We had a TERRIBLE first night! Is this normal?

[TLHB70]

We just got home from our first Disney cruise. We sailed on the 4 night Wonder, November 7-11. We had a TERRIBLE first night. Honestly, I was shocked because it is not what I expected from Disney at all. Based on the Passporter and what I have read on these boards it must have not been "normal." I don't know if I should write Disney about it or not. I thought that I would get opinions from all of you veteran cruisers.
We boarded the ship at noon. We immediately went to eat at Parrot Cay. After lunch our stateroom was open so we went in to see it. (This was 1:30 PM.) It looked nice; however, it was extremely warm. My DH turned the AC down as low as it would go and then we went to explore the ship, sign up for kids club, etc. We arrived back in our room about 4 PM to prepare for the safety drill. The room was still very warm. We just assumed that the AC would take a while to cool down, even though the halls were MUCH cooler than the room! We went to the drill then on to the sail away deck party. We told guest services about the warm room on our way to the party. They said that they would send someone to check on it. We stayed on deck until we left dock. We went back in the room around 5:30 to get ready for dinner. The room was still very warm. We had to get dressed for dinner so we started to take showers. Well, guess what? There were no wash cloths! We had 4 towels but no wash cloths! Also, even though we had the split bathrooms, we only had one bar of soap. We had a small bar of facial soap in the bathroom with the sink and toilet. There was no soap in the tub/shower bathroom. My dh told me to call guest services to ask for soap and washcloths while he tried to shower with the facial soap. So as he showered I tried to call. Guess what? The phone didn't work so I had to walk to guest services. I told them about the AC (again), the washcloths, soap and phone. The CM wrote it all down and told me that someone would take care of it while we were at dinner. However, before dinner our stateroom host came to our door. He handed me a bar of bath soap and TWO washcloths. I told him that we had 4 in our family so he asked if I needed more. Yes, I told him that I needed one for each family member. We went on to dinner with our phone not working and our room hot. When we returned from dinner the room was still warm and we had the message light blinking on the phone. When I tried to retrieve the message, the phone still didn't work. I had to go to guest services again. The man did come to our room a few minutes later. He fixed the phone and the air. He said that the computer showed the AC at 70 degrees but he agreed that it didn't feel like 70 degrees to him either. He set it for lower; I think 65 or so. It did improve by the next morning. Also, there was no shampoo in our room either. I told my dh not to pack his shampoo from home because of limited space. I thought that I read in my Passporter book that the rooms had shampoo. I know that our Disney World resort rooms ALWAYS have shampoo provided in them......even the value resorts. Also, my mom and dad have been on numerous cruises (not Disney, though....Carnival is their choice) and they always come home with tons of shampoo, lotions, even body spray that is left in their room. I just assumed that we would have shampoo in the room so I told dh not to pack any. Well, there was no shampoo. I didn't call guest services about that, though, since we had called about so many other things. I just used our dd children shampoo.
I don't mean to go on and on. I was just so surprised to have this on our first night. I was expecting a magical time, but I was met with an awful experience. It did get better........although our stateroom host forgot to put down the bunk one night. We came in from dinner and the bunk was not down. We had to call about that. Also, the closet doors sliding and slamming on two nights of rough seas was awful. Even after sticking the towels in the doors the slamming still went on!
Is this normal? Am I over-reacting? Should I write to Disney about it? The comment card only allowed two lines for comments so it all would not fit on the card. I will have to go online and comment on their web site. I don't want to sound like a complaining person, but I think they may want to know about it.

 

[Dreamer04]

I suggest you write to DCL right away. It is important to inform them if you have/had a problem. How else would they know if customer care was slipping.

AC, towels, phone, shampoo-these are the basics. Every room steward should have these down pat. Maybe they were new, had a bad day-whatever.

You seem to be nice. Not the kind of people to complain over every little thing. You deserve to know that your concerns are duely noted!

 

[mmouse37]

Agreed that was not normal....you should have had the shampoo, soaps and wash clothes in your room already.

Glad it got better along the way....but do let DCL know.

