The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, March 29 Eastern observations...

[stevenpensacola]

First, the GOOD:

7 days spent with my dear wife.

1. Absolutely gorgeous weather at Castaway Cay. Spent the whole day at Serenity Bay...was on the first tram there, and the last one back. Snorkeling was incredible...lots of fish/sea urchins/starfish around the boat engine. Best of all...no screaming kids, lying in a hammock under a palm tree....

2. Enjoyed the new menus...in fact, the actual menus still smelled new.

3. Enjoyed the company of many nice people we met.

4. Loved all of the entertainers (except for the ventriloquist).

5. Brunch and dinner at Palo....enough said.

6. weather cooperated for the fireworks.

8. Panini's...

9. napping in the chairs on deck 4

now for the BAD:

1. Near gale force winds for 2/3's of the cruise. I believe that on St Maarten, the winds were gale force...but with clear skies....resulted in high surf at Orient Bay Beach.

2. Our St Thomas expedition (catamaran/snorkeling to Buck Island) was canceled at the very last moment due to high winds/waves. In fact, we were in the theater waiting to depart when the call came that the expedition was canceled.

3. The new menus seemed to have the kitchen/servers a little confused....did not quite seem to have it all together on nights with the new menu.

4. Our head server and drink server did not seem to work well together.

5. Dinner service did not seem quite as personal as on our previous cruise. We went on a 4 day - Christmas 05....our waiter and drink server had taken the time to memorize the names of everyone in our party of 11...which really made a nice impression (Witt from Indonesia was our server, with Glacia our drink server during the 05 Cruise....they were incredible). I'm not really sure that our servers this trip ever knew our names.

6. Did not find the ventriloquist funny at all....the "what's up...." got old fast...he did have a funny moment or so, but was not in the same league as the other performers. He really bombed during his show in Rockin' Bar D...if we weren't sitting on the front row, I would have walked out.

7. Did not care for "Twice Charmed". The voice of the female playing the girl was very annoying....the show was not funny at all.

8. why should it cost $100 to park your car at the terminal? At that price, they should have changed my oil/ rotated the tires, and washed/waxed my car.

9. Soul Drive....ugh....

and finally the UGLY:

1. The old couple who proceeded to strip down and change clothes right next to the hot tub by the Quiet Cove Pool and I'm talking buck naked, lifting-moving sagging parts in order to dry under said "parts"...

2. While at Orient Bay Beach, we decided to walk down the beach to where the nudist resort is located....there really, really, really , really are things better left unseen....and that's all I'll say about that. If it were supermodels, it might be different, but these folks looked like your nana and papa...walking down the beach with everything flapping in the breeze....I pray they used some good sunscreen. I may never get over the trauma of what I saw there

and now some various ramblings:

Found the driving tours of St Maarten and St Thomas to be very interesting, but was surprised at how much trash was found at some of the scenic overlooks...you'd think an effort would be made to make these areas look as nice as possible due to all the visitors that stop there.

It's absolutely incredible the way Disney is able to make their guests part with their hard earned money with all the Disney themed merchandise they sell. People will buy anything with Disney on it....they really play up the angle of how all their guests are "family" and everyone seems to buy (literally) into it.

I would love to have the contract to sell handi-wipes to DCL.

The exit off of I-95 could be marked a little clearer...signs should say Cruise Ship Terminals...instead of just Port.

Disboard meet did not seem to really "gel"...location during sail away party was too loud and busy...and we were trying to get us a place at the rail to watch....but we did enjoy meeting the folks we did get to meet.

 

[ps17]

Maybe I'll put up a trip report, but here are our observations from the same cruise....

1) Our server team was the worst we've had (this is our third time on DCL). Part of the problem was the assitant server. Slow, confused, marginally competent. Our exceptional server from our previous cruise (Alex) is apparently on the Wonder.

2) We were late leaving St. Thomas - therefore arriving at Castaway Cay late. This was allegedly due to 2 things:
a) Some people were late getting back to the ship: I thought such folks were left behind? Why make 2000+ other people suffer for this? Apparently, they had left kids on-board. I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on this. The CC arrival time of 11:00 was compensated by a 6:00PM departure time, but this is no consolation for half the ship that needs to onboard at 4:30 anyhow to get ready for their 6:00PM dinner (and be packed to leave the ship the next day).
b) Strong winds and rough surf contributed to late arrival. We did not quite get this. We were about 30 minutes late leaving St. Thomas, but our cruising speed despite the rough seas seemed to be close to 20 knots. Wondering how we lost so much time...

