Great Alaskan cruise!!! But.....

[Mickey13]

So my wife and two DD went on an Alaskan cruise starting July 4th to July 11th. This was the first time we have gone on any cruise and also the first time we have ever visited Alaska. My family and I experienced a lot of amazing things for the first time.

During the cruise, my wife and I were talking to a cast member. Her conversation then turned to firearms in the U.S. and how they should all be banned. Now, I own several firearms, I'm in the military reserves, and my full time occupation is Federal Law Enforcement, just to give you an idea of where I stand.

HOWEVER, when I go on vacation, I do not talk about politics. I think it's safe to say that when everyone goes on a vacation, especially a Disney cruise, we all just want to escape everyday life for several days, relax, and enjoy the time with our families. With this cast member, I engaged her verbally. The conversation was engaging, but very polite on both sides. But my wife and I did not expect to hear this on a cruise, especially from a cast member.

I'm not going to call her out, tell you where on the ship she worked, or her nationality. If Disney reads this, I just think it should be addressed that cast members should not talk about politics, regardless of what political party they tend to lean towards. I, like many other people, have strong political beliefs and viewpoints. But there is a time and place for that. I firmly believe a Disney cruise, and Disney Parks, is not the place for that.

That being said, this Alaska cruise on board the Disney Wonder was truly amazing for my family and I. Was my experience diminished by this one incident? No. Would I ever go on another Disney cruise? Absolutely!! But remember why we go to Disney, whether it be a cruise or a visit to one of their parks. We all go to experience the Disney Magic. To all my fellow Disboarder's. Take Care. God Bless.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So my wife and two DD went on an Alaskan cruise starting July 4th to July 11th. This was the first time we have gone on any cruise and also the first time we have ever visited Alaska. My family and I experienced a lot of amazing things for the first time.

During the cruise, my wife and I were talking to a cast member. Her conversation then turned to firearms in the U.S. and how they should all be banned. Now, I own several firearms, I'm in the military reserves, and my full time occupation is Federal Law Enforcement, just to give you an idea of where I stand.

HOWEVER, when I go on vacation, I do not talk about politics. I think it's safe to say that when everyone goes on a vacation, especially a Disney cruise, we all just want to escape everyday life for several days, relax, and enjoy the time with our families. With this cast member, I engaged her verbally. The conversation was engaging, but very polite on both sides. But my wife and I did not expect to hear this on a cruise, especially from a cast member.

I'm not going to call her out, tell you where on the ship she worked, or her nationality. If Disney reads this, I just think it should be addressed that cast members should not talk about politics, regardless of what political party they tend to lean towards. I, like many other people, have strong political beliefs and viewpoints. But there is a time and place for that. I firmly believe a Disney cruise, and Disney Parks, is not the place for that.

That being said, this Alaska cruise on board the Disney Wonder was truly amazing for my family and I. Was my experience diminished by this one incident? No. Would I ever go on another Disney cruise? Absolutely!! But remember why we go to Disney, whether it be a cruise or a visit to one of their parks. We all go to experience the Disney Magic. To all my fellow Disboarder's. Take Care. God Bless.

Well, people have opinions. Sadly, some allow it to spill over into areas where it's inappropriate. Did you mention her by name on the end of cruise comment card? It's really important for DCL to know which CMs are behaving as they should as well as who isn't. Even if DCL, in training sessions, were to make the generic statement you want, who knows that she would see herself in it?

Glad your cruise was good, otherwise.

 

[phinz]

<<<--- Very left-leaning gun owner and CHP holder.

I wouldn't consider guns a political topic. People turn the subject *into* a political topic because they tend to falsely equate gun ownership or distaste for guns with certain political leanings. That's a dangerous assumption to make.

Perhaps they shouldn't talk about topics that have strong opinions one way or the other and just leave the conversation to weather, food, etc. I don't want to hear anybody I don't know talking about sex, religion, politics or other highly-charged topics. It's not polite in mixed company, but today's world seems to have made it much less taboo because people can vent their opinions anonymously without fear of repercussions. I'd have said something in my survey at the end of the week, and there's a chance I would have said something to the cast member even before that.

 

[MUN]

So my wife and two DD went on an Alaskan cruise starting July 4th to July 11th. This was the first time we have gone on any cruise and also the first time we have ever visited Alaska. My family and I experienced a lot of amazing things for the first time.

During the cruise, my wife and I were talking to a cast member. Her conversation then turned to firearms in the U.S. and how they should all be banned. Now, I own several firearms, I'm in the military reserves, and my full time occupation is Federal Law Enforcement, just to give you an idea of where I stand.

HOWEVER, when I go on vacation, I do not talk about politics. I think it's safe to say that when everyone goes on a vacation, especially a Disney cruise, we all just want to escape everyday life for several days, relax, and enjoy the time with our families. With this cast member, I engaged her verbally. The conversation was engaging, but very polite on both sides. But my wife and I did not expect to hear this on a cruise, especially from a cast member.

