Home from first Disney Cruise (Magic) - observations/questions

[Luvmypetz]

Yes, our recent Magic cruise had an Asian family behind us speaking in their native tongue throughout the show.

 

[connie1042]

Have not been on a Disney cruise before, but was talking to a customer at work that just got off the Fantasy, and she said she could not believe how rude people on this ship were. (passengers, not staff) She was using a scooter, which I am planning on using. It makes me kinda nervous.

 

[griffindesign]

We've done a Disney 3 night, 4 night, 7 night, and 14 night cruise and never had any real issues with distractions. Maybe just briefly, but nothing serious on our cruises. I have been raised going to theatre and ironically the biggest issue I've had happened about a year ago at a performance where people in the area where we were sitting payed $150, and a man who was clearly drunk was talking loudly, and when someone asked him to stopped he got louder and hateful. Someone nearby went and got security and the man was removed. My best advice for Disney would be to ask a cm for help. Especially when the cussing and abusive language started. My guess is they would take that more seriously than just a person talking. So sorry for your disappointing experience.

 

[ivanp91]

He loudly said that he had kids ...

Has anyone else experienced that?

The "kids" excuse...

Until my last cruise I would be able to say NO, I hadn't experience it, but something very similar happened when I was on the Magic in October '16. Ours was a Halloween on the High Seas cruise and Halloween itself fell on one of our at sea days, so all the festivities were scheduled for the actual day. Arrived early for the Halloween party, standing on deck 4 near the DVC booth overlooking the atrium. Being a fairly tall guy I am always considerate and let kids and shorter adults stand in front of me, it can normally be two or three people deep and I can still see over everyone fairly well. Well... about 15 minutes into the show, two parents and their daughter enter the area coming from the aft (past the D Lounge), push their way through everyone and encourage their kid to push further right in front of where myself, plus two people in front, were standing. The dad grabs me by the arm, pulls me back, and demanded "CAN YOU LET HER THROUGH?". I was so shocked that all I could think to do was roll my eyes and shake my head, which made him snap "THIS IS FOR KIDS YOU KNOW". Within 30 seconds the three of them had disappeared. I didn't think of a decent comeback in time, I really wish I had said "if it's only for kids then why are adults allowed on the ship?" or "if it meant that much to you why are you just getting here now?"

I can get pretty angry when people are unjustifiably rude, and I was absolutely livid and had to go back to the room afterwards to calm down. Not just the way I was spoken to, but the fact he physically tried to move me out the way, when my only 'crime' was standing at the back of a crowd minding my own business, watching entertainment on a cruise that I spent my hard earned money on. Unacceptable behaviour.

 

[Flossbolna]

OP, I am sorry that you had such a horrible experience! I have been to plenty of shows and while I have been annoyed by people whispering, I never experienced anything like this. We often sit further back because we don't want to bother being there early and we like aisle seats, so we often have a little disturbance with people coming late or going early and some of them doing this not in the most considerate way. I do think that part of the less considerate behavior is caused by the shows being "free", which causes some people to have less respect for it. Of course this is crazy as we all paid a lot of money for these shows with our cruise fare.

I have also noticed on my last cruise that there appeared to be more people who were rather unhappy with their own cruise experience and were just doing it for the kids. They did not enjoy the Disney aspect and thought that the cruise was far too expensive, but felt obliged to do a DCL cruise because it was the best for the kids and that they had to offer their kids that experience. I remember once leaving the hot tub because the people were just spreading unhappiness. I have a lot of points where I am critical about DCL, but I still love the experience over all. So, I do not get why people would actively do something that makes them so unhappy. Maybe the rude guy fell into that category?

But the notion that you are not supposed to be on a DCL cruise if you do not have kids is something that you will hear again and again. There are posters here on the board who think so. If you want a DCL cruise that is more geared to adults, the long repositioning cruises (Panama Canal and Trans Atlantic) have far less kids. However, my PC cruise had its own fair share of rude cruisers. And it seems that your issue was really the adults, not the kids.

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

It is kind of jarring to experience rude behavior when on a Disney themed vacation ... land or cruise. What is surprising is that it usually comes from the adults / parents ... sense of entitlement or the backlash against politically correct behavior/speech ... who knows ... but we refuse to let them ruin our holidays ...

 

[Carys]

We didn't have any issues with other guests being rude on our February Dream cruise, except for an epidemic of chair-kicking kids. Usually lift behaviour is where I see people unravel but no incidents this time!

 

[hanscarlet]

No we've never had an experience like the OP described. However anyone enjoy people watching in the theater prior to the show? There's always that one jerk who is saving 10 seats even though they specifically say "no saving seats".... it's funny how 98% of the theater is filled with polite and well mannered patrons and the a holes always stick out.... I just enjoy watching them and wonder if they realize how oblivious they are.... maybe it's just me but I always find it interesting to pass the time leading up to the show

 

[jrabbit]

There is a group of people from the past that I have NOT noticed lately on cruises - the "Inaugural / First Time Here Cruisers" This group is made up of people that are on the First Cruise of a new Itinerary / Port. I have been on my share of these cruises over the years (but of course I'm NOT part of the group I'm talking about ). These people "collect cruises" and they stand out. They have their shirts listing their "accomplishments", their doors are covered with the same and they generally crowd, shove and push their way to the "front" or best locations everywhere. After several "bad" experiences with these people, I tried to make sure that I was NOT on the first sailing of a new itinerary or to a new port even if the timing worked better with our schedules.

Like I said, I have not noticed these folks as often over the past 3 or 4 years.

