What Changes Would You Like DCL to Make?

[bakerworld]

My only wish is for the 4D cruise to vary their itineraries. I wouldn't mind a day at sea, St. Martens, a day at seat and CC. Cruising New England Coast with 2 stops in the US would be nice. I don't need to go to Canada. I understand Bermuda it needs to be a minimum of 5 days. All the other things mentioned above we don't use.

 

[juxtapose]

Much easier for you to speak with the dining room manager and see if a change is possible if you don't "click" with your dining team.

The whole point of keeping you with your team IS to enhance the dining experience so that your team gets to know you and things like how there's always a diet Coke waiting on the table for me can happen. If you're having different people every night you have to explain everything each time which takes so much longer.

Having been on cruises where you don't have the same team each night, it's not the joy you think it is because you cannot develop those memorable interactions because there's no investment to get to know you on either side.

We have food allergies and having the same team is really nice, so we don't have to explain everything again every night.

 

[juxtapose]

More variety in cruise itineraries. I'd love one-way Alaksa cruises. I imagine taxes or port fees is keeping that from happing. More 7-night options in the Caribbean. Cheaper European options, this is never going to happen, but it is significantly cheaper to travel Europe by train/plane than by cruise so I can never justify doing a cruise there.

 

[Dug720]

We have food allergies and having the same team is really nice, so we don't have to explain everything again every night.

Bingo! Food allergies - or even preferences like "no bread, please" - are handled so much better when you have the same team every night.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Cruising New England Coast with 2 stops in the US would be nice. I don't need to go to Canada.

Not really do-able, due to PVSA constraints. Any foreign-flagged ship that sails from a US port must make a foreign port stop.

 

[dancin Disney style]

-Better food and frequent menu changes
-different ports
-longer sailings

This is a big one for me...
The amount of food waste is absolutely criminal. Example....Cabanas closes and all the food, including trays in reserve behind the counter, goes in the garbage. It should be redirected to to crew at the very least. If you knew what they feed the crew you would be astonished. It's horrible and repeats daily. The unserved food from the MDR also mainly ends up in the garbage. Some of it does go to the crew but they put it out after 11pm when it's a just a snack service rather than dinner. Yes, I do understand food safety and handling practices. Obviously some items must go to the garbage but not everything.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

-Better food and frequent menu changes
-different ports
-longer sailings

This is a big one for me...
The amount of food waste is absolutely criminal. Example....Cabanas closes and all the food, including trays in reserve behind the counter, goes in the garbage. It should be redirected to to crew at the very least. If you knew what they feed the crew you would be astonished. It's horrible and repeats daily. The unserved food from the MDR also mainly ends up in the garbage. Some of it does go to the crew but they put it out after 11pm when it's a just a snack service rather than dinner. Yes, I do understand food safety and handling practices. Obviously some items must go to the garbage but not everything.

Isn’t that food grinded to the fish? Also due to health concerns I don’t think they can save it there has to be a better way maybe submitting the night before what you want for lunch?

 

[dancin Disney style]

Bingo! Food allergies - or even preferences like "no bread, please" - are handled so much better when you have the same team every night.

Not necessarily. I have a food allergy and the team we had two weeks ago seemed to totally disregard it. It was handled expertly when we went to the MDR for breakfast and lunch with servers that we had only met at that time.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Isn’t that food grinded to the fish? Also due to health concerns I don’t think they can save it there has to be a better way maybe submitting the night before what you want for lunch?

As I said I am well versed in food safety. They have a ton of food that is untouched/unserved that is behind the scenes that can safely be sent to the crew mess. Some items must go to the garbage.

I don' t understand what you mean by 'submitting the night before what you want for lunch'. Who is doing this?

As far as it being turned into fish food, I don't know but doubt that. No one could be constantly dumping that volume of anything in the ocean. The fireworks are ocean safe, perhaps that is what you are thinking of.

 

[ShaneDJ]

As far as it being turned into fish food, I don't know but doubt that. No one could be constantly dumping that volume of anything in the ocean.

Our server told us that unused food was ground up and dumped into the ocean when they are in deeper waters. They said that this is standard practice for cruise lines.

 

[dreamer17555]

As I said I am well versed in food safety. They have a ton of food that is untouched/unserved that is behind the scenes that can safely be sent to the crew mess. Some items must go to the garbage.

I don' t understand what you mean by 'submitting the night before what you want for lunch'. Who is doing this?

As far as it being turned into fish food, I don't know but doubt that. No one could be constantly dumping that volume of anything in the ocean. The fireworks are ocean safe, perhaps that is what you are thinking of.

Yes, it absolutely gets turned into fish food. You might have strong feelings about it being dumped in the ocean, but it does get turned into fish food.

And yes, the crew mess im sure it gets extremely repetitive. But also that Indian food everybody raves about being able to special order for the dining room? same food that the crew mess is getting.

I travel with allergies and my serving team wanted me to order an advance for the other meals. I know everybody that travels with allergies needs to order at least their castaway lunch in advance.

