Wish delayed with mechanical problems

[dreamer17555]

Didn’t fireworks happening on the night they were supposed to be in Castaway or were they canceled altogether?

 

[Dug720]

2. Ship didn't leave the Port on Saturday evening, so Pirate Night was effected and no fireworks.

First I've heard of Pirate Night being on Nassau night. It's almost always Castaway Night. And weather can affect the fireworks going off - it can prevent them or delay them. Just like ports, they are not guaranteed.

 

[lanejudy]

According to the OP the pirate night activities occurred as planned minus the fireworks. And the fireworks were done the next evening.

 

[RedHead0186]

According to the OP the pirate night activities occurred as planned minus the fireworks. And the fireworks were done the next evening.

Correct. Both pirate parties happened as planned on pirate night. Since the next day was a sea day they were able to do the fireworks the next night (with the pirate mustic). They did the fireworks earlier than would have been originally scheduled (8pm instead of 10:15pm), presumably because we were disembarking early the next morning. It wasn't completely dark, so it was a little harder to see them, but the effect was definitely still there.

 

[RedHead0186]

Respectfully, points taken. However, there were a lot of inconveniences for passengers on a 3N cruise that resulted from a mechanical issue, this is more than a "things happen" situation.

1. Late arrival into Port by about 3 hours (Nassau), people missed shore excursions. DCL knew there were problems with the ship coming into the Port, yet they didn't tell the passengers on Friday night.
2. Ship didn't leave the Port on Saturday evening, so Pirate Night was effected and no fireworks.
3. Ship didn't leave the Port early enough to get to CC (not really weather) so no stop there.
4. Guests were not given any real information in a timely manner and were not told the whole truth.

1. I've heard lots of rumors that DCL knew about the engine issue earlier than was announced (either the night before, or even before we left PC). Has anyone been able to confirm this beyond speculation? It also was less than a 2-hour delay; all ashore was scheduled for 9:30am and was announced at about 11:10am (I remember looking at my watch because I was curious how late it was. Yes, I know perhaps I'm quibbling a bit (just under two hours versus three), but I've seen a lot of exaggeration on this, and it just keeps feeding on itself, so I'm trying to pull it back to the facts.
2. As noted elsewhere, the only effect on Pirate Night was that fireworks didn't occur (but did occur the next night at an earlier time).
3. I don't think any of us knows for sure whether it was the mechanical issue, or the weather, or both that affected Castaway Cay. The forecast was showing high winds for Sunday, so I was skeptical we would be able to dock even before the mechanical issues. I honestly think it was probably a combination of both (though again the official word from DCL is weather; I haven't heard anything different).
4. I agree communication was a little spotty. However, I will say that during one of the ship-wide announcements they made a comment about being sensitive to children napping and not wanting to broadcast in the staterooms. That's not a total excuse, I know, but it was on their mind. The last update I got Saturday night was at the early showing of the theater show, then I woke up to the stateroom letter Sunday morning.

 

[dreamer17555]

OK I was able to reach out and confirm that currently the Dream is doing a five night where they unfortunately due to weather, were unable to stop at both Grand Cayman or Castaway.

A poster on Reddit was asking about compensation where everyone was like you’re probably getting nothing. They actually missed more stops than the Wish cruise… but because it is weather they are just out of luck? But it okay to feel that an OBC and 20% off isn’t enough for what the Wish went through?

 

[Mango7100]

Respectfully, points taken. However, there were a lot of inconveniences for passengers on a 3N cruise that resulted from a mechanical issue, this is more than a "things happen" situation.

1. Late arrival into Port by about 3 hours (Nassau), people missed shore excursions. DCL knew there were problems with the ship coming into the Port, yet they didn't tell the passengers on Friday night.
2. Ship didn't leave the Port on Saturday evening, so Pirate Night was effected and no fireworks.
3. Ship didn't leave the Port early enough to get to CC (not really weather) so no stop there.
4. Guests were not given any real information in a timely manner and were not told the whole truth.

For a 3 night cruise, there were a lot of things that were impacted, especially for people who this may be their only opportunity to cruise with Disney. And there are a lot of people like that. As I said in an earlier post, we (people on the DisBoards) are not like most Disney guests. In general, we all have been to Disney many times and been able to cruise more than once. If I were on that cruise, I would have been quite upset. I think if some of the people here had this happen to them, they would also be upset and looking for additional compensation. I feel for everyone who was on that cruise, it was definitely not what was expected, regardless of a contract that was signed. If we're going to compare it with the parks, you went to the MK and 3/4 of the rides were not operational, wouldn't you ask for more than a $5 credit (comparatively about the same as a $100 OBC) and 20% off a future ticket? When you buy that ticket you are basically "signing" the same type of contract. Same for when it pours all night on a MNSSHP or MVMCP night, park doesn't close but most people expect a refund. I'm not saying people on the cruise should get a full refund, but what was offered was not good PR for Disney or what I would expect them to do, regardless of a "contract". I think this is it for me on this topic. Thanks for listening and respecting opinions other than your own

Whoops, accidentally hit reply

 

[RedHead0186]

OK I was able to reach out and confirm that currently the Dream is doing a five night where they unfortunately due to weather, were unable to stop at both Grand Cayman or Castaway.

A poster on Reddit was asking about compensation where everyone was like you’re probably getting nothing. They actually missed more stops than the Wish cruise… but because it is weather they are just out of luck? But it okay to feel that an OBC and 20% off isn’t enough for what the Wish went through?