3) We agree: Soul Drive is bad. The lead singer, when she did sing is what Simon Cowell would describe as "ghastly" cruise ship performance, but she was brutal. High Frequency was a lot better.

4) The late night entertainment in Rockin Bar D was much worse compared to previous cruises. Soul Drive had a lot to do with this, but we did not particulary like the DJ and the bits either. In our previous cruises, we had begun to get tired of 70s and 80s night, but would have gladly had those back.

5) We thought that the food on this trip was pretty good and better than previous trips.

6) Palo's has upgraded their menu and their service. Both brunch and dinner were phenomenal.

Overall, the experience was phenomal as usual. We did book again for next year, but we have some conflicts with our sail datess are faced with tough choices as when to go, or to switch to another cruise line (will post on this later)....

 

[Muushka]

Thank you both for posting your observations. I am a firm believer in telling the good and the bad.
Good balance! Sounds like a mostly good cruise.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Maybe I'll put up a trip report, but here are our observations from the same cruise....

1) Our server team was the worst we've had (this is our third time on DCL). Part of the problem was the assitant server. Slow, confused, marginally competent.

Our assistant server actually seemed real shy...while the head server was very personable....but there were times we would not see them for 10 minutes or so. There were several occasions when drinks ordered were never delivered. Our previous cruise, the servers would really spend time with our kids, doing tricks, clowning with them...when our kids told them they wanted nothing for desert, a plate was brought out with "nothing" spelled out in chocolate...we did not get this type of interaction this time. I witnessed several of the servers looking at the new menus trying to identify what it was they were delivering.

2) We were late leaving St. Thomas - therefore arriving at Castaway Cay late. This was allegedly due to 2 things:
a) Some people were late getting back to the ship: I thought such folks were left behind?

I was up on deck 10 when the late folks arrived. The ships horn had sounded, and the gangways had been pulled. Not sure if the family had called to let them know they were coming....but it was a couple with a small child. They were all running as fast as they could. When they got to the pier, the main gate was closed. A different gate was open, and a van on the pier went and picked them up. The gangway was pulled back out, but w/out the guard rails. When the family got out of the van, the 100 or so folks on decks 9 and 10 let out a big cheer for them. The crew held on to each of them as they crossed the gangway since there were no siderails up.



b) Strong winds and rough surf contributed to late arrival. We did not quite get this. We were about 30 minutes late leaving St. Thomas, but our cruising speed despite the rough seas seemed to be close to 20 knots. Wondering how we lost so much time...

WOW...how about that sea conditions that night...at times during dinner, I felt weightless, as if I was floating above my chair, then a second later, felt like I weighed 500 lbs.



6) Palo's has upgraded their menu and their service. Both brunch and dinner were phenomenal.

On our trip to Palo on our previous cruise, our waiter asked what our kids were doing that night...by name...just was a real nice touch. Did not happen this cruise.

my replies are in red.

The incredible weather on Castaway Cay made up for any negatives we experienced though.

The Disney Cruise Line customer service is still absolutely incredible.

 

[pgsahm2]

Thank you for sharing. It's always interesting to read little bits and pieces of people's thoughts. Sometimes I like the randomness of these thoughts better than lengthy trip reports! Thanks!

 

[DisneyMomforLife]

Thank you for posting these thoughts ... we sail Eastern this Saturday and these notes will be very helpful.

Anyone else??

Kat

 

[Mozart]

5. Dinner service did not seem quite as personal as on our previous cruise. We went on a 4 day - Christmas 05....our waiter and drink server had taken the time to memorize the names of everyone in our party of 11...which really made a nice impression (Witt from Indonesia was our server, with Glacia our drink server during the 05 Cruise....they were incredible). I'm not really sure that our servers this trip ever knew our names.

Where you messed up may not have been that your servers this time were bad, it's that you had Witt your first time. He's scary good with names. One of the best servers DCL has. Every time a thread comes up about good servers, his name is repeated over and over on it.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Thank you for posting these thoughts ... we sail Eastern this Saturday and these notes will be very helpful.

Anyone else??

Kat

I've got a tip...on St Maarten, if you're planning on going to Orient Bay Beach, take a cab over there. There were about 200 folks who booked the excursion through DCL....which provided a beach chair and lunch. imagine 200 beach chairs in an area about the length of a basketball court....chairs side by side...three or four rows deep. Unless you're on the front row, it's hard to see the water. If you don't like people being in "your space" don't book this tour.

If you go yourself, or with a smaller excursion group, I don't think you'll have this problem.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Where you messed up may not have been that your servers this time were bad, it's that you had Witt your first time. He's scary good with names. One of the best servers DCL has. Every time a thread comes up about good servers, his name is repeated over and over on it.

