Never again

[2010dvcfan]

I have avoided cruising during summer months and school holidays for years, mostly due to price but it also seems to be effective for avoiding some of these behaviors. We usually cruise 4 times a year, Feb, May, Sept and Dec. Even with that schedule I do agree there has been a severe uptick in selfish entitled behavior, overall lack of common courtesy to fellow man. It's not just on DCL or the parks, I see it on airlines, buses, restaurants.

At the Port Everglades cruise terminal in May my daughter and I were standing waiting for our boarding group, a young man early 20's with his young sons stood immediately and offered me his seat. I declined thanking him for not only his kind gesture (which is a dying breed) but also for the example he was sitting for his two young sons that watched the entire encounter.

Call me old fashioned if you want, but I believe the world was a little better off when behavior like that was practiced and taught it was a much more wholesome environment then we navigate today.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

I ve started using a rollator this year (Im only 42 but got a chronic disease) and Im shocked how incosiderate people are. From jumping right in front of it, to not holding a door after them to even cuttibg in front of me at elevators/line etc cause Im not that quick

 

[asgur5]

I disagree, but I think it should be ok to not agree about everything. There seems to be a lot more entitled people these days and a lot of staff who don't feel safe confronting them. It's a slippery slope - once someone lets a kid into the adult area then another person will do the same. I see a big difference between the way people behaved on our earlier cruises and how they behave now. Considering I know people who were sailing this summer and I heard from them what it was like, I can say that things were not the same on my cruise last summer. Perhaps because it was in early June, or perhaps we just got lucky, but I'm not really willing to take that chance.

You feel like this has changed in 1 single year? If so then who is to say it doesn't change again next year?

 

[asgur5]

I have avoided cruising during summer months and school holidays for years, mostly due to price but it also seems to be effective for avoiding some of these behaviors. We usually cruise 4 times a year, Feb, May, Sept and Dec. Even with that schedule I do agree there has been a severe uptick in selfish entitled behavior, overall lack of common courtesy to fellow man. It's not just on DCL or the parks, I see it on airlines, buses, restaurants.

At the Port Everglades cruise terminal in May my daughter and I were standing waiting for our boarding group, a young man early 20's with his young sons stood immediately and offered me his seat. I declined thanking him for not only his kind gesture (which is a dying breed) but also for the example he was sitting for his two young sons that watched the entire encounter.

Call me old fashioned if you want, but I believe the world was a little better off when behavior like that was practiced and taught it was a much more wholesome environment then we navigate today.

But didn't you just recieve this behaviour this year? Thereby showing behaviour exists like this now?

 

[2010dvcfan]

But didn't you just recieve this behaviour this year? Thereby showing behaviour exists like this now?

Yes, I experienced both types of behaviors, I had magnets stole from our cabin door twice this year in Feb and May, which has not happened to us ever in more then 15 cruises. As well as experienced a well raised and compassionate young man observing his surroundings and setting a good example for his two sons. I acknowledge both behaviors exist on a Disney cruise, my hope is only the latter will thrive the former will die out.

 

[DCLMP]

I was on the Fantasy this summer and a teen at Vibe was caught just outside the entrance of the club with vaping materials. He was taken to his parents by security. Also, a teen was asked to leave the adult pool area because he was only 17. They even called guest services to verify his age. I don’t think they mess around and there are more eyes around than you think

Teens vaping on the ships has been going on for years. Even inside the Vibe when the Cm's aren't looking. Maybe they are more aware of it now that it's not something new. I don't how popular it is anymore. There was a few years when it was a really trendy thing kids did, and it was a pretty frequent in the Vibe.

 

[mmmears]

I'm not here to argue, so I'm going to stop responding to people who are. OP, I'm really sorry that you had such a disappointing cruise and I hope that you find another way of traveling where you won't have to put up with rude people.

 

[DCLMP]

I've booked other cruise lines because of price and itinerary. I didn't notice any difference in passenger behavior except demographics skew older on other cruise lines.
If manners are getting worse that would be something universal to all cruise lines and not just Disney. I'm in the haven't noticed a change camp.

