Just spent e terrifying night on The Fantasy

[HippieChickadee]

This was happening overnight.

At 12:30 am what more did you want? A play by play streamed into the cabin?

Take the goodwill gesture they are offering you and count your blessings instead of trying to point blame.

As someone else here said, he was trying to follow the storm safely back to port, not bring you into it. The storm surprised him and about 50 million other people. It was unpredictable until the very moment it made landfall- even now we are riding out what is lingering.

You are not owed something every time something scary happens in life.

I'd be rich!

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

like i said when i posted way back, i feel sorry for the people who were caught in this situation. Im glad to see others posting on here with the same feelings as myself. The captain got you back to port safely. Your not riding a controlled disney ride, your dealing with mother nature. They know what the ship can handle and mostlikely had weather info confirming what they were heading into. Delaying the return at the time didnt seem neccesary. If they delayed i can imagine there would be as many people complaining they missed flights etc. The cruisers waiting to board on sat would be irrate also. A no win situation for everyone. Try dealing with carnival , etc if a problem arises. I ALSO AGREE SURVIVORS IS TOO STRONG A WORD.

Some may feel survivors is too strong a word, however by definition, it also refers to those who have survived a trauma.

sur·vive (sr-vv)
v. sur·vived, sur·viv·ing, sur·vives
v.intr.
1. To remain alive or in existence.
2. To carry on despite hardships or trauma; persevere: families that were surviving in tents after the flood.
3. To remain functional or usable: I dropped the radio, but it survived.
v.tr.
1. To live longer than; outlive: She survived her husband by five years.
2. To live, persist, or remain usable through: plants that can survive frosts; a clock that survived a fall.
3. To cope with (a trauma or setback); persevere after: survived child abuse.

survivor [səˈvaɪvə]
n
1. a person or thing that survives
2. (Law) Property law one of two or more specified persons having joint interests in property who lives longer than the other or others and thereby becomes entitled to the whole property
survivorship n

 

[t_daniels]

This was happening overnight.

At 12:30 am what more did you want? A play by play streamed into the cabin?

Take the goodwill gesture they are offering you and count your blessings instead of trying to point blame.

As someone else here said, he was trying to follow the storm safely back to port, not bring you into it. The storm surprised him and about 50 million other people. It was unpredictable until the very moment it made landfall- even now we are riding out what is lingering.

You are not owed something every time something scary happens in life.

I'd be rich!

But, if they don't have the money or desire for another cruise? Then, it doesn't help any.

 

[dvc deernut]

First and foremost--I'm glad you are all safe!!! I'm SURE I would have been very scared!!! I'm in no way trying to downplay the intensity of the storm or its effects.

I was referring to the amount of posts regarding the need for a full refund, including the Facebook group set up for "survivors" to band together and muscle DCL into giving more than 25% off a future cruise.

As far as the communication (or lack thereof) is concerned, what could they have done differently? I'm curious to know what you think should have been announced? I'm not trying to provoke an argument; I am legitimately asking.

I AGREE, IF THEY SHOWED PANIC THEN PASSENGERS WILL PANIC. THE ANOUNCEMENT WAS APPROPRIATE. A CALM CAPT COMING ON LETTING YOU KNOW IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU STAYED IN YOUR CABIN. LAST YEAR WE WERE ON THE DREAM AND HAD 50MPH WINDS STRIKING SIDE OF SHIP. WE HAD A BOW CABIN. WE WERE SWAYING ALL OVER. MY WIFE FELT VERY ILL. WE HAD LARGE WAVES(not as high as Fantasy cruise) BUT LARGE ENOUGH THE SHIP WOULD SHUDDER AND SHAKE. THE CAPTAIN CAME ON THE INTERCOM AND CALMLY TOLD IS IF YOU WERENT USED TO BANGS AND CREAKS AND A LOT MORE SHIP MOVEMENT, NOT TO WORRY THATS NORMAL AND RECCOMMENDED STAYING OFF THE TOP DECK. THAT WAS REASSURING.

