Pixar Cruises

[bbangel]

Clearly I should have bought more pins! I had no idea they were such a hot ticket item!

 

[nunzia]

I was on the first cruise. I got the wristband and then bought 2 pins. There was no one else waiting for the wristband and didn't seem to be a big interest in them. Maybe they decided just to let anyone buy them. I remember thinking that 500 isn't really very many, for 4 cruises with probably 8-10,000 passengers total.

So many people I met on the cruise were from California and getting some sort of resident discount (we traveled from North Carolina and chose it because of the Pixar theming). Many of them didn't even know it was a Pixar cruise until they got on board.

Oh, and one other thing - I can't believe how many people I met who had never even heard of the Disboards!! We took the transfer and I met a couple different parties who had cruised Disney multiple times before, and they had no idea the Disboards existed. When I told them about FEs, etc, they were like - Oh, that is why we see those things all over the ship!! I had some extra FEs I shared with a little boy we met who wasn't part of the FEs.

I dunno if they also had a CA resident discount, but they did offer..about a month out...a 25% discount for Disneyland AP holders..I had booked over a year prior but was able to apply the discount and got over $800 back on my CC.

 

[princesskayla]

We are on the last Pixar cruise that leaves on Sunday...they better have some pins available for our cruise because if not, I will be having a chat with the merchandise manager. It seems that DCL has still not figured out a proper way to handle pin releases for special cruises.

I will be doing the same thing. I am really hoping by one of the posters getting the last one - it really meant he got the last one for the cruise. When you book a special cruise, you should at least get a shot at special merchandise - every single cruise. Not just the first two.

 

[kangamommy]

I wanted to write to you today regarding the lack of availability of Pixar Cruise pins for all sailings other than the very first one on 9/16. We were on the 2nd sailing on the 23rd and don’t get me wrong, we had an amazing family vacation. I was extremely disappointed, however, when I learned that you made/offered such a small number of pins that only people on the first sailing (and apparently maybe a dozen people on our sailing) were able to purchase them. Disney is well aware of the popularity of its pins and while I appreciate the need for “exclusivity” I can’t for the life of me understand why you wouldn’t set aside a certain number of pins for EACH sailing. Instead, those of us on sailings 2-4 were out of luck. They are selling on eBay for over a hundred dollars. I guess that’s fine if you didn’t go on the cruise and really want the pin anyway. But we paid over $3000 for our cruise. I would think we deserve at least the opportunity to buy the pin for the cruise we were actually on. People on the DIS boards are all pretty upset about this too. I know it’s just a pin, but I know YOU know how important these things are to Disneyphiles such as myself. I’m not sure what the solution is at this point except to offer the pin to the actual cruisers upon request. I am happy to pay full price.

Thank you for your time.

 

[tink157]

I wanted to write to you today regarding the lack of availability of Pixar Cruise pins for all sailings other than the very first one on 9/16. We were on the 2nd sailing on the 23rd and don’t get me wrong, we had an amazing family vacation. I was extremely disappointed, however, when I learned that you made/offered such a small number of pins that only people on the first sailing (and apparently maybe a dozen people on our sailing) were able to purchase them. Disney is well aware of the popularity of its pins and while I appreciate the need for “exclusivity” I can’t for the life of me understand why you wouldn’t set aside a certain number of pins for EACH sailing. Instead, those of us on sailings 2-4 were out of luck. They are selling on eBay for over a hundred dollars. I guess that’s fine if you didn’t go on the cruise and really want the pin anyway. But we paid over $3000 for our cruise. I would think we deserve at least the opportunity to buy the pin for the cruise we were actually on. People on the DIS boards are all pretty upset about this too. I know it’s just a pin, but I know YOU know how important these things are to Disneyphiles such as myself. I’m not sure what the solution is at this point except to offer the pin to the actual cruisers upon request. I am happy to pay full price.

Thank you for your time.

Great letter to them!!! Wonder if anything will actually happen?? I would have loved to get one also......you will have to keep us all posted if anything happens with this.

 

[atmail35]

Kangamommy, did you send it via email? I'm happy to also send a note. I haven't had a chance to find out who I would complain to. Feel free to PM me the address if you want.

I'd be curious to see what their response is since if they only made 500 and sold them all what can they do at this point?

 

[DesertGal]

I just caught a glimpse of the Outlook Bar and Cafe on deck 10 the last night of our recent cruise. Would have liked to spend more time up there. Next time.

