Wonder Veranda Problem

[June]

I've been reading these boards for over 3 years, and have found them most helpful, but this is the first time I've posted any information.

We took our second cruise on the Wonder last week (July 16th-20th), in Cabin 6562. On our first three-day cruise in 2004, we stayed in cabin 6558 and absolutely loved the veranda, so when we booked our 4 day for this year, we went with the veranda again. I especially love sitting out early in the morning as the ship pulls into Nassau and Castaway Cay, and at night watching the sunset or just enjoying the sound of the waves. Its truly one of my small pleasures.

Unfortunately, this cruise we had the pungent odor of diesel fumes on our veranda for most of the cruise! You could clearly smell it whenever you opened the veranda door, and it made sitting on the veranda very unpleasant. We had lots of crew members (engineers, mechanics) trying to solve the problem, but with no real resolution.

I advise guest services that although I appreciated their efforts, I was not happy that I paid for a balcony that I couldn't use, and they have referred our issue to "Guest Communications". We are supposed to hear from them within a week.

Everyone was very understanding and courteous and agreed that we had a problem. The crew indicated that they had no problems with any other rooms, and truly seemed baffled; it did not appear that this was a regular occurence.

The experience is definately making us have second thoughts about booking another cruise in the future. The response from Guest Communications is also going to weigh heavily into our decision.

My question to the forum...has anyone else experienced this type of problem? Our are we just the lucky ones?

Thanks!

 

[Buddy Bear]

We didn’t have that problem, but we had an issue with our stateroom and we were told the same thing that Guest Communications would call and they did.

In our case they apologized for the inconvenience and offered to reduce the fare of a future cruise by 25%. We had already booked another cruise so I was happy to take the fare reduction.

Resolving an issue like this is all about expectations. You have to put that cruise in the past since they can’t change it, but they will be very accommodating if you plan to cruise again.

Good luck,

Jeff

 

[MB MinnieGirl]

I'm so sorry for you!! Being another one that "splurges" for the verandah, I also consider it my little piece of Heaven on the ship and wouldn't want to sail without it. I also love to sit and relax on the verandah while coming into port and especially at night before going to bed. There is nothing like it. I can only imagine how disappointed you were.

I am very curious to see the response you receive when they contact you. Please update when you can. We sail on Aug. 6th on the Wonder and have cabin #6092 with a verandah.

I hope your cruise was wonderful aside from this problem and that you get an adequate response which offers compensation. Good luck!

 

[4 mickey]

I do relate to you 2 years ago the same or almost problem occured to us while doing our land sea cruise for us it was smell of garbage or very bad odor that came when sitting on the balcony we also called and even if they came and did acknoledge there was a smell they did say they would try their very best to fix this but it wasn't us also tought that it was a miss from there part since we pay good money to use that veranda but with thes bad odor let me tell you that we didnt use it alot .
Even back home we did a call to DCL but nothing cama of it
It is very sad we would have saved a few hundreds bucks have we known this and not booked a veranda .

 

[tam012864]

Oh me too...we have 6576 booked for our next trip on the Wonder....

 

[virginiamama]

Please give us an update when you hear back. We are in 6048 in December on the Magic.

 

[disgal1]

just got back, we enjoy the verandah so much, I would be really ticked off if we couldn't use it.

Good luck with Disney, hopefully you won't have that kind of problem again.

 

[m4travel]

;It is very sad we would have saved a few hundred bucks have we known this and not booked a verandah.

So sorry to hear of this problem you experienced. The smell of diesel is somewhat understandable; cabbage would be real puzzler.

I can assure you that we have travelled in balcony staterooms on several cruise lines and not experienced anything like this. Don't let one bad experience keep you from enjoying one on your next cruise. We not only enjoy it for sitting/viewing, but it makes the cabin seem even larger.

 

[Colexi's Mom]

Please let us know what happens. We're booked in that cabin in 4 weeks, and now I'm freaking out!!

 

[June]

Colexi's Mom...I would call to see if they found the problem...we left before we got an explanation...and they were working on it.
On a brighter note...the cabin is great...its in a terrific location...we loved it....except for that smell!
I'll let you know what I find out, too.

 

[TheWho]

WOW,
I just booked yesterday the cabin next door (6560) for next year (July1, 2007). Please let us know if Disney tells you anything. This is our first cruise and I'm looking forward to sitting outside.

 

[MeggerasMa]

tam012864 - we have cabin 6576 booked also. Jan 2007 here and I'm really hoping for no noxious fumes. Yuck! (I get migraines and one of my triggers happens to be certain scents. Wouldn't that be grand.) OP: So sorry you didn't get to enjoy your veranda. I hope the rest of your vaca was magical.

