Tales of the Transatlantic (Photos too)

[Kissimmee]

On the second evening as the last view of land faded I met a mom and her daughter in the elevator and she was obviously worried about something. I asked her is she was OK and her reply kind of captured the moment.

"I'm just worried if something was to happen. I mean on all the other cruises we have been on, land was not so far away and help would be quick coming."

I gave her the usual reassurances and offered that other ships were closer than you might think but it did bring home that this cruise was different, for that reason if no other. Thoughts along that line were not aided by the fact that the seas and weather got worse before they got better.

I remember that my only other Disney cruise was rougher for the first few days than any day on the crossing although my experience seems atypical as many multi cruise passengers assured me that the crossing is rougher than anything they recall.

I do remember one evening as I was at the small buffet in preludes when the whole ship shook and there was a loud thud. It was one of those "did we hit something?" moments. But nothing else happened and it was quickly forgotten.

A day or three later someone asked if I witnessed the big wave? "No" I said "What happened". Apparently we went though a single large swell and the water breached the bow of the Magic. Sorry I missed taping that one...

I realize that some found the 14 crossing less satisfying than a regular cruise but you can put me down for more sea days in my future cruises.

With six days at sea there was a lot free time and Hidden Mickey hunting is always fun but I may have discovered the last and most elusive hidden Mickey.

Where? Stateroom 7076, Bathroom with the Tub. When? A morning at sea while brushing my teeth.... I think the only way to describe it is to show you the picture....

 

[Kurby]

i must not be good at spotting the mickey's

i don't see it - can you outline it?

 

[CACruisin']

So that's what the big thud was! The kids and I were in our stateroom and we all looked at each other "That was one heck of a wave or we just hit a whale!" Wow, on the one hand it would have been cool to see the wave. On the other hand, I was one of those nervous about being in an itty bitty boat in the great big ocean. I did better if I just didn't think about it too much.

Great hidden mickey!

 

[cquick]

C'mon Richard, give us a longer trip report! You went back to back! I know you have lots of experiences to share.

by the way......we NEED to have a Central Florida AFTER the cruise meet.

We were at the LabCorp by Universal Studios on Vineland Road on Thursday and we saw the young couple who were at your Banner Party and they left today on the cruise! We need to get together to talk about ALL our cruises!

We can have it at our house, if you like. Connie

 

[Kissimmee]

C'mon Richard, give us a longer trip report! You went back to back! I know you have lots of experiences to share.

by the way......we NEED to have a Central Florida AFTER the cruise meet.

We were at the LabCorp by Universal Studios on Vineland Road on Thursday and we saw the young couple who were at your Banner Party and they left today on the cruise! We need to get together to talk about ALL our cruises!

We can have it at our house, if you like. Connie

Jennifer said the same thing. I'm up for a party, your place, mine or wherever.

If we plan in advance we should be able to set up the web cam better this time with two way sound and video for anyone that wants to join in around the country.

I'm glad you enjoyed your Carnival cruise. We were not as happy with the Med part as the transatlantic. Kevin had his arm broken on the ship, the Naples excursion was downright scary and dangerous and we had a very Un-Disney experience in the Quest club on the last night that left everyone in our group very upset.

But all in all the good memories, good friends and great Disney staff made it a great experience.

BTW Kevin's arm will be fine ...

 

[Kissimmee]

i must not be good at spotting the mickey's

i don't see it - can you outline it?

Sure. I flipped the pic upside down and circled what look like the head and ears to me.

Maybe it's too abstract and only I think it looks like a Mickey...

 

[tfc3rid]

Hey there Kissimmee...

Sorry that you had some awful experiences on the Med trip... I'm glad to hear that your son will be all right but a broken arm, yikes! To me, the transAtlantic would be more up my alley than the Med...

Can you delve into a little more regarding the negative experiences, especially the Naples excursion and Club Quest (assuming this is not on the ship...)

 

[poconoboatniks]

Kiss,

Do tell. Our two kiddos loved Quest while onboard.

Which excursion did you do in Naples?

How did your son break his arm? On our Mexican Riv. cruise a little girl ended up chipping her front tooth (huge chip).

Pocono

 

[Kurby]

Sure. I flipped the pic upside down and circled what look like the head and ears to me.

Maybe it's too abstract and only I think it looks like a Mickey...

i did see that and was wondering if that's what you meant then i said - na can't be it's just water LOL

 

[Kissimmee]

Hey there Kissimmee...

Sorry that you had some awful experiences on the Med trip... I'm glad to hear that your son will be all right but a broken arm, yikes! To me, the transatlantic would be more up my alley than the Med...

Can you delve into a little more regarding the negative experiences, especially the Naples excursion and Club Quest (assuming this is not on the ship...)

Well, we booked the Naples Pompeii, Sorento, Capri Family tour... When we met in Rocking Bar D we were told that due to rough seas the Capri Jet Boat portion was canceled and we would see only Sorento and Pompeii. Initially they said their would be no discount for the missed segment but we could cancel for a full refund if we wanted. Hard choice as we definitely had to see Pompeii.

We paid $199 for this excursion and Disney offered a Pompeii Sorento only tour for $129 that was identical to our now abbreviated one. When someone pointed this out to to Travis, as I recall, they circled their wagons and returned in a few minutes with notice that we would now be charged $129 like the other tour.