The Outlook bar and cafe was very nice. We just had coffee and relaxed. They said they specifically built the cafe for the Alaska part.

 

[kangamommy]

Will keep you posted. I had called DCL for the email and this is what I got (and used) to send the letter...

<Dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com>

Hope they respond in some way!

 

[tink157]

Ok, I just sent off a e-mail to them also. Pretty much what your wrote .... with different words..........very nicely...........we'll see what happens if anything. Never hurts to ask!!

 

[tink157]

Just recieved a e-mail from DCL saying they got mine.......gave places to go if you had ? about a upcoming cruise........and if this did not address your question it would be answered with a later e-mail from them........... guess time will tell..

 

[nunzia]

What I originally thought when I saw how easy it was to get multiple pins on the 9/16 cruise was that they would have a different pin for EACH of these cruises..but looks like that was a nope.

 

[jlmarr]

Did anyone take scans of the Personal Navagators. Somehow I missed the one on the 26th altogether, don't know what happened to it. It was for the second day of San Francisco so I probably didn't see it when we came in late.

This company scanned the full set from the 23rd sailing. http://t.co/EihpkPHV

 

[dennes]

I was on the first cruise. I got the wristband and then bought 2 pins. There was no one else waiting for the wristband and didn't seem to be a big interest in them. Maybe they decided just to let anyone buy them. I remember thinking that 500 isn't really very many, for 4 cruises with probably 8-10,000 passengers total.

I too was on the first cruise and got two pins for my sons. I also noticed on the first night that there didnt seem to be any "want or need" for the wristbands. (Maybe pin traders come out under the cover of darkness while we put the young ones to bed)

Pin or no Pin - I must say that the cruise was an absolute blast and a total highlight for my two boys first long haul overseas trip. We still talk about the adventures and secret missions we got up to on board

I do hope that you all enjoyed the cruise as much as we did. the lithograph was beautiful and is at the framers ready to go up in the boys playroom.

Have a great day all
Cheers
Deb

 

[threeiscrazy]

I just got home from the 9/30 sailing. As soon as the stores opened we headed there to try and purchase a special pin and I was told they were sold out. I'm pretty upset by this. For the Halloween parties they have a special pin for EACH night, but for these cruises they sell one pin and don't hold any back for each cruise? Makes no sense to me. I did leave a handwritten note attached to our survey at the end of the cruise. I don't see how they can do anything now to make things right, but I sure would have liked to have purchased some sort of Pixar pin. I also passed on the California Coast pins as they said Summer 2012 and I was pretty annoyed by that time. This is actually the first cruise I haven't purchased a pin for.

I have to admit I thought that seller on ebay was horrible for what I assumed was stealing a menu and then selling it, but on our cruise our server told our table that each family could take one menu home with them. So maybe, just maybe that seller took the menu because they were told they could I'm just trying to find the best in people.

We did the Muir Woods tour. The woods were beautiful. I would go again, just not with the tour. Our driver was racing to each turn and then slamming on the brakes to make the tight turns on the drive there and then back down to Sausalito. I'm pretty sure I was green by the time we reached Sausalito. We told the tour guide we couldn't take the driving any more and took the ferry back to San Francisco.

Overall the cruise was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.

 

[adnil530]

I just got home from the 9/30 sailing. As soon as the stores opened we headed there to try and purchase a special pin and I was told they were sold out. I'm pretty upset by this. For the Halloween parties they have a special pin for EACH night, but for these cruises they sell one pin and don't hold any back for each cruise? Makes no sense to me. I did leave a handwritten note attached to our survey at the end of the cruise. I don't see how they can do anything now to make things right, but I sure would have liked to have purchased some sort of Pixar pin. I also passed on the California Coast pins as they said Summer 2012 and I was pretty annoyed by that time. This is actually the first cruise I haven't purchased a pin for.

I have to admit I thought that seller on ebay was horrible for what I assumed was stealing a menu and then selling it, but on our cruise our server told our table that each family could take one menu home with them. So maybe, just maybe that seller took the menu because they were told they could I'm just trying to find the best in people.

We did the Muir Woods tour. The woods were beautiful. I would go again, just not with the tour. Our driver was racing to each turn and then slamming on the brakes to make the tight turns on the drive there and then back down to Sausalito. I'm pretty sure I was green by the time we reached Sausalito. We told the tour guide we couldn't take the driving any more and took the ferry back to San Francisco.

Overall the cruise was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.

