

 

[reimero]

Just a little perspective here...
I travel for work rather frequently. I've encountered weather delays, crew time-outs, canceled flights, misbooked hotels, missed flights, rude staff, rather grossly incompetent staff, pretty much everything. And I've learned a couple of very important lessons.
The first, and most important, is that stuff happens. Mechanical equipment breaks down. Inspections don't always get passed. We don't always get where we're going when we want or expect to get there.
The second is that maintaining a positive attitude, or at least an even keel, can make things much more bearable. As Jack Sparrow told Will Turner, there are things you can do and things you can't do. DCL couldn't manage normal operations because of engine failure. They could do their absolute best to try to give everyone a fantastic cruise, even if it wasn't the cruise passengers were expecting. As affected passengers, we can't fix the ship or change the itinerary to what we want, but we can try to make the most out of the situation in which we find ourselves.

 

[Beth06015]

I was also on this cruise. This was my 3rd DCL cruise and frankly I am very disappointed in the way DCL handled the entire situation. I understand that DCL does not have to compensate fora change of itinerary but should compensate us for the loss of our embarkation day!! Yes we were allowed onto the boat later than usual but that first day was a chaotic mess!! No navigator, no sail away party, muster was right before the main dinner seating so it was chaotic getting to dinner! The first day is supposed to be exciting but it was such a disappointment being handed a paper when I boarded the ship telling me my entire vacation was not what we had planned. We weren't even told in person. I believe we should have been told when we checked in. I thought this was very unprofessional. The icing on the cake was when I went to guest services to voice my concerns and the representative laughed and told me I was lucky because San Juan is a much better port than Tortola!! Maybe no other cruise line would have done any better but I probably could have swallowed it better if i had paid 3000 less like I would have if we had sailed Royal Caribbean. We pay a premium price for DCL and I expect outstanding customer service for that premium. Everyone on this board always says "you get what you pay for". Well I did not get what I paid for at all!!

I'm glad to hear this response. I was wondering if part of my confusion was because it was our first cruise. From being handed a piece of paper saying our port days were changing to no one having any idea if or when we were leaving or what there was to do..after driving around port canveral killing a few hours waiting to board...the first day was very confusing. When we went to the pool deck to sail away from st thomas, it made me sad to realize what we missed the first day which should have been a party leaving Florida!

 

[Beth06015]

I would have been very disappointed with having no sail away party and no navigator the first afternoon as well. It is really too bad they completely cut that out. I am surprised about the customer service gal laughing about your concerns, really just kind of adds insult to injury. Hope some of your cruise went better than the way it started!

Many of the cast members were saying that San Juan was a better port to go to, that Tortola is a small port without much to do that Disney added recently to itineraries...well if that was the case we could have chosen San Juan when picking a cruise. t And why did it involve switching days for st thomas? None of the excursions I had planned for months happened, and we had to pick something on the fly from their list for PR.

 

[bbel]

Many of the cast members were saying that San Juan was a better port to go to, that Tortola is a small port without much to do that Disney added recently to itineraries...well if that was the case we could have chosen San Juan when picking a cruise. t And why did it involve switching days for st thomas? None of the excursions I had planned for months happened, and we had to pick something on the fly from their list for PR.

Ok, I really don't want to sound mean, but I know it's the Internet and people are quick to assume, but I think you need to start and let go and little and remember the good times you had on that cruise.
Like people have said, no one know why those ports were skipped/switched, and actually, dcl don't owe you an explanation, sorry if that sounds harsh.

People this week had to skip a port in Norway. They didnt get the option of another port and just got a day at sea. No doubt many people were also upset, chose the cruise for that certain itinerary, planned it for months.

Sorry. If you don't like it, my only suggestion is don't risk a cruise again, because anything can happen to any port at any time on any cruise.

 

[cmwade77]

Under the circumstances, the company that you booked the excursion with should have allowed you to cancel without penalty (or to move it to the port the ship actually made it to). This leaves the decision to continue to go anyway squarely in your court, in this case I don't think additional compensation is warranted. Now had you booked through Disney, obviously it would be up to them to make it right, but as it stands, it really isn't their responsibility.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think that SJ being US soil and also a DCL "home port" with full facilities is key to why the change.

Tortola is a small port and if they needed divers or a part, they wouldn't get that there.

 

[cmwade77]

I think that SJ being US soil and also a DCL "home port" with full facilities is key to why the change.

Tortola is a small port and if they needed divers or a part, they wouldn't get that there.

That would be my guess as well, it may not be about distance, but rather what port can handle whatever repairs may have been necessary.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

That would be my guess as well, it may not be about distance, but rather what port can handle whatever repairs may have been necessary.

And if they had to bail, everyone's lack of passports wouldn't have been an issue as it would be in Tortola, which is British.

 

[tarheelz]

When it comes to air or sea travel, I've noticed that the captains always referred to a "destination," but never "where we're going." I've come to realize that their use of the word "destination" is intended to convey the subtle message that all ports (and airports) are merely aspirational.