Finally off of the Fantasy

[disneymagicgirl]

But what about all the people on board that needed to get back to homes in Florida to prepare.

Nobody would have accommodations secured in La. In Florida many would have been locals that could return home and prepare and other would have already had air or hotels booked at least for the days after the cruise was supposed to end. Others may have driven from out state but had cars at PC.

No solution was perfect and nobody was put in danger:

Nothing would be good for all onboard. I was just throwing out an idea. NCL allowed passengers to debark in Miami who chose and others were able to stay on and go back out to sea so they wouldn't be stranded in an evac zone. They may end up at another port for debarkation if Miami is unusable after the storm. It was nice that they were given the choice.

 

[samily]

I'm not sure what alternative you feel would have been better.

I thought I read of a couple of other cruise lines that came back into port Thursday and gave passengers the option of disembarking or staying onboard and heading to Cozumel to ride out the storm until it was safe to return to port.

At least that gave passengers an option if they couldn't get flights out.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I thought I read of a couple of other cruise lines that came back into port Thursday and gave passengers the option of disembarking or staying onboard and heading to Cozumel to ride out the storm until it was safe to return to port.

At least that gave passengers an option if they couldn't get flights out.

Yes NCL did. Not sure about the others.

 

[lanejudy]

I thought I read of a couple of other cruise lines that came back into port Thursday and gave passengers the option of disembarking or staying onboard and heading to Cozumel to ride out the storm until it was safe to return to port.

At least that gave passengers an option if they couldn't get flights out.

That was a very nice option for those cruise lines to give. I applaud them for it. However, there might be any number of reasons DCL did not make those options. Since they did not return to PC on an expected schedule possibly the DCL ships were not able to restock enough food and supplies for passengers plus crew for what might be an unknown length of time. DCL may plan to immediately send those crew members to CC after Irma passes, and having passengers onboard to return to a US port would delay recovery efforts. I wouldn't be surprised if there are liability issues with having unpaid guests onboard while relocating to avoid the storm(s). Are those guests going to expect a real "cruise" experience (meals, housekeeping, entertainment, activities, etc.) - and if not providdd up to "Disney standard" they would then complain.

DCL is in a position of being unable to please all guests. No matter what they do people will complain. They came back early and people complained. If they had stayed out to sea and extended last week's cruises people would be upset. They made a decision to return all passenger to the port safely and ahead of the storm. I believe many cruise passengers have been accommodated at WDW resorts with discounts. DCL can't honestly be expected to fully provide for every single guest's well-being and ability to travel home. I feel for those who are stranded, I really do, and I pray they all remain safe throughout this ordeal. But I do think being upset that DCL hasn't done more is really misplaced anger and frustration due to an unfortunate situation where no one should be blamed.

 

[Dug720]

That was a very nice option for those cruise lines to give. I applaud them for it. However, there might be any number of reasons DCL did not make those options. Since they did not return to PC on an expected schedule possibly the DCL ships were not able to restock enough food and supplies for passengers plus crew for what might be an unknown length of time. DCL may plan to immediately send those crew members to CC after Irma passes, and having passengers onboard to return to a US port would delay recovery efforts. I wouldn't be surprised if there are liability issues with having unpaid guests onboard while relocating to avoid the storm(s). Are those guests going to expect a real "cruise" experience (meals, housekeeping, entertainment, activities, etc.) - and if not providdd up to "Disney standard" they would then complain.

DCL is in a position of being unable to please all guests. No matter what they do people will complain. They came back early and people complained. If they had stayed out to sea and extended last week's cruises people would be upset. They made a decision to return all passenger to the port safely and ahead of the storm. I believe many cruise passengers have been accommodated at WDW resorts with discounts. DCL can't honestly be expected to fully provide for every single guest's well-being and ability to travel home. I feel for those who are stranded, I really do, and I pray they all remain safe throughout this ordeal. But I do think being upset that DCL hasn't done more is really misplaced anger and frustration due to an unfortunate situation where no one should be blamed.

Exactly.

And one other thing to consider is when exactly the other ships that allowed people to revised/remain onboard were back in port. Was it the same timeframe - Thursday? If it was later, like Friday, there were likely a lot less options to get out of the area. Also where did the ships disembark? If Miami or Ft Lauderdale the options even on Thursday were likely MUCH more limited for getting out of there (plus the traffic jams) than the PC area.

And should the unthinkable happen with those ships that did allow people to remain onboard, people will be screaming that they should not have allowed that.

Really all the lines are in a catch-22 with situations like these - people will complain either way.