I'm not going to call her out, tell you where on the ship she worked, or her nationality. If Disney reads this, I just think it should be addressed that cast members should not talk about politics, regardless of what political party they tend to lean towards. I, like many other people, have strong political beliefs and viewpoints. But there is a time and place for that. I firmly believe a Disney cruise, and Disney Parks, is not the place for that.

That being said, this Alaska cruise on board the Disney Wonder was truly amazing for my family and I. Was my experience diminished by this one incident? No. Would I ever go on another Disney cruise? Absolutely!! But remember why we go to Disney, whether it be a cruise or a visit to one of their parks. We all go to experience the Disney Magic. To all my fellow Disboarder's. Take Care. God Bless.

Perhaps your wife should have walked away if she didn't want to engage is a particluar type of conversation with a CM. You shouldn't be surprised that much of the world thinks were nuts for the love of guns metatality that we seem to have in the US.

 

[Mickey13]

Perhaps your wife should have walked away if she didn't want to engage is a particluar type of conversation with a CM. You shouldn't be surprised that much of the world thinks were nuts for the love of guns metatality that we seem to have in the US.

My wife wasn't uncomfortable, just surprised.

 

[AquaDame]

The conversation was engaging, but very polite on both sides. But my wife and I did not expect to hear this on a cruise, especially from a cast member.

I feel one issue may be how willing so many are to speak about it... As you said, you found the conversation engaging, and obviously continued on past her initial remark. I'm not trying to excuse her bringing it up, but since she has experienced people being engaged by the topic, she'll likely continue to use it to engage with her guests. Personally, I just nod and change the subject. If you get the opportunity to say so though, I would still mark it on a comment survey if you are able since it detracted from your trip!

 

[aggiedog]

Particularly if this CM were not American, I'm not surprised that it came up or her views. Between my travels and international friends, much of the world is mystified by not only the US fascination with firearms, but also our inability to provide medical care to everyone. I would say that this CM speaking her mind just falls into the category of broadening our minds with opinions from other cultures. Giving them a list of what should and shouldn't be discussed might get quite extensive over and above sex, religion, and political candidates/groups. Now, if the CM were from the US, then she should have known better, as she'd've been more savvy in navigating taboo US topics.

 

[sabrecmc]

One of the things I enjoy about engaging with crew members from around the world is the different perspectives. It is very eye-opening. So, that is a conversation I would have personally really enjoyed, no matter how I might feel about the issue. I think you can always say a polite, "But, enough about politics, I don't want to think about that stuff on vacation!" and leave it at that. I had a very interesting discussion with a CM from Jamaica about immigration issues, and it was fascinating. Our assistant server from Russia once went off on Putin and that was hilarious. I'm sure they are probably counseled to stay away from some topics, and I can see that maybe they should not be the ones to bring it up, but I wouldn't want an outright ban on things they can talk to guests about. I really enjoy learning a bit about how things work elsewhere and how we as a nation are perceived.

 

[MUN]

My wife wasn't uncomfortable, just surprised.

Why was she surprised? CM's are human. Now if Mickey brought this up with your wife, that would be surprising.

 

[DnA2010]

Perhaps your wife should have walked away if she didn't want to engage is a particluar type of conversation with a CM. You shouldn't be surprised that much of the world thinks were nuts for the love of guns metatality that we seem to have in the US.

Particularly if this CM were not American, I'm not surprised that it came up or her views. Between my travels and international friends, much of the world is mystified by not only the US fascination with firearms, but also our inability to provide medical care to everyone. I would say that this CM speaking her mind just falls into the category of broadening our minds with opinions from other cultures. Giving them a list of what should and shouldn't be discussed might get quite extensive over and above sex, religion, and political candidates/groups. Now, if the CM were from the US, then she should have known better, as she'd've been more savvy in navigating taboo US topics.

Indeed- the gun topic is a big one and generally one that we (DH and I) end up engaged in someone with when we travel to the US- I wouldn't have thought twice about a CM engaging an American in this conversation. Personally I don't really think of it as a political issue, but rather a cultural one, and I found discussions with CMs regarding their cultures interesting. Probably if you were both engaged in the conversation, she didn't see issue to speaking about it.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Kind of hard to avoid topics that are current events. Just before your cruise the Dallas shooting occurred. Then another shooting made smaller headline the night before you left. The Vancouver news was all over the Dallas event, every channel on TV. I just want to get into travel mode myself. A few human interest stories.
And while we shopped around Alaska(I was on your cruise) people in town spoke of the events still. When we got back Minnesota's shooting and riots were news.
We like to feel disconnected from the world as we travel. As if every place we stop is magical as we view them with our rose colored glasses.
But since Dallas was such a big story and now Nice and they just float around disconnected from family and friends for months at a time, I can see how some current events spilled over into our magical time on the ship.
We had the best ever weather didn't we? I didn't even remember the rain at Enddicott until it was mentioned on the boards here. Have my rose colored glasses on still!