Wow, that sucks that they missed two ports; I feel for them. I'm in the camp that OBC and 20% is plenty as compensation for what we went through, but clearly there are varying perspectives on that issue, lol.

 

[AquaDame]

OK I was able to reach out and confirm that currently the Dream is doing a five night where they unfortunately due to weather, were unable to stop at both Grand Cayman or Castaway.

A poster on Reddit was asking about compensation where everyone was like you’re probably getting nothing. They actually missed more stops than the Wish cruise… but because it is weather they are just out of luck? But it okay to feel that an OBC and 20% off isn’t enough for what the Wish went through?

I wouldn't say it is OK, but if it is due to weather that is out of Disney's control and so yes, normally you get nothing aside from refunded port fees. The Wish had mechanical issues, which is treated differently.

 

[dreamer17555]

I wouldn't say it is OK, but if it is due to weather that is out of Disney's control and so yes, normally you get nothing aside from refunded port fees. The Wish had mechanical issues, which is treated differently.

What’s interesting to me is that while I absolutely agree weather is out of disney’s control is that apparently sometimes disney offers refunds for weather related events… like I had no idea that if it rained hard enough during Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party to cancel both fireworks and parades, and you went to guest services you could be issued a full refund.

Isn’t that weather happening also out of disney‘s control?

For the record I’m not arguing with you. I’m just saying, it’s a little strange that they have such different standards. I would’ve assumed that they would not offer refunds for weather events unless they canceled an event (like has happened for hurricanes) but it seems sometimes they do?

 

[AquaDame]

What’s interesting to me is that while I absolutely agree weather is out of disney’s control is that apparently sometimes disney offers refunds for weather related events… like I had no idea that if it rained hard enough during Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party to cancel both fireworks and parades, and you went to guest services you could be issued a full refund.

Isn’t that weather happening also out of disney‘s control?

For the record I’m not arguing with you. I’m just saying, it’s a little strange that they have such different standards. I would’ve assumed that they would not offer refunds for weather events unless they canceled an event (like has happened for hurricanes) but it seems sometimes they do?

No no, I totally agree. I feel like it fosters this kind of attitude of being owed something when it goes wrong and causes the unreasonably angry folk at guest services we've all seen from time to time.

At the end of the day Disney wants to do what they feel like. If they feel its in their best interest to be generous, they will be. If they feel like it would cost too much money to do so, they won't. If they never ever tell folks they may be nice, then they can always dance around the issue and stop paying out any time they feel like with no hard feelings.

Also we all realize $100 in onboard credit is pennies on the dollar, right? You may be paying $30 for that t-shirt or $12 for that martini but that is not what Disney pays... just sayin' the 20% is really the meat of the discount. The bonus OBC is just the immediate gratifier to calm them down in the moment.

 

[MomOTwins]

There’s a reason compensation is not normally provided when you miss a port. It’s not like you are missing a day of the vacation you paid for—all of the ship’s amenities and entertainment are available all day. After all look at how many people advocate staying on the ship in Nassau. Seems a bit crazy to expect disney to give everyone their money back for the “ruined” day they spent with their families on an amazing cruise ship eating ice cream and riding the aquamouse and hugging Mickey.

Yes I know castaway is better than Nassau. But the point still stands.

 

[SL6827]

I wonder during what months has DCL has had to miss CC the most due to weather? Months that had the fewest missed?

Do many 4 night cruises have a second chance at CC if they miss?

 

[lanejudy]

I wonder during what months has DCL has had to miss CC the most due to weather? Months that had the fewest missed?

Here’s a poll from several years ago:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...miss-castaway-cay-due-to-the-weather.2854575/
And there are several threads with that as a discussion point.

Do many 4 night cruises have a second chance at CC if they miss?

Maybe. It all depends on when other ships are scheduled at CC as well as the rest of the itinerary for that cruise.

 

[insureman]

Here’s a poll from several years ago:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...miss-castaway-cay-due-to-the-weather.2854575/
And there are several threads with that as a discussion point.


Maybe. It all depends on when other ships are scheduled at CC as well as the rest of the itinerary for that cruise.

Thanks for resurrecting my old poll. A lot of water under the bridge since then. Although technically someone would have to click the link to resurrect it.

 

[SL6827]

I was thinking the January timeframe had a better chance of missing CC. And October probably due to hurricane season?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I was thinking the January timeframe had a better chance of missing CC. And October probably due to hurricane season?

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

OK I was able to reach out and confirm that currently the Dream is doing a five night where they unfortunately due to weather, were unable to stop at both Grand Cayman or Castaway.

A poster on Reddit was asking about compensation where everyone was like you’re probably getting nothing. They actually missed more stops than the Wish cruise… but because it is weather they are just out of luck? But it okay to feel that an OBC and 20% off isn’t enough for what the Wish went through?

I heard they did make it to CC in the end, took 3-4 attempts but they got there

 

[dreamer17555]

I heard they did make it to CC in the end, took 3-4 attempts but they got there

You are correct when I had posted they had been told that they were not going to make it but they were able to make it briefly in the afternoon for a short period of time, but not able to have lunch on the island

 

[bcwife76]

I was thinking the January timeframe had a better chance of missing CC. And October probably due to hurricane season?

Which is super interesting to me because out of 10 cruises, we've only done two that had CC on the itinerary, one in January and one in October. Got to CC both times, guess we lucked out