Anthony Onofreo
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2018
My wife and just returned from the January 22-29 Star Wars Day at Sea sailing of the Disney Fantasy, our 8th Disney cruise. Here are our thoughts, if interested, on why people may not be cruising right now beyond just the anxiety of a positive test at the port that could keep your travel party off the ship after making the trip from home, and despite the value proposition:
1) Last minute itinerary changes will wipe out the port adventures you may have pre-booked at places you intended to visit, and then the ability to book new excursions at your new destinations can occur only after boarding. Our itinerary changed from Eastern Caribbean to Western, which meant stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya instead of St. Thomas and Tortola, which was not a deal breaker for us as all typically offer certified scuba diving.
2) Even with fewer passengers (approximately 1140 on our cruise), port adventure options may be extremely limited. When we boarded, only 8 of the total of 11 offered for Costa Maya remained available, several of which were the same thing just at different times, and none were for scuba, our preferred option at most ports. We would have just booked a private excursion with a local dive shop, however we were told not to do this unless we wanted to spend the rest of the cruise in quarantine. We chose one of few remaining Mayan ruins tours, four hours of which were spent on travel to and from the site on a bus along with about 50 fellow passengers, all with the restriction imposed on us that we only use the lavatory on the bus to avoid coming into contact with people outside our group who may not be vaccinated. Essentially only about an hour was actually spent exploring the focal point of the tour. We regretted not making it a spa day.
3) Evening activities may also be very limited. Although absolutely outstanding as always, significantly reduced seating capacity inside the Walt Disney Theater required that the three evening Broadway-quality shows (Aladdin, Frozen, and Believe) performed by the entertainment cast be repeated not just twice for the two dining time rotations, but also on consecutive nights to assure that everyone would have an opportunity to see the shows. Effectively, this accommodation prevented the many other “professional” performers, presenters, and entertainers we have come to expect to fill each evening. This was true in the lounges as well, with very few sets by the talent (Bernadette) at the piano and just one variety act that we can recall in The Tube.
4) Daily activities, particularly sea days, again did not have the usual number of offerings. Aside from the excellent wine and champagne tastings we participated in, the usual cooking demonstrations in the D-Lounge by the various chefs aboard did not occur, replaced it seems by an abundance of trivia contests. Star Wars Day had too little programming and no guest speakers as in the past.
5) Particularly disappointing to us, and we suspect to many others as well, was the impact certain mask policies had on photography. My wife and I are both health care professionals, and as such we can thoroughly appreciate DCL’s remarkable efforts to keep its passengers and crew safe, and we absolutely support the use of properly worn masks. While everyone was compliant, some rules simply did not make sense. For instance, during dinner, guests are of course allowed to remove their masks to eat and drink. However, when the photographer came by the tables to take photos, our masks had to go back on, even if we remained seated in the same positions. We were incredulous. Mercifully, no photographer visited us while in Palo or Remy as there would have been no point. In the past we have purchased the photo package and took advantage of the many backdrops and character photo-ops, especially when dressed up in formal wear or in keeping with a theme, such as costumes for Halloween or especially Star Wars Day. Keeping masks on while indoors next to cast members/characters was clearly understandable, but even in front of static backdrops in the immense atrium, with lots of space between us and the photographer? Even when the very details of the reserved “Epic Encounters” photo-ops specifically stated that masks could come off at the direction of a cast member when meeting Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2D2, and C3PO, we were not allowed to remove our masks. In fairness, on the very day of those encounters, the “details” section of the app removed that language and updated it to say masks were now necessary, a material change that was certainly their prerogative to make. Unfortunately that greatly diminished the experience. At least on the evening of Star Wars Day an outside backdrop was made available for photos without masks. It seemed quite incongruous to be able to participate in a trivia contest in O’Gill’s, a relatively small venue with its low ceiling and therefore more limited volume of air per person without masks on given that you could eat and drink, yet popcorn, snacks, and drinks were prohibited in the cavernous Walt Disney Theater and everyone had to remain masked.
The reasons to reset expectations and put up with all the above:
1) Last minute itinerary changes will wipe out the port adventures you may have pre-booked at places you intended to visit, and then the ability to book new excursions at your new destinations can occur only after boarding. Our itinerary changed from Eastern Caribbean to Western, which meant stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya instead of St. Thomas and Tortola, which was not a deal breaker for us as all typically offer certified scuba diving.
