October 22, 2005 Roll call

[janohiomom99]

We are still here also. We leave on a flight Saturday at 9am Cleveland to Orlando.

Things just got more stressful/interesting here...14 yr old son was warming up for today's football game and hurt his knee badly enough to go to the ER in an ambulance. Long story short...the good news is nothing is broken...bad news is that he is in a splint and on crutches. To add to the last minute running around tomorrow I have to take a letter to his physician and have them fax it to DCL saying that he is well enough to travel.

As for the hurricane , I don't really care where we sail to, as long as it is warm and sunny. I would prefer the original itinerary of course...but ya can't always get what ya want.

So if you see a 6 ft 2 in teenager on crutches...that's my boy! LOL

 

[American Scrapper]

I'm still here too...my floor looks like the washing machine & dryer exploded!! Still have lots to do, just wanted to check on the chat.

Some of the "perks" we got last year was free drinks one evening from about 4 - 6 or so (maybe it was just an hour, can't remember). Oh and when we left from San Juan the crew was going around handing out Litho's of Mickey & Goofy dressed like pirates on the beach..very cute!! We also received blankets as a return gift instead of the towels that they were giving out. It is my favorite thing, I use it every night when it is cool in the house.

Well, where ever the ship takes us we will have fun!! Last year we had so much planned that it was kind of relaxing to have a day or two extra at sea. I really felt like I had a vacation!

Well, back to packing and then finishing my DD's costume! See you all on Saturday!

Kathy

 

[JeffKiel]

We are packed and heading to the airport in 20 min. Should be in Fl around noon.

Safe travel to all!

 

[MNmousecouple]

Quick hello from Macon GA, should be at port at noon. see wilma stalled.
see you all soon

 

[Cavecats]

I too am still here. Leaving tomorrow morning 6:30 am Ottawa > Philly > Orlando. Safe travels to all

 

[MelissaE1]

Well, we're off. Can't believe I actually got packed and it's really time to leave! Everyone have a great trip down... see you there!

 

[hyandui]

Well, we're off. Can't believe I actually got packed and it's really time to leave! Everyone have a great trip down... see you there!

Well we are all packed, ready to roll, DW has college classes this morning, we will be on the road to Phila, stay over in Holiday Inn and fly out 7am tomorrow morning, see you all on the ship. Scrapperjill I have your Disney Keys with me, you can pick out which ones you want.

 

[ReneeQ]

To the few that are left, we are off too! Hitting the road now, spending the night in Port Canaveral. See everyone at the Mickey Pool at 3 tomorrow! Safe travels everyone!

 

[hyandui]

To the few that are left, we are off too! Hitting the road now, spending the night in Port Canaveral. See everyone at the Mickey Pool at 3 tomorrow! Safe travels everyone!

Have a S A F E trip and watch out for alligators crossing the road, they are trying to get out before Wilma strikes.

 

[ioahulk]

It's official. You're all going on an Eastern Caribbean cruise now.


http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/general/crisis?name=CrisisCommunicationPage

 

[hyandui]

It's official. You're all going on an Eastern Caribbean cruise now.


http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/general/crisis?name=CrisisCommunicationPage

F A N T A S T I C NEWS, And I am getting out of here!

 

[hyandui]

F A N T A S T I C NEWS, And I am getting out of here!

I just had to post this.

Weather Update


As of 11:00 a.m. EST - Friday, October 21, 2005

We are monitoring Hurricane Wilma very closely, as the safety and security of our guests is always our top priority. According to the latest projections from the National Weather Service, there is still considerable uncertainty surrounding the specific timing and path of the storm.

The Disney Magic will set sail from Port Canaveral on Saturday, October 22, 2005. With Hurricane Wilma moving slowly across Cozumel in the western Caribbean and predicted to pass very near Key West during the first part of this coming week, it has become necessary to alter our itinerary so that we can enjoy safe conditions and fair weather. Therefore, this voyage will be sailing to the eastern Caribbean and visiting the ports of St. Maarten, St. Thomas and our private island Disney's Castaway Cay.