 

[brentm77]

I ve started using a rollator this year (Im only 42 but got a chronic disease) and Im shocked how incosiderate people are. From jumping right in front of it, to not holding a door after them to even cuttibg in front of me at elevators/line etc cause Im not that quick

Even just everyday manners have taken such a bad turn since COVID for some reason. For example, people not moving out of the way of elevator doors for people to exit before they try to get on. That used to just be commonly understood. And what happened to people's basic understanding of lines? I feel like I have gone down the rabbit hole and am in a different reality lately where lines were never invented. It's not just cutting either. For example, I keep seeing this odd thing happen where people stand next to me instead of in line behind me. It's awkward, it confuses new people who are arriving since they don't know whom to sand behind, and it makes it confusing for the person servicing customers. Or I will arrive somewhere where people used to form lines, like the ship's coffee shop, and people have sort of scattered into random spots in front of the register, creating pure confusion. People used to just know to form a line for something like that. What happened?

As for mobility and common manners, there are many rude people. I used to think DCL customers were more likely to be nice due to the whole Disney "nice" thing, but the truth is that things were the same on both DCL and Celebrity, with Celebrity probably being a little better even. I think Disney has the unfortunate effect of bringing out some entitlement in some people. But I have a lot of crazy stories from both DCL and Celebrity with respect to daughter getting around the ship on crutches and in a wheelchair. But on a positive note, there were also really great people on both who offered help too. It melts a dad's heart one someone does something nice for her (please always ask a person before helping - sometimes help makes things harder or she wants to do it on her own). There are people who did small things that made a world of difference for her on both trips. They probably don't even know how much we appreciated it, but it really does make a difference for her.

@Chipmunkmaniac, we are finding the best approach is just asking now. It turns out that some people just don't even notice those with mobility impairments. And the ones that do, can use a little comment to give them pause and a chance to not be rude. Simple things like, "would you mind making room for me on the elevator?", or "would you mind keeping the front seat of the bus open since the isles is too narrow for my crutches," almost always worked. Most people are pretty cool when they are given a chance to stop and think about helping.

 

[sponica]

people not moving out of the way of elevator doors for people to exit before they try to get on. That used to just be commonly understood

I had to laugh at this, it's been over 15 years since I regulary took the subway but even back then they would announce to let people off the subway before getting on....but also since I stopped working in an office, I don't use elevators? It could be that people just forgot how to use them. I don't even know if I go anywhere on a regular basis where I would use an elevator....

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

This whole rollator situation is new to me and Im grieving over the freedom and thibgs I can no longer do since a little over a year and people not noticing themselves they are making it even harder is just eugh… Im just not cobfident enough in this situation to ask for help or speak about what I need… even if offered I find it hard I need adjustments. Doing my secobd rollator cruise in October (transatlabtic, 28th Disney cruise overall) and hoping for a better experience than May. It was an eye opener on how thibgs are def not as accessible as I thought they were. At least I now know what to expect…

 

[brentm77]

This whole rollator situation is new to me and Im grieving over the freedom and thibgs I can no longer do since a little over a year and people not noticing themselves they are making it even harder is just eugh… Im just not cobfident enough in this situation to ask for help or speak about what I need… even if offered I find it hard I need adjustments. Doing my secobd rollator cruise in October (transatlabtic, 28th Disney cruise overall) and hoping for a better experience than May. It was an eye opener on how thibgs are def not as accessible as I thought they were. At least I now know what to expect…

My heart goes out to you. I really hope it is a better experience for you! It's easy for me to say what to do, when I am more of the observer in our family than the person directly affected. I hope you find what works for you. One thing I learned recently from an amputee group was the universal and more effective "excuse me" is "beep beep!" According to the group, it's understood globally and sort of catches people by surprise, causing them to pay attention and move out of the way. Frankly, it would take some nerve to start using it, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I've thought about putting a bike horn on my daughter's wheelchair too - maybe you could put one on your rollator.

 

[OttawaJohn]

We've rarely ran into issues with this but on our last cruise, Princess, a Hawaiian over Christmas, there were a few days where a gang of kids ran wild on the pool deck, throwing people in, throwing people onto people, etc. We complained and were shrugged off by the staff at the bar. But clearly someone listened somewhere, as the next day, the Captain made an announcement basically telling parents to do their job and watch their kids and security was at the pool, kicking troublemakers out.

I get you're on vacation but seriously, you still have responsibilities as a parent.

 

[epcot1stfave]

Just done the 5 night spain cruise on the Dream, it was a full ship with 3800 guests on board, the one she is doing now only 2600. I guess the difference is the kids back at school.
We kept mostly to the adults area but even then we noticed some kids who were not asked to leave, they were with their parents who just ignored the rules, once bringing a pushchair into the 687 pub for an adult only quiz, which the host said would be fine.
Did not have lots of running up and down corridors, only a couple of times and just pre schoolers running in front of their parents who would tell them to stop. Overall it wasn't enough to spoil our cruise and we had a good time. Would we cruise during school holidays again ? no, but we only did this one as our 50th anniversary fell on it, next year it is September and the kid's will be back in school.
Regards Michael

 

[MomOTwins]

We just disembarked the Wish. I’ve concluded the problem is pretty much never the kids it’s the parents.