2) Even with fewer passengers (approximately 1140 on our cruise), port adventure options may be extremely limited. When we boarded, only 8 of the total of 11 offered for Costa Maya remained available, several of which were the same thing just at different times, and none were for scuba, our preferred option at most ports. We would have just booked a private excursion with a local dive shop, however we were told not to do this unless we wanted to spend the rest of the cruise in quarantine. We chose one of few remaining Mayan ruins tours, four hours of which were spent on travel to and from the site on a bus along with about 50 fellow passengers, all with the restriction imposed on us that we only use the lavatory on the bus to avoid coming into contact with people outside our group who may not be vaccinated. Essentially only about an hour was actually spent exploring the focal point of the tour. We regretted not making it a spa day.
3) Evening activities may also be very limited. Although absolutely outstanding as always, significantly reduced seating capacity inside the Walt Disney Theater required that the three evening Broadway-quality shows (Aladdin, Frozen, and Believe) performed by the entertainment cast be repeated not just twice for the two dining time rotations, but also on consecutive nights to assure that everyone would have an opportunity to see the shows. Effectively, this accommodation prevented the many other “professional” performers, presenters, and entertainers we have come to expect to fill each evening. This was true in the lounges as well, with very few sets by the talent (Bernadette) at the piano and just one variety act that we can recall in The Tube.
4) Daily activities, particularly sea days, again did not have the usual number of offerings. Aside from the excellent wine and champagne tastings we participated in, the usual cooking demonstrations in the D-Lounge by the various chefs aboard did not occur, replaced it seems by an abundance of trivia contests. Star Wars Day had too little programming and no guest speakers as in the past.
5) Particularly disappointing to us, and we suspect to many others as well, was the impact certain mask policies had on photography. My wife and I are both health care professionals, and as such we can thoroughly appreciate DCL’s remarkable efforts to keep its passengers and crew safe, and we absolutely support the use of properly worn masks. While everyone was compliant, some rules simply did not make sense. For instance, during dinner, guests are of course allowed to remove their masks to eat and drink. However, when the photographer came by the tables to take photos, our masks had to go back on, even if we remained seated in the same positions. We were incredulous. Mercifully, no photographer visited us while in Palo or Remy as there would have been no point. In the past we have purchased the photo package and took advantage of the many backdrops and character photo-ops, especially when dressed up in formal wear or in keeping with a theme, such as costumes for Halloween or especially Star Wars Day. Keeping masks on while indoors next to cast members/characters was clearly understandable, but even in front of static backdrops in the immense atrium, with lots of space between us and the photographer? Even when the very details of the reserved “Epic Encounters” photo-ops specifically stated that masks could come off at the direction of a cast member when meeting Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2D2, and C3PO, we were not allowed to remove our masks. In fairness, on the very day of those encounters, the “details” section of the app removed that language and updated it to say masks were now necessary, a material change that was certainly their prerogative to make. Unfortunately that greatly diminished the experience. At least on the evening of Star Wars Day an outside backdrop was made available for photos without masks. It seemed quite incongruous to be able to participate in a trivia contest in O’Gill’s, a relatively small venue with its low ceiling and therefore more limited volume of air per person without masks on given that you could eat and drink, yet popcorn, snacks, and drinks were prohibited in the cavernous Walt Disney Theater and everyone had to remain masked.
The reasons to reset expectations and put up with all the above:
- The cast and crew go above and beyond to be friendly and helpful, and are genuinely grateful to be back at work.
- Palo and Remy alone make the trip worthwhile. We ate at Palo on the first night as well as during the week and had spectacular meals both times. The menu has both fixed price and a la carte sections so there’s plenty to choose from. Although Remy can be pricy, especially when including the wine pairing as we did, there’s no question that it was worth it and the highlight of the cruise.
- You are surrounded by like-minded Disney fans (and Star Wars fans), self-selected for the experience and likely to share many things in common.
- Add strength to the numbers by requesting better coffee in the dining rooms and a more realistic internet package (rebooking cancelled return flights and finding a hotel due to a blizzard took quite a bit of data).
