Problems with 1/15/05 Magic cruise

[allears]

"Or maybe, you enjoy doing little more than sitting and relaxing all day ... and that is fine, but please stop telling those of us who are active people that 5 days with little more to do than eat and look at the water is the real meaning (or whatever) of a cruise."

You're mixing some of us up, I never said this. I am not juding what you think is the true meaning of cruises. And I still paid for this cruise. I did not ask for or expect a voucher from the hurricane cruise, but I of course appreciated it. That situation was far different than this cruise.

My compassion is not metered out based on wether or not I got a discount on this cruise. I fully understand and share people's disappointments, especially with missing CC. And unless there were some truly significant issues not experienced by the rest of us, which is of course possible, I don't think the circumstances of the is cruise warrant compensation. And that is my opinion, not a judgement. Yes we missed two ports, but the weather was not that bad and again, just my opinion, the cast did it's best to fill in the gaps. The problem I have is with the general attitude of our society as a whole that as soon as something doesn't go just right or isn't completely to our liking we look for compensation. It this kind of mind set that has flooded our courts with frivolous law suits and given us coffee cups with disclaimers to tell us coffee is hot.

 

[allears]

I thought some of the readers might find this of interest. This is a list of the activities that were added on our “extra” sea days. Granted, not everything will appeal to everyone, but it sure seems like they tried to beef up the day. And they can’t and shouldn’t be expected to create completely unique activities, given a finite staff and resources. So for what it’s worth here is the list:

Wednesday, 1/18

Brunch at Palo’s
Mr. Toads Wild Race
Line dancing
Family golf putting contest
Art of Entertaining: Signature Entrée
Jackpot Bingo
Tropical music with Kool Breeze
Ladies Basketball free throw challenge
Family Bridge Game
Cruise Staff Lunch
Art of Entertaining: Creative napkin folding
Mickey 200 race
Movie Special, The Princes Diaries 2
Beer tasting
Fun in the Sun, with the DJ and the live band
Wine tasting
Navigators Series, Art of the Theme show ship tour
Men’s basketball free throw challenge

On what should have been Castaway Cay day, keep in mind that it was determined that we couldn’t dock later in the morning, so new activities began at 11 AM.

Prize bingo
Family Team Trivia
Pictionary
Character Dance Party
Family Bridge game
Tropical music with Kool Breeze
So You think you know your family
Mr. Toads Wild Race
Chip-it Golf
A matinee of the Golden Mickey’s
Live Music on deck 9 with Sea Breeze
Ladies basketball free throw challenge
Randy Cabral Juggling Workshop
Mickey Mania Game Show
Men’s Basketball Free Throw Challenge
Family Animation
Line Dancing

I know there has been and still will be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking about what they should and shouldn’t have added. Might I suggest that we turn to our own jobs and ask how we handle the changes to our routines? Do we meet all of our customer or client’s expectations, or do we hope they bear with us and understand that we’re doing the best we can? I’ve been in customer service for over 20 years and things happen. Very rarely do rarely do we have the luxury of pulling in lots of extra people when we’re short staffed or getting computers to do what they are supposed to when they go off line.

Anyway I thought this might interest some folks

 

[cjsmith]

Wow, sounds to me like DCL really did go out of their way to keep you guys entertained while at sea. There many not be anything on that list that some people like, but I can say that we didn't have anymore than that on our Princess cruise to do, maybe even less actually.
To top it off there was the pool, sunbathing, the spa, some shopping, relaxing, reading a good book, the computer, the beauty parlor, walking the deck, listening to music, enjoying a good beer at deversions while playing a board game, chatting with your partner and enjoying each other's company without the distraction of work, laundry, errands, chores and the phone ringing!

 

[allears]

..."To top it off there was the pool, sunbathing, the spa, some shopping, relaxing, reading a good book, the computer, the beauty parlor, walking the deck, listening to music, enjoying a good beer at deversions while playing a board game, chatting with your partner and enjoying each other's company without the distraction of work, laundry, errands, chores and the phone ringing!..."

AMEN!

 

[TDC Nala]

Missed Castaway Cay due to weather in January 2003 and it never occurred to me to ask for compensation.

I just decided that if I ever cruised again, it wouldn't be in January.