I was on this cruise with you. It's funny how we have the same thoughts. I too put my disappointment on the pin issue on the survey card at the end of the cruise. I also had the opportunity to speak to the merchandising officer at a meet n greet. I told her of my disappointment and her reply was that when pins are released they are released and that they couldn't hold them back. Really? That didn't relieve my disappointment at all. But hey, I can get the one on eBay for $199 right? I was disappointed overall with the lack of Pixar collectibles. The Pixar vinylmations onboard were the same ones that you can get in the parks. Nothing special about them and I didn't see any special magnets. Thankfully, we had a few diser's who made some magnets as FE gifts

I also had thoughts about the person who posted the menu on eBay but after going on the cruise our waiter offered us a menu and glasses to take home with us which we did.

Linda

 

[threeiscrazy]

I was on this cruise with you. It's funny how we have the same thoughts. I too put my disappointment on the pin issue on the survey card at the end of the cruise. I also had the opportunity to speak to the merchandising officer at a meet n greet. I told her of my disappointment and her reply was that when pins are released they are released and that they couldn't hold them back. Really? That didn't relieve my disappointment at all. But hey, I can get the one on eBay for $199 right? I was disappointed overall with the lack of Pixar collectibles. The Pixar vinylmations onboard were the same ones that you can get in the parks. Nothing special about them and I didn't see any special magnets. Thankfully, we had a few diser's who made some magnets as FE gifts

I also had thoughts about the person who posted the menu on eBay but after going on the cruise our waiter offered us a menu and glasses to take home with us which we did.

Linda

Linda,
I looked for you at the meet & greet. I walked up to a very pleasant couple and introduced myself and they then told me she wasn't Adnil530, but they had met you and you were very nice. Next time...
Sheri

 

[tink157]

I just got home from the 9/30 sailing. As soon as the stores opened we headed there to try and purchase a special pin and I was told they were sold out. I'm pretty upset by this. For the Halloween parties they have a special pin for EACH night, but for these cruises they sell one pin and don't hold any back for each cruise? Makes no sense to me. I did leave a handwritten note attached to our survey at the end of the cruise. I don't see how they can do anything now to make things right, but I sure would have liked to have purchased some sort of Pixar pin. I also passed on the California Coast pins as they said Summer 2012 and I was pretty annoyed by that time. This is actually the first cruise I haven't purchased a pin for.

I have to admit I thought that seller on ebay was horrible for what I assumed was stealing a menu and then selling it, but on our cruise our server told our table that each family could take one menu home with them. So maybe, just maybe that seller took the menu because they were told they could I'm just trying to find the best in people.

We did the Muir Woods tour. The woods were beautiful. I would go again, just not with the tour. Our driver was racing to each turn and then slamming on the brakes to make the tight turns on the drive there and then back down to Sausalito. I'm pretty sure I was green by the time we reached Sausalito. We told the tour guide we couldn't take the driving any more and took the ferry back to San Francisco.

Overall the cruise was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.

On the 9/23 I asked if I could have a Toy Story menu and was told no.........at the time I though oh well doesn't hurt to ask...........now I hear that others got them .................it was a wonderful cruise though for a first timer....and I loved the lithograph they gave us. Our family had lots of fun on here and hope to be able to go again sometime.

 

[Belle1997]

On the 9/23 I asked if I could have a Toy Story menu and was told no.........at the time I though oh well doesn't hurt to ask...........now I hear that others got them .................it was a wonderful cruise though for a first timer....and I loved the lithograph they gave us. Our family had lots of fun on here and hope to be able to go again sometime.

I am wondering if they gave us the menus to make up for the lack of a pin. Though our waiters signed them. Guess to make them less sell able on ebay????

I would never sell mine. I have won 2 castaway clocks and would not sell them either.

We found the whole Pixar Cruise strange. There were so many first time cruisers. The tone of the West coast cruise was so different from any of the other 8 cruises taken. Also there were tons of kids in the dinning areas. Normally the kids go to one or two meals then stay in kids club to eat. It is very long 2 hours for kids to stay through. The adult cove area bar was dead. It was a very quite cruise.

I was disappointed that when I asked to get a frame mat signed by the Incredibles I was told they could not do this and I had to stand in line. This was not even a gift for me. I thought if it was a Pixar cruise you should be ableto get the Pixar characters to sign it.?????

So I stood in line and got the mat signed but they signed the wrong way. So I asked a cast member if if they could sign the other 2 sides. I know it would look funny but I was ok with that. He was so kind. Looked to see if they had an extra photo frame mat. Then decided a little pixie dust was needed and got the pixar character to sign a picture. That really saved our cruise. It was the first extra special thing done for us ever. No you will not be seeing it on ebay. It is for a special needs child.