 

[RCBA]

We had 7572 on the Magic w/ no issues

 

[matsterrocks]

We have the same cabin boked for Oct 2007 glad to hear you liked the rest of it. Did you talk to your neighbours about it? Did it bother them too? Hope they get it figured out soon. Let us know what happens.

 

[dizneykids]

We were on the 4-day Wonder following Disneyana 2000 when the diesel exhaust backed up into mid-ships. The middle of the ship from deck 8 down to deck 2 smelled so strongly of diesel on the last two days (due to slow speed from Freeport to CC and lack of wind at sea, they told us) that many people (me among them) were very headachy and nauseous. CC was a relief from the smell, but I was so sick by that point that I just couldn't enjoy it. Our choice back on ship was to suffer the heat and humidity (it was September) and leave the veranda door open or close the veranda door and endure the smell. We had to alternate between the two to give me relief at night.

I was amazed at DCL's response, or lack thereof. In spite of many people calling down to GS, they did not acknowledge there was a problem. By the time they did, it was slow and ineffective. By CC day, they had large fans out trying to move the air, but it just wasn't working. I know of one woman who was pregnant who had to be moved to a suite on 8. I was one of a number of people who received shots for the nausea, but it wasn't long-lasting. Beyond that shot the first night, DH and I received no further follow-up or communication from GS or the doctor(s). We received a $100 credit on our stateroom account to "compensate" for our ruined cruise.

When I wrote a letter of concern to DCL following the cruise, I got a "gee, we're sorry" letter, but no comment on what had happened or what they were doing to prevent a repeat. This was the first time I had written DCL (I try to send "here's what went well and who was great as well as here's where you could improve" letters to DCL after each cruise) where I felt their customer service was wholly lacking. I didn't feel truly well for about 2 weeks after that episode.

I hope you get more than a "gee, sorry your cruise wasn't to your satisfaction" letter, but I wouldn't count on it. Following the Fire Cruise, the most we got was a $100 stateroom credit (and we were in the Walt Suite that time) and a "sorry for the fire and having to get you up early" letter. DCL's customer service in light of ship-wide problems is definitely on a slide, and not a positive one.

 

[virginiamama]

just got back

Hey 6050, we're 6048!
Thanks for the info. We're on the double-dip western and will be right next to the room you just left. That eases my mind!

 

[June]

Well, we received a very nice letter from Disney Cruise Lines the other day, apologizing for the inconvenience, etc. They offered us a 25% discount on a future cruise, with an expiration date of August 1, 2008.

While that would be great for someone with plans to cruise again in the next year or so, our personal situation would not really allow for that. Our son is entering his junior year in high school, so the next 2 years are going to be spent visiting colleges and ultimately getting him there! And even though 25% is great, I still have to come up with the other 75%! Much as I would love to do it, its just not something I can plan on...

In addition, there was no real explanation of the source of the problem, so I placed a call to the "Executive Guest Correspondent" who signed the letter.

I explained that while the 25% was very nice (it could be worth about $1,000 on a similar cruise), we would be unable to cruise by August of 2008. He offered me several other options: Extension of the certificates until 2009, or theme park passes which would never expire. Again, while those were nice offers, I asked him about a refund of the approximately $500+ that I paid for the verandah we couldn't use. Although he said it was unusual, he would look into it and get back to me, which he did within a couple of hours. He said that they would give us the $500 refund, in lieu of the other offers. I was very pleased with their response, and again, because of our situation, will probably take the refund.

As far as the cause of the fumes, he really didn't have any specifics...just that it came from the "funnel" (the stack) and that he had never heard of this problem before. He mentioned that the Wonder was going into dry dock, and that the problem would most certainly be addressed at that time. He had no other details to share with me.

I will say that my husband and I did notice fumes on Deck 4 and also the Deck 7 aft verandah area as well. We also noticed quite a bit of black smoke coming out of the stacks...and that's something we did not even notice on our first cruise back in 2004. Its just a guess, but the engines probably need a "tune up".

Moral of the story....don't let a glitch ruin your trip (we didn't), but don't hesitate to express your disappointment and follow-up!! While I would have much preferred to have my verandah, Disney did do its best to make amends for the problem. And although I have no immediate plans for another cruise, I'm definately still a fan!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Wow, that's a great response!! Thank you for following up!

 

[bevtoy]

heres a link I found to room reports. Adding a report is at the bottom
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomlist.cfm

 

[Buddy Bear]

...or theme park passes which would never expire...

I am glad everything worked out for you. I took the 25% thinking that was a great deal, but theme park tickets that never expire would have been worth many thousands of dollars to our family over the years. I guess I missed the boat on that one.