 

[joelnkelly]

But, if they don't have the money or desire for another cruise? Then, it doesn't help any.

These cruisers decided to sail during hurricane season, there are inherent risks in that. The cruisers don’t deserve any type of refund or credit for future cruises. It’s a nice gesture by DCL to even offer one.

 

[HippieChickadee]

These cruisers decided to sail during hurricane season, there are inherent risks in that. The cruisers don’t deserve any type of refund or credit for future cruises. It’s a nice gesture by DCL to even offer one.

Yes.

Don't you love the mindset????

"But some might not be able to use this gift?!?!? ZOMG!!1!"

 

[t_daniels]

These cruisers decided to sail during hurricane season, there are inherent risks in that. The cruisers don’t deserve any type of refund or credit for future cruises. It’s a nice gesture by DCL to even offer one.

Unless it turns out that dcl did in fact, do something ill advised by not altering course.

 

[GrumpyGoat]

I read through the first ten pages of this thread and figured the rest were just more of the same.

I agree that unless they are licensed Captains themselves, the passengers have no idea of what the ship is capable of or what the coming weather conditions might be. I spent years in the US Navy as a bridge watchstander and encountered my share of conditions like this. I'm also an experienced Disney cruiser and I wouldn't even begin to second-guess the Master of the Fantasy or any other cruise ship in rough seas.

That makes me feel better about the new ships. 40 to 60 foot are serious waves. Maybe I should show DH this thread after all. He won't let me book a cruise on the new ships as she thinks they are too top heavy to cope with anything but moderate waves.

Corinna

These ships would not be permitted to put to sea with 4000 passengers on board if they weren't capable of handling pretty much everything the sea can throw at them. Even though the DCL ships are foreign flagged, the US Coast Guard wouldn't let them sail from US ports if they weren't safe.

You talk about capt Tom as though he is your brother. Capt Tom has a boss and capt Tom works for a corporation whose mission is to make money. YES I THINK Capt Tom was influenced by the schedule. I don't believe that he planned on getting people hurt, but his priority was being on time not the mental or physical well being of people on that ship PERIOD

That's a pretty cynical attitude...

Certainly he considered the schedule, but ultimately the safety of the ship is his sole responsibility. If he puts the ship in danger, he could lose his Captain's license and possibly face criminal prosecution.

And herein lies the problem. Disney-people (and I am one of them, although I don't wear blinders all the time) expect everything associated with Disney to be rose-colored, rainbows, puppy dogs, and cotton candy. Anything less than that, and it's a major problem. Disney dove into the cruising industry because of the boom in cruise sales. Smart move on their part, but they continue to sell their brand as being something that is beyond reality...and Disney-people buy into that.

I'm not saying people should not cruise if they don't know what they are getting into, but they should at least research what being at sea can possibly involve. It's not always a joy-ride, and there isn't always the Disney insulation.

Well said... The ocean can be very capricious. I've been at sea when the weather forecast was next to perfect and encountered seas that threw the ship all over the place. You never know what will happen.

Another thing is that the Fantasy is less than a year old and they kinda need to know how the ship will react in such conditions. I hate to say that y'all may have been the Guinea pigs for testing it, but it's a chance anyone who sails during Hurricane season faces. I'm glad y'all are safe, but honestly the Captain made the decisions he felt were reasonable for the conditions.

Do you really think DCL or the Coast Guard would let the Fantasy go to sea with a full load of passengers if the ship hadn't been fully tested?

Something that's been overlooked (although it might have been mentioned in the 25 or so pages I didn't read) is that this storm sank at least one ship and took two lives at sea. The replica tall ship HMS Bounty foundered and sank off North Carolina. Most of the crew were able to don survival suits and get into life rafts. Fourteen of the sixteen crew on board were ultimately rescued by the US Coast Guard. The body of one crew member was recovered and the Bounty's captain is still missing...

http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2012/10/30/search-continues-in-atlantic-for-captain-hms-bounty/

 

[FabFivePA]

Some may feel survivors is too strong a word, however by definition, it also refers to those who have survived a trauma.