 

[dwkwootton]

The list posted by Allears was not the list of added activities. It was the combined list of regularly scheduled activities and the added activities, the added ones accounting for 3 or 4 of them such as Mr. Toad's Wild Races. If you don't drink during the day or live to eat, you've ruled out the adult activities.

Cjsmith's list of what that was in addition to includes more ways to sit around or ways to spend tons of money. It would have been an appropriate gesture on Disney's part to waive the computer fee (wasn't it approx $1 per minute?) or waive the spa fee. I wouldn't even be (and possibly many others) participating in this thread. I stand by my words from days ago, I would have been happy with a matinee of an adult film and an adult scrabble tournament.

Please be fair enough to read over both lists from the standpoint that it was the 5th or 6th day of reading your good book or listening to the band playing at the family pool, instead of reading the lists as your first day or two of vacation. Significant difference.

Allears, you stated that Disney can't and shouldn't be expected to create unique activities given a finite staff and resources. Yes they can and yes they should. It is outrageous to suggest a finite staff and resources is given.

After listening to Allears ponificate for days on the right thing to think and do, tell us why you used the voucher you were given. Why didn't you thank Disney, but give it back to them? Was your September cruise better than being at work? Did you enjoy your experience with the staff? Did you have an opportunity to read a good book or relax in a lounge chair? Why didn't you tell Disney that your principles dictate that you would take responsibility for booking in hurricane season and you felt they did the best they could?

 

[WDWLVR]

I thought some of the readers might find this of interest. This is a list of the activities that were added on our “extra” sea days. Granted, not everything will appeal to everyone, but it sure seems like they tried to beef up the day. And they can’t and shouldn’t be expected to create completely unique activities, given a finite staff and resources. So for what it’s worth here is the list:

Wednesday, 1/18

Brunch at Palo’s
Mr. Toads Wild Race
Line dancing
Family golf putting contest
Art of Entertaining: Signature Entrée
Jackpot Bingo
Tropical music with Kool Breeze
Ladies Basketball free throw challenge
Family Bridge Game
Cruise Staff Lunch
Art of Entertaining: Creative napkin folding
Mickey 200 race
Movie Special, The Princes Diaries 2
Beer tasting
Fun in the Sun, with the DJ and the live band
Wine tasting
Navigators Series, Art of the Theme show ship tour
Men’s basketball free throw challenge

On what should have been Castaway Cay day, keep in mind that it was determined that we couldn’t dock later in the morning, so new activities began at 11 AM.

Prize bingo
Family Team Trivia
Pictionary
Character Dance Party
Family Bridge game
Tropical music with Kool Breeze
So You think you know your family
Mr. Toads Wild Race
Chip-it Golf
A matinee of the Golden Mickey’s
Live Music on deck 9 with Sea Breeze
Ladies basketball free throw challenge
Randy Cabral Juggling Workshop
Mickey Mania Game Show
Men’s Basketball Free Throw Challenge
Family Animation
Line Dancing

I know there has been and still will be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking about what they should and shouldn’t have added. Might I suggest that we turn to our own jobs and ask how we handle the changes to our routines? Do we meet all of our customer or client’s expectations, or do we hope they bear with us and understand that we’re doing the best we can? I’ve been in customer service for over 20 years and things happen. Very rarely do rarely do we have the luxury of pulling in lots of extra people when we’re short staffed or getting computers to do what they are supposed to when they go off line.

Anyway I thought this might interest some folks

allears - thanks for that comparrison. To me it shows that Disney did put on a number of extra things. On our CC day on the 10 night even though we were able to dock at the island it was cold, overcast and the lagoon was closed to swimming. Great for hiking and biking which many did. We pretty much stayed on board. Disney added an afternoon movie, opened up the kids club and added a few little things. Worked for us. DH went to the movie, I called the spa and got in an alpha capsule treatment. We had time to pack at a slower pace and I had plenty of time out on the verandah with my book. Yes on day 9 I still found it nice to be able to sit outside and read a good book. After all it was in the teens back home and snow was on the ground. I was in shorts and a t-shirt looking out on a beautiful island!

Sounds like you had a great attitude on both of your less than perfect cruises and I'm sure that's what made them great cruises for you!