If your main dining team is being dismissive of your allergies, you need to be speaking to a head server immediately.

Also, I think if you’re very concerned about the amount of waste that’s happening and you’re very environmentally friendly cruising is probably not for you. There is very little environmentally friendly about cruising.

 

[dreamer17555]

Our server told us that unused food was ground up and dumped into the ocean when they are in deeper waters. They said that this is standard practice for cruise lines.

Yup- in fact there’s an MSC documentary on Amazon prime you can watch that shows them doing just this. Cruising secrets or something like that.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Our server told us that unused food was ground up and dumped into the ocean when they are in deeper waters. They said that this is standard practice for cruise lines.

They are well versed in food safety, as they said.

 

[Lesverts]

I've only been on one DCL cruise. So I don't have a lot to comment on from an onboard experience. But I would love for them to have a first day solo/adult meet and greet so you can meet some people for the trivia/games etc.

 

[dreamer17555]

I've only been on one DCL cruise. So I don't have a lot to comment on from an onboard experience. But I would love for them to have a first day solo/adult meet and greet so you can meet some people for the trivia/games etc.

If you join the FB group for your sailing normally there is a meet up planned and also a WhatsApp group chat which is great for finding trivia friends

 

[SleepyDeb]

Add more activities for adults in the afternoon.

Enforce the no deck chair saving.

Add more itineraries. Even in the Caribbean, there are many islands that, as far as I know, they've never been to.

Sail occasionally from NYC or Boston. A summer cruise and/or a leaf peeping cruise that makes a stop in Canada would be great.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Yes, it absolutely gets turned into fish food. You might have strong feelings about it being dumped in the ocean, but it does get turned into fish food.

And yes, the crew mess im sure it gets extremely repetitive. But also that Indian food everybody raves about being able to special order for the dining room? same food that the crew mess is getting.

I travel with allergies and my serving team wanted me to order an advance for the other meals. I know everybody that travels with allergies needs to order at least their castaway lunch in advance.

If your main dining team is being dismissive of your allergies, you need to be speaking to a head server immediately.

Also, I think if you’re very concerned about the amount of waste that’s happening and you’re very environmentally friendly cruising is probably not for you. There is very little environmentally friendly about cruising.

I don't care that things get dumped. What I care about is how the crew is treated. My daughter is a crew member. In her roll she has a lot of privileges, including using guest areas and dining in guest areas. So for her it's ok but for the others it's shameful. I give you a 100% guarantee that there is no 'special order' food coming from the crew mess up to the dining rooms. They would never give a guest anything that is for the crew, it's not the same quality and nothing is fresh.

Kind of funny you mention the head server....he was even worse than the other two. All three were reprimanded for the way they treated us.

 

[CamColt]

Add more activities for adults in the afternoon.

Enforce the no deck chair saving.

Add more itineraries. Even in the Caribbean, there are many islands that, as far as I know, they've never been to.

Sail occasionally from NYC or Boston. A summer cruise and/or a leaf peeping cruise that makes a stop in Canada would be great.

I agree with sailing from NY or Boston in the summer, but I would want a Bermuda or Bahamian (anywhere south) itinerary then. Working in a school, summer is my prime cruise time unless a shorter cruise fits vacation dates well. And I will only cruise to tropical warm places. I need to see palm trees! We did the 8 night NY, PC, Nassau, CC itinerary back in summer of 2012. I would do that again in a heartbeat!

 

[dreamer17555]

I don't care that things get dumped. What I care about is how the crew is treated. My daughter is a crew member. In her roll she has a lot of privileges, including using guest areas and dining in guest areas. So for her it's ok but for the others it's shameful. I give you a 100% guarantee that there is no 'special order' food coming from the crew mess up to the dining rooms. They would never give a guest anything that is for the crew, it's not the same quality and nothing is fresh.

Kind of funny you mention the head server....he was even worse than the other two. All three were reprimanded for the way they treated us.

I’m assuming your daughter is either in a senior role or an entertainment role. Working on a cruise ship is not for the faint of heart. Actually, I think working for Disney at all is a little tough and my daughter has been a cast member as well.

It’s a hard job and I applaud your daughter for sticking it out.

I’ll be honest I’m a little surprised that somebody with a crew member on board would even risk complaining about a fellow crewmember- because of the potential fallout.

Normally, if you’re having an issue to the point that people are getting actual reprimands, they would’ve switched your dining team.

If you have severe allergies, switching a dining team to those who are accommodating that would be their first move because they do not want any medical event on the ship.

It sounds like you’re unhappy with how your daughter is being treated as a crewmember or how the other crewmembers are being treated and I get that. It is extremely hard work. We tip well for the crewmembers we are able and we like to pixie dust the crew members who are not allowed to receive tips but I think your daughter is going to find a similar environment, working on any cruise ship.

 

[FastPasser.]

Actually, I think working for Disney at all is a little tough and my daughter has been a cast member as well.

Like all large companies it depends on the person and the position. It works for some people but not for others.

A good number of CMs would say that working for Disney can be tough at times but they deal with it and enjoy the good times.