 

[samily]

Just to be clear, I am not complaining or angry at DCL. A pp asked what another alternative might be better and I replied with an alternative that other lines have done that at least gives passengers an option. Some lines have chosen to keep their ships out and extend their current cruises, some have come into port early and disembarked all passengers and some have come back early and given the passengers the option to disembark - no one way is the right or wrong way, I am sure they all have their reasons for doing so. However, if I were a passenger, I would prefer to have a choice.

Many years ago we were sailing on a 3 night DCL cruise during a hurricane that hit Florida. They kept us out for an extra night and we then had to disembark at an alternate port. We had two young children and I was pregnant. I remember waiting in line through the night for hours to use the phones at Guest Services. My DH and kids brought breakfast to me in the line in the morning. By that time, the line was down the hall, around the corner by Animators and into the stairwell. It was crazy. I felt so bad for the people who were worried sick about their kids at home, their families, their houses, and they were stuck on the ship. Then when we finally got off and to the airport, there were families there that had been camped out there for days whose ships had come in early but they couldn't get flights out.

I don't envy any of the cruise lines right now, I can't imagine the logistics that go into trying to keep everyone safe. I had to arrange to evacuate just a few people this week and it was difficult!

 

[minnie56]

They are being refunded for the missed ports/nights/days.

Anyone electing to cruise during hurricane season should know that storms and related changes or cancellations are possible.

And...25% off next cruise with Disney

 

[kollerbear]

One idea-- Disney could have acknowledged that this is a really serious situation and asked new guests to please not arrive on Friday and Saturday if they could at all help it so that those rooms could be taken by local evacuees and people coming off of their cruise ship line. Not for free, but at least to have made rooms available would have been nice. According to many accounts, cast members kept telling guests to come on down like their presence would have no impact whatsoever on people who might be in a tough spot.

 

[annacali]

There are a lot of passengers we are in contact with trying to get out. Their original flights are officially canceled, There are no more large rental vehicles, and Disneyworld is basically sold out. They have nowhere to go and no way to get to somewhere else. There is a real problem with dropping 4000 people off in an active evacuation zone. The more I hear about others issue

I have been wondering this for several days--questioning the wisdom of dumping all those passengers into the evacuation zone. No gas, no cars, no flights. So then what?

 

[peter11435]

I have been wondering this for several days--questioning the wisdom of dumping all those passengers into the evacuation zone. No gas, no cars, no flights. So then what?

When the ships returned port canaveral was not an evacuation zone.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

When the ships returned port canaveral was not an evacuation zone.

....but everyone was evacuating, so maybe not "officially", but still crappy for the people who were (and still are) scrambling to try to get out of there.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

That was a very nice option for those cruise lines to give. I applaud them for it. However, there might be any number of reasons DCL did not make those options. Since they did not return to PC on an expected schedule possibly the DCL ships were not able to restock enough food and supplies for passengers plus crew for what might be an unknown length of time. DCL may plan to immediately send those crew members to CC after Irma passes, and having passengers onboard to return to a US port would delay recovery efforts. I wouldn't be surprised if there are liability issues with having unpaid guests onboard while relocating to avoid the storm(s). Are those guests going to expect a real "cruise" experience (meals, housekeeping, entertainment, activities, etc.) - and if not providdd up to "Disney standard" they would then complain.

DCL is in a position of being unable to please all guests. No matter what they do people will complain. They came back early and people complained. If they had stayed out to sea and extended last week's cruises people would be upset. They made a decision to return all passenger to the port safely and ahead of the storm. I believe many cruise passengers have been accommodated at WDW resorts with discounts. DCL can't honestly be expected to fully provide for every single guest's well-being and ability to travel home. I feel for those who are stranded, I really do, and I pray they all remain safe throughout this ordeal. But I do think being upset that DCL hasn't done more is really misplaced anger and frustration due to an unfortunate situation where no one should be blamed.

Excellent information and good points. I'll just add that the fact of whether there are paying vs. non-paying passengers aboard does not affect liability issues.

 

[stephmarty]

I do really like the approach taken by Norwegian. There may be good reasons other cruise lines didn't follow suit. Or it could be that Norwegian was just very innovative in coming up with a solution here that others hadn't given serious consideration. Either way, quite ironic they are on the Norwegian Escape!

NCL is reaping the benefits of a lot of free press with a positive story. I was impressed enough to put down the iPad and tell my wife about it when I first read the story on Friday. I'm always impressed when a company is able to take a tragic situation and turn it into a really positive experience for their customers. Choosy consumers definitely stop and take note.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/fl-reg-norwegian-escape-irma-20170909-story.html