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

[PurplePencil]

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?

The European crowd for the most part is better behaved. The one incident that I've witnessed occur was an isolated incident

 

[sabrecmc]

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?

Having done both itineraries, I have seen rude behavior on both, but in my experience, it has been a small minority of cruisers, and I do think that for some of the European guests, it was really a cultural misunderstanding. For example, on one Magic cruise in the Med, we had several cases of families just walking up to try to do the character meet and completely ignoring the line. Now, that seems rude...but, I guess that a sort of "character scrum" is a thing that happens at Disneyland Paris, and the whole idea of lining up is a bit of a cultural difference? So, maybe they just weren't aware. The CM did direct them to the back of the line, so it worked out. And sometimes, it seemed like the way they spoke to the CMs was a bit...short. But, again, if English is your second language, that might come across that way when it isn't really intended that way. I do know that the whole tipping thing was a big issue, but I think since DCL has gone to automatically adding the tip, that hasn't been such a problem.

I haven't had a particularly bad experience with the shows, but definitely the movie theaters are a lot more casual than a typical theater. People come and go, people are eating plates of food they've brought, checking the navigator or app on their phones...other than a premiere of a big movie, I think that is pretty common on the ships. It's just a different atmosphere, and I kind of go with it.

 

[lorimay]

I'm sorry this happened to you, how awful.
I have had a few times where I felt the noise level in show was ridiculous. What's funny to me is there are CM's who will run over if you snap a picture during the show really quick, but don't come over when there is excessive talking. Like someone else said, they want everyone to be happy, so I guess this is a pass for some to be rude too.

On our cruise last month, we got to the Tangled show very early to get a good seat. A woman came into the row behind us and proceeded to march back and forth guarding 13 seats for her family. People of course were piling in for the show and going into the row and she would shoo them away. Saying "I got a large family soooo..." She was so rude to everyone. I was so mad nobody challenged her. Of course the recorded message about saving seats was playing loud and clear as she continued her march completely ignoring it. SMH...... some people.

 

[disneycruisegal]

M husband and I have been in 8 cruises so far, we generally see all of the shows. We have never even closely encountered anyone so rude! So sorry for your experience.
We generally sit on the isle towards the back. The only problem we had, on our last cruise, was a womon with her son having to pass by us to get out, then back in, then back out, back in. She should have just stayed out, but...

 

[TestingH2O]

I thought of this thread today at the movie theater. We went to the discount theater to see Trolls. There was a man there with two kids under 10. His parenting style was very different than mine. When the kids were asking a couple questions he told them to sit down and shut up and watch the movie. When they got squirmy, he told them to cut that s*** out or they'd have to leave.

I'm glad DD was so intent on the movie because that is definitely not language we use around her, she's 4, and I certainly wasn't expecting it at a kid movie on a holiday afternoon.

To me though, it was another example of someone not thinking at all about the people around them. The kids were being good, just kids. And his reaction to them really bothered me and certainly detracted from my experience in a way their initial behavior did not.

 

[bbel]

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?

Like others have said, Europe is completely different, especially in the med.
I found that a lot of cruisers were first timers (at least to Disney) and a lot were new to Disney, so if you're an experienced cruiser, you might see some 'strange' behaviours. But actually, it's usually pretty magical, for these people it's their first time meeting Mickey Mouse or talking to a princess.
They're completely different culturally. Again, a lot of cruisers speak English as a second language, or don't speak English at all.
Like someone else mentioned, you can find some pushy guests, I would try and ask them to wait, or help the people they pushed in front of (sometimes a whole line), but honestly, when this was happening quite often it became exhausting and it was just easier to deal with them, yes I know, not a good experience for the people they pushed past, I'm sorry.

However, I would say that shows and other entertainment options would often get skipped, I guess because English was not the first language for so many. The Med was the only place I had the chance to see Tangled because there were spare seats.

 

[SeaNana]

We had a fantastic cruise overall but did have some low points I wanted to ask others about...

Just a few highlights (there were so many!):
Palo - both dinner and brunch. I see it recommended frequently that first time cruisers should skip Palo and just do the MDR but I completely disagree. I can't say enough great things about the food or service. We loved our waiter - he was easily my favorite person on the ship - and it was a wonderful treat to escape to. The table next to us was dining there every night and I now see why. We did night 2 (pirate night) and the MDR was a big letdown after that LOL. Because it was a 4 night, we still got to experience all 3 MDR's and finished Palo in time for the pirate party. I had neglected to do research on what people normally tip and guest services was no help - what do y'all usually do?

Shows - I knew going in that these would be great but I think they were better than we expected - the special effects were especially impressive. I enjoyed all three but Disney Dreams was my favorite. More about this in a bit.

Serenity Bay - Not having to battle for a lounge chair was so lovely; there was plenty for all. The water was crystal clear (though very very shallow - you could walk way out and barely be above your ankles) and warm enough to sit a lounge chair in. I was not impressed with the lunch but loved all other aspects of it. I just wish they had a cruise that stopped at it everyday!

Disappointments:
During the nighttime shows, I was shocked by how many adults carried on full blown conversations through the entire show. I wondered why there were there, if they didn't want to watch - they could have sat right outside the theater. It was really hard to hear the show over them. The first night, I finally turned around and asked if they could stop talking and they apologized and did. The second show, however, was a mess. It was Tangled so the theater was packed (standing room only). The man behind us loudly talked to members of his party (7-8 people so he was talking down the row) through the entire show. Someone on one side of us turned around and shh'ed him. Did nothing. I turned around and just looked, hoping it would help. Nope. My mom finally turned around and asked if he could whisper so we could hear the show - boy, that was a mistake.

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).

Later that night, we told our table mates (two women, both cruising solo) about the experience. I specifically asked if the rude guests, especially in shows, was the norm and the woman who had done several Disney cruises said that it was par for the course. The other woman had had several experiences already with really rude guests, too. Both of them skipped every show and instead watched it on the in room TV just to avoid the entire thing.

Disney obviously can't control their guests but I did wish they asked people to refrain from using cell phones or having conversations in the show. Maybe many guests don't have experiences with live theater and don't realize it can ruin someone's experience? The children were occasionally loud but I have no issue with that - at all. Many are very young and the show is long.

On the last night, we sat with our back to the sound booth so no one was sitting behind us and had a great experience. Wouldn't typically sit that far back but it was worth knowing no one would be having a family reunion in the row behind us

I also saw Moana in the movie theater and once again, a group of adults carried on a full blown conversation through most of it.

Has anyone else experienced that? To be honest... it makes me hesitant to book another Disney cruise. I've not experienced anything like that on the other two cruise lines I've sailed with. The shows are a really important part of the cruise for us - we didn't want to just watch on the TV - but it seemed you couldn't escape from the behavior.

This was was way longer than I intended - I'm so sorry! I really appreciated all the advice and tips I picked up pre-cruise and would love to hear from some of you veteran cruisers about both Palo tips and guest behavior.

I've been on 10 Disney cruises and the only time we had problems with rude guests anywhere was on the Mediterranean cruise, when some had to leave the ship. I'm sorry you had this this bad experience, but I would not say it's frequent.