sur·vive (sr-vv)
v. sur·vived, sur·viv·ing, sur·vives
v.intr.
1. To remain alive or in existence.
2. To carry on despite hardships or trauma; persevere: families that were surviving in tents after the flood.
3. To remain functional or usable: I dropped the radio, but it survived.
v.tr.
1. To live longer than; outlive: She survived her husband by five years.
2. To live, persist, or remain usable through: plants that can survive frosts; a clock that survived a fall.
3. To cope with (a trauma or setback); persevere after: survived child abuse.

survivor [səˈvaɪvə]
n
1. a person or thing that survives
2. (Law) Property law one of two or more specified persons having joint interests in property who lives longer than the other or others and thereby becomes entitled to the whole property
survivorship n

Breaking out formal definitions is unnecessary. The point is, as someone else said, the sympathy for what you went through is waning when things such as class action lawsuits and terms such as survivors are used. When in normal use you hear the term used in an actual tragedy, such as the tall ship that sank, those 14 are survivors. In this case people had a bad cruise where there was never as much as a life vest recommendation.

I went through Hurricane Floyd at its strongest in the Bahamas, look up the history, it was pretty much a category five storm when it crossed us. I have never referred to myself as a survivor of such a storm and take responsibility for my part in putting myself in that situation. Hurricanes are not tornadoes.

Using terms such as these will only hinder your quest in getting something out of this, which seems to be the goal, and will result in lost empathy as well.

On another note I would caution those on the facebook group to learn facebook privacy settings, as with the group being open your full names,posts to the group, and profiles depending on your settings are available for the world to see at the moment.

 

[tinker1bell]

I am genuinely sorry for those of you who had to experience this. I do well believe that it hit them by surprise just how rough the sea was. People have posted some official statistics about the swell and based on this, if this was the information available to the bridge staff, there would have been no reason for concerns. The reality was a different one. Now whether this was down to rogue waves that were not captured and reported or the fact that the ship handled different from what was anticipated or a bit of both, we will never know. However, I still think taking everything into account, it may have been the right decision to get the ship into port. I have friends who live in Virginia and Pennsylvania who are on the Wonder at the moment. They will get back from their Hawaii cruise later today. Because of the time difference, they had flights scheduled for tomorrow and have now been told that most likely they will not get back home before the storm makes landfall. By taking the Fantasy back to board yesterday, people from the affected areas (which is probably a significant number) at least have a chance to get home safely before the storm hits. If they had delayed by 24 hours and they had to reschedule their flights, this would not have been a given. So there is a lot to be said for empathy and compassion in this direction, too.

Corinna

Corinna, I totally agree with this. My BIL and his sweetie were on the Fantasy and I will be seeing them this weekend. I know she was a little frightened but they are okay. Then they got home here and had to contend with Sandy again!!
My first cruise, NCL, way back in 1987 was a little scary with the first night out, we hit a storm and the next day, walking was a little rough.
Two Disney cruises in Dec which were fine and then a Disney WBTA in Sept of 2010 which was perfect. Apparently we got around about 6 storms during that one. Didn't even know that until after the cruise.
Sept 2011 and we did a Disney repositioning from Vancouver to La and that was a rough one. We were cruising at one point a speed of 22 knots winds were up to 40mph and waves were up there. But the Captain got us far enough away so we could have Pirate Night. (we all know some folks would have complained if we missed that!!)

All in all, if you cruise during Hurricane season, you take the chance of hitting a storm.
The folks writing about their ordeal is a way of healing.

 

[dsrose345]

I've read through many pages of this thread and then found a thread of another passenger who kept up throughout the night. And saw how the crew were actually dealt with the situation through the night.
While I agree it sounds VERY scary and I thank you all for sharing I wonder if that is all they are doing... Don't need anyone to fix anything just want to share........
I am sorry you all went through it and am glad you are all safe!!!! Keep sharing but I think the rest of us need to let them share and just listen......

