My Cathartic Statement.

[belu]

I know several people won't agree with what I'm about to say, but I am at the end of my rope. For the last two years I have felt like an addict being abused by my dealer.

I love Walt Disney World. For a while now it has been my ideal vacation. I was lured into the feeling that I was valued as a customer. We speant our homeymoon at Disney World as well as our money. I know many of you can relate. Tens of Thousands of dollars. I was always able to justify the cost.

Whenever I have a tough day at work, I close my eyes and I am magically transported to WDW. I love this place. I read the boards to help me plan my trips. I love planning the trips. To me it's just as fun as the trip itself.

Now I feel like I have been wakend up from a beautiful dream. And that's all it really is. Just a beautiful dream. My first inclination when Disney made their cutbacks last year was to abandon ship and stop kidding myself. But I hung in there and they brought back Early Entry. No harm no foul right.

(And I need to say this, because I think there are others out there like me). I'm sure many of you are thinking, "well duh, Disney is out to make money, they are a business." And I'm sure you are thinking I'm a real idiot for thinking Disney "cares" about me the customer. But I, like others, have over time bought into the Disney Marketing.

NO MORE!

After reading how Disney has treated cruise line guests over this whole Magic incident, I've had it. This company is wrong and I have decided to put my money where my mouth is, well sort of.

First, I am canceling my May 2003 magic cruise. I'm booking the NCL , Norweigen wind 11 day Hawaii cruise in April for $222.00 more then what we paid for Magic- including airfare.

Second, I have convinced my husbands in-laws that Disney is the greatest place on earth and pursuaded them to book a Disney Vacation with us in May. My family was going to be there 9 days and My inlaws were going to be there for the last 5 days of our stay. I feel too embarassed to tell my inlaws that I convinced them to stay. So I'm either going to cancel our first 4 days alltogether or book the Hard Rock hotel for those days instead. Either way, I don't know how long it will be before we return to WDW.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I have to admit to being a little confused by your post. Everything I have read or seen shows the guests being treated wonderfully. What do you feel Disney should have done?

 

[disneyholic family]

i have to agree with webmaster Alex....
in all the threads i've read about the illness on the Magic, and disney's response, it's only served to reconfirm my belief about them as a company....
and not just DCL....i'm also a firm believer in WDW.....even with all the problems of the last few years....we have always always always had impeccable service (we spend 3 consecutive weeks at WDW every summer and have been doing so for the last 30 years.......)...sure there have been problems every now and then....you're talking about a huge corporation....but each and every time it was handled better than even i, a certified groupie, would have imagined.....
and again in this case, they seem to have done better than one would have expercted...

where do ou think they did wrong?

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

After reading how Disney has treated cruise line guests over this whole Magic incident, I've had it. This company is wrong

Please define so I can understand what the "treatment" was which you find to be so offensive. Are you confusing ill treatment with ill passengers? Foul treatment with Donald? The definition of a "Mickey Mouse" company? Holland America with Disney Magic? More info needed...

 

[zurgswife]

I have to agree with everyone else.....the posts that I've read have seemed to have given people a fair deal overall.....I does seem that one or two have gotten a little better deal.....but I just think some can push the right buttons to get a better deal....

I'd be interested to hear what the treatment is that you are upset with....full refund and 50% off sounds pretty good to me....

 

[mmouse37]

belu....I agree with you to a point.....I agree about the wonderful feeling you have for WDW. We also spent our honeymoon there back in 1979 and have been back 2 or 3 times a year since with our three kids. We have spent thousand of dollars there and have thousands of wonderful memories there. I agree that some of the "Magic" of WDW is fading a bit over the last few years.

But where I am also confused is the bad treatment you refer to. I have only read how Disney was trying to accomodate everyone. I know of one post where I think Tom was given the run around by one of the ressie CM when he tried to book a Wonder cruise, but DCL did come through in the end. Don't forget, with a situation like this the current info may not have been passed on to all the ressie CM's at the time. The majority of 11/30 cruisers seem to satisfied with their arrangements. I guess we will see when these DIS'ers get back from their alternatve trips.

Just my thoughts.

MJ

 

[AnnMorin]

I'd puke for two days for a free cruise. (no I DON'T want the virus so don't get any ideas Alex of contaminating my cabin to "win" me my free gift )
My point is they in my opinion went over and above what they had to do. People DO get sick- I still have my cold should I blame Disney?
I don't get the point of your post at all!

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

AnnMorin - my DH said the same thing..."maybe we'll get sick on our cruise and get a freebie..." I sincerely hope NOT! I personally was suprised that Disney did so much for those that got cancelled. They could very well have just said "sorry" and refunded their money.

 

[ksistersmom]

I normally don't chime in but.....my sister just got back from a Carnival cruise. The ship ran aground,....they were two days without ice or water on board and the ship was tipping so they had to be uphill or downhill for two days. They were a day late getting home....had to be flown from a Mexican airport.......where no one from Carnival was there to help! The entire trip was a NIGHTMARE........all Carnival offered those cruisers was 25% off their next cruise. In my opinion what happened on her cruise was the cruiselines fault..........what has happened on the Magic is illness........NOT Disney's fault. From what I have heard Disney has been VERY generous!
Also, please bear in mind I am NOT a huge Disney fan....I like Disney and enjoyed our cruise.....I will enjoy the cruise I am on this week but, wouldn't be going if it weren' t the $99 deal from January.
Just my opinion and its worth every dime you paid for it! Sorry your experience hasn't been everything it was in the past.