Last night in the theater I sat in front of a kid around the age of 3 who kicked my chair the whole show and coughed and sneezed incessantly. I turned around several times to ask him (in a polite nice voice) to please stop kicking, but he was too little to really pay attention. The problem was clear—parents were in some sort of family reunion and had seated all the young kids (all age 8 or below) together on one end of the row and adults on another end, so the adults were too far away to supervise. And by the way parents kept chit chatting among themselves loudly during the show, which was almost as distracting as the kicking and coughing.

But that doesn’t come close to the woman at the show the day before who walked in late after the show start time wearing some sort of extremely bright flashing strobe light hair accessory for pirate night and sat right in the front near the stage where her light flashed nonstop for everyone to see. Finally a cast member confronted her about 15 minutes into the show but it was a painful 15 minutes and if I wasn’t in the middle of a row I would have gotten up and had a word with her myself.

Then was the mother who threw a fit when the lifeguard asked her to take her swim diaper wearing 1 year old out of the pool per pool rules. She left but then returned a minute later having removed the swim diaper and declared her baby to be potty trained. She also kept letting her baby jump into the pool from the edge even though lifeguard kept saying that wad not allowed either.

At Hero Zone, at the basketball court there were too few basketballs for the number of players and a grown man snatched to ball out of my 9 year old son’s hand and made him cry. I intervened and got his ball back but yeesh.

Of course there were also lots of responsible parents who followed rules, paid close attention to their kids etc. But the bad behavior of a few can really negatively impact the experience. It does make me wonder what the solution is. In several situations the cast members tried to intervene with mixed results. Probably just have to suck it up and accept that any time you travel there will be some bad eggs.

 

[RedHead0186]

We just disembarked the Wish. I’ve concluded the problem is pretty much never the kids it’s the parents.

Last night in the theater I sat in front of a kid around the age of 3 who kicked my chair the whole show and coughed and sneezed incessantly. I turned around several times to ask him (in a polite nice voice) to please stop kicking, but he was too little to really pay attention. The problem was clear—parents were in some sort of family reunion and had seated all the young kids (all age 8 or below) together on one end of the row and adults on another end, so the adults were too far away to supervise. And by the way parents kept chit chatting among themselves loudly during the show, which was almost as distracting as the kicking and coughing.

But that doesn’t come close to the woman at the show the day before who walked in late after the show start time wearing some sort of extremely bright flashing strobe light hair accessory for pirate night and sat right in the front near the stage where her light flashed nonstop for everyone to see. Finally a cast member confronted her about 15 minutes into the show but it was a painful 15 minutes and if I wasn’t in the middle of a row I would have gotten up and had a word with her myself.

Then was the mother who threw a fit when the lifeguard asked her to take her swim diaper wearing 1 year old out of the pool per pool rules. She left but then returned a minute later having removed the swim diaper and declared her baby to be potty trained. She also kept letting her baby jump into the pool from the edge even though lifeguard kept saying that wad not allowed either.

At Hero Zone, at the basketball court there were too few basketballs for the number of players and a grown man snatched to ball out of my 9 year old son’s hand and made him cry. I intervened and got his ball back but yeesh.

Of course there were also lots of responsible parents who followed rules, paid close attention to their kids etc. But the bad behavior of a few can really negatively impact the experience. It does make me wonder what the solution is. In several situations the cast members tried to intervene with mixed results. Probably just have to suck it up and accept that any time you travel there will be some bad eggs.

The number of people (parents/adults) who think the rules don't apply to them, don't care about how they affect others, and/or don't even consider how they might be affecting others is really sad. I think you're right, a lot of times its the parents (and then the kids sadly learn from the parents).

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

The number of people (parents/adults) who think the rules don't apply to them, don't care about how they affect others, and/or don't even consider how they might be affecting others is really sad. I think you're right, a lot of times its the parents (and then the kids sadly learn from the parents).

Agree 100%. Unfortunately, we have been here before in this discussion and all the 'children will be children' defenders will start coming out. Makes me wonder if they are in the 'we don't want to be bothered watching after our children on vacation' camp. I know it's not that black and white, but people often see the problem and solution from their own perspectives. I am solidly in the camp that parents should teach their children to respect others at all times, even on vacation.