 

[Aimeedyan]

My best advice for Disney would be to ask a cm for help. Especially when the cussing and abusive language started. My guess is they would take that more seriously than just a person talking. So sorry for your disappointing experience.

I did consider going for help but we were in the smack dab middle of a packed row (as was the man in question) and I knew that trying to get out would disrupt even more people. Those rows are not that wide I also thought that if I brought back a CM, he'd cause a bigger scene and I was honestly a bit scared (we really couldn't see each others faces yet and I didn't want him to be able to spot me on the ship later).

I've found through my line of work that disengaging from the bully personality helps diffuse the situation and when he realized we were not going to engage with him, he eventually stopped yelling (but certainly not talking LOL!). In hindsight, maybe I should have climbed out but at the time, trying to tune him out and enjoy the show seemed to be the better option.

 

[tigerlily2009]

I havent had people talk in the shows before that i remember but that would be a bummer as we like the shows as well.

Palo is always wonderful and the Magic is our favorite Palo in the fleet. Felice the manager always gives us a wonderful table and Sylvester our server makes the dining experience so enjoyable.

Is Sylvester from India? We had Sylvester years ago and he was one of the best Palo servers. I did not realize he was still with DCL...or maybe it is another Sylvester on the Magic.

 

[Trera]

Is Sylvester from India? We had Sylvester years ago and he was one of the best Palo servers. I did not realize he was still with DCL...or maybe it is another Sylvester on the Magic.

He is from India. Said he has been there a long time. He always provides amazing service to us.

 

[MunFam]

I am so sorry you had to experience that. Not cool, and you would have thought a cast member would have stepped in at some point.

We did experience rudeness on our last cruise. There was a family who would stand in the picture lines...and then 5-10 OTHER families from our mutual cruise group would all cut in line with them. It was awful. So we would be 2nd in line...and 20 minutes later....we finally got the photo we were waiting for. Finally, I said, I notice that you are infront of us again...are you going to allow people to cut the line with you again? She said no...10 minutes later...here come all the families. I told the CM because I was pissed. They just reminded them they could not save spots. And then they proceeded to ask for each child individually with character, all kids, only boys, only girls, only adults, siblings, families, group shot...it took FOREVER.

 

[GeneralTso]

It's hard because once you notice something like that, it's impossible to NOT hear it. Especially if you're irritated and ticked off about it.
In crowd situations, I'm always pleasantly surprised and grateful if there ISN'T some crazy distraction because there typically is. There are clueless and obnoxious people everywhere.

 

[Weedy]

We've been on 16 Disney cruises and have noticed this too often. It's all back to the do what you want attitude of people today.
We also had season tickets to the Broadway Series in Orlando. We stopped after the second season partly because people would take or worse sing throughout the entire performance.

 

[griffindesign]

I did consider going for help but we were in the smack dab middle of a packed row (as was the man in question) and I knew that trying to get out would disrupt even more people. Those rows are not that wide I also thought that if I brought back a CM, he'd cause a bigger scene and I was honestly a bit scared (we really couldn't see each others faces yet and I didn't want him to be able to spot me on the ship later).

I've found through my line of work that disengaging from the bully personality helps diffuse the situation and when he realized we were not going to engage with him, he eventually stopped yelling (but certainly not talking LOL!). In hindsight, maybe I should have climbed out but at the time, trying to tune him out and enjoy the show seemed to be the better option.

I certainly understand being caught in the middle of a row. Hopefully if something like this happens in the future a fellow cruiser at the end of the row can help out. It's a good reminder of how we can be a good Samaritan and help others when they are caught in a bad situation.

 

[ohMom]

Yes! This is become my biggest pet peeve of our fellow cruiser behavior. The past two cruises we were on we have experienced this, and they were both weeklong cruise is so I don't believe the length of the cruise isn't much of a factor. A couple of shows families were clearly translating for each other, I wonder if Disney could make a section for families intending to do so, or better yet provide headsets with translations of the show in their native language. I have turned around and glared, and it does nothing. I agree if they can make a cell phone announcement, DCL should add in .....please refrain from talking during the show as a courtesy to those around you. Though honestly I don't know if it would make much of a difference. Does anyone find sitting in a different area of the theater makes a difference, front versus back for example?

 

[Dug720]

I had people ruin the Disneyland-based show on the Fantasy for me because they decided the show was the time to loudly discuss their Navigator for the next day. I ended up leaving. Definitely US accents there.

 

[PurplePencil]

He loudly said that he had kids - she told him the kids weren't talking, he was (we literally heard not a word from the kids). So then he started... yelling at her that it was a Disney cruise, she was old and should go home, dropped the F bomb a couple times, and just went on and on for about 30 seconds. Mom had already turned back around so it was just at the back of our heads. People rows in front of us were turning around to see what was going on and I have no doubt the performers heard it, too. It was so embarrassing and uncomfortable as he was clearly unhinged. Someone in his party asked him to quiet down and he ramped back up about an old lady is not going to ask him to be quiet and he can talk if he wants. Obviously no one on our row said another word to them after that and the whole family slipped out before the show ended (I was terrified he was going to launch into another attack when the lights came up).

I've never experienced that, but I do believe your story and it's a shame that that guy was so horrid
!!!

In all our cruises I've never experienced anything like that.

I'm sorry this happened. Must be related to the women that let her 5 or 6 year old daughter kick me in the ribs in the hot tub just because she didn't want the bubbles on, and then came over to me and claimed that it was my responsibility to get her if I had a problem with her daughter...that was a fun Baltic Cruise.

 

[Trera]

Do those of you that have been on the Magic in the caribbean and also in Europe find that there are these kind of incidents on both cruises or is the European crowd better behaved?