MJ

 

[goofyforlife]

We had a hot room once on deck 1.... They told me there was nothing they could do...

But we've always had plenty of towels....shampoo...moisturizer....

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I agree, you should have had the soaps, wash cloths, a working phone, and a cool room.

Both times I cruised DCL, I felt the cabins were not cool enough, though others might disagree. We cruised in Oct and March, so it was not as if it was blasting hot outside, thus a warm room, but still, I was very warm while getting ready for dinner and we did have the temp as low as it could go. I did complain to Guest Services about that when we returned home, though I doubt our rooms were as hot as yours sounded. Heck, if I could make my rooms at least 10% as cool as the Buena Vista Theater, I would be as cool as a cucumber!

Tink

 

[glindamood]

I had an issue with the temp in our cabin on our 09/04 cruise on the Wonder and told our cabin steward on that first day - someone came and took care of it the following day.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Now, I'm not one who often jumps to DCL's defense when someone posts a complaint (as is the custom on this board), but I'm going to don my flame retardant suit and say:

Your concerns were:

-wash cloths
-soap
-phone
-AC


By your own account, the room steward brought wash cloths and soap soon after you requested them and the AC and phone were fixed within a few hours of when you reported the problem. The shampoo was also missing, but you didn't give them a chance to remedy that, so it might be fair to say someone would have shown up with that in a timely matter.

Is this normal? No, but was it really "TERRIBLE"?

 

[bratray]

Is this normal? No, but was it really "TERRIBLE"?

no, not really terrible but terribly annoying!!

if i was about to jump in the shower & not only were there not enough wash cloths but not enough soap either, i would be rather annoyed. No , its not the end of the world but something you would just expect to be there waiting for you to use

as for the A\C not working, if too much heat makes you cranky
(as it does me) and you are looking forward to coming back to your cool cabin after a hot day at the ports ...then a very warm room does pose a big problem to me & especially my family that has to listen to me whining

sure, it could be worse but it should be better, especially after laying down a good deal of money for "excellent" service
everything was eventually fixed but in my eyes it was all a big hassle, especially with the phone not working to top it off

IMHO

 

[jweiss]

this is definitely not normal. WE have always had plenty of towels, cool air, soap and shampoos. as a matter of fact, on all three DCL cruises I have been VERY impressed with the cabin hosts. DCL needs to hear about your experience!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

I would say "not normal." Worth writing a letter about? You bet! Expecting to be compensated for it? I'm not sure it's going to happen.

What a dissapointing start to your cruise....all you wanted to do was relax and have fun, but you had to run around the ship and get things fixed that should have been right from the get go.

I'm with you....If DCL expects us to rate everything "excellent" then it should be "excellent!"

Just MHO!

 

[spotdog]

I was on the same cruise. I was on Deck 2 Cat 9 and my room was quite warm the first day and night, even with the air turned all the way down. After that it seemed to adjust normally with the thermostat.

This was my third cruise and it sounds like your washcloth and soap situation was NOT the norm. I agree that I would write and let Disney know. It sounds like your stateroom host may need a little "retraining".

I actually had a really nice cruise, in spite of the rocking and rolling at night. Fortunately the velcro on my closet doors held pretty well, though the clothes hangers were clinking and the whole room was creaking.

The Bonine (Meclizine) also worked for me, though even 4 days later I can still "feel the motion" from that last night!!!

 

[nisiemouse]

Sorry your trip had such a bad start. Does the stateroom host have to be the one to put the bunk down? We haven't cruised before and was wondering about this one when I read it. If I came back to the room with tired kids and had to wait to get them to bed because of the bunk it would be frustrating. Thanks.

 

[LindaBabe]

Should not wonder why many people pack duct tape! 2 minutes of banging closet doors says it all!

I would definitely comment to Disney about your difficulties. They sent the standard for excellent customer service - they should want to know about it when a customer doesn't get it. It sounds as though it's not like you're seeking a freebie - more "I thought you'd like to know".