I found the food quality not as good. The serving time for food was not very good. Though I know it was not our servers fault gave them excellent.

Pirate night they ran out of Turkey legs. The desserts by the time we got to them were mush since it the cakes were not cut and people were just doing the cutting themselves. The pirate buffet on deck was so pretty the one held in beach blanket was just awe full.

The merchandise was lacking. I had expected a little more items. I booked the cruise a year ago so it was an extra bonus we were on it. I think they were having so many issues selling these cruises they used it as a selling gimmic. To get more on board.

I think the pixar cruise was a money looser for the cruise line. We really enjoyed Jimmy the cruise director. Great sense of humour. We loved the west coast since we had never been to any of those ports. For the first time us international travellers had the shortest line through customs It was funny

We had a good time. The cast members really make you feel wonderful.

 

[j2tyco]

Our Cruise Director on the 9/23 was Christian- was it different for you guys then if it was Jimmy? That's interesting- I recognize contract periods and time off comes into play but I would assume for continuity sake they would have the same people in leadership for short thematic cruises.

We had an a amazing time on our cruise and only a few minor things that even slightly felt "bummerish" which were all completely out of anyone's control (such as the fog on the golden gate etc)

My in laws tried to go to the pirate buffet as well and said that turkey legs had run out and some man was making a huge fuss about it because that was all he wanted and his night was ruined but that they did appreciated that it was in Beach Blanket much better then ones that they had attended before on deck which were too crowded-so I guess that is a matter of preference.

 

[threeiscrazy]

I am wondering if they gave us the menus to make up for the lack of a pin. Though our waiters signed them. Guess to make them less sell able on ebay????

I would never sell mine. I have won 2 castaway clocks and would not sell them either.

We found the whole Pixar Cruise strange. There were so many first time cruisers. The tone of the West coast cruise was so different from any of the other 8 cruises taken. Also there were tons of kids in the dinning areas. Normally the kids go to one or two meals then stay in kids club to eat. It is very long 2 hours for kids to stay through. The adult cove area bar was dead. It was a very quite cruise.

I was disappointed that when I asked to get a frame mat signed by the Incredibles I was told they could not do this and I had to stand in line. This was not even a gift for me. I thought if it was a Pixar cruise you should be ableto get the Pixar characters to sign it.?????

So I stood in line and got the mat signed but they signed the wrong way. So I asked a cast member if if they could sign the other 2 sides. I know it would look funny but I was ok with that. He was so kind. Looked to see if they had an extra photo frame mat. Then decided a little pixie dust was needed and got the pixar character to sign a picture. That really saved our cruise. It was the first extra special thing done for us ever. No you will not be seeing it on ebay. It is for a special needs child.

I found the food quality not as good. The serving time for food was not very good. Though I know it was not our servers fault gave them excellent.

Pirate night they ran out of Turkey legs. The desserts by the time we got to them were mush since it the cakes were not cut and people were just doing the cutting themselves. The pirate buffet on deck was so pretty the one held in beach blanket was just awe full.

The merchandise was lacking. I had expected a little more items. I booked the cruise a year ago so it was an extra bonus we were on it. I think they were having so many issues selling these cruises they used it as a selling gimmic. To get more on board.

I think the pixar cruise was a money looser for the cruise line. We really enjoyed Jimmy the cruise director. Great sense of humour. We loved the west coast since we had never been to any of those ports. For the first time us international travellers had the shortest line through customs It was funny

We had a good time. The cast members really make you feel wonderful.

Our waiters did not sign our menus. The lack of continuity is frustrating.

I'm glad you mentioned the vibe of the cruise and the food. We met some very nice people, but overall most of the people we met were cruising for the first time and had booked within the last month before sailing. It was a much different crowd than cruising out of Port Canaveral. We've also never had so many kids RUNNING and YELLING up an down the hallways at night as we did on this cruise.

The food overall in the dining rooms was lacking, the buffet was just bad in y opinion. Palo was great for brunch and we had a fantastic dinner there.

We didn't let any of this ruin our cruise as we wanted to enjoy it for what it was. For us it was a chance to see San Francisco (a first for us) and to catch up with friends in San Diego while relaxing in between cities and being spoiled along the way.

Disney does so much so well that when things start to slip it tends to be glaring and I always find myself wondering "why didn't anyone think of this?"