The Disney Wonder will set sail from Port Canaveral on Sunday, October 23, 2005. At this time, Hurricane Wilma is not predicted to pass through the Bahamas, and we will continue to monitor its path carefully. Should conditions change, we are prepared to alter our itinerary.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Figured I'd bump this up to see if we can get any updates.......

 

[ReneeQ]

Just checking in to see if anyone had made it home and back online yet. We got home today around 4 PM.

We had an awesome cruise and I enjoyed meeting some of you. Wish I could have met everyone. We only made it to the first meet as we had conflicts (Palos, movies, on the islands, etc) for the others. Thanks again to ScrapperJill for the awesome buttons and to PDarrah for the awesome website!!!

Now, a moment to complain. I caught up on Cass and Rob's ongoing vacation thread today and agree with some of her gripes. We didn't get our Castaway Gift in our stateroom either (THANKS to those Disers at the first meet that told me to go ask for it). Didn't get any of the vacation club info/invites we were supposed to, and totally feel like Cass took the words right out of my mouth - it WAS a magical cruise, but not as magical as our first.

Now this might just be me, feel free to disagree with me (because my husband DOES disagree with me on this point). I REALLY wanted a Western cruise. I KNOW there is always the chance to miss a port due to weather, etc. And I KNOW it's not Disney's fault about the weather. But since this was a TOTALLY different cruise (not just missing a port) I feel like we didn't get what we paid for.

Yes, Disney Vacation Club is refunding the few extra points more it costs for a Western vs. an Eastern. But we used A LOT of points for this cruise, borrowed all our points from next year, and I WOULDN'T have done it for another Eastern. Unless we want to pay cash to go again sooner, it will be a couple of years until we can go again.

My husband feels like "we paid for a cruise and we got a cruise" and that is that. But I'm left feeling a little "hollow" over the whole thing. We were offered nothing "extra" to soften the blow so to speak (unless I missed that, too), and not that they owed us anything, in the past I've felt Disney always goes the extra mile and I didn't feel it this time.

Maybe it's just post cruise let down, after all the weather worrying pre-cruise. Maybe I'm just tired.

 

[janohiomom99]

I have to agree with you about missing the Western cruise.. Sure we got a cruise but we also only got 3 stops instead of four and two sea days in a row (BLAH!).

Of course Disney cannot help the weather and I would much rather have the cruise then nothing at all. But we got nothing extra for getting a vacation we didnt want.

My other huge complaint with the Disney cruise is the the club for 3-4 yr olds. My daughter was picked on by other children...she says two girls were pulling on her dress and knocked her down and jumped on her. WHERE were the crew members during this. Come to find out AFTER we called down to the club that yes some of the kids were "tangled up together with her and we had to pull them apart" so WHY did my husband have to call the club to get that information they should have said something when we picked her up. My daughter is 3 and a half very sweet and she gets along with other kids , she is involved in a play group here at home 2 x a week at our church. She never cried when we took her to the club, but twice she threw such a tantrum at bed time I wondered what was going on with her. I seen some faint marks on her back and I asked her how they got there and the whole story came out about the girls pulling on her dress and knocking her down. Another day earlier in the week she said a boy was mean to her, but I chalked that up to kids not getting along and maybe he didnt want to play with her.
I will file a formal complaint about it all and take pics of the marks on her back. The director of the club did bring my daughter a nice gift basket with toys and he apologized. But good grief I did not spend that kind of money on this cruise (we had 2 cabins) for my child to come home traumatized by the club. The crew members (at least 3 or 4) were always up near the desk area during check in, when it seems to me they should have been supervising children.

Did anyone else have anything like this happen to their children???

 

[ReneeQ]

Jan,
That is horrible about your daughter! Yes, I would write a complaint also. We do not have children, so I can't comment on any of your specific questions. I did notice on this cruise vs. our last Disney cruise LOTS more unruly, running wild children. I don't mean just kids being kids, I mean wild out of control unsupervised screaming kids, or more specifically, boys.