 

[BrettW]

For those of you who were on that ship, I suggest you don't just accept a lame 25% discount. You should complain to Disney about the situation ( i think you deserve a free cruise)and if they don't budge then talk to a lawyer.

From a legal perspective, passengers have no recourse. Neither Disney nor any other cruise line would have any legal liability for this type of situation.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[WicketsMom]

Again, not trying to argue with anyone, just trying to understand...

You say the Captain took you from calm, safe waters and sailed into the storm, yet on a previous thread you say Quote:

"I was on the Dream. Our entire cruise was affected. A full refund would be well appreciated. However, my family would be satisfied with 75 or even 50%."

So either you were in "safe, calm waters" or you were riding Sandy the whole week. Do you know EXACTLY where the ship was the entire time in relation to the worst parts of Sandy? Do you know that the Captain could have stayed in those calm, safe waters without being adversely affected by worse conditions? Do you know you had enough fuel to stay out at sea???

My point is, is as passengers you do not have all the facts. Just because you received an email prior to the cruise doesn't mean the forecast didn't change or become worse elsewhere. The crew made a decision...the alternative may have been worse and may have impacted many more people. You just don't know.

I was also on the Dream cruise. We knew on Thursday when we boarded the ship that excursions on Nassau were cancelled for Saturday, at least to Blue Lagoon which was ours. The course plotted on the monitors in our room showed us hugging the coast down past the Keys and into the Gulf, where the seas and winds were calmer. Early Friday morning, we instead turned around and headed directly back into the storm toward Nassau. At the time Sandy was a Category 2 storm. Why would you turn back into such a large storm when you already know that many things on the island are shut down so that the people can prepare for the storm?

I would have to assume that we had enough fuel to stay out at sea because that is exactly what we did. We never made it into a port. If we had stayed on our original course into the Gulf and just floated around out there we might have been able to enjoy some of the ship's amenities for a day before we had to head back up the coast to port.

 

[sarah24]

There is no way Disney could have made everyone happy. I wasn't on board, but I think they did very well and managing the situation that was presented and kept the passengers safe. You may not have been comfortable, but you did make it back to port safely.

 

[jgh]

First off, I'd like to say that I'm so sorry for those that had to endure such an awful night. I would not have slept a wink. My heart goes out to those who have been traumatized by this experience. I simply can't imagine what that night was like. If I think of myself in this situation I know I would have appreciated some type of communication just to know what was going on. I can't imagine feeling like you're stuck in a room helpless like that. I can completely understand why people were upset about that. I feel like as much as you want to put your faith and trust into your Captain in a hurricane it's probably kind of hard to do when you're being thrown around.

I think this is something DCL should look into for future instances. Some people might not have wanted to hear announcements every 30 minutes...heck, I'm sure some people just slept right through it and the announcements would have waken them up. Disney should probably try to find some way to make frequent announcements in this type of situation over the televisions. I haven't been on a Disney cruise in probably 6 years...but I do remember there being a channel which told the weather, wind, speed, etc. I'm pretty sure I remember reading other's posting about this channel on this thread as well. If I was in this kind of situation I would have greatly appreciated some text-updates on the television...even if it simply said "Conditions are still the same." In fact, I wouldn't want to hear the Captain over the intercom at all. Don't take your focus away from the ship and the storm!

 

[DisneyDoc5]

I'm wondering how everyone that was onboard is feeling after a few days have passed? Hopefully a little bit better. We're thinking of you.

thank you for asking. After not sleeping Friday night (during the storm), waking both Saturday and Sunday night in a sweat with my heart pounding and in tears then not being able to sleep, I finally was able to sleep last night with the help of some anti anxiety medicine (I certainly hope no one starts in on this one, I have never taken anything other than an anitbiotic in my life, but my nerves were still a complete mess, and I have to function and get back to my life.)

I am certainly happy for some of your that were on this sailing with us that you were not terrified, but for many of us it was the most terrifying experience in our lives (I think the fact that MANY people share this sentiment should be enough for all of you saying we are whining to shut up, but some people simply have NO compassion whatsoever).