OK, so everyone was happy with that and we were all agreeing with each other that given how rough the seas were last night on the Magic we didn't want to be out there in a small boat anyway.

As we left the Magic, I at least , was expecting to head to a bus. Instead they marched us across the port to a waiting jet boat. The same boat that could not make the 15 minute trip from Sorento to Capri but which was going to take us on the 45 minute trip from Naples to Sorento.

To make a long story short it was not just rough it was brutal. The boat had three levels and we were on the top level with maybe 60 others.

As soon as we cleared the break water of the harbor it got mad. People were throwing up everywhere with nothing to throw up into. My son Kevin was one of them and my wife got up to help him. Lucky for her as the woman beside her was holding an infant that tossed all over my wife's seat including our back pack, cameras and Tenerife and Gibraltar souvenir hats.

About this time a crew member showed up with plastic garbage bags as seas sickness bags. A bit late for most people.

The sea sickness was one thing but it was so rough that people that tried to make it to the lavatory were thrown across the cabin literally. A man in the back fainted and my older, flight attendant , daughter had to roll him on his side because he was aspirating his own vomit. She is convinced he could have died if he wasn't helped. A man who made it to the bathroom was thrown over the garbage cans violently when he came out. Even Kevin and my wife were thrown to the floor when they tried to get to the washroom.
It sounds like I'm embellishing, but it really was that bad.

Turns out that the President of Disney Paris was on the lower deck which had a bit better time of it.

Disney gave us a $20 refund. Turns out they gave the same refund to a tour who's pizza wasn't hot. Let me see... Cold pizza vs choking on your vomit? Yeah those are equal ...

Anyway we survived better than most that day so I count myself lucky.

To add insult to injury the tour was supposed to be guided but the small radios they gave us to hear the guide with all sounded like

Gfefu RRRump dFrooooop HDGHedm DEYUdh DEGHGHeD WDbhed

We loved Sorento and Pompeii even in the rain was very interesting. Just wish they hadn't put us in danger to get us there.

A bit off topic for this thread... sorry

 

[misseulalie]

Hey, why didn't you use the puking smilie????


By the way, I was one of those who got the $20 back for the cold pizza. It was pretty bad but I have to admit, your situation was much worse.

I, too loved the transatlantic much more the med. If I had to do it again, I would only do the Transatlantic and saved my $$ for a future cruise. I think there were so few people on the ship that we got a ton of attention and it was very relaxing. On the Med. cruise I felt like I was on a 10 mile military hike in the wind and rain, only to go back to the "cave" (our inside-cat.11 room) and wonder all night what time it was...

What happened at Disney Quest??

Let's plan on a party. I don't have a pool so whoever has one and is willing to host can set a date....(we need a pool to keep the rugrats occupied...)

Jen

 

[Kissimmee]

Kiss,

Do tell. Our two kiddos loved Quest while on-board.

Which excursion did you do in Naples?

How did your son break his arm? On our Mexican Riv. cruise a little girl ended up chipping her front tooth (huge chip).

Pocono

My kids loved Quest too. Unfortunately some things happened there that were really un-cool.

I went there to give a photo to a girl I have taken a picture of with my daughter and a group of kids were huddled over the staff computer at the entrance. No counselor anywhere around. I walked around to the back of the desk and they were looking up the guest records of people on the cruise.

Apparently it wasn't the only problem the staff was having. Some of the older 13-15 year olds have been making late night prank room calls on the house phone near Quest and my 11 year old told them not to. One of the boy's involved got even on the last night when the kids received their Graduation Tee Shirts and friends were signing them on the back. He wrote "CUMSHOT" in bold letters across her back.

She is naive and had no idea what it meant walking around with that on her shirt for some time until her older sister saw it and exploded. Apparently the staff knew it had happened and brushed it off as boys being boys without explaining she should take the shirt off.

I find out around midnight after I come back from my last walk around the ship to find the manager of the clubs with my wife looking for my older daughter who is in a rage looking for the boy who wrote it. (she is very protective of her little sister)

Eventually we are all in the lobby talking to Richard from security, the manager from the clubs and the mother of the boy in question. Richard says this is the first he has heard of prank calls or other inappropriate behavior on the cruise. Two seconds after he said that a large group leans over the fifth floor balcony and starts yelling obscenities to another group on the fourth floor. He excuses himself and about two minutes after that another group starts tossing things over the top balcony and onto the lobby floor near where were standing. By this time all I want to do is get some sleep before we have to get up at 5:30 to disembark.

This was my third Disney cruise and I don't recall anything like that on the first two. I've wondered what the difference was.

 

[Kissimmee]

Hey, why didn't you use the puking smilie????


By the way, I was one of those who got the $20 back for the cold pizza. It was pretty bad but I have to admit, your situation was much worse.

Let's plan on a party. I don't have a pool so whoever has one and is willing to host can set a date....(we need a pool to keep the rugrats occupied...)

Jen

Connie had the same idea. I'm happy to have it here again although Connie offered her house too. I sugested we refine the Web cam idea so we can see and hear the others that aren't in Orlando.

How Is Rachid coping? I assume he is back now?

Richard

 

[tfc3rid]

My God... That is absolutely uncalled for... I don't want to venture to guess why the behavior of the people on the ship was so awful like that...

In addition, that boat ride sounds downright dangerous for families and anyone on that particular day...