I am just curious, is there a certain age limit children can run around on the ship unsupervised? There was a particular group of boys, around age 10, we kept seeing day after day, running around, zipping into the elevators ahead of people that were already waiting, racing up and down the steps, nearly knocking people over, screaming, etc.

I witnessed them again all in one elevator, when it opened on the floor I was waiting on, the door opened and they screamed "no room in here" (not that I'd want to get in with them!) I also kept seeing children alone on the elevators in the 5-6 year old range. I just found it unusual.

 

[janohiomom99]

I don't know if there is any age limit to the children that can run around unsupervised, I also have an 11 yr old boy and he was either with me or in the Ocean Quest area. he never really found any boys he wanted to hang out with.

I noticed a lot of rude children on the ship as well as rude adults. Some of the adults would barge right in front of others waiting for an elevator or waiting in line for characters. I would hold the door open for families and none of them even acknowledge me.

 

[Mrs.Abuboo]

so far I have agreed with everyone so far. this was my first DCL, but having worked for disney for many years, i knew that there were more things that they could've done to truly make this cruise magical. i was on 6 and had spoken with some other on 6&7 that were complaining about children running around after 11pm in the hallways playing football. i know of some guests that went to Guest Services and complained.

one night while waiting for animators to open, i was sitting in one of the porthole windows and a little girl was getting her picture taken. another boy walked up said "excuse me" and literally pushed the girl out of the way. of course, ruining her photo that her dad was taken. all the parents of the boy said was his name and then he looked back at them and said, she was in the way and i said excuse me. i couldn't believe it. i look at my husband and just shook my head. the rude family didn't even let the girl try again for her picture and they continued to take several shots in front of the sign.

i also noticed a group of boys, i think brothers that were throwing food around on the deck after they got their lunch at topsider's. apparently, they were upset that the children's buffet wasn't open yet. dad just sat there and didn't do anything.

as a teacher, i often wonder about why the children are they way they are and have come to the conclusion that too many parents need to learn a very simple word...discipline.

 

[MelissaE1]

My husband feels like "we paid for a cruise and we got a cruise" and that is that. But I'm left feeling a little "hollow" over the whole thing. We were offered nothing "extra" to soften the blow so to speak (unless I missed that, too), and not that they owed us anything, in the past I've felt Disney always goes the extra mile and I didn't feel it this time.

Hi ReneeQ,

I totally agree with you. While we did have a decent time, and my kids probably enjoyed the clubs more (thanks to being able to move my daughter up one level and due to the new Ocean Quest for my son) mostly the Magic was missing compared to last time. I know DCL has no control over the weather, but as a one income family we have to save for years to cruise and we've done the Eastern, so I also feel that we didn't get what we paid for. I expected at least an apology or some small token I guess, more or less because that's Disney's usual style. They also held back long after they knew they had to change the itinerary. I was pretty disappointed with their handling of the whole situation. Not very Disney-like IMHO.

We did have some nice moments, and I'm hoping that it was just a fluke that we really didn't feel that Disney "magic" that I so look forward to.

Janohiomom99, so sorry for what happened to your daughter.

Oh, and we "ran into" the running kids several times also. Where were their parents? Sheesh.

On a happier note, we did save about $500 on excursions and we just found out that my husband has a business trip to Hawaii in March... so he suggested using that money towards my plane ticket to go with him. Yay!

 

[marnight]

I hope everyone made it home ok. We had an awesome time (even with the change in itinerary). I have to say that I wasn't as impressed with the food this time. The dinners were great, but the buffets for lunch and breakfast were kind of blah. Our servers were outstanding and I want to give a shout out to Peter from Poland and Pirom (?) from Thailand. They were the best!

Our room was ok, but one night the noise from the engine room kept me up and I had to make a call in the morning to complain. They said that other people also called. They apparently fixed the problem, since I didn't hear it anymore.

Scapperjill, Thanks for sending down the buttons. Sorry I wasn't able to make the first meet, with 12 in our group it was hard to break away at meet times. I was able to escape a few times by myself in the Cove, sitting back with my cappuccino and a good book!

Hope everyone enjoyed themselvles, I know we did!

Maria