 

[dwkwootton]

OK guys, if you try any harder to not understand, somebody is gonna pop an artery. Its clear that I'll not be coerced into finding a floating combination of a library and Old Country Buffet to fulfill my reasonable expectation of my most recent Disney Cruise. And vise versa. Wishing everyone the very best!

 

[ManxMama]

Whatever happened to "The Love Boat"???? Can't adults enjoy a week on board a beautiful cruise ship without needing extra cruise staff-planned and supervised activities to keep them entertained?

 

[cjsmith]

The list posted by Allears was not the list of added activities. It was the combined list of regularly scheduled activities and the added activities, the added ones accounting for 3 or 4 of them such as Mr. Toad's Wild Races. If you don't drink during the day or live to eat, you've ruled out the adult activities.

Cjsmith's list of what that was in addition to includes more ways to sit around or ways to spend tons of money. It would have been an appropriate gesture on Disney's part to waive the computer fee (wasn't it approx $1 per minute?) or waive the spa fee. I wouldn't even be (and possibly many others) participating in this thread. I stand by my words from days ago, I would have been happy with a matinee of an adult film and an adult scrabble tournament.

Please be fair enough to read over both lists from the standpoint that it was the 5th or 6th day of reading your good book or listening to the band playing at the family pool, instead of reading the lists as your first day or two of vacation. Significant difference.

Allears, you stated that Disney can't and shouldn't be expected to create unique activities given a finite staff and resources. Yes they can and yes they should. It is outrageous to suggest a finite staff and resources is given.

After listening to Allears ponificate for days on the right thing to think and do, tell us why you used the voucher you were given. Why didn't you thank Disney, but give it back to them? Was your September cruise better than being at work? Did you enjoy your experience with the staff? Did you have an opportunity to read a good book or relax in a lounge chair? Why didn't you tell Disney that your principles dictate that you would take responsibility for booking in hurricane season and you felt they did the best they could?

Swimming in the pool and walking the deck are not ways to simply sit around neither is going to the gym now that I think to add that. You seem to have a problem with someone suggesting that you relax and no where did I suggest eating, which you seem to always bring up, I haven't seen anyone suggest that. The funny thing is you complain about my suggestions of sitting around, but what the heck is an adult themed movie and a scrabble tournament? You SIT AROUND for both of these things as well, they're not that exactly active events!!!!!! There were movies playing in your stateroom during the day so you did have a choice of watching a movie if that was important to you. In order to have a scrabble tournament you have to have the equipment to play. Sorry, that may interest you, but it holds no interest for me. There are board games in diversions that you can play but only with your partner or family, it just doesn't include tons of people. It kind of sounds like you're upset that Disney didn't find an extra event that interested you and if they had you would have been okay with it.

Now on Saturday you were traveling, Sunday was Key West, Monday a day at sea, and Tuesday was supposed to be Grand Cayman how does that make it that you sat around for 5 or 6 days reading a book? Then I assume you made Cozumel on Wednesday so it was a day off the ship. Thursday was a scheduled day at sea anyway so it really then meant that Friday was another day on the ship, though a day where many were justifiably disappointed. It's not like you were stuck on a ship for days on end with nothing to do. If you can't enjoy a cruise ship for 2 days in a row then maybe cruising isn't for you really. Frankly, two days in a row of my husband's company is enough to keep me satisfied as we don't get that often.

The plain and simple fact is that Disney has never been a ship that offers a ton of adult activities. They don't have a casino, vegas type shows, rock climbing walls, art auctions, adult pool games, virutal golf or anything like that. They always seem to run kids movies or G and PG-13 movies during the day anyway, it's a ship geared towards children and families. What they do always offer are a few classes for adults but mainly things geared towards the children and the family. We take the cruise for our family but always find that we have to make our own fun on sea days as unless you want to spend money on things like the spa (which isn't owned or run by Disney so they won't cut the fees!) there never really is too much to do. It seems that it's the night time when Disney will hold parties and the like for adults but the wine tastings, beer tastings, spa for the day time and the like all cost extra money. Even on the Eastern with only the 3 ports and an extra day at sea it's the same thing, not really a lot of options geared towards adults.

Maybe you'd be better off cruising next time on a cruise line that caters more to the adults, like Celebrity or Princess so just in case you hit bad weather or have extra sea days you'd find more things to do.