 

[AnnMorin]

How come no one heard about that, I think that is worse than people getting a stomach bug! I wish FOX would pick on Carnival and leave Disney alone!

 

[Debbie H]

belu,

See ya!

I'm sure someone will love to have your room on the May cruise. DCL really does not need people like you with that type of attitude. Don't you want to be comped because they totally ruined your planned May 2003 trip?

 

[tgiving cruisers]

Let me start by saying that we fully expect to get flamed for these commnets, but too bad. For those of you not on the 11/23 cruise, pipe down about what you "think" Disney did or didn't do. In fact, they did nothing. ZERO ZIP NADA.

We started our dream vacation by spending several hours at the Hyatt at Orlando International. We were finally bussed over to the ship by a grumpy bus driver who was sarcastic and un-Disney-esque. Upon embarking the ship, around 4:45-5:00, guess what????? They were doing the safety drill!!!!!! Isn't that against some Maritime regulations????

No characters greeted us, we had a tough time even finding a crew member. And this is how it all started. And let me tell you. it didn't get any better.

Rather than post a four page recap, I will bump in every now and then and share our thoughts on why we are now officially FIRST AND LAST TIME DISNEY CRUISERS.

 

[taswira]

<B>belu:</B> No flaming here, but I too am confused about what you think DCL has done wrong? The CDC says this was a Norwalk-like virus and was apparently brought on by passengers and spread person to person. Supposedly the original source was neither the ship nor crew. I personally think DCL went above and beyond their duty in compensation. As for moving guests to the Wonder - I'm sure that's been a nitemare for them on such short notice. What exactly would you expect them to do?

If a tablemate on your cruise were to board with the flu (and I've seen it happen), sat next to you through dinner, then you came down with the flu and were very sick for two weeks, would you expect a full refund and free cruise? I'd rather be ill for 24 hours than 2 weeks, but if I catch something from a passenger (and I have in the past) I'm not going to blame Disney! No company is perfect, but I believe DCL makes the best possible effort and goes beyond their legal obligation in resolving problems.

 

[AnnMorin]

The safety drill is usually at 4pm so if they did it a bit late that was to accomodate the late boarding time. What would be against maritime regulations?

You did not mention if you were ill but since you didn't I assume you were not. Was Disney to give you a free trip because you were not greeted by characters? In my past two cruises I don't think I was ever greeted by characters upon arrival either- never even thought about it.

 

[tgiving cruisers]

I don't know if you read our post, but needless to say we agree with you 100%

They may know how to run a theme park with great efficiency, but they don't hold a candle to RCCL as far as cruises are concerned.

I'm sure we will both need a fire extinguisher for all the flaming we will receive from the disboards faithful.

I found these boards extremely helpful when planning our trip. All these people invest so much time in sharing their experiences and thoughts. But now that I have experienced it for myself, I have to disagree with much of what I am reading.

More to follow

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Ok... everyone take a deep breath. Obviously this is a complicated situation and what we are not going to do is start a flame war on these boards. Everyone is allowed to express their OPINION and we are going to treat those opinions respectfully.
Tgiving cruiser if you had issues or problems that we haven't seen on these boards already I am sure everyone would like to hear it. I think it would be far more effective to put the information out in one post rather than in dribs and drabs all over the board.

 

[taswira]

<B>belu:</B> FYI:, Norwegian Wind scored 94 on their most recent CDC inspection. <I>Their</I> faulty areas included the galley, pot wash, service bar, etc. - a <I>long</I> list.

To the others who are turning away from DCL - Fine. Everyone has their favorites and their preferences . . until their vacation does not meet their expectations or is made miserable by circumstances beyond anyone's control. As someone else pointed out, there will always be someone else anxious to occupy the cabin you didn't want!

 

[tgiving cruisers]

I didn't ask for a free cruise.

If you appraoch this situation with the thought that Disney has never and never will do anything wrong, then this is all a moot point. I agree with Webmaster Alex that this is complicated. We are still putting our thoughts together on our experience on the 11/23 sailing.

However, considering that the sailing was delayed, it was ridiculous to hold the safety drill as many passengers were getting on. Attendance is mandatory!!! Other cruise lines take attendance!!!!

My point in the character greeting, or any greeting at all, was to relate to the fact that our first impression was not a good one. Again, I didn't ask for a free cruise. I wouldn't sail Disney again, even for free. The sad thing is how much we looked forward to the trip and also how many of our friends and co-workers are waiting for our feedback, etc.

 

[belu]

For those who are confused. This, to me, is just the last straw in a long line of disney failures.

For those who are asking, I am not upset about the illness or the canceling of the cruises. I am upset at how the situation is being handled. I am upset about DCL customers waiting on hold and getting the run around when calling in. Yes I'm sure that with all the press they are experiancing a high call volume, however I can't believe that they can't bring in the troops to handle the situation. The reports of disinfomation that was distributed among cruise guests makes my head spin.

I would never subject my family to any illness in order to receive a 50% off deal on my next cruise. I honestly can't believe anyone who says they would.

I also now understand that these boards are not for any "negitive" words for Disney. I watch as others who choose to fianlly speak out getting shut down as well.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I also now understand that these boards are not for any "negitive" words for Disney. I watch as others who choose to fianlly speak out getting shut down as well.

I don't see anybody being "shut down". If you have specific issues everyone would like to hear them. It is really hard for anyone to respond to a generic "It was horrible".
We need facts.