 

[inkkognito]

Having taken 39 Disney cruises, I can tell you this definitely is not normal. It's also what the comment cards are for...there is a space where you are asked to make a note of any problems and whether they were resolved. If the space is too small, I would personally write on an additional piece of paper. It's best to bring up issues as soon as possible. DCL cares about guest feedback, and your situation was definitely not the norm, or at least not as we have experienced it. I shampoo my hair obsessively on the ship, and my stateroom hosts always keep me well supplied.
Barb

 

[CM_Mom]

I can assure you that EVERY comment card is completely read and the crew gets feedback about the service every week. They do care.

From what you posted, I think an "I thought you'd like to know" letter would be helpful to DCL because they can't correct problems they aren't completely aware of and it will make you feel better. It's possible that guest services thought the issues had been resolved when they really weren't.

Sorry you had such an unpleasant start to your cruise.

 

[TLHB70]

OK, I will try to write DCL today. I did put some of this information on the comment card, but the space was too extremely small. I didn't get the chance to explain anything in detail. ALso, I didn't want to cause problems for our stateroom host. No, I am not looking for any compensation.

Is this normal? No, but was it really "TERRIBLE"?

No, it wasn't terrible. But, at the same time, it wasn't what I expected from Disney. I have NEVER had anything like that happen at any of my WDW resorts. I have heard nothing but how wonderful cruises are from my parents and friends. I did a lot of research on this cruise before we left. I read these boards at least three times a day. I was expecting nothing but top-notch service and experience.......especially for the price. This just wasn't top-notch to me. Since DCL offered the comment cards I thought that they may want to know. I am not a person looking for any compensation at all. That is not me! I just want them to be aware of the situation. Everything worked out ok once the air cooled off. That was the biggest problem. I had no problem using my dd shampoo for the four night trip. We also made it fine with just those two bars of soap for the entire trip. I just wouldn't want this to happen to another future cruiser looking forward to the Disney magical experience!


Nisiemouse,

Does the stateroom host have to be the one to put the bunk down?

Yes. We tried to pull it down ourselves when we got to the room and it was still up (at 10:20 PM......we had late dinner seating). However, it has a lock on it so the stateroom host is the only one that can get it down. We had to wait about 15 or so minutes for him to get to the room and get it down. Yes, that was frustrating when we had sleepy kids waiting to go to bed.

 

[sewsew]

We also had something happen, we had a RANK spell in our room and I was blaming it on my husband! LOL
We went on the Wonder Nov 7-11.

We narrowed it down and it was somthing rotten in the couch!
YUK !!!!!! Everytime we sat down it got stronger. Within 1 hour thay had the couch cusion replaced and the room smelt better.
Deck 2 Cag 9.

Otherwise we all had a wonderful time!

 

[christinou]

We also had a very hot room last February and it did take quite a few try to have the AC fixed, by the time it was done, the room was a complete meat locker. What is annoying, yes, terrible, no.....

 

[goofyforlife]

so the whole trip they didn't give you any shampoo??????

That's almost inexcusable......


(can I venture to ask if the host even attampted to make towel animals or leave chocolates at bedtime...considering they didn't even pull down the bunk.)

 

[TLHB70]

No, we never got shampoo. I didn't ask either since we had contacted guest services so many times about other things. We had our daughters' children shampoo there that I had packed (I use a gentle shampoo for them, not adult) so we just used that. We didn't get any other soap after that first night either. So, since my dh had used the small bar of facial soap, the only bar we had at the time, that first evening to shower -- with no washcloth -- I wasn't about to move that over to the sink/toilet bathroom when our host finally brought the bath soap! We just used that one facial bar of soap to shower with the four nights and the bar of bath soap to wash hands at the sink with the toilet. I did find that a bit strange, though, that they go on and on about being clean because of sickness (and rightfully so!), yet they only offered that one bar of soap.
Yes, he did make towel animals every night except the last night. We had suitcases on the bed that I had been packing so he couldn't leave a towel animal there that night. Yes, he did leave chocolates, too, except for our second night. I don' t know why he didn't leave them then.
I don't mean to sound petty or be a big complainer. I just wanted to know if this is normal......no shampoo, etc.
I was trying to decide whether or not to contact DCL.