 

[allears]

"The list posted by Allears was not the list of added activities. It was the combined list of regularly scheduled activities and the added activities, the added ones accounting for 3 or 4 of them such as Mr. Toad's Wild Races. If you don't drink during the day or live to eat, you've ruled out the adult activities."


dwknootton, you are mistaken. This list was created by comparing the Navigator as it was published for the days at Grand Cayman and CC to the revised Navigators issued for those days.

"Allears, you stated that Disney can't and shouldn't be expected to create unique activities given a finite staff and resources. Yes they can and yes they should. It is outrageous to suggest a finite staff and resources is given."

Outrrageous? The ship only has so many personnel, so many props, so many resources. That is a given. Have you ever been shorthanded at your job or had to deal with changes to your routine. Oh, I'm sure you handle that with perfection and meet all of your "cutsomer's" expectations.

"After listening to Allears ponificate for days on the right thing to think and do, tell us why you used the voucher you were given. Why didn't you thank Disney, but give it back to them? Was your September cruise better than being at work? Did you enjoy your experience with the staff? Did you have an opportunity to read a good book or relax in a lounge chair? Why didn't you tell Disney that your principles dictate that you would take responsibility for booking in hurricane season and you felt they did the best they could?"

And you're not telling us what to think? We're supposed to think that we had a lousy time and should expect compensation. And I don't understand what the deal is with the vouhcer, it wasn't a voucher for a free cruise, I paid for this cruise as well. And yes I had a great time on my last cruise, but they gave the refunds and the vouchers, I didn't ask for or demand it. I chose to take the shortened cruise rather than re-schedule and yes I accepted the offers. There is simply NO comparrision between these two cruises. I don't think too many people were as inconvienced on this cruise as we were in Septembe when we lost close to three days and only went to one of the scheduled ports. And before someone jumps on the facts, yes we went to two ports, but Costa Maya was not on the original schedule. Key West, Grand Cayman and CC were. We didn't go to those. The fact that DCL compensate those of us who chose to stay on that curise, DOES NOT invalidate my opinion of this cruise.

I'm not telling you what to think, you had a lousy time, that's too bad. I diagree with the general idea that the challenges with this cruise warrant compensation. Unless someone had some additional issues.

I'm sorrry you feel I'm pontificating, but take a look at your posts. You don't seem to cotton to much desent against your view either.

 

[disneysooz]

First off, I don’t want anything I say to be construed as antagonistic in any way. This is strictly informational and my own opinions which are not being directed at any one particular person. So please don’t read anything into it. Having said that, let me just say that we cruised the hurricane shortened 9-25-04 (oops 9-27) Western. Without boring everyone on the board, or reliving all the details again (some of which were unbelievable), suffice to say, that cruise was definitely “challenged”! And yes, we did get a refund, which we were entitled to-we only got a 4 day cruise. It has nothing to do with how satisfying those 4 days were, if they met our expectations, or if the weather was good. We got 4 days on the ship-we paid for 7 up front-they gave us a refund. We also received a voucher for a future cruise, which I was told by a Disney CM, was given to us as a “thank you” for making the decision to go ahead and cruise under the highly abnormal adverse circumstances. We knew we were getting this when we made the decision to cruise (before we boarded the ship); it is my understanding those who canceled, simply received a 100% refund, but no future voucher.

Did we have a great time? Absolutely! We chose to look at it as an adventure. We had a fabulous time and the CMs were as friendly, helpful, enthusiastic and fun as always! Please keep in mind, we were the last of the hurricane cruises and those folks had to be exhausted after all they had been through in August and September. But you would never have known it to see them in action. Was it better than being at work? You betcha baby! Any day on any vacation, DCL or otherwise, is better than being at work in my opinion. Vacation is your short term break from reality. And just like life, vacations are not always perfect, but how we make the best of it is what really matters. (Brings back memories of our 1999 Ocean City vacation when there were "sand drifts" on the boardwalk, from one of the hurricanes coming up the Atlantic coast.)

I am sorry the cruise did not work out well for some. Hopefully the next time will be different. Do go ahead and write letters to DCL; you are entitled to give them your feedback, for better or worse. Please let us know how this turns out for you.

Remember…these are just my opinions…please no flames. Have a magical day!
Susie

 

[allears]

disneysooz, thanks, that's exaclty my point about the September cruise. I appreciate you post.

