Have You Ever Experienced a "Bad" Cruise? Really?

[mktt]

Sailed on NCL Jade in the Med. Ports = Awesome. Weather Pretty good considering it was January. Ship: still looked like on the inside like she was still called "Pride of Hawaii". Totally Polynesian (not that its bad, but Disney has done Polynesian very well)

Food: Awful unless you went to an up charge restaurant. If you went to the breakfast buffet, you were likely to catch a case of food poisoning.

Shows: Some Great, many good and some aweful

Crew: everyone EXCEPT for the cruise director - pretty much useless. No eye contact, no smiles and don't even try to talk to them. And the servers at the buffet (we couldn't serve ourselves - norovirus maybe) would be visiting with each other, sever one person in line, then turn around with their backs to you, after a while would turn back around and serve you, then turn around again - even though there were MANY people in line!!

DCL has "ruined" us for other cruise lines, but their prices are making us need to look elsewhere.

Same with us.
We call NCL Never again Cruise Line after our Jade experience.
I agree on the food poisoning as well. The 'cheerleaders' claimed the usual "it's not the cruise line's fault that everyone got noro, the passengers bring it on". That didn't hold water when you had people getting sick multiple times on the 10 day cruise from hell.

It was a dirty ship with a lazy crew. On the Izmir port day we stayed on the ship. We caught staff who were supposed to be sanitizing (had their buckets and rags) napping in porthole windows. Another one was supposed to be wiping down the hand rails in the corridor and wasn't even trying, until I took out my camera to try and get a picture, then she at least pretended for a bit.

 

[bbangel]

May 2012 my friend and I did back to back cruises on the Wonder: Pacific (from LA to Vancouver) and the first Alaska (from Vancouver to Seattle). Of course we also had good memories about this cruise but the overall feeling was not there...

Then the character cast... for my friend and me characters are a BIG thing... this particular cast was just...mweh except for 3 of the performers.

And this to me shows just how different the individual experience can be. My mom and I were on the May 2012 repo cruise back to Vancouver and had a fantastic experience, especially with the character staff. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we booked two more cruises that year! Our next cruise was in September of 2012 and we kept running into the great cast members we had met in May and giving hugs and catching up.

No bad cruises for me although there have been things not ideal on several of them (friend having a gall stone attack, sub-par dining staff, awkward dining matches). It is hard when you know people have paid a lot (and may have saved for a long time) to enjoy a cruise and then things don't meet their expectations. It can be hard to always look on the bright side.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

This is unimaginable! I think I would have gone ballistic if someone used permanent marker on my designer clothing, or ANY of my personal belongings for that matter. Who just goes around marking up other people's stuff? I can't even imagine what on Earth they were thinking. I haven't tried sending anything out for dry cleaning before, but now I'm going to be paranoid if I ever need to use this service.

I was told that the laundry process was being changed. I make sure to write super big & bold on my dry cleaning slips DO NOT WRITE ON MY CLOTHING. It hasn't happened since this Wonder cruise.

Never had a problem on any of our cruises and have sent many articles in for dry cleaning on each cruise. (Always had the little paper tags attached) Odd this one person had it happen on 3 seperate cruises, must have been an anomoly

Not an anomaly. I have pics. Happened on at least 3 or 4 cruises from 2012 - 2014. 3 Disney ships. The stateroom numbers crossed out blew me away. Have you looked on your tags in your clothes? Turned them over & looked? When were your cruises? The ones I had this happen on were 2012 - 2014. Just asking. It was a fluke I ever caught it in the first place. I was folding something to pack & a tag flipped up.

I think it only happened on one cruise. Rereading her report, they wrote stateroom number from previous 3 cruises and then had crossed them out. It definitely WOULD be an anomaly if it happened on 3 separate cruises and I would stop using dry cleaning services!