I think you're right about this...the times the service seemed spotty was on the nights when the new menus were being served. Our server even mentioned that it was very chaotic back in the kitchen on those nights.

On the nights when they used an old menu, everything seemed to really "click".

As far as the names...sure, it's a small thing...but it sure made a big impression on all of us. Witt's name is very similar to our last name, so that seemed to create an instant bond.

 

[DisneyMomforLife]

How likely are u to get a server that u request? I think I want Witt!!

Kat

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Well, sometimes it is all about the perspective...having traveled on the Magic now 5 times, I actually thought this was a pretty good overall cruise...Also, while the weather was a bit rough leaving St Thomas, it was actually considerably better than the weather from two weeks earlier...bottom line is that it is about 840 nautical miles from St Thomas to CC and the ship has about 40-42 hours to get there, so it is going to go fast....also, the ship actually arrived earlier than planned....we were ashore by 1030, but yes 900 would have been preferred....but the weather in CC was spot on perfect.

As to servers, we had one of the best in Romeo, but, admittedly, we had made some advance requests on that subject and been fortunate enough to have that one fulfilled.....for Palo, we had Corina both times who, along w/Sasha, is arguably the best there....no complaints at all on the menus or food

And as to the weather in St. Maarten in terms of the wind, we actually benefitted b/c we were on the awesome 12-meter regatta excursion, which truly deserves its string of being voted best excursion in the Caribbean 11 years in a row....although I do note that the folks from Carnival who had the same excursion in the afternoon were not as lucky....the weather worsened considerably on the open water and the excursion was cancelled

As you can see from our signature below though, we will be coming back a few times, although the 2009 Turkey Day trip was booked prior to last week.

And finally, glad to see that Steve and others had an overall good time...it is a vacation after all and bad vacations are very unfortunate...

Chuck

 

[stevenpensacola]

....but the weather in CC was spot on perfect.
Chuck

The weather that day is what we like to call "chamber of commerce" weather.
My wife and I had decided that they were going to have to forcibly remove us from Serenity Bay....

We did have a great time in spite of the weather...in fact...having one of our expeditions canceled allowed us to do some things we would have missed otherwise. While on the island tour of St Thomas, we were able to watch as several incredible rain clouds passed over the island....which made Magens Bay really spectacular as the color of the water changed as the clouds passed overhead.

Any little negatives we may have had were erased by the day at CC!!!

after all, a bad day on a Disney Cruise is a million times better than a good day at work.

Hope everyone made it home safely. We traveled through some pretty rough weather between Jacksonville and Tallahassee.

 

[Buckeye 218]

O.K., here are my impressions from our 3/29 Eastern cruise.

Good

1) Weather. As noted, the weather was mostly great, and perfect on Castaway Cay. It was sunny and a little windy on sailaway day and comfortable on deck 9 for most of the sea days.

2) Ship cleanliness. The ship is obviously 10 years old and is not going to look brand new, but the crew kept the ship extremely clean.

3) Merchandising. The stores had a much better assortment of DCL merchandise this time around. On our last cruise (10/2006) they had the same tired merchandise and a lot of clearance. Much better this time around and I have the credit card receipts to prove it.

4) Characters. Tons of characters and much shorter lines than we’re used to. The character interaction was great. I watched as Stitch playfully pounced around in front of the Walt Disney Theater for three young princesses and later allowed himself to be tackled by a pair of young boys (3-4). Several other characters went out of their way to interact with the kids instead of just waving and keeping the lines moving.

5) Shows. Disney Dreams was off the hook as it usually is and I felt the Sailaway show and the Remember the Magic shows were entertaining also. I enjoyed Twice Charmed, but not as much as I remember liking it from 10/2006.

6) Food. The food seemed to be improved, although admittedly I’m not a connoisseur of fine cuisine. The menus were indeed new and had that off-the-presses smell. The waiters were a little unfamiliar with the menu, which is to be expected. So many people have begged for DCL to update the menus, so we have to be patient during the transition while they give us what we asked for. The servers don’t exactly have much down time to absorb all this new information.

7) Servers. We had Mahendra and Andrea. Mahendra was not the most personable server, but was trying his best and was efficient. He also performed a few magic tricks for the kids, which they liked. Andrea was fantastic as our Assistant Server.

8) Captain Nautica. An outstanding excursion with fantastic snorkeling. However the weather left a little to be desired. This was really the only poor weather day on the cruise. It was overcast and windy in the morning but cleared slightly as the morning progressed and our snorkeling went unspoiled. But on the trip back, the heavens unleashed and let me tell you, thousands of raindrops pelting your skin as you are skimming the waves on a 500 HP speedboat is not comfortable. It felt like it was raining thumbtacks. They served fruit and fresh shrimp in between snorkeling sites.