 

[DCLMP]

We just disembarked the Wish. I’ve concluded the problem is pretty much never the kids it’s the parents.

Last night in the theater I sat in front of a kid around the age of 3 who kicked my chair the whole show and coughed and sneezed incessantly. I turned around several times to ask him (in a polite nice voice) to please stop kicking, but he was too little to really pay attention. The problem was clear—parents were in some sort of family reunion and had seated all the young kids (all age 8 or below) together on one end of the row and adults on another end, so the adults were too far away to supervise. And by the way parents kept chit chatting among themselves loudly during the show, which was almost as distracting as the kicking and coughing.

But that doesn’t come close to the woman at the show the day before who walked in late after the show start time wearing some sort of extremely bright flashing strobe light hair accessory for pirate night and sat right in the front near the stage where her light flashed nonstop for everyone to see. Finally a cast member confronted her about 15 minutes into the show but it was a painful 15 minutes and if I wasn’t in the middle of a row I would have gotten up and had a word with her myself.

Then was the mother who threw a fit when the lifeguard asked her to take her swim diaper wearing 1 year old out of the pool per pool rules. She left but then returned a minute later having removed the swim diaper and declared her baby to be potty trained. She also kept letting her baby jump into the pool from the edge even though lifeguard kept saying that wad not allowed either.

At Hero Zone, at the basketball court there were too few basketballs for the number of players and a grown man snatched to ball out of my 9 year old son’s hand and made him cry. I intervened and got his ball back but yeesh.

Of course there were also lots of responsible parents who followed rules, paid close attention to their kids etc. But the bad behavior of a few can really negatively impact the experience. It does make me wonder what the solution is. In several situations the cast members tried to intervene with mixed results. Probably just have to suck it up and accept that any time you travel there will be some bad eggs.

I've never understood Adults acting like children on Disney cruises. I had a women with a huge crown on her head sit in front of me in a theatre. I have a hard time wrapping my head around a middle aged women dressing like a princess to start with, but if you are going to do it be courteous.
I'm not sure if there is a solution. I think your last sentence sums it up.

 

[holula]

I've never understood Adults acting like children on Disney cruises. I had a women with a huge crown on her head sit in front of me in a theatre. I have a hard time wrapping my head around a middle aged women dressing like a princess to start with, but if you are going to do it be courteous.
I'm not sure if there is a solution. I think your last sentence sums it up.

I am very much a dress like a princess person but I always sit in the back row of the theatre so no one is annoyed by my ears/tiara. If the back row wasn’t available I’d take it off during the show. It’s just common courtesy!

 

[Kirsty_Lou]

I recently did a back to back on the Dream and was concerned by many of the things mentioned here. However, I was pleasantly surprised and the issues I encountered were different in nature. Any children that parent did bring into the adults areas were quickly and politely dealt with and no issues arose. We could find loungers for the 2 of us with no issues. The family pool area was rammed and the family hot tub was like a family soup but didn't affect us as we stuck to the adult areas. Cabanas, the few times I ate there, was of course busy but I usually walked round and one side was always a lot quieter. Mostly people were polite, however did notice some people pushing past others, especially pushing past disabled guests. The theatre on the first cruise was nice. The odd child talking to parents about things they saw in the shows. I did the 2 matinées on sea days for the first one. I did Golden Mickey's on the first night for the second cruise and a noticeable difference in noise levels with people talking. I wasn't sure if thus was just a difference mix of people or just that everyone was over excited seeing that it was the first evening on board. Corridors on both were quiet. Deck 5 forward on first leg and deck 8 mid forward on second leg. No noticeable noise from cabins or corridors. All Magnets that I took, I left with and were even pixie dusted some more which was nice. I was pleasantly surprised at how many doors were decorated seeing as there were so many first timers on board . Our issue really came down to the logistics of spaces on the Dream. I had only sailed on her once before and that was a Bahamian so spent most of the time outside. I am a classic ship lover having spent most of my time on the Magic. On the Dream, we found that you'd have to arrive at least 40 mins before a quiz if you wanted to sit down. I ended up walking in and straight back out of most of them. The district lounge abd 687 are just small. We also had 2 rubbish sea days and there was no where to sit inside and read or chill. Every venue had something going on on were closed. We had never experienced this before and this is the main issue we had. I did also find some of the cast member interactions and service inconsistent. Most were lovely and delivering the Disney standards but some just clearly didn't want to be there. On the whole we had a lovely cruise and I would definitely go again during the summer. I have no choice anyway being a teacher but already have a 4 night booked on the Fantasy next year!