Happened on 3 or 4 cruises from like 2012 - 2014. 3 different Disney ships. I kinda have a "thing" about things being cleaned or washed if I've worn them. I virtually never wear something more than once between washing. My choices are go buy more clothes that I don't like as much to take on vacation or have things dry cleaned. At least once a year we travel for 2 weeks straight. If I never had my dry cleaning done I'd need to bring a LOT of clothes. So far, writing on the cleaning slips has made a difference. May also be that they corrected their methods as I was assured was the case. Perhaps my pressing the issue and being reimbursed for damages made correcting their methods more pertinent. I do make it a point to only send the things I need for cleaning now whereas I used to just send all my cleaning & get it over with.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Pictures of what I've been describing with the writing on tags:

This one is the one that I caught the first time. See how the ink even bled????

Searching through items I had for that timeframe, this was on every piece I had cleaned onboard.

 

[Bethany10]

sweetpee_1993, that's just insane. Who the heck thinks it's ok to write in permanent marker on someone's clothes?!

 

[SteveMP]

I was told that the laundry process was being changed. I make sure to write super big & bold on my dry cleaning slips DO NOT WRITE ON MY CLOTHING. It hasn't happened since this Wonder cruise.




Not an anomaly. I have pics. Happened on at least 3 or 4 cruises from 2012 - 2014. 3 Disney ships. The stateroom numbers crossed out blew me away. Have you looked on your tags in your clothes? Turned them over & looked? When were your cruises? The ones I had this happen on were 2012 - 2014. Just asking. It was a fluke I ever caught it in the first place. I was folding something to pack & a tag flipped up.
.

That is so strange. Let me see we did RCL last year, and DCL the 4 years prior. So would be 2012-2015. I think the only thing I have left from those years are sports coats/blazers for formal/semi formal nights. I'll double check the tags on those, but don't remember seeing anything on any of my clothes.

 

[darnheather]

We were on a Collette tour of Greece. The cruise was booked through Collette. There was a stop for Ephesus in Turkey. It was a port intensive cruise, actually had 2 ports in one day, Mykonos and one other.

Thank you so much!

 

[Tractortom]

We have had good ones, and not so good ones, but sometimes you get what you pay for. My wife and I have cruised on Holland America, Celebrity, RCCI and Disney in the past. Our last cruise was a 'cut rate' cruise on RCCI's smallest and oldest ship, out of Port Canaveral for a weekday cruise of four nights. I think I paid about $500 for the both of us. The cabin was tiny, didn't have a couch, just a bed and a desk chair and the bed was old and very hard. The food was sub-par in the dining room, the food at the buffet restaurant was mostly stone cold and terrible. There was a Johnny Rockets on board, and the service there was awful, but the food was mostly pretty good so we ate there a couple times. The stops were Nassau and the private island, both less than stellar. BUT, we made friends with one of the servers in the one lounge and he took good care of us, and helped pass the time. So, would I do it again? NOPE, not on that ship. But, for the small cost of $500 we got a week away from the house, and time on-board ship. It had it's good moments to, so we continue to cruise. Looking forward to our Fantasy cruise in February to celebrate my wife's 70th birthday.

Tom in Okeechobee, FL

 

[ChicosWife]

Yes,it was an eastern carribean so St.Thomas and St. Marteen are so close that the storm affected us at both ports. I want to say we went to Jamaica one day but aren't sure. I know foe sure we went to CC.

Was Jamaica already on your itinerary or did they go there to help make up for the lost ports?

 

[mcgluvint]

Was Jamaica already on your itinerary or did they go there to help make up for the lost ports?

Make up for the lost ports.

 

[SteveMP]

Pictures of what I've been describing with the writing on tags:

This one is the one that I caught the first time. See how the ink even bled????

Searching through items I had for that timeframe, this was on every piece I had cleaned onboard.

Hmm, ok so I do see writing on my Blazer. A 3 and a D. It looks like some kind of pen but not sharpie, lighter. I can't be sure it was on a cruise but I normally only get them dry cleaned when on a cruise or hotel to clean and press the travel wrinkles out. It is pen, won't rub off. Odd. I never stayed on the 3rd floor of any ship. Hmm, a mystery.