9) Movies. I know a lot of people find going to a movie theatre while on a cruise a waste of time. I rather enjoy it though, especially on the Eastern when you have three sea days. We saw National Treasure Book of Secrets and the whole family loved it.

10) Brent. I read a lot of threads lamenting the departure of Christiian prior to this cruise. We have had Rachel for the last two cruises and I don’t believe we’ve ever had the pleasure of having Christiian, but Brent was fantastic. Personable, friendly, funny, interacted with the guests wherever he went and was the consummate Cruise Director.

Bad

1) It only lasted 7 days.

2) Kids clubs. This was our 4th cruise and the kids programs, while cute, are the same programs they have every time. The Captain acknowledged that DCL has the highest percentage of repeat cruisers in the industry, so some variation in the kids’ clubs would be nice. My kids spent less than 3 hours each in these clubs.

3) Spa reservation. I made an advance reservation for a couples massage 2 months in advance, only to find out on embarkation night that they “double-booked” us on-line. I made this reservation for a sea day, knowing these are the most popular days for the spa. We were told that the lady we were booked for only does skin treatments, not massages. I didn’t buy this. If it was a couple’s massage, wouldn’t it have been more than one “lady?” I think we were bumped for a concierge guest who couldn’t be bothered to make an advance reservation.

On the positive side, Eileen at Vista Spa (who appeared to be a Supervisor of some sort) was very apologetic and was able to make an alternate time/day available that was convenient for us.

4) CC reservation. We rec’d. a phone call from DCL 3 days prior to the cruise that our Eco-Tour Wave Runner excursion was cancelled due to third party vendor issues. Of course by that time, there were no reservations left for any CC excursions except the least popular ones. 3 days out and they have unexpected vendor issues?? I thought that was a little weak.

I told the agent that I know they hold some reservations back for guests who don’t have on-line access (honestly, who doesn’t have on-line access these days that can afford to go on a cruise??!!), but I was assured that they held nothing back. I had specifically asked about parasailing. Well, at about 7:00 on Saturday evening (not rushing to stand in line as soon as I boarded), I sauntered up to the Excursions Desk and was given a plethora of times to choose from for parasailing.

5) Arcade. Would it kill them to upgrade this a little? I know they must make a killing from Quartermasters.

6) Plutos. The quality of food wasn’t quite the same this time. I know, I know, looking for quality of food while eating fast food fare is not exactly rational, but I have always been impressed before. Pinocchio’s was fantastic though. (Remember, I’m no fine cuisine connoisseur.)

7) General unruliness from other passengers. A few obnoxious kids (and parents!!) in the Goofy pool, one obese women sitting on top of our towels and t-shirts on our deck chair by the pool and claiming not to have seen them (we only had one chair for three people for less than 90 minutes, so it wasn’t like we had used it all day). Just a few little things, but nothing one doesn’t experience on every cruise. On a side note, I am quite surprised there are not more serious injuries from kids hitting their heads on the walls or getting jumped on in the Goofy pool. There is a wanton disregard for safety there, especially when lifeguards are not present. The coup de’ grace was one woman with a Down’s Syndrome child who has apparently failed to discipline this child once in her life. That young girl, who couldn’t have more than six or seven years old, was kicking other children in the Oceaneer’s Lab, throwing what appeared to be a large piece of candy at a gentlemen’s head in the Walt Disney Theater and sticking her tongue out and cursing at every third person. Most people wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt due to her condition, but she quickly crossed that line and went unchecked by her parents.

8) Shutters. The pictures were fantastic. My only complaint is the increasing number of 8x10’s, especially of character photos. I can see formal portraits, but I don’t really need seven 8x10 pictures of my kids posing with Daisy Duck, Stitch, Pluto and Pocahontas lining my hallways.

Ugly? Nothing. This was our best cruise yet and we can’t wait to book again. I’m sure I’ve left quite a bit out, but that’s all for now. I’m curious to hear what others thought.

 

[cdriecke]

Has anyone booked the Ultimate Yacht Excursion in St. Maarten? It is a fairly new excursion for Disney, from what I understand. There are 8 of us in our party and the boat holds a max of 10. We have rented this boat for the entire day we are in St. Maarten. The capt. meets with you prior to leaving for your excursion and helps to plan your day. I understand they take you snorkeling in 3 different areas, you get to go to Marigot and spend some time there as well.

I was just wondering if anyone has opted for this excursion, or if anyone has heard any feedback about it. Just curious.

Thanks,
Dawn