I hope my fellow sailors are all feeling better as well. In particular the children that were terrified. My children have adjusted to home well, and the 'telling of the tale' to friends and family seems to be therapeutic for all of us.

I will not be putting them or myself and husband on DCL ship anytime soon (I am not a believer in the word 'never'), I have lost my trust and faith in them, period.

 

[dvc deernut]

breaking out formal definitions is unnecessary. The point is, as someone else said, the sympathy for what you went through is waning when things such as class action lawsuits and terms such as survivors are used. When in normal use you hear the term used in an actual tragedy, such as the tall ship that sank, those 14 are survivors. In this case people had a bad cruise where there was never as much as a life vest recommendation.

I went through hurricane floyd at its strongest in the bahamas, look up the history, it was pretty much a category five storm when it crossed us. I have never referred to myself as a survivor of such a storm and take responsibility for my part in putting myself in that situation. Hurricanes are not tornadoes.

Using terms such as these will only hinder your quest in getting something out of this, which seems to be the goal, and will result in lost empathy as well.

On another note i would caution those on the facebook group to learn facebook privacy settings, as with the group being open your full names,posts to the group, and profiles depending on your settings are available for the world to see at the moment.

thank you for stating this. I was going to. We were involved in my sons breal up. His ex was slandering him on facebook. Since her name was public we were able to print everything she said for the lawyer to use against her. So i caution what people say on that facebook site.

 

[tinker1bell]

Another issue, letting people smoke on verandahs. We had several around ours that had smokers, and there were many times we could not sit out there due to the smoke of others.

I also have issue with the spa. Never having had a massage or treatment, I booked one that sounded good for me, and affordable for me. What I got was an infomercial and I was so stressed from trying to refuse add on's and product that I was almost in tears when I left. My friend did call the spa and get the manager to refund the product. I also got charged for something I did not understand wasn't part of the treatment I picked out. I will NEVER go in there again. I felt like a fool for not being able to put my foot down and keep it there.

I also have a problem with smokers, I unfortunately get migraines so sitting out on the veranda is not possible.

As for the spa, all you have to do is put on the information sheet in big letters, NOT INTERESTED IN ANY PRODUCT
They have to abide with that.

 

[DisneyDoc5]

I have not one time asked for or mentioned being compensated. Many of us have not. We were just telling our story. The intention of the OP on this thread was to tell their story.

It is beyond my imagination the lack of kindness and compassion of some of the posts (many of you have been kind and I thank you!). I have read people getting more compassion for being upset with the fast pass change over or having a hair in their cupcake at Cinderella's Royal Table, unbelievable.

 

[SLK1]

I'm a little ticked reading comments from people WHO WERE NOT ON EITHER CRUISE that we should be "thankful the captain got you back in one piece" and "What do you expect when you sail during hurricane season?". Well, first off, the captain didn't do us some favor and rescue us from peril...it is his job to bring the ship back to Port Canaveral safely. Yes, he did that...however, I do believe that as passengers on the ships, we have a right to know how/why decisions were made. WHY did he head back into that storm? WHY was he so desperate to make it to Nassau, knowing the intense storm that it was dealing with?

As for the second types of comments, about sailing during hurricane season, are you thinking we should be punished for choosing this time frame? For some, it's the only time we maybe could go. We have been assured time and time again that even in the worst of storms, they steer clear of it. Not so...never again will I believe anything like that.

Lastly, I do not expect a dime back from Disney, nor will I take advantage of their 25% offer. I do want them to understand however that they did not fulfill their end of the deal. We basically got food, shows, and activities. Yes, that is all well and good - but we paid for that. All other amenities on the ship were off-limits to us. Not their fault necessarily (although if we HAD stayed down south, we could have used them!), but not mine either. So...they got my dollars and I got in return a family dinner with half the family (the others were sick), a ruined cruise, and a child who is now scared to sleep in her own bed.

But having said all of that, if you look at the pictures of the devastation in NYC, all of this cruise business pales in comparison and I will quit thinking about the sucky cruise, won't cruise again, and will focus on what I have and will be thankful for it.