 

[Rbennett0427]

I've never had a bad cruise, but I'm not picky either! We always seem to have great time!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Hmm, ok so I do see writing on my Blazer. A 3 and a D. It looks like some kind of pen but not sharpie, lighter. I can't be sure it was on a cruise but I normally only get them dry cleaned when on a cruise or hotel to clean and press the travel wrinkles out. Odd. I never stayed on the 3rd floor of any ship. Hmm, a mystery.

Interesting. These were just 2 of the labels that were written on. I have several more but they're packed away. I sold a couple of the items...for less than I normally would get, sadly.

 

[SteveMP]

Interesting. These were just 2 of the labels that were written on. I have several more but they're packed away. I sold a couple of the items...for less than I normally would get, sadly.

I just find it really odd that anyone would write on a tag. Eventually they would run out of room. And I know for sure the cleaners in my neighborhood all use those paper tags that they staple in a loop.

 

[over50visits]

I've never experienced a bad cruise because I go with all the best intentions that my cruise is going to be great. Yeah, I've had a few things happen that where out of my control (bad weather, ship repairs while cruising, missed ports, excursions canceled, rude passengers) and I just accepted it and moved on. There is no need to let something I have no control over ruin my cruise.

Amen. I believe you have the experience you expect to have. Surly waiters, wrong drinks, nonworking toilets, rude tablemates, weather problems canceling CC, the ship may go through a hurricane (Sandy)...they all happen, and for some, it will "ruin" their cruise. Not us. We love all of our cruises, and have no doubt will will love all of our future cruises.

Expect to have a great time and you will. If you're grumpy at home all the time, you'll be grumpy on the cruise.

 

[cruiser21]

Amen. I believe you have the experience you expect to have. Surly waiters, wrong drinks, nonworking toilets, rude tablemates, weather problems canceling CC, the ship may go through a hurricane (Sandy)...they all happen, and for some, it will "ruin" their cruise. Not us. We love all of our cruises, and have no doubt will will love all of our future cruises.

Expect to have a great time and you will. If you're grumpy at home all the time, you'll be grumpy on the cruise.

All that could happen and it would still be better then a day at work. I think I need a new job.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I just find it really odd that anyone would write on a tag. Eventually they would run out of room. And I know for sure the cleaners in my neighborhood all use those paper tags that they staple in a loop.

I thought the same thing. What happens when they run out of room? Flip it over? The sneakiness, too. Like they tried hiding it.

 

[janiebubble]

Interesting. These were just 2 of the labels that were written on. I have several more but they're packed away. I sold a couple of the items...for less than I normally would get, sadly.

Whilst I have never sent anything to dry cleaning my friend has sent clothes to the laundry and his Stateroom number was written on the tag in his jeans ... he jokes that this is why he always books the same stateroom!

 

[Barbydoll8]

I think people who complain about things like that are people who don't really live. They want to play a part in a narrative they have created. They don't want to have actual experiences.

This 1,000 x's.

 

[thumpie's mom]

Okay, this is kinda off-topic from Disney Cruises in general, but I just got off the CruiseCritic boards and to hear it from many, many seasoned cruisers over there they have had just absolutely miserable experiences on some of their cruises over the years and are constantly complaining about specific ships, cruise lines in general, etc.

So my question is this: Have you ever experienced a "bad" cruise overall? And I'm talking about things beyond your control, not that you got sick, were hung over most of the time, missed the ship at a port, etc.

My personal experience is this: I have been on 8 cruises (four with Disney) with two currently booked for next year (one on Disney, one on Princess). In my experiences I have never had a "bad" cruise! Maybe I'm just lucky so far *knocks on wood*

What are your experiences?

Happy to say we have never had a bad cruise on DCL, which is why we keep coming back!