 

[justmestace]

Okay...I can't stand this anymore. Have any of you ever read the "Terms and Conditions" that you agreed to when you booked a cruise? More specifically, the part where it says "RIGHT TO CHANGE ITINERARY"?

I am certain you all can read. You signed an agreement that stated the Disney Cruise Line is not LIABLE (do we all know what LIABLE means?) to its passengers if the itinerary changes, or they cannot make a call at port.
You know it, it's in writing, you agreed to it. There should be no way that anyone could or should even consider asking for compensation. It is right there in black and white. End of conversation.

 

[allears]

Okay...I can't stand this anymore. Have any of you ever read the "Terms and Conditions" that you agreed to when you booked a cruise? More specifically, the part where it says "RIGHT TO CHANGE ITINERARY"?

I am certain you all can read. You signed an agreement that stated the Disney Cruise Line is not LIABLE (do we all know what LIABLE means?) to its passengers if the itinerary changes, or they cannot make a call at port.
You know it, it's in writing, you agreed to it. There should be no way that anyone could or should even consider asking for compensation. It is right there in black and white. End of conversation.

Absolutely right! I believe this is also diclosed in the marketing matreials and is in fact talked about on the web site.

 

[ohiominnie]

Okay...I can't stand this anymore. Have any of you ever read the "Terms and Conditions" that you agreed to when you booked a cruise? More specifically, the part where it says "RIGHT TO CHANGE ITINERARY"?

I am certain you all can read. You signed an agreement that stated the Disney Cruise Line is not LIABLE (do we all know what LIABLE means?) to its passengers if the itinerary changes, or they cannot make a call at port.
You know it, it's in writing, you agreed to it. There should be no way that anyone could or should even consider asking for compensation. It is right there in black and white. End of conversation.

I haven't read ALL of the responses. Nor do I care to. I'm sort of sick of all of the whining going on around here lately. But...I MUST say to Stacey:

Amen! It's all in the cruise contract that you have to sign in your documents. It also states in there that if the Wonder or Magic sinks, too bad. Read them sometime before you sign them and you'll find that Disney doesn't have to compensate for squat. The fact that they have started the precedent looks like it's created a bunch of whiners who all want their due.

 

[ncmvp]

Hi cjsmith,

Remember me from Jan 2004. Guess what I was on the Jan 15, 2005 cruise.

I Know a lot of people were disappointed with this cruise, we were too. I can't however blame Disney. The real problem here was the chilli weather. It was too cold and chilli to go in the pool most days. The only good weather day we had was in cozumel. We had a great day at the Tulum Ruins and beach.

In Grand Cayman there was no way we could tender. And if you could the weather was so nasty where would you go?

CC I was there for both attempts at docking. There was no way the ship could dock. You could actually see the currents pushing the ship away from the channel.

I really think IMHO that had the weather been warm we would not be seeing so many complaints. There is nothing that can be done about the weather. I really can't see what compensation there is to demand.

We were disappointed, but we still had a great time and our kids they had a great time. In fact we booked on board for August 2006 (hurricane season, OY!) as did our next door neighbors who were on the cruise with us.

 

[disneysooz]

disneysooz, thanks, that's exaclty my point about the September cruise. I appreciate you post.

allears-I sent you a PM!

 

[ohiominnie]

I really think IMHO that had the weather been warm we would not be seeing so many complaints. There is nothing that can be done about the weather. I really can't see what compensation there is to demand.

Maybe YOU should write a letter to DCL. I'm sure they would LOVE to hear from someone who isn't complaining.

 

[allears]

"CC I was there for both attempts at docking. There was no way the ship could dock. You could actually see the currents pushing the ship away from the channel."

So true. I can't paralell park my car let alone think I know how an 84,000 ton ship should be docked.

" really think IMHO that had the weather been warm we would not be seeing so many complaints. There is nothing that can be done about the weather. I really can't see what compensation there is to demand."

This is probably true. And you know what, I managed some time out on deck in the sun pretty much everday. Sure when the sun was behind a cloud it was breezy, and one afternoon I sat there with my shirt on and a towel over my legs enjoying the fresh air. I sure would trade my 20 degree ice covered world for another week any minute.

We left winter and went to spring. Our friends and relatives here wish they could have changed places, especially as the snow fell.